Solo Preparing to Protect

[Dev'Ania]

34th of Fall, 519

The bright fall sun’s rays shone down on the Konti as she walked the streets of the Diamond of Kalea. Looking into the bright blue sky above, no clouds could be seen hovering above, which caused the air to be almost unbearably hot. Making the heat worst were the crowds of people flowing through the streets. Nothing seemed to stop the Lhavitian people from venturing the city. Not even the intense heat.

Dev’Ania found herself walking to the Mhakula Teahouse, a place she had not been before. For the past couple of days, she had been hearing of the tea house and the new iced teas they had been serving and she wanted to see what was so special about them for herself.

She made her way through the tussle of the streets on Zintia Peak and came upon the nestled away teahouse. Her pale blue eyes stared in amazement at the beauty of the building as it was, in her opinion, more unique than the other buildings around. The statues of Zintila that embellished the outside of the teahouse truly drew in the young Konti’s attention. She skipped over to one of the statues to admire its elegance. The skyglass statue depicted Zintila dressed in a beautiful dress, showing the form of her body and her looking up into the sky. The light of the sun refracted off the statue, causing orbs of colors to scatter across the area.

The teahouse seemed to be moderately busy. Groups of people exited and entered the building speaking highly of the new iced teas. Dev was ready to finally try one for herself. She entered the teahouse and was warmly greeted by a server.

“Hello, can I have a table for just me?” Dev smiled politely as she asked the server to be seated. With a smile and nod back the dark-haired server led Dev to a small table sitting in the back in front of a window with a view of the garden. Dev sat in the comfortable chair and addressed the server again. “And I would like one of the new special autumn teas and an oatmeal muffin, too, whenever you can, please.” With Dev’s request, the server was on her way. Dev’Ania stared out the window and appreciated the view of the flora encircling the teahouse. It was absolutely stunning.

Surrounded by people from the entire city, she was bound to hear the latest gossip, which to no surprise she did. Listening to the latest gossip was becoming something the Konti did often. In her defense, it was how she found out the latest news when she did see any postings from the Star Gazing Gazette.

At the table next to her sat a man and what Dev presumed to be his lover. They spoke low as if they did not want anyone to hear their conversation, but Dev was close enough to hear their conversation.

“Everything that is happening is so crazy. I mean... who would have thought a killer would be on the loose in this city out of them all? I’m scared, Manton,” the woman whispered to her lover.

“Honey, I know you are. I am too, but we are safe. It would be impossible for the killer to know every mage in the city. We studied with hundreds of other students at the Dusk Tower. Plus, we have friends who are part of the Shinya and they are going to keep us safe. They will keep this city safe.” The man grabbed his partner’s hand in his and kissed her forehead over the table.

“But, will they really? After all that has happened the past seasons, what have they done to stop it all? We have children to protect.”

The woman was right. The question left the man speechless. What was being done to stop the murders? Madeira and Dev’Ania had taken the matter into their own hands by investigating. Were the Constellations and Shinya investigating too? If so, it sure didn’t seem like it. Maybe that was what their intent was - to not let the murderer know they were investigating.


boxcode credit - Ennisa

[Dev'Ania]

The couple took a few chimes to finish their meal before leaving. There was one thing Dev could not stop thinking about. ‘We have children to protect.’ She could not imagine the fright the parents could have been feeling with the current events happening. They were mages and mages were being killed. They needed to be careful. Especially since they had children.

Dev’Ania got to thinking about when she had daughters of her own. Despite the murders, she wanted to learn magic still. The magic of water reimancy had always interested her. But, what if magic was now forever seen as a threat? What if something happened to her family and she needed to protect them? She had to learn how to defend her self. All she knew were the basics of handling her suvai. But would the basics help in a matter between life and death? She always carried the suvai around, but would she be prepared to use it?

The server returned with Dev’s beverage and muffin in hand. Dev didn’t mind the delay as she was too lost in her thoughts. “Thank you so much, miss.”

“My pleasure.” replied the woman.

Dev took a sip of the iced tea and was instantly cooled down. It was so refreshing she couldn’t help but drink half of it in one gulp. The flavors swirled around her mouth. She swore she tasted a hint of apple. Or maybe it is orange? She could not tell what the exact flavors were, but she was glad it had ice.

While eating and drinking, Dev’s attention shifted to the teahouse’s environment. She had only been there for a short while, but she had she only been looking out the window. Looking around the teahouse, she noticed how many of the tables had mugs of the same tea being drunken. Not far from where she sat, was a room, probably where the kitchen. She also saw a set of stairs leading to a lower level by the entrance. She was curious about where they led.

