Deathless Training - Episode 19
Ace Dreamer
Questioning The Nature of our Realities
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Raven Lunacy, Episode 19
Breakfast, again. Is this a meal I should start being worried about? Raven and Robin. Looking at each other. Even Kory is quietly watching.
"I'd like to suggest some combined training, today. In an unusual environment. Both for you and Sugoi. I'll be there, as well, of course. Unless you have something else planned." Raven has thrown down a gauntlet. She looks, calmly, directly at Robin.
"Did you have somewhere particular in mind?" Everyone now looks at Raven.
"Yes." A pause, that no one fills.
"If you come to my training room, ready for vigorous exercise, physically, and mentally, that would work."
Robin nods.
After a little while, Robin finishes, leaves the room. Raven not long after him.
The remaining four of us look at each other.
"Isn't her 'training room' the same place as her room?", asks Garfield, a little querulously.
---
I arrive at the same time as Robin, and as we approach her door it opens. Robin is in full combat array, with a small colour-coordinated backpack, and I'm in my 'combat clothes'. He looks briefly at me, then strides through the doorway. I follow.
The room looks mostly normal, but feels a little strange. Raven has hung what looks like a large sheet of... leather, against one wall. Placed a half-circle of braziers around it. Is drawing a white-chalk half-circle before it. As we get closer I can see there's something drawn, or, maybe, branded, on the (scaled?) leather.
She glances at us, indicates we stand a couple of meters, maybe six feet, from the hanging. Lights the braziers. Pleasant-smelling smoke rises, but seems to be pulled towards the hanging, where it disappears. Raven stops. Is motionless for a few moments, then makes a quick gesture, and stamps one foot. There's a flash of light.
When my eyes clear the hanging isn't there, any more. Instead is an immense, gaping, pair of white, open, lips, like a snake's, with four small fangs around the edge, set into a wall of grey-stone blocks. Beyond the lips, instead of a mouth and throat, is a strangely-lit world, with a snaking path of yellow stones, apparently unsupported, leading out of sight. I hear Robin gulp, and my mouth feels rather dry.
Oh.
---
We are following Raven down the path. It's darker-blue above us, shifting, paler-blue, below. You can't see very far in any direction, but it doesn't look like normal mist. Apparently there's little risk of us falling off the path. The sound of my boots is muffled, I hear no noise from Raven or Robin's steps. Otherwise it's silent.
I, briefly, speculate how difficult it'd be to get home if anything happens to Raven. We lost sight of the entrance some time ago.
"Pay attention, Sugoi. This is a mixed realm, not completely physical or mental. If you know what you are doing you can shape the local... mists into apparently real objects. I could have opened the portal closer to the training ground, but that risked attracting the wrong sort of attention. So, a longer walk, but a safer one."
Appearing, suddenly, ahead of us is a yellow stone archway, which could take two men, side-by-side, and another two standing on the shoulders of the first two. Beyond it a large, orange, flat area is visible, irregularly shaped, at least ten man-height's wide. There're a few objects scattered around on it, pillars, archways, small boulders, all orange stone, but otherwise it's empty. I'm guessing it's our destination.
We stop not long beyond the arch.
"You will not need to eat, drink, or excrete, here. In fact, you are breathing by habit. Sleep is not possible, nor real tiredness. This place does not allow death. Some use places like this to practice otherwise mortal combat, but you would be advised to heal wounds before leaving. Knowing places like this exist is useful. Some creatures drag mortals to somewhere like here, to threaten them. They shape phantasms from mortal fear, from the mists."
Raven turns to look at us. Her skin is grey, and there's a faint red glow from her eyes.
"I will demonstrate."
There is a growling from a distance off, and a pair of vicious-looking dogs emerge from behind a pillar, far too narrow to have concealed them. I recall having once seen them, guarding a junk yard. They run towards us, Raven drifts up, and sits cross-legged atop a pillar. "You might want to defend yourselves..."
---
We fought the dogs, and a number of other monsters. There were four-armed apes, swarms of rats, at one point something like a small rhino. For some fights Raven joined us, and they seemed just as enthusiastic about attacking her as us. She used her tentacles of darkness, striking or throwing beasts. Once or twice she used bolts of fire, but they seemed to drain her.
Robin used a wide variety of weapons, including what I was later told were bird-a-rangs, small grenades, and paired fighting staves, that could be locked together into a longer pole. That he used more than once for vaulting. He fought silently, and sometimes I lost sight of him, only for him to appear from an unexpected angle.
After a while, I'm unsure how long, as my usually accurate time-sense seemed... uncertain, we took a break. Raven asked if Robin was happy with the training. Rather reluctantly he nodded. I looked around, and confirmed my earlier suspicion, after a while the fallen beasts just faded away.
We stood, again. Raven indicated a broad pillar, and a spindly-looking bird man, with sheathed twin swords, stepped out, looked us over, then bowed to Robin. Robin carefully bowed back, not taking his eyes off him. They started sparring.
Raven indicated a convenient set of pillars, as targets, and talked me through trying different postures, ways of focusing and concentrating. Apparently I could conjure psychic bolts, of pure mind power, here. After a while I tried mixing them with chi strikes, and, gradually both improved, became sharper. The psychic bolts made the stone fade, briefly, the chi knocked it around.
"Sooner or later you will have to fight, mentally. Knowing how to focus is important, and, here and in the astral realms, your mind, your will, can be a weapon. Now, try and move small objects by will, not your chi."
A few small pebbles drift up into the air, then fall. I feel as if I've run a marathon, but the tiredness quickly fades.
The swordsman, a tengu, I think, has finished working with Robin. Bows and takes his leave. We rest. Then, we fight strange plants, with strangling vines, bludgeoning limbs, and cast thorns. Robin seems quite familiar with this sort of foe.
Walking back. The exit appears far quicker than I expected. Raven touches both of us, wincing for each. We step through. She puts covers on the braziers, and the portal fades back to marks on leather.
"Only an hour has passed here. This gateway is something only occasionally usable, and I drew on favours, as well. It seemed best to show both of you there are strange places, where we may end-up having to go. Fight."
"Would you agree this was worth it, Robin?"
He twists his waist, swinging one arm. Grimaces.
"Yes."
AN: Are things a little more settled between them? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
AN: I might admit Geo is more of a cat person than a dog lover.
AN: in case you're interested, tengu.
Breakfast, again. Is this a meal I should start being worried about? Raven and Robin. Looking at each other. Even Kory is quietly watching.
"I'd like to suggest some combined training, today. In an unusual environment. Both for you and Sugoi. I'll be there, as well, of course. Unless you have something else planned." Raven has thrown down a gauntlet. She looks, calmly, directly at Robin.
"Did you have somewhere particular in mind?" Everyone now looks at Raven.
"Yes." A pause, that no one fills.
"If you come to my training room, ready for vigorous exercise, physically, and mentally, that would work."
Robin nods.
After a little while, Robin finishes, leaves the room. Raven not long after him.
The remaining four of us look at each other.
"Isn't her 'training room' the same place as her room?", asks Garfield, a little querulously.
---
I arrive at the same time as Robin, and as we approach her door it opens. Robin is in full combat array, with a small colour-coordinated backpack, and I'm in my 'combat clothes'. He looks briefly at me, then strides through the doorway. I follow.
The room looks mostly normal, but feels a little strange. Raven has hung what looks like a large sheet of... leather, against one wall. Placed a half-circle of braziers around it. Is drawing a white-chalk half-circle before it. As we get closer I can see there's something drawn, or, maybe, branded, on the (scaled?) leather.
She glances at us, indicates we stand a couple of meters, maybe six feet, from the hanging. Lights the braziers. Pleasant-smelling smoke rises, but seems to be pulled towards the hanging, where it disappears. Raven stops. Is motionless for a few moments, then makes a quick gesture, and stamps one foot. There's a flash of light.
When my eyes clear the hanging isn't there, any more. Instead is an immense, gaping, pair of white, open, lips, like a snake's, with four small fangs around the edge, set into a wall of grey-stone blocks. Beyond the lips, instead of a mouth and throat, is a strangely-lit world, with a snaking path of yellow stones, apparently unsupported, leading out of sight. I hear Robin gulp, and my mouth feels rather dry.
Oh.
---
We are following Raven down the path. It's darker-blue above us, shifting, paler-blue, below. You can't see very far in any direction, but it doesn't look like normal mist. Apparently there's little risk of us falling off the path. The sound of my boots is muffled, I hear no noise from Raven or Robin's steps. Otherwise it's silent.
I, briefly, speculate how difficult it'd be to get home if anything happens to Raven. We lost sight of the entrance some time ago.
"Pay attention, Sugoi. This is a mixed realm, not completely physical or mental. If you know what you are doing you can shape the local... mists into apparently real objects. I could have opened the portal closer to the training ground, but that risked attracting the wrong sort of attention. So, a longer walk, but a safer one."
Appearing, suddenly, ahead of us is a yellow stone archway, which could take two men, side-by-side, and another two standing on the shoulders of the first two. Beyond it a large, orange, flat area is visible, irregularly shaped, at least ten man-height's wide. There're a few objects scattered around on it, pillars, archways, small boulders, all orange stone, but otherwise it's empty. I'm guessing it's our destination.
We stop not long beyond the arch.
"You will not need to eat, drink, or excrete, here. In fact, you are breathing by habit. Sleep is not possible, nor real tiredness. This place does not allow death. Some use places like this to practice otherwise mortal combat, but you would be advised to heal wounds before leaving. Knowing places like this exist is useful. Some creatures drag mortals to somewhere like here, to threaten them. They shape phantasms from mortal fear, from the mists."
Raven turns to look at us. Her skin is grey, and there's a faint red glow from her eyes.
"I will demonstrate."
There is a growling from a distance off, and a pair of vicious-looking dogs emerge from behind a pillar, far too narrow to have concealed them. I recall having once seen them, guarding a junk yard. They run towards us, Raven drifts up, and sits cross-legged atop a pillar. "You might want to defend yourselves..."
---
We fought the dogs, and a number of other monsters. There were four-armed apes, swarms of rats, at one point something like a small rhino. For some fights Raven joined us, and they seemed just as enthusiastic about attacking her as us. She used her tentacles of darkness, striking or throwing beasts. Once or twice she used bolts of fire, but they seemed to drain her.
Robin used a wide variety of weapons, including what I was later told were bird-a-rangs, small grenades, and paired fighting staves, that could be locked together into a longer pole. That he used more than once for vaulting. He fought silently, and sometimes I lost sight of him, only for him to appear from an unexpected angle.
After a while, I'm unsure how long, as my usually accurate time-sense seemed... uncertain, we took a break. Raven asked if Robin was happy with the training. Rather reluctantly he nodded. I looked around, and confirmed my earlier suspicion, after a while the fallen beasts just faded away.
We stood, again. Raven indicated a broad pillar, and a spindly-looking bird man, with sheathed twin swords, stepped out, looked us over, then bowed to Robin. Robin carefully bowed back, not taking his eyes off him. They started sparring.
Raven indicated a convenient set of pillars, as targets, and talked me through trying different postures, ways of focusing and concentrating. Apparently I could conjure psychic bolts, of pure mind power, here. After a while I tried mixing them with chi strikes, and, gradually both improved, became sharper. The psychic bolts made the stone fade, briefly, the chi knocked it around.
"Sooner or later you will have to fight, mentally. Knowing how to focus is important, and, here and in the astral realms, your mind, your will, can be a weapon. Now, try and move small objects by will, not your chi."
A few small pebbles drift up into the air, then fall. I feel as if I've run a marathon, but the tiredness quickly fades.
The swordsman, a tengu, I think, has finished working with Robin. Bows and takes his leave. We rest. Then, we fight strange plants, with strangling vines, bludgeoning limbs, and cast thorns. Robin seems quite familiar with this sort of foe.
Walking back. The exit appears far quicker than I expected. Raven touches both of us, wincing for each. We step through. She puts covers on the braziers, and the portal fades back to marks on leather.
"Only an hour has passed here. This gateway is something only occasionally usable, and I drew on favours, as well. It seemed best to show both of you there are strange places, where we may end-up having to go. Fight."
"Would you agree this was worth it, Robin?"
He twists his waist, swinging one arm. Grimaces.
"Yes."
AN: Are things a little more settled between them? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
AN: I might admit Geo is more of a cat person than a dog lover.
AN: in case you're interested, tengu.
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