Sa Shin Mu: Baek-Ho (solo)

His breathing became labored as he climbed the jagged rocks. Even with gloves on the edges hurt his hands. This wasn't something he was used to. The sun shined down on him unrelenting as he continued his ascent. His mind drifted back to the note he had found a few days ago.

You lessons will start upon Sunday. We shall meet at the top of the mountain at noon. Or else....

Below the message was a map to a mountain in one of the outer districts of Rukongai. On the mountain top? This had to be a joke. While Sung could easily contact him via these letters. Arawn had no way to contact the old man, nor could he recall the location of the house he had visited. The note were either lost during his most recent move, or someone else had removed them. He wondered if it was the old man had a hand in it. Putting that aside, he wondered what the "or else" truly meant. Would they snatch him away in the middle of the night once again? He wanted to confirm his destination, but he could only go by what the note read. So he had to climb a mountain before the lesson.
"Talk about spartan." he muttered to himself. Arawn had never climbed a mountain before, but he knew it wouldn't be an easy task. It was time to research. Since his new quarters was without network connection he instead went to the academy library. If someone found him using the research lab's computers about climbing they might get curious. Now if a member of the research squad got books in a library people would be less nosy. There were various subjects in the library. While most books and scrolls there covered shinigami life and history, there were books about the human world. Such things were just as necessary when using a gigai and trying to blend in. As it was there were several books on mountain climbing, but the information overlapped quite abit. Tools, attire, techniques, and various other factors needed to successfully and not to mention safely climb. But since there was the deadline, he didn't have time to leisurely approach the subject. Checking out the three books he took them to his semi-dusty quarters and made a checklist of things he would need.

Rather than wait for the appointed day he started out a day early for the far Rukongai district and the mountain it held. He left Sereitei with a backpack filled with supplies; ropes, hooks, gloves, goggles, snacks, water, etc. Almost everything he could imagine such a mountain would require. The rumors of the districts on the edge of soul society being rough made him reluctant to stay on the main streets. For this reason he wore a cloak and moved swiftly once he cleared the more peaceful districts. He didn't need to follow the map any longer, the mountain had long since came into view. Avoiding the last bit of town before the mountain was tricky, but he managed somehow. Standing from below he looked up at the mountain before him. and he had a little over a day to climb it. This was insane, but for some reason he was looking forward to it.

Back to to the present

He could barely see the ground from his current perch, but he couldn't see the top either. His legs hung over the cliff as he sat down taking a break. The cold water felt good going down his throat. Of all the things he had brought with him, he had forgotten to bring a watch. He was unsure what time it was, but the sun had risen some time ago. Whatever the time was he was far from the top. But a small part of him knew such a task was impossible. Climbing as far as he had was truly amazing, but to conquer this mountain it would take something that he didn't possess.

Every inch of his body was screaming in pain. Climbing the rock had begun working muscles he didn't know he had. He had long since lost sight of the sun, there was no mistaking his being late to the meeting at the peak. Although he wanted to take a break he pushed himself to keep going. The sweat from his brow dripped down his face profusely, without thinking he wiped it away with his right hand. The very hand that he was using to hold himself steady on the cliff face. Arawn started to fall, before he had fallen more than ten feet the rope attached to his harness jerked him to a stop and banged him against the rock wall. He groaned as he dangled there. Using the rope and hooks to secure himself was a wise decision, but he was too weak to pull himself back up. And so he hung there, the blood rushing to his head in the chilled air. Now he regretted telling no one he was up here. Upside down he could barely make out the ground far below.
"So tired." he murmured trying to right himself. But his muscles gave out, he fell back and closed his eyes.

He dreamed he was flying; the wind whipping at his face. As his eyes opened he found himself laying on a straw mat floor. Was this another dream? It couldn't be since he was still wearing the climbing harness. Sitting up he examined his surroundings. The room looked identical to the house in Sereitei, but there were slight differences. There were completely wooden doors rather than paper, and the windows were larger. He could see empty sky out of them.
"You're late." Sung said as Arawn examined the room. "Seems you started a day early and still you barely cleared the foot of the mountain." The old man snickered. The door swung open and the woman in the white kimono entered. "Yuki found you and brought you up here to the peak." The woman named Yuki glared at Arawn on the ground. She cut her eyes away. Well this can't get any more embarrassing Arawn thought to himself as she placed a tray with a tea set on the small table in the room's middle. "Although that's commendable for a beginner, I suggest you take the stairs the next time."
"Stairs?" Arawn gasped.
"Yes, if you enter through the town you would have found the stairs." This time the young woman snickered. Arawn flopped back down to the ground. Exhausted physically and mentally.

