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

Kihia then reached the bottom of the hole, he opened his eyes and examined his new surroundings, it was just as flat and barren as the walls that surrounded him. He felt the intense heat that Zuo had described, this indeed far too hot for any of my ice make spells. He stood up and walked over to the center of the hole, and sat back down. He examined the walls and floor the best he could in the low light levels, he saw that was made out of only solid stone, no other minerals seemed to be present, atleast the was what it seemed like on the surface. Kihia placed his left hand on the ground, and channeled his magical power into it in waves. He was using it like sonar, trying to detect different minerals in the ground.

He frowned when he didn’t detect any other minerals in close proximity to the hole. It would have helped if I had a piece of crystal to examine myself… He opened his eyes and stared at the wall in front of him, after a moment he sighed, “I guess I am going to have to do this the hard way… and use the same steps and lessons Master Zuo has taught me so far…” He started to think about the very first exercise that Zuo had made him practice, creating a block of hardened Ice, ice so durable that it almost resembled stone when it came down to the strength of the material itself.
14/30

Kihia closed his eyes once more and lifted his left hand up and held it with his palm facing upward. He began to try and start storing up his magical power in his hand but did not choose to form anything. Earth is by its very nature durable… it withstands even the test of time… it creates foundations for buildings and nations alike… it is formed by both by extreme heat… and at times formed by flowing water… Crystal, is unique type of mineral… it is formed in a large variety of ways… and a large array of locations… Kihia continued this thought process for a good while, getting the most direct definition of crystal’s definition and structure.

He nodded, he was sure that he now had the best idea of the material itself, he had used the ideas and lessons Zuo had given him throughout the day. He nodded, Now I have that settled in my mind… I must try and form crystal from my magic and start on trying to form a way out of here… A small disc… that will suffice for now…

He pictured a perfectly flat disc in his mind, roughly six inches in diameter… made out of Crystal… He focused his magical power to start forming the disc in his hands, he had closed his eyes once more focusing with all he can to try and form this crystal disc in the palm of his left hand, I hope… I hope that through all this training I can pull at least this off…

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Kihia felt something finish forming in his hand, he waited for a moment before he opened his eyes and looked at his work. He nodded, and then looked at the disc he had formed, and sighed in disappointment, he had formed a disc made out of ice and not crystal. He watched as the disc had already started to melt from the heat, but then he noticed something that surprised him. There was a secondary material that had formed with the ice itself, Is that… what I think it is…? He waited for the ice to melt off the disc, so he could properly examine the material.

After a minute the ice had melted completely off the material and it rested in the palm of his left hand he ran his thumb over it, feeling for what kind of material it was. It was indeed solid and smooth, however it wasn’t cold like ice… in fact it was quickly shifting to match his current body temperature, This is… crystal… I am sure of it… He nodded and looked up, he knew he could pull this off now, I need to continue with the disc until I can manage to make a disc solely out of crystal… He nodded, and placed the crystal he had managed to form onto the ground. Kihia then held his hand palm up again and started the process again to form another disc in his hand. When I manage this… I will proceed on to plan my way out of here…
16/30

Kihia had formed a secondary disc, this one was half ice and half crystal, he nodded acknowledging his steady progress. He then place the disc on the ground and continued for a few hours eventually achieving a full disc made out only crystal. He nodded, twenty attempts… but I finally got the hang of this… He nodded and looked up once again, This hole is deep… I won’t be able to climb up with by my normal means…  He then stood up and started to stretch out his legs. This may be the most impractical way… to start thinking of how to get out of here… but it will give me a basis of what I will need to do…

