Hand Techniques (2)
A single, crisp clap rang through the room.
Clap!
“That’s correct.”
Professor Felix praised them both. “The simple principle Cadet Dormuut just described is precisely the difference between snatching and striking. And what Cadet Ethan said nails the explanation perfectly. Well done, both of you.”
He adjusted his hat with a faintly surprised look.
Students who excel at practical work are usually weak on theory… but Ethan Cass is strong even there.
He quietly raised his internal evaluation of Ethan.
He doesn’t look especially interested in thievery… and yet he can still draw universal principles out of specific phenomena.
Felix smiled.
Just as the other professors said—this one’s got the instincts of a true thief.
At Ethan’s performance, Caion’s group fell silent. The Sapphire Dormitory cadets who had been laughing along with them naturally shut up as well.
Felix decided to push a little further for Ethan’s sake. He was curious how far the boy could follow.
“This was meant for next class, but since the cadet answered so well, shall we advance just a bit more?”
Professor Felix dotted a single point on the blackboard.
“If we go one step further, we need to understand the concept of the movement of the point.”
He dotted several more points, then casually erased just one of them.
“Place your hand precisely on a moving point and take it—that is snatching.”
He waved the chalk as if about to make another mark, then planted it firmly against the board.
“Place something in your hand precisely onto a moving point—that becomes a strike.”
Felix tapped the blackboard.
“Now for the second question. Which of the two is easier?”
This time no answer came back.
Professor Felix broke the silence himself. “Obviously, both are difficult.”
“…”
“But with snatching and striking—these two performed actions—the point we must consider is the follow-up motion.”
He flung the cards in his hand with a flourish; they buried themselves in the wall. A chorus of “Whoa—!” erupted among the cadets.
Felix kept talking while he continued to throw cards into the wall without pause. Card stacked upon card, forming a rising tower that spread sideways.
“Striking is the form of a line that continues from point to point. Therefore you must always keep subsequent attacks, motions, and defenses in mind. Unless you have successfully landed an ambush, it never ends with one or two strikes.”
Pens and pencils raced across notebooks.
“However.”
He tapped the chalk once against the board and whipped it back into his coat.
“Snatching is different. Once you complete the motion, there is no need to think about a follow-up. It finishes with the ‘motion of the point.’”
He circled the point he had marked earlier.
“As Novice Cadets, practicing this ‘motion of the point’ is your absolute first priority.”
Felix turned and walked toward the desk that hung upside-down from the ceiling.
“And the very first thing you must master is snatching a stationary object.”
With a sharp whirr, he tossed his short-brimmed hat behind the blackboard.
“Since the subject has come up, shall we try a practical exercise?”
He drew a single card from his pocket.
It was a sinister Ace of Spades that pulsed with a crimson aura. Soft gasps of “Ohh—” rose from the cadets.
“What I am holding is a Unique-grade item. When used, it temporarily and drastically increases the user’s movement speed.”
He planted the card with a solid tap on the desk in front of him.
“From this moment I will close my eyes and extinguish the classroom lights. If even one cadet succeeds in stealing this within the remaining lecture time, I will end class right then and there!”
Immediate cheers of “Yes!” burst out all around.
“You may wander the room or watch from up close. Just one condition—if you touch it, you must not be detected by me.”
Ethan wondered whether the conditions weren’t far too generous for the cadets. That worry vanished almost at once.
“First, everyone come forward.”
Ethan quietly rose from his seat as well, then circled the classroom and approached from behind the professor. Professor Felix remained completely unaware of his approach.
In the darkness a soft red glow leaked from the card.
“Wow… this is Unique-grade?”
“Even at our trading house Father only lets me see a Unique a few times. Amazing.”
“Just standing near it feels cool somehow!”
The cadets began to cluster together.
“Now step a little farther from the card.”
A small circle was drawn around it.
“I will keep my back to the card, not move a single step, and defend using only my left arm. Cadets may use any means they like.”
Felix dropped from the ceiling, approached the desk where the card rested, and turned his back.
“Begin.”
The instant the signal fell, several orc and beastkin cadets carefully edged toward the card.
“Yah!”
