I stumbled into the wide-open space which, on merely a brief glance, rivalled the main lobby in size. The air here was less stale but still fixed with that nauseating rot that permeated the entire facility. Pillars of some crystalline substance that glowed in a bright cyan reflected off the otherwise black stone tiles and bricks, shining down on the commendable weapon racks that held more tools for battle than I'd ever seen.
Some looked archaic like what I would read in books depicting Pora's rather bloody history while others resembled those used among other cultures mother had told me about. The staff hollowed out with shiny metal balls was one of the more unique weapons I recognised. If I recalled correctly, it was a Shzin staff developed by the elves for their mage's adept in the practice of sound control, however they went about doing that.
Most intriguing about the room discounting the crystal pillars was the small wooden hexagons built into the floor periodically. I'd never seen anything like them in the courtyard father used to train in. This was supposed to be a combat arena right?
Could they be specific to vampire culture?
I wondered such as I joined the line of eleven other pale skin fellows, two of which held a measure of confidence while the rest were very clearly shaken by something.
"Name?" Asked the sole man, not in line and also the only one wearing black with an aura of intimidation that made me take a step back.
It was a black sleeveless top with brown trousers covering his bottom half. He wore rings on his fingers and ears matching well with the flowing mane of black hair that was tied back into a single tail of hair. To call him tall was an understatement as the man easily must've been six foot and a half or over, with a build resembling that of a dualist my father used to train. In short, the man was scary, especially with his bright red eyes, but still didn't match up to the subtle screaming danger I felt near Lord Vanngrash.
"Vannis."
"Are you sure?" He asked with a pensive look.
"Yes."
"Having determination when deciding important things is a commendable quality to have. We'll begin shortly, just waiting for two more." He said with what I guessed was his own form of approval hidden behind a gruff exterior.
None among those in the line spoke a word, making the room completely absent of noise besides the Vampire in front who used his spare time to check pieces of parchment or polish the weapons standing on display. I personally felt it best to keep my head down as much as possible, being the smallest among the line's occupants and also the skinniest. Best to not annoy any sleeping lions. Maybe in a regular lesson or classroom, people might've passed whispers around, but here, among those whose hearing was far better than a human, even an increase in a heartbeat would cause suspicion.
At least that was what I thought.
Looking around the room I could tell which in line were nervous, which were confident and which were in danger of releasing the contents of their bladder on the hard stone floor. It was relaxing to know I wasn't the only one not completely accustomed to the new environment I had been placed in.
It took close to five minutes of dead silence before I caught on to heavy breathing and quickened steps approaching from the corridor past the door I entered through.
Two familiar figures crashed into the room, seemingly in a rush to make it here even though I assumed they must be late to some degree. It was the amber haired boy with brown eyes and the brown-haired girl from the sanctuary who happened to be part of my coven, whatever the hell that meant.
"So sorry sir, my sister had a… mishap and we had to snap her out of it." The amber haired boy spat out frantically, standing straight as a poll and bowing his body as I'd only seen servants do.
The man didn't let his eyes stray from the small blade he was polishing, giving the two time to get themselves upright and in line before making his way back to the wooden hexagon in the middle of the room between four crystal pillars, which also happened to be the biggest.
"Names?" He asked in the same uniform fashion as before.
"I'm Kell and my sis-"
"I asked you for your name and your name alone. She must answer as well" the tall man said, interrupting the tallish amber head boy Kell, in a red tunic and brown trousers without any shoes like myself.
The smaller girl beside him who looked like she might die of right or shyness tried to step forward from her brother's back and mutter the phrase but it came out as barely a soft whisper.
"D-Delphine."
"Fantastic, if no one has any gripes with it I'd say we move onto the lesson then, after all, you have more and we haven't got all night." The tall man said, receiving a few firm nods of affirmation from the people with the calmest hearts.
"First of all, an introduction is in order. I am Vale, Lord Vannagrash's Armsmaster. It falls to me within this crypt and any other Lord Vannagrash occupies to make sure the armaments are in the greatest shape possible and that any defensive/offensive needs for those authorised are to be met to the highest calibre."
He stood in attention like a commander in the army would, staring down all of us like weeds in need of plucking from an otherwise serene garden. There was a certain aspect of appraisal in his sweeping gaze, but also a cold indifference.
"Make no mistake. I am not your friend, your teacher, or in any way responsible for you. Disrespect me or my Lord and I will treat you as I would any other that breaks the tenets of our race. You are guests, paid or indebted ones at that, so the level of tolerance I have will be appropriate respectively."
"That said, all fangless in my humble opinion deserves an equal opportunity at the rite for blood. If you abide by your manners and listen carefully, I will do my best to teach you."
