It had been a couple of months since Gwin had enrolled in the awakened academy. He had been very busy during that time. He had been attending his two classes diligently which took up the entirety of his days. His classes left him feeling both deeply satisfied and infuriated each day.
His Nightmare Creature weak points class, or NCWP class for short, was by far his preferred class. His professor had been a seedy older woman called Professor Alma. She was a passionate lady who believed that studying nightmare creatures would reveal the secrets to the dream realm. Gwin wasn't really sure about her ideas but her knowledge was definitely the real deal. She was knowledgeable on every type of known nightmare creatures, even those in death zones. If there was a single bit of information about them she had dug it up.
She had told her class stories about cutting apart nightmare creatures on expeditions and digging through their guts to reveal their secrets. Gwin was mostly convinced that she was at least a little crazy.
'Who would get excited about digging in something's guts?'
He had already learned a ton about a diverse spectrum of types ranging from humanoid vertebrates to shapeless masses of sludge that dwell deep in the caves of the dream world. He had put extra effort to learn about snake type nightmare creatures. Currently Gwin only had one option when it came to using [Chimera] so he had to hone that option greatly if he wanted a chance at surviving long enough to get another. He had made some progress in controlling his aspect as well but he still didn't know its limits.
He had gained the ability to use his aspect just enough to give him a small physical boost without making him pass out from essence exhaustion. Most of the changes he would usually sustain from transforming were underneath his skin now in sparse parts of his muscles and tendons.The change was nowhere near as strong as when he transformed his arm the first time though. It was not enough to stand out against combat oriented aspects but it still let him move faster than most normal sleeper were able to.
His other class had been a big part of his progress as well and he was currently headed that way now.
In a dojo, Gwin and the rest of his group were waiting for his teacher's instructions. Nearly every single sleeper had chosen to take the core combat class which had led to them having a very large class however they had been split up on their first day of class depending on skill level and weapon type. Gwin had just barely managed to scrape by into the same group as the legacies. Gwin had gotten used to being surrounded by sweaty teens by now and could mostly ignore the pungent scent, however it wasn't the smell that made this class so insufferable.
It was her.
Of course Elena of Clan Song had joined the class as well and had made sure it was apparent that she was a cut above the rest. Her skills and aspect made her an extremely hard opponent to face. Gwin wasn't sure what her aspect did but he had seen her display insane bouts of speed.
Gwin even swore he saw her feet leave the ground before, after all he had fought her enough times to notice the small details. During the test of strength against the measuring plate contraption she had scored the highest of their group at nineteen. Gwin had scraped by at fifteen after using his aspect at the exact moment his fist hit. He figured he must have done something wrong to get such a low number considering his aspect was divine.
Gwin had not given up on getting the attention of Clan Song and he had decided the best way to do that would be to prove himself in class.
On the first day of training he had been thoroughly embarrassed by her.
He could not even lay a finger on her. Her weapons of choice were dual training sabers that she wielded with deadly efficiency. Gwin had a myriad of bruises all over him to prove it. Her unorthodox technique of duel wielding was completed by her aspect, letting her put dire force into each swing through her dashes.
He had been utterly helpless against her at first. He tried out every weapon he could, never settling on one. He soon realized his choices were limited because of his left arm. His prosthesis simply couldn't keep up when aspects were involved. He had already taken the liberty of removing it after it was damaged after a tough duel. He couldn't use two handed weapons like halberds or spears and he had a hard time putting force into his attacks with only one arm.
He had chosen to use a cleaver-falchion to hopefully counteract this. The added weight from its heavy blade and the length of Gwin's reach allowed him to make heavy swings. He was still clumsy with it having not learned how to use a sword from his dad but he was learning quickly. He had a bad habit of attacking without thinking of his next move though which led to him leaving himself wide open several times. His stance had to be changed slightly to make up for the weight of his missing arm by his teacher as well.
Their instructor's stern voice drew the sleepers' attention as he ordered them to get into pairs for sparing. As usual Elena had a ring of emptiness around her. Her habitual clobbering of Gwin only served to further widen the ring. And as usual Gwin entered this empty ring. He stood in front of Elena, his training falchion resting on his hip, and began moving his hand in sign language.
{I still need to pay you back for my arm}
She met his eyes, or at least she seemed to, and smirked.
"You still haven't even hit me yet though, is today supposed to be different?"
Their relationship had gotten…closer? At least it had closer physical violence wise. Gwin had taken every chance he could to try and prove himself to her by dueling her, well that was at first, but now he was driven by his burning desire to clobber her. She seemed to at least respect him slightly now after he kept returning after so many beatings.
Though he was pretty sure he was just a stress reliever. Despite the huge gap in skill between them, Gwin still had not given up yet. He desperately wanted to bash her pretty face in.
Today was just like the others. The different pairings took turns sparring while their instructor corrected them and coached them along. Gwin was watching the other fights with keen interest. He had seen many of the other sleepers' aspects by now yet seeing them in action was still a captivating sight. In front of him two of the legacies were currently fighting. Their discipline and skill were on full display as dull alloy training weapons clanged together.
'Can't they hurry up?'
Gwin couldn't focus on other fights for long. He was deep in thought going over his many losses in his head. He had not grasped Elena's fighting technique yet and it was driving him crazy. Her attacks were ruthless and sudden leaving him dazed without ever knowing how he was hit and his own technique left much to be desired. With enough losses came understanding though. Throughout these three months they had been sparring nearly everyday and everyday Gwin had gone over his losses and why he had lost.
He had slowly been lasting longer and longer against her. From the first day when he suffered an instant and embarrassing defeat to yesterday where he lasted nearly thirty seconds. She was right though, Gwin had not struck her even once but today…he felt lucky.
Finally it was their turn. He stepped onto the alloy platform at the center of the arena and readied himself. Opposite to him Elena stepped up as well and drew her training sabers. Gwin gulped and prepared himself.
The match started and Gwin immediately went on the defensive, barely dodging as a saber nearly connected with his temple. He twisted his torso to avoid the second one barely before lashing out with his blade. Elena sidestepped his wide swing and attacked again from different directions. Her ability to move each arm individually made her extremely scary. Gwin tensed his legs before activating his aspect. He felt his leg muscles strengthen slightly as he dashed back to avoid her onslaught.
Now was his chance. He transformed his legs fully and dashed with immense speed. His legs paled before turning to scales under his pants. Two jagged blades emerged from the sides of his thighs tearing holes in his pants. He closed in fast, the small distance between them left her unable to counter as his falchion closed in on her head.