A Lesson in Death

"I don't think I could eat another bite."

Wesley pushed the tray away from himself which had, at one point, contained a lot of government-level food. Which was to say that it was filling and it wasn't exactly bad as far as taste, but the overal quality could have been better. Still, with as hungry as he was, the young man hadn't squandered the food at all, and eaten as much as he could handle.

He stood, slowly stretching his arms up over head as he looked over at Dr. Tenor, who sat a short distance away, writing some things down on a notepad. "So I don't know why you're still here, not that I mind having someone to show me around."

The man laughed softly before he stood up, shaking his head. "Look man, anything beats being stuck in that office all day. Anyway, you've got your afternoon classes to hit up. I figure with your Framework as it is, you wanted to do the Death classes?" the man asked, scratching the back of his head.

Wes nodded. "Yeah. The idea originally was to do both Life and Death as the two I focused on. I might switch that to Death and Space now, but I can do either one." He knew that his Skill would allow him to emulate just about any Skill that the others had... so being able to look at them up close and personal was something he was curious about.

"Sure, I get it. Let's get along to the afternoon Death Class then for your Basic Training. Just be prepared for a lot of less-than-happy dudes in that class if you get my drift. A lot of people in that Framework aren't the nicest bunch."

He knew that to be true. Space and Death individuals tended to be the most... difficult to deal with at times. That was just because their Framework tended to make them impulsive, which could lead to things being said that they didn't really mean. Much like as had happened with himself and Victoria just moments ago. "I'll be fine. Lead the way."

Dr. Tenor did just that, and made his way from the mess hall. Wes followed along, dumping what remained uneaten of his food and following along. He hoped there wasn't going to be a lot of exercising happening having just ate, but if there was he'd have to deal with it as best he could. But the doctor seemed to be taking a rather roundabout path to get to where he was going and before too much longer, the pair had wandered up toward a rather open field where several others were starting to gather.

"Here you are, kid. I'll go talk to the teacher, let them know what's up." The doctor moved out past toward where the instructor stood, a rather grouchy looking older fellow with salt and pepper hair and a rather thick mustache and eyebrows, making him seem a lot more intimidating than he likely was. Wesley glanced at him for a moment before making his way toward the others.

"Bro!" The call from Jay couldn't help but to lift his spirits by about five measures as he realized his brother was here as well, and he turned to see Jay approaching him. "Damn, man, I thought you'd be sleeping all day. They told us you were pretty beat up. You okay?" he asked, frowning a bit before he slugged the younger twin in the arm. "You had everyone freaked out, man."

Wesley winced, moving a hand up to where he had been punched and rubbing the flesh gently. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I slept awhile apparently, and then the doctor there made sure everything was good, brought me down to get some food and now here I am, just in time for class."

"Yeah. They told us we were clear to eat and everything, given what had happened, so good that you got some grub. Are you-"

"Excuse me. Are the two of you ready for class or shall I conduct without you?" the droning voice of the instructor came over, and the twins glanced back at the man, who arched an eyebrow in return. "If you would like to learn, please join with the rest of the class. There will be plenty of time for socialization afterward," the man spoke.

Wesley sighed, moving a hand up to his face for a moment as he rubbed at it before gesturing for Jay to go on first, and Wes followed along a little behind him. The pair of them moved around the other young men and women that were present before taking a seat on the ground near the back of the crowd, although still sitting up enough to be seen and to hear the instructor speak.

"Good afternoon. I am the afternoon instructor for the Death Frameworks. I am Instructor Faremont," the man commented. "Tier Two, Death Specialist." At that, a few murmurs went through the students. A Specialist had one hundred percent in a single attribute, which mean that this guy was extremely potentt with any Skill that he had that used Death as a Framework. "That means, of course, that I have a very wide array of Skills at my disposial."

The man nodded once before he made a gesture with his hand, forming a small ball of flame, which he then tossed up into the air and then rather effortlessly struck with another punch- and upon doing so, that sent a wave of flames out in the form of a small show of sparks. "Flames are my specialty within this, but of course, I have many other things to teach you as well. Now, who can tell me why those of us who are lucky enough to have the Death Framework Skill of Fireshaping often are seen on the front lines of battle against the Beasts?"

A hand shot up immediately, and as Wesley looked over, he frowned as he realized that it was Andrew. Great.

"Sir, the main reason is due to the fact that even the Beasts that have a Restore skill can't recover from severe enough burns. So we are often used to head that off as much as we can, and leave them unable to recover from the attacks of our allies." The answer was textbook and delivered in such a way that it almost felt rehearsed. Hell, as far as Wes was concerned, it may as well have been.

"Very good. You are correct. Restoration skills stemming from Life cannot recover damage that comes from Fire. That is important, and something I expect you all to remember. Yes?"

The hand was Wesley's, who was now determined to learn. He knew that some of the questions he was going to ask might be basic knowledge, but at the same time, he wanted to learn as much as possible. "What about Restore Skills that come from a Time Framework?"

The instructor nodded. "An important distinction. Generally speaking, the Skills of Restore that come from Time are passive and do not require one to actively use their Framework. But their very nature is not the restoration of your body, but instead to undo the damage done. They have the same end result, but the process is quite different. However, we have grown so used to calling everything that has a healing property a 'Restoration' Skill, that there is no reason to call it anything different at this point."

The man cleared his throat. "So as you may have expected, any of the Beasts we fight which have a Time Framework will still be able to recover from damage placed upon them from the Fireshaping, it is true. Of course, that is not necessarily always a problem. Who can tell me why?"

This question was met with silence, and Wes glanced at the others. THis wasn't something that any of them knew. There was no real schooling when it came to this, at least not for the younger ages. This is where the schooling started for their Fraemeworks, and as such, this is what he was having to learn, right here and now.

"No one? Shame. The answer is because, in general, the Time Framework Restoration recover slowly. They do not have a sudden healing burst, as the Life Frameworks do. All right. No answer to the question means fifteen minutes of combat practice. Everyone up."

There was a slight hesitation between all of those gathered as they began to stand, not quite sure what they were going to expect. "All right. You two loudmouths will be paired off. Everyone else, you find a partner to start a combat practice with."

At that, Andrew looked over to where Wesley stood, the haughty young man's eyes narrowing as he strode closer. "I don't know how you stole my Skills, but I'm going to show you that I'm the only one that has the true strength to use them," Andrew snarled as he pushed a finger into Wesley's chest.

The other young man just smirked. "I've been looking forward to this for awhile. Get ready to eat the dirt, asshole."