{Date: 10/11 - Tuesday}
{Time: 10:00 AM}
It's been a few weeks since I first joined St. Fraskia Academy, and I've finally found my way through the motions of the academy. Today was the day of our first actual Valkyria Training in Alice's Class with Orishi monitoring the class to make sure everyone was training safely.
"Alright, everyone. Each of you now has a good idea of what good Spirit Control looks like, now it's time to put that training to use with one another in combat. Like we've been going over these last few weeks, in combat three attributes are vastly important, DMG, Burst DMG, and Survivability," Orishi began, crossing her arms and looking at each of us with a smile.
"You get stronger and grow the more you fight, even in training. However, you won't see any major progress in your stats when training, you will see them during mock battles and on field battles," Orishi continued, opening her eyes and glancing at each of us.
Once Orishi mentioned mock battles and on field battles, the class began to grow a bit excited due to the prospect of being able to grow their power levels to the highest they could as D Ranks. Orishi saw their excitement, letting out a soft chuckle and blew her whistle.
"Alright, everyone, settle down. While, yes, you will be doing Mock Battles, it won't be to the extent of how I train the B Ranks and my students. The Mock Battles will first consist of amongst yourselves then we'll move along to Battle Simulations once you reach C Rank. From there, you'll have a whole range of teachers to teach you from B Rank and up," Orishi said, her eyes gazing at us.
"Now, everyone go ahead and gather your partners and let's get to training," She finished, blowing her whistle.
With that, everyone began to spread out across the training grounds with their chosen partners, beginning to practice moves with one another and have friendly spars with either hand to hand combat or with their preferred training weapons. Orika and I went to an area of the training grounds away from the others so I could teach Orika properly.
"Alright, Gen, what do you have for us?" I asked, crossing my arms and glancing at the holographic version of Genesis that hovered beside me and Orika.
"Since you're more experienced than most in D Ranks, I can teach you some of the more advanced fighting techniques. There is a hidden stat within each Valkyria that aren't directly calculated," Genesis said, generating holographic screens in front of me and Orika.
"That stat is Perception. Perception is very important in a fight as it allows you to know how well you can perceive things in real time and is calculated as your Normal IQ, Battle IQ, and Combat Level. While it doesn't directly affect your Power Level, it does affect how keen you are to things," Genesis explained.
I looked at Orika's Perception stand and mine as well, seeing the vast difference in the two stats.
{Orika's Perception: 40}
{Hisumi's Perception: 515}
"Huh, so what I'm picking up is the higher the perception the easier it is to read your opponent and vise versa?" I asked, glancing at Genesis.
"Exactly, but keep in mind if your opponent's perception is higher than yours, they can read you more easily and it becomes harder for you to read them even if your perception is high," Genesis answered, making the holographic screens disappear.
Genesis continued, "In a fight, you can have lower DMG and high Perception and because of your high Perception you can almost always win a fight due to you being able to dodge your opponent better or see weak points that your opponents may not be aware of. In summary, Perception equals Awareness and Awareness equals easier time in a battle."
"No wonder you were able to fight Usagi so well! It all makes sense!~" Orika said, clapping her hands together and smiled at me.
"Huh... anything else with Perception I should know about?" I asked, glancing at Genesis.
"Yes. Valk Types also affect the speed of your perception growth. Tank Valkyrias have a naturally slower perception growth but in return they have naturally high defenses and survivability. Attack, Support, and Balanced Types have a normal perception growth. Speedster Types have the highest accelerated perception growth in exchange of having their DMG and Burst DMG growth lowered," Genesis answered.
"But for now that doesn't matter. All that matters is increasing your DMG and Burst DMG for now,"
Orika and I nodded then looked at each other with a smile. Orika took a few steps back and got into her stance, ready to train with me.
"Are you ready? We're gonna increase your strength first then move on to Burst DMG," I said, holding my hands out, Genesis forming holographic targets with the number 50 in front of them.
Orika nodded, steeling herself for the training session. "I'm ready!"
"Your goal is to break those targets and grow your DMG. The durability of those targets are 50 and with your DMG attribute of 45, you should break them within ten hits each! Go for it!" Genesis said, watching Orika as she hovered next to me.
