Sharp

Akemi and I arrived at the Mirage Chambers together. I had heard about these but had never been in one. You lie on a bench, and you are projected into a mirage that can simulate different environments and monsters. It is like fighting for real without dying. Getting stabbed and killed still hurts, but you then wake up, or whatever it is.

There were two people fighting already, and there was an image of what was happening. The chamber was set up as a duelling arena, and they had two students fighting each other.

This fight was near its end. Two warriors in full plate armour were battering each other, obviously exhausted and both worse for wear. Finally, the one with the large two-handed maul landed a solid hit, and the other went down and stayed down.

The two students on the bench woke up and started to rise. The man in charge said, “Shake hands and thank each other for the match.” The students did that, and then the man turned to us. “Right, there are only four of you, so you must be group ten. Your opponents are Group Nine, ah, here they come now. Gather around people. We fight one-on-one for this assessment, randomly selecting one from each group. One of group ten will need to go twice.”

Both Josh and Val immediately volunteered.

“OK, You,” he said, pointing at Val. “That also means you are first up, so you can have a break between. We have this chamber and the next for this, so there will be two fights at the same time, and it will be You and You,” he said, pointing at Val and Josh, “against you and you,” he pointed to two members of the other group. “This is an assessment, so the point is to demonstrate how you fight, not to win. There are no points for winning, there are no penalties for losing, and no matter how many times I say it, people still crow after winning and get upset at losing. Don’t. We want to see how you fight. Show us your techniques and show how you defend against the other person's techniques. The matches are timed and last five minutes. If you are unhappy and there is time left, we can reset the chamber for you.”

Josh and his opponent went to the other chamber, and I stayed to watch Val. The two people lay on the benches, and an image of the duelling arena appeared. Val was dressed in a chainmail vest, leather trousers, and a sword in each hand. Her opponent was also clad in leather but had a staff and a wand.

Val suddenly moved forward very fast, but her opponent also moved, and a ball of flame hurtled towards her. She dodged adroitly, and three swords appeared to have been thrown at her opponent. A wall of dirt rose and blocked the swords, but one of them seemed to move up and over the wall and had to be deflected by the opponent's staff. Val had used this distraction to get behind her opponent and strike with both swords in her hands. One of them cut into her opponent, leaving a wound as fire once again drove her back. The two combatants paused after that exchange and watched each other. We had a view that looked like it was off to the side and elevated, and the sound of the clashes and the spell chants from the mage came through clearly.

“Come on, Pete. You can do this,” muttered one of the other groups, obviously getting into watching the fight.

Pete launched the first attack, launching a flurry of smaller fireballs at Val. She danced out of the way of most of them, but one hit her chainmail, and then she seemed to be stepping on air as she wove through the fire toward Pete, who was backing up and trying to keep his distance from the melee-focused Val.

Val used her sword-throwing skill to strike back, but she also used several movement techniques to try to close the distance. I was sure that in several cases, she bent in ways her body should not have been able to. Then Val suddenly flew to the side unexpectedly. I didn’t know what caused it. But it must have been a last-ditch defence skill by Pete, as he seemed exhausted after using it. I recognised mana exhaustion.

Val hit the ground hard but then curled her body up and rolled, springing back to her feet. Her arm was limp, but she disappeared and reappeared behind Pete, plunging her sword into his back. It appeared to be some sort of execute skill, and she was suffering mana exhaustion after using it. It had done its job, and Pete’s body disappeared, and he sat up on the bench. Then Val sat up as well.

“Well done, you two,” the man in charge said. “Just under three minutes, do either of you want to go again?” They both shook their heads. “Shake hands and move to the side.”

Val came to us and said, “That was close. I knew Pete had that wind spell, so I couldn’t use my teleport until I made him use it. I almost didn’t have the mana.”

All this was new to me. When I sparred with people, we were using training weapons and no skills. I had never fought with my skills since the howlers. Sometimes, I used my Hunters Step to go a bit further than my sparring partner expected, but I had never used my special attacks, Pierce or Rend, in an actual fight. I guess this is part of what I am here to learn. I guess people like Val and Josh have been training in Mirage chambers for a while, being nobles and rich. I seemed a long way behind.

I pulled myself together. This is what I am here to learn.

When Josh and his opponent appeared, I was paired with a human female.

I lay on the bench and appeared in the duelling chamber. It felt exactly the same as if I was really here. The ground was slightly sandy soil, firm underneath, and my claws dug in fine.

