"Firstly, the use of Beastly Tyrant should be precisely regulated," Jaine began her quick lecture. "Understanding how to use a platinum skill to its fullest takes many months, months I would surmise you do not yet have. Managing its mana consumption is but the least of the requirements.

"Next, that skill combines well with many other skills, and, as I've said before, you should be looking to upgrade Monstrous Blow so you can continue to progress it. Knowing about Beastly Tyrant, my recommendation is to move towards a move that combines power and speed, which will most effectively pair with your buffing and movement skills. You could try to upgrade Monstrous Blow to something like Ten Ultimate Strikes or One Hundred Strikes As One. Furthermore, such a move that combines many powerful strikes in a very short time can further be expanded with your Spatial Step. A very skilled combatant can combine teleporting into a skill like Ten Ultimate Strikes. It will not create a new skill, or it will only do it one time in a trillion, but you do not always have to merge two skills to use them perfectly together. If you practice enough, you can teleport in the middle of such a combination skill even though the teleport is a separate skill."

"I literally didn't know any of that," Beth said after Jaine finished stating her initial thoughts.

"It's why you hire experts," Jaine replied a little primly. "Now, what would you like to focus on?"

"I was hoping just to get some time with a skilled trainer going over my sword work?" Beth replied, posing it more as a question.

A longsword appeared in Jaine's right hand, and she held up her left hand and curled her index finger at Beth. "Show me your current level."

Beth rushed forward, understanding how impossibly overmatched she was, but hoping she could pull even a fragment of an insight out of the session. To her surprise, Jaine didn't simply overwhelm her, but fought on a nearly even footing with her. The other woman seemed to guide both of their blades, choreographing what they were doing effortlessly. Beth fell into the rhythm of combat, watching how Jaine handled her sword, when she chose to strike and when she chose to be defensive. Just observing someone at her level was enlightening, and Beth felt like she was learning every minute they sparred.

"Good," Jaine said eventually, stopping them for a minute. "Rest a moment, get something to drink, and then we will go over what I see."

Beth did just that, resting for a minute while draining a bottle of water before returning to the ring. Jaine indicated for her to rest for a moment, and Beth leaned on her sword while the Sage went over the basic sword forms and demonstrated a few strikes and thrusts. She walked Beth through how to incorporate different techniques into a clean, precise series of strikes that flowed into each other seamlessly. Baelvyr had covered some of this, and Beth picked up the more nuanced parts quite easily. They sparred for just a few minutes before stopping again, Jaine ready to give a few more pointers.

"Your foundation is rather solid," the tall, pale woman commented. "I believe you have had a rather good trainer."

"Well, I was trained by Baelvyr Kron of the CRA. Don't know if you know him?" Beth commented.

"Baelvyr Kron? The Adamantine Wall? The One Who Never Broke?" Jaine asked, eyes just slightly widening as she frowned slightly.

"Uh, I don't know about all the titles, but he's an old ogre who's probably an Exalted and can use pretty much any weapon," Beth said with a shrug.

"Yes, that's him," Jaine said with a nod. "He did a good job drilling some basics into you before you ventured into the wider universe."

"He knows what he's talking about. Well, most of the time," Beth said with another shrug.

"Indeed," Jaine said. "There are two things I want you to focus on going forward. The first is to be more aware of the positioning of your opponent's body; it is important to read their stance, their subtle movements, and how they tense and flex their muscles. Having a better read on your opponents will greatly help you, even moreso when fighting humanoids, especially sapient ones.

"The second piece I want you to focus on goes hand-in-hand with the first; namely, that is to listen to your opponent. You often tend to attempt to alter the flow of a fight to suit your ends. There are many times, however, when you should observe what your opponent does, how they attack, when they become defensive, and how aggressive they fight, and then react accordingly. You should be bold and brave in a fight, but you must understand what your opponent is doing and how they operate. It is particularly so in just such cases as these; I clearly greatly outclass you in skill and experience, yet you often attack quite aggressively. Sometimes, you must slow down and listen to the opponent; only then can you control the flow of battle effectively."

