Cold weapons are a man's romance

Roman set foot on the way home under the light of the setting sun.To be precise, Alisa's car was on the road under the afterglow, and he was sitting leisurely in the car, blowing the breeze, without any sunshine.

After watching the game, they went to a nearby market.He bought Alisa a handmade jewel brooch and a silk scarf with a unique pattern for Alisa's daughter.There are also weapons for sale in the market.Romain picked out an ornate dagger for himself.The owner repeatedly emphasized that what he was selling was a model, which could only be used for pretending, not for practical purposes.Roman was a little puzzled, did anyone expect to buy real weapons here?

He wandered in the bazaar and couldn't bear to leave until Alyssa released the final threat, "Then I'll take my leave, and you can go home by yourself", and he reluctantly bid farewell to this martial arts competition.

"It's like a child who refuses to leave the amusement park!" Alyssa gave him a wry look with one hand on the steering wheel.

"You are also a virtue in front of the cosmetics counter, how dare you talk about me!"

"Cosmetics are a woman's life, why don't you understand?"

"That weapon is also a man's life, Alisa knows nothing Snow!"

Romain cradled his new little dagger in his arms, petting its gauntlet like a dog's head.Alisa made a disgusted face.

The journey home was long, and Roman was bored, but he didn't dare to play with his mobile phone, for fear that Alyssa thought he was secretly searching for himself on the Internet.He had no choice but to take out the crumpled flyer and study it over and over again.The last time he was so absorbed in looking at non-book paper products or when he forgot to bring toilet reading materials so that he could only read the toothpaste ingredient list.

"Aurora Club...a sacred place for exchange of armorless swordsmanship, teaching long swords, swift swords, sabers, wrestling, one-handed swords and small bucklers, teaching various European historical martial arts..." Roman whispered.

Alisa raised her eyebrows: "Are you interested?"

"No, no! I'm just bored and looking at it casually!"

Roman dropped the flyer, and after a few seconds, he reluctantly grabbed it again.

To be honest, he was super interested!He originally thought that this club was a gathering place for cosplay lovers in the Middle Ages, but after careful reading, he discovered that it was actually a place where swordsmanship was taught.

He doesn't quite understand what Bingjian is or what European historical martial arts are. Literally, it means ancient swordsmanship.Roman himself practiced fencing, and the sport of fencing originated from sword duels that were popular in medieval Europe.Men fought to the death with swords in judicial trials or duels of honor.Later, with the civilization of society and the prosperity of the legal system, this kind of private fighting with weapons was banned, and cold weapons were quickly pushed out of the historical stage because of the emergence of hot weapons.As a result, the duel gradually evolved from a life-saving fight to a peaceful competitive activity, and finally modern fencing came into being.

In other words, what this club teaches is the predecessor of fencing - sword duel?

Roman loves fencing, but he also has to admit that today's fencing is far from the sword duel hundreds of years ago.The sharp blade was replaced with a soft sword, and the armor was replaced with a strong protective suit. The two sides competed for the number of times they hit their opponents, and decided the winner in a very short time.As a sport, fencing is interesting and can exercise people's physical fitness and reaction, but it seems to have more or less lost some of the ancient and mysterious "sword charm".

In modern society, are there still people inheriting the swordsmanship of the Middle Ages?Roman was deeply skeptical, but couldn't help but want to find out.Now that modern people have revived tournaments, why can't they also revive sword duels?

Since the silver-haired man fighting alone in the tournament field is handing out leaflets, it means that he is the coach of this club, right?If you go to the club, can you see him again?I don't know if he still remembers handing out the flyer to a dazed spectator after the game.

"Roman, what are you thinking? Your saliva is about to flow out!" Alisa poked Roman.

Roman came back to his senses.When he was wandering, the car had already parked under his apartment.

"Do you want to go to that club?" Alisa stretched her neck, and quickly glanced at the words on the paper, "Oh, swordsmanship, isn't this your favorite? Go learn it."

Roman hurriedly rolled up the flyer and stuffed it into his pocket. "No! I'm a person with an injury, what if the old injury recurs while practicing?"

"But the doctor also said that ordinary exercise and fitness are okay? You can't live without exercise. Go and see first, and give up if you exercise too much."

Roman pushed the car door open: "Did you take benefits from the club? Can you earn kickbacks by pulling someone there?"

"Because you look very happy today." Alisa smiled, "I haven't seen you so happy for a long time. If this can cheer you up, why don't you go ahead and do it boldly?" ?”

Roman was slightly taken aback.Yes, he was immersed in the wonderful journey all day, and all the bad things were left behind.For the first time since the day he forfeited the race, he was so relaxed and comfortable.

"Do I look...happy?"

"If you don't believe me, go home and look in the mirror." Alisa shook her hand, "Goodbye, I have to go to my parents' house to pick up my daughter."

