Our Continuing Days - Day 5, Part 4.2

[...] —This isn't about skill though. I'm talking about our methods. Senshin's is stupidly flawed, to the point I can hardly blame you for not noticing. Did you pick up on it, Chiaisei? I did lay it on pretty thick during our argument, but I don't know if you heard it. — I technically wasn't her instructor any longer, but seeing as I was still her senior I figured it might be good to use that previous job as an excuse to direct the occasional question like this. You can't really expect anyone to learn everything there is to know about a field immediately, and the longer you can offer help to someone learning, the better, in my eyes. 

—Well, the scolding was pretty clear. He follows the theory for his styles almost literally. It seemed like Fasnilthar used her own knowledge over that same theory to create methods of predicting his movements during the match, thus leading to the one sided exchange in question. I doubt many would have noticed this as easily as Fasnilthar, but given how well known Senshinzako's source is as well this tendency likely carries an element of risk with it. — Hearing her, I nodded in approval and placed a hand on her head, seeing as we were sitting side by side. She seemed to like it when I did this sort of thing, and in that turn it still appeared to apply. 

—Pretty much. It feels to me like his entire logic during battle comes down to selecting techniques and minimizing thought. He doesn't engage with the opponent much more than analyzing their spell set, and though he will vary in technique or spell type choices when under pressure, his tactics are incredibly repetitive. No matter how many times I put him down he just kept trying slight alterations of the same tricks. And with how textbook those plans are, just calling them predictable isn't even accurate by this point. Advanced trickery isn't exactly my speciality or anything, and even still, leading on his moves was so easy it felt like a joke. I don't even want to think about this method again. — After explaining as much, I took a sip of water. The topic was frustrating just to think about, so taking a moment to breathe helped.

—You know how in the Basics for Iscathnerin there are these massive sections for technical examples? After noticing how closely he was following the book's suggestions, I started mimicking parts of the stance adopted by the opponents in the examples. Once I realized he was making his plans based on the situation that matched my description the closest, planning around his moves went from easy to foolproof. Like, come on! Even if I hadn't noticed what he was doing, the opposition on those examples basically have golem levels of analytical skill! I tried teaching him some of this with subtlety as well*, but it feels like nothing short of a direct description of the issues I was finding would get through to him. I'm not even sure if I have what it takes to help in this case, at this point. — Admitting that made me feel more upset for a moment. Understanding someone's problems and knowing I don't have what it takes to help is always something that fouls my mood a little. 

(*I did mention two points during the beatdown itself, right? One of them is just "If you base everything you do on a single book, someone else who read it will read you like one", which was kinda explored already. The other was almost as simple. Senshin seemed to think trickery was something that resulted from specific types of magic and specific techniques, but you didn't need magic specialized in bullshit to get the drop on an idiot. In deception, the gap in smarts often matters more than the tools available to elude the target.)

Also, in case you're wondering how I put Senshin in around the 70s despite all of this shit, let me elaborate some things. One, despite his insistence on not using it, Senshin had a working head, and it looked to me like he was smarter than most other idiots I placed below that line. Second, the fact he could memorize books as dense as the Basics of any kind of spell casting either implied his memory was flawless, or at least that when it came to things connected to training, it pretty much was. Third, as much as his choice of attacking and defending methods was being directed by me, the way he thought was logical when making these decisions. For one, if Senshin for some reason decided trying to rush me was a good idea despite all of our experiences up to that point, I would have begun questioning his intelligence. 

Fourth and most important, this boy seemed to be absurdly insistent in getting better. In his own flawed ways, he had spent those entire rounds trying to select what best "form" could handle someone with my skill set. That, and neither the pain of getting hit over and over nor the fact he took a loss to that extent appeared to affect his composure that greatly, or at least not during the sparring itself. If anything, what frustrated me the most about Senshin was seeing someone with a lot of great qualities who went about combat in one of the most impractical and problematic ways I had seen to that day.

