Training on the Bay (Ni-Ju Hachi and Kihia)

Ni-Ju closed the doors of the Guildhall behind him and made his way down the marble steps at the entrance into the streets of Hargeon Town proper. For the last several weeks he had been plagued by a flickering form of double vision that was startlingly close to what his Eternano Sight had been able to accomplish before the accident, but accompanied by a massive headache every time he opened his eyes for even a few measly seconds. With a bit of time and a fair amount of endured mental strain, Ni-Ju was able to discover a book in Zuo's Library dealing with strange magical traumas and disorders.After a quick scan over the neatly scribed index, Ni-Ju knew he had hit on something that might be useful. For within the book's confines a short passage was to be found about a mage who had seemingly lost his ability to use the earth magic he had been born with and used happily for years after his wife had nearly brained him with a garden hoe upon discovering his marital infidelities. The thing that made this man's case strange enough to merit entry into the book and that had caught Ni-Ju's attention however was that after a period of several months his magic had slowly began to return to him in short doses before finally coming back altogether, albeit at a somewhat reduced power by the man in question's estimation.

Despite the easily noticeable differences between his own case and the man in the book's, something about the whole situation made Ni-Ju believe he was on the right track. Wasting little time, Ni-Ju had posted a small hand written bill near the job board in the guildhall stating the somewhat strange circumstances that were befalling him, what he had managed to learn thus far, and asking for the help of anyone who might be able to lend it. After a short time, a message had been delivered to him that had read quite simply "I think I might be able to help solve your little problem if you are willing to devote the time and work. Meet me at the town's largest pier tomorrow morning and we can begin sorting this out. Signed, Kihia.". Ni-Ju snapped out of his thoughts as he realized that he had already arrived. Taking in a large breath of salty ocean air, Ni-Ju began to look for his friend.

Kihia was sitting down cross legged on a small platform out in the middle of the bay, his eyes closed he was in deep meditation getting a feeling for the entirety of the surroundings around him. He had left Ni-ju a note to meet him on the longest pier, he only hoped what he had in mind would help Ni-ju regain the magic he had lost during a training exercise. He had a large pouch that was filled to the brim with various magical scrolls and lacrima’s each holding various low rank elemental spells, this was slung onto his back as he waited to sense Ni-ju’s presence out on the pier.

That’s when he felt Ni-ju’s presence and opened his eyes and started to rapidly form numerous hand signs, he then finished with his normal ice make hand sign and then punched the ice platform he had been sitting on, then suddenly the platform expanded outward to form a ice platform 100 meters across, and a ice bridge formed out to the pier, as Ni-ju would walk across It, the bridge would disappear bit by bit until he finally reached the giant platform of ice. I am glad I made numerous arrangements with both Ship captains and Port coordinators for this occasion, I needed to make a platform where Ni-ju could try and practice to once again harness the powers of his original magic of Elemental Mimicry, in order to protect the town as well as the Guild hall, I set this up for this training.

Ni-Ju watched in amazement as Kihia created an icy island in the middle of the bay and followed up with a bridge spanning across the water as he began to approach. " I take it that is for me." Ni-Ju said excitedly, dropping into a short bow to greet his oldest of friends. " And its not even my birthday." Ni-Ju continued jokingly. Looking out at the water and noting the lack of ships occupying the harbor he could already tell that whatever Kihia had in store for him was going to be tough at the very least and a downright nightmare should he prove less then capable but then again if this challenge could be conquered then he would be one step closer to being the kind of mage whose power could be counted on to help show the world that even the smallest members of Lamia Scale were nothing to be trifled with. Marshaling his resolve for the coming tasks at hand, Ni-Ju straightened back up with a broad grin dominating his face. "I really hope I didn't put you out too much by asking for your assistance with this matter Kihia. I know that as the guild's only current ace you have quite a bit on your plate already." As he spoke, a chill morning wind began to pick up, throwing tiny droplets of water off the surface of the bay to land on both mages as a fine mist. With everything ready to go from his end, Ni-Ju waited calmly for Kihia to explain how this was going to work.