Kihia then started to channel his magical power to his feet, he formed two three inch crystal spikes on the bottom of his feet. He stared at the wall for a moment gauging the direction he should head. He then nodded and then took off full speed. Kihia managed to start running up the wall in a diagonal direction, after about ten feet he felt the crystal spikes begin to give way. Kihia then jumped off the wall and fell back down, he landed gracefully, well that’s a start… but it’s only a start… I need to get the spikes reinforced enough… as well as try and making more of them… but for now I must rest… Kihia knelt there for a moment, resting and formulating a way to get out of this hole…
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Kihia knelt there for a long moment, recollecting his thoughts, In a moment I must try again… the longer I stay in here… the less I will be likely to break out of here on my own… His stomach growled a bit but he ignored it, he had a task at hand he was determined to finish. He sat down and took off one of his shoes to examine the crystal spikes. They were fractured and broken, upon closer inspection he noticed that the bottom of his shoe were wet, It seems… that my transition from disc to spikes wasn’t as well fluid as I thought it would be… where they were mostly crystal… a few veins of ice were created in them… He sighed and dispelled the spikes, “Well… I should have expected as much… using magic for full use never goes well for the first time…"

Kihia then put his shoe back on, and stood back up. He looked along the path he had managed to run and saw he only managed to get ten feet up on the wall before he had to stop. He shook his head, and started to stretch once again, Even though it is an impractical method… as I refine it… I may be able to use it as a spring board to reach the top… but the second part of the spring board may prove troublesome to come up with… He sighed once more, he then took a deep breath and started to channel is magical power to his feet, he was ready to try again.
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Kihia channeled his magical power to his feet, putting in a lot of focus to make these spikes completely out of crystal. He then managed to form three spikes on each foot, he wasn’t sure on their composition but he had no time to waste. He took off towards the wall at an angle. He reached the wall and stepped onto it, he then managed to start running up the wall at a fast good pace. He was making steady progress up the wall without losing his pace that much. I may be able to make it a third of the way up… that’s if these crystal spikes hold up… He continued on for good bit longer, almost reaching a third of the way up until the spikes on his right shoe failed when he stepped down onto it.

Kihia then slipped and fell forward his face impacting the wall and then he started to fall down back to the bottom of the hole again, That hurt… but I am not going to let this keep me from completing my task. Kihia executed a front flip midair to get his feet facing the wall again, he then kicked off it to change the direction he was falling at he then executed another front flip to land on his feet on the ground. He managed this landing and stayed once again in a kneeling position for a long moment, he was taking this moment to catch his breath… Definitely got father this time… however the spikes sudden failure caught me completely off guard…
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Kihia stood up and walked over to the wall and sat down against it, “I had forgotten how hard it was learning a magic for the first time… not only is it draining... it is full of trial and error…” Kihia looked up and closed his eyes for a long moment, resting and letting the pain fade away, I am rather glad no one was around to see that blunder… atleast… I hope no one saw that blunder… He sat there contemplating what all had gone wrong on his last attempt, he was going strong for a good while, but then the crystal spikes broke suddenly on when he stepped down, Wait… no they didn’t just break… they shattered… as if I had hit a mineral vein of some kind… something I am not prepared yet to step into just yet… I wonder…

Kihia then pulled off his left shoe and examined the spikes, his eyes had finally fully adjusted to the low light levels of the hole. He saw they had been holding up rather well, except for the spike on the front of the shoe had serious damage on the front of it. He saw a solid chunk of rock stuck into the crystal shard and pulled it out, This is extremely dense granite… Veins of this quality of granite are hard to come by and often small… but with how hard the material is… it is not surprising my crystal spikes shattered when I stepped down on it… He sighed and looked back up, he knew that it was going to be hard to avoid that vein of Granite, but if he could he might be able to make it.
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Kihia sat there for a few moments longer, resting his mind and his body, Even with my current level of stamina… I may only make it half way up… and I still have no ideas on how to help myself in reaching the top after I hit my max on wall running… He sighed, he looked back onto the days when he was younger first learning how to use Ice make magic…

Shortly after his injuries had been healed and his health was restored, he had gone on a long trip with Iarok to the other side of the mountain range where Kihia had hailed from. They had spent weeks learning the very basics of Ice make magic and then applying it in everyday activities. They practiced Ice make magic alongside farming, mountain climbing, and temporary repairs. He had many failing moments at that time, which the situation he was now in, reminded him of. He opened up his eyes looking up at the opening of the hole which seemed so small at the bottom.

