Completed [The Aylasa Cave]Corporeal Master, Ethereal Follower (Cyrus)

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri 38th of Spring, 7th of Bell, 513 AV The gothic lolita ghost, Fubuki Kouri, can be seen walking through wilderness of the Cobalt Mountain Range enjoying the morning sun along the way, but unlike usual, she's not wandering aimlessly or spending her time to relax for now she already had a purpose in her unlife that was to be the powerful and strong enough to avenge her parents and serve her master, the lightning warrior-mage, Cyrus Blackfire. To achieve that kind of power, she knew that she must train hard, her master taught her that power does not come easily and the path to perfection will be long and hard, but she will not give up, no matter what, she swore to herself that she will see her master's vision of an utopia coming down to this torn world came to fruition and she will be standing right next to her master as his... Apprentice?... Father?... or... or... hehehe, perhaps... his... wife? Kyaaaaa~ Kouri put her hands to each side of her cheeks and rapidly shook her head at the thought. Can a human and a ghost, a child ghost at that, be together in love? .......Ehehe... w-well, technically I can grow older, the body does not matter... right? Kouri was still very, very immature in terms of love and romantic attraction and therefore, she just let her mind wander about the topic without giving it much logic. Hmmm? I think... I'm almost there. Kouri was heading to her new designated training area. Master said we will train in close quarters area, like a cave, I think... the Aylasa Cave is somewhere nearby. She looked around her as she said that, deep inside the mountain range, she was trailing an abandoned path, seldom used by people nowadays. After about an hour, she finally spotted a large hole on a cliff somewhere in front of her. Aaah.. that must be it... Kouri then focused herself and did a blinking burst to the location. After several blinks, she finally arrived at the mouth of the hole. There it is.. the Aylasa Caves... Kouri stared in awe at the large gaping hole in front of her, she felt a bit nervous. U-uhm... I hope there won't be any ghost in the-... then she realized the irony of her sentence and fidgeted with one of the ribbons tying her hair Aha..ahahaha! Silly me, ehehehe~ She giggled at her own silliness. "Well then... I'll wait for Master here" Kouri looked around for a nearby large rock, floated to it, and sat on it. She then proceeded to play around with the steel dagger her Master gave to her and hum the song her mother used to sang to her before sleep. Her hauntingly beautiful singing voice echoed through the area... The tune

[Cyrus Blackfire]

It was quite a lovely morning for training, beautiful even. Cyrus searched for something poetic about the clear skies and the crisp clean air but word failed him at the moment.

Ah well, I suppose it would seem rather arrogant for a mortal to attempt to capture the beauty of the day with mere crude words. The warrior thought to himself.

The tall man was marching through the forest on his way to Aylasa Caves, the place where he had designated as the training spot for his protégé and him today. He didn't have anything really special in mind, just to practice Kouri's soulmist manipulations for combat situations and for him to become better orientated with the shortsword at his side. It would likely take some getting used to compared to his massive greatsword, in was a lighter weapon made for predominately thrusting attacks though its blade was as sharp as any other for slashing.

He still had his greatsword strapped to his back and wore his armor as well, though this was how most people saw him any way. Even if he wore just normal clothes he would make sure there would be some form of armor somewhere on his person. Caution was the better part of valor.

As Cyrus drew closer to the cave he caught a haunting melody on the air, something that seemed out of place. It was likely Kouri, she did have a thing for singing that much was certain. Not that this was something he disdained, quite the opposite Cyrus greatly enjoyed all forms of artistic expression as he found it was a very effective way to capture beauty in any moment.

Finally through memory of direction and following the tune he found himself standing before the cave. It was hard to believe that such a simple thing held so much storied history, however Cyrus had a great respect for the place. It was something that had outlasted the ages and catastrophe, which was more than could be said for much of the continent likely.

"Kouri, my dear, I trust you are ready to practice today." Cyrus called to the ghost girl, his tone friendly and his words as articulate as ever.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "La la la~ ♪" Kouri's eyes were closed as she was still deep in her singing, it was one of the last things she kept clinging in order to maintain her humanity, to separate herself from the usual mindless undead. "Kouri, my dear, I trust you are ready to practice today." Aaah... that voice... Hearing the very familiar voice resounding in her ethereal eardrums, Kouri finished her song, slowly opened her eyes, and gazed at Cyrus. For a moment, her expression was forlorn, like a child longing for someone to tell all that had happened to her was 'just all a dream', to pet her head and said 'it's going to be alright'. "Master..." Kouri then quickly switched her expression to a wide smile "Good morning~♪ I'm ready of course." She stood up, floated to Cyrus, materialized herself, and gave him a quick hug then she proceeded to take his left hand with her right hand. "Shall we go?" Kouri said as she leaned her head on Cyrus' right arm. "Since I can go through walls... I think you should lead the way, Master, if I'm the one who lead... I might cause you to... crash into walls, ehehehe~" Kouri giggled, but she was serious about it. As much as it sounds funny, crashing into a cavern's walls can be potentially dangerous and in some cases, fatal, as it's not uncommon to find sharp rocks jutting out from the rocky walls.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus gave the girl a warm smile as she hugged him, shuddering slightly at her unnatural touch. Perhaps he would get used to Kouri's chill touch, an immunity gained from continued contact. It could be useful if he encountered ghosts that were decidedly less than friendly towards him, though that was an exercise for another day. For now he led Kouri to the cave, seeing the logic in him leading the way in. It wasn't as if they would be travelling into the deep depths of the cave, not today anyway, just until they found a good spot for sparring.