Kihia had watched as Ni-ju had walked across the bridge of ice to the platform he had made, when he heard the comment from Ni-ju he simply smiled and shook his head, “Don’t worry about it Ni-Ju, It is always a pleasure to help you or anyone else out from the Guild.” Kihia then got up and stretched a fair bit, ”From my understanding, when we had that massive training session with the Master a few months back you received a blow to the head that somehow caused your magic to change… I am going to try and help you hone those skills back to the surface… if that is your desire… I will be able to assist you in it…”

Kihia then went quiet for a long moment drifting in deep thought, he had heard of the situation around Ni-Jus magic change as well as the drastic differences between the two. Ni-ju’s magic from what he remembered hearing about, used a magic that mimicked other elemental spells, a magic of creation, however after the training session it turned into one that of Destruction, having the ability to directly blow up elements , it was a complete one hundred eighty degree turn from a simple blow to the head. Whether or not it has been truly good for Ni-ju however, Kihia didn’t know. He let out a sigh, he didn’t have much room to talk in that regard, his own magics had recently taken a drastic change and he was still getting use to them, but that’s for another day, “If it is Ni-ju, I need you to explain to me how you had used it in great detail… after listening I will be able to gauge what I have set up is the best course of action…”

Ni-Ju thought over what Kihia had asked for a solid minute before trying to answer, as best as he could. "Everything about the old form of my magic started at the eyes. " He began, gesturing towards his own bright blue orbs. "Before the accident, it was the simplest thing in the world to just gaze at a mage for a short length of time and be able to tell what their magic was intended for by the way they directed magical energy from their center. After all, each wizard uses their magic in a completely different way and the directed flows are as individual as a finger print or one of a kind piece of art." Stopping for just a moment to catch his breath and reorder his thoughts, Ni-Ju then continued his explanation. "After memorizing the colors and patterns of a specific flow of energy from a casting wizard or individual spell then came the hard part, shaping and releasing it perfectly to match the original. Reaching down into the pool of energy possessed by every living thing to some degree, great or small, I would begin to rapidly manipulate my own flows of magic to bring them into the proper alignment to match their's, copying their spell and reusing it for my own purposes." Laughing quietly to himself over the inadequacy of his somewhat inaccurate explanation, Ni-Ju decided it would probably be easier to just give the example his master had always used when explaining how his magic worked. "According to my old master, my abilities were similar to those of a magic sculptor or artisan who merely had to see something once in order to reproduce a copy that would be indistinguishable from the original work.". With everything now out in the open as possible, Ni-Ju waited to see what Kihia would make of the situation.

Kihia sat there and listened intently to what Ni-ju had to say, taking in every single word and started to formulate a plan to initiate what may be needed to help Ni-ju start regain his old magic. After Ni-ju finished his explanation Kihia simply smiled and motioned for him to sit down, he then would take a seat, “From what I understand, the first thing we must do for you is for you to regain this sight… and I have just the idea to help with that…” Kihia then took a deep breath and then continued, “I want you to sit there and meditate with your eyes closed… Open up your sixth sense… and feel the magic around you… do not open them until you start to see traces of the magical power, and when you do… focus them on the single biggest magic signature you can see…” Kihia then waited to see when and if Ni-ju did this, he too would close his eyes and start focusing on a task of his own.

Kihia started to focus on reducing his own magical signature so that it could barely be sensed by anyone, even Ni-Ju who was only a few feet infront of him. My part of this is going to take all of the discipline I have not to overdo it… He then focused on the ancient power that resided within him, from his very bloodline and heritage, and started to very slowly build up his magical power, he only hoped that this will give Ni-jus sight a jump boost when things finally finished…


OOC Note: Post two times doing this task, after the 2nd post I will post again,

Ni-Ju plopped down in a cross legged position and began to concentrate as Kihia had instructed. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath did little to alleviate the tension he felt building in the top of his neck and shoulders and his stomach was in enough knots that it almost certainly would have caused him a great deal of pain if he was able to feel such things but he had asked for this and there was no way he would back down when a possible solution to his problem lay so close at hand. Setting aside his physical discomfort as nothing more then a weak attempt by his own body to hold him back, Ni-Ju began to reach a fairly peaceful state, shutting out the distractions that plagued him, one by one. Time passed in fits and starts, vaguely remembered images, sounds, smells, and textures wafting before his mind's eye and quickly fading away before he was able to grasp the meaning behind any of them. A woman's face appeared before him repeatedly. Her features were quite lovely but her expression was stern to the point of harshness. In most of the images he saw the woman, it always appeared as if she were speaking to him but the words were lost before they could ever hope to reach him. Several other faces came and went without pause, each familiar in a vague sort of way, as if he had seen these people before but had never actually spoken or interacted with them.