"Right, I think I understand," Beth said. "I'm often used to overwhelming my opponents, hitting them so often and so hard that they eventually collapse."

"Aggression must always be tempered with wisdom, or it will merely be recklessness," Jaine responded in her most lecturing tone yet.

"I understand. I'll work on watching my opponent and also reading how they fight," Beth replied.

"Good. Take another short break and then we will continue," Jaine commanded. Beth noted as she got some water and an energy bar that Blood was sprawled on a bench asleep, or so it appeared. Sometimes Beth wasn't sure when the wolf was sleeping and when she was feigning sleep while she studied something and quietly observed her surroundings.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When Beth was finished with her short break and had returned to the ring, Jaine said, "Good. I would like to work more on your skills for much of the remaining time. You have been cautious so far with their use, but for the next five minutes, I would like you to fight aggressively. Do not worry about how I just cautioned you to be more wise in your fighting, I merely wish to see what you can do when against an evenly matched or just slightly stronger opponent. Do not burn all your mana, but show me how you incorporate all your skills in battle."

"Understood," Beth replied simply, getting ready.

When Jaine indicated for her to start, she charged the tall woman, opening with a simple series of strikes before rolling into a Monstrous Blow on the third one. Jaine was truly incredible, fighting at a level far above what Beth could even currently imagine, as she expertly simulated being an opponent at the early level of Expert while skillfully mitigating any secondary damage Beth's strikes might cause. Beth felt exactly like she was fighting a fellow Expert while at the same time she had a small, niggling feeling that she wasn't posing any threat at all to the Sage. She chained out of the Monstrous Blow with a quick overhead, followed by releasing the hilt with one hand and throwing a Crush-infused punch. Jaine slid Beth's fist to the side with the flat of her blade, redirecting all the momentum from the strike out and down, Beth taking careful note of the parry, as she felt it was at a level that she could also pull such a move off.

They continued for a few more minutes, with Beth throwing pretty much everything she had at Jaine. She was also conscious of Jaine's request to not burn through all her mana, holding herself back a little. She found the more measured pace to be taxing but something she could maintain for a long time. She was surprised as Jaine stepped back and held up her hand a minute later, signaling the bout was over. It felt like no time had passed, though Beth detected her mana was down to about a quarter when she focused on it.

"Good," the tall woman said. "You're a bit better than I expected when you go all-out while using your skills. You still have much to learn, especially in regards to better incorporating both your movement skills and buffing skills, but you are certainly not a hopeless case. You must remember to always be observing your opponent, including their body language and subtle movements; by doing so, you will find more opportunities to use your teleportation skill and to move around your opponent with your speed. It is always best to try to take an opponent unaware, even if you are already battling them, and lulling them into a predictable pattern before striking in an unpredictable, hard-to-defend manner is a good way to assure victory at minimal danger."

"I understand," Beth replied calmly, nodding.

"Rest again, for a little longer. I assume you have Meditation?" Jaine asked.

"Yes, something like it but a bit better," Beth replied.

"Use that for five minutes or so to get some mana back and we will go again. We will focus on prolonged battles for the next and final segment."

"Understood," Beth replied, in training mode. She got some more water and an energy bar, dropping into Focused Meditation before she even sat on the bench. Five minutes came and went in a flash, Beth recovering to a bit under half her total mana while meditating. She stood and brushed her hands off before returning to the ring when Jaine indicated time was up for the break.

Jaine didn't say anything before they started the final segment of the two-hour session, but simply motioned for Beth to begin. Beth made sure to be a bit conservative with her mana, as the instructor had said this would be a long spar and Beth was already down to under half. Luckily, the couple rebirths she had already done at this point had increased her mana reservoir by a bit, though it was still fairly small. Once she hit her tenth rebirth and created her Mana Physique that would change, just as it would if she created her Mana Physique early. That was one area where Adam was also clearly superior, as they had seen when working as part of the eight-man team. He had been able to cast Silver and even Gold skills at full power for quite a long time before draining his mana, and the power was also greater.

