Seikatsu's Secondary Magic Training [Private]

Theme: Ice Magic
Type: Caster


Day 1

With his last job completed, Seikatsu began the long trek to the frozen north. He brought along the egg he acquired back in the cursed lands, wondering when it'd hatch and what was inside it. The journey was long, and grueling. Ice was an element Seikatsu was prepared for above the ankle, his lack of shoes however were the exception. Upon arriving to the polar hell Seikatsu was able to take down a couple hares and turn them into a pair of white boots. He buried their bodies in the ice for a few hours to let them freeze over.
Seikatsu was taking a good look around, noting anything he could use as a land mark for when he was ready to leave. Unfortunately... the Silent Glaciers were nothing but plains of snow, surrounded by a sea of ice.
Seikatsu came here because he needed a quiet place, where no one would ever find him so he can train. He managed to turn his tribes supportive Soul magic into something truly fearsome. Now he wanted to be like that warrior goddess and learn the other half of the tribes magic. The tribes magic consists of Soul, and Ice. Ice was always the default for fighting, but Seikatsu wants to use it for support, and when he's got a firm grasp of how to use it he will use it for offense.

Seikatsu took the hares from the snow, and they were blocks of ice... good thing he already gutted em. Seikatsu grabbed the frozen organs, and with hares and guts in hand continued trekking to find a suitable training site. Eventually, he found a small area with several tall, trees that were obviously long since dead. He also saw a patch in the middle where the trees were lined up just far apart enough for him to make a wall to keep out anyone who'd interrupt his training sessions, or try to kill him. Before he started training, he'd have to prepare a suitable area to do so.

Day 2

Seikatsu had brought along a few of the stones from the Assassination job he had finished recently, and used them to cut down some of the trees near where he was going to build his shelter. Just cutting 2 of the 4 trees he needed took an entire days work. The wood wasn't 100% dry, and as a result was frozen solid. The only thing that prevented him from shivering was that he was working so hard his core temperature was just enough to keep going. If he'd tried it without the cloak, then he'd probably be hypothermic in a matter of minutes even with his increased temperature. Seikatsu spent the night sleeping in one of the trees to avoid any hungry nocturnal predators.
The next day, Seikatsu remembered he forgot to eat and cooked the organs of the rabbits for breakfast. He then got to work cutting up the other two trees, which took till night. After spending another night in the tree, Seikatsu began preparing the chopped trees so they can be finally put towards making that shelter.
Seikatsu found that the wood split pretty easy going down, and for many places in the trees were already split from the ice. Before the day was over Seikatsu has more than enough wood to make the wall. He moved it all to the circle, and started working on it, first piling wood, weaving it through the trees, to form the bottom. There was a gap between two trees, to form an exit. It was night and Seikatsu had half the wall formed. He checked on his egg, making sure that the satchel wasn't too terribly cold. It wasn't warm enough for Seikatsu to be comfortable, so he put some of the coals from the fire in it to warm the air up and closed the bag off. The next day he finished building the wall, and used the remaining wood to fashion a wooden hut. Not much insulation but it protected him from the elements.

Day 3

The third day, a Seikatsu heard the sound of footprints being made outside his encampment. He stepped out to see what it was, and a large bear attacked him. Seikatsu was helpless against the monster, and mere seconds from being killed when the bear was attacked by a black figure.
The figure was extremely long, and fairly wide. It had a type of helmet on it's head that looked like bone, and it ran the length of its body. The snake like creature threw the bear and then went to Seikatsu's side, and coiled around him loosely, opened its mouth revealing a flurry of razor sharp teeth. The creature was protecting Seikatsu, as it waited for the bear to attack. The bear called the snake out on it's threat, and charged. The snake flew towards the bear, and grabbed the bear by the head. It then took its tail, which had a type of blade on it, and rammed the bear in its stomach gutting it. The bear stopped moving, and the snake released it letting the body fall before coming to Seikatsu. It made a circle around him, and began nuzzling the side of Seikatsu's head.
Seikatsu couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, but for fear of ending up like the bear, he rubbed the armored snout of the snake-ish..thing and tried to figure where it came from. He soon found out the snake thing was extremely intelligent, as it knew what Seikatsu was thinking. It spread out two pairs of wings, one near its head the other near its tail, and flew up the tree where the satchel was, and brought down the bag with shell shards in it.
The creature shrunk down to a miniscule by comparison size, and crawled up Seikatsu's leg onto his arm, and into the bag which was still warm from the coals from the night before. Seikatsu now understood that the snake thingy was what was in the egg.

"That's a type of wyvern. More specifically, it has a direct bond with you through me. You're welcome." Altsoba said.
"Pardon?" Seikatsu replied.
"In my time, we had managed to obtain a dragon's genes and did some testing. We wanted a way to attack from the skies, and have combat assistants that wouldn't die. We crossed a python with a dragon, which created a wyvern. But the dragon's instinct to kill humans were still strong, so we crossed that result with another python, which had the same result."
"So how did this thing come about?"
"After several thousand tries, a single on of these was produced. It was incredibly intelligent, and pure hearted. It didn't have a desire to kill, so we released it into the wild and continued the experiment."
"So how did this thing come about."
"If it was made by the one we released, it shouldn't have attacked the bear."
"You're not answering my question harlot."
"I'm sorry child, let me be more specific."
"I don't know..."
"Great, you're annoying and useless."
"Do me a favor, and stay quiet when I get around to training harlot."
Seikatsu closed the bag, and let the hatchling rest in the warmth. He set the bag in the hut and got to work on making use of the bear.
While skinning the beast, Altsoba chimed in again.
"What we did find out about those creatures is that they can shrink, and grow at will. They also can communicate with whoever they choose to address as their parent, or mate."
"How did you find this out?"
"Towards the end of my life, there was a single batch that was exactly what we wanted. They were kind to humans, and when ordered, vicious. But they died within weeks for some reason, possibly too much gene mixing. It's likely that this is the last of the wyverns..."
Seikatsu finished skinning the bear, and set it up on a tanning rack he made from the spare wood.
He cut up the meat, and stored the bears organs inside its stomach, and stored it all in one of the nearby trees. The trees were too tall for most carnivores to try and climb, so they were a great place to store any valuables.

