Balthazar's School of The Elements

[Tio Silver]

With a scowl that would have fitted the face of the devil himself, Tio watched as Angus further mocked him with his debased behaviour. One day, he swore to himself, he would have his revenge. But that day was not today; there were too many witnesses around.

Faerro took the opportunity to leave, though with his head still spinning from the minor concussion Tio didn't catch the reason why. Perhaps he'd been unimpressed by Tio's lack of skill? Or perhaps he'd just remembered that he'd left the cooking fire on? It was a shame; the mer had been pretty cool to talk too, and was a lot more fun than most others of his species. Maybe they'd meet again someday? Still with him gone Tio was without a sparring partner, and so decided to rejoin the others.

He stood up on shakey legs at just the moment that a powerful blast of air, the one that Praetorium had fired, rocketed through the training ring and slapped into him like two tons of wet fish. With an ungraceful cry of "Aaarrrgggghhh" and an explicit word too rude to be read by civilised society, Tio was thrown through a surprising acrobatic reverse somersault and landed flat down on his ass again. It seemed that lady luck was not smiling on him today; in fact it was more accurate to say she had rolled up her sleeves and has repeatedly punching him in the stomach.

"Et tu wind?" He sighed, picking himself up again and brushing a few stray blades of glass off of his clothes. Then, after looking around to make sure there were no more rogue attacks flying about to catch him by surprise, he headed back to Prae and Balthazar. "Well that was one way to get warmed up. So what's next teach? Got any fancy tricks you wouldn't mind sharing?"

Off Topic

Faerro has unfortunately PMed me to let me know that he is dropping out of the thread.

[Balthazar Black]

“”

72 Ashan 719

Balthazar watched Praetorum attempt the move twice with the slightly different degrees of success. He couldn't deny the sight of the wind moving towards the sparring area worried him a little but the two who had gone over there had gone to that end for the added challenge. He wouldn't deprive them of it. Then Faerro departed and Tio returned to Balthazar and Prae. The group had shrunken which would have demoralized some teachers but Balthazar saw it as the opportunity to control the variables a bit better.

Two students could be managed easier than three and for what Balthazar had planned next that would suit him just fine. He gave Prae a pat on the back as a subtle 'good job' and then stepped forward to address the returning Tio. "Now that we are all warmed up, we can begin." Balthazar positioned himself between the students and the targets he had set up. He felt nervous because he wasn't exactly the greatest at explaining things he had in his head but he gave it a shot anyways.

"I practice four different styles of unarmed combat based around the elements. I'll admit that I'm still working on three of the four but I seem to have- at least in my opinion- gotten a handle on the fourth. I've taken to calling it Ustrina and it represents fire. Fire is an element of power. An element that consumes until there is nothing left to consume. However we defier's understand that it is also much more. It can be graceful and in some cases beautiful but the danger behind it is always present. Ustrina can be no different. This form relies on continuous offensive pressure. I have discovered a reliable opening attack that could give you an edge in any fight against a charging opponent."

Balthazar turned towards the targets "The attack consists of three moves- give or take whatever you thing your ether can handle- performed at a distance. With each attack you manifest a flame and propel it with your motion towards the target. The first is a jab, the second is a leg sweep-" Balthazar paused and turned to Prae "You could probably use your tail," Balthazar turned back to the targets. "The third move is another jab. It's a little hard to explain so I'll demonstrate."

Balthazar took in a deep breath. He jabbed into the air quickly with his left hand and where his fist stopped, a flame propelled outward towards the target. Balthazar followed his jab by twisting at the hip and bringing his right leg around in a low arc that sent another, wider burst of flames towards the target. As Balthazar came up from his leg sweep he thrust his right hand out and this time propelled a stream of flames that engulfed the target for a moment before Balthazar winced and the flames dissipated. Balthazar shook out his right hand and flexed his fingers for a few seconds before looking at Tio and Prae.

"The reason I use fire for this is because it will not stop your opponent. Earth, wind, and water may knock them down but fire will only burn them. If they endure the burning enough to get in your range- assuming they don't have a method of blocking it- they will be weaker and provide more opening." Balthazar explained.

