The great thing about only having two lessons a day was that in those two lessons the recruits were able to learn a lot. The day was planned out very similarly to a traditional school, in that lessons started at 9 AM, went on for three hours, then broke up for an hour lunch break, after that at 1 PM the lessons would then continue for another three hours and that would be the end of the day. In the other three lessons that Wren had had so far, he’d found that the time went very quickly, he would lose himself in the tasks given and before he knew it the lesson would be over. But for this particular lesson, armament training, it seemed like it couldn’t have gone on for longer.

The recruits had spent the first hour getting attuned with their weapons, which Wren had failed to do. The second hour was spent experimenting, the recruits were learning about the connection between armament and elemental and finding out what they did.

For Wren, this was torture.

The only thing he could do was stand off to the side and pretty much wait for the lesson to end. He couldn’t leave as he was trapped by the mysterious cloud walls, and he had nothing to entertain himself with. He was bored out of his mind.

The chat with Ash had been a nice little reprieve from his boredom, even if she did sort of crush any and all motivation he had, but she had to go about her duties as an instructor and couldn’t babysit him all lesson. She’d given him the option of either trying to take part in a lesson that could quite possibly be useless to him, or just completely sit it out. He decided to choose the latter of course. What self-respecting teenager would actually choose to take part in a lesson if given the option.

He spent the better part of the lesson just messing around. The only things he had about him were the spear and the cloud wall, so he came up with a little game. He’d discovered that the cloud wall was like a bit of a sponge, it wasn’t completely solid but still had some substance to it, so he amused himself by throwing the spear at it. He would throw the spear at the wall and watch it slowly sink into it, before dropping to the floor with a clang. He would then retrieve his spear, return to the same spot and take one step back before throwing the spear again. The aim of the game was to see how far back he could get while still hitting the wall.

It wasn’t a particularly creative game, but he was bored. It passed the time.

He was considerate of his fellow recruits though, the space was big enough to give them all plenty of room but he made sure not to interfere with their practice. Just because he couldn’t get anything out of the lesson didn’t mean he wanted to sabotage his classmates. He was nice like that.

He’d just thrown the spear at least fifteen metres when he was interrupted by Ash once again gathering all of the recruits for the next part of the lesson. He trundled over curiously, wondering if the next part of the lesson had anything to do with what she said about armaments teaching their wielders how to use them. It was an interesting concept and he wanted to hear about it. And besides, just because he couldn’t physically take part in the lesson didn’t mean that he wouldn’t pick up any tips or tricks for the future by listening.

“Now that you’ve all tested your armaments a bit and have an idea of how they feel and what they do, its time to move on to the final part of today’s lesson. The training part.” Ash informed the group. “Mr Kray, would you be so kind as to repeat the question you had for me at the beginning of today’s class?” She said gesturing at the spikey haired boy that Wren recognised from his martial arts class.

“You mean why don’t we just section off into groups who use the same weapons and get taught that way? You said it was because we wouldn’t get the variance of experience training against other armaments.” Kray replied.

“Yes, precisely that. I also told you that there was another reason. That reason is simply that there is no need. I concede that I may not be the best teacher when it comes to swordplay or archery, or anything other than the spear. But I don’t need to be. Your main teachers will be your armaments themselves. I have no doubt some of you already knew this, and all of you definitely sensed it while testing out your armaments, but your weapons possess the natural ability to teach you how to use them.”

At the revelation the recruits looked down at their armaments. The only recruit amongst them who showed even an inkling of surprise was Wren, and even he wasn’t even that surprised thanks to the conversation he’d had with the instructor.

“That feeling you get from your armaments, like it wants to take control, move your body for you. That’s your weapon trying to teach you how to use it. Focus on that feeling. Don’t fight it, surrender yourself to it and let it guide you. That will be the final part of todays lesson. Now go back to your spaces and let loose, we only have an hour left, so get to it.”

The recruits dispersed, going back to their spaces and began putting into practice what they’d just been told. Wren was the only recruit who hadn’t moved. Instead choosing to stay in the centre of the field with Ash.

“If you don’t mind me asking.” He began cautiously. “What’s the point of you if the armaments are actually the ones doing the teaching?”

Ash laughed heartily at his question.

“The thing about the armament training method is that they’ll show its user the movements, they’ll teach them how to use it, but that’s where it stops. They can’t teach general techniques, or battle sense, or how to use an environments to your advantage. Yes, they might be better at teaching you how to wield a sword, but a battle is so much more than that. And that’s why I’m here.” She said. “Any other questions?”

“Nope.” Wren said awkwardly.

“Good.”