Experience: Is It Truly Everything? (Draylontis)

Shioshi glanced around as he entered the room, taking in the different pairs of sparring partners all dueling. Grinning, he moved over to the closest weapon rack, looking for a weapon that felt comfortable for him. His eagerness was not all that common, as usually he was completely calm, but this was different. Today, he would participate in his first sparring match. His work in Zanjutsu would be put to the test once he found someone to duel against. Although he'd never dueled before, he was determined to prove that he could do just as good as any of the students that had been doing this for much, much longer. Or maybe just much longer. Or maybe just longer. Either of those would work for him.

Shioshi's eyes fell upon a katana that was almost the exact same length as his, grinned, and then pulled it from the rack. He held it up to compare the weight to what he remembered his real weapon to feel like, and then, seeing that it was to his satisfaction, began moving through a few short maneuvers. As soon as the weapon passed his final test, he brought it down to his side and moved over to one of the benches along the rim of the room. He spun it a bit as he reached the bench, and then sat, setting the weapon down on the bench. He allowed his gaze to wander around the room, taking in those that were there. He needed a good first match, something that could earn him respect in the Sparring Grounds, whether or not he won or lost, although he'd certainly prefer to win.

With a sigh, he leaned back and closed his eyes, resting for a moment so that his calm could return. He'd need to be thinking very clearly for this. If he wanted to gain fast respect within the sparring grounds, then he'd at least need to make a show out his duel, with whomever it would be. That's when another group entered the room. Shioshi gave a single glance in that direction, not really concentrating on finding his opponent quite yet. Not until he was completely calm, inside and out. Finally, he came to a place within himself where his inner calm was completely in control, and so he stood and opened his eyes, bringing his training blade up from the bench and resting the blade on his shoulder.

Moving slowly, he headed over to a clear sparring area and then stood in the center, moving his gaze, this time with focused determination, around the room. He continued to do so, but could not see anyone he wanted to duel, though that was because he didn't know the skill levels of almost anyone there. Finally, he saw someone who looked promising and, nodding to himself in a silent agreement. "Hey! Do you want to spar with me?" he yelled to him. He didn't realize that the man had come in with the group he'd only glanced earlier, the group comprised of a visiting group of Shinigami to the Academy to help with the training of the Academy Students.

How the heck did I get stuck with helping the academy students train? I'm not even good in sparring... this is one hell of a rotten day. I hope noone chooses to spar against me. Draylon walked inside the dojo along with all the other Shinigami that had been selected. He looked around at the people sparring. He walked over to a far wall, alone, and leaned against the wall, right as he did so one shinigami called out, "Hey! Do you want to spar with me?" I don't have a choice... sigh!

Draylon walked silently over to the wooden sword rack, picking up 2 wakizashi sized swords, one in each hand. He pointed one towards the shinigami. I just want to end this quick, but I suppose I should teach him something. "Lesson 1: Expect the unexpected." Draylon threw the sword he wasn't pointing at the man. As the sword flew through the air, he quickly mumbled, "Hado 4. White Lightening" A bolt of Energy shot out of the finger, he held the sword with, his finger parallel to the sword. He then stood his ground, blade extended towards the man.

Shioshi could barely react in time to avoid the two attacks, and even then, it was just barely. The wakizashi flew towards him, quickly outdistanced by the Kidou that the Shinigami had used, for Shioshi now saw that that was what the man was. The White Lightning Hado shot towards him, but he managed to spin out of the way, ducking at the same time so that the wakizashi flew over him. He ended up overbalancing, though, and fell on his back, muttering a string of curses as he pushed himself back to his feet. He steadied himself, returned to his inner calm, and then glared at the Shinigami. He hadn't even formally accepted his offer to duel before he'd surprised him with two attacks. He held his katana before him, at the ready.

"That was very inappropriate behavior for a Shinigami. However, I'll forgive you for that. Just do not hold back against me," snapped Shioshi. Then, he spun the weapon and shot forward, katana extended forward in a stab that then continued into a series of jabs and ended with a kick towards the Shinigami's hip. He didn't care whether or not any of the attacks had hit, as that had only been a quick series of attacks to see how fast the Shinigami's reflexes were. "Before this gets on in full, can I know your name, so that I at least know whom it is that I'm fighting? My name is Shioshi Reinuu, whether you want to know or not," Shioshi said calmly. His calm still remained, and with a quick assessment of the Shinigami, he prepared another series of quick strikes.

Suddenly, Shioshi shot forward, katana coming down in a hard slash, and then reversing and coming around in a series of slashed aimed for the Shinigami's shoulder, over and over again. Then, he skipped back and stabbed forward to end the combination, his attacks ending with a flashy strike. He nodded, allowing himself a slight smile, and then skipped back once more. He was done for now. It was the Shinigami's turn to make a move, which meant he'd just have to wait for the time being. He reached inside of himself, his inner calm allowing him to stand completely still, ready to leap into action at any moment.

Draylon watched as the boy dodged his strikes. He wasn't that surprised, he HAD warned the boy beforehand. He was surprised as the boy landed on the ground then had to get up. It could have been over right there.... As the boy got up he glared at Draylon. He chucked in his mind at the glare.

He listened as the Boy yelled at him about what he had done was not proper and to not hold back. If I don't hold back, you could die fool. The boy Lunged at him, stabbing. Draylon tapped the side of the boy's blade, sending it harmlessly over his shoulder, over and over as the boy attacked, tapping them to the sides. Is this really what they teach them now? Draylon saw the boy shift his balance and send a kick towards his side, Draylon lifted his leg and blocked the blow with his knee.

The boy said something about wanting to know his name.... and said his own was Shioshi. The boy lept forward once more and tried to strike his shoulder repeatedly. Show some dang variation, damnit. Draylon dodged to the side, making the blows weaker as he blocked the strikes. At least the kid is pretty strong. Then the boy thrust once more, unable to parry this time, he dodged to the side, the boy's blade tapped some of the uniform that was fluttering around. Better. The boy lept back and waited.

"First of all, I am one of your temporary instructors for the day, Draylon Kerosu, and you challenged me. Also, sparring is supposed to prepare you for real combat, The enemy won't wait for you to get ready before attacking. You need to be ready at all times. And show some variation in your strikes, If you use the same one over and over it becomes extremely easy to predict and stop." Draylon paused for a second and said, "Also Many enemies you will face will have abilities and tactics you have never seen before, you need to know how to deal with them and improvise, and that brings us to Lesson: 2 Survive! I am now going to attack you with a technique I created the other day, very few have ever seen it, I want you to take as little damage as you can. “May the arrows of my soul, be guided by my will, to reach their true destination.” Hado 20! Arashi-Tomoshibi!." 10 small balls of energy shot out of his hand and flew at Shioshi, breaking away and flying in zig-zags all around the room, then returned and started flying towards Shioshi and breaking away, in more zig-zag patterns. "Now follow Lesson 2! and survive.... Bakudo 5! SENKO!" A blinding flash was created by Draylon. He then directed 3 of the balls to hit Shioshi. Then 3 more then, all coming in from different angles. At the same time placing the other 4 in between them, in case the boy charged at him. I hope I'm not overdoing it.

Shioshi's eyes widened in terror at the Kidou onslaught, and knew that if he took all of those hits, he'd be finished. This was supposed to be a sparring match, and yet this Shinigami was using a barrage of attacks so powerful that, if all of the attacks hit, he would be finished. Realizing that he had to react quickly or he'd be doomed, and with practically every eye in the room now riveted upon the two combatants, his thoughts raced to Kidou, and more importantly, Bakudo, one in particular. Although he wasn't the greatest with Demon Magic, he knew he had no other choice at the moment. "Bakudo No. 8, Seki!" he barked. Without the chant, it wouldn't be as strong as usual, but it would have to do. Immediately, the shield appeared before him, and he spun, protecting himself from a large amount of damage. Of course, then the Bakudo wore off, and he was forced to dodge the rest. One exploded near his feet, however, which caused him to lurch forward, once again off balance. That was when the second Kidou spell took effect.

Shioshi panicked. There were still several of the exploding Kidou spheres, and now that he couldn't see, he'd be blind. That was definitely not a good thing. He felt one explode off to the right, which then caused him to be blasted to the side a bit. Grimacing, and biting back the pain, he forced himself to his feet and shut his eyes, completely removing that sense, since he was blinded anyways. He'd have to get through this with his other senses. He heard something coming in from the right, and rolled forward, narrowly avoiding one of the spheres. He heard another, two, actually, coming from the left, and fell immediately to his stomach, rolling in their direction, which caused them to shoot over him. Thinking that the way was clear, he pushed himself to his feet once more and raced in the direction that he'd last seen Draylon. Luckily, he was smart enough to use another Bakudo in his charge.

"Stop the Impelling Shot, From a Prompt Arrival! Bakudo No. 3, Sutoppu!" he cried! That immediately caused the spheres he couldn't see to stop moving. It was only for a few seconds, but that was enough time for him to get by all of the spheres... at least, all but one. The Kidou deactivated with him unknowingly only a few steps away from Draylon. The last sphere in the way immediately rocketed into him, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain. He opened his eyes to find that his vision was returning, and so he leapt to his feet and immediately moved towards the Shinigami, katana leading. He brought the training weapon around in a cunning combination of slashes, stabs, jabs and ending with double-handed slash from above down towards the center of his head. He could only hope his attacks would at least break the Shinigami's concentration enough to disperse the remaining Kidou spheres.

