Combat Training

Things had been going very smoothly since Akiho and Fusao had taken over the recruits physical training. There were still the normal group joining him in the morning for his own training that kept him in shape and sometimes, when he had the time to, he would join the recruits in their classes in order to learn a bit himself. What truly interested Garret was Fusao's judo. The man knew a great deal about how the body moved, and wasn't the least bit fazed by the unnatural movements the River Styx Style produced. There were various incredible techniques that the man could perform and insisted were simple. At one point, in a demonstration, Fusao had thrown Garret with just the use of three of his fingers and a single sharp movement of his arm. The old man laughed when one of the students believed it was fake, and repeated the move on the student. They were taught the technique that day, which Garret had to agree was incredibly simple to perform, but the principles behind it left Garret with nothing but wonder as to how it worked.

Akiho's swordsmanship was definitely admirable. Garret had some training in the use of a blade, however the blades that best fit the River Styx style were scimitars and smaller blades. For her classes, Garret normally watched instead of participated, though he would occasionally participate to help her get across an example to the rest of the students. The Jujutsu that she taught were well-rounded techniques that complimented Fusao's teachings. The primary difference between Fusao's Judo and Akiho's Jujutsu was that Fusao explained a lot on the nature of the techniques, and increased the students morals and loyalty to their heritage and culture. Akiho simply performed a technique, broke it down into manageable pieces, and taught the technique to the students. That, and there were only joint-affecting techniques tutored during her classes.

It was one such day when Garret had just finished the last of his morning paperwork and some of his evening paperwork ahead of time that he decided he would join in on the student's classes. It was almost noon, so Fusao's class was already finished and the students were likely eating. He would wait in the courtyard where Akiho's training took place. When the students finished, they would join him there and they would begin the class. While he waited, he enjoyed the warm weather and the sounds of the ocean not too far off. The first person to come through was the instructor, Akiho, who saw him and began walking towards him. She bowed, and Garret dipped his head in return, motioning for her to relax.

Akiho was a straight forward person. She undid her blade and set it to the side as was appropriate for one who followed ceremony so strictly. Garret had to inform her that she was free to sit comfortably a second time before she was willing to take a seating position other than za. Garret considered the woman for a moment. Before Akiho came, Garret had been working with women such as Serene and Carmen. The difference in behavior was certainly refreshing, and reminded Garret of Zou. Not that Garret felt that there was anything wrong with Serene and Carmen, it was just that he missed the country of Zou itself. He lay back peacefully, enjoying the sun's heat as the minutes passed by.

The students began to come out after having ate. The exercises they went through after lunch were normally light for a bit, to allow their food to settle. Today, however, in order to get them accustomed to the eventuality of having to defend themselves or others after having had a meal, they began training immediately. Garret watched as they drew their blades, slashed horizontally and then slashed diagonally twice before re-sheathing their blades. They continued these steps, and Akiho had each of them come out one by one in order to demonstrate their technique before her. She provided instructions and advice on how to better execute the techniques before returning the person to their spot. It continued on like this until everyone had been critiqued and had a chance to use that critique to improve.

The intelligent recruits learned not only from their own mistakes, but from the mistakes of others as well, and took strides in improving their abilities. It wasn't long after that it was time for a break, and the group walked with the instructor across the courtyard towards tables that had water available for drinking. The student's idle chatter provided background noise to Garret's thoughts. They had found a means of reversing their funds issue, but it would be quite an investment, and Garret would have to take some time to learn about some of the... tools of the trade.

The break was over, and the group went back to the courtyard. Before they could begin training one of the female students , Wu Xifeng, spoke up. "Ms. Kawahara. Who is stronger, you or Mr. Takegawa?" The group of students went immediately silent. Were her words too bold?

Garret was not offended, and was seriously thinking on the matter. Akiho, however, didn't hesitate. "He is weaker."  She spoke in her usual deadpan tone and, though it pained Garret to admit it, she was right. The reason his attacks packed such a good punch behind it was because his style utilized his body weight behind the techniques he threw, and not because he was particularly physically strong. Mind you, he was stronger than most Magicians, as his physical training did give him an edge on those who had none, and the strength of muscle did have a lot to do with what he was capable of, but insofar as pure weight was concerned Garret was sure that Akiho had him beat.

Xifeng's sister, Meixiu, spoke up next. "So in a fight, if you aren't holding back, you would win, right?" Again, the students seemed worried that their fellow recruit was speaking out of turn, but Garret still didn't show that he was upset.

Again, Garret thought to himself. If she didn't hold back, I'm sure I would lose... Again, Akiho spoke immediately. "If we didn't hold back in a fight to the death, I would die eight out of ten times." This brought the students to a flurry of discussion, and confused Garret slightly as well. He was sure that he wasn't advanced enough yet in the River Styx Style to meet her on even ground or better ground, and yet she was confident that he would not only kill her in a no-holds barred fight, but that he would do so eighty percent of the time. "It looks like you all don't understand. I am certainly better in martial skill, however he has something I do not."

It dawned on Garret that he had an advantage over her with his spellcraft, which was what she was getting at. Well, that was certainly true. His martial arts combined with his spellcraft gave him a wide variety of options that he could choose from and that could give him an edge in combat. Akiho continued to speak. "This is a good opportunity to show you first hand that strength isn't everything." She paused, and turned to Garret. "Spymaster, ready yourself."

Garret's eyes widened. Akiho leaked killing intent. She was serious. The woman moved her hand over to her sword as Garret fumbled out Kuroi Shimo into his left hand. The two of them were five meters apart from each other. This was the first time that the students had seen the magical device, but they were aware of what it was when they saw it. Weapon type recognition was a part of their training. Using the water from the nearby swimming pool, Garret formed four orbs of water with his Jet Stream spell, each behind the other. All four orbs fired off a highly pressurized beam of water, and the fascinated students watched as their instructors threw deadly attacks at each other. One wrong move, and the opponent could potentially die.

Akiho was already prepared for an attack, though she didn't know what form it would come in. When the beam of water came towards her, she followed her intuition after sizing up how heavy the attack would be. Her blade was removed from it's sheath, and she executed a powerful downward sword stroke, splitting the meter wide beam in half with her sword cut.

Garret had used the time that her sight was covered to close the distance between them with his River Styx Style: Water Falls in Reverse. His first jump brought him right in front of her, and he utilized River Styxe Style: Water Corrosion to send out a flurry of ten blows to her. Before he could land a hit, she used Ju Kizamu, striking towards Garret with a rush of ten blade swipes. The techniques clashed with each other, and Garret was forced to redirect his attacks to push the blade away from his body. At the end of the clash Garret felt a strong sense of bloodlust come from Akiho. Her eyes were wide, boring straight into Garret as she brought her blade down with an incredibly deadly technique. The students were able to hear as the sound of the blade slicing through the air. Akiho had used a deadly technique named Kukan wa kiritsukeru.

The moment Garret had felt that bloodlust reach him he reacted by entering a serene state of mind and keeping his own eyes wide open to gather any visual stimuli that would help him in the situation he was in. Garret was using his strongest defensive technique, River Styx Style: Redirecting Blows. As the blade came down, Garret's left foot came up in a circular motion. If time were to have slowed down and observed, one would be able to watch as Garret performed a defensive Crescent kick, connecting to the side of the sword and pushing it with great force away from his body. Simultaneously, he pushed off the ground with his foot on the ground, utilizing his River Styx Style: Water Falls in Reverse's second stage of movement and jumping over Akiho, landing behind her.

An onlooker may have believed that they saw Garret step onto the sword and jump off of it, as Akiho stumbled forward. Garret quickly utilized River Styx Style: Raging Current in order to rotate his body one way and deal damage to one side of her kidneys with an elbow strike, while copying the same attack to her other side. Akiho fell forward, having received considerable damage to her body, but stood back up as Garret quickly moved away from her while casting Water Manipulation Technique, engulfing her in a sphere of water and putting pressure on her with Pressure Control.

The spell did it's job, and Garret was going to continue it, until she had sheathed her blade and drew it out quickly once again. Her Iai had broken Garret's spell, splitting the water itself in half and forcing it to fall back down to the ground. She choked up a bit, but Garret didn't hold back as a fist of ice formed and his Jagged Flying Ice flew upwards, striking her chin and causing her to fall backwards.

While the icy fist was doing its job, Garret was already casting another spell. Control the Currents was gathering a great deal of water above Garret before finally unleashing itself in powerful stream from above Akiho, keeping her pushed into the ground. As the water moved in a snaking figure eight motion, Garret jumped into the stream, allowing it to pull him towards Akiho and deliver a River Styx Style: Pressurized Strike in the form of his knee to her gut. The water was no longer flowing, Garret no longer having need for it.

The woman was out cold, and Garret quickly grew worried for her. The students were all silent, shocked not only at the spells they had witnessed, but at the damage it had done to one of their instructors. While Garret was using martial arts alone, the fight seemed to have been about equal, if not slightly in his favor. However, as soon as he started using his spellcraft, things changed to be quickly out of Akiho's favor.

At first, none of the students made a move. Akiho lay there, unconscious. Garret became worried and began to place rhythmic pressure below her solar plexus. One, two, three... He continued to push down on her, beneath the solar plexus. Garret opened her mouth, tilting her head backwards, and placed his lips on hers, blowing air into her lungs. Again, he went back to pressing down beneath her solar plexus. Xin Qiaolian was the first to react, moving quickly towards the infirmary to get help during Garret's attempt to push the water from her lungs.

Akiho began coughing up water. She began to draw in ragged breaths, and Garret felt relieved. He let out a sigh of relief as she regained her functions and was able to move again. "Are you going to be okay?" Garret asked, still concerned. She nodded, still coughing up some water. "I propose we do not duel again for some time. That was far too dangerous, and you had me worried at the end there." Garret spoke softly as he held her in his arms. Her attacks were aimed to kill, and Garret had went all out in response. The spells he had cast were more than a match for the swordsman, who had already exhausted many techniques during their up-close clashes. Garret was forced to do something or be overwhelmed, and that degree of killing intent was nothing to scoff at.

He stood up as Akiho stopped coughing, offering a hand to help her up. She stood and bowed to Garret. "My apologies for causing you concern."

Garret shook his head. "No, you're okay, that's what matters." He sighed and rubbed his temple. The nurse from the infirmary and Xin Qiaolian were approaching them quickly, however Akiho was already up and moving. Garret noticed that the trainees were still there, and he quickly became self-conscious. He cleared his throat. "The rest of the day is free. Give Akiho some space so she can recover." Garret nodded to the nurse and quickly walked away back inside.

A flurry of whispers and discussions took place among the students, while Akiho watched Garret walk away before following the nurse to the infirmary.

OOC:
Word Count 2447/1500
40 of 250 Magoi/Stamina remaining.

Abilities used: