Solo [Antinuous Training Grounds] Crunch, Punch, Ouch, Zzz

[Zera]

Fall 3rd, 513

Zera had just finished his first meal of the day, and now he was working out. Just what Zera had planned to do at the start of the day. In fact, many of his mornings were like this. He was sitting upon a training bench, a weight above him. His hands were firmly pressed upon the metal of a heavy weight, which he pushed against with all his strength. He was a Half-Dhani, so his strength was stronger than a humans. The weights he used were bigger, heavier. The sun had shown down brightly upon him due to the open roof of the training cell he was in.

Sweat rolled down his arms as his muscles quivered underneath the heavy weight. A protective bar above him stopped the heavy barbell from crushing him if he failed to lift it back onto the rack. Zera lifted, and brought down the heavy bar a few times before he shoved it up and onto the rack, where it held firmly in place.

He stood up, a bit sore, but flowing with energy. Next, he decided he would do the standard fitness training that knights often did. He fell to the ground, standing on his hands and toes. Zera began to preform push-ups. Up, down, up down. He always bent his elbows until his chin was just above the floor.

When Zera was done with push-ups, he rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his neck. It was time for him to do crunches. He pulled forward, arching his back as he brought his face towards his knee. Then he repeated with the other knee, careful to angle himself slightly with each repitition to utilize each group of muscles.

Now it was time for pull-ups. He stood, and went over to a bar affixed between two columns. He grasped the cold metal firmly, noticing his hands were already sweaty. Regardless, he did so anyways. He pulled himself up, his knee rising forward to balance his weight as he lifted his chin above the bar with a grunt.

He continued to do pull-ups, pulling himself up, and letting himself drop while still controlling the weight, to maximize the effectiveness of the work out. Eventually, he pulled himself all the way up and pulled one leg up and over the bar. Pulling the other one up and over as well, Zera let himself fall back, his area below his knees holding him in place as his hands were placed behind his neck, elbows out.

[Zera]

He began to do crunches whil suspended above the ground. His nerves were on fire as he pulled himself up, and allowed himself to fall back down. He controlled his breathing as he did, inhaling as he rose, exhaling as he fell. He repeated this process several times. Once he was done, he grasped the bar with his hands, and pulled his legs over and down, dropping off.

Zera walked to one side of the room, the only large empty space in this room dedicated to training squires. Here, there was a mat on the ground. He decided he would try to perfect his form, and practice the Flux. First, Zera stood on one leg to practice his balance. He was fairly unskilled, and he wobbled, careening side to side for a full minute before he was forced to stand on both feet again.

He attempted it again, focusing on keeping his body as still as possible as he arched his free leg back, holding it with his left hand as he balanced. This seemed to work better, and he found he could regain lost balance much easier this way. He was starting to understand the concept of balance much better now.

He was done with his daily exercise, and he smiled at what he had accomplished. He had boundless energy for today, it could only get better. Or so Zera thought, as he left the training room. A large, metal fist reached around the doorway and sucker punched him in the gut. He instantly buckled with a slight squeak of pain as he fell to the floor. "You thought you could hide from me, Snake-Eyes?" A gruff, oppressive voice said. "I'll teach you how to stand and fight like a man."

"N-No sir." Zera managed to mutter before a metal boot kicked him sharply in the gut. These beatings were not uncommon among knights, especially for those who weren't particularly of the human race. The knight who was currently administering the beating was human, but Zera did not know his name at the time. There was however, the undeniable strength and power associated with each subsequent blow to his abdomen and side.

Large bruises began to form, as Zera reached up and grasped the foot of the knight attacking him, stopping it and gaining control. "I will not let you away with this!" Zera growled as he brought his other hand up as soon as he had leverage. He scrambled to get his feet underneath him as he heaved forward, rising to a standing position with the knight's foot in his hands. Praise Yahal for giving me what I need to succeed!

