Chapter 80: That Has Merit
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Chapter 80: That Has Merit
Tala reached the indicated building at the edge of the Guardsmens training yard and was met in the entrance as soon as shed stepped inside.
By the insignia, the woman who met Tala was a sergeant, though Tala had never met her. Sergeant.
Mistress Tala. Welcome. I found you on the approved access list, but there wasnt much beyond that. I was told you wish to use our training yard? The sergeant eyed Terry with a mixture of interest and caution but seemed to have decided not to comment.
Or another space, if that is preferred. I will be here many mornings to assist with one of the classes, and it would be convenient if I could train around those times, or if I have need of a space at other intervals.
She nodded. Understandable. However, our facilities are generally only used by those in, or directly benefiting, the Guardsmans Guild. I can check with the teacher of the class, to see if your training, here, would qualify.
That could work. Im really not sure what hell say.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
Very good, Mistress. Please wait here.
Certainly.
Tala considered what she would do to train if they gave her a space. I guess it depends on what the space will bear. She smiled, thinking about the class of people coming up with tests for her abilities. What madness am I about to be subjected to?
The sergeant returned a few minutes later. Mistress?
Mmm? Yes?
There is a courtyard set aside for today, and if I understand correctly, it has been reserved for your use, in conjunction with the class, going forward.
Oh! Thank you.
Right this way.
They walked through clean, sparsely decorated corridors, until they came to a place where the current corridor was open on one side. The hallway surrounded a fairly large courtyard, providing a covered walkway all the way around with a few diverging paths going perpendicularly off the sides.
The open space was hard-packed sand, without any other feature.
The sergeant gestured to the space. Have at it, Maam.
Tala grinned. Ill try not to damage it too much.
The guardswoman snorted. Kind of you. Is there anything else I can do to assist?
I think Ill be fine. Thank you.
With a slight bow, the other woman departed.
Tala walked out onto the sand, her feet barely scuffing it. Even so, she felt like it was at least a few feet deep. Just not used very often? It didnt really matter.
The sand was cool and rough on the soles of her feet, in a smooth sort of way, some getting between her toes. Yeah, Tala, its smoothly rough. She didnt have a lot of experience with sand, but the description seemed to fit.
Terry vanished from her shoulder, appearing on the roof nearby, already basking in the early morning sun. You do you, little guy.
She sat, cross-legged, in the center. Having just come from the Constructionist Guild, she had the incorporators on her mind. As such, she pulled out the three she possessed: cold water, hot water, and hot air. Huh, should I have gotten a cold air one, for completeness, and to cool off on hot days? Winter was almost upon them, though. Maybe, in the spring.
She regarded the devices. Splitting the flow of power increases difficulty. She grinned. With effort, she divided her natural influx of power into the three incorporators, as well as her own body and Flow.
Her reserves began to decline, but not rapidly. She did have vast magic-density, after all.
It was a tricky thing, splitting the magic five ways, but she was able to get a handle on it after a minute or so.
Once she had the pathways locked in place, she created the void around her gate.
A headache began building almost instantly as she strove to hold the six distinct mental tasks in place. But it worked.
The incorporators, which had been dormant, given the pathetic amount that had been funneled their way, suddenly activated. Two were held in her right hand, not overlapping, and the third in her left.
Cold water and hot air trickled out on one side, and hot water dribbled onto the sand on the other.
It was a lackluster amount, but she was doing it.
She clenched her jaw, forcing the division of power, and the void, into existence by sheer force of will.
She held it for ten seconds.
Twenty.
Twenty-five.
Her concentration slipped.
Her vision fuzzed, and her head rang as if someone had struck her with a hammer.
Tala groaned, flopping backwards onto the hard sand.
The pain passed quickly, relatively speaking. Shed only held the full complexity for less than half a minute.
If her estimate was correct, she took less than three minutes to recover her mental coherence.
Ok. Not bad. She considered how to proceed.
