Journal of the Sand Walker

[Kazeroï]

Update 001 : Combat style

All my life i tried to copy my mother. Her grace, her strength, everything. But it all failed. 4 years after her death, 4 years where i trained every night and repeat the same movement over and over again, but nothing. I'm still weak, a shame in front of her. I lacked confidence until then, but today, the year of my adulthood, everything changed.
I meet them. Bones and Aeos. Strength incarnate and a martial artist. Theses two had more influence on me than the immensity of the sand, which is my home...
I finally decided what my style would be, what will make me Blaze, and not simply the son of a great swordsman. The strength of Bones was incredible, she is a woman, a little older, she could be my elder sister... That could actually be fun and scary. But she taught me one thing, style is not linked to anything. I thought she would use her axe with grace, but she was a berserk, using little to no technique. All was raw strength and experience. The purity of this battle style impressed me. The reason why my mother made all theses jumps, all theses useless moves, was because they were a benefit to her, but they aren't to me.
Bones taught me my most important warrior's lesson : Efficiency over style. A slash that leaves a foe dead, as awful as it look, is a successful one. The training of my mother won't go to waste, i know just how, he taught me.

Aeos didn't use either weapons nor magic. He used his hand... HIS FREAKING HANDS!!! AGAINST A BERSERKER!!!
I thought he was a clueless fool, i thought he would get chopped in seconds. But again, he proved me wrong. His fist released something, an incredible amount of strength, enough to move this huge brute that was the pirate chief. And everything connected in my head. Martial art, mixed with swordsmanship.

A mix of legs and sword. Most myrmidon utilize their legs for their speed, but i'm not any kind of myrmidon, my legs are far stronger and far more powerful than any other myrmidon. And i will use them. Not only for their speed burst, but as a weapon. I will mix kicks in my sword's spin. I will parry with them, and even kill with them.

The idea is clear now. This is the first time i write a journal, but this one will help me to remember what made me who i am today. When the older, stronger, and more experienced me will read this. It will serve as a reminder for who helped him and who he shall help.

[Kazeroï]

Update 002 : Axe kick, Blade kick and Stab kick

I found my way to fight, which is already a good sign. Now into the tricky part, how to make this style effective? Or, to be more accurate, what kind of kicks will I add to my sword style. My mother told me to be extremely careful with the weapon triangle, it exists for a reason, and now I can tell why. Each weapon tends to be used in a certain... dimension : The axe strikes usually vertically, from up to down, so that the axe can unleash all of its power thanks to its weight. The sword usually strikes horizontally, since it is easier to wield and leaves the user less vulnerable after a swing compared to the spear and the axe. And by that logic, the blade beats the axe, for the axe to be used at its fullest, one must raise it to the sky, leaving his flanks open, where the blade can hit with ease.
Now comes what I should fear : the spears. They usually strike back and forth, never horizontally nor vertically. Just stabbing in front of the foe. Again, this is all logical. The sword needs to strike from a side, but the spear simply doesn't let a swordsman getting close enough, however the axe, with its vertical strikes, can break a spear with ease.

And this makes the triangle : Horizontal beats vertical, vertical beats distance and distance beats horizontal.
I will apply this logic to my kick, a blade kick, an axe kick and a stab kick.

-The blade kick will go from the side to strike the rib, the legs, or the head. I can easily disturb a vertical strike without risking to get chopped. But I need to get closer to get this sort of hit going, so it will fair terribly against a spear. If I try to use it against another swordsman, each of us will connect but I don't remember a leg being deadlier than a sword recently. Theses kicks however can easily be chained with swords swings, making them the base of this sword art. Once I get a good opening, i can use kicks first and blade after, or the opposite. The blade will do more instant damage, but might lack the impact that a kick can do, where a kick can knock down a foe, but have less range and might be hard to recover from. Either way, my mother used a lot of acrobatic moves during her sword dance, I will soon begin to create mine. It won't be graceful, but I will have to make it effective.
-The axe kick will go from high in the air and fall down with strength in front of me. Timed correctly, i can break the wood of a spear or at least block it to get close. However, using it against a sword is useless, I would simply get my leg cut or my rib broken. This kick is more situational, but reflects heavily the axe mentality, slow and powerful, this might break the head of someone if I hit at full strength. I can also use it to put away a weapon by raising the leg, then hit the opponent. So this hit has two purpose : Countering spears and their range, and acting as a close range powerhouse to demolish slow foes. Bones could help me a lot on this one.
-And lastly, the stab kick. Stabbing like a spear in the guts, this is probably the most potent kick I can do. If this connect, I can surely block the breath of my foe and arm for a powerful swing. I can interrupt horizontal swings with it, so this can leave a myrmidon breathless and totally vulnerable if hit correctly. But using it against an axe would get me chopped : once my kick connect, my foe will probably be falling down, and an axe just wait for theses kinds of occasions. Or worse yet, if I fail my kick, an axe will be falling from the sky to cut my leg... Definitely not a good idea. This kick is actually excellent as an opener. It is a front kick at full extension so it has the best reach, like a spear. Once I hit with this, I should be free to chain it with sword swings and blade kicks.

