Take of three souls.

[James Knight]

"There is also chess where I am from," said Warren as he thought about what she had said. Going forth and killing the Storm Troopers would cause him to have to harden himself, and he was not sure he could do that yet. Warren paused for a moment as he considered her choice of words. If someone was pulling the strings of the Storm Troopers and allowing them to punch him in the face, and to smack him around without any repercussions they would need to be dealt with by him. His mind was made up. For now he would let the Storm Troopers live, but if they did anything worse to him, well then he could think of ways to deal with them that didn't involve killing.  "I've made up my mind. I will avoid dealing with them for now. But if they beat me down again, the Storm Troopers we will have to do something about them. We'll also have to do something about my impersonator either way."  Warren didn't know it was another version of him that had been in the Omniverse, and was probably still there that had done that. Warren sighed, as he looked at her.  "We will need to gather more loyalists, and gain a suitable presence here in the Omniverse, Hecate before we can do anything really powerful. After all, we are not immensely powerful yet. We're both fairly new Primes and we have a long way to go before we can have any fraction of what I would consider strength."

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate nodded her head in agreement. "Indeed, we are far from powerful as it stands. However in the span of but a day you have managed to somewhat ally yourself with a woman who can command Ice to her whim's. Do not forget Warren Zimmer, I am a witch, and among my people one who is considerably powerful." She said staring out at the now set sun. "Soon, Once i regain my power, I shall set forth to on a journey to take what Is mine." she said, her face remained stone cold as she spoke, "For now focus on yourself, train your body, but do not forget your mind, for it too is a powerful weapon." She spoke quietly now as she turned once more to go down the spiral stairway "And a sharp mind can cut even the sharpest of blades." She said as she began the long descent.

her desire was to harness her magic once more, however for her to do that she needed to gather more of the golden substance Omnilium. "If you desire sleep feel free to do so, I however will be going out into these woods once more to train." She spoke calmly despite her desire to truly go out and experience freedom for the first time in five long years,

[James Knight]

She was considered immensely powerful among her people. If she ever got her power back, perhaps she could flash freeze those idiots who had decided to play whack the new prime without any way for him to pay them back. Warren began to follow her down the winding staircase. Rest could wait because he needed to learn to control his abilities more than he knew how to do, at present.  "I've decided I'm not going to sleep. There are more important things to do than rest. We must push ourselves to be our very best," stated Warren to her. This was true. He knew both of them needed to become stronger. There was a long way they both had to go. "When we train, we will need to find someone to spar with or make some practice dummies for ourselves, to use. We will also need to find a way to further increase my arsenal. I rely on technology to provide the bulk of my abilities, and yet upon arrival here in the Omniverse? I've lost it all. Every piece of tech except for my NFL-R was lost originally and it was not functional. I've managed to fix a few pieces of technology." 

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate nodded knowing full well how important getting stronger was. "We train then." she said as she stepped into the courtyard of the fortress, the sounds of her boots on the marble echoed off into the woods. When she finally came to a stop she drew the two swords in a slow deliberate manner and began swinging the weapons around her forming what seemed like combos of strikes aimed to incapacitate targets fast "Slash......Slash... parry ......Slash..... stab!" she yelled as she completed the first set of strikes. "Slash......Slash... parry ......Slash..... stab!" She called out again. Her long blades flashed in the moonlight. "Slash......Slash... parry ......Slash..... stab!" She repeated the combo over and over bringing herself to a quick sweat. Slowly she began advancing towards the gateway by adding in small changes to her strikes. calling them out "Slash......Slash... parry..... instep....... spin ......Slash..... stab!" She continued to call the strikes out as she approached a tree. Her blades bit into the thick trunk of the tree and ice began to form, glimmering the moonlight as if like a diamond.

"Slash......Slash... parry ......Slash..... stab!" She kept striking, slowly the tree began to shatter under the weight of her blows. The combined effect of the ice as well as the frequency of her high speed strikes broke the age old tree.

As soon as the first of the tree's was rent, She dashed forward with great speed delivering a powerful strike aiming to cut the tree with a single strike. This strike failed and merly cut deep into the thick trunk. Struggling to withdraw the blade she finally withdrew the weapon and attempted to deliver a second strike to the same location. She missed her mark, her second strike landing a few inches above the first cut. "My accuracy is off, Why am I struggling so much!" she demanded to know as she called out into the darkness.

She stopped for a mere moment, catching her breath. "Do... you... have ... any ...bladed weapons? She asked Warren between gasps.