The odd pair walked underneath the mouth of the large cave and into the darkness of the cave itself. Cyrus did not want to stray too far from the entrance as fighting in darkness was not wise, especially when wielding an unfamiliar weapon. The cave itself was reasonably wide and the ceiling rather high, which would grant plenty of room to maneuver his shortsword but he would have some difficulty using a greatsword in this place, which was the point of coming here in the first place. He needed to get a feel for close quarters combat, as he had no doubt that it would be something he would be facing.

He stopped them a little ways away from the entrance, when passage started to narrow out. This would be a good spot.

"Alright, Kouri, this will be the spot, ready yourself." Cyrus said, moving a little further away from the ghost girl.

The warrior set his greatsword against a nearby wall and drew the short blade at his side. It was nothing too impressive, its blade was slightly bigger than a dagger and looked very utilitarian in its design. It was made to be used, which was how Cyrus liked his weapons.

The warrior gave the weapon a few practice swings, testing its weight and balance. It was far lighter a weapon than he was used to dealing with and seemed like it would be better used in combination with a short spear or shield. Regardless he brought it into a ready position, and faced Kouri with a widened stance.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri Aaah... Kouri closed her eyes and led Cyurs led her inside the cave, she didn't worry about crashing because she thought that her ethereal form couldn't crash into something corporeal. It's true in most cases, but Kouri seemed to be forgetting that she was materialized hence why she could hold Cyrus' hand. Not that Cyrus would let any of them crashed in the first place, but still the ghost girl should had been more careful. For the moment, Kouri left everything to her master, knowing that she was with someone that she can fully trust made her drop her guard completely. Even the most novice of assassins could attack her silently and to make it worse, her materialized state made the case entirely possible to happen, but of course, to do that, they must go through Cyrus, the warrior-reimancer. Already experienced in the arts of combat and sorcery, it must be a fool of an assassin to think attacking both of them with only physical form of combat could succeed. Kouri kept her Soulmist in tendril form as her steel dagger quietly followed them, grabbed by her tendrils. It looked almost alive, like a familiar, floating and obediently following its master. After a few moments, Kouri could feel that her master stopped in his tracks. "Alright, Kouri, this will be the spot, ready yourself." Kouri opened her eyes to see her Master separated himself from the ghost girl's hold of his hand, set his massive weapon on a nearby wall, and drew his smaller, lighter sword. Master... Kouri felt hurt a little bit to see her master could drew his weapon against her, she knew perfectly that it was a practice match, to hone both of their skills, but still she couldn't ignore the small prick on her undead heart. Cyrus then proceeded to gave his shortsword a few practice swings. I should get ready as well. Kouri practiced swinging her dagger a few times with her Soulmist, warming-up for the mock battle ahead. A short moment later, She could see Cyrus faced her in a battle-ready stance. Kouri then nodded to her Master. "Master, you don't have to hold back... I've been stabbed in the head before..." Courtesy of one terrified merchant bodyguard. Kouri's hair started to float up and her Soulmist swirling rapidly around her, her steel dagger spinning dangerously around herself. "So... I won't hold back as well... Master, but don't worry I will only aim your armor... then... here I come!!" Kouri then made a slashing motion of her hand and with it her dagger launched itself in a slashing motion as well, aiming to strike Cyrus' armored right shoulder.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Due to the close quarters of the cave Cyrus knew that he wouldn't have much room to maneuver, which again was the point of this exercise. He would be limited in his capacity for dodging Kouri's attacks while she could easily move about due to her incorporeal abilities, not only that but she was a smaller target. His shortsword would also lacked the blocking capacity of his greatsword, which could easily be used as a shield as well as a sword. Therefore he was rather limited in his abilities since he wouldn't be using magic here.

He managed to sidestep Kouri's rather inexperienced slash, her blade managing a glancing blow on his shoulder guard. Cyrus immediately stepped in with a quick series of stabs, their goal more to disorient than to harm. It seemed that when using a quick weapon it would be a good strategy to move in fast and overwhelm one's opponent with sheer volume of controlled attacks.

