9 The Guild part 3 Assessment, Half Moon Freezing

I walked out of the presidents office and saw it was morning, the receptionists were yawning and with droopy eyes, they were awake but not entirely, giving off the aura of a bears reluctant to leave hibernation.

Reaching the second floor there were a handful of receptionists the nearest one directed me to room F2 and left quietly after sliding a small black card into a holder on the door indicating that the room was occupied. The inside of the room was disproportionately large. A large jungle occupied the majority of the room from the look of things the room spanned for about 2 square miles in front of the Forrest was a crude shack

The test administrator was a woman with a lithe but supple figure that exuded a feeling of danger, she wore a hooded set of form fitting black leather that had some black cat ears poking out of it the armor did nothing to hide her body's curves, rather it accentuated them in all the right ways.

"now that you've seen me..."

the woman disappeared from sight without the slightest ripple as if she was never there. I felt the alarm bells ringing in my top right flintlock and a dagger I put up my guard

"ahahahaha" the laughter was something between a witch's cackle and the twinkling of chimes it was deeply disturbing sound when heard from a woman giving you the feeling she would swallow you whole given the chance.

I felt a breeze to my left, slashing out with my left hand, firing with my right and retreating to my right with a short dash changing my flintlock to the one on the bottom right while in the process and concealing myself within in the smoke

"good instincts, and moves, but your tactics and experience are lacking, you're too gentle just like a flower raised in the greenhouse , you should be closing the distance when dealing with a hidden attacker limiting their range of motion and actions, all you did was dodge I can still sneak attack from any direction like THIS..."

I felt a breeze from the back this time, flinging my body forward into a flip and firing off a shot, not care about whether or not the shot landed the only important thing was interrupting her actions.

"that's a nasty little toy you've got there, boys shouldn't play with dangerous things like that"

twisting my body to secure a landing I landed sliding back briefly reverting to all fours to gain traction, I transitioned into a sprint flinging the spent gun to cut off her retreat to the right side and draw her eyes as I turned my skin into an inky black color removing some of my presence in the smoke, even invisible the smoke was still able to vaguely outline the woman's figure so long as she remained in motion, slashing and dashing madly I closed in on the woman's smokey silhouette

The woman suddenly appeared in full with a grin on her face grabbing my left hand and flinging me over and into the air with shocking speed

"That was very naughty of you, didn't anyone ever to take care of your things, and those toys of yours could hurt somebody if your not careful tsk, tsk"

her tone changed from playful to serious

"never fight an opponent you can't beat, it's better to run if you can't get the upper hand"

I was still mid flight having a very flat and forward trajectory lost sight of the woman I switched my dagger from left to right and used one of my hands the vault of the ground and right my orientation sending me into a tumble that allowed me to utilize my forward momentum

running probably wouldn't do me any good, I wasn't willing to be played with by this woman either. I decided going into the forest and hiding was the best option.

after less than a moment I opted to strip off my clothes and hide them in order to use my new camouflage to the greatest extent possible slowing my heart rate to a near death state, I retracted my hair and altered my coloration attempting to blend into the foliage nearby. Laying down face up I grew out a new set of hair with a thickness height and color similar to the tall grass that surrounded me, and waited for a moment of opportunity.

a few minutes had passed

"hide and seek is more suitable for boys your age, but running around naked is hardly appropriate, didn't your mother teach you better"

The voice was directly behind me, her warm breath tickling my ear, I was ready to bolt attempting to sit up only cold steel pressed against my throat, it was an exercise in futility.

"no running off now, naughty little boys need to be disciplined properly"

I heard some soft steady footsteps approaching

"don't you think that's enough Shansa"

The words were filled with thoughtfulness and consideration Like an angel of god had been sent to drag me away from this devil lady

"URGH! You ALWAYS show up just in time to ruin my fun Bolin"

her voice sounded petulant and had a hint of a whine to it like a spoiled child who just had its favorite toy taken away

"whats your assessment"

"he should be at the peak of copper rank at present, but his foundation is patchy but better than average, most importantly he's very adaptable. Given a few days training, he can reach bronze and be halfway to iron. If you're willing to let me play with him a little more that is"

"Its your choice, you can gain a lot from training with this woman, although she may be a bit... eccentric, she's one of the best rouges in the region, and by far the most experienced"

"I promise I'll be gentle"

Bringing me to my feet Shansa looked like the cat that ate the canary the ears on her head only adding more context to the expression.

nopenopenopenopenopenopenope

This woman was downright terrifying I didn't want to spend another moment with the crazy lady.

this guy want's me to ask for more "playtime" FUCK THAT

Bolin cleared his throat interrupting my thoughts

"its a good opportunity for you if you decide to accept Shansa's tutelage this is an opportunity that doesn't come often I urge you to accept, I will be here to make sure she doesn't get too out of control"

I felt hesitance, the man seemed very trustworthy so I doubt he would steer me wrong staying means gaining a wealth combat experience and the chance to fight a strong opponent in a relatively safe environment. not to mention she just so happens to be a great teacher, fear is a powerful motivator after all as much as she scares me this us still a good opportunity it even with all the training I did in the woods I still don't have complete confidence in my ability during a fight this woman destroyed any unnecessary confidence I may have had, she had me dancing in the palm of her hand even with the knowledge from skills I still have a lot to learn. now that I had my emotions in check I made my decision

"alright, I'll be in your care Shansa, Bolin "

"Don't Scare the boy too much, I'll tell Silbar if you overstep your bounds"

"Fine, Fine I wont get too rough with him"

I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved It seemed like I had nothing to be worried about

Shansa handed me the clothes and flintlock I discarded, It dawned on me that I had been stark naked throughout the entire conversation

frowning a bit I redressed and loaded the spent flintlocks

"Here"