Orika nodded, getting into her stance then rushed forward with a straight punch, striking one of the targets, the number flashing and lowering to 45. I smiled at Orika with a nod, silently communicating that she landed a good strike.
Orika smiled back at me then began striking the targets over and over again with a series of punches and kicks until the targets broke. Orika let out a cheer and grunted as she noticed a red flash around her.
{Orika's DMG Increase: 45 -> 47}
"Nicely done! The reason why we're starting you with basic attacks is because your weapon is only as strong as the wielder but also these targets are Null Elements meaning the targets took neutral damage. We haven't even begun talking about different damage and elemental damage outputs," Genesis said, crossing her arms with a bright smile.
"Eh? There's more to this than just DMG minus Survivability?" Orika asked, slumping her shoulders a bit.
Genesis giggled lightly at Orika's soft exasperation. "Of course there is! We have neutral damage, elemental damage, critical damage, burst damage, so on and so forth. There are also resistances."
Genesis showed us a chart of the three basic elemental strengths and weakenesses. Orika recognized the chart immediately since it was a lesson that she had went over with Alice in her classes.
The chart was as such:
- Fire stronger than Ice, but weak to Lightning
- Lightning stronger than Fire, but weak to Ice
- Ice stronger than Lightning, but weak to Fire
"That's just the basics since having an extra element such as Water, Nature, Light, Dark, Time, Space, and Gravity are rare and require extensive training regiments to learn if you aren't adept with them via Familia Affinities or Blessed with the extra elements. These extra elements change the game entirely, but for now we focus on the three basics," Genesis said, smiling at Orika.
Orika nodded, understanding the more in-depth explanation of the elements that Genesis provided. She looked at my hands again, noticing yellow holographic targets appear on my hand with the same durability of 50 upon it.
"Now, we will go over Elemental Damage and the effective damage you will deal. Since you have a natural Ice Affinity, you are stronger than Lightning Valkyrias. That means you will deal 1.3 times the damage you'd normally deal," Genesis explained then crossed her arms against, looking at Orika.
Orika nodded and did the math in her head, closing her eyes then hummed. "That means it would only take seven hits to break these targets, right?"
"Exactly!~ Now go for it!~" Genesis beamed, watching Orika with excitement.
Orika nodded and looked at me, noticing my nod and smile. She surrounded her hands with her spirit energy then they began to glow an icy blue, her energy radiating a cool breeze from them. She rushed forward and began striking the targets.
Within just a few hits, the targets broke and Orika felt another boost in her DMG again, her body starting to grow and develop with each small victory she gained.
{Orika's DMG Increase: 47 -> 49}
"Great work! You're actually doing wonderfully! Now, for the last basic element," Genesis said, holding her hand out and making one more set of targets.
Orika looked at the targets and noticed them glowing red, the same durability of 50 applied to them. She looked at Genesis again and awaited her instructions.
"Now, you will be doing less damage because you're go against targets you're elementally weak against. When facing off an opponent that resists you elementally, you deal 0.7 times damage," Genesis explained.
Orika did the calculations in her head again then crossed her arms, closing her eyes. Once she got her answer, she opened them and looked at Genesis. "So fourteen hits this time?"
"Correct! Now once you break these targets, we'll move on," Genesis said, watching Orika with her arms crossed.
Orika nodded then looked at the targets, taking a deep breath then exhaled. She struck a target to see how much damage she dealt, noticing the number flashing from 50 to 46.5. She let out a soft grunt, knowing this last set of targets would take a hit more effort.
Landing a series of strikes upon the target, she finally managed to break them both. She let out a soft breath and leaned down to place her hands on her knees. A red energy flashed around her, her body growing even more stronger once again.
{Orika's DMG Increase: 49 -> 51}
"Good job! Now it's to note that Durability and Survivability are not the same thing. Durability is the defense of things like Armor, Shields, Barriers, and Battlesuits. Survivability is your stamina, how long you can go in battle before your grow tired and how much your body can endure at once," Genesis explained, leaving no room for confusion.
Orika nodded and stood up straight again, placing her hands on her hips. "I think I understand. So things like Armors and Shields can increase your Survivability right?"
