[M] Imperial Battle Mage Academy [Holeypaladin and Kortaga]

[Kortaga]

So…humans did fighting in the arena if they were to train against each other? She had heard about these gladiator fights and was for some reason quite fascinated by them. She had a small amount of bloodlust in here that craved combat and watching those in combat always gave her a delight. So much so that standard training felt…empty…what could one learn by striking a blade against a non-moving enemy? At first when he mentioned illusion training she gave off in inward sigh. As she reached out feeling her legs straining against her stretches. As he mentioned it though it felt like this would be more hands on. If the illusions could hurt us…

She felt a pang of sweet joy spread in her heart. She got up having felt as if she was now quite limber enough to move. As she watched the man work she nodded to him showing that she understood how things work. Training with him would be an excellent way to find out what sort of man he was. Once again, everything was true in a fight. This would be far better than asking him to describe himself. When he gave her the elven scimitar she took it into her hand. It was a light quick striking blade. The craftsman ship was…fine, for a human making an elven blade. This could simply be prejudice though. The main issue she had was this expectation…She frowned slightly as she started to casual move it about. Sure she was familiar with it…

His question had hung in the air for a little too long as she was distracted and said, “Ahh…umm…no this will be sufficient. After all…it is merely practice yes? A warm up if you will, no need for us to go all out right?” He seemed like someone who took training very seriously and for that matter she normally did as well. Why waste the time on pointless training. Something was clearly wrong if he knew her but since he did not he probably would think she was a fool. She was acting the fool and she had no idea why…If she simply said it…

She moved the blade into her right hand. This was not her dominant hand but this was how she usually held a blade. He took up heavy armor and a pole arm and she admitted to be fairly impressed. “You are…quite adept at conjuration.” She would never admit it but he really was quite skilled. Better than anything she could make, though she normally just stuck to basic things. If she tried she was certain she could surpass him…

Her weird ego aside, she noticed he was about to take this training fairly seriously. If she messed up at the beginning he would see her as nothing more than a fool. She should not place her ego so high, especially not in combat. As such instead of rejecting armor…though not very personalized, “Yes…I suppose light armor would suffice. I will make sure to bring my specific gear next time…”

As such she moved to stand closer to him. She would be getting pretty excited at this point. Her feet barely holding still. She had a genuine smile on that she dazzled when she looked at him. This was where the good part came in. She would be fast, she would earn his and everyone other persons respect.

She would twirl the blade in her offhand. Once the actual fight started there would be none of that, but it did keep her hand and fingers warmed up.

[Holeypaladin]

Though Siegfried was curious to see how the elf would perform in combat, he was somewhat skeptical of her, and decided not to judge her until he had seen her fight. Though she had expressed interest in becoming a knight, the fact that she had referred to his reproduction of weaponry as "conjuration" indicated that she had little idea of the Foundry circuit that defined most Arcane Knights, and so he figured she still had a long way to go.

"It's not conjuration," he explained. "The Foundry circuit is a specialized magical circuit that allows me to replicate any weapon stored within the Foundry registry. That particular sword was created by a High Elven sword dancer, some five hundred years ago... or well, the original of it was. It's a copy, but it should perform just as well as the original in combat." The Foundry circuit he was referring to was a little-known source of magic imbued into the very genetic material of male descendants of someone called the Founder. He had heard rumors of females who could be artificially imbued with a Foundry circuit through a Spirit Melding ritual, but hadn't met any.

Trying not to laugh at her mention of light armor, he instead nodded at her words. "Knights typically wear heavy armor... but I'll see what I can do," he said. Searching the Foundry registry, the only thing he could find that came close to her size was the ceremonial armor worn by the Emperor's guardians. He considered it light as it was made of a celestial alloy that way lighter than iron, though elves might consider it medium as it wasn't cloth or leather, but he figured it was close enough.

"One moment," he said, placing his hand on the elf girl's shoulder. Channeling his foundry circuit, magical energy replaced her traditional garments with the fairly light plate and mail outfit. It looked good on her, of course, as the armor was designed to be visually appearing, but magical enchantments also made it quite effective in battle. Spending very little time admiring the way it fit her slender form, Siegfried said, "Let's start with something easy."

"Training simulation, program level C. Orc raiding party. Prepare." Speaking these words, the magical symbols in the room activated, and very lifelike depictions of Orc raiders began to materialize all around the two. "Are you ready?" he asked the elf, waiting only moments before saying, "Activate simulation." At his final words, the orc illusions began to move, moving to surround the two in order to attack them from all sides.

