phantasmalrift | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: Akira and Margulis
What: Akira found a sword and by god she's gonna learn to use it.
When: A couple days after returning from Silvereagle Manor
Where: Starting out at the library, but probably not staying there for long.
Warnings: N/A

[She spent a long while just kind of staring at this sword she'd picked up at the manor. It's... maybe not the kind of weapon she was hoping to find, but at the same time, she can't exactly say she wasn't expecting this, given... everything about that place. It's not a bad sword, if she's being entirely honest. Learning to use it... learning to use it would certainly beat letting it sit around and collect dust, at any rate.

And, well, there's one person she can rely on to teach her.

That would be why she's made her way to the library right now... the place she's pretty sure Margulis is most likely to be at this point. The sword is resting in her inventory, for the time being. When she spots him...]

Ah... Margulis-san?

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[As usual when he's in the library, he's sitting with a pile of books next to him and reading one that had particularly caught his eye. As usual, his back is to a wall.

When he hears Akira address him, he glances up.]

Yes?

[She feels a little bad for interrupting his reading... but on the other hand: there's really nobody else she'd want to go to for this.]

During that expedition to the manor... I found a sword. I was wondering if you'd be willing to teach me how to wield it properly.

[He doesn't seem too annoyed, at least. In fact, her question only leads to a moment of thought before a bookmark floats up and settles into his book.]

It's been some time since I've had an apprentice...longer still since it's been someone I would teach even without desperation for competent fighters.

Let me see the blade you intend on using.

[She nods, setting her bag down and pulling the blade out of her inventory--it's a relatively light blade that doesn't look especially fancy or anything, but it'll serve well enough for someone learning. She holds it out for him to examine closer if he wants.]

[He takes it to measure the weight and balance, even standing up so he has room to try more complicated movements. At the end, he runs a gloved finger along the flat of the blade, close to the edge, to tilt it into the light.]

A single handed weapon, decent balance...it won't stand up to a heavily armored target, but it should do perfectly well for simply learning how to handle a full sized sword.

Maybe I'll get lucky enough to find a full-sized one at some point.

[It's only half serious, as she pays close attention.]

Hopefully, I won't be going up against heavily armored targets anytime soon, haha...

If you can find the materials, I could teach you to craft one of your own. I can even permanently enhance the strength of the metal if I have access to it during the forging process. But for now...

[He hands the weapon back.]

Put this somewhere safe. You'll be starting with something of a similar size that you won't maim yourself with if you make a beginner's mistake.

Ah, I'll have to keep an eye out then in that case...!

[Because holy shit, that's so cool??? Actually making a sword. Holy shit. But, ah, more importantly...]

Understood.

[She nods and takes the sword, putting it back into her inventory.]

Edited 2018-11-09 20:54 (UTC)

Let me know when you're prepared to start, and be certain you'll have time afterward to rest. You'll be putting unfamiliar strain on your muscles, and your body will need time to recover between exertions in order to properly adapt.

[She takes a few moments to think on her current schedule--she has nothing in particular going on that she can think of, thankfully, so adjusting things based on that shouldn't be a problem.

... Hmm, maybe she should avoid being on her feet too much after this first session...]

... I might go ahead and make dinner in advance, then, so I won't have to do a lot of standing around after. Would you like me to make you anything while I'm at it?

That's a wise idea. Don't bother with something for me, though. I make my own food, considering most can't handle my spice preference.

[... something about that deeply terrifies her.]

Ah, duly noted... I'd like to think my spice tolerance is pretty high, but that makes it sound like you're way beyond my level there...

Curry is the local specialty of my native culture, and my mentor as a child had a notable preference for spice, himself. Very few people like spice to the degree I tend to cook with.

[....But boy is it entertaining to watch their faces when they smell it.]

[She visibly perks up at the mention of curry. Even if it's spice beyond what she can tolerate...]

Curry, huh? That's one of the things I'm best at making!

Then maybe I will give it a try...assuming you don't mind my doctoring it to my preferences.

I wouldn't mind at all!

[Fixing it separately shouldn't be that big of a deal, at least.]

I wonder how well your recipe compares to Nakagawa's...

Nakagawa?

[She'll start heading toward the kitchen, glancing back at Margulis.]

[He packs his books into a Hammerspace brand bag and follows.]

A close friend of mine, since the first world I visited that wasn't my own. Cooking was one of her particularly noteworthy skills.

[...It honestly feels strange, being here without her.]

I see... I suppose we'll just have to see how the recipe I work off of holds up, then!

[She's going to need to revamp the Inferno...]

[That gets a faint chuckle.]

If she were here, I can already imagine her taking that as a challenge.

[She grins.]

Well, I have always been the competitive type.

[She doesn't need competition to drive her to improve, but it certainly helps.]

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she turns up sooner or later. This is my fourth alternate world, and I've yet to spend time in one where she didn't appear eventually.

I hope she does show up, then!

[Not even for what the competition would do for her cooking skill, just for the fact that she'd be meeting one of Margulis' friends...

... wait, though.]

... Fourth alternate world?

[Holy shit.]

Prospero, Exsilium, Equestria, and now here. It's become enough of a pattern that a sudden change in my environment hardly comes as a surprise anymore.

I imagine not... Sounds like things aren't ever boring for you, at least.

[...]

Do you ever miss anyone from your original world? Or get homesick sometimes?

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