Learning the Ropes [Athanase, Stefan]

Athanase looked around inquisitively as he stepped into one of the many training rooms throughout the Monsuta headquarters. The room didn't look like much more than an armory to him. However, knowing what the room's function was, this made sense. He had been sure to read up on the headquarter's functions, he was going to be spending a lot of time here after all. After some more study of the room around him, he moved towards one of the walls. This wall, like the others in the room, was covered in weapons. The weapons were of all types, including many instances of both melee and ranged focus. Athanase figured he may as well pick up a weapon and learn to use it. While he could very well develop powers in the future, he wished to learn a reliable method of fighting now, and a weapon probably wouldn't hurt his potential abilities in the future anyway. After some thought, he chose a weapon from the wall.

The chosen weapon appeared to be some kind of hybrid between spear and sword. It was taller than him, standing upright at eight feet. The blade also appeared to make up nearly half of the weapon. Gripping this weapon firmly in his right hand, Athanase returned to the center of the room. Arriving at his destination, he turned away from the door and faced forward. Shortly after, the room activated and began to scan its new inhabitant. Athanase knew that after the room gauged his power level, it would simulate a random encounter for him to face. Preparing himself, Athanase assumed his true appearance, his color fading to black as his grip on his chosen weapon tightened further. As the edges of the room started to fade and a landscape began to form, he tried to prepare himself for what the simulation would throw at him.

Spoiler:

The disappearing room soon revealed a city in ruins. Buildings were crumbling and debris scattering around. The city seemed to be on the small side. Athanase immediately began sensing movement growing closer. There were multiple entities in all directions closing in. They were hollows judging from their size and shape. He counted ten enemies in total. He stood still, waiting for them to make their first move. Eventually, one did make a move, coming in from behind him.

Remember that sight and hearing are for convenience, not combat. You must not rely on them. You can sense the enemy's every movement around you with ease.

With that thought in his mind, Athanase moved to intercept the attack. He gripped his weapon in both hands and rotated to his left, bringing in his weapon for a thrust when he sensed the enemy lunging at him. He could sense his body and weapon moving, and upon realizing that his aim was a bit off, he adjusted a bit more to the left. The attacking hollow had opened his mouth as it aimed to bite down on him, and his weapon went through this opening. Realizing this, Athanase angled his weapon and thrust upwards, piercing through the roof the the hollow's mouth and into its skull. He took notice of how easily his weapon pierced through his enemy, noting that the weapon appeared to be a quite a good. Athanase pulled his weapon from the now dead enemy. He then stepped back as his defeated enemy collapsed and faded, squaring off as he kept close track of the nine remaining enemies around him.

His enemies now seemed hesitant, exercising more caution since he displayed that he knew very well where the last attack came from. He could sense them slowly circling him, looking for an opportunity to strike at a weak point. The moment they decided to strike came soon. Two of them came, one from the back and one from the front. He knew that this isn't how this situation would normally play out; the simulation was taking it easy on him, sending enemies in increasing waves. Nevertheless, he readied himself against the attack. He quickly moved to the side, avoiding both of the attacks thrown at him. He moved back some distance until he got both of his attackers in a single direction. He held his weapon at the ready. Both hollows charged forward, each arcing on their way towards him so they each attacked from a different side. Just as they were about to reach him, while he was focused on them, another enemy approached from behind. The simulation was trying to pull a fast one on him, and he noticed a bit too late. As he thrust his weapon into the enemy on his left, he got hit by the one from behind, setting him off balance. As he pulled his weapon from his second victim, the one on the right hit as he was still vulnerable.

Athanase seemed to be in a bit of a bad spot, but he remained inwardly calm, seemingly not caring about the hollows biting down on his right arm and back. However, this wasn't quite the case. He was inwardly contemplating his weaknesses. He disliked his current lack of speed and reaction. He knew he needed to get better in order to be able to accomplish anything. Resuming action, Athanase passed his weapon from his right hand to his left. Twisting his left arm into a seemingly impossible angle, he stabbed the hollow behind him in one of its legs, causing it to release him. Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed the other hollow by its upper jaw with the arm it had latched itself onto, flipping it over his head and crashing it down onto the one behind him. Sensing the other three hollows rapidly advancing from one direction, he quickly dealt a killing blow to the crushed hollow, keeping his grip on the upper jaw of the other. Mustering his strength, he turned around while swinging said gripped hollow, letting it fly and slam into one of the approaching ones. As they both tumbled into a piece of rubble behind them, he took the opportunity to throw his weapon, impaling them both.

This left him with two enemies advancing while his weapon was impaled into a rock, perhaps not the best idea. Still, Athanase had essentially given up on taking this session of training seriously, opting to instead get it over with and try again. He walked steadily into the two advancing enemies, walking right into their attacks. He landed a punch on one and was slammed into by the other, knocking him back several yards. He got back up and ran towards them, now grabbing the face of the one who had knocked him down. With some effort, he managed to get a hold of its teeth on both the upper and lower jaw, and pulled hard in both directions as its face began cracking. A few seconds later and its head would be torn partway in two, which just left the last one, which was just now biting onto his side as he took out its partner. He noticed he was close to where his weapon had landed, and so slowly dragged himself and the attached hollow foot by foot towards it. Upon reaching it, he would pull it out of the piece of rubble it had been thrown at and then impale the hollow still trying to bite through him.

With every enemy defeated, and his body regenerating what damage it had taken, the simulation ended. The scenery around him seemed to dematerialize as the training room was brought back into view. There he stood, once more in the center of the room, holding his weapon, contemplating the results of the session.

Something the Monsuta prided itself on was it's focus on and attention to the self improvement of it's members. Perhaps the greatest example of this was the formation of a new division about a year ago, the Advancement Zone. This division existed solely to raise up individuals to new heights, increasing both their combat power as well allowing them to surpass any and all limits they face. The proprietor of this division was none other than the organization's head honcho himself, Stefan Soan. Having decided the most important cause for him to pursue was ensuring the best possible future for his people and the people of Earth, so as to encourage their growth and create the ultimate environment for everyone, weak and strong, to become powerful. All of this originated from Stefan's constant, incessant need to find stronger and stronger opponents to battle through the thought process of why search for new opponents when he could just improve those around him until they were capable enough.

With this line of thought, Stefan became especially excited by and interested in individuals like Bernadotte Le Roy, or Athanese as he preferred to be called. This was because he was still significantly weaker than those around him but showed a clear and healthy attitude toward improvement. Hell, it seemed as if the primary reason he joined the Monsuta was to get stronger and become a better individual. Along with his normal leadership duties, Stefan had placed the Advancement Zone under his own watch so he could oversee the training of it's members first hand. Because of this, Athanese was under close observation by Stefan and on this specific day he happened to actually be nearby as the demon trained in one of the Monsuta headquarters's simulation facilities. This particular one was geared towards practicing new and unfamiliar weapons, hence the walls being covered in such articles.

Watching from the doorway, Stefan observed his underling's form as he swung around the massive glaive-like weapon which resembled a zweihander with a multi-yard length pole. Though it was clear the demon's senses were on point for the simulation, particularly his ability to sense around himself in a three hundred and sixty degree field, the man's own reflexes and physical attributes didn't seem to be able to keep up with them. Easier to strength train than improve his senses, at least. he thought to himself as he watched the battle unfold. As the simulation ended and Athanese began to recover from the ordeal, Stefan made his presence known by walking further into the room until he stood only about fifteen feet from the man.

"You leave yourself open to, well, everything when you throw your weapon like that. God forbid it get destroyed or taken from you, then suddenly you're helpless. Here, I got a couple solutions for you." Suddenly in a small poof of energy a five and a half foot sheathed odachi appeared in Stefan's right hand, relatively plain in appearance except for the small chain meant to wrap around the wielder's torso as the weapon was too long to be held at the hip. Effortlessly, the Monsuta Imperator tossed the weapon to the demon standing before him. The weapon would seem strangely light for it's size, making it very easy to catch. "Say hello to your new friend, Joe Sharp. The Monsuta Blade is able to adjust it's length and weight at your whim. You lack physical power, so I recommend using it to train. Don't increase it too much, though. That thing can weigh over a hundred thousand tons. Got something else for ya though, one sec."

Turning around and lightly jogging out of the room, Stefan made his way quickly to one of his own personal arsenal rooms. After opening the door with a retina scan to unlock it, the Vizard walked in, grabbed a cloth-covered item, and immediately made his way back to Athanese. Once again within a comfortable distance of his protege, Stefan tossed this newest item to him as well. Underneath the cloth was a white and black short katana, though not quite as short as a wakizashi. This weapon possessed a straight edge black blade and seemed to radiate a sinister energy. "That little lady is named Orochi and has a peculiar power.....more to the point, you should be wielding that sword in tandem with your much larger primary weapon to give you a way to make up for it's tremendous size. While Joe might be a slashing and cutting weapon, your glaive is mainly for thrusting and smashing. Having this small sword in your offhand will significantly improve your close quarters defense."

Athanase turned as soon as he realized someone other than himself was present in the room. Although he didn't show it, he was somewhat surprised to see the head of the Monsuta appear before him in such a casual manner. He quickly dismissed his surprise, however, as once he thought of the overall size of their organization, he supposed that greater investment into familiarity was to be expected. He would dwell on this off and on as conversation went by, as he debated how he should attempt to make as many ties as possible within the Monsuta. More friends never hurt, after all. He watched as Stefan walked towards him, waiting to be addressed by his superior. As said superior began constructively criticizing his actions, he listened well to his words.

Athanase was also somewhat surprised by the weapon popping into existence in his superior's hand. He caught it in his left hand when it was thrown towards him. He examined the sword as his superior left the room. It was quite a long sword relative to others, though his chosen weapon dwarfed it. He looked up as his superior returned. As said superior threw yet another sword in his direction, Athanase once more caught it with his left hand, the hand stretching to accommodate holding both weapons. This is where Athanase noticed a particular problem. He could wear the two swords on his body, though the thought of having to hold multiple objects on himself at all times seemed inconvenient. This was also without having to take into account the massive size of his 'glaive', as his superior had called it. Since it seemed as if his superior was friendly enough, Athanase decided to ask him outright for a solution.

"Would there be an easier way to store these? Like how you manifested one just now, would that too be available for my use, or was that some ability you have?"

Athanase decided that, while he was at it, he may as well ask some other questions that were on his mind.

"Also, you told me this Orochi has a peculiar power, could you elaborate? And, not to sound greedy, but does this one..."
Athanase slightly lifted his glaive in order to bring it to his superior's attention.
"have any abilities too?"

[adm]Archived upon request.[/adm]