• Solo • Taelis I

Stronghold of education and learning, this fortress is in one of the coldest areas of Idalos and home to many knowledge seekers in a variety of disciplines. However, unknown to most, below the city are those who suffer for the sake of science. While all are welcome, not everyone will be treated as they expect.

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Doran
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Taelis I

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Ymiden 25, Arc 720

On the 25th trial of Ymiden, the son of Ziell finally returned to the Fitness Centre. For the previous couple of trials, he had practiced in his training room in his sizeable apartment in the Obsidian Prism. His training dummy had been damaged during one of his Transmutation experiments though; besides, he wished to practice with someone else again for a change, and the facilities of the Fitness Centre were better suited to a joint Menochoros session. Ultimately, he also wished to have a word with Lida’via, his former Menochoros instructor and, possibly, arrange a few more advanced lessons with her.

For the time being, he stood facing his training partner Taelis, a slender and blue-skinned Eidisi male with white eyes and equally white hair that he had first met during a Menochoros class the season before though. One of his research assistants, Plia, a young woman of mixed Eidisi and Ellune descent, sat on a bench that stood in front of the wall, her hands folded in her lap, watching them closely. While the young woman had no interest in practicing unarmed combat herself – she preferred bladed weapons – she could not help but be curious and asked if she would be allowed to accompany them and watch.

She had never seen her employer fight without a sword.

Doran was dressed in comfortable, plain black clothes that would not restrict his movements rather than in the elegant clothes that he normally wore, and his feet were bare. He had discovered that he felt things better if he did not have any shoes on; besides, footwear had the potential of affecting the execution of your technique negatively.

Furthermore, your kicks tended to be less damaging without shoes, and he did not wish to injure anyone during a training session (real fights were a different matter, of course).

For the same reason, both of them would only be using very little of their strength – or stop an inch or two before their hands or feet made contact with the body of their opponent.

Taelis and he had just warmed up and performed a few different kinds of stretches – a necessity when you planned on practicing unarmed combat, even if you were a comparatively experienced fighter – and now they were finally ready for their training to begin in earnest.

Doran did not say anything to his training partner, but simply inclined his head before he extended a hand that was lined with crimson markings – one of his Awakenings, a consequence of his progressing in his chosen magic – and gestured for him to come closer. He would allow the Eidisi who was less skilled than he was to make the first move.

Taelis nodded in agreement before he advanced, nearly without hesitation.

The Mortalborn spread his legs, placed his right leg slightly behind his left leg and raised his arms so that he would be able to protect his face, should such turn out to be necessary, looking straight at Taelis, watching him and waiting, his face unreadable.

When the Eidisi had almost reached him and executed a kick towards his midsection, he swiftly moved out of the way of the attack and to his opponent’s side, turning his torso slightly and lowering his left arm as he did so while he raised his right arm slightly higher than he had before.

Taelis’ leg moved past the Mortalborn without coming in contact with his body.

Doran did not stop after he had evaded the attack and simply wait for the Eidisi’s next move though. Instead, he aimed for his training partner’s chin with his left hand, striking while Taelis was still standing on one foot. But a moment later, his right hand followed suit with another punch before he quickly moved backwards again. Had this been a real fight, he would have tried to end things then and there; they were only practicing though, and thus it would be more beneficial to draw the fight out.
word count: 671

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Doran
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Re: Taelis I

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After the first round had ended, the two men decided to take a brief break and analyze what had happened, with Plia occasionally making a comment as well – analyzing things was something that Doran found exceptionally useful; it helped you realize where you needed to improve, among other things – before they moved on to the second round, and Taelis advanced again.

While the Eidisi moved towards him, the Mortalborn spread his legs and raised his arms once more, and he allowed his training partner to come even closer than he had before. Whereas Taelis had attempted to kick him before, he executed a quick punch now, with his fist clenched.

Doran did not stand still and parry his training partner’s attack this time either. The moment that the mortal’s arm shot forward, he moved off to the side so that Taelis’ fist met with nothing but air. A trill or two later, he grabbed the arm that the mortal man had attempted to strike him with, executing a punch towards his head with his free hand at the same time.

