Testing New Limits

by **Levi Remilian** on January 17th, 2016, 5:55 pm

38th of Winter, 515 AV

15th Bell

The cold of Lhavit was thankfully gentle today, hardly a breeze to chill the bones which was all the better for the young man walking down a weathered trail past the Koten Temple. If the directions Levi was given were correct, this trail should take him to the Alheas Park. It should be the perfect place for the spiritist to be alone and undisturbed while he trained in the more physical of his abilities. The sword and dagger, it had been a long time since he had practiced in their use much less actually used the weapons for actual combat. He had been in a complacent lull for far too long.

The great part of the problem for Levi regarding his lack of practice was the unfortunate lack of a teacher or someone to spar against for the past several years. As his mother taught him spiritism, Levi's father was the one who taught the boy how to fend for himself in a harsh and dangerous world. With the older man having disappeared when Levi was fourteen years of age, there was little the boy could do. His current travels only further robbed what little time he could spare to train in swordsmanship. Riverfall was the one exception as there was a facility there he trained in. Unfortunately every single time he went there he emerged battered and bruised blue. It was still better than his current complacency now.

Several chimes passed while Levi continued down the trail. It was also one of the odd times that the ever present Naya was not with him for once. The little ghost had reluctantly agreed to let Levi train alone today, but knowing her, his sister will probably come floating after him in a bell or two. It did not matter to him a great amount; let Naya watch him train, that was how they first met so many years ago.

Alheas Park soon showed itself to Levi and the spiritist stopped for a moment to look at the picturesque setting he has found himself in. The park had a tranquil atmosphere of graceful beauty, even with winter having muted much of its possible vibrancy. The leaves were long gone, but the sight offered a different kind of beauty than it did when in full bloom. The beauty in knowing that more splendour was to come with the change of the Watchtowers. Levi walked into the park, looking around for an open place where he could train.

The park was quiet, a peaceful silence reigned within the winter graced park. After several chimes of more walking through the winding trail, Levi found himself coming to the centre of the park where he was greeted by a vibrant display of vivid light reflecting off a small pond surrounded with skyglass benches. As he got closer and looked at the pond, something was telling him this was not an ordinary pond. A strange feeling, different from that he got when sensing a ghost, and yet it felt oddly familar. What he did not expect was to see a strange spiky kind of flower blossoming on the water surface. It was difficult to call the flowers beautiful in the traditional sense. It was a place to enjoy the beauty of nature, but that was not his goal today. There were adequate open areas in the vicinity; he has found his training spot. Hopefully no one else would come for a good while.

The clasp of his cloak was undone and the cloak doffed. Levi folded it up and set it down on one of the skyglass benches. He was in his full attire today, his belt bandolier with all five daggers sheathed and his longsword at side. His belt pouch hung from it too, filled with the usual spiritism paraphernalia. Levi walked over to a clearing in the park, several trees surrounding the open space. Levi unbuckled the pouch from his belt and set it down on the ground. He began stretching his arms up to the sky and back down, rolling his shoulders. After a chime or two of stretching Levi slowly unsheathed his longsword Holding the sword with both hands, the young man shifted the weight of the weapon about in his hand. It was not particularly heavy, but it still took effort on the spiritist's part to hold the sword steady without shaking. Levi exhaled and stepped forward with his right foot and lowered his stance. The man breathed slowly and took another step, thrusting the sword forward in a stabbing motion. He followed that with a slow upward swing; the moves lacked any real strength and were merely for the sake of a slow start. Blade over his head, Levi swung the sword down swiftly, stopping himself barely in time to avoid hitting the ground with the sword. That would not be good for his sword's condition.

Levi continued swinging his blade in a similar fashion for a few chimes; horizontal, vertical, diagonal, left and right. The movement of the swings faltered often and were slow. It was with regret that the spiritist knew that he was not as good with the sword as he was with spiritism. It was in great part that it was because he rarely had to resort to using his sword. First and foremost he was a spiritist, not a swordsman. He had spent the past two years as a wandering spiritist, not a wandering swordsman. This was the logical result of his activity.

