Day 83, Year 3000.
"One more month left."
Done with his morning exercises, Gawain gave himself some time to think.
He was still struggling with the sword. His attack was not even close to what Celia was using against him. Even if the rules of Poseidon's Trials were to get your enemy in the losing position, blindsiding the opponent with his shield and getting the sword in a position that exploits their vulnerability could only work once or twice. Not every single time.
"Stubborn moves."
For a shield, one must be confident in their moves. They have to put their strength behind every single block, and that makes it important to be stubborn in their decisions.
Unlike that, the sword asks for improvisation and adaptiveness, which only matters in a shield when the opponent uses deceptive techniques like feints and hidden weapons. A sword attack is, by design, predictable at his level. Even Celia, with her superior skills, is not an exception, and to some extent, his fight with Joan was similar up until the last attack.
"How do you balance adaptive attacks with a stubborn defense? Do I have to ingrain two different skills for each of my hands?"
Regulated breathing, defense with the shield, and now attack with the sword. His brain couldn't keep up.
'What is the solution?'
Something that helps him develop an attack along with his brand of defense.
He clenched his fist. The veins on his forearm had become more noticeable ever since his training had begun.
"I should ask Joan."
There was no point in wasting his time procrastinating if he couldn't get an answer.
He picked up his shield that was by his side and prepared for his stance training. He had 40 minutes of positional awareness with the shield, against imaginary sword moves that he was used to facing.
'Whoosh.'
A proper sideswipe that tore through the air.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Joan walked into the room. She was here to set things straight with someone.
"Ah! What a pleasant surprise, Master Joan."
The Ares chambers. A small shrine was at the center of the room, along with at least 100 swords decorating the white walls. The man who addressed her was facing the shrine, but he was still able to tell the identity of the visitor by the sound of her footsteps.
"Cut the crap, William."
She was one of the few people that could openly see through his bullshit.
"Why have you marked my student with a target mark?"
"Ha."
He sarcastically chuckled. Standing up and turning around towards a fellow rival, his attractiveness was undeniable amongst the people at the academy. Sporting a blonde mane with a single ponytail, along with a lush beard that was tremendously well-kempt. Smoldering was the appropriate adjective to describe his looks when you added his height and body frame. Dressed in a long white robe, his cocky expression was the only glaring error in his current look.
"Why would I waste my efforts on an insignificant first-year student?"
"Humph! You don't have to act all innocent with that sort of attitude. I had warned you, that whatever happens between us, our students will not have to suffer for it."
He raised his left hand and started to gently stroke his beard.
"As I said, you are looking for someone else. I have nothing to do with this."
His self-indulgent grin said otherwise.
"Fine. I will personally see to it that three of your students who were responsible are expelled from the academy by tomorrow. If you don't want them to be kicked out, then admit the truth."
William closed his eyes.
"Do as you wish. As the master, nothing would give me more satisfaction than watching a master such as yourself bring justice to those responsible for this crime."
If he wasn't budging, then she wasn't bluffing.
"Fine. Spend your night in preparation for the expulsion of three of your students. "
He was the master, and he was to interrogate his students first with the evidence.
She turned around to leave, only to be stopped by a question.
"Will this stop the problems?"
He had a proposal.
"What do you mean?"
"The only reason he continues to be discriminated against is that he belongs to your house."
She gritted her teeth.
"Like the others, he too will be fed up with the bullying eventually."
William wasn't even trying right now.
"That will not happen."
She had faith in Gawain.
"Is that a challenge?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"Not really. It is a fact."
William was impressed.
"He really must be special. No wonder he made it to the list."
He snapped his fingers.
"I'll be looking at his progress very closely, and I will hope that the childish game of target marking will stop with your efforts."
She calmed herself down.
"If you do anything to him, I am going to murder you."
An open threat.
"Have you forgotten the guidelines? No death threats amongst the house masters."
Her eyes were filled with menace.
"If you don't control yourself, I will be forced to break all of your bones along with your beloved guidelines."
She turned around and walked away. After she left, William softly whispered,
"There are some guidelines that I will be willing to break as well. But right now, all I want to do is break you."
Her self-righteous nature, her strong sense of determination and justice,
As a noble, William was quite enthusiastic about his future conquest.