An open-air arena, was it? It would be a nice break from all those theoretical classes during the day, at least. He didn’t need sleep, but listening to teachers drag on and on about a subject that one could study in the textbook WAS rather boring. Lunch and break were similarly pointless, just wastes of time that he spent exploring the grounds of the academy. And while the school uniform wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, Ier-Briar was still more comfortable with the familiar weight of his armor resting on him. There were 36 training buildings in total, and they had entered the 5th one. Drifting in the air, he could hear the thunk of metal against wood from other buildings, as students proved their mettle to their instructors. The snow that had fallen yesterday was swept away now, leaving only a concrete floor for the exercise.

Called up to the training field as one of the three in the ‘melee group’, the gemstone shrugged as he grasped his spear, following behind the other two as the tentacle fleshbag teacher went on about the specifics of the exercise. Wooden dummies spilled out next, and Ier-Briar restrained a sigh. Wood. Against a gemstone. Really?

As the orc and the horny fleshbag did their thing, showing off their magical abilities and weapon skills, the gemstone just stood there, his face expressionless. Without reaction, he allowed the wooden dummies to go ham on him, those pitifully dolls smacking him futilely, attempting to get a reaction out of the six year old. There was no reaction, and he called out tonelessly, [b]“Mr. Fenris, mind raising the difficulty level?”[/b]

In an instant, the strength of the dummies increased, and they began to alternate their attacks, as if trying to find a weak point in the gemstone’s dull-gold armor. There was none for them to exploit, and they still weren’t strong enough to make him DO anything.[b] “If you mind, Mr. Fenris?”[/b]

Finally, the blows were starting to become something that he would notice on a regular basis, and they were actively going for combination attacks now, striking the same spot at the same time. Some of the dummies were even launched into the air, spinning downwards to land an axe kick on the gemstone’s head. The doll that did that promptly had its foot broken off from the impact. Not very smart, were they? This exercise was a tad bit pointless now, and on the next synchronized attack by the dummies, Ier-Briar expanded his thorns and skewered them all, their own momentum becoming the instrument of their doom.

With a few pieces of wood still stuck to him, he walked out of the training space wordlessly. So far, the only thing in the Academy of Arcane Artes that wasn’t a disappointment was the headmaster. Hopefully something more simulating would come past soon…