Before the next spar Len was asked to rake the field. Maintaining a level field to fight on was important, while you couldn't do anything about it in the middle of a fight a divot in the ground caused by a weapon could put one side at a disadvantage. If you wanted a fair fight, you had to get rid of even the smallest terrain advantage.

"The biggest concern is that they can be used as a foothold." Titanyana was taking the time to explain their logic to Donovan. "You can get a lot more forward momentum if you have an angled surface to kick off of."

"I would have thought rolled ankles and the risk of becoming unbalanced was more of an issue." That was the big one Don could think of. He was used to the flat plates and smooth surfaces of ship interiors and buildings, but he had a run in with a depression in a sidewalk that put him on the couch for a few days.

"That is also something to look out for, but if those little holes are present at the beginning of the fight a plan can be formed around them. It isn't fair to give the faster person even more of an advantage, so the Sanctum very strictly enforces that the terrain be leveled before a fight."

"So you never fight with defects or obstacles?"

"You do, just never in a duel scenario. When trees, rocks, and changes in elevation are introduced both parties begin in a relatively even position with the exception of purposely asymmetric combat scenarios, like a siege."

"So its like a means of evaluating your true strength?"

"That sounds right."

Donovan crossed his arms and thought about it. "I don't like that."

"Sorry?"

"I don't like that way of thinking. The ability to adapt and overcome adversity is a greater sign of strength than a fist fight. If you can use the terrain to your advantage, then so can your enemy. Failure to do so will result in defeat."

Titanyana tilted her head. "You don't think its a good to be fair to both combatants?"

"Well, maybe its fine for duels considering the purpose is to prove martial superiority, but for a simulated combat scenario I can't think of a worse doctrine. You learn little if you only ever fight an equal adversary and next to nothing if you fight from a position of power. Fighting with a disadvantage is the best way to nurture growth." Donovan remembered the hell that was his tactics classes. He might have won, 'passed', every scenario, but doing so wasn't easy. There were a few times where he had to resign at some point after understanding the fact that a complete victory simply wasn't possible.

The prioritization of key objectives was more important than a rout, but you had to balance the effects of a rout on future actions (a simulated campaign to give justification for his score) with what your side would gain from the objectives. Inflicting heavy casualties could open up opportunities elsewhere on the front as reinforcements shuffled around, resulting in a victory even without accomplishing with what you initially set out to do.

Balancing these factors became even more of a challenge when you were at a relative disadvantage to your opponent. Theoretically, if you are already at a disadvantage then the seizure or protection of key objectives is even more of a priority, but taking the opportunity to deplete the enemy's combat capability in order to level the playing field is also a priority. No single combat action is fought in isolation, it requires a coordinated effort across a front.

Holding a front or breaking through a line could pose issues for a superior enemy, putting their supply lines at risk or placing units in a position where they can't support each other. A disadvantaged party can use this to their advantage. Committing an asymmetric level of force to mop up isolated units was more likely to succeed than sending a less powerful force to hold a front.

It was very difficult to win a 30 on 40 fight, but winning four 15 on 10 fights was easy.

Don was almost certain that this logic could be applied to a small group fight as well. He just had to figure out how.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes sir." "Hm."

"Once again Titanyana, allow Sanna to make the first move. Try not to break his equipment or injure him. Sanna, I am unfamiliar with the nature of split sorcery, but I trust you will do nothing to damage the barracks. On my mark. Ready? Set? Mark!"

The beginning wasn't nearly as quick as the previous match, Donovan taking note of a serious buildup of split in the two of them before they even made a move. A courtesy measure, it would seem.

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tap

With a light flick of his staff on the ground, the match began in earnest. As he pulled his staff up, a few strings of split attached to the end of it whipped towards Titanyana, who threw herself to the side. She immediately began closing, watchful of any tricks he might have. Sure enough, the strings ignited as they chased her laterally. Seeing the danger, Titanyana swung her sword at the immaterial hairs, severing them without much issue.

Realizing that sort of attack wasn't going to work, he moved to his next option. Once she closed within a certain distance, a wave of his staff sent an arc of clear crystals zipping along Titanyana's path of travel. It would have been an excellent maneuver if Titanyana didn't only have to duck to avoid them. It did make her slow down, which Sanna tried to capitalize on. Unfortunately the speed at which she could move was faster than his ability to attack.

