Chapter 5 - Practicalities

Once Adam, the practical Pathfinding teacher, had finished all the general introductions, including the confirmation of all the elements he was going to work with, he began by asking all students of their combat experience. Most responded that they only knew basic elemental combat spells, saying that they had never actually fought anything stronger than a common beast. One of the students, Alex informed the professor that they were a superior, a term that refers to those who wield more than one type of matter. He was not only fire, but also wind, mainly using it to allow him to control his fire with more precision.

"Interesting!" The teacher replied at Alex's addition. Glad to have talent to work with, "In that case, we'll be sure to make sure you practice wind until you can use both independently." He finished.

"Now!" He shouted, "Follow me, we'll decide on your fighting style and get right into practical classes!" He added.

"Already?" Raiden heard a few of the other students mumble. The youngest members in Frontline's forces were between eighteen and twenty-six. This is because you could only enter the academy from the ages of sixteen to twenty-four. They didn't necessarily want any students entering as a last resort, perhaps because those willing to lose their lives in combat endangered the lives of everyone else in the field.

Arriving to the other side of the arena the practical class took place in, Raiden observed a wide selection of wooden tools and weapons lining the stands attached to the walls. Interesting, he thought to himself.

"You will all either be choosing a weapon, or fighting barehanded." Professor Adam said, looking across the students before him. "We have swords, polearms, daggers, axes, spears, hell; we even have nun-chucks!" He finished with a laugh.

"I recommend choosing something that will complement your matter element." The man said, looking at Alex, the dual elemental superior, his sentence however intended for the whole class.

"Whether you wish to spec into brute force with a fiery axe, perhaps a graceful polearm with wind or terra." He continued, "A quick spear while using water to defend your blindspots," he rambled on, explaining the differing strengths and weaknesses of each element.

Lightning is the most agile, high in offensive power and also precise. Water has a good balance of defensive and offensive ability, a trade-off for its slow speed, water having mending capabilities and also being versatile. Fire is the most outright powerful element, bright and flashy, it can be used extremely destructively and is great for controlling the surrounding area. Terra is the most defense oriented element, making an excellent support with its added mending capabilities and high versatility. Finally, wind was a quiet yet deadly element, while not as flashy as fire or lightning, it has decent agility and offensive ability with deadly precision.

All five basic matter types were well balanced, none being "better" than any other, all just as effective depending on the wielder. The difference came when we compared them to Dark and Light matter.

Hailing from the two moons orbiting Carenth, they both had the power of an entire celestial body, instead of just one fifth, albeit of a larger one. The two superior elements were rare, even among those called Superiors. They were about a third more powerful than the basic elements and both had incredible offensive ability, comparable to even fire. Beyond that, Dark matter included incredible stealth potential. On the other hand, Light matter wielded powerful mending capabilities, finally, both matter types could also greatly amplify the other element a Superior wielded. Making them even more powerful, truly some fearful elements.

Alex, the fire and wind wielder, opened his mouth and spoke. "A sword, I think a sword will fit my dual elemental combat style best, being graceful and precise, powered by my fire." He finished, looking at Adam for approval.

"Good choice!" he said, likely thinking the same thing. "Your wind will allow you to alleviate the weaknesses in precision of the sword while your fire will augment the already powerful blows of your sword." He said, smiling and looking at the other students.

Everyone went in turn, following Alex's example. Some chose spears, swords, axes or to go barehanded, one student even picked the nun-chucks, prompting a curious look from professor Adam.

Alex, as shown before, had picked up a sword. Olivia finished her statement by selecting the polearms, her water being capable of intertwining and surrounding the weapon, augmenting it's offensive and defensive potential. Salem chose to go barehanded, his terra element working best when he could form his own creations and modify the terrain. Finally, Raiden had the last choice.

He considered the spear, but found it lacking in mobility, his second choice was to fight barehanded, but he figured he'd like the added destructive potential a weapon, or weapons, would add to his arsenal. Finally, despite his many considerations while he watches the others make their choices, his eyes always wandered back to the dagger. When prompted, Raiden walked to the stands and picked up not one, but two daggers, they both had two edges, sharp on both sides but made of a soft wood none the less. With a terra element professor watching over them, small cuts, bruises and scratches would pose no threat.