Spiraling further into the dream like state that his reawakening magic had pulled him into upon beginning to meditate, Ni-Ju felt trapped. For no reason that he could discern, the cascade of stimuli bombarding his brain suddenly halted and broke, like a large wave crashing against the rocks and his mind was once more clear. From out of his self imposed darkness, Ni-Ju began to see small hovering motes of blue-green light, each no bigger the the head of a pin. The motes floated around him in a pattern that he hadn't known in a very long time but was easily identifiable even through closed eyes. After all there was no way he could ever forget the first time he had viewed the ocean in all it's glory while under his Eternano sight. Nearly losing the small foothold of control he had regained by shedding tears of joy, Ni-Ju managed to barely clamp down on his emotions and continue to focus. After waiting what seemed to be ages, Ni-Ju began to notice as other motes of light began to steadily appear around him, blinking in and out of the strange field of vision that lay open to him like the stories people tell of ghosts or spirits. Rather then merely watching, He began attempting to judge what each pattern belonged to, listing them off in his head as they became something he was able to recognize. Among the constantly shifting shapes and colors that passed momentarily before him, Ni-Ju began to discern the flickering edges of a light blue aura that lay directly in front of him. Different from the rest in not only power but also concentration, this aura was almost certainly what Kihia had asked him to focus on and that is just what he intended to do.

Kihia sat there deep meditation, as he focused his senses not only on Ni-ju but on himself to shrink his magical signature as much as he could. He then heard Ni-ju crying, seemingly out of joy, as he also fought to keep his focus. Kihia smiled knowing it was time for his plan to come into full tilt. He then took a deep breath as a magical glow started to emanate from Kihia, as he started to build up yet contain his magical power. He then took a deep breath as he nodded, he then exhaled releasing all of the magic power at once, the magical Aura flaring up and enveloping Kihia as well as a fair bit around him, however for Ni-ju’s special seeing skill, he would see something far more than the flare up if he focused on Kihia, On the outline of the ice demon slayer, the aura seemed to have taken the shape of a set of armor, yet not fully tangible. However if he managed to focus even closer, he might have a chance of spotting the special reservoir of magical power that he was born with, the very reservoir the power of his ancestry was given over a thousand years ago. The power of the Frozen Lineage. Kihia sat there eyes glowing from his intense magical aura, he maintained hit for a moment then he raised his right hand up facing skyward and released all of the excess magical power into the sky in the form of a Cryogenic beam, “Never try and mimic that magical formation…”

The steady blue aura that had attracted Ni-Ju's attention began to grow before his him, nearly leaving the young mage blind even with his eyes shut. Needles of purest agony pierced through Ni-Ju's brain as he struggled with all of the force of his will just to retain the meditative state that was required if this treatment were to work. As his vision strained to keep up, Ni-Ju could begin to discern a bare outline hidden among the rapidly shifting energy before him. The form resembled that of an incredibly large man,covered head to toe in a set of full plate of such a deep blue in color that at times it appeared as if it were glass. While powerful in it's own right, this seemed even to his newly revived vision to be only a part of the magic that lay at Kihia's beck and call. Without quite meaning to, Ni-Ju found his sight suddenly rushing past the knight to the core of what lay beyond. For a bare instant Ni-Ju found himself on the plains of a frozen tundra with a vast icy castle spanning out before his vision. Despite knowing down to the marrow of his bones that he was sitting safely on a dock in Hargeon Town, Ni-Ju could swear that the chill he had felt had been real. From outside the depths of his trance Ni-Ju faintly heard the sound of Kihia's voice. Before he could grasp the warning that Kihia had given however, Ni-Ju felt something shift inside him. The flow of magic throughout his body began to rapidly adapt. Unable to do anything more then struggle in vain, Ni-Ju felt as something deep inside him began to freeze over.

