Standing on opposite sides of the training field, Sturm and Max faced each other down on either side of the center line. Whereas both were prohibited from taking any action until the sparring match officially began, they stood at the ready, eager to make the first move.
“Now boys, please be careful not to do any serious harm to each other. As you’re all aware, we may be called to action at any moment, so we must remain in tip-top shape,” Pauritsch spoke aloud from the sideline.
Max, cocky as ever, offered Sturm a thumbs-up alongside his overconfident grin. “No worries, captain! It’ll be over quick enough- he ain’t gonna have time to get hurt!”
“Sturm!” cried Magnolia from next to their teacher, “Please silence this imbecile! If you lose, we’ll be listening to him for the next week!”
Focused entirely on his opponent, the swordsman paid her no mind. His hand twitched as he awaited the call to draw his blade. Though Sturm was confident in his own growth, he was all too aware that Max had made significant and rapid improvements of his own. If he wasn’t careful, a swift loss was all but certain.
“Prepare yourselves…” Pauritsch warned, “And… begin!”
Sturm drew his blade in a flash and rushed across the line, swiping horizontally toward Max. The latter ducked down, bracing himself against the ground with an open palm, before headbutting the swordsman directly in the stomach. Sturm stumbled back and retaliated with a knee to Max’s chin. Though the boy’s so-called ‘active shield’ dampened the blow, it was still more than enough to send him reeling.
“Wonderful!” Magnolia cheered.
Annoyed, Max shot Magnolia an agitated look and spit his blue blood into the grass. “Hey, keep your mouth shut, eh princess?”
“Stay focused, Max!” Gustavo exclaimed.
Just as Max shifted his attention back to Sturm, he caught a fist directly to his nose, knocking him onto his rear. “Fuck!” he growled, clutching his face, “What the hell, man?!”
Max removed his blood-spattered hand to see the tip of Sturm’s sword pointed in his face. This shocked the boy, causing him to tense up and grit his teeth.
“That shit hurt and it was a cheap fuckin shot!”
“Then stop letting your guard down!” snapped Sturm. “I don’t like doing that, either, but if you don’t learn from it now, it’s going to get you killed eventually!”
Slowly, Max pushed away from the sword, crawling backward across the grass. He then got back up to his feet and took a peculiar, hunched-over stance. Unsure what to make of this, Sturm watched on warily.
“Alright, buddy…” said Max, his voice somewhat strained. “Ya got a point, but it does go both ways, ya know…”
Sturm furrowed his brow and readied his weapon out of an abundance of caution. “What are you talking about?”
With a pained chuckle, Max flexed his shoulders and legs as if he were attempting to lift a heavy object from the ground. “You’re too quick to decide the fight is over… Ya never finish the other guy off…”
“Am I supposed to kill you in a sparring match?” challenged Sturm, unsure of his friend’s point.
“Don’t waste your breath, Sturm!” shouted Magnolia. “‘Sense’ doesn’t come naturally to him!”
Keeping an eye on the battle, Gustavo sat down cross-legged in the grass with his frogs observing atop his knees. “No, Max is right.”
“Whatever could you mean by that?” asked Magnolia with exaggerated suspicion.
“He pulls every punch and swings his sword slowly on purpose,” Gustavo explained. “Watch closely and you’ll see what I mean. He’s always trying to do as little damage to his opponents as possible.”
Magnolia scoffed in response. “Weren’t you listening? Miss Pauritsch explicitly ordered him not to cause serious injury. Truly, I’m shocked. You’re usually a better listener.”
“It’s not that,” Gustavo reaffirmed. “He has no intent on actually ending the fight. Even now, he could have just given Max a solid stomp or even continued to hold him at bladepoint, but he let him escape.”
“It’s a sparring match…” sighed Magnolia. “If the point is to improve on our weaknesses, then the battle should last as long as possible, should it not?”
“You still don’t get it,” answered Gustavo with a disappointed shake of his head. “That is Sturm’s weakness. Until he learns to fight with real aggression, it won’t matter what he’s capable of doing, because he’ll lose before he uses his full strength.”
“How very astute of you, Gustavo!” Pauritsch interjected. “Perhaps one day you’ll be standing in my place!”
Irritated by her teacher’s praise, Magnolia rolled her eyes and blew her bangs from her face. “Oh yes, how very astute…” she mumbled mockingly.
