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The advent of actual training at last was a welcome addition to the curriculum as far as Auberon was concerned. Sure, drills in the arena weren't quite as exciting as the mock combat they'd been promised at the training grounds last week, but the battle they were given instead probably left most of the class content with less exciting events for a while. Most of the class didn't look particularly excited, in any case. A lot of them looked asleep, actually. He thought he might've been a bit overbearing when he gave the Lions a remindatory knock on their doors, but evidently sleeping in was a real and present issue; that new Adrestian kid still hadn't even shown up, unless he was so good at hiding in Kayden's shadow that Auberon hadn't even noticed him.

It seemed almost ridiculous that they professors wanted to start with something as mundane as a baseline demonstration of their abilities after the hell that they'd been through in Luin, but he supposed it made sense that none of them got a good look at the class' performance while they were preoccupied fighting for their lives. Auberon wasn't too thrilled he'd be judged on [i]combos[/i] first and foremost; the swordsmen might've had a good time, but there were only so many ways he could think to chain axe strikes together before the biomechanics of it all become counterproductive. He glanced over toward Kellen to make a tongue-in-cheek comment about unwieldy weapon users receiving a handicap to start, only to see the boy shuffle off toward the makeshift archery range, bow in hand. Professor Euphemia definitely said to start with their strengths and Kellen definitely had a sword in his hands back in Luin that, if the blood-soaked jacket was any indicator, he knew how to use. Surely a minor chastisement from Michail wouldn't be enough to make someone completely rethink their fighting style. Just because all archers were cowards didn't mean all cowards had to be archers.

Auberon shoved the thought aside for the moment as he grabbed an axe and made his way to the training dummy that had been set up for him. He hefted his weapon over his shoulder, though he kept the butt of the weapon aimed at the target defensively rather than wind back on his hips for an obviously telegraphed power attack. In contrast to Kayden's showy performance beside him, Auberon stayed simple and to the point. He snapped his axe across the dummy's torso, then immediately shifted his weight in the other direction and spun at the waist to drive the haft of his weapon into the side of its head. While his 'opponent' was hypothetically dazed, Auberon raised his axe overhead and slammed it down in a blow that sent splinters flying and vibrations up his arms.

The blond let out a long exhale at a completion of his attack and jiggled his weapon to free the axe head from where it was still wedged in the wood. With his own performance accounted for, Auberon was free to fret over his housemates as he saw fit and his attention drifted back to Kellen's newfound interest in archery. The arrow speared into the ground before the target that the Fraldarius was focused on did little to reassure him, nor did the other arrow that barely struck its mark. Auberon had held out the slightest bit of hope that Kellen was a man of many talents on the battlefield, as versed with a bow as he was with a sword, only to be cursed with a delicate resolve unfit for true combat. Instead, he was greeted with a display that Saint Indech surely wept over.

[color=ffd700]"Kellen, as much as I admire your attempt to build a well-rounded skillset, maybe stick to what you know for now,"[/color] Auberon called, somewhere between patronizing and helpful. He'd be deep in the cold, hard ground before he allowed a [i]Fraldarius[/i] under his charge to squander a talent for swordplay like some Saints-forsaken Daphnel fencer that only duels for sport.

Though, if Kellen's performance was embarrassingly underwhelming, Lienna's was the exact opposite. Since his conversation with Michail, Auberon hadn't given a second thought to the garden of icy barbs strewn with the tattered viscera of hapless bandits that greeted them on their return to the carriage, but the image rushed to the forefront of his mind as he saw Lienna seemingly explode out of the corner of his eye. For once, he was honestly speechless. She ripped through her target - and then some - like it was nothing; the fact that she had the audacity to stay behind in Luin was honestly impressive. If anything, everyone [i]but[/i] her would've been in danger had she come along. 

[color=ffd700]"Like that,"[/color] He continued once he managed to tear his eyes away, [color=ffd700]"Impress me like that, I know you have it in you."[/color]

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