Mountain training (solo/complete)

[Flash]

Having left Lycia, Flash was travelling to Bern. However a mountain range stood in his way, forcing him to either avoid them completely and arrive in Bern in a few months or climb. Choosing the latter option, Flash soon found himself on the mountain, enjoying the view.
These mountains may be steep, but they offer a great view. Unfortunately I can't share it with anyone...
After climbing for some while Flash got to a relatively even part of the mountain.
"Huh. This seems to be a perfect place... for training!"
Shouting the last words made him feel powerful. The view was spectacular, the skies clear, and the landscape below him looked tiny. Being this close to the skies made Flash think.
"The skies are especially beautiful today. That reminds me. I'm using my trinity as if it's a fire tome. It can also control wind and lightning! Let's try that! What to start with though? The sky... Wind.
One last look at the clear sky and Flash pulled out his trinity tome.
"Ok. Concentrate on what I want the ether to do."
Collecting the ether around him he focused. This time he didn't want fire, no he wanted wind. NOW!
Opening his eyes Flash saw a gust of wind in front of him blowing some stones down the mountain. He was surprised. Was Wind supposed to be this easy to control? He had more problems with learning fire... maybe he was more experienced now? No that can't be it. Maybe he was more adept at casting wind spells? He knew that most mages could control one or two of the elements in the trinity tome. Maybe he had started with the wrong kind of magic? Wind was far more instinctive. As a comparison he cast a fire spell.
"I think I get it. While both are relatively easy to cast, fire feels heavier. Maybe I do have an affinity for wind but who knows? For now all I can decisively say is that both kinds of magic seem to be quite instinctive. I should try both out frequently.
He cast another wind spell. Another gust of wind blew over the ground, not quite perfect yet but he was certainly learning fast. But his wind didn't have any combat capabilities yet. He'd have to practice. Feeling that he still had more than enough ether left Flash concentrated and cast a fire spell. Not a normal one though, but one like the spell he had used against the ice elemental in Khathelet. He had been training it for a while now. And he had developed a technique for it. He cast three fireballs, his current maximum, that were about as big as half a normal fire ball, in vertical triangular formation. Then he concentrated, shifting the two at the bottom around the imaginary enemy, so that they would normally hit that enemy on both sides. The fireballs collided causing a small explosion.
"That's working quite well, but its still very hard to control."
His emotions started to threaten to overwhelm him again,reminding him of the other consequence of casting too may or too expensive fire spells. But this time he could keep them in check.
"Also that. Actually let's see the side effects of wind while we're at it. It can't be worse tan this."
Flash cast a wind spell and another gust of wind blew some stones of the mountain.
At first he didn't feel anything, but then he started to feel extremely happy. Snapping out of it Flash was a bit shocked.
"Euphoria! S*it! That may not be bad in most situations but in a fight... it can mean death. I'd probably stick to fire if it were just for the sideeffects. It releases the restraint on my Emotions but at least it can be focused n one emotion with a lot of willpower. If you're fighting then anger may be a good thing. But Euphoria renders you basically useless on the battlefield. Still I can't just decide on sideeffects. I'll have to think carefully about this."

[Flash]

Some time later Flash discovered a small cave, which was covered by a giant rock. On the left side was an entrance, that was almost invisible for anyone but the most attentive climbers. Flash stumbled upon it by sheer luck and was immediately fascinated by the sight before him. The cave contained carvings of humans and some other kind of creature which seemed like it was half human and half animal. There were different kinds of drawings: some showed a human/rabbit hybrid another one a human/bird hybrid and some also showed human/canine and human/feline hybrids. The drawings showed some kind of battle between the the humans and the more or less animalistic figures. It was quite the discovery and he imagined that some researcher might pay him well for this. Still thinking about his discovery he squeezed himself past the rock that was blocking the entrance and started climbing again.That discovery made Flash think.
"What would happen if I met these human animal hybrids? Would it be a friendly encounter or would it lead to a fight? Maybe training to fight someone like that would be a good Idea. It certainly can't hurt to be prepared."
He looked around. Spotting a plateau not far from him he decided to take a break there. And by taking a break he meant practice spells. Flash reached the plateau only about 10 minutes later. He barely gave himself time to rest and was back on his feet only about five minutes after arriving on the plateau. He concentrated, collecting the ether inside and around him to create a gust of wind. Releasing his restraint on the spell Flash moved his arm in sync with the wind the spell had created. It was stronger than before and Flash was sure that at this level he could topple over a normal man and distract even a man that was bigger than average. However that was not enough.
"It could be a help, but I need more for real combat usage. "
Preparing to cast the spell again Flash got into casting position again. Collecting the ether inside and around him, forming it into what he needed and then... make it appear! The gust of wind was about as strong as the last one. Determination flashing in his eyes he cast another spell.
"Collect the ether, forming it and now… release! “
The second gust of wind was also about as strong as the first spell. This time it was not determination that showed in Flash’s eyes, instead it was rage. Angered at himself for not being able to cast the spell as well as he wanted he tried a third time. This time he extended his reach on the collection of ether, the forming was done with the intent to create a weapon and the last step was done as if he was about to release a beast at his imaginary opponent. This time the spell was powerful. Probably he would even be able to blow away a berserker. Well, probably. Flash felt happy, triumphant that he had finally done it.
"Wooohooo! That’s it! I can do this easily! Bet I could even beat Neil! “
Wait. That wasn’t like him. He knew he couldn’t beat his mentor just yet. The euphoria! Flash began to fight the overwhelming feeling of happiness. If he gave in now he would be in great danger!
Using the last ounce of self control that he had left he overcame the feeling. He felt as exhausted as he did when he had cast his first successful spell. He hadn’t been able to do cast another one for half a day after that. He sat down.
"Well at least it won’t stop me from climbing. And hopefully I recover faster now than I did back then.”
With those words Flash decided that the best choice was to sleep for now and keep climbing after he woke up.

