Leaving the spectator area I walked down the stairs and from there I was accompanied by a staff member to a narrow corridor that opened up into the arena.
The corridor didn't have any magic lights installed on the walls, only the sunlight entering from the front opening was illuminating the corridor dimly.
After going on for a while I reached the center of the corridor and there on the side a room was built, entering through the already opened door I saw that this was the room with all the weapons.
Students were here provided with swords before the match, that was the only reason to explain the crazy numbers of swords mounted on the wall as well as the ones resting on the metal racks and tables.
There were all sorts of swords, longswords, and shortswords, broad and heavy ones, many who could be identified more as a dagger than a sword, there were swords the size of a human also, and heck I even saw a big chopper leaned to a wall in a corner.
'Who the fuck has the muscles to wield swords this big and heavy?' I asked myself. There was a possibility that third or fourth-year students can use those but even that thought didn't seem realistic.
"Pick up any weapon of your choice, and be quick with that," the staff member who was escorting me commanded while he stood outside the room near the door.
Keeping his advice I passed him a look as if saying "Right on to it" and then begin to search for a sword suitable for me.
I didn't use short words since they interfered with my movements and sometimes even sent me off balance, the longswords were preferable but the types I was currently seeing were a bit too long to fit for me, and the heavy ones were totally out of question.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAt a glance I could tell that the swords which were mounted on the walls were definitely not for me hence I shifted my place of search and started looking at the ones on the racks and tables.
This room was quite big so I'd to move around a lot and compare a sword with the other; after all, I needed a sword that can withstand high temperatures to an extent.
As I moved forward in the room I saw that back in the end near the wall was a wooden counter and behind it stood a man who looked like a blacksmith.
At first, I thought to go over to him and tell him what type of sword I wanted— a light one made with sturdy metal and whose blade was of normal size.
But I refrained from doing so when I saw another male student standing before the counter and talking with the blacksmith. The first thing I thought after seeing him was that he is probably the guy who I am going to fight with but then as I studied his appearance I realized I was wrong about that.
He was not my opponent.
The guy seemed to be my age, had black hair and eyes, and a fair skin tone. He wasn't on the muscular side but not on the skinny side either, to be honest; he had a completely normal body—according to this world.
His looks were different from the guy who was going to fight me—of course, I know this from the —and more importantly, the arena had two corridors for students to enter, both on opposite sides.
Class B students entered from the corridor I was currently in and the class A students from the one in the opposite direction, and each corridor had its own weaponry room.
Class C vs class D was after the training session of our class was over, probably tomorrow so he can't be from those classes either.
I stayed at my place behind a rack with a sword in my hand as I waited for him to finish so I can go and talk to the blacksmith. Though the more I listened to his conversation the more I realized that he was not "talking" with the blacksmith but rather arguing with him.
I moved forward a little and tried to listen more closely as the contents of his argument piped my interest. The boy was holding two longswords with black colored blades in both his hands as he spouted some words to the blacksmith.
"I just can't understand your reasoning! Why the hell I can't take two swords with me, huh? There's no rule that says it's impossible!" he shouted as he looked at the blacksmith as if what he was saying was completely logical and fair.
"But I can't let you take two blades with you; I am not allowed to do that. Try to understand my situation also!" said the blacksmith, expressing his worries.
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? Fuck it, you are the one who should understand my situation! I mean, there's no way I can perform 'starburst stream' with only one sword! It just won't work," the boy argued angrily.
"Sigh…sorry lad but I can't let you take more than one sword. If you really want to do so, then come back with a letter from the director; I'll let you take a thousand swords then. But until then," the blacksmith waved at the staff member who came with me.
"Take him out of here," he instructed.
The staff member then came, held the boy with his collar, and then dragged him out of the room. He was forced to use the violent method since the boy wasn't about to leave the room at any cost, he was forced to do it the hard way.
When he was taken care of, I went to the blacksmith and told him what kind of sword I want. It took him a while but then the sword he provided me with was just what I wanted.
It was a sword with a medium-sized blade; its weight was not too much either. I wasn't so sure about the metal but it looked stronger than most of the swords.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmTaking the sword with me I left the room, there I met the staff guy who was waiting for me. Apparently, he had taken care of the "job" very quickly.
"So, what was that about?" I asked him as we walked through the corridor and headed toward the arena.
"What?"
"That boy I mean, what was his deal?"
"Oh, him? Well, he's trouble. Wasted a lot of my time," he replied as he shrugged his shoulders.
"What exactly did he do? And by any chance, is he the one I'm going to fight?"
"Nah, he is from class 1A but not the one in this match. Anyway, weren't you guys told about who you're going to fight beforehand?"
"Yes, but only the names though. You can't expect me to remember the faces of all 50 students in class A by their names."
"Hmmm, that's true I can't. Not when I sometimes forget the face of my wife."
"What?! How is that even possible?"
"I have 3 wives, and my memory is not the best."
Someone's enjoying a harem, I see.
As I chatted with the guy I soon reached the entrance from where the arena started. The first thing that came to my mind was, 'What the fuck was a class A student doing in the weaponry room for class B?'
Zero might not know, but the one with black eyes had come to the weaponry room meant for class A specifically because he was able to find only one black-colored sword in class A's weaponry room. He figured the weapons would be the same and he will find a similar sword in the other room, that's why he took the actions he took.