'Since you are new with these, the best way to grip the handle is like you would make a fist with thumb on the blade' Mr. Green explained and showed me the grip. I did the same with my knife, making sure not to cut my thumb.

'I don't know what kind of blades you will be using, but I recommend balanced knifes. Their weight across the knife is similar and it's easy to move to other kinds of knifes from them' he explained and I nod.

'I have barely 8 months so I will stick with these' I said turning the blade in my hand. The sharp edge glinted in morning sun.

'Okay. I don't know how far your target will be as well, so I will teach you three arm motions acording to three distances' he said and walked behind me.

'Let's start with close range. Bend your wrist back toward your forearm. This will allow the knife to turn over in the air more quickly, since the target will be only few meters away from you. For medium range you have to bend your wrist only slightly to increase the speed for your blade to turn in the air. And for long ranged leave the wrist unbend. This will keep the blade from turning in the air too much since you have enough distance. You are following?' He asked when he bend my arm according to his explanation and I simply nod.

'For your feet, put your whole weight on your dominant leg and place another one in front you. When you throw the knife your upper body will bend forward slightly.' I did as I was told and took the position.

'When you swing your arm down, do not throw the blade like an apple, simply let the blade slip from your fingers' he said and moved away 'try the close ranged throw' he said and I bend my arm as he said. I focused on the board before me and threw the blade. It flew quite good, but when it reached the wood it was the handle that hit the board. With the loud thud my knife dropped down and I looked at mr. Green. He simply shrugged.

'That was pretty good. Keep training and you'll get the hang of it' he said and gave me 5 more blades. 'I'll be training right next to you, just call if something is wrong' he said and moved to the dummies a few meters away from my board. I watched him doing complicated moves with his sword for a bit and then concentrated on my own job.

I kept throwing knifes without a break untill sun was high in sky. During that time I only managed to hit the board with the blade only couple times and even those were weak. I asked for some help from Alcander (Mr. Green) couple times, but I knew I would have to practice everyday. And even if I managed to master this skill in those 8 month, my vision of final performance was still blurry.

I knew everybody will dress themselves with best dresses, tunics and most of them will probably sing or dance. But in my case, I had to stand out and my knowledge of the "future" will definitely help. I only need to put an outstanding performance that involves knifes and then I will think of clothes and music.

'Hey, princess!' Astrid shouted through the canteen, bringing me back from my thoughts. I looked at her and saw her beaming with happyness as if our day of judgement wasn't coming. We got looks as always, but I got used to that already. The buffed woman sat down in front of me loudly and leaned towards me.

'So I heard you began preparing for the festival' she said and I smiled a bit.

'Yeah, have a lot to do and have little time' I said and got a scoff from her. I raised an eyebrow.

'We are lucky to have more than a half year. Some people come here only days before the festival and still have to get their performances ready' she said grimly.

'You are joking' I was shocked. This place is fucked up.

'Yeah. Good thing some people have a heart and help them. This year won't be different' she said and stole a slice of tomato from my plate.

'I really hate this place and the festival' I mumbled, but Astrid shrugged.

'We got here because of ourselves' she said and I got curious.

'What did you do to get here?' I asked. Astrid looked at me and a smirk got to her face.

'I boasted. I said to my friends that I could take on Ares himself, but that's, obviously, impossible. What about you?' She asked stealing another tomato slice.

'I kept saying that your Gods don't exist' I said and got a raised eyebrow from her. 'And I still do' I added and Astrid chuckled.

'I can see why Hades got angry. For someone like him to say that he does not exist is the same as saying death is a tale' she mused.

'It's not my fault that I was taught different religion!' I exclaimed.

'You are not a Greek?' Astrid asked frowning.

'Do I look like a Greek?' I countered her question with my own and got a laugh back.

'You are right. You are pale and bright like a cloud. Okay, let's go to the gardens. You need a break from those knives' she laughed and I simply sighed.