Sacred Training of the Mind

The tunnels opened up into a large Shrine like area, Two mats were place on either side of a marble path which lead all the way up to a statue surrounded by flowing water streams, the statue was of the previous blade master. Once Tibodico died, his staute would go there, and the last would be grinded into Crystals and placed into the walls. This was the secret to the Chamber;s of time, it held the power and knowledge of all the past BladeMasters. Tibodico stopped turning around, You only get one mistake before i start punishing you, Touching the walls is not permitted, and you are very fortunate that i am not killing you for it, your mistake has been used up. The only reason your not dead is because i took the Blindfold into consideration. Tibodico Walked over and sat on a Mat, Using his mind to tell the child to sit on the other, without even using words, rather he made her feel as though she had to. Your name?

Ari's eyes widened behind the blindfold but she did as she was bid and quietly took her place on the other mat, kneeling and placing her hands in her lap, her head turned towards Tibodico as though she would have been looking at him, had she not been wearing the blindfold. "My name is Arina Merda, Master." she responds. Though her voice is soft, her words are crystal clear. As she said this to him she could not help but reach out with her mind and get the feel for this place, her head tilting as she did so.

Let me warn you, You are the first of two things today, 1 being that you are the first to touch a wall in the Chamber of Time and lived. And 2, you are the first Non-Blademaster to ever enter this Shine. Being a Sensitive i'd ask you to refrain from letting your mind touch the walls, as the ex-Blademasters will attempt to kill you. Tibodico waited a while, Allowing all the information to digest before adding. This will be simple, I expect the respect, if you show it, you'll receive respect in return. First lesson, infiltrating anthers mind. I want to you reach out with your sub-consious mind and try to break into mine. Tibodico waited for the strike.

Although Ari was frustrated and slightly frightened she did not show it. Her mind quickly recoiled from touching the walls as she listened to what her mentor was saying. Instead of letting out a sigh of frustration, or a gasp of fear, she held in those feelings. When she heard his request her body seemed to come to attention. She reached out with her mind towards Tidodico, tentatively at first, to get the feel of his mind and the barriers that no doubt surrounded it, and then she released her pent up emotions into the attempt to reach into his mind, causing it to be tentative no longer but instead determined and firm.

Tibodico's mind was like a brick wall, but it was one hell of an aggressive one, as his conscious leaped out and began to stab at Ari's, It would cause he extreme pain and would cause her to retreat. Never underestimate the power of a mind. I'm going to be teaching you that defence today. If you ever fight another Sensitive, they will attempt to destroy your mind, but you can kill them by stabbing their conscious. Now i will attack. unless you want me to have access to every memory you have stored, then i suggest you defend. And with That Tibodico's mind leaped forwards and began ramming Ari's Mind.

Almost immediately wall after wall came up around Ari's mind as her posture stiffened. She channelled her fear and her anger into these walls, forcing them to become stronger. He was strong, and her fear increased when she felt him easily slipping through her walls. Her fingers clenched in her lap and she concentrated on forming a single mental barrier, forming each of the previous walls into a portion of the barriers, thickening and strengthening it with each one. She could not, would not let this man in.

Tibodico continued to Push, ramming the wall which blunted weapons in an attempt to not kill her in the process. She was quite strong, the last one died at around this level. Perhaps he should increase the Offences, give her more of a challenge. Suddenly he dropped, for just a millisecond all his energy, Dropping it on her body like a weight, Crushing her mind while still being Rammed all around. just perfect timing for him to double the Ramming offences, This would be not only testing her will to survive, but her endurance as well. If she gave the the ramming would crush her mind, killing her. And that would be a pain in the arse. Keep going, just another 5 minutes and we'll finish up!

Ari redoubled her efforts, now she was not only holding her barrier in place but was launching counterattacks, attempting to push him off of her mind. Now she was not fighting for the privacy of her inner thoughts and memories, now she was fighting for her life. She was so concentrated on defending her mind that she hardly heard the words he spoke to her. Now she was adding determination to her counterattacks, letting the lash out like whips at the blunted weapons he was attacking her mind with. All of her practice had hardly prepared her for this, she was simply happy she was a quick learner.

Tibodico Continued on his assault, Holding it up for another 5 minutes before easing off and eventually stopping, just as he said he would. He sat there, waiting for another 10 minutes for her to recover. She'd have the worst headache of her life right now. And it won't be leaving anytime soon. So he may as well continue. That was a fair effort for your first time. We will do this for 10 minutes everyday. Each time i will attack harder. When i reach my limit, then i'll add the minds of those in the wall. By the end of the year you'll be able to hold of from over 6 enemies. But today i'm going to be teaching you something different. Are you okay to continue, if not go sleep. Tibodico gave her a stare that would give her chills, A stare of his patience.

Ari had her eyes closed behind the blindfold, her fingers clenching and then relaxing in her lap. Her head felt as though it would split in two, and she half wished it would. She listened as her mentor spoke. She was not certain how well she liked the idea of doing that for ten minutes each day, but she knew he was here to help her grow stronger, and so she did not object. When at last she speaks her voice is steady though she is still shaking on the inside. This steady, this calm exterior was the result of all of her years of showing no emotion. She rarely even showed anger anymore, preferring to hold that powerful emotion in until she needed it. But at last she speaks, in answer to his words. "I wish to continue, Master." Her sentences were short and to the point, she did not see the need to say more than needed be said.

Tibodico pointed down a corridor of darkness. When you are well again, continue down that corridor, You will meet a fellow apprentice and i training. Its about time you meet. I will train you both at the same time. Tibodico materialised, disappearing into nothing.

{topic changed to http://black.betaboard.net/t52-the-blademaster-s-apprentice}

Ari simply sat there. She opened her mind momentarily to feel around the area he had been a moment before. She had felt his presence disappear, but she was not certain if that had just been a trick. She put one hand over the blindfold that hid her eyes from the world.

She sat there for a little while longer and then stood. She reached out with her mind just enough so that she would be able to feel when a barrier was coming up. Her mind did not touch the walls, nor anything else, just grazed past them, going only near enough so that she knew they were there. Once she was oriented she started to make her way down the corridor, whose darkness did not make any difference on her self-made dark world.