"I have a feeling the man will find us when he wants to. Men like him take great care to be the hunter rather than the hunted," Illo noted at the weapon's question. "But you should not worry about that just now," he said getting up.
"Instead of looking ahead, focus on what is in front of you now." It was a simple enough message. Illo was walking off to an area of flat rocks like he'd been practicing on before. He hopped up on one and went to horse stance.
"We will stay in horse stance for a while. It's vital to any training regiment." Here they would stay, at least Illo would, for three hours. If Adrian fell Illo would encourage him to get up and continue.
(Timeskip!) (lol That sounds horrible. Although I would assume it's good for rage-posting.)
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 8:16 am
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian frowned and finally opened his eyes. He watched Illo get up and decided he better do the same. Adrian followed him silently, nodding when spoken to. He did as he was instructed and did his best to maintain balance with Illo. Adrian was sure he'd either fall asleep on the spot or pass out from exertion but he kept himself up as long as he could. (timeskip)
((OOC:No! I love it! It's like using a typewriter :3 ))
Adrian was doing well. He only fell a handful of times in the entire time they were holding the stance. That was the mark of true effort. It looked like he had potential to push himself past his conceived limits if nothing else, and that was, as any athlete will tell you, the essence of true ability.
This was apparent in his face. Adrian looked exhausted at the end of the exercise... Maybe it was too much too soon? Well, as Bruce Lee says: "A beginning athlete must punish himself, and then rest adequately." Perhaps more important here was gauging the point at which training would have to bow to rest; how not to overtrain while still, if you will, overtraining.
"Good. That's enough of that for now." Illo would then lead Adrian to an old strong looking pine near the rocks. "Chop down this tree with your sword. Then you will be ready to sleep." Meanwhile Illo was securing a clothe around a tall boulder he saw. When that was in place he went to work attempting to punch a hole in it one furious fist at a time.
(Ha, really? Well cool then! XD I guess I'd feel like an old-timey writer with that. C: Poor Adrian though. haha He's gonna be so dead tomorrow.)
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:57 am
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian breathed slowly as they were done, a sigh of relief. However that relief was quickly washed away as Illo told him to cut down a tree. Double however this was the final task before he could rest according to Illo. Adrian brought his hands close together and began gathering his stored light. The light took shape or a large two-handed sword. Adrian grabbed the handle and approached the tree. With his now firm stance and stronger swinging arms he brought the sword back almost like a golfer about to go for a hole in one. Adrian let out what resempled a tennis grunt as he swung the great sword towards the trunk of the tree. Swing after swing he slowly made his way through the thick wooden beast.
((OOC: Yeah idk why but hearing a typewriter-esk noise just feels so good to me and gets me in the mood to just type and type))
Illo saw Adrian approach the tree from the corner of his eye and smiled, proud of his newfound resolve. If only he knew it was only because the promise of sleep lay on the other side of that barked behemoth!
(skip)
By the time they were done Illo had already started to wear away an indentation in the rock he'd been working at. The night was creeping in now, pretending to be silent when its cool air crashed and bumped through the mountain's rocks. The trees were shushing furiously at the wind as its careful clumsiness woke the predators procrastinating in the valley below. Illo walked to the epicenter of the big bang wrought by the fallen tree and began snapping the limbs of the great pine.
"Now that you have cut the trunk, the limbs are yours." It was a simple metaphor for the lesson he was trying to teach them earlier: create your opponent's weaknesses. He paused as he walked off with his load of firewood to the campsite and turned his head half-way around.
"... You have done well today, Adrian. You will be an effective warrior, if that is what you wish." There wasn't a whole lotta praise going around at the monastery, so this was actually new territory for Illo.
(lol Do you feel like you're writing a Pulitzer Prize winning novel?)
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 5:40 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian's sword faded away as Illo approached. He looked towards him and nodded, now understanding what he meant before. Sometimes there wouldn't be a c***k in someone's armor so you have to ship away at it yourself. Adrian smiled weakly at his praise, feeling proud that he actually survived training all day."With all this training it is going to be hard to think of myself as a weapon."He laughed slightly, feeling a bit better now that the breeze of the night was cooling him down."So, that is all for today right? I am assuming you are a man of your word Illo."
"Oh? How do you mean that?" Illo actually tilted his head a little. It looked a little funny under his hood, like the empty cast of some now greater cobra. "I was under the impression all Shibusen students trained rigorously... Why should that make you less?"
