[Flashback]Good sword is the one left in scabbard (Eridanus)

[Nai'shee]

She hesitated. His tone told her he won't give this one up, and she had to listen to him anyways, but she was afraid of her own power. She wasn't worth a coin in combat, but her Flux power could hurt him. She might even hurt yourself. "Are you sure?", she asked softly, shaking a bit while preparing for attack. Will he be able to dodge? But he was obviously sure in what he said, he wouldn't ask for it otherwise. She took a deep breath and rushed at him. She couldn't speed up her legs while collecting power for punch in her hand, so she rushed with her natural speed, which was slow due to her size. A child could never run as fast as adult. Her hand rushed forward at Eridanus' chest. She choosen the target she thought she will deal least damage to. He will feel her punch, but she won't break or hurt something. OOCI can't write much more without controlling Eri too, if you want you can control Nai'shee for a while, she will just punch and kick around until she gets tired or you knock her out.

[Eridanus]

OOCNah that's fine xD Since neither of us know how each other fights

The child rushed forward, aiming for his chest. Instantly, several options rushed into his mind, but he dismissed most of them for they involved powerful counterattacks that could hurt the child. Instead, he opted for the one safest for her, and he took a deep breath, rigidly tensing his muscles as he took the hit.

There was a hollow thud, and he waved his hand dismissively should she show any signs of worry.

Not bad, she packs a punch. Strength is fine for a kid her age, but finesse isn't there.

"Your punch is suitably strong, but it lacks grace. Try twisting your hips as you punch, but maintain a steady pose with your lower body so you don't overextend should the opponent redirect. What do I mean? Hit me again."

Nai'shee repeated it again, but this time he raised his palm, injecting a new energy vector into her punch and redirecting it harmlessly across his shoulder. He reached forward as well, his other arm stopping dangerously close in front of her face.

"That's what I mean. For now, condition your body first. Do your basic stretches, then proceed with one hundred full powered punches as described above. A hundred for each hand, mind you."

With that, he reached for the tree, putting his hands over it. Extracting djed from his body, he begin laying his djed like bricks on the tree, covering its trunk with a layer of the formless material. Patting and forming the djed, he weaved the djed threads to task against all possible biological intrusions. In effect, it was a blanket ban for biological tasking.

Wordlessly, he returned to the building he came from, moments later emerging with a book that he intended to read. She should take quite a while, and he flipped a page leisurely as he seated himself comfortably by a nearby lawn chair.

[Nai'shee]

She rolled her eyes in despair, already stretching. "Should I use Flux?", she asked Eridanus before he left. He was turned, so she couldn't see his face expression. She didn't mind using it, well, she asked for it, but she never used it much for practice. Are two thousand punches too much for her Djed level to stand? And plus it was really hard to focus on Flux and new 'technique' she was about to practice. It wasn't something complicated, but it was still new for her. But still it would maybe be useful, she could learn how much Djed she should put into it. If she really fought it wouldn't be pleasant to collapse after a battle.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus flipped a page, his eyes scanning the contents.

[It is inevitable that the crafting process of a single step will generate enough post-operation djed emissions to render the surroundings unstable. Now, given enough tools to maintain a neutral operation this should not be a problem. However, it has been proven several times that the very act of such emissions would weaken the internal djed structure of an object (Gredhren, 210; Louinberg, 115; "A Dissertation on Speed Enchanting in Alahea", 900BV). This in effect would subject the enchanted object to further corruption and it would not have the resistance to avoid instant degradation.]

The ethaefal rolled his eyes, calling out, "No, please don't use it yet. Normal punches, but with hip swings. And don't give me half-hearted ones also. Put your conviction into each and everyone swing like it's your last. This is to toughen not only your physical condition, but also your mental resolve."

He flipped another page, his attention partially on absorbing the contents of the book, but also to observe the child. His seemingly flippant attitude was on purpose, for it was to test her, to see if she was serious enough. Most normal people who wanted an easy path to power would have left huffing by now, so it was up to Nai'shee's temperament and her true goals of seeking him out.

