Winter 5, 124
Kage woke up in the middle of his slumber, wondering why he'd just woken up. He had been sleeping but it looked like the rain was the prime culprit. It was about two in the afternoon, way too early for an aelf, Kage reckoned. He woke up and jumped from his window and onto a branch because he was so alert and didn't feel like going back to sleep.
It was still chilly in the air so Kage wrapped a long cloth around himself and walked through the rainy forest. It was bright and sunny so he figured he might as well train for a while, as walking the forests aimlessly was pointless. He went to the outskirts of the this section of the basin to find a suitable plot of land to train and test out his new implanted eyes. The grovebane's eyes were indeed potent, but he hadn't really pushed them yet.
Kage found a training area with what looked like logs hanging from ropes. Great blades had been use to slice the logs, leaving both ends sharp. Kage thought this might be the perfect tool to improve his reflexes. A moment before he arrived at the logs, Kage's intrusive thoughts warned him that the equipment was dangerous. He thought about not using the equipment but reasoned that he could hold his own.
He called forth a few treant to go release the logs so he could start the training. Kage's order was not yet given, so the treants remained motionless, for now. Closing his eyes and taking deep breaths with relaxed body, Kage calmed his breathing. "Now," Kage looked up and gave the mental command. Both from the front and from the back, logs started flying in his direction. Kage hurried to the side, only to find that more logs that were swinging in his direction.
Kage ducked to make sure none of them would hit him. Getting hit could be very painful, that much was certain. The logs kept swinging and Kage kept moving. He didn't dodge all of them – he actually got hit quite a bit but he channeled his energy into his bruises to heal them quickly. As the logs went back and forth, they sped up since the treants were actually pushing them when they swung back.
The logs moved faster and faster and Kage tried to become faster as well. His body was not necessarily slower, but he did feel a lot heavier since his surgeries. He commanded the treants to stop pushing so he would start having a chance to dodge everything. His goal was to continue until they ran out of speed and slowed down.
It had been about fifteen minutes, and Kage was getting tired. He needed a way out without colliding with one of the logs. He grabbed his sword's hilt, pulling it out and he failed to cut through one of the ropes as he intended. He never had been that great with a weapon. He instead grew a sharp blade of wood that was comically large but it did the job of cutting through one of the ropes, sending a huge log crashing into the ground.
That was exactly what he needed to get out of the way of the rest of the logs. He was both excited about his training method and a little disappointed in himself for having to cut the rope to get away. He believed he had cheated, in a way. Kage thought everything was over and decided to take a break, so he sat down.
Kage decided to switch things up. Instead of dodging, he would have his treants try dodging. He would find amusement from watching them try to survive. Several treants took their positions while others pulled back the logs. Those logs looked so sharp like they could tear through the wood Kage had used to make his treants.
He noticed that his special eyes weren't actually helping anything. His vision was sharper for sure but that didn't mean he could react any faster. Whatever, at least he could say that he had unique eyes. He sighed and looked down at his shirt that was collecting debris as the logs smashed through the treants.
Kage looked to the side when he heard someone approach. It was actually a group of aelves. They nodded to him respectfully and glanced at the mess he'd made. They didn't stop to chat and instead kept walking to a nearby spot meant for sparring. Feeling exhausted already, Kage decided to just watch instead of getting involved. Kage recognized one of them – someone else with vitae. He hadn't talked to the man in gods knows how long. Decades? Centuries? They'd never been that friendly with each other.
He watched as the aelf created dozens and dozens of treants and had them circle around the other aelves. The treants leap up into the air and Kage squinted his eyes at the rays shining down on him from above. It was getting to be evening which meant that more and more aelves would be waking up soon. When a cloud obscured the sunlight he saw dozens of projectiles raining down onto the other aelves.
One of the younger aelves spread his feet and kept his sword in position. She started to deflect them with her blade but couldn't deflect them all. She had to dance around them and deflect them at the same time. Furthermore, the treants running in clockwise and counterclockwise circles start throwing their many weapons. They tossed them through the openings as they run in, being careful not to collide. The younger aelves were surrounded by so man weapons that Kage couldn't even keep track of them all.
One of the aelves got hit – no blood was spilled. The weapons were probably all dull anyways. The aelf realized his rhythm was off and he dove behind a tree to hide for a moment. The footsteps of the treants weren't subtle at all, giving their target a warning that they were coming.
The treants and aelves continue to fight, weapons clashing then blurring before clashing again. When the swords connected was the only time Kage could even follow what was happening. It made his head spin knowing how competent other aelves were. Eventually the aelves tired and Kage got to his feet. He'd watched enough.
1060 WC