Today's commentor of choice is j0nn0, with his Idea Exploration.

Enjoy!

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Steel panted as he put the wooden practice shield down. His stamina had run out again, and he was forced to wait for it to recover again. It had been two days since he had started training with Eric. He had spent the rest of the first day learning how to control his force, finally managing to run the 3-dummy course without being yanked backwards. The second day had found him with the weight on his other arm.

Steel had protested of course. "I'm not using my right arm for my shield. Why do I have to learn with it?"

Eric had hit him with his cane again, "Tell me, what would happen if your shield arm was broken or destroyed? You'd be completely worthless. You have to be able to fight with both arms, no matter what type of weapon you use." Of course, Eric showed off his ambidextrous skills in a quick practice math with Steel. It was quick because Steel was knocked out rather fast.

The two girls had grown bored after hours of watching Steel running, and had left on shopping business the morning of the second day. They took Echo with them, saying quote, "This cute thing can't be stuck here in this sweaty place forever. We have some plans for this one." Echo couldn't speak, but his face spoke volumes as they dragged him from the room, his fingers leaving claw marks in the floor.

Currently, it was the third day of training, and Steel didn't feel any closer to the skills than he had been before.

"Really Master, I don't feel like I'm learning anything anymore." He complained, "I already figured out how to force distribute, so why am I still running this course?"

Eric snorted, "Why boy? Well, because you’re wooden shield keeps cracking every time you run it!" It was true; Steel's current shield had a long crack down it.

Steel glared at it, the one imperfection to his days of hard work. "Sorry Master, but I really feel like I understand it and use it now."

Eric's smile grew cunning, "Really now, you so sure? Let’s put it to the test then."

With a snap of his fingers, the dummies disappeared. Out of the ground, 5 wooden figures arose. They were humanoid shape, but lacked any distinguishing features. They had a fake sword on one arms and a shield on the other, with every other figure having the sword in the opposite hand.

Steel blinked, "What are these Master?"

"Boy, these are practice golems. See if you can defend against their attack." With a snap of his fingers, the golems moved forward in a line and attacked Steel, one at a time. Startled by the sudden onslaught, Steel brought up his shield and took the first blow head on. Instantly, the shield shattered and he was once again hailed in splinters. The golems stopped and returned to their original position.

Eric chuckled, "Come on now boy, not even the first blow? Show me you learned something these past two days." With a grimace, Steel put on another shield and stood ready. The golems came again.

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Steel felt something shake him as he slowly came to. Groggy from all the blows taken from the golems, his eyes slowly focused on the figure of Echo, who was shaking him with worry. "Echo, I'm alright, don't worry." Steel felt a tear hit him, and he chuckled, "There is no reason to cry, alright?" As he regained clarity, he noticed Echo fully.

Steel's face paled noticeably, "Oh my goodness Echo, what did they do to you?"

Echo, who had tears pouring down his face, was dressed in a very cute and frilly dress and bonnet that matched his blond hair. His eyes told what his voice could not, that he had lived through terrible hardships in the time away from Steel.

Thinking privately that the outfit kind of suit the little child, Steel turned a furious gaze onto the two girls standing nearby, “What the heck did you girls do to my slave? He's obviously been traumatized for life by your actions."

The two Mary's smiled at him. “Why, we merely had a wonderful time with him, don’t you understand? He was the cutest doll through the whole process, and the shopkeeper even gave us a discount on the clothes.”

Steel shook his head, “Okay, first thing. Never do that to him again without my permission. Second thing, it’s going to get real confusing to talk with the both of you, no offence my lady.” Steel nodded, “Do either of you have nicknames I can call you by?”

His teacher nodded, “Yes there is. You can refer to me as Maria. I’d advise you to refer to her ladyship with respect instead of a pet name.”

Steel nodded, “Thank-you teacher Maria. Now, about poor Echo here. . . “

“Oh give it a rest Steel. Echo had just as much fun as we did, isn’t that right you little cutie.” Maria cooed at him. Echo hid himself behind Steel and grabbed his shirt tightly. His eyes pleaded for mercy from the girls.

Steel rubbed his head, “Don’t worry, I won’t let the scary ladies have you anymore. Want to train with me?” Echo smiled excitedly and jumped up and down. “Okay, okay. Let’s see if my Master has anything for you. Hurry up and change back into your old clothes.”

The two girls were sad when their doll was taken from them, but one glare from Steel quieted them. Echo was his slave, and Steel was not going to let him be turned into a doll. Not even the lady could command him to do that.

Eric, also taking pity on the young boy, handed him a short sword and summoned up a dummy for him to hit. Echo actually had a natural disposition toward the blade and soon enough was whacking the dummy deftly. Steel privately thought Echo was merely venting his pent up frustration.

Eric turned back to Steel, “Now that you’ve recovered, tell me why these simple golems were able to break through your shield so easily.”

Steel thought about it, “The shield isn’t strong enough to stand against the blows.”

