Xarus watched patiently as the other students looked through and chose their weapons.

  After he had introduced himself as their teacher, Mr Garris snapped his fingers and suddenly weapon racks appeared out of nowhere hovering in thin air. It was a surreal sight, there was no noise or any visual effects, one minute there was an empty field and the next it was full of weapons.

  As expected most of the students were caught off guard by the sudden magic, blurting out comments such as “Woah! How did he do that?" "teleport magic?” or “is that floating magic? Or something else?”.

  When asked such questions directly Mr Garris waved his students off saying “You all have the first 30 minutes of this lesson to choose a weapon, afterwards we'll begin the actual lesson” he yawned loudly “If you have questions come ask me quietly” he snapped his fingers again and this time a comfortable looking armchair appeared, he flopped lazily onto the chair and started scrolling through his phone.

  It was clear that he had no intention to say anything else so the whole class, besides Xarus and Ranni who already had their own weapons, headed over to pick a weapon from the weapon racks.

  Most people like Axel and Hayden already knew what they wanted and were able to choose their weapons immediately, and were currently testing if the weight and size suited them, the rest, like Sarah, who had no idea what weapon would work for them were busy trying out various weapons.

  Xarus jabbed his sword into the ground behind him and leaned his back on it “so, what is your weapon?” he asked the crimson girl standing beside him.

  She glanced at him “... It’s a staff”

  Xarus: “oh? I don’t know how to use a staff” he admitted with a shrug

  She turned to face him “Why would you? You have a sword” she said, staring at the sword he was leaning on.

  Xarus: “well It’s not like I can only use swords”

  Ranni: “Really? What's the other?”

  Xarus: "Others" he corrected, he held out his hand and started counting them off on his fingers “Twinblade, chains, cards, guns, knives… well it should count towards knives anyway, and if you count my hands and feet as one then that makes 7 in total”

  She narrowed her eyes suspiciously “That's a lot of different weapons! You expect me to believe you know how to use all of those? Chains and cards aren't even weapons…”

  He cringed nervously “Well I’m kinda self taught with all of those weapons, except the twinblade, and chains and cards can be seriously scary in the right hands” he winced as he recalled bad memories.

  Ranni: “So in other words, you weren't actually taught to wield swords or knives or any of the stuff you mentioned”

  Xarus: “Nah, besides the twinblade the rest I just picked up from watching people and such”

  Ranni: “So you actually suck? She asked rudely

  Xarus: “?!? How'd you come to that conclusion?”

  She scoffed “it seems like the logical conclusion to come too, unless you’re one of those geniuses” she looked away from him “are you a genius?”

  Xarus sighed "Definitely not, but regardless I don’t think my skills are completely unreliable” he stood up straight, yanking out of the ground along with some grass and dirt, he placed the weapon over his shoulder “They’ve gotten me this far at least” he mumbled.

  Ranni: "Where are you going?” she asked, curious by his sudden actions.

  He stuck his thumb out towards Sarah “I’m gonna go help her find something, she looks a little... lost”

  Ranni followed his thumb towards Sarah who was currently wielding a whip, she struck the ground but it bounced upwards and struck her on the forehead with a loud crack followed by her yelling out a “OUCH!”, the students nearest to her nervously backed away.

  Ranni: “Yikes” she looked over towards Hayden and Axel who were busy comparing their swords “I’ll go talk to Ax- Hayden, I’ll talk to Hayden” she said, rushing towards the two boys.

  Sarah was still holding the whip but she was too busy rubbing where it smacked her to use it again “hey” his sudden greeting startled her, she spun around so fast the whip lashed straight towards Xarus’s face with frightening speed.

  He lazily raised his hand up and caught the whip before it could smack him across the face, an awkward silence passed between them.

  Sarah: “...”

  Xarus: “...”

  Xarus: “Um… Sorry I didn’t mean to make you jump…”

  Sarah: “I’m the one that should be sorry… I nearly took off your face” she said guilty

  Xarus: “I doubt that would’ve happened… but anyway, that whip…”

  Sarah: “Yea I know, I know, It’s not working is it” she placed the whip back on the weapon rack, besides her there was only one other student who had picked up a whip and they clearly had experience with it.

  Xarus: “Having a hard time finding a weapon, huh?” he asked, stabbing his sword into the ground.

  Sarah: “Yea… Before this whip I tried out a sword and this weird stick thingy with a spiked ball hanging by a chain”

  Xarus: “A flail?”

  Sarah: “Oh Yea! I think that’s what it was” she stared at the sword embedded in the ground “Is it alright to do that? I thought doing stuff like that damages swords?”