[Kortaga]

When he mentioned that it was not conjuration but something more along the lines of replication she gave him a blank stare. Did it matter…? Clearly it did. She would need to ask him more about it once the time came.

He nodded but mentioned that knights typically only wear heavy armor. Well…I am not a knight yet am I? Maybe I will start a new trend? She was ratting on him pretty hard despite the fact that he was making equipment for her. She just wanted to get to the good stuff.

He moved and put a hand on her shoulder and when he did she flinched. She was surprised to realize that no pain came through her. She had been expecting him to hurt her. Instead when she tentatively opened her eyes she noticed she was wearing…not very much. It was…lightish medium armor and while she would not it was uncomfortable…she blushed slightly even glancing over and noticing that he himself took a small amount of time to check her out.

Do not grumble…it’s better than what you had…

She felt a need to tuck on the bottom part of the shorts or skirt whatever it was. She felt naked…

As he started to speak a bunch of orcs appeared. When asked if she was ready she simply smiled, “Yes I have been waiting for this.” Once it was activated they started to move and surround the two of them. Siegfried did not move and as such she did not either. While she had never fought with someone…damn her family making her fight alone…she really needed to watch herself. She was always explosive and cared very little about collateral damage. If she hurt Siegfried though that would be a problem. Her basic training did come in first. With her left hand she allowed mana to trickle out of her index finger and she drew a symbol. “Ang rív than…” *Iron Bark Shield*, whispered from her lips. An elvish Abjuration spell that would hopefully compliment this armors defenses. It was not very powerful but it was quick to cast.

The orcs were moving in a smart manner not like the ones she had read about. She saw the disadvantage they would have if the backs left each other. “Siegfried while I am not worried I am a partial to flawless victory. I’ll cover your back, move freely.” What she aimed to do was use her natural speed and lighter armor to simply move and stick to his back. She would follow him wherever he went. This was not her preferred fighting style but she wanted to show she could be a team player.

She preferred dodging to parrying but her absolute goal was keep his back safe so she would improvise. He seemed used to leading…really it was on her if she could follow…

[Holeypaladin]

Siegfried got the impression that the elf girl was unsatisfied with the equipment he was providing for her, despite the fact that he was doing her a favor as she hadn't brought her own. He tried not to hold elves to the same prejudice that most humans did, but it was difficult not to see them as pompous, arrogant little creatures with a massive superiority complex when so many of them acted like that. Thankfully, however, this particular elf remained quiet, so perhaps she was better than many of her kind in that regard, at least.

He tried not to react too much at her obvious discomfort with the moderately revealing armor. If she reacted so strongly to the armor, then she'd have an even harder time with her Academy apprentice robes once she received them, as the trend for comfortable clothing in the hot weather environment had led to the development of quite the revealing garments for academy apprentices. The male equivalent was less revealing, but less comfortable in the heat, as well, so it was a double edged sword in that regard.

As she spoke up, he gave her a nod. "As you wish," he said, figuring she could fight as she preferred. Though he felt confident in his ability to deal with these orcs on his own, he also recognized that small group tactics were inherently beneficial in these situations, so practice in working together against simple opponents would provide them both with the expertise necessary in doing so against stronger enemies. "I recommend eliminating the archers first, then," he said, incanting "Fethos^shield" in the Draconic language to abjure forth a disc-shaped shield of force energy which hovered in front of him, deflecting the projectiles fired from the orc bows and crossbows.

He noted the elven magic she had used to reinforce her armor, recalling how a fairy's allergy to weaponized iron and steel caused armor and weapons to interfere with their ability to cast spells. The armor he had provided for her, however, was of a celestial alloy, and therefore wouldn't interfere with fairy magic. His own magic was of Draconic origin, so iron allergies didn't apply as he stepped forward, swinging his polearm to sever two orcs in half as he made his way to the nearest archer, his force shield blocking an arrow as he thrust his polearm forward, impaling the orc archer on the tip, relying on the elf to watch his back as he struck down any orc that came within range of his brutal polearm.

[Kortaga]

When Siegfried said as you wish she could not help but smile at that. She could get used to someone saying that to her. When he mentioned that they needed to deal with the archers first she completely agreed with that. In most training courses elves were taught to defend their ranged units since that is what their specialties were. When he spoke in the draconic language she felt herself want to shrink and hide; a shiver crawling along her spine at the same time. She seemed confused…why would he not speak in the human tongue? She had only been around elves and it would have been weird to hear one casting in draconic…at least in her mind.

