Chapter 332 - Spreading the Gospel

Clap Clap Clap.

Reivyn kept the rhythm with the timing of his claps. He walked around the training grounds as the soldiers he recruited to delve with him to the Skill Dungeon clacked their swords to his claps. Sweat streamed down their faces as they concentrated on their sparring partners while paying attention to the artificial metronome Reivyn provided them.

One side performed the maneuvers while the other acted as opposition. They would switch places every now and then so everyone could practice the lesson Reivyn was giving them.

“Bring your opponent into your rhythm,” Reivyn said. “This is your performance. You dictate the flow. Bring them into your pace.”

He weaved his way back and forth between the four sparring partners.One of the soldiers participating in the exercise wouldn’t be able to go with this Party specifically due to the restriction of only being able to take eight people in a Party, but he was part of one of one of the other batches led by Refix, so it worked out in the end.

Reivyn watched their movements carefully, giving minor adjustments with a projected whisper here and there.

“Once they’re in your pace, you have control,” he continued. “Now’s the time to strike. Speed things up randomly. Syncopate your movements. Add unpredictability to your orchestration.”

Clap-clap Clap-clap Clap-clap.

Reivyn punctuated his instruction with added minor claps in between the main punctuation. The soldiers added additional attacks to their flow, whether in the form of faster sword slashes or punches or kicks. There were innumerable ways to throw their opponent off after seizing control of the pace.

Reivyn sped up his clapping, and the soldiers followed along with an increase in the pace. He continued to slowly ramp up the pace until the soldiers could no longer keep up before calling for the pairs to switch rolls.

It might seem like a simple, obvious exercise, but Reivyn found that many people grew too focused on mastering the weapon strikes and stances while ignoring the auxiliary details. Everyone who heard Reivyn’s lesson understood it was common sense, but putting into practice required actual practice. Some of them were surprised at the difficulty of implementing a simple rhythm to their battles despite how obvious the tactic was.

Someone could understand every facet possible about something, but if they didn’t have the muscle memory associated with it ingrained into the unconscious, they wouldn’t be able to perform at peak performance no matter how deep their understanding. Reivyn recognized this flaw and sought to exercise as many alternate aspects of fighting other than the simple mastery of the weapon itself.

“Athleticism, Balance, Dancing, Rhythm, Spatial Awareness… it’s not just Sword Mastery that you need to overcome your opponent,” Reivyn called out as the soldiers continued to clash their weapons. “Two opponents equally matched in their main weapons’ Skills, the one who’s practiced these other Skills to a higher degree will win nine times out of ten.

“And those are just the attack Skills. You can’t neglect your Armor and Shield Skills. Dodge, Evasion, Parry, these are all Skills to counteract the aggression of your opponent while leveraging your other Skills to seize the initiative.

“Who controls the pace, the one who controls the flow and timing of the fight, is the victor.”

That wasn’t always 100% true, as there were special situations and mistakes that could seized upon. Reivyn had been in more than one situation where he capitalized on specific situations to turn things around, but that could also be interpreted as seizing the initiative itself. It was just orders of magnitude more difficult when one allowed themself to be drawn into their opponent’s rhythm.

The same principles for individual fighting also applied to organized combat, as well. Reivyn realized that his tactics and maneuvers over the years had been ploys to gain the initiative and dictate the battlefield.

“Setting the pace isn’t only about being faster than your opponent,” Reivyn instructed. “Feints, stance changes, positioning are all things you can utilize to break up your enemy’s concentration and bring him into your influence. If they’re weaker than you, hit them with hard strength. If they’re stronger than you, meet them with soft resistance. If they’re faster than you, restrict their movements. If they’re slower than you, outmaneuver them.”

As Reivyn called out different strategies to deal with different situations, he instructed the soldiers to follow along. For the slower, more hardy soldiers, he pushed them closer to their opponents and had them hammer their opponents with unrelenting blows. For the more agile soldiers, he had them use their parry’s, block, and dodges to guide the enemy into unfavorable positions while keeping out of reach of their more devastating strikes.

