Children Of Infinity (IC)

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Noticing with disapproval as another student take the initiative, this time by charging past the crowd with his blades drawn, the impassible professor stood by and waited for the attack. Had this reckless child made a wrong movement while passing the other students, something nasty would have happened, yet he did not seem to care at all. Certainly, he would have to be taught moderation, lest he pose a danger to his classmates.

Eamonn's blade was about to descend on the professor's head, but the golden blade of Antares moved swiftly to intercept it. Instead of holding the blow, Xan tapped Eamonn's sword with his own, which bore enough force to throw the attack off-course altogether, before moving Antares once again, this time holding it to his side in a vertical position pointing down, intercepting Eamonn's horizontal blow at his abdomen and holding it there for a moment, before twisting his own blade around, using it to move Eamonn's sword so that it was now crossed horizontally in front of him. Now that he had the blades in that position, Xan exerted a great deal of force on his own, pushing Eamonn's blade away and sending him back several feet.

All of this had taken place in but a second.

"Try harder." The instructor said calmly, his voice completely neutral, betraying no intent to tease the unstable youth as he simply gave a command.

[The Starlight]

-snip-

Ellyn carefully observed the two attacks on Cyranis. Elsis had been good, but had gotten too frustrated far to quickly, and Eamonn was simply being reckless. The screech was unnecessary, and he committed himself far too quickly. His golden blade also had reach, and as she didn't know what his powers were, she had no idea of all that he was capable of. Or, he could simply be a brilliant swordsman. Shrugging to herself, she walked slowly forward, summoning her spear Silverthorn once she was past the crowd. Building up some momentum by breaking into a small trot as she headed toward the blindfolded man, thrusting her spear forward. And as the spear came closer to Cyranis, she summoned her sword Dawnbreaker into her other hand, performing an forehand slash to the other side of the professor. Unless he was incredibly quick, he shouldn't be able to block both, she chanted quietly as her weapons moved, preparing to move aside Antares with her telekinetic powers.

[Atlannia]

It seems that the direct approach is ineffective thought Alfenn, watching his fellow classmates mount a series of flashy but fruitless assaults. With a frown Alfenn studied the sentinel like professor who had returned to standing stock still after repelling the last attack. I wonder how he's tracking us, if it were just sound it would be too easy, I suspect there must be some element of aura or arcane sensing but... The boy set his expression determinedly and drew his rapier. It was an unassuming weapon with the typical features of a rapier; a long thin blade and a basket hilt to protect the hand as well as a reinforced but still quite slender pair of quillons to further protect the hand. The blade was polished and shone brightly but the rest of the sword was a dark grey that seemed to trap light and was completely without ornamentation save the black cup emblem engraved into the hilt. It was a sword that emphasised function over form and for that much Alfenn held it in high regard, the Black cups might struggle to keep their chariots flying and their installations might be literally falling apart but their weapons were never allowed to slip below perfect efficiency.

His sword extended and held in a guard position Alfenn advanced unhurriedly and circled around the professor's flank. His empty left hand was clenched and formed a focal point for his magic, with that he was carefully suppressing any sound he was making. If the professor was relying solely on his ears then Alfenn was as good as invisible. He didn't really think that was the case though so when he launched a rapid, probing thrust at the Professor's side he was careful not to overextend.

[Kassaran]

Rystan had followed along silently, regarding the words of everyone he heard as he made his way from the roof down towards the classes. However, in spite of this regard, he dismissed it all away, this was nothing more than idle chatter to him, and something he had been indulged with one too many times. He was here to learn, and this next part of the tour took the entirety of his attention. Classes passed by and were named and one by one Rystan did his best to mentally absorb the information involving each one whether it had been mentioned or not. His own interests were however picked up within the mapping and cartography area of education. If he wanted to make his dream a reality, he'd have to learn where the Redemit were and weren't. He smiled as they were left to go about their day and took his leave to begin his own curricular activities.

The day seemed to pass by at a normal rate, no excitement, just learning and introductions to course content and material. He hadn't appeared to have interrupted any classes and he managed to keep up decently with his peers, an achievement he personally applauded himself for. He'd been studying on the way to the academy in order to ensure he'd not fall behind or be behind. The last thing he needed to do was drag down his peers and this thought was on his mind as he walked into the classroom for martial combat. It was still he noticed, and it was an atmosphere almost entirely brought upon by the man in the corner, blindfold over his eyes and posture showing great ease and relaxation. This man almost seemed sagely to the young warrior and he smiled. He'd seen this appearance before, among the more aged of the loyalists he'd trained to fight against. They had been feared, but this man seemed peaceful rather than relaxed and this inspired likewise a sense of peace to come over Rystan. Maybe he was both. If anything though, he appeared to suddenly spring to life as all the students entered the room.

He was anything but lively though as he moved to the center. He almost seemed to be holding still and trying to make as little disturbances as possible, and Rystan smiled as he mused over this observation. The man was keen, well-honed in his knowledge of his surroundings, and likely he had a powerful perception of energy fields. When the time came for Rystan to eventually introduce himself, he'd ceded the information that indeed he lacked in any substantial abilities magic-wise, save for an ability to boost his own speed, or moreover reinforce it. It was a slight moment of embarrassment for Rystan as he listened to the impressive array of abilities his peers had, yet next came a point he wasn't expecting. The teacher had drawn his sword and asked for each student to engage him in combat, and Rystan now watched as each student moved forward to assault the Professor. It was beautiful to the young warrior and he couldn't help but watch spellbound at the prowess and sheer skill the man showed as he parried and repelled each individual student's assault.

A young man next to Rystan had been utterly humiliated as he'd ran out of the group of students to attack the professor and now another was slinking off to one side. Bowing his head, Rystan reached down to the sides of his uniform to wrap each hand around a slim cylindrical wafer attacked to his belt, one off of each hip. Depressing the button on the wafer, he smiled faintly as the weight of his dual ninjato slipped out of the hyper-storage and came to rest, sheathes and all in the place of the wafers. He however left them deactivated as slowly watched the battle before him unfold, this could take a while and he wanted to ensure he got his chance to show his experience or lack thereof to the professor. This was the training assessment for the class and the professor's experience showed just how much many had to learn.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ellyn carefully observed the two attacks on Cyranis. Elsis had been good, but had gotten too frustrated far to quickly, and Eamonn was simply being reckless. The screech was unnecessary, and he committed himself far too quickly. His golden blade also had reach, and as she didn't know what his powers were, she had no idea of all that he was capable of. Or, he could simply be a brilliant swordsman. Shrugging to herself, she walked slowly forward, summoning her spear Silverthorn once she was past the crowd. Building up some momentum by breaking into a small trot as she headed toward the blindfolded man, thrusting her spear forward. And as the spear came closer to Cyranis, she summoned her sword Dawnbreaker into her other hand, performing an forehand slash to the other side of the professor. Unless he was incredibly quick, he shouldn't be able to block both, she chanted quietly as her weapons moved, preparing to move aside Antares with her telekinetic powers.

Soon, Xan noticed another student taking her chances at delivering a strike. Hearing her summon her weapon, the professor once again stood perfectly still with Antares gripped firmly in his left hand, waiting. Just as he was about to swing his own blade to deflect the first strike, he heard the girl call another name. A different weapon, the professor understood at once, and adjusted his defensive measures in accordance to that and the chanting he could hear from the girl. With one swift motion, his blade shot forth towards Ellyn's spear, deflecting it. Before he could move it to deflect the other strike, though, an unseen force tossed his own sword off-course. This, however, was accounted for, as in just a moment the blade was gone.

"Antares." The professor uttered in an instant, and the golden greatsword appeared once again, this time in an horizontal position in his right hand, the momentum from Ellyn's spell carrying it and causing it to block the girl's other attack. In this position, he found it rather simple to twist her own sword against her and use the clashing blades to push her back just like he had done with Eamonn.

"A clever attack." He merely stated.

His sword extended and held in a guard position Alfenn advanced unhurriedly and circled around the professor's flank. His empty left hand was clenched and formed a focal point for his magic, with that he was carefully suppressing any sound he was making. If the professor was relying solely on his ears then Alfenn was as good as invisible. He didn't really think that was the case though so when he launched a rapid, probing thrust at the Professor's side he was careful not to overextend.

And indeed, just like Alfenn had suspected, hearing was not the only method the professor had at his disposition in order to track down his opponents. Though his eyes were blinded by the cloth he wore in front of them and his ears were unable to catch the sound of Alfenn moving or breathing or indeed even existing, he was still able to perceive the furtive youth approaching and flanking him, though outwardly he gave no signs of such, being as impassible as ever, his stone-like visage betraying nothing whatsoever about what went through the mind of the man called Xan.

