Training Gains

August 11, 2152

A week of training multiple times a day in different ways had improved their abilities significantly, especially Emory. She had learned to cover her entire body in magik except for one little spot over her bellybutton. She was particularly excited about combat class due to what had happened that week. Every day, Boyle had picked a different one of the best students to join her on the stage, and so far, she had picked Innes, Gwen, and Herc. She had even picked Sam yesterday, a surprising choice to Emory unless Boyle had more information on Sam than just from this class. So, when they got to Hand-to-Hand class, Emory marched straight towards the stage where Boyle was standing.

"Serah Boyle," Emory started, "I would like to volunteer for today's demonstration. I promise to make it a good one."

Boyle smiled, "Then it's your lucky day because I was going to ask you today already. You've made good strides in circular footwork this week."

"Thank you, Serah," Emory blushed, "I've been practicing in all my extracurricular training as well."

"I guessed that you had been training more than just during class time, but it's more than that. You're a natural at this style, like your body wants to move in this way. Emory, may I ask you a personal question?" Boyle asked cautiously.

Emory nodded, "Yes, Serah. What do you want to know?"

"Were your parents Marty and Roselin Reiss?" Boyle spoke softly.

"Yes, they were," Emory paused, "Did you know them, Serah Boyle?"

Boyle chuckled sweetly, "I knew your mother very well. Did you know that before she had you, she was an explorer? She cataloged Enceladus, Titan, and Triton's habitat sites. She led the Proxima Centauri B team. And I was always by her side as her dutiful guardian even though we never ran into any real trouble with your mom around."

"I know you never encountered any aliens, but weren't there at least environmental dangers?" Emory responded quietly. She had never heard of this side of her mother; as far as she knew, her mother was always part of a scientific team.

"Sure, especially on Proxima Centauri B, where the atmosphere was the weakest," Boyle continued. "But your mother was the luckiest person I knew. Even before we knew about magik, she did these miraculous stunts that made much more sense once magik was introduced. One time on Triton, our footing gave way, and we almost fell into a ravine. Yet somehow her footing stayed secure and caught us before we fell. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you would make them proud if they could see you now."

A single tear fell as Emory thanked Boyle, "Thank you for telling me more about my mother. May I be excused, Serah Boyle?" Boyle nodded, and Emory rushed back to her area. By the time she got back, she had recovered from her brief emotional moment.

"That was pretty ambitious to just go and ask her. What did she say?" Sam cheekily asked.

"She said she was going to choose me anyway, but that wasn't all," Emory retorted after she stuck out her tongue, "Apparently, she worked with my mother before she became a scientist." When the class was all in attendance, Boyle got on the stage like normal.

"Today will be our last day of demonstration," Boyle smiled, "But I think I have a special treat for you today. Emory Reiss, please come to the stage." Though most of the students in class didn't know Emory's name, they had seen her in action and recognized her compelling performances. Upon hearing her name and seeing her face, a cascade of whispers rolled over the class. Still, Emory smirked as she proudly walked to the stage.

Boyle announced, "Today, I thought we would go in reverse, so we'll start with circular, then triangular, and finishing with linear. That way, you can all see how far you can get in a week if you're dedicated to your footwork style then how well circular footwork does against the other styles. Emory, are you ready?" Emory nodded and covered all but her bellybutton in magik which created something of a prismatic effect all over. Boyle raised her eyebrows and changed her posture to prepare to defend. Emory moved in slowly, going around Boyle in a spiral. Finally, the two only stood a couple feet apart, and the class held its breath as the two seemed to twirl for a brief moment.

Emory swung high with a knife hand from the sky which Boyle easily avoided and moved into Emory's blind spot. However, Emory was prepared for that and jutted out a quick palm strike to try and hit Boyle in motion. For the first time since class started, Boyle had to use her hands to deflect a blow. It still missed, but the class was shocked Boyle had to take such measures against a student. Boyle moved a little faster after that and never had to use her hands again in this style. When she changed to triangular footwork, Emory had the most trouble keeping up with her. But when Boyle switched to linear footwork, it was a completely different story.

This time, Emory started with a normal palm strike towards Boyle's torso. Boyle countered easily by juking to the side and moving backward. Yet Emory had stopped holding back, putting her at a different speed tier and allowing her to end up right in Boyle's new blind spot. She extended a spear hand jab with incredible precision right towards Boyle's side. It happened so fast that Boyle was unprepared to dodge or deflect and instead had to actually block. Time seemed to freeze in the moment since no one could have predicted a student would cause a teacher to defend. From that moment on, the pace of the demonstration transformed completely. Boyle, as she could only use linear footwork, was put on the defensive, constantly having to block Emory's counterattack. The crowd was in shock at the caliber of sparring happening as it didn't seem like Boyle ever stopped blocking to switch to even deflecting. Finally, Boyle raised her hand after five minutes and stopped Emory. Sweat beaded up and ran all down Emory, who had collapsed to one knee with a gigantic smile on her face.