Shansa threw a belt like sheath designed to hold two long curved daggers across the small of the back , the daggers were in the sheath along with an old but and well maintained bandoleer slotted with 10 palm sized throwing knifes that were shaped like leaves

Shansa tapped a fresh looking scratch on the side of her leather armor

"you managed to hit me, this is your prize, I don't have a use for them anymore they're yours now"

I fastened the belt to my waist threading it through my trousers

"your knife work is only slightly better than an amateurs, your style lacks refinement. It goes without mentioning that the quality of your daggers and their placement is lacking. whoever taught you glazed over the fundamentals of dagger wielding and didn't force you to practice enough"

"I estimate that you only have four attacks with those weapons of yours, its a neat trick but if that's your only weapon you wont last if you get dragged into a prolonged fight"

she furrowed her brows and began to pace back and fourth briskly irritation evident in her footsteps.

"your movement is fine, and your use of smoke is a good trick but you seem to be to reliant on it. your stealth and concealment techniques are good in theory but lacking in practice that's the second thing we will be working on"

she looked towards me an put her hand out

"let me see one of those toys of yours"

I handed her a flintlock, she inspected it with a furrowed brow

"its enchanted, no attack formations, utility, but that doesn't make sense its a weapon, is that where the smoke comes from"

she looked at me and spoke with a demanding voice appearing frustrated

" how does it work, what is it called"

"its called a gun, this is a flintlock, it uses an explosion to fire a small piece of metal called a bullet at high speeds"

I explained the properties of black-powder and how it makes smoke

"why not use a small beast tendon crossbow instead"

I shook my head

"guns are easier to carry don't have a very high requirement in terms of strength, and some of them can shoot more than once, not to mention shooting faster bullets is a simple matter of adjusting the powder load"

She nodded as if agreeing with me

"you should still learn some dagger arts, a rouge uses a variety of weapons, and you can always get a hold of a knife"

"so we start with that then"

Over the course of the next five hours Shansa taught me the ins and outs of a dagger art called half moon freezing one of the basic dagger arts used by night blades it was a flexible set of moves designed to be used with either one or two curved daggers. The arts name was derived from its purpose and weapons used half moon refereed to the curved daggers and freezing referred to the combat style. The art consisted of slashes and parries, there were no blocks and stabs, the art focuses primarily on getting as close as possible and interrupting the opponents actions and delivering blows limiting their offensive ability and creating windows of opportunity. In the window created the practitioner would proceed by using a the second dagger or some other means to land a decisive blow it was a very aggressive style that could be used on a wide range of opponents.

Shansa was a strict teacher nipping any mistakes in the bud correcting errors in edge alignment and the angle of parries by the time lunch we ate at a table that was prepared by Bolin, he brought the food as well

By the end of the first day I was familiar with the first three of the twelve sets , by the third day learning progressed quickly after my foundation was solidified, I slept in the training room

The training lasted five days every single one of them incredibly intense.it made my practice in the woods look like child's play. The training consisted of Free form combat in the mornings consisting of ambushes, and fierce frontal attacks, during these sessions I never managed to land a second hit Shansa was able to predict the bullet trajectory before I even pulled the trigger the closest I was able to get was by using basic gun kata in conjunction with half moon freezing.

In the afternoons Shansa taught me some entry level alchemy, stealth, concealment, and ambush tactics, she sprinkled in other useful information as well she squeezed the fact that I have a system out of me too. and helped me solidify the skills I had that didn't involve guns with the exception of the gun kata, I managed to show her the forms and we were able to combine them with half moon freezing to some success she said it would be impossible to integrate martial arts with the kata that did not fulfill three conditions

one: the martial arts cannot be restricted to completing sequences of moves, every single move must be independent and complete

two: the martial arts need to be very mobile curved dagger or Kukri arts focused on control

three: those arts must fill a specific niche in combat that covers the weakness of guns a close range and adhere well to weapons with different curvatures

Despite her rough introduction Shansa turned out to be a very reasonable person, at least when she was out of combat. Inside of combat however...

I thought about our 'morning sessions' I couldn't help shuddering (A/N *Cues Vietnam flashbacks*)

overall I was able to learn the following skills from Shansa according to the system

Half Moon Freezing (modified)

Grade: A-

Category: Martial art

Effect: able to use the 12 forms of half moon freezing

Note: A basic but formidable martial art designed by the night blades and refined over several the course of several generations, this martial art is a variant of the standard half moon freezing Modified by Shansa to accommodate both the strengths and weaknesses of guns and curved daggers by using them interchangeably

Dagger throw

Grade: D

Category: martial art

Effect: throw daggers more accurately

Description: thrown weapons often fall behind in terms of power but one would do well to stay clear of a rouges knife, regardless of type

Combat Awareness

Grade: SS

Category: misc.

Effect: enhanced instincts, sense danger

Description: After no small number of close shaves you have learned to sense danger on an instinctive level, If you've developed this skill you should probably quit your day job.

Sneak+

Grade: C

Effect: move silently and conceal yourself in the shadows using the enviroment to your advantage

Description: After learning from a master rouge you have been able to fill in most of your shortcomings in the field.

Alchemy (Beginner)

Grade: D

Effect; craft some basic potions, poisons, and chemical weapons

Description: living off the land is an essential skill for rouges if trained properly a rouge can outlast anyone else in the wilderness

Tonight was my Last night of training Shansa gave me a throwing knife bandoleer that was in far better condition compared to the one she had me training with. As usual I would be sleeping in the hut

"Congratulations, tomorrow you will be a bronze rank adventurer, you just need live trough my little graduation ceremony, sweet dreams"

It goes without saying that I didn't sleep well that night