An earthen spike a few inches wide sprouted from the ground in the place Titanyana was located only a second ago. It was close, but if it didn't hit it didn't matter. Not even half a second after it erupted from the ground it crumbled into the dirt it was made of. An interesting phenomenon, Donovan would make sure to ask about it later.

As Titanyana continued to close, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, Don began to pick up on exactly what she was doing. Every time she got close enough to lunge, she backed off. On the surface it seemed quite natural, Sanna had proven that he had many methods of attack up his sleeve, pushing without knowing what was there was a bad idea. What tipped him off was the slight settling into an attacking stance she did on occasion.

Donovan knew how fast she could move, even when not at full power. From that stance her sword could reach Sanna's body well before he even had the chance to block her. Instead she jumped to the side in an evasive pattern after a certain period of time had passed.

He didn't know if she was doing this on purpose to show when he was vulnerable or if this was her way of fighting this type of opponent, but she did it quite frequently. Once he noticed it, Donovan started keeping a tally.

Flamethrower like spells, walls of ice and earth, rays of spikes launched towards her at high speeds, Sanna very clearly had a vast number of tools at his disposal. More importantly, he knew how to use them. The unfortunate thing for him was that he couldn't land a hit.

Titanyana was too fast, too small and too perceptive. Many traps he had tried to spring ended up a waste of his time and split. By the time Titanyana actually committed to closing within a sword's strike, he was almost out of split. By the time her blade was at his neck, he was on the verge of collapsing.

Donovan counted 47 separate instances where Titanyana could have ended the match, at least four of which happened within ten seconds of each other. For a battle mage, he certainly left himself open to attack more than was safe.

"A good match, Lady Strapper." Panting, he bowed his head. "I thought I might have had a chance when I saw you were holding back, but clearly I did not."

"Mhm. You should keep an eye on the feet and knees, they will tell you where your opponents are moving better than their eyes."

"Really now? Should I take that to mean you saw through me at every point in our spar?"

"If you wish. This was my first time fighting a Split Sorcerer, but I can see what people were talking about when they discussed their weaknesses. The time between your attacks is something that is hard to overcome, but I can tell you have taken steps to remedy that."

"So you noticed? Yes, these are split crystals inlaid in my staff. They are expensive, but by leaving a portion of the cast's intent to the crystals I can cut a few fractions of a second off of it. It brings me great joy to see that my efforts have been acknowledged by someone with a wealth of combat experience."

"Mhm. I do wonder why you chose the military academy though. Would the School of Split Sorcery not be a better choice for your skills?"

This was the first time Donovan saw Titanyana this talkative, she was practically carrying the conversation.

"I had attended last year and I was told there was not much they could teach me, but my father was adamant that I attend at least one of the schools for a full five years. Seeing as my goal is to become a combat mage, battle mage, whatever you may call it, being somewhere I can safely accrue combat experience was a necessity."

"Weren't you already taught everything you needed to know to be useful in battle?"

"Well, yes, kind of. I hope you'll excuse me for being rude if for only a moment, sir, but you seem to be incredibly ignorant to what it is a split sorcerer does." A scathing remark, but not inaccurate.

"I'll admit to that. You are really the only example I have to work off of."

"That explains your previous lack of a reaction. Well, lets just say that Split Sorcerers are not very good when fighting single opponents or those with higher capacities of split, as you saw, they can just dodge. A war mage, which has become synonymous with the term Split Sorcerer in the context of war, are very efficient at dispatching large formations of rank and file soldiers who lack training and discipline."

"You can do that?"

"I've never done it in practice, but probably. The problem is that those skills do not apply to the type of fighting that takes place in the military academy. As demonstrated, it is very hard to hit a fast moving individual with an attack strong enough to deal damage. Wall here might be the only person here I could see myself reasonably fighting on even footing with if only on account of his slower and larger figure. I'm basically trying to develop a means of fighting from scratch here." Sanna seemed apologetic about this, as if he had lied to get here.

"I see." Donovan didn't have any idea how a battle mage could or should be deployed, but it seemed that was the case for everybody else as well. "I think I can work with that. I might not have experience with split sorcerers, but I have a few ideas. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to run a few of them by you later."

"I would appreciate it. Now if you don't mind, I would like to rest and replenish my split reserves. Len, I wish you the best."