The Strength of Cedars [Selfmod Training]

[Toshi]

TS: 20th Day, winter of 509 A.V.

A curtain of alabaster coated the forest for as far as the eyes could see. Sitting alone in a clearing somewhere within the skeleton of what was once an overgrowth of vegetation was a teenage vantha, clad in the lightest of winter apparel. His grandfather seeing his physical weakness in him had sent him here to build his strength and hone his mind. Master Ten told him that the solitude the forest offered would be perfect to accomplish those goals.

Here, in the middle of nowhere there could be no distractions.

Or maybe his grandfather had failed to take into account the waist-high layer of snow that was making movement difficult, then again maybe the crazy old man thought the slush and ice didn't count as distractions but was actually part of the hellish training regime.

Toshi concentrated, his mind devoid of all thought. The key to mastering the fundamentals of their fighting form lay in practice, ceaseless repetition. He would have to repeatedly punch and kick the trunk of this great cedar, he would have to eat away the aged hard wood with only his fists to chip and break through what nature had built for hundreds of years.

And now his fists were barely causing the cedar to shudder, there was a depression, barely noticeable but it was there. How he would fell this tree he had no idea. If it wasn't for the flux reinforcing his limbs there would be no way his body could withstand this. His bones should have fractured long ago but his magic prevented that from happening.

And then slowly, ever so slowly he felt the pain from his knuckles trickle away. Surely a callous was forming, one that would allow his to feel little pain when there should have been.

If only he could have one for his heart.

Alala's memory still burned brightly in his thoughts and that lent him strength. His life, everything he did would be dyed in her color and there would be nothing that would stand between him and revenge.

[Toshi]

He marked the second day by carving a deep gash into the cedar's roots. Two solitary lines and by the looks of things there would be many more before he finished his training here. Sighing the boy finished eating his meal, highly nutritious herbs and fish gathered from a nearby stream provided sustenance. There was also the special brew of god knows what his grandfather told him to bring with him, the geezer said it would help him strengthen his bones but somehow Toshi wondered if there was any truth to that man's words.

Again he stood in front of the cedar and he noticed the depression as well as the thin layer of blood that had dried off its surface. Toshi silently wrapped the bandages around his fists never forgetting his ritual of coiling Alala's ropes on his arms.

He exhaled a long breath and inhaled the cool winter air. His mind was fresh now, his body surging with activity. Slowly, carefully he drew the djed he would need into his arms and after carefully shaping the energy around his bones and muscles Toshi was ready.

With flux supporting his body and his mind ready to bear the pain he drove the first blow into the tree. The resounding thud echoed across the clearing and he adjusted his stance. That wasn't nearly as loud as yesterday. He extended his left leg in front of him, the right foot sliding behind him. He raised his left guard and after pulling his right fist as far back as he could he pushed off with his right hand, waist twisting, shoulders arching inwards and arm driving the hammer home.

The sound was louder, sharper and snow that had collected on the might cedar's branches fell all around. Satisfied with that sound Toshi shifted into the same stance again, only in reverse. There was no point in concentrating his efforts in one hand when he had two.

He pummeled the trunk with punches, all of them fast, sharp, powerful and accurate. His aim was becoming more refined, it was becoming easier for him to strike at that singular point where he had left the first depression and the mark his effort was leaving behind was growing more an more pronounced as the hours passed.

[Toshi]

The third notch on the tree's base shuddered. Toshi was mercilessly kicking the tree, his form becoming a whirlwind of flesh as he delivered all the kicks that had been hammered into his skull since the very day he had learned how to stand.

Toshi adjusted his stance, this was the basic stance of his form, the basics of the basics. One foot behind the other, one hand behind he other, both of them spread evenly apart. From here he could deliver an arching axe-kick which came crashing into the bark, that did little damage but served as a means to stretch his muscles.

The next was an orthodox snap kick, a straight springing motion of the knee and foot dealing steady but solid damage. It was easily executed though it was dangerous move - just like every other weapons of a martial artist.

