pawnstorm | Training at Sunrise

Who: Tieria and YOU
When: May 9th, a day AFTER Intro Log
Where: Caissa, Coastal District
What: Tieria organized a mass training session, hideous ensues?
Rating: Violence, language, more violence

If you made your way to the location, you're already one step closer upon completing your training because this part of the beach is the furthest away from any settlement or port and also the hardest to find. You probably found it by following other heroes' trail, or you're those who stumbles around until you found it or you're actually one of those who went scouting before the actual day.

Either way, congratulation for making it this far ( puns completely intended ). Surrounding the rocky beach is an even rockier cliff. Be careful not to stumble or you will find yourself in need of healing. Thankfully, there are Kings ready to make a guinea pig out of your healing needs around. Your training will be held on the round rock-carved deck overlooking the beautiful sea or on the less rocky stretch of the beach, depending on your Trainer's choice. If you're lucky, your Trainer might even have you hike up that rocky cliff. You may even treat yourself to Caissa's fantastic sunset if you made it up there in time!

In any case, once you've arrived at sunrise ( or rather when the sun has risen sufficiently over the horizon because you're that bad with direction or has no sense of time ) and is done catching your breath, you will come to a notice pinned on the tall fences that tells you to tie a ribbon ( in the buckets, also tied to the fence ) corresponding to the training you wish to partake in on your arm.

Stamina ( GREEN ) ✽ Endurance ( ORANGE ) ✽ Weapons ( BLUE ) ✽ Magic ( PURPLE )

The notice will also instructs those who volunteers to be Trainers to tie a different set of ribbons, with black stripe over the four corresponding colors, on their arm to help differentiate them and the course(s) they're instructing. Of course, if you turn out to be a terrible Trainer, Tieria will rip that ribbon off you and very possibly shoves you into the sea.

There are no training weapon available because you're supposed to bring your own magic weapon.
If you forgot, you can either run back for it or pick a different course.

There's also a clause in very bold red letters that forbid killing. Break it and you will be broken in return.

Are you done tying those ribbons? Then what are you waiting? Get moving!

(( OOC: Please indicate in your top level if your character is a Trainer (which course are they instructing?) or Trainee.
eg.: Harry Potter | TRAINER - MAGIC
eg.: Severus Potter | TRAINEE - EVERYTHING PLEASE

Feel free to mingle around! Make friends, frenemies and even better, rivals! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Kojirou smiles, just a bit. More of a smirk, really. ]

On the other hand, I'm very good with this sword. I believe that's why I'm the trainer and you're the trainee.

[ The sword he's carrying can hardly be called a sword at all. It's made of wood for one, generally fashioned into a sword-like shape, but it's mostly just a pole. Still, it's a magic weapon, it works well enough. ]

[ Alice wasn't accustomed to swords -- knives were her preferred weapon. After months of carrying a sword, a sword felt awkward to Alice, especially a sword meant for practice. ]

I am well aware.

[ She doesn't mean for the hint of agitation seeping into her voice. It's hard for her to break from the stance and habit she knows when she fights with her knife. So she holds it somewhat laxed, in one hand, crossing over her chest. At least the sword doesn't need to be held by two hands and it's light enough for her to hold.

But rather than stand there brandishing it, Alice's stance is odd, she hunches herself as if she's being cornered, just as she does with the vorpal blade. ]

Frankly, I prefer knives.

For knives I'm afraid you've found the wrong Assassin. The other one would be a far better teacher than I.

[ Actually, Kojirou would probably be better with most weapons than Jekyll, and Hyde is uniquely unsuited to teaching anything, so perhaps not. The Hassans, Jing Ke, or Shiki would be much better, but... ]

Unfortunately, they're not here, and you're holding a sword, so you'll have to make do with me.

