Spatial 11

Taiga had been waiting for a chance to bring this up, really, and on a quiet night like this when they were both with nothing better to do, he didn't mind bothering Niklaus for a bit of help whatsoever. Not that it'd be bothering him at all, in truth.

"Niklaus. I was wondering if you could be a dear and... assist me with something I've been dabbling in for a while now." Taiga casually struts about the house, reaching over to the bookcase they had stashed away in the study room. It's a thick tome, some seven hundred or more pages long.

He trots back over to the tea table and THWAPS it down in front of Niklaus. Judging by the cover, it was none other than Elisheva's Wayfinding tome! "See. I've been working on a certain... application for my Wayfinding, but it relies on having someone else present in order to function properly. I know you're always one to help... so I'm asking you, once more, to be a test dummy."
(Taiga Rowan)

Ah, to be a test dummy again. It reminded him of his youth, did it not? When he had people work toward fighting him, using him for whatever means of skills they wished to conjure up. Crossing his legs a bit beneath of him, he'd give an idle hum outwards.

"Are you going to drop me in the middle of a lake again?"

The inquiry comes and goes, leaving a grin on his features. "What's the plan?"
(Niklaus Rowan)

Taiga gives pause.

"...No." He purses his lips, not seeming entirely truthful! "I'm long past... misguided warps and fumbling about with basic parameters, Klaus!" He whines! "This is something... more. See, fighting Laemor made me realize something. I haven't been trying to adapt to what I know, to pursue my own talents. So caught up on copying Ren Shi, I didn't think to develop something of my own!" He was rambling a bit.

"In short. I've thought of a different want to apply Wayfinding in battle than either Laemor or Ren Shi have tried. See. ...I can use it to redirect my opponents attacks. Or my own." Taiga gives a wiggle of his brow, trying to incite a bit of interest. "It'd be a smaller portal, thanks to the fact that I won't have to warp an entire person. Plus, considering that it's non-living material I'm working with, I can skip a few of the otherwise critical subcommands and glyphs associated with tran--" Taiga huffs!

"Basically, it's a lot faster, and potentially a lot more flexible."
(Taiga Rowan)

There is but a small snicker that leaves him as Taiga whines over his questioning. He can't help but ask, though. It was a curiosity to him through and through, and not one that could just be taken away. Being turned into sheer energy and then being dropped into a lake? It really was an experience.

However, as the intricacies began to be explained to him, he would pause in his spot with a few blinks.

Redirection?

"Uh. I'll help you with whatever." He mentions, a smile touching his features. "I don't really get Wayfinding, mind you. So, when you start going off on tangents-- just show me what you need done."

Better for him to see and do than to sit and listen.
(Niklaus Rowan)

Taiga straightens his position on the cushion, flipping through a few more pages of Elisheva's tome, musing to himself in a quiet, rambling tone. Eventually he's satisfied, turning his attention back over to Niklaus. "Alright. We'll... have to go outside. I've thought about a few ways to apply this. Wasting my mana on smaller threats won't do me too much good, but I've prepared quite a few statistics regarding weaponry. Weights, dimensions, that sort of thing. It'd be simpler to use sub-commands to find that out during battle... but also slower.

So I'll be testing it with you. I'm really not partial to the idea of losing my most expensive possession - Ipos's sword - in the Spirit Realm. So I'll go ahead, pick up a few throwaway katanas and we can be off." Taiga hums, nodding his head in affirmation! With that, he thumps close the massive tome, already moving to the door.

"...And thank you, dear. You're always a lovely help." Sweet with his words as well, making sure Niklaus knew just how vital he was to the operation!
(Taiga Rowan)

Continually biting at the nail of his thumb as he listened, he would give a short nod to those words. So, he was really just a test dummy. Not that he particularly minded, honestly.

"Alright, alright." He states as he comes upwards to a stand.

"But don't be afraid to hurt me, I guess. I can take it."

Idly, he waves his hand as he aims to follow Taiga along!
(Niklaus Rowan)

Taiga would lead Niklaus on out through the forest by their house, carrying along with him a whole sack just bristling with swords. He wanted a variety to practice with, but settling for a cavalcade of katana with various shapes and sizes was the second best option. Plus, he'd have Niklaus to worry about as well - so it'd be more than enough to keep him on his toes. There had already been a little bit of experience with warping his larger, more important blade - but now he was going to find some methods of application that were maybe a bit less... careless.