Perhaps among the most effective of the kicks he delivered to the aged cedar was the roundhouse kick. The moment and sheer power provided by the legs muscles allowed his calloused feet to leave impressions, barely noticeable but each and every blow as a contribution to the final blow.

As the day would wear on and give way to night, Toshi would remain in front of the tree taking short periodic breaks to reinforce the flux protecting his feet from injury. Strengthening their potential for power was pointless, he wasn't fighting an opponent, he was carving his mark into a timeless part of the landscape and would continue to do so until the tree would fall.

Slowly, as the shadows shifted around him he moved through all the different motions. From basic stances to reverse, from side kicks to the traditional reverse kick. All this for the sake of burning these motions into memory and all this to make it possible for him to attack without delay.

He needed to be able to link each kick with the last, he needed seamless combinations and just as he was starting to reach that level of speed he noticed that the sky had long since turned a shade of black. That was his cue to retire for the night, swinging over his towel over his shoulders Toshi turned around and walked back to the hut that he had been seeking shelter in. The moon was bright tonight and the skies surprisingly cloudless, with the moonlight illuminating his path Toshi was in much better spirits and he marched back faster his stomach rumbling for the need of a heavy dinner.

[Toshi]

The fourth notch on the cedar would be the start of shadow boxing exercises. While weaving from side to side Toshi would attempt to hit his mark and attempt to channel his momentum into each and every blow. This was easier said than done, the slippery ice that had sent him sliding on his ass so many times in the last few days was proving to be more than a distraction now. It looked like he would have to put his shovel to work again and clear the base of the tree from a thick layer of snow if he was to start shadow boxing.

However, by the time he was finished working Toshi could feel his muscles aching - this he hadn't expected. The flux had been effective so far but it looked like even magic had its limits too. True there were no broken bones nor did he fracture anything but his muscles were aching and it seemed any impulsive movements caused even more pain.

Perhaps he had been taking the exercises in the last few days far too seriously, rest was just as important as practice and while he had already dug the ice off the soil he couldn't afford to push himself beyond the limits and get sick in the middle of nowhere. Resigning himself to leaving shadow boxing for the following day Toshi tried a different form of exercise instead.

The vantha moved a few meters away from the great tree and when he found a comfortable spot he sat cross-legged. From here he allowed his thoughts to scatter, his mind to accept nothing for a long period of time until such a point where he was free of every stray thought but those of Alala's which always hovered in the background of his mind.

Slowly, cautiously Toshi opened the channels of his mind allowing djed to freely flow into his brain. And then that second layer of information came streaming from his four senses. Auristics was the newest trick he had learned and he was going to hone his senses at every opportunity that presented itself. He didn't need to look for his target, there was only one tree for yards that could rival the size of the one he had chosen.

Even this far he could feel it. He could feel its ancient energy, steady and slow. When Toshi finally opened his eyes he could see energy radiating from the centuries-old cedar. Green flames flowed out from the giant's trunk into its branches, green energy came pulsing towards the trunk and Toshi's eyes traced those beads of power through the many unorganized lines crisscrossing and intersecting below him. These were definitely the mighty cedar's roots he thought.

He shifted his gaze from the tree to his hands and he experimentally willed energy into them. His flux magic was all too easy to see, the higher the djed concentration in his body the brighter the flame on the body part where energy was gathering.

Was it the same for the tree?

He turned his eyes back of the cedar and noticed the same pattern. Even as large and encompassing the tree was the energy that pulsed through it wasn't equally distributed. And he noticed a compression of energy at the section of the trunk he had been hammering at. Was his attacks forcing the tree to strengthen its defenses? Was this nature's way of protecting itself? Maybe tomorrow when his body was back in good shape he would try striking at different sections of the cedar, he would try and see if such a huge thing had vulnerabilities too.

[Toshi]

On the fifth day of training Toshi greeted the cedar with a steady flow of attacks, a combination of kicks, punches, elbow strikes and the occasional head-butt to hammer upon the surface of the great cedar's trunk.

