It's Tough to be a Lancer [Amord]

[Imperfect_M]

"You're going to break your legs like that," Cynbel commented.

"My legs are fine!" Adallindis shot back.

"For now."

For a brief moment, Cynbel's eyes shifted to a glowing white-blue as the Storm Dragon took his turn to speak. "He's right, even if you have my master's might to break your fall," rumbled Gravuun Qo Gram's voice, though he was speaking through Cynbel's lips, "Your Human body is... Fragile by comparison. You could achieve much greater height and distance with Wind Magic. Is that untrue, my king?"

The two Lancers had touched down somewhere in the Ora tributary to rest. They had made absolutely amazing progress, given how they had crossed from northern Adela into Serendipity in just a day. It does help when one is able to hurl themselves through the air at unreasonable speeds and over obstructions. But even then, traveling like that without rest does a tired traveler make. They still had plenty of time before dark; no sense pitching a tent if they could simply find a nearby town to settle in for the night. That still left hunger and thirst to deal with.

"I'm with lord Gravuun Qo Gram on this one, my lady," Cynbel said in agreement. "I do think you are hampering your abilities by forgoing Wind magic. While it may come naturally to me, it would prove a valuable skill to you, should you learn it."

[Amord]

Adallindis hadn't practiced her use of Wind Magic, at least not in terms of keeping herself in the skies for longer, or to soften her landings. But this was, in part, why she had chosen such a lightly armored outfit. It allowed her a greater maneuverability over her body, meaning she could shift for her landings in the right manner. It was something that was taught out of necessity, as adjusting to the high speeds took more than a little while.

And there would always be those instances of hard landings, especially when under attack. Whatever you could do to minimize the damage was for the best. As a result, when Cynbel commented on the fact that she would break her legs... "My legs are fine, Cynbel!", she'd retort. Just like anyone else, she had gone through training and had at least a rough idea of what to do.

Cynbel would give a short reply, followed by his eyes changing to reveal that it was now Gravuun Qo Gram speaking, offering his own insights on this. Adallindis listened intently, of course. It was not often that Dragons would share their knowledge with others, and at her core, she was Adelan...

The Storm Dragon would direct a question toward Nonvul'Kendov'Jun. Shortly thereafter, Adallindis's eyes would follow a similar change, though hers would shift to a glowing gold. "You are correct. There is still more that the young lady could be doing to soften her landings, though I will say that her instincts have served her well thus far.", the Dragon residing within Adallindis responds.

"Her magic is powerful, yet she has not tapped into it. I fear that it's finer points may yet escape her.", Nonvul'Kendov'Jun adds, in a voice that seemed entirely unfitting of the mouth that it was coming out of.

Adallindis's eyes would then return to their original color, prompting her to sigh a little.

"None of you are wrong, I'm aware there's more I could be doing. But I also know the dangers in attempting magic when you don't know the proper steps. It's a dangerous art with a high cost when you underestimate it's use.", she would then reason.

Fortunately, with the pace they were going at, the might be at a settlement soon... A place of respite which might also allow them to practice without worry of interruption by beasts or bandits.

"I would be interested in learning how to use Wind Magic as you do, Cynbel. Even just a fraction of that type of control may be as invaluable as you all describe it.", Adallindis then concedes.

[Imperfect_M]

Cynbel stood up from his sitting position on the ground and rolled his shoulders. He stuffed the rest of the pemmican he had in his hand into his mouth. This particular type of pemmican had the flavor of dried beef jerky mixed with some kind of fruit. It wasn't great, but then again, it wasn't made to taste great, it was made to give the person eating a lot of energy in a small package. And that it did, which is why they'd packed it as their travel food.

"Well, my mother was badgering me to teach you while we were out on the road," Cynbel said after swallowing his food, "I'll explain while you finish your ration."

Cynbel was normally not this talkative, at least not when in the presence of other people. The people that he truly felt this comfortable around were few indeed; his mother Rhiannon being one, and another being Adallindis herself.

"Plenty of novice Lancers try to just keep themselves up with jets of air from their hands and feet..." he began.

The use of magic is like working out a muscle. A caster needs to "warm themselves up" so to speak, and even when they do, a sustained cast is a much more difficult endeavor than simple, quick spells. But for the sake of the example, Cynbel went with the sustain. He gently hopped with his ankles, and a gust of wind suddenly billowed the grassland around him. He extended his arms and looked like a damn fool as he tried to keep himself hovering barely a few inches off the ground... But after an errant twitch, he tripped himself and crashed right back down to earth on his back.

"See... My point-" he grunted as he stood back up, "-here? But if we think of our whole body as a conduit..."

He performed the same little ankle-hop, and a much greater gust of wind formed underneath him. He hovered there with no appearance of effort for a few seconds before touching down. Hovering took a bit more energy out of him than simply maneuvering or boosting; he took a moment to sigh before he continued with his explanation.

"In this way, you have full control over where and how you land," he explained, "It is safer and more efficient."

[Amord]

Though they were indeed mightier than most mortal men, they still needed to eat and drink -- Along with everything else that everyone had to do. They were still Human, in the end. So it should be no surprise that they would have to stop for a break and rest up. Cynbel had taken the initiative, already eating into one of his rations. Adallindis decided to follow suit, eating one of her own rations in turn. Pemmicans... Weren't exactly the first pick for her, by far.

Though she had closed her eyes and appeared focused, Cynbel could undoubtedly tell what was really going on from her expression. Extreme distaste. But she took it like a champ, managing to get the pemmican down without a big fuss. She didn't want to taste it longer than necessary, which is why she went through it so fast. That out of the way, she would open her eyes once more and focus on the lesson that Cynbel wished to impart to her.

What he had to say about how most Novice Lancers start out trying to use Wind Magic made sense. In regards to most spellcasting, it was generally easier to use the hands or the feet. There were other methods of course, such as using foci. But generally speaking, you would send the energy from your central point, out through a limb and maybe through a focus item. It was a basic principle of magic, even if that wasn't how it always operated. Though she could see what was going to happen before it actually did.

Lo and behold... Cynbel ended up on the dirt for trying to use Wind Magic in that manner. "I see... I always thought it was more complicated than just casting a spell and hoping to ride it out.", she would admit.

Still, using one's entire body as a conduit... That wouldn't be easy, by any means. But the benefits were plain if you could do it, and likely not just for Wind Magic... "You make it seem so easy, Cynbel. But as I try to picture how to do that in my head... It's easy to see where all of the complications arise."

Adallindis would cross her arms, mulling it over for a little while longer. "I suppose I'll just have to start practicing it..."

And at least she could do it away from prying eyes. She trusted Cynbel, but that didn't mean Adallindis wanted everyone around her to see her make a fool of herself trying to balance in the air and land gracefully. She would take a deep breath, steady herself and concentrate her magical energy... Then with a short hop into the air, she tried to use her entire body as a conduit for Wind Magic.

It didn't go perfectly, to say the very least. She struggled to keep herself as still as Cynbel did, though to her credit, she didn't topple over in spectacular fashion... Her landing was not nearly as graceful either, and that built-up energy had burst outward in an unrefined lack of control. Nothing dangerous at least, just a strong breeze which soon calmed.

"Hmm...", was all she had to say about that attempt, now already thinking over ways she could improve upon the technique.

[Imperfect_M]

Adallindis did surprisingly well on her first try. A little bit out of control, but that much is to be expected from anyone trying to learn a new magic or a new skill. They can't be expected to perfect the craft in a day, after all.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Cynbel commented.

From his experience growing up around her, Cynbel always thought Adallindis to be the analytical type. Once she got her mind wrapped around a concept, she'd spend hours upon hours, sometimes even entire days pondering on how she could make herself better. Be it a skill, a magic, or a fighting style, she always seemed to spend so much time repeating her experience over and over in order to gain as much insight as possible from it. He was honestly impressed by such an ability, especially since he himself was always someone that trusted his instincts and tried to develop himself "organically."

"Try it a few more times short-jumping like that," Cynbel continued to explain, "What you want is to make a single focused, concentrated blast to launch you into the air and then a sustained jet to soften your landing. Observe."