As they traveled she kept right up with him jumping backwards to catch up. Her feet barely leaving the ground almost as if she was floating behind him. As he cleaved two of the orcs in front of himself, two orcs ran up to attack them. Probably trying to take advantage of the slow movement after a pole arm came down. She could not dodge for if she did they would hit Siegfried. She was annoyed but she had to make do.

She felt the larger sword of the orc crash down onto her blade, she felt the impact and allowed her arm to give a bit to absorb the shock. She was unaccustomed to these types of blades but she had seen them used. She was using it wrong attempting a full block with them but she figured she should stick to her own guns then attempt something she did not know when it could hurt another. The second Orc that came up attempted to cleaver her in half. With her pinned like this she would normally be in trouble, however she had another idea. “Holui Galad!” Opening her left hand she allowed a bright light to escape her hand for just a brief moment. Siegfried was facing away from her so she did not feel a need to inform him. She closed her eyes in time with the light and allowed the sword she was blocking to fall and slam into the ground. Moving quickly she stabbed her blade into the eyes socket of one orc, she kicked off of that orc and with a leap stabbed her hand into the eye sockets of the other.

She made sure to twist her fingers as she tripped the Orc and she slammed him into the ground pushing in harder with her hand. She pulled her hand free and repeated the process with the other blinded one. The shock would only last a few seconds but it did give her a chance to break free. “Open back!” Her way of saying watch yourself. She pulled the Elvish weapon free and threw it like a long dagger into another orc who wielded a crossbow. She already knew that would not kill him but it would cause problems. She also wondered how much damage the illusions took. Maybe it would be enough for training purposes?

As she moved and slide back into place beside him she merely said, “Returned…” She had no weapon now which meant she would be relying mostly on magic. Her hands were lethal though against armored foes unless she could sneak into eye sockets…which she was already pushing one lucky shot…meant she would need to do this a different way. If she counted everything they had half the orcs down. She had not checked how many archers they had like an idiot, but she let out, “Two confirmed, one unsure, nothing at 6 two at four and five.” Meaning that most of the enemies would be either to his sides which he could see or in front of him.

Did Illusions feel fear?

[Holeypaladin]

Siegfried paid little mind to the elf girl's confusion... nor did he particularly notice it. To him, it was completely normal for humans to use Draconic incantations, since unlike elves, they had no Fairy heritage of magic to draw from and had been a non-magical race prior to the teaching provided by silver dragons back in the early days of human civilization. So it was completely normal for Draconic to be the language of human magic, and was therefore required for University education.

Stepping forward towards the next closest archer, he twirled his polearm with surprising speed and agility, dispatching a couple orcs as they attempted to protect their archer before removing the head of the archer himself with a swift blow. Though the polearm was considerably heavier than a sword, it was balanced well enough to be used effectively in combat, and Siegfried had more than enough strength to effectively use the weapon, so when an orc tried to take advantage of a presumably slow backswing, he found himself sliced in half as the backswing came faster than the orc had predicted.

"Got it," he said as the elf gave him a heads up that she wasn't at his back, making a quarter turn to deliver a lethal strike to an orc who had taken advantage of his open back. He frowned as he noted out of the corner of his eye how the elf girl had discarded her weapon. "What school of swordsmanship teaches you to discard your primary weapon?" he commented, shaking his head slightly as he thrust his weapon through another orc.

Deciding to increase his offensive power, he incanted in Draconic once again, "Bekir nar, shochraos." In response to the Evocation, the blade of his polearm began to radiate a powerful static charge of electricity, and as he swung several times with his polearm, waves of lightning began to radiate from the blade, striking the orcs at a distance, their bronze and iron armor only conducting the charge and frying them within. "My side is clear," he said once the remainder of the orcs had collapsed from either the polearm itself or the lightning magic that still surged within his polearm.

[Kortaga]

"What school of swordsmanship teaches you to discard your primary weapon?"

A playful smile and giggle would escape her as he commented on that. Well are you not my primary weapon in this fight? Now that they were not completely surrounded she was able to take a more back stance in their formation. She was a mage deep down and a practiced swordswoman but she was not what would be called an Arcane Knight. This fight was slowly showing her that she had been a bit presumptuous to call herself that. She would apologize after everything was over. Since she did not want to forget…she figured she would follow suit and wrap this up with him.

