It was a new morning, and Garret began his normal routine of stretching and exercising. His left arm was still healing, and he took care not to cause it any undue strain. The healing was coming along nicely, with the aid of the poultices available for use in the infirmary. Garret continued to stretch until he felt comfortable, and sat to meditate in the lotus position.
It had been two weeks since the death of the previous instructors, which set the facility wild with talk. There were rumors that they were assassins, as well as rumors that he had gone into a blind rage after they had continued to refuse to conform to his orders. Garret did nothing to attempt to quell any of these rumors, and if anyone asked he would either answer with silence or he would change the subject. Let them think what they will. Garret knew that there would be no way to truly change the thoughts going through their minds through words, and determined that the best course of action was to show them with action what it was that he expected of others, and allow them to infer what kind of punishments he would give for varying degrees of unacceptable behaviors.
Garret had taken steps to make sure to treat the recruits in a firm and steadfast manner. He did not tolerate slacking, and pushed the recruits to their limits. A majority of the recruits responded positively. They enjoyed being able to fully spread their wings to see how high they could fly. Garret had his eye on a few individuals that seemed to have a natural talent and strength, as well as a few others that held a gravitating personalty and general sense of loyalty. There were a few here that Garret could tell were primarily here for political reasons, and others because they believed this a great opportunity for their personal careers. Ambition was certainly a great motivator, and Garret believed he didn't play any favoritism.
Finishing his meditation, Garret went upstairs and began his morning jogging. Some of the students were aware that he did this, and were also awake to join him on the morning exercise. None of them spoke, and they simply ran in silence. There were eight of them there, five men and three women. Garret thought on what he knew of each of the recruits, keeping in mind that these eight were doing extra exercises every day alongside him.
Lu Feng was one of the two Garret had sent to the infirmary, the one who had spoken his mind and complained. He was here to seek renown and carve out his name in history. Tseng Qiang was the meek looking child who had done his best to help his friend. It came as no surprise to Garret that the reason this recruit joined was to look after his best friend, Lu Feng. Asides from those two, there were three other men that showed great promise. Zheng Longwei was a man that radiated danger, like a viper coiled and ready to strike. He was an estranged son from a noble family from Zou, who was sent to this continent so he didn't cause his family any trouble. Yang Jianjun was from a famous family of decorated soldiers, some of which were generals in their own right. His particular upbringing provided him with a solid grasp on the basics, and was already plenty physically fit. Lastly was Tian Zedong who came from a martial arts clan. The man wanted to prove the strength of his clan's teachings, and boasted that he was their clan's best pupil.
To his surprise, there were also three women who had volunteered for the special forces. It certainly wasn't normal for a woman from Zou to join a military unit. Carmen, the cell leader in Reim, was a local who was looking for opportunity and had found it with the foreign intelligence group as it was first introduced to the continent. The women's motivation was not overshadowed by that of the boys in the group. Garret believed that each of them would have a good chance at being within the top eight that he wanted to continue to train when the final selection was made. The female siblings Wu Xifeng and Wu Meixiu pushed each other along, supporting each other and reaching higher goals. They were the last of their family, their mother having died from overwork and their father and siblings having died defending a camp against the Nomads. The third female recruit Xin Qiaolian was quite focused in her training, approaching it with a single-minded dedication. She was sent directly by Spymaster Takahashi Sato. While it was likely she was feeding information back to the spymaster, her skills were just what one would expect from receiving advanced training with the resources available in their homeland. Many operatives for normal missions weren't nearly as physically fit, and fighting was clearly her purpose and focus from the beginning of her training up until the point that she was transferred over to Garret's group of trainees.
Once finished, they hit the bath house. There was a separator for men and women, and the men made their way to their side and the women to theirs. After having cleansed himself, Garret rested in the hot bath relaxing. The trainees were on the other side of the large bath. They had seen the scars on Garret's body about a week back, when they first realized that he woke up early and they joined him in the exercises. Nobody dared to ask him about them, nor even to make a comment in his presence. The fact that he had them, however, quickly spread throughout all the recruits. During this time, the recruits spoke to each other and joked around while Garret simply relaxed and listened to their antics, getting a better feel for who they were.
