Fan Fiction ❯ The More Things Change... (An Endless Story) ❯ Endless Training ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Okay, here's the first fight scene of the fic. I don't think I'm very good at fights, but if you disagree, tell me, 'k?

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Now we're gonna get to Kaerlos's basic fighting style. True to form, he's gonna have several unique abilities, along with maybe a few renamed "skills" (example: if I give him a Double Blow copy, I may rename it Double Blade or some BS like that).

Pairings, in case I haven't gotten it through your skull...
Ryu-Ursula (memorized this one yet?)
Nina-OC (yes, I finally made up my mind)
Ummm... I'll think on other pairings, see if I can come up with any that work

Not too many other comments... I think I'll tell character locations for NPR (No Particular Reason, for future reference). (From now on, people who're doing the same thing will be listed together) (LISTED IN THE ORDER THEY COME TO MIND)

Ryu, Ursula, and Kaerlos: Out hunting for Kaerlos's first "test"
Fou-lu: I dunno why I keep listing this guy, he's GONE! (OMITTED IN FUTURE CHAPTERS)
Cray: Managed to fight off the people trying to arrest him for now... (Yes, he's still at Worent)
Deis and Ershin: Purifying near Chedo, oblivious to Kaerlos's existance
Nina and Scias: Traveling in the general direction of Chedo (yes, I'm trying to "gather the party," as it were)
Yuna: How many times do I have to tell you?! LOCATION UNKNOWN!!!!!! (haven't decided where yet)

Note: I suck at writing things along the lines of "X person encounters Y enemy"- don't even know HOW to do it and make it interesting (my idea of a comparatively good encounter paragraph- using the above variables- would probably be something like "X was walking along a path when suddenly a/an Y jumped out/appeared in front of him..." bad stuff, I say)- so I'll just skip straight from stating the location to the fight. I know that probably isn't a good idea, but I really have to stick to my abilities to keep it interesting, and it seems my main strength is story- I don't really write a lot, but what I write, I'm told, tends to be good (I know of two exceptions, and I admit that one's a bit... bland, and the other just kinda... y'know, trails off). I MIGHT be able to do a decent fight scene if I really try, but what I've written so far on combat isn't exactly encouraging... (and yes, I'm totalling everything I've written.)

Key, as usual...

*--------*: POV switch
[___]: Writing
*___*: Thoughts
"___": Speech (of course)
(___): Author's notes andor explanations
Italics : Dragon's Eye visions (detailed)
//////: Time warp

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Chapter 4
Endless Training

Ryu, Kaerlos, and Ursula were walking through the ruins of what once had been the capital city of the Fou Empire. As they wandered, searching for monsters, they had chatted a bit. "It's ironic that this city... this EMPIRE... was destroyed by its founder," Kaerlos muttered.

"Yeah, it is," Ryu replied. "Now that I'm not exactly Fou-lu anymore, I regret this... slaughter." Kaerlos nodded silently and solemnly in reply to that.

//////

It had taken them some time to find monsters willing to fight them, mainly because of Ryu's reputation, but they eventually had found some: two shadows who, for some reason, didn't notice anyone but Kaerlos.

"Well, well, look who we have here- it's that guy who ran off last week..." one shadow sneered.

"I say we finish him now, before anything interrupts us," its companion advised.

"It seems he's a bit more confident than last time- before he acted like a helpless lamb, but now he seems like a warrior wanting to try a new weapon," the first observed.

"Oh, it's you two again," Kaerlos muttered in tones of disgust. "Last time I only ran because I couldn't fight with what I had, but now I'm gonna kill you two."

"Oh, cocky, isn't he?" the second shadow (henceforth referred to as Shadow 2) mocked.

"He'll pay for taking us so lightly," Shadow 1 threatened.

As when he had first met Ursula, Kaerlos began evaluating possible threats before they attacked him. *Hmmm, I can tell from their moves that it'll be a real pain hitting these guys... Ryu says these guys are around my level of ability, though, so they must not have much else.* After he was finished examining his opponents, he snarled, "Bring it on..." In preperation for his first attack, he started focusing what little magic he had learned in his sword, causing it to glow a dull red.

The shadows, predictably, got in the first blows: simple slashes with their knives. Kaerlos grunted as each knife struck his armor, but didn't seem to react beyond that. Immediately on the second hit, the Imperial Sword burst into flames as Kaerlos counterswung at the second shadow to strike him. It managed to backstep in time to avoid losing anything, but the sword still traced a long, bloody burn across the creature's torso. Ryu and Ursula seemed content to stand back and watch Kaerlos's performance, occasionally whispering comments on his style and debating "corrective training" for any flaws they believed they saw.

The injured shadow obviously didn't take Kaerlos's counterattack very well: it growled and rushed in, swinging at him wildly in an obvious attempt to incapacitate him for a killing blow. Kaerlos managed to fend off the attacks, only to find them repeated by his other adversary. During this Kaerlos had finished his swing and begun to reverse it, and when the storm of the shadows' blades ended he slashed at his first target, spun, and slashed again at neck height, intending on taking one down before starting on the other. It ducked under the first swing, but chose a bad time to stand back up and lost its head. "One down..." Kaerlos mumbled even as he braced himself for another attack.

The surviving shadow, however, upon seeing the fall of its comrade, panicked and said, "I-I'm outta here!" Without further warning, it turned and started running from Kaerlos.

"Hmph, coward," Kaerlos commented.

"Not bad, Kaerlos," Ryu commented, applauding. "You might be able to defend yourself after all."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Kaerlos complained.

"To tell the truth, I had my doubts about your ability. I intended this to be a test to see how far you had left to go," Ryu explained. "I never expected you to beat one shadow and drive another off on your own."

"I know that's not the end of my training, though," Kaerlos commented. "After all, I know I'm nowhere near my potential."

Ursula nodded. "If your abilities are anything like Fou-lu's, you've got a long road ahead of you to master them."

"I doubt my powers'll be as... extreme as my brother's were, but they may be of a similar scale," Kaerlos said. "Perhaps my emphasis will be magic..."

"Yeah, probably," Ryu said. "After all, Fou-lu always thought you were the smart one."

Kaerlos shrugged. "I think he gives me too much credit. He could have learned as much as I did if he had set his mind to it," he said before blinking. "Oh, yeah. With all the training Ryu's been giving me I've forgotten to test my summoning abilities." He thought a bit, then said, "All right, I'll try for a Kolpum, and you tell me what I end up getting, okay?" When Ryu and Ursula nodded, he closed his eyes and concentrated as he had been trained to do, picturing the samurai that had saved his life the night of his arrival. A circle of light traced itself around him before a blue pentagram was drawn in it. Shortly afterward, a flash of light announced the completion of the summoning.

As Kaerlos opened his eyes, Ryu said, "Well... it worked... sorta..." A short pause. "At least you summoned SOMETHING. How you got an Eye Goo I don't know, though."

Indeed, when Kaerlos opened his eyes he saw a blue ball of... well... goo with eyes bouncing off the top. He looked at Ryu, noticed his look of disappointment, and said, "I take it from your reaction that this is weaker than I was trying for?"

"About as weak as they come," Ryu confirmed.

Kaerlos nodded and banished the goo with a thought. "Hey Ursula, any ideas why I got that goo?"

Ursula shook her head in confusion. "The best I can come up with is that your summoning's unstable... like Ryu was at first. You don't have full control of your powers, but it's a different instability."

Kaerlos thought for a second, then nodded. "You know... that makes sense. Maybe desperation doesn't necessarily let me summon anything from anywhere I've been- maybe it increases the power of what I get instead." He frowned as he continued. "I don't want to know what it would take to bring out my full power..."

Ryu shuddered. "Scary thought."

Ursula thought a bit, then said, "You know... maybe we should go introduce Kaerlos to the others. It's been a long time since we've seen them."

Kaerlos looked at Ryu, then said something incomprehensible to the others. "Ummm... translation?" Ryu asked.

"Seems Fou-lu didn't pay attention in the ancient language classes either... don't blame him, either, since they're never used anymore and the teacher was kind of a windbag," Kaerlos commented without any teasing in his tone. "Anyway, what I just said loosely translates into 'Not in our terms.' At least, that's what I think it was..." After a brief moment of consideration, he said, "I think I'll stick to the common language, since I can't really translate any others. That was the only class I ever really fell asleep in."

Ryu snickered a bit at that. "Kaerlos the study-holic, falling asleep in class? That's a first."

Kaerlos smiled slightly at that comment. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Just goes to show how bad the class was." After a second or so of just standing there like that, he lost his smile and said, "Oh, yeah. Do you know anyone who can teach me magic?"

Ursula nodded. "I can teach you some fire magic, some draining spells, and a little other magic."

Kaerlos smiled pleasantly. "Would you at least teach me the fire magic? The other elements I'm sure I can learn from other sources."

Ursula smiled back, albeit a bit more coldly. "Sure. I'll even throw in my draining magic." Inside, she was screaming, *WHY AM I DOING THIS?!*

Kaerlos nodded while saying, "Thanks. I say let's go look for more teachers, if you guys don't mind."

Ryu shrugged. "Why not? It's not like you'll be learning the Dragon Magic, so you gotta learn spells somewhere, right?"

Ursula stopped smiling as she said, "Right. First I say we look for Ershin." She tilted her head. "I heard it was working on purifying the large forest near here."

Kaerlos looked utterly clueless. "Ummm... purify of what?"

"Hex energy."

Kaerlos nodded. "Okay, so... what's a hex?"

Ryu and Ursula exchanged looks of surprise before Ryu said, "Looks like there's another class you didn't pay attention in. A hex is basically all the negative feelings of a sacrifice released and, usually, given form."

Kaerlos snarled as he said, "Let me guess: human sacrifice?" When Ryu nodded, he continued, "Now you see WHY I refused to pay attention in the Black Arts classes- I didn't want to learn how to do that stuff."

"Anyway, before we get sidetracked any more..." Ursula interrupted. "Let's go look for the others."

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Okay, I've gotten to the point where I think the chap's kinda dragging on so I'll cut it off here. Next chapter our *ahem* "fearless" trio find Ershin and convince it to go with them.

Kind of a bad "next chapter" thing so far, I know, but I pretty much tend to "burn" my creative impulses mid-chapter. (At least that's what I did here.) So... no witty comments this time. Sorry if you were expecting some. If anything, it's the next chapter's TITLE that's witty.

Next chapter: "It's a Tin Can!" "No it isn't!"