I practiced with the staff for the next couple of days, and was getting pretty good at it. The bullying also continued, but their glares had changed; for some reason, they were beginning to look hostile. Sid had a few practice matches with me; she liked to use a wooden sword and a shield, and, for my comfort, she had face protection. She had a very logical fighting style; she simply defended with the shield and attacked with the sword.

  One of our matches was beginning. I jabbed it at her face, which was protected by a metal mask. She ducked and raised her shield to block the stick, which was now coming down, as she taught me to do after performing a jab. Then she poked me in the stomach; she won.

  Then she said, “If your opponent gets too close, jump back while trying to bludgeon them, then get back into position.” I nodded, and we started another match.

  Then, later that week, it was announced to us all that we would be having practice matches with each other; the knights had taught us enough, I was excited, I felt I could hold my own.

  When the time for the practice matches came, I brought my staff to the training ground. We were all given leather armor. Looking around, I wasn't the only one who stopped using a sword as my primary weapon. I saw a couple of maces, some spears, while others used hammers or hatchets. Though most of them kept using swords. The kind of swords they used varied; some used long swords while some used huge swords called Claymores, Zweih?nders, or Montantes. While others chose short swords. And others started duel-wielding. All these weapons were either blunted or made of wood, of course. A few fought bare-handed or with just a shield. Watching their matches, I noticed that the ones without weapons would depend on wind spells.

  Then it was my turn. While getting into position, I noticed some of the other heroes giving us cold, calculating looks. I was against Merlin. He had two swords, one was a normal one-handed sword, and the other was a dagger with a hooded guard.

  We faced each other, and the knight watching over the match counted down. The rules were simple: first to hit wins. Then the match began. He charged straight at me. I sent a jab at him; he dodged, but he didn't know that now I would swing my staff down. I attempted to do so, but he somehow blocked it. I had to jump back before he closed the distance. I looked at him, confused. Merlin smirked and said, “You thought this was a normal dagger? Look at it, doesn't it look like it’s made for defence? It’s called a parrying dagger.” He fights like Sid, one weapon focused on defence, while the other offense. But fortunately, I have experience fighting this style against Sid.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  He then charged at me. I again jabbed at him, he dodged again, and I again swung my staff down. He blocked it again, and I jumped back and swung my staff to my left toward his sword hand, where his defence is weaker. The blow was strong enough to make his sword hit his head hard. He kept charging at me, but with his sword busy, right now, Sid would try to shove me back with her shield to restart the fight. I should be ok, then I felt a poke on my stomach. I forgot that I was dealing with a dagger instead of a shield. The knight then said, “Victory goes to Liam.” Merlin tried to fight this, but the knight said to him, “Don't be upset, if this were a real fight, you would have won, but it's a practice match.” This seemed to calm Merlin down.

  But the knight was right, I won the match but lost the fight. I needed to get better. The next day, Sid showed up to train me, but she didn't have her normal shield; instead, she had a parrying dagger where her shield was normally. She caught me staring and said, “You obviously need practice against this, so I brought it, ready?” But before we began, I asked, “How will knowing all this help me defeat the dark dragon?”

  She looked at me and said, “You weren't paying attention when King Zephyr told you the prophecy huh, or maybe you missed it. Think about his wording, one from another world will defeat the dark dragon and gain fame and fortune. What does that imply about everyone else?” I looked at her, shocked, feeling my stomach drop, and my blood go cold. I then replied, “That the rest won't?” She nodded, then said, “Dragons aren't your only enemy. I’m sure some of the others have already figured it out. They may try to kill you to make it more likely that they will be the one to kill the dark dragon. You need to know how to defend yourself. So let's practice, and get you familiar with more weapons.”

  I then picked up my staff. It no longer felt like a tool for a quest. It felt like the only thing standing between me and the people I had to call my allies.