Playing with Knives

Ciar sat in the dungeon classroom of the Weapons classroom with her chin resting in her left hand as her right was occupied with the long Bowie knife. Slowly and methodically she pulled it out of the wood before half dropping, half throwing it back into the wooden desk top, already scored with knife marks.

They were learning about knives this lesson and Ciar wondered what was left to teach her. She showed up to these lessons in the hopes she would learn something new, something different. Knives weren't really her forte but the were kind of like daggers so Ciar had adapted her fighting style to include knives as well. Gazing back at the desk she knew she was dulling the blade but couldn't bring herself to care much at the moment.

Ksenia's steps were light as she made her way towards the Weapons classroom. The only weapon she carried on herself was the only one she owned, a dagger that was secured to the arm holster Lucifer had given her.

"Ciar," she greeted the other girl in the room with a slight nod as she came in. She looked around the classroom, paying special attention to the weapons displayed. She was not used to being such a novice. The Slushatel was excellent when it came to academics, but this subject was unfamiliar. She had no previous training in any kind of combat except for dueling, that she was good at. The reason she had chosen to start training in this subject is that she knew that her fighting was far from over, and that she would be facing completely new and unfamiliar challenges. And she wanted to be ready for them.

Tre grumbled under his breath as he walked into the Weapons classroom. He was fine with weapons, really, you had to be with his upbringing, but seriously, the classes here were starting to look unnessisary.

But Papa would be angry if he found him skipping class. He had to be smart to be a Popov Partner. He didn't know why that made the Sicarius's desirable partners, but he wasn't going to question the man.

He slid into a seat, not really noting who it was by until he glanced to the side and saw her.

"Ksenia." He greeted. He nodded to the other girl, extending his hand. "Treshawn Beneparte." He introduced himself.

"Ksenia," Ciar returned the greeting with a slight nod of her head. Upon meeting the other girl the year before the teen had gotten an odd vibe off her. It wasn't something tangible just a sense that there was more to the other girl than there seemed to be.

Glancing at the boy that walked in she studied him for a moment before looking down at his extended hand. "Ciar Whelan," she replied with a small nod, shaking his hand lightly, "Hrabrost Prefect." Turning back to her knife she picked it up and held the blade belly up in front of her eye. Yes, she had dulled it in the wood. Sighing she reached into her pack at her feet and brought out a sharpening stone. The sound of metal scraping against stone felt good to her ears. "So," she asked, "what do you two know about knives?"

"Treshawn," Ksenia nodded her slightly at him as he sat down next to her. What luck. Why did he have to be in her classes? Her expression didn't change at all even though at that particular moment she wanted nothing more than to use her guard as practice target for all of the weapons in the room. Yes, that made quite a lovely picture.

"I am new to using blades," Ksenia said, turning back to Ciar. "Quite useful devices, I must say," she stated simply. "I see you are very familiar with yours," she said, nodding her head slightly to the weapon in the other girl's hand.

Tre lifted her hand and kissed it, his eyes almost brimming with kindness. "Nice to meet you." He said, dropping her hand and sitting back in his chair. "What do I know about knives?" He shrugged. "Just your average in home training." He reached behind him, to the little pocket of air above the small of his back. He pulled his knife out of the air, the wickedly sharp serrated edge of the golden blade gleaming in the light. The blade was at least twice the length of his palm, the handle a bright white material, light as a cloud. He shrugged. "I don't really use Seraph that much, but I can." He nodded to Ciar. "Probably not as well as you, but good enough."

"You can never know enough Treshawn. Surely Popov taught you that." He said giving Ciar and Nia a warm smile. "Hello ladies, this should be an interesting class. I hear the professors not even human." He smirked taking his seat. "Centuries worth of knowledge to be learnt." He said flicking his wrist so his own knife appeared in his hand.

"Right you are Mr Sicarius." He smiled dropping from his position on a beam running across the ceiling. He wanted to see his students arrive without their gaze on him. "I am Professor Pyrrhos but you may call me Rush. I am only 18 after all." He smirked moving to stand at the front of the class.

"So blades?" He said whiping out a knife and holding it between two fingers, one pressed against the point of the blade and the other at the base of the handle. "Who can tell me the important factors of making a knife?" He asked.

Ksenia smiled back at Lucifer as he came in before turning her attention to the Professor. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise slightly as he made his appearance.

"The selection of the metal is important I would say," she said, thinking, There wasn't very much she knew about actual weapons, but she still could use her logic to answer some of the questions.

Ciar sent a small smirk at Lucifer as he came into the room. It was kinda nice having someone her own age that she could be honest with. She wanted to smack the other boy across the face for daring to kiss her hand. She was not some simple girl to be swooned by gentlemanly gestures.

Blinking she felt her body flinch and tense as the professor dropped down from the ceiling. Damn people that weren't human. She wasn't able to detect them using her senses when they weren't human. It put her at an disadvantage and Ciar hated being put at a disadvantage. "The hilt," she answered in response to his question. "You need an area to grip so you aren't injuring yourself on the blade while using it." She knew other answers but decided to keep them to herself. It wouldn't do to try and show up her fellow classmates, the only one of which seemed anywhere near competant was her fellow Hrabrost.

He returned Ciars smile and head to his seat. Now the professor thinks hes some acrobat. He thought to himself as he fell from the ceiling. Why hadn't he known he was up there?

"The blade." He answered. "All good blades need to be sharp, pointed and weighted equally to the users needs." He felt the need to interact here, blades were after all his forte.

He laughed and happily clapped his hands. "Humans aren't so stupid after all." A split second later his face was serious and emotional less. "The metal, the grip and the blade. The top three most important things to consider."

"If i were to ask you to make me a sword how would you go about preparing to make one for me?" He asked wondering if their intelligence spread this far.

Ciar gave a tiny smirk. She had never forged a weapon but had seen plenty made and used them often enough. Setting down her knife and sharpening block she answered, "Well, I suppose I'd have to choose the right metal for the specific type of sword and have access to a forge. With access to a forge I could heat the metal to make it malleable and then use a hammer and anvil and other instruments to shape the blade, folding it over on itself, dousing it in water to cool and harden, then reheating it and doing the whole process over again multiple times to get the metal hard enough but not brittle."

The teen leaned forward slightly and propped her elbows on her desk. "You then have to make and fit the grip of the blade, as per the specifications outlined by the person using it, if it's a custom order. I'm not sure how that works but I know depending on the person and the weapon grips usually range from one to two hands."