Getting the correct form down was not exactly difficult, a sword was a sword and many of the same strategies when using one translated to others. His grip on the weapon was confidant even if his style of fighting was somewhat inexperienced with regards to the lighter sword. He was not trying to harm Kouri, that would have been extremely difficult any way, but rather he wanted to keep her on her toes.

In combat one needed to be ever alert and ready to face changing styles as well as to adapt to new situations. This was true in most of life's aspects. Hopefully Kouri would understand the lesson quickly enough.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri !? Kouri was surprised at Cyrus' swift movement, her slash barely touched him, and without giving her a moment to reform herself, Cyrus moved in with a quick series of stabs. She didn't have the moment to react as the first stab of short sword connected with her body. Her Soulmist body dissipating violently at the point of impact. It hurts... Time seemed to pause as Kouri experienced the feeling of pain again, as a ghost, it was hard for her to be injured for she only materialize herself when she wanted to touch or be touched by other people. "Kuuuh!" Kouri made an annoyed grunt as the dagger, located behind Cyrus' back, spun rapidly and launched itself to stab Cyrus' back, she didn't worry too much about hurting her master as his armored body was obviously resistant to normal small weapons, such as daggers and knives. "......" As the dagger launched at Cyrus, Kouri quickly blinked, her form appearing at 2 steps away from Cyrus' right side. Ehehe... Master couldn't defeat me... I just have to... blink away Kouri's childish selfishness began to kick-in as she was assured of her victory, forgetting the fact that Cyrus could use his magic if this was a serious battle.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus was well aware of a ghost's abilities, considering the amount of time he spent around Kouri it was hard not to notice her power. Blinking away was certainly one he knew he would find annoying in a combat situation, not only that but her soulmist made it easy for her to maneuver her weapon. The fact that she was incorporeal was actually rather useful in that he wouldn't have to worry about doing too much harm. The point of this battle was very much mult-purpose. It not only was an opportunity to practice his skills with a shortsword but also let him observe how fighting a ghost was like.

His impressions as Kouri's dagger struck his back for another glancing blow was that it would be a very difficult fight for anyone who didn't have a method of harming the ethereal. The ghost girl's control of the weapon was by no means flawless or stable but it could still be very dangerous to an unarmored person. Cyrus set his mind working, thinking of possible ways to deal with this situation. The obvious answer came to him as he turned about to face Kouri, backing up as far as he was able. He merely had to snatch the dagger out of the air, Kouri's soulmist was by no means extremely powerful and would probably be no match for his considerable strength.

The warrior knew that he couldn't just try and take it haphazardly, he would have to lure her into a feint. So Cyrus stepped in close again, his sword swing sharply through the air. His eyes were not on Kouri but rather her dagger, her form could not harm him it was her soul mist he had to worry about.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri *Clang!* Kouri's steel dagger made that satisfying sound when it scored a clean hit against Cyrus' armored back. "Ehehehe~" Kouri giggled as she felt the satisfaction of succeeding in a difficult task. She viewed her master as an experienced warrior and therefore, scoring a hit against a warrior was something worth bragging over. Kouri then moved her dagger upwards, some 2 meters (6.5 feet) in the air and prepared it for another strike as she saw Cyrus charged in again. Kouri waited until he was very close, then she blinked out of the way, appearing at another 2 steps away from Cyrus' left side, but this time, she was standing on the wall making her aligned horizontally with the cavern floor. Kouri then made a pointing motion with her right index finger as she commanded the soulmist-carried-dagger to launch itself at Cyrus' lower back, but still within the armor-covered part of his body. Master~ I think this is my win, you'll get tired sooner or later, ehehe~ Kouri giggled in her mind, the thought of victory against an experienced warrior-reimancer was very appealing to her.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Kouri blinked away from his sword, but Cyrus' attention was not her it was on the dagger. The weapon quickly whipped around and made for his lower back, not exactly the most ideal situation but it would give him a window no matter how small it seemed. He waited as the dagger approached, before spinning around, reaching out quickly and grabbing for it. His gauntleted hand wrapped around the blade, firmly enough to have a good grip but not so much where it bit into his hand. He attempted to rip the weapon from the soulmist's grasp, which was more difficult than he had first though. The blade started to threaten to bite into his skin as the struggle continued, an annoyance he would have preferred to avoid.

The warrior tucked away this useful strategy when the next time came he fought a ghost, he merely had to disarm them. Though at the moment that strategy seemed easier said than done, as her soulmist was proving to be rather resistant to brute strength. Combining that with the fact that he was gripping the blade placed him in a rather bad position. Even armor had its limits in regards to weaponry.