The training grounds of the academy weren't as grand as the other buildings. Of course it was expected, but Eric was not expecting the stands to be completely empty, especially when he knew there were lots of swordmen-in-training in the academy, and it was really time for classes.
He waited beside a middle-aged man with tied blond hair and a goatee, standing in the middle of the training ground. All about there were training equipment such as wooden figures, dummy targets, prop weapons and so on. But what caught his attention was a big, black round boulder positioned at a corner of the open ground.
"Is that what I think it is?"
The man glanced sideways at him and dryly laughed as if he'd heard near Eric talks.
"You must learn to show respect to the higher-ups here, boy. Don't you dare speak to a master swordsman like that," the man said afterwards, in the thickest voice Eric has ever heard.
"Respect," he said, absentmindedly. It sounded like nothing he'd never heard.
