Kuro stepped out onto the kidou range. His classmates were all gathered around the area, chattering with each other. They all could not wait for their first class of kidou practice. Everyone seemed excited, though a few also seemed nervous. A few heads turned as Kuro walked out, but quickly turned back in an attempt to avoid eye contact. Nobody made an attempt to talk to him, something he had been expecting after the commotion he had caused in sword practice. Sighing heavily, he walked over into a corner and waited for the instructor to arrive.

The instructor walked onto the range a few minutes later. He was an older man, appearing to have much experience with spiritual powers. Kuro hoped that through this man's instruction, he would be able to get a grip on his own power.

"Everyone gather! Today marks the beginning of your practice with the demon arts. This is a traditional form of shinigami combat that makes direct use of your spiritual power. Therefore, it is essential for you to study hard and practice in order to master these talents. If you try hard enough you may one day reach the level of power required to perform feats such as this."

The instructor turned to face down the range. A row of targets stood at the other end. Raising his right hand and grasping his wrist with his left, he began to chant.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hado #63: Raikoho!"

A massive blast of yellow energy flew from the old man's hand and soared down the practice range. Upon reaching the other side, it smacked into one of the targets and exploded in a violent force. The eye's of Kuro and his classmates widened as they marveled at the instructor's control.

"Today we will be practicing with a much simpler spell. I want everyone to line up in 3 rows across the firing position. We will take turns attempting to fire hado #31. I hope that you have all studied the incantation beforehand. It is much harder to fire a kido without the incantation, and even if you succeed, the end result is much lower in strength."

Kuro took his position in the third row on the far end of the group. Like always, he wanted to avoid attention. At the instructor's signal, the first group all began chanting and firing spells. A few failed to produce any power at all. The majority fired a ball of red energy, though their accuracy was poor and they failed to hit the targets. Two however managed to hit the targets dead on. Everyone applauded at the accomplishment. Row two took their turn next, producing about the same results. There were no successful hits in their group however. Next it was Kuro's group's turn.

Kuro glanced down the line and realized that his choice of joining the third group was a mistake. The number of classmates was uneven and besides him, there were only two other students attempting the spell this time. Cursing himself for making this observation too late, Kuro turned back towards the targets. Holding his hand out in the same way the instructor had demonstrated, he began to chant the incantation he had memorized the night before.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31: Shakkaho!"

Though he was positive that he had not made any mistakes or hesitations in his chant, Kuro's attempt was entirely unsuccessful. Feeling humiliated, he returned to the back of his line. As the first two groups practiced again, he tried to find out what went wrong. Thinking back to his life in the rukongai, he remembered the feeling that spread through him whenever his power had ruined his thieving attempts. It was a warm feeling that seemed to respond to his fighting spirit and his readiness to engage the foe. Keeping this in mind, he stepped back up to take another shot.

Kuro felt nervous this time. Holding his hands in position, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. This took a few moments. Afterwards, he focused on filling himself with the feeling he had remembered. A quick pulse bubbling from him let him know he was on the right track. He tried to guide this power to gather in his palm. His eyes snapped open with a weird glow behind them as he chanted again.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31: Shakkaho!"

A ball of red energy formed in Kuro's hand, but it was much too big. He had poured too much power into it, making it unstable. Without leaving his palm, the ball exploded, leaving Kuro charred and disoriented on the ground. After the instructor had looked over him to make sure that he was not gravely hurt, he took his spot in the back again. Thinking to himself that this kido stuff was going to take some time to get the hang of. But he'd keep trying.

+2 Kidou ^^

Today's practice was stressing. The class had walked into the dojo believing that today would be a simple time of studying. The instructor had started out in a similar fashion, making the students recite the incantations for simple kidous. Kuro personally had no problem remembering them because he had spent his last few nights studying the kidous in the library. They were starting to look more appealing than he had first thought. As this thought floated through his mind, he remembered his spar with Kaiyo and how fierce she had become after he tried using kidou. That memory sent a chill down his spine.

After the incantation practice, the instructor had directed the class to form into groups of 2. They would spend the rest of the class period attempting to restrain their partner with bakudo. If hit with a successful spell, the target was to attempt to concentrate their power and break free of it. Kuro did not like the sound of this exercise. He stared over at his partner. Just his luck it had to be one of those upper class guys who seemed good at everything.

The practice began and Kuro's partner took the first shot. He looked over at Kuro and scoffed like a jerk. "I remember how bad you were at this stuff, so I'll go easy on you. Bakudo #1: Sai!" A bolt of energy shot from his finger and hit Kuro square in the chest. His arms were immediately locked behind his back and he couldn't move them at all.

