Completed [Training Grounds]Second times the charm.

[Joris Mevelk]

61st of Spring, 514 AV “So, you ready for round two then, Ser Magic Hands?” Joris Mevelk, looked up from his sitting position on the ground at up at a smirking dark haired woman who was tapping her curved practice blade expectantly. The tall dark haired man raised an eyebrow and held up his right hand, the half completed Glyphs upon them obviously not ready to be fully used in a detachment process. Well, obvious to him as Mage Squire Lilly Grant was no Projectionist so she likely had no idea the intricacies necessary to make the process of Projecting his limbs a little more easy upon his Astral Body. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but your timing could really use some work Lilly. Just saying, I mean I was right in the middle of something. Also, I thought we discussed the whole Magic Hands thing?” The knight offered, his light tone indicating no real offense had been taken. The Mage Squire snorted and plopped down beside him, her eyes peering curiously at him as his brushed worked over his wrist. A swirling vortex was brought into existence by way of black ink, slowly but surely filling out into a full Focus Glyph. Lilly’s own Glyphs looked a bit different, though that was to be expected considering that no two wizards were completely alike in their style or mannerisms. Joris was of a different mindset and so what constituted as a Glyph to him was likely different from Lilly, though they did possess some overlap naturally. “So I came out of my way to find you for that second round I promised and you’d rather spend it Glyphing?” The woman inquired, likely attempting to get Joris to hurry up. “Mmm… Pretty much, yep. Could you not lean in so closely, you are in my light.” The tall man offered by way of response, his tone only half serious. Lilly responded by giving the Mage Knight a light punch in the shoulder, earning a chuckle from him as she pretended to pout over his answer. Joris merely refocused his attention upon finishing up his trail of Focus Glyphs along his arms, moving on to his left arm once he had fully Glyphed his right. The tall man drew a swirling whirlpool upon his left palm, the ink staining it into the desired pattern as his Glyphs came to life. From here he moved up along the joints that were crucial to the Projection process, Focus Glyphs being placed all over his hand and up his arm. His face was a mask of focus and concentration as he worked, the man utterly devoted to his task and making certain the Glyphs were functional. Once the last Glyph was in place he examined his handiwork and smiled, pleased at the excellent Glyphs upon his arms. Well, excellent for him when in reality compared to others more skilled in the art his were likely mediocre at the very best. Even still, Joris took pride in his work and stood along with Lilly once the Glyphs were properly completed. “Alright, let’s get started shall we? Don’t worry; I’ll go easy on you this time.” The Mage Knight said, drawing an incredulous look from the Mage Squire as she passed. “You go easy on me? Last I recall, last time I had you on your back with a weapon on your throat.” The woman reminded him. “Did you, now? I recall me letting you win; clearly our recollection of events is a bit different.” The Mage Knight offered, as before his tone only half serious. Lilly shook her head at the absurdity of Joris, his good humor a bit infectious at her little grin which the tall man was pleased to note as he stuffed his hands into his pocket as he prepared for today’s sparring session. The woman across from him prepared in a similar fashion as she held her sword to the side, her other hand outstretched before her as she appeared to be focusing. Joris did the same, his face becoming a mask of concentration as he prepared to utilize his very soul as his weapon. He focused inwardly, grasping at the strands of his Djed and using them to enforce a change upon his Astral Body. He used this vital energy to attempt to will the Astral of his arms to begin to unravel from his physical form and depart his body, a process known to Projectors as Detachment. He opted for the slower method of Detachment, focusing the Astral to begin to separate from his Physical body at larger joints of his arms. The process took a longer time but it was far safer to the Projector in question than a more rapid Detachment. Lilly started to produce a translucent liquid substance from her outstretched hand, the liquid being moved outwards to start to form into a few smaller balls of sorts. Res she had called it, so it appeared that it could take forms other than a gas, which was interesting to note. Joris’s attention was upon actually getting his Projected limbs out from his body, his dark eyes narrowing as he fueled the process with his Djed. After another chime his arms went limp in his pockets and his Projected limbs were out and about, ready to be used. The ethereal fingers flexed and stretched in the air, pulses of Djed sending signals along the pathways to will the movements of his Astral limbs into existence. They could not be seen of course, being invisible even to his eyes but Joris felt exactly where they were and knew how to make use of the ethereal limbs. It seemed as though Lilly had finished her casting as well and for the moment both stared at each other, wizards of different disciplines but skilled enough in their own ways. After that moment, both moved into action.