Regardless, it was quite fortunate that Alfenn had neglected to conceal other factors that betrayed his approach, if he was even able to do so: the vibrations of his footsteps, the displacement of the air caused by his motions, the warmth of an approaching energy blade and so many other variables which allowed the professor to easily detect and repel the young man's attack with a swift flick of his wrist that deflected the energy rapier.

"Sound and sight are not the only ways to see an enemy."

[Charmera]

Ellyn carefully observed the two attacks on Cyranis. Elsis had been good, but had gotten too frustrated far to quickly, and Eamonn was simply being reckless. The screech was unnecessary, and he committed himself far too quickly. His golden blade also had reach, and as she didn't know what his powers were, she had no idea of all that he was capable of. Or, he could simply be a brilliant swordsman. Shrugging to herself, she walked slowly forward, summoning her spear Silverthorn once she was past the crowd. Building up some momentum by breaking into a small trot as she headed toward the blindfolded man, thrusting her spear forward. And as the spear came closer to Cyranis, she summoned her sword Dawnbreaker into her other hand, performing an forehand slash to the other side of the professor. Unless he was incredibly quick, he shouldn't be able to block both, she chanted quietly as her weapons moved, preparing to move aside Antares with her telekinetic powers.

Soon, Xan noticed another student taking her chances at delivering a strike. Hearing her summon her weapon, the professor once again stood perfectly still with Antares gripped firmly in his left hand, waiting. Just as he was about to swing his own blade to deflect the first strike, he heard the girl call another name. A different weapon, the professor understood at once, and adjusted his defensive measures in accordance to that and the chanting he could hear from the girl. With one swift motion, his blade shot forth towards Ellyn's spear, deflecting it. Before he could move it to deflect the other strike, though, an unseen force tossed his own sword off-course. This, however, was accounted for, as in just a moment the blade was gone.

"Antares." The professor uttered in an instant, and the golden greatsword appeared once again, this time in an horizontal position in his right hand, the momentum from Ellyn's spell carrying it and causing it to block the girl's other attack. In this position, he found it rather simple to twist her own sword against her and use the clashing blades to push her back just like he had done with Eamonn.

"A clever attack." He merely stated.

His sword extended and held in a guard position Alfenn advanced unhurriedly and circled around the professor's flank. His empty left hand was clenched and formed a focal point for his magic, with that he was carefully suppressing any sound he was making. If the professor was relying solely on his ears then Alfenn was as good as invisible. He didn't really think that was the case though so when he launched a rapid, probing thrust at the Professor's side he was careful not to overextend.

And indeed, just like Alfenn had suspected, hearing was not the only method the professor had at his disposition in order to track down his opponents. Though his eyes were blinded by the cloth he wore in front of them and his ears were unable to catch the sound of Alfenn moving or breathing or indeed even existing, he was still able to perceive the furtive youth approaching and flanking him, though outwardly he gave no signs of such, being as impassible as ever, his stone-like visage betraying nothing whatsoever about what went through the mind of the man called Xan.

Regardless, it was quite fortunate that Alfenn had neglected to conceal other factors that betrayed his approach, if he was even able to do so: the vibrations of his footsteps, the displacement of the air caused by his motions, the warmth of an approaching energy blade and so many other variables which allowed the professor to easily detect and repel the young man's attack with a swift flick of his wrist that deflected the energy rapier.

"Sound and sight are not the only ways to see an enemy."

Vyna and Jyn looked at each other, sharing a glance. Both could guess that regular strikes might be ineffective at best. They both had a similar thought in mind, thinking of using a maneuver they had used plenty of times against their brothers. "Sister, do you feel like playing leapfrog." Vyna asked cryptically to confirm what her sister was thinking. Jyn smiled and nodded.

First Jyn stepped forward a bit, summoning her axe and holding it with both her hands. She set her eyes on the teacher, her grip tightening on her weapon as she saw her chance. She charged the blindfolded man, roaring as she did so. Her footfalls were naturally heavy and her steps loud. Her sister followed, remaining behind her sister for the time being as she summoned her own blade. So far, her sister had carried out her end well.

Jynna grunted as she struck out with her axe, swinging it an upwards arc with considerable force. It would likely be blocked by the man, but Jyn knew that, in fact she was counting on it. She would try to lock his blade as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Vynaria had been silently following behind Jyn, hoping the loud, unsubtle nature of Jyn would draw the professors attention. She used a small boost of wind, careful to make sure the teacher wouldn't feel it, to accelerate a jump over Jyn and have her just overshoot the teacher, trying to time it to be as soon after Jyn's strike would be blocked as possible. As she was in the air, she used the opportunity to slash her rapier at the teacher when she was close enough. She hoped this would work, though she did have a plan B if this didn't pan out.

[Wolfenium]

Noticing with disapproval as another student take the initiative, this time by charging past the crowd with his blades drawn, the impassible professor stood by and waited for the attack. Had this reckless child made a wrong movement while passing the other students, something nasty would have happened, yet he did not seem to care at all. Certainly, he would have to be taught moderation, lest he pose a danger to his classmates.

Eamonn's blade was about to descend on the professor's head, but the golden blade of Antares moved swiftly to intercept it. Instead of holding the blow, Xan tapped Eamonn's sword with his own, which bore enough force to throw the attack off-course altogether, before moving Antares once again, this time holding it to his side in a vertical position pointing down, intercepting Eamonn's horizontal blow at his abdomen and holding it there for a moment, before twisting his own blade around, using it to move Eamonn's sword so that it was now crossed horizontally in front of him. Now that he had the blades in that position, Xan exerted a great deal of force on his own, pushing Eamonn's blade away and sending him back several feet.

All of this had taken place in but a second.

"Try harder." The instructor said calmly, his voice completely neutral, betraying no intent to tease the unstable youth as he simply gave a command.

Predictably, Eamonn's attack was repelled with ease, knocked back onto the ground. Leaping right back up, he did not appear to wise up at all, charging for another whack as the other students were repelled. This time, however, his blades were getting imbued with his aura. If he could not hit him, he would glue his blade onto to professor for a point blank hit, whether with a pole of matter or with just his own foot.

Watching the sides of an opening, Mehran was quietly awaiting his turn. If he would have liked, he would rather face the professor alone and try to defeat him on his own, but the gulf of experience shown made winning a stretch. Instead, he glanced at Niloofar for her ideas. Without a word, she acknowledged with a nod, raising her trident without another word. Summoning up her magic, her eyes and hair began to glow with a luminescent, icy cyan light. She was ready, and they quietly awaited the chance to move.

Jabbing her trident on the ground, Niloofar forced out a pair of water jets, boiling like geysers as they began to cloud the arena. At first, the move seemed rather silly, considering that Professor Xan was blind and thus immune to the sight-inhibiting fog. However, Niloofar had other things in mind, as the torrents rumbled out of the ground and evaporating. Something about his word caught their attention. Sight and sound were not the only senses they could rely on, so she set about disrupting the vibrations on the ground, as well at the temperature in the air.

Dashing into the fog, Mehran tried to gauge his opponent's position. He could not see in the fog now, facing difficulty hearing with the geysers, it was hard to tell from the air and ground vibrations the professor's position. So he tried something else - casting a thin barrier on the ground. He knew he was not playing fair, relying on Niloofar as a smoke screen. But there was one other reason he called on her geyser and fog. It was not so much that he needed to dull the professor's senses, but force Mehran himself to fight at his level. Perhaps he took Xan's words too seriously, given how inexperienced the Xorshid was at fighting without the use of his usual senses. But he felt it was necessary to know how the professor faces the battle, to know how to take on him.

'This is a lot harder than I thought,' he thought, as he tried to sense for a rebound. True enough, his barrier felt the soles of the professor's feet, pressing him for a quick strike with his blades before he was discovered...

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Vyna and Jyn looked at each other, sharing a glance. Both could guess that regular strikes might be ineffective at best. They both had a similar thought in mind, thinking of using a maneuver they had used plenty of times against their brothers. "Sister, do you feel like playing leapfrog." Vyna asked cryptically to confirm what her sister was thinking. Jyn smiled and nodded.

First Jyn stepped forward a bit, summoning her axe and holding it with both her hands. She set her eyes on the teacher, her grip tightening on her weapon as she saw her chance. She charged the blindfolded man, roaring as she did so. Her footfalls were naturally heavy and her steps loud. Her sister followed, remaining behind her sister for the time being as she summoned her own blade. So far, her sister had carried out her end well.

Jynna grunted as she struck out with her axe, swinging it an upwards arc with considerable force. It would likely be blocked by the man, but Jyn knew that, in fact she was counting on it. She would try to lock his blade as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Vynaria had been silently following behind Jyn, hoping the loud, unsubtle nature of Jyn would draw the professors attention. She used a small boost of wind, careful to make sure the teacher wouldn't feel it, to accelerate a jump over Jyn and have her just overshoot the teacher, trying to time it to be as soon after Jyn's strike would be blocked as possible. As she was in the air, she used the opportunity to slash her rapier at the teacher when she was close enough. She hoped this would work, though she did have a plan B if this didn't pan out.

Noticing another student charging towards him, Xan once again prepared, his heart rate and his breathing stable despite all the students whose attacks he'd had to reject by now. Clearly, his discipline was something that could be envied even by the greatest of warriors, even though one could hardly tell at a first glance, judging by his unkempt long hair and his slightly unsettled sable robe, though the latter was likely understandable given the subjects he imparted to his students. Either way, he waited impassible as the girl charged towards him, sword at the ready. She was heavy and so was her weapon, he could tell, which meant she would likely try to overpower him with sheer strength, the same mistake that the girl who attempted to strike at him first had made. However, something was off. There was movement that the girl with the axe did not account for.

Just as Jynna began to swing her axe in an ascending arc, the professor held his sword in front of himself in an horizontal arc, the axe meeting the blade of Antares right in the middle. However, he soon noticed Vynaria jumping from behind Jynna and attempting to strike at him, and so, without time to lose, he used the position of his sword and swung outwards, sending the axe off-course before slashing at Vynaria's blade with considerable force in order to both swat aside the attack and make her lose her balance in mid-air.

"A joint attack. Very well."

Predictably, Eamonn's attack was repelled with ease, knocked back onto the ground. Leaping right back up, he did not appear to wise up at all, charging for another whack as the other students were repelled. This time, however, his blades were getting imbued with his aura. If he could not hit him, he would glue his blade onto to professor for a point blank hit, whether with a pole of matter or with just his own foot.

As Eamonn got back on his feet and charged towards him, Xan simply waited for the attack to come, blocking it just like he had done before, by raising his sword and holding it against the student's. However, he had had no way of knowing what he had done to his sword, and as such, he was caught unaware when his sword suddenly put up resistance towards movement as he tugged on it slightly to move it to where he wanted it, seemingly bound to the student's blade now. Fortunately, he was quick to catch onto this, and so, before Eamonn could take advantage of the situation and strike at him, he showed a strength vastly greater than what had been shown previously, tossing his sword away, and Eamonn with it, far from himself so that he could not be struck by the student's attacks for a moment.

Then, in an instant, his sword disappeared, no longer bound to Eamonn's sword by the strange magic he had used on it.

"Antares." He called, and once again his blade appeared in his left hand.

"Interesting trick." The professor said.

'This is a lot harder than I thought,' he thought, as he tried to sense for a rebound. True enough, his barrier felt the soles of the professor's feet, pressing him for a quick strike with his blades before he was discovered...

The professor noted, with a certain distaste, how after a girl's chanting the battlefield seemed to change. The ground seemed unstable and the air was hot with vapor, dulling his perception of the battlefield a bit. However, though he was not pleased with the change in the environment, if there was even a person who could see him through the fog, they wouldn't be able to tell, as nothing showed on the professor's stone visage. And so, Xan waited. He had not moved during the rest of the tests, and he did not intend to move now, either, so there was nothing to do but wait.

Soon enough, he felt something. Though the girl's magic had cast a shroud over his senses, there was one thing she could not conceal: the displacement of matter caused by motion. It was this which gave away the presence of an energy blade present mere inches away from his body. At that moment, mind and action merged as one, and he reacted in an instant, swatting Mehran's energy blade away from him.

He said nothing this time.

[Atlannia]

And indeed, just like Alfenn had suspected, hearing was not the only method the professor had at his disposition in order to track down his opponents. Though his eyes were blinded by the cloth he wore in front of them and his ears were unable to catch the sound of Alfenn moving or breathing or indeed even existing, he was still able to perceive the furtive youth approaching and flanking him, though outwardly he gave no signs of such, being as impassable as ever, his stone-like visage betraying nothing whatsoever about what went through the mind of the man called Xan.

Regardless, it was quite fortunate that Alfenn had neglected to conceal other factors that betrayed his approach, if he was even able to do so: the vibrations of his footsteps, the displacement of the air caused by his motions, the warmth of an approaching energy blade and so many other variables which allowed the professor to easily detect and repel the young man's attack with a swift flick of his wrist that deflected the energy rapier.

"Sound and sight are not the only ways to see an enemy."

"Tch!" hissed Alfenn, falling back out of range, although it was a completely silent hiss. It was likely the students were so far failing to find the man's weakness because he had none, or none large enough to be exploited by someone of their level. Still Alfenn had one more trick that might be effective. Of course if he used this strategy he wouldn't be the one landing the blow, but if he kept on by himself than he doubted he'd get any closer to the seasoned professor after another decade, seeing anyone score a hit at this stage would be gratifying.

Because his first attack had been rather cautious Alfenn had managed to avoid being thrown backwards like most of the others and had actually retreated in the opposite direction so that professor was actually between Alfenn and the rest of the group. Importantly that meant he was right in the cone of everybody's vision and he proceeded to grab their attention with an exaggerated wave before explaining his plan. It was quite simple, he himself would unleash a harpy song, a sonomancy technique that used precise frequency sounds to interfere with the physiology of anyone hearing it. The affected would feel dizzy nauseous and lose their balance, the prepared or generally well-disciplined would feel less of an effect but even a seasoned warrior should be temporarily off guard. Unfortunately because of the precision necessary Alfenn couldn't alter the direction of the attack for fear of reducing its effectiveness, he and his classmates would simply have to cover their ears to void its effects. Even with that countermeasure Alfenn himself would still fell the attack, being as close to the source of it as he was and so his classmates would have to exploit any openings. They wouldn't have much to work with but if a couple attacked in a coordinated manner they would have a reasonable chance of breaking through.

Of course Alfenn couldn't say all that, he didn't want the professor to hear and so he was forced to pantomime out the whole plan in a manner Alfenn frankly considered beneath his dignity. Victory is a much finer robe than dignity he reminded himself, gritting his teeth. First of all he pointed to himself and held up his right hand, which was already gathering sonic energy. Next he mimed out an explosion to symbolise the harpy song and pointed to the class and plugged his ears exaggeratedly, warning them to do the same before his attack. Next he pointed at the group again and held up three fingers for the attacking group, any more than three and they would probably just end up tripping over each other. Actually they might do that anyway thought Alfenn grimly, without letting his doubts show on his expression. His last action was to from the three fingers into a fist and make a punching motion towards the patiently waiting Professor, symbolising the attack. With searching eyes he looked for any signs that his message had been received and that, more importantly, enough people were willing to mount a group attack.

[Esternial]

Watching the other students attack, Ritz made sure to pay close attention to the professor's reaction. Some attempts were brazen, reckless even, but others were calculated and precise, both providing her with valuable information about her teacher's abilities. As would be expected from their lecturer, Xan was skilled, with almost instantaneous reaction speed and capable of applying a substantial amount of force in a relatively light counter. Maybe the sword had some part in it, but disarming him, if even possible at all, would still only close the gap in sheet skill by a low margin.

Direct attacks were useless, that much was apparent from the get-go. All she had to do was land a single blow, but even that seemed like a momentous task. Most of the other students had superior skill with their weaponry than she did. Her skill with Esper was decent, but only just. Against such an opponent, a weapon would only be a liability.

Returning her weapon to hyperspace storage, Ritz remained in place at the front of the group of students that were still hesitating. The professor's ability to counter was of little or no import. His perception and reaction speed were.

Slowing down her breathing, and exerting total control over the flow of energy in her body, Ritz once again began to expand her physical limits, invisible threads of energy spreading like roots branching out off a tree. She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings, feeling the presence of concentrated wells of energy around her. The other students. Focusing on the energy in front of her, she saw - or rather, felt - their instructor standing before her. Unlike the rest, the flow of energy was steady inside of his body, even when countering the attacks. It seemed like he was barely making an effort.

A deep breath. She was getting nervous, disrupting her concentration. This was no time to let her mind waver.

Tapping into the energy around her, Ritz accumulated it into her core as she approached, eyes fixed on her target when a sudden fog clouded her vision. She couldn't fight like this.

Or could she?

Her eyes were no longer fixed on her target, but closed, following the professor's example. Unlike him, though, she hadn't honed her physical senses to pick up on slight variation in the ground's vibration or the air current, instead relying entirely on the flow of energy inside the man's body. If she were to use her eyes she would be too focused on his weapon rather than the person wielding it, overwhelmed by sensory information that would only distract her. Maybe Niloofar just did her a favour. For a moment she hesitated, but a plan was brewing. Returning on her earlier decision, she summoned Esper from hyperspace storage?