Small beads of sweat and heavier breathes were the only sign that the exercise was starting to tire the young man slightly. Levi took a moment to pause and sheathed his sword, scanning his surroundings again. He was still alone and he hoped it would stay that way if he was to avoid any trouble for the next part of his planned routine. He reached down to his right hip where the daggers were sheathed and pulled out one. He eyed one of the surrounding trees, about ten metres away. He stood with feet shoulder width apart and dagger raised above his head. He exhaled slowly again. He had to move his arm in a straight motion towards his target. Any wavering and the dagger will go elsewhere. He aimed carefully, adjusting his arm's position to ensure he did this correctly. Bringing his arm down as straight as possible, Levi threw the dagger which spun in the air towards its target. The metal projectile glanced off the side of the tree, ricocheting off to the right. Levi frowned slightly at his failure. He was going to have to work on this more.

by **Levi Remilian** on January 17th, 2016, 6:32 pm

For now Levi did not bother picking up the throwing dagger; he still had four left. What was he doing wrong? He was certain that he had thrown the dagger while keeping his arm in a straight path of motion, just like his father taught him. So what was the problem. Another dagger was unsheathed and Levi took aim again at the same tree. It was a lovely tree, with an ancient and rough appeal to it. He was sure that it would look even better when spring came. Pity the tree was his enemy right now. Eyes glaring at his target, Levi raised the dagger above his head once more and after a few moments to aim sent the dagger flying. This time the dagger at least hit its mark but the blade hit sideways, causing the throwing dagger to bounce off the wood with a dull thud.

"Again..." Levi muttered to himself as he took out his next dagger. Was it his way of aiming that was wrong? Or was it the way he held the dagger. The handle was where he held the dagger normally, but he had seen his father throw the dagger by holding its blade. Was that the problem? How holding the dagger by the blade benefits the aim and trajectory of the projectile was an unknown for Levi. In fact thinking about it, it could be a disadvantage in a heated battle. It would take time to unsheathe the dagger than flip it around in his hand. Those few ticks could be taken advantage of by an observant opponent. Nonetheless, it did not hurt to try the variation while training.

The dagger still in hand, Levi passed it to his left hand and then picked it up with his right hand by the blade gently. He took care not to hold the sharp edge of the blade, his fingers keeping a firm grip on it; he could not go cutting up his hand for a purpose besides making soulmist. Once more the spiritist took aim and threw the dagger. Even as his arm swung down, Levi had a flash of realization when he briefly glance at his arm. The elbow. His elbow was sticking out to the right. The projectile flew through the air but unlike its predecessors it did not even hit the tree this time, sticking into the ground behind the tree with a thunk.

The problem was now clear to Levi; his unease with holding the dagger was certainly a factor, but the greater factor was the way in which he threw the weapon. His arm may be following a straight path aimed at his target, but his elbow and thus arm when held up pointed to the right and back a little. It was hardly straight. He had to correct the position his arm is in and make it aim at the target before actually throwing. How could he have missed such a detail and more importantly how could he have forgotten such an important point? It was for sure that his father had taught him the proper way to throw. The years without a teacher to teach him must have taken their toll on Levi that was for certain.

It was time for the fourth attempt. With the new concept in mind, Levi held the dagger up with firm fingers like he did prior with the blade hold but made sure to keep his arm straight and in front of his body. He swung his arm down slowly several times in practice, ensuring the arm was straight and pointing at the tree. Praying his idea worked, Levi raised his arm in the new method that he practiced. With an exhale and held breath the dagger was thrown. The projectile spun through the air and collided with the tree. A dull thud resounded, but there was no second thud on the ground this time. The dagger stayed stuck in the tree, having stabbed into the bark barely an inch. It was slightly askew and the handle pointed up diagonally to the left, but it was a success. Levi smiled to himself a little. It worked.

A little more confident now, Levi unsheathed his last dagger and followed the same procedure as previously. A straight arm, a straight aim, and a focused mind. With a swing the dagger flew and hit the tree. Much like the other dagger it did not stick in perfectly straight and just barely made it on the left side of the tree trunk, what counted was that Levi had made them hit and stay. That was success enough for the novice.

Out of daggers to throw, Levi walked over to the tree and carefully pulled out the two blades. Hopefully they did not cause the tree too much harm. He picked up the three other blades on the ground and after giving each a quick wipe on his pants sheathed them. If he could remember the way he threw the last two, he should have a greater chance of successfully throwing the daggers.

Pleased with himself, the spiritist leaned against his target tree and looked out into the park with serenity. It was so peaceful here, more so with the absence of anyone except himself. That was good, Levi did not want to find out what happens if he is caught throwing daggers at the trees of the park in public, notwithstanding that he had weapons out in public. His gaze wandered to his belt pouch on the ground. As usual there were two jars in it filled with dough ready to be made into soulmist. This time the dough already had his blood mixed in from the day before; hopefully the cuts from that time did not reopen during his training now. He looked at his bandaged right hand and sighed. It was the trouble of being a spiritist. If he was to actually use his skills he always needed soulmist. Without it he was helpless. The jars were a slightly encumbering weight, but they were necessary.

