(The Slums) Training Days... Perseverance is Key.(Cade)

[Antar]

9th day of Summer,511 av

"ooc"I'll be taking cade a little under my wing OOC here for a few threads. This one will primarily be working on the skills: Running, Jumping, Climbing, and Acrobatics)

On the outskirts of Sunberth, close to the wildlands Antar stretched and waited for the barbarian to arrive. Today was a day they had talked about starting a regimen of improvement in order to better their abilities to stay alive. The first job they were in together there had been too many screwups. Too many brushes of death against adversaries far stronger, and better knowledged then they're ragtag group of 'co-workers' could handle.

So he'd approached the barbarian and found they both were thinking the same thing, keeping their tents and campgrounds near the outskirts of Sunberth, on the farthest side of the slums where many people didn't dare to go and noone but the street rats (the four legged tail whipping kind) dared to venture. Thinking of safety in numbers Noth had asked the barbarian, the mage, and his newfound female friend to relocate closer towards where he was. There was a still usable well in the area, with water he normally heated over a fire, so it was safe enough. He hadn't found any form of sentient activity in the area either. Just the rats and the well area he used to train himself in reimancy

There were a few other dilapidated buildings around he figured useable for other purposes, and they were close enough to the wilds to go hunt for some game if they were truly needing food. He didn't like the thought of bringing others to a place he thought 'safer' then the rest of the city... but as he had thought before: there was safety in numbers. So here he was on the Ninth day of summer, waiting for the barbarian to wake up and excuse himself from the others so they could begin their training.

The morning sun barely showed a glimmer as it peeked over the horizon... it was an early day. But Noth knew it was bound to be a long one. And just the start of a series of trials and tribulations the two would put them through in order to make themselves stronger. Strong enough for him to survive against the enemies he knew would hunt him down in the future, and Cade strong enough for... whatever Cade felt himself desired to be stronger for.

In the end they shared a common goal he supposed, even if it was a secondary one; Survival.

[Cade]

Cade woke early from his slumber and slipped out from his tent with out waking Corinth. He told her the night before where he was headed and he need not to wake her this morning. He quickly hustled to the location, the slums, where Antar wanted them to meet. Their last mission together proved that they were a failure for they had never worked with each other before. They needed to learn each others moves, each others thoughts and each others strengths and weaknesses. This was the only way they would work as a effective and efficient crew...... This was the only way they will ever survive in this violent choice of lifestyle they have chosen.

The barbarian was a large man, standing at six foot five and weighing in around two hundred and fifteen pounds of muscle. The man that was waiting for him was a agile built creature and them being polar opposites made them the best to teach each other. Cade walked up to Antar, his hand never straying to far from the hilt of his sword as he advanced forward to greet his new friend and ally.

" Ello Noth..........What do you have planned for me in this early of a morning" The savage couldn't avoid a small jab at Antar's timing, but was done so in taste and good humour. He knew the stakes and was happy that this small man had taken the Initiative to make them stronger and more diverse. He will prove to be very valuable to Gang.

[Antar]

Noth grinned a little at the jest of the giant beside him. His eyes ventured towards the sword though, it wasn't the best type of thing to carry when one had a day of training like what he had in mind. It wasn't that being armed was a bad thing in sunberth, in fact he'd wager everyone was armed to some degree all the time in this city. The problem in his mind was that it wasn't what might be easily concealed. But no matter, that would be a topic for a different time, eventually he hoped he might be able to do what was in mind with a full day's gear on, but for now he knew it would be a bit of a struggle for them both.

A matter of enduring several long and intense moments of fully intense training, followed by very short periods of rest. This was unlike most normal training regimens, where one usually did a low intensity exercise for long periods of time, followed by longer periods of rest. The two of them needed to get the most out of their training, to push themselves to their limits, and then break and exceed them.

So Antar had been doing some thinking.

