Chapter 306: CHPT 306: The Druidic Arts, Elementally Synergized Combat....
Monday Morning, December 10th, 2240.
The sun was out-- and for the first time, the skies weren't spitting their frozen flakes in a constant pour until the entire forest was tinged with white. Many things about today were different. Even the sky was absent of any clouds, giving them a clear look at the blue expanse above, brightened by the warm sun, creating a look that resembled the areas neighboring District where SkyHaven resided.
Claude hadn't thought much of SkyHaven-- other than his friends and Ronin, but the sight definitely put the place back in his mind. Shedding light on how different the place was from his current location. The forests back there-- miles upon miles away, where vast, full of large trees, redwoods and massive grasslands. But, they were also less. Less overflowing with power, less infested by Monsters, less lively.
Much unlike the forest he'd found a home in for the past number of weeks.
Even now, as he stood in the brightness of sunlight-- fractured by leaf and branch, he could feel it. The natural power of the place.....the violent primal nature.
Maybe that was his own possible excitement for what was to come as he silently watched Rollan stand in the clearing in front of him.
A new form of combat. The idea was amazing-- it was right up his alley. An edge. A step closer to power, a step further from weakness.
As he watched the towering man prepare himself for something unknown, Claude found himself remembering the books he'd read of Heroes traveling the world in search of ancient and newly made martial techniques.
Rory Legrand-- who traveled to Arthuria to learn the SunWalkers Stance.....
The Dominator who fought her way to The Sunlands before ultimately venturing into the Beast-Region where she learned the Language of the Lashers....a very physical language, spoken by the Beast Masters through killing their enemies-- man or beast, with so many lashings, lunging's and cuts that they simply bled out-- if their limbs weren't sawed off before. He enjoyed reading that portion because as soon as she returned to New Gloria, her name was made. That was when she entered the Tangent full of Demons and went to town on everything with a pulse.
He suddenly remembered the artwork he used to stare at endlessly at the C.S Academy that captured the moment perfectly. The memory felt decades old.
"Alright!....Just give me but a few more minutes, Monsieur....." He said lightheartedly before shrugging off his bags and lifting the brown bottle to his mouth, "Maybe a few more swigs too, no?...Heehehe..."
Claude felt his smile fade while the man drank large gluttonous gulps loud enough to make him cringe as portions of the liquid spilled from the mans lips and dripped down the smooth skin on his chin. He was definitely running from something...mentally, physically he didn't look like he was capable of such physical feats.
In fact, he didn't look like he could do much more than walk. His six foot six frame was too thin and frail, like a body made of twigs wrapped in smooth human skin of matching color. The way his clothes hung on him and fluttered in the wind as if they had all the room in the world still made his stomach clench no matter how many times he saw it.
And still. Rollan was moving as if he were warming up.....alcohol still in hand.
"What the hell are you doing, Rollan?" He thought as a small ball of anger began to spin into existence in the pits of his stomach.
"So.....listen close, Monsieur." Rollan started in the midst of doing a few rounds of arm circles, "The Druidic Arts has been crafted and developed over generations and suited for a number of different styles of Druidry. No two Groves have the exact same style. Today, I will be teaching you my style. A form of Elemental Combat taught to me by my Teacher, it's meant to give you both range, variety, power and the ability to outnumber your opponents all by yourself. It is called Wood-Weaving."
By the end of his speech, he placed his slender hands on his knees and moved to stretch his shoulders and open up his hips. The bottle was long gone, but the haze of drunkness remained in his movements. Movements that resembled someone who once trained endlessly despite the sluggishness, the memory of it all still worked in his muscles, fighting against the external facts simmering in the foul smelling brown bottle that sat in the grass nearby.
"So, can this...Wood-Weaving be used with Weapons?" Claude asked as Rollan twisted his upper body, sending off an array of loud pops rattling up his spine.
"Ohhhhhh....FUCK!" Rollan yelled with a sigh following the spinal stretch.
"[Good lord, are we sure he's not a recently reanimated corpse?]" Arne asked.
"No. Skins too nice...and he his teeth aren't rotted to the gums." Claude replied flatly as if he was seriously considering Arne's words before speaking to Rollan again, "Rollan, can I use my Spear and Wood-Weave?"
The man seemed to slip out of his relaxed stupor and turned to face Claude's voice, "Oh but of course, Monsieur. Once you learn the basics of this style of combat. It becomes a supplementary source in all aspects. Think about these words-- this is some of the best information I can give you. Nature mimics the Natural, no? Now watch, beast of the beasts."
Silence fell.
Rollan stood at the center of the clearing as still as the many trees around him. The fractured rays of light cutting through the forest splashed against his dark skin and loose clothing as if he were a performer on some natural stage.
Claude and the rest of the pack watched in silence as he slowly broke out into martial movement. It was nothing spectacular, but it was something he hadn't seen before. The man stayed low-- balanced, while he shifted and danced across the grass, executing fluid lunges that ended in stiff jabs, elbows, knees and kicks.
He could tell by the way Rollan moved that none of it was new to him-- even if he was drunk, the blindfold over his eyes hid any semblance of such a fact while his body continued to carry him around in a sort fluid yet stiff pattern dance.
With every attack he exhaled hard before inhaling and lunging forward again. To Claude's surprise, he was picking up speed as if his joints and slender tendons were finally warming and extending his physical capabilities.
After around thirty seconds, he was back at the start of the clearing near them, breathing slightly harder than before.
".....So that was Wood-Weaving?" Claude asked in an almost whisper.
Rollan snorted, "Hell no. That was the end of my warm up. Now, we Wood-Weave. Pay attention." He said before inhaling deeply. Suddenly, he froze and looked back over at Claude, "What did I say before?"
"...Nature mimics the Natural."
Rollan nodded and took the full steadying inhale.
Claude froze. The entire pack froze. They could feel his inhale-- it was in the grass as it straightened and shook like arm hairs touched by static. In the bushes, that stilled despite the wind. And the trees that hummed faintly around them with shuddering natural breaths.
He found his eyes darting back to Rollan who slowly spread his legs into a tensed partial bend-- perfect for springing into action. As he did so, his hands rested in front of his chest in an open fisted fashion. He didn't look ready for combat.....more like he was in a beginners Yoga or Tai Chi stance.
What followed was a bright glow. A green glow that enveloped his hands all the way up to his elbows. The color was dark-- a shade of green less bright than Claude's, but a strong shade of verdant nonetheless.
Before he could study the color anymore, Rollan moved his hands slightly one by one in a circular motion like a composer.
As if responding to his rising movements, two roots behind him on his left and right ripped from the ground. They waited at his side like two brown serpents.
WOOSH!
In a flash, he sidestepped-- drunkenly stumbling a bit as he did so. In the midst of his movement, he made a wide circle with both glowing hands in opposing directions. Without a moments hesitation, the two wooden tendrils behind him copied, snaking further out of the ground to follow his movements as they twisted themselves into a thicker singular spike.
Now with one giant lance-like spike at his right, he dove into a series of attacks and evades. The same moves he did for warm ups, now shadowed by wooden spikes that added to each lunge, punch, elbow and kick.
And like before, he was gaining speed, loosing the clumsy stumbles...his feet were glowing. In fact, as the showing continued, the green elemental glow spread. Going from his elbows all the way to his shoulders.
Claude was on the verge of having to hold his jaw closed as the man danced down the field with his wooden serpent shadows in tow. Whenever he moved or dashed, whatever movements his arms made dictated the shape of the weapons at his back as if he were manually flipping through an array of options mid combat, giving him a deadly level of variety. And he could see how each would work.
