training the specialists

2 days later Garfield is limping over the specialist training yard towards the instructor.

"Why am I here? I'm a fairy, well kind of." Garfield asks the instructor who uses a bo staff as a crutch to get around.

"I need your help." Saul tells him, pointing for him to sit on one of the padded platforms next to him.

"With what exactly?" Garfield asks.

"Training them. I need your help training the most promising students while I'm unable to." He says.

"You're forgetting, I'm hurt too. Plus, what makes you think a fairy can train a specialist?" Garfield asks.

"Call it instinct or believe me when I say you come very highly recommended." Saul answers.

"And why don't you get your star student to do it?" He asks.

"Sky, while good also needs to learn, he has good textbook technique but no battle instinct. And my former student qualified to take over is out looking for the burned one." Silva tells him.

"Hah, when would you need my help?" He questions with a sigh.

"Whenever you're free." The instructor says.

"I can manage 2 hours training after my own classes." He tells him.

"Good. That fits in with the students training time." He says.

"Thank you. We need to get them ready soon, who knows what's coming." Silva tells him, offering a handshake.

"Don't thank me yet. You can thank me if I get through the first day of teaching them and no one has broken bones." Garfield says, accepting the handshake.

A few minutes later in class

"Oh Mr. Logan, how nice of you to join us." Mrs. Dowling greets him sarcastically while he makes his way to the free seat next to Beatrix, shoving her aside due to her sitting in the middle of the table and everyone in class looks at him.

"As I was saying, you have started to learn about your element, now you will need to learn exaxtly how to use it. For now you will aim for quantity over quality." The headmistress instructs.

"In front of you all is a magic ball. Use your element, fill it with your element." Mrs. Dowling says, taking another soccer sized ball and places it in front of Garfield.

The students around the room then use their magic ro fill the ball, quickly finding out that the inside of the ball fights their magic.

"For those of you who need a medium this will be especially hard, but don't be discouraged. Even the trying to fill the ball will increase your magical strength and sense, regardless if there will be a crumble of earth or a drop of water in the ball." The headmistress says, seeing the annoyance on the earth and water fairies in the class.

Garfield looks at the ball and gets up, limping past the headmistress, picking up a book on mind magic from a shelf in the classroom.

"And you are doing what?" Dowling asks, grabbing his arm as he walks back to his seat.

"Teaching myself obviously." He grumbles, continuing on to his seat.

"Badass." Beatrix remarks quietly when he sits down on his seat.

"Just do your training. That isn't the maximum." He says, glancing at the lightning ball inside the ball, filling it halfway.

"That is full." He says, nodding to Musa's ball which is seemingly empty with a slightly purple hue inside the ball.

Garfield then starts to read about mind magic and tries to get a feel for it. At the end of the lesson Dowling dismisses everyone but him.

"What exactly do you think you're doing? Undermining my authority in front of students?" She asks Garfield annoyedly, walking over to the teen.

"I came here to learn, not to teach you know." He grumbles.

"Teach? What are you talking about?" Dowling asks.

"Well I stepped up and taught Bloom because you didn't. And now Silva wants me to teach his best students." Garfield tells her.

"Anyways, that's why I'm helping myself to your library." He tells her, leaving with the book in hand, before stuffing it in his backpack.

"Hey. How's the foot?" Bloom greets him, having waited for him outside the door.

"Healing, albeit slowly." He says while they walk through the hallways.

"Where are you headed?" Bloom asks.

"The specialists." He says.

"Why?" She asks surprised.

"I have to teach those punks." He groans in annoyance.

"Sorry." Bloom says thinking he's angry at her.

"No, I'm sorry. I just don't like you feeling responsible for my foot and the teachers here get on my nerves." He apologizes, taking her hand and brushes over it gently.

"I understand. But you did only get hurt protecting me." She says insistently.

"Let me let you in on a secret." He says, taking her hand and pulling her with him into a part of the garden which is shielded by some trees.

"Where are we going?" She asks, until they stop behind the trees.

