Ajax stepped to join the physical fighters, though he didn’t see the prince sighed dejectedly at that as he was on the mage side of the courtyard, he hadn’t heard the conversation that had taken place in the class before Alchemy as he had already left by then.

“First things first then,” the instructor started. “ I am instructor Anthony Gatecrasher, the man to my right here is Dave and he is my teaching assistant. Some of you may have seen Dave around before as he does take shifts during his days off as a guard for the Academy.”

Ajax finally realized why the assistant looked so familiar to him, it was the same guard that he had fought just one day ago though he no longer supported the guard uniform but instead had some much better gear. Dave caught Ajax’s eye and gave him a respectful nod.

“Most of our lessons will be split into two, we will have a skill practice session to start with and a spar session to end with. None of you will be graded on anything besides attendance during these lessons, though if I believe you to be slacking off I will send you away and mark you absent so feel free to experiment and I will be here to help guide your style.” Gatecrasher continued.

“For today, I want everyone to take up their primary weapon.” The instructor pointed them all to pick up the training weapons on a specific rack. “If yours isn’t present, come tell me about it and I will make sure one will be made available for tomorrow.”

While Anthony had started teaching the class Ajax joined Dave in watching by the sidelines, he would usually join in with the rest of the class during any class activities at the Academy but here his higher stats needed to be accounted for.

“I didn’t get to tell you yesterday since I had to go get myself patched up but you pack a hell of a punch.” Dave started the conversation.

“Thanks.” Ajax said. “ You’re pretty good yourself, you managed to keep me from landing solid blows on you for quite a while despite my magic.”

“I don’t know much about magic, but from what I saw yesterday whoever did your training didn’t do you any favors by not ingraining a style in you to build off of. Style skills are almost as important to melee physical fighters as their weapon skills.” Dave said.

“My teacher didn’t have a style.” Ajax admitted, “Didn’t have one myself until a few months ago when I picked up [Berserker Style], though that one isn’t great for training, especially when using magic enhanced attacks.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything by it.” Dave quickly apologized after Ajax’s answer.

This apology had Ajax stumped, he didn’t know that Dave was apologizing because he had thought Ajax to be part of the nobility yesterday when he had arrived dressed in some rather fine clothes. His previous statement could be taken as a slight to their house.

“So, then Ajax.” instructor Gatecrasher joined them at the side of the training area by the time Ajax had cleared the misunderstanding with Dave but kept a sharp eye on everyone else in the class. “ I hear you have a style focused on magic enhanced attacks.”

“Yes, sir.” Ajax confirmed.

“Risky, style that.” the instructor nodded. “You’ll always be hurting for stat points but have more skills to stack on top of one another so the skill level cap will take longer to apply its limitations to you. What weapon do you favor?”

“I trained with every weapon I could get my hands on in the village.” Ajax responded. “ My brother is a city guard and my teacher is a retired adventurer turned hunter so I have experience with most basic weapons. Though as Dave pointed out I wasn’t taught any style skill.”

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“Yes, I will have to take a look at the way you fight before I can recommend a few options for you on that front.” the instructor said. “ Speaking of Dave, however, I heard you gave him a run for his money yesterday.”

“That’s putting it mildly, sir.” Dave answered. “I always knew mages have an advantage over us in a one on one since they can quickly spend their mana, whereas most of us have trouble getting skills that use stamina so quickly to keep up, but Ajax was something else.”

“Oh, how so?” Since Dave was recovering yesterday and classes were starting today Anthony didn’t have time to get a good debrief on the fight from the other day.

“His spells are definitely a lot weaker than what mages even of his level throw around, but what he lacks in direct power he makes up for in versatility and speed. He was actively changing the ground beneath my feet all while also swinging both a sword and an axe at me.” Dave recalled the ending moments of the fight with a slight wince.

“Oh, I see so you favor the sword and axe?” for the first time he took a quick glance to gauge Ajax's reaction before turning his eyes back to the students.

“I can use a sword, axe, hammer, shield, spear and knife decently well. I do prefer to wield two weapons as it allows me more variety in the enhancements that I imbue my strikes with. Though I much prefer to start at range with a bow.” Ajax said.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” the instructor sounded surprised. “For most of them, their first few weeks in this class will be spent polishing their main weapon and learning a second one that compliments it but you have enough breadth that we can focus on selecting a good style.”

“What the hell is wrong with these weapons?” One of the students yelled after he fell during his normal exercises with the spear.

“They are a good way to get you used to pressing your advantage.” instructor Gatecrasher explained. “As a physical fighter your strength will show in your endurance, unlike the mages who will be spent after the first half hour. These heavy weapons are meant to replicate how your own weapons will feel much heavier once you have gone through half of your stamina.”

Ajax had also gotten his own set of heavy one handed weapons and started practicing with the rest of them. It had been harder on him than he expected since he had no problem usually ending a fight with his magic before his stamina started to run out making using such heavy weapons a new experience for him.

“Alright now, let's have you all split up into groups for sparring.” the instructor mercifully ended their suffering.

“Sir, could I spar against Ajax for today?” Ben came and asked.

“Are you sure about that young lord?” the instructor asked respectfully. House Gatecrasher was one of house Steelblade’s subordinates and Ben was the grandson of the Archduke. “He was able to outmatch Dave and it wasn’t a fluke at all.”

“Yes sir, I am interested in his fighting style. As you know sir I also have a slight talent for mana, though it is much smaller than the one I have for physical fighting. I want to see what I can learn from him.” Ben argued.

Ajax was surprised at the revelation, while skills in mana weren’t unheard of in humans they were still rare so hearing that someone chose to focus on the physical despite having some talent for mana was a surprise for him.

“Very well then.” the instructor nodded. “ Dave keep a closer eye on the others as I will be focusing on this bout a bit more.”

Ajax and Ben squared off against each other, Ajax had a hammer and axe in his hands to combat the heavy armor and shield his opponent wielded. A sword would be good if he could get to the joints any opening in the armor but he wouldn’t be trying for that in a spar. Ben's sword on the other hand was a good choice against Ajax light leather armor as well.

“Ready?” Ajax asked.

Ben simply nodded and the two charged towards one another. Ajax hadn’t activated any mana skill to start off with yet he still found himself to be faster than Ben. With Ajax seeing the difference in speed he knew he could end the spar at any time if he pushed his [Syphon Mana] but that wouldn’t be productive for either of them.

The spar continued with Ajax heavily on the offensive for the next three minutes and this left both participants heavily impressed with their opponent but each for different reasons.

“To think that a spellblade can push me like this without spending a single drop of mana while only being a few levels higher than me.” Ben complimented him as he let out a tired sigh.

Ajax could see how this fight would end, if he wanted he could lean on his higher stats and just outlast his opponent but that definitely wouldn’t count as a victory to him. Despite his higher stats Ajax found it impossible to land a single blow on Ben, his footwork and ability to predict Ajax’s strikes was phenomenal to the point that even engaging [Berserker Style] saw him only putting more pressure and both of them spending their stamina expenditure faster. He had a lot he could learn from Ben. “I have to say I hadn’t expected the difference in skill to be this big.” Ajax admitted.

Ajax finally called upon his mana and this caused Dave to react as all the others had finished their spars and were all watching Ajax and Ben go at it. “Careful sir, he can increase his stats with his mana.” This was whispered to the instructor but Ajax picked up on it with his high perception stat. He almost scoffed at the warning since he didn’t plan to use [Mana Syphon] at all.

As Ajax charged towards Ben again he quickly turned the earth at his feet into mud. This will not only impede his impeccable footwork but will also distract him from the main attack. Ajax wasn’t surprised to find that Ben had managed to adapt to the mud in time to parry the blow and redirect most of the power of the swing to the side. That however was the mistake Ajax was counting on as the lightning coursing through his axe momentarily stunned Ben.

His hammer had taken on a red hue as he infused it with magma and stopped the strike a few inches before hitting Ben fully in the helmet. Ben didn’t have a chance to get his bearings following the electrocution as the instructor yanked him from behind, should Ajax have followed through on that hammer strike it would have hit nothing but air.