His sparring session with the professor lasted quite some time as the professor put him through an even more grueling session of grappling. Cæ learned the sheer gap between them when it came to combat skill.
He was impressive, but he didn't compare to someone who had far greater experience and training in unarmed combat.
THUD
Cæ collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
Professor Mercile huffed lightly as he caught his breath, wiping his face with a towel while he tossed one to Cæ.
"You have great potential. This session showed me that you have good core strength, and you also have a good intuitive understanding of how to leverage power in a grappling exchange. With some more training, you will be even more effective in combat. From this day forth, we will add that to our training regime."
Cæ caught his breath as his panting slowed down. "Is this all the training is going to be? Just more sparring? I don't think that will have much of an effect from this point."
"It's time for you to make a choice," the professor replied. "A choice about what style of combat and martial magic you want to learn. I will more extensively introduce you to these styles of martial magic in our future sessions, but broadly speaking, there are nine dominant combat styles from nine continents across the world. These nine are essentially those that have managed to prove themselves as the most effective unarmed form of combat. All nine of them have their strengths and merits, and you will have to choose one after understanding all of them."
Cæ raised an eyebrow. "And you have mastered all nine, professor?"
"Of course!" he grinned. "That's why I got hired in this esteemed institute. I have also mastered a lot of other forms of combat across different weapon systems. And also, I am an expert on conventional combat magic as well!"
Cæ stirred with a hint of surprise at the sheer number of martial magic styles that the professor had managed to master. It truly was no wonder that the Elendir Institute of Magic chose to hire him, since he could teach virtually anything regarding combat to any of the students.
"What are the nine unarmed combat styles?" Cæ asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Well, we can start with the most dominant style in our Gruonia Continent," the professor remarked as he took his stance. "The Gorrjer Style of thought focused on fists and elbows, founded in the Estroycia Federation. This style is most common in our continent for its great power in combat without any sacrifice in fluidity and speed. It has yielded some of the most powerful martial magetants on this continent in our history. Founded by a man who went on to become a magus. You cannot go wrong if you do decide to choose this style of unarmed combat."
The professor took a step back as his feet were firmly planted, while his fists and elbows were propped before him in a strange way that seemed to highlight them at the cost of his lower body.
"Does it not have kicking?" Cæ raised an eyebrow.
"It does not," the professor remarked. "It does, however, use legs for defense. It also has an entire system of movements that is centered around dealing with not just kicks. After all, for martial magic style to survive in this world, it needs to be able to deal with weapons like swords and spears. In an unarmed fight, the latter would have a clear advantage over the former. It truly begs the question of whether you want to pursue this route.
"I am carrying a wand with me at all times," Cæ replied, shaking his head. "I don't want to have to carry a sword and spear with me each time as well. As someone who is into business, it is not a good look. It's just not worth the hassle."
"You could conjure a sword," the professor offered. "It's what a lot of martial magetants choose to do to overcome this problem. However, it does have its own shortcomings."
"It would still need a conductor, I imagine," Cæ replied. "So, magetant would have to wear a powerful ring or some other thing that will allow them to create a powerful sword that is also able to withstand martial magic. It is an inefficient drain on mana and not worth it."
The professor simply accepted his choice.
There were some mages who found it worth it to pursue this solution, but they were generally those who dedicated everything towards martial magetant. Cæ did not intend to do that because he wasn't as invested in martial magic, much to the dismay of the professor.
"Unarmed it is then." Professor Mercile nodded. "The Gorrjer Style, in native Estroycian, stands for 'Heavenly Arms.' It focuses on a striking style of combat that relies on the fists for offense and on the elbows for defense and counter-offense. It focuses on speed, precision, and accuracy over power. Its defense is a passive toughness developed with great conditioning to strengthen bone and flesh."
Cæ stirred with interest as he got up from the ground. "And it overcame all other styles on this continent?"
"It is certainly recognized widely as the strongest martial magic style on the continent," the professor replied with a grin. "You won't go wrong if you choose this one."
"Doesn't the absence of legs make it weak in offense?" Cæ frowned. "Kicking is a basic part of brawling, is it not?"
"It is, but in the Gorrjer school of thought, kicking is thought to reduce balance and increase vulnerability," the professor replied. "Instead, they are ruled out as a means of offense in the Gorrjer school of thought and are used for maneuvering, power, and defense. It is a super-close range form of fighting that is generally most optimal for individual styles of combat."
