PM to join [Antinous Training Grounds] Clash of the Pycons (Ball)

[Nivel]

4th Day of Summer, 514 AV Nivel was so used to having her Patron knight Sera Grey wake her up early, that she was beginning to do it without any assistance. Grey had advised the Pycon Squire long ago to get in the habit of training every day even without her presence. Nivel hadn't really been following this advice but decided she would make an effort to change this, Especially with the Shield Games fast approaching. Without her patron around she opted out of wearing her uncomfortable and restrictive armour and headed out to the Antinous Training Grounds making sure to not wake her new roommate Ashuke. Even though the sun had only just started to rise there was still a few dedicated Knights and squires training rigorously. Judging by the heavy looking practice weapons they all seemed to be using, Nivel assumed none of them were arcane users like her. Most of Nivels starting exercisers were magic biased and she felt a little uncomfortable doing them in front of those unfamiliar with the use of Djed. She was sure they would be frightened of her strange gestures and assume she was going to conjure something dangerous. The pycon found it was best to practice in a more secluded area of the training grounds, and was happy to find her favourite area was vacant. The man made grove of trees that were planted in the training grounds, while clearly synthetic it still had a calming effect that only nature can provide. Nivel sat cross-legged on the stone ground surrounded by the towering tree trunks, within their shade she would start her meditation. She closed her mind off to the sound of clashing weapons and grunts and even to the sound of chirping birds and entered her own personal land of calmness. This was a different meditation technique that Grey didn't teach her but was one she found just as beneficial. The scenery faded to nothing all except for emerald crystal land mass that she now found herself floating on. There were many other crystals floating aimlessly against gravity. They emanated a peaceful glow as they drifted past Nivel. Once the pycon felt she had calmed herself enough she left her inner sanctuary, sat up and got ready to do a few arcane strengthening exercises. The Squire started with Auristics, she gently opened her eyes to the auras around her. Doing her best not to focus on any of the auras too much, so as not to use up any of her Djed. The glowing halos that outlined everything in sight were a bit over whelming at first but she was able to regain her calm after a few ticks of deep breathing and slowly counting to ten. When she was fully relaxed she closed herself off to her second sight. The next order of business was flux, for this she would only do a bit of incantations and chants that she was taught in order to focus the flow of Djed. While moving her arms in a fluid motion around her small body and chanting “awaken my inner river” over and over again in her mind, Nivel was beginning to feel the energy in her body move. She though she could try redirecting it a bit of it into one of her arms. However being the novice she is, most of the energy in her legs moved to her upper body and she clumsily fell over. With her focus gone, the energy bounced back to it's rightful place. Nivel hoped no one saw her embarrassing display, which would certainly seem odd to anyone even to a User of flux. She got back up and got into a fighting position with her legs shoulder width apart and began throwing punches. She stretched her arms as long as they could go with each new punch. She became so absorbed in this endeavour, that she didn't know she was being watched..

[Ball]

Ball watched the mage squire start her training session, as far as he could tell it involved a lot of staring at things, but not for too long, and then arm circles which ended with her taking a swing and falling flat on her poor clay face. He smirked as he stretched his body around into a tight coil and then released it as the she-pycon took her first punch. From his position just behind a tree the expert martial artist could tell her skill was beginner at best. She was taller than he and clearly weighed a few more pounds then he did.

That tail of her must give her a bit of extra balance leverage to counteract those awfully large ears. In the past few weeks he had heard that there were a few more clay squires after him. He wasn't alone it appeared. He watched as her second punch stretched out a bit more, yet Ball could see she was leaving her body open. Throwing punches as if she was just training for the sake of throwing them. She needs to learn to punch against a real target. Stepping into the small clearing Ball was by no means a large or noticeable man of stature or rank, but he did have that air around him that spoke of travel and combat.

As her third punch came out Ball stepped forward so he stood right next to the she-pycon as she threw yet another punch, this was when Ball launched an attack of his own in the opening she left wide, it was an open palmed slap across the back of her head, it wasn't hard but it was definitely noticeable and would gain the squire her attention.

