Michael stared at the titanic rack in awe, "Can… can I really touch them?"

"Of course you can," Valeera replied with a chuckle. "You're free to access the Wall of Arms until the trials."

The wall that the pair stood in front of was covered in many different weapons in many different variations. Swords, guns, bows, crossbows, axes, hammers, polearms, and many other unique weapons adorned the Wall. Some looked like they were meant to be worn on your arm, your leg, or even your shoulder. Each and every weapon also had their own unique way of being stored, whether it be a simple scabbard, the weapon folding into itself, both of the former, or something else.

"How do I even begin to choose?" Michael wondered. "There are so many that I don't think I'll be able to!"

"Take your time." Valeera reassured him. "Your only focus right now is to find what feels comfortable for you. If your not comfortable while fighting, you'll never win."

Taking the assassin's words to heart, Michael slowly sauntered down the Wall, examining every individual weapon. There were some which he knew for a fact that he couldn't wield, such as large two-handed axes and hammers, as well as flails, but he looked at them nonetheless. Valeera remained where she stood at the beginning of the wall, observing Michael judge each option before him.

Michael was halfway down the Wall of Arms when a certain weapon caught his attention. It looked similar to Uther's hammer in shape, but it was scaled down as to be wielded in one hand. The hammer's design was unique, however, with rectangles of Nexus blue-purple light dimly glowing out from either side of the head. He followed the weapon's shape down to the hilt, where it was wrapped in a deep purple material—which he would've assumed was some sort of leather, but this was the Nexus, and anything could be made out of anything. He finally set his eyes on the pommel, which was a perfect sphere, glowing with the same light as the head of the hammer.

Michael took a step towards the weapon, but something else caught his eye; a shield, hexagonal in shape and rounded on the front for glancing attacks off. Also, the shield had the same exact decal as the Heroes of the Storm tournament logo on the entire shield, with the signature rotating engraved blades. However, in this instance, the blades did not rotate on the shield. The blades were silver in base color, and the engravings were a light blue. The rest of the shield was colored the signature deep blue-purple color of the Nexus.

The teen took another step towards the hammer and shield, first taking the shield off of the rack and starting to fit it to his left arm. He slipped his arm through the straps and grasped the handle to keep it steady. The two straps came down over his wrist and just before his elbow, but the shield itself was just a bit wider than that. The edges of the shield perpendicular to his arm stopped about five inches beyond his elbow and about five inches past the handle. Despite the shield's size, it was somewhat light, allowing Michael to wield it with some ease.

Michael then slipped the hammer from its place on the wall. He adjusted it in his hand a few times and when it felt comfortable, he took a couple hefty swings with it. Like the shield, the hammer was lighter than it appeared, allowing Michael to wield it.

"This feels… oddly natural," Michael concluded. "I've always favored hammers in fantasy games, but I didn't expect to prefer them for real."

Valeera spoke up, "Well, you know what you like! That also gives us more time to get you into fighting shape before the trials. You ready to start?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Michael replied with a nervous sigh.

The pair turned around to face the training room. It was incredibly large and spacious, as was to be expected with a place that might need to be used by the Lord of Terror or other such members. There was a massive glass box in the center of the room, with about thirty meters of space in all directions between the walls, which was used to practice against holographic versions of other Heroes or for two actual Heroes to duel each other. There were also different arrangements of training dummies for damage practice and for healing practice; some were alone for single target practice and some were arranged in groups for area target practice. At the far end of the room against the wall opposite of Michael and Valeera was an incredibly long lane, which was used to practice effectiveness against waves of lane minions.

"Where am I even supposed to start?" Michael asked.

Valeera thought for a moment, "Let's just start with the dummies. Figure out your handle on your weapon. Just get a feel for what hitting things with it is like."

Michael followed the assassin's direction and went to the nearest training dummy. He studied it for a moment, examining its dark blue-purple metal exterior, and then brought his arm back in preparation to swing and then brought the hammer around, striking the dummy clean on the head with a satisfying 'crack.' Michael swung again; crack. And again; crack. The head still remained in place, but had a bit of visible damage on either side of it. Michael raised the hammer above his head and brought it down on top of the dummy's head; CRACK. A large dent was now visible on the top of the dummy's head, and Michael took a step back.

"Not gonna lie, that feels really damn good," Michael stated. "I think I'm gonna stick with this."

"Great!" Valeera exclaimed. "What kind of armor are you gonna wear?"

