17 Chapter 17 I want to give you a little demo.

The only place it wouldn't be so deadly in would be Helheim, the Realm of the Dead, given it was a land of unyielding cold. But no one would ever willingly go there unless they had no other choice. The only time one goes to Helheim is those who die in dishonour.

Andromeda wasn't too bad with a sword in Jakob's opinion, but she commented how no blade felt right in her hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried helping her, but little good happened.

They broke off into duelling pairs for light combat before lesson started. Jakob was paired with Luke, which got everyone interested as they had seen how Jakob fought without the Axe in the wrestling lessons with the children of Ares, now they wanted to see him fight with a weapon in hand. Some claimed Jakob would lose the fight.

"Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." One of the campers had said.

'That so?' Jakob thought as he gripped the sword in his right hand. He did not feel that much discomfort in holding another weapon after being so used to the Leviathan Axe, he adapted quickly and readied himself any time he had another weapon in hand.

But still, Jakob wouldn't dare claim he was the most skilled swordsman in Asgard or all the Nine Realms.

The fight started out fair, with Luke going on offensive and Jakob going defence as he blocked and parried each of Luke's attacks with no sign of strain or tiredness as the duel went on. At some point during the duel, Jakob parried Luke's attack and landed a knee into the son of Hermes' stomach, causing him to back off.

"Use any advantage you can get in a fight, not just the weapon you have in your hand. Your fists and legs can be weapons as well." Jakob had said.

The fight seemed to have ended in a stalemate but neither Jakob nor Luke wanted to end it that way so they just kept calling without calling for a break or a second match. Jakob had to admit, Luke was a skilled swordsman. He could see why the campers called him the best in 300 years.

But Jakob was no novice himself.

As he blocked and parried Luke's attacks, he spun, recalled the Leviathan Axe to his free hand, had the blade encased in ice and the swung it. The Axe connected with Luke's sword hard, turning the blade to ice before it shattered soon after and Jakob had his sword pointed at Luke's throat.

"Yield." He demanded.

Luke held his hands up and dropped the broken sword, smirking. "Well done. I wasn't expecting that."

"Use any means necessary to win a fight and save your life." Jakob said stoically. "There's no rules except kill or be killed in a real fight. There's no room for that honour crap."

"True." Luke nodded and looked at the remains of his weapon. "Well, looks like I'm going to need a new sword for the next spar."

As people clapped a bit at the match, Luke (After grabbing a new sword) announced he would start the lesson and take Andromeda as his partner, since it was her first time.

Luke showed Andromeda thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, the girl got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Andi," Luke said, then whapped the younger girl in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now back!" Whap!

By the time he called a break, Andromeda was soaked in sweat. Jakob checked on Andromeda to see if she was okay (which she blushed at), but she tried to play tough, even though she was battered and bruised.

Everyone swarmed the drink cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head. Andromeda, seeing this, decided to do the same thing. But, when looking at Andromeda, she seemed all better, as if she got all of her energy back. Jakob narrowed his eyes at this, his mind racing.

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke roared. "If Andromeda doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

Andromeda had a grimace on her face, Jakob giving her a small pat on the shoulder.

The Hermes guys gathered around, all suppressing smiles. Jakob sat nearby, perching Mimir's head next to him so he can watch the fight as well.

Luke told everyone he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Andie, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move on Andromeda in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of Andromeda's hand.

"Now in real time," he said, after Andromeda got his weapon back. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Andie?"

Andromeda nodded, and Luke came after her. Somehow, Andromeda kept Luke from getting a shot at the hilt of her sword. Andromeda stepped forward and tried a thrust of her own. Luke deflected it easily, as he narrowed his eyes like in the match with Jakob. He started to press forward with more force.

Andromeda was moving a bit slower than when she started and then out of nowhere tried the disarming maneuver.

Her blade hit the base of Luke's and she twisted, putting her whole weight into a downward thrust.

Clang!

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of Andromeda's blade was an inch from his chest.

The other campers were shocked and silent. Jakob couldn't help the smirk that came onto his face. There was a warrior in Andromeda, it just needed to come out and be trained up.

Andromeda blushed in embarrassment at the silence as she lowered her sword. "Sorry."

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