—This all would be bad in itself, but if it was all I wouldn't mind just telling him. The problem comes with how this interacts with the situation that got him sent here to begin with. It's just a hunch, though I feel this side of him is connected to his current rejection by the sisterhood. Just yapping about it like usual might have some negative consequences for him. 

—I think I understand where you're going with this. You're worried due to the source of the book in question, right? Lady Kalfisnar is not someone many would advise you to take literally. Even if it is a book concerning magic, some level of attention towards her words are always considered a requirement to coming in contact with her writings. — Chiaisei was the first to say anything about it, but it looked like both of them had the same issue I did. 

—That… Does sound somewhat worrisome. It's been a while since I've read Iscathnerin's Basis, so allow me to verify something. I don't recall the Lady being particularly serious during the introductory or descriptive portions of that book, though how serious do you believe she had been over its contents? … I see. I believe I've begun sharing your worries for our colleague. — Instead of giving Sowanar an immediate answer, Chiaisei and I just spent a second or two staring at him after his final question. The memo was passed effectively. 

—Lady Kalfisnar herself frequently advertises that book as the beginning of her "Unreliability Trials"*. The common understanding is that although all forms of martial magic demonstrated in those examples are accurate to the techniques of Iscathnerin based styles, she herself never aimed for them to be viewed as instructive material. On the contrary, there are quite a few satirical warnings on her part concerning how predictable the opponents in those scenarios act compared to real people. Many are also of the opinion the massive list of "postures", "stances" or "forms" she offered were intended as a warning towards the futility of trying to prepare yourself against all possibilities present in magical battles, and thus the significance of maintaining a flexible view of combat. 

(*A reminder that Kalfisnar not only holds the title of "History's Least Reliable Narrator", but that it is a title she actively pursued, holds with pride and gave to herself after passing sufficient trials upon her talents. Can you even call her unreliable if she is doing it intentionally?)

—In other words, he completely missed the point. If anything, he went in the opposite direction of her point. This isn't what got me the most worried though. This might not be the only case of him taking Kalfisnar literally either. Even if we ignore the fact this is Kalfisnar, wouldn't just taking in her words by heart clash a bit with the way the sisterhood treats their teachings? In fact… Nalfimiria did mention the way he saw the sisterhood was incompatible with reality. You think this might be connected? — I was asking this while looking mainly at Chiaisei, since she was part of that conversation as well and seemed to know more about these scholarly topics than me or Sowanar. 

—Likely so. Passively intaking knowledge without ever engaging with it goes starkly against how the sisterhood teaches its own. Even if the source is a Greater Aspect, it is their own words which inspire such an act. If this is connected to a larger incompatibility, then it might be because his view over the Greater Ones and the sisterhood of their making carries similar traits, which falls far from how either side views the devotion of the Path Tracers. That in itself would already count as a failure in Understanding, therefore not even granting him a chance to attempt to draw his Recognition, much less draw a Resolution. — Chiaisei declared, after thinking about the issue for a moment. It seemed she understood my line of thought immediately. Not only that, she understood it so well she took it to places I hadn't arrived at. I sat in silence for a second trying to put together the information I already had on the matter, before deciding there was a significant gap in knowhow about the specifics of the process in question between us. 

—Uh, Chiaisei? Toddler terms, please. Never been the best at studying things in that direction. — Not like I was completely ignorant on the subject and all, just that I never bothered reading much about the terms or categories the sisterhood used for their ceremonies. I figured the topic was about the vows, and to some extent the terms she used are self explanatory, but context could change their meaning greatly, so I wasn't about to take them as known without hearing that part out. 

—I see… I'll try to keep it simple, then. Those three stages refer to what is considered the test of a Path Seeker before they are able to complete their vows, though they are never officially declared by any of the Greater Ones. Understanding simply refers to the process of reaching compression regarding the specific goals of the Greater Aspects, alongside their norms for operation and general purpose for the Sisterhood. Recognition refers to learning which aspects of the Path appeal the most personally to you, and Resolution refers to turning that which has been recognized into vows you are capable of living by. In this case, we're fully focused on Understanding, since it's where Senshinzako is stuck. The main problem shouldn't need much discussion, at least.