"And don't worry, we are done now." At this point they would be back at the fire pit. Illo was shuffling and arranging the sticks and branches from the tree into a tentative little pyramid. "I've seen your soul, and many like it," he went on as he started the fire up, "and I'll say that weapon souls interest me the most. Needless to say," as he did have a point to this setup, "because they are so different from the souls I grew up around I cannot accurately gauge the capacity weapon souls have for training."
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:23 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian blinked as he thought himself that his statement was obvious."Well yes all students train but the meister is usually the one with the most fighting capability while the weapon mainly focuses on their and their partner's souls. At least that is what I thought I had heard somewhere."He scratched his head, still desperately wanting a shower but he wouldn't bring something like that up now. Adrian watched Illo set up the fire. He nodded at Illo's words and felt the fire warm his body."Well, I am not sure myself, I never had any sort of training back home. The most I got there was learning to defend myself from..."Adrian hugged his knees and stared at the fire as it danced around, warming the cold air."Anyways, I have not experienced anything like this. I wasn't sure if I would last all day training."He sighed at laid down on the ground, letting the warmth wash over him and relax his muscles.
"Yes, people seem to think that," Illo said with a laugh. "You see the mind and body are one," he held a stick near the fire and it caught and held it on its tip. He picked up another, but did not light it. "When one is illuminated the other will shine. Right now the body is weak, and so the mind is not strong enough to hold this change." As he said this the flame would gradually spread to the other stick to illustrate his point.
"And both," he said as he tossed the sticks into the fire, "strengthen the soul." It was imperceptible, but it was sure the sticks were fueling the fire in some way. Illo always maintained that demonstration was better; show, don't tell.
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 2:58 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian nodded at Illo's lesson/metaphor, agreeing with it but still feeling like maybe he should try to attend some classes and find a partner at the DWMA."Do most weapons find a partner right away? I mean, is that the first thing they do? I feel like I have been side tracked, I have not even attended a single class."He looked towards Illo, knowing he worked at the DWMA so he must understand what he means, at least a little bit.
"Yes, knowledge is a funny thing..." Illo was seguing in the way old people or, well, monks spoke; saying things that were unrelated but somehow relevant in their... Feeling. The type of thing a poet's wet dreams are made of.
"All that you learned today," he said gesturing toward his torso as if to invoke memories of present soreness, "you did no learn from me; what do you want to learn when you go back?" Perhaps as a side effect of the impetus of pragmatic forethought Adrian would be at least on some level guilted into taking his advice of living in the moment. The fire finally flickered a little brighter.
Phoenix Mode: Off
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:45 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian looked up towards the dark sky, processing the question."I am not sure, I always thought I would find out what I want on the way. I thought things would be ... simple I guess."He rubbed his eyes and sighed, wondering how everyone he knew in Wales was doing."I want to learn things so I can do something meaningful. I want to have stories to tell and I want to have the ability to help others."
When he heard this Illo couldn't help smiling a little. In the end it was a little bittersweet; the kid was just a regular kid, and while that was endearing it was also a shame to think of Death turning, requesting, the most innocent kids like Adrian to become warriors for his end. The monastery had lain outside the machine since time immemorial, and so Illo saw these things with full arbitration.
"I think you'll do just that, then." He said it with all due warmth and started to get his things together. A small bucket of water would be used to dull the fire which they would want to burn through the night but not go wild.
"We will train like this tomorrow as well. Then the next day we will relax and work on your form a little." Without another word Illo seemed to vanish into the night to his quarters.
(I was thinking we could skip to the end of the last day for the sake of momentum.)
Illo and Adrian were moving fluidly through some basic drills; because the monk had refused to teach him anything advanced, saying there was no reason to learn yet more techniques he wouldn't be able to use effectively in battle. A simple flow drill was enough to set him apart from the others if he maintained the basic principles, said the monk as a quasi-mantra while they flowed on through the hours unwaking with unblinking eyes. This went on for about five hours in the mid afternoon, Illo throwing in alterations to begin Adrian's long trip down the path to "controlled spontaneity," until the monk called for meditation. There they would stay for as long as it took; or at least as long as they could given the constraints, which happened to be somewhere close to midnight. If either of them fell asleep it would be a smooth slip through to dawn. That dawn belonged to a very trying day, potentially; just in case Adrian forgot what he was training for with all that thought about the future after the mountain's trial.
Light Meter 
