Inoadar
Inoadar heard the mage out, pondering the words. He was silent for a few chimes as he considered the motivation for his learning. He thought he was capable of a compromise between the two approaches, but he did not want it to be due to mere impatience. It may be seen as odd to some people, but there was a great similarity in the degree to which one learned patience in both magic and poison crafting, or died.
"I can fully understand your approach in a regimen of physical training to focus on the "Feel" of your own body, the throbbing of strained muscle, the pounding of your heart and the feel of the press of blood through your veins as a result, the ache of a bone taxed to strain, the heave of your chest as you gulp air in exhaustion, the popping of bones as you stretch and twist..." He paused a moment to gauge Miro's assessment of his understanding as to the point of this initial stage.
Either the mage was waiting for him to finish before leveling a critique, or he was close enough not to be corrected. "I think the body retains a..."memory" of sorts...of these sensations. I think the key is more a matter of getting the MIND to generate this memory on command. I mean, if you need to suddenly direct strength from one limb to another, you probably do not have time to go into a program of exercises to build these sensations from scratch. You need to be able to recall them...instantly...on demand!" he slapped a fist into his palm to emphasize the swiftness he meant.
It was fairly obvious to Inoadar that Miro could tell there was particular point he was coming to, so he came straight out with it. "When I was in Nyka, I was a member of what they call The Second Edict, an organization that was dedicated to showing devotion, and building strength and resolve, through self-imposed pain and suffering. It was the one good thing that miserable town had going for it, though the effort was wasted on weakling gods that ignored it."
He caught himself, waving the line of thought off. "The point being that I still retain much of this "memory", in the way of feeling the endurance of the body and sensations of the limits of applied pressure and pain upon it. But I wonder if this would make me more, or LESS...sensible...or...realistic...in determining when I have reached a limit. I KNOW when my physical efforts have brought my body to a point where I risk permanent damage. But where this feeling is empowered by the application of magic, I am concerned that I will be confusing sensations that I AM familiar with, with those that are new to me."
"I can only say that I have learned well, in my field, the value of patience. But at the same time, I cannot take half my day exercising and meditating. Also I have access to a poison, one actually intended for use in interrogations, that makes the body more sensitive to pain. Do you think that these factors would make it possible for me to take a partial shortcut on the more drawn out, disciplined approach? Since both this chemical, and my past training, would aid me in more quickly getting in touch with the "feel" of my body reaching its limits?"
It looked as though Miro was about to respond, so Inoadar summed it up. "Basically, I would prefer the more disciplined approach. But the running of the shop, and other obligations, make this very difficult. Do you think it would be worse to have a stern program that was frequently interrupted, or a somewhat lighter program that could be maintained consistently? Or do you think these other aspects would allow me to sort of...meet your two approaches half way?"
x
