Discipline Over Fatigue (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 2, Winter of 511 AV
Evening
En route to Syliras

The party from Sunberth had been riding almost the whole day, but when Syna gave way to Leth it was determined that it would be too dangerous to continue traveling. There was the high possibility of encountering something that they did not prefer to encounter while in the dark, and there was always a chance of losing a member of the group accidentally due to the reduced vision.

Thus they set camp for the night, taking the time to rest. When preparations ended the rest of the group began to dig in for their dinner, but the ethaefal was no longer hungry, for though his stomach growled while in his mortal form, the meager moonlight provided by Leth's when night fell was enough to sustain him and his hunger disappeared.

Some of them ate in silence while others engaged in small talk. But not Eridanus. No, he had not been doing anything productive ever since leaving Sunberth except traveling, and he could not feel easy allowing his mental and physical state to deteriorate like that.

Excusing himself from the large campfire they built together in the middle of their tents and tethered horses, he went to the side of the clearing where he was still visible to the group but only if they made an effort to turn around and see him. This also allowed him to still within line of sight and not wandering off into the dangerous darkness.

[Eridanus]

He first began by taking out his long sword, though making sure to do it quietly to avoid causing the signature shrieking sound of a sword being released from its sheath and jolting the group into action by accident.

He intended to do some training, but not a too heavy one in order to reserve strength to defend his group should the need arise, but a training that would at least provide sufficient challenge to him to not be complacent. After all, if he found his training easy it meant that it was not training at all, just going through the motions.

It was psychological tiring to do so, and truth be told he would most rather curl up and sleep in the tent. However, it was a mental fatigue and he very well knew it. It was mental fatigue from staring endlessly at the never-ending road of traveling, a 'highway vision' of sorts.

However, weaknesses like these made one weak, and being selectively lazy was the start of a slippery slope. He uttered a prayer to Wysar to give him the conviction to get through this little session, though in essence it was more to prevent himself from falling into a cycle of laziness. A warrior must always be in top physical form or risk death in combat.

He went through the various stances and guards he learned back in Denval. Unlike quite a lot of combatants he had formal training in the art of swordsmanship, and unlike most warriors the style he learned was the original style used by Suvan swordsmen, though over the centuries slightly tweaked by the Denvali.

[Eridanus]

One form flowed into the other smoothly, the ethaefal making sure to always not be comfortable using a predictable set of techniques and instead forcing himself to transition to another with only the whim of his fickle mind to decide which form he should take next.

It was mentally challenging as well, for he had to quickly recall the stance used - whether it be stable, transitional or finisher - and the appropriate grip and preparation for the cut or thrust to be used. His muscle memory would usually do the work for an experienced swordsman like him when flowing into common guards such as the Guard of the Woman into a Scalp Cut.

However, when faced with random combinations thrown out by his mind, the transition from each random combination of techniques proved to be challenging for he had to quickly shift into it while not affecting the integrity of his form. Form was of the utmost importance, any discrepancy in it meant a careless opening, which usually meant injury if one's opponent was observant and skilled enough to take advantage of it.

Theoretically speaking, two swordsmen who have mastered their art and who never tire physically and mentally will never finish a duel if they started one amongst themselves. In high level duels it was often not who was skilled enough that won for both parties would often be tremendously proficient in their art.

Instead, the winner is often decided when a party made a tiny mistake in his form or choice of Guard, and his opponent is observant enough to fully take advantage of it.
Such was the intricacies of true swordsmanship.

[Eridanus]

As the ethaefal's mind wandered over the implications of not maintaining perfect form, his body worked hard to ensure that every angle and every line was where it should be. He was paying attention, yet not paying attention. It was a partially conscious thing, and as he challenged his body and mind with his inane randomization the state of his mind grew into a partially meditative one.

Consciously it was like a dream, and he could see his body moving as if alien to him, yet familiar at the same time. He was not actively controlling his movements as if a conscious person would, but instead he was processing and issuing orders from his mind upon receiving the next set of randomized combinations that he thought of on a whim.

His trained form allowed his body to execute his mental orders more naturally than less competent swordsmen, and that allowed his conscious mind to be free from actively concentrating on the elementary phase of adopting the style.

Instead, this freed up to focus on critically scrutinizing his physical form, for there was often a difference between intent and reality, and though his body strove to adopt accurately a stance or attack, physically the form might not be accurate. That also meant a possible fatality if he were not aware of his accidental openings.

[Eridanus]

It was as if something clicked in his mind, and though he felt that it was common sense to him he did not actually thought of it this way. The idea that being unaware of his own openings due to an accidental or unknowing lack of perfect form.

