For the first hour, Tena drilled Det on how to hold a shield. How to step forward, backward, and side-to-side. Basic stuff he would’ve done wrong without her pointing out the simple things. No wonder he’d been so terrible with that shield in the larping. He’d been so much more focused on the sword in his other hand, and how he could swing it around the shield, instead of making the shield part of the fighting style.

  Thanks to his ReSouled body, and its uncanny ability to learn at absurd speeds, every minute spent with the shield made it feel like more a part of him. And, when he didn’t pick it up quickly enough—for Tena—she added the best motivator.

  Pain.

  “You can’t see your opponent when you hold your shield that high,” Tena said, immediately followed by a crystal dagger embedding itself in his thigh.

  “Ow,” Det cursed, lowering the shield so he could see over it, and getting it in place just in time to deflect a second dagger meant to join the first. This one in his face.

  “Better,” Tena said. “The shield can protect you, yes, but it can also block your line of sight. Even though your shield looks like it’s got lots of space between the lines, you can’t see through them. A smart opponent will watch for you to break line of sight, then do something tricky.

  “Fast fighters will close the distance. Ranged fighters will prepare a new attack, or target an exposed limb before you can see and react again. Some people will even use the distraction to get around behind you, if they’re already close to you.”

  “Understood,” Det said, already ignoring the knife in his leg and the scant amount of blood running from it. His body had supressed the pain and reduced the blood flow, meaning the injury was basically a non-issue. That was something else he was going to need to keep in mind for his upcoming duel.

  A few small cuts and bruises wouldn’t be enough to slow him down, but that also meant they wouldn’t be enough to slow Aarak down either. He’d need to do something a bit more drastic.

  “Better,” Tena said, snapping out a few more dagger throws for Det to deflect. One down toward his legs to pull his shield down, before the next went zipping at his eyes. Raising the shield just a few inches was enough to block the dagger, and he dropped it right back down to see Tena changing position and flinging more projectiles at what would’ve been an unprotected side.

  Keeping her lessons in mind, Det got the shield in position to intercept the knives and quickly shifted his footwork, squaring himself to prepare for whatever came next.

  “Good,” Tena said. “Letting your opponent pull your shield out of position without squaring yourself away just lets them control the fight. You’re fast enough on your feet to keep up.” Tena spoke as she took another step, then sprinted to the side, arms pumping out daggers at different angles. Aiming at everything from his feet to his face, she made it impossible to simply hold his shield in one stationary position.

  The daggers at his feet, Det didn’t bother trying to block those. His earlier practice had given him plenty of insight on flightpaths, and his feet were gone before the daggers skipped off the floor. Anything above the knees was a bit tougher, and about half of those got his shield’s attention. Most knives aimed at his head got dodged, though he did have to parry a few. Fifteen seconds of that—Tena changing direction multiple times to keep him on his toes—showed everybody he had that exercise well in hand.

  So, Tena changed it up again, darting straight in at him and placing both hands on the edges of his shield in an attempt to rip it away from him. With her strength being higher than his, not to mention the fact she was using both arms, there was no way Det could win the contest to keep the shield in place. Except, Det wasn’t planning to contest it, and Tena stopped her pull as soon as the tip of his inky sword pressed up against her gut.

  Just as the shield could break line of sight on his opponent if Det wasn’t careful, he could also use it hide what he was doing with his other hand. In this case, it was lining it up for stabby-time.

  If Det expected Tena to be annoyed by his maneuver, he would’ve been disappointed. She smiled.

  “Good!” she said, repeating her earlier praise. “You didn’t forget you were holding a sword in your other hand. Some people panic when somebody tries to take away their shield. They get caught up in keeping hold of it.

  “If you’re not going to win the struggle, let it go. Or, even better, use the chance to take back control of the fight. You did the right thing. Especially opting for a thrust over a flailing slash. With my arms in the way, you could’ve hurt me, probably, but it’s just as likely you wouldn’t be able to get the right angle around your own shield. The thrust under or around? Much better.”

  “Thanks,” Det said. Tena had been a bit of a cocky ass in their initial encounter—and even for a while after that—but she wasn’t a horrible teacher. Honestly, she was pretty good. Definitely better than some of the coaches Det had for fencing or kendo. The other party members had even gotten up after watching Det do footwork for ten minutes to join in the practice, and Tena had folded them right into her instruction without missing a beat. Short of throwing sharp objects at them, of course.

  “You’re welcome,” Tena said. “You’re honestly better at this than I expected you to be. Haven’t once questioned my instructions. Not even when I told you to fight on one foot.”

  “Well, I asked you to help me because I respect your ability with a shield,” Det said, taking a more at-ease stance as Tena released his shield. “And, even though I don’t know what purpose the one-foot-bouncing thing served, I’m sure you had a good reason for it.”

  “Uh…” Tena said, looking away from Det.

  “… you did have a good reason for it, right?” Det said, leaning to the side to try to make eye-contact with the Bulwark. She did an admirable job of avoiding that for several long seconds. The additional coloration to her skin wasn’t Det’s imagination, either. Before he had a chance to press her on it, though, she clapped her hands together and took a step back.

  “Let’s move on to the next thing we’re going to practice,” Tena said, her own shield and sword growing out of her hands. “Sparring.”

  Det glared at her change of subject, and she had the common decency to blush more, while continuing to avoid his earlier question. It was Sage, however, that saved her from the inquisition.

  “If it’s going to be sparring,” Sage with. “Might help to have a few more—say four—people to do that with. Det, can you make us all swords and shields?”

  “I don’t know if I should…” Weiss started, taking a step back.

  Calisco snagged his arm before he could go anywhere. “It’s not actually fighting,” she said. “And we need an even number. Thought you said you had our backs?”

  “I…” Weiss started, then paused to see if anybody else would say anything. Impressively, nobody pushed him. He would have to take this step on his own, and they all knew his drive would help with every step after that. He wanted to make up for the man he’d killed, and given the danger the Wordless posed, violence to stop them had the potential to save a lot of people. The best defense was a good offense, or something. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

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  “Good man,” Calisco said, one arm still hooked around his elbow, while she punched him in the shoulder with her other hand.

  “With that settled, Det?” Sage said.

  “I’m honestly not sure,” Det said. He’d never given his renditions to somebody else to use. Well, no, that wasn’t exactly true. The emotional-support renditions were regularly handed out. They kind of had minds of their own, but was that necessary? If he could give the others tools they could use—or weapons—that opened up a lot of things he could do with his magic. “Let me try.”

  Putting down the items—the sword and shield—he had in his hands would complete their purpose, meaning they would vanish. But, when he’d created them, they were on the floor. Waiting. If he made the next sets with the purpose of being used by the others, that should allow them to pick up and use his renditions like he did, right?

  Only one way to find out.

  Letting go of his sword and shield—the two items dissolving into ink that didn’t even reach the floor before it vanished—Det went over to his supplies to grab his brush and ink. Not needing to bother with scrolls or paper made this significantly easier, simply slashing lines of black ink across the floor as he worked. Thankfully, nobody was checking in on them—and catching him defacing the room—and all the evidence would vanish with the summoning.

  Weiss also took the opportunity to come over and heal him of the crystal dagger embedded in his leg. After asking permission, of course.

  Since this was the second time Det had painted the sword and shield, it took him about a minute to do both. “Sage, let’s start with yours, since this is your idea.”

  “Any chance these could explode or otherwise be bad for my health?” Sage asked with a chuckle.

  “You could accidently cut one of your own limbs off if you’re clumsy,” Det said, only half paying attention while he channeled energy into the ink. This didn’t require any kernels, so he left it just as his basic, misty energy. Two seconds later, he had a new ink sword and shield sitting on the floor at his fingertips. Tentatively, he pulled his touch away, but neither item fell apart with a splash.

  Good sign.

  “Try to pick these up,” Det said.

  “Try?” Sage questioned, though he knelt down and grabbed, then slipped his arm through the bands on the back of the shield. That done—and the shield up on his own—he grabbed the sword by the hilt. No problem with either of them.

  “Don’t usually give rendition-items to other people,” Det said. “Wasn’t sure it would work. Guess it does. Learn something new every day.”

  “The whole point of coming to the academy,” Sage reminded him.

  “True, true,” Det said. If it worked for one, it would work for the others, and he got to work painting out four more sets. Tena certainly didn’t need one. With each iteration, the next became faster, until the final set only took him about fifteen seconds per item. Of course, each still took two seconds to manifest, but that was always the same.

  So, within a few minutes, the whole party had swords and shields, and they lined up three across from each other. Calisco stayed paired with Weiss, while Eriba and Sage made up the next pair. Putting Weiss and Eriba together would’ve been a recipe for nothing happening, so this arrangement made sense. It also let Det stay paired up with Tena, since he was the one who needed to learn the most.

  “Are we going to cut bits off with these?” Calisco asked, waving the sword around like she’d never held one before. In other words, all at the wrist.

  “Not unless you really try to,” Det said. “I made them with dull edges. You could still break something with your ReSouled strength,” he added quickly when her wrist swings turned into full-arm swings.

  “Weiss can fix those,” Calisco said.

  “Not if he’s the one unconscious on the ground because you bashed him over the head,” Det pointed out.