She could repeat the performance, in theory stretching herself and improving, but that felt like a half measure. I need to rethink this.
At the most basic level, she was creating a suction force, pulling power through her gate. Then, she was directing that power down four equal channels, and one which was smaller, that went to her body.
She frowned. Something about that seemed inefficient. What if
She sat the cold incorporator aside and focused. Simple first.
She recalled how it had felt to empower each of these, less than an hour before.
She had felt the flow, felt the power.
She held one incorporator in each hand and created mental channels for the power, making the channels large enough for the amount of power that shed used earlier. Knowing of nothing else to demarcate the paths, since she wasnt working with power, she opened the paths as voids. In so doing, she made them ready for the power rather than letting the powers flow create the needed channel.
The newly created, internal canals lead to the two incorporators. Those pathways were utterly devoid of power, empty and hungry. They didnt move through her flesh, to interfere with her inscriptions; instead, they existed on some deeper level. The domain of magic and the soul? Her body and soul were separate, so it made sense that her body would be mostly devoid in that aspect.
Tala hesitated.
To fight, you have to be able to strike back, and that is easiest if you can block or otherwise create openings. The speaker looked a bit awkward. Thats pretty basic to any fighting style, Mistress. We can focus purely on dodging, and if youre right about your endurance you could probably win isolated encounters via attrition, but youd be worthless in defending someone else, and youd fail horribly against groups, especially if they were at all intelligent. Wasnt that one of your core goals?
Tala nodded, frowning.
Then, against groups, you need to be able to finish individual encounters quickly, before you can be swarmed, assuming you cant just shrug off all comers. In either case, you need to know what damage you can take, of what types, and how to use that to create openings to take down your opponents. Any blow that you could have taken, which you dodge instead, is an attack that you could have made, but didnt.
A man stepped forward. Dodging is wonderful, but its a response. If you only respond, you let your enemy control the fight.
Tala sighed, glancing at Rane. He was grinning happily. Hes loving this He nodded, adding his thoughts, Theyre right, of course.
She rolled her eyes. Fine, fine. But why jumping? Im glad to know I have an impressive vertical leap, but even I know that you usually want to keep your feet on the ground, if you can. She did not think back to the arcanous birds, snatching her and carrying her through the air. Nope. Not thinking about that.
Every one of the students turned to regard a younger woman near the back. She shuffled her feet, glancing down before sighing and stepping forward. That is the objection they had
Tala cocked an eyebrow. So? It was a bit funny that Tala had thought of her as younger, the other woman was likely at least three- or four-years Talas senior. Maybe more, given how badly I misjudged Lyn
Well, it comes down to one thing: Can you increase the effect of gravity on yourself? I mean acceleration, not just weight.
Tala opened her mouth to say: No. but hesitated. Technically? Yes. Why?
The other woman grinned wickedly. I knew it. The reason that leaps and acrobatics are so dangerous is that everything behaves the same, once airborne. If you slow and fall twice as fast as your enemies think you will, then their instincts will be on your side, and theyll struggle to compensate. Opponents dont consider how fast youll fall, its a known quantity on an instinctual level. They wont even consider it. If you are affected by gravity more strongly, that would open a whole host of options to you that anyone else would be foolish to try.
Tala considered that for a long moment. It would lower my capacity, make me slower.
At first, probably, but youre faster than normal, now, and your body should adjust.
Tala found herself nodding. That has merit.
The student beamed. Thank you, Mistress. She looked around at her fellows happily, standing a bit straighter.
Well, then She looked at the device theyd brought out, returning to topic of her cut-ability. It had a blade, and a very precisely controlled actuator. Lets see how hard it is to cut me She sighed. Its going to be a long morning.
* * *
The sun was past high noon when the testing was finally completed.
Tala had been broken, stabbed, sliced, punctured, burned, and corroded. Shed balanced and snatched, leapt and pushed. Truthfully, shed lost track of all theyd had her do, even with her improved memory. That really shouldnt be possible
Alright, then. So you have what you need?