Day 3 continued
The bear skin took some time to tan properly, but once it was completed Seikatsu slung it around his make-shift home, and stripped some of the wood so he could tie it on. He then took the snow surrounding the hut and piled it around the bear skin cover. The snow piled on the hut acted as insulation, while the tanned bear skin prevented the snow insulation from dropping the temperature inside.

Seikatsu could finally begin his training.

Seikatsu sat in the middle of the small encampment and meditated, feeling the world around him and focusing his mind on the snow and ice below the snow. He was trying to learn the way it acted. As the snow began falling, he focused on the pattern of the snow, and learned the different shapes. Each snow flake had a unique shape, and fell differently from the ones around it. They had personalities all on their own, and moved at different speeds.

Seikatsu focused in on a single snow flake, and tried to form a connection with it. He kept his eyes closed as he envisioned just that one flake. He envisioned the flake moving, and when he opened his eyes, it was gone. He repeated the process, except this time, he forged the sensation of what it'd be like to be that snow flake moving around. The new approach was an utter failure.

Seikatsu spent hours on end trying to make a single snow flake move, but to no avail. A rustling was heard, and before Seikatsu could turn around a voice came from behind saying:
"The way we learned it was through practice..."
Seikatsu turned around, and saw the white haired woman. His rage began to grow, but he didn't say a thing.
"If you w-" the girl was cut off when Seikatsu's wyvern had its teeth just barely touching the sides of her neck.
The wyvern let off an aggravated slow growling sound while keeping its teeth on her.
"Niyol..." she said.
Seikatsu's eyes flew wide open, and the wyvern's teeth pressed against her neck further.
"How do you know that name?" Seikatsu said with the ghost of his past fixated on 'that' night.
"Because I'm your daughter." she said, feeling somewhat hurt.
Feeling the confusion in Seikatsu's heart, the wyvern released the girl's neck.
"It's not good to lie." Seikatsu said seeming unamused by the statement.
"I'm not lying. Here, look!" The child pulled off her hood, and revealed a small dragonfly shaped hairpin. Inside the hairpin was a small orb that was crimson with light red moving in it. She took it off and gave it to Seikatsu.
Before Seikatsu even looked at the hairpin, he studied the child. Her eyes were purple, just like his. He marveled at the fact that his stalker was a little girl. Amazing that she stalked him since he was 17.
Seikatsu switched focus to the hairpin; holding it, he could feel the bloodline of his deceased, or so he thought, fiance Istas's bloodline.
"It belonged to my mom. She died protecting me from a monster when I was three."
Seikatsu didn't want to believe it, there's no way she's telling the truth. But the soul fragments in the hairpin are from his tribe... Seikatsu would know because it's the exact jewel in his swords.
The girl took off her cloak, letting her long white hair flow in the icy wind.
"I'll show you!" she said enthusiastically, and trotted back a few steps.

A mist exploded from the ground and began swirling around the child. It was nostalgic for Seikatsu, and reminded him of the first time Istas practiced her magic. However, this child had a much more violent mist. It was apparent that she had no training at all.
Seikatsu watched carefully as a set of 12 ice crystals came out of the snowy ground, and broke off into small splinters leaving behind 12 cylindrical poles. The poles rose into the air, and the splinters spun around the cloaked figure, and began reflecting the light from the sun overhead; changing the color of the mist.
Seikatsu's eyes began to focus as this was the exact meditation technique his tribe used for practice. It was also the second time he'd seen an outsider using it.
Seikatsu kept watching as the cylindrical rods came down, and were each cut into equal length pieces. The ice pucks were placed on the floor in a circle, and they stood up and began to spin. Each puck reflected light, creating a beam of light that differed in color, depending on which ray of light originally entered it. The mist around the child began to move, and dance around her. It began to take form.
Seikatsu and his wyver began looking intently at the mist around the child. This is the part where it will be seen if he really is his child. If she is, then her soul animal will be either Seikatsu's or Istas's.
The mist came from the ground, and spiraled around the child as it rose and then went over her head and looped to the outer edge of the ice pucks. The ice pucks rose into the air and began to dance about the trees and Seikatsu before exploding into a series of colorful sparkles.

Seikatsu was dumbfounded. That was legitimately his and Istas's meditation cycle. Neither of them had a spirit animal...
"Well?"
Seikatsu remained absolutely silent.
The child trotted over to Seikatsu and sat on her knees. She put her hand to his face and began waving it.
"Hellooooooo?"
"Niyol?"
Seikatsu was having a flashback to when him and Istas was training together. How she did the meditation exactly the way that child did it. From the way she was always as energetic, and her mist was an explosion of energy, and even the fact that she had no spiritual animal.
The child was shaking him when he came back to reality.
"Niyol!"
"Are you okay!?"
Seikatsu snapped back while shaking his head.
"I..."
The tear running down Seikatsu's face turned to ice.
"I...."
he got up and went back inside the hut.
The wyvern looked at the child, and crawled... or slithered over to her.
She began rubbing the wyvern's head, and it began making a type of high pitched growl. She stopped and the growl got low, and its eyes narrowed.
"Ahh... I'm sorry!"
she began rubbing the wyvern's head again.

Seikatsu spent the entire day in the hut, and only came out at night to check on his wyvern.
When he emerged from the hut, he saw the wyvern in it's grown form keeping her warm.
He walked over, and looked at the child.
The wyvern lifted its head and nuzzled Seikatsu.
"Go on inside, I'll grab the kid."
The wyvern did as told, and Seikatsu picked the child up as she was freed from the wyvern's grasp.
Seikatsu knew that children don't get their names till they're five. If the child was separated from her mother at age three, and she's been stalking him since she was around that age, she must be six... or more...
'Such a pure soul...' he thought to himself.
"Kateri" he whispered.
Seikatsu took the kid in, and spent the night outside.