Before any of them could even extend a hand, an invisible flick struck them all and they crumpled where they stood.
“Gah!”
“Ack!”
Thud-crash.
Ethan stayed right beside Felix and watched the situation unfold.
Still hard to track his movements… but he isn’t as agile as Donovan. This is doable.
Next the elven students melted into the shadows in the corners of the classroom.
Rustle-rustle.
The elves shifted to separate positions. Professor Felix, still without opening his eyes, pursed his lips.
“Ohh… splitting formation and attacking from the blind spots at range. Excellent! There appears to be a cadet who has studied ranger techniques.”
Wooden vines and whips came flying from every direction to blanket the card—
Pap-pap-pap!
Tak!
—but the moment Felix twitched his hand, every attack was deflected.
“Kh!”
He flicked his hand once more; the vines coiled around it. With a sharp pull he sent every elf cadet who had been holding them flying outward.
Professor Felix tipped his fedora back onto his head and laughed heartily.
“Creative thinking and strategy are always essential virtues for thieves! The attempt was good, but…”
His eyes flashed coldly beneath the brim of his hat, voice dropping low.
“This level won’t even get you close to graduation.”
His right hand remained casually behind his back, still unused. He cracked his wrist and continued.
“Is there not a single cadet who will light up the very first class of the year? I had hopes…”
Sssk.
Mid-sentence Professor Felix felt a chill race down his spine.
…Where is Cadet Ethan right now?
But it was already too late.
“Professor.”
Felix turned his head toward the voice.
Ethan Cass stood right beside him.
“Cadet… Ethan…?”
Ethan casually waved the crimson card already resting in his hand.
“I’ll put this gift to good use.”
Felix stared blankly after the top-ranked cadet as he returned to his seat, expression completely dumbfounded.
“Where the hell did Ethan come from…?”
“He wasn’t there a second ago, right? We haven’t even learned concealment techniques yet!”
“I guess that’s why he’s top rank… the movement was ridiculous. I didn’t even see it!”
Among the cadets Caion’s fist clenched tight.
Ethan Cass… I’ll acknowledge you for now, but you won’t keep holding the initiative forever.
Missing that gaze entirely, Ethan dropped into his seat and spoke.
“Still, I’d prefer you finish the class all the way through.”
Felix met Ethan’s eyes with a face that said he was at a loss for words.
Cadet Ethan… truly a student who exceeds every expectation.
A quiet educational fire began to kindle inside Professor Felix.
I hope the day comes when this cadet majors in Hand Techniques.
He could not remember the last time he had felt such enthusiasm.
“Haha…”
After forcibly calming his racing heart, he jumped again and stuck both feet firmly to the ceiling.
“Very well. Then we will finish the class to the end.”
Disappointed murmurs of “Aww—” rose among the cadets. Even so, because the one responsible was none other than Ethan Cass, not a single student complained.
Professor Felix made a private resolution.
Ethan Cass… just how far can you follow?
The speed of his chalk on the board only increased.
Several hours later.
“…And so, in order to advance toward the movement of the line, one must first master the movement of the point. That is all!”
When Professor Felix turned around on the platform, the classroom that met his eyes was a wasteland.
“Ghk…”
“Mmph-mmph…”
“Zzz…”
“… ”
Only Ethan, Dormuut, and Caion still held their heads properly upright.
“Hiiing… don’t take my spicy vegetable salad…”
A soft, plush Sera-cushion leaned against Ethan’s left arm.
“Wake up, Sera Barakin.”
“Huh…? Hup! Slurp Is class over?”
Felix felt a jolt of panic.
Oh no—because Ethan Cass kept up so well I ended up teaching advanced material without realizing it.
Thud.
“Huh?”
And finally Caion’s and Dormuut’s heads both dropped onto their desks.
“Zzz…”
“Ghk…”
The first class of Thief School after the start of the term.
Understanding Basic Hand Techniques and the Art of Snatching
The sole survivor was Ethan Cass alone.
“…Huh? Why is everyone asleep?”
Ethan could only be suspicious. He half-wondered whether every professor and the headmaster of this school had gone over to the Mage School to learn sleep magic.
