[F4-PP] A Silent Awakening - Unsheathing a blade (Katana Aquire/Yui's Grace #1)

[Setsuna 0]

Setsuna was steadfast among the white, trying her best in the frost of the floor. White powder continued to fall from the sky in flakes where no two were the same. The area was where her shop was, so finding a clearing on this floor was not difficult. Struggling and pulling on the sheathe of the Katana she stole from the clutches of her mirror, the Gemini that threatened to claim her life some time ago still failed to leave its enclosure. This fact irritated and baffled Setsuna to no end, often she found herself trying to remove it to no prevail.

"Why won't you just unsheath? Why did I find you? What does the system know that I don't, why did my Gemini have this..." The sentence echoes into the frostbitten forest of permafrosted wood, to the thought that only the snow could hear her pleading to the weapon.

<<Yui's Grace>> #1 Consumed

Spoiler

Setsuna, Creature of the Mist:

Level: 11

HP: 220/220

EN: 22/22

Damage: 3

Evasion: 3

Accuracy: 1

Equipment:

Weapon: Devil's Tongue (T1/Rare) +1 Damage, +1 Accuracy

Armor: Cold Fabric Kunoichi Wear (T1/Perfect/LA) +3 Evasion

Misc: Silver Covetous Serpent (T1/Rare/Trinket) +2 Loot Dice

Skills:

1H Curved Sword: Rank 1

Disguise [Extra]: +1 Evasion until next turn, 3 turn cool down

Battle Ready Inventory:

Web Retrieving Gloves (T1/Uncommon/Clothing) +1 Loot Dice

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Setsuna

[Life 0]

Life walked through the paths carved through the snow, continuing his journey of redemption and exploration through the floors. He was eager to re accustom himself to its surroundings and see what was new on the floor. He did hear of something going up with avalanche, some kind of new sub quest. However that didn't interest him at all, he had done avalanche at least seven times with different players, it was a miracle he still had his toes and fingers left after being on this floor so many times, but the survival skill helped a lot more these days since acquiring it. It made the freezing cold that would normally frostbite into a more pleasant numbing sensation. 

As he walked he noticed a small young girl, seemingly struggling to get her weapon out of its saya. Yes, he knew that weapon, it was a katana just like his own. "Well, the first thing you're doing wrong is thinking you can just draw it out for no reason."

((Using 1 Yuis grace for this thread.))

Stats:

Spoiler

Stats
Level: 29 | Health: 600 | Energy: 58 | Damage: 15 | Evasion: 3 | Accuracy: 3 | Mitigation: 12 |

Equipped: Lunar Eclipse - Fate (+6 Damage) Unmei No Uragiri (Accuracy +3) Yami Tenno Yukata (+3 Evasion)
All equips from: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/19029-equipment-for-life/?tab=comments#comment-599050

Inventory:
8 Healing Potions (+50HP) | Tigers Rage Potion (+2 Damage) | Peppered Rabbit Skewer (Protein 2, Acc 1) | Snake Venom (+4 damage over 10 turns on a crit) | Extracted Perfume (Pheremone 3) | Spiced Donut (Prosperity 3) | Golemns Strength (+2 Damage) | 

Skills: 

• Rank 1 Curved Sword
• Rank 5 katana
• Rank 3 Light Armour
• Survival [Healing 30 per post out of combat]
• Athletics [Boosting 20HP, +1 Damage]

@Setsuna

Edited March 21, 2020 by Life

[Setsuna 0]

A snap of the silence bled to Setsuna's ears, instinctually she darts to her feet. A displacement of the snow scatters about in a flurry as she slides up, accustomed to the area she called home. She looks as though she was to speak, looking Life over in his yukata until her eyes focus on the blade. The handle that sat on his hip was the same but different, the make and form similar.

"I don't understand your sentiment. It is a weapon, why would it not draw like this one." Setsuna speaks with a chilling tone, a mix of spite and intrigue emendates on the words like venom. Drawing her curved sword, her body language shows it not as a hostile action but a form of show and tell as she pulls it free and holds it aloft in front of her.

The Katana lies in the snow, lifted on the surface still visible as her piercing glare fires over the weapon she holds out in front of her as if an offering.

[Life 0]

Life smirked as the child's demeanor attempted to intimidate him, he couldn't blame a kid having such a defense mechanism in a game like this though. But perhaps if she were rude to the wrong person It might spell disaster in for her in the future. Life tilted his head as he turned his body slightly to the side before pacing as he talked. "Well, the first thing you need to know about the art form of the katana, is that simply drawing the blade from its saya requires more effort and dedication than wielding it.You see, there are many techniques of the katana which rely solely on drawing it out. For example." Life reached to his hilt, activating his Iai sword art skill, and allowing it to explode from his side, cutting the air in one motion before re-sheathing it just as quickly as it came out. A subtle click was heard as he secured it in place. The purpose of drawing his blade was to demonstrate the skill. 

