[Training][Bronze Woods]Walking the Pointy Path.

[Wystern]

Time Stamp: Summer 16, 510 AV.

"Here we are, huh?" Wys asked the war horse as they got into his favorite spot in the woods. The Knight was somewhat good at remembering locations, but he felt like he could get to this place blindfolded. To him it was one of a kind, he was alone, and it was quiet. This was the place he went to when he needed to think. It took an hour to get to, and the Syliran walls were still barely visible, but it was like his own little hideout. Crow dismounted the horse and looked around before he unpacked the gear.

The spot fell into a deep shade, and Wys stood around for a second absorbing the atmosphere. There was a large fallen tree under which he sometimes took shelter when it was raining, and a stream about five yards away. The horse whined, as if telling the man to either unpack the gear or get going. He was terrible with animals, but horses were just a necessary practice for him. Speaking of practice, that is the reason he got here today.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. The sunlight felt different outside, somehow, and it was getting uncomfortable in the armor, regardless of how light it was. He came up to the horse, almost spooking it and undid the seat, letting it rest. Not like the animal was tired, but it could use a break from the barn it was usually in. He led it to a stream, knowing it wouldn't run away, and threw off the cloak, the armor, and all weapons but the sword. He began setting up a small camp about ten feet away.

Wth a grunt, the Knight looked as his tent fell over again. Funny how he usually obtained most of his camping gear. "Hello, Sir Jacob, I'm going to borrow your stuff again," He said to his former master and close friend and ran off to the woods. Wystern usually borrowed the same mundane things every time he would go camping, and he never really bothered to ask permission to do so. His master was never much of a fan of sleeping in the wilderness.

Wystern smiled as he saw the tent stand up again. His grin was replaced by an irritated frown when it fell over again. Resisting the urge to draw the katana, he finally managed to put it up somewhat successfully. "I will be so angry if this will fall over when wind blows on it..." he mumbled to himself.

His master's tent was not the only thing he borrowed. Earlier this morning, he "raided" the armory in search of a crossbow and some matching bolts. It took him a couple of hours, the models seemed so different, but Wys found what he was looking for. He unpacked some of the backpacks the horse carried and brought out a short bow accompanied by a quiver and a light crossbow complemented by a case of bolts.

Wystern grinned looking over the weapon. This entire time he was so bad at using range weapons, but never before it crossed his mind that he simply needed a more suitable weapon. He help up the crossbow. It felt so much more...right. Wystern's grin widened as he began searching for an appropriate target.

[Wystern]

Deep breath and hold. Wys looked down the arrow path, his arm extended. He was pointing the crossbow onto a tree. He pulled the trigger, the recoil made his elbow spring up. "Didn't expect that," Wys mumbled in a slight surprise. Funny, he never fired a crossbow before, but he saw how to use it. The bolt was nowhere to be found either.

He was aiming for the fallen log ahead of him, about three yards away. Wys took another bolt, yanked the string and quickly jammed the bolt back onto its place, almost hurting a finger while at it. It was surprisingly easy to aim with these things, just point and shoot, it can even be done one handed, and probably even on the horseback. Aim is one thing, shooting is different. With the arrows, there was much more strength and endurance involved, with the crossbow, a user's power is only needed on reload.

Wys smiled like a child that just got the toy he always wanted. The weapon wasn't difficult to use at a close range, just needed to get the feel for the weight and the recoil. "I'm definitely buying one of these sometime!"

The Knight turned sideways to his target, shouldered the weapon and used his left hand to hold. The stability of the bolt point increased and he started holding his breath again. He fired. The bolt hit the tree this time, but still a few inches off the desired target, a spot where a branch was recently cut off.

The air resistance, wind and the flight path were completely different from what he got used to when he wielded a bow. The arrow is shot up, so it would descend on the target. The timing was much trickier with what Wys was wielding now. The bolt is shot straight and it would only descend, but the recoil made it difficult to see where the projectile would hit the target. Assuming one would aim single-handedly at a person of about six feet tall, to hit the head from ten yards away, one would have to aim around the person's chest so that the recoil would throw the arrow up. The one thing he had no idea was when the arrow would begin it's descend when the force ran out. Wystern was never that good at math.

Crow put down the bow and sat down near the tent. That was a little discouraging, hell, even his horse seemed to be laughing at him. He looked at her and playfully said "Shut up".

[Wystern]

He would have to play with the new toy later. Right now, he had to address his sword handling. About an hour and a half passed since he got to the place, and he still had the whole day to himself.

Wys picked up the katana and quickly insheathed it, throwing down the sheath behind him. He got to the point where he can't cut himself anymore and can kill an unarmed, unarmored opponent without even trying, but he still had ages to go before he would be able to challenge Dyres for the right to lead. In fact, he always wanted to fight the Grandmaster one day, but he is far from being ready.