Toshi's confidence in his skill with flux manipulation was growing, each attack no longer unsettled his hold on the flux. He only needed to attack in a rhythm attuned to his body's flux flow. During the moments when large clusters of djed flowed through a limb he struck with that, these were attacks that were truly without intent and perhaps an effective safeguard to render auristics intent-reading impotent.

As Toshi's synchronization with his djed flow improved so did his attacking tempo and with this heightened unity of mind and body he began considering the possibility of not only attack chaining blows but the integration of feints by weight-shifting with flux. Wasn't it still energy and didn't momentum affect his movement? The idea of flowing djed, one that was revolving around him made him think that maybe he could tilt his center of balance by applying a subtle change in that circle of energy's orbit.

He attempted to try it, he weaved in and out of an imaginary opponent's range and struck only to pull himself to one direction or the other with a sudden shift in the flux's flow. He succeeded, but his inexperience caused him to move too far back and fall to his knees.

The application of this theory in mid-air might be useful but Toshi wasn't ready for that yet. He needed to take small measured steps before he could even attempt that experiment.

[Toshi]

The sixth day wouldn't be marked by the sound of fists and feet striking wood. No, that morning the howls of wolves would wake Toshi up and he would step out of his hut to find himself surrounded by three midnight black wolves - others were probably following shortly behind. Clearly running was no longer an option, he could probably try hauling himself over one of the smaller branches and maybe find higher ground but then what? They would only wait for him until he'd be forced to jump down and by then others would reach this place.

Priming his legs with a sudden rush of flux Toshi was the first one who made a move. He turned around running the other direction as fast as his legs could carry him, the wolves followed suit and when he reached the part of the clearing where there would be a sudden drop he slid himself on the slope waiting for the dogs to come leaping overhead.

Two of the dark wolves cleared the jump, the last found Toshi's fluxed-charged foot slamming into its body breaking ribs and pushing organs into places they weren't supposed to occupy. The wolf barked pitifully in pain and the two others growled furiously as they started moving in circles around their prey.

Toshi sensing a trap brewing preferred to spring it his convenience and not there. Breaking a hard left the martial artist pulled the ropes from one of his hands free and while holding unto both ends met the nearest dog's charge. The beast pinned him on the ground but his ropes found their way underneath the creatures neck, with a violent tug of the ropes the wolf's teeth barely met their mark.

Another application of force was all Toshi needed to do to completely crush the creature's throat. Still the death of the second wolf was no respite, the other one was almost upon him and in a moment of ingenuity he used the corpse of the mutt he had only slain as a shield. The last remaining wolf retreated and then Toshi swung the carcass of the creature threateningly, slowly the wolf's growls died down and it retreated into the forest.

Taking that as his cue Toshi secured the ornamental rope around his other arm again and left for the cabin to grab his equipment. When he reached the small hut he was surprised to find wolves, several of them lying on the ground, their bodies thoroughly broken.

"I hope you killed some of these mutts, their pelts sell pretty high in the market during season like these." Master Ten grinned, his yellow teeth showing as he lifted one of the bigger wolves with one hand. "We could use the teeth too, maybe sell them as ornaments."

[Toshi]

"Killed two somewhere there," Toshi grunted, a pointed thumb raised over his shoulders pointed in the direction from where he came running from. "The other one ran away."

"So you had to retreat?" the bigger man was rubbing his chin, his forehead knotted in contemplation. "I don't see why you'd have to run first."

"There was a slope there I used to my advantage." Toshi shrugged and stepped inside the hut to slip into thicker clothes. "What did you think I should've done?"

Master Ten looked like he was about to reprimand the young boy though he hesitated. Instead of scolding the kid he chuckled instead giving Toshi a pat on the back. "It was a wise choice though you know... I would have been more impressed if you'd killed them all instead of leaving me to deal with them."

"I didn't even know you were coming." he argued.

"I was curious," he explained, "I wanted to see your progress."

"And what did you see?"