Boyle was winded as she cheered, "Let's give Emory a round of applause." But instead of a polite overture, the crowd of students erupted with hurrahs and applause. The students carried her on their shoulders as they returned her to her usual spot in the arena. Boyle was beaming because Emory had pushed her to a level she normally wouldn't show the students until the end of the entire training. "Rose, if you could only see what strength she has, you and Marty would be so proud," Boyle smiled as she thought to herself, "Your daughter could be the one that leads us to victory."

After the demonstration, Emory returned to her friends, now joined with Gwen as well. Sam roared, "Look at you! That was impressive!"

"Thank you," Emory blushed, "I really gave it my all against Serah Boyle. It wouldn't have been so close if she could use different styles."

"I bet you could beat me now. At least with magik involved. Do you think its muscle memory or magik memory?" Innes asked.

"Definitely magik memory," Emory explained, "Since I activated this sphere, I just watch the magik move and plan accordingly."

Gwen commented, "I'm glad I started training with you all. That was just as spectacular as advertised." The rest of the class was remarkably average, though once they transitioned to sparring, Emory was constantly being asked if she would spar with them. She honestly couldn't care less about the new attention; in fact, she didn't particularly like the spotlight.

After class, the day went by quickly but not silently. The story of a student making a teacher go on the defensive made for an incredulous and compelling story. Everywhere Emory went, other students seemed to be looking in her direction and whispering. Stranger still was the massive crowd in the holodeck lobby. They had gotten in the habit of reserving a pod for the next day when they finished their session, so Innes only had to sign in while the group waited for a pod to open up. Gatrie slunk off to find out why so many more people were there than normal even for the evening's free time. He managed to sneak back to the group just as they approached an open pod.

Sam questioned, "What did you find out, Gatrie? Why are there so many extra people here?"

"We're about to find out," Gatrie chuckled, "Emory, turn on spectator mode when you're getting it set up." Emory shrugged and clicked the option, not really understanding what she was signing up for. The scenery appeared like normal except off to the side was a translucent set of stadium benches. The seats were filled with the students who were in the lobby, largely there to see if they could learn any secrets from watching Emory train. Most of them left after five or so minutes because this was their meditation practice, not sparring practice like the mornings. Still, those that stayed were impressed by how well not just Emory, but her friends as well could control their magik. It was clear the method of training they were using was effective. After meditation, Emory and Innes were planning their training when Gwen approached them.

"Do you all do any training over the weekend?" Gwen asked nicely, "Last weekend I got bored and wound up spending a bunch of money. Plus, I don't know much of anyone here."

Emory smiled, "You're in luck; Innes and I run in the morning on the weekends. It's sixteen miles, are you up for that?"

"Sixteen miles?" Gwen scoffed, "I'm down. When and where should I meet you?"

"We start in courtyard out front and run a full lap. The scenery isn't great, but the training really pushes you. I'd recommend a good night's sleep tonight," Innes cautioned her.

Gwen nodded and waved as she walked away, "Thank you. I'll see you in the morning then." The group parted ways as they went back to their dorm rooms.

As they were walking to the dorms, Sam piped up, "Emory, what was Gwen talking to you about?"

"She wanted to know if we did any training on the weekends," Emory casually replied, "So I invited her to run with Innes and I in the morning. Why do you ask?"

"I still think there's something going on with her, some angle she's working," Sam retorted coldly.

Emory laughed, "What, do you think she's a spy?"

"I don't know. All I know is she's probably from one of the hidden Council families and that means she's bad news," Sam hissed.

"Woah, we don't even know for sure that she is from one," Emory warned, "More importantly, we can't judge her by her parents' actions. She hasn't done anything against us." Sam huffed but knew Emory was right; each person is accountable for their own actions.

Sam sulked, "Well, I guess I'm going to run with you in the morning then."

"You really don't trust her that much," Emory cackled, "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Not really, but I can't take any risks. You don't know the Council like I do," Sam mysteriously said.

"If you say so," Emory brushed off her concern, "Tana, Tethys, do you want to come too?"

Tana called out loudly a couple paces back, "I didn't catch all that, but if the question about me joining your run tomorrow, I'll pass. You all are getting up far too early."

"Same for me. This week has been rather heavy for me; I'm going to relax," Tethys agreed quickly. With that decided, the girls got to their room and went to bed.