Kihia Avoa's Secondary Magic Training(Zuo Cii and Kihia)

Kihia was sitting on a ledge, studying the famous Phoenix Mountains, This place reminds me of….the mountain range I came from… Kihia shook his head removing those thoughts from his mind, he looked at Icarus that was resting on his lap and gently smiled, it had been a few months since he had joined Lamia scale, and he had already had a number of adventures, and made a whole host of new friends, Thanks again…old man Iarok…

Kihia looked up, it was almost noon and there had been no sign of Zuo Cii yet, Kihia hoped he wasn’t in the wrong meeting location and sighed. He had approach his Guild master a few days ago with a request for Zuo to help Kihia learn a new magic. Zuo had agreed to teach him what he could and to meet him in the Phoenix Mountains in a few days’ time. Kihia had arrived there this morning and patiently waited for the Guild Master of Lamia Scale to arrive. Although he hadn’t talked to Zuo much, the first time he met Zuo was when he had given Kihia a test to become a C rank mage.

That day Zuo had left Kihia with a parting request that day, for Kihia to find his something worth fighting for. Kihia was confused about the request for a while, but after a while he came to understand the request in full himself. Kihia had realized, he had always been following the direction his teacher had given him, but it wasn’t enough to motivate him to progress. Since then Kihia had been meditating on that thought, but the answer to his Guild Master’s request still eluded him.

Kihia looked at his right hand, for a moment then stood up, it was about time he looked around to make sure he was in the location, “I don’t want to keep the Master waiting…”

Zuo Cii master of Lamia Scale had been presented with a strange request a few days ago. He a marble make mage was being asked to teach an ice make mage in the ways of crystal make magic. It seemed a bit illogical in all honesty but Zuo had a few ideas. As he was a make user who used the power of the earth he theorized that creating crystals could not be too terribly different as they were also of the earth. However he had found that after some trial and error over the last few days before meeting with Kihia that he himself was not capable of such a magic so it would seem that teaching the ice make mage this magic would be most difficult. To teach a magic that he himself could not perform was a daunting task but one Zuo was willing to try. At present he was strolling along the grassy fields heading towards the phoenix mountains where he had agreeded to meet Kihia, the location had been chosen because the area was rich with the power of the earth yet at the same time was a very dangerous place for Zuo to be. Mountain ranges, this one specifically were places were the earth and sky met and intersected so for a man who embodied the will of the earth it was easy for him to get dragged into all kinds of madness in such a conflicted location.

Despite the clashing powers that hung over the place Zuo had decided it was the best place to try for a miracle. Since that was what would have to happen today. To any other person the air would smell sweet and fresh but to Zuo all it smelt like was danger. The restless spirits of the earth and sky made his hair stand on end and sent shivers up his spine with every light step he took. It would only be a short walk from where he was to the meeting point with Kihia so he mentally prepared himself for what was to come. The training exercises and experiments he had planned were rehearsed again and again in his mind. He walked at a supernatural pace, his walking speed faster then some people could run, yet he left no foot print as he walked on. Any beholder would be baffled by this feat and think some great miracle was taking place, in reality Zuo was just manipulating the ground underneath his feet to accelerate his walking pace. This allowed him to cover the remaining distance between him and the meeting place with great ease and in little time. Approaching the ice mage Zuo spoke for the first time since he set out on his trip "Hello child. Are you ready to begin?"

“Hello child. Are you ready to begin?” When Kihia heard this behind him he jumped at the sudden arrival of Zuo, Kihia turned around and bowed to Zuo and said, “Hello Master Zuo, thank you once again for helping me with this matter” Kihia stood up straight again, and put one end of Icarus on the ground and held it like one would hold a walking stick.

Kihia wasn’t entirely sure what Zuo had in mind for the training, but the entire time he was mentally preparing for it the best he could. Kihia studied the elderly man in front of him and then nodded, “I am ready for you to train me, Master Zuo. I hope that I don’t disappoint you.” Kihia said this with his eyes full of determination, he hoped that this training will help his progress his abilities to keep his vow. However Kihia wasn’t sure how well he would meet Zuo’s expectations, after all throughout the fourteen years Kihia’s practiced magic, he only had one teacher…until now.

Kihia pushed Icarus into the rock enough for it to be able to stand upright by itself for a moment, and took off both of his gloves and his trench coat. He walked over to a nearby rock and placed them down on a medium sized boulder, he then proceeded to place a few decent sized rocks on them to make sure they wouldn’t be blown away from the wind. Kihia walked back over to Icarus and grabbed it with his bandaged right hand and lifted it up and rested it on his right shoulder, “What is your first lesson Master Zuo?”

