GABRIEL TOOK ONE LOOK AT Fort’s face and didn’t say a word to him for all of lunch, which Fort was thankful for. He almost immediately regretted closing the door on Cyrus as soon as he entered the cafeteria, especially if this really was the last time they were going to see each other for a while, but it wasn’t like his list of regrets wasn’t already full of him being a jerk to his friends. Just another item to add to it.
As lunch ended, something happened to take his mind off of Cyrus, though. Two soldiers came by with lists of students for their next classes. “We’ll be splitting you up for weapons training, so when you hear your name, stand and follow me,” one said.
Weapons training? Fort looked at Gabriel, who just shrugged. What did that mean? Wasn’t the whole point of the school for students to add magic into various items for soldiers to use? What were they going to need weapons for?
The first group called was for archery training, which sounded fun, but neither Gabriel nor Fort made the list. Gabriel was named for shield training, which didn’t sound much like a weapon, but even more shockingly, Fort wasn’t with him. For the first time, he and his roommate would be able to do something alone, and Fort was a bit surprised to find he wasn’t looking forward to it.
Finally, Fort’s name was called for a third class, which the soldier said was “Bow training.”
That seemed confusing. Weren’t bows used in archery?
But as they entered a medium-sized room with old, dusty gym mats covering the floor and mirrors on the wall, things got even stranger, as there were no bows, arrows, or targets.
“Everyone grab a broomstick,” said a soldier in camouflage, who introduced himself as Sergeant Tower. In spite of his name, he wasn’t that tall. In fact, he looked pretty average in almost every way, if extra muscular.
The only thing that made Sergeant Tower stand out was that he actually smiled at the students when they all entered, and it genuinely seemed authentic, like he was happy to see them. For the Oppenheimer School, that was definitely not average.
Several broomless sticks lined the wall with the door, enough for every student. Not that he was shocked, but again Fort didn’t see any of his friends, or even Sebastian this time. A few of the other students in the class were completely new faces, so were probably first-timers in Destruction. The rest he recognized from Healing class earlier.
Fort grabbed a stick, not entirely sure what the point was, but glad that at least without the head of the broom, they wouldn’t be sent out to clean the facility. Who knew with this new, strange Oppenheimer School.
Sergeant Tower organized them into two rows, with enough space in between each student so that they wouldn’t accidentally whack one another with their stick. Once he was satisfied, he moved to stand in front of them.
“It’s been decided by those much higher in the chain of command than me that you kids should know how to defend yourselves,” Tower said, smiling again. “While I’m all in favor of that, I’m not sure how using a weapon will do what magic can’t. But maybe you’ll all prove me wrong. Let’s find out together, shall we? I’ll be training you once a day in the use of what we call a ‘bo staff.’ ” He twirled one of the broomsticks around in his hand. “A bo is a great place to start, as it’s a well-rounded weapon for both offense and defense.”
Fort looked down at the wooden stick in his hand. A bo staff? That at least explained his confusion with archery, but this was the weapon they were going to be trained on? At least he wouldn’t have to deal with the Destruction students shooting each other with it, but it did seem sort of… lame.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking,” Sergeant Tower said, pacing in front of them, his own broomstick held easily at his side. “This isn’t the fanciest of weapons, for sure. What good is it going to do against a heavily armed intruder?”
“I’m not sure what it’d do against my grandma,” one of the kids Fort didn’t recognize said, and a few of the boys around him laughed.
Sergeant Tower beamed. “Great, we have a volunteer! Come on up here, Jaworski. You’re going to help me illustrate how a staff like this can be your best friend.”
The boy named Jaworski suddenly looked a lot less sure of himself, but he moved to the front to stand before Sergeant Tower, who raised his staff diagonally in front of him, planting his feet. Jaworski matched their teacher’s stance, and Sergeant Tower nodded supportively. “You’re a quick study, Jaworski, great job! Everyone take a look at how he’s got his feet shoulder width apart, better to keep a firm stance. And holding the staff like that, he’s ready in case I go high or low. Nice one!”
“So are we done, then?” Jaworski said, flashing what was probably supposed to be a smug look to his friends.
“Ah, not quite yet,” Sergeant Tower said, then moved faster than Fort could even see. His staff struck out like a snake, spinning Jaworski’s staff into the air with one end before sweeping the boy’s feet out from under him with the other.
As the boy slammed into the floor, Tower spun his staff straight at Jaworski’s face, freezing it just inches from the boy’s nose, all in one smooth movement. “Lesson one,” the sergeant said. “Never take your eyes off your opponent!”
Jaworski stared up at the staff in terror, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Tower grinned, then reached down and yanked the boy to his feet, hard enough to send him flying for a moment. “Still, a good first attempt! Now, after you’re fully trained, each of you will be given your own staff, and it won’t be wood. Yours will be formed of segmented steel, which will obviously be heavier, but—”
“Steel?!” one of Jaworski’s friends said. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Only for your opponents, when I’m done teaching you,” Tower told him. “And I’m glad to see we’ve got another volunteer for the next lesson too! Thanks, Johnson.”
Johnson groaned. “You’re welcome.”
“Now, as I was saying,” Tower said, twirling his staff around absently. “We’ll start with wooden staffs to get the techniques down, then switch to your school-provided segmented-steel staffs. Not only will the weight add force to your attacks and defense, but each segment will hold its own magic spell, I’m told. You’ll be adding those spells to your staff as you go, so none of them will be unfamiliar.”
Fort’s eyes widened. They were making their own magical staffs? Okay, that was kind of awesome. Suddenly this whole weapons practice thing made a lot more sense. Not only did it give them something to defend themselves with, but it also gave them an easy way to train on making magical items for the military, too.
“We’re going to start with simple defense strategies,” Sergeant Tower said as he knocked Johnson’s staff out of his hands, leaving the boy standing there awkwardly. “Disarming will be the most important thing I can teach you here, as that will give you time to escape a more powerful opponent, especially if they have a firearm. Keep in mind you’re only learning this to keep yourself safe, not to hurt anyone. Any attacks I teach you will only be used as a last resort. Does everyone understand?”
No one said a word.
Sergeant Tower laughed. “That’s okay, you’re not volunteering if you answer my questions.” He launched his staff out and swept Johnson’s feet out from under him just like he’d done to Jaworski. “Now let me repeat myself: Does everyone understand?”
“Yes, Sergeant Tower,” they all said, almost in unison.
“Good!” Tower said, grinning. “We’re all going to get along great, then. Now everyone find a partner, and let’s start disarming.”