Solo All Is Violent, All Is Bright

[Caesarion]

81st of Summer, 515 AV

Gallagher,

There is nothing better known to us than the thrill of the hunt. That is something known to both you and I, even us two who consider ourselves passive compared to the general sort of macabre of our small world. Still, I can recall your smiles, and my smiles, as we unleashed blades and set Max and Argos down on our prey. I can recall your smiles as you let loose an arrow and felled the beasts. I can recall your cheers as the iron-pointed tips fell into their skin and rended them of their lives, and yielded us our meat. I remember every little experience that we shared together, Gallagher, and the ones that resound in my mind the most are ones where - by your side - I hunt the prey of the forest and make my stake in the world. Inevitably we failed in our mission, for I was taken, but you must still hunt the woods to this day, my dear. I can imagine the very thing. The thought rings kindly in my mind.

It has been some time since I last wrote to you, though to you, it won't really matter. You would've never noticed the sixty days in-between, only the four hundred from the last time we spoke. I will understand if you're angry, or if you thought I betrayed you, but I'll let you know that I did not. That I always, always suffered and always, always tried to make my livelihood known to you. I'll be in Syliras a fortnight from now. When we finally reunite, I'll let you know everything in speech, but these letters will be left behind on your desk so that you might have something solid next time for when I am gone. I am sorry that I didn't leave anything behind for you the last time I left, but sadly I went unwillingly, and without the slightest notice of my departure. You know slavers don't exactly account a man's friends and family when they take him from freedom. It is only about what they want, the brutish creatures.

Anyway, you've read enough by now - assuming you read these letters chronologically - to know of what happened to me. I won't bore you with my ever-revolving sob story. I write to you today to let you know that I will be pursuing something vastly similar to the sort of activities you and I used to engage in: the hunt. Not for auristic Gibbat Dogs and over-prickly hare, but for the deer in the forest, for the wolves and their cubs. For creatures that don't know of how to fight and for those who long for such things. I am hungry, Gallagher. I am hungry for the sort of thrill we used to engage in. Without you at my side to battle the hordes, I only have my writing hand and my quill, to be replaced by a sword when I set out into the woods. Wish me luck, my friend, and hope to Priskil that I don't run across a monster or two.

Your Finest Friend,
Caesarion

The young man finished signing his paper, then rose up from his awkward position sprawled across his tent floor. He stretched his muscles, starting with his legs, then his chest, then his arms. He breathed in and breathed out. Always made sure that he was feeling good before he dare do anything for the day, even just saying 'hi' to someone. This time around, it was far from hellos. He leaned over to pull out his battle gear. He equipped his thick boots, then strapped on his scale mail over his shirt and put his scabbard around his waist. He strapped his steel shield onto his back, then placed the longsword in its scabbard. Caesarion appeared all knightly, although he had minimal combat training in physical fighting and had always stuck to magic. Still, it was nice to have a back-up plan for if you were running out of Res and desperately in need. So - he exited his tent after a quick bite and sip of his water and headed further on the road. His men had found a clearing, which was where they laid their tents, but the young mage didn't imagine any hostile creatures would enter an area with so many enemies.

He decided to weave through less dense areas of the forest, cutting branches and whatnot with his longsword if it was really obstructing him. It wasn't clean or easy to do it like this, but it was an option and he would live with it. He continued to push through the lighter areas, until eventually he saw what looked like a deer in a smaller clearing, on-guard. It probably heard him already, and was most likely not going to stay in its spot much longer. It was that preliminary silence before it bolts away. Well, he wouldn't let it escape. He began to emit Res, and in a quick motion, he would sent a blast of wind through, breaking down the branches in front of him and knocking the deer on its side. The man quickly, then, moved forward and ran his sword through the beast. A fine conquest.

[Caesarion]

One thing he remembered liking about Syliras was the flora and fauna, and how they were not very dangerous. There weren't mutant monsters roaming about - at least not in much concentration - and the Knights kept the surrounding area mostly safe from groups of raiders, bandits and slavers. What happened to him a year ago was something that was especially rare, and highly unexpected. Now that he was much more potent in his magical ability, such incidences would not happen again. And - certainly - the animals of the forest offered him no sort of threat, which was why this session would be a testing one rather than Caesarion seeking challenging combat. He wanted to examine a few theories. The first theory was whether or not an air-tight sphere of, well, air reimancy would suffocate a large fire by acting as a vacuum. He had applied this theory in Sahova two months ago, and with success, but since then he had not done it to any mass of fire except candles. The only issue was that it was difficult to sustain a large sphere of consistent air reimancy without overgiving - which was why he decided that candles would suffice. He supposed the issue wasn't in its function, but its efficiency. Why would he ever spend so much Djed to stamp out a fire when he could always just fling water at it? The dilemma was that, while there were easier ways to extinguish flames, the vacuum was perhaps the quickest. It would completely suffocate the entire flame at once considering it smothered all of it, whereas a bucket of water would only perhaps stem some of the tide. Still, Djed was an issue.

