[Solo] The Transition

by **Miro** on November 6th, 2011, 2:17 am

12th day of Fall, 511 AV

It was time again. Finally, finally time. Miro grabbed the padded armor off of the shelf and put it on. He walked over to the gauntlets and looked them over. They were Kinneas' weapon of choice. He had so much skill with his fists. Miro picked the first up and slipped his hand into it. Then the other. They were plenty heavy, causing Miro to have to flex slightly. It was easily managed, perhaps he would be slower or tire easily. He could learn to deal with it with. What if he could do something more? Miro began to emit res all around his hand. He looked at the nearby practice dummy, sizing it up. The res flowed in and around the gauntlet. It began to surround it and add an extra inch in coating. Miro transmuted it to ice and let the weight fall down. He struggled to pull them up in front of his chest as if he were ready to punch. His arms held them firmly, showing the definition of his muscles. He pulled his djed flux into his arms and struggled over into striking range of the dummy.

"Time to start!" Miro dropped his weight lower to a more focused stance. He knees held steady and he aimed for the dummy's chest. This would be difficult, but he could manage it. He pulled his djed flux to the right and pooled djed for an attack. He launched his fist forward at the target as quickly as he could. The fist crashed into it knocking it back a bit. He pulled his fist back and moved his djed flux to the left now. He launched a punch forward. Now he worked on flowing his djed flux through his arms as quickly as possible. The third punch came a bit quicker, but it was obvious the drain on him would come sooner than he would realize it. He needed to make sure not to fall to the temptations of sweet whispers. He continued to work at punching as quickly as possible. Third, fourth, fifth. The punches were coming a bit easier. Miro was gaining momentum quickly. By the tenth punch he was sweating heavily. The Flux jumped from one arm and down the other as the punch extending. The djed driven fist would hit, and as it retracted the flux stream would move to his other arm. He was panting but it wasn't time to quit. He aimed for twenty punches. He went on with a bit more vigor. "Thirteen, fourteen....fifteen....six..."

Miro dropped his fist and fell forward on the dummy. He melted the ice off of his left hand and allowed the gauntlet to fall off. He slowly brought his hand up to his face and wiped the sweat. He pushed himself off of the dummy and lowered his body to rest at its base. Using his free hand he made res and moved it over the gauntlet and melted it into it. The res moved away and Miro slipped his hand free. He let the res float in the air and removed his shirt. Casually he tossed it to the side and stood up. He moved the res to his mouth and transmuted it for a drink. He was a bit tired, but quickly recovering. The gauntlets were a lot of work, but he would learn to use them. His skill in fighting with his fists would need a lot of practice too. Kinneas was the best hand to hand figher Miro knew. His Evantia mark made winning nearly impossible. He was faster and more skilled than Miro with his hands, there was nothing he could do. It was time to get stronger.

Miro stood up and pulled his arm to the side and loosened it up. He did the same with hir other and then dropped down to the ground. He caught himself on his hands and arched his back up, then down. He stood and lowered his body with one leg out to the side, repeating for the other leg. Then he finally stood up and jumped a couple of times. He was ready to move and fight as fast as possible. He kept his body loose and brought his fists up. The dummy was going to take a good beating. Miro jabbed it in the face a few times than ducked to its stomach. Miro puched upwards into its gut with slight uppercuts as fast as he could. After several he dipped to the side and slammed his forearm into it. Now he spun and got behind it. He moved back and brought his leg up to meet the side of its head, then brought it back down. Again he kicked it, this time aiming for just under the arm. He drew his leg back down and kicked yet again. The fighting felt good. It all flowed so well against a stationary foe. Miro drew his djed down into his leg and prepped to turn and kick. Miro drew in a deep breath and let it out. He snapped his foot forward as quickly as possible. His leg crashed against the dummy causing a loud crack. Miro drew down his leg and put his weight on it. It stung from the impact. He wanted to double down and hold it, but he was sure it was fine. The target wasn't as hard as a person, and the kick wasn't meant to be hard, just fast. His leg throbbed, but he was not going to stop now, or even let it slow him down. Within a few chimes it would be forgotten entirely. He drew in a few more deep breaths and centered his mind. He would fight the pain and ready for another round of attacks.

by **Miro** on November 6th, 2011, 8:31 am

Miro put up his fists. His leg still tickled with a bit of pain, but it was mostly gone. He looked over the back of the dummy and thought up a plan for attack. He starting in with three low jabs, sent out with as much power as he could muster. He drew back his left foot and kicked it in the side. Next he started off by punching its body lightly with his left hand and followed up with a heavy cross to the head. Miro followed through with the fist and staggered a few steps to the side. Miro cupped his hands together and swung them together against the dummy's face.