@Setsuna

[Setsuna 0]

Her face turns from a state of defense, sizing Life up trying to deduce why he was here before the display. Dropping the curved sword in the snow, she retrieves the katana from where it lies and brushing her silver hair around her ear. Collecting her pride into a small box, it was clear she wasn't making progress on her own despite numerous attempts. What was the thing she was missing?

"Effort and Dedication..." the words seem to freeze as they billow out with heated breath that shows visibly in the cold, the principles held little meaning to her.

A turned head with a soft response, Setsuna whispers quiet words to the swordsman that ring true through the silence. This man clearly had the function she was devoid of. Her Ice-blue eyes meet his emerald green with her putting her small hand on the hilt of the sword.

"Teach me..."

[Life 0]

Life's smirk turned to a genuine smile as her body language softened, as if accepting of his knowledge and experience. "Very well then." It seemed his chance to help inexperienced players was presented to him once again, they would both benefit from this exercise in discipline today. 

"The reason drawing the blade requires more effort and dedication that simply wielding it comes down to a rather obvious fact. A purpose." Life closed his eyes as he knelt down into the snow before her, his height still put him at face level with the girl, even though he was sitting. "You see.. if the Katana were just any other sword, it wouldn't be an extra skill. It takes purpose to be able to use one. Conviction." Life opened his eyes to meet hers, he wondered if such a concept was too abstract for the girl to grasp, or if she would take to this philosophy presented to her.

[Setsuna 0]

"Purpose..." A purpose to draw the sword, Setsuna had a purpose although a gruesome one to be sure. "My purpose is to lay to rest those who have wronged me, both now and in the future." Setsuna phrased with her gaze never faltering as if swearing herself to the phrase.

A pause as the lesson sinks in before she defines the next in order: "Effort...To not lose faith when fate smiles not on my actions. If I am not granted favor than I will take it by force."

Another lull before the decree continues from the small child "Dedication...I will not give up ground when it becomes difficult, should the press of the wind be at my breast then push back I will until my destination is reached."

The last word lay undefined, not given meaning to the girl that was slain those days prior, in the pile of the deceased that still haunts her dreams and nights like a disease.

"Conviction...I will strike down all who oppose me, without remorse or a second thought. Teach me to hunt the wolves, as something viler."

 

[Life 0]

As Life listened to the girl list off her reasons for each category, he grimaced. It seemed this girl was rather troubled to say the least, perhaps she needed a different lesson than how to use a blade. "Errr, well. I suppose you could use those as reason enough. However I feel obligated to ask before we continue, are you ok? Wielding a blade takes more than a desire to kill." 

Life sighed before continuing. "I guess you could say someone like Kayaba deserves it at least. However I think you may be a little misguided." She wasn't an orange player, yet. So perhaps he was being a little too judgmental for their own good. "When you go to draw your blade, think about your conviction, and how it will apply to the situation. My conviction is to help others and aid them in survival of this game. When I drew my blade earlier, it was in order to teach you how to defend yourself. Not so you can kill other people. I would stress that self defense be your goal, not vengeance." Perhaps he would be able to skew this lesson so that she would become less bloodthirsty.

[Setsuna 0]

"A weapon is simply the designation to kill, a tool to an end." Setsuna remarks at the principle she saw the katana as. "Those that have stolen everything from me, will find the end of my steel." Setsuna decreed as a flash of her past creeps back from her subconscious like an echo of what she promised. "I will protect my allies and the innocent from what I have experienced, but I will not pretend that it is for anything less than the color above there heads. Creatures who have stolen the soul of another will find no pity in me, I will become the thing they fear most."

Her glare was sharp enough to pierce through stone, her resolve on this fact adamant in its truth. The conversation has helped the girl focus her intentions and with it another try of the blade from its sheath.

With a resounding tear of metal, a katana still caked in the mud from the foot of the falls of the sage, where the creature that chose to take her form met its end at the hands of a monster that the orange player forged so long ago.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Setsuna

[Life 0]

It seemed her motivation was stemmed in something he had seen from mavericks. So she wanted to hunt player killers, that seemed somewhat reasonable. But he knew what the paths end brought to players who went down it. All that it brought was death, not just for those they hunted, but also for themselves. It was a cycle of pain that could only be stopped by not taking action in the first place. 

However, as things stood it seemed she'd be in great enough danger already. "Alright then. I can see you are determined, your blade has accepted your path. But I warn it will be a dangerous one. If you would accept some sage advice I would recommend forgiveness, hunting those that have wronged you will only bring you more suffering and leave you empty in the end. I have seen players become former shells of themselves, players die in vain, players taking their own life. Do not allow yourself to be short sighted on your journey." Life looked down and sighed.