"The cedar's still in one piece." Master Ten's voice was so flat that Toshi couldn't tell if he was disappointed or was simply stating a fact.

Toshi crossed his arms and shook his head. It wasn't like he hadn't predicted that he'd fail but at least he wished the man would praise him for his efforts. He did try bringing the tree down without only his martial arts. "I told you it was impossible, but you wouldn't listen."

"Nothing is impossible child, come." the old man turned his back on his grandson and started making his way towards the giant cedar tree.

Toshi followed shortly behind his grandfather. He had an idea about how strong the man was but there was no way anyone could fell that giant cedar with only fists and feet. He doubted even Ayira and her ill-gained power could allow her to cut that tree.

"Now, step back and watch." Ten assumed a fighting stance, both hands extended into open palms and each arm flexed so that the respective hands were touching the opposing shoulder. Master Ten started breathing slowly, his muscles relaxing and his stance widening. Sensing magic at work Toshi quickly focused his djed into his eyes, allowing the dormant sensory nerves to dilate and accept more information.

The large man was gathering an ungodly amount of energy into both palms, it looked like all his energy was flowing rapidly into those arms and his usually bright figure was blazing with near-blinding radiance. With an almighty heave his hands converged, like scissors they tore through the thick wood Toshi had been hammering at carving two deep furrows into the trunk.

While the incision wasn't deep enough to cause the tree to fall over Toshi was awestruck. The mere fact that human hands could deal such damage into a nearly impermeable tree amazed him. "I thought you could manage, but it seems like your flux could use more improvement Toshi." the older man was grinning from ear to ear. Even if he was a master and a senior citizen the man enjoyed showing off.

"Yeah, yeah... no need to gloat." Toshi grumbled.

[Toshi]

There was no seventh day at the forest, the incident with the wolves would prevent Master Ten from suggesting the idea again until his grandson grew stronger. For now Toshi was to meditate and exercises his mastery over flux.

"Have you ever heard of the term, overgiving?" his grandfather asked him.

Toshi didn't open his eyes, preferring to remain crossed-legged on the floor. "No, I can't say I have."

"Right now, you're too weak that you don't have to worry about it but soon - very soon it will start to be a cause for concern." his grandfather said, his voice calm, detached.

It annoyed Toshi how often his grandfather had to constantly remind him that he was weak, that he still had a long way to go and how he still didn't have a remote chance in defeating the giant of a man. This suggestion that he would soon grow in strength was out of character however and the boy had to open his eyes and incline his head.

Master Ten remained in his sitting position, both hands clapped together in front of his chest. He was unmoving, except for his impossibly slow breaths the man was a statue. "I suppose your father told you about how magic works, that the power we gain always comes with a price."

"He told me a bit, that magic is fueled by the djed - a person's essence, I guess you could call it the soul or part of it or something. Everytime we use magic we spend that energy and while it does grow back overtime we should always remember never to go past our limit because that could be the end of us."

"That's the a simple way of putting it. Most magic works that way, but there is a difference in flux. While we don't use as much djed as most magical disciplines because the djed rotates internally within the body instead of being expelled there are other equally grave consequences in pushing the limits of our craft."

"Overgiving is what we call the mistake mages make when they go past their limit. Practitioners of flux who fail to see their limit sometimes believe they are invincible. This is an illusion, the body can only take so much stress, this is why we train them, so that it can take more punishment. When djed flows too quickly in the body it could tear through the very pathways it travels through, in rare occasions clusters of djed collect or slam into each other within us causing small explosions within the body."

Toshi winced. He didn't even want to imagine how that felt. He would be careful with how he utilized flux now, maybe he needed to determine a margin of safety to be used whenever he exercised his powers.

"Have you seen it happen?"