Cynbel made sure his traveling pack was secure and knelt down. He focused his energy around him and within himself. Wind gently swirled around him in a vortex as he continued to gather up his magic. The gentle vortex gradually gained speed, going from a breeze into a gust, and then from there into a forceful gale...

And from there, Cynbel jumped! With all of that gathered wind and the strength lended to him from Gravuun Qo Gram, the Half-Elf launched himself skyward. The wind roared as it continued to carry him well passed what would have been the apex of his jump, had he not used magic. Higher, higher, and higher still. That "concentrated burst" took a solid few seconds to finally run out of power; and from there, Cynbel "opened" up his form, arms and legs splayed out to cause drag, and that drag slowed him down enough to cease his climb and send him falling back down to earth.

He quickly gained speed with his fall, but with simple judgment and instinct, he started sustaining a strong gust of wind downwards to slow himself down. The grass continued to whip and billow as the strong winds pushed against them; and once more Cynbel landed in a straight-legged stance in a soft, gentle landing.

"Think of it like you are using your wind to 'push' against the ground," Cynbel explained, "That is what causes you to slow your descent."

[Amord]

Cynbel offered praise over her first attempt, even though she personally felt it was a bit lackluster. It at least wasn't a total failure... Besides, this was probably the safest way to practice her magic for now, rather than trying to incorporate it into one of her jumps and hoping for the best. Same basic principles applied to learning how to run; you needed to master walking, and before that, crawling. No sense in trying to skip steps in this. Something that her comrade agreed with.

It was better for her to focus on those short hops with sustained hovering. He would then proceed to demonstrate what the main goal was, to be able to use the burst to not only heighten your jump farther than normal, but to soften the landing efficiently. All in all, there wouldn't be much time loss either, it wasn't like it needed to be an incredibly soft landing, just soft enough that it would reduce injury, something that Cynbel was able to demonstrate handily when all was said and done.

And ultimately, he described a useful key in what she should be doing. It wasn't something vague like "use the wind to balance yourself". That was important too of course, but he said 'use it to push yourself off the ground'. When she thought of it like that, she pictured it almost as if it were an extended limb. You may not be able to hold that 'pushed up' stance forever, but it could last for quite awhile, and you could lower yourself slowly.

"I see... I thought I wouldn't be able to figure it out, but you just described it in a way that I can perfectly understand...", Adallindis would then comment.

It remained to be seen if she could use it in such a manner. She would steady herself, and gather her energy... And after a short hop into the air, she would attempt to use the wind magic to 'push' herself off the ground, and hold the right amount of force to keep herself in a hovering position. She attempted to use her own body to balance herself.

It was still awkward, but it was going better than the first time around. She was able to hold it like this for several seconds, and then she would slowly lower herself to the ground. This time, her magic hadn't burst outward in a sudden release, but merely calmed to nothing as her feet touched the ground once more.

"It worked... There's still improvements to be made, but I think I grasp the principles now.", she would  then state with a calm smile on her face.

To the untrained eye, there might not have been the largest difference between the two attempts, but to anyone that was experienced -- and especially to one such as Cynbel -- the difference would be as if it were night and day.

[Imperfect_M]

The bodyguard smirked and crossed his arms. His master had a particular talent; whether that talent was a circumstance of her own birth or because of the bond with Nonvul'Kendov'Jun remained to be seen. Though it hardly mattered; the two of them were joined, two souls in a symbiotic bond. Regardless of where a strength or weakness came from, it was still and always going to be a part of them.

Cynbel rolled his shoulders as he dropped his bag and sat back down on the grass.

"I saw the next town while I was up there," he says idly, "Only a few miles from here, it looks like. 'Might even be able to make it in one jump if we try hard enough..."

He laid his helmet at his side and laid back, just... Listening. The way the wind moved across the Riverlands, the way the grass made a nearly inaudible woosh as they swayed. It brought the Lancer and the Dragon peace. They sighed in unison as they basked in the sunlight. The simple act of relaxation made today a good one, in his mind.