The two contestants stood in front of each other. One of the kids was huge in size. He carried a wooden spear. The other kid carrying two wooden short swords.
"Begin." Halrick called out.
The kid using the spear pointed it at his opponent, and stood still patiently waiting. The other kid carrying the two swords then rushed in. His inexperience showed as he tried to close the distance without actively being defensive. As his opponent was in range the kid carrying the spear thrusted the spear multiple times. His opponent tried to block each attack but failed each time. The last two attacks with the spear pierced his opponent in his right eye. The kid dropped his weapon and held his poked eye with both his hands. Every spectator flinched as they could see blood oozing from the poked eye. No one expected what happened next; the kid with the spear got in attacking position and attacked the defenseless kid. He aimed the spear in his opponent's neck. Surprisingly enough, instructor Halrick intervened catching the spear with one arm. Then the instructor approached the bleeding kid and removed his hands from the eye to inspect the injury. Then, he tapped the stone around his neck and said, "I require urgent medical staff in Room 1 of the Trainee's."
Then he turned towards the kid holding the spear and asked, "what's your name? son."
"Noel Braveheart." The kid replied.
Suddenly Halrick's face lit up. A creepy smile showcased on his face. He then wrote down the name and requested Noel to take a seat.
Within two- three minutes two men were doctors' attire walked in. Halrick immediately saluted and pointed at the bleeding kid.
"What happened? His eye has been split open." One of the doctor's asked.
"Nothing, just some damned training." Halrick replied.
"You do know that you will have to report this incident to General Baldwin, don't you?" The doctor said.
"I know I know I will go right away. Trainees you are all dismissed for the day." Halrick said as he hurried away. Every kid in the group had puzzled look on their face. 'Why does this injury have to reported?' this puzzled Gus. Till now no injuries needed to be reported even the one where he had split his opponent's head was not reported. Does that mean that liquid Halrick poured on my opponent cannot heal dangerous or life-threatening injuries? Gus arrived at this conclusion.
The medical staff started to carry the injured student out.
Soon the students, started to walk out of the training room.
At the dorms Gus was sitting on his bed writing in the notebook given to him by Theo.
He was approached by the kid named Noel; he still carried the spear.
"You are Gus, correct?" Noel asked as he stood in front of Gus.
Gus looked up at Noel's face and nodded.
"I like you. You showed such ruthlessness I hadn't expected to see here." Noel continued.
"Neither did I. You know you almost killed him, right?"
"Yes, obviously I know." Noel's face showed confusion as if he did not understand why Gus would state something so obvious. "I mean, that was the point of the exercise. To remove out weaker weed in this bunch."
Several trainees glared at Noel as soon as he said these words.
"That's not the point. You had him when you harmed his eye. Why did you go for the throat even after he was defenseless." Gus asked, raising his voice.
"You really are funny. You say this when you did the same thing I did. Did you not split his head open? What's the difference between you and me?" Noel retorted.
Gus wanted to punch Noel for his remark, but he decided otherwise. What Noel said did hold a glimmer of truth and Gus had to live with it.
"Well, there is a difference." A voice intruded. Both Gus and noel looked towards the voice to see Hal approaching them. "You asked what the difference is, right? Gus showed remorse as soon as the fight ended. You on the other hand...." Before Hal could complete his sentence Noel interrupted him "who asked you to intervene. You are just a weak coward."
"Coward, you say. I wouldn't mind fighting you to prove otherwise." Noel snarled.
"Let's do it, then." Noel said as he prepared to use his spear. Seeing this, Hal detached his batons from his belt and got ready to fight.
"It would be better to stop here before things escalate. We are not allowed to cause trouble in the dorm." Gus got up from his bed and spoke.
"TTTTSSSSKKKK, I thought you were someone ruthless. Boy was I wrong." Noel said to Gus as he lowered his weapon and walked to his bed.
"You know you should have fought back. He's just a jackass and I promise no one would take his side in case of a fight." Hal said as he put his weapon down.
"You are wrong about that." Gus said pointing at a crowd of kids that had approached Noel to get into his good graces. "He maybe a jackass but he is still a noble." Gus said.
Nobles were a group of selected families which held all the political powers for generations in the empire. Their powers made them stand just below the Royals and their Royal guard.
Only the nobles held a family name. So, it was easier to identify them. The only question that crossed Gus's mind was 'why was a noble trained as a soldier between the commoners.'
Hal could not retort Gus's logic, so instead he changed the topic altogether. "Do you know how to read and write?"
"What?" Gus asked in confusion at the sudden and abrupt change of tone.
Hal then pointed at Gus's notebook the book. "Do you know how to read and write?"
"Oh! I learnt it a few days ago." Gus said.
While Gus and Hal were conversing, a soldier entered the dorm, "Attention!" he said.
Every trainee who was relaxing stood up immediately. Then the soldier continued, "one of you that goes by the name of Calvin has been removed from the training due to his injury." "Due to the unforeseen circumstances you are to join your new instructor after lunch for training." The soldier said. "' At ease!" he ordered then left the dorm room.
TTTRRRRIIIIINNNNGGG****
The bell signaling Lunch rang.
The trainees then rushed out to eat their second meal of the day.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Halrick knocked the door of General Baldwin's office.
"Come in." A voice called out.
Halrick entered the office. He saw a Man in his early thirties, that was using a luxurious pen to do some paperwork.
"Report!" Baldwin ordered.
"Sir…" Halrick began, his voice low, almost hesitant. "There was a mock duel in training. One of the boys: a noble, from the fallen Braveheart family; struck his opponent in the eye with a spear."
He swallowed; eyes fixed on the ground.
"I tried to intervene, but… I was too late."
Baldwin nodded, then he rubbed the bridge of his nose visibly distressed as he asked, "I understand that this was the only severe injury and none of the students actually got hurt other than this particular kid, is that correct?"
"Well, the kid you recommended also almost killed his opponent. But I intervened and used a Ki potion to save his opponent." Halrick said his eyes clearly staring downwards in guilt.
Hear the last sentence for a moment Baldwin's face looked horrified. Then he regained his composure and said, "You know this cannot go un-punished, right?"
"You are hereby removed from your position as Instructor. The Ki potion you used will be reimbursed." Baldwin continued as he wrote a note and stamped it with his seal, "Take this note to the armoury, they shall give you another Ki potion."
"Anything else?"
"No sir!" Halrick replied in high pitch.
"Good. You are dismissed take you further instructions from Sergeant Carter."
After Halrick left the office, Baldwin called Carter.
Carter entered the office to see Baldwin glancing at the military file of Gus.
"You called for me General." Carter asked.
"Yes, close the door behind you." Baldwin said. Carter closed the door and approached the bench.
"You heard what happened in room 1 of trainees?" Baldwin asked.
"Yes sir, I heard the rumors. A kid's eye was poked out." Carter said.
"Yes, well there is another event, apparently. Halrick was conducting mock duels. Two kids were injured. One of them by a fallen noble's kid. Guess who hurt the other kid?" Baldwin asked.
"I'm sorry sir, I don't understand." Carter answered.
"The kid…. The kid from Scavenger's den almost killed someone." Baldwin said.
Carter's eyes rose in disbelief.