Eric nodded, “Half-points for that answer boy. Now listen, this is an important point I’m about to make.” Eric pointed at the two girls, “Those ladies over there are mages. They can summon their own mana shields, and use them to take attacks head on. The shields are formless mana constructs, and are easily repaired as long as mana is available.” He pointed at Steel’s shield, “That is a shield made from wood. Any shield, of iron or otherwise, will break after enough force is blocked. They cannot be repaired like magic, and are often never the same after severe impacts.”

Eric equipped a shield and swung it into the air in front of him, “A shield and shield bearer share the force taken in. If one is weak, both will suffer. On the other side, if one is too strong, then the other will eventually break as well. When you blocked the golems, you had the shield take everything. That ruined it. This is the same as the last exercise, except your targets are throwing their blows at you instead of taking them. It’s your job to roll with the blows; golden rule with shields is that you never take a strong blow head-on. You always push it away, or roll it off of you. Anyone can hold a shield, few can truly block.”

Steel nodded, completely understanding his mistake. Annoyed as hell he hadn’t figured it out by now, he gazed down at his wooden shield, “Sir, does that also relate to attacking as well.”

Eric nodded, pleased, “Good job for making that connection. Yes, attacking head on with a shield can turn out badly against a larger opponent or a heavily armored one. Exceptions to this are shields like you own.” He gestured to the shield on his back, “Though using it without training taught you incorrectly, your style should change with the type of shield you use. Long as you remember how to hit and take a hit, you should be golden.”

Steel eyed the column of golems, “I’m ready to give it another shot Master.”

“Then hurry up and get into position boy!”

Steel took his stance in front of the golems. Legs apart, left foot forward, head down behind his shield, Steel kept his eyes locked onto the first golem. It jerked, and started walking toward him, sword held up high.

He waited for it, watching the golem swing it’s blade down at him. He leaned to his right, curving at the waist before swinging back knocking the golem’s sword aside. The shield shuddered, but didn’t break as the golem fell over. It melted back into the ground as the second golem approached, its sword being in its left hand. Steel angled his shield to the fight, before performing the same maneuver and knocking the golem’s weapon aside. This time, the golem didn’t fall sideways, instead pressing forward with its shield as it moved the sword back into position.

Steel swore as he jumped to the side, away from the second slash. He rolled to his right, getting up and shield bashing the golem on its side with a slapping like motion. The golem toppled forward, falling to its own weight and vanished. Steel grinned, but barely dodged two sword swipes from two golems. He looked over, and found the previous two were waiting next to the last golem. Steel rolled away, shouting, “Master, what’s going on?”

Eric yelled back, “It’s no use to get used to only one enemy boy. Shield users have to be able to take punishment from more than one person or monster. You’ll pass this part of the training if you can survive 5 of them.”

‘Oh great, it gets worse.’ He thought to himself, jumping back from another slash. The two golems walked together, mirroring each other’s movements like a reflection. As he thought of a plan, he heard a voice behind him.

“You can do it Steel! Come on and show them your strength!” Maria called from the sidelines. She was sitting with Mary, who was also watching with interest. Apparently, this was a very fruitful form of entertainment for them. She had also given him an idea.

Steel jumped between the two golems and tapped both of them with his shield. As they turned to slash at him, he rolled out of the way as they get each other and fell.

“Good show boy, but use your shield to win next time. Otherwise this training will be for nothing.” Eric called, resting on his cane as he watched Steel.

Three golems came this time and moved differently from one other. Two came head on, while the third began to circle around to his back. Not wanting to be surrounded, Steel lunged forward toward the lone golem. It raised its shield put and charged forward suddenly, forcing Steel to roll out of the way. He used his shield to push off the ground, and ran forwards toward the golems back. A bash knocked the golem to the ground and took it out of the fight. The next two were running at him from two different directions, each holding their sword a different way. The first one thrust toward him, allowing for an easy push by the shield out of danger; the other came from below in an upper cut like fashion, forcing Steel to jump backwards. He eyed the two golems, one a fencer and the other some strange sword style.

He ran at them, this time jumping to his right as they charged to meet him. As the sword from the right golem came up again, Steel pushed his shield against its hand, using the assistance of gravity to keep the slash from coming. Twisting his body, he whirled the shield into the golem, pushing it back onto the incoming thrust of the second golem, and watched it vanish as well. He had no trouble against the last golem, and just knocked its thrust aside before slamming the top of the shield into its body, his back 45 degrees from the wall. Boxing videos had been one of his pastimes back in real life, and he enjoyed its fighting style, even if it looked a little funny with a shield.

4 golems came forward this time, each holding a wooden dagger this time without a shield. It was obviously a bandit scenario, and Steel had fought one before. The first two came at him, while the other two circled around to flank him. Lacking an opening this time, he used the shield to block his opponents, taking the two thrusts head on. They left dents on the shield, but not cracks.