Taelis quickly turned his head away from him.

They moved away from each other again, in opposite directions. When Doran did not attack or give him a sign to attack again immediately, the Eidisi looked him somewhat curiously and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“I’d like to try something a little different now, if you don’t mind”, Doran told him in a calm tone of voice and met his gaze. They had been training for a while now, and he felt a bit warm as a consequence, but he was still far from exhausted. He had reached a point where it took more than an unarmed combat session for that to happen.

“You remember the last time that we practiced kicks with Lida’via, I assume?” he asked and raised an eyebrow, and when Taelis nodded, he continued, “I’d like to do that again now, but modify the kicks slightly and try to aim for the chest rather than the legs or the stomach and work on my balance a little. And if you want to, we can do something that you need a bit more practice at afterwards”, he offered.

The goal of their training session was not only for him to improve, but for both of them to improve and, perhaps, learn something new, after all.

“I’d just like you to make the first move next time”, Taelis admitted, smiling slightly which was a somewhat rare occurrence as the Eidisi tended not to show a lot of emotions. He felt a little bold though. He wanted to see how things would go if he didn’t have the advantage of making the first attack.

Sometimes, Doran wondered if his training partner would be as relaxed in his presence and as willing to train with him if he knew the truth about him; that he was not simple a mortal professor who was quite skilled in various different kinds of combat, but in fact an ancient Mortalborn and the son of Ziell himself. He did not dwell on that question now though; he wished to fight and not engage in a somewhat pointless game of what if.

“That can definitely be arranged”, he thus remarked in a comparatively dry tone of voice before he moved towards the slightly taller man (Taelis was an inch or two taller than he was which was something quite unusual since Doran normally tended to tower over other people).

He executed a kick towards the center of the Eidisi’s chest, with his right leg extended, an attack that he had to admit made it somewhat hard for him to maintain his balance properly. Following that, he moved slightly backwards, only in order to attack once more and execute a side kick, shifting his weight slightly and balancing his body slightly differently in the process which turned out to improve his stability, to some extent.

Balancing was the one aspect of unarmed combat that still constituted a challenge sometimes. When it came to swordsmanship, such was not particularly important – he did not usually kick people. Of course, he didn’t mind the challenge. On the contrary, he appreciated the fact that there were still new things to learn and new skills to perfect after he had been alive for such a long time.

He tried one more time as he wasn’t entirely content with his attack yet before they changed positions and moved on to the third round. This time, Doran attacked first, as they had decided on earlier. Plia, he observed during a brief break, still watched them with interest, and when they were finally finished, she smiled somewhat shyly at them and applauded.

“That was quite fascinating”, she remarked softly a little later, when they walked to the cafeteria in order to drink a bit of coffee together before Doran would meet with Lida’via. “I thank you for allowing me to watch the two of you, professor. You were great as well, Taelis”, she told the Eidisi, smiling slightly once more. “In fact, I was impressed with the way that you handled yourself against the professor.”

“How long have you been practicing, if you don’t mind me asking?”
she wanted to know and listened to Taelis’ talk about his training attentively before they finally reached their destination and sat down at an empty table. As they drank, the conversation gradually moved away from combat and to science – an interest that all three of them had in common.

Taelis was not only one of Doran’s training partners, he was also a student of chemistry.
word count: 950

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Re: Taelis I

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Doran

Experience: 10 no magic

Knowledge:

Acrobatics x2
Unarmed Combat (Menochoros) x4

Renown: 5

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level.

Loot/Losses: none

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: The regular foot traffick in the Fitness Center has prompted a few of the more prominent magisters of Menochoros to schedule an informal tournament of sorts. There, Doran has been invited to take part, and even match himself against some of the masters. Will he accept their challenge? (if you wanna pursue this consequence, please see Tempest about creating some masters for the fitness center, and check with her about the event itself.)

Comments: Yer not lying, it's grindy but it's well written. I enjoyed the mechanical details given throughout, as it helped me envision what was going on at any point in time during the thread.

At some point I'd love to see Doran fight against equally skilled opponents, and even those who use other styles.

Good writing and have fun with the rewards!

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.
word count: 177
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