Alistair is taken by surprise at the sudden attention being drawn to him. He puts on an awkward smile towards everyone looking at him as he is not sure what else to do.
The drill instructor walks over to Alistair and then grabs his arm while talking to the class. The moment he feels the muscle on his arm though he becomes slightly shocked and then smiles slightly reassuring himself of his choice.
"This boy has no magic energy to speak of, he is completely inept when it comes to magic and may never even know the joy of casting even the simplest spells." He says, while acting as if he is not insulting Alistair in the least.
He continues, "However, if you all were told to fight to the death right now without the use of magic, he would win." Saying this in a deadpan manner. While this was his plan to scold Alistair by singling him out from his peers. It is also a reality check for students who think magic is all powerful.
The students in the class, including Michelle and the two boys who were chasing him earlier, put on a face of complete disbelief. This scrawny, bald, pasty white kid who looks like he could topple over from a stiff breeze would be able to kill them all? No one there took it seriously.
The drill instructor notices their reservations and smiles, "Don't worry, you all will get the chance to see what I mean during hand to hand combat. I'm sure you have all been given at least a sprinkling of training on it before coming here, so as the saying goes 'Seeing is believing'."
"Magical energy runs out very fast due to higher tiered spells requiring more magical energy. This being said, if you were to find yourself out of magical energy then you would be at the mercy of whoever is stronger than you. Some people that train their bodies to the peak are even able to contest multiple ascended of the same level due to not relying on magical energy, but their own physical stamina."
The drill instructor goes off on a lecture about the fundamentals of building up the body as a container for magical energy and it's practical uses outside of magical energy.
After finishing the lecture, he divides everyone into two groups and then gives them the instructions for the first combat training class. "Since today is the combat training's first class, you will each battle everyone else in the class one time to understand each others fighting style better. Don't worry about hurting each other, as long as you aren't dead then the nursing staff on standby will heal you."
After explaining more rules and regulations each student is given three minutes fights with the rest of class analyzing their movements and offering constructive criticism. This is how this academy has done it's training in the past and what it is famous for.
The first student up is the very person the drill instructor bragged about in the beginning, Alistair. His opponent is a student who never made much of an impression in the class yesterday. A quiet plain looking boy with walnut brown hair and green eyes.
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The drill instructor decided that each student should state their name and fighting style as a way to introduce themselves to the class. This will help him decide on how to tailor their physical improvement to each of them.
The plain boy and Alistair walk into the center of the room and stand about ten feet apart from each other. The plain boy takes the initiative to start of the introductions.
"I am Taylor! Fighting style: Judo" The plain boy announces as he takes a proper stance ready to engage.
"I am Alistair! Fighting style: ... uhh" He turns to the drill instructor who is standing against the wall of the room observing the match and shout, "Teacher! What if you don't have a fighting style?"
"...." The entire room went silent as they watched the boy who was hyped up by the teacher as the strongest, state he didn't have any training on how to fight.
The students let out an uproar of laughter as Michelle starts blushing in embarrassment for getting her expectations of her new partner too high.
After regaining his composure, the drill instructor replies, "Ah-Ahem...yes, well... If you have never been formerly taught any style, then you may be referred to as free style fighting."
Then one of the boys who Alistair provoked the other day spoke up while laughing, "Teacher, I heard the senior students have another name for free style fighting. How about we call it zombie style, since all free style can do is get beaten around while they flail about aimlessly!"
Another uproar of laughter spreads through the students. Just as the drill instructor is about to reply to that comment, Alistair is taken aback and then shouts, "Thank you!"
"I am Alistair! Fighting style: Zombie Style!" He spreads his arms and legs a bit wider to prepare himself for any sudden surprises. The few fights he has experienced, managed to temper his fighting instincts by a good amount. The moment he heard Zombie style, he immediately felt as if fate decided to play a joke on him.
Taylor on the other hand, did not laugh at all. He has taken Alistair seriously from the moment he went into his stance. After hearing Alistair's fighting style, he nods and says, "Understood! Teacher may we begin?"
After realizing that he let himself be swept up by the ridiculousness of the events, he feels ashamed that he has to be brought back to his senses by one of his students. As if trying to regain face and ignore the previous matter he declares, "The fight will begin in 3...2...1... Fight!"
Alistair moves swiftly towards Taylor in an attempt to catch him off guard. Although, he has no training, he has overcome life and death fights before. Believing that his experience will prevail, he takes the initiative to strike at Taylor's face.
He was only taught the basics of Judo, he actually really enjoyed practicing it. It was a way for him and his grandfather to bond as his grandfather was his teacher.
However, his parents forbid him from focusing on it as they deemed it to be a waste of time. They told him to practice with magical energy more and more, as they believe that is how one truly becomes strong.
After getting told to stop practicing, he felt as if a piece of himself was slowly being lost. The moment he came to the training class and was told that the physical body has importance too, he felt a kindle deep inside of him turn into a roaring flame of passion.
He is once again allowed to practice Judo along with magic. He can return to his home one day and practice with his grandfather again in the cozy little dojo.
His first opponent is said to be the strongest, so he is determined to give it his all and improve himself. He see's Alistair rushing at him with obvious movements, wildly swinging a right hook towards his face.
Re-imagining the scene of his grandfathers fights and what he was most proud of, he uses the move he spent most of his time learning. The over the shoulder throw.