Training Thread 4 Knuckles

It was that time again, Knuckles had recently fixed and sharpened all his gear, he was going out to ensure he could improve his sword and shield abilities and work on some other things. After packing his camping gear he'd set out of his home, and start his march to his training camp he had built last time he went out alone to train.  It would take him half a day to reach it now with him living closer to the Unity corps base.  Still, he was excited to go out and train again, that last match in the Coliseum made him start questioning himself a lot, he was going to dedicate an entire week worth to sharpening his skills, and improving his magoi manipulation.

WC 126/2000

Upon reaching his training site, he would have a large amount of firewood remaining from his last visit out here, all that was needed was to build the fire, and gather some food for the next week or so, that would come on the daily bases though. It was going to start getting dark within the next few hours and so he needed to build his fire now. His walk from his home to his training area would give a good cardio workout which would increase his stamina, hiking was always a good way to build cardio do to the lugging of weight and no stop marching, but trips that weren't so often like this didn't do much for it overall.

It was time to get today's food, he'd go down to the river and fish for a few hours, gather about 5 fish for his work, wasn't much but should be enough. He headed back to his camp where he would spark a fire using a rock and his sword. Once the fire was going he'd take 5 sticks and stick the fish on them after cleaning them of their scales. While his fish was cooking Knuckles would sit near the fire, his mind would start to close it's self off from the world as he began to channel is magoi, the black rhuk would start to flow around him, conforming with his magoi, his dark reddish black aura would sway over him, it started at his hands where he normally would cast it and started to creep up his body, he would manage to get it up to his shoulder before he felt the length of his magoi fading, he couldn't push it further than here through out his own body. It was different than objects, it took a toll on his body to do things with magoi in the first place, but to use his body as the medium was dangerous.

WC:332+126=458/2000

Without further delay Knuckles would walk away from his camp about 200 meters to ensure if he blew up his camp would be alright, if he was too injury himself he didn't want to sleep in the outside unprotected.  Once he deemed he was safe enough away, Knuckles would remove all of his gear, he stayed clothed, however, making sure nothing would take his Magio besides his body. Gathering his energy he'd start off simple The energy would start to materialize within his hand, the aura glowing over it as it focused, it was a simple enough task, of course, nothing too different from placing it within his weapons.  It was pretty cut and dry here so far, but now it was time to take it up a level.

His energy or magio would start to spread, he'd close his eyes and focus on spread it throughout his entire right arm, until it was covered.  Opening his eyes he'd smile as it was a successful trial run. He'd go over to a nearby tree and cock his fist back, he knew a standard punch would indeed snap the tree where he'd punch it, but with the enhancement, it should send it flying and the cut should be different.  As his fist met with the tree the difference was indeed obvious,  the wood would snap and crack under the force of the punch, instead of the tree falling backward, a good area where he hit it would be gone. Splitters would fly off it and spray forward into the tree line, no damage to his hand it barely felt like he even touched the tree.  Grinning he walked back to the area where he dropped his gear.

"Time to test the limits." Closing his eyes again his body would find its self-sitting on the ground, after a moment or two he'd start to channel the same energy around the rest of his frame. In time his body all had the reddish black tint around his body, his hair was standing up coursing with the waves of energy. His eyes glowed with power once they opened and he could instantly feel the strain on his pool of energy.  Gritting his teeth it wasn't just the drain of his energy but there was a toll being taken on his body. Light bruises would start to cover his skin, yellowing his skin where they took place.  He knew this would only about same damage he would take from a basic warrior in the Coliseum. He was starting to understand now, he was using this power incorrectly, it would give him tremendous powers, but it would come at a great cost if he used it too long.  "Double Bladed sword is what this is."

Standing from his seated position he had to work on his concentration while taking the damage and fighting effectively.  it couldn't be like before where he'd just charge in openly and blindly he'd have to fight smarter. Attack with a purpose instead of trying to deal as much damage while taking whatever came at him. Looking at his hands the Fanalis would grin. It was a risky choice to use this, it'd have to be a trump card.  

