Speculandi {to spy}

"You have approximately half an hour to finish the rest of your exam." Madame Mina said from the head of the table."

The Heres Gladii had begun today starting with Kalvarian History Test. There would be two written test, the first part was done today while the second part was due to happen after lunch. Arya had studied all the books that Madame Mina had given her so when she had started the test, she had been pretty confident.

In fact it had been fairly easy for Arya as she had finished it within an hour. Most of the questions were basic ones regarding various wars and how Kalvarian came to be. Occasionally there was question about a war tactic or a commander but Arya knew those answers as well. She had refrained from handing her test in early in fear if she had made a mistake. Instead she had allowed her eyes to rest from the paper to look at the other competitors.

To her surprise she had spotted similar strawberry blond hair and jade green eyes that belonged to Damien. She hadn't pegged him for a history buff but then again it proved that you couldn't judge anyone simply by their outer appearance.

She looked around the room to see how the rest of the competitors were doing. She could easily hand pick the confident ones and tell apart the ones that were struggling to answer the questions. Arya amused herself for the remainder of the time but trying to pick out details from all the students and identify something unique about them.

Not only did it increase Arya's awareness but it also made sure that she was able to analyze her competition.

A little while later Madame Mina's voice rung thought out the great hall. "Time is up; everyone must hand in their parchments at exactly this moment. Anyone who fails to do so will be disqualified immediately."

Everyone stood up to hand in their test while Arya stood back from the crowd. When they dispersed Arya handed in her paper to Madame Mina who asked her how it was. Arya responded saying that it had been fairly easily while Madame Mina seemed to visibly relax at her comment.

Arya left the great hall and found herself right next to Damien as result.

"Where are you going now?" He questioned.

"To see how the others from my academy are doing." Arya responded.

"Right," he said awkwardly. "Well I'll see you around?" he said as a question before making his escape.

"I wouldn't count on it." Arya mumbled beneath her breath.

Still wearing the new uniform that had arrived for the Narvian girls at the start of the tournament, Arya fled the castle in order to see how Yasmin was doing. She knew that they had a written portion of the herbs exam while Arya had been having her history exam and now they would be doing a practical. Arya wasn't sure how exciting it would be to see people mixing potions but she did know that she might learn something new and useful.

Arya strode through the marketplace which was filled with people from different countries and races. It looked even busier than usually if that was possible and Arya knew it was because of the influx of guest that had come to watch the Heres Gladii. She zipped around the various vendors and stalls trying to quickly make her way to where the Herbs competition was being held.

It took Arya quite a while and she was very delighted when she saw the building in front of her. She could already smell the whiff of different scents and it seemed that the competitors had already started brewing their potions. Arya opened the door quietly making sure that she didn't make too much noise in case it would distract everyone inside the room.

When Arya entered she saw a short bulky man in front of her who was yelling out instructions to the other competitors. There were a handful of people sitting in the corner watching the exchange but it seemed that most people had opted not to see the herbs and healing competition. Arya couldn't blame them. The time could prove to be useful and be utilized to train oneself or simply explore Kathoria.

Arya could immediately identify Yasmin through her mass black curls. Through she had done her best to keep them out of her way by placing them in a tight bun coils of her hair were escaping and brushing the edge of her face. Yasmin however was in the zone and could barely notice them as she scampered along grabbing various ingredients while cutting, stirring and smelling all at the same time.

"Within the next five minutes you will feed whatever you have made to patients in the infirmary. We will decide on the winner based on how well or poorly the patients heal. A healer must always remember that whatever they do could either result in the death or healing of someone. Therefore you must be sure of everything you do." The short man said.

The students nodded and Arya could see the sweat lining on their faces. It was stressful knowing that you had the power to fix or break someone. You could be their saviour or you could be known as a murder.

Arya continued to watch Yasmin complete her potion. She was sure that Yasmin would do well and she would probably come up with a unique potion. As if hearing Arya's thoughts Yasmin raised her head to gaze into Arya's Aztec eyes. She gave her a small smile indicating that she had seen her and Arya replied with a nod of her own.

"Drop whatever you are holding and transfer everything to a flask. You must deliver the medicine to the patient in the castle infirmary. They will be labelled with their sickness and you must give them the correct medicine based on the symptoms and everything you have prepared."

