The Self Evolver.

The boy finally arrived at the training ground. A large flat ground on the North side of the village and a couple of meters outside the forest in which various obstacles and equipment were located however today there were also a number of children, both boys and girls, who were currently gathered around in front of a few adults at the front most of being the chief himself who was currently in the middle of giving a speech.

“……..In order to be a warrior one must be disciplined which means arriving at the right time to train, isn’t that right Tuweryn?” he said as he glanced at the boy who had snuck himself to the back of the group.

Everyone turned only to see a panting who was currently stunned to suddenly becoming the centre of attention.

“Yes dad” Tuweryn replied while blushing in embarrassment. He had just been proud of himself for his stealth capabilities but now felt that he had simply been fooling himself.

“Good! Now with that being said, let’s begin with a few laps around the training ground”

*****5 years later******

Clang

Two weapons clashed releasing a shower of sparks that danced in the air like fireflies before vanishing leaving only the view of two people staring down at each other. One was a large muscular boy with arms as thick as the log of a tree standing at a height of 1.8 meters, wearing a metal plated vest armour over his regular woollen shirt and leather pants. The other was also a muscular boy however he was lean instead of large as his arms which normally should have been as large as his opponents had been instead compressed into a smaller sized arm made almost entirely of compressed and compacted muscle. One might think that the boy with the larger arms and visible muscles standing 0.2 meters taller than the 1.6-meter-tall lean boy would be much stronger than him but that wasn’t actually the case. In fact, in their current situation, the lean muscular boy could be seen actually pushing back the much larger boy who seemed to be struggling to withstand the force pushing him backwards.

Eventually he realized that it was futile and decided to instead leap backwards ending their little stare down.

The lean boy took advantage of this and leaped forward with his large axe in his right-hand slashing downwards diagonally with the aim of splitting his opponent into two slanted equal pieces. The large boy quickly raised the large axe in his right hand in order to block the attack but he soon realized his mistake as the lean boy’s boy was coming down with too much force for the large boy to block without suffering a broken wrist instead and so he quickly changed his tactic to parrying the attack instead but he had made the decision a bit too late, the axe head came crashing down on his own knocking it cleanly off his hand while also slashing through his metal vest armour leaving a large visible diagonal gash on the armour. The large boy was stunned by the events that had occurred in a only a few seconds and only the feeling of the sharp edge on his neck awoke him from his stunned state. He could see his axe lying a few meters away. He turned to see a smirking handsome boy looking at him with a smug look and irksome it was.

“Sigh…” the large boy sighed and smiled as he raised his hands in surrender “You win again Turyn.”

The lean boy, Turyn, lowered his axe in acknowledgement of his opponent’s defeat.

“No need to feel down Gunnar, I struggled much more this time than in our last duel. You have definitely improved” said Tuweryn with an encouraging smile.

“Yeah, yeah” said Gunnar however one could see that his mood and spirits were lifted.

“Well done! Well done!” shouted Chief Bjorn as he walked towards them alongside Harold, some villagers and the rest of the trainees their age who were also applauding and shouting from the incredible battle they had witnessed.

It had truly been a wonderful duel full of wits, skills and techniques that roused the blood of both the young and the old. They only pitied that it lasted a few minutes, but it was still incredible nonetheless and no one could be prouder than Chief Bjorn himself.

“That was truly an incredible fight, and I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks so, am I right!” he shouted at the end inciting the rest of the trainees and adults to roar out in respond showcasing their enjoyment quite fully.

“How about three cheers for our boy Gunnar Worgenston son of Hunnar Worgenston for a battle well fought.” Said Bjorn as he patted Gunnar shoulder in congratulations. He was truly a great fighter no one could deny it’s just that there was someone even more skilled than him but no one doubted that Gunnar was any less of a Viking and his father Hunnar’s happy smile was an acknowledgement of that fact.

“And now three cheers to winner of the duel and of the entire duelling competition, my son, Turyn Lothbrok the ninth!” Chief Bjorn shouted as he raised his son’s right hand in declaration of the winner.

Screams and cheers could be heard from all around as everyone celebrated the announcement of this year’s duelling champion. It was truly an exciting moment for Tuweryn as he glanced around at the cheers of his fellow trainees, his friend and rival Gunner and the various people of the village.

Chief Bjorn waited for a few minutes as he signalled for everyone around him to quiet down. Once quiet, he continued.

“Now to the good part, the winner’s prize.” He signalled to Harold who brought along with him three small carts covered with an opaque sheet.

Chief Bjorn walked towards the third cart and dragged towards a beautiful slim girl in a thin plated metal armour that covered her most of her body from her neck all the way to her feet on which were common Viking leather boots. The girl had beautiful blue eyes and lovely long brown hair which was tied up together with a cloth strap. Her hair extended all the way down to her mid back. The girl, who usually held a calm collected look, was now glancing at the cart and the chief in front of her in excitement.