[James Knight]

The skills possessed by Hecate were nothing short of masterful levels of skill with a blade. Upon observing each of her moves, and the elegance of each swing, and slash of her sword that was the conclusion Warren drew. It was a good thing she was on his side, most of the time. She was risky as an ally, because of Dark Hecate and also because he didn't fully understand what she was capable of yet. Sure he had some inkling from seeing the blades that she wielded, but it was not enough of a clue as to her actual techniques. When she asked why she was struggling so much, Warren sighed. "The Omniverse wreaks havoc with the best of us. We've all got things to improve on here. And yes, I've actually got two melee weapons that I can choose to use, well three, actually come to think of it." 

Warren concentrated, and summoned the Buccaneer Blade to his hands. While it was not the ideal choice of blade for him, Warren knew it was sadly going to have to do. It was either that, or his spear for a bladed weapon. Really he planned on upgrading his arsenal to include throwing knives, and other similar melee weapons for his own use. There was a lot he needed to do, equipment wise. For that very reason, Warren was saving up every bit of strength that he could spare. There were going to be trials ahead for the both of them. And in the end, well, if Dark Hecate did try to kill him, Warren was going to be ready to face her head on.

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate looked on at the purple bladed weapon, It seemed to pulsate with destructive power, as such it was something she wanted to see in action. "How... good.... are.....you....with... blades?" She asked as she slowly gathered her breath. Getting so tired was nothing new to her yet her body seemed to not want to cooperate with what she wanted. Stabbing the sword in her left hand into the ground she leaned on it.

Slowly her breathing leveled out and she withdrew the blade, preparing to assault the tree's in front of her once again.

She stopped to look at Warren. almost as if she could see he was uneasy with a blade. "Want me to teach you?" she asked

[James Knight]

On the one hand, if he did train with her, he'd owe her. Owing anyone was really considered by him to be sub-optimal in his books, to be honest because he knew he needed to retain his independence. Yet, he also knew his skills needed to increase. Perhaps this was the path that he could take to make himself grow strong enough to face his opponents with just a blade. A blade was a weapon of honor, and while he was no hero he knew he needed to learn how to do it properly. Yet no man was an island, and so he couldn't go it alone. Finally his mind was made up about what he was going to say to her.  "I am fairly skilled, but my skills have a lot of room to grow. I do want you to train me, so I can become one of the finest swordsmen here in the Omniverse," said Warren to her. And he was being honest. His skills had a vast level of improvement.

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate nearly laughed at the prospect of someone considering her good enough to be able to train to a level of being the best.

"Please do not flatter me so, I could never consider myself that capable, I have but the standard Vesturan military education, I can use sword and spear with ease, though that does in now way make me a master in the way or the blade." She explained. " I can teach enough to give you a chance against any who crosses blades with you." She slid one blade into the scabbard on her back taking her long curved blade in both hands.

"Lets begin!" she said as she swung her blade before her horizontally left to right "There are eight directional attacks." she said as she reversed her blade bringing it back the same path it had traveled on the first swing. "For the sake of learning we will call these strikes, one and two" Hecate explained switching her strike to an overhead downward slash that would split a man down the middle. "Attacking each of the eight can kill." she said calmly reversing the strike on her imaginary target in a way that would split them from groin to head. "Three and four." she added before switching once more and going diagonally at her invisible target's neck. once more calling out a number to associate with the strike before reversing it the same as she had before. "Five and six" Finally she reversed the diagonal attack coming in from the right side. "Seven" she reversed her blade bringing it up along the same path once more. "Eight". she stopped for a moment stabbing her sword back into the ground once more. "Each of the eight strikes targets an important part of the body, One and two target the body, a cut to the midsection and your opponent's guts will spill to the floor." Her words had a dark chill to them even though Dark Hecate was not in charge of the body. " Three will kill your target outright, assuming that you are okay with allowing yourself to be open to counter attacks." she commented as she used empty hands to show how long it took to get an invisible sword up in position to swing it downward. "Four inflicts severe damage to major organs and blood vessels" she said opting not to say that it was also good for castrating someone.

"Five and seven cuts at the carotid artery, one of the largest supplies of blood to the head. Blocking a strike aimed at this area is potentially lethal as even a small cut from a sliding blade can cause catastrophic blood loss." Hecate explained, debating on whether she should demonstrate what she meant on a tree or something., opting not to. "Strikes six and eight strike at the legs, and can sever something called the femoral artery. Your target will bleed out fast if that is struck, nearly as fast as the other one." She explained.

"When attacking make every attack lethal, your opponent will do the same." She added.

