Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 17, 2019 14:57:43 GMT
She didn't expect him to say anything; She honestly didn't know what she expected of him. He'd really made a mission for himself, she reflected with the same laughing mirth that colored her crazy at that moment. Trying to build up something as irreparably broken as she was? He must be just as mad.
Then his hand fell upon her shoulder, so broad as to swallow the bony knob entirely, "If you see me as the peak you are greatly mistaken. I am just a man." He told her, missing the point. Aegle was not surprised he'd missed it; She'd ever been utterly unable to get her feelings across to others. She'd never been good at making them understand. The point was not that Malinov was some peak of excellence, though his power must rival Solomon Moon's. The point had been that he was just a man, a huntsman. He wasn't some height worth reaching, he was scarcely above the bare minimum required to qualify. She could not tell him that though, not when he'd already taken her words wrong, not when correcting him would tell him the true score. Malinov was powerful sure, compared to Aegle. His great size and incredible strength would make him a difficult opponent, but huntsmen were well used to taking on things bigger and stronger than they were.
Oblivious, single minded, just as she was Aegle supposed, Malinov pressed on, "The Grimm are far stronger, and the gods even more so. I only got to where I am because I've been training for years. You just told me you spent the last four years bedridden. Your journey has only just begun, and I will be here to help you." His hand left her shoulder, but the weight remained, dragging her down as a perpetual yoke. She tried to draw some encouragement from his inspiring words, but they just made her want to laugh harder. Again, he'd missed the point, and again she dared not tell him the truth. She dared not lift the scales from his eyes, that he might see her and she saw herself, that he might behold the reality of her shadow of an existence. She looked down at her hands, each one trembling, and tittered. It was all really quite funny, if you came at it the right way. If she told him the truth, would he still put on such a brave face, or would he don the mask her family and everyone else who knew the truth wore? Maybe it was thinking like this that drove men to drink. That thought tickled, and Aegle shook her head, giggling still.
"Come on, let's finish the simulation." Malinov said, striding on his long legs back to the center of the room, "These virtual Grimm may not be as smart or strong as the real thing, but they make an excellent teaching aid."
Aegle did turn, fingers flexing at her sides, but she didn't see the vice-headmaster as he squared up for another round. She didn't even see his strength or his size.
"Just watch closely to how I fight." She saw an ease and familiarity with fighting she did not have. She saw years upon years of training, just as he'd said. And she found a new thing to envy in him, apart from the big strong body random chance had given him. Her jealousy swelled, such that it hurt, that it came bubbling out in soft snickers she had to smother with the back of her hand, as she retreated to the back of the cell, to give the big man the space he needed.
It was all well and good, she supposed, to talk about the many years of training he had, she supposed. It was only natural, Aegle thought, that he should take those years for granted. How impatient she must seem, from his point of view. When the next hardlight grimm appeared, it was another beowulf. It feathered into existence like a skirling of snow, and was soon joined by others. They did not move right away, but instead waited for the last grimm to be formed. Only then, with a synchronized spasm, did the beowulf pack come to life.
It was in that moment, that Aegle came to life as well. She lunged at the nearest one, only the third to be formed, and caught it a savage hook on the side of its lupine skull. The beast barely budged, though the hardlight had more give than bone might have; It did not even flinch back from the blow, as a real grimm might have. Instead, whatever algorithm powered its artificial mind stalled as it registered a hit from a combatant that, so far as the computer knew, did not exist. That was all it took for the hardlight grimm to recognize her, as well as Malinov, as a target. She knew it had been Malinov's intention to show her a few more cool moves, to demonstrate his way of fighting monsters, but his way would not work for her, and she was done wasting time. Aegle hopped away from the first grimm and tagged a second with a jab under its jut of toothy jaw. The second grimm did flinch; Now that she was a participant in this battle, it seemed to know it should. It also answered with a rake of dagger sized claws, but Aegle wasn't there to get hit. She was moving to a third beowulf, hand raised to put a haymaker into the side of its ugly head. This grimm did not suffer the blow as readily as the last two however. It weaved beneath the punch, went down to all fours, and sprang at Aegle with an artificial snarl. Aegle, feet not planted, could only jump back clumsily, right into the path of another grimm making for Malinov. It's bony shoulder dug into her side as the monster loped by, and she was sent caroming to the ground, tossed aside as easily as a bag of bones. The beowulf that did it didn't even slow; It's stupid AI locked onto Malinov, it ignored the much easier target it had knocked so effortlessly aside.
