Harold looked at Blake and Sheila approaching and asked "Is your robe the same Blake?"
Blake nodded and said "Yess...I haven't opened it but it looks the same as this. The lady at the counter said that black is for S class and the red lining is for fighting major."
Simon stepped forward and took Arya's robe in his hand and said "Then this 1st would be because they are in the first year. I thought Arya came first among her class." he said in a teasing tone.
Arya gave a death glare to her brother while the others laughed. Blake went close to Harold and asked "You didn't tell me that I will have to select a weapon as well?"
Harold ruffled Blake's hair and said "There are things that you will learn as you go through this journey. Once you start the academy, you will learn things one by one. No need to be in such a hurry as there is a lot that even Simon doesn't know."
Arya couldn't ignore the chance she had gotten to get back at her brother and said "Heh...Blake, do you think Simon is all-knowing? He is just a bookworm."
Simon wanted to retort but Anya decided to intervene and stop them from fighting. Harold looked at his family and gave a small laugh and then looked at Blake beside him who was also enjoying the show and asked "So, which weapon are you going to take?"
With a questioning look on his face, Blake said "I don't know. I thought you would have something in mind."
Before Harold could answer Anya came toward them and said "See Harold what you have done. The boy is now dependent on you." Harold was a little embarrassed when he heard that. He was someone who was curious about Blake and his soul spirit and also wanted to help him out. But because Blake had learned everything from Harold, he had become too dependent on Harold for every decision.
Anya then looked at Blake and said in a soft voice "Blake this is your journey and every decision in it should be made by you. Now when we go up, you will be in front of different weapons and I want you to try all of them one by one and choose which suits you perfectly. A soul master can change his weapon whenever he wants and some even use multiple weapons. This isn't an important decision by me and Sheila want you to take it on your own.
Blake realized what Anya just said and he was convinced as well. This was his decision to be made and he will do it himself.
"Let's go...I can't wait to get my own spear." Alan said while swinging his hands as if he had a spear in hand.
Alan's mom giggled at her son's antics and motioned everyone to go to the 1st floor. As everyone reached the first floor, they saw it was divided into two sections just like the ground floor. One for soul masters and one for knights. As the group entered the section for soul masters, they saw many weapons put on display on the walls. They then heard footsteps come toward them and turned in that direction. They saw a short man come toward them. As soon as Arya saw the man she rushed ahead and asked "Are you a dwarf?"
The short man gave a smug grin and puffed his chest out but didn't say anything. Arya looked back at her mother and asked "Are dwarves so stupid that they don't understand human language?"
A tick mark appeared on the proud dwarf's face. He bonked Arya's head as he jumped a little. Arya quickly backed off white rubbing her head.
'This man is small but he has the strength of an elder.' Arya thought.
Harold laughed as he saw that and said "I apologize for my daughter's behavior. This is the first time she has seen a dwarf."
The dwarf waved his hand and said "No need to apologize. We receive brats like these every year and we straighten them out." He then looked at Arya and the other kids and said "I am Rutmod Bluntchest. One of the blacksmiths that work here. One-third of the weapons you will see here are made by me. Now I want you kids to show me your soul spirit and tell me the weapon you want. Follow me to the testing block."
Rutmod turned around and began walking. The group followed him without asking any questions. Even Arya who liked to be ahead of everything was cowering by the side of her mother. She didn't want to get hit in the head again by the short man.
As they reached in front of a room the dwarf scanned his hand on the small screen on the left side of the door and the door opened. He went inside followed by the group. As they entered they saw a small platform in the middle of the room, some cut-up and destroyed dummies on the side, and different types of weapons encased in glass on the wall.
Rutmod turned to face the group and said the parents and guardians stand back. Brats come with me. The parents stood at the side to see what Rutmod was going to do. Rutmod first called Alan and asked him to showcase his soul spirit. As Alan released his soul spirit Rutmod said "You would want a spear strong enough to handle the ice, right?" he had just stated the obvious. If Alan had decided to take something other than the spear then Rutmod might have become interested.
Rutmod went near the table and lifted the tabletop. No one would have thought that the table was also a chest where Rutmod stored weapons. He went through the chest for a few seconds and then pulled out 3 spears.
He then brought those 3 spears and laid them on the platform beside each other. As soon as the spears touched the platform, a thin layer of frost spread on the surface.
"I will tell you about the 3 spears in front of you and you can choose one of them."
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