About fifteen minutes later, we went into the dining room, my lips red and sore and my face blushing hot.
The moment we entered, hand in hand no less, Aaron said, "I have an announcement to make."
Instantly, heads and eyes turned our way. With everyone's attention on us, Aaron continued. "Alfie and I are officially together now. So no more stealing her away from me, and that means you, Felix!"
Felix eyed us for a moment and then merely burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Geoffrey chuckled with amusement, and Lord Victor nodded in approval.
Caleb said, "You finally made the move."
"Congratulations," Aria and Brenna said in unison.
Leona clapped her hands.
Lord Ethan got up from his seat and came toward us. Once in front of us, he said, "About time. I thought I would have to wait for centuries for my turn to come."
Suddenly, the man pulled me into his arms and planted his lips on mine, which pissed Aaron off, and he snapped, "Oy! What the hell are you doing to Alfie?"
Lord Ethan's lips were firm and warm against mine and tasted like black coffee, which was a little bitter.
When the man finally released me, he said, "I was waiting for my turn to have a taste of Alfie's lips, and it seems she's as sweet as I suspected."
From the table, Lord Victor said in amusement, "You're being unfair, Ethan. You're skipping the queue. It's supposed to be Noah after Aaron and then me and then you."
Lord Ethan said arrogantly, "I decided a while ago that I'd jump that blasted nonexistent queue. If Aaron hadn't made his move by the time we landed in Wulin, I'd be taking his spot and claiming Alfie as mine."
Gosh, I didn't know that the seven lords had lined themselves up to claim me. Was I supposed to be a prize to them or something?
Aaron wrapped his hand around my wrist and nudged me away from Lord Ethan. Then he led me to sit on a seat beside him. Breakfast was delicious and the conversations entertaining, as usual.
An hour later, we'd finished our morning meal and headed over to the first floor of the airship where the gym was located. Of course, Lord Noah had work to do, so he would not be joining us, which wasn't surprising.
The girls and I headed over to the female room where we changed into our gym gear of black sweatpants, T-shirts, and magic trainers, of which I had a hand in helping with the design a few weeks back with Aaron, Leona, and the textile department team. After all, I wanted my own sportswear to be as comfortable as possible, and I had sneakily suggested implementing the earthling sportswear style and technology, the parts that I knew, into the new training uniform.
Once we were changed, we met up with the six lords—Geoffrey, Felix, Caleb, Aaron, Victor, and Ethan—in the gym, and needless to say, all six of them looked stunning with their own gym gear that I had insisted they wear when they did their training. They wore black sweatpants, sweatshirts, and magic trainers. They all would have looked exactly like sports models, with their toned, muscular bodies, if only they didn't wear their masks. To be sure, they looked a little weird, and I couldn't help but smile in amusement.
Felix grabbed my hand as he asked, "What do you find so amusing, little elf?" he asked. "Do we look unusual in these new training garments?"
I shook my head. "No, you all look fine."
Leona stretched her body this way and that as if to test her new garments for durability or something, then said, "I must admit, this feels very comfortable. I like it, Alfie."
I nodded. "I'm glad. This is the type of thing we wear back home when we do exercise or training. It's for comfort and safety, and these types of materials easily absorb sweat to keep you cool."
A few moments later, Michael, Allan, Travis, and Peter—in their new training gear also—showed up. I hadn't known they'd be joining us in this mock battle.
After they had saluted the lords, Caleb then led us out the door of the main gym and along the corridor to the back. I stared wide-eyed in awe because stacked against the wall were an assortment of weapons, ranging from many different types of swords and blades to cleaving weapons such as axes, hammers, morning stars, and quarterstaffs. There were spears and polearms, as well as the long-range sort, such as longbows and crossbows, and firearms like pistols and rifles.
Caleb said, "The selection is limited since we're traveling, but pick one. You'll be using your chosen weapon to kill the zombies."
We were allowed five minutes to make our choices, and I headed toward the swords and blades section. I selected a few—long sword, short sword, rapier, and dagger—testing each one in turn in my hands. In the end, I chose one that I liked, which was a saber. This one was light in my hand, and the grip felt natural too.
I had been practicing how to wield a sword with both Aaron and Caleb, as theirs were lightweight, which I could handle. Felix had summoned his wicked-looking double-edge sword from the abyss of his dark qi as well, but it was massive, and I couldn't even pick it up because it was so heavy.
I noticed that Aria picked a crossbow, Leona a rifle, and Brenna a quarterstaff. I didn't know if this had something to do with instinct and they were drawn to those types of weapons or the fact that their respective tutors happened to favor those weapons. Brenna had told me that Geoffrey had taught Aria how to wield a crossbow, while Lord Noah taught Brenna the quarterstaff, and Lord Victor taught Leona the rifles.
On the other side of the room, Michael, Peter, Allan, and Travis all picked rifles since they were soldiers and were used to that type of weapon.
Once we were all set, Caleb then led us out of the room and headed farther back along the corridor until we came to another door. I noticed that this one was massive and had signs, symbols, and scripts plastered all over it. I didn't know if it was just me or not, but I felt strong magic coming from that door. There was intensive qi exuding from it in an assortment of wavelengths that I found hard to ignore.
I watched as Caleb released his dark qi from his fingertip and used that to sign into the magical system. A moment later, I heard a hum, which was followed by the movements of gears. And then, just like that, the massive double door opened.
Instantly, a gust of a breeze came our way, which told me that we were about to set foot into another world of sorts.
Lord Victor suddenly appeared beside me. He said, "New recruits don't usually get to train in the mock battlefield until they're in their third year."
With that information, I felt a little nervous. I didn't know that soldiers weren't allowed into a mock battlefield until their third year in training. Then what the hell am I doing here? I have only been training for two and a half weeks.
Lord Victor must have seen the pale look on my face because he chuckled. He said, "Relax, Alfie, we won't let anything happen to you. I'm sure you're very capable. After all, Aaron praised you."
I turned to him and asked, "Aaron praised me? When did he do that?"
"Last night, remember? He said you're an adept student." Seeing that I still looked blank, he continued. "Aaron is an excellent trainer, and he doesn't praise his students unless they really impress him."
I turned my gaze to Aaron, who was standing beside his brother Geoffrey. Apparently, they were having a quiet yet earnest conversation, though I had no idea what it was about since I couldn't quite hear them. I saw Aaron shifting his gaze to me as if he had sensed me watching them. He gave me a wicked grin, which made me blush in response.
Shifting my gaze away from the two brothers, I suddenly wondered what I had done during my training that had impressed Aaron. Was it my quick thinking? My quick reaction? Or my ability to quickly grasp his explanation?
I agreed that Aaron was an excellent trainer, and he took his job seriously, since he had been nothing but professional with me, his explanations clear and to the point, while his criticism was firm. He had pointed out my many flaws and demonstrated to me how to rectify them if I wanted to survive on a battlefield, which I was very grateful for.
After the door was completely opened, we filed out to the mock battlefield, or rather, I should say we walked out into another world.
On this side, I gazed in wonder at the woodland before us, with the perimeter—which was vast—filled with tall trees and wildflowers all in different arrays of colors. There were small streams running across the area as well. I could also hear birds chirping in the distance and thought this felt so real. And it smelled real too, with a spring-like sort of scent in the air. Above us, blue sky stretched high and far across the horizon.