"Haha!" Adam laughed heartily. "Excellent choice boy!" He said, looking at Raiden. "Mind telling the class why you chose those blades?" He asked

Raiden raised his voice to address the teacher properly. "Well, mainly because I have Lightning as an element, I figured that a weapon that allowed for high mobility would be best. I considered going barehanded, but I wanted the offense that weapons offered." He replied, before continuing. "But I chose two daggers because I have longer limbs, and I thought it'd be more effective that way."

"Precisely!" The scruffy man responded. "Not only that, but your light frame makes you perfect for two equally light and small weapons." He added. "Overall, excellent choice!"

Raiden returned to his position, satisfied.

"Alright! I want you all to line up horizontally and I'll come see you all individually." He said, "Now, before we begin, I only fight with my fists, but I recognize the usefulness of weapons." He continued, looking at Raiden, the class reaching its halfway point at about an hour and a half. "I therefore cannot teach you many in depth techniques or stances for your individual weapons, what I can do however, is correct your mistakes and guide you all to creating your own style." He finished.

The teacher then went around, showing each student the bare minimum of wielding their weapons, spending a little more time with the students who fought barehanded. When it finally came to Raiden's turn, the teacher showed no mercy correcting Raiden's footwork and stance on his wooden weapons.

"Wrong again, try to square your feet and your shoulders, fighting with two dagger is similar to fighting barehanded, you want to maximize your damage output while keeping controlled and precise strikes." He corrected Raiden.

Raiden, not being able to comfortably do what the teacher asked, lowered his stance and flipped his left blade to a reverse grip, also holding the left dagger lower. Much better, he thought.

The professor raised an eyebrow, observing the kid's new stance. Now this is better… His frame is practically made for that stance, the man thought. The boy named Raiden had chosen to wield two daggers, allowing him to completely take advantage of the mobility that the lightning element offered him, while also maximizing his destructive potential. The new lowered form the boy took allowed him to stay low while also giving him many angles of attack to pivot to.

Adam continued to instruct the young man, showing him the five basic angles of attack using a single weapon. And then following up by demonstrating all twelve he could rely on while implementing both daggers. This kid could be seriously dangerous if he matures well… Adam spent a little too long admiring the boy, so he returned to correct the stance of a few other students.

Raiden was fairly satisfied with his new weapons and stance. The form he fell into when he relaxed himself and ignored the teacher felt much more natural to him than the forced and unwieldy one his teacher instructed. Despite Raiden's clear withdrawal from his professors teachings, the man didn't seem upset at all when Raiden changed the way he held himself. In fact, he seemed excited.

Continuing to practice the five and twelve angles of attack his teacher had shown him while using his improved stance. Raiden ironed out flaws he found immediately and refined his attacks, while he knew that he definitely had much room to improve it, he was satisfied so far with how his progress was going. The class was approaching the two hour mark when the professor interrupted the students practicing their form.

"Alright, that will be all for direct weapon technique today, I'd like to move on to something a little more involved." He said, prompting curious looks from the whole class, Raiden included.

"Now, do any of you know anything about imbuing your attacks directly with matter?" All the students looked at the professor, puzzled. "If you've ever seen a frontline member surround their weapons or fists with an element, that's what I intend to start you with for the last hour of today's class." He finished, some students' eyes lighting up while some still looked confused. Not many people had actually seen Frontline members in action, those who did only told stories. Reporters and recording often not permitted outside of the walls due to the inherent danger, and the guards inside the walls often not intending to create much damage with imbued weapons.

I've seen dad cover his fists in flame before, but he never hit anything with them, Marcus was far too careful to risk injuring his children or break anything important with his power.

"If you know what I mean, then wait for me to finish explaining, for the rest, listen carefully." He added before continuing to explain what he meant and then giving a swift demonstration, summoning a rocky spike from the ground before his fists became equally engulfed by stone. He smashed the rock he summoned into pieces with a single, well balanced strike, many of the student's jaws dropping at the sight.

The professor explained the basic process to the technique, saying things like "Envision the element flowing around your weapons and fists alike. Harness that energy and concentrate it into the offensive tools!"

The class went on for several minutes like that, nobody managing to do anything similar to the teacher before the course eventually came to an end and the hour-long break before theoretical class began.

Before students could funnel out the arena door, Adam stomped the sandy floor, sending out a small but harmless shockwave and called out, "Feel free to continue to practice until tomorrow on your own!" He shouted, "Oh, and sparring begins tomorrow!" He added, once again laughing. Some students stumbled at the mention, some were genuinely excited.