Chapter 169: Harder to Throw

At their next Combat Conditioning session, Arthur found Emily sitting on the floor just inside the heavy double doors.

She had come straight from weapons practical. Her hair was damp with sweat, her training shirt clinging to her skin, and she looked completely miserable with one knee pulled against her chest.

Arthur stopped in front of her. "Skill issue."

Emily raised her middle finger without lifting her head.

Arthur sat beside her and dropped a hand onto her thigh.

Emily leaned against his side and stole the water bottle from his other hand. Her own bottle was sitting right beside her.

"She actually made you run in armor?" Arthur asked, looking at her sweat-soaked uniform.

"Three times."

Arthur laughed.

Emily elbowed him hard in the ribs, hitting the exact spot where she had caught him during their scramble on the floor last night.

Arthur winced.

Emily noticed. She reached over and pressed one finger directly into the bruise.

"Still there?" she asked.

"You know it is."

The heavy doors opened again. Morwenna walked in.

She wore sleeveless training gear, her hair tied back in a tight knot. A faint sheen of sweat already coated her bare arms from whatever exercises she had been running before the students arrived. She stopped near the equipment racks and looked across the room, her eyes settling on Arthur.

"Vance."

"Professor."

"You’re late."

Arthur checked the clock on the far wall. "I’m early."

"Then stop sitting."

Emily muttered, "Told you."

The rest of the class filtered in. Arthur recognized Leon and Alicia stretching near the mats, and Felix walked in a few minutes later wearing the heavier padded gear used for the defensive track.

Morwenna started them with weighted carries, followed immediately by sprint drills.

By the time she finally sent them toward the sparring mats, Arthur’s legs were already burning.

When they transitioned to resistance drills, Emily excelled. Arthur watched her take a low stance and completely shoulder-check a heavier student off balance, driving him into the mat.

She caught Arthur watching her from the next ring.

"What?" Emily asked, fixing her shirt.

"Nothing."

"Keep looking."

She turned around and went back to the drill.

A few rings over, Leon was aggressively pushing a student backward, relying heavily on his raw physical power.

Alicia watched him from the edge of the mat. "You’re wasting half of it."

Leon adjusted his grip, tried again, and moved the student with considerably less effort.

Morwenna eventually called for a grappling exercise. The rules were simple: stay standing inside the marked ring while a partner tried to physically force you out or put you on the floor.

Arthur got through his first two partners without much trouble.

Last term, either of them probably would have put him on the floor.

He was waiting for the next rotation when Morwenna stepped onto his mat.

She looked at the student approaching Arthur.

"Move."

The student moved.

Arthur looked at her. "You’re participating?"

"You’re complaining?"

Arthur raised his hands. "Didn’t say that."

Morwenna caught the front of his training jacket and turned sharply.

Arthur lurched with the pull, one boot sliding across the mat, but somehow stayed upright.

Morwenna looked at him.

Arthur grinned.

Her grip tightened.

The second pull nearly tore him off his feet, and the grin disappeared immediately. Arthur still managed to hold on until Morwenna changed her grip, hooked his leg, and dumped him flat onto the mat.

Emily laughed from the next ring.

Arthur turned his head. "You shut up."

"Skill issue," Emily called back.

Morwenna stood over him. "Get up."

Arthur pushed himself off the mat. They reset.

Morwenna came for him again, but this time Arthur caught the movement early enough to stay with her. When she tried to turn him, he resisted hard enough to force her back a step.

Arthur barely had time to enjoy that small victory before Morwenna recovered and dumped him again.

He lay there breathing hard, considerably less pleased with himself than he’d been a moment ago.

Morwenna looked down at him. "Better."

"That sounded painful for you," Arthur shot back from the floor.

"Get up."

On the third round, Arthur managed to stop the first throw and ended up jammed close against her.

Morwenna’s arm was locked around him, sweat slick across her bare skin. Arthur’s attention drifted for a moment.

Her grip tightened.

"Distracted?"

Arthur tried to wrench himself free. "Multitasking."

Morwenna dumped him onto his back.

"Poorly."

Morwenna moved on.

Felix turned out to be miserable to move once he planted himself. Alicia caught a larger student with a clean reversal, while Leon committed too hard to a forward push and ended up flat on the mat.

Morwenna ended the class with armored laps.

Arthur felt fine for the first part of the run, but the armor seemed to get heavier with every lap. By the time Emily drew alongside him, both of them were breathing through open mouths.

Arthur looked over.

"Skill issue."

Emily tried to backhand him without breaking stride.

When Morwenna finally dismissed them, students collapsed in scattered groups around the edges of the hall.

Arthur slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Emily dropped heavily beside him and immediately stole his water bottle again.

"You have your own," Arthur told her, exhausted.

"Yours is colder."

Arthur sighed and slung an arm over her sweaty shoulders. Emily leaned back against the wall and settled comfortably against him.

Felix walked over and dropped onto the floor nearby, groaning as his heavy pads hit the wood. "I’m paying tuition for this."

Nobody answered him.

Eventually, people started dragging themselves toward the changing rooms. Morwenna stayed near the center of the hall, collecting the scattered weighted vests and checking the equipment racks.

Arthur pushed himself off the wall and offered Emily a hand up.

They started walking toward the doors.

"Vance."

Arthur stopped and looked back.

Morwenna was holding a pair of heavy training plates. "Next session. Stay afterward."

Emily heard it.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

Morwenna looked him over once. "You’re stronger. Next time, we’re finding out how much."

She turned back to the rack.

Arthur walked out into the corridor with Emily.

"She’s going to break you," Emily told him.

Arthur glanced at her. "Concerned?"

"No. I want details."

Outside the conditioning hall, Emily headed toward the women’s changing rooms.

"Dinner?" Arthur asked.

"Obviously."

She kept walking.

Arthur rubbed his aching shoulder and glanced back through the open doors.

Morwenna was already resetting the weights for her next class.

Arthur turned away and headed for the changing room.