"Drawing the blade is a good first step, however wielding it requires discipline. Are you prepared to be disciplined?" 

[Setsuna 0]

"I do not care about my own life, it has long passed before now. I am alive because of a promise I made, for no other reason than that. I will not perish without a fight, but I will not sit idly by and watch another fall to such." Setsuna explained a cool tone that little emotion stems within, looking down the blade she'd only held free of its sheath twice as of late. "I can never forgive them, they have taken from me all I hold dear." Setsuna struggles to find a footing on her emotion, a mix of tears and hatred causing a knot in her throat but it doesn't show as she maintains a solid demeanor with a slight hitch in the words being the only thing that shows such.

"I am already a shell, what remains is if this husk should be of use to those who survive me. How many will be saved by the swing of this weapon, is the only thing that drives me forward. Take solace in the fact, that should a dagger find your back my blade will be at theirs. Teach me to use this sword, so I may strike down the betrayers that have forsaken their humanity to save their own skin." Her eyes leaving the edge of the katana to her tutor, hoping he would understand she was more than willing until the breath escaped her lungs. To get better, to get even.

[Life 0]

Life knew what had to be done for this child, though it was not something many would hold in high regard as an ethical method of teaching. If she was to be his pupil, then she would not be weak. She would not succumb to the forces at play like so many others did. Despite Life's easy going demeanor and pacifistic attitude, he was one of the deadliest swordsman aincrad had ever seen. "Prepare your blade, I will show you discipline."

Life exhaled as he picked himself up from the snow, his posture relaxed as he placed his hand over his hilt. The girl before him grasping tightly at hers already drawn. When he could see she was ready, he began. Life drew his blade, in one motion swatting away her own so that her defenses were wide open. "Maketa." Life uttered as his blade found its place at her throat. He withdrew his blade, waiting for her to recover before continuing.

Life swatted in the same fashion, this time she was prepared and parried his blade. Life slid his blade across hers as they met, tipping the scales of force in his favor as it reached the tips, pushing her blade back toward her. Life preemptively dodged the inevitable forward strike, merely tilting his body to the side, bringing his katana down against her own and lodging it into the ground beneath the snow. "Maketa" Life repeated as his blade was once again at her throat. 

"You cannot wield a katana like a normal blade. Every movement is a motion with conviction, every motion has purpose." 

They continued to spar, each time Life finding his blade at her throat. "Maketa." Again. "Maketa." Again. "Maketa" Again. Over and over. He could tell the training was beginning to take its toll on the girl.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Life

[Setsuna 0]

With the exhaustion setting in it was becoming clear that Life's skill with the weapon was vastly superior, one that Setsuna wished to claim for her own. Without pause or hesitance, as her body began to lose its strength, her mind kept it driven, with each swing and slice her form was sharpening. Her movements began to reflect the man who had taken an interest in the child, and his lack of pity honing her abilities to mirror experience double her age.

It was progressive hyperactively, each attempted blow seeming to come closer as if to clip the hair from his head. The cold numbed the pain of her deteriorating energy, and the drive kept her joints from seizing up. Each time she is disarmed she clatters back to the blade, each time a blade pressed against her neck she hungers for more knowledge and technique with a soft whisper from her mouth at the end of each "Maketa." from Life "Again"

[Life 0]

It seemed as they continued her skills slowly began to improve, which was impressive considering his skill. They continued trading blows against each others blades now as if it were two wielders of the blade practicing regularly without falter. Though, it seemed her stamina wasn't up to par yet. That would be something out of her control until she gained more levels however. He'd praise her at this point, however progress demanded otherwise. Too often people have fallen just before greatness due to their teachers telling them that they were doing a good job. Fortunately for her, he was a cruel teacher when it came to combat.

Each time she tried again, her movements became slightly more desperate. He could tell their training was closing to an end due to this. "Do not allow your form to waver from fatigue. Once it is lost, so are you." Life added as she came at him with deadly intent, though Life was able to dodge, her blade caught on the fabric of his Yukata and tore it, causing it to open and reveal his pale hardened body. This desperate act while almost landing would cost her in the end. Life brought his blade up, the blunt side hitting her hands which held her blade, causing it to flicker up into the air and fall behind her. "Shinda." Life sheathed his blade. "Take a rest."

Edited March 21, 2020 by Life

[Setsuna 0]

Her grip torn away from her from concussive force from the swordsman who was teaching her, knocking the blade from her grasp into the ivory powder. A ring of his words echoing through the frosted canopy denoting she take a break. "If I must..." Setsuna remarked picking the blade up from where it fell, not wanting to halt her progress despite how her body was aiming to fail her. 

It appeared as though even how young and frail she was, Life did not take it easy on her and for this she was thankful. All to often others take her size for granted and attempt to shield her from harm, the very reason she was now left alone in this world by those who had brought her into it. Her eyes take to the damage she had done to his garb, retracting a small silver needle she keeps pinned in the interior of her scarf. "Ebonweave..." Setsuna remarked, looking at the material before removing some matching thread, looping it through the eyelet and taking to repairing the damage she had wrought in this moment of respite.

