We reached a place which was totally set like a training camp. There was a large armory on one side and a small hospital like ten on the other and a ground, the shape of a football field in the centre.
“This is where the soldiers get their weapons, the injured get cured and sometimes they train. But most of the time this ground is empty. Only the weapon yard and the infirmary are full. The weapon yard is the place, that you call it the armory, where the soldiers get their weapons and the infirmary is the place where the soldiers are healed. The stables are at the back of this training ground. First we go to the weapon yard get some weapons for your training and go to the stables to pick you a horse. Okay?” she asked. Already I was staring dub struck on seeing this huge place. So I thought of saying ‘okay’ but it came out as
“uh…huh” then I cleared and said “Okay”. Then we went to the weapon yard. It looked almost like a factory or even an industry in the shape of a tent. At the top of the tent in the centre a huge chimney was spewing smoke into the air. It was huge enough for the reindeer vehicle of Santa Clause. Then we went in. There were about sixty people. Some were bringing the spoils of war like the broken swords, cracked shields, bent helmets and damaged armors and many more things like that. Some were making new items. When we entered everyone saluted on seeing Eva and went back to work. They didn’t seem to mind me which was okay for me. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight everywhere. I counted at least six rows of shelves that lasted the entire length of the tent. The shelves were arranged in a one-gap-two-gap-two-gap-one pattern. At the centre stood a huge furnace. I could feel the heat of the furnace even from the entrance.
“This is our weapon yard. These three rows”, she pointed to the shelves on my left, “are for the spoils of the war and these three rows”, now to my right, “are the rows from which you are going to select a weapon for training”. I stared at the shelves. They seemed to go on forever.
“You want me to pick a weapon from these long lasting shelves. You are kidding me,right?”
“No. I’m serious. Don’t worry we have sections for various weapons. There are sword section, archery section, spear section and a common section where you will find some daggers, hammers with spikes and many more interesting stuff.”
“Okay what are those three sections for?”
“Those sections are for the spoils of war. If they are in a repairable state our men will repair it or they will be used as raw materials for the new weapons. Okay, do you have any experience with weapons?”
“Mm…I’ve been to archery classes but I couldn’t even shoot inside the ring. So no bows and arrows. Daggers, too short, I don’t want my enemy to kill me before I could go to a correct range. So no daggers. As for hammers, they are really heavy. I couldn’t even lift them. Spears… well no. I’m going to command an army, aren’t I? So a sword is good and you said I’m going to use a horse. So I could choose a cavalry sword and a small sword in case I lost my horse, which I won’t. A shield with two sword holders, a helmet with spikes in the centre and there should be a net made of bronze attached to the back of the helmet to cover my neck and an armor that is made of bronze with spikes at the shoulders and whatever symbol you have should be at the centre” I said and came to my senses and realized that we were in the same place and Eva was staring me, her jaws opened. Then I realized the main point that I have chosen my weapons without even looking at them.
“Whoa, what just happened? Did I speak some war-like things?” I asked.
“Seems like, some qualities are coming out. You’ll be easy to train. Follow me. We’ll go to the sword section.” The sword section was the first section. It was in the shelf that was in the right most corner of the tent.”
“There are many swords. Two-headed swords that we call the twin swords, cavalry swords that you asked and swords with short blades and many more. So first we choose a cavalry sword and then a sword with short blade” she said. I noticed that she always used the word ‘we’ and she didn’t use ‘you’. I believed that I could rely on her in case I was in some sort of danger. Then she took a sword and said
“Ah, this sword” the blade of the sword was long almost a meter and was slightly bent. The hilt was also long and broad. “It is a sabre, a type of cavalry sword. This sword was used by our king when he used to fight. Try this. See, if it balances correctly in your hands and you can lift it with ease. Then try to swipe it making an ‘X’” she said. It did not balance correctly in my hands and I could not lift it. I shook my head in disapprovement and kept it back in the shelf. We walked for a while. Then I spotted a sword. It had a little shorter blade than the previous sword, almost 80 centimeters. Unlike the previous sword, this one had a straight blade with a sharp end. The blade was silver in colour. It had a hard hilt that if I strike you with it you will be dead. I took the sword. It balanced correctly in my hands and I could lift it with ease. Then I swiped it easily but the blade hit the nearby shelf and made a sound clang. Everyone went silent and looked in our direction and when they found that it was nothing they went back to work.
“Sorry” I said.
“It’s okay. So, you have chosen your first sword. Let’s go choose some short blades” she said and went still further. Then I spotted a sword. This blade was almost 50 centimeters and the hilt was dark brown in color and the blade was golden in color. I took it and saw something written in the bottom of the blade with silver letters. SEA SLICER.
“It’s the name of the sword. It was used by our previous commander. His name was Liam, I think. You like it?”
“Yeah, it suits me perfectly. I can feel it. I can take this sword my second weapon” I said turning the sword from side to side.
“Okay. But keep in mind that this sword is just for your practice. On the war day you should fight with Carlo’s sword. It will give some strength” she said. I wanted t argue because I felt something when I took this sword like some new flow of positivity. So I asked
“What If I mastered in this sword? What if Carlo’s sword didn’t suit me? At that time can I use this sword?”
“Carlo’s sword will suit you. If it doesn’t, you can fight with Sea Slicer. Okay now let’s go to the stables. You have some horses to choose.” On the way out she talked something to an old man. Then we went out. I guessed it might be about the armor.
