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| 2nd Circle | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 25 2010, 07:52 PM (120 Views) | |
| [-Bag o Bones-] | Feb 25 2010, 07:52 PM Post #1 |
Meteorain (Lv3)
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(((Continuation of From Hell and It’s Quiet…))) *Day five* Lini had returned to base camp far too late for any sort of real training exercises to get done for the day, so the Moogle gave Sam the day off. Besides, the human apparently kept with the honor system and had continued training they way they had agreed upon the other day. Of course, that meant that the next day in their training was going to be even harder to make up for the fact that Lini wasn’t there. And they hadn’t even gotten to the real training yet. Of course….Sam didn’t know that yet. But, with the distraction of yesterday behind them, it was time to start the days training anew. Lini was up, humming to himself, and about preparing a few things for later sessions while he awaited Sam’s eventual awakening so they could get started for the day. He already had his breakfast while Sam’s was awaiting his once the human woke up. Of course, if Sam knew of the eventual hell he was going to end up going through once he got past what could technically be called training orientation, he might wish he could sleep the nightmare away. |
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| Seenter | Feb 25 2010, 08:56 PM Post #2 |
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Dynamite
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Sam stirred in his sleep, his closed eyes revealing a dreamless sleep. Unlike his previous dreams this one was blank, or did he even dream. Either way he woke up slightly disappointed, rolling over to try and go back to sleep. However the movement caught his right leg with the stone slightly sticking out of it, and he winced from the pain. It was enough to fully awaken him, yet he did his best to act like it was him just waking up. Lini didn’t seem to noticed the Haste Materia he hid to make room for that new HP+ he found, which was alright by Sam. He didn’t want the Moogle taking this one as well, and then forgetting where he put it when it got time to leave. With a stretch and a yawn, Sam sat up and looked around. Lini was sitting there eating his breakfast before Sam like always, with Sam’s meal not too far away from the human. With an innocent smile Sam grabbed the plate and began to eat, making sure the top of the gem was rotated out of Lini’s view. He swallowed the last of it with a gulp of water, and then let out a satisfied burp before getting up. He focused his energy just under his right foot, creating a cushion as he stood almost normally. ”So what happened yesterday?” Sam picked up a nearby rock the size of his fist and held it gently as he focused his energy into his stomach. With a slight push of his energy he caused the aura to surround his body as he tossed the rock into the air. He focused his energy upward in order to keep the rock suspended above his head, though the act always made him nervous. He was obviously waiting for an answer from the Moogle, and was wasting no time in his training to just sit by and listen. He looked at Lini with an expectant look, yet most of his focus was on the rock hovering over his head. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Feb 25 2010, 10:48 PM Post #3 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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Sam woke up a few minutes into Lini’s humming and seemed to wake up rather quickly compared to the other days. It was unusual, but not too unusual. Maybe Sam got a good night’s sleep for once, at least compared to the other days. Being knocked into unconsciousness for three days in a row probably didn’t help his sleep schedule. But today was different. Today he seemed to wake up vibrant and alive. Maybe he had a breakthrough yesterday while Lini wasn’t around. Maybe…. “Not much, Kupo,” Lini said, “Most of the usual stuff. Lightning, stabbing, kupoing, and throngs of women throwing themselves at us in gratitude. Would have been back sooner, but, well…they can get grabby sometimes. Ha ha ha…” While Lini was talking, he was secretly removing a severed finger from his sword that had gotten stuck to it the other day. A quick flick of his wrist pulled it off and then he tried to casually toss it aside. He hoped that his innocent laughter would be enough of a distraction. Well, Sam seemed to be more interested in his training today, as he didn’t even need to be told to get ready. He just did it. “Wow, Kupo,” Lini said, “You seem eager today. You have a breakthrough yesterday while I wasn’t around? You get your times up?” |
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| Seenter | Mar 1 2010, 09:33 PM Post #4 |
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Dynamite