[Life 0]

Life found it amusing that even though she had been defeated so many times she was pouting that she had to take a break. He had definitely picked the right person to be his first pupil. Though, Ariel did once call him master acknowledging his skills after winning a first strike duel, he never actually got around to teaching her anything. "There is no point in continuing when you have been defeated in the war of attrition. Energy plays an important role, especially when facing tougher foes. Even if your blows merely scratch them, the ability to scratch them a million times over will surely defeat them. Remember that well." 

As life took a moment to kneel into the snow while they rested, the girl took out her needle and began to stitch back up fabric she had torn. Life didn't object, it was a polite show of respect, even though he could just un-equip and re-equip the item to fix the damages. "What is your name young one?"

[Setsuna 0]

"I suppose I can see warrant in that," Setsuna remarked still a bit reticent at stopping, no matter how much she was out of breath. "But even still..." Setsuna continued while pulling one of the threads tight to close the gapping with a quick flurry of the needle, successfully mending the piece. "I should not assume that my assailants would be so forgiving as to let me catch my breath, so I should train as if my enemies will not stop." 

"Meika, Setsuna..." A name is spoken as though a drop in an endless ocean, one she had long forgotten and had not spoken for quite some time now. "I would beg the same, but I do not find it important for now your name is written as Kyoshi." Setsuna declared as it was all she would refer to him as from this point forward. It held gravity from her, a sense of equality let alone superiority was not one she bestowed lightly.

[Life 0]

Setsuna Meika He'd remember her name, though he found it interesting that she preferred not to know his. "Yes, well I'm not your assailants and If I wanted you dead you would have been at the first maketa. If you wish to control your focus while out of stamina then I suggest repeated strikes. Practicing the technique of drawing your blade and striking at the same time, while returning it back to the saya with control. If you are able to do that without wavering perfectly, even if you slow down while exhausted, then you will not lose control of yourself ever. The intervals in which you can strike will also be reduced, even while tired. Eventually combat will become muscle memory, and your body should react before your mind does, allowing you to turn off your mind and be fully present in the moment. This is my sword art. The art of nothingness." He paused after that statement, this was the first time teaching what he had taught himself all those years ago, and he was slightly taken aback. 

He quietly laughed to himself. "Well, before that you'll need to master basic Iaido. Come, if you've caught your breath we can continue."
 

[Setsuna 0]

The day burns bright until it turns to an orange, the sunlight that peers through the constant overhanging cloud coverage that begins to turn to red. The vacuum of sound broken to pieces through constant trial and error Setsuna constantly seems to improve through each swing and failure, starting to get the sense of her own capability. What she lacks in power due to her stature she more than readily makes up for in speed and precision. Her form still needs improvement, and for this, it seemed there was no better teacher.

       There was no pity

              There was no compassion, stagger or stumble

She was treated as capable and in throughs of unhindered training, her technique was honed with the passing minutes that turned to hours.

A flurry of her own techniques as she became more familiar with the combat she was being taught through the ordeal, Setsuna vanishes to a fogged mist as [Disguise] takes hold for the first time since she'd acquired it and with it her form becomes ethereal and she displaces in the sea of white.

"Maketa." Setsuna whispers, with the end of her blade, pressed to Kyoshi's back.

[Life 0]

Days turned to weeks as the two trained in the harsh colds, hardening their bodies as their skills were sharpened. It seemed they both learned many things with each lesson. Life had found a new appreciation for the restraint in which he had to show when sparring, though that restraint was minimal, just enough so that he wasn't lethal. Though as they spent more and more time with each other he began to develop a soft spot for the girl. He knew eventually when she had completed her task, and no longer found a use for herself, it would become a sad day for Life. 

Life really did enjoy the experience of teaching someone inexperienced, it was rewarding to watch someone who had no skill at all flourish into something with such elegance and power. 

As they spared like any other day, something clicked for her. Life's pupils refocused as he watched her body turn into mist. I see. Life smirked as he reversed his blade, placing it to where the mist would travel. 'Maketa' came with a slightly cocky tone that made Life wonder. "Hm, not quite" Life retorted as he pressed his blade closer against her stomach without piercing. Life relaxed, returning his blade into his saya for the last time. "You've come far. I think I've taught you everything I can. The rest will come with experience and time." 

Life turned to bow at his student, concluding their training. "Go forth, Setsuna. Do not waver, and do not perish."

Setsuna returned his bow, showing respect she rarely had shown others. "This is not the end, I will see you again. Learn more to teach me." 

Life gave a bittersweet smile before turning as they parted ways. He hoped they next time they did meet, that she would not be burdened by her choices.