Knuckles would spend the next few days trying to get used to summoning this mass amount of magoi throughout his entire body instantly at demand. For the next few days, he'd fight to keep conscious from the drain of constantly using this much magoi so often, it was a terrible situation for him. He wasn't gifted a large amount of magio like he was with stamina, he could swing a sword for three days straight before he'd get tired. But summoning magoi always took more of a strain from him.  After the days past where he was finally able to summon the ability throughout his entire body instantly, it was time to start testing it while moving at his full speeds.

After a full night rest and a full belly from some rabbit stew he made, he'd set out into the woods the next morning. His entire body would be put to the test, he picked the woods to conduct this exercise because he was used to the arena, and using it's wide open space to B line from one side to the other, even running upon the doom that protected the watchers of the arena from the harms of the combat.  However, in the woods, it was littered with trees, animals, rocks and other things that would make him have to move instantly. At the speeds he traveled, one mishap could lead to certain death.  Now that he was ready he closed his eyes bring the aura around his body.  He'd take a single step flashing away from the sight of any animals that might have been watching him his body zooming as he did so.

Must to his expectations, a tree was suddenly in his way, it was true he could likely bulldoze through it but, that wasn't his intent of this training, he'd side step traveling 10 meters then pick up his path again, another tree would appear, this time he'd stutter step it and then turn around it.  Things were going well until he got deeper into the tree line, his body would start to catch the sides of the trees, breaking branches as he did so, even knocking a few of them down.
It wasn't until he tripped over a tree root, ripping it from the ground as he did so, that he would slam into the ground landing onto a sharpen rock that was laying there that he knew he had messed up back. He could feel it stab through his flesh but he didn't feel the warm blood dripping down his body as normal.  He assumed the worse he was dead, he felt the pain but not the blood. It was odd.  He lifted his head to see the stone sticking out his side, he couldn't help but laugh and as he did the aura faded from his body. He felt it now, the blood starting to pour from the wound as he got up. Damit, this wasn't good. He needed to wrap this up and clean it before it got worse.  

Applying the aura again, even if he was hurt this was no different from a combat wound, he'd have to focus on the pain. As the aura came back around his body he felt pressure on the fight even with his wound, making a face that showed the pain he looked down to noticed the blood had stopped flowing. Somehow his magio has prevented the blood from flowing out his body. He didn't understand it but he wasn't going to complain, he also knew he wouldn't be able to run at this rate with his wound in his midsection.  He spent about 30 minutes walking back to his camp. He'd build some tree bark and leaves keeping his aura up as he did so, he felt sleepy though he needed to hurry.

Once things were good he'd remove his aura and the blood started to flow out his side once more. Placing the leaves on the wound he placed the bark over it and held it in place as he wrapped it with his shirt. That was the end of that and his training for a while.  He wasn't going to head back to town until it started to look infected until then he'd just take it easy, practice activating his aura again and again. An entire month would pass before it was healed up enough for him to start training hard again.

Instead of running in the woods again to practice his speeds with his aura on, he'd just focused on a short precise burst of his intense speeds, while managing to take things one step at a time. He understood where he had gone wrong before in his fights, he thought just because he was quick he could use that to win, paired it with his strength thinking that was enough, what a fool he was.   Gathering his things Knuckles was ready to return home.  He looked at his sword and shield and shook his head. He had already been out here one month and he learned this much already.  Setting his things back down he went to chop some more firewood up. He was going to stay out here much longer and train up his warrior skills too. There was a lot he needed to improve on if he wanted to be the best fighter he could be. He also needed to refine the basics and take a step back and redo his entire fighting style. With this ability, he mastered things would be different. He could base an entire fighting style around this entire ability or develop a warrior, and Assassin styled fighting stance and tactics where he could use this ability within them.

And so Knuckles would spend the rest of the day, gathering wood, resetting his traps, and searching the land where he trained for new things to aid with his training. He was coming out here to try something new but would return a different person entirely, or at least this was his goal.  It was out with that rushing in and thinking on the fly stuff and in with the veteran warrior type of things he had seen before. A tactical fighter is what he'd have to become if he wanted to be better.  

