Combat

Combat is run by Karter and takes place in the Arena, 'a mammoth colosseum-like structure. Learning Combat allows students after the Academy to join the military service or seek beyond that to become a Warden if they wish. In that case, fighting will be required on a daily basis. While more advanced technology is available to those of higher ranks, swords are always the most accessible means to end a physically aggressive dispute. Or start one, as the case may be. Combat is one of the five potential-based classes taught at Akarnae.

When Alex first walks into class, Karter asks if she is lost and bursts out laughing when she says she is in that class. She was then partnered up with Declan Stirling who was very strong and probably double her size. They did 'easy' hand to hand combat and Alex ended up with a concussion and woke up in the Medical Ward.

After that, Karter benched her and she sat on the sidelines watching the others do Combat. When Jordan asked why she still bothered to go, she said that her pride was at stake and that since he wanted her to quit she wouldn't even if she was just sitting on the side.

That lesson, Karter asked what she had learnt since joining, to which she blurted out that Brendan was arrogant. Her eyes widened at her own comment as her classmates were amused and indignant. She went on listing what she had noticed about her classmates to which even Karter had to admit she was wasting her time dwindling her thumbs on the sidelines.

Karter then took her to a sheltered space in the arena and told her to suit up before revealing an obstacle course of dangling ropes, rock walls, ditches, slime pools, stepping stones and moving balancing beams under heavy-looking, swinging sandbags. She was to finish the course before finding him. Two hours later she almost finished but Karter yelled at her to hurry up, surprising her and causing her to be hit by the swinging sandbags and start again. Half an hour later she was allowed to leave and told to visit the Medical Ward.

Alex is seen looking towards the Arena before the three hour Combat exam trying to give herself a motivational speech. Kaiden came upon her and asked if she needed a push to which she replied embarrassingly with a no.

The first hour and a half was focused on attack and defence. The first three rounds where unarmed. Declan partnered up with her first and while she told him not to go easy on her, he didn't go flat out and brought her down more gently than her later partners Nick and Sabastian. Declan complimented her on her reflexes which allowed her to dodge many of the attacks if not all.

Brendan went after and they used heavy wooden staves, which during their round she noted she probably ended up more injured from throwing herself to the ground than actually being hit by the staff. In the end his got her in the stomach causing her to curl up and hit brought the staff down on her head, pulling out at the last second so she was only disorientated for a few seconds.

The last round she partnered up with Kaiden and they used swords. The round started and she managed to block his first and second strikes, before kicking out at his abdomen which he dodged. She used a few tricks up her sleeve, her good reflexes, Kaiden's good nature and him wanting to help her prove herself. (You should all go read the fight in Akarnae pg 332). The round ended with her winning, but claiming that he had cheated and that he could have won multiple times and that he just let her win. He just shrugged it off.

For the last hour and a half, Karter took them to one of the rooms and revealed an different obstacle course. They had fifteen minutes to get as far as possible through the course. If the failed to make it through, they had to start from the beginning. They went oldest to youngest -> Brendan, Nick, Sebastian, Declan, Kaiden then Alex.

She flew through the first obstacles before arriving at the moving bar and swinging sandbags. This bar had a different pattern to the one she was used to and had five sandbags, not three. She made to to the fifth sandbag and looked up to notice the end. She lost concentration and the sandbag hit her, dislocating her shoulder. But she refused to quit till Karter blew his whistle so she went back to the beginning and crawled through a mud drenched tub before coming to the second obstacle a fifty foot high rope ladder and started pulling herself up by looping her legs through the ladder.

When she was three quarters finished Karter blew his whistle and she slid down the ladder. Her classmates all looked shocked and even Karter looked at her with respect before telling her to go to report to Fletcher.

Before Alex went home to Freya, it was agreed that she would take lessons with Karter over the summer holidays to get up to speed with the other Epsilon students.

CLASSMATES:

* Kaiden James
* Declan Stirling
* Brendan Labinsky
* Nick (Baxter?)
* Sebastian (Gibbs?)

Alex's first day back was awkward due to a rumor going around about what had been happening with her and Karter during the holidays. Karter then stormed into the arena, threw her a sword and started fighting, to which she managed to hold her own for a bit before having to admit defeat. When she turned to the other students after, they all stared at her amazed. Afterwards they helped dispel the rumours.

Towards the end of Alex's fourth year, Zain joined as an assistant in Combat class, to keep an eye on the *situation*. Kaiden confronted her on why a Meyarin was teaching, and Alex admitted he was going to anonymity.