Now or never.

Forcing the energy she had accumulated into her legs, Ritz shot forward with the ferocity, speed and grace of a cheetah, closing the distance between her and the professor with only a few steps, holding her sword behind her to minimize air resistance. It only took her several steps to bridge a distance that would have taken many more, but the instructor was aware of her proximity, no doubt. With a confident swing she brought the sword towards his side, but had no intent of making that attack connect to anything but his sword. That first strike was one of 18 planned attacks, all jabs pinpointed at specific parts of his body where the barrier between her hands and the man's flow of energy was the weakest, applying dense concentrations of her own energy to disrupt it, with the hope of locally paralysing muscle and wearing out her opponent instead of taking his down with a single attack. Planning ahead allowed her to focus on the man's reaction to every attack and compensate for it rather than try to plan her next move when the previous one failed.

Since he had a sword and she let go of hers from the get-go, it was needless to say that Ritz was not planning on countering any of his moves. She was more adept at never getting hit at all, anyway. Every minute variation in his flow of energy would tell her exactly what his reaction would be, much faster than her eyes could ever tell her.

For Ritz, this mock battle was a dance she never attempted before.

[Charmera]

Vyna and Jyn looked at each other, sharing a glance. Both could guess that regular strikes might be ineffective at best. They both had a similar thought in mind, thinking of using a maneuver they had used plenty of times against their brothers. "Sister, do you feel like playing leapfrog." Vyna asked cryptically to confirm what her sister was thinking. Jyn smiled and nodded.

First Jyn stepped forward a bit, summoning her axe and holding it with both her hands. She set her eyes on the teacher, her grip tightening on her weapon as she saw her chance. She charged the blindfolded man, roaring as she did so. Her footfalls were naturally heavy and her steps loud. Her sister followed, remaining behind her sister for the time being as she summoned her own blade. So far, her sister had carried out her end well.

Jynna grunted as she struck out with her axe, swinging it an upwards arc with considerable force. It would likely be blocked by the man, but Jyn knew that, in fact she was counting on it. She would try to lock his blade as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Vynaria had been silently following behind Jyn, hoping the loud, unsubtle nature of Jyn would draw the professors attention. She used a small boost of wind, careful to make sure the teacher wouldn't feel it, to accelerate a jump over Jyn and have her just overshoot the teacher, trying to time it to be as soon after Jyn's strike would be blocked as possible. As she was in the air, she used the opportunity to slash her rapier at the teacher when she was close enough. She hoped this would work, though she did have a plan B if this didn't pan out.

Noticing another student charging towards him, Xan once again prepared, his heart rate and his breathing stable despite all the students whose attacks he'd had to reject by now. Clearly, his discipline was something that could be envied even by the greatest of warriors, even though one could hardly tell at a first glance, judging by his unkempt long hair and his slightly unsettled sable robe, though the latter was likely understandable given the subjects he imparted to his students. Either way, he waited impassible as the girl charged towards him, sword at the ready. She was heavy and so was her weapon, he could tell, which meant she would likely try to overpower him with sheer strength, the same mistake that the girl who attempted to strike at him first had made. However, something was off. There was movement that the girl with the axe did not account for.

Just as Jynna began to swing her axe in an ascending arc, the professor held his sword in front of himself in an horizontal arc, the axe meeting the blade of Antares right in the middle. However, he soon noticed Vynaria jumping from behind Jynna and attempting to strike at him, and so, without time to lose, he used the position of his sword and swung outwards, sending the axe off-course before slashing at Vynaria's blade with considerable force in order to both swat aside the attack and make her lose her balance in mid-air.

"A joint attack. Very well."

Predictably, Eamonn's attack was repelled with ease, knocked back onto the ground. Leaping right back up, he did not appear to wise up at all, charging for another whack as the other students were repelled. This time, however, his blades were getting imbued with his aura. If he could not hit him, he would glue his blade onto to professor for a point blank hit, whether with a pole of matter or with just his own foot.

As Eamonn got back on his feet and charged towards him, Xan simply waited for the attack to come, blocking it just like he had done before, by raising his sword and holding it against the student's. However, he had had no way of knowing what he had done to his sword, and as such, he was caught unaware when his sword suddenly put up resistance towards movement as he tugged on it slightly to move it to where he wanted it, seemingly bound to the student's blade now. Fortunately, he was quick to catch onto this, and so, before Eamonn could take advantage of the situation and strike at him, he showed a strength vastly greater than what had been shown previously, tossing his sword away, and Eamonn with it, far from himself so that he could not be struck by the student's attacks for a moment.

Then, in an instant, his sword disappeared, no longer bound to Eamonn's sword by the strange magic he had used on it.

"Antares." He called, and once again his blade appeared in his left hand.

"Interesting trick." The professor said.

'This is a lot harder than I thought,' he thought, as he tried to sense for a rebound. True enough, his barrier felt the soles of the professor's feet, pressing him for a quick strike with his blades before he was discovered...

The professor noted, with a certain distaste, how after a girl's chanting the battlefield seemed to change. The ground seemed unstable and the air was hot with vapor, dulling his perception of the battlefield a bit. However, though he was not pleased with the change in the environment, if there was even a person who could see him through the fog, they wouldn't be able to tell, as nothing showed on the professor's stone visage. And so, Xan waited. He had not moved during the rest of the tests, and he did not intend to move now, either, so there was nothing to do but wait.

Soon enough, he felt something. Though the girl's magic had cast a shroud over his senses, there was one thing she could not conceal: the displacement of matter caused by motion. It was this which gave away the presence of an energy blade present mere inches away from his body. At that moment, mind and action merged as one, and he reacted in an instant, swatting Mehran's energy blade away from him.

He said nothing this time.

Vyna's eyes widened as her attack failed and she felt herself put off balance, falling. She had no way to stop herself from doing so, and so decided to mitigate the fall as much as possible. She used her wind power to minimize the pain from the impact with the ground, rolling and coming to stand up. She narrowed her eyes, frustrated that the strike failed yet ready to renew her assault. That was until an odd fog seemed to descend upon the whole battle area. She sighed angrily, though noted that Alfenn seemed to have a plan of some sort. She nodded to him, keeping herself back for now. She did however place a vector plate underneath herself, chanting softly as she did so. This one would be quite strong, strong enough that she became slightly worried of a repeat of the Mehran incident, however she knew she should not hold back. After all, despite Mehran's skills, this man was in another league entirely, so she could assume that he would be much harder to injure in a similar manner.

Jyn on the other hand, did not move. Her axe was sent back, but she knew she was in the prime position to make another strike. She was determined not to give any ground to the teacher, planning to stand here and fight him here. She would not be forced from her position. The fog descending on her was not too much of a problem. She knew exactly where he was and he was probably not going to move any time soon. She used this time to quickly attempt to disarm the teacher, intentionally swinging her large axe towards where his sword seemed to be (She could make out a rough outline of him through the fog), planing to hook onto it and pull it from his hands. She knew he could summon it back, however she would be ready to strike him in such an event.

Jon meanwhile, had stayed back, though noticed Alfenn was planning to deafen the teacher. He nodded slightly, though wasn't too sure on attacking with the rest of them. After all, her was more the lone wolf type without his sisters or brother.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

-snip-

As he waited for yet another barrage of attacks from his new students, Xan steadied himself after defending from the last one and waited once again, his sword resting at his side. He waited for several moments, until suddenly, he detected movement again. Someone coming from the front, very quickly, reaching him in seconds. The air was displaced. A slash from the side. His sword rose to meet it with ease, but then, the student's weapon disappeared. The air was displaced again. A strike coming from the opposite direction, but there was no heat. There was no weapon. A nearly undetectable change in the professor's countenance occured as he seemed to frown for a moment, aware that he would not be able to use his sword to fight against this, lest the reckless child facing him be damaged by its destructive golden blade. Mind and body became fully synchronised and thought and action became one and the same as he tossed his sword high into the air, using his hands to meet the student's first attack, and then the next, and every other attack after that, his unparalleled awareness allowing him to perceive the attacks coming towards him despite the blindness and the unfavorable circumstances of the battlefield. If Ritz was especially attentive, she might have noticed that, towards the end of her barrage of attacks, the professor's blocking manuevers became slower by a very slight margin.

Alas, even then, her efforts were for naught, as unless she was keen on trying to argue that she had technically hit his hands, her strikes had not reached him. Once her last move was finished, Xan seized the opportunity and seized her hands with his own, locking fingers and using his grip to push her away with considerable force in order to regain his distance, before raising his hand just in time to catch his sword, which was only now falling back.

