Shattered Sanity

(House Argent Training Grounds)

Circuit remained standing near the edge of the training ground for several seconds, watching Riven complete another sequence with the halberd before finally walking towards him.

"Young Lord."

He called, as Riven stopped midway through another swing and glanced towards him.

"You found it?"

Riven asked, as Circuit pulled the thick book from beneath his arm before tossing it towards him.

"Catch."

Riven caught the book comfortably with one hand before looking down at its worn leather cover.

[Basic Halberd Fundamentals]

His eyebrows rose slightly.

"How did you even manage to get this?"

Riven asked, as Circuit immediately raised one finger and wagged it towards him.

"Get? No. I practically stole that."

Circuit corrected seriously, as Riven looked towards him with surprise.

"You stole it?"

"Practically."

Circuit replied, as he released a long breath.

"I went into the Academy library first, to see if they would simply allow me to borrow something useful, only to discover that First Years aren’t permitted to formally check out instructional manuals until classes begin and our student records are completely processed."

Circuit gestured towards the book.

"So I had to improvise."

Riven’s lips slowly curled upwards.

"What did you do?"

"I sweet-talked the librarian is what I did."

Circuit admitted.

"I told him about my respiratory illness, explained how I had spent most of my childhood physically incapable of enjoying the same activities as everyone else and heavily implied that books had always been my greatest source of comfort."

Riven stared at him.

"Is any of that actually true?"

"Parts of it. The important part is that he believed all of it."

Circuit replied shamelessly, as Riven chuckled at the confidence with which he admitted everything.

"He felt sorry for me and offered to personally show me around the library, probably thinking he was introducing some frail young scholar to the greatest collection of books he had ever witnessed."

Circuit continued.

"Then the poor man turned his back for approximately ten seconds, and I shoved that inside my trousers and walked out."

Riven stared blankly at him for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"You actually stole it!"

"Practically stole it, since I like to think of it more as borrowing without completing the appropriate administrative procedure."

Circuit corrected as Riven laughed again.

"Anyway, I committed a minor crime for you, Young Lord, so please make good use of it."

"Thank you."

Riven replied sincerely, as his laughter gradually disappeared.

Whatever ridiculous methods Circuit had employed to obtain the manual, he had delivered exactly what he had promised within two hours, and Riven appreciated that.

’Alright, let’s see what the basics of wielding a Halberd look like....’

Riven thought as he lowered himself onto the grass before opening the book.

Flip. Flip. Flip.

Riven quickly began to flip through the pages, as for a while Circuit said nothing.

The opening section explained the fundamental stance required for controlling a halberd, showing several detailed diagrams regarding hand placement, foot positioning and how the wielder should distribute their weight.

Riven looked at each page for several seconds before flipping again, moving through sections covering defensive blocks, thrusting techniques, sweeping attacks, hooking an opponent’s weapon, disarming sword users and breaking shields.

Another section demonstrated how to use the rear end of the shaft whenever an opponent entered inside the effective range of the blade, while several more advanced pages showed how individual movements could naturally transition into one another.

There was even a considerably more complicated combination intended to hook an opponent’s weapon aside before stepping forward and driving the halberd’s point through their torso.

Yet Riven simply continued flipping, until Circuit felt mildly annoyed by his behaviour.

’Is he even reading this?’

He wondered, as Riven occasionally paused slightly longer whenever a diagram contained several stages, although even then he rarely spent more than fifteen seconds studying it before turning towards the next page.

Circuit had gone through considerable trouble obtaining that manual, and watching Riven casually browse through it like an illustrated children’s story was beginning to irritate him.

"Young Lord."

Circuit eventually said.

"Hm?"

"You do understand that we only have two days?"

"Yes."

"And that book is supposed to teach you how to avoid getting humiliated?"

"I understand."

Riven replied, without looking up.

"Then perhaps you should actually read it."

"I am reading it."

Circuit stared at him as Riven casually flipped another page.

"You’re scrolling through it."

"I’m reading very quickly."

"Apparently."

Circuit muttered.