[Nai'shee]

She just nodded quickly, instead of yelling at this point. She took a deep breath and tried to do what Ethaefal told her. She tried to position herself few times, but she was sure it wasn't steady enough, he could redirect her punch easily. She quickly figured that both of her legs must be stable on the ground in the moment she punches and that she should punch his opponent's dominant side, so he couldn't dodge and redirect her fist so easily. After she took the proper pose she tried it out. She had to make a step forward in order to deliver full powered punch, but that made her body unstable and she noticed she didn't lend her foot in the moment of delivering the punch. Twist your hips, she reminded herself. She gone back to her pose and tried again with the same hand. This time she leaned forward a bit, bending her knee. She did that properly, but she still felt that opponent who's bigger than her would be able to push her back, so she would fall on her side because her legs are so apart, but if she made less distance she didn't have enough power to keep her punch forced to the point. She decided it's as much as she could figure by herself and she was sure Ethaefal will show her what to do if she's too far from right technique, or if he thought this is useless. She progressed practice with her idea of what she should do, alternating hands in her practice. She got tired already when she reached 40th punch by every hand. She was in condition and she knew she could do more, but she didn't expect this to take that much of her body. Arms and power she delivered punches to imaginary target were the least problem, the way her body had to move completely was exhausting her. But she kept going. One more, just once more, you're able to do it, just some more. The fact that she didn't made it to 100 yet didn't help her motivate herself. She could only think about what was yet to come, she felt she was already sweating, especially her face and she could imagine that she was red. Just a little more, 99. 99th by left hand, 100. But as she progressed she noticed her punches weakened and it was more hand floating in the air to reach point she aimed than hitting something. She stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and looked at her hand. She almost got angry at it. Her disappointment in herself was what gave her strength to continue. She was angry at herself for not doing it properly. 96, she started to count again, from the point she thought her punches lost their strength. Her body now started to starve for more, she ate energy from her anger at herself and used it, quickly progressing. As she realized that her fist stopped in air again and she allowed her body to calm down. She must not consume strength from anger. That was the point of her doubting her decision in the first place. She tried to replace that anger with determination now. 144, 144th by left hand, 145... It kept going for a while, it might even be a hour or two before she properly reached 190 by each hand. The real count was probably much higher, but she repeated dozens of punches. She came to realize that anger is what really gives you power in the fight and nothing else. That was why she had to control it, at least to control consuming it as energy for fight. Even controlled anger wasn't enough, it would blind her and at some point she would get lost. She must learn to understand other people, that was the only relevant way of surpassing her anger she saw. 198, 198 by... Damn... "I can't take it anymore!", she yelled, more to herself, judging herself for being so weak. She immediately fallen on the ground, facing the sky and started breathing out all of her fatigue. Her body started sweating because she started cooling down and she finally realized how warm she was. She was kind of breathless and it lasted good few minutes. She didn't want to look at Eridanus, she didn't want to know his reaction on her damned weakness! She wanted to stand up, but she reminded herself not to use that strength, the one collected from anger.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus continued reading the book, nodding to himself as the child continued with her conditioning. She did not complain nor scream at how much of a waste of time this was, and inwardly he smiled. The path behind martial arts was not easy, and often it required a large time investment before even seeing the most minute of returns. Those seeking overnight changes would be sorely disappointed.

When she was done, he put down his book, striding towards her.

"Well done, take a short breather, and we'll continue."

After a short break, he gestured for her to take up a stance in front of him even as he settled into his own stance - the one he used before.

"I know you're tired, but after repeatedly drilling the moves into your short term memory, your muscles should be generally well-versed with it. Now, use those same punches on me. Left punch, right punch. Don't worry about hitting me, don't worry about missing. Just do it like before, swing your hips as you swing your arms, put your strength and conviction into every hit."

As she did so, he would gently deflect her punches, and if she did indeed put all her strength into them just as instructed she would find herself stumbling. He did not mention this explicitly, but this was to allow her to gauge her limit of overextension. If she was adaptable, she would soon learn that if she continued to put her entire strength into punching him, she would continue stumbling and falling when redirected.

When she finally realized on her own that she had to limit her strength, but just to the point where she could unleash power while not over-extending, then he would proceed with the lesson.