"...You will need special equipment for future classes." The professor said, but his thoughtful voice made it seem as if he was not entirely talking to Ritz.

Jyn on the other hand, did not move. Her axe was sent back, but she knew she was in the prime position to make another strike. She was determined not to give any ground to the teacher, planning to stand here and fight him here. She would not be forced from her position. The fog descending on her was not too much of a problem. She knew exactly where he was and he was probably not going to move any time soon. She used this time to quickly attempt to disarm the teacher, intentionally swinging her large axe towards where his sword seemed to be (She could make out a rough outline of him through the fog), planing to hook onto it and pull it from his hands. She knew he could summon it back, however she would be ready to strike him in such an event.

Xan noticed that the student who had swung her axe at him mere moments ago had decided not to retreat, and stood expectantly, as surely this was a sign that he would soon be struck again by the lofty weapon wielded by the girl in front of him. Indeed, soon enough, he sensed the displacement of the steam in the environment and understood that the student was about to strike again, noticing that it was an attack directed not at him, but at his gilded greatsword. A clever attack, but one that possessed little meaning if the opponent could see your intent. With a small twirl of the hilt he held in his hand, the blade spun in the air, missed by the axe that tore through the air towards it, avoiding being hooked in by the large weapon. And then with a flick of the wrist, the blade of Antares crashed against the energy axe, driving it away once again.

[Esternial]

As Ritz opened her eyes, she noticed the fog had vanished, with the professor's figure waiting in the distance for another student to try their luck. She smiled, rarely did she have this much fun during a battle. The air resistance was no doubt a major factor that added to their instructor's phenomenal reaction speed, so not only would she have to improve her own speed, she would have to find a way to impair his perception. If only she had anything in her arsenal, magical or conventional, to accomplish that.

Then again, it wasn't she that had to win the battle. The experience of fighting such a powerful opponent was more than she needed. Let someone else have the glory and attention.

She closed her eyes a second time, despite the fog having dissipated. Deep in the core of her being, she amassed more energy. Condensing it. Keeping it contained as more and more gathered. It tried to diffuse throughout her body, spread outward and evaporate through her skin, but she couldn't allow it. Not this time. She thought back to the Silver Games. That boy. This will do. Unlike before, she contained the energy deep inside of her instead of letting to flow freely. Violently it swirled, pushing back against the walls she set up to contain it, like dam, a sphere of raw, primal energy that would not allow itself to be contained for long.

Then, at a moment's notice, the core of energy collapsed in on itself and released a sudden burst of luminous energy, spreading throughout her body like an uncontrolled torrent. The wave rushed throughout her extremities, filling her legs with a white hot fire. Now was the time to act.

The ground cracked beneath her feet as she momentarily vanished from view, bursting forwards towards the professor. "Esper" She whispered, gripping the sword in its shield form as she approached, the dense field of energy allowing her a wide margin of error for countering the professor's blade. Like before, she would attempt a series of attacks, primarily unarmed, combined with her own weapon. But this time, she did not intend to hit the man. This time, she would use any moment of physical contact to tether herself to her instructor and tap into his reserves of energy, chipping away at it until he had to take things seriously.

If she could, she would even grab onto his back for as long as she could, like mechanical bull.

[Kassaran]

(So sue me if you don't like the song, but it's fitting and I've been trying to find it for the longest time anyways.)

Suddenly, everyone had broken away from the dusky smoke gathered around the Professor and Rystan found himself with his weapons drawn and in perfect position to attack. It was still in the room as the other students were recovering from their attempts on the Professor. The lone teacher still shrouded in the fog, lent him an ominous appearance, or rather his shadow an ominous appearance. Rystan saw no need for the fog however, so he let loose a slight flick with the broad side of his right blade, infusing it with his quickening magic to cause the shockwave and atmospheric displacement of the blade to be pronounced.

The wind that came from the displacement was hardly a strike at the Professor, but did it's intended job of forcing the fog around the Professor out and away. He knew the Professor was likely still capable of defending himself within the fog as had been proven by the other student's attacks. Rystan however needed to see where his blades were striking, his expertise on hand-eye coordination required just that, his eyes and hands to be working, synchronizing, attacking altogether as one entity.

Taking a step towards the professor, he brought his second blade up to square, holding it slightly ahead of himself aligning it with the professor's center-of-mass. It was a rather open pose, but it was well fortified against counters, as Rystan knew it and he'd seen the Professor's own ability to effectively counter with Antares' enough to know they'd come if he allowed them. The large blade named Antares was a force to be reckoned with, but his own blades were perhaps an equal counter. If he were a better swordsman, Rystan knew he'd have no problem landing a strike on the Professor, but for now, he'd have to hope his own need for sight had revealed his novice level to the Professor and had likewise lowered the teacher's guard.

On the other side of the Professor, Rystan could see his classmate gesturing as though he were about to attack, and remembering the student's ability, he winced internally. That song, if he missed it somehow or if it was an area-based weapon, could spell disaster for the whole student population as it might affect them too. Then it began as his silent approach brought himself closer to the Professor actively waiting for the moment to strike. He knew the Professor had to be feeling somewhat tired. He'd taken some heavy blows from Rystan's peers and some he'd needed to take on full-force in stead of simply deflecting.

However, he had been conserving his strength marvelously and Rystan admired that about the Professor, but for now, he needed to prove to the Professor his own worth, his own skill. That's what this was, a test and Rystan knew why it was needed, and he knew he would have to fight with all of the strength he had. The likelihood of actually being forced into live combat within the the few minutes after this next one was highly unlikely. This type of one-on-one encounter was where he specialized. He'd been trained as an urban assassin by his previous circle, by those rebels whom had decided to use him and his friends as fodder for the Loyalist's veteran soldiers.

He however, unlike his friends, had been spared out of his parent's kindness and mercy and had effectively ended his career prematurely. This didn't mean he had to abandon those old techniques though. The ideals of the lost and dead had no place here, not in this academy, not in this universe, and no longer did they need to bear a place in Rystan's mind, but the lessons. No, instead he needed to tear them down and mold them. To peer into the very core of how they were used and change them forever, and to make himself able to bring a change everywhere else. He needed to not only remember, but make sure it didn't happen again. He needed to change the universe, and this is where it started.

His blade came up and with a flick of his wrist he brought it down to his side, using the gathering momentum to move his arm across his chest and turn him around as he broke into a full frenzy of rotating attacks. One after another, the blades came crashing down upon the Professor, or rather Antares as Rystan suspected. He wasn't focusing on the blade however, he was focusing on the Professor himself, his arms and his eyes were reacting out of habit using peripheral feedback, out of years of training and months of conditioning leading up to this moment. His eyes were trained squarely on the Professor's center of mass, and knowing Antares could come from any direction, he needed to keep the fight going. He needed to force Antares to stay in the fight. At first, it had been only Rystan present, it was him and his own personal skill and strength, and most of all, his speed.

It was tremendous speed to be sure, and perhaps it was something to be noted by the professor as he bore down closer and closer on the Professor, moving towards the man's flanks, keeping the blows coming. Antares was a single blade from what Rystan had seen and now he held the advantage as he changed the attack vector each time his blades struck a solid object. No two strikes the same, each coming from different angles, and now he was moving at just a fraction of a second slower than his own mind. His attacks coming in almost the same instant he thought of them, the bright red magic flowing from his mind down his spine and into the rest of his body. Yes, his magic manifested physically, but this was moreover as a byproduct of the now tremendous amounts of energy being expelled. Chemical energy and thermal energy seemingly being instantaneously released and with each passing second the heat was also becoming apparent in his clothing as it slowly began to absorb the heat and also grow slightly red.

The flurry of attacks never ceased, but when Rystan's own personal limits had finally been met, his magic kicked in and pushed him to what could be considered his peak speed. One after another, the blades constantly moving with blinding speed. Even through it all though, he could still feel Antares, the solid blade moving to intercept them all. This was the Professor's power, to always keep Antares present to protect him out of second nature, and this was his weakness as well. If Antares had to be in place, it couldn't be in transit. If it was always needed, as a single blade, it had to keep its position. While Rystan had not forced it yet to budge, keeping his attacks reliably and constantly focused on Professor's center of mass, they were now practically one on top of the other.

Rystan knew the risk. Antares was a large sword, one almost impossibly large to handle, but the Professor's magic was intense, and gave the Redemit the ability to disobey the simpler laws of physics. Somewhere in the back of Rystan's mind he'd been slowly building the map of how many different ways he could attack and still find Antares. Indeed, while he had still been aiming for the Professor, the blades still striking for that initial goal of reaching the Professor, Rystan knew consciously he'd never land a hit, so he'd let his training take over as he mapped out the defenses of the Professor's fortress that was Antares. It was a small chink in the armor, and by way of knowing that he had barely a shot of coming out on top, he smiled grimly and suddenly redirected all of his energy and all of his speed into his legs.

