“Good job, Logan.” The praise came from a big, burly man standing on the edge of the mat. He was even more muscled than Logan and looked like he could break bricks with his bare hands. He wore a white polo shirt, shorts, and sneakers, and a whistle dangled around his neck.

“That’s Coach Ajax,” Metis said, pointing to the burly man. “He’s responsible for training all the students at Mythos. And the Spartan who just won the sword fight is Logan Quinn.”

Spartan? Like an ancient warrior kind of Spartan? My mind spun, trying to latch on to all these new ideas and fit them in with what I knew of the world, but I wasn’t having much success.

Logan walked over to the bottom of the bleachers, grabbed a towel from the steps, and wiped the sweat off his face. He noticed me staring at him, and our eyes locked, his a brilliant blue and mine a confused violet. He gave me a sexy smirk before turning away to talk to one of his friends. A minute later, Logan picked up his sword again and stepped back into the ring of kids to fight someone else.

Metis and I stayed where we were and watched the Spartan win another battle. After that, the kids split up into pairs and started fighting each other with the various weapons. Coach Ajax walked from one pair to the next, offering hints, suggestions, and praise.

“So gym class is really what here? Weapons training?” I asked. “Why?”

“Because this is what you’re here for, Gwen,” Metis said in a serious voice. “What all the kids are here for. To learn how to use weapons. To learn how to fight. To learn how to protect yourself and the people you love.”

“Protect myself from what?” I asked. “What’s out there that’s so bad?”

Metis hesitated. “I think that’s a discussion best left for another day. After all, we wouldn’t want to scare you off before the fall semester starts.”

She tried to smile, but her lips wouldn’t quite turn up all the way. After a minute, she quit trying and looked away from me.

I thought of all the weird stuff I’d seen today. The dark, Gothic buildings, the kids giving off sparks of magic, the creepy statues of monsters, the ones of the gods and goddesses in the library, and now two guys hacking at each other with swords. I was starting to think that maybe Mythos Academy was exactly what Metis had claimed it was—a school for warrior whiz kids. The thought sent a shiver up my spine and filled me with confusion at the same time.

If Mythos was a school for warrior whiz kids, then what was I doing here? I wasn’t a warrior, and given how much I sucked at gym class at my old school, all the training in the world wouldn’t turn me into one.

“Come on,” Metis said, getting to her feet. “I’ll take you over to the dining hall, and then we’ll go back to the library so you can finally meet Nickamedes.”