The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 231 (Patreon)

Chapter 231 – Training

Today was a day for martial training, which was why I was in my human guise. My young apprentices were learning well, with all I had to teach them, but I was not the type of Mistress that would allow their bodies to grow soft and weak while their minds grew sharp and their magical power soared. As I had told them many times before, an archmage who could not even climb the stairs of his own tower was a laughingstock, and when it came to battle, a journeyman who knew how to defend themselves was preferable to an archmage who did not know which end of the sword you used.

More than one powerful mage had fallen in the Long War because they neglected their physical defenses and relied entirely on their magic. Just as many mighty warriors fell because they neglected their brains to focus entirely on their bodies. They all corrected those mistakes when they rose again as part of my army. They didn’t have a choice.

So, training the body as well as the mind was important, which is why, twice a week, my students would learn to use physical weapons. Swords, staves, bows, guns, and more. Each of them needed to learn to wield at least five weapon types with some degree of proficiency, at least one of them ranged. I did not expect them to become weapons masters, as I was, but I would not have any apprentice of mine be helpless just because some fool with a knife managed to get too close to them.

Currently, Nawai, the Hawai’ian Flame Sorcerer, and Maria, the Mexican Reaper and Vampire, were facing off in the training circle, using training weapons. They were real weapons, just with an enchantment to keep them from doing more than bruising if they hit. Most training weapons were either padded, or made of different materials than normal weapons, and while that was fine for training the discipline and athleticism that most martial arts studios favored, it left one ill-prepared for actual combat, since the weight, balance, and edge alignment for bladed weapons would all be off. It was like training marksmanship with a paintball gun, and expecting it to carry over completely to actual firearms. Sure, some of the skills would transfer, but you wouldn’t have the true feeling of the weight and recoil of actual weapons.

Naturally, this was not acceptable for students of mine. While I did not intend to put them in harm’s way, I was not foolish enough to think that no one would target them in the future. So, when they trained, they used weapons that were of the same materials as normal weapons, with the same weight and balance, with an actual edge, for those blades in the mix. Much better for learning to actually fight.

For this bout, Nawai was using his larger physique to his advantage. Normally, he favored a traditional Hawai’ian leiomanō, the short hardwood paddle lined with shark’s teeth and designed for slashing and tearing, as well as bashing with the flat, using that, along with grappling techniques, to overwhelm his opponents. However, against the vampire, Maria, he’d traded his preferred weapon in for the ko’oko’o loa, a 1.8 meter staff that was perfect for extending his reach, controlling the battlefield, and defending, all at once.

Maria, on the other hand, was leaning into her supernatural speed and agility, dual-wielding rapier and dagger. It was a solid, traditional style, and one that suited her. It was also not great against the staff’s increased reach, or the way Nawai could quickly reposition his weapon to block her approaches.

This was why I had all my students learn multiple weapon types. If Nawai had gone with his normal weapon, he would not be able to match Maria’s speed with his own, and her two weapons, with the main hand having much greater reach, would have overwhelmed him. By using the staff, which he was less skilled in, but still proficient, he was able to counter her enough that the vampire was having to work harder than she should have, given the difference in their base abilities.

The rest of my students were watching the fight, because one could learn just as much from watching two combatants with different styles as they could from actually fighting. Each of them was dutifully studying what worked, and what did not, seeing how Nawai played to his strengths, and how Maria sought to overcome them. The bout ended a three points to two, when Maria fully tapped into her vampiric speed, jumping over a leg sweep by Nawai and landing on his staff, preventing him from blocking her rapier thrust before it touched his chest, just over his heart.

“Well done, both of you,” I said, clapping my hands. “Nawai, your use of the staff to extend your already greater reach, and attempt to negate Maria’s advantages in speed and agility was well thought out, and forced her to adjust more than she otherwise would have to. Maria, you did an excellent job recovering after the first hit proved you could not approach this as normal. And using your speed to pin down Nawai’s staff at the end was clever. But be careful not to rely on such things too much. That position also gave him potential leverage, if he had pulled up, or to the side, which would have upset your footing. The ploy worked because you surprised him, and moved quickly enough to exploit it before he recovered. Do not expect to always be so fortunate.”

I turned to the other students, to select the next pairing. “Lucia. Almir. Choose your weapons. Lucia, have Nolan sit out this bout. Once you have mastered the fundamentals, you can work on teamwork with your familiar.”

Almir, the Portuguese Aeromancer, picked a Roman spear, slightly longer than the staff Nawai had been using. Suitable for use in one hand or two, the weapon was particularly favorable to his leaner build. It was also his favored melee weapon, since it was quick to learn, and extremely versatile as one advanced in mastery. There was a reason why the spear was the weapon handed to every untrained levy throughout the history of war, until the age of gunpowder changed the course of warfare. Like the Romans who used it, Almir picked up a scutum shield to help protect him.

Lucia, the Canadian Spiritualist, on the other hand, had filled out, putting muscle on that she had not had when she started training. She was the daughter of an ambassador, and had been ‘gym fit’. Now, though, she was starting to look like a warrior woman, as well as progressing in her magical studies. The change suited her, as did her choice of kite shield and arming sword.