  Xarus: “Oh… you’re not wrong, but is super tough so this is fine, and carrying it around without the sheath gets awkward” he sighed “I really need to get a new one but this sword is just too particular for any random sheath to work”

  Sarah: “Right…” she picked up a mace from one of the weapon racks “This is similar to the flail from before” she swung it downwards but the momentum carried it out of her hands and straight into the ground, kicking up dirt and creating a small crater, “uh… whoops” she laughed awkwardly “that’s a little heavier than I thought”

  Xarus: “I can see that,” he crouched down and picked up the mace “Maybe not this one either” he said, returning the mace from where she got it from.

  Xarus looked at Sarah, quietly assessing her, “maybe this…” he said quietly, walking down a few racks and picking up a spear, it was a light spear that was about 2.5 metres in length. satisfied with the weight and size he returned to Sarah who had picked up some daggers, “No, that really won’t work for you”

  Sarah: “Huh? Why not?”

  Xarus: “too close quarters, and I saw the other day how little skill you have in those situations" he said causally, handing her the spear “try this”

  She looked irritated by what he said, but she didn’t refute him. With a sigh she exchanged the daggers for the spear.

  She gripped the spear with both hands and clumsily thrust it forward, Sarah was facing away from him but Xarus still retreated a few steps to give her room to test the weapon, after thrusting she swung the spear in an arc from the left, then tried bringing it down in an overhead strike. holding the spear out Infront of her, she inspected it curiously “Well this is easier to use than the whip and the mace” she remarked.

  Xarus: “But you don’t like it?” he guessed

  She shifted awkwardly “I appreciate your help but the jabbing feels weird” she thrust the spear again to prove her point, her wrist wobbled causing the spear to shake unnecessarily, she was only demonstrating but if she had an actual target it would of amounted to a clumsy prod rather than a precise stab.

  Sarah: “Although I don’t mind the swinging, maybe if I just ignore stabbing and thrusting it will be fine?” she thought aloud, placing her hand on her chin and gazing at the sky thoughtfully.

  Xarus: “You shouldn’t use a spear then, swinging attacks are viable but… still they're designed as thrusting weapons, it would be like using a shirt to clean up a spill, I mean it works and people do it, but it’s not what’s it meant to be used for”

  Sarah: “weird analogy but that makes sense” she sighed “back to the drawing board I guess”

  Xarus: “Hm… how do you feel about the reach?”

  Sarah: “Sorry?” she asked, not understanding what he meant.

  Xarus: “Uh, the length of the spear”

  Sarah: “Oh! Right, I didn’t really mind it but it did feel a bit long”

  Xarus: “I see” he took the spear from her and put it back where he got it from -So the spear was a bit long for her… she wasn’t good at thrusting but was at least okay with swinging, based on all that, what might work for her?- his eyes drifted to a weapon rack that was 3 racks down from the spear rack -oh? Maybe that?- he walked towards the weapon rack, inspecting the weapons closely. The rack held two handed hammers that were of decent size, not as long as the spear was but still long enough to give someone a reach advantage against most weapons, and the weight and force of the weapon would be able to crush through tough defences.

  -It’s probably going to be too heavy for her to use properly at the beginning though- he scratched the back of his head -Might as well get her to try it- he grabbed one of the hammers and headed back to her.

  Xarus: “Hey what about this?” he said, throwing the hammer towards her.

  Sarah: “Woah! Hey!” she yelled out as she barely managed the catch it “That’s heavy”

  Xarus: “Uh… sorry… Habit” he laughed nervously

  Sarah: “It’s a hammer?” she gripped it with both hands “It’s heavy”

  Xarus: “Yea you’ll need to get a tad bit stronger before you can actually do anything with it”

  Sarah: “Hey! I can lift it fine, see?” she said, slightly offended by his comment

  Xarus: “I meant in regards to fighting with it, you’ll find it will wear you out quickly”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Sarah: “Gee, ye of little faith” she rolled her eyes “but why’d you give it to me if you think I can’t use it? You’re not doing this just to see me make a fool of myself are you?”

  Xarus: “you were already doing that by yourself with the whip”

  Sarah: “...”

  Xarus: “...”

  Sarah: “point taken” she said, raising the hammer behind her shoulder and then swinging it downwards, barely stopping the hammer before it smashed into the ground.

  Sarah: “Ah! Nearly repeated what I did with the mace” she laughed nervously

  Xarus: “Try swinging it from the side”

  She did as she was told and swung the hammer from the right, she stumbled a bit but was able to maintain her balance.