Kuro sighed and thought that his classmate must be enjoying himself, but this was class, not playtime. He began to focus on his spiritual power, thanking his lucky star that Kaiyo had sparred with him and helped him to increase it. His power burst out of him in a sharp pulse that nullified the kido on him. He stretched and rubbed his arms in irritation, throwing a stern look at his attacker. "My turn it seems."

Kuro took a stance and concentrated again. His energy began to well up inside of him and he carefully guided it to his hand as he chanted, "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Geki!"

His partner's eyes widened with shock as the spell successfully engulfed him in a red light, not allowing him to move an inch. Kuro watched as he struggled to concentrate hard enough to escape the kidou. Kuro's studying and practice with his energy had paid off it seemed. He couldn't successfull cast powerful Hado, but a couple low level bakudos were sufficient. As his partner struggled, he glanced around at his other classmates. A few were having the same type of back and forth he and his own partner were having. But more than a few were having the problem of not successfully casting. Better be hitting the books more Kuro thought to himself.

With one last grunt of effort, his partner broke free of Kuro's binding. He looked tired, but furious. Kuro understood his feeling. He was the best student in the kido class and had just been shown up by Kuro, the student who only was quick on his feet as well as having a few brains. The partner pointed at Kuro again, pouring more of his power into this next shot. "Bakudo #1: Sai!"

The shot headed for Kuro again. His classmate had been smart. Lower level kidos were weaker in theory, but depending on how much power you put in them, you could be casting a powerful spell that was actually very easy to muster. Kuro however, had the advantage of not having tired himself out when he had been restrained. Flaring his reiatsu out again is a burst, he weakened the incoming shot and easily broke its hold when his arms became bound once again. He raised his hand again and spoke, "I think we both know that you are better. But the difference between us today was that you were not underestimated."

Kuro's classmate's face was a mixture of shock and humility as Kuro chanted towards his panting form. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Geki!"

The spell engulfed his partner once more in a brilliant red light. Kuro sighed in relief as he turned his back on him and walked to the edge of the dojo floor to sit down and watch the rest of the class. Two level nine bakudos was probably his limit at the moment anyway. He hoped that he could improve that with time.

+2 Kidou, nice post

Kuro's kido class was uncomfortable these days. Ever since his insubordinate act at the open day, using a kido on Leden against the wishes of Kaiyo, his class (who had all been present at the time) had taken two divided views on him. Most of the class seemed to have returned to the first attitude that Kuro had faced in the academy, that he was an uncontrolable beast from the Zaraki district that had no respect for rules or courtasy. The others in class sort of revered him, proud of his accomplishment with the kido in an actual battle, and expected better results from him. Both groups annoyed Kuro, for he wished that they would just forget about it and let him be an ordinary student again.

The instructor walked into the room and immediately began to explain the day's exercise.

"Today, you will be practicing kido stamina. We have set up dummies outside for you to practice with. You will begin with the dummy set up right in front of you. These dummies were developed by the research department, and they will continuously home in on the student they were nearest to at the start of the exercise until its end. The goal is to keep the dummy away from you by repeatedly striking it with Kido, both bakudo and hado, as long as possible."

Kuro's class followed the instructor outside. This exercise seemed odd, but interesting. It would be an effective way to increase his endurance so that he would not tire so easily from using kido. Everyone in the class chose a dummy and waited for the signal. Kuro faced his own and focused to the point that all he noticed was his own dummy and the shout of the instructor beginning the exercise.

At the instructor's command, all the dummies (which looked like crudely constructed scarecrows built from scrap metal) began to hover an inch above the ground and slowly glided towards their targeted students. Kuro wasted no time in repelling his away from him immediately. He concentrated his energy and shot his first spell. "Hado #1: Sho!"

This spell was the easiest to cast and simply pushed the dummy away with an invisible force of energy. The dummy wobbled a tiny bit after stopping a good twenty feet from Kuro, but regained its composure and started after him again. Seeing that he had put some decent space between himself and his target, Kuro felt safe casting a stronger, more destructive spell next.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31: Shakkaho!"

The red energy ball leapt from Kuro's outstretched palm and flew straight at his dummy. It smashed into its "chest" and exploded with a ferocious force that sent the dummy another fifty feet away from Kuro, remarkably unscratched. Those research and development guys sure knew how to build stuff. This thought flowed through Kuro's mind as the dummy began its slow pursuit again. He didn't feel safe casting more hado at the moment, for fear of his energy being used up too fast, so Kuro decided to bind the dummy for a bit to give himself a moment to rest. Aiming again, he cast a bakudo at the dummy.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Geki!"

The dummy was suddenly motionless as the red aura of light engulfed it. Kuro sighed in relief and began to relax, but the dummy recovered quickly and broke the bondage in a way that Kuro could not understand. He fell onto one knee, breathing heavilly, feeling that he only had enough energy for one more spell. Thinking he had nothing left to lose, he decided on trying a new kido that he had left alone due to its level until now. He waited until the dummy was only ten feet from him, concentrating his power the entire time. Then he chanted the incantation, praying that he would succeed just this time.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Hado #33: Sokatsui!"

