Shattered Sanity

(Inside Dueling Arena Number One, Riven’s POV)

Once the spar between Riven and Fredrick was over, Professor Jude continued with his class and called for every student to enter the arena, pick a weapon of their choice and find themselves a dueling partner, as he gave everyone precisely ten minutes to comply.

Riven remained where he was, hoping Circuit, or perhaps one of Orton, Batista and Flair, was going to choose him as their opponent.

However, much to his disappointment, Circuit walked straight past him before approaching another boy who looked almost as physically frail as he did, while Orton and Batista immediately paired together and Flair disappeared amongst the remaining Argent students.

’Seriously, Circuit?’

Riven thought, as his friend deliberately avoided looking in his direction while speaking enthusiastically with the considerably safer opponent he had selected.

’Shit, will anyone approach me?’

Riven wondered, his heart panicking for a moment when suddenly, Sophia Mellow separated herself from the nearby students and approached him with a pleasant smile across her face.

”May I have the honor of being your sparring partner today, Young Lord?” she asked, as Riven studied her briefly before nodding.

”Of course.”

Unlike the students who had been jeering at him moments earlier, Sophia appeared completely unconcerned about fighting him, as she casually walked towards one of the nearby weapon racks and selected an Academy-issued bow alongside a quiver of blunted training arrows.

Her choice caused Riven to raise an eyebrow.

A bow was troublesome for someone wielding a halberd, especially since Sky-Cleaver offered considerably less protection against projectiles than a shield, although Riven said nothing as they moved towards an empty section of the arena.

Once Professor Jude signaled for everyone to begin, Sophia immediately created distance before drawing her first arrow and releasing it towards Riven.

Riven barely managed to knock the projectile aside with Sky-Cleaver before a second arrow forced him sideways, although the moment he survived those opening shots, the difference between their physical abilities became impossible for Sophia to overcome.

Closing the distance rapidly, Riven reached her before she could properly prepare another shot and placed Sky-Cleaver’s curved blade beside her shoulder, ending their first spar within seconds.

Their second and third exchanges unfolded similarly, although each became progressively easier as Riven adjusted to the timing between Sophia’s shots, until by their third attempt he needed to deflect only a single arrow before reaching her.

”Looks like you got me again,” Sophia admitted with an awkward smile, as Riven lowered Sky-Cleaver.

Sophia was certainly competent with her bow, but once Riven entered close range there was practically nothing she could do against him, which made their repeated spars increasingly useless for either of them.

Fortunately though, it seemed as though Professor Jude had also reached the same conclusion.

”Little girl, that’s enough,” Jude called, as he approached them carrying an Academy-issued sword and shield. ”I don’t think you’re exactly the sort of opponent against whom I can properly evaluate Dawnriver.”

Sophia lowered her bow.

”Go find Assistant Harrow, he’s the curly haired one and ask him to assign you someone better suited to testing an archer.”

”Yes, Professor,” Sophia replied, as she gave Riven a courteous bow before walking away.

Jude watched her leave before turning towards Riven.

”Dawnriver, how about you fight me for a while instead?”

He proposed, as Riven immediately gave him a grateful nod.

”Gladly, Professor.”

He said, as he assumed battle stance, while Jude stepped backward and raised his shield.

”I read your evaluation before yesterday’s fight,” Jude said. ”According to your records, you’ve only recently picked up the halberd and primarily used a sword before that. Is that correct?”

”Yes, Professor.”

”Then show me what you’ve got. I need to understand your foundations before I can determine what needs improvement.”

Jude raised his sword before adding, ”And don’t hold back because I’m your professor. Give me everything you’ve got, including whatever spells and techniques you know.”

Riven nodded before tightening his grip around Sky-Cleaver.

The moment Jude signaled for him to begin, Riven stepped forward and opened with a direct thrust towards the professor’s upper body.

CLANG!

Jude redirected it effortlessly with his shield.

Riven immediately transitioned into a horizontal sweep before following with another thrust, although Jude stopped both attacks without taking more than a few steps from his original position.

Changing his approach, Riven began moving through the Basic Halberd Fundamentals he had memorized, combining thrusts, sweeps and overhead strikes while searching for some way around Jude’s defense.

However, unfortunately for him, nothing worked.

Every time Sky-Cleaver approached, Jude’s shield seemed to already be waiting, while the occasional movement of his sword redirected Riven’s weapon just enough to ruin whatever attack was supposed to follow.

”Your grip is decent, but you’re putting too much weight onto your front leg whenever you commit,” Jude commented after blocking another thrust.

Riven adjusted his footing immediately.

”Better. Again.”

The spar continued as Jude focused almost entirely upon defense, allowing Riven to demonstrate everything he knew while occasionally pointing out flaws within his movements.