  Sarah: “Woah, the weight is hard to get used too”

  Xarus: “yea you’ll need to work out a bit before you can actually start training with it” he sighed, tilting his head to the side and shutting his eyes “Maybe we should find you something lighter…”

  Sarah: “...” she stared at the hammer in silence, clearly deep in thought, after a few moments she readjusted her grip on the hammer and started swinging it again, she still stumbled when she swung from the side but she was able to steady herself faster than the first time.

  Sarah: “You know what? I kinda like it”

  Xarus: “You do?” he asked, genuinely surprised “isn't it too heavy?”

  Sarah: “It is, but like you said, I just need to work out a bit right?”

  Xarus: “sure after a week or two the weight shouldn’t be an issue, but learning to use the hammer will take longer”

  Sarah: “That's a given, But I think I’ll take this regardless, I can always change later” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

  Xarus: “as long as you’re happy… ” his voice trailed off as the sounds of weapons clashing caught his attention.

  Sarah: “Is that Hayden and Axel?”

  Xarus: “Looks like”

  Not too far away from Xarus and Sarah, the class had gathered around Axel and Hayden, enclosing them in a circle, the spectators excitedly watched them swipe and slash at each other, making bets amongst themselves about who the winner would be.

  Sarah watched them, confused “why are they fighting?” she asked Xarus.

  Xarus: “I’ve been with you this entire time so I don’t know why you’d think I'd know”

  Sarah: “Ah right…” she replied slightly embarrassed

  Xarus silently scanned the crowd until he found the crimson haired girl he was looking for “let’s go ask her” he said pointing towards Ranni.

  She looked to who he was pointing at “Ah, sure” she said, realising who it was. They made their way over to her. although she was at the front of the crowd, only their class was on the field so it wasn't exactly crowded, and thus reaching Ranni proved to be a simple task.

  Sarah: “Ranni!”

  Hearing her name called she pried her eyes away from the fight, she was annoyed at first but when she realised who called her name her expression softened to its normal state “Oh hey Sarah!” noticing the hammer held in Sarah's hand as she approached she asked “oh! Is that your weapon?”

  Sarah: “Yep!” She wanted to show off, but with all the people around she didn’t have enough room to do anything cool, so she settled for holding it out for Ranni to look at.

  Ranni: “I’m surprised, a hammer doesn't seem your type”

  Sarah: “It’s not! But I’m gonna make it my type, Imagine how cool I’ll be just whacking monsters on the head with this”

  Ranni: “Hah!, fair enough”

  Xarus: “Hey, do you know why they're fighting?” he asked, joining the conversation.

  She reverted her attention back to the fight but still answered him “Yea, it’s like a practice duel I guess? Axel wanted to test out his weapon and Hayden wanted to try his luck against Axel, thus it led to this” she sighed.

  Xarus: “I see…”

  Sarah: “Wow, they're really fast” she said, astonished.

  Xarus blinked “You think so?” he asked, surprised.

  Sarah: "Obviously, I mean, it’s not like their moving at super sonic speeds or anything, but it’s not easy to follow”

  Ranni: “I can follow it fine” she said smugly, but her smugness was quickly replaced by dissatisfaction “Though I can’t move that fast” she grumbled into her hand.

  Sarah looked at Ranni in admiration “disregarding that last bit it’s still impressive you can so easily see their moves, makes me envious” she said, slightly disappointed.

  He focused his attention on the two boys, because of his earlier interactions with Axel and Hayden, Xarus knew that both boys were swordsmen, but what he didn’t know was what swords they used, but now with their weapons drawn he not only got to see their preferred swords but also their skills, needless to say Xarus was curious to watch their fight.

  Axel held a katana, a long slender weapon with a curved blade, it was only a standard academy issued weapon so there wasn’t anything that made his katana stand out, but regardless it still imposed a sense of elegance and danger.

  Hayden’s falchion was its opposite, a broad blade curved slightly towards the tip; it was a one handed weapon that blended the chopping power of an axe with the versatility of a sword, a brutal and unforgiving weapon.

  Alex’s and Hayden’s duel continued on, from Xarus’s perspective the battle was slow and he could easily follow their strikes, Axel would swing and Hayden would block, then Hayden would swing and Axel would block, this repeated over and over, to everyone else it would surely seem that Axel and Hayden were evenly matched, but Xarus could make out the smaller details of the battle, sometimes before Axel blocks an attack he actually tries to parry instead, he hasn’t been able to pull it off yet and thus he keeps blocking instead but if he does manage to pull it off it will probably guarantee his win. As far as Xarus could tell Hayden hadn’t picked up on what Axel was trying to do,

  -though he does defend more than he attacks, so he probably realises that Axel is trying something and is being cautious- Xarus thought, eyeing the two boys carefully.