Sword and shield versus spear and shield. It was an interesting matchup. If Almir could keep Lucia at range, the spear’s reach and the scutum’s greater coverage would give him the advantage. However, Lucia had the advantage in mobility. The kite shield was smaller than the scutum, and shaped differently, but that made it more maneuverable, and easier to reposition, while using the spear one-handed limited how much territory it could cover easily. And that was before one addressed the fact that Lucia was left-handed.

That was almost as much bane as boon to her, in this case. Only the fact that she was more familiar with fighting someone who was ‘opposite’ her gave her the edge. Her shield had to cross her body to intercept the spear, but there was no weapon on the other side to take advantage of the gap. And, if she could get close enough, her sword would be coming in at the ‘wrong’ angles, and the spear’s length and scutum’s size would actively interfere with the defense. Which meant that Almir would have to decide which blows he would defend with the shaft of the spear, and which ones the scutum would intercept. All while Lucia retained her advantage in mobility.

In some ways, it was like the matchup between Nawai and Maria before. The reach advantage favored Almir, but the mobility and ‘otherness’ of Lucia’s weapons and stance worked against him, giving her more of a chance than she would have had if she’d been a right-handed fighter facing him. The question was whether he would be able to adapt quickly enough.

Lucia darted forward and to the side, trying to close the distance. Almir’s spear was there to intercept her, but she deflected it with the shield, just as intended. The motion put her inside the reach of his spear, and to his right. She didn’t try for too much, she’d learned that lesson early on. Her sword slashed in an upward arc, catching Almir’s wrist as he attempted to pull it back in time. It was not the kind of hit that would be fatal, even if the blades had been ‘live’, but it would have potentially crippled his spear hand, and likely forced him to drop the spear, which would have effectively ended the fight, if he didn’t have a backup weapon.

“One point to Lucia,” I called from outside the ring.

To his credit, Almir recovered quickly. He shifted his stance to more solidly favor his left, with the shield, putting that shoulder forward. It was a defensive stance, one that could sacrifice mobility for reach. Lucia tried the same ploy again, hoping to use the spear’s thrust to move inside his guard, but Almir didn’t fall for that trick twice in a row. He feinted with the spear, and then moved the point in line with Lucia’s new track, forcing her to quickly backpedal. Leaving her vulnerable. A sweep of the spear had the blade strike her leg. Not fatal, but it would have robbed her mobility, which favored Almir.

“One point to Almir. Tied 1 to 1.”

Lucia rebounded after the point. This time, when she drove forward, she didn’t try to slip around to the side, but parried the spear with her sword. She didn’t need to control the weapon for long, just enough to get inside the reach. Her kite shield crashed against Almir’s scutum, forcing him to shift his weight back onto his back foot, to keep from being bowled over. Lucia pressed the attack, using her shield to force the scutum out of place just enough for a quick thrust, catching Almir in the stomach. Good hit.

I nodded appreciatively at the aggressiveness of the approach. Lucia had improved over the time, not just on her musculature, or her skills, or how much magic she had. Before, her battle instincts had been nonexistent, as expected of someone who had never had any kind of training beyond basic self-defense classes. She was truly coming into her own. “Two points to Lucia. 2 to 1.”

The two reset, and Almir settled back in a defensive stance once more. He understood, rightly, that his best chance was in forcing Lucia to come to him, and striking from afar. However, Lucia showed that she still had tricks up her sleeve. This time, when she darted forward, and her blade parried his spear thrust, she broke to Almir’s left, slipping past him like water around a stone in the stream, rather than crashing against him. The move was so quick and fluid that Almir did not have a chance to respond before the edge of Lucia’s blade was pressed to his throat.

“Three points to two, Lucia’s win,” I nodded. “Good job, both of you. Lucia, your attacks were varied, but showed signs of not just adaptation but planning. Almir, I think you can agree that you chose your weapons poorly for this fight. While spear and scutum was the foundation of the Roman legions, remember that those were soldiers fighting in formation. There is a reason why shield designs changed over the years, as tight-knit shield walls fell out of favor. If at all possibly, you should choose your weapons to fight the fight you are facing. Which is why I always have multiple weapons on me, in addition to my magic. Remember, just because scalpel is a doctor’s favorite tool, does not mean that you should try and clear brush with one, just like you shouldn’t try surgery with a machete.”

Tabia raised her hand, and I nodded to her. “Mistress, what weapons would you choose to fight against sword and shield, as Lucia had?”

“Ideally? A ranged weapon, like the bow, or a rifle. But restricting to melee weapons? Assuming you do not have the raw physicality to simply cleave and crush through with a two-handed zweihander, or similar, I would look at axe and shield, twin axes, axe and dagger, sword and axe, mace and axe, or possibly more exotic weapons like the kusarigama or meteor hammer. If you can hook the shield, or the spear, and force them out of position, or disarm your foe of them entirely, then the tide of battle changes. The reason axes became well-used in war was precisely because of shields. Shields are quite a bit less effective when someone rips them from your hands, and still has weapons to add to the fray.”

The session was interrupted when Galeren stepped into the training hall. Considering that there was still an hour before the time he normally would have come for me, I knew something was wrong. Or, at least, there was a message that could not exactly wait.

“Your Majesty, a message has arrived from the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo. The Ambassador to Japan would like to speak with you at your earliest convenience.”