Jacob was sitting with Ramos at edge the of the room. Cooling down from the intense moment, staring at the other students' spar.
"You were great back there, that swing you did felt like it would break my hand!"
Ramos was a little disappointed that he lost but he felt incredible nonetheless after having that spar. It felt invigorating for him, the adrenaline and the danger made it seem like he was right at home.
"Really? To be honest, I just did it cause I felt like doing it. I swear, that first lunge you did? Nearly had me, my guy. If I was a little bit slower, you would've gotten me real quick."
Genuinely, Jacob was a lot more frightened by the experience. He found the coordination between his body and reflexes, reaction time, and quick thinking to be in discord. It was a mess and he was a little bit frustrated with his current self.
"I overheard it was your first time using a sword, you were a natural out there!"
"You're just saying that cause I won this time. Take a couple more spars and then you'll see that was all beginner's luck."
Ramos made a small chuckle. If that was beginner's luck then perhaps in the future, in a life and death battle, the winner might be decided by luck.
"I'm Ramos of Pelada. A small village in the southern outskirts of the empire."
"Jacob of Veritas. Veritas is a... Uhm..."
Jacob didn't quite know what to say. He never really 'been' to Veritas.
"I know. It must've been a horrible, practically everyone knows what happened to the western front."
Realizing that Veritas, or the 'western front' was a big deal, Jacob decided to play along.
"I think I'd rather not talk about it."
He'll learn in due time. But now it was time to feign ignorance, like a grieving student.
"Ah! Sorry, that must've brought back bad memories."
To drive in a sense of gravity and weight, Jacob made an awfully long awkward silence.
Realizing that he had no other topics to add, that awkward silence had lengthened until the end of all sponsored students' spars have come to an end. It was clear though that they didn't have any prior training or exercise. They were hesitant, afraid, unfocused, and ultimately random.
"YOU USELESS BUNCH HAVE SEEN FOR YOUR OWN EYES HOW UNTRAINED YOU ARE! I WANT ALL OF YOU TO REFLECT AND GET YOURSELVES INTO SHAPE BEFORE I TRAIN YOU WITH ANYTHING EVEN REMOTELY RELATED TO A SWORD, YOU HEAR ME?"
His shouting was a little less intense when he started. That was hopefully a good sign, Jacob hoped.
"Now, I want two of those that do have extensive training to volunteer and show these UNTRAINED SWINES! How it's done."
The man made sure to look at the sponsored student when he called them 'UNTRAINED SWINES'. Truly driving home that very much partial drill sergeant feeling.
The first person to take a step forward was Dominic. His confident stride caught everyone's attention as he simply waltzed right at one end of the room. Surprisingly it was Medea to challenge him, taking the opposite side. Dominic was at a tail guard stance, while Medea was at a more relaxed stance.
"The same rules apply here. Ready?... Begin!"
Superhuman was the only thing Jacob could describe watching the scene. Medea lowered her center mass and had lunged from what he assumed was a 15 meter difference between them, yet less than a second she had her training spear thrusting straight at Dominic.
Dominic took a half step to the right, blocked and pushed Medea's spear with his sword. Following up by moving closer to her, eliminating the distance advantage of a spear. Using the gap to strike in between her defense.
Medea used the training sword on her left hand to block Dominic's counter-attack, but her one hand couldn't fully stop his two handed attack. Though it was enough to slow his sword down, this allowed her to jump back and gain some distance.
But Dominic wasn't going to allow giving her the advantage or range again. He followed her retreat, parrying the training sword on her left hand away from her. He followed up with a quick thrust, one that she shouldn't be able to react to.
But using her training spear's bottom half, She was able to knock the training sword off it's trajectory. This forced Dominic to shift the direction, from a thrust to a slash. The training sword on her left hand had snaked in a thrust, turning her body to the right. It was parried by Dominic but it was enough for Medea to break free from being in Dominic's range and stop his momentum.
Still Dominic wouldn't allow her to regain her footing, this time it was his turn to rush towards her. His speed comparable but not exactly the same as her. He was going for a full powered diagonal upward slash, he planned to follow it up with a mix of relentless attacks to fully overwhelm his opponent.