Several minutes later, Riven reached the final page, studied the last diagram briefly and closed the manual before casually tossing it back towards Circuit.

"That’s it?"

Circuit asked incredulously, as he barely managed to catch the book.

"Yep. That’s it."

Riven replied, as he stood and retrieved his halberd.

Circuit looked towards the book before looking back towards Riven.

"You spent approximately six minutes reading a complete introductory manual."

"Sounds about right."

"And you believe you’ve learned everything you needed?"

"I wouldn’t say learned."

Riven replied, as he expanded the halberd once again.

"But I’ve memorized everything inside."

Circuit squinted suspiciously.

"Young Lord, if you don’t want to take this seriously, just tell me."

Riven glanced towards him.

"I am taking this seriously."

"Then how exactly have you memorized an entire instructional manual within six minutes?"

Riven ignored the question, instead repositioning his hands upon the halberd before gesturing towards the book.

"Open the first section."

Circuit frowned before opening the book.

"Fundamental defensive block."

Riven said, as Circuit found the appropriate page containing a diagram of a halberd wielder receiving a diagonal sword strike, with the shaft raised across the body while the rear foot stabilized the defender against the incoming force.

Riven closed his eyes briefly before moving.

His left foot shifted backwards, his hands separated across the shaft and the halberd rose diagonally before his body, as Circuit’s eyes immediately moved towards the diagram before returning towards Riven.

The resemblance was almost exact.

Almost.

"Your toes."

Circuit suddenly said, as Riven looked down.

"They’re pointing slightly outward. In the diagram they’re parallel, and you’re also supposed to bend slightly more from your hips."

Riven adjusted his feet and posture accordingly, as Circuit looked between him and the book before nodding slowly.

"Again."

Riven returned to his original stance before repeating the movement, and this time Circuit found nothing immediately wrong.

"Good. Next."

Circuit slowly turned the page.

"Low defensive sweep."

Riven nodded before immediately attempting the movement, although his first attempt remained imperfect as Circuit quickly corrected the positioning of his rear foot.

Riven repeated it.

Better.

"Again."

Riven repeated the movement once more.

Better.

"Good. Next."

Circuit turned another page, as the pace rapidly increased from that point onward.

Block.

Sweep.

Thrust.

Recover.

Hook.

Disarm.

Riven could remember every diagram perfectly, which meant Circuit never needed to explain what the movement was supposed to look like, only where Riven’s body failed to reproduce what his memory already understood.

"Your right hand is too high."

Riven corrected it.

"You’re stepping too far."

Riven shortened the movement.

"Your weight is leaning forward."

Riven shifted backwards before repeating the movement once more, as Circuit watched carefully.

"Good. Next."

Thirty minutes passed.

Then an hour.

And slowly, Circuit stopped questioning whether Riven had actually memorized the book, because there was simply no other reasonable explanation for what he was witnessing.

Riven occasionally performed a movement incorrectly, but he never forgot the movement itself, while even more strangely, Circuit rarely needed to correct the same mistake repeatedly.

Once Riven understood what his body had done differently from the diagram, the error usually disappeared within the next few attempts, allowing them to progress through drills at a pace Circuit had never expected.

Eventually, Circuit gradually lowered the manual.

’What the hell...?’

Barely four hours earlier, he had watched this same man nearly stumble over his own feet while swinging a halberd, yet now Riven was reproducing drills from memory after looking at their diagrams only once.

He certainly wasn’t a master, as his movements still lacked experience while the transitions between unfamiliar techniques occasionally remained stiff, but his rate of improvement was ridiculous.

’Riven Dawnriver...’

Circuit thought, as he watched Riven transition from a defensive block into another thrust, correcting his footing midway without Circuit needing to say anything.

’I just can’t seem to get a handle on you.’

Because the longer Circuit remained beside Riven, the harder one particular question became to answer.

’Just what sort of man are you?’

Was he a clown blessed with extraordinary gifts, or was he a genius who simply hadn’t been given enough time to realize what he was capable of?

At the moment, Circuit genuinely couldn’t tell.

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