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Sam didn’t really notice the severed body part that was being removed. He was too focused on keeping the rock suspended and his ‘injured’ foot from touching the ground. His foot just hovered there an inch from the ground, though he hoped that Lini didn’t notice. He looked at the Moogle however as he did it, listening to the story he was told. ”Ya right. You had me up until you said women were after you. Female Moogles maybe, possibly school girls because you’re soft and cuddly. But women?” He gave the Moogle a grin to show he was just kidding. Keeping his focus on the rock, Sam tried to think of a response to the little warrior’s question. In all honesty he spent most of the day trying to find his stuff, with no success. He did manage to find a really nice HP+ Materia, but that wasn’t what the Moogle was wanting. Lini thought Sam spent most of the day training, when in reality it was less than half. Alright, think. There must be something I can use. He looked at the Moogle embarrassed. ”Actually there’s one thing I could try, but it’s really risky. I didn’t want to attempt it until you got back.” He was bluffing of course; he was just trying to buy time to think of an actual answer. However he didn’t really get much time to ponder, as a few seconds later Sam’s energy ran out. The aura disappeared, and his foot hovering fell to the ground. He got hit on the head and a sharp pain up his leg. He gave a big cringe as he collapsed to his knees. He moved his right hand to cover up the gem in his leg, and his left to his head. He began to rub his head with a slight smile, as if he collapsed to the ground for that sole reason. He lasted the exact same time as the last time Lini saw him. He mentally cursed himself because he was using too much energy to just hover his foot. If he didn’t do that, then he could have upped his time a bit. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 1 2010, 09:57 PM Post #5 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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Sam pretty much acted the way that Lini expect him to. He laughed off the last part of the discussion about the throngs of beautiful women throwing themselves at them. Yeah, it was a lie, but it was a good lie. It had only happened once, and it was a while ago, but it still happened. No point in letting good memories die like that. Still, it kept Sam from noticing the finger, so the operation was a success. “Yeah, Kupo,” Lini said, giving it a slight laugh, “But never underestimate the power of cute. It’ll get you places. But the closest Moogle girls around here are at my hometown, and in all honestly, I’d like to date outside of my hometown. No offense to them, it’s just that I already know them.” But, Lini did end up getting an answer. While he was gone, Sam wanted to try something. It was risky, though, so that’s why he wanted to wait for the Moogle Knight’s return. That was good. High risks equaled high rewards. And then, a few seconds later, Sam’s power dropped off again and he got hit with a rock. Lini didn’t notice that it was the same amount of time as he had left off, however, so there was no repercussions for that. He did fall over in a bit of an odd way, though, but it was nothing too out of the ordinary. “Alright, Kupo,” Lini said, “Why don’t we take five so you can explain this new idea to me? Anything that can get us out of the easy part and into the actual training is defiantly going to be worth it.” |
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| Seenter | Mar 2 2010, 10:31 PM Post #6 |
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Dynamite
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Sam looked at the little warrior with a slightly hesitant look, and then cast his eyes to the ground. He still didn’t come up with a convincing enough idea to give the Moogle. He inadvertently moved his leg the wrong way and winced slightly from the pain. His eyes focused on the source of the pain, mainly the Materia he had hidden there. Maybe I healed it too close to a major artery. His eyes widened as an idea slowly formed in his mind. Wait, maybe that could work. He looked back at Lini with a smile. ”Actually it’s a really crazy idea. I plan on putting the energy needed for the aura in my heart.” Standing up Sam figured it would be easier with a visual demonstration. ”When I gather the energy for that burst of power, I gather it here in my stomach.” He positioned his hands around his stomach to show the Moogle, incase he didn’t know human anatomy. ”From there it spreads over my muscles and strengthens them from the outside.” He then pointed at his heart with his left hand. ”If I put the energy in my heart and use it there, it should travel to all my muscles quicker and strengthen them from the inside out.” His face became white as he realizes the potential harm that could occur. ”The problem is, if it doesn’t work I could quite literally burst my heart.” He shuddered at the thought, now trying to think of a better way to do it. If he attempted it he could be causing his own death. Like when he used that dark energy, only this would be instantaneous. He looked at the Moogle semi-worried, and then gave a slight hesitant smile. ”So I want you standing by just in case something goes wrong with my Restore Materia. I‘ll be right back, got an emergency.” Sam hurried over to one of the large rocks several feet away and disappeared behind it. He glanced in all directions, and then broke a smooth stone a few times to make it a sharp one. He sat down with his right leg extended and cut slits along the outer edges of the green stone in his leg. He winced as he peeled back the flesh, until he was finally able to work the stone loose. Why did I have this bright idea again? Blood began to pour out from the wound, but Sam quickly sealed it with his Restore Materia. He tested his leg a bit to make sure it was working properly, and then stood up and tested it. It didn’t hurt any more, and with a little work Sam felt it could be as good as new. He then turned his attention to the stone. Now to exchange this before Lini gets suspicious. He