You are not connected. Please login or register

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo]

Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Zander

Zander
β-Tier
β-Tier

Everyone who has something to protect will, at some point, realize that they need to get stronger. To some people, this is a once in a lifetime event, something that drives their future until they're able to get what they want. 

However, with Alek, this was not so much a "once in a lifetime" event as a lifetime event, always knowing that he needs to get stronger, to do better, to be better. Because, if he doesn't, if he for a moment just let his training slip, then he would be one step closer to just being another body filling a grave somewhere. 

He had chosen since joining the Fanalis corps that he would protect other people, that his actions in this lifetime would end slavery, or at least put the world on a path to ending it. This was a goal that surely multitudes of people had put their minds to across the centuries, something that people saw as a truly glorious goal, and the fact that it was still un-achieved meant that this task was something that walked the line between fantastical and impossible.

 It was a fantasy of many, but few people had the chance to do anything about it, and if he did end up with an opportunity to save people, then he would. 

This surrounded all of his decisions that he made in his life, whether it be leaving crimes unexplored because he needed to spend more time protecting what really mattered, or whether it was exploring said crime after it turned out there was no-one else who was going to. 

He was a guardian of those who were downtrod, at least in his own mind he was, and that gave him many responsibilities, responsibilities that no man would envy. 

One of these responsibilities was getting stronger constantly. As already mentioned, he always felt like he had to be stronger than he currently was, but that wasn't something that he could just achieve through constant battlefield experience. 

If his life so far had proven anything to him it was that whilst there were good things that could come from battlefield experience, the best kinds of experience was one where you wouldn't end up dead if you somehow failed.

On the battlefield, it was almost constantly a do-or-die moment for him; people would actively try and target him because of his race - It wasn't even racist, which he never thought he would say about discrimination, it was a simple fact considering that the fanalis people dwarfed normal humans in terms of strength and speed. Thus, his death would mean a lot more to his cause than, say, Johnny Human. It was like how people would target mages to prevent armies having any proper support. 

So, since he knew that if he was to train this kind of thing on the battlefield he would either end up succeeding or dying (most likely the latter), he was going to need to train this away from the front lines. 

However, at the same time, he had people around him that he had to consider. He had friends... or, at least, companions now that he had to think of. He wanted to help them, even Yaku who he had only joined forces with to prevent misusing his power. 

He had proven that he was a good man at heart... even if, admittedly, his brain was about as screwed up as it was possible to be - Which was really saying something since he came from a tribe where killing people was considered a national pass-time. 

Yaku seemed to not want to be defined by his background, he wanted to break away from those expectations of Imuchakk tribesmen being nothing but brainless savages. Or, maybe that was just something that he read too much into because of the unusual behavior that he was showing 99% of the time. 

Then, there was Dynatos and Kana. They were brother and sister, and they were his own kin - People from the dark continent, even if they weren't actually born there (they might have been for all he knew, he'd never actually gotten into a conversation about their background. Something he should probably do since Dyn seemed so eager to know exactly why he reacted so badly to people taking other people's lives without just cause). 

If he were to be too close to the camp, they would be able to see what he was doing and, if he fucked up, he was going to end up being highly embarrassed. He had to avoid looking like an idiot in front of them at all costs.

769 / 1000 [Strength -> B rank]


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo] Iku5Kto
Techniques | Delta - 3 | Kappa - 3 | Beta - 3 | Alpha - 0 | Omega - 0 [9/15]

Zander

Zander
β-Tier
β-Tier

However, fortunately for Alek, the area that they had been travelling through for the last few days was almost absolutely perfect for the job that he had in mind. There were bandit encampments all along the passes that went through the mountain-ranges. 

They had had a pretty cushy job so far, as proven by his earlier meeting with some of the more obsessively self confident ones, and so they had become overconfident and rusty at the skills they needed to survive in battle. 

This was a good compromise between having to train absolutely on his own and being able to have some real-life experience. After all, target practice was all good, but they didn't move, and what person truly stood still in the middle of combat? Other than a damned idiot, nobody. 

