Show Boating

Calling for the class to settle down, Vorden continued with the scheduled programming as initially planned. He started with a short introduction, during which he explained the basic gist of what his ability was, he then went on to explain how he is more skilled with elemental abilities, as the physical mechanics and internal sensation were pretty much the same across the elemental board. He slowly walked closer to the practice dummies as he spoke.

He had been fortunate enough to bump into a few colleagues before he left the canteen after breakfast. Besides still having the invisibility ability, he managed to get a fire, and an air ability relatively easy. The lightning ability unfortunately had already been copied over 24 hours ago, and Vorden was not aware of any with it here at the academy, so he did not have that one anymore. Which was truly a shame, because if one is trying to showboat it truly can't be outdone. At least, in the hands of a true master, one whose ability had been honed, and who took the craft seriously, like Vorden. He could really do some impressive feats with that power. It just wasn't in the cards for the day though, so what he had would have to do.

While he was demonstrating he started to think of a way to get the students to appreciate each other as potential allies rather than rivals. He began with a basic overview. "So, I want to go over a few things with you guys, talk about what to expect, what I expect, and the kind of things we will do,". After his last word he took aim at the furthest test dummy, and with a few quick strides got a running start, then whipped his body around. He performed a perfectly executed spinning back kick, and once again just like during his spar with Raten, a crescent of condensed fire shot out from his leg and followed in the kicks line of attack. His kick sent the dummy into a vigorous spin when the flames struck the doll causing it to nearly break free of its stand. The flames were so condensed, there was a slight bang as they lashed at the dummy, nearly destroying it. A loud force carried the deafening sound and left everybody's ears ringing.

"Firstly, we will strive to enhance your abilities, learn and master new skills, become proficient and be able to use your ability faster, better, for longer. We will work on leveling up where possible, and probably the most important part of all, lastly..."

Vorden suddenly and without warning spun around quickly, turning back to the dummies once more. His arms moved so fast the students hardly saw what had happened, when two more ominous explosive sounds resounded bang bang echoed through the room. All of a sudden two dummies heads slid right off and on to the ground with a thunk.

"We will work on creating new skills ourselves that suit your own personal fighting style and strengths, better protect against your weaknesses, and learn the art of combining your ability with your regular martial arts,".

Vorden began to rotate his hands around each other, slowly at first but as he picked up speed a small breeze was beginning to emanate from them. He began to slowly compact and compress the air he was gathering in his hands. Vorden slowed down further to ensure that every step could be seen. He further applied pressure and formed the air into a disk, until the air was almost as solid as a blade, then when it was ready, radiating with cool energy but completely invisible to the eye, he spun back to face the dummies once more and with surgical precision flung the air disk out like a death dealing Frisbee. A high pitched whistle passed across the room and again a loud thunderous boom reverberated off of the walls, echoing loudly and causing the building walls to shudder slightly around them. The students were stunned, equally terrified and amazed.

He looked back to the children with shocked expressions, he smirked and then resumed his speech. "I encourage each of you to really dig deep. I would like to focus this week on self discovery. Put some thought into what you perceive to be your strengths and your weaknesses. If you have a martial style or combat preferences, if you have a weapon you favor, all of these things need to be considered,".

Vorden had made his way back to the front of the class. "During instruction this week, try to come up with a few examples for each of these categories. These lists will be extremely important in the coming weeks,". Vorden smiled brightly at his class, all staring blankly. Some with wide eyes and even a few mouths agape. He scratched the back of his head and felt slightly shy for the first time, noticing all of the eyes watching him. He cleared his throat quickly and stood up straight.

Looking around the room he noticed the completely destroyed dolls laying broken on the floor and his smile faded. "Sorry about that. I guess we might need to figure something else out then eh? These may not be up to the task,". He said, mostly to himself, as he sighed Vorden bent down to gather the busted pieces and parts of the macabre dummies. Vorden placed them all in a small pile off to the side of the room, he figured he could call for somebody to deal with them after class. He was also pretty sure he had read something about the appropriate procedure to follow in the event of property damage, he wasn't sure so he'd have to check.

Gods, I hope I don't have to fill out an incident report.

Vorden grimaced at the thought. He then returned his focus to his charges. "Alright for the rest of today's instruction period I would like to assess you. Go ahead and pair up, then make your way over to the areas outlined on the mats. One pair per spot please," Vorden gestured towards the spots he was referring to. A couple of children let out exasperated groans, and reluctantly got up from their seats, many scurried to find a familiar face, several just looked at the person sitting closest to them. A few stragglers of course still remained alone after all was done and were forced to pair with one another by default.

"Ok, I would like you guys to spar a little. I'm going to make my way around and observe you all. Don't stress, this is just for my own knowledge, a baseline if you will". Vorden watched as the kids meandered over to the sparring area and coupled off.

After a rollercoaster of tiny battles involving controlled access to water, earth, fire, and air, along with a sprinkling of comical mishaps that involved one student even creating a small rainstorm indoors which hasn't been his goal. Just like that, the session came to a close. Vorden felt like he had survived the first day of battle and not only came out unscathed, but perhaps even victorious. The classes dispersed, the students bounding towards lunch with fresh excitement—to discuss their first day, no doubt.

As the class had progressed, one thought echoed in Vorden's mind: perhaps this wasn't merely about battle or power—it was about forging lasting and meaningful bonds, while aiding in forming exceptional young adults, through the chaos, one confrontation at a time. The sappy thoughts were tired tropes indeed. However Vorden had to admit, the feeling was genuine. It didn't feel tired. In fact it felt very urgent.