"Armor?" Michael hadn't really thought about that. He was comfortable with what he was wearing. A purple hoodie with a kite shield decal on the front, semi-baggy dark blue jeans held to his waist by a black leather belt, and laced black sneakers.

"Yes, armor! Your not just gonna wear that on the front lines, are you?" Valeera asked condescendingly. "If you're gonna go melee, you're gonna need armor!"

"And yet even as a melee fighter you still wear… that." Michael looked Valeera up and down examining her choice of attire.

Valeera slightly blushed at Michael's observation, "Okay, first of all, I fought in a gladiatorial arena in this and survived. Second, I'm able to wear this because I'm skilled enough to not get hit. Third, I'm an assassin, and thus I don't wear heavy armor. You're using a shield, which means you've opted to be the one taking hits. If you're gonna do that, you've got to wear good, solid armor."

The assassin returned to the beginning of the Wall of Arms and pressed a button. The Wall then flipped over, presenting a wide selection of armor almost as large as the selection of weapons.

"We're really going all out, aren't we?" Michael asked with a chuckle of amusement.

"Trust me," Valeera began, "you're gonna need to go all out for the trials, even if you are the Speaker's 'agent' or whatever."

"I've been meaning to ask about that, actually. What the hell even is the 'Speaker's agent?' Why am I such a big deal?" Michael inquired.

Valeera was silent for a few moments before she replied, "Medivh thinks that you're the key to getting the Speakers back in action. To make them talk again."

"What if I'm not?" Michael inquired further.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. For now, just focus on getting ready for the trials." Valeera instructed.

Michael had thought about asking just what the Storm Council was, but noted that it was kept secret from other Heroes for a reason. Asking about it in public, even with no one around probably wasn't a good idea. He turned back towards the intimidating number of armor sets and began to saunter down the Wall again.

As the teen look over the armor, he noticed they all had one thing in common: they all had a deep Nexus purple skin-tight undersuit with light blue lines traveling down the entirety of it to wear the armor over. He wasn't particularly fond of skin-tight clothes, but knew that it was for ease of equipping the armor.

Despite Michael's dread of that particular fact, he did single out a set of armor that looked promising. It was the deep Nexus purple, with glowing light blue lines running down each piece of the armor. Michael knew from the shape and the texture that it was some sort of metal or metal alloy, but did not doubt its durability and protection; it was made in the Nexus, after all. The style of it appeared traditional enough for plate armor, but there were some things that made it stand out. The set did not have armor over the joints nor did it carry a helmet. Instead, the set sported a smooth metal face mask mimicking the base color of the rest of the armor and owning a pair of light blue lines flowing down the front of it, and the entirety of the left arm was unarmored except for a deep Nexus purple glove stopping at the wrist and a sleeve of chain mail connected to it. That detail was clearly meant for shield users.

"That one," Michael abruptly stated. "I'm going to use that one."

Valeera went to Michael's side and observed the choice that he'd made, "A fitting set, given your weapons. Thick, durable, and still allowing for ample movement to swing your hammer."

The assassin pulled a lever next to the armor-covered mannequin, causing it to be removed from the wall and descended into a tripod of wheels that had been spawned under it. She turned to Michael, pointing past his shoulder, "There's a fitting room at the end of the Wall. Go equip your gear and come back out so I can see how it fits you."

Michael followed her instruction and proceeded to the fitting room. Valeera turned to face the empty training room and let out a sigh, "I sincerely hope that kid is able to fix all of this, Chromie. I hate having to act in the Speakers' place with the Council."

"I know," a voice chirped from the training room's entrance. "We all do, but we have to do the best with what we're given. That's all anyone can ask for, right?"

"I suppose," Valeera concluded.

They stood silent there for a number of minutes before Michael emerged from the fitting room and returned to Valeera and her new guest. The pair turned their gazes towards him as he approached, and their eyes expanded. The group was silent for a few moments.

Michael began to worry, "Shit, did I put it on wrong? Is it too big? Too small?"

Valeera shook her head, "No, no, on the contrary. I didn't expect it to fit you so… perfectly."

Michael raised a brow at the way she uttered 'perfectly,' but decided it ignore it. Chromie stepped out from behind Valeera and voiced herself, "I think you look awesome, Michael."

He breathed a sigh of relief, " Thank you. I still have a long way to go, though. I'm not gonna beat the trials by looking good." He paused for a moment, "Here's to long and rigorous training."

"Hear, hear," Valeera said with some amusement.