What if he did not need the jars to hold his soulmist? A random thought flashed into Levi's mind, a though that lingered and only grew stronger in his analytical mind. Soulmist after being created in his body needed to be released and placed in a container. What if he simply used his own body as the container without expelling it? If he could simply chew the dough prior to leaving and keep it in until he needed it, that would remove the need to carry around jars of soulmist. It was a good time to rest and he had to test this out.

Levi ran to his pouch on the ground and opened it, taking out a small jar and took out the reddish dough inside. The dough went into his mouth and he began to chew it, enduring the unpleasant blood flavour. After a few ticks he swallowed the mix and concentrated, picturing the wispy form of a ghost's soulmist. Visualization he found was a key component to creating soulmist. Still standing as he focused, a pinprick of cold in his gullet turned into a icy cold; the soulmist was ready. Unlike all the other times though he did not think to let it out and instead kept it inside. He breathed slowly and cautiously, careful not to breathe the substance out his mouth. It had been barely half a chime and already the cold in his stomach ate away, causing the spiritist to grimace. Still he endured; this could be a new technique for Levi to discover.

by **Levi Remilian** on January 17th, 2016, 8:44 pm

Turning his mind away from the chill that sat inside of himself now, Levi unsheathed his sword to begin practicing his swings again. He swallowed hard and frowned. The sudden inclusion of spiritism into his training was a self-admitted distraction but it had been an oft happening occurrence for Levi. He would like to think he is a person who could focus on a single task, but spiritism was more than a simple task for him. It was his lifestyle, his way of living and his purpose. Such a huge part of life should obviously be part of most aspects of his daily routine.

The swings of his sword were faster this time around, taking a step forward with each swing, and all the while gritting his teeth from the frigid substance chilling his innards. In the slow but certain cloud of exhaustion that began taking root in his arm muscles, Levi's thoughts drifted. Why was he training with the sword? The next diagonal swing came down with much more force but at the cost of being far less refined and steady. Was there a reason he had to know how to fight? In his line of work he could simply remain calm and talk it out, in fact there has rarely been a situation where he had to fight for his life.

A memory came to Levi's mind through the chill of the soulmist inside. This was not the first time he had asked this question. It came up many times when he trained with his father all those years ago. His father's reply? "The world is not a safe place son. It is filled with dangers and horrors you can't even imagine. Dangers that your soulmist can't handle. The only way to survive in such a world is to fight."

Every single time, that was Simon Remilian's reply. Of course it varied slightly each time he answered, but the message was clear: Mizahar is a dangerous world. It was to be expected from the former mercenary who must have experienced many of these dangers. Levi had been spared from the brunt of such hazards so far, he regrettably knew that. He also knew that as he was now, he could not fend for himself properly when the time came. Much less protect Naya. Levi frowned and gritted his teeth. The next swing went wild and was followed by yet a similarly wild swing. Soon Levi was swinging a flurry of quick and wild swings, ignoring his initial plans to stay controlled. The direction of the swings did not matter, all that mattered was that he was hitting an imaginary foe.

Who was his enemy though? In Levi's mind's eye there was no clear image of who this foe was. Who could Levi dare draw his blade against? The shadowy image in his mind took shape. It was human, a very mean looking man. A bandit with daggers drawn. He could not picture a specific face, but Levi had to defeat this enemy. The flurry of blows continued, not even bothering to practice blocking an imaginary counterattacks. More thoughts flashed through his mind. Could he really kill a man if he had to? Could he really take a life?

Levi stopped, panting heavily. He gripped his stomach with his left hand and groaned, breathing out through his teeth. It had only been a few chimes since the soulmist was made and he was already nearing his limit. The shadowy foe of his mind still stood before him. The opponent, what would warrant him the punishment of perishing? To kill, to take life, to send a soul to Dira. Levi could not do that, he will try to avoid that at all costs. What if he had no choice though? What if someone intended to kill him? What if someone else was in danger of being hurt or killed? What if Naya was being attacked?

The longsword was stabbed into the cold ground and Levi clenched his fists, knuckles whitening. If Naya was being attacked, he would do whatever it took to protect her. His hand went to the bandolier and pulled out a dagger. He charged at the imaginary foe, stabbing at the air. He stopped and aimed, somewhere in the haze of artificial rage the points he discovered earlier registering, and threw the dagger at his foe. The dagger stuck in the wood of a tree crookedly and the tell tale thud snapped Levi's mind to clarity. Breathes were gasping out now and he walked over to the tree. He wiggled the dagger a little then pulled it out, glaring at the weapon. He could not fight like this; he should never fight like this. Rage and anger were emotions that were detrimental in battle. Even in an imagine battle all that happened were his actions getting sloppy. Even in the heat of a fight there must be calm and tranquility.