“If you are finished admiring the scenery, we do have to fight, you know,”

I looked up, and my opponent was clad in mail armour and holding a two-handed sword. “Sorry,” I said, “It is my first time in one of these chambers.”

“This will be quick then,” she said.

I conjured a shield and then got my axe from it. “Thanks for waiting,” I said.

She nodded and then launched herself at me. She was fast, but I got my shield up. Then her sword came down on my shield and split into two, slicing my arm off at the same time. She punched me in the face and then brought her sword up, and I woke on the bench.

“That was quick,” I said.

“Would you like to go again?” asked the supervisor. “That is probably the top speed so far.”

We both nodded

I moved first this time, as I figured she had used a movement skill and some sort of power strike skill. I circled left, and she came at me slower. We exchanged some blows like in my sparring matches, and I kept up fine. Then she did something to send my axe flying, and I woke up on the bench again.

“Again?” asked the supervisor.

We nodded.

This time, I tried something different, and I got my spear out, figuring I could keep her back. I got out my longer two-handed spear and didn’t conjure the shield. I also used my Hunters Step more freely, and I kept her at range for quite a while with a combination of quick use of my Hunters Step and the spear. I even got a touch on her with the spear, but it didn’t penetrate her mail armour, and I hadn’t timed my Piercing special attack with it as I was not used to using it in sparring. Then she used her movement skills and was inside my guard. I got my spear shaft up, but her sword cleaved through it, and I woke on the bench again.

“You probably have time for another one,” said the supervisor.

We nodded.

This time, I used my shorter, one-handed spear and a shield. I was getting used to using the shield to deflect the sword, and my spear was still good at keeping her at bay. I was pleased when I anticipated her using her movement skills and used my Hunter Step to avoid it. My perception had picked up a small clue in her movement before using the skill, so I was learning how she fought. I missed a key time to retaliate when she realised she had missed, but next time, I would know.

We exchanged a few more blows, and then I sensed the movement skill again. I wonder if it has a cool-down time. I stepped out of the way again and followed up with a spear strike with Pierce special attack, and I got her in the shoulder and drew blood. That seemed to make her mad, and she came at me with a flurry of quick, hard strikes. The fourth one sent me to the bench again.

“There is probably not time for another round,” said the supervisor. “Shake hands and move to the side.”

I got up and shook her hand. “Thank you,” I said, “I learned a lot.”

“I wish I could say the same,” she replied, then moved over to her team.

Josh and Val had both watched me. Josh didn’t acknowledge my return. Val gave me a nod, which could have meant anything.

I was happy with my performance. I was progressing already. I had learned some signs to watch out for in others using their skills. I had incorporated my Pierce in a successful attack, and I was learning what skills others had and the cool-down times to watch for. This was huge progress in one five-minute session of fighting. We hadn’t even started the teaching part yet.

Akemi came back from her session looking defeated. I went up to her and said, “You don’t look pleased.”

“I got defeated, and there was enough time for a second defeat, so no, I am not pleased.”

“Oh, that’s not good. I had four rounds where I was defeated, but I am pleased with what I learned.”

“Four! That doesn’t make me feel so bad.”

Val was up next for her second round. I watched with new eyes. Val dismantled the heavy defender with quick movements and fast attacks. I started to categorise her skills. Obviously, she had a conjured sword, but she also had the triple sword throw, which actually looked like a spell now I was watching. I saw her lips moving in the incantation. She had some sort of air step, and she could boost her speed for short periods. She didn’t use it here, but I remember the ultra flexibility from before.

The defender had many what looked like damage-reduction abilities. His shield work was better than mine, and it was a full-metal shield. I doubt the girl I fought would be able to cleave through it like she did mine. The defender's strikes were strong, and I could see from the damage left on the ground. One hit on Val, and she would be done, but he couldn’t get the hit. The defender had a charge skill that he used to try to pin Val down, but Val just moved out of the way and got multiple strikes in his back. I could see she was targeting the gaps in his armour and making it more often than not.

This type of heavy armour was what my Pierce skill was for, but I would have to target gaps for it to be really effective. My axe was also good against armour, better than a sword. I wondered why there were so many sword users here. I suppose if the founder is the greatest swordsman on the planet, it would make sense for sword users to come and learn from him.

Josh didn’t look happy. I thought he would be pleased with Val's success for the second time. Then, it occurred to me that maybe he had not won his fight. He did seem like that might upset him even though it was only an assessment, and the supervisor gave that long speech at the beginning.