[The Pits]Learning Something New Everyday

[Shane Wallsly]

Timestamp: 6th of Summer, 514 AV

Shane felt he was getting a little stagnant. Without work at the shop to prompt him into learning every day he wasn't really learning anything anymore. He couldn't live like that though. He needed to continue learning. He needed to keep climbing the ladder. He needed to learn something new today, anything.

Shane got stoked the fire absent-mindedly as he pondered this. Norman had his head on his lap and Shane was petting him with his free hand. “What should we learn today, Norman?” He asked the dog thoughtfully. “Shall I hypnotize you again? Shall I meditate the deep thoughts of inner self? Maybe I can find a book at the Great Bazaar.... I never did get back to Magic and I.” Norman looked up at him with those sad red eyes and made a kind of whining noise. “You want to go out, huh? Well I guess I could try something outside. The axe training was a bit of a disaster but maybe that's just not my weapon. Maybe I'm a sword fighter or a spear guy. I dunno, what do you think Normie?” The dog didn't answer but he did wag his tail.

“I agree.” Shane replied rising to his feet. He stretched out working out any stiffness from his bones. He felt too frail, too unfit, to be any good at fighting. Even while working at Undeniable Interests and receiving a moderately stable cash flow Shane had always kept his coins close to his chest just in case Avira threw him out on his ass one day. Just once Shane wished he could eat like a commoner rather than a poor peasant. At least he was no longer in squalor as he had been prior to picking up Brun's book.

He retrieved Norman's leash and tied it onto the dog's collar. He picked up his coin purse and exited his home. Shane knew he was going to learn something today. The only mystery, and this was the fundamental mystery of life, was what, how, when and where he was going to learn...

OOCSorry if this is a bit short but I wasn't really sure what to start with and I suck at beginnings.

Credit to Skerry

[Rachel Messer]

"Ha!"

"Hyah!"

The grunts of two figures, both wielding longswords could be seen sparring in the Fighter's Pit that day. Rachel, the blond-haired instructor, was having a match with her favorite student, the young man named Jon, sweats marring both of their foreheads as blunted steel clashed against each other. They were both wearing common clothing, no armor, as the Summer heat could risk cooking them in restrictive clothing. Not that they had to worry anyway, both of their weapons were blunted, at worse, they could get bruises.

The instructor unleashed her three strikes combo, swiveling her body as she struck Jon from the right side then followed by another strike from the opposite direction, finished by a overhead strike. The student prepared himself as he parried each of Rachel's strikes, though he opted to dodge back to avoid the final cleave since the technique itself was rather slow, but powerful. "Good!" The instructor praised then planted her right form firmly on the ground, taking the gained distance to surprise her student, see if Jon remembered his training that in real combat, opponents would try to surprise him with every trick in their sleeves.

Rachel concentrated as she felt the flow of Djed inside her body, directing it to her arm and shoulder muscles, she gripped her longsword firmly with both hands, her eyes were set, For Priskil! then she launched herself forward, making a swift stab, slightly faster than usual and surprising to an unprepared opponent, but... not Jon, because the student was a fellow practitioner of Flux and regularly practiced with Rachel. The student already prepared his Flux in tandem then unleashed a parrying strike by smashing away Rachel's sword with his own to the side, they ended up facing each other, face separated by mere inches, both smiling with confidence.

"Ha... phew... I think," Rachel took a step back then gestured for him to stand down, "That would be all for today." The instructor smiled as her gnosis flared, the comforting yellow light washing over them both, chipping away their exhaustion and filling them with hope and courage. "Yeah, good spar as always, Madame." Like they had done so often, Jon procured five gold mizas then gave it to Rachel, the fee for one session of training. After packing his belongings, the young man bid farewells to his instructor.

Well, I need to take a break for a few chimes. Another potential student might come so Rachel wasted no time in going to her pack, procuring her towel, wiping her sweat then took a gulp from her waterskin. Then she placed her longsword on the rack, eased her muscles, then sat down on a barrel, letting her muscles rest for the moment.

[Shane Wallsly]

Shane wasn't to surprised to find two people fighting at the pits. That's what it was there for after all. A man and a woman were going at it with swords. Long, metal swords that made horrific clashing noises with each strike of steel on steel. It was at once terrifying and exhilirating to behold. They moved with strength, balance and purpose. Thease two weren't just any fighters; no Shane would bet these people were proffesionals. Trained, skilled killers.

For no other reason than Shane was in the habit of viewing as many activities as possible through his second sight Shane closed his eyes and with competent ease he summoned the djed within to aid his sight. Once opened the technicolour yet completely unfocused world met his eyes. It was like everything was at once spectacular and bombarding. There was so much information streming in from everywhere so he needed to focus on one specific aur. He turned his focus onto the female fighter honing his vision and gaining a clearer view of her aura. Then, as he had been practicing recently, he widened his field of focus. He latched on to the other persons aura.

