The next day was a painful one, not just for Sam who lay half buried underneath a still sleeping raider but for everyone in the hall who had woken up. The drinking contest had apparently awoken the spark for contest between everyone, people paired up and began downing mug after mug of ale, after a few hours they began dropping like flies and the raider currently laying on Sam fell from losing the contest against Ethan who currently was propped up against the wall still sleeping away.

A sudden commotion came from the middle of the hall and a table was thrown to the side as two shadows rose up and stood facing each other. Thomas was swaying slightly while Scott seemed to be having trouble focusing on Thomas. Eventually they raised both raised a hand and shook like two gentlemen agreeing on a particularly good deal.

"Well fought Scott" Thomas managed to say "You have not changed a bit"

"The same to you" Scott replied "Still tougher than the armour you wear"

Suddenly they both fell backwards, the halls echoing from the sound of them hitting the floor. A small figure detached herself from the shadows and moved over to the two of them.

"You always go too far" Ceri whispered gently before slowly pulling him out of the mess.

Sam slowly watched her pull Thomas across the floor, making sure to keep his head still and follow with his eyes. Her strength must be great if she can pull a man like Thomas in full armour across the floor.

"I can tell you are awake" Ceri called across the room, her eyes looking directly at Sam "No need to try and hide it"

Freezing up Sam watched in fear as she walked over.

"Let me help you with this" She almost giggled and easily pulled the raider off Sam.

"I uh... thank you?" He started before Ceri turned walking back over to Thomas

"No need, you are one of us now and today is going to be a rough day" Ceri replied, hefting one of Thomas's arms over her shoulder and carrying him up the stairs. "You have a lot of training today and Thomas is in charge of most of it so rest while you can"

Silence was the only thing left as Sam just stood in the aftermath of his first feast with the Champions.

"Training?" He mused "Why do I need training?"

A couple hours later

Sam hit the floor again, his arms screaming in pain from the sudden impact.

"You're dead again" Thomas almost cackled, taking up a relaxed stance "You need to move faster against bigger opponents"

This had been the routine for the past hour, before that Sam had been against Ethan when it was a fair fight due to their similar build resulting in a mix of wins and losses. Feeling confident due to his smaller build that Thomas, Sam had thought he could easily beat the larger man but now he was paying for his assumption.

The first fight had ended before Sam could even process what had happened. The second one had ended just as quickly but Sam now had an idea how fast Thomas could move and it was at startling speeds, landing jabs, uppercuts and crosses at speeds Sam would think only a Samurai or a Peacekeeper could achieve.

"How do you move so fast?" Sam spat, his helmet feeling hot and sticky due to the sweat and blood pouring from his head.

"Lots of training against Ceri and Ethan" He chuckled "Ethan was going easy on you to gain an idea how strong and fast you were. I will not give you the same treatment"

That stung Sam's pride knowing that Ethan had been holding back that entire time and simply assessing his strength.

"And what did you learn about me?" Sam gasped for air as he pulled his helmet of his head, his brown hair sticking to his head.

"That while you are a master sword fighter you don't know squat for hand to hand combat" Thomas smiled "And that is why you could not hold your own over those two men, they used both their arms and legs to attack you not just their weapons"

Thinking back Sam could not help but agree, during the fight whenever he had the advantage over one of them they would employ sudden kicks, shoves and punches to disorientate Sam and bring it back into their favour.

"Guess I have been fighting old school this entire time?" Sam said bitterly "Is there no honor left?"

"There is honor left and honor to be found in hand to hand combat" Thomas easily replied "You have just been fighting with a handi-cap this entire time"

"Yeah and it is apparently evident enough for people to take advantage of" Sam retorted.

"Well that is what training is for" Thomas patted him on the back "Me, Ethan and Ceri will show you a few simple techniques on how to fight with hand to hand combat but if you want to master it you will need to ask one of the Vikings"

"Why the Vikings?" Sam looked over to Thomas confused.

"Because they are the masters at hand to hand combat" Thomas grimaced "Even I have trouble beating them as their entire fighting style is based around hand to hand combat"

The thought of Thomas having trouble beating them filled Sam with horror, there was no way in hell he could beat them in a straight up fight. Apparently Thomas caught the look and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"There is a very easy trick to beating the Vikings so no worries" Thomas chuckled walking away and taking up his combat stance once again.

"What is that?" Sam asked drying his face and fastening his helmet on his head.

"They are very easy to taunt and trick into leaving openings" Thomas laughed heartily "Now come at me, if you want to survive this training is essential"

Taking up his position Sam could only complain inside his head instead of voice his thoughts.

"Today is going to be a long day"