[ In contrast to Alice, Kojirou's stance is completely confident. Relaxed, even. His wooden sword is gripped loosely in his right hand, and he stands tall, ready for battle despite his lack of a stance. ]

First lesson: One of the sword's advantages is range. So stand tall, and hold it away from you. Holding it close to your heart is a metaphor, not proper strategy.

The range.

[ It will be a difficult habit to break out of her, that lack of care, that urge to throw herself into things without thinking. Though, even with that, Alice is observant in combat, most times. She observes that stance, her bright green eyes locked onto him. Relaxed whereas she is tense, cornered. ]

Exactly why I dislike it so.

[ The knife allows her to know how much damage she can do, it is much more personal, and painful. No one ever said Alice was without her sadism. She forces herself out of that stance, straightening herself with both hands over the hilt, almost mirroring him.

Logically, it makes sense, but to hold something away from her body makes her feel much more vulnerable, no matter how close she holds it to her heart. What about the rest of her body? How can she see how he moves if he's so relaxed? ]

Hm. Looks like we'll have to start from the very basics, then. You have a sword now, so it's best you learn to tolerate it.

[ How can he even begin to teach her that though? His love for swordsmanship came naturally to him. In fact, much of his swordsmanship came naturally to him. If they had their choice of mundane weapons, instead of sticking with vastly more effective magical ones, Kojirou would be tempted to tell Alice to simply stick with what felt natural to her.

But alas. ]

If you're starting from nothing, then perhaps we should start with our stance. [ Even though Kojirou doesn't usually hold one, she's not at that level yet, so he takes one for her. ] Always stand tall. Place your feet slightly apart, right in front of your left, and hold your sword tight with both hands.

[ It's the simplest of stances, taught in almost every school of swordsmanship. He raises his blade, and brings it down again, the crack of his blade cutting through air audible to Alice a small distance away. ]

It's not difficult, but practice is the only path to mastery. Everything about battle must be honed until it's second nature. There's no time to think in a fight.

[ Always stand tall. It's easy for anyone else to say, she thinks, due to her height. Still, it feels awkward to listen to that advice and hold both hands on the sword and not to curl up and hold the blade out with one hand.

Maybe someday, she'll have a knife again. Until then, eyes locked on him, she watches and observes every moment, every shift. She's confident she can mimic that, as she keeps the urge down to bring her own blade down in a similar matter. Like a child learning, that is how she felt at that moment. ]

I'm well aware that there's no time to think.

[ She usually doesn't, she usually throws restraint out the window and forgets it. Alice's feet shift, but not too far apart to where she feels uncomfortable. She's still modest and her feet are apart to match the width of her hips, her knees loose -- it's never good to lock knees when you're prepared to bolt. Why does it have to be both hands?

She swallows, and continues. ]

Now what?

Standing tall isn't just a matter of your body. What is in your heart is just as important. A sword is a deadly weapon. In the hands of a master it is the deadliest weapon. So you must wear it like what it is.

[ It's a more abstract lesson next perhaps, but it's no less important. In many ways demanding self-assured confidence is the exact opposite of what Alice is like, and it's clear to Kojirou's eyes that she doesn't have the nature of someone who might become a true expert, but there's something to be said for getting closer regardless.

The man who Kojirou would call his teacher never taught the samurai how to swing a sword, or how to take a stance. All that master did was practice upon that mountaintop, and teach the boy who would become Kojirou the way of the sword. The philosophy and mentality behind the swordsman. It would be years of practice later before he adapted it into something workable, but Kojirou would have had it no other way.

The heroes of Blanc however, don't have that luxury of time. So he'll have to hammer in something practical in-between the important bits. ]

Why is that important? It's because only when you're looking straight ahead with clear eyes that you can see your enemies for what they are. And only when you've seen through your enemies can you defend yourself against them. The long edge of the sword lets you do that.

[ Knives aren't very good at parrying, and if she's confident in her knife skills then that's the biggest difference in practical usage between the two weapons. A little more range, much better at defending. ]

Training at Sunrise

b

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject