[PP-F19] Sword of Atonement

[Morgenstern 1]

His eyes opened wide with astonishment as he seen Baldur still facing him, completely unfazed by his feint. He carried through with his attack, but once again was stopped by the seemingly impenetrable guard of Baldur. After the clash, Baldur gave a push, sending him backwards once again. 'He turned and was prepared to defend that quickly? What kind of reflexes does he possess?' Baldur didn't seemed exactly focuse don the fight either, it seemed entirely focused on Jonathan and his movements. Composing himself once more, Jonathan would stand face to face with Baldur. 

"When I look at you, I see your determination, but not so much your pain." Baldur's words however seemed to make him understand something. Baldur within Aincrad had suffered losses just as he did, but while it drove him it didn't comprise entirely of those feelings. His fighting wasn't just the feelings, the feelings were just behind, pushing for Baldur's goal. 'I don't exactly know how to do that... How do you control something without unleashing it first?' 

He watched as Baldur's stance would return to a fighting stance and said, "Now come at me as if her life was on the line, and you only had one shot save her. Make it count." Jonathan nodded, assuming a Longpoint Guard. He inhaled sharply, his eyes still focused on his opponent. "One shot is all I need" He closed his eyes, focusing his mind as well as relaxing his muscles. 

Shadows flickered throughout the scene, creeping towards the center point of his vision. The air was still and Jonathan's own breathing began to accelerate. The shadows formed together, a silhouette of a man now stood there, a long blade in his hand. He raised it high, threatening to strike, threatening to destroy everything. 

His eyes opened and with a blur he had crossed the distance between the two players. His eyes were focused on Baldur's own, a fierce blue challenging the steely blue of his opponents. Despite not having activated a Sword Art, a bright blue would emanate from his wooden weapon. This blue was produced in a raging fire, wild and free.

 "KIAI!" 

The blue flame would solidify, becoming calmer, the hue become a shocking yellow. The power remained, but it was focused within the weapon, much better suited for the strike. With the transition happening all within the same second, Jonathan was still quick when it came to speed. His weapon slashed forward, the shocking yellow hue flashing forward without hesitation at his target. Despite the strength behind his attack, speed still remained, his own power directly challenging that of Baldur's. At this point, if Baldur would react with a strong blow in kind, the wooden weapons would break on contact. 

135035 CD:5 (Rock) Strong Blow

 



[Baldur 0]

The difference in Jonathan was palpable to Baldur. He watched the young man begin to focus. Am I pushing him too hard? Baldur and Jonathan both were demanding results very quickly, and if you heated a blade too quickly it could shatter before you could finish forging it. He didn't want to ruin the tamahagane he had been presented in the form of Jon, but this was something he needed. Perhaps something they both needed.

So the gaijin samurai watched, and decided that he would give Morg the respect he deserved. Baldur took a deep breath and centered himself. It was reflexive to him now. He formed the image of a flame in his mind, and he unlocked the box in his chest where he suppressed everything. The surge of feelings ran through him. Pride. Vanity. Shame. Heart ache. Loneliness. Love. Duty. Honor. Passion. Fun. Hopelessness. Disillusionment. Angst. He fed the feelings, he fed the memories, to the flame as if they were fuel. Like coal he shoveled them into the fire in his heart, and watched it roar up within him, as if threatening to burn him alive. For a moment, a tear formed at the corner of Baldur's eye, but then he exhaled and the void held, with the flame burning brightly within him.

Everything came into focus. Baldur could feel the breeze, he could smell the flowers on the wind. Had the sun radiated heat, he would have felt that too. He could feel the emotions radiating from Jon like a bonfire. He became aware of every twitch of the young man's muscles. He could tell there was something running through the mans mind. Hopefully Baldur's words had reached him.

When Morg came at him, Baldur would have been surprised, and had he not done the same thing, perhaps the blond would have over taken him. Instead, Baldur raised his sword, but he instinctively brought his left hand up as well, to reinforce the sword as he blocked the strike from his newest kohai. There was a pressure there, still raw and full of emotion, but it had been turned into power, and for a moment, Morg pushed Baldur back, his boots sliding in the rocky ground for a moment.