[Nai'shee]

She saw Ethaefal was approaching her, but she couldn't care less in that moment. When Nai'shee was doing her best she was going all the way to her limits. She was just lying there, listening to his praises, trying to calm her body down. He allowed her few minutes break, which was more than enjoyable. Those few minutes felt really short and she was soon making her body stand up and listen to him. Her breathing normalized by then and her sweat cooled. She nervously ripped it off her face. She knew it wasn't worth it, but she couldn't help it. Her legs shaken a bit, rebelling against her determination, but soon all of her tics vanished. She got ready and tried with an unsure punch. She wasn't so high to worry about him anymore, but after all practice she just did she didn't know if she learned how to do this well enough. Her first punch was immediately redirected towards Ethaefal's right. Her strength pulled her forward, she stumbled. She positioned her legs pretty steadily, but she really overdid the punch and she couldn't help falling down. She instinctively pulled her right arm - the one she was falling on - and caught it by the other one. She was never aware of doing it, but she always protected her joints while falling. She didn't feel any pain in her arm. Fall like that probably wasn't enough to take her body's attention which exhaustion like this. She forced herself to stand up. This time it was easier than the last. Eridanus showed her in more detail how to stand. Her legs were too apart, so she rose her left leg a bit as she attacked, so that lowered her balance. He showed her how to step forth a bit and punch at the same time, without losing balance like that. She was satisfied while watching, since she concluded good part of his advices herself when she was practicing. He made her take position he showed her few times and try it on, while he corrected her mistakes. Soon, she was able to do it and they continued. She thought if she put a little more strength in her punch, Ethaefal might not be able to redirect it. This time she even drove some of her Djed down her arm, strengthening the punch even more. It seemed like Eridanus' hand shaken a bit, but he still had no problems to redirect the punch. She fallen on the same arm again, with even more force than before and she almost hit her head. She stood up and moved her arm a bit, concluding it was still in one part. Ethaefal simply waited. When she was ready again he told her not to bend so much, otherwise enemy could hit her back with an elbow and that would win them advantage, even if they get punched. At her third strike she knew that she shouldn't put so much force in punch, and her hurting arm kept reminding her about that lesson. This time she was worried that her punch might be too weak. She tried to put enough strength in it to give it speed and some power, but no more than necessary. Ethaefal simply caught her hand. "What was that?", he asked with a smile. Well, it surely wasn't a punch, she thought. Even if she did hit him she doubt he would even feel it. She gone too far with lowering the strength. She didn't reply, she simply took a step backwards and prepared for the next punch. This one was probably good. She put much strength to it, but not close as she did in the beginning. Ethaefal was able to redirect it easily anyways, but she did not lose her balance, or even stumbled. She stepped and tried to punch him by her left hand, directing the punch upward.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus nodded with satisfaction when she finally came to this conclusion on her own. With no words, but only actions to guide her, he had managed to help her reach this important stage in learning about combat. Combat was not just about who could throw the hardest or fastest punch. It was all about control and discipline, and the one who could most precisely control his attacks, as well as analyse the situation and apply this control to it, would be the victor.

"Control," He uttered simply. "and Discipline. These are two important aspects that are crucial to any combat styles, and they also apply to Life, not just combat. Take heed in these lessons, and let them guide you inside and outside of combat."

There was still so much more he wanted to teach, to impart, but he knew that change did not occur overnight. It took him two years to merely grasp the essence of Suvan Swordsmanship back in Denval, and it took him all the years in between to better his proficiency in it. Nai'shee was still beginning her journey in this regard, and it would be doing her a disservice to overburden her with information she could not absorb, not at this stage.

"This is today's lesson. Practice it continually, and make sure that in our future sessions every movement, every punch must be calculated with precision. Practice sufficiently such that such calculations become integral to your decisions, that you internalize them and execute from muscle memory rather than conscious thinking."

With that, he strode over to the tree he had been tinkering with earlier. Glancing over the shield he placed, he inspected it to make sure that it was to his satisfaction. Next, he took the child's hands in his, and boded her to not move as he begun to draw from the djed within him.

Extracting djed from his body, he shaped individual shields - a total of four - in glove-like shapes wrapping over each individual set of fists. Mentally shaping them such that they would be skin tight and nicely moulded, he began a mass instruction tasking process so that he would not have to repeat the shielding process inefficiently.

The first was of course, to absorb djed. The second instruction was a little more complicated, which was actually a combination of glyphing and shielding. The formal shielding instruction he gave was actually a blanket biological rejection, such that it would not allow any biologicals to enter or exit the shields. However, he added glyphs to rework this definition so that he could manipulate the effect of shielding to his specifications.

