Academy days (Book 2 of IA)

[3] Doing typical teenager stuff?

Weekend.

"Dang, this place is a Christmas workshop!" Rumble exclaimed like a sugar high 5 year old entering a candy shop, except it wasn't the candy shop; it was a knife shop (different one from last one).

"Go ahead and look as much as you want." Isa paused, then after Rumble happily ran off, she turned to me and said: "Which reminds me, fresh meat; you haven't gotten your own personal survival knife?"

"No sir." I replied.

"You are off duty right now, I want you to address me by my name." Isa's reply caught me off guard, though I swore I heard a similar line like this before.

"Oh...ok..." I said awkwardly with tight lips, and the rest of the crew had about the same reaction.

"Whatever," Isa brushed off, "since you have no knowledge in the field of knives, then it is my duty as senior to help and guide you in this field." Isa said with all seriousness as she plucks out a knife from the knife rack.

"When choosing a survival knife there are 4 things you look for." she said holding up the knife and examining it.

"First, is the knife a fixed blade? Because a fixed blade is only one piece of metal and is much more versatile in the wilderness and is far less likely than the joint blade."

Isa said, as she puts the knife back to its original spot and picks up a new one:

"Second, you want to look at its size. In my opinion a good size is about 26 cm, with the blade being about 12 cm, and the handle the rest."

"Third, you want a knife with a full 'tang'. The 'tang' is the part where the knife extend into the handle. In almost all case a full tang is better, because partial tang may is far more likely to cause the handle become loose and wiggle, or even break off of the blade."

"Fourth, is knowing what material you want for your blade. Generally most blades are either made of carbon steel or stainless steel. Carbon steel, like this one here are easy to sharpen, but can rust easily. Stainless steel however, is much more resilient and doesn't rust easily, but is tough to sharpen."

"Fifth, which is more of my personal opinion, the blade should have a straight edge and sharp point."

To make her point, she began to walk towards me. And by then, I already had this vague sense of Deja-vu of where this was going.

​I subconsciously backed off a step, but it was no use. One moment Isa was still in front of me holding the knife, and before I even knew it, she has somehow gotten behind me with one hand pinning my arm, as her other arm coiled around my neck like a boa constrictor.

"A straight edge can be easily sharpened, and carve any material easier..." she hissed in a low voice, as she gently pressed her knife against my throat.

​Holy crap! Holy crap! ...Someone get me out of here!

​Although I knew, Isa was just 'teasing' me, but still, the threat is real. And who knows, she might just accidently sneeze and slip her hand or something.

With that panic thought in mind, I looked around desperately for help, then I realized Kuro was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Kuro?" I blurred out plainly.

"Way back in the store, in the shuriken section." she replied, as I feel slight added pressure from the knife.

"When was she gone?" I said, with me still being held 'hostage'.

"Right when we came, that rebel meat disappeared like a shadow." Isa said, as she finally let me go from her grasp.

"Yeah, I am just gonna buy that knife you are holding. And let me just quickly grab her and let's just head out to lunch now."