[Praetorum]

Date: 72nd of Ashan, Arc 719

Status: Trying not to trip over himself

Weapons: Unarmed

Armor: Leather Armor

Buffs: N/A

Debuffs: N/A

Time seemed to slow as Praetorum's eyes traced the trajectory of his badly aimed blast, and landed on Tio, a fraction of a trill before the blast actually hit him and sent the poor man flying.


Prae slapped a hand to his muzzle, choking back a gaffaw as a shriek and a curse rang through the air, much as Tio himself did, flipping tail—well, legs, he supposed—over head like a cloth doll before landing heavily on his rear. 



He did manage to steel his expression though, putting on a mildly apologetic face as the human limped close, ready for the next part of their lesson. And if the twitching of his tail betrayed his inner laughter, humans rarely ever payed attention to such things. 



His humor abated as Balthazar began his explanation, and Praetorum watched the martial artist's demonstration with a careful eye. Continuous offensive pressure—odd as it might be to see in a shield bearer—had always been Praetorum's preferred fighting style. His own heavy defenses allowed him to focus on offence without having to fear for his own hide. Raskalarn's legion was the same way, fighting with an unrelenting forward motion that allowed foes only two options: run, or die. 


So while it would have been a stretch to say he felt confident when stepping to give the attack a try, he at least felt comfortable in doing it. He stopped some distance away from one of the targets, and settled into a fighting stance with his right foot first, before changing his mind and shifting to his left foot. After an experimental jab, he changed his leading foot again, before attempting Balthazar's move in earnest. 



The first jab was easy enough, bright flame bursting from his fist, though more in a fan than the pointed projectile Balthazar had shown them. Prae was not so confident in his aim, not when he'd never done much weaponless fighting beyond a boyhood brawl or two. 



For the spin, Prae took the martial artist's advice, and used his tail instead, the tip of it dragging a line of fire through the air as Prae whirled around on the ball of his left foot. When he landed, he found he hadn't quite completed his spin, so when his right hand punched into the air, another fan of flame following the motion, he didn't quite hit the target, the flames instead passing it harmlessly by. 



"Not my best showing." He admitted, a little sheepishly, as he stepped back to watch Tio attempt the move.

[Tio Silver]

Tio let out a low whistle as he watched Balthazar pull off the rather complex string on moves. The dude was no slouch when it came to combat, and had a good grasp of controlling fire. Personally Tio preferred to turn his opponent's charge against them rather than meet it head on with his own strength, but seeing Balthazar move had given him an idea for how to alter the move to suit his own repertoire.

"Guess I'm up next." He announced after Prae had finished, clapping the Ithecal on the back as he took his place before the target. As he took his place he looked within himself, reaching for the spark of defiance within and feeding it a trickle of his ether. Like the booming of thunder it roared to life, raging like a storm and filling his body with its power!

When he moved to make the first jab, Tio's body was loose and airy. His jab would not have done much damage to anyone at all if it had connected; it was the jab of someone ready to dodge rather than attack, a distraction. The fireball it shot out was similarly small, but struck the target right where its eyes would have been.

Instead of moving straight to a sweep kick Tio used the momentum to spin around first, dropping low as his did so so that his sweep kick came around light and fast. A far more impressive wave of fire swept out from his foot, washing across the field and scorching the dummies legs. And then for the third blow...

Tio rolled to the side.

A rather underwhelming finisher, but tactically speaking the best one. In his mind's eye he could see a charging opponent first being blinded, if not from burnt eyes then dazzled by the sudden change in light, and unable to see the second attack that bit at their legs, weakening them enough to make changing the direction of their own momentum difficult. As he dodged away they would career past him, trapped in their own charge until they crashed into something and leaving them wide open for a finishing blow.

[Balthazar Black]

“”

72 Ashan 719

Watching the two students was enlightening to say the least. Balthazar watched Praetorum perform the move- albeit slightly modified as Balthazar had suggested- with interest. Prae seemed to be slightly off target but Balthazar wasn't deterred because he hadn't really expected Prae to be a marksman with flames the first time he attempted the move. He was just glad to see that Praetorum managed to move himself through the motions and utilize defiance. When Praetorum commented that it was not his best showing, Balthazar shook his head but he didn't say anything yet. It was Tio's turn to attempt the move.

