The smell of coffee and cooking food filled my nostrils as Caedus stepped into the dining hall. It was a bit more crowded than usual, but he figured that, instead of sleeping in, people had woken up early from the excitement of awakening their powers and choosing their weapons.
As he made his way through the mess hall and arrived at the end of the line, which was waiting for its turn to grab food, he noticed a few people giving him weird glances before whispering to the person next to them.
"Great. It seems more people than I thought know about my awakening being a little chaotic." Caedus mumbled under his breath before shaking his head slightly. He suppressed his sigh, which he seemed to do more than usual lately—no point in thinking about something that he couldn't control.
He decided to ignore the stares, despite how uncomfortable they made him. Choosing to distract himself while waiting for his turn to grab food, he noticed everyone around him had weapons on them.
Looking for something else to focus on, his eyes drifted around the hall.
Nearly everyone was carrying a weapon.
Swords, spears, axes, and a few bows. These were just a few among the different types of weapons he could see with a glance. Everyone seemed to have different weapons, whether in size or shape.
'Right.' Caedus blinked. 'Everyone picked their weapons yesterday.
"What should I pick?" Caedus thoughtfully asked himself.
"Oi! Caedus!"
Breaking out of his thoughts, Caedus whipped his head around to the person calling his name.
Sitting at a table in the middle of the room, Eric was smiling brightly and waving at him, earning the attention of nearly everyone in the chow hall.
Caedus turned around quickly, facing the line, trying to ignore even more people staring at him.
"Caedus! I got you food! Come sit down with us!" Eric shouted again, smiling bigger at the embarrassment Caedus was showing.
'Damnit.' Caedus grit his teeth, leaned a bit to see how long the line was, and resigned himself to the walk to the center of the room.
As Caedus approached the mischievously grinning Eric, he gave him a death glare before sitting down.
"You're an asshole, Eric," Caedus said darkly.
"Eh, it's an easy way to mess with you. I have no shame, Caedus." Eric shrugged slightly, pushing a tray of food to Caedus.
Taking note of Eric's weapon, which was a completely metal spear, Caedus shook his head and took a huge bite of his food, chewing it slowly. After the exhausting night he had awakened, he missed dinner. And the stress of being with the Commanding Officer of Obsidian Gate. He was famished.
"So a spear?" Caedus asked, trying to make small talk.
Eric grinned again. "Yep, my family has almost always been spear users, so I have been training in spear arts since I can remember. Plus, it complements my powers very well. You still haven't chosen your weapon, though. What do you think you will choose?"
"I really don't know. I have never really used weapons before in combat, except a knife and a bow for hunting, but I seriously am a terrible shot with a bow; it will be safer for everyone if I don't touch one."
Just as he wolfed down a few bites of his food, he noticed they weren't alone at the table. It was Iris and her cohort.
They were all silently watching Caedus and Eric talk.
'Weird. They never ate with us before. It was always just Eric and me.'
Then he observed the weapons the cohort had.
Iris still had that silver longsword at her hip that she had after awakening. 'It might be a soul weapon.'
A soul weapon is like a physical manifestation of an awakener's soul. They can be summoned and dismissed at will and grow in strength with the person. Soul weapon wielders were excellent at combat and incredibly rare. While a soul weapon can still break like any other weapon, it doesn't hurt the person's soul, and as long as the person has enough mana, they can forge a new one.
Shifting his eyes to the others, he saw everyone else's weapons.
The giant man, Ragnar, had a huge war hammer propped up next to him. It was just as long as he was tall.
Keira had two long daggers lying on the table in front of her.
Mira had a bow with a quiver.
But Jared had no weapon. Feeling Caedus' questioning gaze, he shrugged before saying casually. "My soul power."
"Right." Caedus didn't need to ask further. Jared meant his power either summoned a weapon or his power didn't complement a weapon, but knowing how many resources and time the Kingdom was putting into the Ironwood Crown Initiative, it was probably the first.
Then there was Dorian, who had a unique weapon he hadn't seen yet in the chow hall. It was a scythe that was taller than Dorian, lowering his gaze. Caedus noticed him staring at him hard, and Caedus met his eyes. They were… dark. Empty. But they still held humanity.
It gave Caedus the shivers.