Hunched over further, Max began to pant heavily. It was clear that he was under extreme stress. The boy let out a low, guttural growl as every centimeter of his exposed skin shifted blue. Taking note of this, Sturm became increasingly concerned.
“Max, what the hell are you doing? Don’t hurt yourself…” he warned, still careful not to drop his guard.
“Aw, nah, pal… Don’t worry about me…” groaned Max, clenching his fists tightly. “Worry about you!”
Suddenly, two exceptionally large claws erupted from his sleeves, dwarfing his usual calcified blades by a fair margin. Their weight was so great that the bow stumbled forward, planting them into the ground to keep his balance. Soon after, heavy, interlocking plates began to form on his arms and legs, followed by a row of thick scutes down his back. Rib-like structures extended from this synthetic spine and curved around his flanks before flattening outward into a bony cuirass. Within seconds, Max was completely encased in a formidable suit of armor, save for his head and feet.
“You used this against Grizzler, right?” Sturm inquired, thinking back to the readiness examination. “Why make it heavier? You’re completely off-balance.”
Max smiled knowingly. “One step ahead of you…”
The plates around the boy’s ankles flattered downward, merging into ossified greaves. Three hooked claws then extended from the tip of each foot, anchoring him to the ground. Now aided by sufficient support, Max leaned forward against his claws as a rigid, segmented tail burst from the scutes just above his hips. Breathing heavily through his gaping grin, he took one final look at Sturm before an oversized, shield-like helmet swung up from his back and closed over his head. When all was said and done, the mask’s round shape and disproportionate size, in combination with his tail and overall beige color, left Max looking not unlike a horseshoe crab.
Understandably, Sturm was rattled by this abrupt metamorphosis. His friend, now rearing back up on his back legs to the clatter of armored joints, now appeared more monster than man. Looking on, Magnolia had a more radical reaction.
“W-what?! What in the Lord’s name is that?!” she exclaimed frantically, holding her balled fists next to her face. “H-he’s a giant insect- an abomination!”
“Unbelievable…” marveled Gustavo, completely taken aback. “He has managed to combine his shield with an all-encompassing suit of armor while managing to keep his hands free for combat. It’s ingenious.”
Sturm eyed his opponent up and down before locking on the small eye holes atop the front of his angled, semicircular helmet. Through these minuscule gaps, Sturm spied Max’s eyes- his sole humanoid feature which remained visible.
“That’s… certainly something…” said Sturm, still divided on the practicality of Max’s surprising form.
A warped chuckle echoed from under the calciumancer’s helmet. “Ya like it? It took a while to figure out, but Miss Pauritsch helped me learn all about exoskeletons in the library. Thanks to her, I was able to come up with the perfect suit of armor- impossible to break through on defense and deadly on offense! I’ll call it… Xiphosura Mode!”
Something was different about Max’s abilities. During the readiness examination, his claws began to crumble from excessive replacement. The armor that the knight candidate now donned had to have required far more material to create.
“How did you manage that?” asked Sturm, ready to counter at a second’s notice.
Max answered with a clattering shrug, “Guess I’m just getting better, man.”
He’s not being forward with me, Sturm thought to himself. That’s an incredible change for such a short time. Even still, that armor had to have come at a significant investment. If I can get through it, I can’t imagine he’ll have much more up his sleeve.
“Well, are ya gonna make a move?!” taunted Max, stomping his clawed feet.
“Why?” Sturm retorted, “Does all that extra weight make you too slow to come at me?”
“Sure about that, buddy?” Max spoke aloud, mouth obscured by his massive helmet, “Let me show ya, then…”
Diving forward with unlikely speed and agility, Max lunged through the air toward the swordsman. Despite the initial shock, Sturm managed to sidestep the assault, though just barely, as his opponent’s massive carapace head drove into the ground like a wedge. Grass and soil were flung into the air as Max flipped his head back and pivoted toward his target to continue his charge. As he vaulted a second time, his hooked claws gauged the turf, creating earthen brown scars across the pale green. Caught off guard by the quick change in direction, Sturm was unable to dodge and instead made a desperate attempt to parry the rush with his blade. Overcome by Max’s sheer weight, he was impacted by the bony hemisphere, immediately disarmed by the force, and launched several meters before crashing into the ground.
“Alright…” Sturm growled, pushing his stomach up off the ground, “I see your point…”
ns 15.158.61.48da2