Kihia closed his eyes once again relaxing before he tried to get ready for a third attempt. He had an astute plan to avoid the mineral vein, but after that though were multiple degrees of unknown factors. He also had to try and find a way to help him with the final stretch. This he was absolutely lost on this end of the plan, Only if I could think of something… anything that could help me think of a valid plan to reach the top…
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Kihia then heard something echo from the entrance of the hole, he opened his eyes unable to distinguish what he was hearing. He heard it another time a little clearer, What is that sound…? He waited for the cry to echo down once more, hoping that this time it will be clear enough to identify what it was coming from. Kihia closed his eyes once more as he waited, focusing on his sense of hearing completely. He then heard the same cry echo down to him from the surface, this time it was clear enough to identify what it was coming from. He opened his eyes, staring deeply at the opening, picturing the large blue sky above the surface in his mind.

He gently smiled, That sound… that sound is the sound of a mountain Eagle… proud animals of mountains… Kihia nodded, he knew what he had to do, in order complete this task, he too had to learn how to fly. Kihia stood up and walked over to the center of the hole and knelt down putting his left hand balled up into a fist onto the ground. I know what I have to do… but… at the same time… I may not be able to fully pull it off… but I will give it my all… He knelt there for a good bit, storing up his magical power as well as channeling to where he needed… for the first part… I am going to need four spikes on each foot to have a good chance of reaching my designated target… after that however… I will attempt to fly the rest of the way…
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Kihia felt that he had stored up enough magical power to perform this third and hopefully final attempt. He nodded, Hopefully I can meet your expectations with this attempt Master Zuo… you have taught me the true meaning of strength and durability when he comes to earth based magic… Let me show you that the lessons have been set in stone in my mind… He focused with all that he could on forming four crystal spikes on each foot, he then formed all eight spikes on his feet and nodded, “May These carry me to the half-way point of this hole…” Kihia stood up and looked up at the opening of the hole once more, And let this training… bear fruit for I have new ways… to protect my new home… and my new friends…

Kihia then nodded and then got ready to run full tilt towards the wall, he thought back to when he first joined Lamia Scale. How he was so cold on the outside… always dawning a metaphorical set of ice armor when he was outside his room… he then joined Team Serpent Soul, and through multiple cases of random events… he had begun to open up to them… not just his team mates… but the rest of the Guild as well… he came to understand why Iarok had sent him to Lamia Scale, not only to grow as a mage… but to finish healing the old wounds of the past… so that the Frozen Knight… will be able to live a normal life.

Kihia nodded, Thank you… Everyone… thank you for everything… I hope I may be able to help you all… and protect you all when the time comes… He took a deep breath after a moment and then took off towards the wall, it was time for him to finish this task.
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Kihia ran across the floor of the hole as fast as his legs could carry him, when reached the wall he stepped onto it and started to run up it at a sixty degree angle. He was running up the wall at a rapid pace going up the wall, all the while keeping a close eye on his projected path along the wall. No signs of any difficult minerals just yet… however if memory serves I will be reaching the mineral vein I had stumbled across before… and when that happens before I lay a foot on it… I must avoid it entirely… or risk falling back down to the floor of the hole and ruining the thought process I had worked so hard on.