  Hayden swung his blade from the right, a dangerous cleave attack that would probably lop off Axel’s head if it wasn’t for their dulling magic on their swords…

  -Wait… they did apply dulling magic on their swords right?- it suddenly occurred to Xarus that they may not know how to use dulling magic, it wasn’t a necessary thing to do but it does prevent people from accidentally slashing each other to bits.

  Fortunately Axel managed to block the cleave, it pushed him sideways slightly which affected his balance but he managed to quickly regain his stability before Hayden could do a follow up attack.

  Concerned, he turned to Ranni “Hey… did they apply dulling magic?”

  Ranni tilted her head to the side “dulling magic?” she asked.

  Xarus: “Eh… oh boy, ...well I’m sure they’ll be fine” he said nervously, returning his attention to the fight.

  He felt someone glaring at him and soon after a finger was rudely shoved into his temple, he turned to face the disturbance, a red haired girl was staring him down with a very annoyed expression on her face.

  Ranni: “What, you're not going to tell me what dulling magic is?” she rudely asked

  Xarus: “Uh… I didn’t think you would care?” he said nervously.

  Ranni: “Well I do! If someone says something new about magic I obviously want to know what it is!”

  Xarus: “I feel like it’s basic stuff though?”

  Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because she began to glare even harder, before she could do anything scary he quickly added “But you use a blunt weapon right? So you probably don’t know about dulling magic because it’s not necessary for you”

  She sighed in exasperation “regardless if It’s necessary for me to know I still want to know”

  Xarus: “...Ok…, I’ll tell you later, just remind me, alright?” he said, once again fixing his eyes on the fight.

  She still looked annoyed “I don’t know if I’ll want to talk to you later though?”

  Xarus: “Then I guess you won’t get to know”

  Ranni: “I could look it up, or ask a teacher” she offered smugly

  Xarus: “You definitely could do that”

  She rolled her eyes “...whatever…” she said, returning her attention to the fight as well.

  During their conversation the 2 boys had obviously continued their fight, the sounds of metal hitting metal continuously rang across the field as their weapons clashed over and over. Axel slashed downwards with his katana which Hayden blocked with the flat of his sword, before Hayden could do anything else Axel sliced upwards, forcing him to block again, Axel continued to pile on strikes leaving Hayden with no choice but to focus all his effort into defending.

  Hayden jumped back, trying to put space between himself and Axel, but Axel closed the distance and continued slashing.

  Hayden: “I know you're strong, but this is quite difficult” he chuckled nervously

  Axel smirked confidently “it’s not like im gonna go easy on you”

  Hayden: “I didn’t want you too so that’s fine” he thrust the sword forward, it was the first time he performed a move like that during the duel and it caught Axel off guard. Axel managed to dodge by twisting his body to the left but now he was facing Hayden sideways, which restricted his ability to fight and defend. normally in a situation like this, the fighter would just reposition themselves to face their opponent head on again. But this seemed to be exactly what Hayden was aiming for. He immediately seized the opportunity, swiping at Axel with swift chops. the attacks weren’t quite as heavy and powerful as his previous cleaves but they were faster and more strategic. Xarus wasn’t sure if Hayden had planned every detail of this situation but it was clear that Hayden had managed to push Axel into a situation that benefited himself.

  The murmurs of the crowd grew louder, their voices overlapping as their excitement grew.

  “Wow! Hayden is doing really well!” A boy from the front yelled excitedly.

  “But no way Axel loses this right?” a girl said nervously

  “I dunno, Hayden has him in a bad position right now, but regardless Axel is one of the strongest in our grade, I’d be surprised if he lost” A bored murmur replied.

  “Y-you can do it Axel!” a girl from the back stammered loudly

  “Come on Hayden!” someone cheered, pumping their fist in the air.

  The crowd’s support was split almost evenly between the two boys, although Axel did have the slight advantage in support, especially among the girls.

  Sarah: “kick his ass!” she laughed loudly, clearly enjoying the fight. Xarus and Ranni stared at her, their eyes widening, they hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from her.

  Noticing their stares, she blushed slightly “I like watching fights and duels, but I don’t often get to see it in person like this” she admitted, glancing away in embarrassment.

  Xarus: “It’s fine, it’s not like I don’t get it” he said “but who are you siding with?”

  She fidgeted uncomfortably “er… neither…” she said quietly.

  Xarus: “Neither?” He asked loudly in surprise “what do you mean, neither?”