Once attention was gained and the squire looked over at Ball she would see a scowl etched into place just below his single eye, “When you train, when you are out on the battlefield...” he paused, “When you stare at people like you were earlier... Keep your surroundings alert!” The squire grumbled as he stepped in front of her, “You can't just start swing arms about and punching the air without always being prepared. Training isn't about knowing how to fight... It's about knowing the fight.” Ball paused, he had to think about what he just said, Knowing the fight? Have I gone mad? No... No... That is right, in order to survive in combat you have to know the combat you are in.

Once he had his talk the nearly master martial artist motioned to the she-pycon, “Before we continue much father, I am Ball. Now... Strike me... Or try to at least.”

Created goes to Euthisa

[Nivel]

Before Nivel could even notice her observer, she received a mild blow to the head from them. It didn't really hurt very much..physically but it did do a nasty blow to the tiny Mage Squire's reasonably sized ego. She turned to face the person with the audacity to insult her while she was training and was surprised to see the culprit was a Pycon. This pycon was even a full inch smaller than her and while she found him to be a touch on the handsome side he wasn't very imposing. She was a bit conflicted as to how to proceed, on one had she had found a small island amongst an entire sea of tall folk on the other hand she couldn't just let people go around slapping her in the head even if they did have an adorable one eyed face. She had to resist the sudden urge to hug him when he made an impressively cute scowl of Determination in her direction. She also felt a touch of envy for how seemingly effortless he contorted his face. Nivel found making convincing human expressions difficult, She was fairly decent at shape shifting but making fine details like that move in just the right way was a bit lost to her. The Smug little creature, tried to give Nivel lessons on how to fight that sounded like absolute drivel to her. Training isn't about knowing how to fight... It's about knowing the fight....What in Harameus good graces could that possibly mean. Then he stated his name.. Ball?...that was a name Nivel had been compared many times during her Squireship. It was the name of the first Pycon she'd heard of since her mother to become a squire. This was Nivel's hero...how dare this tiny little ingrate impersonate the pycon Nivel had looked up too. “I'm Nivel! And I have heard enough of your lies! I will gladly trade blows with you” Nivel proclaimed with a puffed chest in an effort to sound more important that she was. Swiftly launching herself right away at the ingrate with all her might, she transferred most of the bulk of her arm into her hand, transforming it into a crude looking flail. She swung it clumsily in his direction while also concentrating on the splitting of her tail. Her fly trap shaped tail clamp was now separated into two claws for her secondary attack. After the first attempt with the makeshift flail, Nivel let its weight carry her down to the ground to preform a hand stand. She lashed at him blindly with her twin tail claws before letting her legs fall down on him. Landing on her tail claws and using them to push her self back onto regular feet. She was a little off balance, almost fell forward a bit and was clearly not in any state to receive a counter strike but she was sure she would get one.

[Ball]

Nivel announced that she wasn't going to hear anymore of his 'lies' whatever that meant, when she puffed her chest Ball could barely hide his facial expression of amusement, he can see her attempt to frighten him, even if she was failing miserably considering he faced beasts several times larger than himself.

It wasn't until Ball saw her throw herself with all her might did the expert realize she was serious in trading blows. A small shift and twist in his body sent Nivel's first club strike to slide right past him, the second was a handstand propelled tail swipe that Ball had to clamp tightly with both hands to slam shut before it trapped his upper body and torso within the powerful plant like tail. The last attack was a failing fan looking kick that Ball was able to just swat down to the ground. Side stepping from where Nivel now laid the squire twisted his form completely around so he was facing her once more. As he twisted his form to face the she-pycon Ball was already forming the thin whip like start of a scorpion tail, the bulb stinger tip held no poison, but it was sharp and pointed. The tail was and allowed the pyken artist to coil it close to his body. The only trait Ball had visible for the tail was his lack of mass surrounding the area around his legs and lower torso. To allow for the tail's formation Ball had to borrow the clay from somewhere, and that was the best location to hide the shift.

“Heh. Nice, I see your anger and your power. Good good, now harness it. Use your skills you have the best use of and don't forget the element of surprise.” Ball shifted his right foot forward and immediately threw a right sideways punch, almost like a side swiping knife strike that he had go wide intentionally as his left hand followed straight towards Nivel's gut as a jab. The right knife attack slide harmless past Nivel, his punch was easily grab able and that was the plan for it.

