Solo Heavy handed, but sharp eyed.

[Alexander Faircroft]

66th Spring 516AV

4:01AM

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

A strange thing happened. Alex found himself not needing to be anywhere nor do anything. Despite this he still hadn’t forgotten Imass’ new training regime. Alex ran along the top walls of the castle. Running the ramparts and practicing the ridiculous techniques that Imass had shown him. Something about them felt stupid but then again that could have been his own predilections. Three circuits of the ramparts. Sprinting around the longest straights with a sharp heel turn. Alex groaned knowing full well this was his daily routine till Greyheart got back at then possibly beyond.

Having finishes his run circuits he could feel his legs and his chest were practically on fire. Hunched over and panting he took a moment five chimes only to let his body recoup after the near solid half hour of high impact movement without stop. Alex dropped into push up pose following the exact routine. As time passed so did the exercise motions and excess movements began to fall away. At the end Alex hauled himself back onto his feet. Pressing his back against a nearby wall for support.

Every day, up at four, train till six, and then repeat. No going to sleep until the twenty third bell either. What kind of psychotic routine is this? Alex thought to himself braceing his body for the rigorous motions he’d been through. It had only been an hour since he started which meant he had another set to go and do. Peeling his body off of the cool stonework he continued his run, each moment sending screaming pain echoing through his joints and reigniting old injuries that he’d thought were long since passed.

Mid way through the first leg of his run, looking out over the dark blackness of the Suvan he paused, knowing full well he’d have to make it up later. Alex leant out over the ramparts lightly taking a deep breath of the sea air.

CreditMassive thanks to Fire for this awesome template.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

A slow drink of the morning’s calm stillness filled Alex’s lungs. He felt his lips curl into a smile absent his reason. Looking out over the Suvan, the glinting light of Leth cresting over the waters shimmering with each ripple of the tide. Alex closed his eyes drinking in the air and focused. Sharpening his mind’s eye into his actual eyes. A little more used to this now, he could activate it without falling flat on his arse. Still though it was odd to see the things like this. His eyes opened slowly as he glanced off towards the torch sconce.

The Aura of the flame tiny by comparison to those of people’s but he could see the heat, the flicker of purple dancing back and forth across his vision like a small wash of colours. The tide of warmth against his face even from a few feet away. Magic truly was a strange thing. Alex closed his eyes again and willed away the vision. Shaking his head lightly to ward it off.
I’m not sure if Nivel gave me a blessing or a curse with this…Either way…It’s handy. Alex smirked and then felt himself stumble back. Catching his weight on the stone rampart and pressing his other hand into his forehead he was going to deal with the headache which followed. One of the nasty side-effects that this power came with. Perhaps he was just unaccustomed to the sheer raw potential that the magic held. Either way it was a small price to pay to see things he wasn’t supposed too.

Alex took a moment still before taking off again his speed holding steady even with the pain in his head and the slight limpness of his body. He needed to start imposing conditions and artificial restraints upon himself. If things were beginning to get mundane then he needed to alter things. Spice it up a bit. As Alex ran he threw out some small punches. Tring to increase his hand speed and get up to the point where he could land multiple strikes in a very short space of time. Still it felt strange to run and attack at the same time. Holding his arms in tight as he ran he began to sway from side to side feeling the burn begin to build in his arms and legs. Keeping a sharp eye on a foe who was now running from him and attacking him at the same time he began to mix some weaves into the run.

Alex closed his eyes as he went for the straight line sprint. Suddenly his eyes snapped open as he remembered he was on the ramparts and felt the ground disappear from beneath his feet. Oh Crap!

CreditMassive thanks to Fire for this awesome template.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Feeling the ground fall from beneath his feet made Alex’s eyes snap open he twisted his body as fast as he could as the ground was beginning to vanish. He shifted around and caught half his body against the stonework. Remind me to not do anything that daft again… Eyes open when up high or I’m likely to get hurt. With a good burst of effort Alex hauled himself back up onto the ramparts before looking out down where he could have fallen. Needless to say, it was a long way down. Alex paused a moment slumping against the brattice. He tilted his head towards the sky. It’d been a hell of a season thus far.

New temporary patron, new people, new friends, and someone else he genuinely looked forwards to seeing. He pressed his back into the stone works and slumped a little. Imass would probably get pissed with him relaxing when he should have been working. He really didn’t care at this moment. He sat back and tilted his head down lightly watching the first rays of light crack the horizon and paint the sky a deep and welcoming purple. With a small sigh Alex pushed himself up and off of the walls. His mind still plagued by the memories of failure but he took a little advice from Poppy. He thought back to the good times. A distant few times. But still there were some.

He continued to move at a slow pace but it was only slow in as that he could still find a purpose in his actions. Slow deliberate motions. He veered close to the edge of the ramparts again, walking a tight rope on the very edge. He was trying to improve his balance, if he didn’t he’d fall again and this time he’d not be able to catch himself. Several chimes passed with him wobbling and darting back and forth to maintain his balance. A soft way in his footing.

