Basic Training

[Ryuuketsu]

This Is A Wonderful World

QUEST TITLE

Since the start of the Apocalypse, Ryuuketsu had become accustomed to many things. The first of which being that his name was going to be Ryuuketsu for the duration of his stay in the world of Elder Tale, and the second being that the limits applied to him in the real world weren’t of much concern to him here. He had the body of his character – a somewhat battle hardened fighter capable of things that even the moderately athletic boy back on Earth could never imagine himself doing – and using it was probably one of his favorite things as of late.

He’d taken the Acrobat subclass if only because it allowed him to jump twice as high or far as anyone else right off the bat. He liked having evasive combat options, and the skills that came with being an experienced Acrobat synergized well with those of the Swashbuckler. While he didn’t have quite as many skills to rely on for combat as other classes like the Monk or Guardian, his standard attacks were much quicker.

The Windsor Greatwood had been his favorite spot for honing his skills for quite some time now. They were home to trees perfectly spaced apart for long jumps, and the parkour-ish nature of the way he worked through the area allowed him to not only work on his legs, but his arms as well. For instance, the gap between the branch he had just leapt off and the one he was gliding towards was a bit too far to expect a smooth landing and another jump. The solution to this was simple; catch the branch using your hands.

Ryuuketsu’s downward momentum combated the upward lift his firm grasp on the branches, while his uncontested forward velocity pulled him around the tree in a circle as he curled into a ball, spinning and landing on his feet on the soft grass below. Following this, he stood to his full height, brushing imaginary dust off his knees as he rolled his neck.

Even in a new world with a different identity, the satisfying pops that came from Ryuuketsu’s perpetually stiff neck were a habit that the boy couldn’t escape. Then again, he was probably much the same person here as he was back home. No matter the setting, Ryuuketsu liked to believe he could hold on to himself. He’d done that well enough after moving across the ocean and more or less losing his friends.

The biggest downside to being in the world as it was now definitely had to be the chaos that was going on. Who would’ve thought that shoving a few thousand people in a lawless, technology free society primarily known for its combat and PvP scene could have led to chaos and anarchy?

Well, just about anyone really.

Sighing to himself, Ryuuketsu took a cursory glance of the area. He projected his senses outwards, trying to pinpoint the location of anyone that might have been around. Part of training for survival and success in this world was going to be honing his senses, after all. Not only that, but he wasn’t really in the mood to be dealing with too many other people at the moment.

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[Empyrean]

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Wahrheit gibt kurzen Bescheid, Luege macht viel Redens. kagami taiga | (603*1.25)=753.75 | Ryuuketsu teach me how to dunk ryuuketsu-senpai >tfw you're 5'7 >feelsbadman.jpg

The new avatar for his psyche that Empyrean could now make use of, compared to his body from the world he had been in for years before now, was far more capable. In particular, acrobat helped him be more lithe than his relatively muscular body would have allowed. Protein, more muscle, and the like -- it all meant you could move faster, but Empyrean could never get a grasp on how to make proper use of it.

Orthodox techniques didn't fit him well, and deliberately trying to be random was not in his style at all. In the end, all he could do was work on the basics, but everything he had built up after that was all his own style. In sports, people got on his ass a lot for not following through on rules and such, despite his effectiveness in regards to getting the points. He just didn't know what was right to do.

Luckily, the system of laws now put in place meant that he could raise it through simple exercising of his already limited capacity. Basically, he could toss himself into the sky and hope for the best, and the best of what he could do what come to him no matter what. Which was exactly what he was doing now, albeit in a more contrived manner.

On a flat clearing near the edge of a forest, where the ground was surprisingly trod upon and dry, most importantly solid, Empyrean was jumping. That is to say, training his acrobatic skills. Above him, a branch that was just the right height -- ten feet off the ground.

Though the conditions were less than optimal, he could work on something he had been meaning to train for quite some time: learning how to dunk. With a ball made of his cloak, tied up by a long string that had wrapped around the good, he had been attempting to jump well enough to be able to touch the rim.

Despite obvious efforts in the past to do so, and even more effort at the moment, there simply wasn't enough inertia being pushed upwards to get high enough to toss the ball through the hoop. Even with the acrobat skill to double jump height, he just couldn't.

It was both frustrating and irritating, but he didn't let that show on his face. Instead, he continued to practice, repeatedly dirtying his own clothing in order to train. Keeping on with it, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and was amazed by how much stamina he had in comparison to before.

He had done work as a porter and as a mover back in Darmstadt, and had built up muscle from his jobs; but even so, most his stamina came from mental endurance, not bodily endurance. What his avatar now presented to him was the opportunity to train harder than he had before, and for that, he was grateful.

Grateful, in fact, even after he mistimed his jump and slammed face-first into the trunk behind the hoop. Scraping his face and falling down, he momentarily wondered if he had broken his nose, before turning and looking across the clearing with his uncovered left eye to see that he had company now.

Without a word, he stood up, shook the bark scratchings off of his shoulders, and placed a hand on the sword left near the base of the trunk, ready to combat this person, if need be. Despite that, his expression was as still as ever, and if the person in question had no ill will, there was no reason to express any of his own.

OWL