Practice Makes Perfect (Self-Mod)

[Syfec Morbus]

Timestamp: Mid Day, Day 7 of Summer, 509 AV

Syfec collapsed onto the soft grassy ground as he finally found the perfect place to test some of his new techniques. He had set out from Syliras early in the morning to try to get in a full days worth of practice with some new techniques he was reading about in his Reimancy book, but somehow got off track and ended up just wandering for an area of plains for over an hour. Finally he found a perfect spot; it was a large plain, with a straight, tree-less shot to the mountain, it also had a nearby stream should anything get out of hand. Syfec practiced Fire Reimancy and the last thing he wanted was to cause a forest fire; He would gladly wander for another couple hours if it meant saving risk to the forest. Syfec made a point to make a mental note of how he got here, since this would be far from the last time he would need a spot to refine his craft.

He took a long drink from his waterskin as he rested from his long journey through the hot mid day sun. As sweat beaded down his face, he decided that a few of his clothing items were unnecessary, and thus removed his cloak and his leather vest, vambraces and gloves. The sun now saw a rare sight, Syfec's arms, which were covered in short, deep scars, the price of his abilities to manipulate Res. He didn't mind, he would gladly trade much more for the whole new world opened up to him through Reimancy. After more than a few minutes of resting and allowing himself to stop the sweat pouring from his body, Syfec pulled out his book, The Basics of Reimancy, and began flipping to the section he was planning on working on today.

Then he stopped himself, just before getting to the page he had marked."I should warm up." He said to himself; It would allow him to get reacquainted with the feel of expelling and shaping Res, through a normal method before he tried something new. Standing up, Syfec mentally prepared himself, putting out all distractions to completely focus on the task at hand.

Closing his eyes, Syfec fell into a trance, concentrating on the expulsion of Res from his body. He opened his hand, as if holding a large stone, and began to will liquid Res out of the length of his arm. Small amounts of the gray liquid seeped out from all over his arm and then slowly floated up to collect in a small all of dark gray, about half the size of his closed fist, hovering an inch above his palm. After the ball was collected above his palm, he tried spinning it in place, getting a feel for controlling the Res after it left his body. Then he twirled the entire ball around his hand a couple times before steadying it once again just above his palm.

Then came to Syfec's favorite part, lighting the Res. Raising the gray orb, so as not to burn himself, he light the outermost layer of the ball. Holding the burning ball of Res for a moment, Syfec decided where to put it. Settling on firing it straight forward, towards the expanse of grass, Syfec suddenly hurled the liquid forward with his willpower, following it up with his opened hand. He lit the rest of the Res just a moment after it left his hand, forfeiting anymore control over the ball of fire.

It sailed about 10 meters before falling to the ground, simultaneously dissipating. Syfec sighed, his range was still not quite what it should be. He had ignited the middle much to early, limiting his abilities to get enough momentum behind the ball. A rookie mistake. He shook his head, disappointing. He hadn't practiced in a while, due to being in highly populated areas, but that was still unacceptable.

He shook his head and started over, once again clearing his mind. He had heard that repeating a phrase helped one concentrate during Reimancy, but he didn't know what to say. Making a mental note to think of a phrase to recite later, he continued with the casting. Willing the Res to slowly seep from his arm, he closed in his eyes, again pooling it just above his palm. Forgoing the spinning and twirling he did before, he let the Res float for just a moment before igniting the outer layer. Then, moments later, he threw it forwards using his hand motions to supplement his will. Completely focused on hurling it forward, he didn't light the inner layers at all until it was within an arms reach of his full range.

The flaming projectile went about double the range it had on his previous throw before falling and dissolving. More proud of that throw, he nodded his head. He was getting a better feel for his range of control. He would be ready to attempt the new stuff after a couple more throws.

[Syfec Morbus]

After a few more fireballs, just a little smaller than the first, in order to conserve Djed, Syfec was ready to start with the learning an experimentation he set out for. After getting comfortable with moving and manipulating his Res, he sat back down and began flipping through his volume of Reimancy techniques. Taking a few drinks off his waterskin, he tried to keep his energy level up. Making his way to the middle of the tome, he found the technique he was going to be practicing: The Exploding Cloud. A corny name, no doubt, but it was a useful technique. Syfec read over the section one more time before trying it.

-Overview-

The Exploding Cloud is one of the more basic techniques, though it is very useful when used correctly. The basis of the casting is to create a large, momentary burst of flame that occupies a wide volume. It is a perfect exercise for Reinmancers whom have had experience with only manipulating Res when in it's liquid form, as this technique utilizes Res in a purely gaseous form. Used to stun, surprise, or momentarily blind an opponent or disguise a move, the Exploding Cloud isn't as much of an offensive technique as it is supplementary.

-Casting Methodology-

The first step to mastering the Exploding Cloud technique is mastering the art of creating a very thin, spread out gaseous cloud of Res. While stronger Reimancers can create a cloud of Res with ease very quickly, younger mages may have to transmute their Res from liquid to gas using a few steps. A novice would generally emit the Res in a pure liquid form, allowing it all to collect at a central point. He would then slowly stretch the ball of Res, increasing the area occupied by the Res, while not increasing the amount. If done correctly, the Res will reach a point where the particles are no longer touching, but are still in close proximity to one another. At this point, you have gaseous Res.

The next, and final, step in creating the Exploding Cloud is the ignition, which differs from the basic projectile methods of ignition. Since the Res is spread so thin in it's gaseous form, we cannot ignite an outer layer of the Res, simply because there is not enough in one particular spot to even have layers. Neither do we want to ignite the particles one by one, creating lots of small bursts of flame. The Exploding Cloud technique requires the ignition of all of the Res at one moment. If executed correctly, the cloud should ignite for just a moment, creating a loud noise and a bright flash of light followed by a dearth of oxygen and a blast of heat.

Nodding, Syfec stood up, mentally preparing himself to attempt this new technique. He took a small drink from his waterskin, then cleared his mind of all distractions. He focused on his armed, letting the liquid Res seep out and collect in a ball in between his to, in turned, open palms. Once what seemed like an adequate amount had collected in between his opened hands, he stopped creating Res and focused on the next step. Pulling his hands in the direction on the stretching, Syfec attempted to stretch the liquid ball into a gaseous square. For the first few stretches all he could do was shift the Res into different lines of liquid, but he was finally able to manipulate it into a round gaseous cloud, still in between his palms.

Now it came time to ignite the cloud all at once. There wasn't much Syfec could do to prepare himself for it but to just attempt it. Concentrating as hard as he could, he tried to ignite the cloud, and succeeded in igniting the half side closest to him all at once, but the back half ignited a moment later. As the cloud burst into one big flame, Syfec realized one major flaw in his casting: the cloud was far too close.

Upon ignition, Syfec was confronted with a variety of adverse effects. All at once, he was blinded, his arms were singed, and he broke out in a fit of coughing due to a lack of oxygen. Falling to his knees, he coughed violently while trying to re-orient himself with large blinking colors obscuring his vision. Fumbling through his things, he found his waterskin and took a few shallow sips to curb the coughing. It took a few minutes for him to compose himself once again, though he could now fully understand the effects of the technique he was learning, enabling him to better utilize it.

[Syfec Morbus]

After taking a few minutes to completely wait out the effects of his blunder, Syfec stood back up, refreshed and ready to give it another go. Standing up, he took a casting posture and proceeded to clear his mind and attempt to ignore any and all distractions that might deter his work. His face smoothed as he began the casting.

The Res flew quicker now, since he had been practicing, though it still wasn't as fast as the real practitioners. The dark gray liquid once again pooled in between his outstretched hands, as he pulled and stretched it with his mind. The transformation was quicker this time, as if he was just practicing something he hadn't done in a couple years. The transmutation of Res now seemed as sort of an instinct he had lost touch of for a while, but he was quickly regaining. It took just moments for it to be in it' completely gaseous state, after which Syfec completed the crucial step he had missed last time; He moved the entire cloud several meters away from his person.

He closed his eyes as he focused on viewing the individual particles as one whole entity, trying to make it easier to ignite more fluidly. After a few seconds of focusing purely on how to view the cloud of Res, Syfec ignited all of it simultaneously, resulting in a loud pop, burst of heat, and a flash he could see through his closed eyelids. As he opened his eyes, a smile spread over his face; this was going pretty well. With the learning of this new technique, he had a respectable control over his chosen element.

Syfec practiced a few more small exploding clouds, refining the creation, moving, and ignition of the gaseous Res before he was completely comfortable with his control over the new style of attack he just learned. With the last cloud, the attack now seemed second nature to him: just what he had set out to accomplish. Confident in his new abilities, Syfec searched the area for something more interesting to practice on, something more...alive. Walking around the surrounding area, he searched for any sign of wildlife. Moving nearer to the stream, he still found no wildlife, they were likely scared off by the loud noises and bursts of light. It mattered little to Syfec, he had all day.

Moving a little ways away from the animal gathering point, he plopped back down in the grass and took a few refreshing drinks from his waterskin. There he sat for quite a while, just resting and reflecting, not quite ready to make the trek back to Travelers' Row.

[Syfec Morbus]

After almost two hours of relaxing in the grass and looking up at the endless sky, Syfec popped his head up. Was that a noise over by the stream? He asked himself. Slowly turning his head towards the direct of the disturbance, he viewed the very object he had been waiting for in the first place: A moving target.

A grown doe was dipping her head in the stream, lapping up the cold mountain water. What Syfec saw was a perfectly vulnerable target; a perfect chance to challenge himself. Though the doe wasn't much of a challenge while she was standing still, Syfec didn't mind, the doe was sure to run once he made himself known. Slowly standing up, trying to make as little noise as possible, Syfec made his way closer and closer to the stream. When about half of the distance between him and the animal was closed, and only about 10 meters remained between them, Syfec stopped for a moment to conjure Res. After a small sphere of Res had pooled just above his hand, he moved forward, even slower now. Though, when he was about 7 meters away from the drinking doe, no amount of effort on Syfec's part could mask his behavior any longer. The doe's head sprang up, and it turned to view Syfec.

Sensing the human's intent, the doe's eyes widened and it started to run along the length of the stream. A spike of adrenaline coursed through Syfec's body and the Res production began. His heart started beating faster and faster as time seemingly slowed down. Within mere seconds, his sphere of Res ignited in pure instinct and he hurled it at the running doe. The ball of fire hit the doe at an angle, searing off the hair and skin on the side of her body, but doing no permanent damage. Though no damage was caused, it caused the doe to cry out and stumble, though she regained her footing quickly, it cost her precious time.

Immediately after the first fireball left his area of control, he started letting more Res eek from his body, pooling in his left hand. He ignited it right after it pooled in his hand and tried to aim his next attack while blinking furiously to satisfy his dry eyes. Locking in on the doe, he let this ball fly, propelling it as fast as he could. The ball of flame hit the doe direct on it side as it turned to cross the stream. The intense heat tore through the side of the doe, rending skin an bone, burning through internal organs until it eventually burnt out about halfway through the doe. No blood flowed for a moment, the ends of the veins closed off by the melting of flesh, but after the doe fell, it ran like a river.

Syfec smiled at his victory over nature. The fact that he had merely conquered a defenseless animal did not bother him, he saw it more as the victory over a living opponent. His face scrunched up as he noticed his mouth tasted as if he held a miza inside. Spitting, to rid himself of the metallic taste, he made his way over to the doe, who was now beginning to yell out in pain. As he heard the cries, he ran over to her, not wishing to torture the poor creature. He knelt by her side and pulled out his dagger. He flipped it downwards in his hand and jammed the point through the creatures eye and into it's skull, ending the twitching and moaning.

Syfec pulled the dagger out and wiped off the blood on the remaining doe skin, as he surveyed the damage caused by his Reimancy. As he looked at the doe, he had the unexplainable urge to completely burn the rest of it, obliterating evidence of his attack. Of course that was ridiculous, no one would care about on doe. Still, it was very hard to deny the urge and walk back to his belongings, though he did. With the strange feelings that he had experienced upon the killing of the doe, he decided to document his experiences, which he had promised himself he would do more lately. Taking out parchment and some ink, he began to write:

7th Day of Summer, 509 AV
Cobalt Mountain Area, Outside of Syliras


Today while learning a new techniques from the book I had acquired, the Exploding Cloud, which is notably useful in the areas of stunning and momentarily incapacitating an opponent, I experienced a few strange effects. Firstly, I would like to say that after using my Res throughout the day, I have been able to make it flow more willingly and noticeably quicker than a week ago. In addition, I have found that I can now propel the fireballs further and have pinpointed my current area of control. Now, during the chase and kill, I experienced a metallic taste, probably due to my innate distaste for killing, though I felt no sympathy for the beast. It is truly strange.

He left the entry at that, preferring to get down the important points of the day without wasting too much paper. After all, these notes were for him, and him alone. Satisfied with the day's work, and more than a little tired after using so much Res, he made his way home. On the way, he noticed a wetness on his arm. Upon further inspection, he saw that the scars on his arms had re-opened in some places, and were bleeding. Tying extra cloth around his arms, he continued his journey home, mentally noting the oddity.

[Gossamer]

Experience: 2 Pts Reinmancy Kill Record: Bambi's Mother. Additional Notes: Nice Thread, great practice. I'd have liked to see a few more techniques.