As he finally finished his morning routines he looked over to see the burning oranges in the sky signalling Syna’s rousing from slumber. He sighed and grumbled, he’d only managed about two thirds of his morning routine. More than normal without Imass pretty much sitting on his back and forcing him through it. But today he had a special training routine in mind.

CreditMassive thanks to Fire for this awesome template.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

A couple of bells passed and Alex had a few new plans prepped. Fighting Pycons for so long had given him an idea for training. He stepped out into the bronze woods. His armour lining him as usual but he brought with him only his bastard sword and his dagger. This was a full test of both his speed and his accuracy. To see how fast he could swing and how accurately he could do it. Finding a suitable tree took some time, it had to be small enough the he could kick it to make leaves rain but not so tall as to give him a lot of time to prep for them. Eventually a suitable candidate was spotted.

Right time to see if I can actually move fast and accurately enough to hit those damned mini-monsters. Drawing his blade from its sheath with a long hiss he took a moment. Exhaling slowly he flexed his fingers along the blade with the hand gripping it. Ok… Let’s do this. He kicked the tree and drew his sword up high enough to swing effectively. The leaves rained down around him. He exhaled as he swung then blade parting the leaves as it sailed through. Again and again he repeated the strikes in different angles attempting to hit or even nick the leaves. As the last one cell below his belt line he stopped swinging and looked at the ground. The myriad of fallen foliage.

Not a single one was even touched. He hissed out a breath from between his teeth and reset preparing again for the same thing. He didn’t want to lose. No he didn’t want to fall behind. People, other squires were already growing so far ahead of him he needed to catch up by any means necessary. Even if it meant resorting to tactics like this. He kicked the tree again the leaves falling in a different and random pattern again. His blows this time he took a little longer to angle them. The swathe of the blade slid through the air and Alex forgot all but watching the line of the blade. He twisted with it and saw something. He wasn’t swinging fast enough. The leaves just sailed over the blade. Damn it!

He stopped there and then letting the tip of his blade droop to the floor. He needed more speed. Forget accuracy at present. If he couldn’t get to a point where he could swing fast enough to even hit the leaves what good was consistently getting close enough to hit them going to do him!? Alex slipped back and fell against a much larger and sturdier tree. The rattle of his armour cutting through the mind-numbing silence.

CreditMassive thanks to Fire for this awesome template.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Pushing the tip of the blade into the soft ground Alex stood back to his full height. Swinging the blade around and around his arm he planned out how he was going to overcome this obstacle. He sucked down a breath through his teeth. If you can hit a leaf you can hit a Pycon. If you can hit a Pycon you can aim accurately. If you can Aim accurately you can disable a person without killing them. Focus. Practice. Succeed. Failure, is no longer an option. Not anymore. He exhaled again lifting the sword up to level. He was damned well going to do this. And he was going to do it right.

He repeated the process, kicking the tree again and again, swinging again and again. Each time dropping more accuracy in favour of speed. Even forcing himself to lose power to increase the speed. After almost thirty solid chimes of repeated practice he slammed the tip of his blade into the ground again leaning on it for support. Heaving his breaths from the lack of energy. And then he spotted it. A small shred of hope that he wasn’t just wasting his time. A single leaf had been split cleanly. Admittedly he’d only taken off the upper little bits but it was enough. Enough to let him know that if he just pushed and pushed and pushed he could make progress.

Taking a small moment, he tried to catch his breath and force himself back into a state of mind where it wasn’t a feeling of success. That was the easy part, but holding onto that line of hope that he could do it was working on getting him right up there. He kicked the tree again and repeated with the same level of speed as his last strike. Again splitting another leaf. Time to make it more accurate then. He repeated the same stance the same technique the same follow through gradually improving his aim.

A full bell passed. And he fell back against the tree fully spent on energy. The weight of his armour almost feeling like it was crushing him. He’d made success though. In a single strike he could consistently cut through four leaves in one swing. Or if he took a moment to pick a target he could split that leaf in two. Vertically. Taking damned near all of his concentration but it was worth it. At least in his mind. Alex stabbed his blade into the ground again and used it to help haul himself up. Now I can hit a leaf… I see why this is something people try to do… Exhausting though… He heaved himself back onto his feet and headed back towards the city. Now what he needed was a drink and seat. And possibly some time to recover before his patrol shift later.

CreditMassive thanks to Fire for this awesome template.

[Okara]

Grades and Awards   Alexander Faircroft Experience Running 2 Endurance 4 Bodybuilding 2 Auristics 1 Unarmed Combat 1 Acrobatics 1 Climbing 1 Bastard Sword 2 Lores Mixing Up Training to Keep it Tough Running and Punching, Punching and Running The Peril of Running with Your Eyes Closed Training Speed Over Accuracy Shield Points +5 (training thread) Notes A pretty straightforward training thread. You managed to get quite a few skills involved, good job! Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.