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

The day had been so very slow for Cypher as he eagerly awaited his first combat lesson. Classes had dragged on and every word out of his teacher’s mouth bored him. He still paid attention and took notes, but it was obvious that he was eager to get down to the training field.

He and Alex talked quite heavily during their lunch hour and wondered together what the lesson might be like. Combat drills? Some boring speech about responsibility or how to care for their weapons the right way? The two of them had several ideas and both were well accustomed to exactly those things. Jelroy had been exactly that type of teacher and from what Alex said, his had also been just as long-winded about those topics.

Eventually, they found themselves heading to the portal that would take them to the training grounds with all the excitement they could muster. They even raced each other to see who could get there first. Happily, they saw that the portal was open and active and that those students who hadn’t abandoned this class for another or those who hadn’t quit outright were passing through unhindered.

It wasn’t long before the two boys found themselves eagerly awaiting their new teacher. At first, they piled up inside a small amphitheater that had been dug into the ground off to the side of the main training field. It would only make sense for their teacher to come here and at least give a few opening remarks. They all sat chatting on the seats and did their best to pass the time.

However, after around an hour, the combat teacher still hadn’t arrived and the students were growing restless. Some had begun to spar with one another, while others cheered them on or simply chose to lay about and chat with their friends.

“Hey Cyph’ wanna have a friendly match? If the teacher isn’t going to show up today we can at least have a little bit of fun,” asked Alex.

The nickname had caught Cypher off guard as it was the first time someone had ever given him one, aside from ‘bastard’ anyways. This one made him smile though and he nodded. The two then headed to the weapon rack, and each picked out their weapon of choice.

Cypher had grabbed a simple-looking bastard sword, a choice which he thought was quite ironic given that Eiden had never failed to remind him of his reluctant title. Alex on the other hand had taken a bit longer and eventually settled on a Scal’tar, or blade staff as it was more commonly known.

Cypher saw that it was essentially a normal staff, however, affixed to the end was a curved double-edged blade with a small cross guard where the blade met the wood of the shaft. Two small rings were threaded through the tip of the blade about an inch apart and would jingle every time Alex moved it.

What that choice of weapon said about Alex, Cypher didn’t know. Still, he resolved himself to think about it later on and focused on the task at hand.

Alex twirled the Scal’tar in his hands in a quite impressive display of skill and turned to face Cypher as they moved to a sparring area away from the others. Cypher took his stance but stopped as he remembered something.

“We should probably guard the edges, we don’t wanna get hurt or anything do we?” Cypher closed his eyes for a moment and reached into his Orrium with his mental energy. From it, he drew forth a sliver of magick and said the words Alvin had taught him during their sparring sessions.

“Solo, Verse zero, Requiem of Veiling!”

The magick took hold at those words and between his fingers, a faint green light started to shine. Cypher slid his index finger and thumb down the length of his blade, leaving a trail of the green light along its edges.

After a moment he ended the spell and the sword shimmered faintly before the light faded. Once it had, he slid his hand along the edge and checked his palm to see that it was undamaged.

“There we go, all safe. Shall I do yours as well?” Cypher asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Wait you can use some magick already? I gotta say, I’m impressed. Most first-years can’t use spells until after the mid-terms. Yet here you are younger than all of us and casting ‘em like a pro!” said Alex as he held out the blade of the Scal’tar to Cypher, a wide smile on his face.

He repeated the spell and guarded Alex’s weapon. He tested the edge just as he had with his own blade and after he was pleased with the result, he returned to his spot opposite Alex.

He took up his battle stance again and nodded at Alex who examined Cypher’s handiwork before he too stood ready a moment later. The sounds of the other students sparring rang out, but Cypher and Alex simply held aloft their weapons and waited. Each was watching carefully for the other to make a move.

As a student in the distance collapsed against the ground, the two boys shot toward each other and began to spar for the first time. Alex was taller and stronger than he was, but Cypher was able to hold his own against the rapid stabs and twirls Alex was performing with his Scal’tar.

The rings at its tip jingled with every movement Alex made. They were loud and unceasing to the point that they could almost distract Cypher during several of their clashes.

Worse than that though is that they would catch the tip of his sword on occasion and interrupt an attack he was about to execute, guiding it off course. Cypher found his sword embedded in the ground more than once during their exchanges.

However, Cypher wasn’t the only one struggling. Alex was having just as hard a time as his opponent. Cypher might have been smaller, but Alex still found that he could not break his guard as easily as he had hoped.

When he would replace that one of his attacks had left Cypher open for a finishing blow, the black-haired youth would dart out of the way, pulling his sword free to deliver his own attack.

As it stood now, they were evenly matched and the two kept at it for a solid ten minutes before one of them made a mistake.

The deciding moment had come when Alex tried to side-step and avoid one of Cypher’s downward strokes when his foot slipped on the terrain.

It wasn’t muddy, but their scuffling had caused a fine layer of upturned earth to gather at their feet. Alex with his slick-soled boots had simply found no resistance when he went to plant himself into a firm position to counterattack. His Scal’tar swung out as he tried to regain his balance and he gritted his teeth.

Cypher hadn’t missed that opportunity either, he swung full force at Alex’s ribs as he moved past the boy, and left a long streak of light along him. Had they been using unguarded weapons, the attack would have been deep enough to kill.

Alex grunted in pain and looked angry for a second, but with a sigh, he turned and bowed to Cypher, acknowledging his defeat. Rubbing his side he chuckled and slung his Scal’tar over his shoulder before rolling his neck a bit to loosen up.

“I didn’t expect you to be so good Cyph’. You must have had quite the teacher, or were you self-taught? My master, the Conductor who discovered me, taught me everything I know about how to use one of these,” Alex said as he patted the staff affectionately.

“No, actually it was Eiden’s teacher who taught me everything I know. Funnily enough, I was just supposed to help the little shit train to come here to this academy, yet I ended up getting a whole lot better than Eiden in the end. Still, thinking about it, I too was trained by a Conductor so it makes sense that we’d be on about the same level.”

Cypher hadn’t actually given much thought to his abilities. To him, they simply ‘were’ and all that mattered was how proficient he was in them. Now that he was thinking about it, he took a bit more pride in the knowledge that he was so skilled with only the occasional pointers from Jelroy.

“So, shall we go again then?” Alex said, a playful grin spreading across his face. “I think I can beat you this time around!”

Cypher raised an eyebrow and grinned as well, “Oh, you really think you can huh? Well, we’ll see about that!”

The two took up their positions again. Alex twirled his Scal’tar, and Cypher flourished his blade before they leapt at one another. A laugh escaped Cypher’s lips as their blades clashed with a flurry of sparks and their sparring continued.

Cypher had never experienced what it was like to have a friend. In all the years at Galvan mansion, he had always been too busy to bother with such things. Eiden was certainly not up to the task, and his sisters were always with their mother learning how to be proper ladies of the court.

With Alex, he was, at last, able to be himself and actually enjoy his sparring sessions. He was having fun! Alvin was much older and far more skilled than he was, it just wasn’t the same. But in Alex, he had found someone who could possibly connect with him on a deeper level.

He was happy and that feeling only served to encourage him even more as the two sparred. They had continued through another two matches. Alex had won the second round and he had gloated a bit while they rested.

The two might have been well trained, but neither of them possessed a rank-one body just yet. Their reserves of energy were only so great at their level. After that third round, they were left sprawled about on the ground heaving as they tried to catch their breath.

In all that time spent sparring, the teacher for the lesson still hadn’t arrived. Most of the other students had stopped their matches to watch Cypher and Alex, or lounge about either reading their notes from the previous lesson or simply relaxing.