After the jab failed or connected that is when Ball would unleash the full force of his tail strike, pushing the stinger through the air towards Nivel's left shoulder. “The element of surprise is your best advantage against a being that stands taller than you.”

Created goes to Euthisa

[Nivel]

OocI totally read "beasts" as "breasts" and was very confused and then there was much giggling. I guess Ball isn't intimidated by Nivel's flat boy chest. Nivel Became frustrated as each of her attacks had been so easily thwarted. She wouldn't let this pompous imposter get the better of her even if he had already proved he was a far more skilled fighter. This Fight had become a battle of pride, at least for Nivel. She was so angry that she failed to notice the obvious changes in her opponents anatomy. “Don't patronize me, I know how to harness my emotions...” Nivel replied as a misshapen smile grew along her face. “Let me show you” Before she could do so the male pycon threw a side winding punch at her, she easily evaded with a quick shift of her body. Another strike came this time in the form of a jab aimed for her lower torso. Nivel moved herself to the side and grabbed the pycons careless attack in her arms and readied to preform a throw. She lacked the experience to know she had fallen right into a trap and just assumed this male pycon had gotten careless. As she was about to hurl the other pycon, a large limb flew out of nowhere and rammed it's sharp end right into Nivel's carelessly exposed shoulder. The force of the attack was impressive and could be felt through her entire body. The smug male Pycon made a remark about the element of surprise, most likely to prove his earlier point. This only made Nivel more irritated with him and made her all the more determined not to lose this fight. If this little hot shot imposter wanted a surprise so bad, she was more than willing to deliver. She waited until he was done talking out of common curiously and then proceeded to scream a high pitched piercing battle cry that could be heard all over the training grounds. As she did this her open mouth hole grew wider and wider until it had taken up her entire torso, Rows of dulled teeth formed around the entire span of the gaping hole. The clay that was emptied from this ever growing maw displaced itself into Nivel's various limbs making them thicker and more imposing. Her hands became massive claws and like a crazed animal she slashed viciously at her opponent. The attacks weren't very skilled or precise they were just flung around aimless with little cause of forethought. She did her best to slash at him from ever angle with her four thick tentacle claws as she continued to scream like a raving lunatic. She focused most of her attacks on his arms however, but her real target was his upper shoulders which was her vain attempt at revenge. A thick tree stump was behind them and she was sure if she kept hurling attacks at him she could corner her opponent and give herself some kind of advantage, she just wasn't sure what this advantage would be yet.

[Ball]

The opening maw that formed with the piercing battle cry startled the expert pyken artist some yet he stepped forward, yanking his dangling arm from Nivel's grasp and crammed it into his torso. After it disappeared within Ball could feel it reconnecting with his nexus and start traveling upward, yet unseen to the eye of his opponent. As the first thickened tentacle came down on him Ball swatted it away like it was a gnat, repeatedly batting them away as they game at him, as he did this his body lengthened and thinned out.

His body grew several inches, yet his full mass was with there just in a thinner form. The stump of an arm where he removed his arm in the feint attack remained, as did the tail he had lodged into Nivel's shoulder. The sad part about this was his form became a harder target for the novice to attack, thinner body meant she had to make more precise attacks.

Leaning forward the expert whispered, “I am sorry. But you need to understand that I am who I said I am. I fear you are going to regret my next attack... Just remember, go with the flow of movement.” His lips graced her cheek as he placed his one attached hand on the base of the flailing tentacle closest to his face.

It was now that Nivel would feel a sandpaper texture of grit gracing the side of her face as the hidden hand pushed out of his mouth. “I am truly sorry for this.” Gripping her tentacle firmly in one hand and the mouth-hand firmly griped Nivel's face and neck and with a growl that became progressively louder into a roar Ball applied large amounts of pushing power, tearing tentacle from body. The attack itself wasn't entirely dodge able, but she could stop Ball from removing tentacle from body.