WC 1587+458=2045/2000

Trained :

Ability Trained.:

After gathering the contents he would need for another few months time Knuckles would grab his sword and walk into an open space, drawing the blade from its hilt Knuckles would place both hands on the hilt, lifting the blade up and down he'd perform this strike over and over again. The goal was 1,000 times without stopping. Going back to the basics would help him in many ways, remembering steps that could help him in combat, refine his stances and improve his overall awareness of his moves. 1,000 times might have seemed like a large number to anyone who wasn't a warrior or swordsmen. The repeated strikes were to build muscle memory into his body, making the strikes normal and easy to perform when needed, and an overhead strike was a basic and typical action used by a lot of men who used the sword. Without this, he wouldn't have a better understanding of how long the strike would take, how much energy it took to swing the blade, and his max reach. The fact he was using a single-armed sword with two hands didn't matter, it was preparing both arms to deal with the weight of the blade for a long period of time. It would transfer to his shield later when the time came for that as well.

For now, however, for now, he'd have to focus on the sword alone. It would take him 2 hours or so, even with his speeds and strength he would still break a sweat from rerepeating the strike over and over again. Once he was done Knuckles walked back to camp and drank some water. The next thing on his list to do was to practice his angle strikes. A similar art as the overhead swing but from a different way. Again 1,000 swings would do it, though he had to practice two different sides. After another two hours, it was time for dinner. He'd sheath his blade and return to camp. Getting his dart glove he'd go out to check his traps, he was in luck he managed to catch a bore. Walking up to it, he'd give it a nice swift punch, killing it instantly. Carrying it back to camp he'd skip it and start to cook it over the fire. The meat would last him a few days, so he didn't have to worry about food for a bit.

Once he put the hog on the fire, he'd set out to the nearby river and waterfall to gather some more water. He used most of it cleaning the bore, and his weapons not to mention to shower himself. After filling his barrel he made from hollowing some tree trunk he brought it back to camp. Laying down near the fire he looked up at the sky wondering just how much he could improve himself. It took a while for the bore to fully cook on one side, but once it did he'd enjoy a good meal and wash it down with fresh water. After his meal, he'd remove some wood from the fire so that it would not burn too hot while he was away. Once this task was down he'd gove back over to the river and go for a swim. This would be the last of his workouts for today. He'd swim 100 laps, his arms were getting tired and sore. He knew not to overdo it and so he called it a day. He spent some time near the fire to dry off before calling it a night. Heading inside his cabin he built he went to sleep. He awoke in the morning he'd check the bore before going hunting for some eggs in the trees.

He had enough for a decent amount of eggs, and he already had the bacon at camp. After eating and resting for a bit more he'd go back to his training. Today he'd repeat the same cycle as before instead with just his sword arm, which was his right arm. After his sword practice instead of going for a swim, he'd go build his back muscles up more. He'd set out to a tree finding a good branch and jump up to grab it. He'd do a set of 40 pull-ups, then jumped down and did a set of 50 pushups, they were a wide grip to focus more on the back than his arms and chest. A week would pass by and he had moved into using his shield in his workouts.

The practice was to hold his shield and sword in each a hand, he'd step forward thrusting with his sword while keeping his midsection guarded with his shield. He'd walk circles around his camping practicing this over and over again. Taking a break he'd sit down and take a deep breath, there wasn't much more left for him to really practice within a months time. The basics would be covered after that.

As the new months started Knuckles had shifted into practicing his strikes on trees, cutting them down when he needed the wood, but when he didn't use the amount of force needed to practice the strike alone, on top of that, he'd try his hand with shield basing the trees to enhance his control with this as well. Everything didn't need to be 1 or 100 with him anymore, he could control how much damage he wanted to inflect better even with the proper sharpen blade and well-built shield he owned.

After a while Knuckles would be out in the open sidestepping, swing his blade trying his slices to legs, bullying with repeated stabs and pushes with his shield, power strikes, and parrying with both shield and sword. He had redefined his warrior profess within the past two months. His muscles were more tones, his body hard and his weight had increased. His hair was long, and a beard had grown on his face. It wasn't just his basics that were now redefined but his core being as a warrior as well.

On the side of his training, Knuckles was starting to mature more into a warrior of structure than a brute warrior who taunted and slain for fun, not that he didn't still enjoy the thrill of the battle and letting his blood thirst drive him, but it was controlled now. He wasn't a wild animal when he drew his weapons now, he would now use his fanails anger as a tool rather than a guide.

