The Dragoneer Manual

Chapter 15 - Sword Practice

After a long lecture about the art of sword crafting, which Rory took detailed notes on, the class moved out to the field for the big moment they'd all been waiting for. The group of students looked quite beautiful in the sun and dark blue grass, their faces shining with pure excitement. Many of them were young adults from Rory's world.

She could tell from the look on their faces that as children, they had spent many nights dreaming about being knights and pages. Now that the grey, heavy weight of adult life had been lifted from their shoulders, they were once again able to see the world in an illuminated manner. True sight.

Professor Fang looked on knowingly at their expressions, as if she was used to seeing this kind of thing.

"Okay class, please draw your swords."

Rory did her best to hold the sword properly at the hilt, but Professor Fang came around and corrected their grips. The students were asked to take turns swinging at the hay targets, and Rory was shocked by how much strength it took. She had to use two hands to make any impact. But Professor Fang spoke words of encouragement as she made her rounds, telling Rory it was only a matter of time for her to build up the muscle required to swing with one arm.

Rory's first thought was that this was way more difficult that she'd ever imagined when she was playing video games. She smirked to herself at how silly that thought would sound to the average Aerland resident.

Back in Earthland, Rory always had a natural preference for sword fighting games, and wasn't much interested in games that concerned gun fighting or hand to hand combat. She'd always had an affinity for swords and the idea of studying sword fighting, which she now realized must have been due to her long-buried childhood passion for The Dragoneer Manual.

Standing in the training field among her fellow Dragoneers, she reflected on how much she'd really forgotten about its influence on her, and how she was only beginning to understand the depths of its reach at the academy. How incredible it must be to write a book that can be influential to so many people.

Even when Rory had forgotten its importance, it was as if it had slipped into her unconscious mind. Now, her passion was renewed, and she wanted more than anything to impress Professor Fang and to work hard at becoming a master swordsman.

Behind her, Rory became aware of Professor Fang complimenting another student. She was praising her for her natural talent. She turned to see a very beautiful girl, of average height, with a bob of pastel pink hair that stuck out at angles in the back and reached below her chin. She had a stern, serious look, and didn't smile even at the compliments being given to her. The girl had a scar on her left cheek that ran down under her lip.

Rory noted that the direction of the scar made it look like she'd been scratched in the face in a downward motion, perhaps by an animal. It was in the middle of this thought that the girl noticed Rory staring and made eye contact with her. Her piercing blue eyes shot daggers at Rory, and her mouth curled into a sneer. Rory looked away quickly, immediately embarrassed.

As sword practice went on, Rory and the other students worked diligently, but it was clear by the end of the lesson that they were utterly exhausted. Sweat dripped on all of their foreheads, and Rory's hair was stuck to the nape of her neck. Teak, however, didn't even break a sweat. Rory laughed when Teak skipped over to her, sheathing her sword effortlessly, and asked in an airy voice if she wanted to explore the academy after their class.

Of course, Rory wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to see more of the academy, even if she was being led by someone with no sense of direction. As they walked away from the field, Rory looked back to see the pink-haired girl still standing and looking at the target, leaning on her sword.

"Whatcha looking at?" Teak asked.

Rory turned forward, shaking her head.

"Just that girl with pink hair."

"Oh!" Teak said. "Isla?"

She pronounced her name eye-sla.

"Eye-sla? How do you spell that?" Rory asked.

"I.S.L.A. Last name Maige. She's pretty well known around the academy."

"Wait, Maige, like the Maige Kingdom?" Rory asked.

"Yes. You could say her parents are pretty well known. They're royals."

"Woah," Rory said, unable to hide her stunned expression.

"If you want to know more about Isla, you should ask Bluejay."

Rory frowned.

"Ask Bluejay? Why?"

But Teak was already running in another direction, having spotted a vendor who was selling cotton candy by the dorms.

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A/N: Thoughts on Isla Maige? <3