If she didn't and Ball was able to tear limb from body the expert pyken artist used the hand from his mouth gave the she-pycon a push towards the stump, this single motion allowed for Nivel's fall from his tearing push and added a spiraling twist that would protect her from the large furry mount bounded over the stump that resided behind Nivel.

If Nivel managed to stop Ball the dog would still clear the stump, but the dog's jump would've cleared both the pycons by several feet.

Created goes to Euthisa

[Nivel]

As Nivel continued to scream and viciously assault her opponent with her many clawed testicles, Her hope of hitting him became less likely as he thinned himself out. Not that she had much of a chance of hitting this male pycon, her attacks lacked any kind of precision and it was clear she was fighting someone of impressive skill. Nivel did her best to get the stinger that was lodged in her arm out as she charged forward, but even that was too difficult. Nivel couldn't even get any kind of advantage from this situation, because even with his scorpion tail firmly embedded in her arm the natural fluidity to his body compensated for him. The young Mage Squire was caught of guard when the Male Pycon brought himself in close and whispered to her then pressed his clay lips to her misshapen cheek. It was not a manoeuvre she had prepared for at all and if Pycons could blush she would surely be a much brighter red then her terracotta skin would allow. All of her flailing arms stopped for a moment as he took hold of one of them. She could barely register what he was saying but during the fight she was already starting to believe that he was who he claimed to be. The skill he had just showed was enough proof for Nivel. Still a bit aloof from the sudden kiss, Nivel had no way of detecting Ball's actions except for a sudden course feeling to her cheek where he had kissed her. Her round head was suddenly enveloped by a large hand that seemed to come from no where and the grip the male pycon had on her arm became much more tighter. Ball whispered another apology and before Nivel could even think of stopping what was happening, her arm was ripped off with great force. Nivel let out an alarmed yelp in pain, but it wasn't so much physical pain she felt but the crushing feeling she gets when she loses a part of herself. The shock made her body snap back to its old self but with so much of her clay put into the severed arm her already thin torso was left all the more thin. It was a nauseating feeling to revert back to ones natural form with far less clay than when you started. She was so lost in this horrible feeling she didn't notice that her tail hadn't turned back to it's usual from staying as two separate claws, instead of one clamp like one. A dog entered the scene and leaped over the two unexpectedly, Nivel took this opportunity to quickly snatch her arm from his grip and push herself out of his hold. She stumbled back but wasted no time in quickly attacking her arm as if she would suddenly explode if she waited any longer. She sighed a great sigh as she was reunited with what she had just lost. Her alarming thin frame filled out and she felt great relief. “okay...you win” Nivel finally spoke “I can see that you are now who you claimed to be..I've very sorry if I was rude earlier” Nivel was still too busy recovering to totally realize that she was now speaking to one of her idols. She did however fully realize that this was a prefect opportunity to learn from a skilled trainer in the art of Pyken. Without her parents, finding a pycon teacher was near impossible in Syliras. “You're a pretty skilled pyken fighter...I would like to be your pupil... if you wouldn't mind...that is” She figured this probably sounded a bit silly since it was clear he was already trying to teach her but she didn't really know how else to put it. It was hard to tell if it was simple embarrassment from realizing she had made a silly mistake, or if it was something to do with the kiss but the fire she once had in his presence had fizzled out and she was beginning to feel self contentious. “Sorry I know you were already trying to help me, but I promise I'll listen this time.”

[Ball]

As soon as Nivel yielded in their sparring contest Ball turned to his mount and hushed the growling and huffing ball of fur to silence and then commanded it to lay down calmly. Turning back to the mage-squire Ball shrugged, “I can teach you the ways of combat, but for your staring skill you must find another. I have no business in the art of staring at my opponents to death. I rather break their faces in.” The squire smirked, it shouldn't be a secret that the three inches of clay before Nivel was a fighting machine... Squid creatures and knights.. Vomiting birds, crows, and even squirrels... They all met the being known as Ball and suffered.

Regardless Nivel acknowledged Ball for who he was and therefore acknowledged him as a member of the order. It was a start. She asked then if he was willing to train her, “Squire-to-squire... Yes, I am not yet a knight, when I return from my quest and you still seek a more... Clay based knight to squire you, I will consider it. Until then... Yes I will train you. Lesson number one I already told you. As I did Lesson number two.” Ball nodded.

“Lesson one, as you recall is to know your combat and train as if you are always going to meet it. You can't just start swinging punches or lose your surroundings. Lesson two is to use your advantages. You failed both just ticks ago. First you failed to notice I was right beside you before it was too late, if I was the enemy you would be dead. Before that I watched you swing a punch that if connected would've rolled me over and gave me quite a wake me up. Surprise and advantages you had. You never used them.” He stared at Nivel, he could tell from her stammering and actions (even with her sighing from attaching her arm to her body again) that she was in awe. Am I really that known?

“In the games if we were to fight one another... I won't go easy. I expect you to bring your full skill set. Understand?” Nodding before she could answer Ball looked over his pupil... If she could be called that, “Now, I said I will train you. As a squire I can not ask for compensation, but I can ask for training as well.” And Ball knew what he had in mind.

“I want you to teach me how to throw punches like you did earlier before you stumbled forward. That is not a normal punch I witnessed for the ones after wards were flimsy and weak. Pathetic really.” He nodded, “That's okay, we will work on that. Starting...”

Ball realized it wasn't even mid-morning yet and then shrugged, “Now seems a good time to begin.” Stepping forward Ball motioned for Nivel to hold her arms up, “Come now, hold them up like you are guarding your chest and face."

Created goes to Euthisa

[Nivel]

Nivel watched as Ball gently calmed the animal that had only just entered the scene, it was clear by their instant rapport that this was Balls mount. As Nivel watched them she wondered when she would be getting a mount, Sera Grey seemed to think Nivel wasn't ready for a mount but Nivel suspected she was just having trouble finding one. Nivel was about to ask for the mounts name but that thought was interrupted by the other Pycon's reply. Nivel listened to him intently, his gruff nature reminded him of her mother. Although Nivel wasn't sure she had ever heard her mother talk about breaking peoples faces in, Nivel found Ball's choice in words a bit unsavoury for her liking. Despite Nivels passion for being a knight and for fighting she was still a bit of a pacifist, in that she didn't really like the idea of truly hurting anyone. Play fighting was one thing but really life of death combat was still something Nivel dreaded. Ball went on to propose the idea of being her patron knight, this came as a surprise to Nivel. She felt conflicted; on one had there was Ball who was a pycon like herself who could teach her all the ins and outs of pyken and other pycon skills that would be hard to find a trainer for, on the other hand there was Sera Grey who she could learn all her magical skills from and whom she was already starting to form a bond with. Nivel wondered if it were possible to have two Patrons, she didn't want to turn Ball's tempting proposition down and leaving Sera Grey was unthinkable. Although Nivel was getting ahead of herself, Ball wasn't even a full fledged knight yet and the two had only just met. Nivel continued to listen as Ball talked in detail about every where Nivel went wrong in their little spar. The young squire felt very foolish as he pointed out each misstep she made, luckily for Nivel their fight didn't last long. She was pleased to hear even a slight complement about one of her punches, even if it was really more about how she continued to fail. She wasn't sure exactly what punch he was talking about but suspected it was her “Mace fist of Destiny” move that her mother had taught her. The older pycon though her daughter should have a signature move of her own so the two worked together and came up with this move. Nivel liked this move but it still didn't feel personal enough to her, she would have to keep working to find a move that was truly her own. “I will...although...I'm a Mage Squire...are you as well?” Nivel said in response to competing in the shield games against each other. She wasn't sure but she had a hunch that he was the more melee sort, just based off the way he talked and carried himself. Many people had a hard time telling that Nivel was even with the order but she did have a few flamboyant features to her appearance that eluded to her being a magic user. The emerald sparkles were usually the biggest tip off, but one look at her bizarre Patron and there was no question she was a Mage Squire. Other than being female it was the biggest comparison people made with her and Ball, not that he would be aware of this. “um...okay” Nivel didn't expect that ball would be asking to learn anything let alone a fighting technique from her, especially after proving she wasn't even close to the skill level he was. Regardless she hesitantly put her arms up in the guarding position he specified. “I could always teach you magic instead...well eventually...” Nivel stopped herself in that train of though knowing full well she wasn't at the level to teach anyone anything magic related. “okay..here goes” Nivel sighed, then forced herself to get her head in the game by shaking her shoulders up and down to get the clay flowing. “okay see...the mechanics behind it I got from practising flux...it's a type of...magic.” Nivel stopped as she felt strange talking about magic so openly with someone she just met but she quickly shook those feelings away and continued. “In flux you manipulate the flow of energy in your body, for this punch I shift most of the weight of my arm into my fist while going with the momentum.” Nivel did just as she explained, turning to the side so Ball could get a better angle of her demonstration. “The weight of your fist drives the fist forward giving you extra strength..if you make contact that is.” Nivel turned back to facing Ball “Although it's major flaw is that your arm is left weak with all of the clay having been distributed into your fist, It's a problem I've been having with flux as well...I can't seem to get the flow of energy to distribute properly...It's something I have to be careful of” She could feel herself channelling her father who loved to explain things especially magic, to the absolute boredom of most people. Nivel loved listening to her father talk things to death and seemed to have inherited a bit of it but unlike her father she knew when to stop. “Sorry...I'm probably boring you..” “Aaaanyway...how did you do that scorpion move! and the hand that came from your mouth! That was wonderful!” A burst of cheerful energy that seemed to come from no were entered Nivel's speech pattern. It seemed it was time for Nivel to gush a bit over Balls fighting skills “Can you teach me how to do them! I want to smite evil with really scary moves like those!” Nivel's wings flapped happily and she bounced up and down slightly to show her enthusiasm.

