Lesson: Magic and Combat

(Mrs. Hemiko POV )

" Now wasn't that fun class, I find history positively endearing. Partially because of the knowledge it holds, and the other to laugh at the stupidity of the people who came before us."

" Now we're onto Magic a much more practical, and dare I say useful field of knowledge."

"For those of you who do know, for those of you who don't, and for those of you who haven't figured it out already, The basics is where we start."

" Who here knows the four basic elements of magic?"

A student raises their hand

" Fire, water, earth, and wind?"

" Perfect, those are what we refer to as the four basic elements."

" Now who here knows how many types of magic there are total?"

" ... Anyone?"

" Correct! No one knows the true limit of magic. There are forms of magic that govern all aspects of life. Most of these magics cannot be used by normal people but it still falls in the realms of magic some rather mundane, others bazaar but it is all from the same source. ~Mana~."

"In it's truest sense magic is just the use of Mana to project ones will and imagination to the world trough an element. Magic can be a most beautiful display of individuality, but it's also good at killing things, and together they make the reasons why I love it so much!"

" Magic can be divided into four major groups. Basic, Origin, Compound and Unique elements that make up all possible affinities."

" Basic elements, as said before, are Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire. Origin elements are Light, Dark, Space and Time. and together they make the Cardinal elements."

" For the purposes of time and your sanity we won't be listing the combination elements now, that will come in later lesson. As for Unique elements, they are well, unique. It is close to impossible for two people to possess the same unique affinities unless it is related to ones birth, and it is impossible, by practical means, to replicate their effects, so in other words I don't know what they are."

"For combination magic, just imagine smashing two elements together and forming something new with properties of both and neither. Since we're on the subject, I have a perfect example, Alice please come to the front and demonstrate your Sunfire magic for the class."

'I think I may have scared the poor girl? but I didn't do anything. she's always been a little weird, maybe that's why.' Alice timidly approaches the front after a second a ball of light appeared in her hand.

" Impressive, your conjuring speed is not something you see every day in beginning first years, now show the class what a normal Sunfire attack is like."

"Uh, where do I shoot?"

" Good point ... you can shoot ... this."

I conjure an earth spell that creates a larger rock and shape it into a cube. I place it on a nearby desk and have her shoot the rock.

A beam of light travels quickly across the sky leaving a cylindrical hole in the rock cutting pretty deep.

" Impressive, Now show them the second form."

A ball of light one again appears in her hand and it turned into a little fireball.

" Alright now fire."

The ball was shot forward, and collided with the rock leaving, black marks, and knocking the Rock off the table

" Wonderful, now as you all can see, Alice's Sunfire has two different attacks that we call, basic attacks. They are the most mundane, and regular attacks possible with magic, but they are good representations of what I'm about to teach you."

" Alice, you may go sit down."

" Now, Sunfire is a Combination of Fire and light magic. As you could see Alice had two forms of attack, one was a beam the other was a fireball. These attacks are the same as the basic attacks of light and fire respectively."

" All this is a round about way of saying combination elements have properties similar to it's base elements. Now all elements have at least some similar attributes with their base elements which can be any of the Cardinal elements. The only exception is time and space. These magics when combined with another are all unique magics, except dimension magic, which is a combination of both Space and Time magic. For all intents and purposes it is about as common as a unique magic, but there have been times where multiple people have been able to wield this magic, so it is considered a Combination magic."

"Anyways, These properties show themselves most in how the Mana flows and basic attacks like Ms. Alice just showed us. You can tell what properties compound and unique elements take after with basic attacks. We'll go over this more later, but if your that interested, the library has plenty of books on this sort of thing."

" Now, onto the actual magic part. There are five types of magic, incantation, invocation, Spirit, Runic and free-lance manipulation."

