Some more slice of life.
Chapter 93 – Spellblades (Guardian Moon)
Byleth watched her students as she pointed to a diagram she had made on a chalkboard. The seminar she was holding on combining the use of spells with weapon-based tactics was going well so far, with a large majority of the first-year students present. Even those who weren't skilled with magic showed up, whether to learn more from their favorite teacher or to show their care for her in the wake of Jeralt's death. Leonie, however, was not present; the others claimed she was still torn up over the death of her mentor. Byleth worried over the Sauin girl's mental state, but she knew she would have to deal with the matter at another time.
Continuing her exposition, Byleth said, "So, if you were to utilize a Lumina spell here, you could reflect the light into the eyes of your enemy. Then, while they're recovering from being blinded, you rush in and–"
"That doesn't sound like it'd be all too reliable, Professor," interrupted Lysithea. "Your enemy could be wearing a helmet and the visor could reduce the effect of such a trick."
"Any advantage you can create can be decisive," said Byleth. "Even a tiny distraction can have… significant consequences."
The students said nothing to this, remembering how Jeralt had been distracted when Monica had stabbed him.
"Professor? Are you alright?" asked Mercedes.
"I… thank you for asking, Mercedes. I'll manage."
"Just let us know if you want to take a break, okay?"
"I appreciate your concern. But please, let's get back on topic."
"Professor, if I may?" said Edelgard. "Your use of magic in these tactics, while certainly helpful, seems as though it would be far too specific in circumstance. You're presenting us with very specific situations."
"What are you getting at, Edelgard?" asked Ingrid.
"Wouldn't it be more prudent to go with something practical?"
"Well, what would you suggest, Edie?" asked Dorothea.
"I've been reading into some spells that allow one to enhance their weapon with Mana. You've all seen Anna's Levin Swords, correct?" The others nodded at this, so Edelgard continued, "That kind of weapon is built around this very principle. It contains an Arcane Crystal within it that automatically enhances its strikes with magic."
"So? We could just give everyone weapons with those crystals in them, right?" asked Caspar.
"It isn't as simple as that," said Ignatz. "Levin Swords have to be made of a specific material to properly channel the power of the crystal. If an improper material is used, the addition of an Arcane Crystal would make the blade brittle. Worse, if assembled incorrectly, it could even cause such a weapon to harm its own wielder."
"You seem very well informing – err, informed on such things, Ignatz," said Petra.
"I learned about it from my parents. They run a merchant business, so I was expected to know how various weapons are forged, especially rare ones. The metal used for making Levin Swords is called Scarletite. It's not as rare as Mythril, but not nearly as common as other metals, especially in Fódlan. Along with Scarletite being a rarity, the time and resources needed to create the Arcane Crystals are considerable."
"So, long-story-short, Levin Swords are hard to make?" asked Hapi.
"Essentially. They're also more difficult to maintain and repair."
"Sounds like a lot of hassle," said Sylvain.
"True, but the results speak for themselves," said Edelgard. "Anna's weapon, and ones like it, can discharge Mana with their attacks, making them more potent even against foes with thick armor. However, Levin Swords are not the only way to enhance a weapon with Mana. The spells I was reading work on a similar principle. To put it simply, you basically channel your Mana into your weapon, and it enhances it temporarily."
"That sounds handy," said Hilda.
"It's easier said than done, though," said Lysithea. "If you do it wrong, you could end up damaging your weapon or wasting your Mana for nothing. The effect is also short-lived and requires a considerable amount of Mana, often more than what you would require to just blast someone with a spell."
"So, then, what's the point of doing that?" asked Raphael. "I dunno how to use magic anyway, but it doesn't sound like doing that enhancing thing would help."
Byleth then said, "Well, how often have some of you wanted to use a spell, but your enemy was too close to you? You could hit yourself with your own magic."
"Yeah, I've had that experience more than once, Professor," said Dorothea.
"This technique could help you in that situation."
"I see," said Lysithea.
"Well, well, what an interesting topic," said a sultry voice that turned everyone's heads.
Manuela was standing at the entrance to the classroom. She had opted to wear a far less revealing garb for the winter, one that covered up a great deal more of her skin. However, the outfit still revealed her incredible cleavage, something no one had been able to talk her out of.
"Manuela!" said Dorothea.
"I couldn't help overhearing you all discussing the art of Spellblade," said Manuela. "That's what it's called, by the way."
"I wasn't aware this technique had a name," said Edelgard.
"Are you interested in joining us, Manuela?" asked Byleth.
"Oh, better than that," said Manuela. Then, with a playful wink, she added, "I can show you all how it works."
…
The students gathered in the training grounds a few minutes later. It was cold outside, but the training grounds always had a warm fire going on, so it wasn't a major issue. Practice weapons were distributed among them while training dummies were prepared for Manuela's demonstration. Texts from the library were out on a large table, showing the necessary magical formulas that would be needed.
"Alright, dearies," said Manuela. "Watch closely."
The students watched as the physician turned to a practice dummy with a wooden sword in her right hand. She raised her left palm to the flat side of the blade and began to channel her Mana, creating a magical circle from her left hand. The weapon began to glow with a silvery sheen as her magic infused it with power.
Manuela then removed her left hand from the wooden blade, which now had a white aura around its edge. Then, with a loud "HA!", she swung the weapon at the practice dummy. As it connected, the Mana surrounding her blade released a burst of magical force, propelling the dummy across the training grounds and into a pile of broken weapons.
The students were impressed at this and gave their applause to Manuela.
"Wow, that was awesome!" said Annette.
"A very impressive display, Professor Casagranda," said Lorenz.
"Nice one!" said Sylvain.
"Thank you, thank you," Manuela said with a sultry flourish of her blade. "That one was a simple Force enhancement, but the art of Spellblade allows you to combine a wide variety of magic with your weapon. Fire, ice, lightning, and so forth. However…"
Manuela raised her wooden sword at this moment for the students to see. It had been a freshly made weapon, but they could see a few small cracks had already formed in its side.
Manuela then continued, "Enhancing a weapon via Spellblade can put a good deal of stress on the weapon. Some materials like Scarletite and Mythril are better suited to withstanding this effect than others, but the more complex the enhancement you place on your blade, the more you'll physically strain it."
"Would this Spellblade technique work with the Heroes' Relics?" asked Linhardt.
A little surprised, Manuela said, "I… don't know, actually. Maybe you could ask Catherine about that when she and the others get back. I'm guessing it would, but I can't use a Heroes' Relic, so what do I know."
"Perhaps you could try it with the Sword of the Creator, Professor Eisner?" asked the sleepy healer.
"Let's not be too hasty, Linhardt," said Byleth. Turning to the others, she then said, "For now, let's try out the Spellblade technique with our practice weapons. Those who aren't attempting it should watch."
The students spread out as they started to practice. For the next few minutes, the sound of channeling Mana and the clatter of wood against the practice dummies could be heard. No one got the trick right away, though.
After four failed attempts, Edelgard let out a loud huff of annoyance. Trying to use Spellblade was far tricker than reading up on it. The princess took a deep breath and then placed her right hand to the wooden axe's head as she channeled her Mana again. This time, the magical circle that formed caused the weapon to start crackling with electricity.
Emboldened, Edelgard let out a shout and swung her weapon hard into the practice dummy. Sparks flew and lightning crackled as her blow smashed the wooden dummy to the ground.
"Hey, Edie got it!" Dorothea said cheerfully.
"As expected, Lady Edelgard," said Hubert.
Edelgard would have thanked them for their praise, but she made a loud hiss as she dropped the axe and held her left wrist in her hand. Some of the electricity she had channeled had gone into her left hand, jolting her.
"Edie, are you okay?" Dorothea asked with concern.
Shaking her left hand, Edelgard felt the jolt pass. "I'm fine," she said. "Using Spellblade is trickier than I thought."
Before Dorothea could say anything else, Lorenz then shouted, "Hah! Perfection!"
The others turned to see Lorenz's training dummy was now on the ground and partially frozen in ice. The blue aura surrounding his lance faded as the magic subsided.
"Hey, Lorenz, you got it!" said Claude.
"Was there ever any doubt, Claude?" Lorenz said pompously.
Dorothea opted not to listen to Lorenz as he began to boast, turning to look at Byleth. The bluette was standing before a training dummy with a wooden sword while Manuela explained the Spellblade technique to her in greater detail. The brunette thought Byleth would've been the first to get Spellblade right, but it seemed the teacher was having some difficulty with it.
"I can get the effect into the blade, but it fades out too quickly," Byleth said to Manuela.
"You aren't binding it properly," said Manuela. "You're trying to go from enhancing to attacking too quickly. You have to give it a second for the effect to stick."
Byleth nodded at this, realizing the error was her own. She was trying to use it as if she were in a pitched fight where every millisecond mattered, but her need for haste wasn't helping.
"Best to do it right than to do it fast," said Sothis as she observed unseen.
Taking a breath, Byleth channeled her Mana again, this time waiting for the enchantment to take a firm hold on her wooden blade. The weapon glowed with the same silver sheen that Manuela had done earlier.
Once the effect took hold, Byleth yelled as she swung at the practice dummy. The blow exerted a great deal more magical force than what Manuela had done, sending the practice dummy crashing into a far wall and breaking it to pieces.
"Professor Eisner did it!" said Bernadetta.
"Well done, Professor," said Dimitri.
"Way to go, Teach!" said Claude.
Byleth was slow to turn to the praise she was getting. When she did, she did so with a sheepish look on her face.