Kihia's optimism and seemingly willingness to learn took a small weight off of Zuo's shoulders. Zuo stroked his beard for a moment then spoke "I hate to break this to you. But I don't know how to use Crystal Make Magic." Zuo paused for a moment to let this sink in before continuing "But I have some ideas on how to teach you." The old man went over to a wide clear path of rock at the base of a mountain and knelt by it. "Here we will begin your first lesson the one I am most confident in my ability to teach you. You see I believe you can use crystal make magic if you take the crystal like properties of your ice make magic and apply it to the earth. This is a little far fetched, but this is magic with enough power anything can happen. So to recap you will be trying to use ice make techniques using the earth as your medium to create crystals." He put his hands flat on the smooth rock and called Kihia over "Here is how we will start to do that."

Zuo focused on the earth and with his marble molding magic called up a block of marble roughly the size of fridge. "The first step to molding is creating for you must have something to mold. I want you to create a simple block of ice like the stone block I made." The old man patiently awaited Kihia to perform this and said a silent prayer hoping his experimental teaching method would be effective. If it wasn't, this would be most embarrassing.

Kihia was slightly taken aback when Master Zuo said he could not use crystal make magic, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Zuo thought that Kihia was capable to learn Crystal Make magic. Kihia listened intently to what Zuo was telling him and understanding every bit of it. The same methods I use to form my ice make spells…using the earth as a medium… Kihia nodded, agreeing to his Guild Master’s logic, he saw that Zuo had placed his hands on the ground. Kihia watched as he formed a refrigerator sized block of marble out of the ground "The first step to molding is creating for you must have something to mold. I want you to create a simple block of ice like the stone block I made." Kihia nodded at his Guild Master, “Understood Master Zuo…” Kihia then lifted Icarus of his right shoulder and placed it gently on the ground, I don’t need Icarus at the moment…it should be safe right there.

Kihia nodded, and walked a few paces away from Zuo and Icarus. He then closed his eyes and put both of his hands together, A simple block for now, he channeled a small amount of his magic energy into his left hand and then placed it onto the ground. Shortly after he did this a large block of ice formed a few feet in front of Kihia, it had the same dimensions as Zuo’s marble block and was fixed to the ground. Kihia stood back up and nodded at his creation, and then turned to his Guild Master and asked, “What do you want me to do next Master Zuo?”

Zuo looked over the ice block it was well made and fit Zuo's specifications. A nice solid piece of ice, cold, made of hydrogen monoxide, very much ice. Not crystal in anyway shape or form but that wasn't the goal. Not yet anyway. "Good good. Now I want you to make another one identical to it. However this time make the ice as strong and dense as you can possibly make it. You must create something like stone, permanent, strong, forever." Ice was fleeting, temporary, fragile compared to stone. To create crystal Kihia would have to create a super strong ice as tough as stone. Ice of stone or something to that effect. Now of course Zuo had no idea if this could ever possibly work, but once again it was almost a good plan. Fortunately almost counts in only 3 things, horseshoes, hand gernades and magic. Such was the way of the world. This exercise was one Zuo had made up on his way here as just as a start to get Kihia into the right mind set. The real training began after this.

The real training included lots of standing under waterfalls and punching bears. That was at the very least 90% of the training Zuo had planned. After all every magic tutor worth their salt knows that the best way to teach anyone anything is to stand under waterfalls and fight bears in honorable fisticuffs. Zuo refused to acknowledge the existence of any other forms of teaching and strongly believes anyone claiming to be able to teach magic without such techniques should be fed to bears under a waterfall. Thus said the the Guild Master. Further argument will not be available. Thank you for your time.

Kihia stood there for a moment thinking about Master Zuo’s instructions. Ice that is hard as stone…The only spell I have the comes close to that in full is my frozen armor spell…but this… He wants me to form it as a block. Kihia looked at his right hand, picturing the ice prosthetic throw his shirt and bandages, Iarok…made this arm extremely durable and resistant… it can withstand the extreme force of my more powerful spells…

Kihia placed his left hand on his right arm feeling the constant flow of magical power keeping the arm working. He then turned his gaze to Master Zuo’s block of marble studying it, then an idea sprang into his mind, A rocks rigidity comes from the how it is formed… A slab of rock that has no cracks or air pockets is very hard to break in comparison to ones that did… Ice forms very loosely into a solid… coming from water the structure may be out of sorts and full of weaknesses… making it harder to break.

Kihia then knelt down and placed his left hand on the stone slab on which they stood, feeling the sheer rigidity of the stone slab, something so solid that only time itself can slowly wear it away. Kihia then put both of his hands together and pictured another cube, but instead of letting in form gradually… he was going to try and form it all at once, to make it free off air bubbles and one solid chunk of ice, but he knew that may not be enough, so he was going to try and make this block form at a temperature much colder than previously. “Here goes nothing!” Having stored up a good amount of magical power in his hands he thrust them outward. The block quickly formed as one solid chunk sending out a wave of cold wind from the formation of the block. Kihia sighed and then said, “I hope this meets your expectation’s Master....I believe... with how I formed this block…it should be free of the normal imperfections of ice.” He put his left hand back onto his right arm after he said this, I hope this makes due...I made it the best I can to the composition of my teachers lasting gift...