And then there was a loud CRACK! and the pressure was gone. The blades of both men had given way, too much punishment for their durability, and they broke completely through, the chunk of blade from Morg's sword spun off to the side, and Baldur was left holding two halves of a blade, one in each hand. For a moment, he blinked at them, surprised they had broken, and then dropped the pieces to the ground.

"That was wonderful, Jonathan-kun!" He beamed at the young blond swordsman and then clapped him on the back.

"It looks like you're learning very quickly!"

Baldur glance down again at the broken pieces of the wooden bokken, and they suddenly evaporated into luminous polygons.

"That's never happened before." He said with a rueful grin.

"I guess this means we'll move on to the next step. So what I've taught you so far, Mushin, the concept of the void, of clearing your mind, and Fudoshin, the concept of using your emotions to drive you, to make you immovable in battle, will be your bread and butter. There is a lot more to both, but you have grasped the utility of them. Zanshin is the concept of awareness, but not just being aware of your surroundings, but being continuously aware of your surroundings. We'll get into that later. What you seem to be excelling at it what I want to focus on... and that's your focus."

Baldur reached down to his side and gripped his katana.

"I am going to teach you four kata, four practice routines. They are the four directional quick draws. I saw you using the forward facing one earlier, but now I'm going to teach you the 'real' way. Iaijutsu is martial practice, the practical use of the quick draw, if you will. Iaido is the mental and spiritual perfection of the nukitsuke. Obviously, when we're fighting, the practical is the most important, but I find the spiritual and mental development of Iaido will be of more use to you right now."

"Follow along with me."

Baldur proceeded to spend the next few minutes going through a ritual. He undid his sword and laid it out in front of him, still in the saya, and bowed to it while in the seiza seated position. He then, very solemnly and without looking at Morg, went through the motions of putting it back on his hip. He sat there a moment, with a thousand yard stare, and then he repeated the quick draw that he had shown Morg earlier, but he did it very slowly. After the draw was done, Baldur went through a series of strange motions, which after a section were obviously for getting rid of blood that wasn't there on the blade before he sheathed it. The first kata ended with Baldur in the exact same seated position. He then proceeded to quick draw to the right... the differenced of going from forward to his right seemed easy enough, but when Baldur demonstrated how to quick draw from the left, it was obvious before it was his non-sword hand side that it was more difficult. And finally, Baldur demonstrated how to quick draw the katana if an imaginary foe was behind him.

"Now we'll do it together, slowly. And once you have them memorized, you'll slowly increase the speed. I have no doubt you go quickly straight from the get-go, but there are a few key things to follow. First, this is about perfecting the move. Doing it right is more important than doing it fast. Fast will come with doing it right. Second, this is about finding inner focus. Think of this almost as a meditation exercise, to reinforce the strength of your Mushin. Your control. Third, this is about self improvement. Perfection is not something that anyone can achieve, but striving for it, is what bring nobility to the soul. This is heart of both the Samurai's bushido, and the romantic Knight's code of honor. Nobility of spirit is not about being better than other people, it is about being better than your former self."

Baldur then gestured for Jonathan to follow along and repeated each draw until Morg could do it without Baldur, before moving on to the next. It took hours. Every time Jonathan thought that he was doing it right, Baldur would point out something new that he hadn't before for the blond to work on.

"This is a lot, and I have more for you in the future, but this is what everything else will build on. If you wish to learn my way of the sword, master these four moves. And when you have, we can meet again."

Baldur smiled at Morg again now, and turned in his seated position to bow to his kohai.

"Now, how about we get some food? Because I am starving."

---

ID#135038 CD: 8
@Morgenstern

Edited January 27, 2020 by Baldur

[Morgenstern 1]

As he moved forward, his image became nothing more than a blur. A burnt smell was caught in the boys nostrils as the air around him burnt with the crackle of energy around him. This was something he had never before experienced. Emotions played a role in this game, changing one's battle effect. With the way he used his emotions before, they leaked out from his body constantly and were wasted in the air. Now, the ki was kept mostly within his body, the emotions humming within his body. 