The blows suddenly stopped and their intensity and ferocity seemed to dissipate as Rystan's final gamble began and he leaped into the air. The forward flip was to keep Antares in the game, but gave Rystan a final chance at piercing the veil the blade had made for itself. Rystan let his two arms, previously apart, to either side of his body as he'd gone into the jump suddenly come together and flipping around his handles in-air, he brought down the blades in a reverse grip towards the top of the Professor, swinging around in a broad forward flip across the Professor's back as he did so. When the blades made contact with Antares, Rystan smiled faintly and pushed. Using Antares as his fulcrum, he turned himself into a lever. It was a long shot his next move, but hardly impossible so he braced as his right leg came down and out of the flip to land.

As his swords broke contact with Antares, he let them deenergize, as though withdrawing them from the battle, but in this he only used it as time to set up for his attack. Switching feet as quickly as possible, he sent every last ounce of power both magical and physical if not mental, into the delivery of a flying jump kick to the side of the Professor. A final gamble as he brought the blade of the same side up with it. A final gamble as he hoped the Professor's own hesitation would score him that long awaited prize. A final gamble as his blade, now silent and cold lay against his leg and was guided upwards behind the shield that was his own leg. A final gamble as he lashed out at the Professor.

As Rystan had attacked, he'd slowly and mentally accounted for the Professor's own ability to constantly sense the volume of objects and their speeds. His own blades had proven he'd conserve energy where needed. His blade, pressed up against his leg and left unenergized emitted no heat save for what had retained, and since it was in the wake of his leg's own passage, it had no major displacement. With it up against his leg there was also the fact that the blade was pressed tightly into his skin, and as the pant leg had been slightly loose, well-fit for its purpose, it allowed the blade to be concealed within its voluminous folds. If he was right, Rystan had forced the Professor to devote enough time to calculating the next attack he'd not account for Rystan hiding his blade against his leg.

With this final blow, as he neared his objective, re-energizing the previously silent weapon. The blade suddenly lanced out and burned away both fabric and excess skin cells along the surface of Rystan's leg as he let the blade suddenly flick out and hopefully engage Antares' flat edge as the Professor had done before for the first student, forcing the momentum of the kick to stop and forcing that energy to go elsewhere. That elsewhere was the rest of Rystan's body, the lever for the fulcrum made by contact with Antares, and pulling his grounded leg up, he kept his first leg pinned up under Antares and with the last bit of magic now wearing off, his tired body let momentum carry him upwards.

This would allow Rystan to use the momentum of his torso, now coming out of the kick to push back into the air for another attack and bring down his second blade, now energized as well in a sweeping stroke, this time aimed for the shoulder and neck of the Professor.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The ground cracked beneath her feet as she momentarily vanished from view, bursting forwards towards the professor. "Esper" She whispered, gripping the sword in its shield form as she approached, the dense field of energy allowing her a wide margin of error for countering the professor's blade. Like before, she would attempt a series of attacks, primarily unarmed, combined with her own weapon. But this time, she did not intend to hit the man. This time, she would use any moment of physical contact to tether herself to her instructor and tap into his reserves of energy, chipping away at it until he had to take things seriously.

Noticing the girl rushing towards him once again, the professor braced himself for the coming barrage of attacks. He was familiar with her fighting style now, she hit swiftly and used her magic to wear out the opponent's vigor, a dangerous trick no doubt. She fought primarily unarmed, just like she said during the start of the class, and that was a problem for him, as he could not use his blade to counter her attacks without maiming or possibly killing the girl. Indeed, when one held a blade, it was often easier to kill than not to kill, but it was precisely because of this that to use a blade one required training, and indeed the one who was to train them needed to be quite prepared himself.

It was through this training and preparation that he managed to once again counter her moves swiftly despite her energy sensing, though it did not take him long to catch on to what she was doing, as he felt his energy slowly drain. Frowning almost imperceptibly, he changed his strategy, deflecting her blows instead of containing them, focusing on the wrists and the ankles instead of the hands and feet, and using Antares to block Esper when needed. As he did this, he focused, his breathing slowing further still even as the action took place. Whatever energy Ritz was taking away would not dent him, as he controlled his body to make up for the tampering of the girl's spells.

Eventually, Ritz attempted to grab him from behind, but the professor sensed this and, seeing an opportunity, he thrust back with the hilt of Antares, striking the girl's torso with moderate force. It would not hurt too much, but it would take the wind out of her, most likely, and send her some distance away, which was his objective, to get her to move away once again.

-snip-

Sensing another student charging towards him in an attempt to land a blow at last, his speed seemingly greater than that of his peers, though this appeared to be not because of his own virtue, but because of a magical enhancement. This was not the first time he encountered such things, but it was interesting to note anyways. Students like these, while able to use their abilities to gain a physical edge over their peers, often wound up relying far too much on such abilities. However, with some training, he was certain they would become formidable warriors, as many others before them had. It was his duty to see to that, his duty as an instructor of the Silver Hand Academy, and he would see it done.

Now, the student was, as has been said, swifter than his classmates, that was for sure. His attacks were as swift as they were precise, but they were unable to breach the protection provided by the gilded greatsword the blindfolded master held in his left hand, which moved with unparalleled swiftness across the air, whistling as it did so, the clash of energy producing sparks that flew everywhere every time his blade met Rystan's on the battlefield. The young man was forcing his hand slightly, the professor gave him that much as he moved to block his attacks faster and faster, his hand and his blade becoming little more than a blur in the landscape that threatened to explode at a moment's notice, even while he himself remained completely stationary, not moving an inch from his position, standing his ground like the statue of a silent, lonely defender.

When Rystan showed his trump card, the professor merely waited, meeting each attack as the situation warranted, but nothing more. He certainly could have stopped the lad's assault halfway through, he had left him plenty of opportunities to do so, but this class had many purposes. Teaching certain students some humility was only one of them, and this student did not seem to need that lesson so desperately, so instead he chose to allow him to carry on with his manuever, curious to see where it would lead him as he raised his blade solely to meet each desperate blow.

Seeing the young man swing his leg at him, however, caught Xan in a bit of a tight spot. Once again, he could not simply utilize his blade for this purpose without maiming the student, and a flying kick was just a tad harder to deflect than a grounded kick or a swing of a fist. With that in mind, the professor began calculating several scenarios in his head, time slowing down for him as he perceived everything becoming slower.

Heat.

In an instant, his blade was up once again, blocking the energy blade that the young man had hidden from his senses with a devious trick of his. Frowning almost imperceptibly, the blindfolded master continued sensing the young man's actions. He was swinging for his neck, but he had apparently forgotten to account for several things. One, that he was still in mid-air and thus in a prime position for being displaced. Two, the fact that his blade, pressed against his leg, was still clashing against the edge of Antares. And three, the professor's own strength.

With a swift movement, Xan swung Antares outwards, prematurely ending Rystan's attack as the motion caused him to fly off in the opposite direction.

Once he had regained his precious distance, Xan offered Rystan his reward for such a daring move. A deep breath, and a sigh. After that, nothing.

[Atlannia]

NOW! thought Alfenn as Rystan was sent hurtling through the air, the other boy's attack seemed to have pushed the professor as far as anyone else so far and he doubted they would get another chance. Alfenn dropped his sword to block one ear, using his free hand to block one ear and gathering sonic energy in the other. There was no time to warn the others further , hopefully they had all understood his earlier message. With a complete lack of ceremony he raised his hand and triggered the spell. A deafening, keening wail filled the air, audible even through blocked ears although that would be enough to block the ill effect. The hideous noise seemed to modulate in pitch and in fact those hearing it would have detected an alien sort of rhythm and melody to it. Unpleasant as it was it wasn't inaccurate for the noise to be called a song. At least they can't hear the lyrics thought Alfenn thought, gritting his teeth. With one ear open he was exposed to the full effects of the song. His vision blurred rapidly and an instant later he lost his balance and sank to one knee. His stomach started to twist and pulse with heaving waves of nausea and the noise cut out as his concentration was shattered. Not trusting himself to open his mouth without vomiting he instead pointed weakly at the Professor, trusting the others to exploit whatever opening he had created.

