1st of Ashan, Arc 718
Krenn Maii. As a Lotharen fighting style, it was brutal, effective and reliant on considerable strength, endurance and form. Also as a Lotharen fighting style... it was exceptionally rare outside of Gauthrel, with Kian one of the few practitioners of said style in the outside world. He'd remembered it well - the form, the techniques, the terms. His Haltunga had become second nature, and often he kept his fluency on par by speaking in the language of martial arts. The only issue was... his actual, practical skill in unarmed fighting techniques was worse than awful. It was wholly negligible.
Kian was one of the greatest warriors around - he knew that. But he couldn't win a fist fight on skill, no. He relied on his strength, agility, reflexes, endurance. Punching them out with a single, brutal hit utilizing pure strength... rather than any relative capability. With Krenn Maii in krenn... maiind, though, he could deal with that incompetency. The only question was: why? Why would he learn yet another combat style, with another wholly new weapon - this time the body?
Kian was the premiere Shadowdancer. He had mastered Shadowspin, Duskfall, Insomnus, Shadowfall, Spinning Parry, Dancing Snakebite, Snakebite, Rapid Swing, Shadow Sweep, Scorpion Strike... he'd developed the summation of his martial ability around that one particular style. There was no reason to diverge from it -- it was effective. He'd yet to meet a warrior who could penetrate the slippery, snake-like agility of the style, and even the bulldozer's he'd met in Gauthrel had merely had their momentum used against them.
On a warrior's level, undertaking a new style made no sense. It was a waste of time and energy, particularly considering he'd need to then refresh on the fundamentals of Shadowdancing, to ensure he didn't splice the two styles messily together.
So, again, why?
"Ellasin," Damien explained to him. The cicadas strung about along the trees, the sun had still risen. The Lich stood before him, having fled to Cappola with his apprentice some time ago. The Coven had exiled them both - they both held the same fiery ambition as before. Kill Ellasin. Destroy the Coven. Save the world.
"You can't rely on any one thing with her. She'll counter your Rupturing, your Necromancy, your... Shadowsong. You need to learn to run near as fast as you can blink - and you need to learn to break walls in with your fists," he explained. "I'm telling you, Kian. People don't realize how powerful that creature is. She doesn't show them. When people challenge her, she utilizes the bare minimum to take them down, but quickly, cleanly, precisely. I'm sure you've looked at her tactics and have felt that you could have easily countered them. But there's so much more than that," he grimaced. "She'll never be beaten as things are now. There is no mage alive that can really challenge her. Not you, me, or Effren," he stated.
"She has an Anaxus," Damien claimed. Kian's brows immediately quirked, though his lips followed into a smirk.
"I have Shadowspin," he whispered, teasingly.
"Shadowspin?" Damien asked.
"It's a polearm... ability. It's a bit... inhuman. I spin my spear so fast that it becomes something else - a blur. Cuts through anything, everything. I've tested it against pure, reinforced Terrendyte. It ripped through like butter," he stated proudly. "Even an Anaxus can be cut with that. In fact, I built it specifically for these... impenetrable defenses. Monsters, mages, all that. It's my trump card," he claimed, proudly.
"But the Anaxus are fast, and deadly. They'll poison you before you realize it. Hers is even worse than the living - it's infused with a powerful well. Better than Emetyte, I reckon. It can just regenerate. The only thing is - when she's controlling the Anaxus, it uses so much ether that she really can't do much else. If you could actually defeat it, you could genuinely find yourself victorious. But it won't be that easy," he explained. "She knows everything about everyone in the Coven. She monitors their growth, and weeds out threat. More than just your outing in Rynmere, I believe she exiled you from the Coven for another reason: you've grown too powerful for her liking. I think you could even defeat Effren as you are now," Damien said, crossing his arms over his chest, with his dead eyes poised towards the ground.
"But she'll develop a counter for you. She'll have Talia forge her some artifacts - something that will stop your spear, break the spin. Anything. If you meet her on the field, she'll come equipped with an array of artifacts that specifically target you and your make-up. That's why you need to surprise her, or better yet, master everything. Commit your life to martial skill, and collect. Gather what artifacts you can," he advised.
"Running, observational awareness, fistfighting, hunting, and even poisoncrafting - these are what you need to focus on now. You need to embody the same Immortal monster she is - a master of everything. We'll start with your fists - with Krenn Maii."
Krenn Maii. As a Lotharen fighting style, it was brutal, effective and reliant on considerable strength, endurance and form. Also as a Lotharen fighting style... it was exceptionally rare outside of Gauthrel, with Kian one of the few practitioners of said style in the outside world. He'd remembered it well - the form, the techniques, the terms. His Haltunga had become second nature, and often he kept his fluency on par by speaking in the language of martial arts. The only issue was... his actual, practical skill in unarmed fighting techniques was worse than awful. It was wholly negligible.
Kian was one of the greatest warriors around - he knew that. But he couldn't win a fist fight on skill, no. He relied on his strength, agility, reflexes, endurance. Punching them out with a single, brutal hit utilizing pure strength... rather than any relative capability. With Krenn Maii in krenn... maiind, though, he could deal with that incompetency. The only question was: why? Why would he learn yet another combat style, with another wholly new weapon - this time the body?
Kian was the premiere Shadowdancer. He had mastered Shadowspin, Duskfall, Insomnus, Shadowfall, Spinning Parry, Dancing Snakebite, Snakebite, Rapid Swing, Shadow Sweep, Scorpion Strike... he'd developed the summation of his martial ability around that one particular style. There was no reason to diverge from it -- it was effective. He'd yet to meet a warrior who could penetrate the slippery, snake-like agility of the style, and even the bulldozer's he'd met in Gauthrel had merely had their momentum used against them.
On a warrior's level, undertaking a new style made no sense. It was a waste of time and energy, particularly considering he'd need to then refresh on the fundamentals of Shadowdancing, to ensure he didn't splice the two styles messily together.
So, again, why?
"Ellasin," Damien explained to him. The cicadas strung about along the trees, the sun had still risen. The Lich stood before him, having fled to Cappola with his apprentice some time ago. The Coven had exiled them both - they both held the same fiery ambition as before. Kill Ellasin. Destroy the Coven. Save the world.
"You can't rely on any one thing with her. She'll counter your Rupturing, your Necromancy, your... Shadowsong. You need to learn to run near as fast as you can blink - and you need to learn to break walls in with your fists," he explained. "I'm telling you, Kian. People don't realize how powerful that creature is. She doesn't show them. When people challenge her, she utilizes the bare minimum to take them down, but quickly, cleanly, precisely. I'm sure you've looked at her tactics and have felt that you could have easily countered them. But there's so much more than that," he grimaced. "She'll never be beaten as things are now. There is no mage alive that can really challenge her. Not you, me, or Effren," he stated.
"She has an Anaxus," Damien claimed. Kian's brows immediately quirked, though his lips followed into a smirk.
"I have Shadowspin," he whispered, teasingly.
"Shadowspin?" Damien asked.
"It's a polearm... ability. It's a bit... inhuman. I spin my spear so fast that it becomes something else - a blur. Cuts through anything, everything. I've tested it against pure, reinforced Terrendyte. It ripped through like butter," he stated proudly. "Even an Anaxus can be cut with that. In fact, I built it specifically for these... impenetrable defenses. Monsters, mages, all that. It's my trump card," he claimed, proudly.
"But the Anaxus are fast, and deadly. They'll poison you before you realize it. Hers is even worse than the living - it's infused with a powerful well. Better than Emetyte, I reckon. It can just regenerate. The only thing is - when she's controlling the Anaxus, it uses so much ether that she really can't do much else. If you could actually defeat it, you could genuinely find yourself victorious. But it won't be that easy," he explained. "She knows everything about everyone in the Coven. She monitors their growth, and weeds out threat. More than just your outing in Rynmere, I believe she exiled you from the Coven for another reason: you've grown too powerful for her liking. I think you could even defeat Effren as you are now," Damien said, crossing his arms over his chest, with his dead eyes poised towards the ground.
"But she'll develop a counter for you. She'll have Talia forge her some artifacts - something that will stop your spear, break the spin. Anything. If you meet her on the field, she'll come equipped with an array of artifacts that specifically target you and your make-up. That's why you need to surprise her, or better yet, master everything. Commit your life to martial skill, and collect. Gather what artifacts you can," he advised.
"Running, observational awareness, fistfighting, hunting, and even poisoncrafting - these are what you need to focus on now. You need to embody the same Immortal monster she is - a master of everything. We'll start with your fists - with Krenn Maii."
