---- Two weeks ago - Clover Town ---
"Is it somewhere here?" Came the voice of a petite red haired mage as she walked through a wooded area, bushes covering the sides of the dirt road she was walking on and trees stood close to each other enclosing the area. Before even reaching the dirt road one must walk through the heavily conceal'd area in order to find it. 'Yes, yes a little further and we should be getting to the cave.' Came the voice of Umbra in her mind, the demonic beast was leading her to an area that was supposedly their family's sacred grounds, and where a lot of old knowledge about her abilities was left in case something happened to her parents for her to learn and progress. "What exactly I'm I going to find there?" She asked as she jumped over a fallen tree that was blocking her path. 'You'll find your next set of skills, and learn more about your powers. A Ravencrest doesn't choose their powers, the powers choose you. There has been a wide array of magics used by your family, some quite unique in nature, but first we have to see what you have knack for.' He said, explaining more and more about their Family, being something that had been passed down from generation to generation he knew quite a lot about them.
Finally she had reached something, the dirt road ending just in front of a strange set of doors that mimicked the coloring of the hill in order for them to stay hidden as well as possible, looking behind her she noticed that the dirt road had disappeared and it was just some fallen branches and leaves that were now there. Turning her attention back to the door, she examined it, noticing the two raven's that were carved on the wall and a strange symbol in the middle. The symbol itself resembled a bird that had spread its wings and if she had to guess it was also meant to be a raven. "This is it I suppose. How do I open it?" She asked Umbra and walked closer to the door. 'Place your hand on the seal in the middle.' He said and Sara listened, her palm fully covering the bird symbol. A blue light illuminated her palm and she removed her hand to see the seal itself glowing, before turning 3 times, and the doors opened inwards, revealing a staircase that went down into the darkness. The red haired mage, stared at it, before she was prompted by Umbra to go down.
As she went down the stairs, braziers lit up in flames illuminating the path below her, the cave itself went a bit deep, and soon she was standing in front of a set of three doors, each having a different emblem in the middle of the door. "What do these door's mean?" She asked as she looked at them, from left to right, the first had a strange-like halo emblem on it, the second one was a sword and the third and last was a demonic like head. 'Each resembles a power, the Halo, sainthood and healing abilities, it focuses more on light magic and healing, the sword, martial arts and potent sword abilities that can range from breathing techniques to enhance power or manifestation to increase weapon potential or even the ability to slice things with just a simple hand motion.' As Sara turned her head towards the last door, Umbra continued. 'And the last, demonification, further increased demonic magic, destructive abilities and even the ability to become a complete demon at will. Out of the three, the sword is the most versatile as it doesn't limit you to a set like holy or demonic. You will be able to manifest different elements in the sword, cut through the hardest materials and such. It will also be of great use to you, as you've trained for close combat and agility.'
As Sara went forward a small shrine rose from the ground. 'Channel your magic and put your hands in the middle.' Doing so, both of her hands glowed one with holy magic the other with demonic, the second she put her hands all three doors lit up, and after a second two of them were extinguished, that being the Halo and the Demonic door, with the sword one being the only one that glowed, and soon it started opening. She didn't need the demon to tell her to go in this time, she went on her own. As she entered the door she noticed all the dust that had already been piled up all around the place, it didn't look maintained at all and unopened since a long time. There were some clothes that were cut in places, shelves that were filled with dust, and books that looked like they would fall apart if they were touched. What caught her interest was the small shrine that was in the middle, a ball floating between two tooth-like things. 'Go touch it in order to unlock the power and begin the training.' Umbra said and Sara did it, placing both her hands on the ball, she could feel it resonating with her and slight purple line traced through both of her hands.
As the light disappeared, she was left confused. "I didn't feel anything." She said as a compartment opened slightly, it was as big as the shrine and she pulled on it, inside we're two books and a simple wakizashi sword. 'Your not meant to feel anything, it just unlocks the potential, the rest is earned through hard work.' She nodded and picked up the sword and two books. "Are we done here Umbra?" She asked and looked through the room. 'There is one last thing, remember that you lost your first magic after I awakened? Its the same here, you were supposed to lose something, but I didn't feel a change.' He said cryptically. 'You see the door on the left, touch it, I want to see what will happen.' Nodding again, Sara went ahead and touched the door, as her hand connected with the door, purple lines started pulsating across the door, and her hand shot back. "The curse of madness. One of Ten. The Dark Star awakens once again." The words echoed again a few times before everything receded. "Umbra, what does that mean." She asked, her question not getting answered at first. "Umbr-" 'Nothing good kid, nothing good. Something that hasn't happen in a long time, and the reason why you didn't lose anything.' Sara sighed, and before she was about to leave her tenant made her take one last scroll with her. 'Chakra Control' Written on it.