[Joris Mevelk]

Lilly was the one to make the first move, sending her three balls of Res forward with an errant wave of her hand and transmuting the outer layers to clear water. Joris still possessed control of his legs and so he quickly attempted to sidestep the attack, jumping to the right and also lashing out with his Astral limbs to deflect the attacks. The entire affair was a rather difficult thing, using projection in combat was one of its many uses but the tall man geared his around it most certainly. Splitting his focus between dodging and using his Projected arms for defense was a difficult thing. His Projected limbs managed to deflect one of the projectiles and he dodged the other, but the last one seemed to divert its course just in time to splash him in the face. Joris coughed and sputtered, shaking his head as this was all too familiar a situation for him to find overly amusing as the Mage Squire indeed used this opportunity to advance upon him. The tall man blinked rapidly, sending signals along his Projected limbs and used them to aim for the woman’s feet as she advanced. The Reimancer toppled over and growled, quickly getting to her feet and charging the Mage Knight. “Not this song and dance again, the last date was enough of that.” The woman growled as she smacked Joris’ side with the curved weapon, a point for her. “Ah! Damn, I suppose I’ll have to change it up a bit then eh?” The Mage Knight offered, raising an eyebrow to his sparring partner. “That would seem wise; after all you can’t just have one trick that you use over and over again with those Magic Hands of yours. Gets a bit predictable no? Show me what else your Projection can do to surprise me.” The woman said, turning and moving back to her previous position. Joris thought and pondered over that little challenge issued, sending signals along his Projected limbs to move them closer to his body once again. The ethereal limbs floated invisibly next to him, protectively ensuring that those who managed to get close to him were likely to regret it. It was an interesting problem to ponder and think over, but Lilly was right in that he needed to switch up to something a little bit unexpected for her to face. The dagger and tripping trick had worked well the last time, but in order to last a bit longer this time he would need to try something new. The Mage Knight looked around at the terrain, noting a few rocks within easy reach and were of a comfortable size to where his Projection might very well pick them up. He needed to distract Lilly much like she had distracted him, to catch her off her guard in order to defeat her and get in close with his dagger. That was really the key here, distracting her and keeping her sword away from him by keeping her at a safe distance. The issue here was that no matter how hard he tried, if she was determined enough she could easily shrug it all off. So the element of surprise was paramount. With this all in mind the tall mage knight willed one of his projected limbs towards the rocks nearby and the other to his blunted practice dagger. The ghostly limb near the rocks merely floated near them, ready to spring into motion when commanded. His other wrapped ethereal fingers around the dagger and lifted it, moving it outwards before him and having it dance and bob in the air. Lilly lifted an eyebrow as she noted the dagger and wondered if perhaps he was going to try the same thing, however Joris merely retained his focus and gave no indication of his intentions or tactics.

[Joris Mevelk]

