Solo Strength and Fire

[Alexandra]

60th of Spring, 513 AV

Fire, it was a force of both unimaginable destruction and a bringer of warmth and life. Few forces in the world reached the polar nature of fire, one of the primal elements of creation. As such it was with great caution that Alex intended to call it forth for her training in the tundra some distance away from Avanthal.

It had been six days since she had last practiced outside of the city, her sprain had healed well enough from the last session involving Flux so she had felt it best to resume her training. The tall young woman was still working on striking a balance in regards to safety and power, it was unlikely that the answer would come to her anytime soon so instead she had decided to work on both her martial arts and reimancy today. She had been neglecting her practice in regards to her other magic disciplines, something that was quite troubling.

Today Alex intended to make up for lost time, it was really a bad idea to simply let Flux take up the bulk of her time when she needed to also further her knowledge of other disciplines. Before she would call forth the flame she needed to meditate, then to go through the motions of the style best suited to be used in tandem with reimancy. So there the woman stood, her fist against the heel of her hand in the middle of the barren tundra that dominated the landscape around Avanthal.

Alex started her normal breathing exercise, inhaling through her nose and exhaling out through her mouth. The cycle cleared her mind as she decided what form would be best for using reimancy, an important factor for any combat situation. Ruthless Discharge was far to fast and quick, demanding instant movements and reactions to counter the enemy and keep them on the defensive. Bloody Gavel seemed far more suited to reimancy as the motions were not overly complex nor were they too quick.

The woman cycled her breath several more times to kill any distractions that might prove disadvantageous before falling into the ready position for the Bloody Gavel style. She would probably need to go through the motions a few times to better prepare herself for using fire along with the style. Many more experienced reimancers probably would have scoffed at the idea of using it in martial arts however, the way Alex saw it, reimancy could augment unarmed combat just as much as Flux if used correctly. Besides, her zone of res control was rather limited at the moment, using it with martial arts made sense for a short range.

The motions of the desired style close in mind, Alex stood still a moment, gazing out across the barren tundra to the silhouette of Avanthal in the distance. Then, confidant in her actions she began.

[Alexandra]

The first cycle of her form was slow and ponderous, designed to help her notice any immediate issues or abnormalities in her execution. Mistakes were best to catch early before they became conditioned into her style by repetition. Her fist swung down from its over head position at the same moment she moved her back foot forward, a motion more for intimidation than anything else though she had broken a block or two with it before. The next move was another step forward at the same moment she struck out with the fist level with her chest, which was quick followed up by a low kick.

The kick was supposed to trip up an opponent and get them on the ground, or at the very least stagger them. It had never worked exactly that way for Alex so she always followed up with another swift punch and a routine of high and low kicks to disorient her adversary. When she finally did get them on the ground she would quickly deliver a strong stomp to the knee cap to make sure that the person remained on the ground. Following this she would crouch and deliver a quick succession of jabs to weak ribs and unprotected organs. The finishing blow was the gavel part, a high and brutal stomp to the throat of the enemy and twist of her foot to snap the opponent's neck.

The snow crunched under her foot and Alex gazed down at her booted foot for a moment, unwanted memories swarming her mind.

He had just been a boy, he couldn't have been much older than Alex at the time, only sixteen. The brown haired boy was dirty, ragged looking and smell rather bad, he looked every bit the bandit of the forest. His eyes spoke of a cleanness, an innocence that couldn't possibly have been associated with the taking of life. Those eyes stared pleadingly up at Alexandra, begging wordlessly for his life when his mouth couldn't.

The tall red haired woman could feel his ragged and ruined breath beneath her bare foot, his labored gasps for breath becoming all to clear to her. His leg had snapped under the force of her ruthless stomp, it was unlikely he would ever walk properly again. She had felt a rib snap under the force of her blows, likely he was bleeding internally along with the ruined wind pipe and broken leg. All in all he would probably be no threat to anyone ever again, it would have been quite easy to just run from this.