The students looked around at each other, nodding enthusiastically.
The instructor gave a bow. Yes, I believe we do. Thank you. When he straightened, he smiled. We will have the foundations completed in a day or so, but it would help if you can get the gravity modifications in place, so that we can understand their extent. Much will be the same as for any human-shaped fighter, but we will be able to fine-tune it as your skill advances.
Tala sighed and nodded. She suspected that she already had the inscribings to enact the gravity alteration, but she wanted Hollys input, and she thought an additional set for her feet would be useful as well. I dont want to be breaking everything I walk on I should be able to have that by tomorrow. Expect a fourfold increase in my acceleration due to gravity, if Im able to get it to work.
We can find you, here, then? I took the liberty of reserving this training yard for your use for the time being.
Thank you, that was incredibly kind. Yes, I should be here, tomorrow morning. But weve set the day after as the start of true training and work on the fighting style, correct?
The clarification was acknowledged, and the class thanked her and departed, talking animatedly amongst themselves.
Adam walked over to her. Youre progressing quickly.
She shrugged. Its nice to be fully inscribed, finally. She hesitated. Well, nearly so.
Rane approached. I still cant believe that you were walking around with an incomplete set.
Im not blessed with boundless money.
Rane twitched at that but didnt comment further.
Adam cleared his throat. Well, Ill be your opponent for most sparring for the class in the coming days. I do hope for a bit of a challenge. He smirked.
Tala rolled her eyes but found herself smiling. Ill do my best. Ill try not to hurt you too badly.
He laughed. Thank you. My wife would be cross if I died. Well have a healer on hand if were to fight, though.
She looked around. Right. You have access to those Why not have one, now? I was certainly injured a lot, today.
You said you could heal. We believed you.
Still might have been nice
While we work with many healers, they arent an unlimited resource.
Fair enough.
Adam glanced to Rane, then back to her. Well, Ill leave you to it. Ill be excited to see whats changed, tomorrow. He bowed slightly to her and to Rane, then departed.
Rane cleared his throat. So you still available for lunch?
She quirked a smile. Sure. You paying?
Sure.
Then, lets get to it. The poor boy doesnt know what hes signed up for. Shed try to take it easy, but she was hungry after all that theyd put her through, and all that her healing inscriptions had needed to repair.
After you, Mistress Tala.
Thank you, Master Rane. As they began walking, and after Terry flickered to her shoulder, she glanced towards Rane. Did you have any place in particular, in mind?
Well, Im not from around here, so my knowledge is limited, but I tried a place yesterday that had fantastic noodles. They had them available with all sorts of topping and sauces. We could go there.
Master Rane?
Hmm?
That sounds wonderful.
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Chapter 80: That Has Merit
Tala reached the indicated building at the edge of the Guardsmens training yard and was met in the entrance as soon as shed stepped inside.
By the insignia, the woman who met Tala was a sergeant, though Tala had never met her. Sergeant.
Mistress Tala. Welcome. I found you on the approved access list, but there wasnt much beyond that. I was told you wish to use our training yard? The sergeant eyed Terry with a mixture of interest and caution but seemed to have decided not to comment.
Or another space, if that is preferred. I will be here many mornings to assist with one of the classes, and it would be convenient if I could train around those times, or if I have need of a space at other intervals.
She nodded. Understandable. However, our facilities are generally only used by those in, or directly benefiting, the Guardsmans Guild. I can check with the teacher of the class, to see if your training, here, would qualify.
That could work. Im really not sure what hell say.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
Very good, Mistress. Please wait here.
Certainly.
Tala considered what she would do to train if they gave her a space. I guess it depends on what the space will bear. She smiled, thinking about the class of people coming up with tests for her abilities. What madness am I about to be subjected to?
The sergeant returned a few minutes later. Mistress?
Mmm? Yes?
There is a courtyard set aside for today, and if I understand correctly, it has been reserved for your use, in conjunction with the class, going forward.