Zuo watched Kihia work with fascination, curious as to what the mage would do. He could feel the difference between the two ice blocks when they were formed and smiled. "Well let's see how you did." The old man walked up to the two ice blocks. He held his right hand up to the first one and flicked his wrist causing his knuckle to strike it. The ice shattered, but it was more then that it was completely obliterated instantly. Zuo nodded "Not bad. As expected of ice. Fleeting and temporary." He moved to the next block and did the same thing. A small pit formed on the ice and a crack spread from it. Zuo laughed "Now that is an improvement. Let's see how it holds up to a real punch." Now the old man was curious, he had always looked down on ice as a weak substance incapable of standing against the mighty and permanent power of earth, but before him right now was extremely tough Ice that could rival stone. He was getting jumpy as he felt that maybe he training methods wouldn't be completely bs after all.

But Zuo was a man of action. No matter how much he wanted to savor and enjoy the possibility he had work to do. He pulled back his right hand and curled it into a fist "Let's see if this ice is what it says on the label!" He threw his fist forward with all his might, throwing a true and proper punch with all the strength he could. His fist smashed into the ice with a thunderclap of sound and instantly cracks shot through it and ripped it apart. Then after just half a second the crumbled ice was blasted to dust. Completely obliterated as the first block was. Zuo laughed "Incredible that was quite the block of ice. Excellent work Kihia, I apologize for vaporizing your hard work but that was inevitable. You seem to have gotten a better understanding of structure from this, but no amount of structure can make paper and tooth picks stop a meteor. No not at all. Now it is time to teach you real strength."

Zuo began walking over a hill becoming for Kihia to follow. He kicked off his shoes as he did so that he was walking barefoot over the stone. They would have to walk for almost 3 miles and halfway through the last one they would both begin to hear what sounded like the roar of a waterfall, except not quite. Eventually they turned around the curve of one of the mountains and a large waterfall came into sight. However this was no ordinary water fall, rather it wasn't a waterfall at all, for it wasn't water falling from it's mouth, it was sand. Zuo fondly regarded the massive thing, it stood 40 meters tall dropping sand from one of the large mountains out a cave 10 meters across into a large pit of sand that feed into a river that led off into who knows where. The old man walked out onto the sand, discarding the top half of his garb on a nearby rock and began walking towards the sandfall. He looked back at Kihia "Here we will train your body to have the strength of stone needed to use earth make magic."

Kihia nodded after Zuo finished his tests of the ice blocks, he listened to what his Guildmaster said and let it soak in before he responded, “I am glad I met your expectations Master Zuo, and there is no issue with you destroying them… the true test of a solid structure is how much force it can take before it fails… My teacher taught me this as I was learning Ice make shield.” Kihia paused for a moment thinking about the final part of what Zuo had said. He then reached down and picked Icarus back up and rested it on his right shoulder, and then walked over to his trench coat. He pulled the Geruks out of the inner sheathes and made two sheathes out ice on his belt. He slipped them into the harnesses and then turned around to face Master Zuo and nodded to signal he was ready to move on.

They then walked a few miles until they came into sight of a true wonder of nature itself. Kihia’s eyes widened at the sight of it, what laid before them was a large Sand fall, essentially a waterfall but instead of water, sand flowed down from the peaks above. He then turned his attention back to Zuo, whom had thrown off his upper garment onto a nearby rock and looked back at Kihia to say, "Here we will train your body to have the strength of stone needed to use earth make magic." Kihia was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, and looked back up at the torrent of sand in front of him. I am going to have to… Take off my right arm for this…. Kihia sighed, even though he knew that Master Zuo was aware of his right arm, he didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of exposing it, but he knew he had no choice.

Kihia lifted Icarus off his right shoulder and implanted one end into the ground to make sure it couldn’t be moved by natural causes. He then took the Geruks out of the ice sheath’s which immediately faded and then implanted them into the ground with roughly three feet in between them. Kihia then placed both of his hands on top of them and started to channel his magic into them. A replica of the stand in his room started to form in between the two tanjos. When it was finished he nodded, he took off his long-sleeve shirt and tied it around Icarus. He then reluctantly started the process of taking off his right arm, it didn’t take long, and when he was finished he doubled check to make sure the arm will not fall off the stand. He nodded and slowly turned to his Guildmaster, Will I ever get used to people seeing the truth about my right arm… He then walked over to Zuo and shakily said, “Sorry…for the delay Master Zuo, but I am now ready for the next phase of your training…”