Alex was scared though, scared and angry, her blue eyes burning hatefully into the bandit's brown ones. Her father's teachings had been too dominant back then, too fresh in her mind. There was no mercy in her eyes, only hate and the desire to avenge the cut across her back. The kill, when it finally came, had not been quick or clean, it had been slow and deliberate.

She had taken great pleasure in how the boy squirmed under her foot like a worm trying to escape a sparrows grasp. Slowly she twisted her foot, a sick grin over coming her lips as the boy clawed at her leg to get her to stop. Cruelly the tall girl pressed down hard, cutting off any air from his lungs and feeling the crunch of his wind pipe as she mercilessly crushed it further. Though she was loathe to admit it now, she had laughed back then at his suffering and had gorged herself on his pain. When the end came there was no horror or disgust in her eyes but rather satisfaction as the boy's neck finally snapped.

Alex could feel the tears flowing down her cheeks as the memory came flooding into her mind, overwhelming her. Such things were not normal occurrences, still even with meditation and control they did manage to slip through every now and then. The tears were like ice on her cheeks, they were not extreme nor did sobs wrack her body but they flowed freely in the cold air.

Regrets were something she still possessed, unfortunately in a large number. That was probably one of her bigger regrets, early in her travels she had relished in the power her magic gave her over others and she had delighted in taking life. It had been merely a sign of success in battle back then, nothing more, just like her father had taught her. If it had not been for the teachings of her mother taking hold, Alex didn't want to imagine where she would be now.

The woman wiped her tears away, trying to control her emotions for the rest of the session.

[Alexandra]

It was perhaps unwise to continue her session after the episode of instability, however she needed to get this out of the way. Alex had been neglecting her other disciplines of magic for too long, it would be irresponsible of her to push it aside any longer. Still she was not stupid, she knew that meditation was necessary before continuing anything. Alex had already had to deal with sprained hand, she was not too keen on burning herself as well.

So she fell to both knees and closed her eyes, beginning her breathing exercises anew. Clarity was paramount when handling dangerous magic, if her mind was clouded by inconvenient thoughts then she could make a deadly mistake. So she reflected upon her past for a while, going through the painful memory again.

It filled her with great sorrow to remember the moments when she had been filled with her father's teachings, when she had been little better than a thug consumed by her own power. Alex remembered every single face, every kill in great detail. It was impossible to justify her actions back then, there was no one to blame for her weakness but herself. It was her fault that she had acted thusly, not her fathers.

Dwelling on the past would help no one however, it was only by moving forward that Alex could one day learn to live with her actions. One day, after enough time has passed maybe the mark of her sins would lessen and maybe she could prevent other crimes similar to hers from occurring. Perhaps, but until that day she would stay her course and continue to hone her skills that she may better help others. This was the path she walked, one of enlightenment.

Alex opened her eyes once again and stood, satisfied with her reflection on the matter. The past was in the past, it was best to learn from it and move on with greater wisdom in mind. If there was any lesson to learn here today it was that, likely it was one she would need to keep close in mind as she went forward along her path.

Her mind more clear the young woman adopted her ready stance again, preparing to go through the motions of her style once more.

[Alexandra]

With her memories and emotions safely contained at the moment, Alex moved through the motions of the Bloody Gavel. Her movements were slow and ponderous just like the first time, this was the time she would examine her execution to see any obvious flaws. The process of correcting herself was long and tedious, whenever she saw a flaw she would repeat the correct motion multiple times so that it became conditioned in her mind. Perhaps one day she would reach the level of mastery where the moves came to her instinctually, that was unfortunately not today.

After finding any flaws and correcting them Alex then moved through the style gradually faster, reaching full combat speed after about ten minutes. She cycled through the full speed movements about five times, before stepping back, nodding in satisfaction. Though it was not perfect it was still good, which would be fine for the purposes of this exercise.

