“Tap! Tap!” Jianmen’s humble bamboo stick struck both of Aimee’s icy scimitars on the sides of the blades and hit them out of Aimee’s hands.

“Okay, take a break.” Jianmen nodded at Aimee, stepped back from the ring he drew on the ground, and said to Thomas: “Thomas, you’re up.”

“Wait, I think I can do one more round.” Aimee struggled up and said: “Just one more.”

“No.” Jianmen said with a stern tone, shaking his head: “From what I could tell from your form and your style, you haven’t grasped the key points of this kind of fighting. So instead of bumping your head at this wall time and time again, take some time to reflect and think.”

“But...”

“Moderation, young Aimee, moderation.” Jianmen waved his bamboo stick and a gentle force sent Aimee out of the ring: “I know that you are in a hurry, but be patient. Don’t worry, the time in other parts of the world will have only been a minute or two even if we spent the full day here.”

“It’s okay, sis, just take a break, you’re not gonna be able to beat down on vampire hordes just after one session.” Thomas patted Aimee on her shoulder, then took out two normal looking dark grey handguns and stepped into the ring: “So… how is this gonna work? Will you be using that stick Mr. Yu?”

“Yes.” Jianmen turned back at Jason and Caroline, who were still trying to stay in the air for a long period of time using their own ways - Caroline was trying a combination of surrounding herself with a tornado and using fire from her palms to control the direction in which she floated; while Jason created a metallic looking jetpack with spinning turbo fans inside and was trying his best to get better control of it: “Same rules: try to hit me, and avoid being hit by me.”

“Alright, here we go.” Thomas took a deep breath, then started firing at Jianmen using his handguns.

These handguns were modified versions of the standard-issued energy pistols from the Division, which would allow the wielders to infuse their energy into the weapon, and with the help of the arrays carved on the handles and inside the gun, fire energy bullets that could reach a pretty far range with pinpoint accuracy.

Jianmen waved his bamboo stick like a sword with an insignificant weight and long a long blade, the energy bullets were parried away one by one as he was closing in on Thomas.

Thomas leapt back and stopped his shooting for a brief moment with the muzzles of his handguns glowing in orange and red. Then the next moment, his two handguns blasted out two batches of fiery energy pellets like shotguns.

But Jianmen had already seen through his tactic, and also leapt back and to the side, while swinging his bamboo stick along a wavy course. Three energy pellets were caught by his bamboo stick, and then slung back towards Thomas. Thomas gasped and had to jump to the side, but one of the energy pellets still hit him on his left shoulder.

“Fuck!” Thomas cursed as he fell to the ground, but he was able to immediately roll to the side like he would in a real battle.

“Again.” Jianmen twirled his bamboo stick like a sword: “Good use of the explosive power and the properties of your gun. And nice battle instincts. But try to be more flowy and less fiery with your energy.”

“Yeah, the thing is, I am not sure how that is though?” Thomas stood up and said: “I asked Caroline...”

“Don’t read too much into Caroline’s experiences.” Jianmen interrupted Thomas: “Caroline’s power is fire, a kind of unique fire but fire nonetheless, her experiences may help you but they will also mislead you. Fire and the flow of burning and combustion are similar but they one crucial difference - and Aimee, this also applies to your power as well - fire and ice are states, while the flow of burning and freezing are processes - to wield flow magic right, you need to think in a slightly more abstract way than elemental magic wielders.”

“Yeah, this is kinda what I’ve been having trouble with.” Thomas took a look at his handguns and said: “Abstract thinking isn’t really my forte.”

“And I would encourage you to stop with that kind of thinking.” Jianmen smiled: “You’re magic wielders now, and the ability to think in abstract ways is pretty much a required ability if you want to be far along on this path. You might think: ‘Well, there are knights and fighters, how about I become one of them?’ But the truth is, the best fighters and knights are no way less able to ask and ponder upon important and deep questions about the power they wield as well as the world. Don’t let the stereotypes circulated amongst the students of the Grant Academy taint your perceptions.”

“Yeah, Thomas.” Aimee faked a criticising tone on the side: “Time to get reading, get your grades up!”

“Alright, alright.” Thomas shook his head a few times then readied his handguns: “Again!”