A mass of blueish spiritual energy gathered in Kuro's hand, but did not fire at the dummy as it should have. Kuro was still too inexperienced to handle this spell, especially in a fatigued state like he was in now. The energy swelled greatly and exploded with great intensity that left Kuro senseless on the ground. The explosion had pushed his dummy away a tiny bit, but within a minute it had made its way back to him. His instructor marked his grade as a pass, with a look of pride on his face pleased with Kuro's progress and his commitment to his improvement.

nice post +2 Kidou

Kuro yawned as his class met early to begin their finals in Kido training. The instructor had explained that it would be a complete test of their skills with using kido and determining the best methods in real situations. The test would also take the better part of the day.....for two days. The instructor greeted the grumpy looking class with another brief explanation.

"These next two days will test how much you have learned in this class. Today you will be proving your vast knowledge of bakudo. You each will take a spot on the range and wait as a variety of "problems" are hurled at you. Decide which bakudo to use and execute. That is all."

Kuro took his spot without saying anything to anyone. He focused on waking himself up before the exercise began. He'd need all his analyzing power for this exercise. His eyes narrowed in concentration as the test began. A blue blast of energy shot down the range, aiming straight for his shoulder. The best response would be......

"Bakudo #8: Repulse!"

A round shield of energy formed in front of Kuro's hand and blocked the blast before it reached him. A few seconds passed afterwards giving Kuro a chance to focus more of his energy. Then a dummy rushed down the range. It was similar to the ones the class had practiced with before, but it had arms that were grasping a jagged looking sword aimed for Kuro's chest. Kuro wasted no time (and little energy) stopping this obstacle.

"Bakudo #1: Sai!"

A small force of energy quickly bound the dummy's arms behind its back, ridding Kuro of the danger its sword posed. This exercise was appearing very easy, and Kuro continued to evade the dangers as they flew at him. His classmates started wearing out around him, and he too began to feel drained as the numbers dwindled. He sighed in relief as the instructor announced that the next threat would be the last. As he and the only other student left standing watched, two enormous boulders began rolling down the range toward them. Kuro was shocked.

Where do they get this stuff from!?

Kuro shook off the fatigue and concentrated as hard as he could. He hadn't ever cast this next bakudo before, but if it worked, he'd be out of the woods and be ready for his next class. He held out both arms and recited the necessary chant, unwilling to cut any corners for this crucial part of the test.

"May the bucklers of the Holy Knight grace my forearms! May the boots of ten tons grace my feet! May these Angel's Arms hold me in my place so I may stand steady against all odds! Bakudo #7: Steadfast!"

Spiritual energy began to glow on Kuro's arms and legs. The latter were weighted down with an incredible force that let Kuro know he wasn't going anywhere. He leaned his weight forward and met the boulder head on as it plowed into his energy graced arms. The blow knocked the breath out of him and the weight of the boulder slid him back an inch, but it stopped its advance and left Kuro feeling very tense and surprised with his own daring.

Maybe geki would have been a better choice......oh well. That's all for today. I bet the Hado final's harder.

+2 KIdou

The class stood back on the range, most of them for the last time. After proving their skill with the ways of destruction, they would be free of the kido class and its difficult (and sometimes weird) practices. Kuro was personally proud of his progress. Kido had been his worst skill when he first began at the academy. Now it was one of his favorite tactics in battle.

The test ran similarly to the bakudo exam, except that not all targets flew at the students. Some were just long distance targets that popped up at the end of the range. Kuro concentrated intensely. A half a dozen clay cannon balls shot toward him. There was only one hado that could deal with them easily.

"From my skin, I release the porcupine's spines! Inject the target! Hado #12: Needle Release!"

Multiple sharp needles burst from Kuro's skin all along his arms, ripping his uniform sleeves to shreds. He used his modified hands to smash the balls to pieces as they came at him. Afterwards, the needles retracted back into his skin. Almost immediately, a small target popped up in the very back of the range. Kuro didn't want to wast excess power, so he aimed a small kido.

"Hado #3: Crimson Strike!"

A simple red beam of energy shot from Kuro's palm and struck the target. This exchange of targets and spells continued for a long time. Kuro's face grew wet with sweat and concentration as he continued to chant and cast repeatedly. The test ended with a very strained blast of White Lightning which shattered a large dummy in the middle of the range. Kuro fell on his knees gasping for breath. The instructor told the class that they were free to go and that he was proud of every one of them. Kuro left with a feeling of major accomplishment and a strong hope for his future as a successful shinigami.