005 - Picking a weapon

A few days later he stood in the yard of the local garrison where he was currently beginning his weapon training. All throughout the training yard was many men and women all in a variety of cloth and linen clothes sweating profusely while training in their weapons.

These were all the local soldiers whose job was to defend the march of Delius from outside attacks.

Richard the chief of this Brigade, was in charge of tutor ledge. He began by waving me over to a wooden building. After walking in, I marvelled at the hundreds of weapons.

There were, everything from Swords and Spears, to Whips and Clubs. They were some made from wood but the majority where made of metal. He then gestured to the whole room and said.

"Look around for one that resonates with you and we'll test it."

Apparently in this world there was not just magic but some people had weapon affinities and talents. My family mostly gained sword talents throughout its history, but there had been exceptions.

I was meant to choose a weapon that I felt comfortable with and then through a ritual they would test my affinity with that specific weapon. I had decided to listen intently to everything he said since I knew absolutely nothing about this and in my past life anything overtly physical was beyond my forte.

I strolled around the large shed, sliding my hand across dozens of different weapons. I found a War-Bow which piqued my curiosity. It was almost twice my height and when I tugged the string it was so tight I couldn't even move it.

After placing it back I went back to browsing. This wasn't my first storage place I'd looked through, this was the ninth. The first had been my families Vault and then we'd tried all the garrisons. If I couldn't find one here, My father had said We'd Just have to wait until I'm eight and go get me tested for a talent in the capital.

I walked past a bronze tipped spear that had a piece of green cloth tied just below the head on the shaft. I paused and looked behind it on the racks. Behind it, there was a tall tower shield It had a metal outline and looked scary being almost as tall as the Bow. I pulled the spear out with some difficulty and stared at the shield it had some intricate patterns on it but it still didn't seem like something I would ever use.

I pushed it aside with a grunt as I turned my head back to the wall. I coughed as the dust bellowed, covering my white tunic.

A spider scuttled away and hid in a crack between the floor and wall a bit further to the side. Leaning against the wall was a black sword sheath. It stood at around my height and I just wanted to pick it up.

I grabbed it by the pommel and began to drag it towards exit. Richard stood leaned against the outside wall of the shed. I had moved the spear and shield back to their place with some effort. I then exited the shed with the sound of the sheath dragging on the ground being drown out by the sound of metal scrapping and sweaty muscle-heads wrestling.

Richard stood leaned against the outside door frame of the shed and just tilted his head as I dragged the sword out and fell on my knees while panting heavily. He just shook his head while a chuckle escaped his lips.

"So, you found one did ya?"

I just nodded while trying to catch my breath. He just picked up the sword now laying on the ground and swung it a few times then did a thrust. He then put one hand on the sheath and pulled it a few inches away from the guard. After a few seconds of looking at the blade, he turned towards me and said.

"If you want to wield a sword, then you need to get a lot stronger boy. Nice find by the way."

I just instinctually raise my hand in a thumbs up. While I lay on my back the panting now less severe. I looked over at Richard's waist and looked at his weapon. It was a mace, the head was the size of a grapefruit. It was hade of six semi circles connected in a hexagonal star pattern making it look like a sphere. It was attached to an about Two-foot Pole that had a leather with an orange hue. It was so heavy that I couldn't even budge it when he let my try.

He just glances at me shaking his head before saying.

"Come. Let's go test um."

He then begins to walk in the direction of the noise from the training ground. I stand up but wobble slightly from exhaustion. I really need to get fitter. I then sprint slightly to catch up with his gentle stride.