Day 4

Seikatsu spent the night trying to move that one single snowflake. He spent the whole night, failing at moving that one single snowflake.
The child walked out carrying the wyvern.
"You're not doing it right."
Seikatsu looked at her shocked that she was able to walk around in such cold with no protection.
"First, you need to get rid of this."
She pulled the string on Seikatsu's cloak, and it dropped. Seikatsu immediately began shivering.
"Now, keep your eyes open. Put your hands like so."
She placed her palms together, and Seikatsu shivered while copying her.
"Picture in your mind something precious to you. A single object that means the world to you, and you'd die just to keep it safe."
Seikatsu did as told, and made the mistake of closing his eyes.
"I said open your eyes."
He re-opened them.
"Good, now keep that picture in your mind, and slowly open your hand."
The child did so, and a flower appeared in her hand.
Seikatsu did as told, and noticed that nothing appeared in his hands.
"You didn't think of something that was important to you..."
"I did."
"You lied to yourself."
Seikatsu looked at her, wondering what she meant by that.
"What you pictured, was that sword of yours. The sword entrusted to our chief, and given to you as a show a love. But you only keep it because you feel a duty to it, and if you had to you'd happily throw it out."
Seikatsu thought about it for a moment, and realized she was right. But he had no idea how she would know that.
"How..."
"Mom told me a lot about you. She told me about how you have a sense of duty that will make you do the worst things if you said you would. It's true too..."
Seikatsu thought back to the assassination missions, and realized it really is true.
In all reality, Seikatsu had no idea what was 'precious' to him or not. He'd only ever traveled with the cloak, the satchel, the sword, and a few small trinkets from his village.
"Do you still have it?"
"Have what?"
"Mom's necklace."
Seikatsu was hoping she wouldn't know about that. But she did have a point. That necklace belonged to a dead woman, and he had no reason to keep it.
"You do have it don't you!" she was smiling from ear to ear.
"Picture it!"
Seikatsu did as told
"Good, now put your hands apart a little."
Seikatsu did as told, and this time a small bead dropped from in between. The bead was a solid ball of ice, substantially larger than the little snowflake he was fooling with before.
"Now you can come sleep. I don't like being alone."
"What have you been doing for the past three years?"
"You're a pretty heavy sleeper."
"That would explain how she came into existence..." Altsoba said jestingly.
"Did I say you can speak yet harlot?"
"Did I tell you you could half ass that contract? Or should I make you finish it?"
"I'll pass, just stay out of this."
"I'll pass."
Seikatsu didn't bother indulging Altsoba in conversation, he just went inside the hut. The child cuddled up with him, along with his brand new wyvern. He tried to push them both away, but after waking up several times throughout the night he realized how vein those attempts were. Eventually he simply gave up.

Day 5

Come morning, Seikatsu woke up to find that some of the bear meat was already cooked, and the child was outfront practicing. Seikatsu walked over and sat down cross-legged and began practicing what he learned last night. He envisioned the small charm of Istas's necklace, and forged it in his hand. Just like last night, a small bead appeared. It was round, and light blue, but wasn't the same as the necklace.
"Don't think too much on it." the child said to him.
"If you focus too much on the looks, you'll make it too weak."
She said, and picked up the last bead Seikatsu made. The bead became powder as soon as her fingers touched it. Seikatsu looked at the bead, and examined the connection.
"The bridge between soul, and ice..." he said.
"huh?"
"The bridge between soul and ice, it is the gap between focus, and structure."
"For soul magic, you must focus the tool into existence."
"That's the reason why our men couldn't do it. They were taught focus, according to you it's no good to bring about the structure of ice."
"The women of our tribe were taught structure, something a soul lacks."
"I guess..."
"You're not wrong child. At the same time you're not right either." Altsoba chimed in.
"You must focus your mind still. You just need to focus more on giving your magic structure, and less on giving it form. Give your magic a broad form, and allow the ice to go it's own way. Then focus on making the magic rigid, and durable."
Seikatsu remembered how each snowflake had it's own shape. They are all unique, and never fall the same way as the others.
Seikatsu now understood, he was going about ice magic as though it were soul magic. But ice is tangible and while it molds to what ever shape it's put in, it doesn't stay in that shape when fully formed.
Seikatsu stood up, and opened his eyes. He put his hands together, and envisioned the object. Pulling his hands apart, a long slender item appeared. The item was at first a simple rod, but as Seikatsu focused on it's structure, the rod was given layers. Each layer gave the form Seikatsu wanted. He was sweating even without the cloak on, as he focused hard and turned the pole into an object that bent, and had a string made of ice. He had successfully created a bow from the ice.
"If you're going to stick to that route, then you should practice a lot more."
The child tapped the bow with her finger, and it shattered.
"But 'A' for effort."

Seikatsu had realized he had no skill for creating weaponry. Also, he had no need for such a magic as he had his own sword, and a soul sword, so what need would there be for MORE swords? Seikatsu threw aside the broken grip for the failed ice sword, and took a breath. He began to imagine the structure of a snowstorm, the randomness of the snow flakes, the uneven amounts of bitter cold winds, and a small amount of wind kicked up.
"That's closer to what I use." the child stated.
"You're not going to be able to maintain that if you focus on randomness."
"The girl is right partner. Focus on giving structure to the randomness you're picturing." Altsoba added.
Seikatsu broke concentration.
"That makes no sense." he said to Altsoba
"It makes perfect sense."
Altsoba assumed control of Seikatsu's body and turned to the child.
"I am the Demon of War, Altsoba. The one who killed your village, and now inhabits your father's soul."
The child looked at Seikatsu. The demon and her father would talk to each other, and it was kinda creepy hearing her dad's voice change so quickly. The thing she never foresaw was the demon speaking to anyone other than Seikatsu.
"What do you want?"
"Form a set of human shaped targets."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"I've trained your father to use his current magic."
"He didn't learn it on his own?"
"This fool can't figure how to control snow, do you really think he'd be able to control anything else?"
The child grunted, and turned to a side and formed a set of human shaped sculptures.
"You wanna tell me your name?"
"I don't have one."
"Ask your dad for one, then tell me what it is."
Altsoba relinquished Seikatsu's body, and he hit the floor. On one knee, he placed his hand on his head, trying to rub the pain out.
"What the hell is wrong with you harlot?"
"Shutup and hit the targets"
"huh?"
"You're demon had me make the targets over there, I guess she wants to help train you."
"She's been helping the whole time. I just wish she wouldn't talk when she helps."
"Did I say screw around? Use a single stream of cold air to put a hole in that target!"

