Chapter 7

Learning The Basics

All the students were lined up along the perimeter of the training field, each of them stretching as they prepared their bodies for the physical exertion to come. Vyrion still held a confident look on his face despite the butterflies he felt forming in his stomach. He was confident in his skills with the katana, but he had only really trained against his father through the years. Not knowing what to expect from the other students was worrying him a bit, but he knew he couldn’t show it.

Brigitte stood in the center of the field and behind her the glowing hologram board flickered and soon two names appeared on it.

Fashryn Gemrick

Tasha Gemrick

It seemed Vyrion wasn’t the only one surprised as he heard a few others gasping in the small crowd of students. He supposed he wasn’t the only one who had suspected they’d all be paired with the students in opposite classes after seeing the variety of participants. He watched as the two sisters stepped forward and took their places roughly ten feet away from each other. He was thankful he wasn’t one of the first names, since this would give him more time to prepare and he hoped to learn from their fight. By their starting spots nestled into small stands were Wands that were noticeably different from those he had noticed the teachers kept with them at all times, lacking the same intricate details and flourish. They each had an odd contraption at the end of their barrel, covering it with an odd sort of film. Sisters or not, they each held a serious look as they brandished their training weapon that had been chosen for them. Fashryn, the slimmer of the two, wore two pronged claws that covered each of her hands while her younger and more muscular sister Tasha had a firm grip on a pair of sais; two short blades on either side of one long blade in the center. Vyrion immediately started questioning how she planned to incorporate the Wand when already dual wielding. 

“Remember class. This sparring session is meant to learn, not to win. I’ll be keeping a close eye.” Brigitte spoke calmly with an authoritative voice, making sure everyone heard her. She stepped back several feet to give them space and a loud buzz gave them their signal to start.

Without hesitation Fashryn dashed forward, swiftly grabbing the Wand in mid stride and aiming it without hesitation at her sister. A pull of the trigger and the power of the gun halted her midstep as the film covering the barrel caused the energy to warp and a swirl of flames formed and shot forward like a snake at a fast pace, giving Tasha little time to react.

Forced to think so quickly, the more muscular girl brought her arms up in a defensive manner, blocking her chest and face with her sais as she braced herself for the impact. She felt the heat as it smacked into her before it dissipated and she shook her arms quickly, wincing slightly. Not wasting anymore time to concern herself with the pain she felt, she made a mad dash for her sister.

Her right sai clashed against her sister’s left claw as the two of them began a melee battle that looked beautifully choreographed. One would dodge before striking back, the other easily defending the following attack. Their movements were fast, trained, and very skilled as they relied on their innate talent with the weapons provided to them. Neither one was willing to back away from the other, refusing to give their opponent the chance to fire any further magic.

The fight went on for only another minute or so when the alarm buzzed once again, the two sisters pressed up against one another as they held a stalemate. Neither one of them was willing to back down to the other.

“All right, not bad at all girls.” Brigitte stepped forward and forced the girls to separate and lower their weapons. She began to give Tasha a quick look over and checked to make sure she hadn’t received any serious damage. “However, I have to point out that only Fashryn ever touched her Wand.” She left the sentence in the air for all the students to think about as she waited for an answer. Not much time was needed before Tasha responded.

“I saw that when she first used the gun, she hesitated after firing it. I guess she wasn’t expecting the force behind it and I thought I had a chance to reach her and keep her forced into close range.”

“Hm, not a bad tactic, but think back through your tactics and learn to incorporate your Wand into your strategies more. While we shouldn’t rely on them as our only resource, they are still a very powerful asset in battle. Beyond that, you two girls show impressive skill in battle and obviously know each other’s moves well. Though I feel I should make sure you are all aware of the fact that these are training Wands. While their power is greatly decreased, they can still harm you and real Wands are far more dangerous. Blocking magic the way you did should not be a strategy you rely on. Still, I’m excited to see how far you two go from here.” She gave an approving smile as she motioned for them to take their places within the small crowd of students.

Both sisters’ faces relaxed from their serious expressions back to their normal more carefree ones before grinning and hugging each other. They congratulated each other on their attacks and their approaches in their fight, talking about how they couldn’t believe they got to show off all they had spent years practicing.

It only took a few minutes before the next two sparring partners were set up. This time it was the two gossiping boys from earlier. 

Rock Warren

Grant Hustin

They both stood strong, packed with muscles and impressive height. The one with black hair held a large hammer with only one hand, the other boy with a bald head tightly gripped a naginata with both hands. The battle started and ended in a flash, the boy with the hammer throwing it hard and catching the other in the gut. Doubling over, the bald kid had no time to recover before the black haired boy was standing above him with his Wand aimed at him. No matter the rules of this being meant as a learning experience, Grant had made a point of winning in seconds in front of everyone.

