Unmotivated Deity

The following morning Jien awoke with a bit more excitement than usual. There was definitely a bit more of a pep in his step as he got dressed and ready for his day of training. This day however would include the first attempt at the use of his finished project.

Of course, just because he was excited didn't mean that he had forgotten how dangerous the three plants that he had spliced together were. One was highly poisonous, one had a sound based attack that could cause quite a bit of harm if not handled correctly and the last was known for devouring those that fell into its territory unknowingly, often leaving nothing behind. As such he had asked his father to procure a range of elixirs for handling poison as well as some drops that could assist with the healing of the inner ear. These were all items that were fairly common in markets, often provided to merchants by alchemists to make some money for further experimentation.

jien first cast simple wind spell around the top of the pot the plant guard was in. this created a bubble of swirling wind to assist in keeping the newly evolved plant from attacking while he carried it. The plant itself should have been sealed by the formation that it was joined with, but Jien believed that an abundance of caution was often the way to go for known potential dangers.

He picked up the pot containing his finished product and walked out of his bedroom, quickly making his way toward the kitchen to get his breakfast and start his usual routine. He did not change the guard of his rapier to the new plant based guard as he would do so when he started his training with Emily for the day. He wanted as controlled an environment as he could while learning how to work with his creation actively. It would be a disaster if as he was jogging the plant got out of control with nobody around and poisoned him or worse.

The morning went the same as all the others. His jogging speed and the distance he could make it despite the weight that Emily and Mark kept on stacking on him was quite a lot. by their estimates he had likely caught up in terms of endurance to even the children trained the hardest. This was their goal after all. There would be those who would be only mildly trained and those that were trained to military standard, but the 'military standard' of the noble families was just an entry level. Then at the far end of the spectrum were the military veterans, whether noble or not who treated their children's training like they were being put through the boot camp that the academy would put them all through to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Jien was officially in the latter category given how hard Emily and mark pushed him. Even then the only area he was truly up to snuff on was his physical, mental and mana endurance. In terms of fighting he was now decent but a long way from the level of some of those who would join him at the academy in coming years. He was decent in the way of mana control and control of the spells he knew, having been pushed to control his mana more precisely and carefully through mana restricting accessories. If there was anything that he currently truly stood above the rest in it was his ability to learn and retain knowledge, though some may say that he was cheating in regards to that.

Still, he made it through his morning routine covered in sweat and breathing hard like every other day. As he sat down in the training field Runa brought over his lunch. As his training had become more and more intense his lunches had grown in bulk. Now, rather than just some sandwiches and fruit or vegetables he was served what could be considered a large dinner. On the side rather than a bottle of water a large pitcher of it was set down, from which he quickly took several large gulps before digging into his food voraciously.

After he had eaten and rested a short while to let the food settle Emily walked over carrying two training rapiers. She sat down across from him and looked at the potted 'plant' to his side with a look that seemed to be a mixture of concern, frustration and wariness. "Are you sure you actually want to try this out?" she asked one final time. "You have been improving greatly without the idea of adding this…twist, to it all." She had been continuously attempting to convince Jien that this wasn't needed, but it had all fallen on deaf ears.

"I chose this because it was what I felt could add my own perspective to the style. Are you going to go back on your fencing school's premise and not let me make it my own?" Jien's response was a bit biting and Emily was left with a lack of words but she also knew that this was indeed his choice to make. As such she could only sigh as she showed Jien how to switch the guard of the dull metal rapier sized to fit him.

After the guard was removed Jien took the dull blade and the ring that had locked the prior guard in place. He picked up a pair of fairly thick brown leather gloves that reached most of the way to his elbows. These gloves were something that was provided by Earl to hopefully keep the Serpent Vine from poisoning him through his hands or forearms while he wielded his rapier.

Jien, after ensuring the gloves were on tightly and that his arms were well covered reached out to the potted guard and drew it carefully from the soil, doing his best to avoid the mana deep red thorns. At his touch the guard seemed to squirm as if trying to escape or perhaps attack, but it did not lose its shape, Jien could almost describe the feeling as that of holding a squirming spiny worm, but the barbs couldn't seem to even nick the leather of his gloves as he slid the plant onto the blade through the hole in the seed that appeared to be sized just about right. He then locked it into place with the band that had been used with the prior guard before standing up.

It was time to test whether this experiment would actually be what he needed to add his own flare to the fencing art.