First Form! Darius commanded. Owl!
Felix rushed forward, hooked blade leading the way. The movents of First Form, also known as Owl Form, were inspired by the quiet and observant nature of that bird. They emphasized slow, deliberate strikes and precise footwork.
It was a sadistic choice for the obstacle course ahead.
Blades as long as spears swung for him, rotating on sigil-driven gears and pulleys that moved with the speed of an oncoming train. Felix stepped forward, lunging as a horizontal edge sliced just below his armpit. He twisted, pushing another foot carefully into place as more swung for his neck. The whisper of cold tal slid across his skin but left no mark. For a man with Felixs Agility, the course should be childs play; no matter how fast the gears spun, they would not have caught even his shadow. Yet had he moved at full speed, it would have defeated the purpose of attempting it at all.
To fight with a sword is to converse in the language of violence, Darius said. He was visible just outside the twisting maze. Each engagent is a dialogue. Your footwork and your sword are your words. You must choose them carefully.
He kept moving. Step after careful step, repeating the pattern hed hewn into his mory.
The footwork wasnt a problemhis Body responded to his thoughts almost before he had themso it was simply timing. Waiting for the right mont to strike.
With a final precise lunge, Felix cleared the whirling blades. He stepped onto a wide platform, a thin staging area right before the next section. He took a steadying breath and checked the stone disc at his waist. It pulsed in ti with the suppression array he had laid below the course before starting, and a dull pain tore at his Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Darius scoffed. Hesitation, Felix? I thought you had mastered the course and your suppression array?
Never together, Felix told him. Im acclimating.
You know your enemies will not grant you such grace. Onward! Second Form! Falcon!
Felix stepped into the next section, which was a forest of thin tal wires that hung from above. The mont he entered, however, an array activated and drove Mana up and through the complicated machinery. Each wire, anchored upon a pivoting socket, began to oscillate at greater and greater speeds.
Razor sharp whips. Felix dodged the first few as they sped up. Always fun.
He dove into the fray, sword flashing out in rapid parries and pinpoint strikes as his feet blurred. A falcon was a fierce predator imbued with great speed and accuracy, and the Form emphasized rapid footwork and lightning-fast strikes. The razor whips flailed in almost random directions, devoid of any true pattern save chaos itself. Falcon was suited for its challenge, and Felix had to loosen his own restrictions on his Agility and Dexterity in order to match it. His crooked sword never stopped moving, deflecting every lash while slipping across the flexible wires to prevent getting entangled. Whips sliced and stung at him, cutting his Garnt but never once touching his skin as he zipped through their wild embrace.
He was through it all in the span of fifteen seconds, exiting with a blast of trailing wind onto a fifty-foot diater platform carved with relatively basic sigaldry. Felix knew it well: a warding circle, ant to keep Skills within the boundaries of the platform.
So conversations are short and brutal, Darius said, and Felix heard him throw a lever sowhere just out of sight. Hatches opened all around the edges of the platform, and a ratcheting sound resolved itself into twenty different plinths that rose through the hatches. Upon them were Golems made of translucent glass and shimring bands of red-gold orichalcum. Each bore a long spear of tal. So are more drawn out. You must know which one you are engaging in, and choose the Form that suits it.
As one, the Superior Glass Golems activated. The sigaldry through their translucent bodies lit up with gold and silver, flooding their limbs with a simulacra of life, and propelling them toward him.
Third Form! Eagle!
Felix flowed into the Form, Inheritors Will sweeping outward to deflect three spears at once, and for the first ti he was forced to unsheathe his Skyslains Riposte as well. The dagger leaped to his hand with a burst of blue-white lightning, and it lengthened mid-swing, taking out the legs of two more Golems.
Sa as on Earth, the eagle was known for its keen eyesight and powerful talons. The Third Form emphasized strong, sweeping movents and powerful strikes. It was a Form to take on multiple opponents at once, but it required a great deal of Endurance and Strength to properly display.
The Superior Glass Golems moved with a fluid grace that far surpassed their lesser brethren, and their own strikes were enough to blast holes in the reinforced flooring as Felix dodged them. Felix had fought them several tis now and was always surprised at how good they moved for what were basically magic robots. They were armored too, far more heavily than others, owing to the excess of orichalcum on their fras. Damaging them was a tall order for most, and Felix was still pulling his punches.
Well, mostly.
He caught spears within the hook of his sword, spinning them into one another before hitting their feet with his Riposte. The Golems toppled, bodies and weapons crashing against the tal platform like a gong, and Felix kept moving. He didnt crush their chests or shatter their limbs. The point of this section of the course was to prove his technique with Third Form, not to destroy the expensive robots. That alone was a challenge. Felix was used to going all out in every fight, so these bouts were about control over fury.
