The Brothers Tuerl & The Staffs of Zeus
Page 38
Chapter 37-Inner Penigma
The first couple weeks of training were brutal. Hours passed like years as the twins struggled to complete their grueling tasks. They soon found that Gregory’s early training was nothing compared to what he made them do now. After breakfast they would wake up and do what Gregory called “warm-up exercises”, but they were nothing like the warm-ups they used to do at school. Instead they consisted of the two brothers packing a railroad tie on their shoulders as they ran down a beaten path which had magically appeared outside the castle grounds. During their “morning jog” as Gregory called it, they would have to lift this tie back and forth between shoulders continuously. André said they were training as Spartans used to train back in ancient times.
Once they finished and were exhausted from their “jog”, they would work on dead lifting an enormous clay vase filled with sand. It took days of both of them trying to lift it together before they began to make any progress. After that, one would lie on his back and the other would lie on top of the other, and they would link hands and would bench press each other until their arms could hardly support each other anymore. After they had done these vicious exercises, they would go for another agonizing “jog” before they ate lunch. Their food no longer consisted of the delicious food of modern days; instead it consisted of the diet of what a Greek man would have eaten. Cheese, meat, and fruit made up the majority of their now meager choice in food.
After eating lunch, they would go back out onto the lawn and begin working on swordplay. Neither Brown nor Alexander returned over the next few weeks, although Harold returned every so often to help Gregory train them in the morning, and the other Knights came and went at certain intervals. Worry grew in all, at the unexplained absence of Reggie and Alex, but the twins training didn’t stop; instead, it just seemed to grow tougher and tougher. Their swordplay advanced from mere footwork to the two of them sparring with both Nigellus, who was extremely nimble even in his old age, and their father who was said to be unmatched in the art of the sword.
Soon it became apparent that Idus’ training in warfare would need to differ from Irgen’s. Nigellus began to teach him how to wield a large wooden club effectively. Something that represented the large battle-axe he hoped to use one day, but as their training continued, they noticed they were still bereft of a weapon and how to get one, they did not know. Xenophon’s instructions only spoke of staffs and said nothing at all about weapons.
One day the twins decided it was time they ask their father when they would get a weapon of their own. After asking, he looked meditatively at the two of them before responding:
“Most conjurers receive their weapons after it has been determined what they are most apt to using, but these weapons are made by mages and as such have flaws. Alecto may have been able to create weapons comparable to the ones the gods forged, but we unfortunately cannot. Our weapons lack potency. We create them, but the spells we put on them, giving them their own magical qualities are somewhat lacking, even then, our forging techniques and the metals we use are not up to the same quality as those the gods used.
I have not given you weapons yet, in the hope that we will somehow stumble upon the old weapons of Irgen and Idus. They have been lost for centuries, ever since that great battle of old. I think they were lost for a purpose, and they are only waiting for the two of you to discover them. Find them, and you will no longer be weaponless, but until then you must forgive me. I will not give you lackluster weapons unless I have no other choice.”
From that moment on, the brothers began searching for the brother’s old weapons, but they could hardly find any time to search for them, their vigorous training kept them from doing just about anything but train, eat, and sleep.
After swordplay, Marius would take them and they would work on their conjuring skills. This was the shortest and yet hardest part of the day. They found the tasks Nigellus gave them took an enormous toll on their strength and energy. It did not take long for their strength to be taxed away in its entirety during their few moments of training.
After this training, they would take a break for dinner, and then Thomas and their mother would begin their book studies with them. Here they began language study, delving deep into different words and how you could use them creatively to make magic. During this part of the day, the twins found it extremely difficult to be able to learn anything. Their tired bodies only desired to sleep, and oftentimes that was what they got, only to be awakened by a quick shout, but after a couple of weeks the two of them learned how to cleverly fall asleep with their eyes open. They learned to focus on one little spot, without blinking until they fell asleep, but once again this only lasted for a time before their mother would get suspicious and awake them.
This was their training. It went on like this, until days began to turn into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The only thing which kept them hanging on was what Xenophon had said: this was what they needed to do. Every Sunday the brothers got some time off for a bit of “rest”, although they never truly became rested, but whatever their condition the training went on like this, until nearly a half of a year passed, at which time the brothers bodies began to adjust to the new hardships they had been thrust under.
They began to get bigger, not only height wise, but also in terms of strength. Their shoulders grew broader, biceps began to bulge, chests began to be thrust forward, and abs became cut, they were becoming two iron machines. It was then at this time that, the brothers decided it was time to discover the entrances to the other towers. They figured that it was there that they stood the best chance of finding the Brothers’ weapons.