[Flash]

"Apparently I've slept for some time. My body feels better than before and I do not feel happier than usual. That's good. Seems like I can proceed without any problems now."
Standing up he felt that he hadn't recovered as well as he would have liked. Meh. As long as he could climb he wasn't concerned.
"Let's go. I still have quite some climbing to do."

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Finally on the way down, Flash started to think.
Maybe I should recap how I cast that spell. Normally it wouldn't have been that strong. Alright. I collected more ether first.
As a test he reached out, trying to "feel" the ether around him. He knew how much of that inside him there was and how much he could access. However the area around him was best described as "unknown territory". He could feel some of it but he was still very limited. When he tried to scoop up more than he was used to it was like he was holding something that would normally be to heavy to carry. But just like most people could hold even something very heavy for a few seconds, he too could hold it for some seconds. That surprised him, as he hadn't thought he'd be able to collect this much, even for a short period of time.
That's rather surprising. Maybe the next step will surprise me too? Forming...
He once again "scooped up" a bit of ether. He remembered how he hadn't thought of forming the spell to a spell but instead had wanted to create a weapon. So he focused. He decided he wanted another gust of wind. But this one wasn't supposed to be just some normal gust of wind. He imagined it: It would be able to make even the sturdiest of opponents lose their footing.
The next step. Releasing. That time I wanted the blast to destroy, to act like a beast in rage. Now...
Focusing on releasing the weapon he had just created. For him it was like giving life to an assasins blade that knew nothing but killing. A sentient killer. At least in his imagination. He also tried to release every part of the ether he had just formed. It was comparable to how when a carpenter had shavings left after his work. But he didn't use those. With magic you could use them, although they might not help much.
With all of that done another gust of wind blew down the mountain range. However it was a bit stronger than Flash would have expected with what little ether he had used.
"Guess you can try to improve your casting by changing up the way you're casting. We'll have to see if that works with fire too. I'll have to do that later though... I still have not recovered completely. Man that spell was awesome. But also kinda dangerous and I probably should not have cast it then and there. I'm too impatient sometimes."
He settled down on a rock which was sticking out of the mountain right next to him.
"I'll probably be in Bern quite soon. Well technically I am already but I don't think these mountains count. Or do they? Screw it, they don't. They're neutral."
Having decided that for himself Flash decided to rest and eat for a bit.

[Flash]