Tio surprised Balthazar a little bit more than Prae had. Tio's aim seemed superior and while his moves had been different the tactical reasoning was clear. Balthazar- who had lived with the ability to sense motion around himself longer than he could remember- didn't really understand blindness but he understood the tactical advantage to it because almost everyone he had fought had gone for his eyes at some point only to find out he didn't quite need them for unarmed fighting. The other two movements were fairly self explanatory even if rolling out of the way for an immobile target seemed... odd to watch. With Tio done, Balthazar addressed Prae.

"A little confidence goes a long way. I've seen much worse before. Try to focus to force behind your punch a little more and it should help you narrow the flame you project into a more concentrated blast. Worry about aim after that." With Balthazar's advice given to Prae, he turned to look at Tio.

"The move you performed is not quite the move I did however all of the fundamentals were there. You propelled a burst of flame from your body and you did it with good accuracy. Consider me impressed." Balthazar motioned for the two to follow him to the small diamond he had set up with targets- well targets wasn't quite accurate. Balthazar had planted four wooden spikes into the ground with round targets on them but the exercise he had planned did not actually involve aim at all.

"If you don't want to continue practicing on the range, you can use these to practice controlled dancing." Balthazar began to explain as he widened his feet a little and slowly moved his hands in a figure eight formation in front of himself. As Balthazar drew his arms inward towards his body they would all- save maybe the guy with wind always whipping around him- would begin to feel a breeze rise in the air around the diamond of targets. As his arms circled away from his body the breeze became a stiffer wind and began to turn the four targets. Balthazar continued to smooth motion with his hands and the wind continued to swirl around the targets, slowly spinning them. "The objective is simply to get all four targets to begin rotating the same direction, and then make them all switch directions one by one. I'll admit this is a more meditative exercise than most I practice. I personally enjoy the simple goal."

Balthazar allowed his hands to drop to his side and with them the wind went still... well as still as wind went. He gestured for one of the learners to try.

[Praetorum]

Date: 72nd of Ashan, Arc 719

Status: Showing off

Weapons: Unarmed

Armor: Leather Armor

Buffs: N/A

Debuffs: N/A

Praetorum considered this new exercise Balthazar was proposing, then stepped aside, gesturing for Tio to go first. He wanted to give the range one more try, now that an idea had come to mind. 



Turning to face the nearest target, Prae settled into a left foot forward stance, shifting his feet a little until he felt steady. Then he jabbed towards the target with his right hand, keeping Balthazar's advice about focusing his force in mind. This time, the projectile he sent was narrower, but still slightly off course. It would have sailed over the target's shoulder, except that as it came within a handsbreadth of the target, the bolt of flame burst, blooming like a flower in Ashan. The flame singed the face of the target, and Prae hoped, in a real fight, would blind them as well. 


This time, when he twisted, it was his back foot, not his leading one, that came sweeping in the direction of the target. Again, a fan of flame sprouted from the tip of his tail, and Prae landed a little unsteadily, before punching out with his left hand, sending a quick gout of flame towards the target. His aim was very wobbly, but like Balthazar said, that was something that he could work on later. 



Rolling his shoulders, Prae returned to the other two, waiting for Tio to finish the exercise that Balthazar had set for them. Once the other mage was done, Prae would step up to take a turn. 



The wind answered his silent call easily, swirling eagerly around his hands, gusts licking affectionately at the webbing between his fingers. Rather than the figure eight motion that Balthazar was using, Prae simply used the hands circling motion that the human had shown him earlier, gathering the wind in the motions of his hands. Then he swept, sending the wind towards the four targets. 



Now this, this was something he was confident he could do, and well. Precise aiming and martial arts may not have been his forte, but the wind twisted and spun easily at his spark's call.


He hardly noticed when his hands started to move of their own accord, circling in front of him, chasing one another. But the wind followed his lead, circling at the speed and direction that his hands set. Within moments, all four targets were spinning synchronously, the wind around each chasing its own tail like a dog. 



Then, Praetorum set his eyes on two of the targets, and one of his hands swept around to reverse its revolution. And those two targets creaked to a stop, then began to spin in the opposite direction as well. 



Holding two instructions in his mind at once was a little more challenging than he'd expected, and Prae made a note to himself to practice that. For now, he continued to spin the targets for a few more moments, then let the wind dissipate. His own hands dropped to his side too, and he turned to grin at Balthazar and Tio.

[Tio Silver]

Tio watched as Balthazar demonstrated his next exercise, a meditative challenge that used the wind to control the rotation of four targets, with a smirk growing in the corner of his mouth. Oh this was going to be too easy. Wind was his kin after all, it would be a walk in the park to complete this challenge.

When Prae gestured for him to go first, Tio stepped forward without delay. "Alright, watch the master at work!" He declared smugly, stretching his arms a bit up in the air before focusing on the targets. Once again he dug deep down into his soul and called upon his defiance spark, feeding it his ether and receiving its power in return. Extending his arm out towards the targets, he grinned and let the power fly.

In all fairness he did technically complete the first part of the challenge. A blast of air swept forth from his hand, soaring into the targets and causing them to spin around. The problem however was that the intensity of the wind was way, way to vigorous, and caused the targets to spin with such speed that they rattled about like drunken ballerinas. One of the targets came loose and shot through the air like a frisbee, arcing around through the sky and rocketing straight into the side of Tio's head.

There was a loud thwack as wood met flesh, and Tio was knocked sideways off of his feet to land ungracefully in the mud. Again. And this time out cold.

[Balthazar Black]

“”

72 Ashan 719

Balthazar was interested in how the duo would perform and both of them impressed Balthazar for different reasons. Praetorum impressed Balthazar with the ease he seemed to have at completing the task while Tio impressed Balthazar with the raw power of the maneuver he'd performed, even with the unfortunate results. When the dummies began rattling too violently Balthazar raised his arms, thinking he'd best coax the wind to relax but it was too late. A dummy was ripped from the ground by the force of the wind and whipped around wildly until it slammed into the side of Tio's head. Balthazar's face broke into shock when he heard the thwack and then concern when Tio slumped over.

Balthazar moved over to check on Tio and confirm at the very least that he was not dead while Praetorum performed the move utilizing different movements than Balthazar which produced a fairly similar result. Once again Balthazar was impressed but now he had greater concerns. "Well done, Praetorum. Unfortunately it seems that may be all we can practice today." Balthazar said as he rolled Tio over onto his back. "I'll have to handle this."

Balthazar stood and walked over to Prae, extending his hand for a farewell shake. He would get Tio safely back to Yaralon if he could not rouse the man within a reasonable time but there was no reason to make that Praetorum's burden as well. Balthazar looked around at his targets, briefly taking an inventory of all the things he would need to pick up before he could leave and then he refocused on giving Praetorum a proper farewell.

[Kisaik]

”Well!” Kisaik chimed toward Angus and Alaiwa, ”That was an educational experience, to be sure!”

Alaiwa, still shaken from his close encounter with a deadly boulder, and his dog’s antics among the battlefield, shivered with remembered disasters. ”In-indeed master! Quite exucational! Uh…”

”Hmm?” Kisaik hummed aloud, wondering what was on his squire’s mind.

”Well, I’m wondering… How is it that tunawa are actually resistant to magic? What is it about us that repels even the strongest of magics?”

”Hmm…” Kisaik scratched his chin lichen, wondering to himself. ”Well, I don’t exactly know! Perhaps something about spirits or immortals or Emea? Would you believe that?”

”I- I Suppose master.” Alaiwa said reluctantly, but pointed his finger at the devastation on the field, ”I’m just glad of it. Or we’d all probably have been burned out of hearth and home by now… There’d be no ojobgon trees without that resistance, or some defiance user might just decide to wipe us out wholesale. I hope we never lose our resistance to magics…”

Kisaik thought on the lad’s words for a few moments, and then nodded to himself. It was certainly a boon to their race to have such resistance to magic. Yet something in him thrilled to the idea of wielding magic one day. Of becoming a great wizard and sorcerer, wielding powers beyond comprehension.

Without thinking about it, as they turned around to leave the field of training, a grassy portal opened up in the ground behind him, as he left. Neither of them noticed it, as their mounts began trotting away from the field.

”Well, I had best get back to Gwenum for more lessons. Will you check in on Rabu and Knugget?”

”Yes Master! Right away.”

”Thank you.” Kisaik waved goodbye to his squire, and forged ahead toward the city.

As he did so, portals opened up slowly behind him, until they caught up to his steps, and he and his mount fell right into them. When they reemerged at the end of the egress, they found themselves in Gwenum’s shop, in a familiar corner. Kisaik, startled, wondered if one of those kind mages had opened the portal for him? And did teleportation work on tunawa? He seemed to recall…

Nevermind, he had work to do. Perhaps he’d have a chance to question a mage later on the subject. For now he set about the daily work among Gwenum’s shop.

[Nursia]

An interesting take on teaching!

I enjoyed what everyone had to bring to the table, and it's a shame that the Mer exited so soon.

Overall, I can't comment on grammar, you lot seemed to do a good job with it.

Kisaik, please avoid using gifs as the background for texts when it's similar in shade to the text: it can be a bit hard to read.

But aside from that? Good work. You all did good. Enjoy your rewards!


Balthazar

Rewards

Knowledges:
Defiance - Moving the wind in a controlled pattern to spin targets
Defiance - Focusing the force of your punch, and therefore the fire you manifest
Defiance - Controlled motions with the wind
Teaching - Prepare multiple exercises
Teaching - Demonstrate for the students
Leadership - Encouraging others to experiment to learn
Leadership - Listen to feedback
Discipline - Continuing after some have lost interest
Discipline - Waiting for students to arrive
Unarmed Combat (Solum) - Two step rock throw
Unarmed Combat (Solum) - Root yourself in the earth
Unarmed Combat (Ustrina) - High, low, and mid flame attack combo
Meditation - Moving with and coaxing the wind
Wealth:
Renown:
+10 for organizing a mage-related teaching session
EXP:
+15, may be used for defiance

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.

Praetorum

Rewards

Knowledges:
Defiance: Rooting yourself to dance the earth
Defiance: Altering your movements to synergise with the elements
Defiance: Circling hands to gather the wind to strike
Defiance: Using wind to help aim a projectile
Defiance: Making a bolt of flame burst in motion
Discipline: Not laughing outwardly at someone’s misfortune
Unarmed Combat (Solum): The importance of a steady stance
Unarmed Combat (Solum): An incorrect stomp can unbalance you
Unarmed Combat (Solum): Using your tail for the opening move
Unarmed Combat (Ustrina): Very focused on offense
Unarmed Combat (Ustrina): Important to figure out which foot to lead with
Unarmed Combat (Ustrina): Flowing from one move to another
Wealth:
Renown:
+5
EXP:
+15, may be used for defiance

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.

Kisaik

Rewards

Knowledges:
Acrobatics: Leaping to avoid projectiles.
Endurance: Tunawa have built in resistance to magic.
Etiquette: Apologizing on behalf of someone else can mend bridges.
Mount (Housecat): Catching up to another mount.
Mount (Housecat): Weaving in and out of people fighting among each other.
Mount (Housecat): Leaping with your mount.
Teaching: A field trip to learn about other fighting styles.
Teaching: Correcting your student.
Rupture: Surprise! You stepped in a portal.
Wealth:
Renown:
+5
EXP:
+15

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.

Tio

Rewards

Knowledges:
Defiance: Fireball to the eyes.
Defiance: Burn the legs.
Defiance: Playing with fire.
Defiance: Playing with wind.
Defiance: Mind your footing against earth defiers.
Defiance: Feel the wind flow.
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Adapting a brawling technique.
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Planning the flow of battle.
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Keep rollin' rollin' rollin'...
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Redirecting an earth fist... or not...
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Gain every advantage.
Unarmed Combat: Da'riya - Move with the wind.
Wealth:
Renown:
+5
EXP:
+15, may be used for defiance

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.