He saw marked improvement among the soldiers over the course of the hours-long training session. He didn’t let them take any breaks, and he worked them until their legs were wobbling and their arms could barely hold their weapons up. When the final pair finally collapsed under the exhaustion of their sparring match, Reivyn finally called a halt to the training.

“Excellent work today,” Reivyn intoned, standing straight with his arms folded behind his back. He stood ramrod straight with his chest out, releasing a bit of his Heroic Aura. The exhausted soldiers perked up a bit under his gaze and struggled to their feet to listen to him respectfully. “Get a good rest this evening, and we’ll continue again tomorrow. We have about a month to work on some of your secondary Skills and teamwork before we make our delve.”

One of the soldiers held his hand up tentatively. Reivyn nodded at the man, indicating for him to ask his question.

“Are we going to train with this level of intensity everyday?” He asked.

Reivyn looked at the faces of all the soldiers. They all had the same expressions on their faces. It was a mix of horror, dread, and anticipation. It was a weird emotion they were showing. They appeared to simultaneously be reluctant yet eager.

Reivyn nodded his head once more.

“Let me ask you a question,” he replied. “What’s your Stamina at right now?”

The soldier’s eyes briefly focused on something Reivyn couldn’t see before he answered.

“I’m at 18%.”

“Have any of you watched my mercenaries train?” He looked around, and all of the soldiers nodded their heads. “Well, if you’ll pay attention, you’ll notice that they don’t start training until they’re almost as tired as you are now.”

The soldiers’ eyes bugged out of their heads at the statement. They had only really been paying attention to the actual training that took place on the training grounds, not really paying too much attention to all the running and exercise the mercenaries performed beforehand. They had simply dismissed it as calisthenics to warm up, not really noticing the extent to which the mercenaries pushed their bodies.

“I’m sure you’ve heard whispers of new training methods reaching the various militaries,” Reivyn asked a leading question.

One soldier raised his hand.

“I’ve heard some things, but I the details aren’t clear,” he said.

“The knowledge is spreading as we travel to more and more Regions, but training with depleted Stamina isn’t for nothing. The more you push your body, the more you can push your body. You’re all falling over at 17 to 18% Stamina while my mercenaries can perform at peak performance almost to 10% Stamina.”

Looks of understanding came across the mens’ faces. Reivyn noticed one soldier elbowing another one and sharing a quick whisper with each other.

“What’s that?” Reivyn called them out. The other soldiers turned to the two. They had a sheepish expression at the attention, but the one who initiated the whispering answered.

“I was just saying, sir, that I’ve heard legends of such elite soldiers before, but I couldn’t really remember from where. I was asking my buddy if he remembered.”

Reivyn directed his gaze to the other soldier.

“Ugh, yessir, some of the older soldiers would sometimes mention how there was an empire that had the fiercest warriors somewhere far, far away. We always assumed it was just them blowing smoke - you know how it is - but with this information, maybe their’s something more to their myths and legends.

“Anyway, I believe it was some place called Verndeh- Voondeh- Vinndeh-something…”

“Vynndin?” Reivyn supplied, taken aback by the sudden mention of his parents’ homeland.

The soldier snapped his fingers and grinned.

“That’s it, sir! Have you heard of it, too? Too bad they supposedly tore themselves apart in civil war a couple decades ago, if the rumors are true, that is.”

“Huh, interesting,” Reivyn muttered to himself, stroking his chin. “My father’s the one who taught me this method - and it’s not a secret I’m keeping or anything, it’s just never come up before - but my parents are from Vynndin.” Reivyn shrugged his shoulders. “And yes, they did fall to civil war.”

“Oh… sorry for bringing it up,” the soldier’s face fell. The others shot the two soldiers who brought the subject up daggers.

Reivyn waved them off with a chuckle.

“No need for that,” Reivyn said. “I told you, my parents are from there. I’ve never been. I was born outside the empire, long after the damage had been done.”

“Umm, with that in mind, do you think there are remnants out there that might get mad that you’re spreading their secrets and come after you?” One of the soldiers asked.

