Symphonic Odyssey

“I thought that today we would work on your more practical skills. Your swordsmanship is good to be sure, but you need to refine yourself more. So today, I’ve brought Glenda Boltain, your combat teacher, along with me.

“She’s going to help us in controlling your power and hopefully she can help point out any flaws you might have in your fighting style,” Alvin said, smiling softly as he picked up on the excitement of his disciple.

Glenda approached him cautiously, as Alvin had already explained to her what Cypher had done with his full power. She realized that Cypher wouldn’t simply cast a full power spell at her, but due to her experience in battle, she was naturally wary of someone who could actually hurt her.

“So you really can cast in triplicate, and above your rank no less. I had my doubts, but after seeing what you did to that poor boy, and after what Alvin told me I can only wonder what kind of monster you’ll be when you reach the higher ranks.”

Cypher lowered his head in shame for a moment, her words were harsh and she didn’t seem to hold anything back when talking. He could somewhat admire that but he didn’t like that his mistake was being talked about so casually.

“You have lots of power, but can you use it effectively? Being a Conductor is about more than lobbing spells at your enemies. You need to know how to use that power to enhance your body and make full use of your abilities. You never know what kinds of things might happen during a mission or a battle.”

She had immediately jumped right into the lesson and it was evident that she didn’t bother with pleasantries. Cypher was glad though. He was here to learn to control himself, not to exchange compliments.

“Come at me,” she began, throwing a sword at him from out of nowhere, “I want to see what you can do with this!”

The weapon was simple, but it was already veiled with protective Magick. He knew that even if something went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to hurt her unless he resorted to his magick, especially since it was her who had cast the protective spell.

He caught the sword and flourished it in a circle before he charged at her at his full speed. His sparring with Alex before the incident had really served him well. No longer was he holding back his blows or second-guessing his moves.

Eiden had been a weak opponent, and Cypher was forced by his position to hold back during their training sessions. But Alex had been easily twice as skilled as the smug heir, and there had been no need to hold back at that time. He had even improved slightly from fighting a new opponent with skills he was unfamiliar with.

With Glenda, he knew he could go all out and he would be lucky to land a blow upon her. There was no chance of injuring her in the slightest. Thus, he followed her example and dropped the idea of exchanging useless banter.

He leaped forward and swung his sword at her head, he was confident that she would block the attack but her reaction instead was completely unexpected. A fierce smile spread across her face and as her gaze met his, a wave of heavy pressure engulfed Cypher and he froze.

His sword arm grew weak and the weapon fell from his hands. Even his mind came to a halt under that strange and powerful pressure. His body continued forward, limbs frozen, and he landed face-first in the dirt. Glenda simply brushed her shoulders off and looked down at him.

“Tell me, what did you do wrong?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. That wave of pressure had vanished as quickly as it had appeared and he was confused as he looked up at her.

“I didn’t do anything, some kind of force stopped me in my tracks. Was that you? Was I supposed to bow first or something?” Cypher responded, still a little shaken up from the intense pressure he had just felt. Glenda sighed and shook her head before she pulled a sword of her own, once again from seemingly nowhere.

“No, that isn’t what I mean. You have much courage and I can admire that, not many people would charge straight at an opponent they cannot defeat, even in a sparring match,” Glenda said, brushing her silvery hair out of her face.

“What I mean is, why are you on the ground instead of exchanging blows with me right now? Don’t have an answer?” she asked after Cypher remained quiet. “You failed to properly determine the power of your opponent. That much is obvious, but even more critically, you failed to express even an ounce of battle pressure.”

Cypher was confused. Until now, nobody had even mentioned that ‘battle pressure’ was even something he should concern himself with. If what she was saying was true then he was missing a crucial aspect of physical combat.

“Alvin has already filled me in on which body enhancement method you’ve chosen. I’m sure you read up on the bit about the Zight Stanza, yes? Well, that is the key to producing quality battle pressure like the one I just used on you.”

She stepped forward and admired her own sword as she began speaking, “Any great Conductor is a master of their spells, quick of mind and firm of body. I can admit that in the higher tiers, we tend to abandon our use of physical combat and focus more on casting spells. That said if your Zight reserves are too low then what do you do? What skills are left to you?”

Cypher could imagine where she was going with this line of reasoning and added, “You fall back on your fighting techniques, right?”

She nodded and smiled at him as she extended a hand to help him up. He took it and rose to his feet with a grunt and dusted himself off.

“Correct! But, one would be mistaken if they assumed that regular attacks would work against a Conductor with the ability to continue casting spells. Wards exist, and they can block a multitude of attacks both physical and magickal. If you find yourself facing down such a Conductor, it would be beneficial to have something to fall back on wouldn’t you agree?”

Cypher could only nod, and Glenda took a few steps toward the nearby tree. “If you attack such a Conductor you’ll only meet with a powerful barrier that will stop you in your tracks. Wards, however, rely on the reserves of the Conductor using them. If they run out of Zight or are overtaxed, their ward will fade and for a moment they will have no protection. That is when you would normally strike.”

Cypher sighed and now he wondered where she was going with this. It was obvious that one would take advantage of a clear opening in an enemy’s defenses. That was one of the first lessons Jelroy had painfully taught him and Eiden when they began their training.

“The problem is getting them to exhaust their power in order to deliver the finishing blow,” she continued, “wards are powerful, and are near-impenetrable with normal strength. At higher ranks of the body your own strength might increase, but if you’re fighting a Conductor on your same level, their natural defenses will be on par with yours.”

“Simply put, you won’t be able to break through their ward, and even if you can you’ll still have their tough skin to get through. This is where a strong battle pressure comes into the equation. With a strong enough battle pressure, wards will be like tissue paper against your strikes, which will open a path to end the battle,” she turned towards the tree and released her own pressure again.

Cypher once again felt frozen in place, only this time, his mind wasn’t frozen as well. Glenda pulled her arm back and he suddenly felt a vortex of energy welling up around her sword that pulled all the pressure in the area to a single edge of the weapon.

With a little more than a casual swipe, she swung her blade at the tree and returned it to her side in a single fluid motion. She turned back to Cypher and smiled, “This is proof of how effective battle pressure can be, and once you master it, you’ll be able to do the same.”

Cypher was confused, nothing had happened. He was fed up with her treating him like a total newbie when it came to fighting, and he was about to question her, but at that moment the tree let out a low groan, and soon, the sound of splintering wood quickly filled their surroundings. The tree shuddered and then split apart horizontally around the middle of the trunk.

The tree slid to the left and crashed to the ground with a loud ‘THUD’ and Cypher jumped back. The entire upper half of the tree had been severed and only a clean line remained, save for a few splinters on one side where the upper half had ground against the bottom of the trunk.