All the competitors transferred their items to the flask and began rushing towards the door. Yasmin followed them but she turned back to Arya to mouth the words, "I'll see you later."

Arya gave her a nod in acknowledgement before she left the room as well. Suddenly Arya felt lonelier than she had in days. The constant presence of either Silvia or Yasmin had filled the emptiness in her heart that she didn't even know existed. Arya contemplated as to what she should do with her time and decided to get Anaz so she could get back to training.

Unfortunately Madame Kenna had been extremely busy for the past few days so she had been unable to train Arya. Therefore Arya had taken it upon herself to continue her training. Arya entered the palace and grabbed her sword from the room. There were still girls and boys linger in front of the hallway but she made them no heed.

The next thing that was on Arya's list was a place to practice. She knew that most of the castle was unavailable and it would be improper for her to practice in the garden where she might accidently cut one of the beautiful flowers. That only left the Kalvarian training grounds. She was sure that Sir Samuel would be there and perhaps he would allow Arya to train in some peace.

When Arya got to the training grounds she heard voices but they didn't seem like the voices of the Knights. No, Arya could pick up the voices of Aaron in Damien and what seemed like many other teenage boys. Arya slowed down her pace and peeked over the bush to see what was going on.

She could see many boys engaging in duels while some were sprawled over the ground and the rest were peering over parchments. Arya could make out Aaron's figure as he walked around the boys offering them advice and teaching them how to duel.

Arya realized she had just walked into the Narvanian boys training. The better part of Arya told her to leave the scene but Arya apprehended that she could use what she saw as Intel for the rest of the girls. She peered over the bush a bit more trying to get a better look. She could see Damien dueling another boy and she memorized their stances. It was much like Arya's but they seemed to be ready to defend rather than moved nimbly on their feet.

Arya understood why they were standing the way they were. The boys had larger frames and they knew that they had to block the attacks rather than escape the attacks. She grew more fascinated as she watched them duel in ways she had not been taught. Arya understood why Madame Kenna had not taught her how to fight like this because it was not ideal for her body frame.

A little while late Sir Samuel walked in and the posture of the boy's immediately stiffened. Arya couldn't blame them. She had felt the same way when she had first met the man. Since then Arya had learned that he liked to goof around a lot and he had actually played numerous pranks on his fellow knights and commanders.

Sir Samuel spoke to Aaron and he gave some pointers how to improve what the boys were doing. Arya tried listening to his advice as well because she knew that it would be usefully for tomorrow. Arya noticed that a few moments later the conversation lulled and she couldn't help but poke her head to see why.

Sir Samuel was pointing towards the bush and muttering things to Aaron. Arya felt her heart race widely inside her rib cage. Sir Samuel must have noticed her presence and had alerted Aaron. Just as Arya was about to make her escape she was met with Aaron's clear blue eyes.

"Look what we have here?" He said while a smirk played on his lips.

Arya wanted the ground to sallow her so she wouldn't have to face anyone else but she knew that wasn't possible so she did the next best thing, playing it off nonchalantly.

"What a surprise, I didn't know you would be here." Arya said coolly.

His eyebrows rose and his blue eyes gazed into Arya's own eyes. It was as if he was trying to read her mind. Arya stood completely still not giving any emotions away. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw many of the other boys arriving as well. Sir Samuel meanwhile stood at the back with his arms crossed over his chest watching the scene unfold in front of him.

Arya did glance over him to see if he would assist her but he merely shrugged his shoulders as if to say you're on your own.

"Are you spying on us?" One of the boys asked his hand on his sword.

Arya's hand grasped her sword as well in case if a fight were to break out. She glared at the boy and responded. "I was looking for a place to practice; I just stumbled upon here accidentally."

Another boy snorted. "Likely story, we wouldn't trust someone like you."

"Why don't we just put her down?"

Arya removed Anaz out of its sheath at that point. The blade gleamed in the light as the sun reflected off the sword.

"No, Lord Zander would be furious with us." Another voice rebutted.

A couple of other kids took out their swords as well. Arya didn't know their strength but she was sure she couldn't take them all out at once.

"Enough," a deep voice commanded calmly.

Arya looked over to see Aaron perched on a ledge as he told the others to back off. Arya scowled at him. It wasn't as if she needed his protection. She would have been fine on her own as well. The boys backed down on Aaron's orders and Arya couldn't help but be surprised at how obedient they were. Clearly they had made Aaron in charge since they seemed to be following all his orders.

