The school day begins and the sounds of weapons clashing ring through the the practice rooms. The dull thud of clubs hitting their mark and the resonant clang as metal clashes on metal. These are the sounds common to the Martial University.
Which is why the sight of Eric Holland wildly swinging a sword at a boy holding a push broom felt so out of place. Eric swings the longsword horizontally trying to land an attack on the body but the boy easily evades the attack.
"Come on, Eric! Is that really all you got? Are you even trying to hit me?" Nasak yawns as he stands waiting for Eric's next attack.
"Dude! Shut up and fight me!" Eric tries an ascending diagonal swing next but it is intercepted by Nasak's push broom handle. Eric tries to push through it with all of his strength but it was to no avail.
"What in the world is this broom made of?" Eric asked with a strained voice. Nasak smiled very proudly as he casually gestured to his cleaning utensil.
"This a push broom that I added a tungsten rod to. Very durable and heavy so it makes for an amazing training weapon. Pretty cool, right?" Eric stared at his training partner with his eyes wide in awe.
"That's so cool!" Nasak nodded and pushed Eric back with the broom. Eric took a break from attacking to catch his breath. "Is that why no matter how many times we've trained together you never need to get a new broom?"
"No. You just don't know how to fight with a sword yet." Nasak said bluntly. Eric smiled a bit crestfallen.
"Oh. I get it." Nasak looked at the saddened Eric and felt a surge of guilt flood into his mind. He tried his best to ignore it but the feeling was far too powerful to be contained.
"Hey, buddy. My bad, honestly it's my fault. I just told you to come here last week but haven't taught you anything. I've just been making you swing at me like a madman. You would do so much better if you actually trained with the instructor. Maybe, this was a bad idea?" Nasak gently pat Eric's back trying to comfort him.
'This always works for Alisa so maybe it'll work for him.' Eric looked up at Nasak with a confused look on his face.
"You haven't been teaching me?" Nasak's body jolted. He had just realized that he had exposed his own lies to the one person that shouldn't know. "But we've been training together for a week? How could you have not taught me anything?"
Nasak started to back away from Eric. "W-well, the thing is. I-I-uh...I n-never actually-no-I guess it's..." Nasak continued stammering his words. He couldn't think of anything to say. He had a lot that he wanted to say like he was sorry and he really wanted to teach Eric but he couldn't.
None of those words came out though. He just couldn't explain himself, no matter how hard he tried. Eric watched the panicked boy continue to back away with confused eyes.
"So are we done for the day or..." Nasak continued to back up until he was against the wall of the training room. He felt the wall behind him and had an epiphany. Nasak pointed his thumb at himself, imitating Alisa, and proudly spoke.
"Did I not score us this kickass private training room? Now we don't have to worry about anyone coming in and bothering us. We can even talk without a teacher yelling at us to keep training. If you ask me that's pretty nice, huh?" Eric tilted his head to the side.
"This is a private training room?" Nasak stood blinking at Eric's question.
"Y-yeah dude, why else would we be here completely alone?" Eric shook his head.
"We aren't completely alone."
"What? Of course we are. Unless you can see ghosts?" Eric shook his head again and pointed to the opposite side of the room.
"There's someone training right there." Nasak frowned thinking that Eric was just messing with him. He turned to the other end of the room not expecting to see anyone. But see someone he did and the sight made him immediately start sweating.
"Dude, we need to go now!" Nasak ran over to Eric and started to pull him out of the room. Eric went to try to fight it but Nasak easily overpowered him. Nasak took Eric and sprinted to the door but seconds before he made it the other figure marched in front of him.
"Where do you think you're going, thief?" Nasak slid to a stop as he stared at the person that had cut him off.
"H-hey, Colson! I thought you were out of town this week? What're you doing back so early?" The boy that stood towering over Nasak had olive skin, wild and short black-hair, and a very stocky physique. He was also a good foot taller than Nasak and Eric. Colson stared directly at Nasak with cold eyes while Eric stared at the tower with fear etching itself into his soul.
"I got back early. Now, I ask you again thief..." Colson slowly leaned closer to Nasak allowing the boy to feel this beast's breath against his skin.
"Where do you think you're going? You were the one that broke into my private training room, like you always do, so you should face the consequences of your actions." Eric turned to Nasak.
"This is his training room?" Nasak nodded without breaking eye contact with Colson. "W-well it was gonna be ours for the week but yeah it's actually his." Eric swallowed hard and turned back to Colson. He actually was holding a bronze greatsword making Eric feel marginally more afraid.
"H-hey Colson? I'm just here because he told me to come here. I had no idea that this was your private training room. In fact, had I known such information I would never have stepped foot in this room. So, could you let me go? I really don't want to die for some, ahem, thief." Eric put a big, nervous smile on his face and waited for Colson's response.
"Fine, you can go new blood. I just want to have a 'conversation' with this thief here." Colson put emphasis on the word "conversation" by cracking his knuckles making Eric realize that it was no friendly conversation that they were going to be having. Eric sighed in relief but withheld his cheers as Nasak was staring at the boy with a look of betrayal.
"Are you abandoning me? After all, I've done for you? I thought we were pals Eric?" Eric turned to Nasak. "And I thought I was actually learning the sword from you but it seems we've both been disappointed today." Nasak felt his chest sting a bit.
"I know you think I wronged you but I do have an explanation for that. You should go though, I don't want you to be here when me and him get started." Eric nodded.
"I couldn't agree more!" Eric moved around Colson to get to the door, as the large boy was blocking it, and turned to say one last thing before leaving. "I thank you for letting me live senior!" Eric went to leave when he suddenly noticed that his crest was activating.
Eric felt his stomach in confusion. "That's weird? Usually that only happens when-"
"ERIC LOOK OUT!" Eric turned around a second too late as he had been grabbed by Colson and pulled in close.
"Did you just call me senior?" Eric nodded while completely terrified. This made Colson even more mad. Eric saw Nasak holding his broom in a battle ready position behind the tower indicating to Eric that he had made some sort of mistake. But what could he have-
"I'm not your senior, buddy." Colson said through gritted teeth with veins all over his body pulsating from his rage. "I'm the same age as you! I just started earlier than most other students." Eric nodded.
"Cool...and?" That was the last straw for Colson as he flung Eric across the room. Now, this wasn't Eric's first time being airborne as he had some very intense training sessions with Mama Wolf but this was still different.
Alix would throw Eric but not with all of her strength as she was just venting frustration not attacking him. This was a throw with intention to harm. Eric felt himself be caught mid-air and turned to see that it was Nasak.
"Come on, Eric! We've got to fight this dude together!" Eric looked between Nasak and Colson for a second then shook his head refusing the boy's offer of fighting together. "It wasn't an offer Eric. Fighting and not fighting is the difference between escape and torture. You choose which one you want." Eric leapt up from the ground and grabbed out his ritual dagger.
"I prefer escape." Colson lifted his big bronze greatsword with both of his hands and held it pointing at the two trespassers. This was going to be a fight between a pair of mice and an enraged tiger with a point to prove.
...
That doesn't make much sense.