"Incantation magic is the use of an incantation to create magic, in these spells you can say whatever you want but the more specific you are as to what the attack is the better, and stronger it will become. Some are capable of making incantations that last for minutes on end and require the assistance of multiple mages to cast. These take a while to cast, but are capable of the largest amount of destruction. Because they leave you open, they are not practical in Combat unless one is specifically trained for it. This is most commonly used for armies and large forces that have the manpower to produce and protect such large-scale attacks "

" Invocation magic is similar to Incantation magic, but these are specific incantations that are recognized by Mana itself. These must be said perfectly or the spell will blow up in your face. These are often stronger than regular incantations but impractical in the chaos and stress of battle. Failed spells can cause harm to the user and some failed invocations have actually killed their casters so be warned. These spells are most commonly used in alchemy because they have a calmer atmosphere in which to correctly and fluidly use these spells."

" Spirit magic, is the use of a summoned spirit to use magic. You still use the other forms of magic to activate an attack but the magic is amplified and influenced by the spirit. However, spirits can only amplify a limited amount of Mana, they are finicky creatures, and only they decide who uses them. So, if you are loved by spirits then it is a path you should consider going for, but otherwise it is not an option everyone has so don't stress too much. Most people don't bother with spirits and they get by just fine."

" Runic magic is the use of magic to ingrain spells onto objects. This is relatively new and only came around about twenty or so years ago. This has brought a revolution to recreational, everyday items but in actual combat it is impractical. Runic magic requires the knowledge of an entire Runic language to use but it can be used to systematically create enormous, potentially self sustaining spells. Unfortunately, Because it takes time and delicate precision to use, people don't use it to fight. It can only be used for traps and ally's can easily fall into them. I can count the number of mages that can use this in actual combat, and hold their own, on one hand, and they are some of the strongest mages that exist today."

" The last is Free-lance manipulation, or freeform casting. This form of magic takes a lot of Mana to use but it is immediate in it's effects. It's power is comparable to incantations, and it's the most flexible of all the types of magic. It allows you to create your own spells by simply implanting your will into your Mana. The more focused you are and the better you imagine your result the better. This is essentially the same as incantation casting, but it uses an overload of mana to circumvent the chant time."

" You've heard me mention Mana manipulation a few time and I bet your dying to know what that little skill you've had in you skill list for all this time actually does. No? Well too bad, I'ma explain it anyway."

" Mana manipulation is the skill that directly correlates with magic itself. It increases the flexibility, and ease in which someone uses Mana. This can result in, a lower Mana cost, greater potency of magic, decrease the strain of magic on your brain, and increase ones connection to your own magic."

" While not having as much an impact in direct damage as the level of the magic itself, Mana manipulation also can reduce the cost of Mana based skills and pretty much anything related to Mana benefits from it. That being said it is an incredibly hard thing to level up. it is the hardest of all the known skills to level up, but it is always gradually increasing so just keep training and it will grow eventually."

" Alright class, we've completed what we were going to cover today, tomorrow we'll go into further detail on magic theory and after comes practical training! Yay!"

" Now please leave, I get a break after this class ends so if you don't have business with me, don't doddle and get your buts out of class. "

" Also, for those of you who are taking combat classes you might want to hurry, if you're teacher is who I think they are, she won't accept people coming late. You'll find her in the guild arena so move it!"

(Mrs. Himeko POV End)

...

(Combat class teacher POV)

'Look at all the little punks coming to class all relaxed and laughing. I appreciate the job but Why does it have to be kids? They always are afraid of me and they never stick with it. They complain too much and always end up crying when things get too hard. Makes me want to kick their asses and teach 'em what life is. But I don't want to lose this job, all things considered it's rather relaxing. I'll figure this out later.'

" Now, it's time for class to start. Is everyone here?"

"..."

" Know what, don't care we're starting without them."

" Oh, never expected to see you here pipsqueak."

" You over there, with the cat ears, come here."

The little girl with black hair with peculiar highlights, cat ears and tail, seemed to be shocked out of a daze before replying "O-ok"

" You'll be my assistant from now on. Yep, this works out perfectly."

" Hello everyone I'm Talfa Cainin, I'll be you combat instructor for this year. You will address me as Ms. Cainin, or Ma'am understood?"

"..."

" Respond when I ask you a question! Understood?"