So the days went on in such a manner. Garret had adjusted the training quite a deal, with most of the hours of the day spent on physical training and a few being spent on mental fortitude and other techniques to assist them in the field, such as shadowing a target and the like that espionage agents normally received. This spattering of knowledge gave them insight in discipline and how to act, while also giving them insight into what they could expect from others using a similar approach. However, they were not trained in depth in espionage, as they were a special forces group meant as a strike force.
After a week had passed, Garret was able to take off the support on his left arm, having recovered full use of it once again. Another week had passed, and the middle of the day was nearing. Garret had received a report that there were two instructors that had just come in from the homeland, and were waiting for him in the reception room. Garret considered the news to be good, as for the past month he had been forced to delegate many administrative tasks that he would normally have handled over to Lt. Acius to take care of, only having weekends to catch up to anything that required his direct approval. It seemed that some of the recruits had picked up the news that there were new instructors in the reception room for guests, as when Garret had gotten there there were plenty of people milling about. It was a free day for them to rest and relax, it being Sunday, though this turnout of the recruits amused him. They were curious as to who these individuals were. Likely because they wanted to measure them up to get an idea on what they would be teaching.
Garret had read, on the way, the letters of recommendation from Spymaster Takahashi Sato in regards to the backgrounds of the two. Differentiating who was who wasn't a problem; the Judoka was male, and the swordsman was female.
Garret stepped into the room and looked at the two who stood there, inspecting the facility. Garret bowed to the two, and turned to the man. "Hello, and welcome. I am called by 'Garret', here, but my name is Takegawa Iatsu." Garret began the introductions. "You must be Murata Fusao." He nodded to the older man. Fusao was old enough that his hair had turned grey, which he held in a ponytail. The man had no facial hair, and stood at about the same height as Garret. There seemed to be a permanent smile attached to his face, and his eyes were so small that they seemed closed. He didn't appear particularly muscular, but Garret felt that the man was likely a wiry individual. He would be the man teaching Judo and Aikido. "And you must be Kawahara Akiho." The woman had an air about her that suggested pure professionalism. The blade at her side made it apparent that she would be teaching weapons. According to the documents that Garret had received, she was also skilled and proficient in Jujutsu. "A pleasure to meet the both of you. Feel free to settle in, and we can discuss your job posts and the trainee's schedule tomorrow."
"Hmmm." The old man scratched the back of his head. Fusao spoke in an exaggerated reluctant manner, all the while keeping a pleasant tone to his voice. "Well, we haven't decided on whether or not to actually take the post here." Garret paused, a worried feeling sinking to the bottom of his gut. "I mainly came here to see the kind of guy who would call us over all the way from Zou to this foreign land."
Before Garret could say anything, Akiho spoke up. Her voice was detached, almost sterile of any emotion. "I refuse to teach for a weakling. If you're strong, I'll teach for you." So, it was going to come to a trading of blows to convince them to join him. Garret recalled that these two did come at the recommendation of Zou's head Spymaster, and noted Fusao's over-exaggerations. Anyone sent by Takahashi Sato should be suspected of reporting to the man, and Garret believed that this was the case here as well.
"Well, there you have it. Couldn't have said it better myself." Fusao agreed to go along with Akiho's suggestion. "Why not do this in the courtyard, right now?" The trainees were fairly excited, and some had 'discreetly' left the building to tell others of what was happening.
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped then. If you are ready to face defeat, then follow me." Garret taunted, slightly playfully. Neither of the two rose for the bait, and simply followed Garret out to the courtyard. The students followed as well, standing and sitting in groups while watching the event unfold. Garret stood before the two, with no weapon in hand.
