章節 22: Forward [1]
"Huff... huff..."
As I ran around campus I could slowly feel the stress that had compounded wash away.
'But man, I was truly in a pickle before. I was pretty lucky that they let me go.'
So far I had gotten pretty lucky, with Celine running out of energy during our spar and Wyll letting me off the hook outside of the lecture hall.
I guess it's not just luck either, though. This technique... no, this skill, is pretty amazing.'
It wasn't something I could use a lot of times, as I would run out of mana, nor was it something that I could use to traverse even moderate distances, but it was still an amazing skill in my eyes.
'Still... it's a bit frustrating...'
My feet came to a stop as I watched the setting sun in the distance, remembering the fact that even if I had been blessed with an ability that allowed me to keep my body safe, I still didn't feel like I had a good way of attacking.
I had absolutely zero confidence in my punches right now, and after experiencing the sensation of punching into our teacher's palm, which felt like a brick wall, I could be pretty sure that my lack of confidence was justified.
As the frustration grew, I had to force myself to breathe a bit, reminding myself that I had barely spent any time in this world, and it was not like my body had been in a good condition before either.
'One step at a time... what's important is that I'm moving forward...'
Tomorrow would be yet another day with more opportunities to improve, as we were all going to attend the first lecture of our majors.
'It's gonna be fun, isn't it?'
-------
The world had been set on flames. The large skyscrapers had long since crumbled beneath the darkened sky and the dry remains of humans were strewn across the roads.
On one of the large roads, in the center of the capital of Abas, there was one man who still stood tall, his red hair shining more brightly than the flames around him. In his hand, he held a brilliant sword, made out of the purest of metals and adorned with glowing gems. A weapon he had fought with for a long time, as well as the weapon he had decided would be his last.
His body was covered with sleek metallic armor that reflected the flames of the world yet was still able to withhold its golden polish contrasted by silver shoulder pads and silver gloves.
In front of him stood another figure, though it was difficult to call it a person, who was clad in a ghostly black coat, the coat moving in the wind as if it had a life of its own. Its face was nothing but black, but somehow I could still make out a wicked smile and bottomless eyes.
Then, they both dashed forward, with the knight raising his sword and the ghostly figure raising his hands that were equipped with almost claw-like nails. As they reached each other, both of them...
"Gasp!"
Waking up in a panic, I felt my back quickly grow cold as the sweat cooled down from the morning air.
"Huff... huff..."
'Another dream bad dream...'
This time I had woken up even before the sun had shown its majestic self in the sky, the world outside of the window still dark and serene. Despite that, I still forced myself out of bed, dressed myself, and headed outside for my morning roadwork.
-------
"Welcome, everyone. My name is Jared Folm and I am the head instructor for the course 'Close-Quarters Combat', also known as the abbreviated CQC."
Sitting inside another lecture hall, I was a bit surprised that we hadn't immediately headed out to the training fields despite Mr. Folm being the teacher in charge of my major, as he had given me the impression that he wasn't much for talking.
'Does it have something to do with the fact that he isn't just responsible for teaching our class?'
Scanning the room, I saw a lot of new faces that belonged to freshmen from other classes. Unfortunately, there were also some faces that I very much recognized from other classes as well, like a certain blonde-haired man who had bothered me yesterday.
Based on his build and temper, it wasn't all too surprising that he was a melee combatant, but it still gave me a bit of a headache thinking about having him attend the same major as me.
There was, however, another very interesting face in the room that I had last seen in the assembly hall during the welcome ceremony. Sitting on the other side of the room, in the far end corner, with his long legs raised onto the backrest in front of him, his gray hair was currently covering one of his eyes.
Although he was calm right now, it had been impossible for me to miss his almost shark-like teeth showing as he watched Wyll push me up against the wall, wearing his excitement for violence like a medal on his chest.
Naturally, Cerus and Celine were also here, as well as Fatima, Ken, Evan, and Frey, as they were all close-quarters fighters like me. Which in itself was pretty interesting as we all had very different styles of fighting, with Frey probably having the most different one.
Frey had fought against Daiki yesterday, a mage who had controlled some kind of green energy, somewhat reminiscent of Evan's snake-like spear, that could both defend and attack using a lot of different variations. Frey, on the other hand, had been using two daggers and was very efficient in her movement as her sharp dashes allowed her to close in on her opponent.
She had managed to catch Daiki by surprise with her sharp turns and successfully got into a super-close range, forcing him to surrender by holding her sharp blade just inches from his throat. Now, what was interesting about this was the fact that for all intents and purposes, she was an assassin, but she was still attending the same course as Cerus, Celine, Evan, and Fatima who all could be said to be variations of vanguards.
Or at least that was what I imagined. I still had some trouble visualizing how actual battles worked in this world but I assumed that it was something akin to medieval wars, where the vanguards defended the backlines from harm, while the backlines supported the vanguards through long-range attacks. A very symbiotic relationship to a degree.
Therefore I got even more excited to hear from our teacher exactly what we were going to be taught in this course, as it was supposedly suited for all kinds of different fighters. And with his characteristic action of crossing his arms, I knew that my questions were about to begin getting answered.
"Let's begin. First of all, I have a question for you all. What is the purpose of a close-quarter combatant?"
A moment of silence roamed the lecture hall as no one wanted to make a fool out of themselves during the first lecture. After noticing that no one else was about to answer, Celine raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"The purpose of a close-quarter combatant is varied and it depends on the individual. But generally, we are used as a way of guarding mages and long-ranged fighters from harm."
Mr. Folm raised a brow in response to her answer, unwilling to show whether he was happy or disappointed with her words.
"Being the shield of the backline... Yes, although it is a very traditional way of looking at it, I don't disagree. Good answer. Does anyone else have something to add?"
"I do."
This time it was Frey who raised her hand, seemingly a bit displeased by the conclusions that were being made right in front of her face. Nodding a bit, our teacher urged her to speak.
"Go ahead.
"I believe it would be a disadvantage to view melee fighters as only a shield. One of the symbols for a strong fighter is the individual's high physical stats and that can be used in a multitude of ways. An example would be if there was a priority target in the form of a mage amongst our enemies that our backline couldn't reach. Then it would be up to us to either break through or sneak around and attempt to bring that mage down."
"Assassinations, you mean?"
Our teacher instantly saw through what Frey was trying to get at, making her a bit embarrassed as she had tried to be subtle about it, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.
"...yes."
"That is also a good answer. There are, indeed, a multitude of ways that a melee combatant can fight and make themselves useful, even though I don't disagree that in a large-scale battle, most fighters will act as vanguards for the backline. Now, one more question before we move on..."
Silence yet again filled the space, with everyone waiting anxiously for whatever the next question was going to be.
"... what is the most important quality of a strong melee combatant?"
Silence filled the room, but this time Mr. Folm didn't allow us time to think as he very quickly gave us the answer.
"The most important quality of a strong melee combatant is stamina!"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票