Her staring stopped when a pair of people appeared from the stairway. A red-haired woman and young boy appeared.

“Good job at today’s lesson. You did better than last time. But you still need to work on your stance. It is very important while in a fight.” The red-haired woman spoke sternly to the young boy.

“Yes, Miss Atsuya.” replied the boy.

“Good, now go home and practice some more. I want to see your stance perfected by our next lesson.”

The curious Konti listened intently, muting out the other conversations. So that is what they did down there - lessons in combat. Dev’Ania had become even more interested in the teahouse now. This was just what she needed. She could train here and eat and drink here.

She wanted to go ask Atsuya about her lessons, but Dev was slightly intimidated by the woman. But who was she kidding? If she was going to be good at fighting to protect herself, she was going to have to learn to deal with the things that scared her, like approaching people she found intimidating.


boxcode credit - Ennisa

[Dev'Ania]

The Konti worked up the courage to approach the woman as she began to descend back down the stairs. Dev’Ania swiftly walked toward the stair, slipping past each table and people walking past her. Just as she started to follow the woman down the stairs, she quickly remembered she had forgotten to pay for her meal, so she turned around to find her server.

She stopped the woman as she was cleaning off a table for another group of people that had arrived. “Here is the kina for my meal. And a little extra for how nice you were.” The Konti took out a kina and gave it to the kind server who smiled back at her.

“Thank you so much,” the server would reply. Dev’Ania hurried back to the stairs, the server resuming cleaning off the table. Dev walked slowly down the stairs, observing the room as it came into full view. She stood at the bottom of the steps and looked at the people diligently training with swords or with their bare fists and body parts. Wow. This had to be the greatest teahouse ever.

She looked around at each face trying to relocate the red-haired woman, Atsuya. The ages of people training in the underground center ranged from young, like the little boy before, to older. Finally, the fortune-teller spotted the woman straightening up a rack of swords. Dev’Ania made her way to her.

“Uhm...Hello. My name is Dev’Ania. I saw you talking to the little boy upstairs. Would you be able to teach me how to defend myself? With everything that is happening in the city right now, I just want to be ensured that I can protect myself in any given emergency.” Dev approached Atsuya but kept some distance between them. Atsuya put away the last sword left out in front of her and turned to listen to Dev.

“That makes sense. Today might be your lucky day. I happen to have an open slot for a private lesson in unarmed combat right now. It’s only ten kinas and I can train with you one-on-one for two bells.”

“That sounds perfect,” Dev’Ania once again dug in her bag and pulled out ten kinas and handed it to the woman.

“Thank you. Now let’s get right to work-. I don’t think it is very wise to train in...that attire,” Atsuya walked over to a chest in a corner of the training center. She opened the chest and rummaged through it, eventually taking out a simple pair of pants and a light shirt. She handed the clothing to the Konti. “Next time bring suitable clothing for training.”

The Konti quickly slipped on the pants under her dress. She stood in a dark corner to avoid having to strip in front of everyone as she pulled off the light dress she wore and put on the shirt given to her. Surprisingly, the clothes fit pretty comfortably. Dev’Ania was nervous. Her improper attire already made for an awkwardness that Dev was uncomfortable with. She couldn’t be nervous. If she was nervous the trainer would surely pick up on it and become even more frustrated with the inexperienced fighter.

“Okay, now that the pleasantries are over with, let us begin.”

Ledger Changes :

• Food, Beverage, and tip - 1 Kina
• Unarmed Combat Novice Lesson - 10 Kina

boxcode credit - Ennisa

[Dev'Ania]

“First and foremost, the most important thing to learn before anything is the basic fighting stance. What you want to do is stand at a slight angle while facing your target.” Dev tried to mimic the woman, feeling as if was doing great already with just standing. “Okay, not bad. It can use some work, but good for a beginner. Now, your fists should be up at the level right under your chin. One fist should be slightly higher than the other… Good. Now keep this stance tight. You have to feel your strength from within your muscles and keep your body tight in this position.” Atsuya tried pulled at Dev’s fists, breaking her stance. “Tighter! Again.” She pulled again, more resistance was felt in Dev’s arms, but she still managed to pull her fists down.

“I’m sorry. This is all new to me.” The Konti apologized to Atsuya.

“Don’t be sorry, just do it right. You aren’t going to tell your attacker that you are sorry.”


