Balthazar's School of The Elements

[Praetorum]

72nd of Ashan, Arc 719

Prae looked over at the Mer when he spoke, realizing belatedly that he hadn't introduced himself at all. He flashed a grin at, but didn't participate in the jokey misnaming of each other. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm Praetorum, but you can call me Prae. A pleasure to meet you, Faerro and Tio."


Turning back to Balthazar, he nodded thoughtfully as the man explained and demonstrated his technique. Root himself in the earth... the ground under Prae's feet hummed happily, sturdy and steady. "I see. It's very physical, even when it's not, huh?"


"Earth and fire do not behave the same way and so neither can you when using them as an extension of yourself." It was a thought that Prae had had before, but had never been able to articulate to himself, that just as he shaped the elements to suit his will, he should alter his own movements to bring himself closer to them. Such a simple idea, but just as it fell into place, so much else began to fit in Prae's mind.


This was what he had been missing, why he was still so unbalanced in defiance after all his practice. 



Prae laughed in understanding. Following in the other defiers' leads, Prae set down his shield and weapons— a little unorthodox, but they were outside of Yaralon and its customs— and set himself in a steady stance. He didn't move at first, just feeling the ground beneath his feet, trying to match his balance to it, until he felt as sturdy as a boulder. 



Then, he stomped, and a fist sized chunk of earth shot up from the ground. Eyes fixed on it, Prae punched out, imagining the rock as an extension of himself, and propelled it towards the nearest target; even as he did so, he called for the wind to steady its path, to form a funnel of sorts so it would reach its destination properly. 



Prae's tail lashed in happiness as the projectile found its mark. But he still had a lot of work to do to get this right; the stomp had unbalanced him slightly, and he could feel that his wind funnel and his punch hadn't quite been in the same direction, which had slowed the projectile down quite a bit. 


Well, Prae thought, rooting himself once more. Practice makes perfect.

[Tio Silver]

When Faerro asked what the rules on engagement would be a sly smirk grew on Tio's face behind his mask. Even if it was just a friendly spar the competitive streak in him didn't want him to loose, and by letting him decide the victory conditions Faerro had given him a great advantage. Wind wasn't much good for cutting things, nor was it capable of trapping people while he forced them to surrender. What it excelled at however was pushing and pulling opponents about the place. "There's no need to risk injury in a simple spar, especially if we're going to do some other training exercises later. A ring out would be the best idea." He replied casually, masking his body language behind a laid-back stance to disguise his glee. "I like Basil's idea about dodging the projectiles they fire; it would help train to avoid arrows while fighting on a battlefield. Let's give that a go."

They walked over to the far end of the firing range, and Tio picked up a stick and slowly drew a crude circle in the ground. It was about fifteen foot in radius, limiting them to close-up and mid range combat. "Just so we're on the same page," Tio began to say as he drew, "the ring out only counts when any part of your body touches the ground outside the ring. No deliberately causing extreme injury, and no hitting the meat and two veg. Sound fair?" As he spoke however Tio was already setting up another trap. Using his attunement spark he locked onto the frequencies of Faerro and Prae, allowing him to know the instant the other two called upon their defiance sparks and prepare to avoid their attacks. It was perhaps a little bit of a cheat move, but due to his visual impairments Tio thought it was only fair. Besides if adventuring had taught him one thing about combat it was that the one who prepared most for it usually won. All these little tricks he was pulling to set up the perfect combat environment for himself were all ones militants tacticians used to ensure their armies fought at their best. What was wrong with him doing the same thing?

With the circle complete, Tio stepped into it and straighted himself into a basic Da'riya stance. Yet although his body was still and calm his mind raced at a mile a minute, predicting the most likely scenarios for how Faerro would attack and make use of the elements. The hammer he'd dropped suggested a preference for brute force, but his build wasn't that of a juggernaut who could tank through any punishment dealt out and keep on swinging. Most likely then he was the kind to come in hard and fast, trying to quickly overwhelm opponents with a flurry of powerful blows. The weakness of those sorts of people was that they tired quickly, so Tio twisted his foot slightly to lower himself into a more evasive stance, preparing to focus on dodging for the first part of the match until an opportunity arose.

"While I hate to seem rude, the creed of my school is to never begin a fight, only react to one. My teacher would grill me if he found out I'd broken it. You'll have to get this show started." Tio explained sheepishly, exaggerating the truth a little. While it was true he wasn't supposed to start a fight, master Oz was unlikely to ever find out since he was all the way over in Scalvoris. The real reason he didn't want to be the first to engage was because Da'riya was an almost completely counter based fighting style, and so didn't do so well at opening attacks.

[Kisaik]

”Arf!”

Alaiwa appeared to be having trouble bringing his mount to heel as the action got underway.

”Arf arf! Arf!” Angus snarled at the mages below, watching with a little too much interest as balls of earth, fire, and all the elements went flying, ”Grrrrrr…”

And so with no further argument, the dog darted off, into the midst of all the sparring magi. Angus leapt into the air as it passed by Prae and Balthazar, intercepting the ball of earth. Alaiwa screamed for a moment when he saw the huge chunk of earth flying at him, and didn’t stop as it rebounded off an invisible barrier that existed around the tunawa.

The earthen missile flew astray, landing smack in the middle of Tio’s circle he’d drawn.

Kisaik facepalmed, sighing to himself. ”My poor squire. Shall we join the fray, Slate?” Without waiting for the cat to agree or not, he urged it onward by pulling its reins. And so the gray cat was off.

They arrived at the scene in very little time at all. Kisaik rode fast for Alaiwa and his mount, Angus. Once he caught up to the two, he caught Angus by the reins, and pulled him to heel. ”Come Alaiwa! Control your mount! A knight who lets his steed lead him is no knight at all!”

Kisaik led the lad into the circle where the earthen missile had landed, leading him straight into the middle of the fray between Tio and Faerro. ”Excuse us, gentlemen. My squire seems to have let himself go astray… We’ll just remove ourselves from here…”

[Faerro]

Face falling slightly at Tio's requested rule-set, Faerro was quick to shake off his disappointment. While he would have preferred the threat of injury, as the threat of real failure always pushed people to their fullest potential, he supposed the man made some sense. The rest of their training would suffer if they had to perform with injuries, and anything that limited their growth was unnecessary. "Fine points, both of those," he conceded, nodding. "Very well, let's set the ring up so we can get started!"

He moved to help Tio, but when he saw how small the ring the man was making he stopped himself. That task was easily enough accomplished by him alone, so instead Faerro started to stretch his limbs out. He was still getting used to moving around on the surface. Everything up here moved so swiftly and without the resistance of water; he decided this would be a fine test for how well he was adjusting to his land-legs.

"Aye, aye, and aye. Fair all around," he replied, shaking his whole body loose in preparation. Looking over Tio, the mer was surprised when he saw that his opponent hadn't removed his mask. How well could he see out of that thing? Now that he was looking at it, there didn't seem to be any eye-holes. With a shrug, Faerro let his wandering mind quiet. If the stranger wanted to fight at a disadvantage, that was fine with him. Instead of worrying about his opponent, he instead turned his attention inward. His eyes closed, and his breath slowed. He focused on that breath, on the slight shaking and shifting of his body as he prepared for battle. In turn, the earth beneath his feet matched him; sending tremors upward to reassure and remind him of its presence. It would be his ally in this conflict.

Eyes opening, Faerro's ever-present grin grew wider still when he saw Tio assume a fighting stance. This man would be a good challenge indeed. "Far be it from me to incite your master's anger. Very well, I'll have the first strike."

Ears filled with the reassuring quake of the earth, the mer did not hear the tunawa's cries. Eyes closed once more, he did not see the tunawa's master enter the ring. Faerro was solely focused on the earth and on the fight in front of him. The mer dropped to his knees, hands on the stone and dirt surrounding him. He reached out to the element, willing it rapidly sink beneath Tio's feet and fill again once he entered the hole. If the human was fast about it, he'd be able to avoid the attempted trap with ease.

Failing that, Faerro would will the stone to wrap around his feet and his hands; creating a patchwork set of gauntlet's to strike harder and boots to keep him steady on the ground. Taking bold steps towards Tio, the mer would send out a couple of jabs to test the man; occasionally willing the earth to collect and attempt to twist around his feet.

Slowly, a tired ache flowed from his soul outward. Faerro had expended quite a bit of ether for a novice in a short amount of time. He would need to end the spar quickly, or risk stepping past his capabilities as a mage.

[Balthazar Black]

72 Ashan 719 | Balthazar Black | Outside Yaralon

Balthazar crossed his arms and watched Prae as he prepared to attempt what Balthazar had demonstrated. Balthazar noted that Prae had to set all of his weapons down to perform the move and he didn't like that. Why should Prae be forced to conform to his physical movements when the elements were just as bonded to him. Balthazar looked at Prae's scythe and tower shield and he let his mind roll over a few possible suggestions for Prae. Suggestions of things he thought could be done but things he had no idea how to achieve. His mind was running so quickly that he hardly noticed Prae had completed the movement with more accuracy than even Balthazar had. He certainly didn't notice Kiaski's friend almost hit by the rock. A better teacher would have.

Balthazar applauded Prae for completing the move and then gestured towards his scythe. "You did well but in combat you wont have time to drop your weapons. Perhaps jab with the scythe and try to guide the earth using the scythe as an extension. I'll admit I'm not sure how that will work out because I've never tried it." Balthazar suggested as he moved his arm in a jabbing motion without the scythe. Then he paused and thought a little more. "How did it feel to guide it with the wind? Easier? Harder?" Balthazar cast a passive look to the sparring duo at the end of the firing range to make sure that they were still all right and when he saw that they were he returned his attention to Praetorum and waited for his response about the suggestions.

[Praetorum]

72nd of Ashan, Arc 719

If Prae had had eyebrows, they would have shot up as the tunawa knight's new apprentice came charging, screaming, into the line of fire. Before Praetorum could reach out and try and stop the projectile though, it seemed almost to bounce away, leaving the tunawa unharmed.


Prae looked to Kisaik, who seemed annoyed, but not upset. Well, he'd trust in the tunawa's judgement, and assume this wasn't a problem unless Kisaik asked for help or for them to stop. So he turned back to Balthazar, listening thoughtfully to the human's suggestions. 



"I see what you mean, and in a real fight, I'd agree that dropping my weapon would be a bad call. But I should have clarified earlier, I'd like to learn to fight like you do, without weapons. I know Yaralon isn't keen on it, but I've been in situations before where I've been without my weapons, or worse, in quarters too close to use them effectively. So after watching you, I figured that learning to fight with fists and feet and defiance was something I should try to pick up, at least a little."


The rubbed his muzzle at Balthazar's second question. "It felt different. Definitely kept it more on track, but I couldn't get the earth and air to move in exactly the same direction, so it slowed down some. Honestly, I'm thinking I might have better luck just using air to toss it around, instead of trying to mix two techniques."


Rooting himself once more, Prae demonstrated. This time, instead of stomping his foot and unbalancing himself, Prae brought his tail down in a slap against the earth, then, eyes focused on the projectile, punched towards it. The wind followed the front of his fist, then crashed into the projectile, molding around it as it propelled the rock towards the target. 



This time, his projectile flew a little off course, but just from its distance, Prae could see that it had had much more power behind it than the last one. "Hmm. What do you think, Balthazar?"

[Tio Silver]

Tio had been prepared to anything. The fight was set up in his favour, his attunement spark had synchronized with his opponent's frequency, and his tactical mind had considered nearly every opening move Faerro could have made. It was easy to sidestep out of the patch of ground the mer collapsed since his attunement forewarned him the moment Faerro's spark flared with power, and a smirk ghosted his lips when Faerro wrapped his hands in stone gauntlets. Those gauntlets wouldn't make his punches any faster, and would take no small amount of ether to maintain. His original plan, to keep dodging and wait for the mer to tire himself out, would go off without a hitch at this rate. It was with an air or overconfidence, perhaps even arrogance, that Tio readied himself as Faerro approached.

And then it interfered.

Oh it acted all innocent alright, wagging its tail and barking like some kind of adorable living children's toy, but Tio was wise to its deception. He saw the raw evil burning in its beady little eyes: the churning pit of untamed malice that resided where a soul should. It, and the rest of all its despicable species, were always there whenever terrible things happened to humanity, pulling the strings from behind their facade of loyal, tongue-wagging house pets. These beasts, these canines, were the ultimate harbingers of doom: scheming hellhounds that would not rest until all living creatures were enslaved to their will. He'd seen the signs of their conspiracy long ago, and this event was just another addition to the long pile of evidence that proved it to be true. After all could anybody really dismiss it as simple coincidence that right at the moment he, the greatest enemy of dog-kind, was about to perfectly dodge a stone-clad fist swinging directly at his face, that one of those fur coated demons leapt from the shadows into his peripheral vision! It had known that the fear he held towards its kind would distract him at such a crucial time! It had planned to make Faerro hit him square in the face with a fist armoured in rock! This was no accident, it was an assassination attempt!

And worst of all, its plan was a complete success.

There was a sickening crack as stone met bone, and Tio's neck whipped back, soon followed by the rest of his body as he fell backwards onto the floor. It was a good thing Tio had the mask on in the first place; if he hadn't the blow would have probably broken his nose. It wasn't that Faerro's punch had been particularly over the top, just that the shock of seeing that blasted dog had caught Tio by such complete surprise that he hadn't had any kind of guard up at all, and even at jabbing speed solid rock wasn't exactly a comfortable thing to have whacked into your face.

Tio lay flat on his back for half a dozen trills, his head swimming. When it finally cleared up however he sat up with a groan, rubbing his neck. Even from just his body language it was clear that he was glaring at the dog.

"I'm on to you." He hissed at Angus. Angus looked back at him, panting excitedly to keep up its good boy facade, but Tio couple see it mocking him with the sadistic laughter in its eyes.

[Kisaik]

"I'm so sorry, Mister!" Alaiwa said, speaking down at Tio as he lay on his back. Angus panted, it's tongue lolling out and drool forming at the tip as it wagged its tail.

"Come away, Alaiwa, we'll be leaving these good folk to their wargames." Kisaik said, beckoning for his squire.

Before Alaiwa passed by Tio, Angus swooped by and licked his mask. Then the dog skipped ahead, and began sniffing at a patch of earth that had been ripped apart by all the elemental chaos. There, it lifted it's leg, leaking into the earth. "Oh, Angus! Is that really the best place for that?"

Kisaik facepalmed as his squire's steed relieved itself on the broken earth, and then squatted to further soil the marked dirt.

Within a few more trills, Angus had satisfied himself, and kicked up dirt upon the earth he'd marked. He cast one last look over his shoulder at Tio, panting cheerfully, and then barking at him. Then Alaiwa finally managed to get it to point forward, and follow Kisaik back to the hillock where they'd been observing the match.

The tunawa knight and his squire sat on their steeds, and watched carefully as the elemental match either petered out, or continued. This time, he held the dog's lead, to prevent him from darting off again in the way he just had. He had a strange feeling about the masked person. Something about him set him apart from other tall folk.

He'd have to keep an eye on that one, in case he turned out to be a base villain. Kisaik hated to think the worst of people he'd only had a glimpse of, but he felt he had a good sense of folk.

[Balthazar Black]

72 Ashan 719 | Balthazar Black | Outside Yaralon

Prae's response surprised Balthazar a little. He wasn't used to the idea that anyone would want to fight like him yet, especially in Yaralon where he'd mostly been mocked if he voiced his plans. Yet again the Ithecal proved to be a refreshing change of pace. Balthazar nodded to Prae and stepped back so that he could attempt the move again with his modifications made. Balthazar watched Prae slap his tail on the ground and a flurry of possibilities crossed his mind but he banished them to focus on helping Prae improve the move he knew now. Prae launched the rock and it soared a little off course but otherwise further and with more power. It was impressive indeed.

"Very good. You are a fast learner." Balthazar commented first. "If you want to improve your aim you simply have to do it over and over again, like archery... I think. I'll admit I'm no archer. In most cases you'll probably find that your target is closer than the ones I have set up but who knows when you could need to fling a rock beyond your defying range." Balthazar seemed to conclude his lesson on flinging the rocks with that. He cast a glance over at the duo sparring to see that he still had a little more one on one time to coach Prae through another technique. Balthazar glanced down at Prae's tail and then back up towards Prae. It would have been easier to suggest what ways he could incorporate his tail if Balthazar had one but alas, he did not. "Perhaps we could try something focusing on your kin element? I ran into some unfriendly characters recently and managed to repel them with a powerful wind blast." Well he'd repelled one of them with it.

Balthazar began to demonstrate the motion as he had performed it. He brought his hands around in a circle in front of himself and when his hands drew in towards his chest he pushed outwards. As he did so he explained, "As you bring your arms around in the circle, coax the wind to move with you and then when you push outwards turn your coaxing into a little more of a demand. I've discovered it creates a more powerful blast than a simple jab projects but if I was too unclear we could begin with jabs." Balthazar did not defy the wind as he went, he merely performed the movements.

[Praetorum]

72nd of Ashan, Arc 719

Praetorum was initially skeptical about Balthazar's suggestion that he use his kin element. It was perhaps strange, that a soldier would prefer not to use his kin in battle, but he and air had chosen each other to move, to flow, to fly. Not to fight. The air was insubstantial, weightless, and while he used it frequently to enhance his own speed and mobility in combat, he had never really used it as a weapon, finding the more substantial elements easier to use in that manner.


But, watching Balthazar move, Prae thought he saw again where he had been mistaken in his approach to his kin. When Prae flew, he moved with the wind, coaxed it where he wanted, but when he fought, he still fought as if he were not a defier, and simply used the elements to enhance his movements. 



In a way, he supposed in combat he used defiance a little too much like hone. What a thought. 



Praetorum didn't memorize Balthazar's motions particularly precisely, but he understood the general idea; he moved his hands as if they were flat against a wagon wheel, one palm facing inwards and the other outwards, and traced the curve of the wheel, calling wind and air to gather around his palms, each hand trailing winds to connect to the other. 



Then, as one hand dipped beneath the other, it broke from their cyclical pattern to push outwards in a slash, and all the wind he'd gathered followed suit, racing out into a blast of wind. The target he was aiming for, and the one beside it, were both clearly pushed back by it, but at this distance, it didn't seem like it would be too effective against a human sized enemy. 



But the circling would let him put to use the time it took for an opponent to close into melee range, and though Prae was unlikely to be able to replicate that right now, he knew it was at least possible to press the air into a blade so tight it could cut. 



Though he was pretty sure Edyn had been showing off more than anything else when she'd done that.


Raising his hands, Praetorum tried again, this time focusing intently on one of the targets in particular. This time, when he pushed out at the wind, he made it a jab rather than a slash, and the wind followed in the direction he gave it. Unfortunately, his aim was a little off, and so instead a stiff, directed gust of air went sweeping past one of the targets and into the sparring ring where Faerro and Tio stood.