[The Starlight]

Ellyn, pushed back, had waited, looking at the other student's attacks, to form a better strategy. But they were all defeated, for despite some incredibly clever attacks, the professor had thwarted them all. Once they had all cleared, she stepped forward once again. Facing the professor, she began to chant, quietly, telekinetically pushing aside his sword at random intervals, as far back as she could. Though he could and did continue to unsummon and resummon Antares, it served as an annoyance, which she wanted to do. Continuing this she suddenly stopped, and then spoke Dawnbreaker, summoning her sword, taking a step forward. Still remaining quite the distance from the professor she controlled the sword with her mind, sending it flying at the Professor, and as it was deflected by Antares, wielded it with her mind, slashing and stabbing and blocking. Continuing to control her sword, she walked forward, already having summoned Silverthorn. Then, as Antares moved to deflect Dawnbreaker, she leaped forward, jabbing Silverthorn at the professor, as she landed.

But just as she landed, Alfenn's harpy song began. She had missed the memo, having her back turned, and so in an instant, her control over Dawnbreaker halted, it dropping to the ground, Silverthorn too. She turned to glare at the culprit, before starting to heal herself, dismissing the weapons from the floor, having to constantly heal herself of the effects of the song. She wouldn't attack now, unless she saw that the Professor was unaffected. Otherwise, it would be dishonorable, to attack an opponent, while they were severely hindered. She did want to win, but not so much so that she would compromise her honor, as the Professor had not compromised his, giving her no right to compromise hers. For now she focused on her chanting keeping the harpy song at bay, before simply resorting to closing her ears, not able to keep her concentration up.
That was disappointing she thought to herself, especially with her being at the apex of her plan only to fail due to the harpy song. For now, she would wait, to see the effect of it on the harpy. She could still spar through telekinesis, though it would be a hard thing.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Another student began attempting to attack him. She had been the third one to try to do so, the professor could tell, and now she was back. However, this time her strategy had changed. No longer she was attempting to move Antares out of place in order to allow her blade and spear to strike at him. Instead, she was trying to do... something, though he couldn't quite tell what it was, as she seemed to be pushing his sword aside without any real point behind such an action. Though she could have tried to strike at him while she chanted, she was doing no such thing, merely trying to inconvenience him with her spells.

Eventually, she fought him at last, though she did so from a distance, using telekinesis to control Dawnbreaker from afar, dueling from a safe distance. Xan swiftly recognized this technique, and this time an almost imperceptible smirk graced his face as he raised his own gilded greatsword to meet the floating sword that was assaulting him at the command of its master. Even as he fought, however, he could tell that she was preparing to charge towards him, having summoned her other weapon. Soon she leaped towards him, and as he fought against the floating sword, Xan prepared to block this new attack.

It was then that the hideous song echoed through the air, disrupting the instructor's every thought and causing his grip on the blade to falter momentarily as the sickness caused by the noise settled in, making him feel weaker. Though he had several times the lifetime of these students in experience, the attack still took him by surprise, and as his senses were extremely honed the attack struck him with severity. He stumbled a bit as he tried to recover his balance after taking in the noise, the hand wielding Antares shaking violently. Through it all, however, he maintained control of himself in exemplary fashion, never dropping his sword or falling off his feet, his senses recovering swiftly as he noticed that the student he had been sparring with earlier had backed off from him, seemingly affected by the sickening song as well. In his weakened state, his mind worked swiftly. Surely this attack would not be without another following it, and yet, the student who had caused this seemed in no position to strike at him after having suffered the effects of his own spell. What, then, wondered the professor as he stood with his senses on alert, bearing with the sickness of his student's weakening spell.

[Charmera]

Another student began attempting to attack him. She had been the third one to try to do so, the professor could tell, and now she was back. However, this time her strategy had changed. No longer she was attempting to move Antares out of place in order to allow her blade and spear to strike at him. Instead, she was trying to do... something, though he couldn't quite tell what it was, as she seemed to be pushing his sword aside without any real point behind such an action. Though she could have tried to strike at him while she chanted, she was doing no such thing, merely trying to inconvenience him with her spells.

Eventually, she fought him at last, though she did so from a distance, using telekinesis to control Dawnbreaker from afar, dueling from a safe distance. Xan swiftly recognized this technique, and this time an almost imperceptible smirk graced his face as he raised his own gilded greatsword to meet the floating sword that was assaulting him at the command of its master. Even as he fought, however, he could tell that she was preparing to charge towards him, having summoned her other weapon. Soon she leaped towards him, and as he fought against the floating sword, Xan prepared to block this new attack.

It was then that the hideous song echoed through the air, disrupting the instructor's every thought and causing his grip on the blade to falter momentarily as the sickness caused by the noise settled in, making him feel weaker. Though he had several times the lifetime of these students in experience, the attack still took him by surprise, and as his senses were extremely honed the attack struck him with severity. He stumbled a bit as he tried to recover his balance after taking in the noise, the hand wielding Antares shaking violently. Through it all, however, he maintained control of himself in exemplary fashion, never dropping his sword or falling off his feet, his senses recovering swiftly as he noticed that the student he had been sparring with earlier had backed off from him, seemingly affected by the sickening song as well. In his weakened state, his mind worked swiftly. Surely this attack would not be without another following it, and yet, the student who had caused this seemed in no position to strike at him after having suffered the effects of his own spell. What, then, wondered the professor as he stood with his senses on alert, bearing with the sickness of his student's weakening spell.

Jon, having prepared for the sudden attack, was not quite as disorientated, having covered his ears with his hands. Vyna too had done the same, as it was part of Alfenn's plan after all. Neither of them were particular fans of the melody, but both knew better than to dwell on it. Jyn on the other hand felt herself completely disorientated by the hellish nightmare song, her brain churning at it's cacophonic sound. She managed to keep standing and not vomit. Though all she could really manage in terms of fighting was a weak strike on the professor, which she did not attempt.

Now! Vyna thought, gathering magical energy in the form of wind and then letting it blast her forward at the same time she activated her vector plate, increasing her speed considerably. She used this momentum to lunge forward with her blade, which was pointed squarely at the teacher. She was a little worried at first she might kill him or something, considering she had done this before and it had nearly claimed Mehran's life. However if he could block the rest of the class with ease than he might not be so wounded by this. Besides, he might be insulted if she held back and didn't use her best, which she didn't want. Though, none of this was going through her head during the actual burst of speed. Adrenalin and focus had taken over, and a little excitement from the speed at which she managed to achieve.

Meanwhile, Jon had also taken the opertunity to strike. Having manifested his whip sword long ago, he sent a scything strike to the professor. Though one might notice he was a little close. Surely he could use the range of his weapon to his advantage? This was because he had a plan, several actually, all concocted while carefully observing the fights others had with him. First, even if Xan blocked the whip sword, it would wrap around his blade and body, constricting his movement. Though Jon was not keen to rely on the unorthodox nature of his weapon alone. He had used his,magical power to summon two energy tendrils, each aimed at another limb, hoping the assault on multiple fronts would succeed. He reasoned that he seemed reluctant to let students get more than one hit off on him in a row, though equally reluctant to strike back or move. He can block single strikes perfectly well even if they have considerable power behind them like Jyn's. But perhaps multiple simultaneous attacks will be harder, especially if he can't angle his blade...

[Wolfenium]

Rolling back up to his knees as he was forced back, Eamonn was not about to relent yet. Gritting his teeth, there did not seem to be a clear path between him and the professor with the other students making their move. Not that he cared much about knocking them out of the way, but he felt them a hindrance in his fight, and unwilling to lose momentum when he makes his next attack. Worse, he appeared bad at teamwork, and was not that keen on 'sharing' his opponent. Everyone else, however, felt otherwise.

-snip-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH," Eamonn screamed in pain, as a sudden screech echoed in the air. Plugging his ears with matter, he managed to mitigate the sound enough, though feeling a bit weary over it. But now, Xan was becoming pretty worn out, with the students trying all manners to weaken him.

Unplugging her trident from the ground, Niloofar spun the polearm above her head as she began to summon her magic again. Swiftly, ice began to form on the floor around the professor, as she attempted to freeze his feet in place. Regardless, she raised her trident level as she pushed herself off from a jet of water. Concurrently, her brother simply imbued his blades with a layer of energy, adding to its damage-dealing as he too dived forth for another go.

Gritting his teeth, the boy began to churn with energy again. His aura shifting to a shade of lava-like red, his blades were becoming imbued again. This time, however, shards of red matter began to crystallize over it, twisting and growing into a grotesque, jagged saber. A feral gaze in his eyes as the pupils shrank, he simply surged forward recklessly with his blades, screaming at the top of his lungs as he tried to cleave Xan.