Brigitte stepped forward to end the battle before the alarm could ring out through the large field. She congratulated the black haired boy and checked on the injured student. After making sure he would be all right despite a nasty bruise thanks to his impressive resilience, she continued the sparring exercise. The next pair of duelists was the lazy-eyed Tiger Infurnal from Vyrion’s class against one of the taller girls with blonde curly hair from what Vyrion was starting to view as the opposing class.

Ressio Tomaru

Glenda Bright

Filled with curiosity after the first two fights, Vyrion watched closely as the Tiger bore large tonfas with his muscular hands. The girl held a fine whip at her side, her free hand on her hip as she gave an annoyed look. As he watched the Tiger Infurnal stretch and prepare for the fight, thoughts ran through Vyrion’s mind as he remembered that fateful night again. The Infurnal raccoon butler who had been little more than a snack for the IMP and the little Infurnal calico maid who had been so petrified she couldn’t even move.

The alarm shook him from his brief mind wandering and back to reality and he watched the battle begin. The girl quickly grabbed her Wand, at the same time lashing out with the whip and it snapped loudly as the tiger boy managed to dodge to the side and grab his Wand. Falling to the ground and pulling the trigger, he didn’t seem concerned by the recoil the others had begun to expect after watching the first fight.

The Wand lit up and like the students had seen earlier, the film obstructed the magical energy for the briefest of moments before allowing a beam of piercing light to fire forward. The light gave off a sizzling sound as it streaked towards the blonde girl.

Glenda’s eyes widened and she sidestepped the beam, the energy missing her by mere inches as she brought the whip back towards her and flicked her wrist aiming it at the tiger Infurnal again as she screamed.

“You think I’m going to let some Fur beat me in my first sparring match?” Her voice was shrill and filled with anger and hate as she shouted, the words catching everyone off guard.

There was no alarm but Brigitte was immediately on the girl. Her cloak had opened and was revealed to be a pair of large black bat wings that she had kept wrapped around her smaller body. Grabbing both the girl’s wrists and glaring up into the tall eyes she showed no concern at their height difference. It had no effect on the teacher as she held the girl’s angry stare with her own steely gaze.

“You know the rules of this school. You know what is expected of you to be a Caster. This is your one and only warning. Go back to your dorm to cool off. I’ll inform the rest of your teachers why you won’t be attending class for the rest of the day. I hope to see better from you in the future.” There was a cold, dense tension in the air as they stared into each other’s eyes. Glenda opened her mouth to argue but Brigitte immediately cut her off with a single word. “Now.”

The girl grumbled angrily, throwing her whip and the Wand to the ground before storming off, ignoring Ressio as the rest of the students began talking to one another in hushed tones. Vyrion caught the look on the wolf Infurnal’s face, she looked sick and upset as she watched the girl march back into the school.

Brigitte took the tiger Infurnal to the side to speak with him for a few minutes and out of earshot of everyone else and shortly after he went back inside as well. This caused a few more words to be shared between the casters in training before she was able to get them to quiet down and continue to focus on their sparring.

The following fight was an impressive display for the crowd of students. Solias, who wielded a large greatsword with only one hand, fought his opponent; another boy from the other class with a crew cut who used a simple shortsword. The boy from the opposing class seemed well prepared for the fight, immediately firing off a shot of blazing hot fire from his Wand similar to Fasha’s, but Solias managed to use his own Wand to counter it with a blast of magic that swirled in a purple glow and caused the flames to dissipate mid flight. Solias followed up by using the length and size of his weapon to close the gap between the two of them. With astonishing speed mixed with the size of his weapon, he was able to disarm his opponent and get him on his knees where he was forced to surrender.

In the silence of the crowd after Solias’s performance Vyrion clutched the sheath of his practice katana hanging off of his waist as he watched his name appear along with another.

Vyrion Gale

Xana Thrine

 Moving forward he watched as the wolf Infurnal walked at the same pace, her eyes cast down and focused on the ground with every step she took. They both stepped forward and they took their places like each pair before them. Vyrion was looking at the Wand in the stand next to him, getting a better look at it now. After watching the fights, seeing the Wand up close confirmed his assumptions. It seemed the contraption added to the weapon was meant to limit its possible power, making it much safer for inexperienced Casters-to-be.

The alarm buzzed and Vyrion quickly grabbed at the Wand in the stand by his side, eager to feel the power behind the weapon even if it was a weakened version. Remembering his training in the White Room with the Ghosts, he focused his energy and felt the surge of magic running through his body and into the weapon. As he prepared the spell he aimed it at the opposing girl, a flash of the calico maid suddenly came rushing through his mind and his hand trembled briefly, causing a slight hesitation in his movements.

