The sparring did not go as well as Arthur had hoped. Athena did not come after him like his previous opponents; instead, she slowly walked toward him with her sword at the ready. Seeing that Athena was not going to attack, Arthur tried to take the initiative by striking first with a horizontal swipe toward her upper body. The girl did not even change her expression before she parried the sword with her own, hitting his wooden blade near its hilt with enough strength to disarm Arthur.

“I win,” she simply said as she put her blade on the stunned Arthur's neck.

“Huh? What happened?” It happened so fast that his brain still could not process how the fight ended.

“Your attack is full of openings; you are overextending, and you did not have a follow-up when your attack failed,” Arthur heard the most words Athena ever said other than when she got asked questions by Layla on the first day about Tamara and Stevan’s fight.

“Well, the last part is true. As for the other part, I don’t know what I did wrong,” he honestly said.

“You never learned sword art? Or any weapon??” She asked, but her expression never changed.

“No, two days ago was the first time I held a sword or any weapon at that,” he sheepishly replied.

“I see, you have no basics.” She nodded before Selena came to her, asking for a pat, killing their conversation.

Athena sat cross-legged on the ground, put the arctic fox on her lap, and started petting her bond.

“Uh... So, who taught you the basics when you learned sword fighting?” Arthur sat a few meters from her, trying to get the girl to open up.

“...” Athena kept her silence while tending to her bond.

“Since when did you start training with a sword?” He tried again but never got any reply.

“Uh... Athena... Is it okay if I call you that? Or do you prefer I call you Miss Lance or something?” He tried again, and Athena flinched when he called her by her family name, but she did not reply.

“I will call you Athena then. Athena, do you think I have what it takes to wield a sword?” Arthur asked while looking at the other recruits training before turning to her.

Athena looked back at him but kept her silence, which made Arthur squirm, thinking that she got angry for him calling her by her name.

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After a few seconds, the girl finally replied, “I don’t know, you don’t even know the basics. How should I know if you can or can’t do it when you never really tried it?”

Despite the girl not showing any apparent change in her expression, Arthur finally got a clue how to approach her.

‘She seems comfortable talking about swords and fighting. I should try to focus on that for the time being,’ he thought.

“Is that so? Well, Athena, can you teach me the basics? I know you need to train, but maybe you can spare some time to help me with the basics, since if I fail, you will fail too.”

Arthur wanted her to talk more so she would open up to him, and what better way than to have her teach him how to fight? That's two birds with one stone!

Athena didn't reply, but he did not push her and let her think about it; he knew that she is slow to respond sometimes.

“Alright, but I have two conditions,” she finally said.

Arthur could feel her gaze turn sharper but pushed it back as her expression was still the same, and assumed it was just his imagination.

“What conditions?” He asked cautiously.

“I will help you learn how to fight; in exchange, I want you to tell me about your Talent and Trait. Second, in the future, you will do me a favor when I ask you,” she raised one then two fingers as she listed her conditions.

Talent and trait are somewhat personal information since that's what makes them unique and can be used as a trump card when needed. The military demands people to give information when joining them but usually people do not share detailed information, only a general idea about their trait and talent.

Arthur was a bit reluctant about her first condition but did not think much about the second condition, since he did not see having to owe a favor as a big deal.

“Sure, I don’t mind these conditions,” he finally agreed as after some thinking, he doesn't think his Trait and Talent are worthy of being hidden.

“How about we move farther? I don’t want the others to overhear,” he said. While Arthur did not mind telling her about his Talent and Trait, he did not intend to announce it either.

Athena nodded before getting up while holding Selena in her arms, following Arthur and Riley to walk further from the rest.

“Think this is far enough,” He stopped after they could not hear the others' voices.

“So my Talent is called Superior Intellect. It makes Riley smarter and learn faster. As for my Trait, it's called Fast Hands. It improves my hand movement and precision,” he told Athena to fulfill her first condition.

“That explains things,” Athena mumbled. She had guessed a bit about his Trait and Talent, but with his confirmation and giving details about it, she had a better understanding of him.

“Explain what?” Arthur asked.

“Nothing,” she did not elaborate further.

“So can we start?” Arthur is eager to learn as he doesn’t want to be a burden to his bond.

“No, let’s talk about your Talent and Trait first.”

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you about it already?” Arthur got confused.

“Tell me more, how they work, how much enhancement they give, is the increase static, or can it scale with your growth?” Athena started to question him with dozens of questions.

It bewildered Arthur; rather than chatting, he felt like he was being interrogated by Athena.

‘I didn’t know she could talk this much. Where did the silent girl who refused to answer my questions go?’ Arthur got uncomfortable with so many questions that even he himself doesn’t know the answers to.

‘Is she what people call a cultivation nerd?’ Arthur had heard the term a few times before he got his bond, but he could not understand them, but now he finally understands.