[Esternial]

Ah well, at least I tried. She was clearly way out of the professor's league. His physical prowess more than simply compensated for the energy she chipped away. In fact, he didn't seem at all bothered by it. Once he caught on to her tactic, he countered appropriately. Even her last resort, grabbing onto him and draining as much energy as she could, lasted only a second until he reacted. What little energy she managed to absorb, Ritz focused in her torso to prevent any brusing. Antares' hilt hit her square in the chest. She was sore, but she had expected worse. A formidable opponent such as Xan could have done far worse with much less effort.

Without further ado, Ritz sat down and observed the rest of the fight. She would not push herself further for a mock battle. There were many aspects of her ability to discover, but she disliked the thought of rushing the process.

With a yawn she lied down, making an odd squeaking sound as she stretched her back and closed her eyes. She focused her mind, threads stretching outwards, further and further, sensing the environment around her. As if she were using numerous sensitive whiskers, spun from her own energy, Ritz created a wide range of awareness. For a moment she frowned, slightly frustrated as she once again realised her abilities were useless in a pinch. She needed to embed them in her mind, like a natural, ingrained response.

Practise. More practise was needed.

Just as she had regained her focus after that brief moment of inner reflection, a nauseating sound overcame her. With an agonising scream she reached for her ears, preventing the sound from coursing through her body and wreaking havoc on her stomach and senses. Angrily, she looked at the fight and saw the source, a boy caught in his own spell. What a useless ability. He pointed to the instructor, hoping someone would benefit from his spell. Ritz eyebrows sunk down in a disappointed, apathetic gaze, wishing Alfenn would lose consciousness and let her rest in peace and serenity.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Still afflicted by the spell of Alfenn's hideous song, though maintaining some control over himself and his body, the professor stood by as he sensed his surroundings, understanding what the purpose of the song had been. He had indeed been correct in suspecting that the young man was attempting to weaken him so that another student would be able to land a blow on him at last, but, to put it bluntly, he hadn't expected so many of them to launch a coordinated attack. There were five students in total, all of them charging towards him at once. The first, propelled forward by powerful spells, with her blade drawn and pointed towards him. The second, swinging a whip at him and sending tendrils of energy at him to restrain him. Another was approaching him cautiously in order to get a good strike at him. A fourth one propelled herself with a jet of water. And the last of the five had merely chosen to go on a mad, reckless charge in order to swing his blade in his direction.

Xan sensed all of this, and time seemed to slow down in his mind. He tried to move, but alas, his feet were bound to the ground through some spell, likely the magic of the girl who controlled water. He felt his hand, still trembling due to the effects of the young man's song, and calculated that he would only be able to block one attack or two, at most, while the others would end up striking him, as he was unable to move. Thus, he understood, there was only one thing he could do.

All of these things had been processed by his mind rather quickly, and so he began muttering words of power with astounding swiftness, using Antares to block and deflect Vynaria's blade, moving her aside and causing her to rocket right past him without delivering any damage. Then, before the other four students could strike at him, he muttered the last word of his spell, and a powerful shockwave surged forth from his body, sending the students flying off and away from him, destroying the ice encasing his feet and deflecting the tendrils of energy that Jonran had sent after him. Xan then waited for a moment, and, sensing that everyone was alright and on their feet, he dismissed Antares, sending back to its hyperspace storage as he motioned for the students to line up together once again.

"You have forced my hand, children." He said to the students with his ever-present impassible voice, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Well done."

After that, he slowly paced through the room to the first student who had attempted to strike at him. "You are strong, but you are careless in how you use your strength. Your attacks are also predictable to someone who has seen you fight before." He said to the girl with coral red hair. Elsis frowned and opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then thought better of it. She was not keen on talking back to an instructor, after all, and truth be told she did recognize that he had spoken the truth, making a mental note to work on that in the future. Meanwhile, Xan continued walking around the classroom, speaking to the rest of the students in a similar fashion.

"You are far too reckless. You do not think about your actions, and you cannot act and think. If you continue as you are, you will never harm a fly." He said to Eamonn, before moving onto Ellyn. "Your attacks are well thought-out and clever, but a bit slow. You need more control. Do work on that distance fighting technique. It will be useful to you." He stated, and then looked at Alfenn instead. "You will have to learn how to use your magic without impairing yourself in the process in order to be able to fend for yourself." He stated. Next, he addressed Jynna and Vynaria. "You work well together, but you can still improve. One of you is too slow, and the other is not strong enough." He told them, looking in Niloofar and Mehran's direction next. "It is never a good idea to engage an enemy in terrain unknown to you and familiar to them." He advised. The following second he was looking at Ritz. "Your attacks are swift and your power keen, but there is very little a naked hand can do by itself to a blade." He stated, and moved on to address Rystan next. "You fight well, but you rely too much on your magic and take too many things for granted when planning your attacks. That is not a mistake you want to make during a true battle." He warned. Then, at the end, he regarded Jonran with a passing glance. "Participate more." He said plainly.

Finally, he stood in front of all the students, some distance away from them. "That will be enough for today. Class dismissed." He said simply, nodding once, though it seemed as if he was nodding at someone behind the students, rather than at them. If they were to turn back now, they would undoubtedly notice several aspirants standing near the walls next to the door of the field, watching them intently, the guides of the A-23 group among them.

Now done imparting his current class, Xan merely walked back to the center of the room and sat down, now seemingly deep in meditation.

[Atlannia]

A shockwave, I suppose I should have anticipated something like that thought Alfenn, standing up and rubbing his temples. He supposed forcing the Professor to use something he hadn't intended to was a sort of success but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He took the advice the Professor gave with a neutral expression, although he thought it slightly odd. Most of his spells didn't impair his own abilities, it was really only the harpy song and he didn't go out of his way to use that one. I wonder if there is a way to cast it safely, Father might know... Really though Alfenn was more concerned with the failure of his warning, he hadn't intended for anyone else to be caught in the effects and the expressions on a select few of his classmates' faces told him he hadn't exactly made himself any friends. Alfenn cleared his throat.

"It should have cleared up by now but if anyone's still feeling nauseous or dizzy from my ahem, song, I can fix that for you, just gather around me it will only take a moment,"

[Charmera]

A shockwave, I suppose I should have anticipated something like that thought Alfenn, standing up and rubbing his temples. He supposed forcing the Professor to use something he hadn't intended to was a sort of success but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He took the advice the Professor gave with a neutral expression, although he thought it slightly odd. Most of his spells didn't impair his own abilities, it was really only the harpy song and he didn't go out of his way to use that one. I wonder if there is a way to cast it safely, Father might know... Really though Alfenn was more concerned with the failure of his warning, he hadn't intended for anyone else to be caught in the effects and the expressions on a select few of his classmates' faces told him he hadn't exactly made himself any friends. Alfenn cleared his throat.

"It should have cleared up by now but if anyone's still feeling nauseous or dizzy from my ahem, song, I can fix that for you, just gather around me it will only take a moment,"

Jyn was still standing, though looked pretty rough. "Me..." She managed, stumbling a bit before walking towards Alfenn. Though she was still effected by it rather badly, she could still move about and talk, which was a testament to her endurance and willpower. Though perhaps had she been more aware of her surroundings this could have been avoided. She did manage to take in the proffessors advice. She needed to be faster, a problem she had encountered in the duel earlier. She supposed she could take advice from her sister, seeing as she had to improve her strength, and they could both work together. Still, she had a wierd niggling feeling about that... She wanted to with all her heart, but she thought back to her suspicions, though baseless, that had taken root in her mind.

[Atlannia]

Jyn was still standing, though looked pretty rough. "Me..." She managed, stumbling a bit before walking towards Alfenn. Though she was still effected by it rather badly, she could still move about and talk, which was a testament to her endurance and willpower. Though perhaps had she been more aware of her surroundings this could have been avoided. She did manage to take in the proffessors advice. She needed to be faster, a problem she had encountered in the duel earlier. She supposed she could take advice from her sister, seeing as she had to improve her strength, and they could both work together. Still, she had a wierd niggling feeling about that... She wanted to with all her heart, but she thought back to her suspicions, though baseless, that had taken root in her mind.

"Ah of course," said Alfenn quickly as the girl approached him. Her two siblings had, by the sounds of it taken advantage of his plan but it looked as though...Jynna? He thought, seemed to have taken the full force of his spell. She looked in bad shape, stumbling and rather pale. Though still rather striking through all of that He thought, before dismissing the thought and taking a step towards her and extended his hand to begin generating energy again. This time the sound it emitted was far less unpleasant, a soft, melodious humming that seemed to bounce around one's skull in an odd but not uncomfortable way. The sound lasted for only a few seconds before fading away and as his work was done Alfenn realised that he had gotten quite close to her without really meaning to. He stepped away quite suddenly and coughed to clear his throat. "You should be fine now, I am sorry for any uh... inconvenience,"