Swords and Sorcery

[mithrarin]

Who: Dust and OPEN
Where: Somewhere on one of Diatu's convenient open spaces.
When: After afternoon classes.
What: Dust is practicing magic, and swordplay, at the same time!
Warnings: Violence.



The sight of Dust out practicing after class, with the blade that is his and the blade that is his familiar, is not unusual. Wielding just Ahrah came instinctively to him, but add Furae in to the mix and he had a lot to learn and relearn. No, the unusual part came in how he was training: to wit, adding in broad sweeping motions with his blades that didn't seem to have an apparent purpose... until he spat a few words in that language Discovery paired with its glyphs, and the track of his swords glowed in midair to show the rune he'd drawn with their motions. A jet of fire shot forward as Dust swept both his weapons back, holding his position for the moment to assess how he'd managed to cast the spell.

"Mmm. That was all right, but it could have been better."

"The rune was sloppy." The red runes on the sword in his left hand flickered in time with the syllable, spoken with a harsh female voice. "But you got the fire anyway."

"Then I guess I should be glad it worked better than it should have." Straightening, Dust drew up his shoulders, inhaled a deep breath, then let it out as he sank back into a slight crouch. "Remind me to ask someone to watch from the outside sometime..."

Comments

[mithrarin]

"It's just drawing them. I'd think anything would work." Both of the draw-in-midair Curricula could use a bunch of different tools for the purpose, so why not weapons? "The real challenge is to do it at speed as part of attacking."

[burningbrighter]

Sunset let out a hum of approval.

"Mm, I can see that. So it's all in keeping your wrist loose, right? As long as you can keep your hand steady. I saw a wobbly sigil the other day and the explosion was not pretty."

She grins. He's got it down fairly well so far.

"Show me again?"

[mithrarin]

"That's a specific part of the general, which is that it's harder to draw runes at speed and have them be quite as perfect as magic likes. Thaumaturgy is easier and harder at the same time..."

Dust dropped back into his ready stance, then whirled into motion again. His style naturally lent itself to huge sweeping motions that were attack and defense all at once, so while the strokes he made with his blades in midair might not be focused and directed towards a foe, they also served to keep an enemy well at bay lest they be sliced to bits. The oversized Osmarius rune took shape in several quick motions, and he shouted the words on the last one, sending forth a flame that looked a bit too yellow.

[burningbrighter]

"Wow..."

Sunset jotted a few notes on her small notepad as he worked, grinning as the fire whizzed past.

"Very nice. But is that your personal color? I expected more orange...or maybe blue..."

[mithrarin]

Dust frowned down at the swords in his hands. "No, I messed it up again." Where had it been, though? Maybe his angles were too loopy -- that seemed likely.

[burningbrighter]

"It's okay! I know you can get it. Just relax, and give it another try. Breathe."

She wasn't good at the relaxing herself, but she sure could try to recommend it.

[mithrarin]

"I'm sure I can, but it'd help if I knew just what was going on. You didn't see anything, did you?" An outside observer might be able to spot what he, so far, couldn't.

[burningbrighter]

"Um...well..."

Sunset tipped her head to the side, considering what she'd seen.

"Maybe it was a little wobbly? Sharper angles might do it. Wrist loose, fist steady."

[mithrarin]

"Sharper angles." Dust frowned, fingers tightening and loosening on the sword hilts. That made sense. His style lead to shifts of momentum and great sweeping gestures, not pinpoint changes. "Hmm. That makes sense."