[Video]

[forleaving]

[Adam isn't good at asking for help, and this video is long overdue, honestly. He's put it off too many times out of uncertainty or not wanting to bother people or...some other lame excuse. But he's done with excuses now.

He still looks unsure when the video comes on.]

Hello. So, I've been here for a couple of months now and I've seen that a lot of the missions involve fighting, which is something I can't do.

I want to change that.

I'm looking for someone, or multiple people [He wasn't going to limit it to just one person; everybody had different techniques and styles, maybe learning from multiple sources would benefit him.] to teach me how to fight.

I warn you though, I've never thrown a punch in my life, so we'd be starting from the ground up, but I'm a diligent student.

[He hesitated for another moment, biting his lip, then nodded.]

Thank you.

Comments

Action?

[worthallthis]

[Soldat doesn't use the ICP if they can avoid it. So instead, they come looking for where Adam's video seemed to be playing from-- if it's a cabin, they'll check the one the roster says is his.

Then they'll rap lightly on the nearest available surface for attention or admittance.]

Hi. Saw your message.

[And they might be here to offer their services.]

Action!

[forleaving]

[He was in the sleeper carriage corridor, actually, and not in his actual room because he hadn't wanted to bother anybody that might be in there, trying to have some time to themselves.

He flinched a little when Soldat spoke, putting a hand over his chest before taking a deep breath. Sometimes, being half deaf meant people could sneak up on you without intending to. He'd heard the rapping, but it had sounded farther away then it actually was.]

Hi. [As if he hadn't just been spooked.] Good; that was the point of it. [His lips twitched into a smile. He was, maybe, being a little good-naturedly sassy.]

Re: Action!

[worthallthis]

[Well, still close enough to find, at least. Soldat pauses at the jump, and holds up both hands peaceably, metal and flesh.]

Sorry. Just thought it'd be easier to talk in person. Than over the whole train.

[They kind of hate that you can't filter, dammit. Or use text. They miss the safety of text from Beacon.]

I used to teach all the new people in Beacon who didn't know how to fight. Or fall. Or anything. If they wanted. Would be happy to show you, too, from the basics.

[forleaving]

[Adam almost apologized too, but instead he nodded.] It's okay.

[It wasn't Soldat's fault that Adam was easily frightened.

He appreciated talking in person, though. He didn't use the network often, but glancing at it in the past had made him feel a little overwhelmed.]

Fall? There's a proper way to fall? [Even that much was learning something new.] I'd love to learn how to fight. Thank you.

[unholyandbroken]

Bar fighting count?

[runicfeathers]

I have skill in hand-to-hand combat, I would be willing to train you. I have skills with knives and archery as well, once you get your arm strength up.

[The more people who knew how to fight, the less people Willow would have to worry over getting hurt from lack of self-defense skills.]

[forleaving]

Thank you; I'd appreciate that.

[He wasn't in a rush to learn armed combat--one thing at a time, and starting with hand-to-hand sounded just fine to him--but also-]

Is there even room on the train for archery?

[runicfeathers]

It would be my pleasure, we all should have some knowledge in defending ourselves.

There is the Gym car, it has plenty of practice room that I've noticed.

[forleaving]

Really? I always thought archery took up more space than that. But I'm not an expert.

[On certain subjects he was, but he'd only read a bit about archery.]

[helborn]

[Hey roomie.]

I can help out a little if you want. It's not anything fancy, but it's what I've picked up.

I can also teach you how to use a baseball bat as a club, if you want that.

[forleaving]

I won't say no. Any sort of skill is better than none. In fact, having a variety of techniques is probably valuable.

[And Adam would never turn down picking up new skills. The more he was capable of, the more useful he was.]

[helborn]

I can show you what I know. Improvised weapons aren't... it's not like the best way of fighting but it was kind of what I started out with. I used to be really physically weak.

[Godly stuff had kind of accelerated strength gains, but he hasn't forgotten his roots.]

We can also do some light jogging or something like that to help with some endurance and speed. Which I know sounds kind of miserable, but sometimes you can't win a fight and you need to get the hell out of there.

[forleaving]

Improvised weapons are better than nothing.

[For situations where you might not have an actual, proper weapon. Being able to improvise was important.

He nodded.]

It doesn't sound that miserable. [He liked to think he was in pretty good shape already, but he also wouldn't turn down anything that could help him.]

Thank you.

[nutkrusher]

[Cassie salutes casually] Sup.

My name's Cassie Cage. I've been punching things 'til they don't get up for most of my life.

If you've got the patience, the persistence, and the willingness to get knocked on your ass a bit, I've got the time.

[forleaving]

[Adam nodded politely.]

It's nice to meet you, ma'am. My name's Adam.

I'm pretty patient and I don't like giving up. I've also been through worse than getting knocked down, so I don't mind. I think I can handle it.

[nutkrusher]

Bitchin'. You can meet me in the gym for some sessions, then.

I'm free most afternoons.

video

[enthunder]

There're training sessions in the gym most days, if you wanna come by. See what suits you.

video

[forleaving]

Are there?

[How had he missed that? Probably because he kept his head down, didn't go to the gym often, and busied himself with chores and the library, was how.]

I'd love to drop by sometime and learn a few things.

[enthunder]

[ nerdery would definitely do it. she nods, to confirm. ]

See you there, then. And, Rieper or Cassie might be your best bet.

video;

[flatteries]

[ Inigo heard some of the responses, and it does seem like there's one angle people haven't really offered help with which he happens to be pretty good at.

And hey, Adam seems like a nice guy. Can't hurt to spend some more time with him, right? ]

I could teach you some sword fighting. Seems like they use those in quite a lot of the worlds we stop in, so it couldn't hurt to know how to use one when it's handed to you, right?

[forleaving]

[Adam might have been quiet and sensible, but he was still a teenager, even if only for a few more months, and the idea of learning how to sword fight made his face light up.]

That'd be great. I've never handled a sword in my life, but I'd love to learn.

[And Inigo was right; a lot of the words they visited seemed to be some kind of medieval and used swords.]

[flatteries]

It's not that hard to learn! Not the basics, anyway.

[ And hopefully the basics should be enough for when he finds himself wielding a sword in battle - at least for now. They have a while until the next mission, after all, and a month should be enough to at least learn something. ]

And they have practice swords here on the train, so we can easily use those. [ So no one will end up accidentally injured during training. Inigo doesn't want to have to explain that to one of the healers... ]

video

[azurebichen]

Most of us are in the gym to train. I haven't been here long enough, but the last mission makes me think that the demons requires more than just a mere punch to defeat them.

I can teach swordsmanship and archery, but fighting isn't enough. You have to learn how to kill. You're going to need a lot of exercise to keep up the stamina, endurance, and strength that fighting demands, especially if the enemy is stronger than you.

I can teach meditation to bring up your spirit levels also.

[forleaving]

[Adam was on board with all of that except for the learning to kill part. He didn't want to kill anything or anyone, but even before he'd made this request for help he'd known it would be a possibility. Luckily, it wasn't like they could exactly practice learning to kill on the train, so he would cross that hurdle when he came to it otherwise.

He nodded.]

Swordsmanship and archery sound good, and I can definitely work on exercising. [It would be a good new hobby to have, if exercising could be counted as a hobby.]

Spirit levels?

[azurebichen]

[True, but the last mission requires a lot of killing in order to win and turn the tides of battle and save whatever humanity left on the planet. Still, indeed it was a possibility]

Come on over in the morning, and I can train if you're able. Swordsmanship and archery is a good start. There are others training in handling a gun.

Spirit levels. In my world, we call it Qi and to raise one's qi or spirit is to help channel that into casting spells to attack your opponent. I raise my Qi to attack using magic paper talismans and set the demons on fire for example.