(Closed)Training with Kevin

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand could feel himself loosing his cool. "I'm tired of your bullshit Kevin!" He shouted. "I don't have time to play games. I need advice, training, something to help me grow. Making me play a guessing game is only wasting time. Don't you understand that?"

Having blown off some steam, Seigmand breathed a deep sigh. He hated to admit it but he knew Kevin was in control, and if he wanted to play then he had to go along with it. Cursing under his breath Seigmand spoke, this time calmer. "Okay, fine. What's my hint?"

[Andy Jammer]

Kevin responded with a smirk to his outburst but gave his hint. "We are in a place where your illusions are a reality...even if they cannot be in reality themselves."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

"Hmm, the only place where what I want to exist does exist? So either this is the most annoying dream I've ever had or you've brought me into a sort of hypnotic state where this is all in my head. Close enough?" Seigmand said, rubbing his fingers against his brow and eyes as if fighting a headache.

[Andy Jammer]

"Close enough is good enough for me," Kevin said, outstretching his finger...

Soon Seigmand would feel a tapping on his forehead, and a haunting voice.

"Time to wake up!"

[Seigmand Dezmar]

It was only a moment after Kevin spoke that Seigmand felt the ghostly touch. It was in that instance that the world around him seemed to collapse. It was as if the entire realm was a mirrored room, and the feeling of that drumming on his head had shattered the vision before him. In an instant the boundless rocky plateau he'd been fighting Kevin on had faded, and with a single blink of his eyes he now saw the surrounding caves and cliffs of the Quarry.

Seigmand scanned over the place quickly, trying to gain his bearings before realizing he'd never even moved since he was last in the quarry. To think he had me completely captured in that illusion. He is indeed an interesting man.

Having found Kevin while looking around, he refocused his attention on him. "Okay Kevin, I won your game, so it's time that you ceased all the playtime and actually helped me. You got another method for me, or are we still just fighting?"

[Andy Jammer]

"Seigmand, I have been teaching you something." he shook his head, "There is a lesson I'm trying to drill into your head. The lesson being about your powers and their limits. The limits you have now can be surpassed, they can continue to grow. But sometimes even the strongest warrior can find himself in a bind. Take Trucido for instance, I once fought him a long time ago. Way before your time."

He paused before continuing, "Trucido is learning to surpass his limits, as all warriors do. You have almost surpassed yours too."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand sighed to himself and looked up Kevin. He began to walk towards the man, his eyes carrying a heavy anger behind them and his hands trembling. "You're right Kevin, you have taught me something. You've taught me how little power brings people. You've been holding back on me Kevin, that much I can tell. You could have killed me several times, and yet here you are, wasting your time toying with a pubescent boy and an aging king, when you could be out there putting a stop to that madman! I've heard of the prophet, and that she holds such power that she can connect worlds together, yet she hides while true evil walks freely!" Seigmand voice rose, his rage past the holding point where he can no longer hide behind his calm facade.

"This man, if you can call him that, challenges the gods themselves! Yet what do they do Kevin? What do they do to protect this world with all their power? They. Do. Nothing Kevin!"

He stops just a few feet from Kevin, staring at him in silence. Then slowly his lips move again. "Nothing. I fight this man the only way I can. I am not strong enough to protect my people from him in open resistance. But here I see you Kevin; a man who no doubt could pose a threat to Trucido, perhaps even end him, and yet you do nothing besides joke and hide behind your pupil. Do you have nothing worth protecting on this world Kevin? Do you have any purpose behind your blade?"

"Well I'm done with your cryptic words and your roundabout games. I've only grown a little stronger from our encounter Kevin, and that only came from self-discovery through the teacher that is experience. I shall not waste any more of my time with one so weak in resolve. Goodbye Kevin." With that Seigmand turned around and began to walk slowly away.

[Andy Jammer]

Kevin tipped his hat a bit and said to the walking king of rock. "Seigmand...your intentions claim nobility...but there is a poison in your words. A poison that can turn on it's owner. Yes, I...may have the power to defeat him, but ask yourself...if I did, why didn't he die when I fought him so many years ago?"