------ Tolgalen - Weeping Forest - Present Time -----
"So I have another demon in me." Came the voice of Sara as she attempted to slice through another tree with her sword, the sword itself glowing in a faint light-blue light. 'Yes' Came to voice of Umbra, confirming her question. "This one wants to bring me to madness, unlike you" Another attempt to cut through the tree in front of her. 'Yes.' "And this one just wants to take control of me and use me as a vessel to murder people?" Taking up a pose, Sara took a deep breath before she went into practicing her form more, still unable to cut through the tree. 'Yes, and concentrate more on practicing this, your still unable to cut a tree in half and you'll have to cut a rock after this.' Umbra said and Sara attempted again, but failed. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong." She said and sat on the ground leaving the sword to rest on the ground as she pulled out a book from the backpack next to her. It was an essential guide on what she needed to do at first, everything afterwords came on its own, like techniques and styles, but first she needed to get breathing and a basic form, and currently she was lacking in both departments. 'You need to fix the breathing mainly, form is easier, but you need to fill every cell possible in your body to unleash its full potential, and you'll need to channel your magic better into the stick.' Sara sighed and got up again, taking the sword with her, and bringing it front of her, both hands holding it. Taking a deep breath, another swing came from her.
--- 1 Week later - Weeping Forest ----
A week had passed already and Sara was at the same spot as usual, practicing, she had made some progress and had cut the tree half way through, but she couldn't still fully punch through it in one go. "I'm getting frustrated." She said as she attempted again, the glow in the sword brighter then the one that was last week and she swung again, cutting halfway into the tree again. 'Calm down and focus. Control your breathing and try again.' Umbra said through their link and Sara focused. Breathing in slowly, Sara filled her lungs with air, and started controlling her breathing to be the same at all given times. Staying sometime like this, Sara clenches on the handle of the sword and swing at the tree again only making, still only making it half way through. 'We'll have to work on this, a different way. We'll start with running until you get exhausted, the main part of this is keeping your breath in control, after you've got that, we'll start doing it with the sword while you channel magic power into it.' Sara nodded and did as Umbra told her.
She followed his instructions to the best of her abilities, the books only explaining the vary basics and after that you were on your own, nothing more then that on how to practice it or anything else it was frustrating her. She wanted to get done with this and move forward to getting a hand of this new magic, and currently it was harder then anything she had done. Learning her first magic when she was five felt like a breeze to her now, unlike this. This forest was also the perfect place to train her breathing, as at night time it felt like someone was crying all the time, strange sounds also accompanied it, and staying alarmed was a must here and that helped her as it was another state of breathing that she needed to have control in as well. 'And by the looks you will need the scroll that I made you take. I wanted to see if you were naturally born with controlling your Chakra, which is the main source your family draws their power from.' Umbra said and Sara listened carefully to each word he was saying. 'Your main source of power is not magic, like the other mages, its Chakra, an ancient alternative that some of your family members and relatives possessed. Now take that scroll and start reading, inside you'll find everything that you need' He said and Sara's new training method began. Until now she was using unrefined Chakra as Umbra called it, one that was just brought out and used in a moments notice, but when it came to focusing it, Sara had no idea how to do so.
--- 2 Week's later - Weeping Forest ----
A figure dashed through the forest, as fast as possible, sliding and jumping over different obstacles, such as log's that came from the tree's above, or trip wires that would lead to manholes. A tree log came directly towards her, quickly drawing her sword, she slashed through the log without a problem and continued running forward. The figure landed in front a badly cut tall tree, and with a low spin she slashed right through the tree like it was paper. Said figure was Sara, she panted slightly, but a grin plastered itself soon. She was a bit different, instead of the red hair she had, it was now black as it was before when she was still a child. As she was training she had decided to drop it and return a bit back to her roots. "Did you see Umbra, I made it past without getting hit or grazed ones and I slashed both the tree and the flying log." She said with enthusiasm. 'You did good, now lets try the boulder again.' Nodding she made her way to where her last test stood.
It wasn't far from the area where she trained the past 3 weeks, now in front of her stood a boulder that had multiple blade markings all around it from previous tries, obviously unsuccessful. Taking up a crouched stance and the blade above her, its tip pointing towards the rock that was her target, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath 'Steel your breathing, and concentrate on controlling your Chakra.' . Around the blade a flaming hot aura appeared, fire to be more precise, burning hot around the blade. "Phoenix Breathing: Ashen Dive" Were the words she spoke and in an instant dual colored eyes opened, and she made a downward slash. The blade completely going through and the fire that was coming from the blade moved downward onto the ground and left only ashes in a small circle around the boulder. 'I did it. I finally did it.' A month of hard work had finally paid off, and she was able to move forward and apply her magic to the real world, true, it still needed work, but this was a start. With a grin, she sheathed her sword and started making her way back towards her house.
