• Solo • Menochoros III

[Doran]

Ashan 119, Arc 720

“I will be gone for approximately the next two and a half breaks”, the Mortalborn informed his human servant Elias that was just standing in the sizeable kitchen of his apartment, cleaning the pots and pans that he had used to cook lunch a little earlier (chicken filled with various mushrooms, roasted potatoes, a side of vegetables and a salad, among other things). “I will be practicing Menochoros with Lida’via”, he explained upon seeing the questioning look on the other man’s face.

A couple of trials earlier, he had first met the Sev’ryn woman at the Fitness Centre where he regularly went to practice with the longsword. As his preferred sparring partner had not immediately been available, he had watched one of the ongoing training sessions – a class on Menochoros, an unarmed combat style that had gained popularity in recent decades and that relied on discipline and meditation – which was something that had appealed to him as it was similar to the philosophy that he had adopted over the centuries when it came to combat.

For that reason, he had decided to sign up for a private lesson.

“I wish you good luck, sir”, Elias told him in a polite tone of voice and smiled slightly. The Mortalborn inclined his head, thus letting the mortal know that he appreciated his words, before he bade him farewell and made his way into the hallway in order to put on his coat, a black wool coat that was trimmed with silver fur and took the bag with the clothes that he would change into once he had arrived at the Fitness Centre (the fine suit that he wore was hardly the appropriate outfit to engage in physical activities in).

A bit later, he stepped out of the Obsidian Prism and onto the snow-covered streets of Viden. It was … it was not as cold as he had expected it to be, not as cold as he remembered it being around the same time the arc before. The temperatures were still somewhat below the freezing point, and it was snowing lightly, but for the first time, it felt as if spring might be just around the corner, just a handful of seven-trials away. It was such a peculiar sensation … something that didn’t feel quite right, something that worried him slightly …

He raised his head towards the sky for a moment, furrowing his brow, before he moved on, quickening his pace, only stopping occasionally when he passed someone that he knew by in order to greet them. Before long, he stood in front of the entrance to the Fitness Centre, stomped his boots a couple of times in order not to drag any snow into the building and finally entered in order to approach the desk behind which Ashton Reed, the receptionist sat in order to find out where exactly the class would take place.

[Doran]

To be honest, Lida’via of the Argent Order was not sure about her newest student. A couple of trials earlier, the Sev’ryn woman had met with Ashton Reed, the receptionist, and the human had excitedly told her that a certain Professor Doran Thetys had decided to familiarize himself with that particular brand of unarmed combat and signed up for a private lesson. He had then proceeded to gush about how the man was a swordsman of far above average skill as well as stronger and more disciplined than most.

By the time that he had finished, she had briefly wondered if she should let the professor teach her since she was not sure if she would be able to show him anything new. On the other hand, it was entirely possible that Ashton had exaggerated. The human was a bit overly excited sometimes. In the end, she had decided that she would treat the professor just like everyone else, regardless of how good he might be with a blade. He was a student. He had paid like everyone else, and he would train with her just like everyone else.

Besides, Ashton hadn’t said that the professor actually knew anything about unarmed combat. Maybe he was a beginner, in that regard at least …

With that thought in mind, she entered the small private training room not far from the reception area on the ground floor. Since they would practice alone, there would be no point in using a bigger room, and since she didn’t want to just sit there and twiddle her thumbs while she waited for the professor to arrive, she decided to go through a few exercises on her own. When she heard a knock on the door, she stopped immediately though and called out permission to enter.

The man that stepped into the room, inclined his head politely in a greeting and smiled lightly at her was … she wasn’t sure how old exactly he was - maybe in his late twenties, maybe in his early thirties - and he held himself completely straight. He was tall and in good shape, from what she could tell, with dark hair, a short beard and bright blue eyes, and he was dressed in comfortable clothes that would not hinder his movements during a fight.

She had seen him before. She had met him a couple of trials earlier, in fact. He had watched one of her classes and voiced an interest in Menochoros, and she also knew him to be an alchemist of some skill. That was Ashton’s professor? She felt a bit like a fool. Why had she not made the connection earlier? He had told her that his first name was Doran when they had first met, after all!

No matter, she walked over to him in order to greet him and shake his hand before she gestured for him to follow her to the center of the room. Before they began to train in earnest, they would warm up as that helped prevent injuries.

[Doran]

“So”, Lida’via began once they had finished their exercises and took a deep breath before she admitted, “I’ve been wondering how I should go about teaching you, to be honest. Most of my students have little to no combat experience. You are already familiar with combat though, more so than most in fact, and regularly train as well as meditate. Normally, I tell my students how to build up their strength and endurance as that is such an essential part of Menochoros, but we can skip that in your case, I think. I’ll start by showing a few simple attacks to you, mainly involving the hands, and then we can cover the philosophical and psychological aspects of Menochoros, if you are interested”, she told him and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“I would appreciate that, Lida’via”, Doran spoke in a calm and measured tone, smiling lightly once more as he was quite looking forward to what he lay ahead, he had to admit. Some people in his position and of his background grew complacent after a while and were irritated when they didn’t know something – or arrogant – he delighted in the knowledge that there were still new things to discover and new things to learn after all that time though, and he was endlessly curious about the world and everything that it had to offer. With that thought in mind, he turned to watch the mortal woman as she approached a padded training dummy that had been placed against the left wall of the room.

“I think it’s better to demonstrate and practice those attacks on an immobile target first before we begin to spar with each other”, Lida’via explained before she raised her right arm, extended it and struck the training dummy with her palm. Following that, she did the same with her left arm. At first, she moved comparatively slowly, but she soon picked up the pace and adjusted her stance, the sound of her palms striking the dummy quite loud in spite of the padding. Her aim … her aim was impressive, Doran had to admit, and every single one of her strikes hit the target perfectly in spite of how fast she was.

“It is important to always keep moving during a fight. If you stand still, even if only for a few trills, you’ll be an easier target for your opponent”, Lida’via spoke, pausing for a moment, in order to look at him before she continued. This time, she did not only strike the training dummy, but also moved left and right while doing so. She moved even faster than before which caused the Mortalborn to raise a dark eyebrow slightly.

After a while, she stopped again abruptly though and turned to face him, the look in her eyes almost … challenging. The son of Ziell did not mind the challenge, of course (and neither did he mind that she wanted him to practice with a dummy first; on the contrary, he considered such to be a good idea).

He simply inclined his head fractionally, smiling slightly, before he stepped forward in order to try and do what she had done before. He was an exceptionally skilled swordsman, and he understood his body and its limitations, but Menochoros required him to move in ways that he wasn’t familiar with yet, in ways that felt a little strange to him, to be honest, but that would hopefully become second nature to him in time.

He raised his right arm and tried to strike the target with his palm, furrowing his brow fractionally as he did so as the attack turned out to be harder to get right than he had thought at first. He moved comparatively slowly. At the moment, he was mostly trying to figure out how to position his body – as a swordsman he knew how important one’s posture and the correct stance were – and which part of his body to move first (and how exactly to move it). That was more important than trying to match Lida’via’s speed.

He did not complain when Lida’via corrected him. On the contrary, he appreciated her advice. He did not mind that she knew more than him. On the contrary, the fact that a mortal knew more about something than him fascinated him, and when she told him to try again, he simply inclined his head, did so and struck the target again, find it easier this time. Of course, that had only been the beginning, and what she had shown him so far had been relatively simple things. There were so many more attacks that he had yet to learn.

He looked forward to that though.

[Saint]

Menochoros III

Doran

Points awarded: 10
Knowledge:
Unarmed Combat (Menochoros) x5
Tactics x1

Renown: 5 - A chatty receptionist is more than willing to gossip about Doran's training session.
Loot: -
Injuries: -
Consequences: -
Skill Usage: Appropriate to level; good use of complimentary skills.

Word count: 1,812
Notes:

This was a well thought-out training thread. The explanations you provided about how Doran came to know of Menochoros and Lida'via were appreciated, and gave context for both Lida'via's reaction to meeting with him and the introduction to the fighting style that followed.

I particularly enjoyed the way that you offered Lida'via's point of view with your second post. Besides giving more insight into the trainer's opinions and philosophy on Menochoros, it was also nice to see what she thought of Doran! Her attempts to place his age were amusing, knowing the truth - and it was interesting to see what sort of things she noticed about him, like his calm demeanor and his apt choice of clothing.

Menochoros is a style that suits Doran quite well, and his willingness to learn, correct mistakes, and continue only proves that. It helps that he already understands the limits and potential of his body so well, being a Grandmaster swordsman, as well as having high levels in related skills. It also always helps to warm up before getting into more physically strenuous activity - and I appreciate that you included that in this thread.

I thought you made good use of the basics of the style, through having Lida'via teach Doran the open-palm strikes against the training dummy, and in introducing movement as an important tool. Doran is right - there's still so much to learn, and he seems to be on the right track to learning it!

Enjoy the rewards, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns.