The Day after the Heroes finished their festivities they began their training. To start everyone was going to be in a Group with Brutus, then as the training went on they would go to the specific Instructors based on their results. Though Brutus would be the one in charge of them to start he would not be the only one. The other Instructors would be present as well, but they would only participate in the sparring section. This was to ensure that the heroes got a feel for fighting against opponents of all types, from stealthy rogues to magic users to armored knights.
This way, they would be able to at least defend against people who may seek to counter their abilities. Nearly every Class had what would be considered a natural predator, so to speak. An Assassin’s for example would be a Frost Knight or the like. Frost knights have overwhelming defense, and they can also slow down and lock enemies and attackers in place with Frost and Ice based Auras and Spells. This would nullify the typical assassin’s two greatest assets, their speed and high attack capabilities. No Class is without its faults, they all had their own weaknesses to balance their strengths.
This was even the case for such legendary and revered classes as the Hero classes, they had their weaknesses. Those weaknesses just weren’t always apparent, and usually they didn’t stay around long enough to become apparent. There were some classes whose weaknesses were negligent to the point that many, the general populace as well as the possessors of the Classes themselves. This has led to the downfall of many promising youths, due to arrogance. This is not always the case, as on occasion the weaknesses are so rare, uncommon, or even unknown that it is not arrogance, but ignorance that caused their downfall some would say.
The Heroes were assembled much in the same manner as they were when they last assembled on the Parade Grounds. Different from before, fewer of the students had dissatisfied looks on their faces. In Truth, due to what they had seen and experienced the past few days, many of them had changed their opinions, for now. Noticing this, the few students that were still rather disgruntled hid their still lurking dissatisfaction. Sadly, most of the students were seduced in a sense, either by what they can do here, or by their duties or other things, this led to there being few who still want to go back and to adhere to their principles.
The student fell silent as Brutus stepped forwards, leaving the other Instructors behind him. He cleared his throat briefly before he started to speak. “Over the past couple days, you lot have been given enough rest and relaxation to hopefully get anything out of your systems that were needed. So today your training shall begin in earnest. Though we are acquainted with the raw data and details of your individual Classes, we do not know exactly how they work or will work in actual combat or in general. Due to this the first part of your training will be Sparring.”
At this a few of the less athletically inclined heroes groaned aloud, though they all remained silent. Brutus nodded at this and continued speaking. “While we will do a series of one on one spar’s to start I will fight against 5 of you on my own. I have already selected these five. When your name is called step forward if you would please, first up is Theresa Nicoletti.” At the Knights words she strode forward through the assembled students with the crowd parting around her like a certain sea parted by a biblical figure. As usual most eyes were on her, but unlike before several of the people, mainly the students had strangely conflicted looks on their faces.
She stopped in the space in between Brutus and the Heroes behind her, as she did so, Brutus glanced at her briefly before continuing. “Next is Hasegawa Mina.” As with Theresa the crowd of students parted as she stepped forward. She smirked as she took one step forward before she was enveloped by darkness, causing nearly everyone to gasp in surprise. She then appeared out of Theresa’s shadow and took a place beside her. Brutus frowned for a moment, for a reason aside from the obviously showy display, and spoke. “Very impressive. Next up is Gerard Silverman, for a slight challenge towards me.”
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At Brutus’s words a figure shoved his way through the crowd, with less politeness than the two before him. The only word that could describe how the man looked was Punk, crossed with an avid piercing enthusiast. He wore dark clothes that went with his equally dark eyes and hair, though his hair did have a streak of color through it. That was not the thing that made him truly noticeable however; he was clad in numerous piercings all over. He was of slightly above average height, but aside from that he would be nearly average in all aspects if not for his piercings and actions.
As he became clear of the crowd he put both his hands in the pockets of his hoodie which was dark blue and black. He walked leisurely the short distance to where the two girls were standing and stopped. He spoke in a carefree sounding voice. “I am sorry for my lack of a flashy or noticeable entrance. I lack the uh Showmanship of a few of my compatriots.” Though his words seemed mellow enough, those familiar with him would be able to sense the hidden barbs in his statement, as well as whom they were directed at.
“Richard Davidson step forward please.” At Brutus’ words a thin nearly unnoticeable teen stepped forward. He wore thick rimmed glasses, but unlike the stereotypical geek or nerd his skin was unblemished. Though he seemed weak, he had a strange Aura about him, despite his appearance; his class was one that combined magic and close quarters combat, a Battlemage. As he took his place beside the other three he nodded politely towards Brutus, but remained largely silent. Though Richard seemed innocuous and harmless at first glance he was probably one of the most dangerous people in their school if you angered him.
Brutus called out the final name. “Lastly Diego Montoya step forward with the rest of us.” The Crowd parted around him as he moved forward suavely, if such a thing was possible. He winked towards one of the female servants present and she blushed. Diego was of Hispanic descent and by all accounts was an accomplished ladies’ man, but had more integrity than many so called players. For being only in his 20’s he was rather robustly built, but his build still paled against those possessed by many present as well as several students not present.
As Diego took his place next to the other Heroes called up, Brutus spoke up. “You all probably recognize these five as being among those who had the more powerful Classes, this was not on accident. They probably possess the most potential among you. These five were chose to have a somewhat balanced party. I will not be in charge of the Hero of Light’s training, and most of the others don’t have the right circumstances to be combat viable yet.” At his words several of the Heroes frowned, but they accepted his words none the less.
Brutus looked at the five Heroes he had called up for a moment before he broke the brief silence that had been created. “I will give you 5 some time to become acquainted with one another’s abilities. Be aware that this will not always be the case however, during the sparring we may throw you together randomly and not allow you the time to acclimate yourselves, such things may happen on the field of battle.” He then turned around and walked the short distance back to where the other Instructors were.
After several minutes of discussion and debate amongst the five heroes Brutus stepped forward once more and spoke. “That should be enough time for now. Everyone clear out of the immediate area, as this may get a bit messy.” He paused for a moment to let everyone but himself and the heroes to move to the edges of the Parade Grounds. “NOW BEGIN!!!” At his shout he drew the large broadsword from his back and took a position. As he did so the Heroes burst into action, Gerard held one hand out with his palm up as several of his piercings detached themselves from his body and flew towards the unprotected visage of the Knight.
Richard’s body was covered in a light blue Aura as he burst forward at high speeds towards Brutus. The Knight twitched as he blocked the initial strike of Gerard’s metal piercings. Mina who had vanished as the fight started appeared out of Knights large shadow, swinging a dark dagger that seemed to be made of shadows. Theresa gave a cold look and raised one hand as a large spike of ice formed and flew towards Brutus. In front of the Knight a dust cloud arose as Diego threw a blast spell at ground in front of him, obscuring his vision.