Kihia continued running up the wall not losing sight of his goal or of his impending obstacle, Ten steps until I reach the vein of dense granite… on my step just before it… I must jump to the other side of the hole… hopefully reaching a spot just above this mineral Vein… He continued on measuring each step he took, he then eventually reached the spot right underneath the vein of dense granite. Kihia then jumped off of the wall with his full force at an upward angle, as he sailed through the air he flipped himself around one hundred and eighty degrees to make sure it was his feet that landed on the wall and not his head. As soon as he landed he took off again at the same angle he was before without hesitating for a second, I have finally been able to pass the one third mark… now I just need to make it halfway up before attempting phase two of my plan…
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Kihia frowned a bit, this was turning out to be a more grueling exercise than he had thought it would be, No matter… I must do this… even if I could catch my fall… at this height I would break my legs upon landing… which I don’t plan on letting that happen on my watch… He continued on gaining a lot of ground going up on the walls of the hole. He wasn’t sure how far he had come in this short amount of time but he had a feeling he was fast approaching the halfway point of the hole, I can make it… I can do this… I will get out of this using Crystal make magic alone…. He continued on for a good bit longer but he then started to feel something was off, The spikes… they are just now starting to fail… then… that means I must attempt to transition into phase two… Kihia started to channel his magical power to his back by his shoulder blades, he pictured two wings of decent size, just enough to carry him to the surface. “Crystal Make… proto wings…”(OOC Note a severely weakened down version of my S rank spell(Proto as in Prototype))

Kihia then kicked off the wall right after he said this, a large flash of bright light came from behind his back, No matter the result… I must find a way to continue forward… He closed his eyes for a moment and then felt he was moving up and down in a haphazardly fashion… The spell had formed a set weak looking feather like wings with a wing span of three feet. He nodded and opened his eyes and looked up… I guess it is time for a crash course in flying lessons… Kihia then directed himself the best he could to fly upward as fast as the wings could carry him, he noticed that it wasn’t that fast, he was flying slower than he typically can run, but he was making a lot of progress heading back up to the surface.

After ten minutes he finally reached the top of the hole, however the wings started to catastrophically fail. I will make it… I will get back to the surface! He then exited the hole and then immediately veered of his course and crashed into the ground just by where he had laid down his equipment, “I did it… I managed to use crystal make… Master Zuo… are you here somewhere…?” He didn’t feel like getting up, he just laid there with the failed wings on his back still active, he was happy he made it… but he just wanted to rest for a moment…
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Zuo returned to the top of the cliff walking out of the ground with both of his arms full of drawstring bags and a massive backpack strapped to his back. He was there just in time to see Kihia flop on the ground at the top of the hole "Well that was fast." The geezer dumped the bags down on the ground and called to Kihia "Come on over and eat child. You did surprisingly well, it would seem your previous training in ice make rapidly sped up your learning of crystal make. These bags have plenty of easy to prepare meals but try not to get too greedy. You did good today but we still have a full month ahead of us." He turned his back to his student and walked a long distance away. He then took a strange stance and a massive magic circle appeared under him he looked back at Kihia and shouted(because he had to shout at this range) "Relax and enjoy the night. I will prepare our shelter."

Then Zuo began what seemed like a strange dance but what was really a rapid sequence of forms and stances. As he did massive pieces of marble began to rise from the earth and over the course of ten minutes came together into the shape of a building before compressing and molding into what Kihia would instantly recognize as the Lamia Scale Guild Hall. A minute after it's completion Zuo walked out of the massive contruct's front gate and returned to Kihia. "It may not have all the niceties of home but the building should be familiar." While it may have appeared Zuo summoned the guild hall, rather he had completely remade it on the spot. So while it was the exact same building and all the same "all stone accommodations" Kihia's personal belongings would not be inside nor would anyone else from the from the guild be there. But in all seriousness, Zuo pulled a castle out of thin air. Don't step to this old man.

Kihia slowly stood up and nodded at Zuo, he dispelled the broken crystal wings and started the process of putting his right arm back on. After a moment he finished and put his shirt back on, he then retrieved his weapons and reformed sheaths for on his person. He then slowly stood up and turned around to where Zuo had called him from, his right eyebrow was then raised from what he saw. Zuo was casting one of his spells, what it will do, he was unsure. I haven’t seen much of the Master’s magic… all I know it is very powerful earth based magic… His jaw dropped when he saw what was being created by Zuo’s spell, piece by piece, the distinct features of the Lamia Scale Guild hall took form.