"Swordplay is a life or death struggle, you cut or stab your opponent before they can do the same to you. It is no dance, nor is it intended to be something of beauty. Cut, cut true, cut deep, cut to the soul and deliver them into Meistra's cold grasp." She concluded

[James Knight]

As he watched her perform each of the moves, Warren made a mental note about what they could do. Each strike's damage, and the position to perform it on an opponent were memorized, as well as the force that he'd need to use. As he watched her move gracefully like that, Warren had considered objecting to her "not a dance" comment. Fighting was not meant to be glamorous, but was meant to be used as a last resort. While he personally didn't want to engage in fisticuffs with the Storm Troopers, Warren knew they had no such qualms. Forcing his body to begin to move Warren began to perform her motions that she had done with his sword perfectly, though with his own blade. His moves were stiff and rigid at first, but he kept working on them, and slowly improved. Warren then realized something. If he was going to need the skills to make himself a powerful threat, Warren needed to develop the natural talent she had with a blade. It was as she said, she could teach him to become more dangerous to anyone who wished him ill. Thoughts of disarming the Storm Troopers in a literal sense came to mind, but he shook them from his head. He was not petty like that and would not wish ill on someone like that.  "What is Meistra?" asked Warren, as the first of a practical avalanche of questions that would come her way.  

"Also, do you want to learn how to use the knife you have? I could teach you how to fight with it so in case someone ever took your swords from you, you would not be entirely helpless in a fight. I would also if you were willing love to educate you in the proper use of blasters, and lasers so that you can better protect yourself. Your style I've noticed is not well rounded, but is centered around close combat, not that there is any problem with that, mind you. In addition, would you want me to teach you about technology?" 

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate watched each of Warren's moves. "you learn quick" she said quietly. "Ranged combat is something I use my magic for, Future magic would do me about as much good as if i was using a longbow" She explained calmly bvefore going into more detail. "with no true understanding of your magic's i would be unable to utilize them to their full potential" She said. before pointing back at the library "Meistra is our goddess of death" Hecate explained, in large stone archway was a large stone statue seeming carved by someone of a true artisan. The solid quartz was carefully carved into a statue of the three goddesses. Meistra, with her scales in one hand and her quill in the other stood imposingly judging mortals for their crimes but also balancing that judgment with new life. Even her dark veil had been artfully rendered in the stone. She stood flanked by the goddesses Anveel to her left and Seh to her right. Anveel stood up, coming out of the ocean waters. The ocean spray flowing as if beckoned by her outstretched arms splashing up onto Meistra’s Long flowing robes. Seh stood silently, her back arched slightly with her arms out towards the heavens holding the sun high above, illuminating the world with her radiance. "We have three goddess's, Anveel lady of the waters, Seh daughter of the sun and Meistra lady of death and gold." She turned her attention back to teaching

"Let's take a look at the three main ways to avoid getting cut into small pieces." Hecate said "Blocking, dodging, and parrying." She looked at warren before asking him a simple question. "Of the three can you tell what is the best one to stop a strike from five and seven?"

[James Knight]

"The best way to stop a strike from any of them would not to be close enough for the opponent to use their blade,  but to snipe them with long range weapons, or better yet, drone strikes on your unsuspecting enemy. Or failing that,  blast them right as they're about to swing the sword in the face, stunning them. Follow that up with a dirty blow to immobilize the opponent, and then gut them like a fish,"  stated Warren, to her. "As you have said you don't understand the science of my world truly, I am going to take the time to teach you. First and foremost you must understand something. Lasers are light that is amplified by the stimulated emission of radiation. What this essentially means is that the science of the blaster is over your head, but I will take the time to teach you how to use one, and make one for yourself," said Warren. With that he pulled out the blaster that he had made, the NFl-Laser once more, and said. "You have taught me a lot about swordsmanship. Allow me to return the favor when it comes to firearms, such as guns, and lasers."  Warren didn't like feeling like that he owed anyone, and so for his own sake he was going to return the favor by giving her the training that she needed to master the usage of it properly. Warren paused for a moment. She was exceptional when it came to the use of a sword, he knew that much. However, where she lacked skills was ranged combat.

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate snickered at his reply, "Not quite what i had in mind" she said before elaborating in more detail " Dodging is the best way to avoid taking a hit, but in order to dodge, you have to retreat backwards. Combat is a game of momentum, if you can keep pushing your opponent backwards you can control the battleground. If you dodge you give your opponent the momentum they need to change the tide of battle." She jumped backwards as if dodging an imaginary blade. "A parry redirects your opponents attack elsewhere, and gives them a chance to throw themselves off balance. Whenever possible try to parry your opponent. And blocking should only be done if you possess a shield or if you have no other option. Blocking turns the strikes into a contest of strength, and as well built as you are not ever contest of strength can be won." She elaborated mimicking the actions of locking blades with the same imaginary target.

"lasers are light you say? so then how much does it get amplified to make it into a weapon?" She asked avoiding the concept of radiation due to not knowing a thing about the word, nor having ever heard the word before. "In my world we have small firearms called matchlock muskets. they are inaccurate and slow firing, requiring the user to reload after firing a single shot. With my magic I can skewer ten or more of said musketeer's before they can even attempt a reload." She commented, clearly not knowing about semi automatic firearms. "Please enlighten me with more of your future magic." She asked.

