Chapter 61: Chapter 61: The Hammer and the Hawk

Chapter 61: The Hammer and the Hawk

The training hall was quiet. Draven watched the mat.

"Next pair," Stonehelm called out.

"Rust. Tokks. Step up."

Cole walked onto the concrete. Natalie followed.

Cole was admitted to the class because he awakened his power with Draven’s help. He possessed weapon-making experience, but he lacked fighting experience.

Natalie stood on the balls of her feet. She watched him.

"Begin!" Stonehelm shouted.

Cole lunged. He threw a right hook.

SWISH!

Natalie ducked. She moved with agility. She circled his flank.

Cole spun and threw another punch. He missed again.

’He is hitting her like iron on an anvil,’ Draven thought.

’She ain’t going to stay still. He is fighting in a specific rhythm just like how he swings the hammer. It is quite predictable. He is amazingly talented in making weapons but not so much in combat. The headmaster put him in because of his talent I guess. He has good eyes. I thought he was blind.’

Natalie stepped back. She lured him toward the edge.

Cole breathed heavily. He stopped rushing. He looked at the floor.

He visualized the concrete as a forge workspace. He began stepping sideways. He cut off her angles.

He trapped her in the corner. He drove his fist forward.

Natalie did not block. She dropped to the floor. She rolled past his boots.

Cole overextended. His momentum pulled him forward.

Natalie swept her leg. She kicked his ankle.

THUD!

Cole crashed onto the concrete. He tried to stand. Natalie locked her arm around his neck. She applied pressure to his windpipe.

Cole tapped the floor. He lost the match.

"Match over," Stonehelm declared.

Natalie released the hold. She stepped back and bowed. Cole sat up and rubbed his neck.

Stonehelm walked over to them. He looked at Cole.

"You were admitted because of your power," Stonehelm said.

"You know how to make weapons. You do not know how to fight. You must be thinking that you are just a blacksmith and will not even need to fight on the frontlines many times. But, let me tell you boy. When the walls protecting us fall, every man, woman and child has to pick up a weapon to protect themselves."

Cole nodded. He looked at his hands.

"Your body can take a hit. But your mind is stuck in a forge. You fight in a predictable rhythm. An enemy will exploit that rhythm and kill you."

Stonehelm turned to Natalie.

"Tokks. Good evasion. But you ran for two minutes before countering. In a closed space, you will die. Find a way to end the fight faster. Have a secondary weapon at your arsenal, like 4-3 daggers or knives to protect yourselves in close combat."

Both students bowed. They walked off the mat.

Stonehelm blew his whistle.

"Good Job for today! Training is over," Stonehelm barked. "Go eat. Recover your stamina. I want you back here tomorrow."

The students groaned. They dragged their feet out of the hall.

---

An hour later, the class gathered in the cafeteria. The Academy provided a private dining section for the Top Ten. The tables were filled with food.

Draven sat at the end of the table. He took a sip of coffee.

Aegon dropped into a chair. He groaned and rubbed his ribs.

"Stonehelm is a monster," Aegon complained.

"He kicked me while I was down. Literally."

"He is teaching us," Bram said. The giant took a bite of a muffin.

"We need to learn our limits."

"Speak for yourself," Lucien smirked. He twirled a fork in his fingers.

"I only yielded because Mordis used a trick throw. Next time, I will win."

"You were pinned to the floor, Vaelmont," Aegon laughed.

"Accept the defeat."

Lucien glared at Aegon. They bickered back and forth. The tension from the arena was gone. It was replaced by rivalry.

Reina sat next to Estella. She rotated her shoulder. Nyx had nearly dislocated her arm earlier.

"I hate fighting without my axe," Reina muttered.

"You did fine," Estella smiled. She pushed a plate of pasta toward Reina.

"Eat this. It helps with recovery."

Reina looked at the food. She smiled and picked up her fork.

"Thank you, Estella," Reina said.

Lyra Voltaire bounced in her seat. She held a glowing sticker.

"Hey, Nyx," Lyra whispered.

"Do you want to see if this tag explodes in the soup?"

Nyx stared at Lyra from the shadows of her hood.

"No," Nyx replied.

"You guys are boring," Lyra pouted. She put the tag away.

Cole sat quietly. He ate a piece of bread.

Natalie sat across from him.

"You cornered me well," Natalie said.

Cole looked up. He blinked in surprise.

"I lost," Cole said.

"You adapted," Natalie countered.

"You figured out my pattern. If you were a bit faster, you would have hit me. Good job."

Cole smiled.

"Thank you. Your leg sweep was perfect."

Draven watched them interact. He leaned back in his chair.

’They are talking to each other,’ Draven thought. ’In the original Novel, Neville sat at the top of this class. Most of the students here didn’t even exit in the original timeline. The whole class was filled with his lackeys and just was unbearable for the remaining students. Oh well, this looks like a peaceful scene before the storm hits the walls. Let’s enjoy it while we can.’

It felt surreal. In his past life, meals were eaten in trenches. Soldiers ate in silence. They expected to die the next day.

Here, these students were acting like teenagers. They were bonding. They shared food and traded insults.

’It looks like a scene from those school comics,’ Draven realized.

He looked at Aegon. The spearman was arguing with Lucien about weapon weights. Estella was trying to feed Reina a slice of apple. Bram was offering muffins to Cole.

Draven smiled. He kept his expression hidden behind his coffee mug.

He did not mind this atmosphere. It gave them a reason to fight. It gave them something to protect.

"Hey, Draven," Aegon called out. "Tell Lucien that a spear is better than a rapier."

"A spear is a weapon for peasants," Lucien retorted.

"Both of your weapons are useless if you do not hit the target," Draven said.

The table erupted into laughter. Aegon groaned. Lucien smirked.

Draven set his mug down. The Friday gauntlet was approaching. The other students would try to steal their ranks.

But looking at the Top Ten, Draven knew one thing for certain. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Nobody was going to break this class.