Oh! Thank you.
Right this way.
They walked through clean, sparsely decorated corridors, until they came to a place where the current corridor was open on one side. The hallway surrounded a fairly large courtyard, providing a covered walkway all the way around with a few diverging paths going perpendicularly off the sides.
The open space was hard-packed sand, without any other feature.
The sergeant gestured to the space. Have at it, Maam.
Tala grinned. Ill try not to damage it too much.
The guardswoman snorted. Kind of you. Is there anything else I can do to assist?
I think Ill be fine. Thank you.
With a slight bow, the other woman departed.
Tala walked out onto the sand, her feet barely scuffing it. Even so, she felt like it was at least a few feet deep. Just not used very often? It didnt really matter.
The sand was cool and rough on the soles of her feet, in a smooth sort of way, some getting between her toes. Yeah, Tala, its smoothly rough. She didnt have a lot of experience with sand, but the description seemed to fit.
Terry vanished from her shoulder, appearing on the roof nearby, already basking in the early morning sun. You do you, little guy.
She sat, cross-legged, in the center. Having just come from the Constructionist Guild, she had the incorporators on her mind. As such, she pulled out the three she possessed: cold water, hot water, and hot air. Huh, should I have gotten a cold air one, for completeness, and to cool off on hot days? Winter was almost upon them, though. Maybe, in the spring.
She regarded the devices. Splitting the flow of power increases difficulty. She grinned. With effort, she divided her natural influx of power into the three incorporators, as well as her own body and Flow.
Her reserves began to decline, but not rapidly. She did have vast magic-density, after all.
It was a tricky thing, splitting the magic five ways, but she was able to get a handle on it after a minute or so.
Once she had the pathways locked in place, she created the void around her gate.
A headache began building almost instantly as she strove to hold the six distinct mental tasks in place. But it worked.
The incorporators, which had been dormant, given the pathetic amount that had been funneled their way, suddenly activated. Two were held in her right hand, not overlapping, and the third in her left.
Cold water and hot air trickled out on one side, and hot water dribbled onto the sand on the other.
It was a lackluster amount, but she was doing it.
She clenched her jaw, forcing the division of power, and the void, into existence by sheer force of will.
She held it for ten seconds.
Twenty.
Twenty-five.
Her concentration slipped.
Her vision fuzzed, and her head rang as if someone had struck her with a hammer.
Tala groaned, flopping backwards onto the hard sand.
The pain passed quickly, relatively speaking. Shed only held the full complexity for less than half a minute.
If her estimate was correct, she took less than three minutes to recover her mental coherence.
Ok. Not bad. She considered how to proceed.
She could repeat the performance, in theory stretching herself and improving, but that felt like a half measure. I need to rethink this.
At the most basic level, she was creating a suction force, pulling power through her gate. Then, she was directing that power down four equal channels, and one which was smaller, that went to her body.
She frowned. Something about that seemed inefficient. What if
She sat the cold incorporator aside and focused. Simple first.
She recalled how it had felt to empower each of these, less than an hour before.
She had felt the flow, felt the power.
She held one incorporator in each hand and created mental channels for the power, making the channels large enough for the amount of power that shed used earlier. Knowing of nothing else to demarcate the paths, since she wasnt working with power, she opened the paths as voids. In so doing, she made them ready for the power rather than letting the powers flow create the needed channel.
The newly created, internal canals lead to the two incorporators. Those pathways were utterly devoid of power, empty and hungry. They didnt move through her flesh, to interfere with her inscriptions; instead, they existed on some deeper level. The domain of magic and the soul? Her body and soul were separate, so it made sense that her body would be mostly devoid in that aspect.
Tala hesitated.
To fight, you have to be able to strike back, and that is easiest if you can block or otherwise create openings. The speaker looked a bit awkward. Thats pretty basic to any fighting style, Mistress. We can focus purely on dodging, and if youre right about your endurance you could probably win isolated encounters via attrition, but youd be worthless in defending someone else, and youd fail horribly against groups, especially if they were at all intelligent. Wasnt that one of your core goals?