Slash over shoulder, thrust straight, slash down, turn around and kick to follow up with another slash. It wasn't difficult to cut air, and it wasn't difficult to fight nothing either. Handling the blade was never that difficult if one had the common sense to move his or her legs away from the sword path. He did his usual exercises every day, stretches, the important things, and the more complicated stuff Fade showed him. It hurt to do up-side-down push-ups the first few times, but now he got adjusted to it.

Time to try something Wys learned from her. Stand on guard point, look straight, think of the steps. Sprint from standstill, thrust, slash, thrust again-jump. He did a flip in mid air, flying horizontally for a few feet before hitting the ground and doing a roll. "Ouch!" Exclaimed the Knight in pain. It still hurt like hell to roll with no hands guiding the flow. Well, they were there, it was just that when the blade is in front of him, the last thing he wants is to land on that same blade.

He got up, wash, rinse, repeat. He kicked a lot when he wielded the sword, it didn't have the strength to push, so he added that aspect using his own bod. The blades on the boots were just for... extra protection. They also ensured that axe-kicks really hurt. He knew how to fight barehanded, but he was no master of it.

He wiped the sweat off his brow. "Concentrate. You know this. Think where the edge will be before it is there, think in sequences. You still need to figure out how to keep your hands steady and get rid of this fear," Wystern told himself. The leather of the gloves made a cracking sound as Wys was increasing the force with which he gripped the hilt.

Diagonal cut from top right to bottom left, stop when the sword is three feet from the ground and thrust the tip back the opposite way, kick. He got too carried away as he pulled from a really strong strike. The katana hit a small tree..and the sheer edge went straight through it.

The tree was about seven feet or so,, about half-foot in diameter, and made a lot of rustling when it fell. Its new stump looked like perfectly clean cut. Wys looked at what he just caused with a slight look of shock. He was a little surprised at his own strength. He hasn't tested his own power behind the edge in a while. Letting out a short laugh, he put the sword back in the sheath and took a drink of water.

With a grunt, he arose again, picking up the blade. Repeat.

[Wystern]

Managing warfare, wielding a sword, upholding law; everything had an art perspective. Everything is started in those awkward first steps in order to proceed down the learning path, which often has very steep learning curves in the beginning for ruling out those who can't comply. Anyone and everyone is an artist, but not everyone could convey the art into a form. It was when holding this weapon, this katana, that Wystern felt the most motivated for philosophy. That chunk of steel felt like it was a extending to his arm; though, by all means, he wouldn't call it that. That sword was with him through many dangerous situations, it was so often the one thing that separated him between life and death's icy grip. All of his weapons did the same job, but the sword he held now felt a little more...it felt more like it was a part of him, part of his soul, and more so than the other blades he usually carried on his back.

The general idea of thinking of one's sword being a part of his or her body increased the very ability to actually wield that weapon. One wouldn't slam an arm into a rock, or thrust it in to break; Wys wouldn't do that with his sword. Hell, this sword cost him more than his body ever did, humans received their bodies free of charge. Their mothers pay the price. He didn't have to buy the sword exactly, the Syliran Order provided it. Wys occasionally bought some candy for the clerk who took care of the weapon requisitions, the Order frowns on requests for katanas. Too expensive, not taught often enough, and if the clerk would keep the priorities up, it was much easier to have a nice relationship with her than bribery. Of course, it was still bribery, but still, it was just the a better idea than handing her a bag of gold and saying "hurry up".

Wystern considered himself an artist. He was no master, but he had all the ability to convey his art. He was like a performer, only seen once, but it was the thrill of being seen rather than preserving the artwork likes sculpture or a painting. An artist that he may be, he was still far from being as refined as he wanted. He still didn't have that frightening flare when he was seen with a blade. The most Wys could probably do is just scare some naive Kelvic girl. Pathetic. Pathetic...

More pull, less drag. More slash, less hack. Don't waste movement. Wystern groaned as his count went over again. He was counting how many wasted moves he made to conduct a series of five strokes. Wystern was still a rookie compared to Jacob, or Dyres, or pretty much any other higher-ranked Knight. The first time he ever picked up a wooden training sword was not just for kicks and giggles-well, at least, the second time wasn't. The squire back then knew exactly what he wanted to do. Once he made up his mind, not much could change it.

Crow repeated the process, again, trying to switch footing, find more balance, use what he learned from Fade. He was improving, bit by bit, by bit, he wasted one or half a move less each time. But the count of twelve was still too damn high.

[Wystern]

Hunger finally prevailed and the man put spun the blade before sheathing it. His lunch was simple, some bread, milk and an apple he took from the chow hall. Old habits die hard, he still steals food. Sort of.

