Rhys grunted, stumbling back after taking a hit to his stomach, then ducked far too slow, taking a punch to his cheek. He collapsed to the ground, spitting out the dirt he ate, and grimaced. “Remind me how getting my butt kicked is supposed to help gain unarmed combat?” he grunted out, pushing himself back up.

“Eventually, you will learn. Block. You are too big to dodge,” Dewi, the unarmed combat specialist, said. He was a rather skinny man, and overly spry. For some reason, Rhys had been expecting this particular teacher to be beefier. Even the ranger teacher dwarfed this man, and yet, no one packed a punch like Dewi.

“What about a form? Anything I can work with?” Rhys asked.

“Fists, like this,” Dewi held his fists back up, and Rhys took a deep breath, shaking his head. Dewi shuffled forward, and Rhys shuffled back, anticipating another hit. “Close to your face! Arms in, protect!” he hissed, then lunged with another punch.

“Glass!” Rhys dodged to the side, the punch flying past his arms and hitting him in the shoulder. He stumbled back and Dewi snarled at him.

“Block!” He darted forward with another punch, using the same hand, and Rhys braced his arms against it. That... actually didn’t hurt as much as he expected it to. His forearms held sturdy against the attack, and for a moment, Rhys smiled.

[Unarmed Block Acquired]

[Unarmed Combat Level 1]

About time, he thought, then yelped as he felt his right foot get swept out from under him. All his air fled his lungs in a coughing fit as he landed on his back, and he groaned when Dewi’s head blocked out the sun. The short man gave him a sly smile.

“Good, you blocked. Then you got lazy. Again!” he said.

“What do I do after I block?” Rhys asked, pushing himself up. This man. was. frustrating. There wasn’t hardly any instruction at all!

The moment he was on his feet, Dewi reached over, Rhys flinching as he took his hand. “Fist,” he said, and Rhys made a fist. “Good fist. Natural. Now, like this,” he said, and carefully shaped Rhys’ arm through a fluid motion, outstretching it. Letting go, he stood beside Rhys, and did the same with his own fist, first in slow motion.

Furrowing his brow, Rhys emulated Dewi. He sped up, and Rhys did as well. Then his fist became a speedy blur, and Rhys swore he felt a gust of air fly from his mentor’s fist. His own strike wasn’t nearly as fast.

“Block, counter. Do that. I teach you dodge when you can do all that,” Dewi said, facing Rhys with his fists held up. “Block!” he punched, Rhys responding as he did before, taking the hit to his forearms. “Counter!”

Rhys punched, and immediately cringed. Glassing hell, what are this man’s arms made of! he thought, his knuckles throbbing.

“Weak fist! Tighten it! Block!” Dewi called again, and Rhys managed another block, cringing as he was sure a bruise was forming. The little man had hit him in the same spot on his arm three times now. He was impeccably precise. “Counter!” Rhys, tightening his fist, punched again, and cringed.

“I’m doing something wrong,” Rhys said.

“Power comes from here,” Dewi patted his shoulder, “and here,” he patted his elbow. “Extend quickly. Again.”

Sighing, Rhys blocked again, and immediately countered with a scowl. His fist slipped past Dewi’s arms, colliding with softer flesh in his mentor’s shoulder. Dewi grunted as he twisted that side back and threw out his right fist, clocking Rhys across his other cheek this time. Stumbling back, Rhys at least managed to stay on his feet.

[Unarmed Punch Acquired]

“I got it,” Rhys blinked.

“Good,” Dewi said, rotating the shoulder Rhys had hit. “You’re a natural,” he said.

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In something, at least, Rhys thought, recalling how he’d flunked archery earlier. He had yet to even meet his swordmaster either, but Bryne━now his appointed “handler”, whatever the glass that meant━mentioned that they might not get to sword mastery today.

“Not without bruising,” Rhys cringed as he touched his cheek. The last punch left it swollen.

“More for you to practice on for your luminar training,” Dewi grinned mischievously.

“Do you beat up all your luminars?” Rhys asked, raising an eyebrow. He raised his fists when Dewi did.

“It is good practice. Luminars make best fighters. You get beat up, level fast, heal, repeat, no?”

What a pain, Rhys blocked a punch, then a second one. He flinched to counter with his own attack, but couldn’t get it in as Dewi threw a quick third one, getting him in the gut. Coughing, Rhys made a rather ungraceful tactical withdrawal by stumbling.

“Tighten your gut. Aim your attacks,” Dewi said.

Huffing, Rhys stepped forward, taking the initiative with an attack. He started towards Dewi’s face, the little man dodging, then punched to his stomach, Dewi batting his fist away like it was nothing. Then he responded in kind, Rhys taking a hit to his nose with a groan. He grabbed at it, his vision hazing over with the pain.

“Glass,” he said, nasally. As his vision returned, Dewi patted his hips.

“Strength from here,” he said. “Support from here,” he stomped his feet. “Like this,” he shuffled with his feet, and Rhys sighed.

“Essentially, strength comes from my entire body,” he surmised.

“Power comes from body. Everything needed to support power. It is all connected, no?”

“All connected, yeah,” Rhys nodded, lifting his fists in front of his throbbing nose.

That same mischievous smile returned to Dewi’s face. “It is good you are ready to be beaten,” he said. “Again!”

Rhys pushed forward shuffling like Dewi had shown him, finding that it did at least feel more natural. He threw the first of many punches to be exchanged, only to find himself breathing heavily on the dusty earth about an hour later. Or a few? He wasn’t sure how many passed, but the sun was nearly overhead.

Dewi crouched beside his head, Rhys cringing when the unarmed combat specialist poked one of his swollen cheeks. “Learn healing fast, no? Repeat tomorrow.”

All Rhys could do was groan, a small cough coming with it. More importantly, learn to heal and fight at the same time, he noted to himself, shifting his gaze when Captain Bryne stepped into view.

“Lunch time after luminar training,” he said, offering a hand. Rhys took it, letting Bryne pull him to his feet. “I thought you might prefer that after your time with Sir Dewi.” Bryne brushed some dirt from Rhys’ shoulder, then sighed, looking him over. “Yeah, that’s a lost cause. Leave your clothes outside your room for laundry pick up tonight.”

Bryne started toward a set of arches to lead them from the small courtyard, which was a private one as Rhys understood it. There was the large courtyard for big classes, then the small one for squad classes and private lessons━a courtesy he’d been given to help him catch up. Already, he was getting favoritism. Better not bite me in the butt later, he thought, rubbing his chin as they walked through a stony hallway.

“Both your luminar and eclipser mentors are private mentors,” Bryne stated.

Yeah, this is going to bite me, Rhys raised an eyebrow. “How come?”

“You’re one of three luminars this year, and we have two luminar mentors, so one was reserved solely to focus on you.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to be the one to share a mentor since half my time will be spent in eclipser training?” Rhys asked, the logic not quite logicking in his head.

“He can join the others after training you,” Bryne shrugged. “You’d have to take it up with the dean, but I suspect this was on purpose.”

Of course it was. They rounded the corner, splitting off into what looked to be a study hall of sorts. The walls were lined with books, most of them dusty, and tables littered the hall in disarray, making it somewhat a hassle to walk around them as they came to a private room past some bookcases against the wall. Bryne rapped on the door sharply, and hardly a second later, a man with whitening blond hair opened the door. His hair matched his robes, Rhys noted.

“Luminar Cadell,” Bryne said, giving a curt bow. Rhys copied him. “Your pupil, Rhys Geddings.”

“Glassing hell, what did Dewi do to your face?” Cadell’s eyebrow twitched. “I hate it when that man gives me no choice but to teach healing first. Doesn’t he know it’s the hardest of the luminar spells to learn?”

“I’m sure he does, and that he doesn’t care,” Bryne answered.

Cadell snorted. “Right, of course. Kid, come in. Captain━”

“I’ll be posted outside the door.”

“Sounds boring,” Cadell said, stepping aside for Rhys to enter the room, a rather small study room. Maybe luminars didn’t need a lot of space?

“I’ll manage,” Bryne shrugged.

Cadell closed the door with a sigh, then took a deep breath before facing Rhys. He motioned to one of two seats with his right hand, the left nowhere to be found. Either hidden by his long billowing sleeve, or gone entirely. “Have a seat, and welcome to healing hell.”