Zuo watched Kihia remove his ice prosthetic. It was a strange sight and Zuo had only heard of the arm until now. The old man did his best not to judge, after all it wasn't like Kihia chose to have his arm removed and replaced with ice and it worked just like any other arm. Regardless Zuo turned back to the sand fall and walked towards it. His feet began to sink into the sand as he got closer and walking turned to slogging as he moved through it. For the closer he got to the sand fall the higher the sand was piled up. But with only a moment's delay Zuo made it under the sand fall getting submerged in the falling sand. It was a familiar feeling, one the old man grew very used to long ago. To a normal man this would be incredibly painful and burn their skin. After all the sand was hot and falling from a great height in large amounts. But this was nothing to Zuo he actually kind of enjoyed the feeling now. He looked back to Kihia "Come on in Kihia you will not enjoy this and it will without a doubt be incredibly painful. However if you wish to master earth molding magic you will need to do this."

At this moment Zuo noticed his feet were sinking into the sand. So with a quick movement of his hand he created a marble platform under the sandfall so they could stand there without sinking into the sand. "Now remember Kihia at first you may not be able to withstand the sandfall for more then a minute but given time and effort you will develop skin like stone capable of enduring this easily." Naturally this process would not be a short one and since Kihia's skin wouldn't heal instantly they couldn't exactly try again and again back to back. "Your goal is to be able to tolerate the sand from sun rise to sun down. If I remember correctly it took me an entire month to reach that level of endurance. So naturally your training will work in a cycle, at the start of each day we will start with this as long as you can bear it then we will move to the next exercise, then the next and the next and the next until they are all completed. Then we start again the next day. This will go on until you are competent in your magic. So I hope you don't have any plans for the near future."

Kihia watched as Zuo walked onto the river of sand and then eventually started to wade through the pile of sand at the base of the sand fall. Zuo eventually had reached the sand fall and became submerged in it, after a brief moment Kihia heard Zuo call out to him, "Come on in Kihia you will not enjoy this and it will without a doubt be incredibly painful. However if you wish to master earth molding magic you will need to do this." Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched, This reminds me of the cold endurance training Old man Iarok had me go through… only that involved me sitting in piles of snow for hours on end… Kihia sighed, he knew he had to do this, after all he was the student in this case and had to go with his Master’s curriculum… no matter how painful.

Kihia then started to walk out into the river of sand; he took the first few steps seemingly unwavering and then started to slowly walk up the pile of sand up to the base of the sand fall. Don’t think about it… just get in there and take it until I can’t anymore… Kihia had kept saying that to himself over and over again in his head trying to convince himself, although it wasn’t working. Kihia got to the edge of the sand fall, and paused for a moment, and then stepped into the torrent of sand onto the Marble platform Zuo had made. Kihia then stood in the torrent of sand trying to endure what he could, Ow….this hurts…to…to hot… reminds me…of sitting…in snow…for…hours Kihia managed to stand in the torrent of sand for a solid minute, and then calmly stepped out of the torrent of sand like nothing was wrong… sadly… the sand burns on his body said otherwise… He got back to the side of the sand river and turned around to his Guildmaster and said with a somewhat shaky faux calm voice, “What do you have in mind next Master Zuo?”

Zuo stepped out of the sandfall and walked over to Kihia "Get your arm back on, you will need both of your arms for this." Naturally Zuo wanted to just throw Kihia back in the sandfall as his master did to him way back when. However the old man was a bit softer then his own mentor a fact that disturbed Zuo. No the six-fold millennium old geezer had other plans. "Many see earth as an element that is unshifting, unchanging, stiff and inflexible. Which is good and all if you are okay with being mediocre." He walked over to where the sand pit spilled over into another shorter sandfall. The sand from it spilled downward for several meters before falling into a large sand river that flowed through the phoenix mountains. Naturally for something as thick as sand to flow like water down a river the river had to go down at a sharp angle which made what Zuo was about to do all the more extreme.

He smiled then stepped onto the sand and slid down the sandfall yelling as he did "Come along Kihia we have places to go! Don't worry sand surfing is just as fun as it is dangerous." The sandfall fed into a supernatural river that in all honesty defied common sense and typical physics. It was a twisting torrent of a river that if made of water would be a popular spot for white water rafting. The current was high speed, the sand was deep, many rocks stuck out from the sand ready for any novice sand surfer to crash into and end their career early. Zuo slid down the natural wonder as if he had done it a million times before, which he had, slidding along the top of the sand as if surfing over water. He easily dodged all rocks and obstacles and not once came close to even looking off balance. He smiled and laughed this brought back memories and he was glad it wasn't going to end any time soon, this was going to be a long ride.

Kihia nodded at Master Zuo when he told him to get his prosthetic arm back on, he walked over to the ice stand and strapped on the harness. He then knelt down and properly attached his right arm to the harness. He then stood up doing a motor-reflex test to make sure the lacrimas were calibrating the arm correctly. He then nodded in satisfaction and looked down at the bandages for a moment, I guess…there is no need for them…until I go back to the Guild hall that is… Kihia nodded and then put on his shirt again and dispelled the ice stand from the Geruks. Kihia nodded and then picked them up again and reformed the ice sheathes from before and insert them into the sheathes. Kihia then picked up Icarus and rested it on his right shoulder.

He turned to Master Zuo and nodded to signal that he was ready. He then saw Zuo step onto the sand again and started to slide down the sand, "Come along Kihia we have places to go! Don't worry sand surfing is just as fun as it is dangerous." Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched for a second, but not for the usual reason, Sand… Surfing…. sounds interesting to try… Kihia then walked over the edge and watched as Zuo surfed across the river of sand. Kihia nodded and lifted Icarus up and put it across his back at an angle. He then formed a large ice sheathe on his back and made sure it was secure. He then started to slide down trying to using his normal skills as a close range fighter to surf along the sand. Turning is more difficult than it looks…

Zuo had forgotten how long it had been since he last cruised down this fantastic river. But it didn't matter the act was borderline second nature to him and he had the sand stream completely memorized. The only surprises for him were the occasional changes caused by erosion, which were a bit more noticeable then those that would have been seen on a water river. Anywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay... Because he was able to easily swerve around the protruding stones and go around turns with his eyes shut Zuo found himself surfing backwards a lot to observe Kihia's progress. He was doing alright as far as control went but the ice mage appeared to be trying to guide where the river carried him, which was going to get him buried. The old man called back "Even the mighty oak must bend to the storm winds or risk being broken. Let the river carry you, just focus on not crashing do not worry about your destination." Turning around to see the river before him the geezer sighed. This place brought back many memories for him, training with Feng Hang.

When first going down the river Zuo had almost been buried alive. At the time he was young and restless, he tried to steer a course through the river while his master told him to let the river steer his path. His progress was slow and frustrating and the harder he tried the more he slowed and struggled. Before long he wasn't moving with the sand he was just getting pulled under. It was there several feet under the sand where he felt completely helpless that he learned the point of this exercise. Submerged in the sands incapable of moving he was being carried faster then when he had been on top trying to steer his own way. Zuo yelled back to Kihia "First you practiced the strength of structure creating a stronger ice block, then you practiced the strength of toughness under the sand fall, now you must learn the strength of flexibility. If you fail to do so you will be buried here." On that cheery note the old man laughed and casually went around a bend in the stream and down a very steep incline out of sight.

Kihia let himself slide across the river of sand and let Zuo’s words of wisdom set in. Like a mighty oak tree… in a storm… I must submit to the force of the sand river….? Kihia watched as Zuo disappeared around a bend in the river as he continued to let the words set in. Kihia then started to remember the martial arts training that Iarok had put him through. Kihia had spent many years perfecting the fighting art of Bojutsu, which involved training his body to be able to pull of the acrobatic stunts to aid in the fighting style. Kihia then relaxed his body and let the natural course of the river direct and guide him instead of trying to choose his path.

Kihia kept an eye on rocky outcroppings, and avoided each one by gently leaning his body. Kihia managed to lower his heart rate to keep a solid eye on every rocky outcropping that was coming his way. Kihia then finally reached the bend Master Zuo had went around and Kihia was taken aback of what was coming up. That incline… did Master Zuo go down it… the thing is… even if he didn’t… I don’t know how to stop myself at this point…. Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched as he started to speed up, this may not end well for me… He started to try and control his speed forgetting for a moment the words of wisdom Master Zuo had told him. Kihia leaned back trying to make himself slow down although it wasn’t working, This isn’t good!...

Zuo laughed as he sailed down the steep incline, his pillar of hair unwavering in the wind. A he loved the feeling of the rushing sand under his bare feet and the rush of wind coming at him as he plunged. He glanced backwards to see Kihia coming down after him, the fool was trying to slow down. He was in for a heck of a surprise here in a moment. Fighting the current was enough to get buried alive on it's own but the ice make mage had chosen a horrible time to do so. For at the bottom of the cliff like incline the sand river fed into a whirlpool of sand a football field in diameter "The desert Charybdis." Zuo's eye brows bunched together, he remembered his first time facing this force of nature. This would be an interesting experience for Kihia to say the absolute least. As the flow of the whirlpool carried him around and downwards it occurred to the old man that with mountains on all sides of the whirlpool he had lost visibility of Kihia.

He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the poor guy. The Desert Charybdis was a giant mythical beast that slept under the sands perpetually inhaling sand from one of two heads and exhaling it out the other. These two heads formed the start and end of the great sand river, naturally the swallowing head was at the bottom of the sand whirlpool that Zuo was presently descending into. While the other was at the top of the sand water fall that Zuo had Kihia stand under. Naturally it was safe for humans to travel through Charybdis. Other wise Zuo wouldn't dare let Kihia go near the mouth of it. Right? He isn't crazy enough to risk Kihia's life for something like this. Right? This was all meaningful and safe. Right?