"I see…" Cæ murmured as he fell into thought. "What about it makes it the strongest style of unarmed combat on our continent?"
"How well its magic complements it," the professor replied straightforwardly. "They use the Fundamental Form of Change and the earth element to make oneself very tough, while using the heaven element and the Fundamental Form of Manipulation to increase the speed and power of their offense. They have powerful combo movements that allow for a lot of body-casting, making it one of the most comprehensive, magically integrated forms of martial arts on the continent. How a martial art deals with magic and how it integrates into its depths is usually a good determinant for how powerful a style of martial magic."
Cæ nodded. "Run me by the remaining eight styles of unarmed martial magic."
The professor happily obliged as he went through the list one by one.
Schlieffen Palm Style. A form of unarmed martial magic that originated and was centered around applications of one's hands. Offense was comprised of powerful palm thrusts that were stronger than a fist due to having no weakness at the wrist. It sacrificed range for a heavier and more sturdy impact. This style was not as anti-kicking, but it certainly didn't capitalize on one's legs to the best. Defense was comprised of palm interceptions that deflected and redirected attacks before they reached one's opponent, making for a very active defense. It used magic to manipulate the winds to enhance the maneuvers performed by one's hand.
Fenzenism was a form of unarmed martial arts that specialized in defeating armed opponents, making it one of the most desired forms of martial arts in the world for its ability to negate a weapon's advantage with clever applications of magic. It relied on the entire body holistically to counter armed advantages. It is largely based on offensive magic, rather than defensive, and deals with attacks with evasive maneuvering, making it a dangerous form of martial magic.
Arpratiata was a form of martial magic that embodied the philosophy of absolute defense, integrating all forms of defensive maneuvers into its combat style, while focusing heavily on any and all applications of magic to enhance the durability and toughness of constitution and mounted defenses. It was regarded as one of the most powerful martial magic styles because of how impenetrable it was.
Mermento was a form of martial magic that couldn't even exist if not for martial magic, for it was a style of martial magic that took the principle of a range advantage to the very limit. It relied on magic to extend the range of one's attack as far as possible, allowing for a far-range attack. This trait allowed it to mow down its opponents from a distance, the way that regular magetants did.
Morihari was a style of martial magic that embodied the principle of a one-hit kill. With a style with a bias towards kicks, each attack that practitioners of this style released was the most powerful that they could do so in that moment, drastically increasing the mortality rate of mages who fought against the martial magic. It had many attacks that were designed to inflict death, and thus it was most suited for those with the death element.
Borthwein was a style of martial magic that relied on the life element to enhance one's body in combat, which also made it a form of martial magic that had nothing to offer without the magic. Regardless, it was a powerful form of combat, for it enhanced one's power in combat, making them extremely strong in combat.
The Kaemindo Style was a grappling style of unarmed combat that relied on incapacitation magic centered around the darkness element to take one's opponent down in combat. It had the lowest magical capacity due to how limited and focused the style was, but it was remarkably potent and effective and taking down its enemies.
The Flowing Palm style was one that relied on counter-offensive entirely. It waited for attacks, manipulated the flow of power, and redirected it against their opponent, using it against themselves in combat. It was the most stamina-preserving style of magic, for it used an opponent's magical power against them, doing more with less.
Each of the styles was appealing to Cæ, but he wasn't entirely certain about which one to choose.
"Over the next few days, I will do demonstrations of each style for you, so that you can get a better sense of each style," Professor Mercile explained. "Then you must choose. After that, we will get you started on that particular style of martial magic."
Cæ nodded as he drank some water.
"I look forward to that."
Martial magic would make him more able and flexible in combat, allowing him to do more in case he was taken off guard. Having more options at his disposal was good. It would make him more powerful in the long run and increase his chances of actually defeating Virlyd when they competed for the position of representative of the Elendir Institute of Magic in the Combat Contest.
"Same time tomorrow," the professor gruffly remarked before heading off from the combat facility.
Cæ heaved a tired sigh.
He would have loved to do nothing more than go home and get some rest, but unfortunately, he had duties as a member of the student council. Today was a particularly important day, for they would be exploring the competition methodologies and selection mechanisms that would eventually decide the team roster.
Despite the fact that he was tired and reluctant, he still pulled himself together to go and attend the meeting.
He couldn't afford to miss something important.