Chapter 131 - Mentors

It was not long after settling into their rooms that the group made their way down to the rather spacious living room. The room itself had several simple couches and chairs that had been arranges in a semicircle around a large natural stone fireplace along the far wall. The windows were large and showed the farmland to the front and back of the building. The floor like the building itself was made of a light-colored wood that had been covered by several larger carpets made of dark red wool. The fireplace hadn't been lit quite yet seemingly waiting for dinner to be eaten prior to settling in front of the cozy fire.On the couches chatting were a mixture of three different groups. One that was obvious to identify were the children of the noble families. They were easily identified by their elegant and well-kept traveling clothes and the way they sat. The second group were likely to be the instructors, just from a glance they had an aura about them of veterans of the battlefield. Even when they were casually discussing with one another it seemed that they were on high alert.The last was the Sherman family, Thomas with his short dirty blonde hair and green eyes and athletic build, Laurel a shorter woman with shorter light brown hair and blue eyes that looked like sea water. In her arms was a baby that was swaddled in a simple white blanket. Thomas's father and mother were both present as well though they were moving towards what Jien assumed was the kitchen. They were an older couple with greying hair, but they still appeared spry and full of energy.Jien's attention was initially drawn to his hosts but was quickly drawn away toward the group of five mentors beyond Mark, his own. There was Lila, whom he had met and talked with along the way to Dunn. Next to her was a bear of a man who seemed to tower above the others in the room. His face was square, head shaved clean, but beyond his lack of hair, including facial hair, what caught Jien's attention most was the man's musculature. To call him toned was an understatement, as even standing calmly as he was his shirt seemed to be one incorrect movement from tearing apart under the force of his bulging muscles.Standing across from this mountain of muscle was a man that appeared completely the opposite. He appeared almost as thin as a rail, wearing dark clothes and with slightly sunken dark eyes. He had black hair that was kept short though a little unkempt and his eyes were a milky white, likely representing blindness, yet he moved, spoke and acted as if he wasn't. Next to the thin man was a woman who looked about as prim and proper as any of the children's parents were during the dinner and dance a month ago despite having traveled via horseback. Her expression was strict, her posture perfect and her dark brown hair drawn up into a well styled bun. Last was a man who looked like you could find him on any city street or family household. His looks were so average that one could almost forget him in a crowd. He had brown hair that was shoulder length and neither well kempt nor ruffled and deep brown eyes that were almost black.Just based on what Jien saw of these mentors he could make some guesses about who was mentoring who. He suspected the particularly buff man to be Rosalind's mentor, mainly because to be able to mentor anyone in the art of smithing generally required a fair amount of strength but also because of Rosalind's choice of weapon being largely strength reliant. He could guess that the thin man was likely to be Barret's mentor mainly because the way he held himself was highly controlled but also like a hidden blade ready to be drawn at any moment. The two that he wasn't sure about were the prim and proper woman and the man who seemed almost abnormally average. The two noble children left if his guesses were right were Lesley and Olivia, but it was hard to tell whose mentor was whose.After sizing up the group of mentors Jien made his way to his hosts to thank them for their hospitality before making his way onward to the group of children who were chatting on the couches. Meanwhile Emily and Mark had made their way over to the group of mentors. Though Emily would be leaving to head back to her hometown in the morning she never found talking with other mentors a bad thing. Perhaps there would be another child who would pick fencing as their combat style. The future of her fencing school would be determined by her having a few students to carry it forward.