Seikatsu prepared himself mentally to make his attempt. Just as he was about to try, his daughter stopped him.
"Hold on!"
"What's the matter?"
"You're just beginning, so you don't even know how to make the air cold."
"That's why I'm here, so I won't have to."
"Then you won't learn properly."
"First you have to make the air even colder, and when you can control the air around you..."
"I can then learn to project it..."
The child nodded. She grabbed Seikatsu's arm, and pulled him down into the snow taking a cross-legged pose. Seikatsu followed the example, and 'mentored' him while they meditated.
"You were trying to control the element without knowing the basics."
"If you did this in a warmer place, the friction would turn the ice to water."
"You have to learn to maintain the temperature of your spells."
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"I'd assumed you had already done that part."
"Horse crap, you've been watching me for years."
"I give you privacy... sometimes"
"Also horse crap."
"hmmm... hey Niyol?"
"Yeh?"
"I didn't have a chance to get my own name before... umm..."
"Kateri."
"What?"
"Your name is Kateri, it means pure."
"When did you give me that name?"
"Last night."
"Oh... thank you Niyol."
"Don't call me by that name."
"But..."
"Call me father."
Kateri was speechless, he'd already come to terms with being a parent.
"There's no getting around that you're my kid, so may as well accept it."
"He's not telling you the whole story."
"Shut up harlot."
"What's the whole story?"
"There's no sto-"
"He's partially to blame for your village. Knowing this, he abandoned that name, and adopted the name Seikatsu."
"If you're going to take control of my body, at least ask permission. Or let me finish my sentence!"
"I'm sorry, but wasn't it you who told the girl 'It's rude to lie' just yesterday?"
Seikatsu didn't speak, he knew Altsoba was right about it.

"Kateri."
"Yes?"
"Exactly how do I go about doing this?"
Kateri was trying to ignore the fact that her villages destruction was partially Seikatsu's fault.
"You have to feel the air around you."
"I was doing that before..."
"No, you were feeling the world. Just feel the air."
"Okay..."
"Then feel the cold with your heart, and it will make the air cold."
Seikatsu began to meditate with his eyes open. Slowly he began to separate the world, from the air around him. He felt the breeze, smelled the ice in it, and soon realized he wasn't cold. His goosebumps went away, and his nose cleared up. The pain in the back of his ear ceased, and his heart rate picked back up. Seikatsu reforged the cold persona that he'd given off so many times before, and a cool breeze picked up. Kateri put her hand near him, and felt that the air was wonderful.
"That's good, keep it just like that." she said in a soothing tone.
"Now slowly expand your perception of the air around you. Make it so your perception of it is several meters and change the temperature of it." Altsoba instructed.
Seikatsu did as told, and slowly expended the area that was chilled. It took several hours, but Seikatsu expanded the area of cold air from a matter of inches, to nearly a full 200 feet. He tried to go further, but began to strain so he pulled back and re-entered his comfort zone.
"Great work, now keep that going for a few hours and then take a break."
Kateri went inside the hut to take a mid-day nap.
Seikatsu remained silent, he knew that mastering ice magic will require so much practice. Ice, which is a very physical element and in many aspects, is the exact opposite of Souls would be more difficult than say... fire. Ice has a texture, it has a temperature, structure, and will. All of which, Soul Energy lacks.
It was simple for Seikatsu to get the temperature where he needed it, but he wanted to try and make it colder. He wanted to make it so the temperature was enough to make him feel cold again.
It was strenuous, and Seikatsu was tired from just getting the temperature so cold, but he did it. He found that it was easier to maintain this temperature than it was the warmer one, and once he made it so cold, his body began adapting to it.
Altsoba felt somewhat proud of Seikatsu, and to avoid boosting his ego too high or breaking his concentration, kept it to herself.

Several hours of Seikatsu embracing the bitter caress of the polar north had passed, and Kateri had walked over to let him know it was time to take a break.
"I'm not tired." Seikatsu argued.
"Hehe, say that after you stop practice."
"Slowly separate your body from the air, and then stand up"
Seikatsu did as Kateri told, and it was an hour until the temperature was back up to the standard 3 degrees. Seikatsu still felt fine, until he stood up. As he stood up, Seikatsu passed out and toppled over into the snow.
"Hey, would you mind carrying him inside?" she said to the wyvern.
The wyvern let out a few high-pitched clicking sounds and made its way over to Seikatsu's sleeping body. It grew to it's enormous size in a matter of seconds and gently picked up Seikatsu with the part of its mouth that didn't have razor sharp teeth. The wyvern gently placed Seikatsu on its back and went to the opening to the mini-encampment, which was barely wide enough, and set Seikatsu in the entrance of the hut. The wyvern couldn't put him all the way in because the entrance was thinner than she was, so Kateri walked over and pulled Seikatsu into the hut, and used his satchel as a pillow.
The wyvern stayed guard outside while she stayed next to Seikatsu while he slept, after a few hours Altsoba took over him and talked to the girl.
"Child"
"Wha- huh?"
She had Seikatsu sit up
"I have a deal I'd like to make with you."
"What sort of deal?"
"The same one your father entered in."
"Pass."
"Just listen, half of my soul is merged with half of your father's. The other half is free to do whatever I please."
"I said no."
"I'll give you the same contract as him, except the price will be different."
"N- what will the price be?"
"You won't have to kill anyone or anything. It's understandable for you to distrust a demon, but my vows are absolute. I can't go back on it, even if I want to."
"What will the price be?"
"A few years of your own life, and proof that you're headstrong; in exchange for the power to protect your father."
Kateri looked at the floor, and didn't talk.
"Just in case, here."
Seikatsu's body pulled out the piece of paper with the magic circle that started all of it.
"Those words on it are of the divine and demonic tongues. They mean "I accept the contract of the demon Altsoba.' Draw the circle on any surface, at any size, and stand in the middle while saying it."
Kateri stayed silent while looking at the page.
"This is the dark end of magic, and it's forbidden, so there's always a price."
"I'll let your father sleep now, and don't tell him I did this mmk?"
"Uh... oh, okay... i think?"
"Good girl."
Seikatsu's body gently slid back into place, and Altsoba released control. He was still knocked out cold, as if what just happened was a dream.