WC: 2254/2000
"Is it somewhere here?" Came the voice of a petite red haired mage as she walked through a wooded area, bushes covering the sides of the dirt road she was walking on and trees stood close to each other enclosing the area. Before even reaching the dirt road one must walk through the heavily conceal'd area in order to find it. 'Yes, yes a little further and we should be getting to the cave.' Came the voice of Umbra in her mind, the demonic beast was leading her to an area that was supposedly their family's sacred grounds, and where a lot of old knowledge about her abilities was left in case something happened to her parents for her to learn and progress. "What exactly I'm I going to find there?" She asked as she jumped over a fallen tree that was blocking her path. 'You'll find your next set of skills, and learn more about your powers. A Ravencrest doesn't choose their powers, the powers choose you. There has been a wide array of magics used by your family, some quite unique in nature, but first we have to see what you have knack for.' He said, explaining more and more about their Family, being something that had been passed down from generation to generation he knew quite a lot about them.
Finally she had reached something, the dirt road ending just in front of a strange set of doors that mimicked the coloring of the hill in order for them to stay hidden as well as possible, looking behind her she noticed that the dirt road had disappeared and it was just some fallen branches and leaves that were now there. Turning her attention back to the door, she examined it, noticing the two raven's that were carved on the wall and a strange symbol in the middle. The symbol itself resembled a bird that had spread its wings and if she had to guess it was also meant to be a raven. "This is it I suppose. How do I open it?" She asked Umbra and walked closer to the door. 'Place your hand on the seal in the middle.' He said and Sara listened, her palm fully covering the bird symbol. A blue light illuminated her palm and she removed her hand to see the seal itself glowing, before turning 3 times, and the doors opened inwards, revealing a staircase that went down into the darkness. The red haired mage, stared at it, before she was prompted by Umbra to go down.
As she went down the stairs, braziers lit up in flames illuminating the path below her, the cave itself went a bit deep, and soon she was standing in front of a set of three doors, each having a different emblem in the middle of the door. "What do these door's mean?" She asked as she looked at them, from left to right, the first had a strange-like halo emblem on it, the second one was a sword and the third and last was a demonic like head. 'Each resembles a power, the Halo, sainthood and healing abilities, it focuses more on light magic and healing, the sword, martial arts and potent sword abilities that can range from breathing techniques to enhance power or manifestation to increase weapon potential or even the ability to slice things with just a simple hand motion.' As Sara turned her head towards the last door, Umbra continued. 'And the last, demonification, further increased demonic magic, destructive abilities and even the ability to become a complete demon at will. Out of the three, the sword is the most versatile as it doesn't limit you to a set like holy or demonic. You will be able to manifest different elements in the sword, cut through the hardest materials and such. It will also be of great use to you, as you've trained for close combat and agility.'
As Sara went forward a small shrine rose from the ground. 'Channel your magic and put your hands in the middle.' Doing so, both of her hands glowed one with holy magic the other with demonic, the second she put her hands all three doors lit up, and after a second two of them were extinguished, that being the Halo and the Demonic door, with the sword one being the only one that glowed, and soon it started opening. She didn't need the demon to tell her to go in this time, she went on her own. As she entered the door she noticed all the dust that had already been piled up all around the place, it didn't look maintained at all and unopened since a long time. There were some clothes that were cut in places, shelves that were filled with dust, and books that looked like they would fall apart if they were touched. What caught her interest was the small shrine that was in the middle, a ball floating between two tooth-like things. 'Go touch it in order to unlock the power and begin the training.' Umbra said and Sara did it, placing both her hands on the ball, she could feel it resonating with her and slight purple line traced through both of her hands.
As the light disappeared, she was left confused. "I didn't feel anything." She said as a compartment opened slightly, it was as big as the shrine and she pulled on it, inside we're two books and a simple wakizashi sword. 'Your not meant to feel anything, it just unlocks the potential, the rest is earned through hard work.' She nodded and picked up the sword and two books. "Are we done here Umbra?" She asked and looked through the room. 'There is one last thing, remember that you lost your first magic after I awakened? Its the same here, you were supposed to lose something, but I didn't feel a change.' He said cryptically. 'You see the door on the left, touch it, I want to see what will happen.' Nodding again, Sara went ahead and touched the door, as her hand connected with the door, purple lines started pulsating across the door, and her hand shot back. "The curse of madness. One of Ten. The Dark Star awakens once again." The words echoed again a few times before everything receded. "Umbra, what does that mean." She asked, her question not getting answered at first. "Umbr-" 'Nothing good kid, nothing good. Something that hasn't happen in a long time, and the reason why you didn't lose anything.' Sara sighed, and before she was about to leave her tenant made her take one last scroll with her. 'Chakra Control' Written on it.