Kihia grimaced as he saw himself begin to sink down as he began to speed up on the incline. This definitely is not good!! Kihia then spotted the sand whirlpool below him and his jaw dropped, He couldn’t reach Icarus in time due to the angle his body was at. He couldn’t regain his balance enough to straighten himself out and was trying to dodge the oncoming rocks as the best he could he got scrapped up a bit due to a number of close calls but he then he reached the rim of the whirlpool and was suddenly slowed down due to the spiral movement of the whirlpool.

Kihia then saw Zuo near the bottom of the whirlpool and saw that no fear was in his eyes. “Master Zuo! Is this really safe??” Kihia was trying to maintain the remaining part of his cool temperament the best he could, however Kihia had never experienced something like this before. He looked at Zuo’s eyes, he saw that they were absent of all fear, If Master Zuo holds no fear in this moment… then I too… must trust in his judgment… and cast off the fear in my heart of this moment… Kihia then nodded towards Zuo, and got his heart rate back under control. “I trust in the path you have set us on Master Zuo… Kihia then nodded to the elderly man as they continued to swirl down to the center of the whirlpool, From my time in Lamia Scale, you have taught me many things… and I hope to be able to repay the lessons you have given me with my service to the Guild…

Zuo laughed loudly as Kihia asked about the safety of the stunt they were about to pull. "It depends on your definition of safe Kihia!" With that Zuo went over the edge into the steepest part of the whirlpool and Kihia would no longer be able to see or hear him. At this moment Zuo was plunged into the mouth of the desert Charybdis. Entering the mouth seemed as if continuing into an underground cave where the sand continued to flow, but upon closer examination to the walls of the cave as one progressed a person would notice veins and pulses and levels of moisture not natural to a cave. It was without a doubt, a very long throat. A slightly smelly one at that. The sand stream continued in it, but it was far more violent and shifting then before going so much faster. However the principle of riding the sand was still the exact same as it was before. If a mage were to simply focus on staying on top of the sand and permitted the sand to carry them as it would they would be perfectly fine and struggle no more then they had before. However the atmosphere made it a bit harder to stay in the right mind set, and anyone not in the right mind set was going to have a very bad day. Because of this Zuo was able to ride the violent sands as if guiding a gondola down a peaceful, wide and open canal. He was very much relaxed and peaceful while in a torrent of mayhem.

After riding the sand for a quarter of a mile the previously level throat suddenly inclines down ward in an all-but 90 degree angle drop. As this happened Zuo leaned forward and laughed as he plunged at highspeeds along the sands he called back "Kihia what comes next will not be pleasant. But do not fear, everything is going to be fine. Assuming you aren't dead yet." For at the very bottom of the steep plunge was what looked oddly like a blackhole, except it couldn't possibly be a blackhole, because while sand came in one end there was a stream on the other side flowing out and upwards through another tunnel/throat/thing. Zuo closed his eyes and braced himself as he entered the darkness. It was an experience similar to being thrown in a washing machine after some serious binge drinking while you had a high fever. It was unpleasant for any human and would be hell for any slayer. But after a few seconds Zuo was ejected unphased out the other side and onto the upward flowing sand stream, on his way to the exit.

Kihia calmly watched Zuo sink into the bottom and waited for a when he would reach the bottom of the whirlpool. He did his best to keep his cool and keep in mind what Zuo had told him about this exercise. Kihia then reached the bottom of the whirlpool and dropped down the steep hole. Kihia opened his eyes and felt the sand still carrying along. It’s so dark in here… atleast the sand is flowing… somewhere… Kihia waited for a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cave he was now in. It is indeed a cave… however… something seems off… Kihia had shook his head a few times trying to get use to the stench that was prevalent throughout the cave. Kihia then looked at the roof of the cave and his right eyebrow twitched, The ceiling… is covered… in some kind of fluid… and not just the ceiling… the walls as well… please don’t tell me this is not a cave…

Kihia waited for a moment letting the sand carry him when he heard Zuo’s voice echo to him deeper within… whatever this place was, “Kihia what comes next will not be pleasant. But do not fear, everything is going to be fine. Assuming you aren't dead yet." Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched once more, What is he talking about… and a better question… what is this… Kihia waited for a few moments when he began getting close to what seemed similar to a black hole, with an extremely bad smell coming out from it. Kihia grabbed his nose from the stench, This… is what he must have been talking about… Kihia’s right eyebrow twitched as he came close to the hole and then entered a steep incline going into it. He closed his eyes due to they had started burning due to the horrible smell, and entered into the black hole. He didn’t know how long he was in that part of the cave, nor did he want to know… but after a moment he was out of that area and seemed to be moving upward with the sand on an incline. He coughed for a moment, “Master Zuo… if you can hear me… do I even want to know what I just expierenced…?”