Racking his brain on just how they could get the most work from the difficult surroundings of Sunberth, and he'd devised a plan of action, or more likely- a route to take. The first part was running around the outskirts of the city for a good two and a half miles after they came to the most treacherous ground by the Slag Heap.

The Slag heap was a fire that had been burning for not even the gods knew how long. It was only about two hundred feet high, but it was the cause of why the area was the most difficult place to go to during the run ahead. They would have to push themselves up to the fourth mile near the blistering heat of the smoldering ruin, in the early morning the smoke would nasciently cling close to the ground.Their lungs were going to burn for a few moments as they circled it before making the two and half mile trip back here to this place.

After that, a moment of rest would follow where they would talk, Antar had been scouting a few more of the desolate areas of the slums for good places to do a little extra work and he'd found a good spot. A courtyard, not the one he trained in reimancy, was littered with stones, and seemed to be built right up along the ruins of an old smeltery. This was important because the old smeltery (leftover from the days Sunberth was a mining town) had a large three story wall of large rock that still seemed sturdy.

A place with many handholds and footholds for climbing. As a matter of precautions he had ventured there earlier and looped a rope over and around the highest old iron chimney he could find. This was the second area he was thinking of using, for in the last job the group had taken they had seriously been hindered by their restrictions in ways they could have reached inside the household. So at this old stone wall, he was going to start climbing, and with the surrounding areas; many still unused and in worse states of disrepair there would be plenty of space to begin moving about, both in narrow city areas, and larger open courtyards.

Beyond that; he hadn't really any plans for the day except to push himself as hard as he possibly could, Noth looked at the barbarian once, and then towards the brushlands around the city where the two and a half mile trek to the Slag Heap would begin.


He smiled slyly, and sarcastically stated his two cents, "It's very simple, my overly large friend. Today we are going to run..."


Without wasting time asides to check he had his dagger with him, Noth sauntered off into the scrublands, hopping over a small log in their path as he followed a small animal trail that meandered towards his objective. As he crested the first rise into a series of downhill and uphill runs, Cade might espy in the distance the embers of the Slag Heap smoldering like a spent torch, or in this case- like a beacon to mark the first step of the pair's personal journeys to better themselves.

[Cade]

The barbarian adjusted his longsword to be strapped to his back. That position was much more comfortiable for running then having the sheath smacking your side with every stride one does. Once his equipment was adjusted he thrusted himself into the run, chasing after Antar with him in the distance and the Slag pit even further. The smell of burning was a mixture of the cities crap and of the dead, not exactly a inviting aroma, but you spend enough time in this city you get use to it.

Cade leaped over the very same log Antar had done moments ago as the myrian half blood treaded after him on the animal trail. This was conditioning, a very much needed exercise to keep a warrior in shape and agile. There will always be a need for speed, either that be chasing an enemy down or running for ones life, it was all about conditioning.

[Antar]

Running on relatively flat lands of Sunberth's countryside wasn't too taxing if one was taking it slow. There were dips in the landscape but for them they didn't really matter until later, where on the outskirts of town part of the landscape rose in a series of hills where portions of the town had literally been covered up and built over. So the first mile was easy. But Antar was never one to take it easy; his inclination this day had been to go full throttle, and that was what he was doing. Every minute he ran flat out sprinting along the game trail, minding his way past the sketti that animals marked it with, Noth tried to lengthen his stride and increase the air into his lungs.

When he hat to ease it back a little, he did. Just long enough to take the burning edge out of his lungs. The first mile was quick, a matter of hard work, and covered in a fair time of about eight minutes due to the nature of the run and how he pushed himself. Noth figured he'd have to get faster eventually. He turned his gaze backwards over his shoulder to see if Cade was keeping up...

[Cade]

The barbarian paid no attention to the flat countryside of sunberth as he focused upon the man who was full out running ahead of him. He had no choice but to keep himself at full throttle, feeling his legs and lungs burn in desperation of a break. A mile shouldn't be that hard at a steady pace, but Antar was determined to give the mountain of a man a heart attack, keeping the pace high and their heart drumming away with labour.

