Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Seventy-Seven

Cypher could only stare, dumbstruck, as he realized the force behind the strike and how precise it had been to leave such a clean cut. If it had been a flesh and bone Conductor, they would have died instantly. Battle pressure was more impressive than he had first realized.

He was confident that no matter how hard he swung his sword that he’d be unable to even cut halfway into the tree, let alone sever it completely like that. Cypher was in awe. But Alvin on the other hand held a look of annoyance.

“Glenda, if you go about destroying Academy property like that you’re going to get both of us in trouble! I’ve rented this space for our training so do keep that in mind. Any expenses you rack up are going to have to come out of my pocket,” Alvin said with a sigh as he moved closer to the tree and looked down it with a sad expression.

“Oh, lighten up Alvin. It isn’t something one of your little spells can’t clear up. If you actually applied yourself you’d be the head herbology professor instead of what’s-his-name! You don’t get to complain when fixing something like this is hardly more than a nuisance to you. Don’t pretend that this will cost you anything.”

“His name is Garrick. And just because I can fix it easily doesn’t mean you have to go wrecking every tree in sight just to prove a point!” Alvin replied.

“Cry me a river, Alvin. We’re training here. The damage is going to rack up and there isn’t anything we can do about it. Just relax!” Glenda was straight to the point and didn’t seem to care that Alvin was annoyed by her antics.

“You’re as abrasive as ever I see. When are you going to realize that brawn isn’t always the answer? There are more important things than combat after all, where is your compassion? Like Sequinnen always says-,” Glenda cut him off with a laugh.

“You don’t have to tell me what that old bag of bones has to say, he’s always reminding everyone all about how compassion is the only way forward, blah blah blah. Cypher, just ignore that for now. Compassion has its place but it is not here. I’m taking the time out of my very busy schedule to teach you how to fight properly, not how to shed tears for your opponents, and certainly not to worry about a few trees.”

Glenda had turned to face him and Cypher was not overly eager to get in between these two and their bickering. She guided him away from the remains of the tree and more towards the middle of the field. As they moved away he thought he could hear Alvin complaining about the tree some more, and Glenda chuckled as they moved away from his master.

“If you wish to cultivate a proper battle pressure you’re going to have to learn how to use your Zight Stanza properly. It’s more useful than just allowing you to cast spells. You noticed how when I unleashed mine you became frozen and unable to do anything. You also saw how it allowed me to perform such a precise and powerful cut to such a thick tree trunk.”

“These are two separate applications of battle pressure. One is used offensively, while the other can be quite useful in stopping your enemies dead in their tracks. First I’m going to teach you about its offensive properties, then I’ll move on to its defensive applications. But to really get a firm grasp of those you’ll have to train with Alvin. My time is precious, and I’m only here because I owe him one.”

Cypher nodded and held his sword up, “So, offense eh? How does it work? I’m ready to learn Master Boltain,” Cypher said as his gaze met hers.

“It isn’t as simple as that. If you want quality battle pressure you’re going to need to face some life-or-death situations. The pressure of such situations will allow you to express that same power for your own use. Also, don’t call me Master Boltain, I’m not some stuffy old man like Alvin. Glenda will do just fine.”

Glenda let out another wicked smile and Cypher couldn’t help but flinch at that. His mind worked quickly and he grew still as a realization dawned on him. “You don’t mean…” he began, but Glenda held her smile before answering.

“Oh, yes. I hope you’re ready! If you aren’t careful you will absolutely die here and now. I have a little bit of wiggle room when it comes to your training Cypher, and I plan to exploit every inch of it!” she said, snapping her fingers. A ring of green mist radiated off of Cypher’s blade as her guarding spell dissipated. Before he could even react she dashed forward and slammed her sword down upon him.

He barely managed to raise his own weapon to block hers and the crash of the two blades staggered him and he dropped to a kneel. Before he could even recover though, her sword was already streaking a horizontal path through the air directly toward his neck.

He jumped back and the tip of her sword barely missed its target. “What are you doing?! You can’t be serious, can you?! You almost took my head off!” Cypher was shocked, but he also felt anger welling up inside him. The threat to his life was offensive and it was even more bothersome because he knew that if she had wanted to she could have easily decapitated him.

There wasn’t much he could do but block or dodge her attacks. She continued to press him, her next strike leaving a shallow red line across his shoulder. That time he had been an instant too slow and the tip of the sword had slid easily across him.

“Alvin do something!” Cypher shouted to his master, but as he looked that way he saw that Alvin was busy trying to get the tree to reattach itself back to the lower half of its trunk. “Where are you looking boy? Pay attention or you’ll die!” Glenda yelled as she took another swipe at him.

He rolled to the side and accidentally bit his lip as he moved across the ground. As he rolled back to his feet her sword slammed into the ground where he had just been and he looked up at her with a look of frustration.

She wasn’t giving him even a moment to breathe or think about his next move and as the moments dragged on it only got worse. A swing from the left, another from the right, a downward slash, a forward jab, each of her moves was quick and followed the previous one with practiced ease.

Cypher struggled to hold his own, but her strikes were so fast that he couldn’t even counterattack let alone plan his next move. Their blades clashed again as he blocked another downward slash and she looked him in his eyes, “You aren’t focusing hard enough! Do better or I’ll stop holding back. I don’t care if you die here. If you do, the elders can stop worrying about whether or not you’ll kill another student,”

Glenda continued to attack and pushed Cypher back even further toward the other side of the field. He gritted his teeth and swung back at her, but with a chuckle, she blocked his sword and returned with a strike of her own. He leaped back and charged forward with a loud shout.

He was aiming at her chest and at this point, his anger was beginning to get the better of him. If she didn’t care about his life, he couldn’t be bothered to care about hers at that moment. As if by some miracle the tip of his sword flew right past her defenses and landed right on her chest.

Cypher grimaced, the threat of blood spray on his mind as he flinched away from the wound he had caused. However, instead of sinking into her flesh and impaling her heart, the sword stopped with a loud ‘CLANG’ and his entire arm shuddered.

“WHAT?” It took him a moment to realize what had happened but he soon remembered that she was a rank-three Conductor just like Alvin. There was no way his strength could have injured her, let alone sunk into her heart.

She knocked his sword away with a smug laugh and attacked him again. This time she was more serious as she fought. “Good, good! You’re starting to learn, aren’t you? But you’ll have to do better than that if you want to hurt me. I should have known some shitty bastard from the Galvan family didn’t have what it takes to control his own power. No wonder you almost killed that Alex kid,”

Cypher’s face reddened with anger. Bringing up that incident with Alex was a low blow. His feelings of guilt on the matter might have been sealed away in his Athenaeum but that didn’t mean he could let a remark like that slide unpunished.

Almost on instinct he reached into his Orrium and flooded his body with the Zight contained within. He roared and knocked away her sword, and just as he had with Alex, he shot forward and slashed at her side. The move was quick, precise, and powerful. More importantly, Glenda hadn’t seen it coming despite her skill.

She staggered back clutching her side as the faint glow around Cypher’s body flared brighter. She pulled her hand away and a thin line of blood shone on her palm. “Fucking finally! Now that’s how it’s done!”

However, before she could continue in her praise, Cypher dashed forward again and swung his sword down at her face.