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[Location: Leoncrest Castle - Outer Courtyards]
[Date: September 15, y. 485 of the Fourth Age]
Thunder cracked overhead, and rain came pouring down as Zeke planted his feet and slashed his sword through the air. A few other students, only five or six, had come to Victoria''s early-morning class, but those that had arrived were determined, and weren''t going to be going anywhere.
Victoria stood at the front of the courtyard, water running in rivers off her armor, her sword raised in defiance of the storm.
"Strike! Strike now!"
Zeke followed her instructions, launching himself through a series of drills that she had been encouraging them to follow. His limbs, becoming far more honed than they had been a month earlier, moved through the motions with ease.
Perhaps not grace, or as much speed as he would have liked, but ease. He spun through the air, hacking and slashing as the rain came thundering down.
He had now been at the Academy for over a month, and while he still felt out of place, he was starting to settle in.
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【Basic Swordsmanship: Improving】
【Physical Conditioning: Notable improvement】
【Time at Academy: 1 month】
The one bright side to the rain was that he wasn''t getting nearly as overheated as he sometimes did, and he certainly wasn''t going to be sweaty when he went to his classes. That said, he was going to be soaking wet, but he could deal with that much.
After a few long moments, Victoria called out.
"There we go! Let''s call that for a day, you''ve all done well!"
Everyone cheered, and the others began to pack it up to head back into the Academy. Zeke frowned and glanced up at the great towers, where a clock could be seen on one of them.
He knew it now to be Tower 8, which was the same Tower that taught smithing and other such mechanical things. There was still an hour and a half until his first class, and he approached Victoria.
"You''re wanting more?" She raised an eyebrow.
"This academy isn''t going to cut me any breaks," Zeke shrugged. "I can''t really afford to start cutting myself any."
Victoria''s lips curled into an approving smile. "Well, I''m more than willing to keep going. Let''s try a few more advanced items. Plant your feet."
She struck a moment later, and Zeke braced himself against the onslaught. She was incredibly fast, and seemed willing to give it a bit more energy now that it was just the two of them.
Zeke was driven back under the onslaught, and as he came to a halt, gasping and panting, he looked up at her and nodded.
"Not too bad," she frowned in approval. "Let''s see if you can do it again."
Once more, they came crashing together. Zeke was able to hold his own for just a bit longer, and he laughed.
"Wow! And here I thought I was doing alright."
"You really are," she shrugged. "There''s just a lot to combat. You won''t even be close to ready for a real duel for another few years, and believe it or not, I''m a lot slower than the really good ones."
"I believe it," Zeke answered. He paused, then chuckled. "I don''t want to believe it, but I do."
She laughed at that, and they came crashing back together once more. Steel rang upon steel, the blows threatening to drown out the crack of thunder above.
Zeke felt his blood pumping, his senses heightening with each exchange. There was something exhilarating about training in the storm - it made him feel like one of the legendary knights from the stories Artax used to tell him.
As they sparred, Victoria occasionally called out corrections or praise:
"Better footwork! Keep your weight centered!"
"Good parry, but follow through faster next time."
"That''s it! Use the momentum of my attack against me."
Finally, the bell rang to announce that only one hour was left before classes, and Victoria sighed.
"Well, I really should be going. I have some things I need to take care of before I head to my first class. Good work, though." She walked over to the side of the court, where she had set a small bag full of items.
It was soaking wet now, and she grimaced as she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. "You know, you should enter a tournament when the Fall Festival comes around. I bet you''d do better than you think."
"Fall Festival?" Zeke frowned, and walked alongside Victoria as they slogged back toward the Academy. "What''s that?"
"You haven''t heard of the Fall Festival?" Victoria glanced sharply down at him, then shrugged. "I guess you haven''t. Good to know they''re really keeping you up to date on things. As you know, the years are broken up into three-month chunks, with short breaks between each chunk.
The biggest breaks are between the summer and fall season, and then between the fall and winter season. Winter to spring, and spring to summer? You''ve just got to suffer through with a one-week hiatus.
Anyway, point is, there''s a festival that''s held at the end of each season to celebrate what''s happened so far that season. The fall one is really cool, there are tournaments and all sorts of neat things. I bet if you entered, you''d do better than you might think."
"Maybe," Zeke frowned. "It''s also a chance to be humiliated in front of the whole school."
"Do you really care about being humiliated?" Victoria asked as they stepped through the front doors of the Academy. There, the heat from several nearby hearths warmed them, while several servants came forward with towels to help them dry down.