Plus, this gave him an opportunity to try something that he had been interested in for a while now. Something that he had bought when he was in town with the others. He, quite honestly, had not intended to use it so soon, but since he had to train anyway... well, this seemed like the perfect time to use it for the first time. 

Alek had, around four days beforehand, purchased a rather large bag so that they would have somewhere to put all their jewels and weapons if they weren't in the position to have it at their belts. Thus, when he reached into it, it was a bit of a challenge to finally get what he wanted out of it, but when he did... it was worth it. the package was wrapped in some white semi-translucent fabric that seemed somehow both old and new at the same time.

He wondered if it was just some weird byproduct of the way that it was produced, or whether this thing was magical. He couldn't blame merchants for wrapping their wares in magical garbs, it stopped people having to come back with complaints that their weapon was broken. 

Slowly unwrapping it, he pulled out the two tools that he had managed to buy with the large amount of money they had been making from doing odd jobs for the villagers that they passed by (or, in the case of that thing where he had been ambushed by guards, people who he had stolen money off of. It wasn't even stealing, considering that money was stolen in the first place. Stealing stolen money wasn't stealing, just re-appropriating.).
 
The tools were beautiful and seemed to shine ever so slightly in the early morning sun, the metal glinting off of the first of the tools. Lifting it up, he felt oddly aroused by the sight that he was before him. It was truly, unbelievably, beautiful - a true wonder of engineering. 

It looked just like a small, simple tube , with a small ribbon to attach to his belt when he was walking. However, when he pressed a button... the sound of metal unfolding with a chunk came, as piece after piece slipped out of each end, eventually stretching out to even taller than he was. This was a weapon that the area had become well known for - a bo staff, a wonder of old world combat and new world engineering. This was probably a technophile's wet dream. 

However, the other thing was  a lot more simple. A couple of arrows with steel heading the top, and the thing that truly made up the gift. It was made of mahogany, outlined with what appeared to be gold and the firing mechanism was based in a strong foundation of steel. 

He had never used a weapon like this before, but as his life on the battlefield stretched on, it became more and more obvious that he couldn't just rely on his impressive physical strength. This tool in front of him, this weapon... this crossbow, was something that would cover the distances when he couldn't. 

No longer would he need to shout and bring the attention of guards and people who risked ending up as collateral damage. No, now he was going to be able to take people out without endangering any good people at all. 

This was the perfect combination, and he was almost literally aching to try them out. The bottom was falling out of his stomach, butterflies filled his insides with anticipation. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten quite so excited about new weapons but they were so beautiful. 

Double pressing the button in the middle of his staff, the segments slipped back in to the main chamber, as he slipped the crossbow over his shoulder, attaching the bandolier that came free with the purchases. Time to go test this out on those idiotic bandits.

1000 / 1000 [Strength -> B rank] TRAINED
550 / 2000 [Learning Dexterity]


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo] Iku5Kto
Techniques | Delta - 3 | Kappa - 3 | Beta - 3 | Alpha - 0 | Omega - 0 [9/15]

Zander

Zander
β-Tier
β-Tier

The journey to the nearest encampment took less time than he had honestly been expecting it to. Yet, despite the short amount of time, it seemed like it was dragged out forever; the saying was true, it appeared. "when you were having fun, time flew past like a hummingbird, but when you were eager to get to somewhere, life seemed to drag along like an ostrich." 

Or, maybe it wasn't using the animal symbolism, but that was the one that stuck in his head at this moment in time. Maybe it was a little perverse of him that he was so eager to get somewhere so that he could kill people, but there were two things to consider in regards to that. 

Firstly, the people that he was killing were bad people who had gone out of their way to make other people suffer because it amused them. Secondly, he was honestly doing the world a favor - These people weren't just bad people, but their continued existence would only make other people suffer more. 

Thus, whilst it's arguable that killing is wrong, the results that he would get from killing these people were all so right. Well.. maybe, if he was being honest, he would admit that he didn't entirely care about the right and wrong right now. 