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OOC Funny note: There is a river in Egypt called the Nial, and yes... my character mentally went through it to manage to get through this exercise... xD

Zuo called back laughing "No Kihia you do not! You do not want to know and you never will." The old geezer actually wasn't sure himself what just occurred. His own master never explained it to him and Zuo figured that in turn his master's master didn't tell him. But he saw no reason to tell Kihia, why ever would he waste his time telling Kihia something he didn't know. Honestly man. What were you thinking? Who are you anyway? Zuo shook himself from his 4th wall defying train of thought which was rather derailed at this point. At this moment he sailed on the sand stream out of the as- other mouth of the desert Charybdis. On the other side Zuo was immediately going over the edge of the sandfall they were standing under some time ago. He sailed down the slope to the sand pit and walked to the edge and looked back to Kihia, who was hopefully still alive, and called "Come on Kihia we have almost finished the morning conditioning."

He walked over to the cliff side that the sandfall poured out of and looked up. "This spot should do." He grabbed the perfectly flat and smooth cliffside and began climbing up. It really didn't make any sense really. There was no footholds or handholds or anything for him to be grabbing onto. Zuo climbing the wall defied common sense in it's entirety. But he did not care what was possible and what was impossible, he was Zuo Cii and he would do whatever the heck he wanted. After all this seemingly impossible feat was very possible for a man of the right talents. So naturally it was easy for Zuo for he was a man of all the talents. He was 5 meters up the tall cliff face when he looked down at Kihia, assuming he wasn't dead, "What are you waiting for my boy. There is far to go and we have no time to waste. This cliff won't climb it self." That was obvious but it was also true. Any complaints about the redundancy of Zuo's claims would be treated as if tales of fantasy being spewed by a raving mad man. He grabbed the flat surface and pulled himself farther up the cliff laughing to himself. He wasn't senile. Not at all.

Kihia coughed a few times when he finally was ejected back out into daylight, I guess this is the source of the sand river… wait… that means… He then looked up and saw the edge of the sand falls where he had trained with Zuo earlier. Kihia braced himself as he went over the lip of the falls sliding down the steep embankment towards the site where they had practiced endurance training earlier. Kihia crashed into the pile of sand, after a moment he managed to right himself and wade out of the sand river. "Come on Kihia we have almost finished the morning conditioning." Kihia looked up at Zuo and nodded, he then rolled his right shoulder to test if there was any structural damage, hearing nothing he nodded and followed after his Guildmaster.

When he saw Zuo stop in front of a perfectly smooth cliff wall, when he heard what Zuo said next he had a feeling he knew what was coming up. Zuo started climbing the cliff wall like any skilled mountain climber would on a normal wall. Kihia watched studying Zuo as he climbed and then started to get ready for his climb. He unsheathed both of the Geruks and put them together, he froze them together to let their combined length be of use. He then unsheathed Icarus and laid it next to them. Kihia then formed an ice harness on himself and then channeled his magical power into the weapons connecting them to the harness with an ice chain and forming two long spikes at the opposite end of each weapon. Kihia nodded and picked up both weapons one in each hand. Kihia walked up to the cliff wall and looked up.

Kihia then started to twirl the Geruks and then threw them up ward towards the cliff wall. The ice spike on the Geruks pierced into the rock and held strong. Kihia nodded and lifted up his right foot, he formed a large ice spike on the bottom of his foot and shoved it into the cliff side. Kihia then put his weight on it and stood there for a moment while he made a second ice spike on his left foot. Kihia then started to scale the cliff face, Training in these mountains reminds me of how Iarok had trained me through the years… the climate is different yes… but the same principles of getting around difficult areas are still applicable… Kihia continued to climb up to where the Geruks had pierced into the wall and then grabbed onto them with his full strength. Kihia then looked up taking aim of where he would land the spike on Icarus he found the spot and nodded, he then swung Icarus upward towards the wall making the ice spike penetrate into the rock. He then pulled out the Geruks and started to climb higher up. I need to focus on where I land my weapons each time… to make sure I don’t hit a weak point in the rock and cause a chain reaction… Kihia continued this process to scale the cliff wall after Zuo.

After a short time climbing Zuo reached the top of the cliff and he knew Kihia would be close behind him. He shuddered each time the ice mage's spikes dug into the rock and he willed the earth to mend itself as Kihia moved past. At the top of the cliff was an unnatural seeming space of flat land maybe half a football field in diameter. At the center was a large hole in the ground. Zuo walked to the edge and looked down, the earth mage could not see the bottom. Not that he was surprised, he was familiar with this pit. He had hand picked it out of every pit in Fiore for the purpose it was about to serve. When Kihia finally caught up Zuo would become him over and explain the trial in front of him.

