Time to train. (Tas)

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan was up bright and early. His energy felt peaked despite the rapid drain it had been subject to the day before. Igneus too had his energy recovered, though he was much less inclined on getting up at the ass crack of dawn. The hunter had forgone walking out of his dorm the normal way, and vaulted out the open window with his armaments in hand. Before going to sleep, he'd polished Shireiutz so the holster was slung across his back, but the sword was in hand as well as the holster for as well as his rifle.

Ebony and Ivory were, as always, inside his coat, strapped to his enchanted vest along with six spare magazines. Three of such were in the rifle holster next to the .30-06 and its bi-pod. One clip for each gun consisted of silver rounds. What he would need silver for against Tas, who knew. Though bullets were bullets. Thud. Tristan landed hard on the grass outside his window, four stories down. His knees bent to absorb the impact though they didn't really need to, his body coming upon super human stamina and endurance. He walked at a lightning pace, having used his singular metal element spell in order to float his part diamond blade next to him while he strapped on the rifle which attached to his coat and waist. Unfortunately it restricted his movements slightly, but what ever.

Igneus had almost fallen off his perch on Tristan's right shoulder from the fall and impact but still held fast to it. The magic released the blade as Tristan's gauntleted hand rose back around and caught it by the handle, spinning it around with ease and practically flinging it into its sheath with inhuman accuracy and skill that was of the stuff you see from gun slingers, only done with a single edged, extremely long sword. Once his gear was assembled he flung a hand back and the metal handles of his windows, a couple of hundred feet back, shot the windows closed and flipped the steel latch. God having metal elementalism ruled.

Now that every thing was square away, nice and neat, Tristan took off. His Crusnik strength sent him flying high into the air as his legs pounded the ground. He soared over buildings and trees and streets, past the academy where he hung a left. Every few hundred feet, he'd be landing, running, and taking off again, much to the bemusement of the people around him. Flight and this current act had become natural to the degree where the normal, child like glee someone would get no longer held any sway, though Tristan still had a degree of excitement placating his black eyes.

And onto the Training grounds. Probably twenty leaps had Tristan at the gates of the fighting area where a few mages who were up at the hour stopped what they were doing to see a speeding blur zooming past them at incredible speeds. A couple kept watching while their opponents took advantage and clobbered them. Such simple tactics. Well, what ever got you the win as long as you didn't kill any one.

For some reason now, the lyric, 'Over the river and through the woods...' popped into Tristan's head at this moment in time as he flew over the field and into the main bulk of the forest. He landed on evergreens, bending the upper portions before taking off again, flinging them back the other way. This entire process had Igneus hanging on for life and limb, digging his claws into the dragon hide coat, it would need to be transmuted back into form later.

A few more leaps and Tristan was crashing into the far field on the opposite side of the forest where a river flowed in the distance to the left. The water in that particular flow was pretty damn cold as it ran from the icy hills back there. You could feel the cold breeze coming off from it as you stood on this plain. Igneus hopped off of Tristan shoulder and glided to still ground, thankfully. He used his alchemy after scorching a transmutation from the air onto his right sleeve then touched it and poured a rather small amount of mana into the shoulder, fixing the divets in the hide.

After that was done, he unclipped his rifle sling and tossed it to the ground, next to that, he stabbed Shireiutz, with the same elegant and fierce movement that put it there not ten minutes prior. The sun was rising in the east, casting a glow over the river which looked like nothing more than a golden strand from where Tristan stood. The dragon hide coat followed the other bits of Tristan's gear. He unclipped it swiftly and flung it off, it landing perfectly on the pommel and hilt, if thats what you'd call it, of the diamond/titanium sword.

Tristan's muscular arms crossed then, stretching out the fabric of the black tee that he wore under his vest. His black dragon hide Gi pants flapped ever so slightly in the light breeze, along side his black straggly hair, as what remained of Tristan's metal armaments shone in the morning sun. All that remained was to wait for Tas. This day was gonna be fun.