Not entirely true, he would never test these weapons out on people who had done nothing wrong, he truly believed to the heart of him that he was trying to save the world around him, but there was something about the concept of punishing bad people and saving the good by their death that made him excited. 

He was after that excitement, and the excitement of testing out a new weapon, rather than entirely caring about the moral justification of this situation. 

The journey, when it was finally terminated, wound up with him standing on the brink of one of the cliffs littering the nearby area.There were plenty around this place, not everywhere had a smooth line from the top of a peak to the bottom. Some just stopped abruptly, which was why travelling through these passes in the pitch black was tantamount to suicide. 

Still, it wasn't too far up that it didn't give a good view of the camp. Moving onto his belly, he adjusted the sights on the bow and looked down them, watching the people down below scurry about like rabbits. 

The camp, if he was having to say something nice about this place, was truly rather incredible for a rag tag group of muggers and bandits. The place was ringed with a wooden palisade, and the tents inside were perfectly clean. 

Unfortunately, that was where the impressiveness ended and it just got depressing. Over in the corner of the camp, in a section of the camp that most people would use to keep pigs or animals in, there were people. A lot of people, mostly women, who were bound to small metal rings on the wall that stopped them from being able to run away. 

They were, obviously, slaves. In fact, if he focused in on one or two of them, he noticed tell-tale red hair and slightly atrophied muscles. these people were clearly once powerful, proud individuals and then.. and then what? Had these bandits taken them? Considering that there were indications that the women had once been very well muscled, that was unlikely. 

How would any group of bandits, no matter the sophistication thereof, manage to get a jump on a group of trained Fanalis women? It was an insane concept, and something that he refused on the very basics of. So, that left a few other options as to what could have happened to set up this entire scenario.
 
Was there some sort of larger trade in women that these people had been bought from? Of course there was, there was one of those in every nation, whether he liked it or not. However, would these people really be sold to? 

Maybe, slaves were pretty common goods to buy and sell in a market place, but the people who sold them had very few morals, which meant they had no problem buying from anyone as long as they had the cash. 

What made him truly curious, however, was how they would go to a town and buy slaves if they were really wanted criminals. had to be the guard situation, he thought with a bitter bite. That seemed like the most obvious solution.  

1300 / 2000 [Learning Dexterity]


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo] Iku5Kto
Techniques | Delta - 3 | Kappa - 3 | Beta - 3 | Alpha - 0 | Omega - 0 [9/15]

Zander

Zander
β-Tier
β-Tier

Deciding that, rather than killing someone first, the most sensible thing would be to blast off the ring that was keeping them tied to the slave-pen. The arrows that he was using should be able to achieve a high enough speed to literally blast off the ring when it hit, but that was assuming that he did hit.

Even with the rather pleasant sights on this thing, it was a very small target a long distance away. Still, there was no harm trying (unless of course he missed so badly that he hit one of the slaves instead, and then there would not only be harm from trying but also guilt, tears, and an alert sounding). 

The first shot that Alek fired went, predictably, absolutely nowhere near his target. It actually stuck into the wooden wall that ringed the pen, garnering looks of surprise from the slaves. However, since it was clear what he was trying to hit, they decided it would be best if they didn't draw attention to it. 
This was their chance for freedom and if they were stupid enough to alert their captors to it, it was going to slip through their fingers like grains of sand. So, instead, they patiently waited. 

The second shot didn't do much either, but at least this time it was closer. However, with the third shot, it hit the very core of the pin that held the ring to the wall, shattering it into powder that alowed it to fall to the floor, letting the girls take their chains off of it and prepare for escape. However, the sound of ringing metal had apparently attracted a couple of the guards, and as one moved towards the pen they found a crossbow bolt sticking inside their ear, throwing them to the ground with a pool of  blood coming out from the other side. 

The arrow apparently had been aimed well enough that it would just shoot straight through the man's head. Alek grinned, but he could properly celebrate in a minute. First, he had to take care of the rest. Another second or two of finding his next target and aiming, and a companion joined his friend in painting the dirt a pretty crimson. 