Watching the lightning come out of his pole arm she smiled…ohh…he is quite smart.

She was prepping a similar strategy herself. She was whispering into her hands, considering the noise of his lightning she would probably be impossible to hear. “Pelekta true ar' ripa, me'a dulin…” Soft as a feather she opened her hands she felt the drain from her as she pulled hard to create this magic. In her hand was now eight small lightning humming birds. With her intention she looked at the last remaining orcs on her sides and threw the birds like throwing knives.

The orcs saw this coming and would attempt to dodge only for the little birds to spread their wings to move towards their targets like little homing projectiles. Electricity was very effective against armored enemies. She watched as the tiny birds, two a piece, plunked into each remaining Orc. The electricity sounded like a hundred small birds chirping for a few seconds before vanishing.

"My side is clear” she heard him say. She turned to him with a smile. Giving him a bow and said, “Mine as well.” She felt a little lightheaded which would go away in a few moments. She might need to meditate a bit to recover some mana from the nature around her, though now that she thought about it…there was not a whole lot of nature here was there? She suddenly realized she should probably not expend mana as frequently as she did in the forests of home. A bit of panic crossing her face at this realization.

As she resumed her position she would briskly walk over to where her weapon lay and pick it up. As to using it she cleared her throat and said, “I…admit…I am at a loss on what to say.” She walked back over to her stalwart knight and said, “The armor is marvelous, but I admit I do not know how to fight with this. I have watched but never really taken the time to learn it.” She looked at how efficient he looked, while she was not breathing hard she wondered how much mana this man had, he used a heavy weapon and used it efficiently while wielding solid magic.

She could have handled the orcs by herself but he had demonstrated the level each of these knights were at, as a student! Something she was unsure if she could place herself into. She bit her lip and gave Siegfried a quarter bow, paused and then a full bow speaking softly, “I underestimated you and your people. I am sorry for acting better than you. Your skills are impressive and I have come to respect the title of Arcane Knight, of which I feel I fall short on.” While he had not done anything impressive on the outside, she saw what it really took to reach his level, of control with both magic and swordsmanship. Even if she beat him in a fight, that would mean little for his dedication and prowess. His talent and potential was what she was looking at more so now.

She lifted her body and spoke,“Diola lle, Edan.” She paused for a moment and then lowered her head slightly again and said, “I mean thank you, Siegfried.” Humility was not her strongest suit but she intended to work with it all the same. Really she was reaching out but was unsure how. Maybe there were others who she could reach to here but…well she felt like she could really work with him. While she was serious her face was a little pink at the concept. He might see her just as foolish and small. He worked hard for all he had and she…well she had worked but there was a huge difference in their dedication.

She figured his ego would inflate at being complimented by an elf for his magic. She had terrible visions play out of what was about to happen but she tried her best to keep herself here and now. Her over dramatics would not serve her here.

[Holeypaladin]

As he cleared his side of the orc attackers, Siegfried noted from the corner of his vision the tiny birds of electricity landing on the orcs before the thundering sound of lightning signaled their end. Hearing the elf say that her side was clear, he gave a single nod and stood straight, allowing his polearm to dissipate as the short fight had reached its conclusion. "Not bad," he said, turning his attention back towards the elf. "I understate things a lot, by the way," he remarked, hinting that his "not bad" comment had been just such an understatement and that the elf had done quite well.

Watching as she walked over to recover her weapon, the knight loosened his control on it, and the elven scimitar faded seemingly back to the nothingness from which it was created. "Well, you're in the right place to learn now," he remarked. "That particular set is made from a celestial alloy, so it won't interfere with fairy magic... but the Academy will also require you to learn Draconic incantations for your spells and modify your casting techniques to allow for steel armor, as well."

Noting the way she bowed towards him and apologized, Siegfried gave a shrug. "Think nothing of it," he remarked, having understood the elven words without her needing to translate them. "You've got a good bit of talent, for an elf," he admitted. Though elves tended to have a higher aptitude for magic than humans, on average, Siegfried had been through the painful procedure of having powerful magical circuits inscribed into his being, and no longer considered himself to be human... though it seemed that Nephinae still considered him such.

"We could try this again sometime, if you want," he remarked. "I'm going to dismiss your armor now, though," he warned her, giving her time to prepare and perhaps cover herself up as the armor began to fade around her form, to be replaced moments later by the clothing she had been wearing prior to the fight, though the few moments between the time her armor vanished and the time her clothing reappeared had been the reason for his warning to the girl.