OOC:
Figured that due to his magic being out of whack at least one accident was needed.

Kihia grimaced as he sensed the subtle shift in Ni-Ju’s magical pressure, and he sensed ice forming inside of him. He then stopped charging of his own magical power and then dashed forward straight at Ni-ju, and went to place his right hand over Ni-ju’s forehead, “Oh Powers of the Frozen waste, Heed my call as a desendant of the Avoa Bloodline and halt your grip against this Mage, Leave him and let him live the path he has so chosen! By the Shield I command…” After a moment Ni-ju should feel his insides slowly go back to normal after the powers he had accidently started to mimic had started to try and tear him apart.

“I told you Ni-Ju… Not to mimic that magic formation….” Kihia would then wait a moment and then sit back down where he was previously had been sitting, “Such magic should never be copied unless you can power it down to a safe parameter for your own use… my bloodline is unique… giving the ability to use Ice Make Knight without its power completely tearing me apart… Although…” Kihia then stopped however and then turned and looked at the ice he sat on, however he then shook his head and waited on Ni-ju’s recovery, I mustn’t worry about that theory… after all there is no way to prove that horrid theory about my Bloodline… as well as the fates of those who walk the path of a mage with it… Kihias ice colored eyes were solem as he thought about it, but was still heavily concerned for Ni-jus well being.

Ni-Ju snapped out of trance at Kihia's touch and found himself once again sitting on the docks with the light spray of sea air caressing his face. Even without the means to feel pain, he could instantly tell that he had done something stupid, as every breath he took felt similar to what he would get if he had just run flat out as fast as he could up the side of a very steep hill. From the look of concern showing on Kihia's face, whatever he had just managed had probably threatened his life at the very least and quite possibly could have caused some form of permanent damage to his insides. Shivering uncontrollably, Ni-Ju sat there like a log while Kihia gently chided him. "Guess... I.... screwed this one up pretty... bad, eh?" Ni-Ju rubbed his hands together in an absentminded fashion to get some of his blood flowing again properly. "Once... I began... to see the flow of your.... magic, something inside... of me just kinda... latched on and wouldn't let go." He continued sheepishly. The images he had seen while in trance flashed before his mind's eye, prompting him to ask what he knew was going to be a fairly personal question. "I don't.. mean... to be rude or anything.... but I have to ask, what in the... hell is it that is inside of you?"  With his question hanging in the air and the faculty in his legs slowly returning, Ni-Ju stood up shakily and attempted to stretch out as best he could to soak up the sunlight.

Kihia sat there as he watched Ni-ju slowly recover from the shock of what just happened, Kihia withdrew back into a meditating position and let out a sigh of relief. He then listened to what Ni-ju has he bluntly asked a question which caused Kihia’s expression to brighten a bit. He then raised his right hand to his head and muttered, “Frozen armor creation…” A helm of pure white ice formed on Kihia’s head which he then promptly took it off and placed it infront of him. The helm had three eye slits on each side of the face area, an overall arcing point above the brow and a sleek arch like design overall. “What you saw… is probably the gift that resides within or would reside… within all members of my family… A gift bestowed to my ancestors by one of the ancient Ice Kings of Iceberge…” Kihia then lifted the helm once more and stared directly into the eye slits, “It gives us special powers over the element of Ice… the most predominate of which is the ability to use a incarnation of a spell called Frozen armor... The form of the spell varies from member to member solely because it is a reflection of their soul and heart… My teacher, Master Iarok, gave me the title of the Frozen Knight as per the ancient tradition of my family, since my Frozen Armor is that of a Knight.”

He then went quiet for a moment and stared at Ni-ju, “I said this already but I will say it again, Unless you power it down, never copy that spell off me… it is taxing on me enough as it is… trying to copy its full power… could very well be catastrophic…” He then paused once more and nodded as the Helm then dissipated into magical power, “Now then… If you don’t have any questions it is time to get on with your training… tell me Ni-ju… what Element were you most use to copying at first…?”