The taste of vomit was on his tongue as he noticed Antar slow up and look behind to see if he was still there. The cheeky bastard, Cade thought letting the competition fuel him to dig deeper as he gutted through the pain to catch up to him. The barbarian was not ready to give yet, his spirit was high and ready for more to come.

[Antar]

Smiling to himself Antar let the giant barbarian catch up before unlimbering his water pack. Still running at an even pace, this time a bit slower for the next quarter mile he took a small sip of water on the run, just enough to clear the stars from his vision. The water was cool on his throat, and barely enough to sustain him a little. He was cautious enough not to overdrink, such would lead to cramps later on, and that wasn't a good thing to have while running. Even now, the past mile had brought a sheen of sweat to his features, and the breakneck pace was at the time both liberating, and painful.


Without preamble, he passed the water can over to Cade, speaking in between labored breaths. "Just a little... we're going to pick up the high pace again over the next rise. Hopefully... we'll be doing this flat out in a few... weeks. From scouting this out before..., we're going to have to watch our step, the animal path veers off, so we'll be ....running across some dusty fields. Might be a bit of brush to hop over as well."

[Cade]

Cade's giant meat hooks grasped around Antar's waterskin while they slowed the pace. The mountain took a quick sip just as instructed, enough to partially quench his thirst. Was enough to keep him going for a little longer and not to much to have him cramp up. He passed the skin back while bringing his breathing back under control, using the slow pace to shed the burning in his legs and refill his lungs with proper air. He kept his jaw slack for better breathing technique but now it was all about building their muscles to master the run.

Cade nodded his head in acknowledgement of Antar's word, not wanting to speak back and break his breathing. His peripheral vision was working thus far, helping him to avoid objects that would cut the mountain down from his pace and if not worse, break him. The warning was warranted and always a good reminder, especially when Cade was tiring, his vision getting sparkly and awareness not to the fullest. The barbarian used his arms to usher his new found friend to lead the way in the up coming sprint. He knew he would not out beat him, but he will try his hardest to keep up.

[Antar]

After the short regimen of easy strides was over, Antar quickened his pace again. This time noting they were nearing the rise of the Slag Heap within the next quarter of a mile.

Even in this early in the morning the smell from the burning wasteland of hell on the gods green earth of Mizahar was swelteringly clinging at his senses. The smell was what came to him first, a cloying oder fo burning rot and ash that made one's eyes water just by breathing its presence. As he topped the rise it was in sight, this beautifully disgusting blaze that was probably more deadly to be around then a fully poisonous snake woman. And those he had heard stories about... revolting creatures he imagined when they changed forms.

Without pause, Noth ventured forward at half a pace between full out sprinting and their slow gate of before. Breathing was difficult now, do to the atmosphere being clogged with the smoldering refuse, and ash was thick in the morning air. Uncaringly, he pushed forward, judging every step as they began to circle the burning symbol of this town's idealogy about freedom from all forms of governence. Almost as if the exercise he was doing was a testament to the place as he basked in the flames of a burning world.

[Cade]

Cade was not that far behind Antar as they approached the burning heap of slag that burned his lungs. The smell of old and new burning of the sunberthian waste along with the unmistakable waft of charred bodies reminded him of pork being cooked over the open flame. Cade was not a native to this lawless city and if he was a man of weaker constitution he would of been heaving the remnants of his stomach out from just the very stench of the slag pit. But Cade was a man of strength, though vomit did rise to his tongue, it only took a moment to swallow it back down to save pride in the presence of Antar.

Cade then muscled through the smoke, the smell as he kept pace with the rabbit ahead of him. This was something the barbarian knew he had to get use to, if he had any intentions of calling this place home, a birth place for a new dream and destiny that will be in grasp once he conquered the cities distinct elements. A challenge he was not going to back down from.