Day 6

The next morning, Seikatsu woke up and saw Kateri sleeping next to him with the piece of paper in her hand. He left the paper alone, and Altsoba figured she should try to make nice with him.
"That's her decision partner, and we have a different contract." Altsoba said bluntly.
"What the hell are you pulling harlot?" Seikatsu replied in a quickly infuriating tone.
"I offered her your power, in exchange for proof that she can fight."
"How much blood must you-"
"She won't be killing anyone for this contract."
"What will she do then?"
"She'll age a few years, and have to fight a superior opponent."
Seikatsu was about to argue it but he realized that fight doesn't mean kill. He knows it's Kateri's choice, and not his own. Seikatsu wasn't in a position to argue a demonic contract.
"If you think about it, I'm not that horrible.
After you completed the contract, I trained you.
While you sleep I kept watch sometimes,
When you're getting tired I take over and let you rest."
Seikatsu thought hard, and she was right. Everything the demon did was FOR Seikatsu after the contract was completed. He also thought to himself
'Convenient you weren't watching when Kateri was conceived.'
"After I was noticed by that grey haired wizard, I began helping you.
If not for the terms of my contract, you wouldn't hate me partner."
Altsoba had a very good point, and her contract with Kateri was fairly passive compared to his.
"I still don't want to hear a word from you harlot."

Seikatsu went outside, and meditated. He followed the process from yesterday, connecting with the world around him first. He then separated the world, from the air and maintained a connection. Seikatsu noticed it was easier to do it today, he still strained to drop the temperature as low as it was yesterday, but it was definitely easier to do today if only slightly.
He wanted to try something new, and tried making the cold air move by controlling the frozen humidity. He decided to go with a simple movement, and tried moving it in a circle. A small breeze picked up as the cold part of the air began moving, and Seikatsu figured this would be plenty. The wind was strong enough only to make his hair move slightly, but it was extremely difficult to maintain, and Seikatsu wanted to quit. He kept pushing, and kept that wind speed steady.
Altsoba was thoroughly impressed that he'd managed to make it this far. She was actually proud if him for being a pushy, stubborn, hasty, fool. She decided she might actually compliment him when he finished.

Seikatsu kept the air spinning slowly until lunch. He slowly stopped the spinning, and then let the temperature rise again, before he got up. When Seikatsu stood up, he noticed he wasn't tired in the least. His body had adapted to the flow of the magic to the point where he could practice it without feeling drained.
Seikatsu climbed up the tree, and used his sword to cut off a slice of the still frozen bear meat as well as took a couple of its organs and went beck down. Kateri has already went and got firewood, and Seikatsu had her go find a few small stones, and a big rock. He took a few hours to show her how to carve out a cooking pot with the stones.
Kateri put a spin on it, an used her ice magic to erode the rock into a better pot than her father's. The two of them cooked the bear meat up, and intestine. The process took so long that it was dusk when they'd actually eaten to meal but Seikatsu found some joy in teaching Kateri, and Kateri liked not stealing meals from her father. Seikatsu sent Kateri in the hut, and had his wyvern stay back so he can ask a favor.
He figured the wyvern would need a name, but he didn't know what to call it.
"Altsoba, you have a bond with these things so I'll let you name it."
"Lisa"
"That was fast..."
"I was waiting for the right moment."
"Alright, Lisa."
The wyvern looked at Seikatsu awaiting an order.
"Looks like you already accept the name"
Lisa slithered closer to Seikatsu, and he began petting her armoured head.
"I need to ask you a favor."
Lisa spread her wings, excited to be of assistance.
"I have a guy in Hargeon who owes me a favor, I want you to take this note to him."
Seikatsu took the note, and used a piece of his cloak to tie it onto Lisa's back, just behind the helmet so the air currents to rip it off. He then drew a map of Fiore pointing out where he was, and where Hargeon is.
"You'll know you get there when you see a big, white building. That building is the local guild's home. My friend will be around here."
He drew a sloppy but comprehendible picture of the area around the guild hall and a line leading to a small shop.
"Stay with the man in here, and wait for him to give you something to bring back to me, okay?"
Lisa nodded, and let out a high pitched clicking sound.
"It's gonna be a while before I leave, so you have plenty of time."
Seikatsu rubbed her head, and gave Lisa a shred of bear meat as a thank you.
Lisa took off, moving faster than Seikatsu had anticipated she would.
"At that speed she'll get there in a couple days..."

Seikatsu sat down cross-legged and began his meditation. The air was already below zero since the sun wasn't out so Seikatsu used it to his advantage. He dropped the temperature as low as possible, just to the point where he began to strain. As an added stress he made it spin a bit faster. The air was moving fast enough to make his cloak, which was resting on a pole, flicker and wave with it. He maintained this motion, and temperature all night.
Seikatsu felt something pressing into his legs, and chest and stopped meditating to see what it was. When he looked down, Kateri had grabbed his cloak and started curling up on him. Seikatsu rubbed her head, feeling a faint smile creep on his face.
"You know... the hut is where people normally sleep..." Seikatsu stated.
"I don't like sleeping alone" Kateri said in a half awake grumble.
"Alright, just don't distract me."
Kateri fell asleep before he could even finish saying it, and Seikatsu resumed his meditation. He connected with the world around him, and then separated to the air. He picked up the wind, and made it spin at the previous speed.
Seikatsu maintained this meditation throughout the night, and when he woke up he'd realized he'd created a massive bubble of ice around the small encampment. Kateri was proud of him for making that bubble.
"You're ready now." she said smiling.
Seikatsu looked around, marveling at the frozen walls. They shines beautifully as the light from the moon filtered through.
"I know we've been asleep for a while, but the moon's still out?"
"We're in winter, so we won't get as much sunlight."
"Why?"
"Because we're pretty far north."
Seikatsu explained geodynamics, and how the tilt of the planet caused the seasons, and that the north and south pole get less sun or moon depending on the season and all that fun stuff. Kateri, surprising for her age, understood every last bit of it.

Day 7

Kateri asked Seikatsu what he wanted to do with his ice magic, so she'd know how to help him.
"My magic puts me pretty close to the fight, and sometimes my opponents are pretty tough. I want to use the freezing temperature to cripple them enough for me to get in, and get out faster." Seikatsu said.
"I see. That's actually the simplest form of ice magic. You're already half way there."
Kateri to the middle of the dummies and faced them. She put her hands out and a blast of snow cut them all in half.
"That's the kind of magic I use. If I use that and slow down the speed, I can freeze the air around me. Doing this makes people's skin really sensitive, and easy to break."
She showed Seikatsu the effect by pulling a piece of the bear meat and freezing the air. She dropped it on the ground and it shattered. Seikatsu was surprised at the effectiveness.
"You already got part ways there. You need to get the air so cold that it's almost unbearable. After you do it a few times, just like before, you get used to it."
"But for those who aren't used to such extremes..."
"Yes, they'll feel the effects as well. Be sure to choose allies ready for cold weather."
"Understood."
Seikatsu pulled a piece of bear meat from the pot and set it on one of the dummies. He stayed standing and dropped the temperature in a single heartbeat. He forced the air colder, colder, and still colder to the point where it was beginning to hurt but he kept dropping the temperature.
The air was so cold, that the ice bubble he made over night exploded and Kateri force the pieces away to prevent them from touching Seikatsu. If they so much as tapped him it'd cut him.