Ni-Ju carefully thought over Kihia's question while plopping down to take his former seat. The very first element that he could ever remember using had been earth due to the outright abundance of the material but upon thinking further he decided that air was the most likely choice as it had been his most practiced element before the accident that had caused such a radical shift in his powers. Still shivering despite his best efforts at warming up, Ni-Ju gave his reply. "I believe...air... was.....the most comfortable.... for me." To his strange form of vision, air had always been the most beautiful, rushing this way and that with patterns that seemed as if they would break apart at his lightest touch before reforming again and going about on it's merry way.A cloud suddenly moved out of the way of the sun in counterpoint to his thoughts, bathing him in a warm light that did wonders for the cold that he still felt and finally stopped his teeth from chattering. Scratching a persistent itch that had sprung up on the side of his nose, Ni-Ju attempted to explain things in better detail so that Kihia would have as much information to work off of as possible before they began once again. "Air wasn't exactly my first element but it is the most familiar to me and according to what Master Wong told me after I was first tested for magical ability, it is the element that I am most suited to using. " A funny thought occurred to him as he spoke. "Now that I stop to think about it, even when I am using the current form of my magic air is still the easiest for me to manipulate." Putting aside the thoughts that sprang up as to exactly how it was that his magic really worked, Ni-Ju nodded to Kihia. "Ready to begin again when you are."

Kihia listened to Ni-Ju’s explanation and nodded, he then pulled the sack of spell scrolls infront of him and started to sift through the scrolls in the sack, Let’s see… Earth… Fire… Water… Lightning… now where is that bundle… Ah there it is… Kihia then pulled out a bundle of scrolls bound together by a single chord, they were green in color with white bands at each in, Kihia placed these down on the ice infront of him and then started to speak, “These scrolls allow one to cast a very simple Air based spell called… Aeria Wave when a mage uses them… I will use them and in turn… you will hone your ability to mimic this spell…” Kihia then unraveled the chord and then stopped himself, “I believe I am getting ahead of myself… We will need some targets won’t we…” Kihia then gestured out towards the water to his right and focused his magical power in that area, suddenly twenty mini-icebergs formed in the water “there now let’s begin…” Kihia then picked up one of the scrolls and opened a bit and placed his hand in the middle of it, he then sent his magical power into the scroll which caused his right hand to be encompassed by swirling winds. Kihia then yanked the scroll up and rolled it back up and thrusted it outward, “Spell Release…. Aeria Wave!” Then a small cyclone of wind extended from Kihias hand and hit one of the icebergs making it tilt back and forth violently.

Ni-Ju paid close attention as Kihia sifted through the sack he had brought along with him and brought forth a bundle of scrolls marked with the sign commonly associated with air. Placing the scrolls on the ground in front of him and unrolling them for use, Kihia began explaining what it was that he was supposed to accomplish to continue forward in the regaining of his former magic. The idea was fairly simple, Kihia would cast the spells provided by the scrolls he had brought and it would be Ni-Ju's job to correctly identify the form and shape of the magic in order to copy and cast it as his own. When finished with his explanation, Kihia summoned forth a fair number of iceburgs into the bay to serve as targets and conveyed that it was time to begin once again. Focusing with all his concentration and formidable will on blocking everything else out, Ni-Ju watched as his friend cast the air spell he had chosen for mimicry purposes for the first time. This spell was different from the air spells that he had picked up when his original magic had been active. While normal in most ways that he knew of, this air spell contained something that felt as if it were binding or commanding in nature that was slightly throwing off his senses. Feeling it out rather then thinking it over, Ni-Ju came to intuitively realize that the extra bit he was picking up while trying to mimic the spell was all because it was being cast through the intermediary of the scroll and therefor had extra layers of magic built into it in order to be able to be cast by anyone with the talent necessary to do so. Shaping his magic into what he believed to be the bare bones form of the spell Kihia had cast, Ni-Ju loosed it at an iceburg and hoped for the best.

