The training grounds were now located on the northern edge of the settlement, a wide clearing that had been deliberately flattened and reinforced with earth manipulation. Weapon racks lined one side, filled with practice weapons of various types—wooden swords, blunted spears, padded maces, and training axes of different sizes. Training dummies stood at attention along the far edge, many of them already bearing the scars of countless practice sessions, their straw stuffing exposed where particularly enthusiastic strikes had torn through the canvas covering.
Despite the early hour—dawn was still at least thirty minutes away, the sky just beginning to lighten from black to deep purple at the eastern horizon—the training grounds weren't empty.