This is already a huge improvement and writing this down will help a lot. However, there is one last part I didn't cover, the defensive aspect of it. I don't really know how just yet, but I'm sure i can use my legs defensively. I will learn a bit more before writing my defensive theory on it. This is good enough for now.

[Kazeroï]

Update 003 : My monster

It came back... It was here, watching me. Reminding me this painful moment over and over again.
My wolf, the guardian of my stress and trauma.

I didn't knew when this started, but since my mother died, I began to see a wolf. A lot at first, then less and less. After 2 years, I thought he was gone, but the encounter with the pirates that killed my mother brought him back from the ashes of the desert. He isn't real, his fur is black and purple, and it wears a human skull. I often tell myself that this skull is my mother's but this is all in my head.

The wolf is tall, very tall. He reaches my waist, had very intimidating teeth and razor sharp claws. As said earlier, his main color is black and purple. However, it is my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) for a reason : He has multiple axes on his back, planted permanently and bleeding. But the worst part of it, is the lancer reaver in his rib.
No one can see him, only me, and everything comes back to my mind when I see this poor wolf, injured, dying, but happy. The numerous injuries reminds how much my mother endured for my safety, but his eyes doesn't reflect much guilt. In fact, deep inside me, I know I am not guilty of her death. Lance reaver or not, she was too weak and would have died in the up coming days. But the wolf does reflect something else. Her strength, and my weakness. His size makes me feel small, uneasy, weak and out of place... Exactly when I fought with her.

Doctors told me I had a minor PTSD but that I was a young and strong person and I would get over it quickly. They were right, the wolf appeared less and less as I began to travel the desert, but I remember the sleepless night at his side. In fact, I should write more about the beginning :

Three days after the death of my mother, I left the village, then, I began to see him. At first, he was my only companion, but made me cry a lot too. He was both a curse and a blessing : I cried my mother, every 14 years old boy would, but he also reminded me how hard I wish to survive. As my confidence got back up, he disappeared. At first, I missed him, but then I realized his presence was making me weaker. I still saw him from time to time, in the cold, harsh night of the desert. I was lucky to have him, he was here to remind me what happened, he made me stronger, forged my spirit... But he is a crack I still didn't repaired.

Today, I thought theses pirates, of course, pictures of my mother fighting with me came back to my mind, and obscured my spirit. I fought, and I was satisfied, they were no match for me as long as they weren't too many, and somehow, my hand didn't tremble because of the trauma. Despite apprehending this day, my body followed every order with remarkable precision, everything was like a normal fight, until the roof collapsed and the chief came in. Then I shook, the wolf was here, licking the axe of the chief. At first, I thought I just took a hard blow on the head, but the wolf remained in my sight even after the fight. I thought killing the chief would finally let this wolf go back to freedom... Finally free me from my trauma, but SHE is here.

Bones... With her axe, and pink hair... URGH!!! There is no word to describe this... The wolf is at her side, taunting me with her axe in his mouth. He says she did everything, and that even now, I could not protect my mother... He is wrong.

Bones... This is not against you... But I WILL spare with you, even if your barbarian manners will get me killed!


What am I writing... This is so confusing. My mother taught me about the monsters of the sands. And not what we can call usual monsters. They take on forms that fit the person they affect and reflects a problem they are facing. They are living in the head of people. The most commune of them is Paranoia, which is easy to get in the desert. Every sound becomes suspicious, even the wind can betray you. It takes a lot of confidence to fight it alone, which I did. My paranoia took on the form of a small dragon flying around my head, constantly warning me about sounds and light that I wasn't really seeing. I quickly realized that if I let this... creature command me, I would not survive a day in the desert. So I began to consider the desert as my home, cutting immediately all sources of anxiety for my monster to survive.

There are many monsters : paranoia, bipolar, all theses socials and mental issues have a representation in the desert... And being careful might not just be enough. I won against one already, I just have now to free this wolf. He might come back, but each time, I will be stronger, and he will be smaller. Until he won't have the chance to contest me.