Tala nodded, frowning.
Then, against groups, you need to be able to finish individual encounters quickly, before you can be swarmed, assuming you cant just shrug off all comers. In either case, you need to know what damage you can take, of what types, and how to use that to create openings to take down your opponents. Any blow that you could have taken, which you dodge instead, is an attack that you could have made, but didnt.
A man stepped forward. Dodging is wonderful, but its a response. If you only respond, you let your enemy control the fight.
Tala sighed, glancing at Rane. He was grinning happily. Hes loving this He nodded, adding his thoughts, Theyre right, of course.
She rolled her eyes. Fine, fine. But why jumping? Im glad to know I have an impressive vertical leap, but even I know that you usually want to keep your feet on the ground, if you can. She did not think back to the arcanous birds, snatching her and carrying her through the air. Nope. Not thinking about that.
Every one of the students turned to regard a younger woman near the back. She shuffled her feet, glancing down before sighing and stepping forward. That is the objection they had
Tala cocked an eyebrow. So? It was a bit funny that Tala had thought of her as younger, the other woman was likely at least three- or four-years Talas senior. Maybe more, given how badly I misjudged Lyn
Well, it comes down to one thing: Can you increase the effect of gravity on yourself? I mean acceleration, not just weight.
Tala opened her mouth to say: No. but hesitated. Technically? Yes. Why?
The other woman grinned wickedly. I knew it. The reason that leaps and acrobatics are so dangerous is that everything behaves the same, once airborne. If you slow and fall twice as fast as your enemies think you will, then their instincts will be on your side, and theyll struggle to compensate. Opponents dont consider how fast youll fall, its a known quantity on an instinctual level. They wont even consider it. If you are affected by gravity more strongly, that would open a whole host of options to you that anyone else would be foolish to try.
Tala considered that for a long moment. It would lower my capacity, make me slower.
At first, probably, but youre faster than normal, now, and your body should adjust.
Tala found herself nodding. That has merit.
The student beamed. Thank you, Mistress. She looked around at her fellows happily, standing a bit straighter.
Well, then She looked at the device theyd brought out, returning to topic of her cut-ability. It had a blade, and a very precisely controlled actuator. Lets see how hard it is to cut me She sighed. Its going to be a long morning.
* * *
The sun was past high noon when the testing was finally completed.
Tala had been broken, stabbed, sliced, punctured, burned, and corroded. Shed balanced and snatched, leapt and pushed. Truthfully, shed lost track of all theyd had her do, even with her improved memory. That really shouldnt be possible
Alright, then. So you have what you need?
The students looked around at each other, nodding enthusiastically.
The instructor gave a bow. Yes, I believe we do. Thank you. When he straightened, he smiled. We will have the foundations completed in a day or so, but it would help if you can get the gravity modifications in place, so that we can understand their extent. Much will be the same as for any human-shaped fighter, but we will be able to fine-tune it as your skill advances.
Tala sighed and nodded. She suspected that she already had the inscribings to enact the gravity alteration, but she wanted Hollys input, and she thought an additional set for her feet would be useful as well. I dont want to be breaking everything I walk on I should be able to have that by tomorrow. Expect a fourfold increase in my acceleration due to gravity, if Im able to get it to work.
We can find you, here, then? I took the liberty of reserving this training yard for your use for the time being.
Thank you, that was incredibly kind. Yes, I should be here, tomorrow morning. But weve set the day after as the start of true training and work on the fighting style, correct?
The clarification was acknowledged, and the class thanked her and departed, talking animatedly amongst themselves.
Adam walked over to her. Youre progressing quickly.
She shrugged. Its nice to be fully inscribed, finally. She hesitated. Well, nearly so.
Rane approached. I still cant believe that you were walking around with an incomplete set.
