Training

*Kemiya’s are trained from the moment they are found by their mentor. They are trained in 2 different ways:*

*1. Physical Training*

*2. Mental Training*

***Physical Training***

*Physical Training is self explanatory in that it trains the body of the candidate in terms of exercise, combat and resilience. A common practice by mentors is that each morning at a time of their choosing they will slash their apprentice somewhere on the body the moment they wake from sleep to train the body to deal with wounds and teach them to go on fighting. As time goes on the degree of injury will increase until the body can heal even the most grievous of wounds within days.*

*A Kemiya must also be at top physical condition and will be trained to exceed that of Olympic athletes in terms of fitness, timing, balance, reflexes, resilience, speed and stamina. If a Kemiya is anything less they will not survive long. Daily combat training takes place at three times a day. From the time the mentor decides to wake his apprentice, training takes a few hours before breakfast. Then more training from breakfast to lunch. Then lunch to dinner and the training in these three time periods is usually non stop unless the apprentice is seriously hurt to the point where they will die in training but this depends on the mentor. Despite the harsh training mentors don’t wish to kill their apprentice.*

*After an Kemiya surpasses their mentor and venture out on their own they must continue to train intensively and seek to become stronger by forming different attacks and must seek out other Kemiya’s to kill and claim their metal pieces for themselves. The more souls they have within their metal piece the stronger they will become as the souls within the 'personal piece' can be called on for certain moves such as the 'Kemiya's Call' and Soul Regeneration (A move that can call the souls of a metal piece to aid the wielder, increasing their physical capabilities for the brief period) All Kemiya’s have power that comes from themselves and will only call on the power of their personal piece when needed. Kemiya’s must learn to manage their own power before they can increase it at will. If not the power will crush their bodies. A Kemiya’s abilities are divided into power and skill. A Kemiya with a high amount of souls within their personal piece will be more powerful but that doesn’t mean they are more skilled than other Kemiya’s. It will be advantageous against someone with a lower amount of souls within their personal piece but does not guarantee victory against another Kemiya with equal or greater skill*

*Kemiya’s are taught in many different styles of combat and with different weapons but they are rarely ever mastered, only taught to the level of highly skilled proficiency. Some Kemiya’s can master a certain fighting style and seek to use it in combat but this limits the scope of a Kemiya’s combat abilities unless they are already proficient in several combat styles. Kemiya’s can use any forms of melee weapons such as Spears, swords and Axe’s. A Kemiya’s style of combat will obviously depend on the weapon they prefer to use but some or all Kemiya tactics are often employed:*

*1. **Evasion: (Agility)** This simply means that a Kemiya will not seek to defend unless they must but will seek to avoid contact with their opponent in an attempt to force the opponent to grow frustrated and expend energy. It relies mainly on maintaining on keeping distance from the enemy and avoiding close quarters combat. The weakness being that this form still uses physical strength from the one on the defence and can even tire out before a physically stronger opponent and thus should only be used in short bursts to gage an opponents tactics and fighting style if at all possible. This form of combat is often used by smaller and more nimble Kemiya’s and ones with much energy and athletic ability and is often used in conjunction with attack or defence tactics and can even be incorporated into a Style form by extremely talented combatants. It is primarily used for one on one battles and only extremely talented Form 1 users can hope to avoid injury against multiple opponents. Opening stance, weapon behind back laid horizontal at waist level*

*2. **Defence: (Resilience)** Like tactic one this style focuses on defence and aims to make the Kemiya’s defence unbreakable as the objective is the same, to tire out the opponent. This tactic relies on good balance and strength of will.  It is used by Kemiya’s with strong mental prowess and those with patience against those with equal or greater physical strength but this style can be overcome by attack styles employed by an opponent with much greater speed and attack skill. It is often used in conjunction with Counter attacks, and even attacking styles. Kemiya’s with both these tactics can result in a long drawn out fight, favourable to the defender. This Form is best used against Attackers and Style fighters. The Form 2 user must basically shut down a Form 6 users sword motion and maintain the defence at all times against an attacker. Depending on the skill of the defender, this Form can be used, anywhere from one to three opponents, also depending on the skill of the attackers. Opening stance, weapon held with hilt up and weapon pointing down in diagonal direction*

*3. **Counter: (Speed)** This links from defence but is only employed by fast and more cunning Kemiya’s as they seek to attack just as their opponent does, hoping to exploit the lack of defence when an opponent attacks. It is used in conjunction with Evasion, by using those moves to gain a better position to strike an opponent, Defence tactics and Style Tactics. This style is best suited against attackers and can be used against Form 6 users, but not Form 1 or Form 2 users. This combat style can be used against multiple opponents as well. Opening stance weapon pointing at down at the ground with the arms shoulder to the opponent*

*4. **Attack: (Aggression)** As it states this form relies on attack with little or no defence and is meant to keep an opponent on the defensive and off balance in hope that sheer aggression and power can overcome the opponents defence. The user implements powerful yet focused and accurate strikes and is mainly used only by physically and mentally powerful Kemiya’s. The weakness being that its open to counter attack from a skilled opponent and even more vulnerable to use against mentally stronger opponents using Defence or even more nimble and agile Kemiya’s, who use Evasion tactics which would lead to unnecessary expenditure of energy, but not for long. This form of combat is employed by Kemiya’s while in darkness form on a higher scale. They will fight as a berserker and can even ignore grievous wounds. Opening stance is weapon held straight at opponent, point outwards*

