mages are bad swordsmen

[crouching_sin]

Characters: Naoya and open
Setting: Floor 25
Format: Whichever.
Summary: Naoya got a sword, and is trying to remember how to use it properly. Unfortunately, physical skills are not so easily remembered.
Warnings: Naoya is probably only a danger to himself in this log, really. At least he has a healing spell.


[Naoya - or rather, Cain - had used swords before. It wasn't an uncommon weapon through the years, and it wasn't always that he'd had relatively weak physical strength. In some lives, he'd been extremely physically strong.]

[However, this life - Naoya - is… less so. He's still strong, but when he lifts the arming sword he struggles slightly with the weight. He needs to practice, and the meadow has enough space to wave a sharp object around with a minimal risk of hurting someone other than himself.]

[Which is how he's come to be in the meadow, going through old drills. His movements are a mixture of various styles, but he's rusty with them. His movements, while quick, lack power. The weight of the blade is significant enough that he occasionally has to set it down and rub his wrists, which is a good time for anyone who's been watching to speak or be noticed.]

Comments

[crouching_sin]

Grainne... not a name that's used much anymore in my world... heh.

[He grins a bit at the question.]

Not in this life, no. I focused more on intellect and magic. But in past lives I've been a warrior many times over.

[athousandcurses]

I suppose not. I haven't seen much of the modern world.

[Grainne tilts her head, considering his words. She doesn't seem at all surprised. She's sure stranger things has happened in Ireland with all of the magic it boasts.]

You know of your past lives?

[crouching_sin]

I see. And I do. Every single thing that happened in my lives since the beginning... I remember all of them. Such is the curse placed on me.

[athousandcurses]

Oh...

[Grainne knows a thing or two about curses.]

I'm sorry...

[crouching_sin]

... It's nowhere near being your fault, so you don't need to apologize.

[athousandcurses]

I... have felt curses in my time, but nothing so strong as that... I will speak of it no further then.

[crouching_sin]

It's fine. I'm just not used to being able to be open about it.

[athousandcurses]

[Grainne gives him a confused look for a second, pulling some hair over her shoulder.]

Because people don't believe in such things anymore?

[crouching_sin]

Something like that. And because who I was in my first life is considered by most either someone who never existed or someone who was evil. At least one religion considers me one of the most evil beings in existence.

[athousandcurses]

I don't recall any story like that.

[crouching_sin]

Haha... you never heard the story of Cain and Abel?

[athousandcurses]

[The confusion clears, and she nods once.]

I have, but only through the knowledge the Grail has given me as a Servant. It's a very old-- oh...

[Grainne connects the dots from what he's said so far, now that she's on the right track.]

I see...

[crouching_sin]

The - ah.

[He puts his hand on his forearm, rubbing gently. It's still strange that the command seals aren't there anymore.]

Then you are Grainne, daughter of Cormac mac Airt - or am I mistaken?

[athousandcurses]

[Grainne's eyes flick to the motion and her eyes widen slightly. She's slightly unnerved at how quickly he knew who she was, though she hadn't been exactly secretive about her name or her status... but there's a number of Grainnes that she could be.]

Yes, that is... me, or was, once. You were a Master?

[crouching_sin]

Here, I was. I am not from the world that has the Grail Wars. Still, I made a pact with a Servant here - Avenger, if you know of him. He's no longer here.

[athousandcurses]

Oh... I-- what?

[Grainne has gotten used to the idea of the different worlds, with Second Magic being behind it, but she hasn't been aware of people from the outside being able to create contracts with the Servants. She knows it's possible for... them, but hadn't thought of it as a universal thing. ]

You were able to make a contract? I thought only a magus could do that. But then I shouldn't even exist without one... I suppose you must qualify...

[She's lost in her thoughts for a moment, before something he said registers.]

Avenger? That isn't a class I'm familiar with. I only know of the seven. I've heard of the other wars only vaguely... but I am from the Fourth.

[crouching_sin]

I'm not sure which one he was from. But I do have magical power that can be drawn on - and so it seemed to sustain him just fine. I think he was not a 'regular' class, though I admit the Grail Wars of your world are something I'm not terribly familiar with.

[athousandcurses]

I don't know very much, myself... and the more I find out, the worse everything gets.

[crouching_sin]

You don't have to concern yourself with it here, at least.

[athousandcurses]

I suppose not, but what can one do in fifty days of madness?

[crouching_sin]

That depends on your outlook, now doesn't it?

[athousandcurses]

[Picking at her dress, Grainne shifts her eyes to look at the flowers. Needless to say, hers is bleak. Even she knows this, but she refrains from saying anything. He hardly knows her, after all.]

Mm... that's as good a case as any. Outlooks have a way of changing suddenly.

[crouching_sin]

They do. I, for one, have spent too many lives wallowing in self-pity and inaction. If we're to do anything, we need to prepare as much as we can. There's definitely going to be some sort of final event where all hell breaks loose. Even if our efforts end up being in vain... we can say that we did all we could.

[athousandcurses]

[It's somewhat startling, and even a touch worrisome, that as Grainne thinks that over, she finds herself not caring overmuch what ends up happening.]

Did you make many friends here?

[crouching_sin]

... I think so.

[The answer surprises him, now that he thinks about it.]

People who know who I am and who I was and don't treat me badly because of it. It's a rare thing.