Purposes of Immortal Student Period

Give the Student information and abilities:

• Swordfighting
  
• Changing identities
  
• The Game
  

Give the Teacher a connection to the current time period

Help the Student through the break with his old life and newfound Immortality

Pass on personal views of the Game

Teach the norms of Immortal society

Coping skills needed to handle an Immortal life and killing

Protect the Student while he's unable to protect himself

Sword fighting is in many ways the least of the lessons taught to Immortal students, a mere excuse to keep the Student with the Teacher for long enough to pass on the other information, much of which is not taught explicitly. Immortal Teachers often teach by telling stories from their lives, and occasionally other Immortals'. Despite the relative randomness involved in taking on a Student, due to most Teachers taking on Students as soon as they learn they're Immortal, often with no further information – and the resistance of adults to letting others choose their opinions for them - Students often end up with a similar view of the Game as their Teachers. Headhunter Teachers often train headhunter students, if they don't take their Quickenings first, and Teachers with a distaste for the Game rarely have students who go on to become headhunters for long periods of time. Teachers who keep the same or similar names have students who are similarly careless about setting up their new identities. The Teacher serves as a model of what an Immortal "should" be, at least until the Student has lived for long enough to reevaluate based on their broader experience, and the Student often mimics the Teacher to a greater or lesser degree.