Reivyn laughed.

“No, I don’t think I’ll get in trouble.” He didn’t elaborate further. “Anyway, go, get rest. Be here same time tomorrow. I’ll whip you all into shape as much as I can for our Skill Dungeon Delve.”

“Yes, sir!” The men had recovered enough to easily snap to attention and offer a salute. They performed the moves with precision, but they still hobbled off the training grounds as they hadn’t recovered that much Stamina.

Reivyn stared off into the distance for a moment, not really seeing anything in front of him, lost in thought.

I wonder what life would have been like… Reivyn contemplated. Well, probably nothing special for me. I mean, from what mom and dad have said, I don’t think they would have gotten together if they hadn’t been forced to flee together. I guess that’s one thing I can thank that Masked Man for, though it feels weird to give him credit for anything positive for what he did.

Reivyn shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was no reason to dwell on a past that was impossible. The things had already happened, and he could only move forward. Plus, it was true that he might never have been born if not for the tragedy. Maybe it would have been him in some other body, who knows? That’s some existential philosophy for another time, but he still wouldn’t be him.

Reivyn had never been one to have his thoughts spiral out of control, and he quickly mastered his mind and threw the whole topic out of his head. He whistled a merry tune as he made his way to the mess hall to grab a bite to eat before washing up and joining Kefira for the evening.

—

The days passed quickly. The war with the invaders was still being waged in the lowlands, and Reivyn still paid attention to the goings on, but he didn’t spend days atop the mountain staring down at the landscape with his responsibilities bringing the soldiers up to par with his standards. He pushed them a little harder each day, slowly extending the duration they could hold themselves up in a fight. It was slow going, and they wouldn’t be catching up to his mercenaries, much less him and his dad, any time soon, but every marginal improvement was welcome.

The first week was spent entirely on shoring up weaknesses in supplemental Skills and working on Stamina. After the first week, Reivyn broke it up with teamwork practice. They were soldiers in the same outfit if not the same squads, so they quickly adapted to each other. Reivyn just needed to tweak their instincts to match more closely with how he fought and directed them.

The other Party members leading their own squads were doing the same thing, and after the second week, they took turns sparring against each other as Parties. There was a bit of a competitive air to the activities, but the point wasn’t to win the fights. Reivyn and the others steered their squads into paying attention to their own maneuvers and tactics as much as possible, though a little comparing was inevitable. It wasn’t exactly fair, though, as Reivyn had the first pick, so his talent was a bit better stacked than the others. The difference wasn’t overwhelming, but it was noticeable.

Morale was high among Reivyn’s chosen soldiers, and Reivyn had a great time training with them. He had been so focused on larger issues and larger units that he had almost forgotten the camaraderie that a small unit could experience. The soldiers became friends outside their units and formed a bond with each other. It wasn’t anything as deep as one formed from fighting for ones’ lives side-by-side, but it there was a bit of shared hardship in the equation. Reivyn was relentless when it came to training their Stamina.

The war with the invaders didn’t change much over the time Reivyn trained the soldiers, so he was confident he would be able to take the secondary squad with him the next month, too. The war of attrition continued apace as Reivyn suspected. Unless there was a change in their enemy’s timeline, they would just hold out like this until the end. Despite their rear being cutoff, they had enough men and supplies to last at least that long.

Maybe we can encourage more aggression from our side, Reivyn thought. The Skill Dungeon is a resource I’m very happy to have access to, but I’d also like for the mercenaries to get some real experience on this deployment.

Reivyn continued to meet with the commanding general occasionally. He also met with his own officers, though he mostly left them to their own devices. They were performing to his standard, and he didn’t want to micromanage them. It was better to just not pay too much attention to them, lest he would want to wrest responsibility away from the captain. That wouldn’t be fair to the man, so he kept busy elsewhere.

The days ticked by and it was soon time to delve the Skill Dungeon once more, this time with a completely new Party. It would be the first time Reivyn delved a Dungeon with a completely fresh Party in a long, long time.