Im not blessed with boundless money.
Rane twitched at that but didnt comment further.
Adam cleared his throat. Well, Ill be your opponent for most sparring for the class in the coming days. I do hope for a bit of a challenge. He smirked.
Tala rolled her eyes but found herself smiling. Ill do my best. Ill try not to hurt you too badly.
He laughed. Thank you. My wife would be cross if I died. Well have a healer on hand if were to fight, though.
She looked around. Right. You have access to those Why not have one, now? I was certainly injured a lot, today.
You said you could heal. We believed you.
Still might have been nice
While we work with many healers, they arent an unlimited resource.
Fair enough.
Adam glanced to Rane, then back to her. Well, Ill leave you to it. Ill be excited to see whats changed, tomorrow. He bowed slightly to her and to Rane, then departed.
Rane cleared his throat. So you still available for lunch?
She quirked a smile. Sure. You paying?
Sure.
Then, lets get to it. The poor boy doesnt know what hes signed up for. Shed try to take it easy, but she was hungry after all that theyd put her through, and all that her healing inscriptions had needed to repair.
After you, Mistress Tala.
Thank you, Master Rane. As they began walking, and after Terry flickered to her shoulder, she glanced towards Rane. Did you have any place in particular, in mind?
Well, Im not from around here, so my knowledge is limited, but I tried a place yesterday that had fantastic noodles. They had them available with all sorts of topping and sauces. We could go there.
Master Rane?
Hmm?
That sounds wonderful.
Chapter 80: That Has MeritTala reached the indicated building at the edge of the Guardsmens training yard and was met in the entrance as soon as shed stepped inside.By the insignia, the woman who met Tala was a sergeant, though Tala had never met her. Sergeant.Mistress Tala. Welcome. I found you on the approved access list, but there wasnt much beyond that. I was told you wish to use our training yard? The sergeant eyed Terry with a mixture of interest and caution but seemed to have decided not to comment.Or another space, if that is preferred. I will be here many mornings to assist with one of the classes, and it would be convenient if I could train around those times, or if I have need of a space at other intervals.She nodded. Understandable. However, our facilities are generally only used by those in, or directly benefiting, the Guardsmans Guild. I can check with the teacher of the class, to see if your training, here, would qualify.That could work. Im really not sure what hell say.NvlRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Novln.Very good, Mistress. Please wait here.Certainly.Tala considered what she would do to train if they gave her a space. I guess it depends on what the space will bear. She smiled, thinking about the class of people coming up with tests for her abilities. What madness am I about to be subjected to?The sergeant returned a few minutes later. Mistress?Mmm? Yes?There is a courtyard set aside for today, and if I understand correctly, it has been reserved for your use, in conjunction with the class, going forward.Oh! Thank you.Right this way.They walked through clean, sparsely decorated corridors, until they came to a place where the current corridor was open on one side. The hallway surrounded a fairly large courtyard, providing a covered walkway all the way around with a few diverging paths going perpendicularly off the sides.The open space was hard-packed sand, without any other feature.The sergeant gestured to the space. Have at it, Maam.Tala grinned. Ill try not to damage it too much.The guardswoman snorted. Kind of you. Is there anything else I can do to assist?I think Ill be fine. Thank you.With a slight bow, the other woman departed.Tala walked out onto the sand, her feet barely scuffing it. Even so, she felt like it was at least a few feet deep. Just not used very often? It didnt really matter.The sand was cool and rough on the soles of her feet, in a smooth sort of way, some getting between her toes. Yeah, Tala, its smoothly rough. She didnt have a lot of experience with sand, but the description seemed to fit.Terry vanished from her shoulder, appearing on the roof nearby, already basking in the early morning sun. You do you, little guy.She sat, cross-legged, in the center. Having just come from the Constructionist Guild, she had the incorporators on her mind. As such, she pulled out the three she possessed: cold water, hot water, and hot air. Huh, should I have gotten a cold air one, for completeness, and to cool off on hot days? Winter was almost upon them, though. Maybe, in the spring.She regarded the devices. Splitting the flow of power increases difficulty. She grinned. With effort, she divided her natural influx of power into the three incorporators, as well as her own body and Flow.Her reserves began to decline, but not rapidly. She did have vast magic-density, after all.It was a tricky thing, splitting the magic five ways, but she was able to get a handle on it after a minute or so.Once she had the pathways locked in place, she created the void around her gate.A headache began building almost instantly as she strove to hold the six distinct mental tasks in place. But it worked.The incorporators, which had been dormant, given the pathetic amount that had been funneled their way, suddenly activated. Two were held in her right hand, not overlapping, and the third in her left.Cold water and hot air trickled out on one side, and hot water dribbled onto the sand on the other.It was a lackluster amount, but she was doing it.She clenched her jaw, forcing the division of power, and the void, into existence by sheer force of will.She held it for ten seconds.Twenty.Twenty-five.Her concentration slipped.Her vision fuzzed, and her head rang as if someone had struck her with a hammer.Tala groaned, flopping backwards onto the hard sand.The pain passed quickly, relatively speaking. Shed only held the full complexity for less than half a minute.If her estimate was correct, she took less than three minutes to recover her mental coherence.Ok. Not bad. She considered how to proceed.She could repeat the performance, in theory stretching herself and improving, but that felt like a half measure. I need to rethink this.At the most basic level, she was creating a suction force, pulling power through her gate. Then, she was directing that power down four equal channels, and one which was smaller, that went to her body.She frowned. Something about that seemed inefficient. What ifShe sat the cold incorporator aside and focused. Simple first.She recalled how it had felt to empower each of these, less than an hour before.She had felt the flow, felt the power.She held one incorporator in each hand and created mental channels for the power, making the channels large enough for the amount of power that shed used earlier. Knowing of nothing else to demarcate the paths, since she wasnt working with power, she opened the paths as voids. In so doing, she made them ready for the power rather than letting the powers flow create the needed channel.The newly created, internal canals lead to the two incorporators. Those pathways were utterly devoid of power, empty and hungry. They didnt move through her flesh, to interfere with her inscriptions; instead, they existed on some deeper level. The domain of magic and the soul? Her body and soul were separate, so it made sense that her body would be mostly devoid in that aspect.Tala hesitated.To fight, you have to be able to strike back, and that is easiest if you can block or otherwise create openings. The speaker looked a bit awkward. Thats pretty basic to any fighting style, Mistress. We can focus purely on dodging, and if youre right about your endurance you could probably win isolated encounters via attrition, but youd be worthless in defending someone else, and youd fail horribly against groups, especially if they were at all intelligent. Wasnt that one of your core goals?Tala nodded, frowning.Then, against groups, you need to be able to finish individual encounters quickly, before you can be swarmed, assuming you cant just shrug off all comers. In either case, you need to know what damage you can take, of what types, and how to use that to create openings to take down your opponents. Any blow that you could have taken, which you dodge instead, is an attack that you could have made, but didnt.A man stepped forward. Dodging is wonderful, but its a response. If you only respond, you let your enemy control the fight.Tala sighed, glancing at Rane. He was grinning happily. Hes loving this He nodded, adding his thoughts, Theyre right, of course.She rolled her eyes. Fine, fine. But why jumping? Im glad to know I have an impressive vertical leap, but even I know that you usually want to keep your feet on the ground, if you can. She did not think back to the arcanous birds, snatching her and carrying her through the air. Nope. Not thinking about that.Every one of the students turned to regard a younger woman near the back. She shuffled her feet, glancing down before sighing and stepping forward. That is the objection they hadTala cocked an eyebrow. So? It was a bit funny that Tala had thought of her as younger, the other woman was likely at least three- or four-years Talas senior. Maybe more, given how