Eagles sweeping movents were truly ideal for so many foes. He took them down, again and again. He avoided preternaturally fast thrusts and slashes, parrying to open up their guards before knocking their weapons from their hands entirely. The mont he did that, the Golems stuttered to a stop, as if hed pulled their plug.
One whole minute.Felix ca to a stop in the center of the platform, panting. That was harder this ti.
Harder? Youyou vanquished twenty Superior Glass Golems! A familiar Gno climbed up onto the platform, staring at the downed and frozen Golems. It was Yorun, and he was trailed by two other Gnos in similar Makewright garb. Other mbers of his Arclight Legion moved in the background, fiddling with bits of sigaldry. They responded better than anything Ive ever controlled, and you didnt stop for a second.
I believe he ans that it was harder to control himself, Darius interjected smoothly. He landed atop the platform in a flurry of wind, his half-cape fluttering behind him. Breaking sothing is one thing, but mastering them is another entirely. Thank you, Yorun, for helping us run the course. You can imagine how difficult it is finding soone with the right Skills out here.
Yorun tugged at his ear and cleared his throat. Well. My pleasure. Happy to help the Autarch anyway I can.
You did a good job, Felix said with a smile.
Darius hustled all the mages off the course shortly after that, while the Golems were reactivated and put back down into the holding area just below the training platforms. Felix disengaged the suppression array. Glimring lines of sigaldry faded away and a weight lifted from his Aspects as the stone disc at his hip darkened. It always felt good, like scratching an itch hed been ignoring for an hour. As useful as the training was proving, it wasnt pleasant.
They were in the depths of his Stronghold now, in a wide chamber dedicated to this sort of thing, though the course had been installed separately. The entire training facility, as Felix referred to it, was an unused room in his mountain fastnesstoo big for personal use and too private for just anyone to have access. Even getting the mages down there to run the course was a hassle, considering they had to pass through the multiple checkpoints from the Temple far above.
Karys took security pretty seriously.
Thankfully, the training course was easier to run for folks with less demanding needs. His friends, many of whom had rooms just down the hall, often made use of it. The settings were variable, able to accommodate their advancent to an extent by swapping out a few materials, even a set of lesser Golems. The Golemsincluding the Superior Glass Golemswere a surprise gift from Cal, sothing she called a ager thanks for his efforts to defend them. Rory had said as much when hed offered to stay on and teach the Legionnaires, bringing the training courses with him.
Felix truly appreciated itwhile the others found challenge against Steel and standard Glass Golems, he did not. The Superior version was still ultimately weaker than Felix, but at least they made him sweat so long as he suppressed his Aspects, regeneration, and held back his raw stats. Control over brute strength; it was a test of his patience, but he felt more confident than ever with his Sword Forms.
Plus his friends had a really hard ti fighting them, and that had been fun to watch.
Now they were more prone to using the expansive sparring ring Felix had built. Hed modeled it after the one in a warehouse in Haarwatch, where hed first been trained, shaping its boundary walls out of rock and filling the interior with a thick coating of sand.
It was this that Darius angled his head toward, as the mages filed out of the room. Let us test your Sword Forms, Felix. I sense improvent in you, but I find a spar speaks volus.
At his waist, Felixs sword buzzed. My Lord? The Nagafolk have assembled.
Oh good, Felix said. Tell them Ill be there in a minute.
Very good, my Lord. The sword dimd.
Seeing them off first, followed by your own departure? Darius asked.
Yeah. You sure you dont want to lead them? Its an important task.
With you taking Commander Kastos with you, Ill be needed here. Your armies have grown substantially, and if we plan to be ready for the dangers the Hierocracy poses then we have a great deal to do.
Thats fair. Thank you, by the way, Felix said. For everything.
As Lady Dayne is committed to your cause, I could not in good conscience leave your people asragtag as they were. Discipling and technique is my bread and butter, and that is what I have imparted. It may hurt my pride a bit, but you are the reason they have progressed so much, Felix. Without your influence and example, your Legion would still remain bickering factionsor worse, farrs and laborers.
Not really sure thats worse, dude.
You know what I an.
Felix grinned. I do. Youre saying Im the greatest boss youve ever had.
Darius snorted. You are certainly the strangest. I hope you intend to keep practicing during your journey.
I plan on it. Ill have Harn there, and hes promised to put through my paces, Felix said. Vess and Evie too.
Commander Kastos is a remarkably adept man, though I do find his technique to bewild. More in line with your normal style, in fact. Be sure that he is pressing you on your fundantals. They are important. He hesitated, touching the tip of his tongue to his teeth. I know that you will, but I would also ask that you take care of Vessilia, Felix. Do not let her co to harmand do not break her heart.
Felix blinked at the man. The words had all the pieces of a threat, but lacked any heat. Instead they were a cold promise. I dont intend to.
Darius only bowed, fully at the waist. That is all I can ask.
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