The second question he had was whether or not he could transmute Res inside of someone's body. One thing he had thought would be potent was the concept of gaseous Res. There was solid Res and gaseous, with solid usually creating earth and liquid or gaseous creating . . . well, almost every other form, if not a Res with elements in the middle somewhere producing the magic. With gaseous Res, he wondered if he could mirror the image of different variants of gases. For example, he wondered if he could make it transparent, or make it mirror the visage of things like mist or fog. Then again, he wasn't even sure how much control he had over gas. Could he alter its appearance, or transmute it to appear as if fog? Was fog something you could create? Mist was technically air and water, so if you could combine fire and air to create lightning, he imagined that the possibility for such combination was one that dwelled well in the confines of reality. The question was - why would he need it?

Caesarion had always believed that it was best to utilize, master and construct as many usages as possible for any application of magic. He used hypnotism for information, sexuality, playing jokes, hunting wildlife and even simple things like making someone believe that he was bluffing in a game. With Reimancy's potential being nearly infinite in spectrum compared to the magics he'd thus far delved into, his theories would continue to roll through his mind and ripple outward. Of course, it was entirely necessary to put theories into application. Instead of just doing nothing, Caesarion decided to go further on the hunt for creatures that he could set to flame, murder, and wash the fire off of. He didn't know how many repetitions of this maddening game he'd have to go through, but he was certain that he needed to repeat the process until he felt confident in his ability to efficiently maintain a vacuum sphere of air to drown out flames, whether for convention, for suffocating and countering other Reimancers, or simply so that he could feel good about himself for discovering a method of using Reimancy that he hadn't heard of anyone using as of yet. He went deeper into the forest, though only through the less thick of paths, cutting through the branches and unveiling hordes of critters and animals above and below - raccoons, squirrels, simple animals that would hide and bide their time for men like Caesarion to leave.

Eventually, he found an animal, though not at all by choice. From one of the thick bushes covering the lower parts of the trees, a head lunged at him and he quickly transmuted Res to blow it away. He saw the thing tumble and fall back, but it only barely moved, kept grounded by many feet all over the place that were far from losing their balance. When it swung back at him, he quickly transmuted a second wind blast, but this one small enough to only momentarily stun it and send it pressed towards the side but not quite knocking it back. Using this opportune moment, he attempted to grab it by the neck, but it reeled back and retreated into its . . . piles that were laying about the floor. He knew what this thing was. He hadn't seen many though, and none this large. It was a snake. He didn't know what type of snake or whether or not it was venomous. He just knew that it was a snake. He also didn't really know what a snake was or that he was exceptionally lucky in his timing to have batted it away twice, because the predator snakes were actually exceptionally lethal and very quick in their movements. Caesarion questioned the best course: he could ignite his Res into a flamethrower to kill the snake and potentially create a forest fire, or he could fight it with air and slice it to bits and pieces with his sword. He did know, however, that some snakes were venomous and he didn't really feel like dying. Plus, those were some sharp teeth, and that snake had a really long body. Looked like it could crush someone like a roll of parchment.

[Caesarion]

The creature was a sort of dirty green, with black-brown patterns running across the leather of its body. It was extremely long and very wide for a snake, though its head was slightly skinnier - more narrow. That was perhaps his relief, as it at least wouldn't be able to eat him so easily. He just didn't know what sort of tactics a snake employed, and he didn't want to die if he was caught wanting in combat prowess. He needed to keep his sword safely at his side, and with a firm grip so he didn't drop it. The snake would most likely kill him if he couldn't use his sword to slash at it. He wasn't sure whether the creature knew that or not, but it remained silently peering, observing Caesarion from the several foot distance they'd both mutually agreed on - predator to predator. The creature then decided that it would strike, reeling back at first before throwing its head upward and trying to bite at the man's chest. He evaded it, only capable of doing so because he had been waiting and anticipating for the creature to strike. He quickly pivoted his position, shifting to the side before swinging his sword down. The blade struck, slicing into the snake's side, causing it to hiss and reel back - but with the sword still connected to it. Caesarion, who was afraid of being pulled into the snake's body, let go of his blade without a single thought otherwise as an act of fear. He quickly cursed himself though, because even though his prey was damaged, he had very minimal methods of actually killing it. That was until he noticed the large branch above the snake.