An hour later he was walking around the grounds of the house found atop the mountain. The air was thin, but he somehow made his way through the guided tour. He had gotten over his embarrassment of climbing the rock, but now he was curious to what he would be doing here. Before the question could cross his lips the tour ended in what looked like a rock quarry. This area was located behind the house.



"And this is where you'll train." Sung finished. Arawn looked around a the unimpressive area. He had expected to train indoors. But if that was the case why come to the mountain? He recalled that high altitude training with thin air could be beneficial, but doubted it would work well for him. There were rocks of ever size and shape all around them. Placed in the middle of the quarry was three gray blocks. Each block was 2 feet long and wide; and only 3 inches thick. Two of the blocks sat spaced apart on the ground, the third sat atop the others almost like table. Arawn quickly realized it look similar setup to when someone breaks wooden boards in martial arts. Sung walked over to the set bricks.
"It is here I'll teach you Sa Shin Mu." He took a stance over the bricks and stared down at his target. He breathing slowed as he tucked his right arm at his hip. With a sharp yell his arm shot forward and down, the brick shattered sending shards flying. Although he had seen the same done with wood Arawn wasn't too impressed. Sung stood up and dusted himself off.

"So you're going to teach me how to break bricks with my hand? That's not very practical." He was starting to doubt this would be a serious martial art lesson. Sung didn't make a comment, but smiled.
"Come, look at my fist." He held forth his hand for Arawn to see. The shinigami walked forward to look at the hand. Upon examining the hand he saw not the slights bruise or cut from striking the stone. Well that is impressive. Arawn said to himself, but Sung wasn't finished. "Now look at my target." He pointed down at the shattered remains at his feet. Now this was a true surprise; while true the brick had been broken, there was now a hole where Sung had struck through it. "No, look closer." When Arawn looked back up, puzzled he bent over to examine the destruction of the brick and let out a gasp despite himself. It wasn't a stone brick Sung had broken, but a metal one. Was it steel or perhaps iron? The metal was dull and unimpressive looking. He picked up a shard, it was quite heavy for it's size. Whatever technique the older man had employed had torn through the metal with ease. There was no hiding his shock, he took a slight step back. Maybe this was some kind of setup, there was not way he could break such thing so easily. Arawn looked at the remaining bricks. He bent over again and dug his fingers under the metal chunk and heaved. With a grunt he managed to lift the block from the ground and dropped it back with a 'thud' as it hit the rock below it. His eyes met the old man's; he was still smiling.
"Can you do that again?" the shinigami asked. He knew this one was solid, the last one could have been doctored. The elder shrugged his shoulders still smiling.
"Yes, but you might want to stand back abit." Sung now stood over the second brick. A second later launched his arm downwards at the metal and his fist crashed right through it and into the ground. Once more there were shards of metal flying about from the impact. But this time Arawn standing somewhat closer could feel a slight vibration through the ground as Sung hit. Trice now he has seen this old man summon a power that betrayed his age and size. Perhaps there was a trick, but whatever trick it was, it was very potent.
"And you called this technique Sa Shin Mu?" Arawn's mind raced, he had never heard of such a thing. No martial art that he knew of could crack metal and make holes into the ground. Was is a shinigami skill?

