Trained by the Best [solo/training]

Ari glanced around before looking at the sky. She was certain she was in the right place, at the right time. But ‘Sleuthy’ was nowhere to be found. He had been very specific about where to meet him, and this part of the market place was quite crowded, so she was unsure of where he was. There were people bustling back and forth, going about their daily duties, but the sneaky thief that had tried to steal from the Grumptoes was absent in the crowd. A sudden tap on her shoulder made her jump and she turned to see the thief grinning at her from under a hat.

“Where did you come from?”

Sleuthy smirked and shook his head.

“I have been standing here for quite a chunk of time, actually. Wondering how long it would take you to see me. But, this will be your first lesson. Blending in.”

Sleuthy had agreed to train her in his sly ways before she took care of his problem, as a trial for what he would be teaching the Grumptoes. She was not sure what all he would be teaching her but she was beginning to see what her lessons might be. The man had blended into the crowd so smoothly, she had looked over him several times. He took a few steps away from her and then suddenly, he was lost in the crowd again. How did he do that? Where had he went? She grumbled and huffed before nearly drawing her wand as he tapped her shoulder again.

“Blending in is better than being invisible, sometimes. You can see how people behave when they assume no one is paying attention and you can slip by areas that most people would have difficulty entering. All without going through a massive amount of effort to disappear completely. It comes in quite useful in a pinch. Running from guards or simply trying to lose a tail, blending is essential to many scenarios.”

She nodded in understanding as she considered the possibilities of the skill, and hummed softly. Sleuthy instructed her to look around her to get a better feel for the clothing and styles of the people in the market place.

“It is important, when trying to blend in, that you attempt to almost match everyone without copying any one person. For instance, you could try to mimic that woman’s hair covering, that woman’s skirt and that woman’s manner of walking. You hair will be your biggest trademark, due to the color, so you would be best off trying to cover it, rather than restyle it.”

He handed her a dark scarf that would hide the obvious color of her hair and showed her different manners of wrapping it up to hide it. She paid close attention before trying it herself. He tugged her into an alley when people began looking at her oddly, hiding her better from the view of others as she practiced fast and easy ways to disguise her hair.

“Now, clothing is very simple to alter or swap out. You could keep some spares on you or you could sneak something from someone nearby. You could also just alter what you are wearing, assuming you are not particularly partial to the article of clothing. Like your skirt, you could simply roll up the top hem to make it short, or cut a few slices in it to give it a different style.”

Ari tilted her head to the side as he made adjustments to her clothing, trying not to feel self-conscious about the man practically redressing her in an alley way. He showed her different ways of altering her clothing, from her shirt, to her skirt, and even her shoes. It took her several tries and different options before becoming more comfortable with altering the clothing without exposing herself at the same time. Sleuthy gave a nod of approval before pointing out to the crowd.

“Probably the biggest giveaway for most people is how they move. If you are in a poor area with down-trodden individuals, walking around tall and proud would draw attention to you. Every group of people will have a general way they move. Those in the working class tend to walk slightly slouched from labor, their feet dragging slightly from exhaustion, their faces blank from a long day. In wealthier areas, people tend to walk taller, prouder and with less purpose. You are more likely to see them idly wandering around, chatting and looking at wares. In more business type areas, people will walk quickly, with purpose, their eyes not wavering much from their destination. A terse greeting is usually the most you will hear from them as they go about their day.”

Ari stared at the crowds around her, picking out the different individuals he was making note of, making mental notes about different people. While she had often noted a difference in mood depending on where she would go and different personalities, she had never really paid attention to how this affected their manner of travel. Sleuthy pointed to a woman purchasing a bag of fruit from a stall and told her to try and match her gait and speed. Ari nodded in understanding and slipped from the alleyway to casually get closer to the woman. As the woman moved from stall to stall, looking drained but determined to get her shopping done, Ari worked on matching her steps, from the short distance to the curve of her back. When the woman turned and glanced at her, she pretended to be interested in the wares at another stall. When the woman continued on her way, Ari followed again, doing her best to copy the posture and movement of the woman. Sleuthy tapped on her shoulder and nodded her to another alley.