"Not really, not on a personal level," Zeke answered. "That said, House Godfrey is pretty weak right now. The Senate is looking for any chance at all to shut us down. I''m only here on a technicality, and if I show any weakness..."
"They''ll ruin you," Victoria murmured. They strode through the grand entry hall, and she flashed a small smile. "You know, back when I went through my first tournament, my rival used a bit of magic to make the combat floor extra slick.
I didn''t realize it, and she knocked me flat on my back with hardly a bit of effort. It did knock me back in the rankings for awhile. A lot of the professors considered me a failure, and gave her extra treatment because of it.
In the end, though, it made my rise to power all the more sweet. She''s been sent back home, and I''m still here."
Zeke nodded. "Yeah... I''d just be worried that if something like that happened to me, someone would report it as me being incompetent, and the Senate would vote to remove me from the Trials before I was killed or something, and then-"
"Yeah, I hear you," Victoria shrugged. "Well, maybe later. The Winter Festival has a lot of competitions that don''t involve combat. Maybe you can join up with one of them."
She slapped him on the shoulder and walked off, and Zeke sighed. He desperately wanted to join the matches in the Fall Festival, but... He did know that it was a fool''s errand.
Diocletian had already showed himself more than willing to mess with the results of Zeke''s tests and trials, and such a public event would have been the perfect place to humiliate him.
As Victoria disappeared around a corner, Zeke considered her words. Maybe he was being too cautious. After all, wasn''t the whole point of being here to prove himself? Hiding from challenges wouldn''t accomplish that.
"The festival''s still a few weeks away," he thought. "I''ve got time to decide."
In any case, Zeke dried off as best he could, and headed along toward his Aura Infusion class. Now that he had been at the school for awhile, the class... It hadn''t exactly become easier, but it wasn''t quite as impossible as it had been at first.
He walked in, though the door of the classroom, and sat down mere instants before the bell rang. Professor Gerald De''Stragga looked up, and his eyes narrowed, no doubt annoyed that Zeke had narrowly avoided a demerit.
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"Alright, then," he sighed and slowly climbed to his feet. "Thank you all for coming today. I know you''ve all been looking forward to the day that we start working with weapons for the first time."
An excited murmur ran around the class. Zeke, though, winced. He didn''t at all like the idea of trying to infuse his Aura into a weapon.
Even the small crystal balls were dangerous enough, to be given a functional blade... Well... That actually stood a chance of killing someone.
"That is why I regret to inform you that we will not be taking up such weapons today," Professor Gerald chuckled slightly as a ripple of disappointment ran around the room. "We will, however, begin progressing in that direction. If you''ll look inside your desk, you''ll find a small buckler. Please, all of you, pull it out."
Zeke frowned, then reached into his desk, where he indeed found a small shield. It was hardly wider than his hand, with a strap across the back that he could grab hold of.
The front side of the shield depicted a lion, and he looked down at it for a moment before turning his attention back to Professor Gerald.
"Most of you probably already know the use of a buckler, but allow me a moment to elaborate for the students who may not," he cast a look particularly at Zeke, then sighed and folded his hands behind his back. "A buckler serves as a small shield with two primary uses.
First, it can be strapped to the sword hand, providing an extra layer of protection, as well as an extra weapon should the sword be dropped. It can also be held in the off-hand, where it can be used for blocking, grappling, and punching.
In an intense fight, getting struck with a buckler can often be the deciding factor."
Zeke frowned and nodded as Professor Gerald continued.
"In the matter of this class, a buckler infused with Aura can be a powerful tool, indeed. It should be noted, of course, that it is too small to stop your average sword or arrow. You should never go into a fight intending to use it for such a thing.
As such, you should never go into a fight with your aura infused into the item. Doing so will only over-extend your energy and cause you to drain and fade more quickly than you otherwise might.
A larger shield can easily be charged with Aura prior to a battle, on the flip side. The proper use of a buckler is for quick bursts. You sense a weakness in the enemy''s defense, so you throw a punch, charging your buckler with aura in that moment.
You get in close, and begin grappling with your enemy instead of attacking him from a distance. Or, perhaps, you arrive at a door, and need to put a bit of extra force behind a punch to break through."
Zeke nodded slowly as he tried to absorb it all. He could already imagine the potential applications - a well-timed aura burst into a buckler could turn a defensive move into a devastating counter-attack.
