"Next is combat simulation." The burly veteran replied. "We can't create your mech until we find your best-suited weapon and training style."
He teleported them to a room filled with weapons. "Pick one and take it for a combat simulation."
Luke picked up two staves a third of his height. Afterwards, he secured a warscythe to their tips and wrapped griptape around the handles.
He added connection joints to them and tested their weight with a swing. All was good.
"I'm ready." He spoke, taking a fighting stance.
[Starting Combat Simulation.]
Luke appeared in a small, grassy plain on top of a hill alongside three human-sized mantises.
One of them saw him, screeched, and rushed forward.
Pulling the mantis' fist along with his left weapon, he sliced it with his right and simultaneously dropped to the ground.
The air above him was sliced in two. Continuing his roll, he sliced at the leg joints.
He was unable to reach the far joint, but he managed to slice the nearest leg.
Rolling around the toppled beast, he stood. With a twist, he severed it in two.
Taking an additional strike to the head, the mantis fell.
There were only three ways he could take them out. From behind, from low, or from high. Mantises were deadly at shoulder height.
The next mantis was coming. They had both heard the screech of the first, but one was faster than the other. He had about ten seconds of time in between their arrivals. He had to hurry.
He quickly assesed the space around him. He was at the top of the hill, but so was the dead mantis. He quickly jumped atop it and fastened the hilts together.
The mantis was here. With a forward leap, he turned his body sideways, narrowly avoiding the mantis' claw.
Twirling the warscythe above his head, he used the added length to decapitate the approaching mantis. 10 seconds.
He stabbed the back end into the now-dead mantis for traction before retreating atop the mantis on the hilltop. 3 seconds.
Splitting his weapon back into halves, he held his right scythe lengthwise before tossing it, spinning, into the air.
With a spinning back kick, he sent it forward. It curved directly past the Mantis' fists and fut its neck. Unfortunately, it didn't cut deep enough.
The mantis continued. 1 second.
Luke jumped backwards off of the dead mantisand remained low.
As the approaching Mantis climbed over his fallen comrade, Luke slashed his remaining warscythe at the Mantis' legs. Connecting with a joint, he let it topple as he retreated.
He walked in a large circle around it. Slow on timing, and with it at the top of the hill, he didn't have a chance to quickly get around the back of it like before.
Instead, he collected his other warscythe. Joining them together again, he increased his reach.
After recovering his breath, he walked back up the hill and stood in front of the mantis. Reversing his grip, he held his scythe like an attacking javelin thrower. He moved until his scythe was just in range of the fists.
Baiting it, he let out a scream. The fist came flying. The thick carapace let out a crushing move. It spun the curved blade and staff upon it.
With a thick slice in the air, the other end of the warscythe cut past the extended fist directly into the already-nicked mantis joint.
With a whir of green, the mantis' head flew down the hill.
As for Luke, he performed a short bow for his virtual enemies.
"Good!" Lawrence's voice came from his right. He was back in the Weapons Studio. "Now we try swords."
Luke smiled. "Okay." Picking up a sword from a nearby rack, he once again went into combat. This time, it was against flying beetles.
Thanks to his time on Earth, and his father's insistence on a large range of martial arts, he was able to quickly showcase his skills.
After showing his sword arts, he moved to dual swords, dual daggers, shields, shield and dagger, throwing knives, spears, staves, sai, and more.
Lawrence was astounded. Normally, the birth of an EX-Class pilot was random- they came from everywhere and anywhere. Normally, if they were skilled in weaponry, it was in a single weapon.
But as for Luke, he showcased high levels of training in all of them. What puzzled Lawrence was that even with all of his skills in the arts of weaponry, he didn't summon a single strand of spiritual energy to supplement his attacks.
'Just who taught this kid?'