"The most important thing about using a staff is balance, which is why you usually want one roughly equal to your height in its length. Start with one a little shorter until you build up strength, okay? It should be light, yet strong. Never hollow! You need to feel your weapon and know its every quirk, so normally you'd train intensively each time you get something new, for at least three days. We don't have three days, so here's some quick tips.

"Basic strikes, like these, are diagonal blows. This, a stab, is a useful move as it's hard to defend against. When you're training, start practicing the moves slowly, then speed up. Once you have those basics down, only then can you start devising your own combos. Spinning like this to block a blow, then slam! Onto someone's head, like so. A twist here, a turn there... It can all make a difference between victory and defeat.

"It's good to train your arms as well, and always maintain a firm grip! Not too tight, but neither too loose. If you grip too tightly, it's hard to change your grip placement to alternate the flow of your strikes - gripping here extends your reach but makes the blows subsequently lighter, while gripping like this is shorter range but good for defense. Also, if you grip too tight, you'll hurt your hands when blocking a blow, and tire out your muscles. But obviously a loose grip means you're likely to drop your weapon and can't put appropriate force behind your attacks, as seen with your, ah... Swordsmanship.

"Since balance is so important to staff fighting, naturally, most of a fight is in the legs rather than the weapon or your arms. Footing can mean the difference between a shallow glancing blow, and a skull crushing strike. Moving backwards is almost always a disadvantage, unless you really know the terrain around you and can keep your foe in the ideal range - not too close, nor too far. A staff's biggest advantage is its versatility and range, take advantage of it! They're also super sturdy, much harder to break during melee and thus suitable for defense.

"And for goodness sake, don't fall into the trap of rotations! Turning your back on an opponent is never a good idea, no matter how cool and flashy the move might look! Combat is about winning and surviving to fight another day, not prancing around like a peacock to flaunt your stylish feathers! Style and personal flair comes with practice and familiarity, don't force it!"

Li Mei glanced over her shoulder to make sure Teresa was paying attention, but realized she really didn't need to bother. The girl was staring at her with a mixture of envy, shock, and awe, clutching her own plain staff to her chest with a white-knuckled grip as Li Mei carved a way through several halls worth of illusory monsters.

She wanted to show off a bit of her actual fighting style to such an enthusiastic student, but with that one strange feathered woman in the distance occasionally watching her progress through a spyglass, Li Mei decided it was better to stick to basic form sets and keep the Sky Serpent style under wraps.

"A staff is really a magnificent weapon," Li Mei muttered, spinning hers round and round with only the slightest motion of her fingers and wrist. "Spears are also excellent, but tend more towards inherent lethality. With a staff, you can more easily disable and disarm your enemies without leaving lasting damage. It's harder to kill someone on accident with a staff. But it's not impossible, so don't get careless! Head injuries are especially dangerous. One strong smack to the back of the skull can kill a grown man."

Teresa subconsciously reached up to rub the back of her head. "Really?"

"Yes, really. A solid smack around the top of the head, near the temple? Will disorient and maybe even blind an opponent for a time. And you'd be surprised at how much pain you can induce just by striking the hands! So many people forget to train their hands, but they're so easily broken... I get it though, dealing with microfractures is..." Li Mei froze, catching herself in the midst of another muttering rant, and cleared her throat. "My point is, a staff is excellent but just because it doesn't have a blade, doesn't make them any less lethal than other weapons. When you attack someone, attack with resolve. The intent to injure, and accept the possibility of killing even if it's not your aim. Because if you're fighting someone seriously facing you, they're resolving to do the same! Never hold back out of sympathy or misplaced pity, or you'll be the one who dies. Got it?"

"Yes!" Teresa nodded emphatically, and Li Mei fought back a smile when she saw Hana nodding seriously too.

Inwardly, Li Mei couldn't help but sigh. No matter how much advice she threw at them, in the end they'd have to rely on their own experiences and judgment to remain safe. She could only help them so much when her own strength and resources were so limited.

'What a frustrating feeling. I keep wanting to tell them everything I've learned in my life, so they don't make my old mistakes... Ah! Is this what proper parenthood feels like?'