"Oh, I heard you were a magician. Where is your staff?" Fusao revealed to the recruits that Garret was actually a magician. Some were surprised, as Garret liked to participate in their physical training. Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang, however, were not, having had firsthand experience with Garret's Borg.
Garret showed his hands to Fusao, bare palms facing the man. "This will be fine." Feng and Qiang knew that Garret was skilled in martial arts. The others, however, wondered how much of Garret's confidence was misplaced, and how much the spymaster was trying to insult the two instructors. The rumors of him going into a blind rage and killing the previous two instructors began to resurface once again.
Akiho was the first that stood forward. Garret's attention immediately shifted to the woman as the students wondered how Garret would handle a fight against a swordsman without a weapon, especially as a mage. Garret took his read stance, watching Akiho's movements. The woman lowered her center of gravity while grasping her sheath in her left hand and blade in her right. She was in a forward facing stance, readying herself.
Garret knew a small amount about her style; it was called Iaijutsu, which was mainly renowned for its quick-draw techniques, but had plenty of other respectable motions in its style as well. Garret was certain she was going to burst forward and draw her blade out with a horizontal strike. Burst forward she did, and as Garret prepared to block the horizontal strike by ducking under it and using a defensive technique, the Iai sword stroke instead came down from above.
It certainly wasn't what Garret had expected, and threw him slightly off balance as he used River Styx Style: Water Flows in Reverse to jump out of the way of the attack. The burst of speed got him out of the way of the attack and, with a second jump, allowed him to get behind her. Utilizing River Styx Style: Pressurized Strike, Garret sent an open palm thrust to the back of Akiho's head.
OOC:
Word Count 2168/1500.
220 of 250 remaining Magoi/Stamina
It had been two weeks since the death of the previous instructors, which set the facility wild with talk. There were rumors that they were assassins, as well as rumors that he had gone into a blind rage after they had continued to refuse to conform to his orders. Garret did nothing to attempt to quell any of these rumors, and if anyone asked he would either answer with silence or he would change the subject. Let them think what they will. Garret knew that there would be no way to truly change the thoughts going through their minds through words, and determined that the best course of action was to show them with action what it was that he expected of others, and allow them to infer what kind of punishments he would give for varying degrees of unacceptable behaviors.
Garret had taken steps to make sure to treat the recruits in a firm and steadfast manner. He did not tolerate slacking, and pushed the recruits to their limits. A majority of the recruits responded positively. They enjoyed being able to fully spread their wings to see how high they could fly. Garret had his eye on a few individuals that seemed to have a natural talent and strength, as well as a few others that held a gravitating personalty and general sense of loyalty. There were a few here that Garret could tell were primarily here for political reasons, and others because they believed this a great opportunity for their personal careers. Ambition was certainly a great motivator, and Garret believed he didn't play any favoritism.
Finishing his meditation, Garret went upstairs and began his morning jogging. Some of the students were aware that he did this, and were also awake to join him on the morning exercise. None of them spoke, and they simply ran in silence. There were eight of them there, five men and three women. Garret thought on what he knew of each of the recruits, keeping in mind that these eight were doing extra exercises every day alongside him.
Lu Feng was one of the two Garret had sent to the infirmary, the one who had spoken his mind and complained. He was here to seek renown and carve out his name in history. Tseng Qiang was the meek looking child who had done his best to help his friend. It came as no surprise to Garret that the reason this recruit joined was to look after his best friend, Lu Feng. Asides from those two, there were three other men that showed great promise. Zheng Longwei was a man that radiated danger, like a viper coiled and ready to strike. He was an estranged son from a noble family from Zou, who was sent to this continent so he didn't cause his family any trouble. Yang Jianjun was from a famous family of decorated soldiers, some of which were generals in their own right. His particular upbringing provided him with a solid grasp on the basics, and was already plenty physically fit. Lastly was Tian Zedong who came from a martial arts clan. The man wanted to prove the strength of his clan's teachings, and boasted that he was their clan's best pupil.
To his surprise, there were also three women who had volunteered for the special forces. It certainly wasn't normal for a woman from Zou to join a military unit. Carmen, the cell leader in Reim, was a local who was looking for opportunity and had found it with the foreign intelligence group as it was first introduced to the continent. The women's motivation was not overshadowed by that of the boys in the group. Garret believed that each of them would have a good chance at being within the top eight that he wanted to continue to train when the final selection was made. The female siblings Wu Xifeng and Wu Meixiu pushed each other along, supporting each other and reaching higher goals. They were the last of their family, their mother having died from overwork and their father and siblings having died defending a camp against the Nomads. The third female recruit Xin Qiaolian was quite focused in her training, approaching it with a single-minded dedication. She was sent directly by Spymaster Takahashi Sato. While it was likely she was feeding information back to the spymaster, her skills were just what one would expect from receiving advanced training with the resources available in their homeland. Many operatives for normal missions weren't nearly as physically fit, and fighting was clearly her purpose and focus from the beginning of her training up until the point that she was transferred over to Garret's group of trainees.
Once finished, they hit the bath house. There was a separator for men and women, and the men made their way to their side and the women to theirs. After having cleansed himself, Garret rested in the hot bath relaxing. The trainees were on the other side of the large bath. They had seen the scars on Garret's body about a week back, when they first realized that he woke up early and they joined him in the exercises. Nobody dared to ask him about them, nor even to make a comment in his presence. The fact that he had them, however, quickly spread throughout all the recruits. During this time, the recruits spoke to each other and joked around while Garret simply relaxed and listened to their antics, getting a better feel for who they were.
So the days went on in such a manner. Garret had adjusted the training quite a deal, with most of the hours of the day spent on physical training and a few being spent on mental fortitude and other techniques to assist them in the field, such as shadowing a target and the like that espionage agents normally received. This spattering of knowledge gave them insight in discipline and how to act, while also giving them insight into what they could expect from others using a similar approach. However, they were not trained in depth in espionage, as they were a special forces group meant as a strike force.
After a week had passed, Garret was able to take off the support on his left arm, having recovered full use of it once again. Another week had passed, and the middle of the day was nearing. Garret had received a report that there were two instructors that had just come in from the homeland, and were waiting for him in the reception room. Garret considered the news to be good, as for the past month he had been forced to delegate many administrative tasks that he would normally have handled over to Lt. Acius to take care of, only having weekends to catch up to anything that required his direct approval. It seemed that some of the recruits had picked up the news that there were new instructors in the reception room for guests, as when Garret had gotten there there were plenty of people milling about. It was a free day for them to rest and relax, it being Sunday, though this turnout of the recruits amused him. They were curious as to who these individuals were. Likely because they wanted to measure them up to get an idea on what they would be teaching.
Garret had read, on the way, the letters of recommendation from Spymaster Takahashi Sato in regards to the backgrounds of the two. Differentiating who was who wasn't a problem; the Judoka was male, and the swordsman was female.
Garret stepped into the room and looked at the two who stood there, inspecting the facility. Garret bowed to the two, and turned to the man. "Hello, and welcome. I am called by 'Garret', here, but my name is Takegawa Iatsu." Garret began the introductions. "You must be Murata Fusao." He nodded to the older man. Fusao was old enough that his hair had turned grey, which he held in a ponytail. The man had no facial hair, and stood at about the same height as Garret. There seemed to be a permanent smile attached to his face, and his eyes were so small that they seemed closed. He didn't appear particularly muscular, but Garret felt that the man was likely a wiry individual. He would be the man teaching Judo and Aikido. "And you must be Kawahara Akiho." The woman had an air about her that suggested pure professionalism. The blade at her side made it apparent that she would be teaching weapons. According to the documents that Garret had received, she was also skilled and proficient in Jujutsu. "A pleasure to meet the both of you. Feel free to settle in, and we can discuss your job posts and the trainee's schedule tomorrow."