Kihia looked upon the structure with awe in his eyes, he then saw Zuo walk out of the doors and said, "It may not have all the niceties of home but the building should be familiar." Kihia let that sink in for a moment, and then understood what Zuo meant. This wasn’t the actual Lamia Scale Guild Hall, it was a replica of it… So… That’s how Master Zuo built the Guild Hall… He nodded and then walked over to the bags of food and picked all of them up, and started to carry them over to Zuo and his creation, “Thank you Master Zuo… Let me carry these in for us…” He walked into the building and sat the bags down on one of the marble tables, he then walked over and placed the Geruks and Icarus on a nearby wall. He studied the replica with extreme interest, and then walked over to the table, and looked over at Zuo, “You may have your first choices of the food you brought Master Zuo… After you have gotten what you want I will get me what I am I need off.”
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Long story short~

They ate the food.

They slept the sleep.

They woke in the morning.

They did the training all over again.

They repeated for an entire month.

Zuo got bored at random intervals.

This boredom led him to perform many trivialities and silly behavior.

Such trivialities and silly behavior almost seemed like he was doing things for no purpose other then to make more content for his inevitable biography.

Somewhere along the way Kihia stopped being bad at casting the magic.

And now on the final day...

Zuo looked back at the castle he constructed, clapped twice and it all collapsed to rubble instantly. Then with a flick of his wrist the rubble sunk into the ground. "Ah clean up is always so much easier with magic. That would have taken years to do by hand." He looked back to Kihia, who was fortunatly outside, and said "Alright let us see what you have learned. Show me the result of your training!" The old senile geezer- who was not at all senile, who gave you that completely nonsense idea?- was excited to see how well Kihia had grown in his time in the mountains. What came next would determine not only Kihia's strength but the credibility of Zuo's experimental teaching method. Zuo had doubted his methods from day one but Kihia's progress would be the true and only judge. So let's focus on Kihia. Forget Zuo's dumb boring thoughts they are relevant or important, time is being wasted continuing to read this, get to Kihia. Kihia is the important person here.

Kihia adjusted his trench coat and nodded at Zuo, It had been a solid month of intensive training to master Crystal make magic, and he had succeeded in doing so. Kihia walked a good distance away from Zuo and stopped for a moment, he thought for a moment trying to think of the best way to show Master Zuo the fruits of the training he had endured the during the last month. I think I know how I can show Master Zuo how I have developed my Crystal make Magic in my own way… and even found a way to enhance my ice make magic along with it…

He unsheathed Icarus and held one end one inch over the ground, I first however… must set up a suitable environment… I will be sure to make it only extend as far as I need it… so it won’t reach Master Zuo… Kihia nodded, and closed his eyes channeling his magical power into Icarus focusing it on the end of Icarus closest to the ground. “Ice Make… Terrain!” He formed the ice sheet one sixth its normal size, but despite it being smaller, there was something very different about it than his previous casts. There were large veins of crystal flowing throughout the entire ice sheet. Kihia smiled, pleased with the result, he then knelt down and put his hands on the ground, “Ice Make… Spear Trap!” He watched as all fifteen poles formed all throughout the ice sheet. Kihia saw that the poles of ice were also embedded with crystal with in them, My experiments infusing some of my ice make magic with crystal has indeed been worth it… He then waited for a moment staying in the position for a second longer, “Crystal… Make… Spear Trap Maze!!” In each ice pole four crystal poles shot out forming a network of intertwined poles, this essentially made a wall the trapped Kihia on the ice sheet, “I am sorry for the delay Master Zuo… but the demonstration field has finally been set…”
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Kihia then stood up and held Icarus in a striking pose, may this demonstration be satisfactory to you Master Zuo… a full demonstration of Ice and crystal being used together… Kihia focused his magical power onto both ends of Icarus, “Ice Make… Glaive!” He waited for a moment as the ice glaive formed as it always had, Kihia then nodded, “Crystal Make… Mirrored Blade!” On the other end of Icarus a nearly identical glaive blade started to form, but instead of ice, it was being made out of Crystal.

