Chapter 54

Two Sides of a Coin

A few days after Meng Xiangyang treated them.

On the open ground in front of the mine sheds, some men practiced with wooden staves, others sparred empty-handed. Only about a dozen of them, and they still filled the yard.

When the mine went quiet, the guards drilled as usual.

A few workers had just finished unloading a cart. On their break they squeezed in to watch, trading a little talk.

"Payday was yesterday. What are you spending it on?"

"Spending? Odds and ends chew it up. Barely a scrap left."

The one who'd answered waved it off—didn't want to run the numbers—and tipped his chin toward the middle of the yard.

Red Tea came in from the far side and knocked a man's wooden blade aside with the training staff in his hand.

"Don't pull that blade so far back," he said. "Somebody's gear comes in on you, you'll raise it too late."

His voice carried—a little rough. People by the sheds could hear him fine.

The guard shoved his blade forward and set it on the staff again.

Red Tea had skipped the outer coat today. Shirt sleeves still rolled to the forearm, vest tight across a broad chest and back. He was a big man to start with, half a head taller than the men around him. Rust-red hair clipped short on the sides, the top pulled back. Dark tattoos showed on the bare forearms and tightened under the skin when he gripped the staff.

He corrected two more men as he walked, tapped apart a pair crowding too tight, then stopped in the center of the yard and swept a look around.

"Eren. You."

A mutter started at once by the sheds.

"Him again."

"Captain only picks people who can push him. Anybody else folds in a few hits. Boring as hell."

Eren tugged the hem of his gray-blue vest down, took a wooden training hammer from the rack, picked up a wooden axe, and stepped into the circle.

A kid not long on the crew stretched his neck. "Newbie?"

An older guard shoved his waterskin back at his belt and smiled. "Newbie, sure. Still twice the fighter you are. Watch."

It wasn't their first spar. No need to restate the rules: one-third force, no special abilities—just what was in their hands.

Red Tea set his feet, both hands on the staff, tip angled at the ground.

Eren held the hammer in his right, the axe in his left, edge forward, hammer head hanging at his side.

"Begin."

The long staff moved on the word.

The tip swept at Eren's shin—not that fast, but the range was exact. Eren didn't give ground. His left foot drove forward; the axe blade swept up from below and met the wood hard. Wood cracked on wood. The staff's line broke; the web of Eren's hand went numb.

Red Tea laughed once.

"Good."

He took half a step back, swung the staff through a half-circle, and brought it down for the head. Eren raised hammer and axe together, crossed over the staff. The blow landed. His shoulders sank; his boots skidded half a step.

Someone at the ring yelled, "Hey!"

Red Tea dragged the staff down along the axe edge, pulled the tip back, and drove the rear hand forward. Before Eren could react, the tip was already at his nose.

Eren caught his breath. "Good. Again."

This time he moved first. The axe swept wide at Red Tea's waist. Red Tea blocked across with the shaft; wood met wood again. Eren didn't reset—the hammer followed, straight for Red Tea's right shoulder. Red Tea laid the staff horizontal, one end on the axe, one on the hammer. The hammer drove the staff down a notch.

Red Tea's shoulders locked. He shoved back hard. Their gear locked. Neither gave.

They held for a few breaths, then Red Tea stepped off first, staff across his front. Eren pulled axe and hammer back, chest still working.

People around the ring drew a sharp breath.

"Only he can go a couple rounds with the captain."

"How is Red Tea that strong?" the same newbie asked, low.

"Heard he trained before the Impact," the older guard said. "Coached at a gym for a while too. Don't ask so much. Just watch."

At the edge, West Sector squad leader Marco also looked up and watched Eren a while longer.

The recorder stood beside him, waiting to log the next drill set. Marco closed the booklet in his hand.

"Back at the interview, I really didn't see it."

The recorder hadn't caught that. "What?"

Marco glanced at the yard again.

"He learns fast. Doesn't look like someone who's been on the crew less than a month."

The last exchange in the center came clean.

Red Tea drew the staff in. "That's enough. Hold it there."

He waved the next pair in, then looked at Eren. "Catch your breath. We'll go another round later."

Eren shifted both weapons to his right hand and nodded. Sweat ran from his temple down the side of his face; the pale gray lines by his left eye showed clearer in the sun. He didn't look toward the crowd. He wiped the sweat off the hammer haft and followed Red Tea to the shed wall.

Two stone blocks sat there, an old thermos beside them. Dents all over the body. When the lid came off, a little heat rose—tea mixed with dust, a bit sharp.

Red Tea took a sip, screwed the lid back, and sat on a block. Eren drank twice from his own waterskin before he sat on the other, loosened one boot lace a notch, and rolled his ankle.

Wood cracked on wood again in the center of the yard. The circle drifted that way. Nobody came over to talk.

Red Tea tipped his chin at the axe and hammer in Eren's hands.

"You're learning faster than I figured." He glanced at Eren. "Proper training before this? Those hits just now didn't look like ten days' work."

"Never weapons." Eren set the waterskin by his boot. "Wrestled, fought hand-to-hand for a while."

"That tracks. Power and footwork carry over. You've got a base," Red Tea said. "Pro? Ever compete?"

"No. Hobby."

"Good. World like this, you'd better know more than one way to stay alive."

Red Tea tightened the lid, thumb rubbing a dent in the thermos, then added, "Hammer and axe are power weapons—force first. Suits you."

Eren looked at the tools across his knees.

"Still nowhere near your staff."

"This is only a spar. We go all out, hard to say."

Eren glanced at his left hand without thinking.

"All right. Next time we go for real."

Red Tea raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Next round I won't let you down," he said. "But hear this first—you end up on your back, don't come after me for the medical bill."

"I'll try not to make you pay."

Someone called for Red Tea from farther out. He set the thermos by the block. When he stood, he looked back at Eren once more.

"Rest up, then get back in. One more round today."

"All right."

Eren rose and went back into the yard. The clash of wood didn't stop until noon.

The rest of the day was like any other. Work that needed doing got done.