(Closed)Training with Kevin

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand stood in the center of the quarry once again, the days having begun to blur as he awaited Kevin's arrival. Though their meeting's details had been somewhat vague, he had though the man would have come shortly to aid him. As he worked through his patterns and forms, he kept his senses sharp. The paranoid feeling he was being watched no doubt stemmed from the last time he had been out here to practice. Yet Seigmand was a man who embraced paranoid, danced in deception, and instead of exciting his nerves merely made him feel secure as he let the time slip by.

If nothing else, the constant training done in the quarry had made him feel more confident in not only his geomancy but his combat prowess as well. Yet he had felt a roadblock on his path to expanding his potential. Sure he could shake the earth itself and make it move to his will. He could channel it merely by touching it, and he could apply it to a weapon or other person and control it as long he was touching either. Yet he felt there was more.

Maybe you will help me Kevin. If you could make a boy like Andy as strong as he is, then surely you can excel my growth as well. If only you'd show.

[Andy Jammer]

"Gooooooooooooooooooood Mooooooooorning!" Kevin leaped down from the quarry, as chipper as he could be. "Ahhh, feel the morning air! One of the more peaceful times of the day. Ah yes, you wanted some training to be done...?"

He shifted his hat slightly as his cane dug into the dirt a little. "I believe your attacks involve the Earth around us...?"

[Seigmand Dezmar]

"It's about time, I was starting to wonder if you'd just felt like messing with me back in Crepusculum Kingdom." Seigmand said, his voice thick with impatience. He walked up towards Kevin till they were only a foot or so away from each other. "I'll be clear Kevin, I need to get stronger with my Geomancy and I feel a something preventing me from going any further. I want your help to either improve what I can already do or to release this constraint from my power. Understood?"

Seigmand looked Kevin in the eyes, trying to see what lurked behind the whimsical persona he had. He still didn't understand the man's motives, or what exactly he had to gain from training not only Andy but himself as well. I hate to put my trust in this strange man's hands, but right now I need him more than I fear him, and that's enough for now.

[Andy Jammer]

Kevin remained still before lifting his cane and jabbing Seigmand in the chest. "If you want to unlock your powers then I'd curb your attitude for one thing. It's morning, it's a time of cheer. Now I assume you'd like to start with the first lesson?"

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Grimacing at Kevin's comment, Seigmand none the less tried to appear a bit more cheery, forcing a quick smile. "Yes, what will we be doing? Meditation? Sparring? Or do you have a personal secret for this sort of thing? I assure you I'm ready for whatever you have in store."

[Andy Jammer]

"Oh-ho," Kevin snickered through his hand, "Confident are we? Well then... lesson one is fairly simple."

He walked over to a round boulder, a bit bigger than himself and leaped onto the top. "Move this boulder, without using your powers."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand chuckled a bit before walking up to the boulder. "I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific in how you want me to move it. If this is merely a test of my intelligence, then its no more difficult than to merely do..." With one swift motion he pulled his staff out from behind him, giving a quick spin before he jammed it hard into the ground directly under the boulder. "...this!" Using only a small amount of strength he leveraged the boulder using his staff, causing the rock to lift and shift slightly. "Is that all you had in mind?" He looked up at Kevin with a smartass grin on his face.

[Andy Jammer]

"...How disappointing." Kevin sighed, sliding off the boulder. "It was a test all right, but it was meant to find out what you are... someone who will take the long rocky road and push the boulder, or take every neat and tidy shortcut to get fast to the goal. Here's some advice: if you want something, sometimes the path of longetivity is the best one. My training is not some two day instruction manual, and I will push you to your limits, possibly death. You understand me?"

[Seigmand Dezmar]

"Congrats to you sir, you have proven I'd rather work smart than work hard. As I said before, I'm ready for whatever test you have for me, so let's get to work." Segimand replied, his tone harsh towards Kevin. "I can do little more without an upgrade in power, so unless I succeed I'm as good as dead anyway."

[Andy Jammer]

"Right, onto lesson two..." he waved his hands and these thick red ropes surrounded Seigmand's hands and bounded them. "Survive."

As he said this his cane transformed into a sword.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand tried to struggle against the firm bonds for a few seconds before understanding he wasn't strong or flexible enough to untie his hands from behind his back. Scowling at Kevin, he adopted a back stance. As his front foot planted firmly against the ground in a heavy stomp the earth rolled out in a shallow rippling wave. As it spread from the center it created deep indents in the ground, each ring separated by an exact foot's distance. Seigmand felt slightly more comfortable with his standby defense in place and threw a cunning grin at his trainer.

"So master, if I beat you do I get bonus marks?" He asked jokingly. He hoped Kevin was a prideful man and would be lured into anger by his snide comment. Often fighters that were tended to strike with wider sweeps and less subtlety, making evading their strikes much easier. Part of Seigmand knew though that this man would not fall for such a simple trick and as such was ready for the worst.

[Andy Jammer]

"Ooh yes," Kevin nodded eagerly, stepping aside to reveal a maverlous spread of food and drink, "Win and not only you learn a lesson, but a free dinner...like how I set the table up, magic rules no?"

He twirled his blade a bit and began a slow walk to him, "Sometimes the battle is won, not by the strength of body and mind, but to know when the enemy has won. Figure out what it means, and you know the answer to this test."

Then he rushed for him, his blade posied for swipes.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

His mind darted with possible answers to Kevin's cryptic statement as the man advanced on Seigmand.

The battle is won when you know when the enemy has won? What does that even mean? Sun Tzu would say that sometimes a battle cannot be won, and to engage further only worsens the loss. That only applies to war though, not a man on man fight to the death. Ugh, this is annoying.

"So what, you'd have me run away is that it? I'm suppose to admit you'll beat me with my arms tied behind my back and just run away is that it? Well fine then, catch this!" Seigmand leapt backwards high into the air before landing effortlessly on his two feet. The impact of his movements sent the earth shaking underneath him as it gave way. The ground below him compressed tightly, making the ground drop some 40 feet in the ground.

From there Seigmand used a series of well placed kicks and shoulder rams on the earth in front of him to tunnel deep while collapsing the entrance behind him. He moved non stop for some 100 feet before stopping and waiting in a small pocket he left for himself. The air would not last for long, but it would give him time away from his foe, and the slight vibrations his movements would make would give him some idea what to do next.

[Andy Jammer]

"Hmmm... intersting tactic." Kevin noted, looking at the entrance. He sat down cross legged, his sword tightly held in his hand. "Let's wait to see what he'll do next."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand remained still, meditating on the current dilemma as he took slow and widely spaced breaths. They would give him the time he needed to best deal with Kevin's restraints. The fact that his area hadn't bee compromised yet told him either Kevin couldn't track him, or didn't want to. It was reassuring and allowed Seigmand to think.

How do I beat this? I could run for a while, though he might be faster. No... I can't escape stealthily either. Too much dirt gets kicked up the second I reach outside. If only I could bring him to the same position I could... And that was it. The rest of the plan unfolded so easily it was almost perfect. He just hoped he had read the man right, or it would fall apart. Seigmand bolted up to his feet and put his back to the wall. Feeling the earth against his open palms he let the geomancer energies flow out into the earth above him. He concentrated, and not feeling any vibrations above lunged upwards in a shoulder ram to the ceiling.

Above ground the quarry was deathly calm for only a few minutes before the ground quaked with a single tremor. Only a short ways from the tunnel's original opening came a violent eruption as chucks of dirt and rock sprayed forth from a single point. Amoung the flying shrapnel and thick clouds of dust the vague silhouette of Seigmand could be seen, as if taunting Kevin closer.