Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Montis Leroux dodged Aeon's consecutive punches with grace.
For the day, Leroux decided that he would be the one on the defensive side so it had already been 15 minutes since Aeon started his class. Sadly, he had failed to hit Montis Leroux yet. Despite this, Aeon was smiling.
"You seem to be quite happy today," Montis said as he continued dodging. Obviously, he did not fail to catch Aeon's weird expression.
"Well, the classes this morning were much more fun," Aeon replied.
"I see," Montis said with a nodded, "okay this is enough, let's talk about our training. How you would be able to hit me."
Aeon stopped punching and took a deep breath. Although he did not look tired, he actually was. Throughout the fight, he was fighting at his peak condition and concentration. He exerted as much effort as he could and utilized his Tenro.
In the end, he was still not able to lay a hand on Montis who was just dodging. Using his body at full power for 15 minutes was already his limit. It was unknown whether it was the reason why Montis' stopped him from continuing.
Montis sat in a pile of debris and started speaking, "First, let's talk about my Tenro. It is very beneficial to your enemy if he or she knows the abilities of your Tenro, so you should keep it as a mystery as much as possible. For me, it gives me a boost in speed and agility. Also, it enables me to perform unusual movements. With this knowledge, you should already have a fair advantage. Why do you think your attacks do not hit me?"
Aeon cocked his head. He was debating himself whether he should answer or not. Wasn't it because Montis was simply stronger? In the end, Aeon said something different as he thought that it might not be the answer Montis wanted to hear. "Is it because I'm not utilizing my Tenro enough?"
"That is one thing. However, the main point is that you are not creating an opportunity on your own. Your punches are swift, strong, direct, and accurate. With the help of your Tenro, it only makes them fiercer. But it will never work against enemies stronger than you."
Aeon slowly nodded. He had limited training since he did not have someone to have a spar with. It was safe to say that he literally had no actual combat experience. Up till now, all he did to pass the tests was to use his physical advantages. He defeated Suri and the Earth Remoran with raw strength. As the saying goes, any strategy is worthless against overwhelming power. He quietly accepted Montis' teachings.
"Now, you tell me. How does your Tenro give you an advantage?" Montis asked.
"It enables me to perform precise, accurate, and efficient actions!" Aeon replied confidently. However, after blurting those words out, he realized that his Tenro was not as good as he thought it was. Speed and agility boost was way cooler than his.
"That's correct. Your family's Tenro is not a secret to many people," Montis said, "but how is it so formidable?"
Aeon scratched his head. The answer was so simple that it seemed like the wrong one. In the end, he still replied, "Because… it makes us… accurate?"
Pak!
"Ow!"
Aeon caressed the bump that was slowly growing on top of his head. Montis suddenly appeared beside him and smacked him on the head with a piece of wood.
"What I'm going to tell you is according to the analysis of many researchers of the Florentine Empire. Since your father is a long time enemy, many analyses were already made. What they all had in common was that your father never used defensive techniques. You probably don't know this," Montis said. After he spoke, he tossed the piece of wood in the air. Then, he slashed at the air with his left hand. The strong wind blew, and the wood was cut in half.
Before Aeon could reply, Montis continued, "Despite this, he was never defeated. Maybe it was due to the nature of your father's element, which is Lightning. As a Seran, it made him really fast. However, some say that it was because of the nature of his Tenro, instead. I agree with the latter."
"How so?" Aeon asked. His curiosity was now piqued. Ever since his father was crippled, he never talked about his battles anymore. It had already become his father's sore spot. Aeon never got to witness his father fight so he had no idea about it. Hearing it from Montis, he was extremely excited.
"You see, precision and accuracy are very important when it comes to magic. This is true. Being very strong would not matter if you're not capable of hitting your enemy. However, your Tenro brings this to a whole new level. Precision and accuracy could also apply to your movements, instead of only your attacks.
"For your father, defensive spells became unnecessary because no one could ever hit him, just as you can't hit me. Of course, I could not go into more detail as I am not strong enough to assess your father's techniques, but that's the idea."
Aeon was filled with awe. He reevaluated himself and realized that he had not been using an inkling of his Tenro at all. But one question was still not answered, "But how does this relate to creating opportunities?"
"Positioning," Montis replied, "With precise and accurate movements, you will reach a level of positioning where you can force your enemy to only have one good option. You knowing that your enemy has only one option will help you prepare in advance."
