Ethornia: Tales of the Elementals

Chapter 4

We all paled, though Leofard tried to hide it.

"Wait, hang on a minute." Arcia pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, and read it. "You guys aren't class 1-A?"

We shook our heads.

"Then- Oh, you're the Re-Lapse class! That makes sense. Sorry, that whole speech was for a class training for the Elite Vanguard."

We looked at each other, and were wondering, who is this person?

"Anyway, Hi! I'm Arcia, and along with one other person, I will be teaching you how to fight, and control your Re-Lapse."

Leofard looked disgusted. "Excuse me, but do you really expect us to listen t-."

Leofard stopped, and we all saw why. A foot-long knife was impaled in the rock behind him, so close to him you could see a few hairs on the blade.

"I am very skilled with a knife, so be lucky I didn't hit anything vital. Don't ever try to insult me again. Now, if you will allow me, I will explain exactly how we'll be teaching you."

I do not want to cross this person, I thought. Looking at her at first glance, you wouldn't expect someone who was well skilled in battle. She looked like your average person, with sweat pants and a t-shirt. But she also had this air around her, like Mess with me, and it may be the last thing you do.

"Speaking of another person, here comes your other teacher!"

We looked where she was pointing, and saw someone flying down to us. In a whoosh of air, we saw that our other teacher was Celestia.

"Hello, class! Sorry, I'm late. I got held up at the Academy building. So, are you all ready? Also, I hope none of you made Arcia mad. She can get very aggressive." We all looked at Leofard. Then back at Celestia.

Fariel spoke first. "Leofard -"

"Ah. I thought something might happen between him and Arcia. Anyway, get your weapons if you brought them. And be prepared. first, we will test your knowledge of fighting skills and techniques. Then, we will teach you how to narrow down the area of use for your Re-Lapse. We'll practice until Leofard and Arcia join us. Now, who wants to go first in demonstrating some fighting techniques?"

Leofard was still talking with Arcia, so he wasn't volunteering. Serena looked like she was a little nervous, and Fariel was talking with her. Diane looked like she wanted to but was intimidated by our teacher. So, I stepped forward.

"Ah, Saluna! You're volunteering?" Celestia asked. She seemed to visibly sigh, but she was against the sun, so I couldn't tell. "Good, good. Now, I know you cannot use magic, but do you have any experience with weapons?"

"Actually, it's because I could not use magick that I studied the use of weapons. I was 2nd best in my combat classes." In truth, I was first, but I couldn't use magick, and therefore couldn't be given first in the class. So they gave it to an elfe named Arya, who was probably training to be an Elemental right now.

"Well, grab a weapon from the rack, and step up to the ring."

I headed to the rack and grabbed the chain scythes. I loved using these in practice, as they not only looked cool but were easy to carry, and were a fairly good weapon to use if you were able to. I practiced for many nights with these, and are now my choice of weapon. They were also good against Celestia's weapon, which was a gladius.

I walked up to the ring and stood facing Celestia.

"Alright. I will explain the rules, and then we will begin. We will fight until one of us is unable to continue, (which means we would be dead if this were real). Treat this like a real fight Saluna, so we can get the best results. If you surrender or step out of the ring, you forfeit the match. As such, I will not use my wings, and neither will Leofard. Now, all the practice weapons are guarded, and will only cause minor bruises if you are hit. However, they can still kill."