Eridanus closed his eyes and focused his thoughts once again as he usually did when the physical world proved to be too much for his sense to handle, and he imagined himself still, willing the disorienting and nauseating swirling around him to stop and be still along with him. It did not, of course, but his stab at meditation did help him to avoid depositing the contents of his stomach on his friend's floor, which he doubt would impress the Akalak very much. Not to mention the embarrassment and awkwardness that would bring. He reminded himself to keep this lesson in mind and not overdo such techniques in real combat, for emptying your guts in front of your opponent just before getting decapitated would not be a very fine tale to regale Lhex with. Getting laughed again just before death, then getting laughed again after death was one scenario that the Vantha did not wish to be involved in in any way or another. Still, the world began to stop swirling, and he peeked an eye open to see if he was still suffering from the giddiness. When he was assured that he could walk straight without looking like a drunk again, he walked up to the center of the dojo once more to finish up with the more fun part of the training.
Poses and combat stances were important to a martial arts, that was for sure, but a martial art would not fare very well if it did not have any actual attacks, and this was exactly what Eridanus was planning to practice. As he settled into a neutral stance, he casually jabbed forward with his outward (and thus, non-master hand) the limb striking out quickly but with no commitments in energy or body weight, returning to its original position as fast as it had taken for it to come out. He made sure to maintain his stance even as he continued on practising punches, strikes, jabs, uppercuts, crosses and the myriad of upper torso attacks he had learned by himself throughout the years and with variations of those attacks taught by Ishkaral. Being able to go into a stance was one thing, holding that stance was another, for the formation of a stance was designed for optimality in positioning and this was an advantage he would loathe to give up easily.
Eridanus began with a series of strikes that flowed from one form to another, specifically designed in such a manner so as to facilitate better understanding of how one type of attack can efficiently be followed up with another type, and he marvelled at how well his body was adapting to it. The prior experience he already had with the attacks, combined with his open-minded nature and the painful conditioning he had done earlier on proved to be useful now as his body responded almost automatically, though it sometimes lagged in certain forms and Eri made sure to stop, restart several forms earlier and try to flow pass it as smoothly as he could, sometimes re-doing it several times until he was satisfied that the improvement was enough for the day.
After half a bell's time of flowing through the different upper body offensive techniques, Eri finally decided that his body had reached the limit of its ability to absorb knowledge, after realizing that towards the end of the session he was beginning to slur and make careless mistakes that he should not normally make. That was usually a sign that his body was beginning to reject anything new being taught to it and he respected that omen. He stretched on the floor, improving the blood circulation throughout his body so that he would not get unnecessary muscle cramps or strains but doing it in short bursts to prevent his body from cooling down. He was not totally done yet.
When his body was sufficiently stretched, he hunkered down on the floor, supporting his body with his arms in a push-up position. This was a common exercise many use as a form of improvement as well as a form for punishment, the latter he knew very well the militaristic Denvali tend to use on errant adolescents who failed to to see the importance of discipline and respect. He lowered himself, controlling his breathing as he did so, and carried on twenty times in rapid-fire succession. Still on his hands, he kept his body up, taking a short while to reorganize his strength and he carried on another set of twenty. When he finished his third set, his muscles were already burning from the rigorous exercise and his face was beginning to flush red, but he took another deep breath, knowing that only by pushing one's muscles beyond one's comfort zone would one improve. He carried on for another set, and finally when he was done with his fifth set, he had a sliver of strength to raise himself for a few seconds before collapsing quite unceremoniously on the floor, his chest heaving from the energy expenditure.
As he lay on the floor, his eyes on the ceiling, he organized his thoughts around him and focused on stabilizing his breathing first, then mentally reducing any importance he placed on the muscles aching in his arm, a way of distracting himself from his arms that would surely ache more the next day. As his breathing grew more stable, Eri slowly stood up, careful not to let the blood rush into his head by standing up too suddenly, and he walked over to his bag to get a few gulps of water. He still had his last exercise to do, which was that of stamina, for strength and stamina were equally important in martial arts, along with the skilled aspects of technique and understanding.
This was probably going to be either a challenge or a cake in the walk, and the best thing that he would probably not know which for such was the unpredictability of the City of Illusions. He was planning to go for a run and hopefully reach back his location in a bell's time, but unlike other more normal cities where he could plan his route and thus vary his speed accordingly, he had no idea knowing where the next turn would take him, and he could very well possibly find himself back at Ishkaral's house in 5 chimes' time or 5 bell's time. It was a gamble he would have to take, and this unpredictability would probably force his physical shape to improve for his body would not be able to compensate with speed not knowing the distance it would have to travel. This would have more relevance in real life as well, for reality was often unpredictable. He took a deep breath, and began running off in a random direction, not bothering to take his bearings or adjust for landmarks as everything could change in the City of Illusions.