Coming from someone who was very knowledgeable in terms of movement technique, Aeon could not rebut. It was true. He did not use any movement techniques. He thought he could make up for it with his speed and strong attacks. Reality proved him wrong, but he was not discouraged. Instead, he was pumped up. "Let's have another round!"
Without waiting for Montis' confirmation, Aeon pounced on him. It was not a problem, though. Montis' figure blurred, and he disappeared, leaving a thin, hazy mist where he previously stood. The two continued to spar with Montis still at the defensive.
….
Suri was holding a huge broadsword. It was glowing dark red, like any other weapons enchanted by Suri. For the past few minutes, he had been thinking about their family's magic technique.
Basically, they could cast a strengthening ability on their spells. That is what they called Explosion.
In the element-specific combat training which he was attending at the moment, no one else used fire magic in an unconventional way, like the way his family does. Everyone followed the norm.
No one else used Explosion.
But why?
He was extremely bothered about the fact that his father was really popular in the Florentine Empire, but no one else ever copied his style. He remembered his enemy, Prius. How come he had a technique that no one else used, too?
Suri's thoughts were interrupted when he was finally called. Just like yesterday, it was time to spar against the other Fire Serans.
There were only six of them in the class so everyone had already gauged the others' abilities. Suri's opponent today, Mark, knew that Suri was formidable, but he did not back off. When the instructor gave the signal, the two moved.
Mark, learning from Suri's fight yesterday, did not approach him directly. Instead, he moved in a circle. His weapon of choice was a shortsword so, as much as possible, he would like to avoid Suri's large blade.
As Mark ran, he casted a short spell on his sword and it eventually glowed red. As Suri was still turning, he attacked. He stabbed his sword forwards. Seven thin spikes made of fire shot towards Suri from Mark's blade. Suri responded by casting a spell on his sword. A moment later, fire spewed outwards from the broadsword, turning it into a shield. The seven flaming spikes collided with the shield and exploded.
Although his attack was neutralized, Mark was not fazed. He casted another spell, but this time, on his gloves. The tip of his fingers glowed red, but if one did not look close enough, it would be unnoticeable. He immediately pounced against the defending Suri.
As the distance was closed, Mark slashed his sword towards Suri's abdomen. Suri promptly blocked. However, that was not the end of Mark's attack. Mark pointed a finger on Suri's leg and a fire needle shot out. Mark inwardly rejoiced. He was about to take a win again.
Unexpectedly, Suri's leg moved, dodging the needle by a hair. Mark was shocked by this and his focus in the battle was momentarily shattered. He sensed immediate danger and dodged. He heard something ring sharply then…
Boom!
Mark landed safely on the ground, panting. He also dodged the explosion caused by Suri. He replayed the events in his mind but he still could not figure out how Suri was able to dodge his discreet attack. He dropped the matter and focused on the fight once more. When fighting against someone like Suri, one had to be proactive. This was already a lesson taught yesterday when the opponent tried to defend against Suri's explosive attacks. In the end, the former was blasted away and was sent to the infirmary. The said person was fine, though, and was intently observing the match at the moment, hoping to learn something from Mark.
Mark did not disappoint.
Without wasting any more time, Mark closed in on Suri once again. He let out several rapid stabs while Suri could only defend. From time to time, he would point a finger and a needle would shoot out again. But every single time, Suri would dodge successfully.
After some time, Mark was able to break through Suri's defense and claimed victory. However, he was not very satisfied. On his match yesterday, he did not use the needle attacks, so there should have been no way for Suri to know about it. So how come he was able to dodge every single one of them. For sure, It could not have been a coincidence.
Suri thought about his loss, but he was not disappointed. He had not been going all out in the match. Instead, he had been looking forward to learning, rather than victory. The results, for him, were very satisfactory. He was able to dodge attacks that he deemed unblockable. Also, he was able to attack when there were openings. Overall, it was a good fight.
Something bothered him, though. During the fight, he subconsciously dodged from an attack that he did not see until it exploded in the ground. Suri was truly baffled, but later on, he simply dismissed it as his instincts telling him to dodge. However, as the battle proceeded, Suri realized that he was feeling a weird sensation, and was able to perceive the battle more clearly. Fire attacks sent by the enemy were immediately sensed by him, making him react.
None were able to get past his defenses. He shut down almost any attack, be it by dodging or blocking. Later on, however, the feeling just vanished. Suri got distracted for a moment and the opportunity was immediately grasped by the enemy. Suri was defeated.
What a weird feeling, Suri thought to himself.
….