Vale stopped short, his eyes lingering on me for a moment more than I would've liked, sending cold chills down my spine as all of my being told me to run for the wind. I swear he smirked at my not very well hidden fear before ending the introduction with an obligatory phrase I'm sure he'd repeated more times than he would've liked.
"Any questions?"
All but one of us stood completely stiff, a single hand belonging to a tall and admittedly good looking blonde boy with black eyes tinted in orange. He carried an air of pristine and confidence that none other than Vale could match, reminding me a little of the blonde girl from yesterday. Strange I didn't see her here, could there be multiple classes?
"Grisile, you may speak," Vale replied in kind to the raised hand.
"Is it possible that you are the same Vale that slew a Dread class Nightbeast?"
Chatter gently erupted between the confused and anxious, now focused on the common point of respect and admiration. I personally knew very little about Night beasts since they were not common near northwest Pora. Mother had enough disdain for the things that none of the books she brought me had a shred of information on them. All I knew from the rumours between my siblings, was that they were monsters among monsters, terrible creatures birthed from the womb of hell itself, fueled by nothing other than slaughter and cruelty.
To kill one meant that Vale was extremely skilled and equally dangerous.
"Silence."
Vale's voice was calmly cold, filled with none of the relative ease from before. Evidently, Vale considered the talking a sign of disrespect. The room went deathly silent, Grisile having lost any previous pep in his step. I myself was afraid but also curious to see how Vale would react when prodded.
Knowing where the line was drawn was the first step to never crossing it after all.
"Good. As for your question, people do things in life, sometimes over-embellished, sometimes overlooked. I am not "Vale who slew a Dreaded Night beast". I am Vale, Lord Vannagrash's Armsmaster. Nothing more, nothing less."
With that finishing remark, he commanded us to all stand in attention around the hexagon. Unlike the others scattered about in a symmetrical manner, this one had a central length twice as long, making the square aspect ratio more akin to a rectangle. It confused me as to why these things were here until Vale called Grisile to the other side, facing off against his with a small blade akin to a knife with its curved edge.
"Today's lesson will set a precedent for what you will be doing before the Blood Rite In my class. All of you will pick a partner and the weapon you are most comfortable with, then take turns showing each other how you would use it, like such." Vale said, showing off different motions and styles of blade work to us and his temporary partner, Grisile.
In response Grisile did the same, retrieving a polearm with blunt ends from the large weapon rack and showing off confident and practised movements. He seemed arrogant about his skill with the smile he held but I could tell the guy was taking the exchange seriously.
Once he was done without so much as a word the two walked to the centre of the hexagon and exchanged weapons. A swift, predictable duel occurred, ending twelve blows after it started. The skill gap between them was vast, but even so, it was clear Vale had held back and used Grisiles style instead of his own. For what reason, I hadn't a clue.
"The point of this is to learn the basis of weapons you yourself might not be attuned to. For the less informed this might feel strange, but I'd like you to remember for a moment that you are no longer human and your mind no longer functions as a human would. You know things you've never learned and all it takes is a push to realise them. Pick a partner, take your weapon and begin. You have only so long inside this chamber and I don't lend Lord Vannagrash's wares to Fangless. As for me, I will oversee and correct any glaring mistakes. You won't become experts this way, but at least you'll have a fighting chance."
He was right, this did seem strange. The words were meant to inspire confidence but did little for me. How the hell was one meant to learn a weapon just from watching, actually how the hell was I meant to do this if I didn't know squat about any weapons besides their make and model.
The closest thing I have to training with any weapon was playing pretend with Cera when I was five!
The other thirteen Fangless splintered immediately, looking to their peers for who to partner with and towards the weapon racks to gain insight into what they might be attuned to. I, however, stood still like an idiot too confused by the point of all this to act. What made this situation worse was that the little voice in the back of my head, the small part of me that had gleaned information I didn't know, came up just as short.
Both clueless.
It didn't take long for all the apparent stares to become prevalent as the others looked towards me with either pity or malice, seeing as I was both the shortest in stature among them regardless of gender and had the most shallow frame. My clothes were small and yet they looked baggy on me.
Stuck for an answer to them, I huffed in relief at how brief the moment of attention was. Most moved on, dismissing me as either weak or easy under their breaths. They probably didn't mean for me to hear, but I did.
It bothered me like it always had. That didn't mean I did anything to change their minds though.
I wanted to begin studying the others properly myself to figure out a fitting partner. Sadly one pair of persistent brown eyes didn't let go so easily. Like the last time, I could feel the boy coming forward before I even saw him; towering over me from behind.
"Good to see ya again mate," Kell said with an eager attitude, wrapping his hand around my shoulders like we were old friends.
Such actions seemed so natural to him. To me, however, they spurred a discomfort I found hard to describe.