Blinking away the image he refocused his thoughts and was surprised at the sight before him. The girl was wielding a dagger in her left hand and she was holding her Wand so it was aimed at the ground. The energy began to fill her Wand and realization hit Vyrion as the magical energy shot out of her gun. She wasn’t aiming at the ground, she was aiming at her own feet. The emerald green energy pierced into her leg but she seemed unfazed as she lowered her body, leaned forward, and ran straight at Vyrion.

He couldn’t believe it. Her speed was faster than anything he had ever seen. For an instant the sight of her was replaced by the wolf-like IMP that had attacked his home. Her speed and her determination showed years of experience. He continued to try and aim his Wand at her, to find a spot to properly fire his shot, but her legs never stopped moving as she quickly moved from left to right, keeping him guessing at each of her steps. She was on him faster than he could contemplate and he managed to only barely unsheathe his katana and deflect her dagger from striking his stomach.

He remembered in his approval letter it had explained the reason for the uniforms. Every thread was enhanced with a little bit of magic, causing the outfits to be as durable as some of the finest armor worn by the military but also allowing much easier movement. A brief thank you to those who crafted the uniforms ran through his mind as he realized how close the blade had come to connecting with his body.

Not willing to give up, Vyrion managed to hold his ground on her quick onslaught. The movements of her legs were sped up, allowing her to move around him quickly and attack from all angles, but luckily it seemed the increase of speed did not go to her arms as well. At some point in the flurry of attacks she had produced a second dagger, causing him further trouble in the duel. He was quickly losing his stamina as he attempted to keep up with her.

Never thought an Infurnal could fight like this. Their kind really is impressive.

Shaking the thought from his head, he tried to regain his focus on the battle, to find an opening for one good strike, but she was keeping him on the defensive the entire time. He caught a glimpse of the girl’s face and was surprised to see that the same face that had looked weakened earlier now looked full of rage and anger as she continued her attack. Another sharp attack aimed at his lower front and he lost his footing, slipping and falling back onto the grassy earth beneath him. He instinctively knew not to let himself be caught on the ground, but her movements proved too fast still against his worn down body and soon she was on top of him, straddling his body so she could aim both daggers at his throat.

Looking up at her, his hand still on his katana and the Wand on the ground next to him, strategies ran through his head. None of them seemed to end with him successfully getting her off of him, not without serious injury in a real battle at least. His grip tightened further on his weapon in frustration and with a heavy sigh, he released his weapon and raised both hands slowly over his head in a show of surrendering.

“Okay okay, you win.” His words came between gasps as he realized just how much energy he had expended from trying to keep up with her. He noticed a quick expression of surprise on the wolf Infurnal’s face as she looked up and saw their teacher coming towards them.

“That was a very impressive display Xana. You managed to use your Wand to your advantage and keep the battle in your favor. You even made sure your opponent was too occupied with defense to ever go on the offensive.” She helped Xana off of Vyrion, then helped him up next. “Though next time don’t just toss your Wand to the side. There’s always a chance you’ll need to use it more than once.”

Xana just gave her a small nod as she composed herself and got her breathing back under control. The wolf girl brushed her snow white hair out of her eyes as Vyrion dusted himself off and Brigitte continued her appraisal of their duel.

“Vyrion, you did well to keep up with her, but you need to learn to focus your energy faster if you plan to use your Wand efficiently. Hesitation at any point can cost you much more than a simple duel when in the real world.” She then looked around the students that were all resting after their sparring sessions. “You all did well for your first sparring session, but I know you can each improve greatly with some help. You all have a chance to become excellent Casters in the future. You’re dismissed.”

The students all began to disperse and Vyrion looked around, noting the Gremrick sisters had already wandered off along with most of the other students. He caught a glimpse of long white hair and made his way over to her.

“Hey, wolf girl!”

“What?” She didn’t even bother turning back to him, annoyance filling her voice as she grabbed her bag.

“I just wanted to say that was really impressive.” Vyrion shrugged off her tone, focused on his own words he had already planned. “I mean, I never thought anyone like you could fight like that.”

“Like me?” The annoyance changed to anger and she spun around and met him with icy blue eyes. “Is that why you went easy on me? Because I’m a weak little Infurnal who can’t stand up for herself in a real fight?” She didn’t wait for a response as she walked past him, shoulder bumping into shoulder roughly. Vyrion was left to watch her as she walked back into the large maze of a castle.

Next Chapter: Xana’s Thoughts