Dev summoned all her might to hold her muscles tight in the stance. With another pull from the strong woman, her hands and legs stayed still as she was instructed. Finally! SHe was catching on. This didn’t seem to be as difficult as the Konti had thought it would be. Konti were naturally drawn to doing different forms of martial arts and being trained in acrobatics. In her time of living in Mura, she had seen a lot of the woman there frequently training. But she never joined them. The same was for when she lived in Riverfall. Everyone there were constantly training, but still most of Dev’s time went into helping out with her mother.

“It is about time you get it tightened up! Now break. Okay, again!” The red-headed woman instructed the Konti to keep repeating the stance. Each time Dev’Ania stood as she was told. “Perfect. Now, I think we can move onto our next move. Whenever you are engaging in a fight, you need to stand in this stance and stay in it after every kick or punch or block, understand?” Dev would give a nod of her head. “Great. The next thing we will do today is a basic block. You can’t know how to throw a punch if you can’t throw one.”

Atsuya stood in stance across from Dev’Ania. Without any warning she threw a punch right towards the fortune-teller's face. It nearly hit her square in the nose but stopped just before she tapped the tip of it. Dev’Ania through her arms up shielding her face from the blow and dropped down to the ground.

“No! Never drop down like that. It will do more harm rather than protect you! Your attacker could have easily beat you to the ground with little trouble if you were to cower like that during an actual incident.”

“You nearly hit me in the face though!” the Konti replied. “I would have been knocked out cold!”

“Don’t argue with me! I know what I am doing. If I wanted to have hit you, you would not have had time to move. Now, get back in position and I will show you how to properly execute a block.”

Dev’Ania stood back into her stance, keeping her eyes on the eyes of the woman as if she were trying to anticipate another attack.

“To block any punch coming toward your face, what you want to do is raise your front arm up and you pull back your other arm to your side. Like this.” The woman demonstrated the blocking movement and explained more while the Konti followed along with the movements. “The force of your arm sharply coming up to just the height of your forehead, will deflect your attacker’s punch with little effort. I want to see you do it perfectly. Don’t stop until I say you can stop. Ready...Block! Block. Block. Go straight back into stance once you have blocked. And be quick about it.”

The pair continued practicing for the full two bells Atsuya had mentioned. The only thing they worked on were basic blocking and punching straight forward. Dev’Ania had managed to work up quite a sweat along with the trainer. While Atsuya looked like it was nothing for her to do over and over again, Dev was left panting for her breath and needing water. It was a good thing the Konti was given an extra outfit to wear because she was left drenched in sweat. Her face was red and her long blonde hair stuck to the sides of her face.

“Thank you so much, Atsuya. I learned a lot today and still have a lot more to learn by the looks of it. I will definitely be returning for more lessons.”

“You did better than I expected if I do say so. Before you come back, I want you to have perfect what I taught you today, understood?” The woman spoke with a stern voice.

“Yes.” With that, Atsuya nodded and began to walk away.

“Oh, and please return the clothing to the chest over there. Don’t worry, we will clean them.”

Dev’Ania stepped back into the dark corner she had changed in before. She used the shirt to wipe off any sweat dripping from her brows. She slipped back into her short dress and placed the sweat-soaked clothing back in the chest they were retrieved from.

She winced in pain as she ascended up the stairs, the feeling of hot air leaving her skin but soon returning as she walked outside of the teahouse. All she needed was a bit more practice and she would be ready for anything that came her way. Soon, she would have the strength to protect herself and her family.

The Konti walked through the streets under the scorching, just after midday sun. For now, she planned on spending the rest of the day in her bed, resting her sore muscles.



boxcode credit - Ennisa

[Ambrosia Alar]

Grades!

Dev'Ania

Skills

● Acrobatics +1
● Body Building +1
● Endurance +1
● Intelligence +2
● Logic +1
● Observation +2
● Socialization +2
● Unarmed Combat +1

Lores
● Location: Mhakula Teahouse
● Shinya: Protectors of Lhavit
● Intelligence: Ignoring chatter to focus on a single conversation
● Mhakula Teahouse: Offers "lessons"
● Atsuya: Combat trainer at the Mhakula Teahouse
● Mhakula Teahouse: Underground training center
● Appropriate attire is best for training and combat
● Unarmed Combat: Basic fighting stance
● Unarmed Combat: Keep the stance tight
● Unarmed Combat: Basic block
● Unarmed Combat: Practice makes perfect

Comments

I'm glad you didn't dive right into training on this, because your set up for the actual training part of the thread has some lovely writing in it. Your descriptions are strong, and the conversation she eavesdrops on was well-written as well. Since the training was only in one post I could only give you one XP for that, but if you feel I've missed something or if you would like lore rephrased, just send me a PM. Thanks for the read.