Coughing suddenly racked Levi's body and his right hand went to cover his mouth. Something came up his throat and out his mouth. Gasping, the spiritist looked at the clods of off-white goo that was in his palm. He could still feel icy and raw presence of soulmist remaining in his body but it was uncertain how long he could keep it down. It was possible that much like possession this was a technique that only got better with practice. Not wishing to have the soulmist go to waste, Levi rubbed the substance onto the blade of his dagger, carefully applying the goo with his fingers. With the thought of the dagger's new task to touch the untouchable, the soulmist quickly melted into the weapon. Levi held the weapon up to see; it was strange that the soulmist did not leave any visible mark on the weapon to show it is now a weapon effective against the ethereal. A slight glow much like the soulmist used to enchant it may have been a nice visual touch. Levi shrugged; aesthetics was not something he care much for. If it worked, it worked.

by **Levi Remilian** on January 17th, 2016, 9:44 pm

Levi turned the soulmist infused dagger in his hand with his fingers. This was not an ordinary weapon anymore, at least for the next several days while the effect lasted. He examined the weapon for a moment; it's blade small compared to a normal dagger, he could not imagine successfully blocking another weapon with the tiny blade. It was still sharp enough to use in close combat for a quick stab. Levi plunged the weapon forward and repeated again and again. Unless he managed to hit a vulnerable spot like the neck, the dagger would probably not be able to deal as much damage to an enemy as his longsword would. It may be useful in a pinch though.

Air whistled around the swinging dagger. Again, such attacks would be ineffective and leave a few annoying scratches at best. How effective was the weapon against ghosts though? It was a question Levi pondered often due to the fact he rarely if ever resorted to using such tactics against ghosts. He remembered how Djas managed to cut the ghost Veila's soulmist tendril with his dagger infused with Levi's soulmist and how it caused her considerable pain. Further back, he remembered the time on Black when he accidently hurt a ghost with his blade.

At the time he did not know any better, but now he knew. This was a weapon that could slash away at the very essence of a ghost's existence, their soulmist. Levi did not know of the theory of a soul's composition, but it was easy for the spiritist to figure out that a ghost's soulmist was essentially their soul. It must be excruciating pain for the spirit to experience a part of their soul ripped off. That was exactly why Levi never resorted to violence as a first course of action. He did not want to cause any further pain for the already tormented spirits.

Levi tossed the dagger up in his hand and grasping it firmly he threw the dagger at the poor target tree, but this time with his elbow sticking out like before. As expected the dagger went wild off its mark and landed in the ground with is blade sticking in. He took out the second dagger and this time put his arm in the corrected position. The dagger flew and landed in the bark with a thunk, this time a bit more straighter than the prior askew daggers. Posture and method were key in throwing, that was clear without a doubt. Levi continued throwing the remaining daggers, of the three two hit but the third went too far to the right. He was getting better, but it was still a long way to mastering this weapon.

Levi went to retrieve his daggers, pulling them out of the tree and picking them up. He wiped the sweat off his brow and scanned his surroundings again; still no one around... it was strange but fortunate for the practicing spiritist. It may be wise to not practice with the throwing anymore just in case someone does come around. Speaking of someone, a certain ghost had still not arrived. It was a little surprising to say the least.

"She must be having fun-" Coughs rattled and shook Levi's body as he bent over and fell to his knees. He could feel the soulmist creeping up his throat, ready to come out. Scrunching his face and swallowing hard, Levi chose to force the soulmist back down. His neck was tensed up and his fists clenched, Levi strained against the frigid and bitter essence rising up. It was like he had swallowed a bucketful of ice and the unmelted ice was expanding and freezing inside his body. This cannot be his limit already, with this amount of time he could not properly use this technique for its intended purpose. He had to resist the icy pain that spread upwards. It was for the sake of becoming stronger.

After a half chime that felt far longer than a half chime ever should, Levi could feel the cold sensation slowly recede back down to his stomach. He fell onto his back, panting raggedly. He stared up at the clear winter sky. It looked so peaceful, so much more peaceful than the sorry state he was in now. Levi remained lying there for a chime, two chimes, three chimes. The soulmist was kept back for now, but sooner or later he would have to let it out. It was like all skills in life; it got better with practice.

Deciding that he had spent enough time lying around, Levi pushed himself back up. While still fighting the urge to spit out the soulmist in his stomach, he unsheathed his longsword and held it to the front. Calm, he needed to remain calm and control his breathing. Inhale... exhale... repeat the process. Bring the unconscious under conscious control. He had to maintain a composed state if he was to fight properly and avoid the berserk style he displayed earlier.

