Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Sixty-Four

In the sky above the training field, a lone woman stood hovering upon a small platform made of Zight. Her silver-streaked hair billowed in the wind, and below her, several students had started to spar against one another. They were obviously waiting for her, but she had her own reasons for remaining undetected. She wanted to see just how dedicated to the art these children would be.

Combat was the main aspect of the art in the eyes of many Conductors, but in truth, it was more niche than anyone cared to admit. Not everyone had the temperament for battle, or the skills to match. When it came right down to it, not everyone was suited for open combat. This was why she had postponed the first lessons for an entire week. If they couldn’t stand to wait that long then they obviously wouldn’t have the patience to endure her lessons.

It took a strong will and determination, and these things weren’t something you could simply teach. One either had them or they didn’t, there was no in-between. These were, of course, the principles held by the Academy’s Combat Professor, Glenda Boltain.

She had expected as much, but several students had left and returned to the main castle thanks to her assumed absence. They were no doubt complaining to someone but it didn’t matter. These students wouldn’t be allowed back no matter what happened even if they weren’t doing that.

She didn’t offer second chances to quitters, or people who weren’t interested in practicing patience. There were of course others who were simply laying about and doing nothing, but that wasn’t exactly an indicator of a true failing on their part.

These students would be given a chance to redeem themselves and if they failed in that only then would she banish them from her lessons. They might be layabouts, but the fact that they were still here meant one of two things: They were either lazy, and taking advantage of the lack of an instructor, or worried that leaving would get them in some kind of trouble.

Either way, she would replace out which of the two it was. The other students though, the ones that brought her the most pride, were the ones who had decided to spar with one another.

These kids showed great promise and would one day be excellent fighters. She had no doubts that they had the will and determination necessary to suffer through her training with no problems. One student in particular though really caught her eye.

A colleague had informed her of him already, but she was still surprised to see a boy of only twelve, the youngest one there, sparring with one of the fifteen-year-olds. He used a sword, which was a bland and boring weapon in the eyes of most Conductors, but it was an efficient and reliable one.

She herself used a sword, albeit a heavily modified version of a sword but one all the same. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t really judge him because of that. She didn’t really care much either. A weapon was a weapon no matter its shape or abilities.

Her eyes narrowed in focus as she watched the boy fight, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Not only was he gutsy enough to challenge someone three years his senior, but he was holding his own. He was even equally matched with the older, stronger boy, and she could tell that her colleague had been absolutely correct about him.

That was thrilling, and she was eager to see how well he would do. Her blood burned for the chance to tutor a worthy student and so far, in all her years only a few had turned up. It had been quite some time since the last one had graced her class, but perhaps her wait was over.

That said, she was still only observing. Her little test was far from over since the sun was still hanging in the sky. However, once it set behind the mountains, any students who were left would be welcomed into her class and given the best combat education she could offer.

Glenda was extremely particular about which students she allowed into her lessons. She wasn’t the only Combat Professor on campus, but she was hands down the best the Academy had to offer. If students didn’t meet her standards, they could just train with the other professor and that would be no skin off her back. They would get their lesson and she would be free to search for worthy students.

Glenda had been in this profession for a long time and had trained too many arrogant nobles who had thought themselves better than they really were. As a result, many of them had died or been maimed beyond saving after they graduated. While it might not be directly her fault, she couldn’t completely shrug off some of the blame.

After all, she had agreed to train them despite knowing they had no real skill or taste for battle. She didn’t feel bad about their deaths, but it was obviously something that brought her own skills into question among others. That was unacceptable to her.

She was not about to spend her precious time training spoiled little shits who would only go out and waste her efforts by dying. At that point, she would naturally be accused of not being a good teacher or skilled enough to be running a class like this.

What was the point of that? Instead, she had changed her entire curriculum and now only allowed those who were promising and talented to participate in her lessons. If they went off and died later on, it wouldn’t be as big a waste then. She would have given them the proper chance to thrive and their death would have been entirely their own fault. Furthermore, no one could say she wasn’t skilled enough.

The young boy she had her eyes on now was showing levels of skill that were simply beyond the baseline of the normal nobles who slogged their way in front of her. However, Cypher as he was called, seemed to be worth her time. This was something she could work with and if handled properly, this boy could become her best student yet.

That said, an event was unfolding on the ground below her, and her interest suddenly spiked as she saw what was happening. Her eyes were seeing one thing but her mind couldn’t accept what they were showing her. That sight was simply beyond anything that she had expected. It was completely impossible! But there it was as clear as day, and she wondered how this would all play out.

She couldn’t do much without revealing herself, and she hadn’t planned on doing that unless she absolutely had to. Still, she was in a position that would allow her to react immediately if something went wrong. She wasn’t the type to coddle her students. Holding their hands, and limiting them wasn’t helpful at all in her eyes. However, simply standing by and allowing them to get seriously hurt went against her duties as an instructor.

She had a curious sense that told her when things were about to go wrong, and right now, it was screaming at her. As interested as she was to see how things would play out, this situation had quickly become a very dangerous one if her eyes and senses were to be believed.

She descended quickly towards the event happening on the ground. Stopping it was beyond her ability to do now, but she could at least intervene and reduce the fallout of something like this. She cursed herself for her moment of hesitation. If one of her students had hesitated as such she would have scolded them severely. Still, that didn’t matter right now. She could berate herself later.

Her speed was great as she rushed toward the ground but a sudden rush of killing intent stopped her in her tracks. Stunned she whirled around to face the opponent that all her senses were telling her was right behind her. However, only empty air awaited her as she brandished her weapon, prepared to face down whatever it was that had triggered such a response. With no enemy in sight, her confusion only lasted for another instant before her focus returned to the event on the ground.

“No!”

That was all she could mutter as the events unfolding beneath her came to their conclusion. She was too late.