  Calisco’s arm slowed. “Yeah, okay, I can see that.” She looked at Weiss. “Don’t put your head in front of this sword-thing, K?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Weiss said, shield up like he was going to need it more than the rest of them.

  Probably isn’t far from the truth.

  “Why don’t you give them a few quick pointers,” Det suggested to Tena. “Then we can get started. We’ve only got a few more hours—at most—in this room.”

  Looking at the other four, Tena nodded. “Probably for the best. Give me fifteen minutes to get them started. Think you can practice your footwork and positioning a bit on your… hold on.” Like the idea had just occurred to her, the Bulwark paused before her crystal clone stepped out from her. Within another few seconds, it had grown its own sword and shield. “Try some light sparring with that. It won’t be able to correct anything you do wrong, but it can guide you through some of the motions if you pay attention.”

  “Can do,” Det said, taking a few steps further to the side of the others with Tena’s crystal-double. When they had some space to themselves, the crystal construct took up a fighting stance. The second Det matched the pose, a crystal sword struck for his face. Faster than even the thrown daggers had been, the thrust threatened him in a way he almost wasn’t prepared for.

  Almost.

  ReSouled instincts covered for his lack of foresight, bringing his shield up just enough to redirect the attack up and over his shield. Before he even had time to be proud of his achievement, Tena’s double slammed her shield straight-on into his. The sheer strength she put behind the maneuver tore Det from his feet and sent him flying half-a-dozen feet back. His boots skidded on the floor until he got his legs working, quick backsteps absorbing his momentum, and setting his feet under properly beneath him.

  Not a second too soon, Tena’s double racing in again with a rising uppercut of a sword slash. The tip of the crystal blade practically sparked along the floor as it traveled, and Det’s panicked mind made him do the only thing he could think of. Sidestepping.

  A poor choice which very nearly cost him the fight right there. Tena’s double brought her shield across horizontally, trying to catch the back of his head with the edge of her shield. It was a brutal move that very much would’ve brained him if he hadn’t managed to get his own shield up and in place. Upside down and behind his head, it wasn’t a strong position, but it was the best he could do. The moment her shield collided with his, it felt like he’d been kicked by a horse, his body getting thrown forward.

  The only saving grace was the combo Tena’s double had used meant her sword wasn’t right in front of him again, so he used the inertia of the hit to dive forward into a roll. Up and over, just the once, and he was back on his feet, only to find the double right there already. Refusing to try to kill him the same way twice—apparently—the double, this time, brought her shield down pointed bottom first. Almost like an axe, the chopping motion was short but ruthless, and he was too close—without his feet set properly beneath him—to step back to avoid. Ducking wouldn’t work, and side-stepping was out of the question.

  That only left him with one option, parrying with his sword or shield. There wasn’t any way he’d be able to counter Tena’s strength from that angle with his sword. Shield it is. Up his arm went, only to feel like a mountain had crashed down on it, driving Det to a knee.

  Which lined him up exactly for what Tena’s double as aiming for. With his eyes on the shield coming down for his head, he hadn’t seen her cocking her sword arm back, preparing for a simple, straight thrust. One aimed at Det’s unprotected head. She practically had him dead to rights, with her shield holding him down. He could probably get his sword over in time. Redirect her stab to drive into his arm or shoulder instead of his face. That would weaken his shield arm, though, even with his ReSouled advantages.

  His racing mind told him all of this in the heartbeat before her sword started to move. It also gave him another option.

  Shifting his leg kneeling on the ground, Det let Tena’s momentum push him down as he fell backward and kicked out at the same time. Fast as the thrust was, the double hadn’t expected him to move away from it, and while the blade whiffed past his face—she hadn’t planned to hit him, after all—Det’s extended foot snuck between her legs, tripping her up.

  Suddenly not supported by the pressure on Det’s shield, Tena’s double toppled forward on top of him. And, with the tip of Det’s sword pressed up against her side. The simple act of falling forward would impale her on the weapon, even with the crystal armor she wore. Was made of? Whatever, the crystal wouldn’t stop it. Or, rather, wouldn’t have, if Det didn’t extend his arm out to the side before the two hit the ground in a tangled heap.

  The weight of the armored double landing on top of him knocked the wind out of his lungs, though that hardly bothered him after the training they’d gone through. Both of their shields were up above his head, while the double’s arm extended across and over his shoulder, the sword somewhere beyond. His own sword had its tip pressed up against her armored ribs, but he’d moved his arm far enough out to the side he hadn’t run her through.

  “Not sure who won that one,” Det said to the double.

  “Just what the hell are you two doing over there?” Tena said. “And why am I on top of… I mean, why are you between her… that’s not… what are you doing?”

  “Never mind, seems I definitely lost…” Det mumbled as laughter filled the training room from the other four cadets.