Cybernetic Beast Taming In A Game-like World-Chapter 36: Purpose of Combat

Moments later, they were all inside the hall for Combat Class. The professor hadn’t mentioned the fight again after his initial burst of enthusiasm, but everyone, Jethro especially, still sensed it was at the back of his mind.

"You firestarters and your rush to use powers that you barely even understand," he muttered as he sauntered to the central dais, boots echoing. "Hahaha! Such childishness! Back when we were barebrains like you, at least we pretended to have some decorum!"

Once he got to the dias, he spun around and faced the students that were looking at him with the complete attention his introduction deserved. Then he shot them a fierce smile. "But isn’t it that raw hunger to fight that we’re here to mould?! Mhm? Hehehe."

He pounded a fist into his open palm for emphasis.

Jethro, sitting at a position similar to where he sat in Basics Class, narrowed his eyes at the peculiar man. The fact that everyone accepted him as a professor spoke volumes about the institution’s trust, or perhaps its tolerance for the unconventional. He looked nothing like a professor, more like a bodybuilding coach from Jethro’s old world.

He was extremely tall and even more muscular. His entire head was framed with silver hair, down to his jaw where his beard was braided to a double-bun. He wore a long dark blue coat that gleamed under the hall lights, plain black pants held together by a cool-looking blue belt, and an armored shirt. Only his left hand was gloved, the right one had an oversized beastlinker that stopped just short of his shoulder.

When Jethro thought more about it, it made perfect sense that a professor like this would teach Combat Class. But it also got Jethro curious about the man’s strength and the mechbeast he owned.

His class hall was fairly different from the Basics hall. First, it was a whole lot darker. The floor was made of a modular grid of hexagonal plates, and the wall was obsidian-steel. Rather than a sun simulation, the room was illuminated by a moon simulation, giving it a somber and steel-like feel.

Yet the atmosphere was far from soothing. Along the edges were cyberstatues of Riftwalkers and their mechbeasts locked in dynamic battle poses, while a holographic screen high above the dais showed a real-time wireframe analysis of an extremely brutal clash between two tamers and their mechbeasts.

"If you’re going to fight...!" the professor’s voice thundered, claiming their focus from the battle on the screen. "...then you better be doing it for a purpose! It’s combat. It serves a purpose. If it doesn’t serve a purpose then it’s simply chaos. It’s meaningless."

He looked around the hall. "What purposes does combat serve?"

One hand flew up.

"Yes?" he pointed.

"To settle a dispute."

"Indeed," the professor nodded. "That is one of the most popular applications of combat! If we can’t decide on something, we fight it out and the winner gets the say! Nice answer! 2 points to Ravelin Faction."

As soon as they heard that, eyes widened with competitive fire and more hands sprang up.

The professor smiled. "Yes?" He picked another.

"For entertainment."

The professor’s eyes lit up. "You smart tooth-head! You picked my favorite one. Yes, yes! Who doesn’t love watching two tamers go hammer and tongs, pushing their power to the absolute limit while fascinating us with the depths of their power?! 3 points to Knight Faction!"

He took a while before selecting the last speaker. Kekius stood up and gave his answer. "To defend from danger."

The professor turned serious for a moment, gaze locked at Kekius before he nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "To defend oneself from danger. 5 points to House Faction."

Kekius smiled shortly before sitting down, his eyes never leaving the dais. Jethro watched him for a thoughtful moment, then looked away.

"It is the definitive reason why we Nebulians fight. To defend ourselves. To protect us against the agents of the Conqueror lurking beyond the Wall in their dimension." The professor walked around the dais, then rested his back on the podium, folding both massive arms. "We do this with aether, the source of magical energy from millennia ago. Yet the only way we can harness this energy is through the mechbeasts sitting and snoring by your sides."

Then he stood straight, radiating fierce pride. "I am Professor Xan Strongarm, and I am going to teach you all how to do this very thing: To fight with your mechbeasts!" fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

That introduction got the blood of the students pumping, and they all prepared themselves for what was going to be a thrilling lesson.