Zuo cleared his throat and took a deep breath, this was going to be a bit of an explenation "Alright Kihia my boy. Here is where you learn. I have hoped you learned a bit about the real meaning of strength and durability in your exercises so far. Now you will put them into action. I will lower you into this pit here in a minute. Then it will be your task to climb out. How you do this is up to you. However if you wish to learn crystal make magic I think it would be in your best interest to apply what you have learned about the strength of stone and use it to create crystal tools to allow you to climb. I should mention the pit is just as difficult to climb as the cliff you just climbed, except the climb is higher and there is a catch." The old man took a breath and held his hand over the pit "As you may have notice this pit is producing a strange amount of heat, even all the way up here. When you climb to the bottom you will find it is close to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Wither you keep your ice arm on or not is completely up to you, I do not know what is capable of enduring. However your ice make magic will be completely useless down there. I will regularly lower you down food and water, tell me when you are ready to descend. With that Zuo stepped back and waited for Kihia's response. This exercise would force Kihia to learn another form of magic to climb out, and hopefully that would be crystal make. As that should be the easiest for him to learn at the moment.

Kihia had managed to climb to the top of the cliff shortly after Zuo, he dispelled is climbing equipment and sheathed all his weapons. He listened to Zuo’s instructions, and thought for a moment, my arm can manage in high heat areas only for a week… and from what I have been through in this training… I don’t want to risk it… I have trained myself to cast molding magic with one hand… however… it is not nearly as powerful as what it could be…

Kihia then nodded and unsheathed all his weapons and laid them carefully on the ground making sure there was no way they could roll off and get lost in the mountains, he then took off his shirt again and detached his right arm from the harness, he formed another ice stand for his right arm and placed the arm on the stand. After this he nodded and then stood up and looked at Zuo with his eye’s unwavering, “I am ready to begin when you are Master Zuo… I have choosen not only to go without my arm… but my weapons as well… since fundamentally a mage must practice and perfect a magic with his own hands before any advanced techniques can take place…” He nodded and walked over to the edge of the hole, staring deep into it, Master Iarok had taught me the fundamentals of magic… the right way of doing things… the right way to of viewing life as a whole… I always need to remember his lessons, and add onto them from the lessons I will have to add onto them… He closed his eyes keeping the calm state of mind he is in as he waited for Zuo to lower him into the hole.

When Kihia was all prepared Zuo walked behind him "Good luck." With that he pushed him off into the pit. After falling for about 3 inches a sheet of stone would form under Kihia catching him. Zuo willed the stone to carry him down into the depth of the pit. Down at the bottom the heat was tangible. The old geezer then looked around and scratched his head "Oh dear I do believe I forgot the food and water back at Lamia Scale. Try not to die Kihia! I have to run back to the guild." With that Zuo melted into the ground. Kihia was on his own. Completely and entirely on his own. No one was going to help him during this order. Even if Zuo planned for this to be a little easier as Kihia was meant to have food, he would not have the food promise to him. Tough break man, tough break. How terrible unfortunate.

As Zuo hurried back to Hargeon flying across the ground as if he shoes had wheels he was a bit worried about the ice mage. The last thing he wanted was for him to die in a way he hadn't intended. If any of his guild members were to die Zuo wanted it to be because of something that was a planned and expected danger. Not some random thing that wasn't even supposed to be an obstacle. That would be horribly degrading and rather meaningless. So for the sake of accurate and meaningful testing Zuo hurried onward. There was food to be gotten. But inevitably he would be too slow and Kihia would get out of the pit before he ever got back. Zuo didn't know that of course. Other wise why even bother? The phoenix mountains were shrinking behind him as the familiar landscape of adventure painted itself before him. It would be an amazing and fantastic quest filled with daring feats and incredible magic. But it's not too terribly relevant to Kihia's training so it will be summarized to save time: "It was the coolest thing ever and you should have been there."

Kihia was caught off guard when Zuo suddenly pushed him off the edge, his right eyebrow twitched as he fell. He then face planted on a stone platform Zuo had just made. I hate trying to move around without my right arm… it makes catching my falls… somewhat hard… He then sat up, and then got into the meditating sitting position, he knew that this was going to be a long ride down to the bottom of the hole. He heard what Zuo said and sighed, I know he will be back… and I have survived worse than this… as he was lowered down, he went over all the training he had gone through today, Learning the strength of the earth… and using that knowledge to use crystal as a medium for my spells… He looked at the walls of the hole, they were perfectly flat not a single crack or outcropping that could be used as a handhold appeared anywhere on the walls.

He sighed, Even if I had both arms… this hole will be impossible to climb out of without magic… and I have made the decision to leave my weapons up above… leaving my normal means of climbing out of the question… not to mention I have also left my right arm up there… He sighed, he wasn’t exactly sure how he would climb out, but he knew… he had to first manage to successfully mold Crystal with his magic before he can even think about of getting out of this hole…