However, as he moved his hand back to get the next bolt for the bow, he realized much to his chagrin that there wasn't another one left. Three on the ring, two on the men... yep, that was all five. Sighing, he slipped it back onto his bandolier, before getting to his feet and concentrating his strength into his legs. 

A second or two later, he released the tension in his legs, sending him flying into the air, cruising down to the camp below. Whilst moving, he had enough time to pull out his new staff and press the button. However, as he held it down rather than a simple press, he noticed that it withdrew slower, and as he took the finger off, it only released a single layer of the staff. This... this was amazing! 

His face lit up with a smile, before he landed, sending a swarm of dust into the air that cloaked his presence. As people approached the cloud, he threw himself forwards, the staff moving out and hitting the first one around the face, knocking them back to the dirt where they belonged. Turning on a dime, he blocked the strike of the second's mace with the tip of the right side of his staff, before slipping his leg out and kicking the attacker's feet out from under him, sending him sprawling into the dirt before crushing the brain with a simple slam of his staff. 

This was good, this was so good... he could have actually laughed wickedly at the thought of how good it felt. However, he didn't have time as he saw one of the guards approaching the pen, clearly in an attempt to get one of the girls - probably for some sort of meat shield. 

Hitting him with all of his force, the staff forced him face down into the mud, before he was stomped on, turning the crater of his head into a bowl filled with face meat. This raid had gone surprisingly well, he'd even managed to rescue a few of his people. 

Now, gesturing for them to move away, he moved towards the palisade and yanked his bolts out just in case he would need them to avoid any more fighting. He'd killed six people by now, that would surely put a dent in their desire to fight, right? Unlikely, they were bandits - They didn't have an ounce of sensibility in their heads. 

2000 / 2000 [Dex Trained]
089 / 500 [Dex D -> C Trained]


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo] Iku5Kto
Techniques | Delta - 3 | Kappa - 3 | Beta - 3 | Alpha - 0 | Omega - 0 [9/15]

Zander

Zander
β-Tier
β-Tier

The exiting from the camp was a little bit more difficult than entering it had been. He had already been worried about the amount of bandits that were in this camp - Given the size of the place and the general desire for people in their profession to clump together (something about the fact that there was safety in numbers or something like that). 

Now the alarm was raised, and people were going to end up following after them, it was only a matter of time. Not only was it only a matter of time, but the fact remained that he had no way near enough ammo to take care of them. 

With only two bolts left - the one that had cut the ring had apparently shattered on impact, as evidenced by the sheer amount of splinters around the area, and the ones that had pierced through the men's heads weren't coming out. If he had had time, he could have probably gotten them out if he had had more time  - it was probably better to make sure the slaves were safe rather than to take out the bandits. 

Priorities, he told himself, you can come back and kill them later. For now, focus on getting them out of here. Loading his bow with one of the remaining bolts, he turned around and fired a shot into one of the approaching bandits' throats, piercing straight through the body and hitting someone behind him in the arm. Even he was marveling at that shot, although perhaps a little bit too much. 

His final bolt was loaded, but when he fired it it went flying over the shoulder of one of the other men, leaving him cursing without any more ammo. If he stayed back now, he was just going to end up being swarmed. It didn't matter how strong someone was if the numbers were too far outside of his favors. 

Battles were all a factor of odds, and every added man meant there was more of a chance that he would be taken out if he was stupid enough to hold back to stop them advancing any further. Now all he could do was run, and so he did. 

Keeping pace with the girls, he used his bo staff to keep the ones that got too close to them away from them, leaving multiple bodies on the path to their freedom. They were going to get out, and he knew that was the case!

500 / 500 [Dex D -> C Trained]


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Reaching New Highs [Training;Solo] Iku5Kto
Techniques | Delta - 3 | Kappa - 3 | Beta - 3 | Alpha - 0 | Omega - 0 [9/15]

Sponsored content



Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum