Lasers thud against Dante’s shield, dissipating the energy of each blast whilst Kabela and Clint continue repairs to the Drill beam.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 68%
It isn't going to last as long as he would have hoped, but he’s got to hold it until the last five percent since they need to work on it for as long as possible.
I guess the repairs are never truly finished.
“The mantlet isn't looking so good,” Clint says from inside the drill beam, “I can reposition it but it’s compromised,”
“Do what you can,” Kabela responds, “I need to refit the barrel’s extractor before I can trim,”
“The gyro isn't locking, I'll focus on that. The mantlet’s a lost cause anyway,”
“It would be real useful if that shield could guard the mantlet,” Kabela chuckles.
“Honestly, I could do it from the inside of the cart if I had enough mana afterwards,”
“Wait, really?” Kabela asks.
“I think so,” Dante nods.
She contemplates for a moment, without saying a word she just continues shifting pieces and panels, “Stick to the original plan,” She finally concludes, “Your shield won't hold up for much longer anyway. We’d might as well use the time to get the mantlet sorted,”
“Copy that,” Dante and Clint confirm.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 63%
----------------------------------------
“Hold it,” Sir Tristan orders Dante as a series of droids fire lasers that crash into his shield. His foot nearly slips but he manages to catch himself.
“Hold!” The lecturer yells.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 12%
_TIME ELAPSED: 3m 14s
Dante nods, anxiously holding up his shield whilst the remaining points of shield strength fades away with the barrage of lasers firing at him.
Dante grunts, trying to subdue the force pushing against him but as his shield gets weaker, so does his confidence- He’d rather not stand behind it if it’s any lower than ten percent because it becomes unreliable.
He’s spoken to Sir Tristan about the issue and he suggested Dante do some limit testing. So, Dante put sixty percent of his mana into a shield and let the sim rain down lasers on him.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 9%
“Ten percent doesn't become less reliable than the ten percent that came before, Dante,” Tristan preemptively addresses Dante’s hesitation.
He wants to get out of the way as soon as his shield dissipates, but waiting for that moment might mean he will lose out on opportunities that come prior.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 4%
“No bailing!” The lecturer yells, noticing Dante’s retreating stance.
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“Yes, Sir,” Dante nervously complies
As the laser fire continues, Dante breathes heavily in anticipation of the shield breaking. The lecturers have put a lot of effort into getting the student familiar with death, and committing till the end, but Dante would rather survive where possible.
_SHIELD STRENGTH: 0%
_TIME ELAPSED: 4m 06s
_ARENA: SIMULATION DISABLED
At the Academy, lecturers didn't have the experience needed to refine Dante’s skills in the same way that Cassie and Melinda have. Whenever he would train at the academy he would never have considered using one hundred percent of his mana- back then, a decision like that would've seemed like suicide.
In this particular scenario, he’s learning that the value of what they taught may not have always been so visible. In fact, training with his shield at sixty percent taught him how to commit to a game of chicken.
No backing down, because whoever does first is conceding potential victory.
But there’s tons of refining that he hadn’t considered, “You need to commit to your decision, Dante,” He says, “You’re going to hear this a lot because I’m almost certain its going to be a problem for a long time. You second guess yourself because you have an infinite number of options available to you,”
Dante nods, struggling to maintain eye contact as he digests Sir Tristan ever so slight frustration.
“Have you thought of a new ability yet?” The lecturer asks.
“Yes, Sir,” Dante’s eyes light up, as he summons his energy to create his hula-blade. Resting it on his shoulder with pride as the rest of the class gawks at his new weapon.
“Woaaah,” They all swoon.
“That’s a cool looking blade,” Pete comments.
“I thought you’d like it,” Dante grins.
“It’s a hula-hoop,” Mich chuckles.
“Hula-blade,” Dante corrects him.
“Well alright then,” Kassian says, crossing his arms with an impressed grin on his face, “How does it work?” He and Sir Tristan ask.
Dante slowly positions his feet into the capoeira stance he learnt. Spacing his legs apart and putting one foot behind the other- he then starts shuffling his feet back and forth in a rhythmic pattern, staying in the same place as nudges the hula-blade and it begins spinning around his shoulder.
“Oooh,” The class swoons.
“Are you dancing?” Mich chuckles, prompting the rest of the class to giggle.
“Keep going,” Sir Tristan comments, paying no attention to the rest of the class.
Once he finds comfort in his rhythm, Dante starts moving the blade across his body, initially moving from its rotating position over his chest to seamlessly slipping his head through the ring and bringing it over to his left arm. He then performs a few strikes, stepping out of his main stance and striking the air with the blade before bringing it back over his shoulder without losing any momentum. Then, slowly, he brings the spinning blade to a halt and ends his movement.
There is a brief pause before his classmates all applaud him, and Dante smiles before looking over at Sir Tristan who is stroking his chin in thought.
“It’s not stupid?” Dante sighs, laughing in relief.
“Not at all,” Kassian says.
“It’s really cool, Dante,” Julz adds.
“Thanks gu-”
“It looks deadly but delicate,” Mich comments, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up, “I’ve never seen one in person, but it’s what I’d imagine a bee looks like when it's angry,”
Kassian laughs with the rest of the class before asking, “You’ve never seen a bee?”
“They’re extinct,” Mich shrugs.
“In nature,” Kassian chuckles, “There’s a bee hive in the Biolabs,”
“Wait, really?” Mich asks with absolute seriousness.
“You should’ve come with us when we all went on that field trip,” Tiffany says, “But you were reading one of your strategy books,”
“Yeah, but no one said there were bees in the Biolab! What the fuck, guys?”
“You said, ‘Why would I want to go look at vegetables,’ So we left you to it,” She responds.
The rest of the class chuckles- ignoring Mich's belated complaints. Dante turns his attention back to Sir Tristan, who’s spent the last few moments observing the class.
“Two things,” Sir Tristan says, “First- Dante, I like it. We’ll run some sims to put it to the test,”
“Yes, Sir,” Dante responds.
“Second- Mich, you really ought to visit the Biolabs. They’re awesome,”
“Yeah!” The class agrees before mumbling about the time they visited it trickles across the room.