[Aiyon]

After a little while Tas floats into the field, using the same magic she'd exhibited in the hospital wing the day before. Tristan is accorded a friendly wave as she drifts about, looking at the carnage from their fight. The most obvious damage is the long scar from when she'd imitated a plough, and shakes her head sorrowfully as she looks at it. "You know... this kinda hurt. Sure i withstood it, but hitting the ground that fast? I'm suprised i didn't get any real injury from it. But, i digress. Sorry." and she abruptly vanishes.

While her illusion had been looking around for her the real Tas had hovered silently and invisibly beside Tristan and Igneus. Now that the spell had ceased she reapearred and landed lightly on her feet, though sore muscles did extract a slightly pained grunt at the landing. "Sorry for being a little late... i'm aching a lot. How are you two this morning?" asks with a friendly smile, though it appears to be mostly directed at Igneus. It seemed Tas was taking quite a liking to the little dragon.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan saw Tas after around ten minutes. That was fine though, Sun Tzu said in Art of War, 'In general, whoever occupies the battleground first and awaits the enemy will be at ease; whoever occupies the battleground afterward and must race to the conflict will be fatigued.' page fifty-two of the smaller, english translation. Igneus then perked up, his senses kicking in. Thats not her.... He took in the air. Shes right next to us. The silly girl was up wind. Tristan too took in the morning air and detected her a few feet off to the right. Almost as if on cue, the illusion of the floating Tas infront of them dissapeared.

Tristan swung to his left and kicked up his blade, knocking off his coat and flinging the blade up into the air where he caught it in his right hand and swished it back to the right with a woosh as it blasted through the air. The tip of the blade stopped an inch from the real Tas' nose as she plopped onto the ground. "Not a problem, better to wait in ambush then to rush into battle." He commented light tonely with a smirk. His left arm still in a fist against his right pectoral, his foot work returning to the previous position of being met at the heels, and toes apart at roughly a fourty-five degree angle. Years of Ninjutsu instilled his positioning into his subconscious.

He swung the blade around, passing dangerously close to Tas' skin and back to the other side to be caught by the left hand which had whipped out to catch the sword. That left hand spun it around, black dragon hide sheath and all, back into position in the dirt, his hand then whipped up and caught his coat, which was beginning to sail away, by the collar and placed it back on the pommel of his sword. Igneus sat idly as his partner went all flashy with the whole situation. "You'll have to do better at hiding...invisibility and flight can't mask your scent." He commented playfully.

"Now that that's over, lets begin. Do you want to go straight into a fight, or do you want to be actually taught?" Her choice. Tristan wasn't big on teaching, reason being he wasn't a student teacher, or at least had applied for the position yet. He didn't mind teaching people how to fight though. Teaching might not be a bad idea, as long as he was the combat arts teacher. Or a combat arts teacher at least.

[Aiyon]

There was a stunned silence once Tristan was done showing off as Tas took a few hesitant steps away from him. She hadn't actually meant to sneak up on the other two anyway, but the response had scared her.

"I'll remember that, Igneus." Is her eventual comment, with a definite edge to voice. Then she shakes her head. "And Tristan... remember... you're the one teaching. You say fight or whatever." she pauses and takes a deep breath, calming herself slightly, and gives a thin smile. "But take demonstrations slower, 'kay? I didn't see much of your last show. Plus, well... i can't use you for target practice right now."

Her last statement was understandable, since the day before had seen her gun getting wrecked by Tristan. Tas hadn't even bothered bringing it with her today, its holster instead occupied by the bottle of pills Mey had been kind enough to hand over in the hospital.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan shook his head. "You say when to fight. That's how I teach. You decide what you wanna do, then I teach you how I'm gonna teach you. Whether you want to be taught how to fight, or go hands on about it." He said, walking toward the girl. "As for a gun, any alchemist could have fixed that. Hell, I could probably make one right now." Stopping infront of Tas, towering over the poor girl, he simply stared her in the eye.

It really was her choice. That was how he taught, it was the students option if there were different ways of teaching. Personally he didn't mind being a martial arts instructor, and had done so on occasion after he gotten his purple belt all those years ago. He also didn't mind fighting...As any one could tell from how much he did so. "So, what's it gonna be? Fighting, or teaching?" Black eyes practically burning a hole right through Tas, even past those odd sunglasses.