"She is the champion of the Narvian Academy. Do you really think that you would be able to take her on?" He scorned the boy who had suggested that they go after Arya.

They boy dropped his gaze to the floor clearly ashamed of his action. Arya on the other hand did not mind. She knew that some people were extremely rude and didn't believe when she said that she was training to be a warrior but that was part of life. There would always be people pulling you down you just had to escape them and continue climbing up the mountain.

"My apologies champion." The boy said to her.

Arya found the title to be extremely weird so she gave him the next best option, "its Fidelem." She said while glancing at Aaron to see his reaction.

The latter had a smile on his face and he heard Arya use the Latin meaning of her name. The boy however looked confused but he didn't question her in front of Aaron.

"It's a name that Princess Zelie had bestowed upon me meaning faithful." Arya replied to his unsaid question.

The boy's eyes lit up at the mention of Princess Zelie and Arya knew that at that moment he had actually realize how much he could have screwed this over for himself.

"Good to see you Arya." Sir Samuel said approaching them.

Arya almost wanted to glare at the beefy man. He had stayed quite for most of the time and now was when he chose to speak. The same boy looked confused as to why Sir Samuel was calling her Arya when she had told him her name was Fidelem. Arya didn't bother to answer his questions anymore and she saw that Damien was helping him explain the name situation.

"Have you been practicing what I taught you?" He said in his deep voice that could make the mountains quiver.

"Yes, I have."

He nodded satisfied with his response. "Well I must leave now, duty calls." He looked between Arya and Aaron, "you won't be causing any trouble will you?"

Aaron almost rolled his eyes before responding. "No we have everything under control."

Sir Samuel gave them all a lingering gaze before he made his way back to the castle. Arya was about to follow him when Aaron's words made her stop.

"Wait, you wanted a place to train correct?"

Arya responded with a yes.

"You could train with us," he said.

Arya's eyebrows rose at his comment. It looked like she wasn't the only one surprised by his proposal. Damien and the other boys were looking at Aaron as if he had a third eye.

Arya meanwhile couldn't resist the corners of her mouth turning upwards. This wasn't just about Aaron being nice, it allowed him to analyze her moves and possibly predicate how the other girls would be fighting as well.

"I would be delighted to," Arya responded softly while making sure that she did not break the eye contact.

The two of them were playing a very dangerous game of chess by putting their knights forward. Or in this case, Arya was putting the queen forward. She knew it was a gamble but it would be worth it.

She joined the rest of the boys as students of Aaron and listen to him explain the different stances and how the boys should fight. Arya already knew that none of this would apply to her because it was not ideal for her body type. Well she could keep up with their fighting but it was only because years of working out, climbing mountains had harden her muscles and given her extra strength. She knew that most of the girls in the Narvian Academy would be relying on their speed so she was curious to see how everything would work out.

When the boys started dueling Damien was about to partner up with her but Arya choose to stand in front of the boy who had started this all. He looked pretty confident with his sword held casually and a smile on his face. Arya knew that smile would be wiped off in a few seconds.

When Aaron told them to begin, she didn't waste any time toying with him. She used her agility to get past his barriers and before he could strike she held Anaz to his neck. The match was over in a few seconds.

The rest of the boys were looking at Arya in awe meanwhile Aaron was shaking his head quietly. She knew what he was thinking, that some of the boys were doomed. It gave Arya hope but she knew that not every opponent would be as weak as the one she faced today.

"Let that be a lesson to you all," Aaron said turning to all the boys in the courtyard. "The Narvian Academy is not to be taken lightly. Don't be a fool next time and don't be cocky. Both will lead to your downfall."

Arya brushed of the dirt that had accumulated on her skirt before turning and thanking them for allowing her to practice with them. She had Aaron bowed to one another and when she looked up to his eyes, she saw the promise of a good battle. He was just as determined as she was. Arya couldn't wait until the moment where they would meet in the finals. It was coming closer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Heres Gladii has official started! Get ready for more match ups between both the academies since this is only the beginning! How did you guys like Arya spying/training with the male students of the Narvanian Acadmey? Do you think she learned anything? Anyone surprised to see Damien is a history buff? Anyways, thank you so much for getting us on the What's Hot List #679! That is insane. Please remember to vote and comment and I love you all!