Yet the longer they fought, the clearer it became that Riven’s knowledge was painfully shallow.

He had memorized the correct movements and could reproduce them almost perfectly, but there was no rhythm to his fighting.

He did not inherently understand what move should follow what move, and had no strategy to slowly dismantle his opponents defence.

So, Jude managed to easily predict his every attack before it arrived.

”I can see that your Halberd techniques need a lot of work, but what about your spells Dawnriver?

Don’t be shy, show me your techniques!”

Jude demanded, as Riven hesitated briefly before attacking again with just Aether being pumped into his weapon.

”I told you to use everything you’ve got,” Jude reminded him, as his shield caught another thrust. ”Use a movement spell, Storm reinforcement or something offensive. I need to see how you incorporate Aether into your fighting style.”

Riven remained silent.

Jude knocked Sky-Cleaver aside before stepping backward.

”Dawnriver, why aren’t you using any spells?”

Realizing there was little reason to hide something his professor was inevitably going to discover, Riven lowered his halberd.

”I’m sorry, Professor, but I don’t know any.”

He admitted, as Jude stared at him in shock.

”What?”

”I don’t know any spells, Professor.”

The professor’s shield slowly lowered.

”Not a single Storm spell?”

”No.”

For several seconds, Jude simply studied him as though trying to determine whether Riven was joking.

”You have Perfect Storm affinity, an Excellent Soul Vessel, and you’re the heir of House Dawnriver.

How in the world did your house send you to the Imperial Academy without learning a single Storm spell?”

He asked, as Riven simply lowered his head even further in response.

”Because I wasn’t raised by House Dawnriver, Professor.”

Riven muttered meekly, as Jude’s expression changed.

”I hadn’t even seen my father until a couple of months ago.

I grew up in the wild with my mother and a wandering Ascendant who helped raise and train me.”

Riven shared as the professor listened quietly.

”The man who trained me possessed Flame affinity, so while he could teach me how to use a sword and survive in a fight, he had no Storm spells he could pass down to me.”

”And House Dawnriver never contacted you until recently?”

Jude asked again, as the disbelief across his face suggested that he was struggling to comprehend how Drew Dawnriver had remained absent from his son’s life for so long.

”Yes, Professor.”

Riven confirmed as Jude fell silent.

Until now, he had apparently believed that Riven was someone raised with all the advantages available to the heir of an Eastern Duke, which meant his savage performance against Gary seemed like a deliberate rejection of years of proper instruction.

Now, however, Jude was beginning to understand that Riven had entered yesterday’s duel without Storm spells, proper halberd training or anything close to Gary’s technical experience.

”How long have you been using Sky-Cleaver?” Jude asked eventually.

”A few weeks.”

Jude’s eyebrows rose.

”Only a few weeks?”

Riven nodded.

”And those movements you’ve been using?”

”I memorized the Basic Halberd Fundamentals.”

A thoughtful expression appeared across Jude’s face as he looked between Riven and the weapon in his hands.

”Well, that explains quite a lot.”

Riven remained quiet.

”Your stance is acceptable and your grip is surprisingly good, while you’ve clearly memorized the basic movements properly,” Jude said. ”The problem is that you’ve memorized them without understanding how to use them against someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Jude tapped Sky-Cleaver’s shaft with his sword.

”You’re announcing attacks through your shoulders, your combinations are predictable, your footwork becomes unstable whenever you’re forced outside the movements you’ve memorized, and you’re relying far too heavily upon your physical strength to compensate.”

Riven listened without showing any offense.

”Against Fredrick, those weaknesses didn’t matter because he made the mistake of challenging your halberd directly, allowing you to overwhelm him through leverage and strength,” Jude continued. ”Against Gary, however, every deficiency you possess became painfully obvious.”

”I know,” Riven replied.

Jude looked towards him.

”Gary was considerably better than me yesterday,” Riven admitted. ”That’s why I fought the way I did. I used the few advantages I actually had because I didn’t know another way to beat him.”

For several seconds, Professor Jude said nothing.

Yesterday, he had watched Riven catch a sword with his bare hand, endure being stabbed and turn an honorable exhibition into something resembling a street fight.

Perhaps he still disliked everything Riven had done.

However, now he finally understood why.

”Apparently you didn’t have many alternatives,” Jude admitted.

The words surprised Riven.

Still, the professor offered no apology, nor did Riven expect one, as Jude simply stepped backward and raised his shield once again.

”Well, all right then.”

Riven tilted his head.

”At least we already know where to start improving you as a warrior.”

He said with a smile, as Riven’s eyes brightened with hope.

”Your foundation is terrible, Dawnriver, but terrible foundations can be rebuilt,” Jude said, as he settled into his fighting stance once more. ”Now raise that halberd again, and this time, I’m going to show you exactly what you’ve been doing wrong.”