He had always been taught to use his environment in conjunction with combat, and this was an opportune moment to do so. He just needed to make absolutely sure that the creature would in fact have the large wooden attachment fall onto it, and that also meant shattering it from the main body of the tree in the first place. He wasn't quite sure how he would do that, as while air Reimancy was strong, it wasn't quite that strong. He wondered if he could refine his Res to be more violent, with more speed and force applied. If he laid an untransmuted Res core inside of a blast of wind, he believed he might be able to smash through the foundation of the bark via a subsequent expansion outward into a blast of wind. He tested this theory. Caesarion released the Res as a blast of wind, a glowing core in the center. The snake peered at him and slithered slowly, doing that bizarre snake thing they liked to do with their tongues. He had no idea what that did, and didn't really care. Shortly afterwards, the air impacted the tree and bashed at the beginning of the wooden limb, the Res core expanding outward and bursting violently into a blast of pressurized wind. The large arm of the tree began to shake and lower before falling completely, landing near the back-center of the snake's curled up body. As a result, it made a faint cry, bringing its head back to try and wrap around the tree pointlessly. When Caesarion drew nearer to try and finish it off, though, it lashed out at him and very nearly bit him on the leg.

He grabbed it by its neck, the snake unable to retract in time due to its exceptionally weakened body, Caesarion smashing its head against the floor and releasing one arm to curl into a fist and bash the creature's head against his knuckles. He connected with a hook, curving his fist before impact entirely because it felt better to punch it like that. The snake was helpless, hissing and opening its mouth wide, resisting but unable to really resist. It didn't have enough muscle located in this portion of its body to outmaneuver a well-built human man. Caesarion continued to bash on it until the creature could only barely move. He then scaled along its body, leaning over to pick up his longsword. The snake curled its tail around the back of the tree to see if it could sneak up on him and wrap him against the wood, but Caesarion swiped his longsword . . . albeit he missed and sort of fell over a little. The snake tried to use that opportunity to close in and bite him. He blasted it with wind again, hacking down on the middle area of its long body and taking a deep breath. He realized that he sort of sucked at combat without air and/or lightning to back him up, and that was certainly something for later.

The creature was dying. He had no empathy for snakes, so he closed in and started to ruthlessly hack the thing into pieces until it mirrored a dished cucumber. Whatever this weird race of animals was, they certainly didn't deserve to die peacefully. They were far too slimy, creepy and imposing. Also - their entire series of functions and mechanisms was exceptionally bizarre, with them killing by wrapping around you or poisoning you . . . or both, or neither, whatever they were a giant slimy land tentacle. They deserved to die almost as much as octopi. He regained his composure, wiped his chest a bit, then started to head back home to his encampment. He felt fairly certain that one snake being violently hacked apart with his sword was enough for the day.

[Dravite]

Caesarion

You must update your CS before I can award this grade. I was unable to see how you track XP which is mandatory on Mizahar. Once you have made the edits, send me a PM and I will come along to un-del this.

XP Award:

• Writing: 1
• Meditation: 1
• Organisation: 1
• Weapon, Longsword: 3
• Hunting: 1
• Reimancy: 2
• Logic: 2
• Philosophy: 1
• Observation: 1
• Wilderness Survival, Forest: 1

Lore:

• Gallagher: An old friend
• Organisation: A sound routine
• Syliras: Full of natural beauty
• Reimancy: Suffocating fire with air
• Reimancy: Fire and air will make lightning
• Reimancy: Water and air will make fog
• Caesarion: Hold on to your weapon

Penalties:

Caesarion will feel tired for the next few days and need to eat more due to over giving. He may experience headaches and blurred vision during this time.
Loot:

1 x Mangled Snake remains
1 x Deer [food]

Notes: Hey, Caesarion; great story. You're quite high in the ranks as far as Reimancy goes so I was only able to award you 2 points this time, also with observation you described quite well but didn't make it seem like Caesarion was the one actually 'looking' at times so I was slim on awarding that too. I noticed you have 'reasoning' in your skill list which isn't actually a skill [it falls under logic] so you might want to look into that and if you weren't awarded logic on those occasions ask the grader to change it [also iffy on research].

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