The weapons training class was held in a totally different area of the camp Zephyr had never been to. It was also an open space, but with lots more soldiers about.
There were soldiers engaged in sparring sessions everywhere Zephyr could look. The sound of cold steel clanging and scraping against each other echoed across the open space. Soldiers cheered and jeered, watching their colleagues fight, adding to the liveliness of the place.
A few recruits were also off in a corner, being guided by some soldiers who volunteered to help them— either out of their goodwill or after it became too painful to watch them flail about with a weapon.
Cedric smiled as he saw Zephyr's expression. He was taking everything in like a curious kid.
"Crazy huh?" Cedric said with a loud voice. The noise in the training arena would have covered his voice otherwise.
"Yeah," Zephyr yelled back. "I didn't know you guys trained with the soldiers."
Cedric shrugged. "We're not really training with them. They just give us a few pointers whenever they feel like it since this period is meant to be free."
"So this isn't really a proper class, per se."
Zephyr and Cedric watched on for a while. The soldiers closest to them were engaged in a sword fight that drew the attention of every onlooker nearby.
They eventually tore their gazes away after the spar ended with a close win by the victor.
The excitement of the fight made Zephyr consider wielding a sword for a moment before he discarded the thought.
He needed a weapon that would play well with his strength. A sword required finesse, and he didn't see himself tailoring his fighting style toward that down the line.
He looked elsewhere and spotted the spear wielders in a far corner.
"Didn't Anna say she was learning the spear?" he asked Cedric, whose focus was already on another fight.
"Huh? Yeah... That's what she's learning," he nodded.
"They're over there." He pointed to where Zephyr was looking.
"I wanna go check them out," Zephyr said.
"Yeah, well I'm off to train. My body's already itching for some action." He patted Zephyr's shoulder and went his own way.
Zephyr's eyes scanned around in search of Anna as he neared the spear wielders' corner of the arena. He spotted her locked in combat with some other recruit.
He stepped closer to watch their spar.
'Come to think of it, I've actually never seen Anna fight before...' he mused.
"Ah? Zephyr? What are you doing here?" A voice cut his thoughts short.
He turned to his side and saw Helga standing not too far away. Her short stature made her hard to spot even among the few recruits there.
"Hey, Helga," Zephyr greeted with a smile.
"Yeah, I just decided to take up a weapon, so I'm looking around to decide which to go with."
"Oh... You're not taking your runesmithing class again?"
"No, I still am... I'll be doing both."
"Hmm."
"Arrgghh!!" A cry of pain drew their attention back to the spar. The guy Anna was up against was sitting on the ground, holding his leg in pain. It seemed he had lost the spar.
Anna still looked composed, as if the spar hadn't even taken anything out of her. Her lips were set in a thin line, her gaze still serious and locked in concentration. Her staff was still pointed at the guy lying on the ground, waiting for him to yield verbally.
"I yield! I'm out!" He smacked the staff away from his face in frustration, rising to his feet and testing his injured leg.
Anna withdrew the staff with grace and poise, walking back to her end before turning and bowing to her opponent. The guy saw the display and grudgingly did the same in sportsmanship.
Only then did Anna relax and search the onlookers for Helga. She spotted Zephyr next to her and her brow tilted up in surprise. Zephyr simply waved at her as she walked up to meet them.
He repeated the same explanation he just gave to Helga.
Anna's face practically lit up. "Then do you want to try sparring with me?"
"You can only get a proper feel for the spear if you have a real spar."
"Um... I don't have any plans to wield a spear." He shook his head.
"Come on... Have you ever used a spear?"
"No..."
"Then how would you know whether or not it's for you?"
Zephyr couldn't muster any retort to her statement.
Anna saw that he had no response and smiled in victory, practically pulling him to the sparring platform.
She drew a spear from the rack close to the platform and tossed it to him, drawing another for herself.
Zephyr caught it and tilted his head in apprehension. "A real spear? Why not a staff like you were just using?"
"You're a tough guy, you can handle it."
"Handle it? You know this is my first time, right?" He was already testing the weight and feel of the weapon in his hand opposite her on the platform.
Anna shrugged. "You don't really seem opposed to it."
A smile crept on Zephyr's face.
Yes. After Anna pulled him to the platform, he realized he actually wanted to see what his competition was capable of. He'd never really seen Anna fight, so he wanted to use this opportunity to gauge her strength.
Anna smirked after seeing the expression on Zephyr's face, and suddenly, just as the smirk came, it disappeared. Her gaze tightened in concentration, fully locked onto Zephyr, watching his every movement like a predator.
Zephyr was thrown off by the sudden change. The air about Anna shifted abruptly. It was like she'd become a totally different person.
His fists squeezed the spear tighter as he watched her suddenly move, but she only did the customary bow.
Zephyr straightened up from his subconsciously haunched position and returned the bow, his eyes never leaving Anna.
There was a short moment of silence just after they bowed. Only the sound of their breaths was heard against the noisy backdrop of the training arena.
Suddenly, Anna blurred into motion.