Increasing your defence capability

"Ah, yes." Professor Phoebe says with a slight smile, straightening up from the bent-at-the-hips position she took to look at the list item you were pointing out to her. "By this, I meant using your {if@ Weapon == 3}targe shield{if@ Armour == 2} and {endif}{endif}{if@ Armour == 2}metal bracers{endif} more effectively for your defence."

Professor Phoebe reaches into her blazer sleeve, and pulls out a long and thin metal rod, sort of in the same shape as those wooden ones teachers sometimes point at things on a board with in movies. You have never seen this happen in real life.

The rod has a bunch of small hinges along its length, probably to stop it from restricting her arm movement while it's in her sleeve. She runs her thumb over each one with a click, locking them all in place so that the rod stays a rod. She then doffs her blazer, folding it and setting it down on the floor, revealing the tight black tank top she's got on underneath it today. It really clings to her fit body, but you try not to stare as she runs a hand along the metal rod to test its hinges' locks.

"Even though you did an alright job avoiding would-be deathblows, I still think it would be a benefit if I taught you some proper blocking techniques. I'm sure it will come in quite handy. This will be the first of I'm sure many lessons in increasing your gear effectiveness in this way."

You drag your eyes away from her black tank top with much effort, having failed your original mission, and now look up to her face as she brandishes the shiny metal rod. You raise up your forearm{if@ Armour == 2}s{endif} defensively.

What follows is a long series of progressively more powerful and quick attacks from Professor Phoebe and her metal rod, increasing as your skill at deflection does. Her attacks are for the most part obvious, in that she's sure to make it clear both that an attack is coming, and which side it is coming from. The practice is mostly about getting your forearm{if@ Armour == 2}s{endif} in the right place to stop the hit from landing elsewhere. You miss a few times, a lot of times towards the start, but it doesn't do much more than sting thanks to Professor Phoebe slowing it down when she sees that you're going to miss, and thanks to her swings not being too overly aggressive to begin with.

Throughout, she gives you helpful advice to get the rod landing where you want it more often -- things like {if@ Armour == 2}tilting your forearms so that the bracers are sort of diagonal, giving a wider surface for the thin rod to potentially land on safely{if Weapon == 3}, and {endif}{endif}{if Weapon == 3}using the rim of your shield first, and having the flat side at an angle downwards, which sort of gives you a second chance to catch the rod by turning the shield if you miss at first{endif}. Also, shamefully, you did need Professor Phoebe's help to realise that you should be trying to get the thin side of the rod hitting your defences, not the long side.

With that, and a few stance and form changes to ensure you're not only catching the attack but also catching it from a position of strength, you end up doing quite well for yourself! By the time Professor Phoebe's finishing up with her last tips, you're landing the attacks on your defences pretty reliably, even though she's swinging it much faster now. You're very proud of yourself, and it feels cool every time you block a hit.

Professor Phoebe smiles down at you, putting on her blazer again.

"Nicely done." She says, flicking the metal rod's hinges back into working order and sliding it up her blazer sleeve again. "You picked that up a lot quicker than most students would, so you're already ahead of schedule with it."

Oh, for real? She isn't just saying that? That's so cool!

"In future classes we'll cover attacks that come lower or front on and such, since not everything will be a swinging attack from the side, but you've gotten a nice grasp of it. The next parts will come easier as well, since you've got the forms and stances down now and have some muscle memory built up regarding where to land the strikes."

{if@ Learning Time! > 0}Professor Phoebe talks to you a while longer, and though you do listen, you also just think about how cool you are right now. She calls over Cameron, who she just had her session with before your turn, because he's doing pretty well with his stuff. She has him continue the drill with one of those wooden staffs, so that you can keep getting the blocking into your muscle memory, as she heads off to help Delilah for her turn next.

By the time she comes back around for Cameron, and then you again soon after, you've gotten really REALLY good at it! And Cameron thinks so too, when you ask him.{else}Just then, the bell rings, signalling the end of class. Before anybody heads out to leave, Professor Phoebe turns and calls all of you into the centre of the Gymnasium for a final discussion. You walk there with her, watching all of your classmates converge from each of their various corners of the space, and miming little air-defences against imagined foes, glowing with feelings of virtue.{endif}

Protection Percentage increased!