Aegle scrabbled to get back to her feet, and caught a brief glimpse of her three aggrieved grimm as they all rounded upon, or else loped toward her.
She giggled helplessly. This had been a really stupid idea...
Then his hand fell upon her shoulder, so broad as to swallow the bony knob entirely, "If you see me as the peak you are greatly mistaken. I am just a man." He told her, missing the point. Aegle was not surprised he'd missed it; She'd ever been utterly unable to get her feelings across to others. She'd never been good at making them understand. The point was not that Malinov was some peak of excellence, though his power must rival Solomon Moon's. The point had been that he was just a man, a huntsman. He wasn't some height worth reaching, he was scarcely above the bare minimum required to qualify. She could not tell him that though, not when he'd already taken her words wrong, not when correcting him would tell him the true score. Malinov was powerful sure, compared to Aegle. His great size and incredible strength would make him a difficult opponent, but huntsmen were well used to taking on things bigger and stronger than they were.
Oblivious, single minded, just as she was Aegle supposed, Malinov pressed on, "The Grimm are far stronger, and the gods even more so. I only got to where I am because I've been training for years. You just told me you spent the last four years bedridden. Your journey has only just begun, and I will be here to help you." His hand left her shoulder, but the weight remained, dragging her down as a perpetual yoke. She tried to draw some encouragement from his inspiring words, but they just made her want to laugh harder. Again, he'd missed the point, and again she dared not tell him the truth. She dared not lift the scales from his eyes, that he might see her and she saw herself, that he might behold the reality of her shadow of an existence. She looked down at her hands, each one trembling, and tittered. It was all really quite funny, if you came at it the right way. If she told him the truth, would he still put on such a brave face, or would he don the mask her family and everyone else who knew the truth wore? Maybe it was thinking like this that drove men to drink. That thought tickled, and Aegle shook her head, giggling still.
"Come on, let's finish the simulation." Malinov said, striding on his long legs back to the center of the room, "These virtual Grimm may not be as smart or strong as the real thing, but they make an excellent teaching aid."
Aegle did turn, fingers flexing at her sides, but she didn't see the vice-headmaster as he squared up for another round. She didn't even see his strength or his size.
"Just watch closely to how I fight." She saw an ease and familiarity with fighting she did not have. She saw years upon years of training, just as he'd said. And she found a new thing to envy in him, apart from the big strong body random chance had given him. Her jealousy swelled, such that it hurt, that it came bubbling out in soft snickers she had to smother with the back of her hand, as she retreated to the back of the cell, to give the big man the space he needed.
It was all well and good, she supposed, to talk about the many years of training he had, she supposed. It was only natural, Aegle thought, that he should take those years for granted. How impatient she must seem, from his point of view. When the next hardlight grimm appeared, it was another beowulf. It feathered into existence like a skirling of snow, and was soon joined by others. They did not move right away, but instead waited for the last grimm to be formed. Only then, with a synchronized spasm, did the beowulf pack come to life.
It was in that moment, that Aegle came to life as well. She lunged at the nearest one, only the third to be formed, and caught it a savage hook on the side of its lupine skull. The beast barely budged, though the hardlight had more give than bone might have; It did not even flinch back from the blow, as a real grimm might have. Instead, whatever algorithm powered its artificial mind stalled as it registered a hit from a combatant that, so far as the computer knew, did not exist. That was all it took for the hardlight grimm to recognize her, as well as Malinov, as a target. She knew it had been Malinov's intention to show her a few more cool moves, to demonstrate his way of fighting monsters, but his way would not work for her, and she was done wasting time. Aegle hopped away from the first grimm and tagged a second with a jab under its jut of toothy jaw. The second grimm did flinch; Now that she was a participant in this battle, it seemed to know it should. It also answered with a rake of dagger sized claws, but Aegle wasn't there to get hit. She was moving to a third beowulf, hand raised to put a haymaker into the side of its ugly head. This grimm did not suffer the blow as readily as the last two however. It weaved beneath the punch, went down to all fours, and sprang at Aegle with an artificial snarl. Aegle, feet not planted, could only jump back clumsily, right into the path of another grimm making for Malinov. It's bony shoulder dug into her side as the monster loped by, and she was sent caroming to the ground, tossed aside as easily as a bag of bones. The beowulf that did it didn't even slow; It's stupid AI locked onto Malinov, it ignored the much easier target it had knocked so effortlessly aside.
Aegle scrabbled to get back to her feet, and caught a brief glimpse of her three aggrieved grimm as they all rounded upon, or else loped toward her.
She giggled helplessly. This had been a really stupid idea...