Once lunch was over, it was time for the educational side of being a Peacekeeper. All the new graduates left the canteen and headed for the classroom.
But it was not just them. There were a few older Peacekeepers who looked like they had been in the job for a while now. What were they here for?
Refresher lessons…punishment maybe.
Hopefully, she wouldn't find out by it actually happening to her. Going through each lesson once was more than enough.
It was very boring, and she struggled to stay awake through most of it. Thankfully, she had Sarah and Michael working pretty much as her spotters, tapping her if she started to drift off.
There was a quid pro quo, though, as she had to raise them from their slumber on a few occasions.
Thankfully, not all of the lessons were boring, but most were about rules and regulations.
Oh, did you know that the boots all Peacekeepers wear must have magic-infused twine for the laces to ensure that they do not unravel when out and about?
Some people might find it interesting, but it was not for her.
When things got into tactics, battle strategies, and the theory behind different aspects of combat, she paid attention.
She was by no means obsessed with fighting or anything like that. No. But knowing how the Peacekeepers would be acting and fighting may one day help save her life if she does end up facing them properly.
The days generally continued like that.
She trained her body out in the courtyard under that sadistic teacher and learned all about what it meant to be a Peacekeeper in the classroom. She also got to know Sarah and Michael much more over the days, learning who they were and why they became Peacekeepers.
As it happens, it was because a villain attacked their village when they were young. People got hurt, and many buildings and livelihoods were damaged, but in the end, one of the heroes saved the day. It sparked in them a need to become someone like the hero who had helped. They trained hard to be just like them.
And then the age of peace came, along with the Peacekeepers. So, they decided to join up.
Beatrice went over her backstory, which she felt a little bad about, given that they both consoled her after she spoke about losing her parents, which she had completely made up.
Putting that to the side, she continued her training at the Peacekeepers' headquarters, which eventually led to the day they moved on to weapons, trying out various types to see which you were more accustomed to.
Oriana herself had never used a weapon before. She had no need to so far. But, she could see the utility in it. Even in the age of peace, there were still some problems out there. Monsters in the forest, being one.
But it did bring up the recent past, where she still wasn't sure what she thought regarding the situation with Bethany. She hadn't needed to use that dagger as far as she could see. The man could have been taken down without it.
"Urgh", she thought as she racked her brain.
She left all that alone for a moment and got back to trying out different weapons. She didn't want to try to sort through all of that while undercover. It was best left for when she was relaxing in her bed.
But before she did, she heard an interesting titbit from her two new friends.
"Hey sis, with you being a mage and all, does that mean you won't be getting the dispel device when we eventually go on patrol?"
"…what's that?" Both she and Sarah had asked upon hearing him.
Yet Sarah was the only one who didn't have a clue what he was talking about.
"Dispel Device", Oriana thought to herself. "Is this what Simon spoke about?"
Michael slowly looked upwards and put on a face as if to say he had some amazing secret that no one else knew.
To which they both just shook their heads.
"Okay, I'll tell you. You know, you're going to need an information network like mine if you want to progress in the Peacekeepers."
"An information network. You just joined and have been here for four days." Oriana stated.
"So… I work fast."
Sarah and Oriana just stood there with their arms crossed.
"Fine…I heard one of the instructors mention it. Apparently, they have been working on it for a while now. It was supposed to be a magic device that detects and nullifies all magic around it. But it never worked. "
"Phew", both she and Sarah were relieved to hear that. Such a thing sounded way too dangerous to be made, just generally.
Didn't stop the fact that they were trying to make it, but it was good to know there wasn't such a thing…yet.
"But, they got far enough to be able to nullify some magic. Apparently, certain types of magic don't work well with each other or something."
"True", Oriana thought, "That might mean it's impossible to make. It's like an apothecary trying to make a cure-all. A good dream, but unlikely to ever actually be created."
"So, it doesn't work. What's so interesting about that?" Sarah butted in while Oriana was still thinking.