Setting aside that particular epiphany for future pondering, Li Mei cleared her throat. "Alright, try to copy those movements I showed you on the next few monsters. And since I'm teaching this to you as a special favor, make sure not to show it off until you've mastered them, okay? Unless you feel like your life is in danger, keep it as a hidden ace in your sleeve for as long as possible."

"Hidden... Ace?" Teresa muttered, confusion clouding her expression. "But... Aren't you supposed to... Erm. Traditionally, don't nobles often showcase their abilities to their peers? As competition and deterrence? Appearing weak just opens you up for schemes and attacks by your enemies, doesn't it?"

"There's a fine balance between hiding your aces and appearing weak. True, you don't want to look like someone could walk all over you since that's just inviting trouble. Likewise, you don't want your enemies knowing every move you have at hand, right? Then they'd prepare counter-measures and you'd be at a disadvantage before any fights even started. Even worse if you don't know which person is an enemy in secret, plotting your downfall behind a smile! It's safer to assume that whatever you see, is probably about half of what anyone is truly capable of. That way you never fall into the lethal trap of underestimating an opponent."

"I see..."

"Enough chatting! If you really want more of my lectures I can oblige, but only if you start practicing like I told you! Go on!"

"Y-Yes please! Thank you!"

As Hana and Teresa charged off, eyes gleaming with the fevered excitement borne of a combat-oriented society, Li Mei shook her head and bit back a chuckle. She understood the exhilaration of getting stronger, but only as a means to ensuring her own survival. Fighting for the sake of fighting, killing for the sake of killing...

Joy in bloodlust.

Somehow, she doubted she'd ever truly understand it.

Marilyn Rosethorne clenched her fist as she viewed her youngest daughter and the Yueluo brat through her own spyglass. Since the savage from the Feather Troupe wasn't sharing, and she still wanted to see what was making the odd woman giggle with so much excitement, she gave in on maintaining decorum and had a spyglass fetched instead of waiting for that mannerless barbarian to realize her mistake.

No surprise the servant of a chieftess styling herself royalty would lack any sense of true propriety and hierarchal understanding. Marilyn exhaled slowly through her nose to prevent herself from snorting in derision.

Hawaiki Empress, indeed.

Faust chuckled to himself as he watched the expressions on Marilyn's face. To someone with his training, her impassive pokerface trained through years of being the head of Brittalund's highest noble House was like an open book, revealing its secrets with every faint furrow of her brow or twitch of her eyelids. He might as well be reading her mind.

From his place in the shadows, Faust had a decent view of the entire maze while managing to avoid getting lost in its corridors. He already dispelled the mask that tried to attach itself to his face, and chose instead to lean against a perfectly pruned tree, sipping a vaguely alcoholic juice mix and watching his little disciple smack around clouds of tightly woven mana that he assumed would be quite fearsome monsters to anyone affected by the illusion.

'I was gonna steal her away after the party, but after finding out what she had planned... I guess I'll have to take her in the morning, before the exams. That'll be cutting it close, but... If worst comes to worst, I'll pull some strings to have them ignore her late entry.'

Faust smiled faintly, swirling the sparkling blue liquid in his glass and watching it reflect the fireworks still constantly exploding with color and light overhead. 'I wonder... If some of that hate will fade once she learns the truth?'

Pop!

KA-KRA!

Fzzzz....

A bright blue firework fizzled out just overhead, trailing sparks across the night sky. Faust shook his head, downing the rest of his drink. 'Nah. She'll probably think it's another trick of some sort and try to run away. Maybe even kill me first! It'll be interesting to see what she does for that. She's as clever as she thinks, but her common sense is a little...'

"Professor."

Faust looked up to see the smiling face of Duchess Lilyvale, her handsome face framed by a cascade of tightly coiled golden curls that more resembled a perfectly coiffed lion's mane than a noble woman's hairstyle. Together with an elegant crimson dress accenting her athletic figure, and the Golden Horned Lion fur cloak she wore tossed easily over one broad shoulder, the duchess exuded an air of affluence and power that would make many a ruler tremble behind their throne.