“Now, it is time to put it all together. I want you to pick a person in the crowd and when you leave the alley, alter yourself to match them and try to get lost in the crowd.”

Ari gave a determined nod, glancing across the wide array of people and picking a target, a young woman that looked to be in a rush on her way to a meeting, perhaps. As she left the alley, she quickly altered her clothing to look more professional, a quick adjustment of the scarf arranging her hair into a more stylized look and her steps becoming quicker and more purposeful. She avoided running into anybody, noting the woman doing the same. She was in a hurry, but not so much that she would be rude. A few strides later, a tap on her shoulder revealed Sleuthy in altered attire, and he pointed to someone else. She repeated the actions of altering her appearance and her posture. Sleuthy had her do this several more times before giving a nod of approval.

“Looks like you are ready for the next step!”

[1153/1000 training]

Ability Trained:

Sleuthy took her to a less populated part of the city and as they walked, she recognized the area. He was leading her to the slums, a territory she was familiar with, all thanks to the Grumptoes. He pulled her into an alley that had crates and debris laying around.

“Another important part of this trade is knowing how to get away or avoid detection. Use your environment as much as possible. Follow me!”

He started off by taking a small jump onto a crate before launching himself over to another piece of debris then kicking off the wall to land on the roof of a building. She pursed her lips in thought for a moment, unsure of how to follow him. He made it look simple, but acrobatics were not her specialty. She went to jump on top of the crate like he had, but found the footing was not as stable as he had made it look. She wobbled for a moment, trying to catch her balance before jumping over to the debris, slipping for a moment. She caught herself barely and grit her teeth. She could do this and she would do this. Finding her center like when she danced, she found her footing and jumped, kicking off the wall to jump again and then drag herself to the top of the roof.

Sleuthy clapped for her with a grin and then took off like a shot, jumping between the tops of buildings and other things like a random tree or a stack of boxes, intending for her to follow. Feeling like a dog being teased with a bone, she made to follow after him, fighting at each step to find her balance between leaps without taking too much time. When she went to leap to a tree branch, she started to fall, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back up.

Giving him a grateful smile, she turned the tables, jumping between different buildings with growing confidence. She was not anywhere near as fast or fluid as he was, but she was slowly getting the hang of it. He also showed her how to roll as she fell, to minimize damage and noise. He seemed tireless as he drilled her through different types of terrain and pointed out what would be steady footing and what would not. He also took care to show her how to recover more quickly between each leap so that she could speed up her approach and arrival at any given point. When she felt she could not possibly take another jump, he let her stop for the evening with a promise to meet him in the same place the next day.

Arriving the next day, she was more appropriately dressed, which was good because he gave her very little warning before taking off. She was quick to follow, not wanting to lose his trail as he moved through the slums. This would be another valuable skill for the Grumptoes, she thought to herself as she chased and jumped after him. If they did not have to be on the ground, they would be less likely to get hurt. When she finally caught up to him, he was smirking and munching on an apple. Tossing another apple to her, he almost immediately took off again. Laughing as she took a bite of the fruit, the chase was back on.

[500+/500 training]

Ability Trained:

When Ari had shown her freshly purchased dagger to Sleuthy, his eyes had lit up in approval, appreciating his apprentice’s choice of weaponry. He examined the blade in detail, checking the weight and balance before swinging the chain around to test the effect of the weighted ball. He handed it back to her with a smile and nodded.

“Very wisely chosen, Ariella. It has a lot of possibilities. Now, let us see if you know how to use it!”

