As the Melee Arms class began, the Great Hall was as busy as ever. Nearly a third of the year were in attendance and they wasted no time getting started.
"We'll be splitting the group in three," said the young blonde woman holding a ranseur, a kind of long spear with two spiked prongs as its hilt. "A third of you will be doing polearms with me, a third of you will be doing sword drills with Master Garcia, and the final third will be practicing crushing weapons with Master Kaminski. This should give everyone the opportunity to try a few different weapons and find what feels right. You may already have a weapon you are proficient in. Good for you. Today, you'll have the opportunity to try something different. This should make your sparring sessions on Saturday a little more bearable. We do not have time before then to offer reems of pointers to each and every one of you, so I would advise to listen carefully and pay close attention. Oh, and a final word of advice: our class is lucky enough to have not one, but two healers on standby. Do not go to them for bumps and bruises, they are here to deal with serious injuries only. If it wouldn't scar, let it scab. Now, sort yourself into three groups."
The mass of bodies suddenly moved in various directions. Many just stayed in the group they were closest too, while others moved towards a weapon they were familiar with. It seemed that more people had gone to the sword master than the other two, so Master Garcia ended up sending five students to each of the others.
Lenny and Rose had stayed with the young woman with the ranseur. It turned out her name was Master Wood and she started the session, as expected, by utilising a couple of volunteers to distribute different types of spears, or so he thought. Not being proficient with their names or use, he couldn't exactly tell them apart, but the Master spent some time talking about the primary difference between the thrusting, slashing and throwing weapons that made up her specialty.
It turned out the weapon he had been given was called a glaive, and though it had a sharp tip which could be used for thrusts, what it really excelled at was slashing with its long, slightly curved blade. Although Master Wood made a point of throwing a javelin across the length of the hall into a training dummy, somewhat aggravating Master Garcia who was demonstrating nearby, she advised that no other throwing weapons had been handed out, for obvious reasons. Their session today would focus on the stances required for the two weapons, both of which Lenny found awkward, having never used either before.
Rose, on the other hand, was demonstrating some proficiency, especially with the slashing weapons, which bore a marked resemblance to the movements of the trusty quarterstaff she had been given by Mother Mercy. The only thing she found odd is their weight, or lack of it, when compared to the heavy quarterstaff she had grown so used to bashing her opponents with.
Lenny was just getting the hang of the more side on stance used by the spear, his shoulders burning from the rhythm of thrusts, when Master Wood had shouted: "Swap stations!"
Everyone dropped their weapons and started to move.
Lenny wondered what had caused a woman so young to be respected by the other masters, allowing them to dictate the session, but there was only one real currency in the spirited ranks, and that was strength.
"You," said Master Wood looking at him. "Get a move on. Chop chop."
Lenny quickly made his way the crushing weapons area with Master Kaminski. Sweat was dripping down his body and his vest was soaked through to the point it had become translucent. He was not only one suffering, after nearly one hour of drilling, the yellow and orange sashes looked pale and worn out. He looked around at the many green sashes in the room, the next largest group, and the difference in their fitness and weapon proficiency was immense. There was no doubt in his head that he was not currently on their level.
"Maybe I need to chuck a few more points into stamina, too?" Lenny thought to himself.
*
By far the largest building on campus, with only the Great Hall coming close, was the tall office building he had spotted on the first day. Its design was sleek and modern, with large open windows and was known as The Prism.
Their class was situated on the tenth floor of the building. It turned out Spirit Studies were held in their form groups, a sort of collection of two sections under one teacher, in their case, Bob, the man with large sideburns who had greeted them on their first day. He was an excitable man, who would often find himself veering wildly off subject.
"Depending on who you speak to, they will tell you either there are three territories or four. I think it would be fairer to say that there are four, though only three of them are recognised as organised states," he said, enthralled in his subject. "The three states are of course the Western Alliance, the Heartland, and the Eastern Sun. Formed as alliances of previous states towards the end of the AI Wars, they eventually solidified these relationships. And yet the outer territories, the fourth group, are a fascinating case. Not only do they have no government, no historic alliance, or great wealth, but they are just as vulnerable to attacks from the spirit beasts. And yet, we know many survive in these areas. Some assume they are weak, surviving by chance, but I think such a scenario is unlikely, and they are greatly underestimated. Anyway…""
Lenny had never attended much schooling, other than the bible studies he had endured at the Sanctuary, but history was never a prominent part of it. The more he thought about it, the more Lenny realised he was fairly uneducated.
He looked around at the familiar and not so familiar faces. It turned out the other section they had been paired with was from Section 6, clearly a wealthier area with a larger faction presence as they had two blue sashes and even an indigo.
Lenny compared the colour of the two sashes and wondered if the indigo sash was really that different from what he thought of as blue. He might have described Nicholas's sash as light blue instead, or cyan might have been more accurate, but it was certainly a distinction that could be felt in the social hierarchy.
The indigo sash from Section 6 went by the name of Ben, and his companions with the blue sashes sat either side of him, sniggering as he made jibes at the other students. Although this might have been expected, placing someone above the rest, it had clearly gone to his head, and it was not long until the boy quipped: "When the salamanders arrive, the boys cheer and the girls cry." Predictably, the other two boys laughed, slapping their thighs in an exaggerated fashion at the juvenile humour.
Nicholas fixed with him with a cold stare, and though he played it off as a joke, it was obvious there was now some tension between the two of them.
"Posturing," said Bob. "Is a behaviour expected by lower primates. Please, keep your comments to yourselves. I will accept no fights in this class, or bullying. Besides, this session is coming to an end. Make sure you arrive her at the same time next Tuesday."
The students began to stand.
"The next session we will be covering the Fortresses."