"What's your next class?" he asked her. "I can walk you there, if you like." As for himself, he had a bit of free time before his own class.

[Kortaga]

When Siegfried told her that she had not done badly she puffed out her chest a bit. She was quite happy with herself. It was her first time fighting the illusionary enemies and while normal enemies would take a better beaten than these guys, she knew and hopefully he knew, just how strong she really could be. She brushed a hand through her hair and said, “Naturally, and that was casting without a catalyst. I can do amazing things with them. Just you wait and see!” It was not a boast but she did want him to think she was amazing. What girl didn’t? It might have been weird that she took not bad as a compliment but it was vastly more than what she got at home.

She watched as the elven dagger vanish and she was quite surprised. She also noticed that his polearm was gone as well. This…confused her. He said it was not conjuration and yet they vanished after use? Maybe he was just confused. When he mentioned learning draconic she shivered a bit. In terms of magic casting it was like fire and water in her opinion. Dragons were forceful and natural disasters whereas fairies were natural and flowing. She gave a sheepish nod though know that at least learning it would not do her any harm. She thought about how little she heard draconic…it was like an evil language to her. Only heard when people were really angry at each other.

When he mentioned she had good talent for an elf at first she wanted to lay into him but as she looked…she really did not feel a need to defend herself. He had complimented her and he probably did not mean it as a backhanded compliment. She just ate it. Unhappy as she was…she thought she was starting to understand him just a little bit.

He mentioned they could try this again sometimes and of course she thought that would be a great idea. That was at least until her clothing started to fade. Her face flushed as she felt herself caught into the trap. “REALLY!? AT LEAST TURN AROUND!” She quickly moved to get behind him and stared daggers at him while the change occurred. How made could she really be? He gave her armor and a weapon. He warned him in advance so it’s not like he was trying to take advantage of her. Finally he was a solider and they usually changed together for efficiency purposes. He would not look at her like an object but she had never done that without anyone so she was more the issue here. “Thanks at least…for the warning…” She was not going to call him an idiot or a pervert. He was being rational. What more could she said.

As he asked her about her next class she walked back in front of him when her clothing came back. Still red from the situation. “My schedule does officially start till tomorrow. Today I merely need to gather my books and clothing. I was told by the headmaster to follow a knight around since it’s what I was applying for. Though I guess I should ask you as we walk. What are the options here?” She actually really enjoyed his company and any classes she could take with him she wanted to but…

She could not say that. It seemed too much like she was coming onto him. He did not seem to show any interest in her minus her magic casting but then again they had known each other only a few hours. Who knew what was really going on.

[Holeypaladin]

Chuckling somewhat at how proud the elf was of her casting, the knight in training gave a simple nod. "It's good to be able to cast without a catalyst... a good, solid sword stroke can cut a wand in half with ease, and even staves can be broken with heavier weapon blows. A wizard who requires such in order to cast can be... quite useless once he is disarmed." Her "wait and see" comment hinted that she would wish to show him more... something he didn't particularly mind, as training alone could be boring.

At the embarrassed reaction in the elf girl as her armor faded, the knight could only laugh. "I did warn you, after all," he remarked, feeling no particular need to act shy when she was the one experiencing the brief nudity as her clothing shifted back. She didn't seem to be particularly mad, so he merely nodded at her words, and began to head towards the exit of the training room.

"Alright then," he said to her. "I'll show you to the registrar, at least. They'll be able to give you your robe and wizard hat, as well as assign you a list of books and a residence. I'm guessing you'll be staying in the dormitory. As for options..." he thought over the things he felt she might qualify as he led her through the halls towards the registrar, "A battlemage might suit you. They're good at direct combat and evocation. War wizard uses some evocation, but most of their spells are geared towards force multipliers to enhance the performance of the Imperial Army and Airship Navy. Then there's the Spellblade, which channels magic through a specially designed runeblade catalyst. There are more subtle roles, such as a magical infiltrator, and research jobs as well, but you seem to prefer direct combat from what I've seen."

That was all he could think of at the moment, as he had arrived at the registrar, though there were several other options which he might have overlooked. "Looks like we're here," he said, gesturing for the elf to proceed on in to receive her robes and wizard hat. The thought of how she might react to wearing the apprentice robes of female University students, however, was a bit amusing, considering how she had reacted earlier to the armor he had provided for her.