Lucas next day woke up early in the morning when the sun hadn't even arrived at the horizon. First thing Lucas did was to go to the training ground.
To his surprise the training ground previously empty as a ghost town was now full of grown men training. Some were meditating, some were sparring, some were practicing sword techniques and some were having a brawl, fighting and grappling each other.
Not much attention being paid to him, Lucas was fascinated as he went around looking at the chaos around him. Some shouted for a man to win while some motivated the other man to break free of the lock he was in. The soldiers were so consumed by the brawl that they were incapable of paying attention to the sorrounding, let alone a small boy lurking around and observing them.
But after few minutes a young soldier pointed him out Infront of others. Seeing him the soldiers who were already informed about Lucas were pretty surprised and curious by seeing him in the training grounds. Lucas noticing the attention stood firmly in a military position and shouted.
"Good morning seniors!!, Lucas here reporting for duty"
The soldiers now with a smug grin put their hand on Lucas's shoulder and cheekily told him.
"I like your attitude boy but no need to be so formal, tell me something you got a decent frame for your age, do you know how to engage in brawl?"
Lucas hearing the soldier while relaxing his posture a little bit told him
"Only a little bit sir, my grandpa used to train me for fun "
The soldiers intrigued while raising their one eyebrow called out another boy maybe 2 year older than Lucas but still with the similar build. And after calling him the soldier instructed the boy to brawl with with Lucas and the boy without any hesitation nodded in every single sentence. After instructing the boy the soldier turned towards Lucas and told him.
"While you may be younger than him in age, but you two are very similar in your builds, and don't worry if you are injured there is a healer here, this is military son don't expect it to be easy as you imagine."
Lucas after hearing the his words still not loosing his iron resolve, with a fierce look in his eyes nodded and started to walk towards the brawling ground. Both the boys stood firmly Infront of each other. The boy who was Luca's opponent with a immoveable expression said to Lucas in a firm manner.
"Nice to meet you, I am Dante and I will be your opponent for today"
Lucas with a slight smile told Dante
"Hello, my name is Lucas and I will be your opponent Dante "
After the short introduction Dante rushed towards Lucas while putting his hand up in a grappling position, Lucas noticing Dante immediately also put his hand in a grappling position, while aiming for Dante's legs.
Both collided with each other both of them struggling for upper hand. But it was apperant that Lucas would eventually gain the upper hand as he was trying to throw Dante off balance. Dante noticing the trick immediately grabbed Lucas by his waist and while trying to find a stable footing tried to throw Lucas off balance as he was not strong enough to pickup Lucas from the ground totally.
It was a fight of brute strength, both of them pumped with adrenaline disregarding the sorrounding. The soldiers sorrounding them were cheering on shouting at the brawling boys.
One shouted, "Come on Dante!!, show that newbie who's the boss"
Another shouted, "Come on newbie!!, show'em what you are made of!!"
Each scream putting more pressure on the brawl, both Lucas and Dante locked in on each other. Both starting to get exhausted, both at their physical threshold but still pushing on. It was truely a battle of skill and endurance.
As Dante tried to throw Lucas off balance, Lucas putting in all his strength tried to lift off Dante. And while trying to lift Dante, his body's temperature suddenly started to warm up, his muscles felt like hot iron, bones like unbreakable steel, it simply felt incredible. And it wasn't just a feeling, his strength had suddenly increased too. The same Dante whom he was struggling to lift was now as light as a chicken for him.
But it wasn't only Lucas who felt it, the Date who was being lifted also suddenly felt something, something powerful within him.