[Zera]

"Shyke, you're strong!" The knight stated frustratedly as Zera shoved him back by the foot, causing him to lose footing with the other and topple over with the sound of clattering metal. The knight wasn't injured. In fact, the knight's personality changed on the spot and he let out a hearty laugh. "If you are that strong, you are a good enough squire in my book, but don't expect me to go soft on you!" Zera stood over him with an accomplished smirk, reaching down and offering his right hand to the knight.

The knight firmly grasped Zera's hand. With a heave, Zera pulled the knight to his feet. "Sneaking up on me is a dirty trick." Zera said, with a hearty tone.

"Hah!" The knight said. "Gotta learn about dirty tricks somehow, squire!" At this point, the knight began to walk away, proud of himself for beating up someone of lesser skill, assisting a squire in their daily activities. However, as the knight walked away Zera suddenly felt something hit him. Pain. Lots of pain. The sucker punch, followed by the repeated kicks to his abdomen had each left sizable bruises.

He hobbled back into the training room, sitting down on the bench as he began to focus, and let the pain sink in and dissipate. He had to endure it if he wanted to become a knight, let alone not use any weapons when doing so. When he stood a full minute later, he could still feel the soreness of the visible bruises on his abdomen, but to a lesser extent than before. Regardless, it would be a constant reminder through the entirety of today, so he had no choice but to endure it during his training.

He didn't have to be anywhere for a few bells, so he decided to stay here at the training center and practice another set of skills. He was weary of taking another beating from a wandering knight. There was a punching bag in the center of the room. It was worn from time and use, but it was the perfect object to use to practice with.

Retrieving a pair of boxing gloves from a nearby rack, Zera walked up to the punching bag as he put the gloves on. He assumed a boxing stance. Boxing was a great sport to condition his body with, which is why he enjoyed it so much. He had received lessons recently, and now he knew how to properly carry himself when boxing. One foot forward, one foot back, his chin tucked in, and his guard up, Zera was ready to begin.

He started with a quick, sharp jab that connected with the bag, uttering an audible thud as hand and glove met dirt and leather. Zera quickly retracted his arm back to his face, making sure to keep his guard up. He repeated the same blow, alternating both of his hands and having them retain their positions after each strike.

[Zera]

He began to practice his fluidity, keeping his stance while moving to the left, and right, and dodging invisible punches. He hoped making a fool of himself would improve his ability to perceive blows and avoid them before they struck home. He added a bounce to his step, and found it helped the most. He even began to practice jabbing while in motion.

Zera stepped forward, lowering his arm and striking the bag with a heavy-handed uppercut. The object of Zera's punishment rattled between the chain it hung from, and the chain that restrained it to the floor. By now, Zera's breath was growing labored, and he was finding it difficult to keep steady between all of the training over the last hour, and the beating he had sustained recently. He stood, and breathed in, gathering his wits about him.

Zera decided to practice his martial arts next, and moved on to the training dummy located on one side of the room, opposite of the weightlifting equipment. He had more experience with unarmed combat than he did boxing. Zera looked it over, and saw that it bore scratch marks from the countless wooden training weapons that had struck it in the past. He removed his boxing gloves, then he held his hand forward towards the wooden dummy.

Concentrating on his right arm's muscles to assign energy to his arm using the Flux, Zera let loose a single punch towards the head of the dummy. His fist cracked against the wood, and the entire thing shuddered at his strike due to the weight behind it. After he let go of the energy, Zera could feel pain reel through his right hand as his knuckles instantly bruised from the heavy-handed strike. Coupled with his previous injuries he was having quite a time keeping himself calm, and shoving the pain away to the far corners of his mind.

Zera decided to go all out, and he theorized that doing so he could ignore his physical exhaustion and keep going. He kicked the dummy with his leg, swinging it up into the dummy's crotch. He then planted that foot on the ground and spun around, punching it once more, this time square in the chest. His body was on fire, but he still had more fuel to burn!