Anyway, Beth wasn't really concerned about her Mana Physique right this moment, though it was another thing she was going to be sinking some time into very soon. She dismissed all the distracting thoughts and just focused on Jaine, trying to do what the woman had instructed and read her movements, her subtle tells as muscles shifted in preparation for a strike, and the way she leaned and twisted her body as she fought. It was not something that was easy to do, especially when the person you were watching was fighting you, and even more when that person was an incredibly skilled swordswoman slashing their blade at your face. Beth persisted throughout the whole final round, taking a few nicks and small cuts, but mainly just focusing on minimizing her damage while observing Jaine.

"Enough," Jaine said eventually. "We still have a bit of time. Rest, and we can do one final, very short round and then talk."

"Gotcha," Beth nodded, getting yet another bottle of water. She was sweating most of it out, but she would need a trip to the head after this session was done.

"Alright. What would you like to cover for the last section? We will fight at full force; well, you will fight at full force, and I will fight at a level that counters that," Jaine said, seeking input from Beth.

"I'd like to see what a Sage can really do," Beth replied. "That is, if you can and not kill or maul me in the process."

"I can fight much more technically, but I cannot show you everything at your level. You simply cannot respond to me, either with stats, skills, or weapon capabilities."

"I'd like to see what you can show," Beth said. "I fought with a guy who's around my age and is also a sword user that was at the peak of Master. His fighting Blood and I was what gave him the spark to get him to Grandmaster by the end of that fight. So, technically, I guess you can say I have fought a Grandmaster."

"It is not the same," Jaine replied before holding up a hand. "I mean your fight with him, not me demonstrating my skills. The higher the bracket for anything, a regular skill, a spell affinity skill, or a weaponskill, the longer it takes to consolidate your gains when you move to the next bracket. Someone just hitting Grandmaster will be significantly weaker than someone at Grandmaster[0] who has six months at that level."

"Well, damn," Beth muttered, noticing that Blood's ears had been flicking since their fight with Veren had been brought up. The lupine woman was clearly interested in this part of the discussion, though she still looked to most like she was asleep. She also didn't fool Jaine, as the tall woman with the unnaturally pale skin let her eyes noticeably slide to the side and give the wolf a look before returning to Beth.

"You have firmly established your foundation in Expert and started slowly progressing through the bracket; I am not saying slowly to insult you," Jaine explained further. "When you reach Master, which I am sure you will eventually do, it will take a good bit longer to stabilize your level before you can start moving forward again. It increases as you go; when I hit Sage, it took me four years before I was confident in my new skill. Those who eventually hit Divine, the next level after Sage, can take one to two decades to stabilize before they can fully display the power of Divine[0]."

"So, Divine's after Sage," Beth muttered while nodding. "And it takes longer every time you jump brackets to stabilize. Does the same thing apply for other skills or for crafting?"

"Yes and no," Jaine answered, rolling her hand side-to-side. "Crafting skills are somewhat different in that it is an ever-increasing progression in your ability to manipulate a material in complex ways. You typically don't stall, or not nearly as long, at the start of a bracket. What I would just label 'regular' skills, things like your Monstrous Blow, take a bit longer, but aren't too bad. It takes more time, by just a little, for each tier higher the skill is. Your Celestial Annihilation will take quite some time to stabilize at Diamond before you are fully comfortable with it and have mastered it at the diamond bracket.

"Next are spell-based skills, things that increase your affinity for a mana type and help with casting spells. Things like Elemental Casting fall into this category, which lets the wielder cast any basic elemental spell, as long as they understand the spell forms. These take longer to stabilize than the 'regular' skills will take, but it's still not as long as weaponskills. At the higher brackets, weaponskills take the most time to understand and comprehend before you truly can utilize that skill to the potential of the bracket."

"I never really knew about it, other than it really took me a while before my Expert weaponskills started showing progress again," Beth replied, giving the taller woman a smile and a slight bow.

"Now, for the final bout?" asked Jaine.

"Sure. Let's go," Beth responded, readying herself.

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