Kihia nodded, It is time for the demonstration to begin… Kihia then took off towards one side of the pole walls and brought down the crystal glaive against the wall, it managed to slice through four of the crystal poles, he then started to skate alongside the wall slicing through each of the ice poles making them fall over along with the crystal poles that had formed out of them, he nodded as he started to execute spinning stop. He took aim at a line of Ice poles that he had set up to be a good throwing target. Kihia braced Icarus against his back and twisted his body, Let’s see how well this idea turns out… He then spun around and through Icarus with all of his might, Icarus flew through the air spinning in a clockwise motion. Icarus passed by the line of ice poles with each glaive blade slicing through each pole until Icarus got caught in a cliff wall just on the outside of his demonstration area… Kihia nodded and looked back at Zuo, “I hope that this met your expectations Master Zuo…”
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Zuo nodded and smiled at the demonstration. Kihia had done an excellent job integrating crystal molding magic into his ice magic strengthening both beyond what they could do alone. "Yes Kihia I do believe that will do nicely. Great work, you bring unexpected merit to my experimental teaching methods." He then turned to the cliff's edge and began walking down the side "Come along Kihia we are done here. Unless you have something else you need to do before you leave. I personally am going to head back to Hargeon. Maybe you could take some time to think about how you can use your new crystal power to help the world." With that ended the basic training of teaching Kihia Avoa in crystal make magic. Zuo could only hope that he would keep up his training and from there master the magic completely.

As he walked down the hill Zuo began to wonder what he would do when he got home. Not that it was important or anything. Not that anybody needed to know what he was going to do. But he decided to think about it anyway. He considered making a big meal for the entire guild before he had to give up the idea as he really didn't know anything about cooking. A fact Kihia had learned over the month they had spent in the mountains. So cooking for the guild was out of the question. Zuo ultimately decided it would be far more productive to just dumb everyone into a big magical labyrinth to teach them an important life lesson. He would work out what the actual life lesson is later. Who cares about learning all that matters is the test.

Kihia nodded at Master Zuo, “I will be along shortly Master Zuo…” He then tapped his foot on the ground and dispelled the spells that were still active. He walked over to the cliff wall where Icarus had been embedded into. He pulled Icarus out of the cliff wall and dusted it off while dispelling both glaive blades at the same time. He looked at Icarus, the same weapon Master Iarok had used during his days of a working mage, it has seen countless battles… spells… and even opponents during the time this weapon was first made… and I promise… to use it wisely and live up to your wishes old man…

He sat down for a moment and took off his trench coat and his long sleeve shirt. He then pulled out a roll of bandages out of his pocket and started to wrap up his right arm, I am fine with it being uncovered out here… mainly because I was only training with the Master… I am not ready just yet for the others to constantly see my right arm for what it truly is… Kihia looked at the ground for a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do with his sure what he should do with the present situation back at the Guild. His injury had been exposed due to him being a knuckle head and not treating his wounds right after using Ice Make Knight to defend his friends… Kihia sighed, it was a royal pain… he didn’t feel like he could open himself up yet… due to some wounds not being fully healed yet…
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Kihia looked up from his depressed gaze, and finished wrapping up his right arm and put his long sleeve shirt back on. He then put on both of his gloves and followed up by putting his trench coat back on. Kihia stood up and sheathed Icarus into its sheathe on the back of his trench coat and nodded. He knew he couldn’t wallow in the past, Master Iarok would not want me to be depressed about my past… nor… would my friends… but I wish… it didn’t cause so much pain thinking of those days… He sighed and looked up into the sky, trying to picture the stars in the night sky once again. Kihia always found the night sky so relaxing, he didn’t know exactly why, but it was just something about it always calmed his nerves.

He then shook his head refocusing on what he needed to do, namely attempt to catch up to Master Zuo. Kihia turned around and then started running towards the path leading out of the mountain range, but then he heard an all too familiar sound. It was the same eagle cry he had heard on the first day of his training. Kihia stopped and looked up to the sky and saw the majestic bird flying high in the sky itself, I will join you in the sky one day my friend… granted even after I master the spell I need to have to learn how to fly properly… but I will return and fly with you… I give you my word…
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