Post by Zerix Orbane on Feb 5, 2021 10:18:34 GMT -5
A blue and white trimmed vest covered in runic symbols lay draped over a white shirt on the low hanging branch of a nearby tree. The ambient sounds of early morning rang out in the forest. The chirping of birds, shuffling of animals in the brush, the wind rustling the leaves, were interrupted by earnest grunts of effort. Training had become Zerix’s life since he failed his first attempt at the Magic Knights Exam. He’d been too full of himself, thinking he could just rush right in and pass like that. He’d felt so powerful even without a coherent spell at his disposal. That was changing, slowly, but surely over the last few years.
Every morning was like this for him. He was up on his hand and the tips of his toes, lowering his body down to the ground, until his arms made perfect right angles, and then back up. Down and then up, down, and then up, until sweat was dripping off his nose. “Forty seven, forty eight,” Zerix counted with a steady voice. Despite his efforts marked by sweat, it did not waver, “Forty nine, fifty!” And with that, he was done with his push ups. Next would be squats, and then jumping jacks, and then he would begin to run.
The way Zerix used his magic, his body needed to be in tip top condition. So he worked and he worked hard. It was a slow build up, but he could feel it. He was almost there. And then once he got there, he would keep on going. Hard work was the only way he could make up the difference between himself and the nobles. Relying on his magic alone wasn’t enough. It needed to work together!
Once he finished the last of his stationary exercises, Zerix was supposed to begin his run. However, something stopped him, a feeling. Like he was onto something. He knew what kind of spell he was going for and he’d done it before, a bit sloppily, but now he had a moment of inspiration. Pulling out his grimoire, it began to float in front of him and flutter open. The air around him began to swirl and the pages stopped turning.
Eye scanning over the page, Zerix blinked at what he was seeing. There was an inscription on the page before him. Was this… his first ever spell? It was exactly what he’d wanted, what he imagined. He’d tried to do it on his own, but now he and his grimoire were in sync! “You dog! You were holding out on me!” Zerix smiled, and then immediately felt even more silly talking to a book. Then again, the thing did seem to have a mind of its own.
“All right, let’s try this out then.” Zerix announced, lining his fingers together and pushing his palms straight out. Each finger pop, pop, popped in quick successions before he unlinked his hands and shook them out. Turning to face a nearby tree, one that looked particularly sturdy, Zerix dropped into a fighting stance and raised his fists. “Diamond Magic!” He announced, “Studded Strikes!” His diamond encrusted grimoire glowed and even more brilliant blue color and a similar blue light appeared over the knuckles of his hands. Not only that, but the glowing also appeared on the tips of his elbows, his kneecaps, and over the top of his feet. The blue light began to crystalize and form into diamond studs, sharp and ready for a fight.
“That’s right!” Zerix shouted, “That’s the ticket!” Darting in toward the tree, he struck out with his fists, delivering a one-two punch. The whole trunk shook with the force of his strikes. In his excitement, he began to wail on the tree, throwing elbows, kicking, punching some more. Leaves began to fall, and bits of branches all around. Terrified squawks signalled the flight of birds from the area, disturbed by this sudden outburst.
After a few minutes, Zerix slowed down to a stop. His blood was pumping and the bark of the tree was so scratched and scraped up that it looked like it might fall over at any moment. “Hoo boy, looks like I got a bit carried away there.” Zerix admitted, patting the scarred tan surface, soft and vulnerable. “But that felt good.” He looked down at his hands, admiring the magical studs that encrusted his limbs.
What Zerix didn’t realize was that his little outburst hadn’t just repelled things from him, but attracted something as well. It wasn’t until the low, rumbling growl gave it away, that Zerix realized something was behind him. Turning around, Zerix was face to face with a lone, gray wolf. At least, he thought it was a wolf. He’d never seen one before in the noble region. And he was pretty sure they usually traveled in packs, but not this once.
“Why hello there, little buddy…” Zerix cooed cautiously. He held up his hands as a sign of peace. The diamond encrusting them glowed and faded away. He didn’t want to show any hostile intent. Taking a step back, he said, “Didn’t mean to disturb you, I’ll just be on my-” He didn’t get to finish the sentence, however. The wolf had already pounced. “Ack!” He grunted as it barreled into him.
Whether by instinct or sheer luck, Zerix had managed to catch the wolf’s upper and lower jaws in hand as it knocked him to the ground. With all the strength he had, he held back the wolf’s attempts to bite him. The thing had to be starving, to attack him like this. He had to do something fast. It would be foolish to think he could hold it back for long. Some kind of armor, so it couldn’t hurt him. That would be perfect.
As if on cue, the grimoire floating overhead glowed again, and fluttered to a new page. Yet another new inscription was there in black and white. “Diamond… Magiiiiic!” Zerix struggled to say it as he struggled to hold back the snapping maw, “Armored Juggernaut!” His whole body was aglow this time, just as he felt his strength failing against the wolf’s rabid efforts. Teeth flashed and closed over his shoulder, but Zerix didn’t feel it.
The glow faded to reveal a brilliant set of diamond armor adorning Zerix’s body. Gauntlets on his arms, pauldrons on his shoulder, boots, leg guards, a chest plate, and helm to complete the set. The wolf’s teeth chinked against the armor. Its jaw quivered against the magical metal. “Can’t get me now, can you?” Zerix chuckled and planted a hand firmly on its chest. “Get off me!” Pushing up with all his might, however, Zerix found that he wasn’t quite strong enough. He’d let his first spell fade away, so he was back to his normal strength. That wasn’t good. He had to try something else
In any case, Zerix used his other hand to try and shove the wolf’s mouth away. In doing so, he made a roll to the side and managed to get out from under it. Before he could push himself to his feet, however, the wolf was on him again. Planting a paw on his back, like a heavy weight, it knocked him flat on the ground with his arms splayed out. It was strong, maybe even stronger than he had been with his Studded Strikes. If there was a way to weaken it, he might be able to actually get back to his feet and put up a fight.
Swinging his leg up, he managed to kick the back of the wolf’s hind legs, causing it to yelp. This gave him the chance to roll back over again so he could at least see what was going on. He could feel another spell coming on. He could recognize it by now, being the third time in quick succession. Just training wasn’t always enough clearly, he didn’t have the same kind of knowledge or maybe even talent as nobles that just came up with spells on their own. He needed a stressor, and this was a perfect one.
The pages of his grimoire stopped on another page. “Diamond Magic: Weight of the World!” Zerix cried out a spell, a real spell, for the third time today, throwing his hands up at the wolf as it came down on him with tooth and claw. The shining blue blast of magic hit it right in the chest. Diamonds crystallized and spread like a disease across its fur and onto its arms and legs, even around its jaws. It looked confused, but also angry as it tried to lunge at his neck this time.
This time, when Zerix caught it by the jaws, it seemed like a much more fair contest. “Not so hot now, eh?” He taunted as this time he could match the wolf’s strength and keep his jaws at bay. Not only that, but he could push back. “Now I’ll say it again! Get off!” He roared, shoving the wolf back and sitting up, then twisting it to the side and letting go. The wolf’s feet actually left the ground for a moment and it stumbled slightly as it landed a few feet away. Swinging his legs around, Zerix was able to get to his feet.
The wolf, still encrusted with diamonds, growled at him and lowered its body again into a pouncing position. This time, however, its movements seemed weakened and its pounce had no where near the power it had before. Without even thinking about the consequences, Zerix leaped forward to meet the wolf in midair, aiming to land a solid punch at its snarling snout. Instead, the two crashed into each other and fell heavily to the ground. This time, his mana skin took the brunt of the blow, but the force still had his head spinning.
As Zerix pushed himself to his feet again, he could feel mana flowing into him. HIs diamonds weren’t just sealing away the wolf’s strength, but draining some of its natural mana. So, he managed to get up first. The wolf was still weakly struggling to its feet, but its eyes were on Zerix, still desperate and vicious. It was going to attack again, but not unless Zerix ended it first. For the fourth time today, the sound of the grimoire pages turning filled the air, music to Zerix’s ears.
“Diamond Magic: Chain Closer!” The blue glow wrapped around his right hand, forming into a brilliant, beautiful chain. Swinging it over his head, Zerix tossed it at the wolf as it staggered to its feet. The wolf didn’t understand what was happening as the chains wrapped around its body. It barked angrily and began to charge anew. As it did, Zerix pulled back on the chain, jerking the wolf a bit off balance and leaped, pulling himself bodily toward it.
The wolf snapped, but this time instead of allowing himself to crash into his assailant, Zerix sailed right over its head. The starving mutt was too slow to take a bit out of his leg and on the turn. “Got you, now!” Twisting around, Zerix landed on the other side of its and jerked on the chain again as he charged in. Reeling back and fist, he charged with a smile on his face, faster than the wolf could react, and landed a solid punch into the soft flesh under its rib cage.
With a whimper, the wolf leaped back and crouched low. Lowering its head, it exposed its neck. Zerix didn’t have a lot of experience with wolves, or many manner of creatures, but the look in its eyes told him it was giving up. It would be easy enough to finish the poor thing off, for attacking him like that, but the thought did not even enter Zerix’s mind. “All right, go on.” He sighed and dropped his stance. The diamonds encrusting both of them faded away as his grimoire shuffled closed and floated back into his hand.
Almost immediately, the wolf turned and fled, taking its opportunity to retreat now that it was freed of its bonds. Zerix just shook his head and tucked his grimoire back into its pouch on his belt. “Poor thing. But I’m not about to be it’s dinner!” He smirked, folding hands behind his head. If anything, he should have been thanking the wolf for its help. Now that had been a workout, but he wasn’t done yet. He hadn’t even gone for his run! ”Now where did I put my vest…”
WC: 2143
Every morning was like this for him. He was up on his hand and the tips of his toes, lowering his body down to the ground, until his arms made perfect right angles, and then back up. Down and then up, down, and then up, until sweat was dripping off his nose. “Forty seven, forty eight,” Zerix counted with a steady voice. Despite his efforts marked by sweat, it did not waver, “Forty nine, fifty!” And with that, he was done with his push ups. Next would be squats, and then jumping jacks, and then he would begin to run.
The way Zerix used his magic, his body needed to be in tip top condition. So he worked and he worked hard. It was a slow build up, but he could feel it. He was almost there. And then once he got there, he would keep on going. Hard work was the only way he could make up the difference between himself and the nobles. Relying on his magic alone wasn’t enough. It needed to work together!
Once he finished the last of his stationary exercises, Zerix was supposed to begin his run. However, something stopped him, a feeling. Like he was onto something. He knew what kind of spell he was going for and he’d done it before, a bit sloppily, but now he had a moment of inspiration. Pulling out his grimoire, it began to float in front of him and flutter open. The air around him began to swirl and the pages stopped turning.
Eye scanning over the page, Zerix blinked at what he was seeing. There was an inscription on the page before him. Was this… his first ever spell? It was exactly what he’d wanted, what he imagined. He’d tried to do it on his own, but now he and his grimoire were in sync! “You dog! You were holding out on me!” Zerix smiled, and then immediately felt even more silly talking to a book. Then again, the thing did seem to have a mind of its own.
“All right, let’s try this out then.” Zerix announced, lining his fingers together and pushing his palms straight out. Each finger pop, pop, popped in quick successions before he unlinked his hands and shook them out. Turning to face a nearby tree, one that looked particularly sturdy, Zerix dropped into a fighting stance and raised his fists. “Diamond Magic!” He announced, “Studded Strikes!” His diamond encrusted grimoire glowed and even more brilliant blue color and a similar blue light appeared over the knuckles of his hands. Not only that, but the glowing also appeared on the tips of his elbows, his kneecaps, and over the top of his feet. The blue light began to crystalize and form into diamond studs, sharp and ready for a fight.
“That’s right!” Zerix shouted, “That’s the ticket!” Darting in toward the tree, he struck out with his fists, delivering a one-two punch. The whole trunk shook with the force of his strikes. In his excitement, he began to wail on the tree, throwing elbows, kicking, punching some more. Leaves began to fall, and bits of branches all around. Terrified squawks signalled the flight of birds from the area, disturbed by this sudden outburst.
After a few minutes, Zerix slowed down to a stop. His blood was pumping and the bark of the tree was so scratched and scraped up that it looked like it might fall over at any moment. “Hoo boy, looks like I got a bit carried away there.” Zerix admitted, patting the scarred tan surface, soft and vulnerable. “But that felt good.” He looked down at his hands, admiring the magical studs that encrusted his limbs.
What Zerix didn’t realize was that his little outburst hadn’t just repelled things from him, but attracted something as well. It wasn’t until the low, rumbling growl gave it away, that Zerix realized something was behind him. Turning around, Zerix was face to face with a lone, gray wolf. At least, he thought it was a wolf. He’d never seen one before in the noble region. And he was pretty sure they usually traveled in packs, but not this once.
“Why hello there, little buddy…” Zerix cooed cautiously. He held up his hands as a sign of peace. The diamond encrusting them glowed and faded away. He didn’t want to show any hostile intent. Taking a step back, he said, “Didn’t mean to disturb you, I’ll just be on my-” He didn’t get to finish the sentence, however. The wolf had already pounced. “Ack!” He grunted as it barreled into him.
Whether by instinct or sheer luck, Zerix had managed to catch the wolf’s upper and lower jaws in hand as it knocked him to the ground. With all the strength he had, he held back the wolf’s attempts to bite him. The thing had to be starving, to attack him like this. He had to do something fast. It would be foolish to think he could hold it back for long. Some kind of armor, so it couldn’t hurt him. That would be perfect.
As if on cue, the grimoire floating overhead glowed again, and fluttered to a new page. Yet another new inscription was there in black and white. “Diamond… Magiiiiic!” Zerix struggled to say it as he struggled to hold back the snapping maw, “Armored Juggernaut!” His whole body was aglow this time, just as he felt his strength failing against the wolf’s rabid efforts. Teeth flashed and closed over his shoulder, but Zerix didn’t feel it.
The glow faded to reveal a brilliant set of diamond armor adorning Zerix’s body. Gauntlets on his arms, pauldrons on his shoulder, boots, leg guards, a chest plate, and helm to complete the set. The wolf’s teeth chinked against the armor. Its jaw quivered against the magical metal. “Can’t get me now, can you?” Zerix chuckled and planted a hand firmly on its chest. “Get off me!” Pushing up with all his might, however, Zerix found that he wasn’t quite strong enough. He’d let his first spell fade away, so he was back to his normal strength. That wasn’t good. He had to try something else
In any case, Zerix used his other hand to try and shove the wolf’s mouth away. In doing so, he made a roll to the side and managed to get out from under it. Before he could push himself to his feet, however, the wolf was on him again. Planting a paw on his back, like a heavy weight, it knocked him flat on the ground with his arms splayed out. It was strong, maybe even stronger than he had been with his Studded Strikes. If there was a way to weaken it, he might be able to actually get back to his feet and put up a fight.
Swinging his leg up, he managed to kick the back of the wolf’s hind legs, causing it to yelp. This gave him the chance to roll back over again so he could at least see what was going on. He could feel another spell coming on. He could recognize it by now, being the third time in quick succession. Just training wasn’t always enough clearly, he didn’t have the same kind of knowledge or maybe even talent as nobles that just came up with spells on their own. He needed a stressor, and this was a perfect one.
The pages of his grimoire stopped on another page. “Diamond Magic: Weight of the World!” Zerix cried out a spell, a real spell, for the third time today, throwing his hands up at the wolf as it came down on him with tooth and claw. The shining blue blast of magic hit it right in the chest. Diamonds crystallized and spread like a disease across its fur and onto its arms and legs, even around its jaws. It looked confused, but also angry as it tried to lunge at his neck this time.
This time, when Zerix caught it by the jaws, it seemed like a much more fair contest. “Not so hot now, eh?” He taunted as this time he could match the wolf’s strength and keep his jaws at bay. Not only that, but he could push back. “Now I’ll say it again! Get off!” He roared, shoving the wolf back and sitting up, then twisting it to the side and letting go. The wolf’s feet actually left the ground for a moment and it stumbled slightly as it landed a few feet away. Swinging his legs around, Zerix was able to get to his feet.
The wolf, still encrusted with diamonds, growled at him and lowered its body again into a pouncing position. This time, however, its movements seemed weakened and its pounce had no where near the power it had before. Without even thinking about the consequences, Zerix leaped forward to meet the wolf in midair, aiming to land a solid punch at its snarling snout. Instead, the two crashed into each other and fell heavily to the ground. This time, his mana skin took the brunt of the blow, but the force still had his head spinning.
As Zerix pushed himself to his feet again, he could feel mana flowing into him. HIs diamonds weren’t just sealing away the wolf’s strength, but draining some of its natural mana. So, he managed to get up first. The wolf was still weakly struggling to its feet, but its eyes were on Zerix, still desperate and vicious. It was going to attack again, but not unless Zerix ended it first. For the fourth time today, the sound of the grimoire pages turning filled the air, music to Zerix’s ears.
“Diamond Magic: Chain Closer!” The blue glow wrapped around his right hand, forming into a brilliant, beautiful chain. Swinging it over his head, Zerix tossed it at the wolf as it staggered to its feet. The wolf didn’t understand what was happening as the chains wrapped around its body. It barked angrily and began to charge anew. As it did, Zerix pulled back on the chain, jerking the wolf a bit off balance and leaped, pulling himself bodily toward it.
The wolf snapped, but this time instead of allowing himself to crash into his assailant, Zerix sailed right over its head. The starving mutt was too slow to take a bit out of his leg and on the turn. “Got you, now!” Twisting around, Zerix landed on the other side of its and jerked on the chain again as he charged in. Reeling back and fist, he charged with a smile on his face, faster than the wolf could react, and landed a solid punch into the soft flesh under its rib cage.
With a whimper, the wolf leaped back and crouched low. Lowering its head, it exposed its neck. Zerix didn’t have a lot of experience with wolves, or many manner of creatures, but the look in its eyes told him it was giving up. It would be easy enough to finish the poor thing off, for attacking him like that, but the thought did not even enter Zerix’s mind. “All right, go on.” He sighed and dropped his stance. The diamonds encrusting both of them faded away as his grimoire shuffled closed and floated back into his hand.
Almost immediately, the wolf turned and fled, taking its opportunity to retreat now that it was freed of its bonds. Zerix just shook his head and tucked his grimoire back into its pouch on his belt. “Poor thing. But I’m not about to be it’s dinner!” He smirked, folding hands behind his head. If anything, he should have been thanking the wolf for its help. Now that had been a workout, but he wasn’t done yet. He hadn’t even gone for his run! ”Now where did I put my vest…”
WC: 2143