A lunge, close fisted and low to the ground. A sturdy center of gravity and strong force output. Whenever he pulled off such a maneuver, he was backed by the many tendrils twisted into one massive spike. An armor piercing attack.
Other times, he'd pull off a spinning back kick, causing the two tendrils to follow his feet and lash across the area ahead. A move made for many targets.
The list went on. Claude's brain was overloaded as Rollan's ligneous shadows took up the field in his martial wake. He jogged through the surrounding forest to watch the man slowly build up speed, precision and power. It was like he was coming alive, and it was only just beginning.
But, the field was only so large. He was reaching his end. Claude felt himself sadden that the show would end, but also curious since the man wasn't slowing. It wasn't like he couldn't see.
To Claude's surprise, instead of maneuvering into a new direction, he simply turned, facing the endless braids and coils of wooden tendrils. He was glowing all the way up to his neck now while the glow on his feet climbed to his knees. He'd never seen such a thing happen.
Before he had anymore time to think on it, Rollan raised his hands to the sky before dropping and slamming them to the ground in an almost performative fashion.
BOOM!!
His movements were once again followed. Not by the tendrils around him. But by the trees above.
In a flash, all the branches and limbs of the surrounding trees extended and dove at the clearing like a dozen bolts of lightning. They reached their destination in seconds, crashing into the tendrils that snaked and ran across the field, causing an eruption of tiny branches and splinters to scatter like earthen fireworks.
Claude and the others dove behind the trees as the madness spread. Luckily, most of the shards of wood splattered against the first row of surrounding trees. When he finally peeked out from behind the woodland, the clearing was back to normal-- aside from the hundreds of tiny pieces of wood in the grass and the weird way the surrounding tree branches curled from their low hanging lengths.
Under the sun, Rollan stood in silence. His breaths caused his body to rise and fall with the expanse of his back muscles from underneath his well fit sweater. The sight caused him to wonder if Rollan was ever actually emaciated. The sight of him now and his usual look were completely different. Had to be the lighting....
In a rush, he stepped out of the forest and approached Rollan who headed back to the edge of the clearing. Even his walk was more....vigorous. The steps more lively and powerful.
When Rollan finally came to a stop, he was back under the shadow of the forest reaching for his bags, sword and bottle. When he turned to face Claude's approach in the midst of a long awaited drink, any previous suspicions about his change were gone. Simply a trick of the light.
"....Rollan....that was badass."
A wide smile broke out on Rollan's face, "Ehhhh?!?! I tell you these things, no? Now, do you understand what I told you?"
Nature mimics the natural. It didn't take a genius to understand after witnessing what Rollan had done.
"You're the Natural.."
Rollan shook his head and took another swig of his bottle only to find it empty, "No, Monsieur. WE are the Naturals. Nature mimics us, no?"
Claude nodded, "I get it."
"Yes, now you must begin to fight....as a natural, hm? Put on your cloth again. See the world for what it is, and coax the natural world into working as your second body. It starts simple.....but simple is always the hardest. This time I'll be watching the entire time....first, I need a damn drink." Rollan told him before heading back to his home.
Claude didn't waste time watching the man leave as he fished through his pocket for his blindfold and tied it on. As soon as his eyes closed and the natural world opened up to him, he heard Rollan yell out to him.
"When I get back your first lesson is Root-Rising. Give your beasts a bone to play with, it might take a while, hm?"
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_Avatar0FFury_ YO! Thanks for reading and sorry for the absence. Got writers block. Anyway let me know wha you think of Wood-Weaving! Also thanks for the powerstones frenandoi, alex99, warriorwolf, krissch_, Aaron_Lobo, shadowwolf1928, Bop_, TheLucidParagon, Bonb_Crusher, XX_Osiris_XX, Sonius, AnnabelleXD, Ominous_Reader, Demosura, Amith_Sydney, Lucas_Gommes_1300, kynigos, Kawummkalle, Carde, Arameus, Astrelack and Krystian_Chaney!
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