Pulling his own dagger free, he leapt back and danced around a bit, giving her a chance to get situated and comfortable holding the weapon. Unsure of what to do with the chain and ball, she simply held it in her off hand for the time being as she mimicked his motions, keeping light on her feet and shifting around. This was so completely different than what she was used to, her wand requiring very little focus on the weapon itself. When he feinted forward to jab at her, she jumped back and shifted to the side. He waited as she got her bearings and then copied his motion by shifting forward to jab at him. It was sloppy and easily avoided, her body reflecting her actions openly before she moved.

He showed her a basic jab again, motioning for her to try again. She shifted and slid her blade forward to where he was standing, only to have him sway away from it again. Time after time, she repeated the actions, getting more and more comfortable with the weight of the blade and how it acted as an extension of her body. Sleuthy refused to let up, pushing her harder until she finally managed to land a slight nick on his arm. When he saw the tiny spots of blood, he chuckled and nodded at her.

“Now, you should also consider the benefits of the ball and chain on that, you can make some pretty interesting attacks with it. Let us see how creative you can get with it, shall we? Remember the blade is designed to cut, but the other half of that weapon has much more potential.”

Ari nodded and let the ball end of the chain fall from her grip. It hit the ground with a thud and she hummed for a moment. Tugging the chain up, she twirled it around, getting a feel for the kind of speed it was capable of and she chuckled as she circled Sleuthy. She matched her movements from earlier as she pranced from side to side before sliding in like she was going to jab him again. He looked almost disappointed at her repeating the same move before she swung the chain, the ball aimed for his head.

Laughing as he ducked around it, he gave a sound of approval before giving her a hand signal to try the move again. Her aim with the ball was even sloppier than with the blade so it took her much longer to figure out how to direct it properly. She tried different ways of launching the ball forward, from simply throwing it at him with the chain still in her hand to different ways of swinging it to gain momentum. She found that simply throwing it did not have nearly as much force as she would have liked and so she continued to practice aiming it after being spun around.

She managed to hit herself a few times, leaving lumps and bruises while Sleuthy just laughed and egged her on to try again. She was becoming frustrated with the weapon, afraid she would never quite get the grasp of how to properly use the other half of the weapon, but she was determined. This would just be another tool she could use to protect the kids and she in the slums and she would not give up just because she had managed to almost give herself a concussion with it.

Sleuthy had her practice by setting up some items from the trash on a low wall, letting her aim for the inanimate objects. One by one, she finally made each of them fall and he would set them back up until it only took her one or two tries to hit each of them. Once she was feeling more comfortable with the weighted ball, he began to dance around her again, letting her try to hit a moving target. She managed to get a couple of sound ‘thuds’ on him, making him rub the bruised area as they moved around.

It was not until dark began to fall that she finally seemed to fall into a rhythm and was able to engage him without floundering about like a fish out of water. She made sure to keep aiming for soft spots on him to keep from hurting him too bad and he finally seemed to feel she was ready to try actual combat. He pulled his blade free again and danced around, lunging forward to jab at her.

She grinned and took a small jump back before dancing around him, sliding her body forward to drive her blade at him. While he was blocking the blade, she swung the ball around, aiming for his arm but missing. Instead, she managed to slam the ball into his temple, making him stumble slightly, dazed from the hit to such a sensitive area. Giving her a grunt as he held up his hand, he laughed.

“Okay, I think you finally have the hang of that. What do you say we let it go for the night before you do some real damage to me? I am already seeing little birdies.”

She laughed and nodded, looking down at the blade in appreciation. While it would probably never be as natural to her as her wand, it was growing on her. She liked the idea of having a way to defend herself should she ever lose her wand in battle, a weakness all magicians shared. Now she would have the blade as well, anyone hoping to find her an easy target would soon be corrected.

[1000+/1000 training]

Ability Trained:

Ari wandered back to her inn after training with Sleuthy, whistling softly as she swung the ball and chain end of her dagger around idly. Though she was tired, she felt accomplished with managing to learn to use an unfamiliar weapon. As she walked, the sound of following footsteps could be faintly heard behind her. Whoever was following her was not being very stealthy and she almost chuckled. At first thinking it might be Sleuthy, she simply kept walking, leading the person behind her on a winding path. It was not until she heard the person behind her trip on something that she suspected it was not the stealth trainer. He was occasionally intentional in making noise, but she had never once heard him trip.

