Missing the War [Eridanus]

by **Nira'lia** on July 19th, 2012, 6:16 pm

Nira’lia followed his instructions. He attacked her slowly, and she following through by intercepting his blade with her suvai, just as he had told her to do. It was a simple action, though she knew it would be much more difficult in an actual fight. She thought about it now, that trying to intercept an attack at normal speed would be incredibly tough.

“Okay,” answered the Konti as she nodded in agreement to his suggestion for a few bouts. Her face had a comically knotted expression of seriousness as she did so. She attempted to understand and remember everything he said, though she was quite sure that there were some things that would get past her mind.

As they started to practice, Nira’lia was happy to realize that she wasn’t overwhelmed with something which was close to actual combat. She parried to the best of her ability, listening to the soft sounds that the two blunt weapons made as they hit each other. The Konti acted cautious and she kept her eyes on his blade, attempting to intercept every attack.

And, since he had told her to move herself towards the non-armed side, she did just that. It was tricky since she wasn’t sure how to do it exactly, but she was somehow able to navigate herself to do so. Sheepishly and awkwardly, she also attempted to strike on her own, instead of simply parrying each attack.

“Like this?” she inquired once in a while. Nira’lia was tired, but she was actually having fun.

by **Eridanus** on July 22nd, 2012, 5:44 pm

Eridanus was quite surprised that she was still able to absorb. He was not an excellent teacher, that he knew, for he was not the kind of person who would readily teach. Therefore, his explanations were his own interpretation, and they might not make sense to someone of a different train of thought or mentality. EIther the konti was of a similar mindset as him, or he was more eloquent at breaking things down to detail than he thought. He highly doubted the latter, though.

"You seem to be having more fun than just now," He commented as he slowly increased the speed of his slow attacks, increasing the challenge to gradually push his student out of her comfort zone. "Any reason for that?"

The objective behind this was to distract her into conversation, but forcing her to maintain her focus on his slow attacks. Distractions could be fatal in combat, and one must either learn to be aware of the surroundings yet remaining undisturbed and unaffected.

by **Nira'lia** on July 24th, 2012, 6:54 pm

“Huh? What?”

Nira’lia had heard him, and it took her a couple of seconds longer to really comprehend his question—and when she did, she decided not to delve into the matter.

“Uhm, I don’t know,” she replied simply. Her mind was much too concentrated to really think about a better answer. To her, his question was slightly mundane, and the task at hand took priority. It would take more than that to distract her at this point. Nira’lia was happy because she was getting the hang of this. Though the pace was nothing nearly as realistic as an actual fight, she was successful so far.

The Konti realized that he was going mildly faster. The change in speed was gradual enough not to startle her, though her tiredness and the fact that she was a novice made it difficult for her to keep up. She kept swinging back and parrying his blade with hers, thought it was evident that she was avoiding stepping up and delivering blows on her own.

Her eyebrows were knitted in concentration as they continued, and she wondered how much longer she would be able to keep at it. Fortunately, while she was struggling to keep the pace, her reactions were still successful most of the time—until that time when the weapon almost slipped out of her hand. Sheepishly, she gripped it correctly again and continued.

“How old are you again?” she inquired absently. Nira’lia had seen his skill in fighting, and he had talked about many things she couldn’t understand. She knew that an Ethaefal was immortal, and she was just curious as to why it seemed like he knew so much.

Unknown to her, while his previous comment to distract her had failed, she was setting the trap for herself anyway. As the pace hastened, she was starting to feel more frustrated at the fact that it was difficult for her, and if she focused on any further conversation she would most probably soon stagger in performance.

by **Eridanus** on July 30th, 2012, 6:18 am

She seemed to ignore his question, which he supposed was a reasonable start. It was better to ignore the distraction than risk getting distracted. Ideally, one should be able to process distractions while not detracting from performance, but if she were able to do that now he would have declared her as a natural.

It was evident that she was not, which was perfectly fine.

"I remembered answering you that before," Eridanus chuckled even as he continued his 'test attacks' on the konti. "It's not that long ago, you know. Maybe you could try remembering, perhaps? What conversation we were having when you asked me?"

That was usually the killer. Trying to dig out memories was the most taxing on one's concentration, and the konti's decision at this junction would determine if her performance faltered or if she was adaptable enough to withstand this test.

by **Nira'lia** on July 31st, 2012, 5:40 pm

“You did?” asked the Konti with a frown. She couldn’t remember the answer to her question at all. The thought that she could have forgotten frustrated her, as she prided herself in remembering trivial matters about those she knew.

While she attempted to remember, she continued to parry just like before. Fortunately, she was able to keep enough concentration on what they were practicing, though she failed to realize that the pace of the attacks was speeding up.

‘Was it back in the library…?’ No, she didn’t know he was an Ethaefal the first time they met. She still couldn’t recall what they were talking about, or where they had been – it was frustrating her. ‘Perhaps at the Astronomy Tower, then? Or some other place?’

Then her Suvai was knocked out of her grip. It was similar to what had happened earlier, except this time, it fell to the ground, and she was shaken out of her reverie. Irritated, she leaned down to pick it up, her thoughts still lingering about the answer to her question. That’s when she realized… why wouldn’t he just answer her? It was such an easy question to answer, after all!

“You’re distracting me on purpose!” she accused, throwing the Suvai right at him in her aggravation.

After she said that, she sat back down on the grass, trying to catch her breath. She had failed his little test, but at the moment, she was too exhausted to really mind.

“I-I don’t think…” she started, her voice trailing off, as if she was too embarrassed to admit the fact that she was done for the day. Deciding that it was a given, she proceeded to laugh sheepishly. “Thank you!”

by **Eridanus** on August 3rd, 2012, 8:28 am

Eridanus could see her losing focus, and when she finally lost her concentration his blade gently slipped past her defences and prodded her collarbone.

"Dead," He noted.

Out of exasperation, the konti threw the suvai at him, and his arms quickly raised up to catch it - though he caught it at the blade-end. Thank Leth he had the mind to blunt the edge with shielding.

"I think that's really enough for today. Just keep going through the processes in your mind to familiarize yourself mentally with the idea of combat, before proceeding to further practice with your body," He said, reaching for his blades and the suvai as he began focusing on the shields that blunted their edges.

Reaching into the djed tapestry that formed the foundation of the shields, he began disentangling the instruction patterns as well as messing up the structure of the weave. Wherever he could, he twisted the djed threads to form glyphs of dissipation and destruction, a case where glyphs were intended to be counter-productive to the form of magic used. This was he believed that magic should not be allowed to exist without purpose. The shields' purpose was exhausted, and therefore they should be removed accordingly.

Tweaking about with the djed tapestries for a few more moments, he nodded to himself, assured that the shields would have fully dissipated in a bell or two.

"Shield's removed, be careful with it," He said, gesturing to the Suvai. "Breakfast at the Cafeteria?"

With that, he turned around, picking up his blades to place them back into his room. Regardless if she cared to join him or not, he was ravenous after that session of morning practice and was ready to eat quite a lot.

by **Paragon** on August 9th, 2012, 12:54 am

Adventurer's Loot

Nira'lia's Loot :

Eridanus's Loot :

Hurry up and get these guys together, the tension is too much! Ahem... great thread guys - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.