*5. **Smart:** (**Intelligence)** This is not so much a form of combat on its own but is something a Kemiya should be taught, to try and fight smart and gain and maintain the advantage in combat, such as, using misdirection strikes, maintaining high ground, using the environment or gaining positions to strike at an opponents vulnerable points. It is used mainly with counter tactics and is often used with a Kemiya’s Alchemic skills, though this can be seen as a cheap tactic in melee combat unless agreed by both Kemiya’s as a form of battle*

*6. **Style: (Grace)** This is a difficult and dangerous form of combat but most effective and graceful as well. Kemiya’s are normally arrogant and egotistical and seek to show off but when it comes to battle they are serious warriors. This form of combat is itself a form of showing off with the performance of acrobatic manoeuvres and quick and precise strikes. Foot and body movements are often not necessary but do look skilful and graceful. This style of combat should only be used by elite Kemiya combatants who can perform these stylish moves without leaving openings which is the possible weakness of this style. If performed correctly this style can be extremely effective in dodging weapon strikes and placing the Kemiya in a good position to attack, defend and counter attack. The style itself relies on maintaining motion of the sword and can engage up for four opponents at once. If however an opponent can maintain close quarters and defend in close and stop the swords motion, the Form 6 user will have to start their motion again, but this can be countered with shallow strikes, letting their blade slide off any blocks or parries that are made against them. Opening stance is legs wide open with weapon pointed to side (Depending on strongest hand)*

*7. **Power: (Willpower)** This is another difficult form to master but is by far the most effective. This form is the use of special attacks from the Kemiya’s metal piece, E.g. (Silver Cut, Silver of Destruction) The form can only be used by strong Kemiya’s who have completely mastered their metal piece and ones who have mastered the exampled special abilities. Some Kemiya’s can even call upon the souls of their metal to enhance their physical abilities but can very quickly wane and the longer its used, the longer it will take for the souls to regain their power and doesn't give as much of a physical increase as the Darkness form but is far less costly. Opening stance is simply the weapon held up over head*

*Kemiya’s can also be taught in unarmed combat but this is rarely taken beyond disarmourment of an opponent and basic attacks such as kicks, punches and throws. This method of training is used in conjunction with armed combat to gain an advantage against an opponent, nothing more. The first 4 tactics are taught to Kemiya’s while still under the Mentors tutelage and are interchangeable during battle depending on the weapon and tactics of an opponent. Form 5 and 6 are normally self taught but mentors have been known to teach these techniques to their students before allowing them to conduct the 'Releasing fight' simply for the pleasure of fighting their student on equal ground and for the thrill of a challenge*

***Mental Training***

*Mental Training is almost more important than Physical training. It teaches the Kemiya how to be strong of mind in combat and teaches them to control their emotions and use them to their advantage. Training includes meditation and of course through physical training it can teach the apprentice to shut out all useless emotions in combat and can teach them to kill without remorse or second thoughts. It can also teach Kemiya’s to try and resist attacks through the mind itself but that can only go so far. Good Kemiya’s must also know how to keep the darkness of their soul in check. Although aggression and anger are assets to a Kemiya they cannot let it overcome them unless they wish it to. The Darkness technique is a rare technique and is rarely taught, only to those with immensely strong minds for fear of corruption.  Each day a mentor will dedicate a portion of the day to training the mind of their apprentice.*

*But these lessons aren’t limited to mental strength in combat but knowledge of alchemy itself. As a Kemiya grows in age and power, they will learn how to manipulate the environment and transmutate matter into their chosen metal and wield it at will. So a Kemiya must know the make up of all elements and know the composition of the most basic materials known to man, such as concrete, buildings and vehicles. They must also be taught how to be cunning and even use the environment to their advantage. Not many Kemiya’s are able to master solid transmutations in the early stages of training so this form of training is taught late and maybe even too late if an apprentice surpasses the mentor before the mentor is ready to teach matter transmutation*

*Another aspect of mental training can be hard to teach but must be taught and can be subject to the mentors approach and the apprentice’s attitude. Most apprentices only seek to train to gain power but the mentor must try and put his apprentice into the correct frame of mind. This can be achieved through continuous training but sometimes more dangerous methods must be used, like behaviour modification. A Kemiya must be taught to enjoy the thrill of combat and even brush with death to gain as much enjoyment out of a fight. They must be taught to shut out all distractions and focus on becoming stronger and not seek to make lasting relations with others, that weaknesses must be discarded and over come. Some Kemiya’s may resist these ideals but they must be taught how important these ideals are and that they could save their life. Some Kemiya’s could even seek to abandon their lifestyle and return to normality. If that happens their powers will fade away until they are gone completely but their 'personal piece' cannot be destroyed and the souls within the piece will remain. The only way to continue the line is for a Kemiya to take on an apprentice...then retire to maintain the line.*