The day of the lesson arrived, and I felt confident. My team’s research and planning had paid off as we were able to integrate our new fighting techniques into our fight simulations. Unfortunately, Oliver had still been unable to unlock his Legacy. He had had to cut his losses on that angle and chose to focus more on close combat as he had been neglecting that side of fighting, using his bow as a bow staff.

The main theory we could come up with was that as his Legacy was linked to teleportation, he just hadn’t been in a situation where his soul had felt truly in danger. He has always had enough resources around him, or even Alex, to protect him. This prevailing theory was why we really did not trust Jacq to fix this issue; Edward had horror stories about students with similar issues to Oliver, which Jacq had been able to find a solution to. What made the stories worse was the fact that he had been successful with his solutions.

We all went to our respective rooms to start the lesson, and as I stood outside the room, panic started to creep in. Was my confidence warranted? Did I prepare enough? I used my breathing technique, which I’d learnt from meditation, to calm my mind from the uncertainty.

The worst-case scenario was that I failed, and failure was a good teacher; success was preferable, though.

I touched the door handle, and suddenly, rules appeared in my mind, almost like an RPG quest condition.

[Only use techniques Doctor Jacq has not seen you use previously; regular body functions do not count as techniques; running, walking and dodging are permitted]

It’s so nice of them to allow us to dodge. I hadn’t even considered it to be against the rules, but I guess Jacq has seen me dodge before. I opened the door.

“How the fu-”

I stepped on the mossy floor of a forest, my brain taking a moment to adjust to the scene. A moment Jacq was not going to give me. Warning bells sounded in my mind as I felt my aura react, causing me to duck before my brain caught up, the woosh of an arrow nicking my hair.

“Ha! I almost got you.” I heard the snark from multiple places at once as I ran through the trees. “I know I said no old techniques, but I don’t think quick reactions count. You were almost better the first time.”

Ok, so they’re in the trees. I had practised kicks; how do you kick that high? I could make a clearing to give them less places to hide. Time to punch some trees? I heard movement above me. Time to punch some trees.

Time slowed to a crawl as I started clearing trees for my clearing. I tried to hit the trees so they fell in opposite directions to each other, giving them extra hits to make sure they were out of the way. I heard Dr Jacq grunt slightly as the trees they were on suddenly were far less stable than they had been.

Though my plan worked, and Jacq was now grounded, I hadn’t expected the fatigue that immediately followed using Edwards’ power to be as bad as it was. I was still fine with continuing; it was just unexpected.

“I see you realised your weakness and acted accordingly,” a female Jacq spoke as she walked into view. “You really need better ranged attacks, though your team typically can alleviate some of the issues like that.”

She had given up on the bow and was currently wielded daggers, armoured with manoeuvrability in mind.

“I see you gave up on hiding, and that hide was your best bet.” I quipped.

“Well, no, metal armour and more defensive tank armour is the best bet against you,” She replied, ignoring my joke, “But this is supposed to be a lesson on showing me what new things you’ve come up with, so I didn’t want to stack the cards against you too much.”

She ran at me with daggers aimed at me. I moved back out of the way of a blade to the throat. I needed to move out of my defensive mode and actually start properly attacking, as so far, I hadn’t managed to land any direct hits on them yet.

I moved around the clearing to get a better shot at them and to actually give myself enough room to kick. This had the added benefit of allowing me to build up static in my leg for when I eventually did land my technique. It was difficult to get Jacq to open up as they just kept wriggling out of the position. I wanted them in; it was like trying to hold a forty-pound flapping salmon.

Then, finally, I was in position to do a sweeping kick to knock them over, and as I did it, the room seemed to close in on me as the distinct feeling of wrongness of the move almost caused me to stop until I corrected my stance and the pressure immediately left. Jacq became airborne as their legs left the ground, and they were hit with all the built-up energy stored in my leg. Seeing an opportunity for an extra hit, I elbowed them in the stomach using the recoil from my gauntlet for extra damage.

“Oh yeah, didn’t you fail to do a sweeping kick before?” Edward commentated.

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“Not the time.”

The Jacq disappeared at my feet, and four new Jacqs entered the ring.

“Ok, I’ve seen how you have dealt with projectiles, one on one close combat and the environment, let’s see how you deal with multiple goons.” The middle Jacq said, each of them looking like they were having fun, giving a cartoonish snarl to give a brawler look.

Obviously, fighting them all at the same time would be dumb, especially because I couldn’t just punch and run as I’d done that in past lessons. Divide and conquer was definitely an idea, as two on one was easier than four on one. The ground was too wet to make a dust cloud. I could obscure their vision with leaves instead, but that would take too much energy, and I had already used too much to create the clearing.

So, how do I split them up? When dealing with a group, the open clearing most likely wasn’t the way forward. Going back into the trees would give me the advantage, as that would obscure their vision without me having to use too much energy. I had mostly just thought of sticking with the clearing because it’s already here.

Although who’s to say there aren’t any more Jacqs in the trees? Then again, this is mostly a lesson to try new strategies. Why be smart when I can just be new?

I aimed for the one in the middle as I ran full pelt at their legs, blue sparks following me as I went. My rugby tackle lifted them off their feet, and I think I saw a genuine look of surprise on their face as they were carried away from the other three, my arms wrapped around their legs. The clearing became larger as another tree fell.

That move had hurt my shoulder and I don’t think I could get away with it a second time—three Jacqs to go.

“That was certainly new, though I can’t really see many practical uses for that sort of technique.” Jacq queried. “Let’s see what else you’ve got.”

I was breathing heavier than normal, and my mouth tasted slightly metallic. “Yeah, let’s see.”

***

I was face first in the moss as my body refused to move. The kicks had paid off, but they left my legs bruised, and the adrenaline that allowed me to fight the remaining Jacqs had left me as I finished off the final Jacq. I don’t know if I won through the skill of my new techniques or just because Jacq let me. Let’s go with my own skill.

“Rest is always important, but I don’t think the floor is the best for that kind of thing,” Jacq said, completely fine, sitting cross-legged next to my alive but arguably dead body. “Do you want some juice or a fizzy drink, you know, for energy?”

I heard the footsteps of another Jacq as they put a pint glass of squash next to my face, “It’s orange squash and lemonade.”

I turn my head to it. I did not have the energy to sit up yet, but my mouth was certainly dry.

“And here’s a straw.” They put a neon pink curly straw in the drink and angled it to my face. They had their own glass, with its own straw and even a small paper umbrella in it. They were sat like this had just been a casual picnic with a flowery shirt and sunglasses. “You did good, kid. I always like these lessons.” They sounded nostalgic in their tone, “They always make people think outside the box more; that tackle was especially fun.”

I grunted in reply as I sipped my drink. My shoulder hurt at the mention of the tackle.

There was a moment before they continued, “You guys really need to learn how not to be exhausted after these lessons. I mean, yeah, it’s intense training, but I think not over-exhorting yourselves is a valuable skill when it comes to fighting, as you never know if you need to fight again afterwards. But yeah, you’re not the only one who needed a break before they could leave. Your team does not do half measures.”

It took around ten minutes for me to gain the ability to sit back up. Despite the damage caused by my fighting, the forest scene was actually relaxing. It was a cool temperature, and there was a slight breeze wafting through the leaves. I could hear birds in the distance, soft light casting shadows through the trees. You could easily forget that this was just a classroom.

I finished my squash, trying to limit how much I moved as each movement was painful. I was gradually getting my breath back, though, as the minutes went on. We mostly sat in silence. Jacq probably had something better to do but had decided to wait until their students were able to leave by themselves, although he could do both with his power.

Man, that Legacy was overpowered.

***

It took me at least an hour and a half before I was able to leave that room. It was still less walking and more dragging myself back to my room to just sleep. Each step was still pain.

You could tell who had been in the lesson by the classic tired faces. Everyone else mostly had an expression of empathy for our situation which I mostly just ignored.

I had apparently been the last to our room as the rest of my team were already gone from this conscious world. All except Alex, though he did have at least the decency to look tired.

You could have a guess of how their lessons went through their torn clothing and different developing bruises. I’m pretty sure Mathew had a couple of burn marks on him and what could be soot smudges on his face.

He handed me a can from the fridge, “Hey boss, how’d you find it?”

I made a noise of acknowledgement.

“Cool, I thought it was fun, especially using my new toys. My arena was a sort of city type which was fun, I have no idea how they can make the rooms that big. It’s amazing.”

I gave him a thumbs up as I was still too tired to give a verbal response, at least one that would actually make sense as a sentence. I was currently head empty, no thoughts other than the fleeting response to stimuli. All that was in my head at that moment was: cold drink nice, I’m tired.

I finished the can, then another, and then I laid down, so my body could actually heal.

I didn’t black out this time, though.