20 Weapons

'Here goes nothing!'

Alfred shot forward towards the unmoving Heinlich with HSM activated. Using the Isolation footwork, he stopped suddenly and shot forward a decently spaced thrust.

With HSM, which happened to be at the middle of level 2, he saw Heinlich try to sidestep his thrust like the wolf he fought last Friday. Alfred almost instantaneously adjusted his weight and followed him with the tip of his blade. Still, all he hit was air.

Heinlich had backstepped out of the trajectory of Alfred's sword. His eyes showed slight interest, but Alfred gave him no time to strike conversation or the likes.

From that short "exchange", Alfred all but confirmed that Heinlich was not supposed to attack back. He still didn't know how strict that rule was, so he decided to keep some semblance of a defense up.

Just after Heinlich had performed the back step, Alfred pushed forward once again with incredible acceleration. This time, he attempted a slash. Heinlich once again backstepped, but he soon found out that the slash was a feint.

Alfred's forward momentum continued, and the slash turned into another thrust at center mass. Heinlich went to swat it away with his palm, but Alfred noticed this and attempted to intercept his wrist while still keeping the shield up in case.

Despite his reaction being correct, his execution was not.

Unlike his footwork, Alfred's sword skills were average at best as he only had the small amount of training Roma got. Against Heinlich, everything felt more apparent.

Such thoughts had no effect on Alfred's actions, though, and he continued his assault at once. His eyes were darting up and down on Heinlich's body to catch a hint at where he may move next, but he couldn't. Alfred concluded that the only way he could get a hit in is to force a move that he could take advantage of.

Alfred stopped for a moment and flexed his muscles. The action was barely noticeable due to the movements of the Isolation footwork, so the violent dash almost caught Heinlich off guard.

Alfred used this moment to slash at Heinlich's side. He moved out of the trajectory, but Alfred began to circle him. While circling Heinlich, he rotated his heels and twisted his body slide backwards on his feet. Alfred let the tip of the blade slide across the sand, and then flicked the tip up towards his face. A small dust cloud partially blocked Heinlich's vision.

Some of the particles got in his eyes, forcing him to close them temporarily. Alfred shot forward despite being well within his sword's striking range. With his skills, he couldn't adjust the sword's momentum fast enough to capitalize, so he opted for a shield bash with the side edge.

It almost worked, but Heinlich was able to backstep once again. 'Chance!'

Due to Alfred's momentum, letting go of the shield would technically turn it into a throwing attack. Heinlich sensed this at the very last moment, and swatted it away. However, he couldn't react to the diving slash that Alfred performed during that moment.

A faint red line formed on the ripped fabric on Heinlich's thigh. At this point, he had finally gotten most of the sand out of his eyes, but he had to rub them once more to see if what he was seeing was correct.

He saw Alfred stop again on a dime almost a meter away from him. Apart from being slightly out of breath, Heinlich saw that Alfred had no typical characteristics of a child anywhere in his mannerisms.

'... what a curious young lady…' he thought to himself.

Alfred turned to see a wide smile plastered on Heinlich's face. Alfred made sure the cut was there before bowing and turning to exit the arena.

'The cut's already closed- damn. Masters sure are something.' he thought sarcastically.

Alfred wholeheartedly believed that no other slave child could touch that man. Last Friday's wolves put on display the majority of their skills, including his. Nobody had close to good enough techniques to touch him back then. Alfred wouldn't if not for the help of his HSM despite reaching level 3 of the Isolation footwork.

Paying no heed to the roaring crowd, Alfred exited the arena and handed his gear to a guard with an incredulous expression plastered on his face. Alfred ignored this and went straight for the Exchange to receive his boons.

He was uninjured, so he went right past the medical ward and down the hall to his destination.

There sat the same receptionist as last week. Alfred cleared his throat to grab her attention, and placed his pouch on the scale.

"... 2820. Ok…

"2820, you have 1,000- huh?"

She shot up in her chair and checked the pad again. She said while mumbling "... 1,000 boons for managing to hit Heinlich von Zürn. Witnessed and authorized by Otto…"

Alfred glared at her. She looked up, and sighed.

"2820, you have 1,000 boons to claim," she said. "Would you like to open an account to hold them?"

Alfred nodded, prompting her to tap a couple of buttons. This time, she slid out her tablet. "Place your hand here to bind to the account. The number is the same as your tag."

Alfred did as he was told. A blue-ish hue flashed under his hand before quickly disappearing.

"Rest assured," she started, "The Empress herself guarantees that your boons are secure and accessible. You can spend them wherever you please just by scanning your hand with a receptionist."

Alfred nodded. He wasn't too pressed to get techniques anymore now that he had access to the Junanbi's grimoire, but he could use a good weapon (not that he knows much better than the sword and shield). Alfred planned to figure out what he would use afterwards with Cysandoth.

Following that short discussion, Alfred returned to the SE to see the next child struggling. 'Eight and a half minutes have passed since mine ended. If they started right after me, that kid only has at maximum two minutes left.'

Alfred shook his head. Everyone else in the SE had apparently come up with the same conclusion, and were simply having a good time at the slight expense of the child.

Even the children at the door seemed to have lighter spirits. As one should, seeing as today they have no real chance of dying unless they trip and fall on their own sword. The only ones still downcast were the adults of the slaughterhouses, but that was a given.

He sat down next to his master and began refining. A decent amount of people were paying attention to him after he managed to hit Heinlich, but now the majority had turned to his position.

Alfred ignored them and began to refine while Cysandoth opened his eyes to look at the other slaves. They all turned timid, and awkwardly resumed what they were doing earlier. Short glances fell on the two from time to time but those were also ignored.

.

.

.

As expected, nobody but him got a hit in on Heinlich. The adult's fights don't even have to be mentioned.

Alfred and Cysandoth were now back to the courtyard. Earlier, Alfred had decided to inquire before starting his practice with level 4.

"Master," Alfred said, "I have a few questions I would like to ask."

Cysandoth motioned for him to continue.

"... What is the difference between a Gladiator and a slave here?" he asked.

"Ah~ yes, I had expected you to ask that Sunday," Cysandoth said. "It's simple, really. Slaves, as you should know, are here against their own will. Gladiators are here voluntarily."

Alfred nodded slowly, but kept eye contact, showing that he expected more details.

Cysandoth seemed to get a kick out of his mannerisms, but he continued nonetheless. "Gladiators either apply here as a sort of 'job', or they earn the title through achievements as a slave from the colosseum."

While placing his index finger and thumb on his lips, Alfred thought to himself. 'Gladiators must also get rewarded with boons… or regular money. If they are rewarded with boons, then they would have access to the technique library. Honestly, I would have become one had I had the choice to.'

Eventually, Alfred thanked his master for the explanation. Then, he asked the next question.

"Sir. I was wondering if you have any suggestions on weapons for me to learn? The boons I earned from today should be enough for me to purchase a few personal weapons."

Cysandoth closed his eyes to think. The plans he had sed out for Alfred allowed for a decent amount of flexibility, but choosing a weapon should always be a well thought out choice.

"... Öthe, I would like to hear your insight."

"..."

Alfred was a bit surprised, but he didn't dwell on that feeling long.

Having already thought of his answers for that question (as he had already asked it himself), Alfred responded quickly. "Sir, I believe knives at least should be one of the weapons I learn to utilize. As well, I believe the sword and shield that the arena provides for the children is also not bad."

Alfred saw that his master's expression was one of agreement.

"Hmm… yes. Both of those are suitable for you, Öthe," he said. "I commend you for choosing compatible weapons. Those two cannot, however, be the only ones you learn, as they do not cover enough options, namely options in the reach department. At least for now, alongside knives and the sword and shield, you will be learning how to wield the claymore.

"Don't get excited now though. You must master the Isolation footwork first before we move on to anything else."

Alfred bowed once again to his master, letting him know that was all the questions he had for him. Cysandoth let him off to begin practice. Throughout that day, Alfred had completed his daily refinement and a little more. For two hours he refined in the canteen after breakfast, three hours after he finished his round in the arena, half an hour after he finished lunch, and another five hours during the rest of the day's events.

Feeling full of energy, Alfred decided that he wouldn't go to dinner that day and solely focused on the footwork for the remaining seven hours of the day.