"At ease, soldiers." Masado said as he stood towering over the boys. He eyed each of his trainees. They appeared to be within the age group of 12-15 years of age. They were all intently focused on Masado and his every word and action. That was good. It showed their willingness to obey, listen, and learn. On that note, it was time to get down to business.
He began shouting commands, watching as the boys jumped into the correct position each time. Occasionally he'd have to correct one or two boys on their posture. Thankfully, they were relatively easy to work with. If only his sister listened this well. He chuckled at the thought and set up sparring matches, pairing up the boys with a partner. As there were five boys, Masado took it upon himself to be the sparring partner of the eldest trainee.
"Don't worry, kid. You won't hurt me. Now, come at me." He said as he took a battle stance, shield in his left hand and sword in his right. The teen nervously took a battle stance of his own, shield up and sword at the ready. Masado smirked and gave a nod encouraging the boy to strike.
The boy took a few nervous breaths as the other four children sparred. You could hear metal clanging on metal as they used real swords and not wooden ones. However, the swords were capped at the tips so no one could accidentally stab their partner. The blades were still sharp, however, so it was possible to be cut if one wasn't careful.
The boy charged at Masado and slammed his sword straight down. A rookie mistake as Masado easily disarmed him with one swing of his blade. "Pathetic. Pick it up." The boy ran over to recover his sword, and this time charged at Masado from behind.
Again, the Rune Knight dodged and tripped the body with the flat side of his sword watching as the teen hit the dirt face first. "Again."
The training continued for hours, with sparring and exercise and various practice routines to prepare them to join the ranks of the military. All the boys were covered in sweat, though Masado barely seemed phased. They were just rookies, after all. After a few more military drills, Masado ordered the boys to clean up any mess created by their training. Once the park was pristine, he dismissed them and as they returned home Masado met up with the person that hired him and received his payment.
[WC 500/500]