In his youth, Mathias had once come across an old man travelling the roads of Wintra, if one was to judge by appearance they would have sworn that this ancient traveler was naught but a frail, demented husk, now destitute and with little skill to speak of. Luckily for Mathias, he was never one to judge so easily. He recalled, during his exercises, how he had fed and sheltered the man. This act of kindness, although unusual for Mathias, did not go unappreciated. In return for his hospitality the traveler taught him the basic principles of Wing-chun.

Now on the snow blanketed patio, Mathias practiced. His arm movements were sharp, yet precise, his lower body was sturdy yet flexible. The trick, as he was taught, is for every movement to have a purpose. He could almost hear his mentors voice, passing through the falling snow before him.

"Think of your body as a river, you must flow. You can either flow fast or flow slow, either way you must get your destination. A river knows its true course, all lead to the Ocean and although they may bend and twist, every rivers course is as direct as the terrain allows. Your Ocean is your target young man, you may bend and swerve, but only to get to your target. Every movement has a purpose, every river knows its course." 

He had not performed Wing-Chun in many years, but he felt it necessary now. The tide had turned, the city was always chaotic, even before the rift, but since the broadcast, since the people found hope in the darkness...Things had got much, much worse. 
"How long will it take..." He pondered "Before the civilians try to breach the estate? The North wall lies just beyond my land. And how long will it take for the military to storm in after them...and how long until the remainder seep through: the lost few, the demons and the degenerates." Mathias closed his eyes and deeply inhaled the aggressively cold air and as if carried by such action, Boreas assured his host "We will no succumb Mathias, will we defend our land, our people will be protected, your plan will work...it must." 

Reassured, Mathias continued his training, he would need all the practice he could get.