Sung laughed at Arawn's sudden respectful tone. He had gotten the better of Arawn's curiosity and knew he would have the man's full attention.
"Yes, the art is called Sa Shin Mu. But the technique is called Baek-Ho the first of the four skills I shall teach you." He dusted himself off once again as he spoke, metal dust had blow over his clothes. "And if you really must know, that wasn't it's full power." The old man smiled as he watched the younger man's expression. "Too much power and I might shatter this mountain." The young man looked doubtful, but didn't question.
Arawn had not begun looking at the newly shattered brick. He had seen for himself that it wasn't as fragile as breaking from a small amount of force. As heavy and as thick as it was, the old man broke it with ease. Not only that, his hand was fine. Sung held out his hand again for Arawn to see. The skin didn't have a single blemish.
"Okay," Arawn said at length "So how did you do it? What's the secret?" He couldn't figure it out. There had to be a trick to it.
The elder man sat down upon a nearby boulder and rubbed his chin. "A question for you; if you throw a rock at a window which would break? That is a silly question you're thinking. Of course the window would break." He answered quickly. "But what if the rock was a pebble, and the glass was this boulder?" He gestured at the rock he sat on, nearly the size of his body "Would the same hold true?
For a moment the shinigami thought about it. "Depending on how strong the glass is, it could break a rock."
"Yes, that's exactly how I did it. I made my fist heavier and stronger than that steel." Doubt filled Arawn's face and the old man scowled. Sung hopped down from his seat and walked over to his student. He held his arm extend out and his fist parallel to the ground. "Take my hand." The young man was reluctant, but gently grabbed the out stretched hand. "Hold it tightly and don't drop it." Arawn grasped the hand tighter with both hands now. Sung relaxed his arm, letting Arawn support it completely.
Sung grunted and Arawn gasped as the arm suddenly grew intensely heavy. His eyes wide as he stared at the old man's limp arm as it became increasingly more heavy by the second. The strain was immense as he tried to keep the arm aloft, already he was breathing hard. Finally with a sigh he dropped the limb, and fell to his knees.

As much as he tried to wrap his brain around it, he couldn't. For some reason that old man's arm had become too heavy for him to hold. He had watched the old man intently, but noticed no change in his posture at that time. The arm was limp at all times as well. Then how could he do it? There was no clue to how the small arm got heavy. The old man was enjoying the bewilderment of the young shinigami. He rarely got a chance to show off his skills since Yuki was only his assistant; she took lessons from his wife.
"Well now that you've felt it for yourself it's time to teach you how it's done." the old man spoke. Once more the took a seat upon the boulder and crossed his legs. "You are familar reiryoku, correct?"
Arawn only nodded. Reiryoku being spiritual energy. It was used for kido.
"And you are also familiar with reiatsu, correct?"
Once more Arawn nodded. His casting method for spells employed reiatsu
"The technique I just showed you uses both." Arawn looked at Sung blankly
"How was what you just did reiatsu? I didn't feel anything other than your arm get heavy." Still grinning the old man, clapped at the young shinigami's observation. The smile vanished and the clapping stopped. His face was grim and suddenly as he released his reiatsu.
Arawn was thankful he was on his knees. If not he would have been down to them in seconds. The force of the old man's reiatsu was staggering. It was like being buried alive. He couldn't breath, he couldn't move, the pressure started to squeeze him. No longer on his knees Arawn was laying face down into the ground; choking on the dirt. And then the pressure stopped. Both men were breathing heavily. Sung from his effort and Arawn from nearly suffocating.

After he caught his breath, Sung restarted his explanation. Arawn now sat on a boulder not too far from the old man. It wasn't a very comfortable seat, but it was better than the ground.
"Baek-Ho has you pushing all your reiryoku into one spot then releasing your reiatsu. Next you fortify the part with reiatsu." He pointed at his left are as his talked. Arawn couldn't see any difference in his fist as he spoke. "See?"
"I can't see anything." Arawn said scratching his head. "That's your reiatsu?"
"Yes, that pressure you just felt is now is contained within this fist. He held the arm aloft for a second before slamming it down upon the boulder. There was a small cloud of dust where the old man hit. "Your pressure shields and empowers your fist as you strike."
"So I pool my power, then release it, but then contain it?" Arawn wasn't sure what he was saying now.
"Exactly." Was all the old man said and he hopped off the rock. He walked over to a relatively cleared section of the quarry, there were few rocks and the ground was flat.
Arawn followed Sung and stood beside him. "Now it's time for practice. First release your reiatsu." With a grunt Arawn complied. His pressure made the air vibrate around him. Nothing like Sung's previous display. Sung didn't even flinch when his pressure hit him. "Now follow my motions."
Sung then began a series of slow punches and kicks; much like a kata. Arawn did his best to keep up, his reiatsu still bursting forth. This went on for several minutes until Arawn dropped once more to the ground. He was breathing hard, his pressure stopped.
"Get up, we must continue."
"It's.....*gasp*.....tiring!" the young shinigami said from the ground. His energy felt drained. Usually when using pressure for casting it was only for seconds at a time. "The first minute alone was grueling enough."
"I'm sure it is, but you must get used to it. This will be the first step. Every three days you will climb this mountain and train with me. Once you can properly control your energies we will move to the next part. Arawn could only sighed; his free days were lost. As frustrating as it sounded, was intrigued by the technique he had witnessed.