"There are four forms of battle," Professor Xan began, picking up his data-slate from the podium. "Beast Battle, Tamer Battle, Tamer vs Beast Battle, and Beast and Tamer Battle. From the names, it’s clear to understand which form is which. Though they are all combat in the end, they require completely different strategies and mindset."

"Let’s begin with Beast Battle." The holo-board behind him scribbled the words as he spoke. "It’s a fight between two (or more) mechbeasts, with little to no direct involvement from the tamers. That is, except the usual yelling of commands from the stands at times. But in Beast Battles, your mechbeast is on its own. Either by rules of a tournament or by circumstance. Any clash at all between mechbeasts in the absence of tamers is a Beast Battle."

The screen behind him took away the earlier image and replaced it with one of a Disaster Earthmole fighting a Cannonball Turtle. Although Cannonball Turtles were slightly higher than Earthmoles in ranks, this particular one was having a difficult time taking down the enemy mechbeast.

Jethro immediately knew the reason why.

"Terrain advantage is more prominent in Beast Battles!" Xan declared, jabbing a finger at the screen. "Here you can see that regardless of the rank difference between these two mechbeasts, the Disaster Earthmole is still holding its ground. And that’s because it’s in a terrain fit for its strengths. Dry rocky mountains."

Professor Xan grinned. "It doesn’t matter what this Spinnerturtle does, as long as it’s here, the Earthmole is going to have the advantage of this match up."

He swept his gaze across the rapt students. "Of course in tournaments, other factors like fast command relays and tamer tactics are required. And since tournaments are held in arenas, there basically isn’t terrain advantage anymore. But you see why honing your beast’s power within its favored environment is CRUCIAL! Make them masters of their domain!"

Jethro thought to himself how risky that was. And also conflicting.

A second ago, Professor Xan had just pointed out that mechbeasts had no terrain advantage in tournaments, yet in the next breath, he told everyone to train their mechbeasts more within their own terrain. Wouldn’t that make them overly dependent on habitat for drawing power?

If the idea was that whenever mechbeasts clashed, it was most likely not going to be in their terrain, then wouldn’t it make more sense to train them outside of it, so they could learn to draw power without relying on familiar terrain?

That seemed obvious to Jethro.

Professor Xan went on with the other three types of combat. "Tamer Battle is a direct fight between tamers using the powers they have drawn from their mechbeasts, usually the most bloodpumping, y’know... Tamer vs Beast Battle involves... well, it’s exactly what it sounds like! Tamer against a mechbeast with no master in sight! Usually a wild or hostile mechbeast. Lastly, Beast and Tamer Battle is the full meal. Tamer and mechbeast fighting side by side."

"Symphony." He dramatically said with a sparkling fingers gesture.

Then, he planted a hand on the podium and, with impossible lightness, vaulted himself up to sit perched on its edge in a cinematic fashion that stunned the students.

"Now, like I said earlier," he continued. "All these combat types are separated for a reason. They all demand their own tactical mindset due to the nature of aether flow, risk levels and combat dynamics. Beast Battles focus on command efficiency, requiring tamers to think like battlefield generals. Tamer Battles shift the burden of both strength and tactics to the human, demanding refined control over borrowed aether. Tamer vs Beast Battles are unbalanced, and require ingenuity and brute power from tamers. Lastly, Beast and Tamer Battles require synergy, support positioning, close-range team fighting and management of the single aether source that both you and the mechbeast share."

An elated grin of mischief tore his face as he scanned all of them. "All that aether bullshit, the magic stuff, the essence, rhythm and all of the mushy nonsense, that’s for Professor Uriel to teach you. He handles Magic Fundamentals. What I’m here to teach is the physical aspects. And by physical, I mean how to use magic to throw a punch."

He jumped down from the podium, landing with a thud. "And I’m a practical teacher!" he laughed. "So, while I was curious to see the prodigy Padva Darlstarc in action, why don’t the two boys from earlier finish what they started?"

Jethro’s brows shot up.

Heads swiveled, and everyone was looking at him again. Him and the spiky-haired boy.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com