"" Yes Ma'am"" The class unanimously answered

" Thank you for agreeing on one name. Now, as I have just decided before you all, This little one here will be my assistant. Her job is to help me demonstrate certain maneuvers and how to react to them. This will be shown from both perspectives being bigger and smaller than your opponent. Some of you have already chosen your weapons you want to learn, some already are developing or being taught a fighting style, some have no clue whatsoever. That is irrelevant as of right now. We'll deal with that road block when we come across it."

" Miss Talfa can you pick someone else for you assistant, I'm not all that good with close combat."

" Remember you owe me, this will be payment enough, just no complaining. Understood?"

" Yes, ma'am."

" Good."

" Now today we will be running some basic tests. This will be used to determine where you all stand and how I should push you all to grow from physical activity not only level."

" This right here is a spyglass. Obvious to any onlooker, however, it has a unique enchantment on it It has a skill called Godsight. A simple glance with this glass will tell me all of your stat totals. If I see any slackers I will force you to exercise to my specifications, until all of your stats have grown ten each! You won't stop until you collapse and we will continue every day until you have succeeded! I'm telling you now if any of you force me to this I will be seriously pissed! You'll be cutting into my personal time! Understood!?"

"" Yes Ma'am""

" Wonderful let's begin" A smile spread across my face sending a shiver down the students spines.

They went through some standard tests, distance running, weight lifting, etc. to see where the students were with their physical abilities. Some of them supprized me with the extent of their physical abilities, others the lack thereof. The most impressive was Alice, the little kid I met just that mourning at the baths of all places. She was a bit of a paradox to me. I've been good at telling if I am a match for other fighters with just a glance, meaning I can typically gauge their strength from just looking. All my detections and feelings tell me she is on par with her peers but she seemed to be just barely ahead of all the rest of the class, which is still impressive in itself with her tiny frame, but something about it just bugs me, because when we first met I could feel she was far stronger. She didn't show any signs of holding back, but I can tell she's hiding something. I'm not just paranoid, right? On the first day of work, that would suck.

" Great everyone did better than I was expecting, which wasn't much. There was no crying and minimal complaining all things considered. You all can go to your next class were finished and it's about that time anyway. Oh, also before you go the things about the spyglass and the punishment, it was a lie. Your all pretty dumb to fall for it too."

I walk away laughing at the uproar that had started behind me before I remembered something. I spin around and look for Alice. Since she is my assistant I'll have to teach her some basics of the weapons we'll have to teach everyone. I'll see if I can snatch her from another class as well.

" Alice, come here for a moment."

" Yes, Ms. Cainin?" Alice said after leaving her small group of friends that she had started speaking to at the end of class.

" You can call me Talfa, but only you, alright?"

" Yes Ma'am."

" Good, Now I'm going to need to take you for your self study, and one of your career classes. Your my assistant, so I need to teach you a few things. You'll also be my extra pair of eyes during class. Okay?"

" Career classes?"

" Have you looked at your schedule at all."

" Not really, I forgot and have been winging it."

" Well, short description is they are classes to gain a profession outside of adventuring. Adventurers are cool, but we need other professions to help society run. Seeing your performance today makes me not feel guilty of taking you out of one of those classes but your state this morning tells me otherwise."

" I was startled alright. When a bunch of people you don't know start looking for you in a misty place where you can't see anything but they can see you is unsettling. But that's off topic, If you need me, I guess you can take me for one of the classes."

" Wonderful, now let's go. We don't have all day."

Alice turned to her friends, " I have something I have to do now, I'll meet up with you all later."

I brought Alice to the side of the arena, where a wall of weapons stood.

" Now you'll be learning how to use some rudimentary weapons. This will include, Great Swords, short swords, daggers, throwing knives, spears, javelins, shields, chains, whips, great axes, hand axes, and claws."

" Why so many?" Alice asked with a pale face after seeing the wide variety of weapons she would need to learn.

" Because, Everyone has their own weapon they would prefer. I need to teach them all, and you will help me. These are the basic shapes of most weapons. learn them all and you can use almost any weapon. This is why I asked for so much of your time. You'll be learning more indepth, and slightly ahead of the rest of your class, so just stay focused. Let's begin."

And like that They began their training. The first weapon they would start with was swords.