Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Training

"Switch," Morris shouted, and Dorian rushed past him to hit Leander's barrier with his saber. He did a couple of quick slashes, and the barrier cracked. Leander poured just enough of his mana to close the cracks. And it was just in time because Dorian bashed the place where the cracks had been with his shield just as they closed.

A new, bigger, crack appeared. Leander was sweating proficiently. They had been on about this for the past fifteen minutes. And the original mana allocated for the spell slot had run out two minutes ago.  He was running on his reserves now, and he was feeling the strain.

"Switch," Dorian shouted just as Leander was repairing the big crack. Morris rushed around Dorian, and he slammed the butt of his axe into the big crack. They heard a breaking sound, and the barrier fell.

"Dead," both warriors chorused before giving each other a high five.

"Huddle time," Morris sheathed back his axe and Dorian stashed away his saber and his shield. With a bowed head, Leander went into the group huddle.

"Ok, I'll start," Morris began, and he sighed. "Leander, you think too much. You can't afford to spend this much time looking for cracks. Rather, you need to feel them in the barrier when they appear. Have you ever taken mana sensor lessons?"

Leander shook his head. Most healers went their entire lives depending on machines to sense the surrounding mana. Leander had always assumed he would be the same.

"No, but, I am a healer..." he began, but Morris shook his head.

"The mana sensing devices are clunky in nature. They are ok for a clinic, but will get us all killed in a dungeon. I will teach you how to sense mana after we finish your staff's spell slots," Leander nodded. It was going to be hard work, but ultimately useful.

"Dorian, you should have started with bashing with the shield. It was quite obvious that Leander would be able to fix up the spider web you made with the saber. Good striking speed, though," Dorian nodded. He preferred the saber to his shield. Which probably explained why he, as a tank, was just rank F.  "I will sign you up for some shield bashing lessons with the weapon's master after we are done training up Leander's barrier endurance. Ok, Dorian, your turn."

"Leander, you can hold the barrier for longer than the planned period," Leander managed to give Dorian a weak smile, knowing by now that Dorian sandwiched his critique between two slices of praise. "But that is paid for with a thinner barrier. If you were facing off against a mob that spits acid continuously, the thin layer would have broken down before you were able to fix it, and you would have ended up dead after the first breakage."

"So, I should bank on thicker layers, but for a shorter period of time?" Leander mused, but Dorian shook his head.

"No, thicker layers and longer periods. You need to work on your mana reserves. We have to get your mana levels tested, and you must start meditating and measure them regularly. Regular healers don't need to have that much mana, true, but you are a field healer," Leander nodded. Meditating was hard. He simply found it hard to clear his mind. But if it made him stronger, he would do his best.

"But, overall, good thinking to immediately fix up the cracks, rather than neglect them. If you haven't been fixing constantly, I would have broken the barrier before Morris," Leander smiled then, and he turned to stare at Morris who was looking intently at Dorian.

"Morris, you are strong, the strongest among us," Dorian began, but Morris's expression remained emotionless. "But you are reckless. You barely gave me any time to pull back. I nearly tripped on you a couple of times. I know that you are a fast and better at sidestepping than me, but you have to consider my current level of agility when we do a switch."

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Morris rubbed the back of his head. He had thought something much along the same lines.

"Sorry, I'll keep a better watch," the two warriors looked at Leander, who gulped. Both of them, even Dorian, despite his F rank, were leagues away from him.

They had run, dodged each other, and swung their weapons expertly. While the only thing Leander had done was stayed still and look for cracks.

"Morris, you," he tried to begin, but he felt like there was a stone in his throat. What could he tell Morris or Dorian so that they could improve? They had made the critique time effortless, but it was anything but.

"I think you two covered everything," Leander blurted out finally. Morris sighed.

"Come on, Leander. We don't bite. Surely, you must have seen something that irked you?" Morris was looking straight in Leander's green eyes. Well, there had been one thing. But Leander had no idea if it had been a problem.

"Uhm, why didn't you two do a joined attack?" Leander finally asked. He had wondered and had figured they were going easy on him. But now, he decided to bite the arrow.

"Joined attack?" Asked Dorian.

"I mean, instead of switching, you two could have come at me from two different sides, hit me at the same time and speed, and let the vibrations crumble the barrier," Morris looked at Dorian, who grinned sheepishly.

"Well, it is usually the tank's job to call for a joined attack," Dorian admitted. "But I am not as fast as Morris. I didn't think I'd time it right."

"We should work on that," Leander said, a bit more confident. "It will be good experience for a boss fight for you two and for me, once I get surrounded."

"Ok, so, we practice joined attacks and defense next," Morris agreed, and he placed his hand in the middle of the huddle. Two other hands were placed on top of his and the two raised their hands as one.

They got back in their positions and the two charged at Leander before he had a barrier up.

By the time they reached him, he had a thin sheet around himself that became a spider web of cracks. Leander poured half of his mana into strengthening it as the two backed away to charge again, and gripped his staff tighter.

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