------ Tolgalen - Weeping Forest - Present Time -----
"So I have another demon in me." Came the voice of Sara as she attempted to slice through another tree with her sword, the sword itself glowing in a faint light-blue light. 'Yes' Came to voice of Umbra, confirming her question. "This one wants to bring me to madness, unlike you" Another attempt to cut through the tree in front of her. 'Yes.' "And this one just wants to take control of me and use me as a vessel to murder people?" Taking up a pose, Sara took a deep breath before she went into practicing her form more, still unable to cut through the tree. 'Yes, and concentrate more on practicing this, your still unable to cut a tree in half and you'll have to cut a rock after this.' Umbra said and Sara attempted again, but failed. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong." She said and sat on the ground leaving the sword to rest on the ground as she pulled out a book from the backpack next to her. It was an essential guide on what she needed to do at first, everything afterwords came on its own, like techniques and styles, but first she needed to get breathing and a basic form, and currently she was lacking in both departments. 'You need to fix the breathing mainly, form is easier, but you need to fill every cell possible in your body to unleash its full potential, and you'll need to channel your magic better into the stick.' Sara sighed and got up again, taking the sword with her, and bringing it front of her, both hands holding it. Taking a deep breath, another swing came from her.
--- 1 Week later - Weeping Forest ----
A week had passed already and Sara was at the same spot as usual, practicing, she had made some progress and had cut the tree half way through, but she couldn't still fully punch through it in one go. "I'm getting frustrated." She said as she attempted again, the glow in the sword brighter then the one that was last week and she swung again, cutting halfway into the tree again. 'Calm down and focus. Control your breathing and try again.' Umbra said through their link and Sara focused. Breathing in slowly, Sara filled her lungs with air, and started controlling her breathing to be the same at all given times. Staying sometime like this, Sara clenches on the handle of the sword and swing at the tree again only making, still only making it half way through. 'We'll have to work on this, a different way. We'll start with running until you get exhausted, the main part of this is keeping your breath in control, after you've got that, we'll start doing it with the sword while you channel magic power into it.' Sara nodded and did as Umbra told her.
She followed his instructions to the best of her abilities, the books only explaining the vary basics and after that you were on your own, nothing more then that on how to practice it or anything else it was frustrating her. She wanted to get done with this and move forward to getting a hand of this new magic, and currently it was harder then anything she had done. Learning her first magic when she was five felt like a breeze to her now, unlike this. This forest was also the perfect place to train her breathing, as at night time it felt like someone was crying all the time, strange sounds also accompanied it, and staying alarmed was a must here and that helped her as it was another state of breathing that she needed to have control in as well. 'And by the looks you will need the scroll that I made you take. I wanted to see if you were naturally born with controlling your Chakra, which is the main source your family draws their power from.' Umbra said and Sara listened carefully to each word he was saying. 'Your main source of power is not magic, like the other mages, its Chakra, an ancient alternative that some of your family members and relatives possessed. Now take that scroll and start reading, inside you'll find everything that you need' He said and Sara's new training method began. Until now she was using unrefined Chakra as Umbra called it, one that was just brought out and used in a moments notice, but when it came to focusing it, Sara had no idea how to do so.
--- 2 Week's later - Weeping Forest ----
A figure dashed through the forest, as fast as possible, sliding and jumping over different obstacles, such as log's that came from the tree's above, or trip wires that would lead to manholes. A tree log came directly towards her, quickly drawing her sword, she slashed through the log without a problem and continued running forward. The figure landed in front a badly cut tall tree, and with a low spin she slashed right through the tree like it was paper. Said figure was Sara, she panted slightly, but a grin plastered itself soon. She was a bit different, instead of the red hair she had, it was now black as it was before when she was still a child. As she was training she had decided to drop it and return a bit back to her roots. "Did you see Umbra, I made it past without getting hit or grazed ones and I slashed both the tree and the flying log." She said with enthusiasm. 'You did good, now lets try the boulder again.' Nodding she made her way to where her last test stood.
It wasn't far from the area where she trained the past 3 weeks, now in front of her stood a boulder that had multiple blade markings all around it from previous tries, obviously unsuccessful. Taking up a crouched stance and the blade above her, its tip pointing towards the rock that was her target, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath 'Steel your breathing, and concentrate on controlling your Chakra.' . Around the blade a flaming hot aura appeared, fire to be more precise, burning hot around the blade. "Phoenix Breathing: Ashen Dive" Were the words she spoke and in an instant dual colored eyes opened, and she made a downward slash. The blade completely going through and the fire that was coming from the blade moved downward onto the ground and left only ashes in a small circle around the boulder. 'I did it. I finally did it.' A month of hard work had finally paid off, and she was able to move forward and apply her magic to the real world, true, it still needed work, but this was a start. With a grin, she sheathed her sword and started making her way back towards her house.
WC: 2254/2000