It was breathtaking!!! It was... Shane had never before witnessed this depth. He could almost feel the energy flowing, the muscles straining... Oh, the harder and longer he focussed the clearer it became. It was exhilirating. Shane realised he must be feeling whatever it was that other fighters felt that made them enjoy it.

Then Shane felt something very different. It was the woman's body. It didn't feel natural anymore. It moved in a confounding way. Shane frowned intensely. For a brief moment the woman seemed to have moved in a completely unnatural way. And then the man did it too! He seemed to pull out some power from within himself to push his body past natural limits. Was it hidden power or had he taken it from some other part of his body. Were they redirecting energy around their bodies? How could they do that? It had to be magic.

It was over, however, before he could postulate much more. They came face to face and then stepped away from each other disarming themselves and the like. Shane blinked away the djed within and took a deep, cleansing breath. They exchanged words and money and the man left. He smiled at Shane and petted Norman on his way out. Nice chap.

Shane decided to investigate. He found a small wooden post and tied Norman's leash about it and approached the woman. “Good afternoon, are you doing lessons? I'm Shane.” He put on his best friendly smile. “I've got money.”

Credit to Skerry

[Rachel Messer]

"Hm?" Rachel raised her head to look at the approaching figure with a friendly smile, ah, another potential student, a young man with dark hair and equally dark eyes, of course, she would love to have him as her student, his initial polite and friendly attitude fitted well with the Priskilite. Wiping her brows, Rachel gingerly stood up then offered her hand, "Good afternoon, Sir Shane, I am Rachel Messer, instructor," Rachel was a - very - polite woman and it showed through her tone and body language, she held most people in high regard unless they proved otherwise, "Yes, I am available, and yes, the price will be five gold mizas per session."

The instructor would wait if Shane had any concerns to express, then she politely gestured for him to follow her, "I specialize in the arts of longsword combat, is this your first time in the Pits?" Though Rachel didn't speak it, she had the assumption that Shane was no fighter, it looked obvious in his lack of muscles and general... aura, being an expert swordswoman, she just had this 'feeling' if someone was a seasoned combatant.

At last, the arrived at the instructor's usual training spot, with the advanced dummy and elaborate training post, complete with a rack filled with well-worn blunt steel weapons, courtesy of the fighter pits, "Before we begin, are there any questions you would like to ask? If not, you can pick one of the longsword over there and... show me what you can do," She nodded, "I want to assess your existing skill first so I can figure out a good starting point from you." Her students ranged from complete beginners to seasoned veterans, well, the latter were usually interested in a spar than a lesson.

[Shane Wallsly]

6th of Summer, 514 AV

Shane smiled at the politeness but waved it away. “Please, just call me Shane. I'm nothing but an ordinary man.” He told her with false humility. “It's nice to meet you, Miss Messer.” He didn't miss a heartbeat when she told him the price. He had figured it would be some fee such as that. “Sounds good.” He said and began to follow her as she lead him away to another part of the pits.

“Well it's not my first time but it is my second.” He answered. “However the first time was for a free axe lesson. I didn't do very well with that at all. I'm more than a touch clumsy. I need discipline.” He looked at her slyways before adding “It would take a work of magic to make me into a warrior so you have your work cut out for you.”

When theygot to what he assumed was her area she told him to grab a longsword and show her his existing skill. He frowned a touch. He had no existing skill. He'd never picked up a longsword in his life and he really didn't need to make an embarassment of himself to this woman. He could not forget his purpose; the magic; but how was he going to get her to open up about it. He walked over to the rack and picked up a longsword by the hilt. It was heavier than he expected. He held it in two hands the blade pointing vertically up.

“Woah, looked a lot easier when I saw you and your other student sparring.” he slipped in conversationally. “You two were really going at it. It was masterful to watch. You both moved with a speed and grace I've enevr seen before.” Shane hoped he wasn't being too obvious or overdoing it. He began to swing the sword about a bit but it wasn't long before he had dropped the deadly instrument. “Woops!”

[Estrellir Konrath]

Shane Wallsly

Skills
Auristics +1
Rhetoric +1
Weapon: Longsword +1

Lores
Norman: Good listener
Auristics: How to recognize Flux
Rhetoric: How to approach a request

Rachel Messer

Skills
Withheld due to retirement

Lores
Withheld due to retirement

Other
Withheld due to retirement

Comments

This would've been an exciting thread, it's a shame it was cut short. Shane strikes me as an interesting character, driven and slightly comical at the same time. If you've any questions or concerns, feel free to PM!

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