"You've got it!~ Now let's see, what else can we work on right now before the class ends..." Genesis said, getting into her thinking pose.
I looked at Genesis, deciding to chime in. "We can work on her Burst DMG. After all that is also important."
"Yeah, but that would require her to enter Burst Mode and I don't think her body can handle that type of power surge just yet. She still doesn't have that much Spirit Control yet, so an outburst of energy would likely kill her," Genesis said.
Genesis shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Orika, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, I guess that's all for now. If you want to keep practicing, you can just tell me but if not, you're free to relax and rest."
Orika smiled at Genesis, giving her a nod. "Alright. Thank you for your teachings!~"
Orika and I decided to sit on the sidelines with other peers that had finished their training sessions and talked with one another. Orika happily expressed her excitement to learn more so she could become a better version of herself. I couldn't help but to feel her same excitement, knowing she'd one day become the Valkyria she set out to become.
Soon, the bell rang and we were dismissed from classes to start our lunch period. Orika and I got up from our spots and began to head toward the cafeteria for lunch.
{Time: 12:00 PM}
We made it to the cafeteria and grabbed our lunch then headed to the rooftop where we'd now normally eat our at. We sat on a bench together, enjoying our food and the scenery ahead.
"So, when do you think I'll be ready for Burst Mode?" Orika asked, glancing at me with an excited smile.
I looked over at Orika, meeting her gaze and smiled back at her. "Probably when you become a C Rank or above where your max potential can reach a higher ceiling. You need a high Survivability to use Burst Mode since when using it, your stamina decreases quickly."
"Really? Well, I suppose I'm fine with still going with the basics for now. I am still new at this so I suppose taking it slow is the best course of action for now," Orika said, humming and began eating her food again, pressing her shoulder against mine.
I smiled at Orika and turned my gaze ahead again, noticing Liao Ru training Yumeji, Kikyo, and Saito again, a soft giggle escaping my lips. "There they go..~"
Orika looked out at the B Rank Training Area, noticing the three as well and giggled at them. "They are so competitive..~ No wonder they always seem tired afterwards."
Yumeji bellowed as she raced against Kikyo and Saito along the tracks, running at full speed. "I'm not losing against you again! You might be the Lightning Element, but I am the Best in the World!"
"You keep saying that, but you forget that I'm a natural Speedster!" Kikyo bellowed, running alongside Yumeji, neck and neck along the track.
Saito caught up with the two, using the boosts of her robotic legs to match their speed. "Correction: Saito is The Greatest."
Yumeji smirked at Kikyo and Saito, setting a time clone then activated her Time Dilation to slow Kikyo and Saito down then grunted as began putting extra effort into gaining a distance between the two. "Sorry, but I'm getting first place today!"
Kikyo ran in slow motion, counting in her head the duration of Yumeji's Time Dilation. She began to generate lightning around her body, blue lightning crackling around her body powerfully. '7...8...9...10!'
Once she was able to move at normal speeds again, the bolted forward using her lightning energy to rush past Yumeji at lightning speeds, leaving behind a trail of lightning as she ran. Yumeji looked surprised as Kikyo rushed past her the noticed Saito fly by quickly as well.
"Curse this stupid cooldown! Big Sis, hurry and teach me how to use Time Deceleration so I can upgrade this stupid Time Dilation!" Yumeji bellowed, running faster now as she used her own adrenaline and determination to push her body further.
Orika and I laughed as Yumeji was getting left behind in the race. Orika sat back against the bench and smiled, her shoulder still touching mine.
"I wish to be like them one day...able to just...be strong and have fun with that strength like they do. Though, I don't think I'm ready for Liao Ru's teachings yet. She seems super strict..~" Orika giggled, closing her eyes and gently rested her head on my shoulder.
I looked down at Orika, smiling softly at her. "One day you'll be at their level. We've just gotta take it one step at a time..."
"Yeah..." Orika nodded, humming with contentment on my shoulder.
I began relaxing with Orika, my gaze shifting to the sky as I began to think about my next few steps from here. The Promotion Exams were coming up and I was hoping to get Orika ready for them before the time arrived so we could Rank Up together and continue being partners. That was the plan...