badly I misjudged LynWell, it comes down to one thing: Can you increase the effect of gravity on yourself? I mean acceleration, not just weight.Tala opened her mouth to say: No. but hesitated. Technically? Yes. Why?The other woman grinned wickedly. I knew it. The reason that leaps and acrobatics are so dangerous is that everything behaves the same, once airborne. If you slow and fall twice as fast as your enemies think you will, then their instincts will be on your side, and theyll struggle to compensate. Opponents dont consider how fast youll fall, its a known quantity on an instinctual level. They wont even consider it. If you are affected by gravity more strongly, that would open a whole host of options to you that anyone else would be foolish to try.Tala considered that for a long moment. It would lower my capacity, make me slower.At first, probably, but youre faster than normal, now, and your body should adjust.Tala found herself nodding. That has merit.The student beamed. Thank you, Mistress. She looked around at her fellows happily, standing a bit straighter.Well, then She looked at the device theyd brought out, returning to topic of her cut-ability. It had a blade, and a very precisely controlled actuator. Lets see how hard it is to cut me She sighed. Its going to be a long morning.* * *The sun was past high noon when the testing was finally completed.Tala had been broken, stabbed, sliced, punctured, burned, and corroded. Shed balanced and snatched, leapt and pushed. Truthfully, shed lost track of all theyd had her do, even with her improved memory. That really shouldnt be possibleAlright, then. So you have what you need?The students looked around at each other, nodding enthusiastically.The instructor gave a bow. Yes, I believe we do. Thank you. When he straightened, he smiled. We will have the foundations completed in a day or so, but it would help if you can get the gravity modifications in place, so that we can understand their extent. Much will be the same as for any human-shaped fighter, but we will be able to fine-tune it as your skill advances.Tala sighed and nodded. She suspected that she already had the inscribings to enact the gravity alteration, but she wanted Hollys input, and she thought an additional set for her feet would be useful as well. I dont want to be breaking everything I walk on I should be able to have that by tomorrow. Expect a fourfold increase in my acceleration due to gravity, if Im able to get it to work.We can find you, here, then? I took the liberty of reserving this training yard for your use for the time being.Thank you, that was incredibly kind. Yes, I should be here, tomorrow morning. But weve set the day after as the start of true training and work on the fighting style, correct?The clarification was acknowledged, and the class thanked her and departed, talking animatedly amongst themselves.Adam walked over to her. Youre progressing quickly.She shrugged. Its nice to be fully inscribed, finally. She hesitated. Well, nearly so.Rane approached. I still cant believe that you were walking around with an incomplete set.Im not blessed with boundless money.Rane twitched at that but didnt comment further.Adam cleared his throat. Well, Ill be your opponent for most sparring for the class in the coming days. I do hope for a bit of a challenge. He smirked.Tala rolled her eyes but found herself smiling. Ill do my best. Ill try not to hurt you too badly.He laughed. Thank you. My wife would be cross if I died. Well have a healer on hand if were to fight, though.She looked around. Right. You have access to those Why not have one, now? I was certainly injured a lot, today.You said you could heal. We believed you.Still might have been niceWhile we work with many healers, they arent an unlimited resource.Fair enough.Adam glanced to Rane, then back to her. Well, Ill leave you to it. Ill be excited to see whats changed, tomorrow. He bowed slightly to her and to Rane, then departed.Rane cleared his throat. So you still available for lunch?She quirked a smile. Sure. You paying?Sure.Then, lets get to it. The poor boy doesnt know what hes signed up for. Shed try to take it easy, but she was hungry after all that theyd put her through, and all that her healing inscriptions had needed to repair.After you, Mistress Tala.Thank you, Master Rane. As they began walking, and after Terry flickered to her shoulder, she glanced towards Rane. Did you have any place in particular, in mind?Well, Im not from around here, so my knowledge is limited, but I tried a place yesterday that had fantastic noodles. They had them available with all sorts of topping and sauces. We could go there.Master Rane?Hmm?That sounds wonderful.
