☠ 74th of Frost, Year 122, A.o.S ☠
☠ Out within the lush jungles surrounding where he was lodging, the sounds of light grunting and blunt contact could be heard echoing about. The reverberations of a tree being struck by an axe blade indicated that Læbirius was hard at work, fine-tuning his fighting technique. Slashes and jabs were thrown with the precision of someone learning to fight as the young man took out some aggression on the poor ill protected tree.
After several well-placed hits, the man was exhausted from his assault on the tree. "This surely is tiring." he exclaimed, watching as the sap from the tree he had been slicing began to trickle down the trunk of the massive tree. He backed away from the tree for a moment to let his body cool off as it was hot to the touch from all the training. Following his sparring match with Taidryn, Læ was both excited and anxious to become stronger. He was glad to have found a quiet moment away from his Primals research to practice as he knew he wouldn't be bothered by too many interruptions.
For the moment he would take a break, and allow his body to relax a bit more, soreness from his earlier training the other day still humming on his bones. It was moments like this that he enjoyed, basking in the beauty that was nature. After enjoying his quick break he decided it was time to get back to work, this training wasn't going to finish itself. He decided the best course of action right now was to put what he learned and experienced up till now as a whole into practice. As it turned out Taidryn had found things to use as fake enemies for practice, as some of the residents of the inn were gracious enough to assist him when they realized what he was doing.
After enjoying his quick break he decided it was time to get back to work, this training wasn't going to finish itself. In that sense, Taidryn had set up a makeshift obstacle course for Læ to practice on that way he could build his own style of combat and fighting. As Taidryn finished the last preparations he came to retrieve Læ who was wrestling with getting up off the cool grass. "Come my lord, time for your first lap through the gauntlet."
With a groan, the half-elf was escorted to the start of the obstacle course. "Dont over think it, but advance with determination." Taidryn reminded, gesturing for Læ to begin. The hilt of his axe clenched in his hand as he quickly charged at the makeshift enemies, swinging the weapon at where organs and limbs should have been on the dummy targets, some landing a clean hit, while others missing their mark completely or haphazardly leaving a mark on it.
There were 20 faux enemies in total and Læ found that getting to all of them was a feat in and of itself. He found himself running, leaping, sliding under things all the while having to make sure he hit each target in some way. He found that switching from attacking with his axe and then shield was effective, where one could bash with their shield and hack and slash like a sword with the axe. After coming to the end of the course, Læ fell to his knees, his muscles aching from such an exercise.
Looking at the results he was not satisfied, and taidryn could only laugh at the young mage's dissatisfaction as he went to reset some of the dummy targets. Once they were reset Taidryn gave him the signal to go again, so Læ repeated the process, this time shaving off some seconds on his timing as well as hitting more targets. "I see someone is getting better, still a little rough around the edges, but you are showing promise, now let's go again." Taidryn encouraged, patting an exhausted Læ on his back.
Now came for the next try at this makeshift obstacle course once again. After resetting the area with targets, as well as mentally preparing he went again. Læ went and delivered strike after strike; a slash across the chest, an upward slice that would slice the neck, and a downward bash of his shield into a leg or arm. He was truly laying into the sea of practice dummies. He delivered well-placed slashes across the few fake enemies set up around him.
Though upon finding himself amidst the targets his mind began to play tricks on him. He could have sworn he saw one of them move, but that couldnt have been the case unless the wind was blowing. But there was no breeze that strong to do that so what was going on? He brushed it off as nothing more than an illusion of his mind, but it did not stop him from panicking for a split second.
With a deep breath, he sprinted forward, diving his axe shield back into the fake foes. With a lunge, he rotated his body weight in order to cause himself to spin. With a heavy slash during the spin, he cut down two of the three targets he was aiming for. Once his maneuver was finished he turned and sighed. "My mind would choose now to play awful tricks on me?" he panted leaping back into the mock battle.
Repeating the process for the fourth time he charged head-on into the horde of fake targets, slicing them up as he saw fit, making each strike count as much as he could, Taidryn coaching from the sideline with key instructions. He was finally getting a better feel with his axe, coming into his own rhythm, with the weapon. The young man sent a flurry of hacks and slashes and slices into the fake enemies.
He fought till he couldnt go on anymore, and with a heavy exhausted sigh, he collapsed onto the cool grassy field. Laying on his back he gazed up into the sky, watching the clouds float by, the birds sing the chirping melodies. He had the skill, to say the least, even if it was still a little unrefined. He realized his strikes were swift yet lacking that tempered precision he saw in other warriors, something he would have to work on. But he could credit himself for how he was starting to learn to weave his combos together.
He began to remember the very first training session he ever had with his foster father outside their little hut away from everyone.
The clang of steel echoed as he parried his blows, barely having to swing his sword to do so. In fact, he barely had to move in order to deal with Læ's strikes, able to see his strikes coming and act accordingly. Once his combo came to a close he decided to show Læ the disparity of their skills sidestepping him.
As he moved to the left of Læ, he brought his longsword up, and with his strength parried the blade from Læ's hands. In that same motion, he brought the blade to rest under the young man's chin. "I've seen enough Læ."
He said, stabbing his blade into the ground, leaning on the hilt a bit. "You have a good foundation, but that's not saying much. You have speed, but to make it as a warrior, of any caliber, and as my son, you need the power and conviction to go with it." he explained, going to grab the other sword and offering it to him.
"Combat isn't all swift strikes and flashy combos, it's a brutal and unforgiving dance with death. If this was a real fight, you would have died several times over today. Take that and learn for future battles you may have to face." he noted, his amber eyes gazing down into Læ's eyes. He could see great potential in his adoptive son if he had the dedication to see it through.
"I'll tell you what, if you want, I can be your sparring partner whenever you wish, no charge, no strings attached. But that's only if you want to fight like a real warrior that is." he offered, to which Læ nodded in agreement.
He was happy to see him so eager to learn, and for showing enough potential to become great. He was interested to see how Læ would develop and he might just have a chance to survive in this harsh world. If not he would die for sure.
He found himself caught in the lull of the memories of training, remembering how thrilling it was, to hear steel sing against steel for the first time. He remembered what it was like to watch his adoptive father fight, hearing the stories from his many adventures, it was what made him want to be a warrior that man could be proud of now. As Taidryn cleaned up after several hours of putting his young lord through his paces, the two set out to return to the Inn for some much needed food and rest.
Overall this day was a good one and Læ especially felt good about the seeds of growth he had sown in his training, hoping to see them blossom into something special, and he couldnt wait. Though off into the distance, however, a figure looked on from a distance, a smirk on their features, before disappearing as a patrol had come by. ☠
"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"