Another thing was that if they were going to fight, Tristan would probably only be human for few minutes...then he'd go Crusnik. If you can't face an enemy who you can't possibly defeat, then you can't face any enemy. Win or loose, you have to stand up to the odds...sooner or later. And better sooner, with a friend, then later, against an army.

[Aiyon]

This time Tas holds her ground, her piercing yellow eyes matching his glare with only a small flinch. "I don't know alchemy." she responds cooly, not appreciating the way he was looking at her. "I can fix it by myself over a few days, but i'm not unarmed. I still have my charges." Her charge box was in its usual place on the back of her belt, though she evidently hadn't done any work on fixing it as it was still sporting its battle damage.

"And i think doing both would be best, don't you?" She asks neutrally, tilting her head slightly to one side while still not dropping her gaze. "Teach me a little, then fight to see if i've learned anything...?"

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan listened to what she had to say. A slight flicker of false anger reached across his face as she made the suggestion. Evil, wasn't he? Make her think she pissed him off. It wasn't that easy. Contemplating what to do to her, "I meant an alchemist around the school. Any repair shop around the city is bound to have an alchemist on hand." An idea popped into his head then, "And as far as teaching then fighting-" His left hand shot out, gripping her right wrist with his inhuman speed, the same could be said of his right arm, only it wrapped around her neck.

In a flash, Tristan would turn around, pulling her arm along with his motion, his body dropped into a horse stance after his footing matched hers, the smallest of his back was at her groin, just below the center, which was extremely hard with the height difference. He would then pop back his hips, lifting Tas with ease, and use both his arms to launch her over onto her back. The whole process would take less than a second, and Tas would find her self staring up at a huge grin on Tristan's face, "That's known as Kubi Nage...Head throw." Only then, when she saw the grin on Tristan's face, would she know he had been messing around before.

The hunter would at that point, straighten up, and take a few steps back for her to get up. If she'd say something like, 'hey, cheap shot.' he'd reply, "First rule, expect the unexpected. You always want to be prepared for some one to attack." Still with a slight smirk.

[Aiyon]

One moment she was just standing, then she was pressed against his back, then she was on the floor looking at his grin. The rapid chain of events threw her for a moment as she blinks a few times with suprise. "Ugh... cheap shot." she grumbles, feeling the aches from the previous day coming back again. And the case digging into the small of her back wasn't helping.

Tas gingerly gets up, but can't help chuckling as Tristan gives her his great wisdom, restoring her to good spirits. "You'd think i'd have got that one yesterday, huh?" is her self-depreciating responce. Two circles appear around her right forearm, but she doesn't make any other motion that could be retaliation. Though she is watching a lot more closely than before, on her guard against a repeat demonstration.

"Ok, lesson noted..." she says eventually. "What's next?"

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan was in light a spirit as Tas, more so even, his usual blank expression was no longer there, but instead held an expression that any one els having a good time would have. "I'm not gonna go into any sort of order with these rules, or lessons. Especially considering the fact that they generally don't have an order aside from that first rule." He took a stance and bolted at top speed, he blasted forward then halted infront of her, his armored fingers infront of her face, delivering a hard flick on the nose with the middle finger. "Speed adds to power. If your fast, but not strong, charging hits are your best bet. If your fast and strong, your speed will amplify your power." He paused for a second.

"Basic laws of momentum. Inertia acts against it but as mages we can over come that. Through spells or simply inhuman physical ability." He put his hands behind his back and stepped off for a moment. Next lesson would be to use the unorthodox...he had his attack planned for that one. As yet he wasn't using full power, and wouldn't until they were just fighting.

He'd await her response and reaction. The blast of speed would likely throw her off for a moment, hopefully not enough to make her stumble like last time, after all they had only been about four feet apart. She had only stood and Tristan took a step back from the throw.

[Aiyon]

"Well, you did just tell me to expect the unexpected. Either ironic or appropriate... " Tas falls silent as he goes into his instruction of the basics, nodding thoughtfully as she understood each bit.

"So, your speed and my lack thereof yesterday... was really, really bad. No wonder it hurt like hell." she muses when he falls silent. Then a thoughtful expression crosses her face as she looks down at the circlets around her arm. "Speed... speed... hrm. Ok... this one?" she mutters to herself as the circles start to spin a little faster, then a glowing rune appears in her hand, her fingers placed around it as if holding on to an unseen sphere with the rune at its heart. With this spell stable at the moment she looks back up at Tristan, smiling.

"Ok then, that should do it." she admits. Her speed was greater than usual, though still a long way from Tristan's level. But anything was an improvement really, and every little helped. Now she just had to wait to see what he would do next, and try to avoid it.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

He tilted his head slightly when she made the comment about the difference in their speed, saying, 'pretty much'. Tristan's insane speed and her excessive lack there of had allowed her to take the full brunt of Tristan's power. Ok...now that she understood this one, next. Now...there were probably a few lessons before this, but like he'd already said, there was no order to this whole shtick.

He blasted forward again, only to flip himself over as quick as humanely, or inhumanely, possible, onto one hand and blast his body into a spin that made him look like a five foot tall top. Five foot, because his legs were spread out, creating a dangerous whipping motion that would smash against the side of Tas' head, sending her flying. Tristan would then, hit or no hit, launch himself off of that hand, which had dug a small hole in the dirt, and land on his feet. He'd been sent spinning so many times he wasn't all that dizzy, though he wouldn't really try a follow up attack after pulling that once.

"Next lesson is to utilize the unorthodox. Only thing, is if they do so aswell, they'll expect it. Even using the first rule of life in general as a fighter, the most unorthodox moves will throw any one off." He paused, standing in that same old posture, ready, but not agressive. " 'Break dance' and Capoiera moves are the most effective in doing so...unless of course, like I said, someone does the same thing." He walked toward her again, as he'd gone quite aways, and continued. "This is one of the less important lessons, rules, what have you, but when your up against a physically superior opponent, this can save your ass." He flexed his mana then, the dirt around him beginning to rise.

The mounds of dirt took form then. The resembled statues of Tristan. Soon they had pigment, and they were exact copies except for a lack of mana signature that revealed where most people were in a normal situation. "Observe." One of the three clones grabbed the real Tristan by the ankle and hoisted him up, his hair dangling inches from the ground. "Now, while I could break out of this, imagine that this clone is someone insanely strong, even by my standards." He bent up and launched a fist at the jaw of the clone.

Reactionarily it stumbled back, though held on, Tristan then used the punching fist to grab the hand on his ankle, and he lifted himself up and over, using his free right leg to kick the head off of his clone. It fell over and with a strong twist, the earthy grip was broken and he released the hand, leaving the Clone to reasemble itsself and stand. "See what I mean? The punch was a distractor to get myself in a position where the power of my legs could get me out." The clones lined up then, and stood with blank expressions on their faces. Tristan stood infront of them, the only difference between the bunch, was that the clones still had the coat on. Other than that, they were identical.

OOC:

Stats for the clones:
Str: 25
Dex: 17
End: 30
Wis: 10
Int: 0
Eng: 8

Igneus and Tristan control them mentally, though they have basic reactions like dodging obvious attacks and getting them selves up.

[Aiyon]

"Close..." was her subdued response when Tristan came at her, feet flying. She'd deftly backed up to avoid getting tagged by it, easily the fastest he'd seen her move yet. Though if he'd actually been trying he'd have got her fairly easily, so Tas was lucky he was focused with teaching. Rather than guarding against a followup she got to be entertained by him "playing with mud", as she mentally referred to his clone demonstration.

"Very impressive." she said critically once he stopped showing off. "I follow the theory of what you did... but i think practice is needed for that kind of thing, right?" A thoughtful expression appears on her face and then Tas raises her guard again. "And given that the other yous are still here... i'm about to be up-ended for some experience of my own, huh?"

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan's arms were crossed, and when she made the last statement, he shook his head. "These guys are for the next lesson, and probably the last for now." They stepped up, now under Igneus' command. The dragon flew over head to get better view to be able to control the clones. "How to overcome numbers." The clones surrounded him in a triangle. "Any martial artist...or any street fighter for that matter, will tell you to isolate the enemies. But what if you can't? What if they keep up with you by organizing themselves and moving you where the others can keep up?" The clones to stances, Tristan didn't move, yet.

"Sure you can use that green barrier of yours to blast them away. I can use a wind spell to blast all three of them. But say your magic is depleted, or sealed even?" They charged and Tristan leaned back, they all had thrown a punch and were all at least within the confines of the hunters peripheral vision. Just a basic jab, but it was effective for the means. The three fists met with a loud crack. Tristan had just avoided it by an inch. "One thing you never want to do against numbers is exaggerate your movements, use as little force as possible, go for breaks, parrys, et cetera." He grabbed one of the fists and pushed it away, moving the other two fists away with the single motion.

Tristan then flipped up on the grabbed fist, shooting out both feet which crashed into the other two clones chests, knocking them back. "Another good thing is to use the opponents body against them." As he swung in, pulling on his last clones fist and smashing both feet into where its diaphragm would be. He let go of the fist and landed on his back. The clone went flying a few feet and rolled back with the impact. Tristan then did your a-typical martial artists recovery by launching himself off his shoulders and onto his feet. "All of these things take practice, speed, and good foresight. If you can't see this stuff coming, you can't avoid it."

Once she got that, the clones would face her and take right facing Katate Ichi Monji no Kumae. Tristan aswell. "Like I said, that was the last lesson for now, time for you to impliment it all." He rushed in alone, breaking stance, and sent a side kick to her ribs. He'd start of simple, letting her use the lessons to her advantage. Once she got the hang of using the lessons, Tristan would dismiss the clones and go Crusnik.

[Aiyon]

The girl remains silent while watching his demonstration, nodding thoughtfully as he made and/or demonstrated each point. Most of this she knew she couldn't use immediately, practice was required, but she was going to get that. And a little too soon for comfort, too.

She stirs uncomfortably as her teacher decrees the time to fight has come. Tas gives a half-shrug in response, giving away that she wasn't very happy but would comply. She'd barely completed the action when he was in motion again, this time in her direction.
No magic, huh? Ok... for now. she decides reluctantly. The runes around her arm flare brightly as she ducks, using the last of her enhanced speed as the magic vanishes to avoid Tristan's kick.
Then, rather than trying to withdraw, Tas' own leg lashes out in a counter-attack, the steel-toecapped boot aimed at the ankle of Trisan's other leg. The one he was standing on.

Regardless of if this strike connected or not, Tas already knew her next move. She would dash forward, putting herself behind Tristan unless he turned, before coming about to face him again. His greatest advantage, by far, was speed... so she needed to try to see him when he was coming at her. If he gave her the chance, of course.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan took the fall. He slammed his left elbow into the ground then rose up on his hand, balancing upside down, letting the blood relaxingly rush to his brain. He could stay like that for quite some time...a few hours infact, when most people couldn't stand a few seconds. "Not bad. Not exactly unorthodox, but a decent application of speed. No doubt that rune thing on your arm and hand was the source." As he spoke, she finished rounding about, though he didn't exactly know it until he borrowed the eyes of clone A.

For future reference, where Tristan was standing moments before, two clones were on his right, one on his left. That one on his left shall be known as clone A the one next to Tristan on his right, shall be clone B, and the last shall be clone C. Right, back to the action.

Clone A, under the hunters command, jumped forward and put Tas in a powerful grip, simply crossing its arms across her chest, squeezing painfully with power that surpassed Tristans. [Now she'll have to use unorthodox. And I doubt that barrier will be able to smash the stone in that clone.] In fact, from what she had used the previous day, that barrier couldn't crush stone, but for all Tristan knew, that was its weakest form. He flipped over and took a stance, more a lax boxers stance now, though clones B and C stayed in Katate Ichi Monji no Kumae, only turning, on magical instinct, to keep facing the opponent.