Having decided that he had rested enough Flash stood up. Once again he couldn't help but admire the beautiful landscape. Lucious green fields along with majestic mountains and even a few colourful forests. All of this reminded him of a legend he had once heard. It was about a prodigy cavalier, well known for his red armour and his hobby of painting landscapes during battles. To be honest he had always asked himself how that cavalier had survived long enough to become a legend.
I mean seriously? No matter how good you are you're in danger if you start drawing landscapes on the battlefield! Before or after battles though... maybe I should learn to paint. Or play an instrument. I heard some mages earn their money by making their magic look as beautiful as possible to show it in some kind of circus. While he liked the idea, he hated the fact that it was performed in a circus. Magic was no joke. All people should know that. It was an artform, a weapon and so much more, but not even all magic users seem to recognize the potential it holds.
"Speaking of potential...let's see if I can tap into some of mine.
He wanted to try something new. Again. That was one of his problems: he hadn't even mastered one thing yet he was already moving on.
You know what? I should really try to master one thing before I start another. That means: wind magic for now.
He got into casting position. He had been working on the wind spell ever since he had tried it that first time. And all of that was beginning to show. He collected some of the ether inside and around him. Once again extending his reach, he felt the "weight" of the magic substance. The forming of the ether. Not just forming, but rather the creation of a weapon. Flash liked to be specific about this part. A bow, a sword, a lance or an axe... He went with lance this time. An elegant lance, swift yet deadly. A killer lance. A magnificent weapon. And he was going to form his spell to be as elegant as the lance he was modeling it after. And just as fatal if it hit you. Now for the last part. Releasing. Even at this stage, relaxing would make the spell a lot worse. So Flash focused once again.
A weapon made for killing. Now to give it life...
That thought in his mind Flash released the spell, with the intention to make it as strong as he could.
A squall of wind sped across the rocky surface, blowing even some big rocks out of it's way.
"This is *pant* still far harder *pant* than it should be. Phew."
He was breathing heavily. This wasn't your average spell that you could cast just like that. That was the maximum he could draw from this tome. So it wasn't surprising that this was exhausting. But he had only cast one spell so he was ready to cast again in a matter of seconds.
"I can, but that doesn't mean I should. I'll stop practicing for now or I'll never gt off this damned mountain. I can continue when I'm officially in Bern."

[Flash]

I'm officially in Bern now..."
Flash started laughing. Stretching his arms, he continued.
"It isn't different in any way! It's so normal that I'm actually impressed!"
He couldn't deny that it was beautiful though. Sheer endless green fields in front of him, the only excepptions being a few smaller forests along the way. It was nearly perfect... until he heard a man shouting:
You want to protect this house? Get out of my way pipsqueak!
The man started laughing loudly. Alarmed Flash hurried towards the source of the laughter. The way he understood it, someone was being threatened. Most likely by bandits. To his surprise, he spotted a small house on his left side. In front of that house were three scruffy looking men, with axes in their hands. In front of them, shielding the house, was a young girl probably, around 15 or 16 years old, with purple hair and red eyes. She seemed scared which was a little bit surprising considering the fact that she was wearing green armour and was holding an iron lance in her hands. But to be fair the fact that she was pointing the lance at the leader of the suspicous-looking group, that was simply a bit less scruffy than the rest, didn't seem to intimidate them in the least. So her fear was kinda understandable. Flash had already seen some soldiers and to his surprise, her stance somewhat resembled that of one lycian soldier he had seen. It was still far from perfect, but to be fair if you wanted to be relaxed and yet ready for anything, like the lycian soldiers always seemed to be, you had to train a lot. Like, really. A LOT.
(OOC:She will probably be a recurring NPC in my adventures. So I'm gonna throw this mug in here and I'll probably create a character sheet for her sometime. When I do it'll be on my journal page)

He decided to ask her some questions later and focus on the three men for now...
"Say, why are you guys threatening a little girl? Three grown men attacking a young girl that probably isn't even of age yet. Seems like a cowardly thing to do."
"Stay out of this and get out of here. Or you'll get hurt. Got it?"
Yeah he got it. The way they were telling him to get lost, the threatening looks, playing around with their axes... these were bandits all right. Mercenaries could be gruff, but they handled their weapons very differently. You could tell when a person was a mercenary; they would handle their weapon well and with a certain elegance. Something these guys lacked. And everyone besides a gruff mercenary woul've answered normally. At least they'd have told him what was going on. Very certain that the girl was just protecting the house, Flash got his tome out. Before the probably-bandits had time to react he cast a wind spell. The collecting, forming and releasing were much smoother than before and the strengh of the spell sent the leader crashing into the nearest tree. The bandit that was standing closest to his boss got hit only partially and started spinning away from the house. The girl however had used the distraction. She had made a few steps forward her lance pointed at the last bandit. Then, she tripped. Thankfully she managed to catch her balance very quickly. But her movement had an unexpected consequence. It sent her lance through the distracted bandits head from below. (Imagine amelia crit animation.) Although unwanted, it was a lethal blow, as he had no armour to protect him. Due to her starting to understand the consequences of her blow,a horrified look started to spread across the young girls face when Flash arrived next to her.

