I know already that you can improve your skill in magic by spamming spells as you travel, improve alchemy by making potions from food, likewise you can improve your athletics and acrobatics simply going from place to place (swimming/running and jumping), but what about weapons? Can you improve your weapons skills by using the targets and dummies you find around the Fighters' Guildhouses and in dungeons? I fired off 30 arrows (all I had) at a target and didn't get a damn thing. :swear: Is it a waste of time, or had I simply not done it long enough? I hope it's the latter; I'll be pretty put out to find that I broke 15 steel arrows for nothing.

You have to hit a living creature to increase your level in weapon skills.

Living creature includes summoned ones, so you still do have the same opportunity as a mage. Even for magic, all spells need a real target before they'll count, but there's always something you can cast on yourself. Self-flagellation with a battleaxe is hard to make appropriate animations for, so they didn't put that in the game.

Personally, I like killing Everscamps. They're really entertaining. You might want to think about that for leveling your weapon and armor skills fast.

Without mods, none of the training targets can be used for training skills. However, Battlehorn Castle included a sparring partner (not sure if there's anything to train archery), or you can turn up the difficulty a little, and use low quality gear. The latter is more along the lines of an in-game exploit, like running and jumping everywhere or spamming spells.