Orion walks past Sherly and goes into the hut, gets the other wooden sword, and walks back out. Orion looks at Sherly and says, "Let's spar." The two jump at each other, and Sherly takes two hits and falls on her butt. She says, "Again, I am just not used to the wooden sword." So, they did. The sound of them sparring brought a crowd of dwarves. A lot of them thought it looked like a master with a kid who knew nothing of fighting.
The sparring happened a dozen more times before Sherly finally realized she could not use a sword as well as the mage. Sherly realized he was faster than her and more precise, and he barely moved, and when he did it was fluid like water, so smooth. Sherly looked at Orion with awe. She asks, "How are you so good with both the sword and magic?" Orion replies, "Training—years of practice and training." Sherly asks, "Will you train me?" Orion asks, "You know it won't be easy, and you will have to take oaths and learn magic?" To this Sherly asks, "What oaths?" Orion responds, "A sword mage is sworn to righteousness. His heart knows only kindness, his blade defends the weak and virtuous, his word is always true and is his bond. His wrath is only for removing evil."
Sherly and many dwarves hear this, and it causes many comments like, "How can you know if someone is righteous? How do you defend the virtuous and the weak? Their word is their bond? This is unheard of. No wonder why they went extinct." All the odd comments had Sherly's head spinning. She thought he is so good with both a sword and magic, but the oath… I have been a mercenary for years, taking money for every little job I could. How would he feel knowing I was just a mercenary for hire by anybody? Would he still want to train me? Would he trust my word? No wonder he can talk to officials like they are just normal people; he is real high society.
And the way he fights—it's so fast, and yet it looks so simply. Power and skills and ease of getting things. He has money and items that he pulls out of thin air like it's nothing, and he holds respect. And apparently, it's not an illusion. I mean the cottage and the bath and the mithril for the swords. It can't be an illusion. Sherly says, "I need time to think. The oath is much, and I have broken that already many times." Orion replies, "The oath is from the swearing on. We all have a past, and we all have done bad things. This is how we discern others' actions as right or wrong. You can't know evil if you have not done evil."
"Besides, to train to be a sword mage takes a lot of work and a lot of time. The oaths need to be there because with great power comes responsibility. Even without great power, we need to be responsible." Sherly looks at him and says, "I still need some time." Orion says, "I understand. Let's go inside and eat a meal." Sherly nods, and they head into the cottage. Orion heads to the kitchen, and Sherly heads to the bath. Orion cooks a meal of chicken curry and rice, eats his plate, and waits to take his turn for the bath. When Sherly is done, he takes his turn. After, he goes to bed.
The next morning Sherly wakes up early and goes outside to find two dwarves standing outside the cottage, looking like they were wanting to talk to Orion. When Orion came out with a cup of coffee in his hand, the first dwarf stepped forward and said, "I want to test my skills against a sword mage." Orion asks, "Do you use a sword, or are you wanting to use your hammer?" The dwarf laughs and says, "My hammer, of course." Orion laughs and says, "We end this with the first to fall. OK?" The dwarf laughs and says, "Of course."
They got in position and had Sherly say start. The two launched into action, and Orion didn't even use the wooden sword. Instead, he moved inside the dwarf's swing and hit him squarely in the middle of his chest, and the dwarf fell on his butt, winded. Orion offered him his hand and helped him up. The dwarf said, "You are so fast. I never saw you even move. I was sure that I had you, but you didn't even use that sword. You are truly a great warrior." Orion says, "Are you looking to learn and become my recruit?" The dwarf just shakes his head and says, "I wanted to see how I would fare in a battle against you. And I learned that I would not stand a chance!"
Orion turns to the second dwarf and asks, "What about you? Are you looking to spar?" The second dwarf backs away and says, "I just wanted to see if my brother could beat you." Orion laughs and says, "Spread the word that I am looking for an apprentice." As the two dwarves leave, Sherly says, "Train me. I will be your apprentice. I will swear the oaths, and I want to learn!" Orion says OK and starts by teaching her how to fight hand‑to‑hand with martial arts. He has her start with the first five stances and how to punch and move. He tells her to do each stance one hundred times.
He leaves and goes to the town market and buys fresh produce and meats, checks on the swords, and returns later that night. After putting away the food, he says to Sherly, "Watch the flow," and he goes through the five stances like it was a dance and says, "It's your turn." Sherly tries, and he corrects her mistakes. Orion then tells her to do it a hundred times, then he goes into the cottage and prepares a meal. As Sherly goes through the forms and feels the rhythm, she also notices the energy her movements generate.
She becomes fascinated with the feeling of how it seems to flow like a dance. He is song and dance, she muses—no wonder he is primal. This power is something different. She finds herself finishing and realizing why he has her repeating the stances one hundred times: it's for muscle memory.