Draylon watched as the boy used a kido to defend himself. Then proceeded to dodge and panic as the fear set in. Then the boy did something surprising, he used Bakudo 3. At least he can think and survive. The boy then charged him, getting hit by a sphere then getting up and charging again. The boy is persistent at least. Draylon called the spheres towards him, aiming at the boy's back and released the control, letting them fly straight towards the man as he charged Dray.

Dray parried the thrusts and blocked the slashes, although it was starting to take a toll on his wrist. This should be a good opportunity to teach him not to judge a fight until it is over. Dray's expression turned to something akin to panic, he made his blocks sloppier as he retreated under the rain of blows. Then the final blow came, a 2handed strike from above. "Seki!" Dray called the small defensive sphere into existence and blocked the strike, sending the boy flipping backwards through the air towards the spheres approaching him. "Lesson 3: Guide your opponent by creating weaknesses for them to strike. Then close said weaknesses." Draylon stepped to the side, incase some of the orbs missed. "Lesson over. Keep in mind what I have said. Oh, and have someone take him to the infirmary." Dray started to walk towards the door to leave. Damn it, my wrist feels like it is going to fall off. I should have tried to dodge more. Glad it is ending now, i probably couldn't hold a sword in my hand anymore... He will probably sleep it off, and hopefully he learns something from it.

His surprise was complete when his weapon struck, and deflected off of, Draylon's own Seki. He shot up into the air from the power of the Bakudo. One of the orbs struck him in the legs, flipping him and then dropping him on the ground, on one knee. Sputtering a string of curses, he did the only thing he could think of to take the least amount of damage; he dropped to the floor. The few remaining orbs flew over him and struck the ground only about a foot away from his head. Small pieces of shrapnel fell over him, cutting him, one piece even digging deep into his leg, numbing it almost immediately. It wouldn't be that hard to heal, but at the moment, when he truly couldn't afford such a humiliating defeat, he couldn't afford the inability to move. When he thought that, though, he had an epiphany, one that brought his mind to another Bakudo. He forced himself back to his feet, drawing several surprised gasps from those around him, the other Students most likely having thought the fight was over, since Draylon had said so himself. He spat out a piece of shrapnel, and then began to chant.

"Disintegrate, you Black Dog of Rondanini! Look Upon Yourself with Horror and then Claw Out Your Own Throat! Bakudo No. 9, Geki!" he bellowed, drawing more gasps and wide eyes. Immediately, a large pillar of paralyzing Demon Magic fell from the sky, shooting down to engulf Draylon. If it struck, then he'd be completely unable to move for enough time for Shioshi's next attack to hit. Spitting out a curse at the Shinigami, the Student once again began to chant. He wasn't even paying attention to whether or not his Bakudo had worked, but he didn't care at that moment. "The Fires of Hell, a Scrap of Your Power, another Damned Soul! Hado No. 5, Kakyuu!" he yelled. Immediately, a light green fireball engulfed his fist, the color of his Reiatsu. He brought his fist back and then punched in the direction of Draylon. The fireball shot from his fist, shooting towards the Shinigami.

"Take that... you bastard....." he muttered, and then he fell, unconsciousness finally taking him. He'd be in the infirmary for a bit, but hopefully, so would the Shinigami. He'd eventually apologize, and hopefully they'd get past this uncomfortable little fight... eventually. He shut his eyes to be able to rest in the arms of unconsciousness. Not without two more word, though. "This sucked."

As Dray was walking away he heard the student start to say something. He turned around to see the student standing, surprisingly enough, even if he was bloody. He heard the last word the student said, "Geki!" Draylon felt a barrier around him, making it so he couldn't move. Does he really think this will hold me for long? Draylon started to gather his energy to burst out of the containment. The boy said, "The Fires of Hell, a Scrap of Your Power, another Damned Soul! Hado No. 5, Kakyuu!" Ah so he thinks it will hold me long enough. "Bakudo 3. Sutoppu" The fireball stopped a few feet away from Draylon, frozen in the air. Draylon broke through the Geki and moved to the side, just in time to dodge the fireball aimed at him. He stared at the unconscious boy on the ground. He will make a decent shinigami some day. Dray turned and walked towards the door, stopping just before leaving, said, "Make sure you take him to the infirmary." then left.