After the Knight was done eating he climbed on a branch of the big tree carcass, about four feet above the ground. Wys sat cross legged, he katana in perfect ,balance on his knees as he began meditating. He stretched his left hand, reaching for the very end of the sheath, and began flicking the sword a little bit out a pushing it back in, creating a low pitched ding. If not for the days like these, Crow would go insane. He had to get away from society, from structure, from his...duties more and more as they were beginning to overwhelm him.

He meditated many times before the Windoak, all Knights did. The first time is the longest that it took to understand the golem. The communication improved with frequent visits, and it only took and hour at most to receive the answer he needed as the tree could probably read his mind. Scary.

The laws he swore to uphold and obey, the people he was supposed to watch or kill; everything is always crushing down on the more seasoned Knights. It is actually because of that experience that they can take it. Three years for Wys, and it didn't feel easier.

Click, ding, click, ding. That sound felt so surprisingly relaxing. It was the sound of metal meeting something, and Wystern loved that sound. It was all part of the art. Practice and think over what one did wrong, so one may not make the same mistake again. But those mistakes that are that which make him human. Human, or only human? That was a question with a painful answer. Alas, he always wondered what it would be like to be born as an Akalak. Or if he didn't become a Knight, would he be a slaver, an assassin, a thief, a murderer? Though, in all honesty, a murderer he already was. But all possibilities of him becoming anything but a Knight died when Rogue did. Wys witnessed the funeral to be a testament to that fact.

An hour passed maybe. He hopped down and unsheathed the blade, taking stance as he did so. Practice makes perfect, and the road is decreased with each step.

[Wystern]

Wys felt like he was hitting the point where the regular swings could only be used as a form of mild exercise. He ran a mile almost every day when he woke up, it didn't take long and was necessary to keep in shape. This is what it felt like. It felt just like running. It felt pointless beyond the fact that increase speed and burn some fat and energy. Now those thoughts started to become discouraging. He could chain moves to air, no problem. He even knew how to let the sword "flow", but it was pointless against something that couldn't defend itself. Wys was a bit better with blades than quite a few of the Knights, at least those that he knew closely. Obviously squires wouldn't cut it either.

So, it would be pointless to wail on Kam or some squire. Jacob wouldn't be a good partner either, he already learned everything he could and wanted from him, so much so that Wys almost rivals his former master. Now he had to get out of Syliras and look to find improvement by some other means. Maybe learn some magic in the process. The sword made a whistling sound as it cut through the air. Maybe it's that sound that always kept Wys awake when he was fighting. Back in Sunberth, back in Wildlands, back in "Syliras, every dangerous situation he has ever been in since the knighting, that sound put him on edge, eyes open wide, ears picking up even the tiniest sound. And that alertness is gone the second it's over.

Funny how Wys didn't give her a name yet...did he just give a weapon a gender identity? Not that anything would be wrong with it, he sometimes cared for the katana more than for himself. He tried to not let the thought of how that sword was cleaner than he cross his mind.

Cross-step, pull blade to level with his head, thrust, left foot forward, right food back, pull down using proper force. He actually used most of those moves to kill before. One at a time, a life at a time, a slash at time.

Now, to try something more complicated. He picked up a wakizashi with his left hand. This is more difficult, it's much easier to flow when two hands are together. Now the two hands were separate, but still one, it was more difficult to coordinate. No simple right-left-right stabs, learn to chain those. Become a shield of whirring steel. Remember and mimic what one saw from watching Dyres practice. Reflect, if you want his power, thoughts were rushing through Wys's head. They rarely stop.

Two-hand style was so much more difficult. It required more room to begin with. Step-thrust with right, pull, proceed with a follow slash from left. Use the left-over inertia to spin and slash up with the right, and then stab with the left; kick and repeat.

He sat down. The day's end was coming soon, he practiced for a while. Time flew. He sat down and started working on making a fire.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Wystern Exp - +2 Weapon (Katana), +1 Weapon (Crossbow), +1 Acrobatics Lore - Know the Sword better than your Lover Additional Note - Pretty interesting thread. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more in-depth description of the swordplay and crossbow usage. The Katana training was pretty repetitive as well. I didn't award points for Dual Wielding or the Wakizashi because there was just so little put in there including the second blade, barely a paragraph. On another note, I loved how Wystern responds to his horse and how he looks at his Katana as a woman, very romantic. Overall, if you had another one or two well developed posts dedicated to the specifics of Katana and Wakizashi Dual Wielding I probably would have awarded a little more. However, I am new to this, so if you believe you deserve more, or something I may have left out, feel free to PM me and we can discuss it. If I feel I made a mistake I will fix it and award the few extra necessary points, or else i'll do my best to justify my judging. Keep up the good work!