The possibilities were exciting, if he could master the technique.
"With that, take hold of the leather strap. It has strips of metal running through it, metal that has been enchanted to allow for easier aura infusion. Practice infusing your aura into the buckler, then drawing it back into your body," the professor slowly started walking up and down the length of the classroom.
"That''s it. No, no throwing punches. We''ll be working on this for the next two weeks, there will be plenty of time to work on the practical application. Infuse, then withdraw. Nothing more."
Zeke glanced over at Elise. Being a mage, she had progressed in the class far faster than he had, and he watched with some frustration as she sent her aura easily into the shield.
After a moment, and noticing that Professor Gerald''s back was turned, she turned the shield toward Zeke. The eyes of the lion briefly glowed, as she proved that she was able to not only infuse the thing, but that she was able to direct her aura exactly where she wanted it to go.
Zeke scowled, then shrugged and went back to work.
He slowly sent his aura into the item, and watched as it started to glow. That was a... Bad sign? Right? He gritted his teeth and focused on some of the techniques he had learned from Ralph''s aunt.
The glowing went down after a few seconds, though he felt the buckler beginning to buck against his hand as it tried to explode away. He quickly pulled his aura back out, waited a few seconds, and then let it flow back in.
"De''Godfrey!"
Zeke looked up as Professor Gerald stepped up next to him. His eyes were hard, and he nodded down at the shield.
"Let''s see what you have."
Zeke nodded and quickly performed the same action. When he finished, the professor nodded.
"Sloppy, but better. You''ve shown remarkable improvement," with that, he turned to the rest of the class. "I hope you''re all taking notice! Not of De''Godfrey''s technique, mind you, but of his perseverance. It''s laudable."
Zeke felt a flash of hope, and Professor Gerald walked back to the front of the room. By the time the class was over, Zeke''s palms burned, but he was doing a lot better.
Everyone put their bucklers back into their desks, and Zeke rose along with them. Instead of heading out into the hall, though, he slipped up toward the professor''s desk.
Professor Gerald was already hard at work writing something. As Zeke approached, he looked up and sighed.
"Please, do not misread my compliment as approval."
"I didn''t. I don''t," Zeke shook his head. "I understand that you don''t want me here. Fair enough. I was just going to ask if you''d be willing to tutor me in the evenings. I''ve been working with Professor Gilda De''Arnette, but I''ve more or less reached the end of what she can teach me."
"Reaching the end of what that old bat has to teach would take most students a single afternoon," Professor Gerald muttered.
"All the more reason I''d like to take some lessons from you," Zeke shrugged. "I don''t want to be the back of the class, and I think I''ve proven that I''m willing to put in the work."
"That you have," Professor Gerald sighed and folded his hands. "Are you aware, De''Godfrey, that I''ve received orders directly from the Senate to impede your progress in whatever manner that I can?"
"Doesn''t shock me," Zeke shrugged. "Not many people in the Senate like what I''m doing here."
"No, indeed," Professor Gerald folded his hands in frustration. He seemed conflicted, and Zeke shrugged.
"Come on. You became a professor here to teach us, right? You teach students from rival houses all the time. The whole point of Leoncrest is that it''s the best of the best, and if every professor played favorites and tried to hinder all the rival houses, there''s no way that it would have the reputation that it does."
"Yes, I''m aware of the fact," the professor looked up. "We are expressly forbidden from providing less education to those from rival houses, and I''d like to think that I do a good job with it. There is a significant difference between not giving you false grades, and giving you private tutoring lessons."
"So just consider it a challenge," Zeke pressed. "Come on. A hopeless case like me? You''d be a legend if you managed to get me turned around. Plus, I''d be a lot less likely to slip up and smash a window or something."
Professor Gerald raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"
"No," Zeke laughed. "Just an honest admission that I''m still no good at this stuff!"
The professor''s stern expression cracked slightly, and Zeke sensed an opportunity. He leaned forward, his eyes bright with determination.
"Look, Professor, I know we started off on the wrong foot. I know House Stragga and House Godfrey have their differences. But isn''t this exactly what Leoncrest is about? Rising above those differences to become something greater?"
For a moment, Zeke thought he saw something like respect in the professor''s eyes.
Professor Gerald sighed and put his head into his hands. After a few moments, he nodded.
"I''m not going to go easy on you, and I''m only going to help you catch up with the rest of the class. Nothing more."
"Got it," Zeke confirmed. "That''s all I''m asking."
"Be here tonight. 5:00."
"Thank you," Zeke bowed.
Professor Gerald snorted and waved his hand dismissively, and Zeke turned to scamper away. It wasn''t an ideal answer, but it was more than he had hoped for.
Now, with luck, he''d really be able to get back to where he needed to be.
As Zeke left the classroom, he nearly collided with Diocletian, who was lurking just outside the door.
"Well, well," Diocletian smirked. "What was that all about? Begging for special treatment?"
"Just arranging some extra lessons," Zeke replied evenly, refusing to rise to the bait. "You could probably use some yourself."
Diocletian''s face darkened. "Watch it, Godfrey. I haven''t forgotten what happened in the forest."
"Neither have I," Zeke said, meeting his gaze steadily. "How''s your cheek feeling, by the way?"
Diocletian unconsciously touched the spot where Zeke had punched him during their underground encounter. His jaw tightened.
"You think you''re clever, don''t you? Getting all these extra lessons, trying to make up for your pathetic lack of talent with sheer stubbornness."
"It seems to be working so far," Zeke shrugged. "One Trial down, thirty-three to go."
"The first Trial was nothing," Diocletian sneered. "Just a walk in the woods. Wait until the real Trials begin - the ones that have ended careers and even lives. No amount of extra training will prepare you for those."
"We''ll see," Zeke said, starting to walk away. "Good luck in the Fall Festival, by the way. I hear they have some great events for beginners."
He could practically feel Diocletian''s glare burning into his back as he walked away. The encounter left him thinking, though. The Fall Festival was coming up soon, and after that would likely be his second Trial.
He needed to be ready for both.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of classes and training. By the time the afternoon was over, Zeke was exhausted but satisfied with his progress.
Between Victoria''s morning training, his regular classes, and now Professor Gerald''s upcoming tutoring, he was pushing himself harder than ever before. But he was also improving faster than he''d thought possible.
As he headed to dinner, he ran into Ralph, who was sporting a black eye.
"What happened to you?" Zeke asked, concerned.
"Just a friendly disagreement with a student from House Byron," Ralph grinned, apparently unbothered by his injury. "Turns out they don''t appreciate being accused of setting people up with sleeping potions. But I got in a good shot too - you should see his nose!"
"You confronted that girl''s family about what happened?" Zeke asked incredulously.
"Well, not directly," Ralph admitted. "I may have loudly speculated about House Byron''s dishonorable tactics within earshot of her brother. One thing led to another..."
"You''re insane," Zeke shook his head, but found himself smiling. Ralph''s carefree approach to life was both baffling and refreshing.
"Life''s too short to hold grudges," Ralph shrugged. "We had our fight, now it''s settled. He even invited me to join their table at the Fall Festival feast. Said anyone with a right hook like mine can''t be all bad."
"Speaking of the Fall Festival," Zeke said, "I''m thinking about entering one of the tournaments."
"Really?" Ralph perked up. "Which one? The sword competition? The obstacle course? The magical duels?"
"I haven''t decided yet," Zeke admitted. "But after talking with Victoria this morning, I''m starting to think I should put myself out there. Show everyone what I can do."
"Or show everyone what you can''t do," Ralph pointed out helpfully. "Either way, it''ll be entertaining!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Zeke said dryly.
"Anytime," Ralph grinned. "You know what? I think you should do it. The worst that happens is you lose, but so what? No one expects you to win anyway. But if you do well..."
"Everyone will be surprised," Zeke finished.
"Exactly! Plus, I can place some bets on you as the underdog. The odds will be fantastic!"
Zeke rolled his eyes. "I''m glad my potential humiliation could be profitable for you."
"That''s what friends are for," Ralph said cheerfully. "Come on, let''s get dinner. I''m starving after getting punched in the face."
As they walked to the dining hall together, Zeke found himself feeling strangely optimistic. Between his progressing skills, Professor Gerald''s unexpected help, and the possibility of proving himself at the Fall Festival, things were looking up.
Now, with luck, he''d really be able to get back to where he needed to be.
Tonight would be the first step - mastering the aura techniques that still gave him so much trouble. After that, who knew? Maybe by the time the Second Trial came around, he''d actually be ready for it.
[Scene Close]
[Earned Emblems:] Heart of the Warrior, Endurance
[Active Quests:]
[Overtime: Attend private tutoring with Professor Gerald]
[Upcoming: Decide whether to enter the Fall Festival tournament]