Seikatsu was in unbelievable pain. He felt like his chest was about to rip open with every breath he took. His nostrils were freezing over from the immensely cold air entering it. Hit lips were cracking, and his skin was burning. A tear began forming in his eye, and froze immediately. He kept the air at that temperature, and stood in place. Kateri walked to the bear meat, and poked it. The mean fell into pieces, and she told Seikatsu to stop. He did as told, as the pain he was in was now unbearable.
Seikatsu collapsed, and Kateri brought some firewood near by, and used a piece of wood from the already existing fire to light it.
She noticed that the amount of meat was getting low, and for their purposes what was left will be needed. Kateri walked out of the encampment, leaving some spare logs for Seikatsu to throw in he fire when he warmed up. She sealed the entrance with ice, and walked off into the woods to get some more food.
Seikatsu was finally able to move without hurting himself, and added some more wood to the fire. He stayed near it until he was back to normal. Seikatsu went to his cloak and bent a small piece on the end to make sure it wasn't still frozen. Thankfully it wasn't, and he threw it on and went to go find Kateri.
He found her placing a pretty crappy looking deadfall trap. Seikatsu showed her how to do it proper. He took the sticks and set them in an 'X' formation to hold the chuck of ice up, and gently placed a piece of meat in between them.
"What happens is the animal pushes the sticks when it goes for the meat, and the ice slams on its head." Seikatsu explained to Kateri.
Kateri nodded, and went to another place with a lot of foot prints and set up a deadfall just like Seikatsu's.
"Like this?"
"Yeah, just like that."
The two of them went to go catch some fish, where Seikatsu taught her to make her own fishing rod. The line was made up of stripped wood, and the hook was stone. They used bits of bear meat as lures. At the end of their fishing trip the pile of fish was more than the two could carry in their arms. Seikatsu took his cloak off, and loaded the fish in and tied the ends to make a sack. He handed it to Kateri and told her take it back to camp, and he'll check the traps. Kateri followed his orders and made way to their base.

Kateri arrived at the wall of ice, and noticed her footprints leaving, Seikatsu's footprints where he climbed over the ice wall, and a third set of prints. She quickly threw down the back, and makeshift fishing rods and stormed back to her father.
Seikatsu got to the first trap, and Altsoba took over making him throw himself aside as a spear shot down where he was standing. Seikatsu turned around and saw a very grizzly looking man coming after him, and thought of how he picked the worst time to leave his sword behind.
Kateri was running through the frozen trees while reciting the words from the slip of paper.
"Suscipiam..."
The man jumped from the tree he was hiding in, and Seikatsu rolled to a side, barely dodging his other spear. Kateri was panting as she ran and said the second word.
"Contractus..."
Seikatsu got up, and grabbed the pole of the spear keeping the long rusty blade from being slammed into his heart. A branch whacked Kateri in the face, and left a small cut on her ear.
"Deamon..."
The man pulled the spear, and turned it to the other end hitting Seikatsu with the pummel. He didn't have the sheath for his Soul Sword, so he couldn't use it and the man knocked him a few meters back. Kateri could see the two fighting straight ahead of her. She got a blast of ice ready to hit the attacker with as she said the second to last word.
"Anima..."
The man was directly above Seikatsu and was about to bring the spear down on him when the ground began glowing bright red.
Kateri flew out from what seemed to Seikatsu and the guy attacking him as nowhere shouting "Altsoba!" as she fired an ice crystal at the man's back knocking him away from her father.
The ground was shining as a set of red vines grabbed Kateri's feet and aided in increasing her speed. The man turned around an tried to attack Kateri, but Seikatsu had regained his senses and used his Marionette's Fury to hold him in place.
She dropped the temperature around the man's feet and froze him to the ground. He broke free from Seikatsu's strings and began stabbing the ice around his feet with his spear, but before he could make a dent Kateri had ran up to him and placed her hand on his chest.
He released the spear and tried punching her, but stopped when a massive blood-red ice crystal appeared from his back.
The crimson glow began to converge on Kateri to reveal that she had drawn a massive magic circle using sticks, and left it so the wind would cover it with snow. The magic circle below her fired a set of crimson vines that encased her. Loud screams of pain were heard as she was branded with Altsoba's demonic mark. As the vines loosed her from their grasp, she toppled over and passed out. Seikatsu looked at the sleeping child, who was no longer a child.
"I think I might have took too much..." Altsoba said with a worried tone.
Kateri was now over 5 feet tall, had extremely long white hair, and a figure.
"Contract Completed." Altsoba said speaking through Kateri.
Seikatsu kneeled down and began nudging her.
"She's alive, just asleep. The girl just jumped from six to sixteen in a minute after killing a man. As I recall, after you got branded you took a nap yourself."
Seikatsu relaxed and finished grabbing the deadfall traps spoils, which consisted of seven snow rabbits. He slung Kateri over his shoulders and in the other hand held the rabbits by their ears and went back to camp.

