Open range (solo)

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Bryce whined as his short legs stumbled along the rocky path. The rotund man was sweating from every pore on his body as the sun beamed down upon him. His arm on his back was reaching forward to wipe the sweat from his brow while his tentacle hung limply from the shoulder socket. Once or twice the tip twitched, but otherwise it remained motionless. His shirt clung to his body and patches of wetness could be seen in every fold of the light green shirt. Arawn had told him to dress lightly, but it would seem even that did little to keep the other man cool. The area they were in was almost a desert like environment. There were few to no trees to shade them from the bright sun hanging overhead.
"We're going out this way to practice kido." Arawn stated. He was wearing a grey shirt and matching pants taking walking beside Bryce. Unlike the hunchback Arawn had just began to sweat. It had only been a couple of hours since they had left the southern gate from Seireitei and come to this district. In his training with Master Tsung a walk wasn't too hard. "I got some new spells to work on and I don't feel comfortable trying them out on the Kido fields. One wrong move and I might hurt somebody or destroy everything." he said as he patted the knapsack across his back. Inside were notes on several spells that he had researched in what little free time he had. Most of that time was late nights after work when he should have been sleeping. But sleeping was hard after he got home from work. Usually he got a second wind and felt re-energized. Arawn shrugged as he thought about it. Instead he looked ahead at the landscape. The area looked even more barren. He could no longer see any trees only rocks and gravel. A virtual desert.
"Okay. I guess that makes sense." Bryce said after considering the other man's words. "So why am I here!?" he squeaked. Because you need the exercise. Arawn wanted to say, but quickly bit his tongue. The man spent nearly 24hrs in front of a computer. And this was by no means an exaggeration. One night he was found sleeping in front of this terminal. When Arawn came in the next day to get him up he simply went back to work as if nothing had happened. If the hunchback go any whiter from lack of sun he could double as a dry erase board. Rather than the truth Arawn already had simple lie read.
"I'm going to drill you on basic kido and then you can help me practice." was his reply. "I have some spells that I'll need to test the stability of. Can't just call it a success unless it can deflect an attack." He said matter-of-factually. "Not only that I'm the only one that seems to help with ROVER's shielding testing. You could help if you get some spells under you belt." The hunchback groaned as the muscular arm did it's best to get the moisture off his face with a rag it had taken from his pocket.
"Why couldn't you have gotten Simone to do it?" Bryce said weakly. Since he couldn't argue he was resorting to whining.
"She had actual work to do. Stop complaining we're almost there. " There being a especially rocky area that came into view less than seventy feet away. There were clusters of large rocks and boulders that littered the ground. Such stones would make perfect targets for the spells he would be preforming. The duo walked relative silence. While no words were exchanged they shorter man gave many gasps and huffing sounds as he struggled to keep up with Arawn's pace.

After several feet Arawn veered off the worn path towards miniature mountain and the rocky area the stretched out before it. This should work he thought as he slid the backpack off his shoulders onto the ground. The small mountain cast a small shadow behind them. Once he caught up Bryce sat himself down in the patch of shade and sighed. It wasn't that much cooler, but it was better than nothing.
"Go ahead and rest, while I warm up abit." Arawn said as he dug into his backpack. "But don't get to comfortable you're going start working on your kido next." He found what he was looking for a rather old textbook on kido. The tome looked like it had seen better days, and it probably had. From the print inside he figured the book was nearly a six decades old, but it was still accurate to the current book he spied in the library section. He flipped through the pages pausing to look at the contents. Since it was his now his personal book he had highlights and notes in the margins. The marking and codes would bewilder anyone that happened upon the book, but to him it made perfect sense. Of course one problem with the book was that some of the language wasn't too clear.

"Here we go! Hado #45: Adamantine Blast." It had sounded simple enough; a spell to fire burning rock. The burning rock part of the description had intrigued Arawn. Molten lava had come to mind. Sure it would seem odd for a shinigami to cast hot burning lava at foe, but how was that any different from the other spells that they employed. Although strange at first appearance he was sure each of the spells had their uses or they wouldn't have been added to database of spells provided to all shinigami.
"Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand." He read the words aloud and tried to commit them to memory. "Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand." he said again like the chorus to a song as he looked about the barren landscape for a decent target. Rock, rocks and more rocks. Further away his eyes locked upon a misshapen boulder. He smiled to himself. That'll do very nicely he said to himself while continuing to chant.
"Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand." How many times had he said it now? He had lost count. He wanted the words to come out fluidly. Repetition helped. He looked over his shoulder at Bryce who was now flat on his back. Was he sleeping? Ignoring the other man he looked out at the target and brought his hands together. Arawn made his index fingers and thumbs touch making a diamond shape between them. Slowly he pointed both hand forward and lined it up with the target by looking through the opening.
"Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand." he said once more and then release his reiatsu. It was a natural thing for him to build up his reiryoku and then let it out when casting. This is the way he cast his spells, and it worked. He waited for the energy pouring out of him to stabilize before he chanted once more. "Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand. Hado #45: Adamantine Blast." No sooner had the words left his lips that there was roar as fire exploded from his hands. This was most unexpected for Arawn as the force case his hand to jerk backwards. The large ball of fire shot from his hands and rocketed across the wasteland at the targeted boulder. Arawn stared in disbelief. How was that burning rock? He asked himself the answer came when the fireball collided with the stone. There was crack as they hit and then there was an explosion that sent fire in many directions. A cloud of smoke covered the point of impact and Arawn could only wait until it cleared. When the smoke had dissipated he saw that boulder was smashed as if hit with a hammer. There was no way a fireball would cause that much physical damage. His reiatsu still flowing around him Arawn placed his hands together again and took aim at the boulder. "Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand. Hado #45: Adamantine Blast." He focused completely on the target. This time when the roar as the spell activated didn't phase him in the slightest. As it flew Arawn gazed at the ball of fire. It was hard, but he did see something within the shroud of flames. There was the loud crack again as it hit and then the explosion. Moments later he gazed at the broken boulder, barely half of the large stone remained. Looking at the sleeping he shrugged and walked toward the destroyed rock. As he got closer he noticed the charred fragments all around the target. There was no doubt that there was something in the flames. It became obvious as he found a piece of rock near the shattered boulder red hot like an ember. "Burning rock, eh?" he said aloud. So it would seem the translation was literal after all. Arawn kicked some sand on the heated stone. Not like there was anything out here to catch fire. Arawn shrugged once more and headed back to where Bryce slept.

Kido Training:
Hado #45: 736/550

It wasn't a long walk back to where Bryce lay snoring happily, but by the time he did reach him Arawn was sweating. He had been fine before, but the strain of casting was more than he expected. The heat was starting to effect him abit more. Perhaps this wasn't the brightest idea to be training here. No he thought quickly and shook his head reaching for book once more. Like I told Bryce; I really don't want to accidentally hurt anyone while casting. Still with more casting he probably would fall victim to the sun's rays all the more quicker. Shading his face Arawn looked up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight between him and the blazing ball of fury. Sighing he turned back to the tome before him and scanned the page. Something caught his eye. Just the spell to help ease the burden.

"Bakudo #50: Frigid Skeletal Prison." He read the inscription aloud. "A prison that confines the target with cold." Arawn grinned. He really hadn't thought of using Bakudo, but something like that was perfect for the current situation. He wouldn't mind something cold to cool him off. Unfortunately there were 2 problems. The first was that he was concerned with the wording. 'Confines the target with cold' could mean that he gets frozen solid like a icicle. That wouldn't be pleasant at all. It could possibly kill him. While that was possible the second problem was more severe. How the heck did he cast a spell on himself? Most times a spell had a target or was self casting. But he had yet to cast a spell directly on himself when a target was needed. It was a quite vexing. In the end he decided it best to try and cast it on a target before trying to cast upon himself. His target was the broken boulder his last spells had demolished.
"The frozen tundras hold countless corpses- the forgotten dead, fallen in battles long ago. Now I summon a brave warrior to fight once more." Arawn read from the page. "Such a wordy spell." he commented and repeated the spell again. "The frozen tundras hold countless corpses- the forgotten dead, fallen in battles long ago. Now I summon a brave warrior to fight once more." After the second time he checked the page again Countless corpses? Summon a brave warrior? I swear it sounds like I'm trying to raise the dead or something. he thought to himself.