There was a little electric jolt within his body and he could feel his body responding in a gradually panicked manner as he began to realize the implications of that tiny eureka moment.

He was pretty lucky to have survived thus far! He only needed a single opponent to realize this same thing as he did to result in his defeat, and he had no real wish to return to Lhex when he had to properly discovered the reason behind Leth's seeming indifference to him.

Wysar help me, with all my determination and focus I will correct this flaw tonight.

He had to mentally fight the adrenaline that was growing to excess within his body twice. The first was the slight feeling of terror from him realizing that point. The second was the growing excitement of having something important to work towards with a certain pressure.

He felt the need to continue with this and not stop until he could figure it out, but his rational mind also told him that he had to stop soon to garner the sufficient rest required to be alert enough to ride throughout the day tomorrow, as well as having the strength needed to defend the group against any threats of the wild.

He had to fight this thought for if he gave in to this curious excitement it would detrimental to the next day. No mistakes were allowed, no weaknesses were allowed. It was also a sort of discipline to control himself thus, and if he could not do it he would have no pride to ever speak Wysar's name again.

[Eridanus]

His training ended with the last series of randomized instructions his own brain fed him, and as his body flowed through the last awkward series of guards, stances, thrusts and cuts, he kept his conscious focus on the integrity of his form, carefully noting when and where he tended to make such dangerous mistakes, and then correcting his form first mentally then physically.

It made him feel like a beginner all over again, and he knew that he should have listened to Oliver Camlach more carefully when the instructor intoned against the dangers of not fully mastering one's foundations before moving on. He had been diligent in his learning, but over the years he had begun to grow complacent and overly-reliant on a predictable combination of techniques.

Eridanus realized that predictability was a huge no-no in combat, for if the opponent read him like a book it was sure to result in his demise. Calling on his reserves of mental strength, he made sure to go through with the last few steps properly, then began to stretch himself to cool-down to prevent unnecessary muscle fatigue.

When he was done, he sheathed his sword again silently, and picked up his weapons to walk back to his tent. Some of the party had already retired for the night, while the others were finishing up their meal or the last portions of their conversations.

Nodding his head to those still awake, he bid them good night and returned to his tent, though instead of fully giving to his desire to sleep he had one last task to do. It was difficult to muster the motivation to do it, but when he got into it it got progressively easier to continue.

Meditation.

[Eridanus]

Naturally, it was tempting to lie down on the bed and go on, but he forced himself to soldier on. Since decades ago he had been using meditation to allow him a calm introspection into his life, and he often used it as a tool at the end of every day to reflect on his actions and any implications or consequences of what he had done, and if he could do better.

As he closed his eyes, he slowly regulated his breathing as he brought himself to a serene state. It was similar in a way to the earlier training session, in the idea of a tranquil mental state, but this time with his physical body relaxed he was able to go deeper into his mind and to fully analyze and process his thoughts.

People often used meditation to calm themselves and to clear their thoughts, but he found that meditation also had one more use. After doing the usual steps to reach said calm state, he could then slowly introduce into his clear mind a thought at a time, allowing that particular thought to be fully analyzed by the entirety of his mental faculties when he did so.

He had learned quite a bit about horse-riding from Antar during the day to avoid being thrown off his horse, ChrysanthemumChewer, for he was not a very good rider, having spent most of his life on foot.

The little training session had brought certain important concepts to his immediate attention, and though he was not able to correct this flaw tonight he at least knew what he was lacking in that area. That alone meant that he could at least actively avoid the feared outcome of possessing that flaw, and perhaps over the next few days he could gradually but surely fix it.

[Eridanus]

The ethaefal opened his eyes slowly from his cross-legged position, ending his introspective session and finally laying down on his bedroll, covering himself up with his blanket to fight against the cold of the beginning winter.

As his mind drifted off to sleep, thoughts of the various deities he paid tribute to ran threw his mind in disconnected images, obviously starting from the first conscious one that he had on his mind today, Wysar, and ending with Priskil, whom he had never managed to truly find even after so many decades.

He thought about the 'the suggestion' that he seek the Goddess of Hope only after finding his one true path in life, his true path behind his mortal state in Mizahar, and that brought him back to the being behind his elevated status and resulting fall.

Leth. Can you hear me?

[Liar]

EXPERIENCE AWARD Eridanus Skill Points Longsword 4 Meditation 3 Acrobatics 2 Body building 1 Stealth 1 Philosophy 1 Observation 1 Lore Religion: Wysar Religion: Leth Preempting an Opponent Involuntary Precision Traveler’s Fatigue Notes I gave you tactics lores instead of skills. Let me know if you would prefer points and feel free to PM me with any other questions or concerns.