As he moved forward, the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. He was aware of each and every motion his opponent was making. Each step Baldur made was crystal clear to him. He felt the energy rolling off of his opponent. 'I'll move faster' Jonathan thought. 'I'll beat his weapon!' Within range, he came down with a heavy blow, and Baldur's blade met his own. The force of the two men's wills met eachother with a fearsome explosion of energy. Jonathan's crackling energy and Baldur's steel collided with an force that would send a torrent that drifted along the entire area. A crackle noise filled the air, the burning smell now far more prominent. Gritting his teeth, he pushed harder on his opponents weapon. "HA!" he shouted as he put the rest of his power into his strike. 

'CRACK!' The sound resonated through the air. Jonathan's face formed one of confusion as he watched the end of his weapon fly off to the side. With the downward force of his weapon, he stumbled to his knees. After a brief moment, his eyes moved up to Baldur, his face apologetic. "I'm so-" 

 "That was wonderful, Jonathan-kun!"

'Whew' he exhaled. He was afraid for a moment that Baldur would berate him. His father most surely would have. A smile sprouted on Jonathan's face as his bokken dissolved into the air within his hand. Even though he was almost lost when Baldur began to speak of things such as 'Zanshin' he listened. If there was more to build on the skill he would follow through with it. He listened to Baldur's instruction when it involved the four techniques that he was supposed to master. He was impressed that Baldur had learned something like this before the game. He followed Baldur into repeating each of the four steps that the man demonstrated. He attempted to keep up, but it was surprisingly difficult if he tried to match Baldur's speed. After several minutes, he at least had the movements memorized. 

"This is a lot, and I have more for you in the future, but this is what everything else will build on. If you wish to learn my way of the sword, master these four moves. And when you have, we can meet again."

Jonathan nodded, sheathing his weapon. He watched as Baldur bowed to him, and understanding some of Japanese customs, he would bow in return to his senpai. He looked up to Baldur who was now asking about food. Chuckling, Jonathan would grin with his reply. "Who is gonna guard my rock while i'm gone?" 

"But yeah, let's get something to eat!" 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur gestured for Jon to follow him with a sideways nod of his head, and began to lead his newest student back down towards civilization... or at least what passed for it on this floor. The nearest settlement was The Last Tower. A lonely tower atop a hill on the opposite side of the floor from the main settlement, and only a handful of buildings surrounding the hamlet. This floor, however, was one that Baldur frequented. He was determined to figure out what happened on this floor.

And so it just so happened that Baldur knew every restaurant in both settlements.

"There's a good pub here... it's...very traditional. But in the, 'My D&D party is going to start its adventure here, and everyone wants to sit in the corner' kind of traditional." Baldur said with more than a little bit of mirth his tone and a smirk on his face.

"But the food is good. I recommend the Shepherd's Pie, or Lamb Stew."

As they wove up the hill along the long worn path, as if generation upon generation had worn it down with foot traffic, they came upon the very classical European style country hamlet. The buildings were low, with white wattle and daub sides, and thatched roofs. It was only when they were upon the building which seemed indistinguishable from any other save for the sign above it, that the smells hit their face. Baldur took in a long, pleasing wiff of the food that awaited them inside.

The inside itself was all wood, with a dirt floor that had been worn smooth but thousands of feet, and many years, and rushed thrown on top to help with the dust and the spilled food and beer. The wood tables, polished to shine, reflected teh amber glow of the fire and the sconces on the walls. One perk of this not being the real world, is that the interior didn't get as smoky as it should have. Baldur lead Morg over to one of the few booths, and took at seat on one side.

"So, what do you think? Have you eaten here before?" Baldur summoned an NPC waitress by targetting her, and then making the gesture which, much like a sword art, triggered a specific action from the system.

"I'll have the Shepherd's Pie, and a mulled cider."

He let his student order, and then leaded down on the table.

"I've thrown a lot at you today but.. how do you feel? Are you interested in learning more?"

[Morgenstern 1]

Thread rewards

Both Players Receive 2 Skill Points

and 200 Col