Those thoughts were pushed to the side as he focused his reiryoku once again. His hands took the same pose as before and he tried to funnel the energy as the words came out. "The frozen tundras hold countless corpses- the forgotten dead, fallen in battles long ago. Now I summon a brave warrior to fight once more. Bakudo#50: Frigid Skeletal Prison!" What happened next was a much unexpected as the first spell. There was a small light as the prison took shape and fell upon the broken rock. It looked like someone had reached into a giant human's body and tore out their rib cage. Rather than a bloody mess the bones were white as ivory. Arawn slowly approached the strange formation. From far away he hadn't noticed that the cage was somewhat square. Which made it less likely that it was the rib cage of some mythical man. When he was a foot away he saw that there were skulls at several junctions in the cage. It was bad enough to look like a man's chest cavity, but the bleached skulls just made it purely creepy. They seemed to grin at him as he walked around the prison. Their eyeless sockets following his every move. Just plain creepy.
"I'm getting chills just looking at it." he muttered. Still he wondered if that was what the book had meant. Was it only a prison of bone that frightened the target? Slowly Arawn reached out to touch the bars and stopped. Inches away from the material he could feel the coldness radiate off of it. He pulled back his numb fingers second later. Defintely not just a scare tactic. It must be like a freezer in there! He clapped his hands together to get them warm. Perhaps he didn't need to cast that spell on himself after all. He focused his mind on the cage and willed it away. The bone prison shook and then shattered like glass. It was like a sudden snow storm and the dust flew against Arawn and vanished in seconds. He didn't feel as hot and sweaty as he had moments ago. At least that was a start.

Kido Training:
Bakudo #50: 630/600

Returning to the camp, Arawn thought it time to wake up his reluctant helper. When he tried to shake the other man, he ran into a slight problem: the tentacle. It would seem it was even more aggressive while Bryce was asleep. Every time Arawn got close, it snapped at him like a whip. While Arawn had grown used to the slimy thing, he wasn't fond of it touching him. Finally quite frustrated he figured an easier method to waking his friend. The only trick was adjusting the power. Arawn released his reiryoku once again, he tried to hold some back limiting how much went into the spell. He couldn't feel anything different, but he decided to try anyway.
"Hado #1: Shō" he pointed his finger at the man's mid section and there was a flash. Bryce sat up screaming and the tentacle waved back and forth like an angry snake.
"What the hell, man! Why did you kick me?" the hunchback screamed while holding his side. It would seem I didn't hold back enough Arawn thought.
"I didn't kick you." Arawn confessed, "I was trying to wake you, but that thing." he pointed at the waving tentacle. "Wouldn't let me near you.” he finished “So it was either cast a spell or throw a rock. I figured this would be less painful." Unfortunately, he had been mistaken. Bryce would gradually accept his apology, and eventually the matter dropped. With that, out of the way Arawn began training Bryce in kido casting. He referred to the book for aid in this matter. It was after all a textbook on spells perhaps it would provide some insight on the matter. The irony wasn’t lost on Arawn in the slightest. Here he was teaching someone kido when his own method wasn’t so proper. Indeed the book was rather technical, but he would give it his best shot anyway.

It took nearly an hour and a half before Bryce could successfully cast Byakurai. It would have been faster had they not stopped to eat an afternoon snack. Although he was out of practice, Bryce was more than capable of casting the spell. Spending so much time in the lab the man had neglects the skill, but like a riding, a bicycle he got the hang of it rather quickly. Soon he was shooting bolt after bolt of white lighting at the surrounding boulders.
“Alright,” Arawn said with a grin. “Part A complete. Now it’s time to work on part B.” As he spoke, he flipped pages of the book. Away he turned the pages from the starting principles, and back to the actually spell dictionary. Bryce didn’t hear the other man’s words as he happily broke another boulder into rubble. “Cut that out.” Arawn turned to the other man to chastise him. “Save some energy for later.” The hunchback pouted, but he complied. Turning back to the book, he found what he wanted. He took several steps away from the now sitting companion while he read the page contents aloud.
“Constantly falling into disorder, does the universe bleed as we do? What is the effect of restoring it?” Cryptic words as always, but he paid it little mind as he committed the words to memory. He read it a second time, but repeated it at least ten more times in his head before summoning his energy.
“Constantly falling into disorder, does the universe bleed as we do? What is the effect of restoring it?” Bakudo #60: Wall of Entropy.” He held his hand open before him as he chanted. The effect was nearly instantaneous as the kaleidoscope of colorful energy swirled into existence before him. Complete circular it was a nearly seven feet wide more than enough to cover him from head to toe. It hovered three feet in front of Arawn. Already he could feel the whirling energies drain his power to sustain it’s form. Obviously, he had done it right, or that probably wouldn’t have even occurred. “Part B completed, now for the final step.”

Arawn walked further away from Bryce and stood a cluster of now shattered stones. Some many of the large rocks had been broken. Parts of the broken stone had burn marks from the spells the two had practiced. Arawn kicked a small rock out of the way as turned to face Bryce once more.
“Alright, when I give the signal shoot a spell at me!” he shouted at his companion. Not wasting any time he released his reiatsu in preparation of the spell. “Constantly falling into disorder, does the universe bleed as we do? What is the effect of restoring it?” Bakudo #60: Wall of Entropy.” Once more, the shimmering shield took form. He waited a second to be sure it had stabilized. “Alright, fire!”
“Hado# 4: Byakurai.” He flinched as he pointed his hand at the waiting shinigami. The white light shot from his fingertip like an arrow. Less than a second later, the beam flew right over Arawn’s head. Bryce had missed.
“Again. I need you to hit the shield!” Arawn shouted from behind his barrier. Bryce reluctantly complied this shot was worst than the last. The errant ray hit the ground just short of the target. A shower of dirt and rock hit off the shield. Not the result he was hoping for, but it did show that the kido was working.
“You gotta do better than that!” Arawn sighed and released the shield. Groaning he sat down on the slightly destroyed rock. The spell was more tiring than he thought.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do it!” was the hunchback’s retort. “What if I hit you?” Arawn groaned and slapped his face with the palm of his hand.
“The spell is supposed to protect me, that’s the point! I need you to hit me!” he said abit agitated.
“I can‘t do it. I can‘t aim and shoot at you. I just can‘t do it.” Bryce quickly interjected “Plus if this thing as powerful as you say it is; my spell isn’t going to do anything to it.” he added. Arawn wanted to say something, but the hunchback had a point. Bryce had barely gotten the hang of casting spells, having him hit it with everything he had wasn’t going to amount to much. He needed to try a powerful spell to test the spell’s reliability. Arawn had figured his friend would be able to help him out, but it would seem that was an error. He would need someone with considerable power to launch an attack, but he didn’t know anyone like that. Perhaps this whole thing was just a colossal waste of time. As he watched the sun slowly make it’s descent across the sky he ran his finger through his hair. A piece of rock came out of his red locks. It would seem a something had gotten by his shield. Shaking more he dislodged more pebbles. Suddenly an idea came to him. A rather crazy one, but for some reason he chose to go along with it. Arawn’s energy was already bubbling out as he stood up.

“Let the ancient spirits flow through my right hand. Let the decaying corpses explode from my left hand. Hado #45: Adamantine Blast.” Arawn pointed his hand skyward. The burning hunk of stone launched straight up like a flare. It rose higher and higher into the air.
“What the hell is he doing?” Bryce asked himself watching it rise even higher. The rock rose to a height and then seemed to hover in the air for a second before plummeting back to earth. Arawn stood patiently right below. “Oh, my god” he said breathlessly “Get out of there!” the hunchback yelled. However, the red haired shinigami didn’t budge around him the air wavered as his reiatsu built up around him. Of course, he didn’t need the other man’s warning; after all, it was his intention for it to fall straight down. He didn’t have time to be distracted as he tried to focus his energy. Already he could hear the roar of the fiery stone. If this didn’t work, he would have to use shunpo. His hand once again went skyward as he looked up into the flames and cast his spell.
“Constantly falling into disorder, does the universe bleed as we do? What is the effect of restoring it?” Bakudo #60: Wall of Entropy!” The shield flashed into existence; four seconds later the rock came hammering down. While Arawn had expected the shield to stop the adamantine blast, he hadn’t factored the force of it’s drop. There was a loud crash as the stone struck the shield. Arawn’s arm shuddered and his knees buckled as the other spell exploded against the swirling disc. He closed his eyes and focused more of his energy. A golden glow covered him enforcing his body and the spell. The area around him was showered with bits of rock and flame. In a matter seconds the assault was all over. Very slowly, he opened his eyes and released the shield. The flaming debris scorched the complete area. Nevertheless, in the area where he stood, there was a void of burn marks. It was perfect circle. It was in the very same shape of his Wall of entropy kido. Bryce was already running to meet him. Arawn flashed the other man a smile. “C part complete.”

Kido Training:
Bakudo #60: 1568/700