He turned to him, "Despite your claims you need to really consider...who is the king in this game of chess. Is it the strategist who underestimates the powers of young boys and older warriors? Or is it the man who trains them?"

He sighed, looking into the air. "Your role in this game...will always be hidden from you."

In a flash of movement, a blur of green, Kevin has appeared to the side of him. His sword glinting a red energy.

"I'll do you a favor...and remove you from the game." He said as his thrust his sword to run through Seigmand's stomach.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand only passively heard the droning of Kevin's words as he moved away from the man. He had little to no care for his excuses.

Hmph, why he asks? Naivety? Weakness? Respect? In the end it doesn't matter. It's not excuses of the past I cared for, rather reasons for the why of now. Well, a dead end this time. Perhaps I can find someone else worth training under.

It was then that Seigmand felt a blitz of fast footfalls against the ground racing towards him. He had only a moment to turn to see what was coming at him. All his senses picked up on was a few deadly words and an even deadlier blur of motion. He saw the flash of steel striking towards his front, and Seigmand knew he could do nothing to stop it. He could feel everything almost grind to a halt for him, his mind racing so fast that a thousand thoughts ran through his mind in the instant before he saw death ready to claim him. Amidst the fears of demise, the hatred still flowing towards his assailant, there was the fleeting thought of fateful acceptance. To Seigmand he saw himself surrounded by the earth, and had thought it fitting that he should die surrounded in it. In what he thought were his last moments he even entertained the notion of the ground inviting him, welcoming him as a friend to its embrace.

So be it. It was good working with you partner. Thank you for efforts and the strength you lended me. And with that Seigmand closed his eyes and felt the impact of Kevin's strike against his body. His body jerked once in response before being still.

Yet when Seigmand dared to open his eyes, he saw Kevin still staring at him. His body felt... unharmed. He looked down to his chest to see the blade had indeed struck its mark. However a snaking trail of solid earth had manifested up and around his leg to form a solid block right were the attack had been, leaving Kevin's blade impaled into the hard rock and only the tip of his blade barely touching his clothes.

Seigmand was bamboozled. He had known he had not the time to summon the earth up from the ground to protect him. But despite that it had indeed saved him. He looked on puzzling as the stone embraced him so close. It felt strange to him. Sure he had always used his art through touch, yet it had always been through his touch that he forced the ground to move to his command. To him it had always been a tool; a weapon to wield. The close knitted defense that had been created felt different to him somehow. Yet he did not understand, and despite having had his life challenged he felt his attention had a more important focus right now.

"You look confused Seigmand, but why? Did you think the earth around you would be content to let you die? Or did you think it was incapable of being at all?" Kevin retrieved his blade from the protective stone to sheath it.

"I... well..." Seigmand had felt embarrassed to admit it, but Kevin had hit the bullseye. He didn't think there was anything alive about the earth. At least not until now.

"The reason I don't kill Trucido Seigmand, is because I believe in others. I have faith that these young warriors, as lost as they are now, will find the strength to do this world right. And when I'm gone these warriors, bound together by this destiny will ensure its survival." He placed a reassuring hand on Seigmand's shoulder. "When you accept the fact that you cannot control everything, you will gain so much more power."

Seigmand looked at Kevin, and at last understood the power he'd gained. Rather, he'd understood the power he had neglected. He smiled at Kevin, but brushed his hand away from his shoulder. "Thank you Kevin, but don't think you can go lecturing me now just because I got stronger through that mess you called training." He stomped the ground and channeled a pillar of stone that rose him to the top of the quarry.

"You aren't off the hook that easy Kevin. Those kids have a long way to go, so if you want them ready for this, you'd better train the hell out of them." He shouted down to Kevin before pushing off, skating away of a rolling mound of dirt.

"Heh," Kevin pushed his hat up with his usual laid back look. "stubborn one that guy. Hope he knows what in the world he's doing himself."