Medea simply jumped backwards, the training spear fully cocked behind her, and swung with terrifying power. The two training weapon's collided, a sound so deafening it made a few students cover their ears and even their eyes. The two training weapons broke as they met.
"Alright, we'll stop here."
The man had got in between, obvious that a prolonged fight might involved more than just simple attacks. It was a simple demonstration, not a complete fight.
Medea simply threw here broken training spear her side and return back to where she stood before the spar. Dominic dropped his and shook his head gently. This fight didn't have a winner but it was clear that both of them were far beyond what the previous spars could offer.
'Fucking freaks, I swear.'
Jacob didn't know what to make of it, the fact that what he just saw was beyond any normal human capabilities and that these were his peers. Maybe one day he'll also be like them.
"FOR THE REST OF THE DURATION OF THIS CLASS I WANT YOU SWINES TO PICK UP ONE OF THOSE TRAINING WEAPONS AND SWING THEM AROUND UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO HOLD ONE, YOU HEAR?"
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
And with that, Jacob was now a lot more interested in these classes. Maybe one day he could be like them, fast and unstoppable.
— A few hours later
Feeling the soreness of his body, Jacob fell down straight to his bed. Tired and fatigued, he had to swing a pretty heavy stick for three hours. The class had a three and a half hour duration, it was certainly going to be hell at this rate if it was the entire weekdays.
Still he couldn't help but smile.
[ Sharpest Tool in the Shed: (2/4) ]
'Oh yeah, I also had to do that daily exercise every morning... I don't wanna... '
Though he complains, he will still complete it anyway.
He wanted to take a bat and wash of the sweat off his body but he was too tired to go to dormitory bathhouse. He'll probably do it tomorrow, after doing his daily exercises. For now he needed to rest, a little moment of reprise for him.
— Beyond the Academy walls.
In a small Inn, where the noise of bustling people covered just about every corner. A man, tall, distinct black hair that started to turn grey from old age, sat down at a table, right across a younger man that had his hair cut thin and a scar on his right eyebrow.
"You looked like you enjoyed your sweet time, old man."
His voice was a little raspy, deep and almost doesn't fit his face.
"What you wanted was easier said than done. But most of it is ready for now. We'll make the schedule, what about your part? I heard the package had a little mishap?"
Contrary to the younger man, the older man had a rather clear voice. Almost joyful and playful even.
"The package has been secured, there was just a mole we had to take care of. Besides the Aubrietas, we've done everything assigned to us."
"Then I guess it's just the waiting game now, huh."
"The covenant will be arriving in a few days from now. I'll be meeting with them to increase security, making sure everything stays to plan."
The old man sighing and shaking his head.
"Don't you know the more you worry, the more it'll likely happen? There's always the locals, easy hand and easier mouths."
"It doesn't help when you took most of them to the upper district. I had plans for most of them but things worked out pretty well."
The younger man took a sip at a drink he ordered.
"Why'd you call me out here anyway?"
"There's been sightings of Magnus Trevor around the lower districts lately."
The old man's eyes widened.
"Westfield's Dog?"
"Maria and Yusef has their suspicions that he may have gotten a whiff of our scent."
The old man moved forward and fixed his posture.
"You want me to get rid of him?"
The younger man placed a strange item on the table. It looked mechanical yet strangely fleshy.
"Once The Covenant arrives a few days from now, they have hopes of turning him into a distraction just before the main course."
The old man scratched his head, unclear with what to do with his scrunched up face.
"Another 'easier said than done' job. The dog reports back everyday, faster than most hired assassins, and is practically a two-star mage. It won't exactly be 'covert' when trying to tie him down."
The younger man made a small chuckle.
"The Covenant has an answer for that. But for now, use the locals to keep a curtain above the dog's head. So long as he doesn't get too close, just before The Covenant arrives."
The old man sighed, a very audible and tired sigh.
"Fine. But with this added to the workload, the main preparation will barely make the schedule."
"So long as it's not a day later."
The younger man got up and left, leaving the old man to contemplate the annoying problem that is Westfield's Dog.