"Hmmm." The old man scratched the back of his head. Fusao spoke in an exaggerated reluctant manner, all the while keeping a pleasant tone to his voice. "Well, we haven't decided on whether or not to actually take the post here." Garret paused, a worried feeling sinking to the bottom of his gut. "I mainly came here to see the kind of guy who would call us over all the way from Zou to this foreign land."
Before Garret could say anything, Akiho spoke up. Her voice was detached, almost sterile of any emotion. "I refuse to teach for a weakling. If you're strong, I'll teach for you." So, it was going to come to a trading of blows to convince them to join him. Garret recalled that these two did come at the recommendation of Zou's head Spymaster, and noted Fusao's over-exaggerations. Anyone sent by Takahashi Sato should be suspected of reporting to the man, and Garret believed that this was the case here as well.
"Well, there you have it. Couldn't have said it better myself." Fusao agreed to go along with Akiho's suggestion. "Why not do this in the courtyard, right now?" The trainees were fairly excited, and some had 'discreetly' left the building to tell others of what was happening.
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped then. If you are ready to face defeat, then follow me." Garret taunted, slightly playfully. Neither of the two rose for the bait, and simply followed Garret out to the courtyard. The students followed as well, standing and sitting in groups while watching the event unfold. Garret stood before the two, with no weapon in hand.
"Oh, I heard you were a magician. Where is your staff?" Fusao revealed to the recruits that Garret was actually a magician. Some were surprised, as Garret liked to participate in their physical training. Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang, however, were not, having had firsthand experience with Garret's Borg.
Garret showed his hands to Fusao, bare palms facing the man. "This will be fine." Feng and Qiang knew that Garret was skilled in martial arts. The others, however, wondered how much of Garret's confidence was misplaced, and how much the spymaster was trying to insult the two instructors. The rumors of him going into a blind rage and killing the previous two instructors began to resurface once again.
Akiho was the first that stood forward. Garret's attention immediately shifted to the woman as the students wondered how Garret would handle a fight against a swordsman without a weapon, especially as a mage. Garret took his read stance, watching Akiho's movements. The woman lowered her center of gravity while grasping her sheath in her left hand and blade in her right. She was in a forward facing stance, readying herself.
Garret knew a small amount about her style; it was called Iaijutsu, which was mainly renowned for its quick-draw techniques, but had plenty of other respectable motions in its style as well. Garret was certain she was going to burst forward and draw her blade out with a horizontal strike. Burst forward she did, and as Garret prepared to block the horizontal strike by ducking under it and using a defensive technique, the Iai sword stroke instead came down from above.
It certainly wasn't what Garret had expected, and threw him slightly off balance as he used River Styx Style: Water Flows in Reverse to jump out of the way of the attack. The burst of speed got him out of the way of the attack and, with a second jump, allowed him to get behind her. Utilizing River Styx Style: Pressurized Strike, Garret sent an open palm thrust to the back of Akiho's head.
OOC:
Word Count 2168/1500.
220 of 250 remaining Magoi/Stamina
- Abilities Used:
- Name: Water Falls in Reverse (River Styx Style)
Tier: C
Cost: 20 Stamina
Weapon Type: Body
Class: Supplementary
Range: 5 m or 10m
Duration: Instant
Cool-Down: 3 posts
Description: The user pushes off the ground with great strength, allowing him to jump up to 5 meters in an omnidirectional trajectory at 15m/s. Should the user manage to find a foot hold on something, such as a wall, they would be able to repeat this movement one more time.
Name: Pressurized Strike (River Styx Style)
Tier: D
Cost: 10 Stamina
Weapon Type: Body
Class: Offensive
Range: Close
Duration: Instant
Cool-Down: 2 posts
Description: The user attacks in a straight forward manner, shooting their attack in a thrust motion at 10 m/s utilizing their feet, knees, elbows or fists. This strike deals D tier damage if it hits the opponent.