[Flash]

"You unharmed?"
Still visibly shocked the girl nodded.
"Good. We still have two to deal with."
With those words he turned to the bandits. He noticed that while the leader seemed furious, te other bandit looked scared and was apparently not too keen on attacking. He didn't have time to think about that though, because the leader was already charging at him, his axe held high above his head. Noticing that strategy seemed to be the last thing on the bandits mind, Flash cast a triangle-fire spell.
I have to come up with a better name for that.
Three fireballs appeared befor him, once again in vertical triangular formation. He sent them directly at the bandit. He tried sidestepping, however Flash had expected that and moved the two fireballs on the bottom of the trangle to the sides in a circular motion. The bandit got hit with all three of the fireballs as a result. He fell to the ground with burns all over his body. That seemed to be the trigger for the other bandit that was left. He had already not seemed too keen on attacking and had been running a bit behind his leader. Seeing that leader on the floor, burned all over, made him fear for his life. He rand as fast as he could. The leader stood up a minute or so later Seeing that the last of his henchmen had fled he shouted:
"I'll be back! And then... I'll kill you!"
He stumbled towards the next forest. Seeing as the bandits had been dealt with, Flash turned to the purple-haired girl that was sitting on the ground. She looked at him, still in shock. He sat down next to her.
"Your first time killing? "
He hoped that by bing blunt, he would accoplish more than by beating around the bush. She didn't seem weak, only inexpirienced.
"Yeah. Even though I've been training for this I was not prepared. It's horrible."
"It's definatly not nice. Want to talk about it? Or rather talk about something else? Oh yeah, we never exchanged names did we? Mine's Flash."
"I'm Lillia. Also let's not talk about it. I'd rather come to terms with it quickly. We live in such a world after all..."
"You're right about that. Say why are you protecting this house? Why is it even here? Also how did you learn to fight? That stance seemed to be pretty good for sommeone your age."
For the first time he saw her smile.
"That's a lot of questions. Why I'm protecting the house? Me and my guardian live here. Why here? I can't answer that. He maybe can. Also my stance is Ostian. I learned it there. Before it...fell."
Flash saw that he had ripped open an old wound.
Think...say something that won't make her feel even more uncomfortable...
Thankfully he saw an older man coming, clearly to this house. The girl stood up and one look at her overjoyed face told him that that was her guardian.
"What happened here? Lillia are you ok?"
"Yes Grandpapa! Bandits attacked but this person helped me to fight them off!"
"My, that's gotta be quite the story. You want to come in and tell me what happened? I'm Jack by the way."
"I would appreciate it. I'm Flash."

[Flash]

As soon as they had entered Jack vanished somewhere and came back about a minute later carrying two plates full of venison. Beckoning Flash to sit down, he put them on the table. Thanking the old man for the meal, both of them started wolfing down the food hungrily. Afterwards Flash told how they had fought off the bandits, while Lillia interrupted him every few seconds to add her view. When Jack had heard the whole story he thanked Flash and said:
"You must have some questions. Bout all of this. It is rather unusual so if you really have questions you would like to have answered then speak now please."
Flash was kinda surprised as most people weren't that open towards someone they had just met. But these two didn't seem worried in the least. Now he was even more interested.
"Yes I have got some questions I would like to have answered. First: Why are you two living out here? And second: Where did Lillia learn to fight? Her stance was decent at least. And don't just tell me it's Ostian please.The two glanced at each other then nodded:
"The story I'm about to tell you, is not a happy one. But it should explain everything you want to know. I was once the advisor to a noble family in Ostia. They were not really important, but they were kind. But when his wife had the sixth child, the noble said:"Jack, we cannot afford to have another one here. She is probably never going to become my heir anyways so I think it would be better if she never knew of our current life and learned useful skills in the world outside of Ostia and without luxury. She'll have a better life that way."While I didn't:'t agree with him I had to follow orders. He gave his daughter, named Lillia, to me and I travelled to Pharae. And so I became Lillias guardian. She had always been a lovely child but nobody had expected her to dream of joining the Ostian military one day. She wasn't old enough to understand what was happening when her father gave her away so that was not the reason. But when a program for young children come up in Ostia as a test, she was convinced that she had to go. I was not happy but let her, seeing how happy and excited she was. When she got there, she started training and soon her parents heard of that. While they had given her away they still saw her as their daughter and provided her with well-worked armour and a capable teacher. Everything went well until Ostia fell. Like everyone else she fled. Not feeling safe in Pharae anymore we travelled here and bought this house."
The story astonished Flash. It was one of those that seem very unrealistic, but that you did not know how to react to. So he tried to ask a few questions. But he realized that the mood had become somewhat awkward and he told the two that he had to go, if he wanted to reach Bern relatively soon. Refusing their offer for him to stay he said goodbye before leaving for Bern.