Lacking a wall this time, Steel could not win the same as against the muggers. He opted for the next best thing, the floor. As one of the golems came forward, Steel threw himself forward onto the floor, his shield catching the golem’s legs. At the sudden force, the legs slid backwards, sending the golem tumbling forward and disappearing. Steel rolled to his left, avoiding the other golem’s slice narrowly. He charged this one, careful to not activate the skill whilst doing so. That would assuredly break his shield. He raised his shield over his head as he ran forward, and brought it crashing down onto the golems arm. He forced his legs to bounce against the downward force, slamming the shield up into the golems head as he jumped up. It disappeared as it landed.

A jolt of pain alerted Steel to the golem behind him. It had snuck up and stabbed him on the right side of his back. While it didn’t puncture the armor, it did deplete a bit of Steel’s health. He growled as he whirled around and slammed the golem’s head into the dirt, round house punching it into oblivion. He reached back and pulled the dagger off his back, finding that it stuck to him once it hit.

“That’s to remind you to pull the blasted things out.” Eric called from the side, “You may look cool covered in arrows and swords on the battle field, but it’ll hurt like hell and you won’t be able to move eventually.”

Steel nodded as he jumped into the air over the last golem’s knife thrust, using the weight of his shield to spin himself as he crashed into the golem’s body. They both landed on the ground, and Steel slammed the shield into the neck of the golem in a coup de grace maneuver. He stood up and inspected his shield. The wooden frame had begun to buckle from the blows he had delivered and taken, and he estimated it wouldn’t last more than a few more blows.

Still, he was almost done with the training. The last 5 golems materialized in a circle around him, this time holding huge two-handed blade. Steel blinked, asking, “Master, can I not use magic for this one?”

“Nope, now hurry up and win or lose. If you take too long you’ll fail.”

Sighing at the whims of his Master, Steel gripped his shield and positioned it behind him, resembling a baseball pitcher and frankly looked a little ridiculous. Golems, not having a sense of humor, took it as his ready position and activated. All 5 charged him, their swords moving back as they prepared to attack. Steel tightened his fist, he was ready. They swung down at the same time, their distance far enough that their swords would not hit each other. However, that meant only the tips of their sword were aimed for Steel.

They were wide open inside their reach.

Steel spun around, using his shield to increase the speed of his body. As the swords fell, he used his momentum to hit each sword aside like falling dominoes, before knocking the closest golem back with a shield “punch” to the chest. He was able to clothesline a second golem before the others managed to regain their grips. The three left charged him; the left one swinging from its right, the right one swinging from its left, and the middle one launching an overhand swing from its back. Steel grinned, and threw himself forward between the legs of the middle golem. The two side golems followed him with their swings, cutting the middle golem in half with their respective slices. As they turned to reposition themselves, Steel slammed into the left golem, sending him away and causing his shield to crack loudly.

Cursing, Steel barely avoided a huge side sweep from the last golem, not noticing that it didn’t stop with its momentum. The huge sword came flying back at him in a whirlwind, and Steel was forced to take the hit head on with his shield. The shield shattered, but Steel ignored the pain, jumped onto the golem. Wincing, he grabbed the largest splinters covering his body and drove them into the golem’s head. It vaporized underneath his grip, leaving Steel covered in his former shield and bleeding.

Eric walked up and inspected Steel. “Hm, besides that last fight, that was a very decent attempt.”

Steel’s mouth fell open, “Attempt?”

Eric nodded, “Yes boy. Those were golems after all. At their highest strength, they still fall short of strong warriors, unless boosted by magic of course.” He nodded toward the ladies, “So yes, it was a good attempt. In fact, I would say you’ve past this part of the training.”

Steel smiled happily, before freezing at the words, “Once you have survived without your shield breaking.” Unable to take it, he fell backwards unconscious. Eric scratched his beard in amusement, “Hmph, can’t even take a joke, what a weakling. Ha ha ha.” He laughed and gestured toward Maria, “Hurry and heal his words woman, and I mean the real you this time.”

Startled the ladies gave Eric a look of shock, which he met with an even gaze, “I’ve lived long enough to recognize magic when I see it. It’s my legs that are going, not my eyes.” He sighed, “I don’t care about the circumstances, but the boy needs a quick heal. I have need for his real teacher for the final step anyway, so might as well adjust you accordingly.”

Blushing, the two women shimmered and changed into the opposite Mary. Maria came forward and laid her hands Steel, muttering under her breath. Flames of healing flowed from her hands to his body, warming him as the splinters disappeared. She looked up at Eric, “Will he be all right? This training will help him, correct?”

Eric nodded, “If he wanted to, he could have finished yesterday and acquired the skill he needed; today and tomorrow will merely add on to his reward. I still can’t believe he agreed for the full course training, he must really have a death wish.”

Maria cocked her head, confused, “I don’t recall you asking him about it.”

Eric scratched his beard, “Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He shrugged.

Maria eyed the prone figure of Steel. Privately, she very much disagreed with that statement, very much so.