The tall woman cycled her breathing a couple of times, trying to concentrate on the task at hand and push the memory from before even further back in her mind. An interruption like that could prove fatal when handling something as unstable as fire. The woman focused on gathering liquid res around both of her fists, the drain on her Djed noticeable. She also allowed some to gather on her boots, in preparation for any kicks she would be using. With the res gathered in the proper areas and the drain on her Djed not terrible Alex assessed that she was ready to begin.

As she moved her highest fist down and stepped forward the woman willed the res to move out from her fist and ignite, forming a flaming arc in front of her that was quickly consumed. Her outward punch sent more flames towards her imaginary opponent, as did her low kick. All the while Alex couldn't help but marvel at the way the flames moved in tune with her desires, it was quite pretty to observe. When she finished her cycle looked down at the remaining res in her hands, cocking her head to the side as she looked over the fluid.

The exercise had left her tired, there was no denying that but it would be a shame to let the left over res go to waste. Yes, it felt like a good idea to let of another spell just a little one, after all the heat would feel so good hovering above her hands. Alex gathered the remaining res she had created over her right hand and ordered the liquid orb to hover above her hand before igniting it.

The woman smiled tiredly at the orb of fire, it was quite pretty and the heat was warming her hands up a great deal. She felt the urge to make the spell bigger, to cast more and more res into the flames and she had started to add more res, laughing tiredly as it got bigger. A voice inside of her screamed for her to stop and think about what she was doing, but Alex didn't want to think at the moment. What had thinking ever done for her anyway?

The large ball of fire hovered between both hands, thawing them from the time in the cold tundra. She didn't want to let go of it, because then she would be cold again and really who wanted to deal with that? A brief moment of lucidity occurred as one of the flames licked her hand, it was only then that she realized the danger she was in. Alex had given too much to the flames, it was near incontrollable at this level. Quickly she threw it outward at the tundra ground some distance away, turned and then ducked, pulling her robe up around herself.

[Alexandra]

After a moment Alex dared to stand and look back behind her, eyes widening at the sight. Much of the snow on the ground some distance away was melted away, steam still rising from the spot where the large fireball had hit it. It didn't have to be said, because Alexandra already knew what had happened. She had overgiven.

It hadn't been severe or even moderate overgiving but it was certain that it had happened in a mild way, it might have been much worse had she not managed to gain control of herself. Even know that she stood there, panting like a dog, cold sweat forming a sheen across her body the insidious sweet whispers hiss about in her head. They egged her on to cast again, to make more fire, to drown the whole tundra in an inferno but Alex shook them away. She needed to get back home and meditate on this troubling occurrence, as well as get some rest.

A wet trickle made its way down her nostrils, a single crimson drop falling to the snow at her feet. Alex pressed two fingers to her nose and pulled them back, chills running down her spine as she looked up her own blood. She could feel a slight dizziness about her, an unnerving unsteadiness of her legs becoming apparent. Perhaps she had given more than she had first thought? Either way it was bad, she never recalled getting a bloody nose from casting but it was probably not a good sign.

She couldn't believe that she had been so careless, the young woman prided herself on control and knowing her limits. It appeared that was not the case entirely judging by the actions of today, still it could have been far, far worse. The stories her father had told of wizards who gave too much often involved mutations, insanity, even death. The woman shook her head and gazed off in the direction of Avanthal. It was a long walk from here to there, that was for sure, especially in her exausted state. She really wanted nothing more than to collapse, to fall back in the snow and sleep like the dead. Which she would be if she slept outside of the city walls.

The woman sighed raggedly and started moving off in the direction of the city on unsteady and wobbling legs, mentally berating herself for such foolishness. Alex would have to be more careful handling Reimancy in the future, it was clear that while it was powerful it demanded a steep price in its learning.

[Noblesse]

Alexandra :

Notes:
Your retirement is very sudden and I did not expect this. However, since you are already greyed out, I did not post your grade anymore. PM me for your awards when you come back and I will post it here.

True nobility lies in being superior to your former self

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out. Heehee.