Her wooden blade, which had been a new weapon, had broken to pieces.
"Oh my…" said Mercedes.
In the shade, Constance laughed and said, "How utterly mortifying this must be for you, Professor Eisner!"
Blushing, Byleth turned to Manuela as the physician said, "Eh, I've seen worse results."
Byleth let out a flustered "Ehehehehe…" at this.
Dorothea couldn't help but giggle at Byleth's result, nor to her reaction.
The next to succeed was Annette. The girl's practice axe glowed a vibrant red as she swung it at her practice dummy, sending it back and setting it on fire. Fortunately, it landed far away from anything flammable.
"Yeah, I did it!" Annette cheered. "Did you all see that?"
Before the others could applaud her, however, Mercedes yelped, "Ah! Annie! Your weapon! It's–"
Annette quickly realized her error in using a fire Spellblade enhancement on a wooden weapon. She shrieked as she quickly tossed away the burning practice axe, but in her panic, she almost threw it right into Dedue, narrowly missing him.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Dedue!" Annette yelped. "I didn't mean to–"
"There is no need to apologize," said Dedue.
While the others had a laugh at Annette's expense, Dorothea turned to see Felix wasn't trying the Spellblade technique, instead going through his paces with another practice dummy.
"Felix? Aren't you gonna try Spellblade?" asked Dorothea.
"I'll stick with what I know for now," Felix said respectfully.
"If you say so."
Dorothea then turned back to her practice dummy, raising her wooden sword to try and enhance it again. But despite her efforts, she couldn't get the enhancement to take hold on the wooden weapon. Her spell fizzled out, leaving her practice weapon as mundane as ever.
"Dammit!" Dorothea hissed. "This is harder than it looks."
As he paused to watch the diva, Felix said, "Maybe try a different weapon?"
Confused, Dorothea asked, "Huh? What did you have in mind?"
"Your rapier. It's made of Mythril. Perhaps it'll be more receptive to your magic."
Felix went back to his practice while Dorothea paused to look at the wooden sword in her hand, and then at Joyeuse, strapped to her waist. Deciding to take a chance with her weapon, Dorothea threw aside the practice sword and drew Joyeuse. The others watched as she took a stance with it.
"Dorothea, are you sure about using your weapon for this?" asked Edelgard.
"You heard what Manuela said about Spellblade damaging the weapon, right?" said Ingrid.
"I wouldn't worry about that," said Manuela. "Mythril's really receptive to Spellblade enhancement. Not as much as Scarletite, but pretty close."
Dorothea placed her left palm to Joyeuse's blade and channeled her Mana. The circle of magic formed, and the rapier began to crackle with electricity. But beyond just being infused with her magic, the blade seemed to resonate with it. It was practically surging with lightning.
Dorothea let out a loud "HYAA!" as she thrust Joyeuse at the practice dummy. As the rapier struck, the electricity surged out of her blade and engulfed the dummy in lightning. A second later, the dummy released a powerful surge of lightning skyward, leaving the mannequin smoking.
Dorothea let out a sigh as the others applauded her. She pulled Joyeuse back and inspected the blade for any damage. The Mythril rapier looked as pristine as ever.
"Quite the impressive result," Lysithea said with a smile.
"That was incredible, Dorothea!" said Bernadetta.
"I'd sure hate to be on the receiving end of that," said Caspar.
Dorothea smiled at the accolades the others gave her. She then turned to see Felix had stopped his practice and was now giving her an approving smile of his own.
"Impressive work, Dorothea," said Felix.
"Thanks," the singer replied.
The students would continue their practice of the Spellblade technique for the next few hours.
You know, one thing that kinda disappointed me in Three Houses is how the Combat Artes all use such generic animations, except for some very specific ones (usually the class-restricted ones). Would it have required so much more effort to show more varied animations? I suppose it's a not a huge issue, but still, it could be something for IS to improve on in the next FE title.
Another thing IS should've done in Three Houses? Snow. Why did Garreg Mach always look like it was in spring or summer? I'd have loved to see the monastery with a blanket of snow on it.
Anyhow, I'm going to be moving toward the chapter battle soon.
EDIT: Whoever is writing the "unneeded drama" reviews needs to understand that I'm not following the game perfectly. Dorothea did stand up for Ingrid against Clovis, sure, but Arundel is another story. She's too scared of him at present to defy him, and if she told the Church about him threatening her, it'd be her word against his (not favorable for Dorothea) and she'd also have to confess to attempting to learn Church secrets (which would land her in a lot of trouble). Also, being used as an unwitting, unwilling pawn by Arundel does not really make her "aligned" with Those Who Slither In The Dark.
The Arundel issue is going to be further developed as we go, but I will share this: Dorothea will eventually attempt to cut her ties with him. How that turns out, though, is something you'll have to wait and see.