[Zera]

Zera took to a more aggressive fighting style, coming in close and bashing his head against the dummy. He had never attacked something with his head until now, and doing so he found renewed pain course through his temple. A brand new bruise formed at his temple while he busied himself with getting behind the dummy and practicing a choke hold. He pinned the neck and head of the doll firmly between his biceps and began to squeeze, familiarizing himself with the feeling. His heart was racing, pumping as much blood into his body as it could muster.

As he 'choked' the wooden doll, he began to punch it in the lower side repeatedly, the kidney. He aimed to emulate how one would utilize a hold like this during combat. The doll shuddered and rattled with each successive punch, but he could feel his left fix growing raw and burning with pain. He let go, walking around the resilient training dummy and staring it down from the front.

Deciding to attempt a combination of each Zera stepped forward with an overhead chop on the wooden doll's shoulder, making the doll rattle again as the hit connected. Then, with his other hand he used an uppercut punch, striking the dummy in the chin. He then turned, using the arm he chopped with to sharply elbow the doll in the face as he suddenly reversed the direction of the turn. Then, he brought his knee up, striking the abdomen of the dummy with it.

Taking a step back, Zera closed his eyes and began to concentrate on the Flux once more, sending energy into his left arm, which he proceeded to jab the doll in the abdomen with his left hand in as fast a strike he could muster. As the blow connected, the dummy shook and rattled in the chain restraints which held it in place. He let the energy drain from his arm, back into his body. As he did, burning pain immediately became apparent in his left hand, just like the pain in his right hand.

Grinning with burning pain and energy all over his body, Zera let out one last heavy-heeled kick at the torso of the training instrument. He took a step back, and the consequences of his actions soon became apparent. He grew dizzy, euphoric even. Praise Yahal for the strength he lent me..

He then blacked out, falling to the floor, his side breaking the fall as he splayed out face-down against the stone payment after impact.

He woke up on the very same floor. He weakly climbed to his knees, and began to come to his senses. The feeling of pain was the first thing he could feel, old and new. He had a large, brand-new bruise on his backside. Zera surmised someone had tried to wake him up, and decided to punish him for passing out in the training grounds.

He stood in place, soreness could be felt throughout his entire aching body. He decided he was done training, and it was already dark in the training courtyard outside. Zera began to hobble towards the barracks, to try and get some more rest. He needed it.

[Perplexity]

INTERVENTION

Mr. Zera,

There is a horrific breach of lore concerning the conduct of an unnamed Knight within your post. For further guidance I will direct you to a section in the lore page concerning Knightly behavior and activity...

Unlike other groups, the Syliran Knights - because of the Konti presence among the leadership - show no favoritism in their ranks. Due to their high ethics, rich or wealthy families have no ability to climb through the ranks faster than another more poorly connected individual. There is a noted lack of arrogance, corruption, and brutality among the Knighthood. In fact, individuals that display such unfavorable traits rarely rise in the ranks at all. Knights tend to show strong productive traits - generosity, patience, integrity, tolerance, and high levels of honor. If they fail to have these traits, the Gods that aid the Knighthood will turn disapprovingly towards the individuals. Also, the Wind Oak, a fragment monster of the God of Peace - Sylir - always gives a knight their quest for knighthood. If a knight is lacking in integrity and personal honor, they will not be given their quest and not be allowed full membership into the Knighthood.

There you have it. I may be able to understand such behavior coming from a fellow Squire. Even then the Weaponmasters who preside over the Training Grounds would snuff out such attitude very quickly and wouldn't stand for meaningless roughhousing. In fact, the Squire(s) who instigated the behavior would be punished.

I am also going to direct you to an announcement I made not long ago concerning players interaction with Knights in general. You may find it within the OOC thread here.

Your aggressively mean, dominant bully knight is not acceptable. Please remedy this. When you have fixed this breach of lore I will remove my intervention. You may then resubmit this thread for grading.

Regards,
Perplexity