turned his attention to his chest, and began to focus around the area over his heart. Like emerging from water, another green stone slowly rose to the surface and rested there. Sam pulled out the stone, and then stuck the other one in it’s’ place. He focused on the area again, and the Materia sunk back into the depths of his body. Reaching down Sam grabbed some dirt and wiped the remaining blood on his leg and then dusted it off. He turned to head back into camp, and then jumped in fright when he saw Lini peeking over the boulder at him. ”Crap, how long have you been there?” |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 2 2010, 10:50 PM Post #7 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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So, Sam’s plan was to have the energy go off in his heart, rather than in his stomach. Doing so would power him up quicker, but run the risk of having his heart explode. Lini saw that movie before. Human’s having their heart explode was usually very fatal. Lini had to admit it, that was defiantly a high-risk plan. If it worked, then he’d get a ton more power. If it didn’t, his heart would explode. But, it was a good idea in theory. But, just in case, he wanted Lini to hold onto his Restore Materia, just in came something went wrong. Lini accepted that plan, and Sam went off to take care of some emergency. Lini nodded for a moment as Sam went off behind a boulder to go take care of it. At first, Lini thought Sam was going to go to the bathroom or something. Lini might not know that much about human anatomy and biology, but he knew that going for as long as Sam had without using the restroom couldn’t have been good for him. However, Lini didn’t hear the sounds of the restroom, and the sounds of rocks breaking defiantly got the better of his Moogle curiosity. Lini quietly flew over to the rock where Sam was hiding and started to peek at what he was doing. Lini got there just in time to see Sam exchange a Materia out of his chest for a different one. It looked almost like he was using his own body as a Materia holder. “So that’s how he does it,” Lini thought, “Clever boy.” Sam thought he was in the clear, but then saw that Lini was spying on him. “Hehe, long enough to see how you’ve been hiding your Materia, Kupo.” He said with a silly grin. “But don’t worry, Kupo,” The Moogle Knight said, “My previous offer stands true. As long as I don’t catch you using them, you can keep them. Besides, if I started to dig into your chest to try and get them out, I’d probably puncture something important. You can’t very well get more powerful if you’re dead, Kupo.” Lini popped up from where he was hiding and finished his thought. “Alright,” He said, “So I’ll take the restore, and you try your idea. Honestly, I’m not that good with magic, so if your heart does explode, I don’t think I’ll be able to fix that. So if you feel it about to happen, drop the tech and we’ll work on getting yourself to that level more.” |
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| Seenter | Mar 4 2010, 06:13 AM Post #8 |
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Dynamite
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After Sam’s heart finally calmed down he gave a nod. So he didn’t see me dig the Haste Materia out of my leg, that’s good. He’d probably think I was crazy or worse. He handed the Restore Materia over to Lini and took a few steps back. He thought about how he was going to do this, since he had never done it before. Seeing as how he learned to do the burst of energy normally, he would have to practice focusing the energy in a Materia close to his heart. But he didn’t want to pull out another Materia just to test that theory, and politely asked for the Restore Materia back. He held it close to his heart and practiced focusing his energy into it, putting in energy and pulling it out. In and out, that was the pattern he tried in order to practice it. The Materia glowed and faded in light as he practiced, until he finally felt he was ready to try it. Handing the Materia back to Lini, Sam finally got into the stance he usually used to call upon the energy. He closed his eyes and began to focus his energy around his heart. The Haste Materia was close to his heart, but he pulled it away from the stone and gathered it into his most important muscle. He only gathered in 60% of what he usually used for the normal burst of energy, not wanting to overload his heart in case it was too much. Once he gathered the energy he took a deep breath, and then detonated the energy inside his heart. The burst of power was much quicker than normal, reaching his muscles in record time and creating a powerful explosion of energy that surrounded him. The aura looked slightly stronger as well, now taking on a red color instead of the normal light blue. His muscles also looked a bit stronger, either through the fact it was his heart supplying the power or the aura that surrounded him. However even at 60% of the normal energy it was too much for Sam’s heart, and already he could feel chest pains from the power coursing trough it. He tried to end the technique; however the energy continued to flow freely through his veins. His hands came to his chest as he clutched it in pain, dropping to his knees as the pain started to overwhelm him. With one final burst of energy he severed the flow to his heart, before collapsing face first in the dirt. His body remained still, and his eyes were closed. But his heart still beat, if not a bit erratically. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 4 2010, 07:54 PM Post #9 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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Sam seemed ready to go, but he seemed to be a bit nervous about trying it. Not like Lini could blame him. If this failed, he’d probably explode his heart. Lini was pretty sure humans needed their hearts to live. It was where they stored their living. And if the movies taught him anything, it was also needed to love and the various fun things that came about with love as well. Needless to say, hearts were important. And for zombies, good eatin’ too. Finally, Sam moved forward with his plan and tried his new power up maneuver. It was definitely different. For one thing, it had turned red, instead of the normal blue that he usually had. That could have been brought about by the change in location to power up. The second thing was that he definitely looked stronger, as his muscle mass went to a solid inch compared to a half-inch from his normal power-up. The third thing that was different was that Sam then suffered what appeared to be a massive heart attack, and fell to the ground, clutching at his chest. Lini looked at Sam for a moment before he poked him a few times. He was still breathing, so that was a plus. However, it looked like he was unconscious again. “Aww,” Lini thought, “And I didn’t get the fun of doing it this time. Oh well.” Lini cast a quick heal on Sam, just to make sure that his heart didn’t explode before he grabbed the human and took him back to their base camp. *Day 6* Lini left Sam’s Restore Materia by his unconscious body. He’d probably want it back after what had happened yesterday. Besides, it was the human’s anyway. And, as long as Lini didn’t catch him using it, then it was fine for him to have it. Although, he might have to make an exception for exploding heart syndrome. A dead Sam wouldn’t be able to get more powerful. Unless he was brought back by a necromancer or something, and then it wouldn’t be his own power. So, the day was starting off like the days usually were by now. Lini was finishing up his morning exercises of lifting boulders that were about one-hundred times his own weight after he finished breakfast, and all he could do now was wait for Sam to wake up. He didn’t mind doing it, but he was really hoping that Sam could give him a full day soon so he could actually start the real training regime. |
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| Seenter | Mar 4 2010, 08:12 PM Post #10 |
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Dynamite
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It took Sam a bit longer to wake up this time; however since he collapsed earlier than normal he woke up around the same time. He rolled over onto his back and blankly looked up at the sun, his eyes eventually squinting when they saw the light. He let out a groan of irritability that he had once again collapsed instead of just going to sleep. He struggled to a sitting position and stretched his arms, feeling less worried about the fact he was naked. He looked over at Lini with a half smile, and then took his breakfast. ”Morning, sorry about that. I guess it was a bit too much for me.” He ate his breakfast slowly, mostly so he could talk around mouthfuls. ”Well I have a better idea of what to do. I should be able to make a full day today, if you’ll allow me an hour of practice before I attempt it.” Finishing his meal quickly, Sam finally stood up and moved to the center of the camp. He got into his balanced stance and slowly searched his memory for what happened the previous day. He focused a small amount of energy into his heart, about 10% of the energy he normally would use for his stomach. With a small hesitant push he detonated the energy, allowing it to travel straight through to his muscles. The increase was phenomenal, about twice what he expected. The aura that showed on his skin was green in color, though he was more focused on the increase. He dropped the power, and then tried for 20% of his normal aura. This burst was also stronger than normal, depicting an orange colored aura and an increase in muscles. Sam gave a jump when he realized the potential he now had, dropping the technique and looking at Lini with a smile. ”I’ve got it. When I channel it through my heart I can get the same power for half the energy. This should really work.” He gathered 50% of his normal energy into his heart, smiling at Lini in victory. ”Alright, time me.” He then detonated the energy and created the red aura from before. He stood up and walked around a bit, letting the energy flow continuously through his heart. It was much better than before; his body was making almost as much energy as it was using to create this increase. He sat down carefully on a nearby rock, not wanting to disrupt his concentration on the technique. Even he was curious to see how long this would last. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 4 2010, 09:15 PM Post #11 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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Sam woke up at the usual time he did. Even his bouts of unconsciousness were becoming routine. If something wasn’t done soon, then Lini feared that their training regimen would fall into a rut. If that happened, then Lini wondered if it would be worth it to make him go on. Sure, he was showing some signs of progress, but he needed to go faster if he was going to control his hidden power. Of course, if Lini could make Sam a Moogle, the training would come much more naturally. But, Lini had no way of doing that, so it was the long, hard road for the human. But, Sam had a new idea. That was always good, as new ideas were vital in this type of training. What came as the surprise was that his idea would finally be able to get Sam to a full day in his powered-up state. That was exactly what Lini had been going for since this week had started. The Moogle was hopeful, but considering how it came from a guy who nearly blew up his heart less then twenty-four hours ago, he was slightly skeptical Lini simply nodded in acknowledgement as Sam moved forward with his plan. Lini, however, kept nearby the large boulder he had been exercising with before breakfast. If this plan didn’t work, then the Moogle was going to up the ‘stick’ part of ‘carrot and stick’ training. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to, but it didn’t hurt to be ready. Slowly, Sam started to power up again. Lini was about to chuck the boulder since he hadn’t gone to maximum like he instructed him to, but he decided to see Sam’s plan to the end before he moved onto the pain. Sam slowly got more powerful as he slowly upped the level of his strength. Finally, the human turned to him and said that if he put it over his heart; he could get maximum power for only half the energy. That was what Lini wanted to hear. If this worked, Sam might finally be able to move past step one. Sam thought so too, and wanted to be timed. “Alright, Kupo,” Lini said, “Lets see if we can finally get past the metaphorical opening ceremonies of the training program and actually get into the meat and bones of it.” Lini waited patiently as Sam sat down and just waited for his power to run out. Ten minutes. Still going strong. Twenty minutes. Sam’s old record. A half-hour. Old record shattered. An hour. Sam might actually do it. Ninety minutes. Lini was getting excited. Two hours. Sam was still going strong. Three hours. Lini was bored now. Four hours. Lini was napping. Five hours. Still napping. Six hours. Lini woke up; Sam was still going on and said that he had been the entire time. Seven hours. The sun would be down soon. Eight hours later. Sam was still in his powered-up state as the sun sank. At that point, the Moogle’s phone beeped to signify that another hour had passed. “That’s eight hours, Kupo.” Lini said, “I think we got it. We got past the first step.” Lini gave him a small round of applause before he got back to his feet. “You can power-down now. We’re done for today. Tomorrow, however, we start the last part of the opening training. The final part before we move onto the actual work, Kupo.” “Tomorrow,” Lini said, “I want you to maintain your powered-up state while you’re flying. I’m sure you can deduce why it’s silly to have a flying technique yet not being able to maintain a stronger form while doing it.” To prove his point, Lini flew up a few feet into the air, pulled his sword out, and gave a quick, clean slash to the boulder he had been exercising with in the morning. Nothing appeared to be different about it, until a clean crack-line appeared in the arc the Moogle Knight had slashed it in, and the top half of the rock slowly succumbed to gravity and fell to the ground. “If I couldn’t fight while flying, Kupo,” Lini said as he sheathed his sword, “Then I would learn how. Tomorrow, you will fly while powered-up. Again, you will go the whole day. Since you now have found the energy to do so, I expect this to go quickly.” This was good. Once this part of the training was over, Lini could get to the fun stuff. However, today, Sam earned a night's sleep under his own power. |
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| Seenter | Mar 6 2010, 07:06 PM Post #12 |
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Dynamite
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Sam looked at himself curiously around the sixth hour, surprised that he was still going strong. Well going strong was an overstatement, as by now his energy was actually starting to feel a bit drained. However he knew he could keep it up for a couple more hours, as long as he didn’t overdue it. During the time he had stretched, relaxed, eaten lunch, and went to the bathroom all while powered up. Actually it wasn’t until he had actually gone to the bathroom that he felt really strained, trying to maintain the aura while at the same time taking a much needed dump. He was just glad that Lini was thoughtful enough to bring paper; otherwise Sam would have had to use the sparse plant life. The prickly leaves didn’t seem like a good invite to him. Once the eight hours were up Sam looked at Lini surprised. He thought the Moogle would force him to sleep while using the aura, something the human felt he wasn’t ready for. Instead the little warrior was actually going to let him disperse the power and sleep on his own. He gave a relieved smile, and then canceled the aura that surrounded him. As the power disappeared Sam sat down hard on the ground, breathing semi heavily and sweating. That actually took much more out of him than he realized. Pulling out the water, the young warrior began drinking slowly in order to not overexert himself. He began to breathe normally and seemed to calm down a bit, finally falling onto his back and watching the sky slowly darken overhead. He sat up and glanced at Lini demonstrating his power, a slight smile on his face. ”I’m surprised you remember that I can fly. It’s actually been a while since I’ve done that.” Actually that wasn’t true, as