[James Knight]

Warren thought about what she had said, and then decided how best to say it. But then he stopped himself. How did you describe lasers to someone who had never encountered something like that before in their life... of course. An idea donned on him, and Warren finally spoke.  "A laser is like an energy blast, except done by this,"  Warren showed her the NFL-Laser that he had created for himself. "The NFL-Laser is more like a firearm, but it does not need to reload unlike the pistols you are familiar with as much. This holds ten shots, before it must recharge by having the power pack shown here," Warren removed the power pack from the blaster, and showed it to her, before making a new one. Once he had made the new one and discarded the old one, Warren stuffed the new power pack into the blaster. "I will of course be making a more powerful version of the NFL-Laser as I have named this blaster at a later date. Now. We need to figure out how to bring you up to speed about the world of science, and advanced technology," said Warren with a sigh. For the life of him, he could not figure it out.

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate watched with some interest as Warren explained the basics of the laser. "so it;s similar to if i was to send one of my icicles towards someone?" she asked sort of beginning to grasp what he was saying in regards to the destructive power of the laser. "How do you get your weapon to hold so many shots in such a small device?" she asked looking at the weapon. "What else are you able to do in your world with your future magic.. technology.?" She asked quietly, She could feel her body slowly getting more and more tired as the moon settled into the sky.

[James Knight]

"There is a lot we can do with technology. As to how,  it holds charges in this,"  said Warren, summoning up another power pack to demonstrate out of Omnilium before he dissipated it, so as to demonstrate to her what held the energy needed for the NFL-Laser. "There are many wonders that can be done with technology. Flight, going faster than horses,  tractor beams which are a sort of technological form of Telekinesis. There's also Force Fields which can block attacks that are directed at you. There's cars,  which are transports that can go a lot faster than what you would think a horse could do. So, before I continue with this. Do you have any questions about what I have described so far?" asked Warren. Really he didn't want to overload her with information, just yet. Pacing himself was not going to be easy, but by the time he was done, she hopefully would know a lot more about science. Enough to stop calling it what it was not. Magic, pish. That was the stuff of fairy tales, and something he preferred to avoid dealing with. Science was more his speed - and besides, he didn't deal with the occult or anything like that. It was something he refused to put any level of focus on, and tried to ignore.

[Hecate Rothchild]

Hecate seemed marveled at the idea of traveling faster than the speed of a horse. "Such speeds are possible?" she asked pondering the concept of being able to navigate the countryside from whatever method of travel he was speaking. "nothing really" she replied, the explanations seemed to make sense to her so for though she finally did speak "Much of what you describe, save for traveling at high speed's is achievable with magic." She said quietly. "I would assume that your technologies and my magic serve the same function through different means wouldn't you agree?" she asked. Her arms and legs ached badly from the long day of walking and training, still she felt herself feeling free for the first time, she was not cooped up in a small cage. "Tonight i might sleep the best I have in a very long long time." she said

[James Knight]

"I still believe science to be superior," said Warren Zimmer as he looked at Hecate for a moment. There were some points that he would not budge on such as science being superior to the source of her abilities. Said power was not one he would dabble in, because Warren was a man of science and didn't believe in such things from fantasy for himself. As they made their way back to the castle, Warren thought about it. She could do a lot of what he could, but without the need for external gadgets, and yet she was interested in going faster. "You know there is a lot more science is capable of, right?" asked Warren, to Hecate as they made their way towards Fort Zimmer-Rothchild.  

"Teleportation,  Interplanetary Travel, robotic drones that can be remotely controlled, weapons that can destroy entire cities, and that is just to name a few things. There is a lot you don't know about science wise, that you could use for yourself as an advantage here, provided you learn from me."  Warren jubilantly exclaimed as he sighed. Hot liquid was seeping out of his pores and making the clothing he was wearing now hard to move in. What he really needed was the armor he had in the past, when he was Wild Card. Wait. If anything could be made with Omnilium, perhaps he could make something to take the place of the armor he had worn in the past, a replica of it. Yes, that could actually work. 

"There are really many wonders to science that you've never seen," said Warren to her.  "And when I get around to making a car for myself, I will be sure to let you learn how to drive one." 

With that, they were back at the castle. After that, Warren and Hecate went their separate ways. While she went to the bedroom she called hers, Warren didn't go to sleep. Instead, he made his way to the lab. There was work to be done, and if he was going to do it, he couldn't sleep. So he needed to focus on creating the equipment that he needed. Rest could be done when they were all in top form, and didn't need each other. Of course such a time was going to take a lot of effort on his part to get them to.