“Ah, it seems I made a mistake.”
Felix’s voice drifted out.
“I went all the way into material third-years are supposed to learn.”
“Pardon?”
“But everything covered so far will remain, so Cadet Ethan will learn not only the curriculum but the movement of the line as well. By next class, leave the essence of snatching as blade marks and submit it as a report!”
Professor Felix finished in a voice full of anticipation.
“You can do that, can’t you, Cadet Ethan?”
At the sudden advanced assignment Ethan’s pupils shook. Yet if he refused, the Imperial Seal would only grow farther away; he could not refuse.
“…Yes, sir. Understood.”
“Excellent! Class will end here!”
—Awoooo.
A wolf’s howl that shook the entirety of Crescent Hall snapped the cadets awake.
“What the—what?!”
“Snort… when did class end?”
“Hup, this is bad—I’ve got back-to-back lectures!”
In an instant the cadets scrambled to their feet.
“Before the next class period, each of you is to leave blade marks on a stone with your dagger! Embody the movement of the point and leave only three motions.”
One by one the cadets came forward and received stones from the professor.
Looking more satisfied than ever, Professor Felix approached and lightly patted Ethan’s shoulder.
“Top Cadet Ethan, my expectations for you are truly high!”
“… ”
“I’ll be looking forward to how much you’ve grown!”
He opened the door to leave, then turned his head back once more.
“Ah, Cadet Ethan!”
“…Yes?”
“In the next class we will conduct the lesson using the blade marks Cadet Ethan leaves on the stone as teaching material!”
A bolt from the blue.
Suddenly a first-year, first-semester freshman had been given a special order to write a thesis. Ethan’s vision went dark!
“It’s a special assignment I’m giving only to you! Leave them without pressure. For reference, the ‘essence of snatching’ is not something you leave by scratching a stone with a dagger—understood?”
“… ”
“Figuring that out is also part of the homework!”
Felix added,
“We’ll also reference the blade marks left by the close-range snatching techniques of past Thief Masters during class! So you’ll have to work hard, won’t you?”
Ethan reeled from the shock.
It was a declaration that they would place the freshman Ethan’s paper right next to the SCI-level papers with the top three citation counts and conduct joint research!
Ethan had no idea just how highly Professor Felix had evaluated him.
Bang.
The door closed, leaving only Sera still asleep against his shoulder and Ethan alone in the classroom.
“What the fuck…”
Ethan’s forearm grew damp.
“Mmm-nyah… my stir-fried greens… no, Ethan…”
He brushed the hair stuck to Sera’s forehead aside and thought,
Looks like I won’t be sleeping for a week…
How many missions had just dropped onto his feet right now?
Spend one full day living in solitary confinement…
Gnome Employment Office? Get inside and complete one job within a week…
Eventually throw down with Caion, who looks like he’s going to pick a fight with me…
By next week, carve a pickpocketing route refined enough to stand alongside Thief Masters as blade marks onto a stone…
(But not with a dagger—use something else… what the fuck does that even mean??)
…
Ethan quietly woke Sera.
“Sera.”
“Slurp… Hwah, Ethan! Sorry!”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
Then he murmured,
“Do you have a god you believe in?”
“Yeah, I do?”
“Good. Do you know how to pray?”
“Uh-huh, our family has for generations…”
Ethan quietly brought Sera’s hands together and covered them with his own large hands.
“E-Ethan…?!”
Sera’s ears perked straight up as her face flushed scarlet.
“We pray… we pray…”
The prayer of the former atheist Ethan echoed through the quiet classroom.
“We pray… fuck… we pray… pray… the prayer’s so stuck I can’t even breathe, fucking hell…”
Sera was flustered by Ethan’s behavior, but soon began gently patting his head with pitying eyes.
“Something… something’s going on, huh. Hang in there…!”
For the record, the next class was Concealment Techniques.
The two of them nearly ran late because of the praying, but managed to make it into the next period by a hair’s breadth.
“Huh?”
And the Concealment Techniques classroom they arrived at…
was empty.
“Where did everyone go?”
Ethan and Sera stood stock-still in the vacant room, eyes falling on the equipment scattered everywhere.