Sam remembered he flew when the Moogle took off not too long ago. It was to escape those giant wolf monsters that wanted a piece of his hide. The thought gave Sam a slight shudder, then lay back down and looked up at the stars coming out. Even though he managed to go a full eight hours while using the aura, Sam was a little hesitant about doing it while flying. Just going the full eight hours with the aura alone was a drain on his body, he could only imagine how much harder it would be to do it while flying. Still it should be interesting. He slowly drifted off to sleep as his mind wandered into the infinite possibilities of dreams. *Day 7* Unfortunately Sam’s dreams were not peaceful, as it was apparent on his face. His body began to sweat, and he twitched in irritation as his mind showed him his worst fears. His dream started off innocently enough, relaxing on the beach at Costa Del Sol before the whole ‘zombie invasion’. His parents and everyone he knew were there, all relaxing and having fun. Lini was busy trying to convince Nex it was a bad idea to blow up kid’s sand castles. The triplets were having fun in the water with their youngest sister. His parents and their house keeper were talking about expanding the house to include various extra activities like a pool and a tennis court. It started off peaceful for the first minute, then turned sour rather quickly. The normally light blue sky turned into a blood red color, with the sun turning black in the sky. Everyone turned to look out over the sea, which turned rather calm suddenly. Sam turned to look at the calm sea, a feeling of terror slowly growing in his stomach. Out of the sea something slowly emerges from the waters, and Sam looks at it in terror. It looked to be a giant dragon, looking like a large red dragon. It didn’t last long, as the flesh began to die and rot, and the creature became the zombie dragon that Sam saw on his mission to the sunny city. The mere sight of the creature sent a chill down his back, as in his mind he realized what was about to happen. Sure enough the dragon let loose a noxious gas that swept over the entire beach. The unusual fog surrounded Sam and continued past him, seemingly blocking his view from everyone else. Well almost everyone else, as Sam could see the silhouette of someone in the cloud. He watched horrified as he could literally see whoever it was slowly decay into a corpse like creature, pieces of flesh falling off and skinny bones appearing through the fog. The creature turned to Sam with red glowing eyes, and then began moving towards the young warrior. Just before the creature emerged Sam woke up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. The sky was turning bright as morning came, but it was lost on Sam. Memories of the dream still hung heavy on his mind, as the last event played over and over. He didn’t know who it was that turned into a zombie, but Sam felt it was best that he didn’t. Seeing it happen was bad enough, he knew he didn’t want to see the result. He just stared at the dirt between his legs, just letting the images play over and over in his mind. It took him a few moments to realize he was now awake, and eventually let the dream fade. He shook himself a bit to drive the memories from his mind, and then relaxed. He lay back down on the ground and stared at the morning sky, slowly forgetting the dream in relief. After a moment of looking up at the sky, Sam finally got the courage to sit up. He rolled over to his knees, and then stood up in a really big stretch. He looked around at the surrounding landscape as it changed in the morning light. He began to stretch his arms and legs as he limbered up his body, trying to get ready for today’s workout. He looked over to see if Lini was awake, wondering if they’d have time for breakfast before the little warrior began pelting him with rocks. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 6 2010, 09:22 PM Post #13 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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Lini had woken up early today. Honestly, he was slightly excited. If all went well today, then this would be the last of the basic training he would have to give Sam in his powers. After that, they could move onto actual training exercises. Then, Sam could finally unleash his true power. Maybe Lini would also be able to get a half-decent battle out of the human. Lini really did want to help Sam get stronger for the human’s goals, but Lini also wanted a decent challenge out of somebody. And, aside from Nex, Sam held the most promise out of everyone he had ever met. So, while Sam slept, Lini got everything ready for what was hopefully the last day of basic training. He cleared out most of the monsters, he got the food for breakfast, and he got the discipline rocks ready as well. He also downloaded PvZ to his mPhone, in case what happened yesterday happened today and Sam was able to pull it off. Training was one thing, but Lini didn’t want to be caught with his pants down and have nothing to do but wait. Waiting was boring. So, once Lini had everything ready, all that was left to do was wait for Sam to wake up. However, something seemed to be wrong. Sam was clenching his eyes, as if he was dreaming of something he didn’t want to see. Occasionally, he was shaking, and the human also appeared to be sweating and breathing heavily. Lini figured he was either having a horrific nightmare, or was having a dream that should not be shared with others that would end up resulting in needing to clean up the camp more. Hopefully, Lini would get his answer, as Sam just woke up. He was still sweating and breathing heavily, and was either staring at the dirt or at his junk. This lasted a bit before Sam fell back down again for a few moments before finally getting back up. “Morning, Kupo,” Lini said once Sam got to his feet, “Breakfast is ready.” Lini pointed over to the food that he had gotten for today. “We’ll start the last step once your done.” Lini let that sentence hang for a moment before he started up again. “Also, Kupo,” Lini asked, “Mind telling me what you were dreaming about? Based on how you were acting in your sleep, it was either a horrible nightmare, or you were about to get a happy ending and then all of a sudden you woke up.” |