Seikatsu cleaned up three of the rabbits, and set them high in the trees so they'll freeze over and be out of the reach of other predators. After the morning, Seikatsu didn't want to practice anymore. He set Kateri's head on his legs and shoved his sword in the ground to use as a backrest.
Looking at Kateri he noticed her hair was blue, but outside it was white. He dismissed the fact as there's nothing he could do about it and it's pretty obvious Kateri wouldn't know. Het felt the long hair as it was very soft and he found a strange relaxing effect from playing with hair. Not just Kateri's hair, but other people's hair in general.
"Watch out partner, you're starting to grow a heart..." Altsoba said.
"You really think so?"
"You have a person on your lap... and you're rubbing her head."
"I guess I am getting soft."
"You're not worried that she's only four years younger than you now?"
"Still my kid."
"You have paternal instinct... how admirable."
"There something you want?"
"What'r you gonna do with her when you're done?"
"Set her on her own quest."
"Huh!?"
"Closure is my mission, not hers. She needs to find her own path, and her own purpose."
"I guess, but don't you want her at your side?"
"She's my daughter, not my woman."
"Uhhhh..."
"It's the other way around."
"...."
"She can fight her own battles. No matter how old she was, she's a woman now."
"So if someone tries to court her?"
"He has to go through me."
"That'l be a short fight..."
"If the outsider can best me, then he's free to court her."
"If he tries to hurt her?"
"That's her battle."
"Now you're being cold..."
"No, I'm letting her be her own woman. That's the way of our people."
Altsoba left it at that, and Seikatsu continued rubbing Kateri's head, and eventually fell asleep with her head still on his lap. Kateri slept more soundly tonight that ever before. Altsoba was able to feel the bond between the two of them stronger than she could understand. From Kateri to Seikatsu, love would be strong, but Seikatsu just met this kid; Altsoba couldn't understand why he even cared. But she didn't want to question it, she decided to just roll with the punches.

Day 8

Seikatsu had already cleaned the rabbits he saved last night since if they stayed that way too long it'd spoil. There was rabbit organ stew already in the pot, made with some wild potatoes Seikatsu found earlier. Kateri looked around for Seikatsu, and noticed the air was freezing by ice wizard standards. She saw Seikatsu behind the hut, and was about to approach him when Altsoba stopped her.
"I wouldn't do that."
"What? Where?"
Kateri was looking around since she didn't see Seikatsu's mouth move.
"Remember, I can talk through you since we're contracted."
"Oh..."
"Don't panic, but you're a few years older now..."
"What?"
"You're 10 years older to be exact."
"WHAT!?"
Altsoba left it at that and let Kateri cope on her own.
Seikatsu had began meditating, trying to get used to wind as cold as -50 degrees. It hurt, but not as much as yesterday. The wind he was maintaining was extremely strong compared to before. Altsoba could tell he was determined to learn this magic more today than ever before. The wind picked up speed, and began to turn to a snowstorm. He was controlling the snow to create a huge blizzard bubble. The wall was heavy with snow, and the air inside was rough, but bearable if you're ready for the cold. Kateri stopped panicking and dipped her fingers in the wall for a second, and Ice formed on them.
"Your father seems to be more determined today..."
"How do you figure?"
"It took him years to learn the element that comes naturally to men from your tribe."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but look at how quickly he's learned to control the ice in the air to this extent."
Kateri looked around, and was able distinguish between the wall of the bubble, and the air inside it. She was impressed, since even she couldn't learn the ability this quickly.Seikatsu maintained the snow bubble for three days and nights without rest. Kateri spent each of these nights sleeping next to Seikatsu. On the fourth day Seikatsu quelled the snowstorm and got up.

Day 13

Seikatsu spent the previous day sleeping in the tent, naturally with Kateri still unable to sleep alone, so he could recover the strength he lost from maintaining a blizzard bubble for so long. After his 24hour power nap of destiny, Seikatsu woke up feeling refreshed. Kateri on the other hand was still knocked out. A thumping sound was heard growing louder, and Seikatsu went outside to investigate. Lisa had returned with a sack in her mouth, and gently set the sack down, before reverting to her normal size and retiring to the hut. Seikatsu opened the sack and inside was two pistols, and a note that read
"Debt repaid, keep that demented snake away from me!" - JGN
Seikatsu looked at the guns, one had ten barrels on the front and Seikatsu was questioning its practicality. He's no gun expert, but the gun seemed front heavy, silly looking, and cumbersome. On the side it had the words 'Big Surprise' engraved in it. The other gun had a single barrel, flat contours, and just like the Big Surprise, the barrel opened up at a hinge to load the round in it. Seikatsu also questioned the practicality of a gun like this, one shot and if you miss you're screwed. Either way, he figured it'd be alright for Kateri to use for close ranges.
Kateri walked out with the tips of her hair touching the ground. Her hair changed to white as soon as each part hit the sunlight, and the places that went in her shadow changed to blue. She was carrying Lisa in her arms, and obviously slept well since she was groggy.
"Morning sunshine." Seikatsu said.
"Morning, what's that?" Kateri replied.
"I sent Lisa to get a couple weapons for you."
"But I have magic..."
"You won't always be able to use magic. I'll train you to use a sword, and you're gonna have to train yourself to use these."
Seikatsu passed her the 'Small Package' and 'Big Surprise' and Kateri looked at them both funny.
"From what I know about guns, they fire a metal projectile that isn't guaranteed to hit. You can get around that by using your magic to control the wind around the shot."
Kateri was still looking at the 'Big Surprise' as if it were made by aliens.
"Kateri."
"Yes sir?"
"After some practice with them, you'll get used to them and be able to ignore the odd looks of that one. My friend didn't give us much ammo for them, so for now use your magic to simulate these."
Seikatsu threw one of the .308 rounds and a 9mm round to Kateri.
"The short one is for that funky looking gun. The longer one is for the single shot."
"Ummm.... okay."

Seikatsu began his training again. He stood in place, and dropped the temperature to unbearable lows, and instead of staying like that, he began to practice fighting. He was punching the dummies the Kateri had placed for him, and not getting hurt in the lease. His skin had gotten used to the -50 degree temperature, and was 100% able to stretch and bend.
Kateri began practicing shooting her guns, and had noticed a small button on the side of the .308 pistol. Not knowing what it did, she decided to leave it alone.
The two of them practiced their own ways, and only took breaks to eat, sleep, or use the restroom. Conversation was minimal, and was only broken when Altsoba was telling them a way to correct their methods. From telling Seikatsu he's still not kicking high enough, to telling Kateri that she needs to use the sight on her gun if she wants to hit anything.
Seikatsu was getting the hang of using the wind, and it got to the point where he could use the ice in the air to control a single jet stream of air. He learned to do this and control multiple jet streams, and make them all rotate in different directions.
Kateri, after a few weeks, learned how to make the 'Big Surprise' hit a target int he same spot. It had to be stationary, and she had to spend a while aiming it. She realized that wouldn't do any good, and started using her magic to make moving dummies. She started slow at first, then made them moved faster.
Seikatsu was trying to find a way to enhance his in combat abilities with the ice magic. He knew he could make it too cold for the enemy to bear, but he wanted to figure how to make it do more.