Once there Garfield lets go of her hand and tosses his bag aside and then takes off his shirt, revealing his torso to her.

"My god. What happened?" She asks concerned, her hands drifting over his scars.

"Most of those I got fighting burned ones. This one is from losing control while training." He tells her, turning around and shows her the scar over his lower back.

"Why are you showing this to me?" Bloom asks shocked.

"To show you that a hurt foot is nothing you should worry about." He says, brushing through her hair calmingly.

"OK. I get it, I think." Bloom says, nodding and hands him his shirt back.

"Sorry if I scared you." He says worried.

"It's not that. It just makes me worry." She tells him.

"About what?" He asks.

"About what is really out there." She says, straightening his clothes once he put on his shirt.

"It'll be fine. For now, you have me on your side and by the time you graduate you will be strong enough to deal with whatever is thrown your way." He tells her supportively.

"Thank you. Again." She says, leaning in and kisses him.

"Listen, I know you said no labels and we don't really have that close of a relationship, but sooner or later we'll need to talk about this." He tells her, squeezing her hand before he spots a specialist student standing near the fairy students hall, waiting for someone.

"I better go. I think Silva send someone looking for me." He tells her, taking his backpack and leaves, heading for the specialist training area with the student joining him while Bloom heads to her room.

"Garfield, right? Silva sent me to fetch you." The young guy tells him.

"That's fine. I can still limp on my own." Garfield jokes as they walk to the training area, where Silva has his students standing tall.

"Ah there he is. Students. Some of you may have already met him, but so everyone is informed. This is Garfield, he will be teaching the very best of you in my stead." Silva announces, causing the students to whisper amongst each other.

"I see you have mixed feelings about a fairy teaching specialists. How about the best of you fights me so I can convince the doubtful that I am qualified for the task." Garfield says.

"Alright. Sky, Riven, who of you wants to do the honors?" Silva asks his two star-pupils.

"I'll go." Sky says, volunteering.

"Yeah, Sky. Go." The students cheer him on.

"Alright. Let's go." Garfield says, holding out his hand to the teacher, who hands him the bo staff he used as a crutch.

Garfield and Sky then move onto the small stage around which the students and their hurt teacher gather.

"You can start when you're ready." Garfield says, leaning against the staff with his hurt foot held behind him in the air.

"Fine." Sky says, thinking Garfield is underestimating him.

He kicks away the bo staff and gets in an aggressive stance, only for Garfield to roll over his shoulder when he falls forward with the staff not supporting him, he ends up next to Sky and supports his weight on his hands, sweeping away Sky's legs from behind with his good leg and then jumps off with it, landing with his hurt foot's knee on the specialists arm, making him drop his trainings sword from the impact. Garfield then roll off him, grabbing Sky's neck in a chokehold while sitting sideways behind him, choking the teen out, who then pats the map two times, surrendering.

Garfield releases him and hops up, limping over to the staff, picking it up and throws it at Silva.

"Again?" He offers Sky, waiting for the teen to get up.

"Sure." Sky says, wanting to prove himself.

"Ready?" The blonde specialist asks, getting a nod positive from Garfield.

Sky then attacks him with strong swings, which Garfield either ducks under, or blocks, by grabbing the attacking wrist and pulling Sky past him. When the teen stops his wild swings Garfield goes on the offensive, faking a straight punch at the teen, who blocks with his wooden sword, only to get hit in his side by Garfields knee, his good foot supporting his weight.

He then follows up by delivering a palm strike against Sky's wrists and steals the wooden sword out of his grasp, holding it blade first to his neck.

"You are strong but rely on only one tool." He says, offering him back his sword.

"Nicely done Garfield." Silva comments.

"Yeah, yeah. So, who am I teaching?" Garfield asks, taking off his shirt and stretches, ignoring the shocked and scared looks at his scar riddled frame.

"Well, Sky and Riven obviously. The others you can choose for yourself. I think maybe 6 fighters will be a good start." Silva says.

"What do you mean start? You said this is temporarily." Garfield sighs, before looking around the 30 or so students.

"Alright, pair up and spar." Garfield tells the students, who look at Silva, who tells them.

"Listen to my new assistant instructor." Silva announces as sharply as he can in his current form and the students hurry off, doing as Garfield asks.

"Not you two." Garfield says, pointing at Riven and Sky.

"Come here." Garfield tells them, asking them to come over to him and Silva.

"Does everyone only train in one weapon?" Garfield asks.

"Yeah, why?" Silva asks.

"Change that." The fairy tells him while the four are watching the student's spar.

A couple meters away Musa and Sam are taking a stroll again, walking by the Specialists this time.

"Isn't that that Garfield guy?" Sam asks, noticing the shirtless, teen with green hair.

"Yes. Wonder what he's doing." Musa says, looking around the sparring groups interested.

"You four, switch partners, no no no. The other way!" Garfield shouts at some students who are sparring.

"Hello, how are you feeling Mr. Silva?" Musa asks, feeling his pain with some discomfort.

"I'll feel better once that burned one is dead." Silva says, knowing that a team is out tracking a burned one.

"Thank you for your help in rescuing me." He adds.

"Is there something else? Cause we're kinda busy here?" Garfield asks, his eyes locked on some sparring students.

"Actually, we were wondering what you are doing here." Sam says.

"Teaching. While we're both hurt, dealing with one foot is easier than dealing with half a back and poisoning." Garfield replies looking at the two hand holding teens, while patting Silva's shoulder lightly.

"Alright, we will leave you to it then." Musa says, her eyes lingering on the fighting teens while she and Sam walk away, something Garfield notices.

"Why are we not sparring?" Sky asks.

"Because Silva said you two are the best, so you will be my opponents and I'll point out what you're doing wrong." Garfield explains.

"Great." Riven sighs disappointed.

10 minutes later Garfield has selected two more guys and two girls as the best of the crowd.

"Alright so when I have time you six will be my students now. Which will mean, more bruises and harder training for you." He tells the six he selected.

"And you teach the rest dual handed sword fighting to start." Garfield tells the teacher.

"You know you are supposed to be my assistant right?" The teacher grunts unhappy.

"Do you want my help or not? Wat you're doing is fine and all, but in the long rum their growth is limited with your current method." Garfield tells him.

"And why do you think you know better?" Silva asks.

"I thought you had high recommendation, but fine. Get a burned one dummy." He tells the teacher.

"Alright everyone, I will demonstrate now what you can achieve as Specialists." Garfield announces with Silva telling the Students to come and watch.

"Bur you're a fairy." Dane says confused.

"So? I can still fight like a specialist if I want." He replies, taking three weapons from the real weapon rack, one dagger, a spear and a one-handed sword. He stabs every weapon in the floor in front of him and nods to Silva, who activates the burned one dummy.

"As you all should know. This is a burned one." Garfield says calmly while the raging beast runs towards him.

"First you want to use every method you have to damage it while it's in the distant." He says, grabbing the spear and throws it into the burned one, the spear staying lodged in its right shoulder.

"If possible, aim for the arm with the large claw if they have one." He instructs, before taking a fist sized stone and hurls it into the burned one's head, cracking it with a crunch.

"Headshots are only useful with piercing weapons, meaning arrows and spears. With blunt weapons you want to aim for their knees. Burned ones aren't only fast but have powerful jumps." He says, throwing another rock this time against the burned ones knee, making it crack and it drags its right leg behind it, still advancing to him, being just out of arms reach.

Garfield grabs the blades stabbed in the ground and jumps up, stepping onto the bottom of the spear in the burned one's shoulder.

"If you manage to contain it, just destroy the magic core." He says, having pinned the burned one into the ground with it flailing. He lands next to its other arm and pins it to the ground with his sword, before finally stabbing its chest repeatedly, before beating the dummy which turns back into a small crystal.

"This is what you can achieve if you train hard and gain experience by staying alive on the battlefield." Garfield tells them.

"Amazing." A few specialists say impressed.

"Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow will start the real training." Garfield tells them, retrieving the weapons and leaves after putting on his shirt.