Whirling around, she found it was not one person, but three people, following her. Frowning, she quickly glanced around her surroundings. The alley was not very wide, but it would have to do. The three thugs had menacing looks on their faces, still not noticing the dagger on the other end of the chain.

“Hey, pretty lady. How about you just hand over your gold and we go on our way. I would not want to dirty up your pretty clothes!”

She arched a brow and shook her head.

“I am afraid I am unwilling to do that, gentlemen. You see, I worked for my money, a lot harder than you seem to be trying to do. So I will calmly ask you to turn and walk away before you regret this decision.”

The three men rolled their eyes at each other and began to close in on her. One took the lead and approached her with a menacing look, brandishing a basic dagger from his waistcloth. She gave a soft sigh and shook her head.

“I asked you nicely. Turn around and walk away.”

The man kept advancing and she used the ball on her dagger to smack him in the head, whirling the chain around to do it three more times before he finally fell to the ground, groaning and holding his head. When he fell, one of the others leaped forward, knife in hand, to try and slash at her, but she jumped back before finally releasing her own dagger. His eyes widened as she slashed across his chest with a deep cut, the sharp blade slicing through his shirt and chest like butter.

That only left the other man, whose eyes had widened at seeing her actually attack them instead of cry out for help. He was about to turn to run when her eyes lit up, an idea hitting her. She grinned as she twirled the chain around a couple of times before letting the ball release. This time, she was not aiming to hit him with the ball but rather use it as a means to keep him from running. The chain hit his wrist as he raised his arm to protect himself, the weight of the ball forcing the chain to wrap several times around the appendage. He gave a light tug which she responded to by yanking her end of the chain and dragging him forward. The momentum of her pull had him stumbling forward awkwardly and he raised his other hand to try and catch himself on her to keep from falling. The action left an open spot on his side that she took advantage of, driving her dagger forward forcefully to lodge deeply in his side.

He fell back and away from her, shock on his face as she released the tension on the chain. Her dagger pulled out of his side as the chain unwrapped from his wrist and he fell back to land on top of her first assailant.

“I told you all to leave me alone, but you refused. Next time, perhaps you should consider a real job instead of trying to rob what you think is a defenseless woman in an alleyway.”

She crouched down to wipe the blood from her blade on the shirt of one of the men, not wanting to put it away dirty. Raising up, she stalked away from them and around a corner before collapsing against the wall. She was shaking from the combination of fear and adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had always relied on her magic and her borg to protect her, but this was proof enough that she had other means of defending herself. At the sound of running footsteps from the direction she had come from, she immediately went back on guard, holding her dagger in one hand and her wand in the other. She felt more secure having the wand in her hand as well, as she was more familiar with it. She almost leaped forward until she saw who was coming around the corner.

Sleuthy was panting when he finally rounded the corner.

“Sweet gods, are you okay? I saw the men in the alley and I thought you might be hurt!”

Ari gave a shaky smile and nodded.

“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up. But hey, I figured out a neat new trick! And I took them out without magic! Go me!”

He gave a laugh, some of the concern falling from him face as he looked her over, making sure she was not hurt. While their agreement was a professional one, it would not do to have her getting seriously hurt before she helped him with his problem. Finally assuring himself that his student was unharmed and was just getting her bearings after being attacked, he shook his head.

“Can you try not to scare me like that again, please? I need you in one piece, at least until our deal is completed. No getting diced up until then, alright?”

She laughed and nodded in agreement. When he offered to walk her the rest of the way to the inn, she gave a grateful nod. While she knew the dangers of the slums better than most, she was still shaken from the attempted mugging and welcomed the extra protection.

[1000+/1000 training]

Ability Trained: