A loss for words (solo)

The kido training field wasn’t as empty as it usually was, it looked like a class was being taught lessons on the other side. This wasn’t the usual time he would visit the training field. Of late his work load had lightened considerably. So he had more time for his own research and projects. Instead he chose to take to the target range once more. He had neglected to work on his kido for a while now. With his new promotion he was granted access to more spells, he didn’t want to fall too far behind. After several hours in the library it was time to put it all into practice He pulled out his list; there were several good spells.
“Perhaps I’ll start with a hado.” He grinned, it was hard to deny the joy of blowing something up and destroying it. He would be lying if he said otherwise. He stood at the edge of the target lane. He felt his reiryoku pour outward, and the air about him started to vibrate. Holding his right hand before him he aimed at the practice dummy and started his chant.
“Water what gives life to those who I seek to end, Lightning, what Creates the fire in my hand, Combine, and deliver your judgment upon this soul. Hado #30: Midori Hi Jikkou!” From his hand a ball of light gave shape and appeared. The sphere was no bigger than a softball. Barely a second later a blast of energy errupted from the ball and struck the target with a small explosion. When the smoke cleared the target was gone. Arawn looked at his paper notes. Apparently the spell could use both hands, he wondered how much bigger the explosion could get. His curiosity got the better of him. Rather than move to the next spell, he set up another target and began chanting again.
“What gives life to those who I seek to end, Lightning, what Creates the fire in my hand, Combine, and deliver your judgment upon this soul. Hado #30: Midori Hi Jikkou!” This time he used both hands, it felt similar to when he double cast other kido. This time there was a larger ball light at the end of his hands. This one the size of a basketball. There was a roar as the energy ripped forth and hit the target. The explosion of energy sent a shockwave of dust into the area. Truly a potent spell

“Arawn?” he turned around as he heard his name. There was no one nearby, “Arawn!” came the voice again, but this time much closer. He then noticed a person approaching him. It was the man he had hired for tutoring his kido. It seemed it was his class learning on the field at this time. The teacher gave him a bear hug, which Arawn accepted awkwardly while the class looked on. He smiled weakly. The man released Arawn from the hug and coughed as he recomposed himself. He turned around and his class went back to practicing their spells.
“I though I felt your reiatsu.” he smiled “I haven’t seen you in awhile but I remembered your pressure.” The tutor looked down at the smoldering target. “Very good.” laughed patting Arawn heartily on the back. “I see you’re still using that method we came up with. I’ve tried to get others to use it, but like you they tire quickly.” Arawn could only shrug
“It works, I’ve tried the normal way, and it’s just not cutting it. There are other shinigami that can’t even cast kido I’ve heard.” The rotund man laughs, and nods. It’s a know fact some don’t even bother learning kido after their academy days.
“There is something I’ve been wondering though.” the man said suddenly “The method you employ does use an excessive amount of reiryoku. This allows you to double some spells. I wonder if you can use eishōhaki.”
“Eishōhaki?” Arawn hadn’t heard of it before, was it another kind of spell?
“It’s just casting without the chant. Since you take the time to build up so much energy, before you chant, your casting speed is slowed. If you can just build up and then cast, you’ll be much more effective.”
“I never thought of that, and I have seen people cast without chants before.” Arawn thought back to several instances where others just had shouted the spell name. “I just figured it was unspoken casting or something. But why didn’t you bring up this eishōhaki before?”

The smaller man frowns. “For the most part bypassing the chant can weaken a spell considerably, I’m just curious if you can use that method and eishōhaki together.” The man had already pulled out his note pad. Arawn sighed, he might as well try it. Faster, but weaker spells. In a battle speed was essential. He quickly reset the target and took his spot. As his reiatsu built around him he tried to focus on the target.
“Hado #4 : Byakurai!” A burst of energy shot forth. The target was again reduced to ashes. The tutor clapped enthusiastically. Arawn raised an eyebrow, that was it? It didn’t feel all the different from the last casting.
“Well done, well done!” he stopped clapping as his students started to look over at him once again. He glared and they went back to practice once more. “I’m not sure how you did it, but the power of your spell was about the same as your first.” He jotted into his notepad while pacing back and forth.
“Now let’s try a double spell with eishōhaki.” The tutor’s energy was starting to rub off on Arawn. He couldn’t help but smile at the man’s excitement. They reset the target and Arawn took his stance.
His reiatsu filled the air
“Hado #3: Crimson strike!” Instead of a large blast only a single red ray of energy came from his posed hands. He tried again. “Hado #3: Crimson strike!” Again only one shot fired from his outstretched palms.
The tutor wasn’t any less excited at Arawn’s failure. He was already making notes.
“It would seem you can’t use both of them together. But it’s very interesting, very interesting.” He patted Arawn on the back gently this time “No worries, you’ve learned something new, I’d say it’s a great accomplishment. With a smile he ran back to his class. Arawn stood there looking after him. Two successes and one failure. It wasn’t too much of a loss for the day. He wondered if he should quit while he was ahead.

Kido Training:
Hado 30: 411(1095)/400

Eishōhaki:
Due to his excessive use of energy when casting a spells Arawn can bypass the chant of kido he had learned. Only on spells one rank below his current ability. The power of the spell is of normal level, normal of power for Arawn that is. He cannot use eishōhaki and his ‘double spell’ ability together as extra energy is used when employing one or the other. As before this method of casting is still quite tiresome, so the number of successful castings of spells is limited.

The excitement of learning eishohaki quickly faded. Using it his casting speed had increased significantly. But all in all he did prefer the option of double casting over the bypass. With that in mind he also knew that the fight itself would decide which he should use. He gave a sigh, giving himself another option was making things more troublesome. Learning new kido was a great idea, but it meant he had to judge and pick which spells to cast as needed. The longer that list, the slower he might be in choosing. He scratched his head.
“Well, might as well get back to it.” He looked over the list. The casting of the last spell and using eishohaki had left him drained. Arawn looked for a spell that would require less energy, something simple.
Heavy Shell Barrier did sound good, but he wanted something easier. Tetsuori sounded just as complex. It was then he found it; Sekienton. A kido spell that was a smoke screen? Sounded simple enough, but why would such a spell be ranked 21? More curious he moved to an empty area. Arawn didn’t want to disturb the class with the smoke. The are was several feet from the normal range, it was probably used for large area attack spells. With his spirit pressure flaring he starte
“Dift in the seeking shadow, become lost in the secret labyrinth! Bakudo #21: Tetsuori!” With his spirit pressure flaring he chanted then placed his hands to the ground. A red cloud of smoke erupted forth and engulfed him. He stood there in the smoke; he couldn’t see even inches before him. He took a deep breath; the smoke didn’t choke him either. The red cloud didn’t even smell. Indeed it was only a smokescreen, it’s only uses seemed to be to obstruct vision. It was quite a disappointment.
“Even that can have it’s uses.” he muttered. “I could probably do something similar in my lab.” Arawn’s eyes perked up. He pulled the list from his inner pocket and pen. He made a small note:
Work on smokebomb tool. With a grin he looked over the rest of the list.

Kido Training:
Bakudo 21: 360/310

The last spell had been abit too easy. Not to mention rather unimpressive. But it served it’s purpose; it was a weak spell he cast while regaining his strength. Since he was already in a wide area he figured he might as well get the bigger spells out of the way. The list had plenty of spells that using such a large area would be beneficial. The last bakudo had been a bust, so he wanted to try another one. Of those spells Wall of Pillars looked the most promising. What really sparked Arawn’s interest was the fact it seemed to have two modes. He was all for using spells in unique ways, but if the spell itself could change as well it added a new dimension to the possible uses. He grinned once more and focused his pressure around his body.
“Minerals of the Earth I command thee, crush the waves coming at me. Bakudo # 22: Wall of Pillars.” The chant ended and he slammed his hands to the ground. For a second nothing happened; suddenly large rods shot from the ground. The 10 pillars were nearly his height and formed a semi circle around him. He reached forward and examined the pillar. It seemed sturdy enough, the metal rang as he hit it with his fist. “Not too bad” he spoke “What about the other mode.” Referring to his notes, the other mode was placing them vertically. Arawn recast the spell, this time he tried envisioning them stacked like a real wall. As he finished that chant the metal pillars jumped from the ground again, this time making a dense obstruction before him. This mode seemed more effective than the first one. He gave it a kick, but the wall didn’t move in the slightest. He would hate to have it fall backwards on him. The gaps in the first mode wasn‘t as effective as a solid wall, but it would have it‘s uses in other situations. A few seconds later the wall faded. Arawn crossed another spell off his list.