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| Seenter | Mar 6 2010, 09:45 PM Post #14 |
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Dynamite
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Sam gave a smile as he picked up his food. He began to eat it hungrily because he didn’t bother to eat dinner the night before, opting to just going to sleep. He looked at the Moogle with a raised eyebrow at his question, and then swallowed his mouthful. ”It’s usually two nightmares I have, and neither of them are pleasant. I guess the first one would be about my parents getting killed by Shin-Ra.” Sam put down his food and began staring at the ground. ”I think I told you this before, but my parents were supporters of Avalanche from the shadows, though on the surface they seemed to support Shin-Ra. When I joined SOLDIER I let slip to one of my fellow cadets that my parents were just pretending to support Shin-Ra. The next day I was told that my parents had been killed by Avalanche in the night for betraying them. I know Shin-Ra had something to do with it, and I want to find out what.” He gave a sigh and began to eat a bit more slowly. ”The other dream is about Costa Del Sol. I’m sure you’ve heard of the incident, either from Nex or the news. 98% of the population were turned into zombies or eaten, with only a few escaping with their lives. I was sent with some others to try and save the town, but it was too late. Costa Del Sol was where my parents took me vacationing every year before they died, it was the only other home I had. And now look at what happened.” He quickly finished eating and took a swig of water. He put the water down and stood up in a stretch. ”I can’t do much to bring those people back, so I’m going to work hard so that it doesn’t happen again. That’s my second goal for this training.” Stretching his arms again Sam walked to the middle of their camp, stretching his legs while there. He glanced over at Lini with a curious look. ”So I have to maintain the aura while flying right? Do I actually have to fly, or can I hover in mid air.” Sam already knew the answer to this, but he hoped he was wrong. If he just hovered in mid air he could a bit longer than he did yesterday, but if he flew he wasn’t so sure. He did some stretches while he waited for Lini to answer. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 6 2010, 10:06 PM Post #15 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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That’s right. Sam was technically an orphan. All he had was his memories and his servitude to Shin-Ra. Now that Lini thought about it, Sam was probably very late in reporting back to his superiors. Well, if they needed him that badly, they would have left a message or called for him. And, considering how the human had no messages on his phone last time he checked on where he hid Sam’s things, then they probably wouldn’t miss him for a while. And even if they did need him, the sudden increase in power that he would have gotten would probably give them reason enough to let it slide. Of course, if they sent someone out to find Sam, then Lini would deal with that himself. Not only that, he was still distressed about the zombie attack. Lini wasn’t there himself, since Nex was overeager and left without him that day. Still, from what he heard about it, it sounded really fun, without the entire life-threatening thing. He knew it was horrible, but he was actually really sad that he missed it. A zombie invasion was a new experience, and he was all for new experiences. Lini nodded. “Well, Kupo,” He said, “Then if my training will help you overcome your nightmares and help you reach your goals, then I’m more then happy to help you reach it.” Sam then finished eating and asked how today was to be done. “Yep,” Lini said, “You got to maintain it while flying. You can hover if you need to, but I expect there to be some exertion and some action most of the time. It won’t do you any good to just float there. That just makes you a flying target, Kupo. So, stay in the air all day and make sure that you do some movements and actually exert some effort into this. This time, however, you get hit with rocks if you drop your aura or if you touch the ground.” “Now, Kupo,” Lini said, “Whenever you’re ready. We’ll see if we can get another full day out of you. If we can, we can start on the actual training exercises that I’ve had in mind.” |
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| Seenter | Mar 6 2010, 10:32 PM Post #16 |
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Dynamite