Roman waved goodbye to her and watched the SUV disappear at the end of the road.Then he took out the leaflet and, by the light of the street lamp, tried to find the address of the club through the cracks and folds.

"It's really... very happy..."

***

The Aurora Club is located under a large supermarket chain, and the signboard is a bit inconspicuous. It took Roman a long time to find the right entrance.He took it for granted that the club's decoration must be full of retro and Secondary School atmosphere, but he didn't expect it to be very modern, no different from ordinary gyms.Roman didn't know whether to be lucky or disappointed.

"Welcome to Aurora Club, how can I help you?" The front desk lady greeted him with a smile on her face.The name tag on her chest reads her name—Lindsay Ryan.

Roman took out the leaflet that he couldn't bear to look at.People who don't know may think that it was picked out of the trash by Roman.The ghost knows what it has gone through to become what it is now.

Seeing her leaflets being treated so roughly, Lindsay's face hardened.

Roman coughed twice to hide his embarrassment: "Hello, I received this advertisement on botn..."

Lindsay showed a subtle expression, but her professionalism made her quickly switch to a formulaic smile: "Ah, did Cesar send it to you?"

"Cesar?" Roman recalled the chanting of the audience on the field, "Yes, that's him!" Is he a celebrity in the field of combat?

Lindsay smiled apologetically: "Sorry, he seems a little too enthusiastic about publicity..."

"Is someone else there?"

"It's not a coincidence for you to come. All the coaches have gone out with the boss to do business today, and they will be back in about an hour. Do you think you should wait here, or make an appointment for another time?"

Roman scratched his hair in embarrassment.Call ahead and make an appointment.But he didn't want to just make the trip in vain. "Then I'll wait."

Lindsay asked him to sit in the lounge area.Roman was bored observing the decoration of the club. After a while, Lindsay came back with a cup of hot coffee.

"Please use it slowly. I don't know what you call it?"

"Roman."

"What do you do for work?"

Roman almost blurted out "I don't have a job".But it would be too miserable to say that, like an unemployed refugee (although he is not far behind).He thought for a while and replied, "I'm a freelancer."

"Really? Then the usual schedule must be very flexible, right?"

"well enough."

"How much do you know about soldiers?"

"Knowing nothing."

"This, this...it doesn't matter, even if you start with a zero foundation, you can learn something quickly. We are not only a fighting club here, but also a general fitness business. You can come when you are not practicing swords. Exercise here."

Facing Lindsay's proficient advertising language, Roman didn't know how to respond, so he opened his mouth and said, "It seems very deserted here."

"Because it's the morning of a weekday, there are not many people. In the evening or on weekends, there are more people." Lindsay's smile became a little forced.

--Appeared!Topic buster Roman!His social skills don't seem to have improved since he was five years old.Would Lindsay think he was here to make trouble?

The two of them talked for a while without expressing their meaning, and suddenly a large group of people poured into the gate.Roman thought it was the coaches who had returned, but after watching for a long time, he couldn't find Cesar's conspicuous silver hair in the crowd.

This group of people uniformly wore cultural shirts with griffins painted on them, and carried long packages, which were probably filled with swords.The leader was a tall and tall Kongwu young man with red hair tied in a ball at the back of his head, and the same griffin tattoo on his upper arm, which reminded Luo Manchester United of the captain of the baseball team in high school.

"Dear Lindsay! Why are you alone? Where's Cesar?" The red-haired young man yelled as soon as he entered the door.

"He went out with the boss." Lindsay hurried forward to greet them.

"Ha, don't be afraid to hide because you are going to compete with me today!"

The men behind him laughed wantonly.Lindsay cringes a little: "You really don't have an appointment..."

"What appointment do I need for the martial arts competition with Cesar? Anyway, there is no one here, so I can come anytime, right?"

Passing over the petite Lindsay, the red-haired youth noticed Roman who was sipping coffee in the rest area.

"Look what I found!" He rudely pushed the front desk lady away, strode up to Roman, and looked down at him, "A customer! Hey, Lindsay, you just let a customer sit here like this? Is your club still in business?"

Lindsay rushed over and stood between Roman and the red-haired youth.

"The coach and the boss are not here, so I have to ask the guests to wait..."

She wanted to protect customers with her petite body, but the red-haired young man was half a head taller than her, and her behavior was no different from mantising a car, full of the tragic feeling of a martyr.

"How can you neglect the distinguished guests like this? At least one person should be left behind!" The red-haired young man raised his voice, "Since you don't know how to entertain guests, let me guide you!"

He slapped the table so hard that the coffee cup was almost knocked over by him.Holding the table with one hand, he grinned at Roman: "You want to learn how to fight anyway, right? How about I teach you?"