The first thing Joris did was to launch his dagger wielding hand forward, the weapon appearing to float in midair and be moved around by sheer force of his will. Lilly had been expecting this and merely neatly sidestepped the weapon as it came at her, the weapon missing her by inches. However this was exactly what the Mage Knight had been hoping for in this spar, his other limb picking up a handful of the rocks and flinging them at his opponent. The Mage Squire, not anticipating this, was caught off her guard when a few of the rocks pelted her face. Joris used her distracted state, the choice curses coming out from her lips ones he opted to write down for future reference, and turned his blade around in the air. The projected limb brought the dagger closer towards her, the action having about less than a half tick delay between order and action due to the distance. It also took a bit more Djed to accomplish due to that distance; however it was manageable to the young Projectionist. Besides if it resulted in a point for him in this little bout then the Mage Knight would happily take that little extra drain. Lilly found that at her neck was the cold steel of the blunted weapon, her cursing ceasing as she looked down at it and then up and Joris. Her lips were set in a determined line, obviously a bit frustrated at herself for having been caught off of her guard so easily. The Mage Knight offered her a tired grin, beads of sweat starting to perspire upon his brow from the casting mixed with exertion. She offered him a curt nod, a sign that he had won that little bout but she was obviously not pleased about it. The Mage Knight moved the dagger away from Lilly and paused to give Lilly time to collect herself. After another half chime the woman seemed ready so Joris sent in his dagger once again, the blade whistling through the air as it was launched at her. This time he opted to try something different to distract her, a bit more obvious and forceful than merely throwing rocks at her. The Mage Squire sidestepped the attack from his dagger, prepared to deal with a reversed course when the back of her head would explode with pain. Joris had sent signals along to his other Project arm, the limb having moved around behind Lilly and offered her a punch. The distraction was enough for the Dagger to glance off of the side of Lilly’s shoulder, a low growl emanating from her for the attack as she swung her sword at the weapon to try and knock it from the air. Joris merely moved his projected limb out of the way once again and rotated the blade to return with another attack, his breathing slowly beginning to increase the more he worked and the delay periods increasing due to lengthy casting. They were slowly piling up, but they were still very much there and difficult to deny. Lilly soon found herself on the defensive, unable to get enough time to call upon her res and unable to advance upon Joris without risking a dagger in the back. The Mage Knight continued to use his other Projected arm to disrupt her, tugging at her hair or flicking at her neck to draw a response from her. Essentially its role was to be as petching annoying as possible and judging from the look of grown frustration upon Lilly’s face it was working rather well. He just needed to keep this up a little while longer then.

[Joris Mevelk]

Again a string of curses escaped the lips of Squire Lilly Grant, her blade slashing wildly in the air as she attempted to swat the projection borne dagger from the air. Joris had gotten good at anticipating the movements, and though he was very much visibly getting tired from the exertion of casting he still managed to learn to anticipate the delay periods in his attacks a bit better. The Mage Knight’s dark eyes were narrowed upon Lilly, carefully watching his opponent as he focused heavily upon plucking the strands of his diminishing Djed to work his magic. Joris loved the thrill of casting; the euphoric bliss that came with expending parts of his being was difficult to be compared to. It was a primal sort of pleasure that tingled at the spine and tickled at one’s skull, fuzzy almost and usually made one feel unbelievably powerful in the process. With this power he could count himself as skilled as any of the other Knights of the Syliran Order; he could only imagine what it might be like to one day surpass his mentor and the kind of strength one might have then. Gods would that not be glorious… He curbed this line of thought quickly, crushing it mercilessly as he refocused all of his attention upon the casting and upon finally bringing this session to a close. His Projected limbs were starting to get overly sluggish and tired, working them too hard would not be a good idea at this point in time. The tall man sent signals along his Projected limbs, willing the weaponless one to tug at Lilly’s hair, which resulted in the woman flailing her free arm behind her in a futile attempt to smack his ethereal fingers away from her. Next Joris willed the dagger to move towards her again, the command delayed by a full tick before the air moved the dagger towards her. He commanded the blade to dodge ahead of time as he anticipated the next wild slashing of the woman’s blade. She stepped back a little further away from him and Joris quickly commanded the other hand to move to trip her up, willing it a little further ahead than where she currently was. Ahead of time he willed the arm to trip her up, the dark haired woman falling flat upon her back with a thud and a cry of frustration and anger. As Lilly would attempt to rise she would find Joris’ dagger at her neck, her breathing coming in great heaving gasps as she glared first at the weapon and the at Joris. The Mage Knight winked tiredly at her, his own breathing just as heavy and sweat pouring out across his body from the extensive casting. He could already feel a splitting headache throbbing in his skull, lingering just beneath the casting euphoria. The Mage Squire held her glare for a moment longer, before it faded into a tired grin and she released her hold on her weapon to signal her defeat. “Alright, Ser Magic Hands, you win round 2. Projection is probably one of the most annoying magic’s I’ve faced off against.” The woman offered, standing and wiping her brow as she moved off to sit over at the side. The Mage Knight was rather pleased to have defeated Lilly; she was a smart opponent and rather quick on her feet and formidable in close quarters. Though he had only defeated her this time, next time she could very well devise a tactic against this one he had just employed. He would need to think of his own tactics carefully, develop them a bit more rigorously. For now though, Joris needed to actually Attach his Astral body back together while his limbs were still responsive.