Month 5
Seikatsu had mastered using the frozen humidity to move air. Now he wanted to learn to use his sword with the magic. Seikatsu remembered when he made the ice sword before, it was weak and brittle. He also knew that he had his reinforce spell, and figured if he can apply souls to a weapon, why not be able to apply ice to it?
He began condensing the ice onto the weapon trying to find the perfect way to increase the damage output with it. First he tried just coating it in a layer of ice, and realized that was useless and did nothing for the sword. He tried using the same weaving technique as with Reinforce, and figured that would be useless as it covered the Reinforce. He then realized, that he could add ice in between the weaving for the Reinforce.
Seikatsu formed miniature ice spikes emerging from his sword, with gaps in it just big enough to let the Reinforce spell attach. He swung the sword once, and the spikes fell off. Kateri kept practicing her shooting, ignoring the bunch of ice spikes that just tapped her on the back.
Seikatsu tried again, and again until they finally stuck. At this point, there was a pile of ice shards near Kateri, not that she noticed. Kateri was busy making her near perfect aim, even better. After five a bit over four months of practicing, she had finally worked how to get over the fact that the 'Big Surprise' was extremely inaccurate if you used the sights. She worked out that you have to adjust the position of the barrel, and it was easier if she imagined she could see through the barrel, and to her target. The targets Kateri were using were now moving at the same speed an average person would run, now all she had to do was learn to fight without a gun.

"Hey hun."
"Yes dad?"
"You're looking pretty strong with those guns, it's time to switch to a different weapon."
"Okay, what's next?"
Seikatsu showed her his sword.
"I want you to study this as closely as possible, not the hilt of it just the blade."
Kateri focused in on it.
"This is the Thorn of Souls, the weapon that is passed to the village chief."
Kateri marveled at it, the sword looked like it could do damage to both parties.
"I added this dagger to the end, and renamed it the Thorn of Betrayal since I betrayed the village."
"I want you to use your maic and re-create this weapon without the dagger."
"Yes sir."
Kateri did as told, and did her best to make an exact copy of the sword. Kateri wasn't an Ice-Maker, so the process was long and she had to redo it a few times before she could make a suitable sword.
"Good, now we'll begin training you to use a sword. There's plenty of corpses on the road ahead, and you can relieve one of them of a weapon."
Kateri nodded, and prepared to fight Seikatsu.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
Seikatsu flew at Kateri and sent her flying. He kept attacking and Kateri learned to block. She began using her 9mm pistol both to block, and attack.
"Good, use your guns in between blocks. Pick your shots, and time it right."
She learned fast, and after a days worth of practice she was fighting Seikatsu on almost equal footing when he was holding back as much as possible.
"Good, you're learning the basics. Istas was no different with me. She'd attack me ferociously without relenting and even cut me a few times. She made me learn to fight by making me believe I was in danger."
"Mom's really that good a fighter?"
"Don't know if she still is, but back then she was a dangerous kid."
"I'm about to got just a bit harder on you, also I'm gonna be using a spell I just came up with okay?"
"Alright, let's go."

Seikatsu applies his spikes to the sword, and gave it a quick flick to make sure he got it right. The spikes stuck, and Seikatsu charged at Kateri. Keteri charged at Seikatsu as well, and jumped over him aiming with the 'Small Package' while Seikatsu was recovering from his failed strike. He anticipated the shot, and spun around using the tip of his Thorn of Betrayal to slam Kateri in the face with snow. Kateri's shot missed and she hit the floor.
Rubbing the snow from her eyes, Kateri was almost beheaded by Seikatsu and moved at the exact last second. Seikatsu didn't stop there as he spun around attempting to kick Kateri in the face, and Kateri blocked with her forearm. Seikatsu spun around and got ready to cut her arms open, and Kateri blocked with the barrels of 'Big Surprise' and fire a couple shots. Seikatsu dodged one of them, and the other exploded on his arm. The ice pellet didn't puncture, but it still stung.
"Hey dad, that spell hasn't shattered yet."
"It took a few tries to get it to stick, so I'd hope it didn't bust from a single strike."
Seikatsu came after Kateri moving in a zig zag pattern. The method was enough to confuse her, but when Seikatsu was within striking distance, Kateri was smart enough to know the attack would come from the opposite side. She blocked with her ice sword, and both her sword and Seikatsu's spell shattered.
"Hmm... not much time on it, but I guess it's enough to make a few good attacks."
"Give me a couple minutes to remake my sword, I wanna train with it some more."
"Trade with me when you make it, I want you to use a real sword so you can get used to the weight."
"Yes sir."
Seikatsu and Kateri spent a week training like this. Seikatsu kept applying the ice shards to the ice swords Kateri made so he could find a way to make it last longer. He eventually figured that the spell lasted so short because the spikes weren't connected. By creating small bridges over the Reinforcement spell, the ice spike would stay on twice as long before shattering which is really all Seikatsu could ask for of a spell like that.

Month 5
Week 2

Seikatsu and Kateri were getting stronger. Altsoba began complimenting them on their dedication, while mocking Seikatsu about having a daughter that's almost as old as he is. Seikatsu had noticed he was a very different person now. He was smiling more often, and feeling less like a traitor should. This lack of guilt, for some odd reason didn't disturb him. For once Seikatsu was glad he was alive, and it showed.
Seikatsu decided to take a break, as him and his daughter were training for the past five months without end. Today, he's gonna teach Kateri how to track; not just animals, but people as well. He slipped out early, leaving behind a small note. He began moving through the frozen trees using blasts of icy wind to spread the snow and cover his footprints. The only thing Kateri would have to go off of was the smallest disturbances. Broken twigs, minor damage to tree trunks, at best a single footprint that hadn't been windswept. Seikatsu made sure to leave clues to where he would hide, but nothing that would outright give away his position.
Kateri woke up, and found the letter Seikatsu left her tied to her forehead. it read 'Let's play hide n' seek. You're it! and you're a very heavy sleeper.'
She stepped outside and looked around trying to find the footprints that would ensure her victory, but discovered there were none. She grabbed her cloak and stepped outside the camp, as soon as she was three steps out, a massive bubble of snow encased the encampment and sealed her out.
"So now I have to find you..." she said to herself.
"The idea is that you learn to track down the most elusive of prey." Altsoba informed her.
"Any hints?"
"Only the ones your father left you."
"And you're not gonna help?"
"He told me not to."