he's standing in a field of white space; scattered blocks of glass crackling with intermittent lightning are scattered around him, and above him a massive crimson serpent coils, looking down at him. he greets the serpent by name -- Ziyo -- and tells it he wants to resume a combat simulation after he looks at all the spells for conjuring tactile illusions. thunder rumbles through the construct, and a cluster of dozens of metal plates appear, each tagged with a bar of red or orange light at the bottom edge.
Sunny sifts through the plates, instinctively seeming to know what each one represents, then chooses one and scans it, a web of indecipherable symbols and diagrams. whatever he gets from that, it seems to satisfy him; he smiles up at the giant serpent and tells it to "begin insertion at the lowest speed".
the other plates disappear, and the environment changes, a verdant plane of grass appearing beneath his feet, stretching to granite mountains on the horizon. there's a lake of sparkling water to the east, and a distant plateau on which a drystone village is clustered. the sky, though, is wholly unnatural -- giant roses bloom near ringed planets and blazing comets against a field of violet stars, and a full red moon hangs impossibly close overhead. the serpent coils through a nebula covering a swathe of the remaining sky.
he conjures a staff, sets himself in a fighting stance, takes a deep breath, and orders the simulation to begin.
a stone, spear-wielding golem appears and rushes him, but he turns the spearpoint aside with his staff and shatters its chest with a burst of unseen force. two more appear and spread out to flank him; a sweep of his staff conjures a wider arc of telekinesis, taking one golem's head off and cutting the other in half from shoulder to hip. the tattoos in his arms are burning red now, brighter each time he casts. four more golems appear and he tries the same spell again, but all four dodge, weaving around the ripple of force to try to surround him.
he casts another spell, leaping twenty feet in a single bound, before incinerating the new golems with a fractal burst of red lightning as they charge towards him. eight more appear as his tattoos blaze furiously, and he gathers himself to leap again, before changing his mind and clenching a fist. a razor-thin ripple of shadow blasts out from him in all directions, cutting all eight opponents in half at the waist.
then sixteen more appear, and he sets himself defensively, glancing from one to the other. his tattoos are still blazing, but he doesn't cast again, and it's over in seconds; he dodges one strike, parries another, and is impaled through the back by a third.
immediately he orders the simulation to stop, and the golems -- and the wound -- vanish. sunny falls down to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, until another voice breaks in, belonging to a tall, bearded man Sunny's age, wearing a loincloth and greaves and vambraces of red-tinged steel. the new man calls Sunny's performance impressive, but says he relies too much on his magic. Sunny seems aggrieved to see him, but the man, Niko, is impervious; he admires the construct, then returns to his advice. Sunny's magic is incredible, Niko says, but he could stand to rely on it less -- get a sword, or turn the staff into a spear.
they banter back and forth a bit, Sunny sounding annoyed and claiming Niko isn't real, but clearly (from an outside perspective) unwilling to do anything to get rid of him. they end up sparring companionably with spears; Niko is incredibly good with his, Sunny barely passable, but despite that, it seems like a good time.
TAKEAWAYS: * he's definitely different in this memory than he is now; he can't multitask, he can draw less essence through his shards, his mind is distinctly less capable. he wouldn't have had to use a low insertion speed now. was this his previous life, somehow? * he's training because he knows there are enemies out there who are incredibly strong. he doesn't want to use his shards for war, but he won't let his friends be hurt again(?) * all the confused feelings for Niko. all of them. especially since Salo is convinced that this version of Niko is a creation of his own subconscious yearning. * he's aware he's in some kind of mental construct that he's in control of, and that Ziyo is hosting
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Sparring with constructs
Date: 2023-11-23 11:16 pm (UTC)Sunny sifts through the plates, instinctively seeming to know what each one represents, then chooses one and scans it, a web of indecipherable symbols and diagrams. whatever he gets from that, it seems to satisfy him; he smiles up at the giant serpent and tells it to "begin insertion at the lowest speed".
the other plates disappear, and the environment changes, a verdant plane of grass appearing beneath his feet, stretching to granite mountains on the horizon. there's a lake of sparkling water to the east, and a distant plateau on which a drystone village is clustered. the sky, though, is wholly unnatural -- giant roses bloom near ringed planets and blazing comets against a field of violet stars, and a full red moon hangs impossibly close overhead. the serpent coils through a nebula covering a swathe of the remaining sky.
he conjures a staff, sets himself in a fighting stance, takes a deep breath, and orders the simulation to begin.
a stone, spear-wielding golem appears and rushes him, but he turns the spearpoint aside with his staff and shatters its chest with a burst of unseen force. two more appear and spread out to flank him; a sweep of his staff conjures a wider arc of telekinesis, taking one golem's head off and cutting the other in half from shoulder to hip. the tattoos in his arms are burning red now, brighter each time he casts. four more golems appear and he tries the same spell again, but all four dodge, weaving around the ripple of force to try to surround him.
he casts another spell, leaping twenty feet in a single bound, before incinerating the new golems with a fractal burst of red lightning as they charge towards him. eight more appear as his tattoos blaze furiously, and he gathers himself to leap again, before changing his mind and clenching a fist. a razor-thin ripple of shadow blasts out from him in all directions, cutting all eight opponents in half at the waist.
then sixteen more appear, and he sets himself defensively, glancing from one to the other. his tattoos are still blazing, but he doesn't cast again, and it's over in seconds; he dodges one strike, parries another, and is impaled through the back by a third.
immediately he orders the simulation to stop, and the golems -- and the wound -- vanish. sunny falls down to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, until another voice breaks in, belonging to a tall, bearded man Sunny's age, wearing a loincloth and greaves and vambraces of red-tinged steel. the new man calls Sunny's performance impressive, but says he relies too much on his magic. Sunny seems aggrieved to see him, but the man, Niko, is impervious; he admires the construct, then returns to his advice. Sunny's magic is incredible, Niko says, but he could stand to rely on it less -- get a sword, or turn the staff into a spear.
they banter back and forth a bit, Sunny sounding annoyed and claiming Niko isn't real, but clearly (from an outside perspective) unwilling to do anything to get rid of him. they end up sparring companionably with spears; Niko is incredibly good with his, Sunny barely passable, but despite that, it seems like a good time.
TAKEAWAYS:
* he's definitely different in this memory than he is now; he can't multitask, he can draw less essence through his shards, his mind is distinctly less capable. he wouldn't have had to use a low insertion speed now. was this his previous life, somehow?
* he's training because he knows there are enemies out there who are incredibly strong. he doesn't want to use his shards for war, but he won't let his friends be hurt again(?)
* all the confused feelings for Niko. all of them. especially since Salo is convinced that this version of Niko is a creation of his own subconscious yearning.
* he's aware he's in some kind of mental construct that he's in control of, and that Ziyo is hosting