No wonder Marilyn Rosethorne was always so threatened by the Lilyvales. Calli always chose to forgo the usual hat-related spring fashions sported by the Rosethornes, instead weaving various flowers and ribbons to more strongly accent her beloved natural curls. Much like Li Mei, Duchess Lilyvale openly scoffed at Rosethorne's assumed superiority and leadership in fashion and trends, choosing her own path with a mixture of confidence and defiance.

He couldn't hate people like that. A smirk played around Faust's lips, as he slipped easily back into his 'Professor Bishop' persona. He set his empty glass on the nearest table and bowed with a flourish, purposefully nudging the tablecloth so the dishes rattled and giving a sheepish grin at his 'clumsiness'. "Duchess Lilyvale! A pleasure as always! How can I be of service?"

Calli Lilyvale allowed a slow, predatory smile to visibly spread across her lips, before hiding her expression behind a feathered folding fan. "Service, is it? Well, I won't say no to that. I've heard some interesting news recently, might you care to enlighten me as to its veracity?"

"My lady! What information could I possibly possess that you have not yet obtained!?" Faust clutched his chest, feigning an expression of shock and confusion. As though well used to his antics, Duchess Lilyvale nodded to her adjutant, dismissing the servant to stand some distance away.

Just out of earshot, thanks to the overlaying noise of fireworks overhead and the general din of party guests fighting illusory beasts.

Calli's playful expression melted away, her golden eyes glinting with a cold light. "Professor. About that Yueluo child..."

Faust's smile faltered. As his expression sobered, the duchess nodded to herself, some inner suspicion confirmed. "Do you find her troublesome?" Faust asked softly, careful to keep his voice neutral.

But Duchess Lilyvale wasn't a duchess for nothing. She won her seat of power through the military combat of which her house was famed, and her instincts for danger were as finely honed as her own killing techniques. She shivered, the flat look in Faust's eyes somehow more frightening to her than her own mother's had been, so long ago...

Calli cleared her throat, tapping the feathered fan against her chin. "Not at all, Professor. In truth, her actions toward the Rosethorne Matriarch have rather endeared the child to me. She's quite amusing. Quite... Interesting."

Faust relaxed, inwardly wondering when his muscles had tensed. The duchess spoke truthfully, her voice steady and clear, never the sort of woman to resort to deceitful claims and wishy-washy pandering to the desires of others. "I see. I'm rather fond of the child myself, though as her tutor I'm admittedly biased."

"Which is why I wish to share just a bit of the news I've heard." Calli smiled behind her fan, but the gesture didn't reach her eyes, turning more into a sort of grimace rather than anything enticing. "The golden rose is wilting. A cutting was pruned, but that child interfered. Public opinion is already turned against the cutting thanks to the child's defense of a whetstone, and now she's even teaching the whetstone how to grind itself into a blade. News will reach the golden rose, and she... Will not be amused by the threat to her perfectly manicured garden. A stone blade has no place among rows of potted cuttings if it isn't being decorative, and they will not hesitate to have it removed should it become... Obtrusive."

Faust sighed, then gave a slow nod. "I suspected as much. My sincerest gratitude for the news, my lady. I will ensure she takes the appropriate measures."

"See that you do." Duchess Lilyvale smiled, and this time it lit up her eyes with genuine affection. "She's rather feisty. I'd hate to see anything happen to that amusing little one."

As the duchess walked away, rejoining her adjutant without so much as a glance back over her shoulder, Faust let out another sigh and clenched his hands into fists. 'So the Empress is ill... And Li Mei jilted the hidden successor candidate. That brat of Marilyn's, no doubt. Calli took a huge risk letting me know, I'll have to express my appreciation later.'

He forced his hands to relax, reaching for another glass of faintly alcoholic juice mixture on the nearby table. 'My little disciple is a natural at courting trouble, isn't she? Of all the traits to run in the family...'

Faust stared at the sparkling liquid with a wistful, melancholic expression, memories drowning out the noise all around until he was left with only echoes of the past, and a bitter taste in his mouth.