It came to mind that Levi had forgotten an important component of fighting until now: blocking and countering. To train such alone would be difficult as there was nothing to block in the first place. Despite that, he still had his mind to craft an opponent for him. Levi closed his eyes and thought to himself.

Incoming vertical downward swing.

Levi's eyes opened and he moved his sword up and positioned the blade horizontally.

Diagonal swing to the left incoming.

In response Levi shifted his feet and turned to his left, raising the blade up to the right and pointing upwards left. He made sure that it was the flat of his blade that met the imaginary attack. To Levi his movement felt fast with the amount of thought he had to apply to this, but in reality his sword was moving with a careful and controlled speed, almost like a kata. More imagined attacks came at Levi and he deflected each one with his sword, the speed of his movements picking up slowly.

An opening! Levi ducked and thrust his sword forward, stabbing the empty air. He stayed motionless, looking with a cold gaze at the shadowy foe born from his mind.

by **Levi Remilian** on January 17th, 2016, 10:32 pm

With heavy breathes Levi continued his exercise, raising his sword into a blocking stance before counterattacking with a horizontal slash. Again and again he did this and he began falling into a familiar pattern. Block and slash, block and slash. For the sake of becoming stronger, to protect himself and the ones he holds and will hold dear, he will master swordsmanship.

After several chimes Levi stopped to rest, his arm drooping and sword touching the ground with its point. Something was off though. The cold sensation in his gullet was fading and weakening. He frowned slightly; could it mean there is a time limit to how long the soulmist actually lasted in his body? The answer to that question was abrupt and unpleasant.

A frigid stabbing like hundreds of icy needles lanced throughout Levi's body. His hands began to spasm and his longsword fell to the ground. He crouched down and stifled a pained cry. Staring at his hands, the spiritist's eyes widened when he saw the familiar ethereal substance begin to congeal in small droplets on his palms and fingers even as with brute force the freezing soulmist began shooting up to his mouth. He bent over and heaved up clumps of soulmist along with sickly vomit, the disgusting mix pooling on the ground in front of him. Involuntarily, tears began to glisten in the corners of his eyes while he continued to cough up what little remained in his stomach.

Dry coughs still shook Levi who was now on all four until they too finally passed away. His head was bowed and his breathing tired and jagged. He tipped over to the side and rolled away from the vomit onto his back, once more staring up at the ever peaceful sky. He wiped the small tears from his eyes and the vomit-soulmist mix that was still on his face. Please don't let anyone see me like this... The desperate prayer flitted from his mind and Levi closed his eyes. Sadly it was not to be answered.

"Brother! What happened? Are you okay?" Naya's worried voice echoed and Levi slowly opened his eyes to meet Naya's green gaze. The ghost had materialized and was looking down at him with concern. "You said you were just training! Are you sick? We need to go to a healer!"

"Naya... I'm fine-"

"No you're not! You just threw up your lunch and soulmist!" The ghost reprimanded her older brother, the usual tables have now turned. Levi wearily sighed, "I was trying something new... keeping soulmist in my body... clearly... it is risky... here... take this..." The spiritist raised his palms weakly, a little soulmist left on them.

"Hmmph!" Naya frowned and pointedly replied, "You threw up all for the sake of a little soulmist? That's not like you Levi." Regardless the ghost took her hand absorbed what little soulmist Levi offered, "You don't do stupid things like this! You're always the one who tells me to be careful!"

Levi chuckled weakly, "I guess you're right... this really isn't like me..." He barely managed to sit up and his head fell forward, "And I had been requested to investigate the library today... I really am an idiot..." In reply, all Naya did was nod in agreement. The spiritist frowned to himself and shakily stood up, picking up and sheathing his longsword. Also picking up his belt pouch, Levi made his way to the bench he left his cloak on. He sat down heavily and groaned, donning his cloak. Naya floated in front of him, watching him carefully.

Levi with great effort stood up and looked down at Naya, "Let's go home..." The ghost nodded again and glided ahead of the slow walking Levi. The moment he got to his apartment the first thing he'd do is take off everything and flop onto the bed. Yes, that sounds like a plan.

by **Kiva** on January 22nd, 2016, 2:26 am

Levi Remilian

The Good Stuff :

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to discuss it with you. Keep writing!

Weapon: Longsword	4
Weapon: Dagger	4
Endurance	4
Observation	4
Spiritism	3
Meditation	3
Philosophy	2
Socialization	1
Bodybuilding	1
Acrobatics	1
Land Navigation	1

Solo Testing New Limits