[Ball]

OOCSorry for the late response, been pretty busy offline and limited time on. >.<

When Nivel first started talking about Flux and magic Ball found himself drifting in thought, it didn't take long though before her talk switched to something Ball knew something about, even if he winged it most of the time. “Well... Uhh. Well. The scorpion tail is a bit beyond your skill level it requires a better understanding of your limbs and mass displacement where as the hand coming from the mouth is something I just did. See, when you lose a limb you can reattach it, as you just did a few ticks ago when I tore your tentacle off.”

He pointed at the stub that had quickly reformed as one of her limbs. “All I did is when I attached my hand back to my body instead of allowing it to push itself outward to its normal place I concentrated and forced it to slide up my body and push out of my mouth. Again though, it takes some understanding of your body.”

Ball sighed, “Enough talk. Arms up in a guard. Good.” He looked at her stance and her hands. Reaching forward he pushed her left arm up a bit, turning the fist so it was protecting her cheek and chin, the forearm was coming down and would protect her chest where the rest of her arm protected her side. The right hand he pulled towards him slightly, nudging the fingers open from the fist shape they held into a slight curve. The curved fingers would allow for a push off block as well as the ability to straightened into a knife attack, curl into a fist for a hammer or punch, and if she was really lucky she could use the palm to deflect a punch or kick.

Her right arm was at an angle to finish protecting her torso and the upper portions of her lower limbs. As well as the right side of her torso.

“Now I placed your arms into such a position that are best designed to protect your torso, it minimizes the open areas by forcing the attacker to aim for a small opening which you can close by a swipe from either left or right limbs. Your right arm is angled outward to allow for a quick deflection block but can be used as a quick snapping attack if you have an opening, I would recommend working with blocking and defense first.” Ball nodded.

“Now for your legs. Bring your left leg back slightly and bend it at the knee, your right leg I would bring out forward and bend also at the knee raising your foot up so that it rests just on the front of your foot.” When she followed his advice he nodded, “The back leg is your support, this leg will remain planted, your forward leg allows for movement and flexibility forward and to the right side. Your arms will do a majority of the blocking for you. When you feel ready you can practicing kicking straight forward with your front leg. Just snap the foot up and then bring it back to the ground.”

“I think you should practice this pose several times before you and slide into it with ease. I will admit I don't normally use poses but you can use them as a foundation with your magical training as well. I think with a firm base your flux punch would be effective. So yes...” He nodded, “Practice that stance.”

Created goes to Euthisa