Instead, he defined the shield to simply allow biologicals partially, and added more glyphs to manipulate the strand variables so indicate that he wanted the shield to absorb the force of impact instead. It was a useful skill to use, especially for flux users who were more of a danger to themselves than others.

When he was finally done, he explained to the child, "I just created a shield to protect our hands from impact. The tree trunk over there," He pointed, "also has the same shield as a precaution."

Walking over to the tree, he gathered the flux energies in his body, redirecting astral force temporarily to his arm as he suddenly unleashed an unnatural powerful strike on the tree. Both shields on his fist and the tree shimmered briefly as they absorbed the impact, and disappeared from physical view again.

"Let's see how powerful your flux punch can be. Do be careful of overextending your djed, though."

[Nai'shee]

Control and discipline, she repeated in her mind. She didn't like the sound of it, but she was slowly beginning to learn that such a things aren't just black and white. She might should accept authority, control her actions and acts reasonably from time to time. She didn't see the connection life had with combat just yet, but as she practices she'll learn that there is more to it than she might has thought, the same rules were applied to both things and it was as hard to obey them. It was as hard to be good in life as it was hard to be good in battle. However, she just nodded, and she didn't completely understand it back then. What she realized was that she should have complete control and calculate every move of her body. Else was still invisible to her young mind. She was told not to move as Ethaefal took her hands in his. She wasn't aware what was happening and she had no way to feel the shield he was creating, but she did notice something was strange. She couldn't have guessed what he was doing, anyways. She remained still, ignoring her impulse to move. It was psychological reaction to the command not to move. Every cell of her wanted to disobey, but she just repeated lesson she was just taught in her mind. Control. Discipline. It couldn't be that hard. It took him a while to finish what he was doing and she was glad to hear the explanation. She looked at her hands and moved her fingers. Nothing. She didn't notice the difference. She wasn't sure if she believed it, but if it was true, it was amazing. She followed Eridanus to the tree. She stopped for a moment, wondering how much can she take. She used a fair amount of Djed, but she knew there was at least as much left. Yet, she shouldn't even approach her limit, she won't be able to refresh easily later. When she finally calculated amount of Djed she should waste on this punch, she took a position and began to move her Djed all around the body. When it had proper speed and power it was directed into her arm for a punch. She almost forgot everything she learned in heat of situation, but it became almost a reflex to her, so she repeated a punch she had used on Eridanus before, the one he approved. She didn't see what was happening, but she knew neither her neither tree got a scratch. Her arm got shaken a bit and she took few steps backwards from the strength of... shield? Combined with her punch, obviously. She looked at Ethaefal curiously.

[Eridanus]

"Yes, yes," Eridanus nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that she had learned the lesson that he repeated to her so many times well. Control and Discipline were of the utmost importance when managing djed, especially one as dangerous as Flux which threatened to ravage one's body if not used appropriately.

However, the 'casting time', or the time needed to proceed was too long, and would generally not be feasible in combat. Conveying this to her, he demonstrated. Requiring only a fleeting moment to tap into the astral network within his soul, djed strands began jumping from individual muscles throughout his body as he side-stepped the trunk in a supernaturally fast motion, his leg muscles having been boosted by his wielding of flux.

Even as he pushed off, he had already directed the djed strands back up, fortifying only the necessary muscles in his torso and arms for an underarm swing, and a muffled thud rang as he slammed the trunk powerfully. It was possible that either his fist would be mangled or the tree trunk destroyed if the shield was not there, but in this case his arm merely bounced off, though it did so at an alarming fast rate due to the ridiculous acceleration.

Knowing that this would happen, he twirled his body even as the flux strands flowed back downwards to fortify his stability and lower torso as he absorbed the momentum through bodily movements, thus preventing his arm from self-dislocating due to the impact.

As he recovered to a normal position, he directed the flux strands back to their original positions, panting slightly.

"As you can see, use too much force and you might possibly hurt yourself at the last moment. We are coming to an end for today, for I do not wish to overload you with too much information. For now, seek familiarity with the necessary djed threads within your body that you need to proceed with - say - a punch. Be very well-acquainted with the astral network in your soul. Then gradually, try to increase the speed at which you can pull these threads for a punch. Do it slowly, however, and incrementally, for if you do it too quickly you risk 'short-circuiting' the djed network in your body."

Clasping his hands firmly behind his back, he cocked his head and regarded the child, "Do you understand me? Are there any questions?"