"Only once, Ayira had overstepped her limits. Alala infused her own djed into her twin and managed to calm the erratic flow of djed that would've tore through Ayira's body." he gauged his grandson's reaction and when the boy didn't react unfavorably he continued. "I'm telling you this because I want you to learn from Alala. I have never met a person with so much self-control, her willpower was unlike any that I have seen since..." the trailed off and shook his head, that was a different story for a different time. "The point is, I want you to always keep your limits in mind, take a gamble only and only if its truly necessary. Alala knew which battles to fight and she rarely exercised her powers, as great as they were..." the old geezer paused and suddenly changed the topic. "Limits differ from person to person and as you'll grow stronger you'll be able to exercise greater power with lesser risk."

Toshi wanted to pursue the topic further, he wanted to find out more about Alala and why his grandfather knew so much about the two sisters. He suspected that maybe once the two had been under his tutelage, that was probably the case but whenever he asked his grandfather would say no more.

"If you have time try and see if you can channel your djed into smaller sections of your body, work on single muscle groups for now. Refined control will allow you to come up with better moves than. For now just try and grow stronger so you can use more djed." with that the older man stood up and excused himself.

Toshi remained in the dojo, his thoughts wandering.

[Toshi]

Overgiving... The term lingered on the edges of Toshi's thoughts even as he returned to his daily exercises against the weathered punching bag. He needed to hone his body, that was true but at the same time he needed to learn how to take care of it. There was no point on dying until he had achieved his goal and Alala wouldn't have wanted him to be so reckless anyway.

He needed to find a new method of using flux, one that demanded less from the body but more from the mind. At least that way he could cope far more easily.

He had used to channel flux before his attacks even landed, he wasn't so adept in it that he could use his djed on a moment's notice but perhaps it was high time to learn how to do so.

Toshi performed a rudimentary right straight, trying his best to hold off the flux energy only seconds before his fist connected with the blood-tainted leather bag. Again he cursed, he'd already activated flux before that punch even landed, the only difference was the energy was being gathered elsewhere and while that might be somewhat useful in spreading out the strain on his body it wasn't his goal.

What he wanted was an instantaneous gathering of energy, he wanted to release the energy only a fraction of a second before the blow hit its mark. But he wasn't at a level where he could do that, his skills were unrefined as they stood now. What he could do was...

Maybe if he could somehow split the energy into many nodes... wouldn't such a dilution of energy render the strain of using too much energy less dangerous?

[Toshi]

Gathering energy, djed already freely flowing in the body at a moment's notice. Energy already in motion would be quicker to flow through the body and reach the intended body section with concentration and guidance than dormant djed.

It was a sound theory, at least to the boy and worth a try.

Slowly, as gently as he could manage he willed his djed to move faster. He concentrated on the image of swirling water, the faster rotation, fluid and steady like the water flowing on a downhill slope.

And then it hit him.

Did running djed in faster circulation mean greater risk? There was probably some danger in it but he wasn't at a level that he could harm himself yet. Wasn't this the best opportunity to discover the problems he would encounter before they could even pose as threats? He was acutely aware of the fact that he couldn't stop the circulation of djed on the fly and if someone did it for him like how Master Ten interrupted his djed through flux-infusion he could end up seriously injured, if his blood vessels didn't burst from the pressure.

A full stop wasn't possible, he needed to gradually slow down the djed flow but could somebody do that in a real fight? He concentrated, calmed himself down and allowed the djed to simmer down, and slowly the surges of strength that flowed freely and harmlessly began to break down into smaller chunks... Toshi wondered if it was safe to try and intentionally break a concentrated clump of djed flowing through his body on his own.

He tried doing so, only that instead of breaking the chunks into single units the energy nodes split equally, he couldn't effectively break down the energy clumps into their base components. Releasing the hold on his djed Toshi relaxed and allowed his mind to go blank, he was still far from his goal and being hasty wouldn't accomplish anything.

He decided that he'd take things step by step and avoid taking extreme measures to master new techniques. There was no cutting corners in training exercises like this, just with the cedars he would have to take his time and savor every moment and burn them into memory if he wanted to learn the fundamentals of this art. He would need to earn his bark and then maybe... maybe once he did he could finally become as strong as the ancient unyielding cedar.