What is your intent

[05:22] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "Hmmm."
[05:22] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "About time I train you all."
[05:22] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "There is a skill you will need to know."
[05:22] Aeolus asks, "...a skill?"
[05:23] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "My mentor, Ser Berrios Falstaff passed this onto my Lightbringer Lloyd and now onto me."
[05:23] Alexander rei Petrakis asks, "Are you both ready?"
[05:23] She'd step off to the side to watch!
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[05:24] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "Anastasia, perhaps this will help you as well."
[05:24] Alexander rei Petrakis says, "So listen close."
[05:24] Anastasia ven Astor says, "Alright."
[05:24] Something passed onto the Lightbringer and then the King himself...

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He'd respond, giving a nod as well. If war was truly afoot then it was important to learn all that they could.

Besides, who could turn down training from the King himself?
(Aeolus)
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[05:25] Atlas gave a side-eyed look at his brother before turning to the King. He hadn't trained with Alexander in quite some time. Del's death couldn't weigh him down, if anything he'd need to use this as motivation. Atlas knew they wouldn't want to see Nysea burn in flames once this war was officially declared.

"Always."
(Atlas)
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[05:35] The king reaches out for his blade, gripped by the handle and then drawn from it's sheathe. A blade used since his days as Crown Prince throughout his rule as King. The same blade that felled Asta Hargrave, yet, it was a simple blade of exceptional make but nothing particularly stood out.

It was not a legendary relic, nor was it a masterwork forged by an artificer.

"First. What do you see when you look at this blade? What do you think?" Alexander asks, showing them from afar. Simple, mythril. There was no tell-tale signs or interesting markings.
(Alexander rei Petrakis)
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[05:38] Atlas scratched the side of his head as he looked at the blade. He wasn't really sure how to take this as that blade was a simple mithril sword, just like the one Atlas had strapped to his blade. Atlas wasn't quite sure whether to blurt out the first thing on his mind or think for a moment, but he decided the latter might be considered to be cheating.

"I see...a sword."

"A tool for destruction."
(Atlas)
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[05:38] Anastasia stood a bit off to the side, and yet she still paid rapt attention to it just as Atlas and Aeolus did. After all, if it was a skill they'd be utilizing it was important for her to be aware of it, wasn't it? In the future of any combined moves they may actually perform.

Not to mention of course, the fact Alexander had told her it may help her as well.

She took in the blade he drew, squinting at it briefly before she shook her head.

"Your sword. That's it. An extension of your arm and your strength."
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[05:39] A squint were given as the question was posed. What did he see when looking at that blade-- what did he think?

"Well, I see a remarkable blade, Your Majesty. One that's probably been through many battles at your side.

As for what I think well, I don't know. It looks sharp maybe."
(Aeolus)
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[06:04] "Correct. All of you are right. It is a blade, a tool. An extension of my arm. But in the end, it is only a blade. It can be used for destruction, to hurt, it can even be used to defend. To protect. To uphold justice," the Petrakis says and now he grips it with both hands.

Fingers curl around the base of the hilt. The scarred hands of the king revealed. Calloused as well.

"The sword itself does not necessarily mean violence, for even the most dangerous sword, sharpest of all of the lands could be seldom used. Unsullied with blood.

So, the question then becomes simple.

What do you raise your sword for?"

Harrowing words, mainly due to the sheer tension that lifts the air when Alexander asks. He commands an answer here from them, in particular Aeolus and Atlas. For Anastasia's direct lesson would come a little later.

These were the same words asked from Berrios Falstaff and now, the King finds himself saying the very same to his knights.

"Do you raise your sword to protect, do you raise your sword to swing to kill? Do you raise your sword to force your enemies to submit so that battle does not continue? Do you raise your sword for justice? Do you raise your blade to vanquish evil?"

"What do you raise your sword for, knights?" It is phrased honestly and while Atlas was not yet knighted, it is clear Alexander did not stutter. Foreshadowing perhaps.

The King of Esshar holds his blade in front of himself, tip pointed down so the blade is slanted downwards. Not yet does he raise his own blade.
(Alexander rei Petrakis)
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[06:09] What do you raise your sword for?

He had been asked that question before, so it didn't take much thought.

"I raise my blade to protect the innocent-- I raise it so that others who wish to live non-violent lives won't have to. I raise it to protect those close to me as well as those who need aid.

My blade is a tool used to vanquish the evil, subdue the unjust, and also strike fear in the hearts of the monsters that plague Esshar."
(Aeolus)
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[06:13] Anastasia's head inclined as Alexander explained just what that blade was - the sword itself did not matter, it was why you rose your blade that mattered, in the end.

The Astor was silent, debating on the point made and then the question was posed - and while she wasn't sure if the question was posed at her or not? Well... She was paying attention and she'd answer all the same.

"Because it's what my family's done for a thousand years and I'm no different." She answered. "Our divine right to be the sword and the shield for our people. To fight with honor, and to uphold my duty." She explained, crossing her arms in front of her chest now as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[06:14] What did he raise his sword for?

This was a question Atlas really hadn't thought about in his lifetime. His sword had been just that, a sword that he used to complete his duties.

"I raise my blade to..."

"I raise my blade to evoke change. I raise my blade so that others won't fall under the circumstances we have. I raise it to aid my allies in times of need."

"My blade is a weapon of manipulation. A tool that functions as the pencil and eraser. I write what I wish to create and erase what I need to destroy."

"I also use it to kill Lupin."

Atlas gave a firm nod as he concluded his statement.
(Atlas)
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[06:45]
{LOAD GAME}

[06:51] {Won Restrained RPB against Amalia Hargrave}
[06:56] {Won Restrained RPB against Amalia Hargrave}
[07:00] The mention of Lupin killing warrants no reply, but perhaps there is amusement under that kingly façade that rarely shows emotion. Eyes shift between the three as they share answers.

"An answer you must know to properly utilise your blade, your magic. But in particular this skill. Your answers are honourable and for that, I will show you this fabled technique.

My teacher, Berrios Falstaff wielded his blade with intent to stop the foe at all costs. Elijah Soleis wielded his blade as a shield for those he loved," a pause, where Alexander's own blade rises up and he concentrates intently.

The full brunt of the King's magical presence falls upon the area, quite a great deal. Enough to cause the air to sap with magic as magic of holy, starlight magic fills the air. And then his blade is covered in a wreath of light, once a sword of the stars that had become almost something more in recent times.

"I wield my blade for leadership. To carry the burden when others can not," the Petrakis says.

He holds within his hands a culmination of his magic, a basic sword now made a dangerous weapon.

"This spell, way of magic is how you turn an average blade into a proper tool to achieve what you wish," he tells.

"Concentrate and let your intent bleed into your blade. Push your magics down the edge of the blade, all the way through it," he explains. His own blade becomes fiery with magic, ramped up to maximum capacity. Where the affinity attunement causes the blade to shine brightly, to glow like some flaming sword except instead of fire there was Alexander's magic of choice, the light of the stars.

"Let me see your intent."

A challenge for both of the knights and then a small glance spared to Anastasia.

"As for you, Anastasia. Each of the main houses hold a direct tie to a different branch of the Leonaus Constellation. Our Astor House, blessed under the yellow stars of the lion's body, and for that, you must attune. To call upon those stars and walk the path of Leonaus. That is where you must draw your strength rather than merely calling upon the power of the stars."
(Alexander rei Petrakis)
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[07:07] Anastasia had continued to watch the lesson even after giving her own answer. The comment regarding Lupin killing has her glance away briefly, upper teeth biting into her lower lip to stop a small smile from spreading across her features before she looked back once more.

And there it was - the very technique Alexander aimed to have the pair of them learn properly. Perhaps not necessarily with starlight, or with holy magic - but with their own magics independently. It intrigued her, and her head cocked, admiring the magic flowing through the blade before her name was spoken and she was pulled from her little daydream.

She stood up straight, eyes widening briefly before offering a faint nod. Attuning to Alph specifically was what she had been working on, and there was a faint hesitation to her before she tapped at her chin.

"I've been working to do just that. Alph is my patron star after all, same as High Keeper Sethon's. He even afforded me advice in regards to it. But my issue for the time being is it makes me feel ill when I call upon Alph's specific power," She admitted. "Perhaps I still have more growing to do but -... I will do it." She added.

"I'm an Astor after all."
(Anastasia ven Astor)
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[07:14] He had seen it many times before-- people concentrating their magic into their blades, and while it was something Aeolus practiced and even felt as though he were on the cusp of results, the Knight simply found himself unable to perfect it.

Perhaps it was the lack of a proper instructor to tell him how to go about the technique. Regardless, King Pertrakis had the Knight's full attention as he spoke.

"A blade wielded with the intent to stop the foe... a blade wielded as a shield for loved ones." Aeolus repeated to himself.

Concentrate and let your intent bleed into your blade. Push your magics down the edge of the blade, all the way through it.

But that of course begged the question of just what his intent were. Aeolus was one skilled in wind magic. How would he shape his blade into a proper tool that would suit his ideals?

Aeolus drew his blade, and held it outwards in front of himself, sapphire eyes looking at it-- a common mythril blade, one that he had purchased before even knowing how to swing it.

"This sword has been with me through a lot... years of training and of enduring." Yet it was nothing more than an ordinary sword.

"My intent... I will use it to blow away my enemies. Within my grasp, this shall become a Turbulent Blade."

Closing his eyes, the Knight would summon powerful winds that caused his hair to blow as though it were stuck within perpetual gust. Shrouding himself in wind wasn't anything foreign, why it was a technique Aeolus had used since the young age of thirteen, but now he sought to move those winds over to his blade.

He sought to make it more than what it currently was.

Holding his sword upright, the winds traveled along it's hilt and to the metal of the sword, effectively wrapping it within a veil.

"This is my intent, Your Majesty. This is the sword I'll use to defend our people in times of war-- the sword I'll use to extinguish the flames of evil that demons and witches callously light ablaze."
(Aeolus)
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[07:23] Concentrate and let your intent bleed into your blade. Push your magics down the edge of the blade, all the way through it.

Atlas questioned how he'd influence his blade with the powers of time and gravity, but he'd figure that out later. First he would need to channel his will throughout the blade, let his intents flow across the mithril that made up his sword.

The Cadet rose the blade in front of him and closed his eyes, concentrating as a thin veil of mana rose from his body. What did he want his blade to emanate, what did he want his opponents to feel upon getting cut down.

He had preached about change and manipulation to Alexander so that must be what he'd pour in his blade.

"A blade to cut down to fabrics of reality. A weapon to reshape this world as we know it."

A light push seemed to exude from the man's body, as if he was using his gravity magic in an omnidirectional field.

"This blade is special to me but it can be replaced. The quality of sword isn't what defines me, it's my skill with it. I could pick up a stick and wield it like a greatsword. To defy expectations, to break logic."

Slowly a purple energy began to manifest around the sword, surrounding it with the energies of time. But his blade seemed with wither away...with moments it had just vanished. Atlas raised an eyebrow at the odd effect but soon he found it's purpose.

His sword had been broken, but was replaced by this energy. The blade itself didn't matter as opposed to man wielding it. He could form his own blade no matter the circumstance.

"I am my own sword. My intent is to bring balance, save lives in opposition to those who take them."
(Atlas)
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[07:30] "I know you will, Anastasia," he drops the titles for a moment, letting a more sibling moment grow between them.

And then winds buffer him back, a low breeze causing hair to flourish and cloak to flutter. The king watches both of his knights, the way they call upon their intent to shroud their sword. The different ideals they hold and how they use their magics to achieve such. All in all he is impressed, much like how Berrios was when Alexander called upon such power.

"You did well, Aeolus, Atlas," the Petrakis says. "It feels good, does it not?" he lets eyes drift between both blades. One forged from their own intent.

"The ability to use your blade for your own purpose. Though, I am surprised with how your blade withered. You are forging your own sword, your own destiny. And you, Aeolus. To stop helfire, you will extinguish the flames of conflict, of evil."

"Fitting of knights in this time of war, of Esshar's current state. As of now, you are both knights, Atlas, Anastasia. If you like, I can do the ceremony now, or at another time but it is official," the Petrakis tells them.
(Alexander rei Petrakis)
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[07:35] Atlas chuckled slightly as he reversed time on his sword, restoring it to a pristine state.

"It does feel good..."

"It's about time too. I was starting to think I'd never be one." Knight, what a title. Atlas thought he had deserved the position for much longer than he should. He'd even gone as far as to devise a plan where he could demand his knighthood, but such a plan never went through, luckily.

The young boy sheathed his blade with a smile of accomplishment plastered on his face. His eyes glowed with a newfound happiness as this moment had let him push Del's death to the side. He had mourned for quite some time and he would continue to do so later, but for now he could celebrate his accomplishment.
(Atlas)
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[07:38] The lesson was important, but to see his brother as well as Anastasia receive the promotion to Knighthood, he was overjoyed.

"Congratulations, both of you.

I know you'll make splendid Knights."

His blade would be sheathed for the time-being, as Aeolus found himself growing a bit fatigued.
(Aeolus)