23 Master Asura

The second to last class of the day was daggers. It was an assassin weapon much like the hidden weapons. Our instructor was short woman with blond hair. On either one of her hips she had a dagger, but I am sure that there were others hidden on her body. The woman seemed hard to notice if you were not looking for her, and then usual sound of footsteps could not be heard as she approached.

Her voice had a seductive ring to it as she spoke to the class. "The dagger is a weapon that is often looked down on by those who have a strength major or minor because of it's small design. It is not as capable as bringing out the absurd damage from a high strength stat due to it's small nature. However that does not mean this weapon is weak. The daggers' focus is on dexterity. You need all three subcategories if you are to be successful with a dagger, as well as a high perception stat. "

"As you all know the three subcategories of dexterity are speed, precision, and coordination. These complement the dagger beautifully as a dagger is fast and precise. Coordination becomes important with movement and dual wielding. Even if one uses a longer dagger and chooses not to dual wield coordination is important to make up for the length of the blade. A dagger is usually classified as a blade with a length of 4" to 18", which overlaps slightly with some of the shorter short swords, this means that some short swords can benefit from dagger training as well".

The woman looked over the group of assassin majors, Lily's group had left after the hidden weapon class, and the rest of the assassin majors had joined is for this one. "For most assassins the mind stat is useless other than the perception sub star, which is where I would recommend you place your mind stat point. For those of the Arcane assassins you will only benefit from a higher perception stat, but the remaining stat should be used as you see fit. This information does not just apply to daggers, the perception sub stat compliments the accuracy sub stat, just like the speed sub stat compliments the hit power sub stat, and the endurance sub stat compliments the lifting capacity sub stat."

"Based on this information the essential stat points for an assassin are "hit power, perception, speed, accuracy, and coordination. I tell you this because all of these skills are also essential for the dagger. We will begin practicing with only one dagger. There are practice daggers on the wall. They vary in size so get one that suits you, and the path you will be walking in the way of the assassin."

What followed was a repeat of the events from the sword class, however this time I joined the rush as I wanted to get a dagger with the same length as Blood Drinker. Thankfully, other than the assassin's who minored in strength, the others went for short daggers and I picked up an appropriate blade without issue.

The instructor began to speak once we had grabbed our appropriate blades. "One of the most basic things about knife fighting that a person needs to know is how to grip the blade. There are several variations on the exact positioning of your hands, so just pick one that feels natural to you. There are two main grips which I will be teaching. The first is the forward grip, this is a grip with the knife pointing outwards if you extend your arm. This is the most commonly used grip. The second is called a reverse grip, in which the blade will be pointing towards yourself if your hand arm is extended."

"The forwards grip is usually how a dagger is designed to be used, and can be great for slashing as well as piercing and has more finesse than the reverse grip. The reverse grip in comparison is better for piercing and has more potential power than the forward grip. Both grips have their merits and demerits, but you will find yourself using the forward grip more often as your high dexterity can being out the finesse of the dagger to its fullest. However the brawler type assassins might find the reverse grip to be to their advantage."

"We will be practicing the slash and the thrust, these moves as well as stance and grip are the foundation of the fighting with a dagger. Only with a solid foundation can a person become stronger. "

She demonstrated a slash and a thrust before having us begin. She walked through the groups providing guidance and corrections as she walked. The hour passed relatively quickly and class was over.

Surprisingly the teacher was the same for my short sword specialty class, unsurprisingly there were not many other students. In fact there was none. The woman sighed as she looked around the empty courtyard, before surprise erupted on her face as she saw me stay "at least there is one this year."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "Tell me boy, why would you choose the short sword? As you can see it's an unpopular weapon to specialize in."

In response I summoned Blood Drinker. "This blade is the path I was gifted. It is my future and my only choice is to follow it."

The women's eyes widened as her eyes examined Blood Drinker. The woman's mind spinning with thoughts "A telekinetic blade? No there is an aura on it.. is this McGuire's Esper blade? That crazy man finally found someone to inherit his legacy did he. Well we will see how good the one he chose is. "

The woman looked up at me as if she finally remembered my existence. "Very well. The short sword is unpopular not because it is not a great weapon, but because most people do not understand it. It is a weird hybrid between the sword and a dagger. It can utilize the training of both, however it is not specialized like either. It lacks the high attack of a sword and is not as fast as a dagger, rather it is in the middle. With the proper training you can overcome this. You will not be able to dual wield like a dagger user, so you will be at a disadvantage to their speed. You will not have the raw strength like a great sword or long sword, but it will be faster. However you will be far more versatile, and your accuracy will not be effected. As an esper you will automatically get an increase to perception, and being an arcane assassin you will have 2 additional points in mind and 3 points in dexterity. Distribute your stats into attack strength, equally throughout the 3 dexterity sub stats, and in magic attack and perception. The point in constitution is you choice as it does not effect the short sword that much. Only if you agree to this will I teach you. You will officially become my disciple and I will train you 3 hours a day. You will still train in hidden weapons and archery. But the other three classes will be with me. Do you accept?"

I nodded as the stat distribution was what I had already planned on anyways, besides having the same teacher for the entire process was bound to be more useful than splitting it between different teachers. "Disciple Dark greats Master" I spoke as I realized I did not even know her name.

"My name is Raven Asura, you may greet me as Master Asura. As my disciple you will take on the mantle of my title. From this moment you shall be Dark Asura. The title fits as I can feel your latent death affinity resonate with mine."

The woman nodded and spoke once again "for the next hour I want you to practice the slash. Get to work".

The hour passed, but my arms were killing me. I had performed the slash hundreds of times. Master had hit my arms every time they began to sag, or when I performed the slash wrong. My arms were bruised from the over 100 hits I had taken.

Raven was secretly astounded by his progress, however her words that followed would never imply that impression "You're horrible, my grandmother could beat you with her eyes closed. This is to be expected, you will improve with time, however I have changed my mind. You will not be attending any other weapon training. After telekinetic training you will come to me. You will exclusively learn the short sword other wise I would die of shame from having a disciple such as you. I will be at your house at 6 a.m. to begin your physical conditioning. I will supervise it, instead of you joining the others. Go home and get some rest."

Like this my first day at the academy ended, and I dragged my sore body home. Lily was waiting for me with a look of excitement on her face as I walked in. This girl did not seem tired at all! Just what did she eat.. oh right me.

She proceeded to tell me about her day, that her class focused on magic, and that demons specialized in illusions. That she did not have an aura because she received a passive skill instead. It was;

Those effects by the users essence have their essence slowly drained, which restores the users essence. No limits on distance.

I was shocked that she had such an overpowered skill, but her lack of an aura kind of made up for it.

"Illusions? With that skill wouldn't everyone who falls under your illusions become your food?"

She grinned at me as she responded "No, they would just help recover my essence. You're the only food for me". I was then pounced on.