Let's just say, I loved sword fighting. To me, a sword was the best weapon. It was a symbol for bravery, leadership and independence. Three of which I could relate to ... sometimes.
I taught Forge a few simple sword manoeuvres: how to parry an attack; the correct way to sidestep; blocking high and low attacks; etc.
He seemed to get the hang of the body movements but we couldn't find a sword that he could wield comfortably. It was always too long, or too heavy, and he kept complaining that it didn't feel like "the right weapon" for him. I agreed with him after I swiped at him from the right and his sword seemed to jerk left on its own and leave his ribs wide open. The two of us took a break and decided to visit the weapons stronghold to find Forge a comfortable weapon.
On the far side of the arena, Katie duelled against Rika and Lexi showing no sign of overwhelment. Her strikes were quick, but controlled, and she showed no sign of discomfort. Immediately, I noticed flaws in her two opponent's fighting styles: Lexi was ferocious with a powerful hit, but the sword was just too light for any major damage, and Rika's attacks were slow and weak, like she had the same problem as Forge with the weight of the sword. Katie fought back against both girls, targeting the exact weak points that I just noticed and using them to her advantage. There was only one thing that I found curious about Katie's sword fighting: she only used one hand. She kept one hand on her sword and the other one tucked behind her back, almost like she didn't know what to do with it. I came to the conclusion that none of them actually used swords outside the arena, they just trained with them.
Lance and Aiden ditched the swords shortly after we entered the arena and began wrestling each other. Aiden was losing by quite a lot due to Lance being able to sit on him and win instantly. Watching the two of them throw each other around was quite amusing for Forge and I. Both of them didn't use a sword as their primary weapon so it made sense that they weren't training with them. I, on the other hand, used a sword for everything. I rarely left my cabin without Hurricane strapped to my waist. One time, we had a bunch of monsters attack the barrier at once and I was one of the only demigods with a weapon. We fought them off, but after that I pledged to never part with Hurricane.
A few minutes later, everyone got a bit tired of sword training and we all left the arena. Katie said that she was taking the girls down to the shore to meet with a few of their other friends. Lexi was reluctant to go, but she followed them after remembering that she would be stuck with the boys if she didn't go. Aiden and Lance wanted to go train at our secret spot in the bush but I told them that Forge needed a weapon and I was taking him to get one. The smaller boy and I left the arena and headed back toward the cabins to find the weapons stronghold.
The door to the big wooden shack was locked tightly. If you came across the old looking building, you'd think it was a farm house. The steel padlock was no match for Hurricane so we got in pretty easy. After coughing a bit from the dust, we broused through the various weapons. The walls were lined with deadly items, from celestial bronze spears to spiked baseball bats. Some of the weapons I was tempted to take for myself, like a celestial bronze tipped whip.
"So." I said after a while of brousing, "what exactly are you looking for?"
Forge shrugged his shoulders. "Something smaller than a sword, I guess."
He was on the other side of the shack, looking at a row of bronze daggers. I knew a lot of demigods that fought well using a dagger as their primary weapon. Forge didn't seem interested and he moved on. He picked up a small object that looked like a tiny trident.
"This is a sai!" He exclaimed. "I had a pair of these back at my house!"
I crossed the room to take a closer look. The sai had a leather-wrapped handle and three small prongs, the middle one was much longer though. Forge grabbed another one from the wall and held one in each hand.
He turned to me. "Care to spar?"
I nodded and unsheathed Hurricane. Forge lunged at me, swiping at my chest with his right hand. I blocked the attack and swung at his left side, but he caught my sword in between the sai. He used both hands to through Hurricane to the right and the sword clattered to the ground a few metres away.
He pointed his right sai at my throat and grinned. "I win."
I summoned a small gust of wind, not powerful enough to alert Forge straight away but enough to lift my sword and levitate it to my hand. By the time my opponent noticed the movement it was too late. Hurricane reached my hand, I swiped at the sai near my throat, blocked a jab from from the right and kicked a surprised Forge in the chest. He fell backward but rolled over his shoulder and stood back up at a striking speed. Judging by the look on his face, he surprised himself more than me.
"How did I do that?" He asked, eyes widening.
I laughed and sheathed Hurricane. "That's your natural demigod reflexes. They'll keep you alive in battle."
Forge raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any more questions. I forgot how little he knew about being a demigod. It was almost like a primary student moving into high school and learning all the different rules and subjects.
"So can I keep the sai?" There's the question.
"Yes." I replied. "I think you're pretty good at using them. Besides, you'll get a lot more time to practise with them. Now let's go show the others your new weapons, shall we?"