[Joris Mevelk]

The tall Mage Knight first willed his dagger wielding hand to drop the weapon, the beat piece of metal hitting the ground with a thud. From here he tiredly sent signals along the limbs, pulses of Djed spreading through the Astral Pathways and moving the limbs back from where they had originated from. The Projected limbs took a full chime to get close to him once again; their movements sluggish and they felt rather like leaden weights from the exertion here today. Joris could feel how sore they were, just like a normal muscle after extensive exercise. Once the limbs finally reached his body he carefully willed them to begin to Attatch to his Physical arms once again, focusing his full attention on the process. The Attachment process was the opposite of the Detachment, involving raveling the Astral back up by moving in slowly from the extremities to the joints. Joris was using the slower of the two methods, mostly because there was an extreme risk of losing control of the limb in question if he synchronized the Attachment poorly. Being that he had no wish to cripple himself at a young age he opted to be very careful. Slowly but surely as the Projected limbs locked themselves back into place Joris could feel some feeling return to his arms. After a couple more chimes the process was complete and the Astral body was back and locked within his Physical body as was proper, the Mage Knight removing his hands from his pockets and flexing his hands to return the full synchronization. He rolled his shoulders as well, and at the end of the day he felt like he had been forced to run laps around the entire city if full armor. His stomach also grumbled slightly, indicating he was rather hungry for the length casting session. The tall dark haired man strode over to where Lilly sat, plopping down beside her and offering her his waterskin first this time. She took it almost immediately, some of the liquid escaping her lips and trickling down her cheeks. She offered it back to him, the tall man taking a healthy drink from it before setting it aside and leaning back to start upwards. Ever since starting these training sessions with Lilly, Joris had found his abilities becoming more and more fine-tuned. He was learning more about Projection in combat than he ever had with a mere training dummy. “So, one round for me, one round for you. Sounds about right, yeah?” The woman asked. “Technically a half one for you, since I was holding back.” Joris answered glibly, earning a punch in the shoulder and a mock serious look. “Ow! I’m reporting you for assaulting a superior.” The Mage Knight said, giving her a faux wounded expression that she rolled her eyes at. “So, how did you hit me with your Projection?” The Mage Squire asked. It was a fair question Joris supposed, so he opted to give her an answer as she was taking on the role of a sparring partner as of late. It wasn’t exactly the most complex explanation either, so the Mage Knight was at least confident that he could communicate that much knowledge to her. Which was a good thing; he was shyke at explaining complex magic concepts to others at the best of times. After a bit of pondering he explained it to the best of his abilities. “A Projectionist can decide what to interact with and what to not, the Astral body can’t be struck or hurt by mundane means like your sword. I think some magic’s can interact with it though. Essentially, as I understand it, I can interact with you but it’s not a two way street unless I want it to be.” The Mage Knight answered. “Sounds nifty. Anyway, next time let’s try something a little different yeah? Not that I don’t like combat, but I’m thinking we could make training a little more… interesting. What do you say?” The woman purred as best she could covered in sweat and with heavy breaths. “Now, when you put it like that… how could I refuse?” The tall dark haired man said, flashing her a brilliant smirk and a wink.

[Radiant]

Joris :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+2 XP
Socialization	+1 XP
Rhetoric	+2 XP
Glyphing	+1 XP
Projection	+4 XP
Weapon: Dagger	+3 XP
Brawling	+1 XP
Endurance	+1 XP
Acrobatics	+1 XP
Tactics	+2 XP
Teaching	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Lilly: Water And Air Reimancer

Glyphing: Half-Completed Glyphs Aren't Usable

Reimancy: Res Can Took On Liquid Form

Projection Detachment-Attachment Methods: Slow, But Safe Or Fast, But Risky

Projection: Throwing, Tugging And Flicking Objects

Loots

+4 Shield Points

Notes :

Another awesome solo, Joris! How many times do I have to say this? But no matter! I always love your detailed writing! Good job, always.

Enjoy your grades!

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.