Orphan

Chapter 33 - First Lesson

The butlers must have gone into our rooms and packed our weapons. In my bag was my rope, the two knives still sheathed, and the stars were still packed inside the pouch.I was sitting between Caleb and Tina, and my weapon looked ridiculous. It looked tiny compared to theirs. In Caleb's hand was a long black sword, which he was holding with a single hand, and it looked deadly. Tina's, on the other hand, was holding a long black spear that was so long it was taller than her."Each of you are holding a weapon of your own choosing.""The weapons are not a toy. We have not given it to you so that you can play with it. They are weapons that if used correctly, can allow you to kill.""Some weapons are stronger than others, and some have a longer range. Others are faster, some weigh more, and some weigh less.""But what is important is that you master the weapon that is in your procession. And only this weapon.""This is going to be your bread and butter. So let's make it be the most important thing to you."Everyone was silent. Some children were grabbing their weapons and studying them.I had a rope, what could I possibly do with this? Maybe I could use it to hook onto something and climb it? There was no way. I could use it to kill. Xie Li walked towards Tina, grabbing the spear out of her hand. "Do you know what this is?""No.""Why did you chose it?""Easy, it is long, light and easy to manoeuvrer. It also means I can hit others before they hit me."Wow, she had studied that much before taking the item. Maybe I should have taken the pole from before. I never really thought about it this way. Tina had studied it in depth."Very good. The weapon is not a bad choice. The weapon is called a polearm. It has a long metallic shaft, meaning that you can hold it from anywhere of the body, the only part you wouldn't hold would be from its tip as that would hurt yourself. This gives you versatility, and strength, you can use it to block incoming attacks, and at the same time, you have a good amount of distance you can cover with its length.""The metal bit acts as both a pike, that you can stab into your enemies as well as having eclipse shaped axes that can be swung to rip the heads off others. Allowing you to cut, hit, and hurt your enemies."That spear axe really is something else. I wish I could have chosen earlier then I would have gotten so many more choices to choose from. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. Besides, I managed to get three items. This means that I potentially might have more options up my sleeve. And my weapons look prettier."Good, then I chose the best item?"I sometimes wish I was like this girl. She is so confident in herself and talks to the teachers like they are on the same level."Not exactly. No matter what the weapon, each weapon has its weaknesses. And it is important that you take note of this point. For example, you use the polearm, you cover a great distance, but if you were to fight an archer who fires arrows at you. Will you have the advantage or will the archer?""I could always throw the spear at the archer too.""What if you miss?""What if they miss?""You will still need to run to them, and they will be able to have reloaded by then.""Then what would you do?""I would try not to face an archer head-on. Instead, I would try to slowly move towards them before I strike. Once in close combat, the archer will not have many options against you.""Your weapon is good. But there is no such thing as the best. It still has a lot of weaknesses.""A candidate with a bow could kill you from a distance. A candidate with dual daggers would have an advantage over you in close combat.""As fast as your weapon is, it can only defend one attack at a time. A dual dagger user could use both hands to move forward and attack at two different angles.""I can block it.""But they could cut your shaft in half.""Which would make me have dual weapons too no?""But in that surprise moment would you really think that you have two items or just the one?""Why does it matter? It's not like we are going to fight right now. Besides only she has a dual dagger. No one else in here does. And trust me I could knock her off before she could even reach me."She was pointing at me. I could feel the eyes of all the other children looking at me. It felt as if I was an outcast, a criminal, and everyone was looking at me to see when I would leave. Why would she do that? What did I do to her?"Ah, but this girl has other weapons. Her whip covers a distance far greater than your stick. She could easily lash her whip out and trip you over. Allowing her to quickly move forward and stab you with her daggers. She could even shoot you with the shurikens hidden inside her pocket.""If she could master all her weapons. She would be the biggest threat.""That is just another example. Don't take it too personally. But there is a saying, know your friends well, know your enemies better. Keke. Every weapon has its weakness and its strength, the more you know about your weapon, the better it is for you."Tina was glaring at me, giving me a death stare. What have you done, Xie Li? "Grab your weapon!"