Kihia watched as Ni-ju then attempted to mimic the spell, and the result was a spell, half the size of the one he had casted but significantly more denser. The spell hit one of the glaciers and hung there for a second before fading away leaving the iceberg completely intact. Kihia stroked his chin, “Not bad… seemed like you went further and got the base form of the spell, out of it… but something seems to be missing Ni-ju…” Kihia then closed his eyes thinking for a moment… Perhaps he just needs one more try… Kihia then knelt down, placing the used scroll to the side he knelt there for a moment, Perhaps it might help if I… At this Kihia nodded, having a set plan in mind he picked up the scroll and started to send far more than the required amount of magic power into it, essentially overcharging the scroll, “This should paint a better picture for you…” Kihia then let it rip, however the scroll blew up in his hands as a giant tornado went out and struck three of the glaciers ripping them apart.

The smoke then cleared revealing Kihia’s hair to be blown back to be completely straight, he then coughed just before he spoke, “Well… I didn’t expect the scroll to do that… I guess these scrolls aren’t designed for such high degrees of magic power being sent into them…” Kihia then shook his head returning his hair back to normal as he then turned to Ni-ju, “I hope that will help things a bit…”

After watching his spell soar across the water and ineffectually swipe at one of the iceburgs that had been set up for the purpose, something began to click for him mentally. Like gears that had been long out of use, both his mind and body strained as he had put them to work once again but seemed to be rapidly adapting back into the same groove as when he had first used magic. Taking that as a sign of progress, Ni-Ju once more focused his attention back on Kihia. “Not bad… seemed like you went further and got the base form of the spell, out of it… but something seems to be missing Ni-ju…” The older mage said, taking a moment to ponder things over. Picking up the scroll that he had set down after the initial casting, Kihia had apparently decided to give it a second shot and showcase the same spell but this time with a little oomph behind it. Due to the single minded focus with which he was concentrating on the spell being cast, Ni-Ju didn't even notice that the overcharged scroll had given out beneath the burden of magical energy that had been sent rushing through it. Like a heat seeking missile, Ni-Ju's mind caught onto the nuances he had missed the first time around and began to rapidly shift to match itself to the same flow, but this time rather then letting everything run its course in a more natural manner, he took what he had learned so far and released his energy in one single fluid movement toward one of the remaining iceburgs.

Kihia watched as Ni-ju made his second attempt and with substantially better results destroying the iceberg completely. He then applauded Ni-ju and walked towards to the center of the ice platform, “You are progressing remarkably well Ni-ju… Let us maintain this train of thought and energy right into your next lesson…” Kihia then knelt down on the ice and focused on the next step in the lesson, “Ni-ju…. This lesson will probably proof the most difficult… as it is something that will prove a challenge to manipulate as a whole regardless if the magic is constructive… or deconstructive… For its not just one element… for my ice is an amalgam of both Ice and Crystal… Allowing me the very gifts of both a Frozen angel and an Earthen Guardian…”

Kihia then sent magic power to his fist and pulled it back directing it towards the ground, he then went and punched the ground as a magic circle appeared underneath him, “Heavenly Spires!” Three trails of ice moved from him and then expanded into three sheets of ice that three large columns of ice and crystal shot up out of, in a straight line, “Your task Ni-ju… is to replicate one of these giant towers of ice in front of you… This will take some considerable time as… they are made out of both Ice and crystal… and the veins of crystal are not the same for each Column…” Kihia then took a few steps back and sat down in a meditative sitting position and began to watch.

The faint sound of applause snapped Ni-Ju from his trance and back into the normal world once again, causing a fairly disconcerting double vision to last several moments before he gave a quick mental prod that caused his vision to stay concentrated among the elements.The amount of concentration this was taking was far more then what he had been used to for his magic but that was something that could probably be trained back into him, given a little time. "Seems like I haven't lost the knack after all." he whispered to nobody in particular, regaining his bearings and looking to Kihia for the next move to take. Kihia seemed eager to move on as quickly as possible, now that he had picked up what he was supposed to do a bit better, and launched directly into a fairly short speech, explaining the details of his next assigned task before creating three large pillars for him to attempt to mimic. Based purely what he had said, the task would be difficult in the extreme, due to the use of multiple elements being thrown into the mix for the pillars but he was more then a little sure that with the progress he had made so far, this should be within his reach. Getting to his feet, Ni-Ju walked a small distance toward the row of pillars and positioned himself so that the sun was shining directly through them before coming to rest upon him. Resting his eyes on the faint matrixes of power that lay before him, Ni-Ju began to reach for his magic.