"Alright." Taiga hums, dropping the sack down and pulling out a pair of swords for himself. "The main problem is... this is going to be wholly incompatible with what I already know. I can't make the mistake of trying to simply throw this in as a little cantrip or addition to what I already have. To truly make good on the potential of this ability, I'll have to play to both its strengthsand my own." Taiga draws steel, cutting the air with his blade a few times and examining the edge.

Shitty swords, no doubt. But good enough for this practice.

"As for your part. Try not to look pretty - I might hesitate." The nerve of this man! "Other than that, swing with that axe and don't hold back in terms of speed. I'll need to adjust myself and my portals to accommodate with people actually trying to kill me, after all."
(Taiga Rowan)

Gaze lingers upon the swords carried along as he followed, and he would bring his hands back, swiping them through his long strands of hair. A good majority of those were going to be angled at him, weren't they?

How stressful. Even then, he would come to a halt there as he placed a hand against his hip. "So you're going to be dismissing the brute force for..." His voice drawls out as he considers it, his heel digging into the ground before him all the while.

"Right, right." Though, how to not look pretty? A snort leaves him. "I think you're the one who should be worrying about the looking pretty part, Taiga." He states as he rocks a bit, pulling free the mist imbued axe from his back.

Holding it on one of his shoulders, his gaze leveled upon Taiga. "I'm not holding back." He states it very plain and clear.

"Just say when."
(Niklaus Rowan)

Taiga nods his head along as Niklaus picks up a bit on what exactly this was going to entail! He knew that they'd catch on quick enough! The compliment washes off like water on a ducks feathers, not even acknowledging it! After all, he had to remained focus on the task at hand! Getting caught up on their usual back and forth would only serve to slow him down considerably.

"Alright, alright. So be it." Taiga would then rush forward, on the spot! His blade was drawn, and though the metal he was swinging was cheap and dull, the muscle behind it was certainly neither. Niklaus would be engaged in battle, and Taiga was going to do his best to implement the new strategies he had cooked up in that head of his.

When Niklaus approached, Taiga would attempt to redirect Niklaus's axe by way of teleporting it. He didn't have the time to send it to some far-flung place, never leaving it too far out of grasp for Niklaus. But these precious few seconds would quickly begin to add up during combat.

Add to that the unpredictable nature of Taiga's swordsmanship when augmented by these techniques, and Niklaus would have a hard time keeping up! Ultimately, however, Taiga was still a fledging in the art. Fancy as his tricks may be, there were plenty of times where Taiga himself couldn't keep up!
(Taiga Rowan)


It wasn't particularly his niche. To actually swing this axe of his around rather than channeling his magic through his hands and more, it was just... An interesting way to fight, of course. Just not his preferred way. So, forgoing the intense draw it would take to draw out a dragon comprised of water, he would move forward to aim to use his speed, swinging the misty weapon forward to meet Taiga's blows.

Twisting, he'd allow his harsh hitting typhoons to spin around him, the water adding to his ability and his healing as he cracks that weapon forward, aiming on speed so that he could give Taiga a tremendous amount of things that he needed to focus on, that he needed to dodge and redirect.

Every so often, he'd find his arms flung away, back from the other and he'd slide along the ground, gritting his teeth.

This wasn't a display for him, though. It was to help Taiga learn above all else. Lightning might've scattered, but they were strikes made to dodge and duck away from above all else.

To punish if he didn't use his technique correctly.

Now, it was really up to his husband to dictate where this battle was meant to go.


(Niklaus Rowan)

Taiga seems to, at the very least, be trying his absolute best to use and abuse this newfound tactic. It was so much to keep up with, so many numbers running through his head. Trying to estimate the amount of time it'd take for Niklaus to close the gap, swapping between different formula for his own blade, and Niklaus's. Add to that the fact that he was going to have to physically swap hands in the midst of battle -- it was far too much for him to adjust to all at once.

Niklaus wasn't making it easy on him at all. Torrential waters, thunder and the lightning - the entire forest was consumed by a storm! Though, in the few moments he could make it all work, when it all strung together - Taiga's momentum could not be understated. A dizzying whirlwind of steel from all angles, Niklaus's methods of counterattack or defense stripped away by shimmering portals, leaving him hopeless but to fight with extreme caution or be torn apart!

In the end, Taiga can't push this to a victory. It's inconsistent, despite the immense potential such a fighting style holds. It would give him a fantastic bit of insight in how he might take this a step further, however.

A final blow comes, a water-dragon crashing into Taiga and dragging him along! It sweeps him off his feet and sends Taiga crashing into the nearby lake, sunk under the waves! It would be a long while before he emerged once more, completely drenched and bleeding for his troubles.
(Taiga Rowan)