When he thought he had enough with his sword training, he moved onto his magical hammer. Previously he would wear his shield on his arm and either dual wield his sword and hammer or just use his hammer, this way of fighting was actually limiting him in the way he did it. He didn't practice with the hammer like he had with a sword since he was a boy, he merely picked it up and started swinging it. It wasn't the same as using a blade, it was a blunt weapon, instead of striking quick and fast he needed the hammer blow to be dead on and strong, make an opening and break something when he struck someone with it. Instead of just going for the midsection or trying to aim for a kill he needed to practice strikes that allowed him to get shots in on legs and arms with the hammer while pairing them with either a stab or slice that would further wear down the foe he'd fight.

Again he started with just the hammer swinging it repeatedly, over and over until it felt natural, and he was sure in himself to use it properly. He'd move into hammer and shield after that, like with his sword he'd practiced short step and movements. He'd work his way up to multiple swings and combos with the hammer and shield. After a few weeks worth of training with them alone, he'd switch to the sword and hammer. Sword in his right-hand hammer upside down in his left. He'd practiced a more defensive form of fighting with this stance. Stepping backward or to the side, practice a parry with the blade and a counterstrike with the hammer. A strong cross swing with the hammer with a side step, and keeping his blade up. Sometimes he'd even try a quick thrust with the blade followed with an uppercut with the hammer.

He'd later switched to more of an offensive style, holding the hammer upright with the sword. With this stance, it was more focused on counter fighting, a dodge with his flash step, then two or three quick strikes, a sword swing, and hammer swing than a kick, or other times hammer stikes from overhead, a sword thrust and then a backhanded pummel hit. Knuckles would even practice weapon breaking attacks where he'd lead with a strong hammer blow, and a follow-up sword swing to cleave a weapon in half. Of course, the weapons he practices on were trees or rocks, but at least they were practiced unlike before.

Knuckles would even practice switching up from the two styles mid strikes or step with his sword. Allowing him to twirl the hammer's handle within his left hand. Before long he was wearing his shield with his two-weapon drawn. This would further build his kit to defend and counter. Adding more ideas and strikes to his list of attacks. There was a lot of broken trees at the end of his training with these three items. His two-handed weapon fighting was ever growing with each day he spent practicing this, it would eventually become his primary way of fighting when facing someone strong. When all three items were out with each other Knuckles would be fighting as serious as he could at this point.

What started off as a simple month worth of training to master his magoi abilities to use his magoi in the form of an aura throughout his entire body ended with 6 months of training and becoming stronger as a warrior. Within these months he relearned the basics of his sword and shield, paired it with a small hammer, adding to his offensive and defensive tactics and strategies, and overall improving his footwork and strikes paths with both weapons. Using each other the weapons to create an opening for the next and ensuring his shield was always back guarding him or had in the position to push another opening open. He'd even practiced applying his magoi into all three of the items at once, it was just as draining as applying it to his entire body but without the harm to his person.

There was a lot he had accomplished in the 6 months. It was clear that the man who came out here to only seek a better way to dive his opponent without taking too much damage while negating magical effects. However now he knew how to use each strike and defensive ability to the proper extent. He had found a new way of fighting, a way that would complement his strength and speed but not put him in harm's way by doing it. Before he had let the slave fighting days become his fighting style, brutal and quick. These lessons had later turned his Gladiator style into a fight for show, instead of fighting smart he was fighting to put on the best show and performance strikes he could. His fighting wisdom had finally caught up with him. He knew he had fought like an enraged bull instead of a tactical lion. Well, things had changed, he was a rebuilt warrior.

Before returning to the City he'd shave and cut his hair, he'd wash his body clean and put on his freshest clothing. That was only a pair of shorts, he was barefoot like most of his kind usually was, and on top of that, he looked like a statue when it came to his body. He had been eating fresh killed food and drinking only water. He was in the best condition he had ever been in before. Now that he was free of the military he thought it was best to leave Reim behind, and look for something outside of the country, there was nothing really left for him here.

WC 2051/2000

B tier warrior to A tier Warrior