Miro staggered away again and began to pant. The training was going on for too long and Miro was becoming bored. He had enough of punching a stagnant target. He turned away and caught his breath. He felt a bit accomplished, but still had a lot of learning to do. Today was not over and neither was his session. He took the gauntlets and armor and returned them to their resting place. Now he would go work out a bit. Miro walked over to the work out equipment and began to stretch his legs. He spread them and dropped as low as he could without screaming in pain. Wincing he began to count in his head. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..." The pain began to grow even more intense. His muscles burned in agony, but he needed to keep at it. He would hold to thirty at least. Now his counting became a bit more hurried. As he passed twenty the pain was taking toll on his mind. He tried to think faster, but the distraction of pain made it difficult. "...twenty-seven, twenty...twenty-nine, THIRTY!" Miro rolled on his back and grabbed at his muscles massaging them. Eventually the pain eased and Miro was ready for the next stretch. He planted his feet flat and leaned forward as far as he could until he felt a deep burn. He supported himself against the wall and slowly counted to thirty. Afterwards returning back to his standing position next to the equipment.

"Long time no see." Miro thought to himself as he braced himself for the lifting he was about to do. He stood in front of the dumbbells and stretched his arms by pulling them across his chest. He bent down and grabbed them in his hands. Carefully he pulled himself up and began to lift one arm then the other. After twenty in each arm he sat them down. Res flowed out of his hands and rapidly encased his forearms. Miro tightly gripped the weights as the substance took hold of it. He froze it in place and lifted his arms up, placing them together behind his head. Miro tapped his gnosis and melted the parts where the masses of ice touched. As soon as they unfroze and moved together Miro used his gnosis to freeze them back in place. He leaned forward and slowly lowered him body using his knees. Miro felt the tension in his joints, but still lowered himself low to the ground. After a few moments he picked himself back up. He repeated this task ten times. Miro melted the ice and allowed his arms to separate. He split his djed flux to both of his arms and pumped his djed into his arms. His muscles tightened up and Miro was able to counter the momentum of his falling arms.

He was going to work hard the end of this session. He would finish with his arms aching and his heart racing. He would push the limits of his body with the Flux. He pulled his arms upwards from the sides until the weights were parallel with shoulders. He repeated this process as quickly as he could manage. Each lift used a bit of his already taxed djed pool. The movement became natural and the burn in his arms felt good. Miro passed twenty repetitions when the pleasure started to set in. He tried to fight it, but the whispers took hold of him. He continued on, gaining a bit of momentum. He reached thirty and was still going strong. The burn stopped and Miro felt as if he could go forever. He passed fourty. The urge to go on kept fighting the voice that told him to stop. Sweat ran down his body in excess, his breathing was deep and rapid. He knew he needed to stop, but the urge to do just one more kept him from stopping. "Just one more, I will go to fifty. Well, just one more to be sure. Well, maybe just a few more. Fifty-five for sure." Miro continued on. Still he persisted. Panic started to take hold of his mind. "Miro STOP. After this one that is. NO, you are doing too much. But I can handle it, my body is tough. It will make me stronger. STOPPING will make you stronger." Miro melted the ice from his hands now. He wasn't sure if he was past his limit, or if he even was giving into overgiving. Part of him wanted to believe that the flux had become natural to him and that his body was capable of going on without rest. Yet another part knew of the risks of thinking such a thing. His better sense told him to stop, but his urge to know his limits pushed him onwards. He counted sixty-five. Something was wrong with that number. Miro never let things go on for so long. He would bore of such repetition after thirty or so. This number was proof of his fallacy. He was overgiving, and from the degree of his temporary insanity, things did not look too good. MIro had to end things properly though.

Miro let up on the Flux almost entirely. He would cool down with the last five. He slowly took to using less and eventually no djed while lifting. Each one grew ten times harder than the last. With the final lift coming, Miro dropped the other weight and fell to his knees. He took all of his focus into lifting his arm one last time. Slowly it rose up beside him. It got to half way before falling down. Miro fell forward onto the ground before him, unable to catch himself. He took deep heavy breathes slowly lessening the tension in his body. Eventually after several chimes his heart rate calmed along with his breathing. Miro sat himself upright against a wall and removed his shirt. He used it to mop away any sweat on his body before returning inside. The first thing he did was grab a large drink of water. He drained all of the spare water he had and was still thirsty enough to drink all of the water from his waterskin. Miro walked over to his bed and tossed his shirt to the side. He sat keeping his mind calm to ignore the fact that his entire body ached. Every muscle felt as if it had been scorched by fire. He would not sleep well tonight, but his mind would stay calm. There would be no scolding himself for not trying hard enough. He did exactly what he set out to do. The pain was an unfortunate side effect, but it was one he would accept with pride.

by **Paragon** on December 10th, 2011, 11:40 pm

Miro :

Fantastic training solo. I didn't give any XP in Brawling, because it generally requires a living opponent. Instead, I've given you bodybuilding points because of the workout - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.