Kido Training:
Bakudo 22: 360/320

The field was still his and he was more than willing to put it to good use. There had to be a spell that would be more visually stunning. He gave a grin as his eyes fell on what could only be the most exciting spell yet.
“Thunder’s Rage.” Next to the spell he had scribbled some notes, “fires lighting from the ground.” there was more to the note, but the writing had been smudged. He didn’t remember what he had wrote. The note page had been made nearly a week ago and he had forgotten to come to the training field. He remembered how potent the other lightning spells were. He had high hopes for this one. He could feel the reiryoku flow through his body as his pressured rippled around him.
“Punish those who do not fear lightning! Fire blindly hoping to catch your prey! Hado #25: Thunder’s Rage!” He directed his had at the targets at the far end of the field.
Only for a second everything became deathly quiet. Perhaps he had memorized the chant wrong, or he was to far away? Then there was a rumble at his feet and a flash of lightning shot from the ground engulfing one of the targets. The wooden doll burst into flame. Arawn laughed, that truly was impressive. Then there was another explosion as lightning erupted from the ground once again this time it was to his right some 12ft away. “What the!?” was all he could exclaim just as a third bolt came forth this time much closer and to his left. The lightning kept appearing, sometimes close sometimes far, but with no discernable pattern. One explosion fired off behside him and sent rock and debris flying. This spell was getting out of hand, why was it still going? Had he given it too much power. He didn’t know how to cancel spells out. Arawn reached into his pocket for his notes. There was nothing else on the paper, but the part he couldn’t read. There was suddenly a flash of lightning very close to him. The light from the bolt shone through the paper in his hands. Forgetting the near hit he raised the sheet to the light and peered at it. “10 minute duration, random strikes.” With a delay Arawn ran for the other end of the field. The fact he had survived those first three minutes while stationary were luck. He doubted that luck would hold for another 7 minutes. If he could make it to the main field he might be safe. The bolts of lighting started to come faster. The young shinigami ran with all his might. Another bolt shot up before him, he rolled sideways. Just then another bolt blinded him as it rose from the earth. Somehow he made it back to the main field. He sat at the entrance to the large field to ward anyone away til the spell finished. As he sat there catching his breath he noticed that parts of his robe were singed. He hadn’t gotten out completely unscratched. He gave a sigh. That was one spell he would have to be very careful with using.

Kido Training:
Hado 25: 509/350

With a grin Arawn looked at his list. He was amazed at his own abilities. The spells were truly more destructive. He wondered how powerful the spells could be when cast by someone of greater level of skill. He shuddered to think about it. Looking over the list he saw a familiar spell.
“White Lunar Spear Shot?” He did recall training in learning that spell not long ago. He paced the target range for a second until he remembered the name “Ah, Lunar Strike was the name!”
To the side of the name he had written ‘a hovering moon’. The spells sounded very similar, but why was this one a higher rank difficulty? “Well there’s one way to find out.”
He set up the target on the other side of the field.
“Fenrir cry your mighty howl, cage the sin of motals betwixt your jaw and tear from them the will to oppose your wrath. Hado #18: Lunar Strike!” The orb of light appeared on his hand and floated into the sky. It hung in the air and then several second later came crashing down into the target. There was a flash of light as the energy exploded. “Okay, that’s how that spells works.” He put up a new target then looked at his cheat sheet.
“Oh the crescent moon of the lunar , where one of the purist of light and the shadows of darkness, show me your holy light. Hado#21: White lunar spear shot!” This orb of light formed on his hand like the last spell. This time it shot into the air quicker, but looked almost the same as before. “Nothing I haven‘t seen so far.” Arawn said to the floating white moon. After a short wait the energy discharged at the target. This time rather than a bolt of light, it fired a lance of energy that impaled the target easily. “Now that’s quite the difference.” It was another good delayed spell. If used properly it would be an effective weapon.

Kido Training:
Hado 21: 335/310


The toll of keeping his reiatsu going was starting to have an effect on him. He released it and sat down. Another spell down. The hado spells were far more draining than the bakudo spells so far. He found them easier to cast, but quite a few of them were hard to practice without a willing participant. Still he had afew bakudo spells still listed on the sheet. This one sounded promising it had come recommended by Tatsuya. He had met the tall man in the library while looking at spells. Apparently he had learned it recently and told Arawn he should try his hand at it. It was rare for a spell come recommended. Still it seemed like a simple enough spell. And it was supposed to have various applications. Not only could he throw it, but he could deploy it as a trap. Standing back up Arawn read over the chant words. After committing them to memory he released his reiryoku as usual.
“Crusader of the sky ensnare thy burning clouds. Burning clouds set ablaze thy captor. Bakudo #28: Inferno Buckler!” as he finished the chant fiery disc floated over his forearm. It seemed abit anti-climatic. The blazing disc had a foot or more diameter, and seemed to stay suspended above his arm as he moved it.
“Okay, now what?” His notes did say multiple uses. He touched the disc, it didn’t burn his hand. Arawn picked it up and placed it on the ground. Nothing happened. It would seem the spell would only trigger when hit by someone else, or he was doing it wrong. He picked the disc back up and held it like a frisbe. Taking careful aim he tossed the disc at the target. The disc flew through the air easily. Once it hit the target the disc exploded and flame surrounded the target in the shape of a sphere.
“Wow.” Arawn gasped, he had wondered how that disc could be considered a bakudo. With focus he managed to make the spell end. When the flame left the target was singed all over. It was hot to the touch, and some parts had been burnt by the flame where it had touched the inner wall. The spell made a flaming prison upon contact. A fiery bear trap. Arawn laughed. He reminded himself to thank Tatsuya.

Kido Training:
Bakudo 28: 391/380