Zi’da 42, Arc 720
The son of Ziell had not thought that he would ever hear from Darius Baer again, let alone meet him again, as they lived in different parts of the world. As a consequence, the letter that had arrived on his desk one morning, towards the end of Vhalar, had come as a great surprise. He had been happy about it though. He had often wondered how Darius was doing. When he had taught the human to use a sword, during a brief stay on the island of Scalvoris, he had been quite impressed by his attitude. Darius had been observant and respectful, and he had been willing to learn from his mistakes rather than complaining. He had seen potential in him and thought that he would go far.
He had been honored that Darius wanted another lesson from him, and that he was even willing to travel all the way to Viden for it. As a consequence, he had immediately replied that he would teach him. At the same time, he had been worried though. Darius wanted to take part in an expedition to the Stormwastes where an earthquake had taken place. Everything that he had heard so far pointed towards some sort of supernatural involvement rather than a natural disaster. He would not dissuade him from his plans though; instead, he had decided to make sure that he would have the skills that he needed to face whatever challenges came his way and teach him what he could.
He had originally considered inviting him into his private training room in his apartment in the Obsidian Prism, but ultimately booked a room at the Fitness Centre for the two of them instead as there would be more room to move and more equipment.
~~~
Doran had already arrived at the aforementioned room a little before the time that he had told Darius. Instead of one of his customary elegant suits, the Mortalborn wore a simple black outfit that was comfortable and would not restrict his movements while still offering a certain amount of protection. He had arranged for a couple of practice weapons to be brought into the room; he had also taken his own longsword made of Grave Gold with him from the Obsidian Prism though, just in case. It was lying on one of the benches at the back of the training room now, encased in a sheath of white and gold.
The Mortalborn himself was in the centre of the training room, looking utterly calm and relaxed. For a few moments, he simply stood there, not moving, and with his eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling deeply, before he performed a couple of stretches in order to warm up and finally executed a series of swift side kicks and open palm strikes. He always began his training sessions that way, no matter whether he was the teacher or the student. Those moves, central elements of Menochoros, did not only help him become more flexible; there was an almost meditative quality about them in his opinion.
They helped him get into the correct state of mind and focus.
He was still going through his exercises when Darius arrived at the Fitness Centre. Upon seeing the human, he stopped immediately though and turned to look at him, a light smile on his face. “Mister Baer”, he greeted him in a deep and polite tone of voice, inclined his head and walked over to the younger man in order to offer him his hand to shake. “It is good to see you again. It seems as if you have led quite an interesting life since we parted ways in Ashan”, he remarked and fell silent for a few moments in order to give Darius the opportunity to talk about his adventures and his plans for the future.
The Mortalborn did not simply wish to make a bit of small talk before they began to train together. He hardly ever made small talk, or talked just for the sake of talking. He was genuinely interested in hearing more (if the other man did not wish to talk, then he would not pry though).
“I thought about how to best set up this lesson quite frequently since your letter arrived on my desk last season and tried to take the nature of the mission that you wish to undertake into consideration. Before we talk about it and begin, I would like to ask you if there is anything in particular that you want to learn though”, he finished in a calm tone of voice and met the younger and slightly shorter man’s gaze.
That was something that should always be taken into consideration in his opinion: the student’s wishes.
The son of Ziell had not thought that he would ever hear from Darius Baer again, let alone meet him again, as they lived in different parts of the world. As a consequence, the letter that had arrived on his desk one morning, towards the end of Vhalar, had come as a great surprise. He had been happy about it though. He had often wondered how Darius was doing. When he had taught the human to use a sword, during a brief stay on the island of Scalvoris, he had been quite impressed by his attitude. Darius had been observant and respectful, and he had been willing to learn from his mistakes rather than complaining. He had seen potential in him and thought that he would go far.
He had been honored that Darius wanted another lesson from him, and that he was even willing to travel all the way to Viden for it. As a consequence, he had immediately replied that he would teach him. At the same time, he had been worried though. Darius wanted to take part in an expedition to the Stormwastes where an earthquake had taken place. Everything that he had heard so far pointed towards some sort of supernatural involvement rather than a natural disaster. He would not dissuade him from his plans though; instead, he had decided to make sure that he would have the skills that he needed to face whatever challenges came his way and teach him what he could.
He had originally considered inviting him into his private training room in his apartment in the Obsidian Prism, but ultimately booked a room at the Fitness Centre for the two of them instead as there would be more room to move and more equipment.
~~~
Doran had already arrived at the aforementioned room a little before the time that he had told Darius. Instead of one of his customary elegant suits, the Mortalborn wore a simple black outfit that was comfortable and would not restrict his movements while still offering a certain amount of protection. He had arranged for a couple of practice weapons to be brought into the room; he had also taken his own longsword made of Grave Gold with him from the Obsidian Prism though, just in case. It was lying on one of the benches at the back of the training room now, encased in a sheath of white and gold.
The Mortalborn himself was in the centre of the training room, looking utterly calm and relaxed. For a few moments, he simply stood there, not moving, and with his eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling deeply, before he performed a couple of stretches in order to warm up and finally executed a series of swift side kicks and open palm strikes. He always began his training sessions that way, no matter whether he was the teacher or the student. Those moves, central elements of Menochoros, did not only help him become more flexible; there was an almost meditative quality about them in his opinion.
They helped him get into the correct state of mind and focus.
He was still going through his exercises when Darius arrived at the Fitness Centre. Upon seeing the human, he stopped immediately though and turned to look at him, a light smile on his face. “Mister Baer”, he greeted him in a deep and polite tone of voice, inclined his head and walked over to the younger man in order to offer him his hand to shake. “It is good to see you again. It seems as if you have led quite an interesting life since we parted ways in Ashan”, he remarked and fell silent for a few moments in order to give Darius the opportunity to talk about his adventures and his plans for the future.
The Mortalborn did not simply wish to make a bit of small talk before they began to train together. He hardly ever made small talk, or talked just for the sake of talking. He was genuinely interested in hearing more (if the other man did not wish to talk, then he would not pry though).
“I thought about how to best set up this lesson quite frequently since your letter arrived on my desk last season and tried to take the nature of the mission that you wish to undertake into consideration. Before we talk about it and begin, I would like to ask you if there is anything in particular that you want to learn though”, he finished in a calm tone of voice and met the younger and slightly shorter man’s gaze.
That was something that should always be taken into consideration in his opinion: the student’s wishes.