While Caedus felt terrified when he observed his own soul, for some reason, he felt a similarity when looking at Dorian. It was subtle and barely noticeable, but for some reason, Dorian felt dangerous.
Noticing Dorian and Caedus stared at each other half a second too long, Eric cleared his throat.
Caedus looked away. 'Maybe it is because I can feel mana now, but I have been extra sensitive.'
"So, I am guessing you guys have something to discuss?" Caedus asked, shoveling another bite of food into his mouth and glancing at Iris. She was undoubtedly the leader of this cohort. There was no way they wouldn't be here if she didn't have anything to say.
"I did have something to talk about, but I don't believe we will have enough time, and now that I think about it, talking here isn't appropriate," Iris spoke up in her smooth voice, looking around at the people staring at the group. The white streak in her hair, paired with her fitting military uniform and silver sword at her hip, gave her an elegance that would make anyone, including Caedus, look twice to see her again.
"How much do we need to talk about?" Caedus was a bit stunned. They still had about an hour before they had to be at the training grounds.
"Depends on your response, Caedus." She smiled softly.
Caedus paused his eating in shock. This was the first time he had seen her smile at him and say his name.
'Wait, that smile reminds me of when Eric is screwing with me. Is she teasing me?'
Putting down his fork and wiping his mouth lightly with a napkin. Caedus put everything into his charm and decided not to let this be a one-sided tease. "Alright then, Iris, when would you like to speak? I should be free tonight before lights out." Caedus replied with a smile that would put the best models to shame.
This time, Iris wore a stunned look, which seemed contagious, as the rest of her cohort stared in disbelief at Caedus.
Even the usual blank-faced Dorian raised his eyebrows.
The entire table went silent.
Iris blinked. Once. Then twice.
And her smile reappeared before she spoke. "Fine, I'll see you later tonight, Caedus."
At that response, she stood up from the table, turning away from Caedus with her stunned cohort standing up as well, following her exit.
Ragnar and Jared gave Caedus a thumbs-up with proud expressions, and even Dorian, with his cold eyes, looked back and nodded as if he were acknowledging Caedus.
Caedus wasn't sure, but he could have sworn the back of Iris's neck was slightly red.
"What the hell?"
And all that remained at the table were Eric and Caedus.
"Caedus, did you just hit on Iris?" Eric asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was trying to tease her." Caedus sheepishly replied, suddenly very interested in his food.
Eric leaned back in his chair, grinning as he had just witnessed something entertaining and slightly dangerous, then whistled loudly.
"Jeez, man, you got a pair on you, don't you?"
Caedus didn't respond to that; truth be told, he was embarrassed as well. He didn't mean for it to sound like that. And he would genuinely be free tonight, for sure.
Saving him from his embarrassment, a voice called out from the chow hall entrance. "Cadet Violetshade!" Caedus shot to his feet before turning towards the voice.
It was the captain with an eye patch. Captain Throne.
Caedus walked across the hall and stood in front of the captain.
"You eat already?" She asked casually.
"Yes, ma'am," Caedus replied.
"Good, go put your tray away and come to the blacksmith with me, it is time to choose your weapon."
Caedus held back a grin before saluting and turning around, rushing to put his tray away.
"Caedus, what's up?" Eric asked.
"Time for me to go get my weapon." Caedus smiled.
"Nice man! Choose a good one!" Eric waved at him as Caedus threw away the extra food and marched towards Captain Thorne.
Then, as Caedus was about to step through the exit, Eric shouted.
He shouted extremely loudly, which grabbed the attention of everyone currently eating breakfast and made Captain Thorne raise an eyebrow.
"Cadet Violetshade! Don't keep flirting with people today! I can't be associated with a heartbreaker!"
A beat of silence followed.
Caedus stopped mid-step, refusing to turn around and give Eric the satisfaction of embarrassing him again in public.
No one in the cafeteria said a word. If Caedus dropped a pin, everyone would hear it, awakened or not.
"…I'm going to kill him," he said flatly.
Captain Thorne looked at Caedus before speaking. "Cadet Violetshade, are you a playboy?"
Caedus's expression turned even darker. 'Even you, Captain Thorne?'
"No, ma'am. Just a man with poor choices in friends."
Captain Thorne nodded, suppressing a smile, before leading Caedus out of the building.