  She raised her voice “I’m on friendly terms with both of them! I can’t just choose one of them!”

  Xarus: “but ‘Kick his ass!’ kinda sounds like you’re cheering for one person in particular!”

  Sarah: “That can be for both of them!” she said unconvincingly.

  Xarus: “... Ok sure, whatever…” he sighed

  Sarah: “... sooooooo? Who do you want to win?” she asked

  Xarus: “Uhh, it’s not like I have a preference but I’ve talked with Axel more so I guess him?” he said uncertainly, he didn’t really care about the outcome of the fight, as long as he got to watch it.

  Sarah: “Uh huh, I see, what about you Ranni? I bet you want your prince charming to win, right?” she teased, smirking knowingly, leaving Xarus confused.

  Ranni blushed hard “Huh!? What!?” she took a moment to compose herself although her face was still tinted red “I’m not choosing a side, Hayden is my childhood friend and Axel is-”

  Sarah: “Your cr-”

  Ranni: “ALSO MY FRIEND!” she yelled quickly, she looked around to confirm no one had heard her outburst, fortunately everyone else was focused on the fight.

  She coughed into her fist “They are both my friends so I can’t just choose one of them, same as you, Sarah” she said, smiling at Sarah, he was probably wrong, but the smile looked forced and threatening to him.

  Sarah looked away from Ranni “what a boring answer, I was hoping for some drama”

  Xarus: “it was the same answer as your’s though?”

  Sarah: “Yea but choosing one of them wouldn’t of been entertaining if it was me”

  Xarus: “I… Don’t understand”

  Sarah: “that’s ok, you’re just a little dense”

  Xarus: “?”

  Axel had finally managed to reposition himself facing Hayden head on again, not wanting to fight sideways again, he moved more cautiously than before. Hayden tried to force him back on his side but Axel wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

  Hayden: “Well I didn’t think that would work a second time” he sighed in disappointment.

  Axel: “Hey! It was a good move, don’t be so sad!” he said cheerfully, swinging his katana in from the right. Hayden dodged the slash by jumping backwards and immediately countered, swinging his falchion up in an arc that clipped the hilt of Axel’s katana. his tight grip prevented him from being disarmed, but the blow still pushed his sword and hand upwards, using that opportunity Hayden attacked again, swing from the left and aiming for Axel’s neck.

  Hayden: “Got you!” he said triumphantly

  Axel smirked, he didn't have time to bring the sword down properly, so instead he twisted it so that it faced downwards, Hayden’s falchion clashed against his katana, but Axel flicked his sword against it, pushing it to the left and throwing Hayden off balance. he had finally managed to pull of the parry that he had been attempting the entire fight.

  Hayden: “ah… I lost” he gasped, out of breath, Axel’s blade was pressed up against his neck.

  Axel: “Yea… but I gotta say, that was a lot of fun” he lowered his weapon, and then both of them heavily flopped onto the ground, completely exhausted.

  Axel: “that was difficult as hell! You weren’t that strong last time!”

  Hayden: “yea, I practiced a bit”

  Axel: “I could tell!” he laughed

  “That was awesome!”

  “You guys are super strong!”

  “Where did you learn all of that?!”

  Axel and Hayden suddenly became surrounded as the spectators swarmed in, praising their skills and asking various questions.

  Ranni crossed her arms “Damn! I wanted to be the first to talk to them” she complained, pouting.

  Sarah: “it’s like a wall of people… you ok?” Sarah asked, noticing Xarus flinch.

  Xarus blushed “Y-yea you saying that just reminded me of some nasty memories”

  Sarah: “o-oh kay” she said, concern flickered across her face but she decided not to press him.

  ???: “Oioi, why did I have to get stuck with such a noisy class…” their teacher said, rubbing his eyes.

  “Sorry sir” one of the students answered “But Axel and Hayden had such an amazing fight”

  Mr Garris: “I saw, I saw, it was okay” he yawned

  Ranni: “Just Okay?! They were at it for like 5 minutes! Neither of them got hit once, well not into the end when Hayden got destroyed”

  Hayden “OI!”

  Mr Garris: “ergh, it’s the noisy girl”

  RannI: “Hey!”

  he ignored Ranni’s complaints and checked his watch “it’s been nearly 30 minutes now, has everyone got their weapon picked out?” he asked, his voice was flat and faint but surprisingly all the students could hear him fine.

  “Yea”

  “Yup”

  “All good here”

  Mr Garris: “Well good” he rubbed his eyes again “We’ll head into the actual lesson then, have you kids ever played Capture the flag?” he yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.