"Well, you two heard about the attack at the ball, right?"
"Of course."
"…A little." Oriana tried to play it off cool.
"Because of all of that, and the stuff with the festival, they figured out how to make it nullify just illusion magic. All to take down the one that caused those messes."
"Really?"
"R-really", Oriana said as she missed her swing with the sabre she was using. For some reason, her eye kept twitching.
Even though she had been aware of this device and knew that people were after her, it was still surreal to be talking about herself with these two people who had somewhat become her friends.
"Yeah. The instructor did say it wasn't ready yet. I think it's either still being developed or tested or something. But yeah, I guess that makes you useless now, sis." He said with a hearty laugh at the end.
Which suddenly changed to a yelp when Sarah showed him just how useless she was by blasting him with a small ball of fire.
"You forget, brother, that I mainly use fire magic, not illusions."
"Yep-yep, I forgot." He quickly said as he patted down his leg.
"Hey, no magic. This is for weapons combat only. We don't need any of those magic tricks. You will be practising them some other time."
"Sir, yes, sir."
After the fire was put out, Michael and Sarah got back to training, as did Oriana, who came across something that looked like a blade on a thin piece of rope.
The blade was more than just that, however. The blade itself had four points: three which curved outwards, all the same distance from each other, making a sort of tri-pointed end, with the fourth pointed upwards in the centre of this tri-pointed set of spikes.
"Ah, you found that. Shouldn't even really be here. Some Peacekeeper that liked weapons designed it…although it was never really a proper weapon for a Peacekeeper."
"Wait, so it's one of a kind…and what do you mean by 'not proper'?" She asked the instructor who had come over.
"Sort of. He apparently modelled it on a couple of weapons from other kingdoms, combining them to make that thing. And well, it's not like a sword, you can't manoeuvre it well. You also can't really use a shield with it either. It's not going pack a punch like a polearm, and while its got range, a bow or spell would be faster and hit harder than that. So, it was never really looked at much further in terms of how to fight with it. But if you want to give it a go, by all means."
At that, he headed off to talk to another trainee and explain to them not to let go of their sword mid swing, as they had just done, sending it flying into another trainee. Well, the shield they were using, thankfully.
Oriana looked down at the weapon and wondered how it could be used. The curved blades looked like they could grab things. Hook over something or someone, latch on, and then pull them.
She wondered if it could even be used to pull herself towards the bladed end, if it was latched onto something sturdy.
Then you had the blade at the top. Probably used to pierce. Swing or throw it hard enough, and it would be like throwing a knife at someone.
Then you had the rope, which was…well, just rope, and there were signs of wear and tear, which wasn't a good sign. That would need to be replaced. At the opposite end, it was a loop, likely to prevent the user from accidentally throwing the whole thing.
But while it was all well and good to speculate how parts of the weapon worked, there was still one question left. How do you actually wield it?
She would ask their sadistic instructor if he had any insight, but given his lack of faith in using it as a weapon, she wasn't hopeful. She would just have to go on instinct in finding out how it would function best.
But this was a question that she wouldn't be able to answer until another day.
"Okay, everyone. That's the training session over. If you found a weapon you like, please store it in the lockers over there. Until you're fully fledged Peacekeepers, you can't just walk around with them, so they will stay there for your training sessions."
Everyone started to walk over to the lockers he mentioned. A few of the trainees, however, were trying to decide between two or three weapons to pick a favourite.
"Alright, calm down. This doesn't lock you into one weapon. The others that have been left are still available for the next session as well. So just pick one and store it. This is just so no one else picks out your favoured next time," their trainer quickly added, upon seeing the odd few that were fretting.
With that now understood, it still took a while for them, but they finally managed to pick one weapon and store it as the others had. Oriana had gone for the unique rope blade thing. Hopefully, she could figure out the best way to use it and keep it for herself.
It would be a nice and useful memento from being here.