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Sam gave a nod, and then gathered his energy into his heart. He made sure to keep it at half his normal energy, as he didn’t want a repeat of the first time he tried this. With a simple push of his energy he sent the power he gathered to his muscles through his blood vessels. The aura could be seen quickly spreading over his body, as his muscles increased in strength. It was red in color, symbolizing that it was indeed at maximum. Then with a quick jump, Sam hovered about 10ft in the air. He set himself in place and kept a small constant energy to keep him from descending, making sure not to fall back to the ground. This was harder than he thought, focusing his energy in two places. One the one hand he had energy coursing through his heart to keep the aura going. On the other he had energy flowing towards the ground to keep him airborne. Keeping both up wasn’t something he was used to, and it showed as both his flying and aura began to waver. It was like trying to balance on a barrel on the ground and balancing a barrel on your arms at the same time. He was feeling like he’d have to let go of one in order to focus on the other. And he chose the flying. He began to fall towards the earth as he kept his aura going strong. But before he actually hit the ground, Sam had an idea. He pushed energy into his flying, increasing his speed as he angled away from the earth. With effort and focus he managed to keep from touching down, and began to fly in a circle back up to 10ft. However he didn’t stop, instead kept on circling at that height for several minutes. As long as he kept moving he was able to keep focused on both at the same time. His aura remained strong, and he never faltered in his flight. It was like he was riding the barrel and balancing at the same time, moving made it easier. He kept the flight for about an hour before he stopped, and once again floated in mid air. His stomach rumbled in protest as he stood there 10ft off the ground. It took a lot of energy to fly, Sam knew this. And apparently it burned off a lot of calories as well. He dropped just enough that he was about 1ft off the ground, and then ‘walked’ over to Lini. ”Hey, do you by chance have something I can snack on. Flying and using the aura is pretty hungry work.” The little Moogle tossed him an apple, which Sam accepted gratefully and climbed back up to 10ft. It was actually getting a bit easier staying in the aura and hovering over the ground, probably because Sam was beginning to find his ‘balance‘. He ate the apple and began to ‘walk’ in mid-air in a circle. Once he finished with the apple, eating even the core, Sam sat down cross-legged. He stayed there for another hour, closing his eyes and focusing his mind as he felt the energy flowing through his heart and his body. The longer he stayed like this, the easier it was becoming. He continued about the same for the rest of the day, flying slowly and ‘sitting’ down in mid-air. One time he attempted to lay down for a nap, however he lost control of his flying and almost touched down before he recovered. But the rest of the day was more or less uneventful, as he continued his switch between the two. |
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| [-Bag o Bones-] | Mar 6 2010, 11:30 PM Post #17 |
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Meteorain (Lv3)
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At first, Sam wasn’t exactly steady. It seemed like flying and maintaining his power was a strain that he wasn’t used to doing. Well, if it happened to be that this was the first time he had used his powered-up state while he was flying, that would make sense. Although, if that was the case, then Lini wasn’t quite sure of why Sam had never tried before. To the Moogle, that seemed like it was either being lazy or that he wasn’t serious. But, the past was the past, and as long as he was able to complete what he needed now, then there would be no limit to what Sam could reach. The Moogle Knight kept his eye on Sam for the first part. If he was going to fall, it would be either near the beginning while he was getting used to it or near the end when his energy started to wane. So, once Sam seemed to get the hang of it, Lini went into relaxing. He still kept the large rocks on hand in case Sam broke the training, but he didn’t think he would need to do so. With the exception of Sam needing a quick pick-me-up in the middle of it, Lini was just there as an observer. It looked to be dull, but Lini did keep an eye on him. There were a few instances where it looked like Sam wouldn’t make it. But, he was able to maintain his airborne state and his powered-up state all day. That was one thing the Moogle could give Sam. He might take a while, but once he got started, he would exceed expectations. That was part of the reason why Lini had high hopes for Sam. Once it was all over, perhaps Sam would be the one to be able to give him a challenge. Aside from Nex, of course. Nex was always challenging. Still, the end of the day came about, and Sam was able to reach Lini’s goal. Lini nodded a bit once he looked at the time. Sam had gone for almost fourteen hours without dropping his power or hitting the ground. “Alright, Kupo,” Lini said, “We’ve seemed to hit the basics now. You’ve gone a full day in a powered-up state, and you’ve gone a whole day while flying in your powered-up state as well. In all honesty, I would have liked some more movement, but we got our starting point. So…” Lini gave Sam a wink and a thumbs-up, “You can consider the opening stages of the training program complete!” “Now…” Lini’s eyes got a bit of a dark look to them, “Starting tomorrow, we start the actual training regime. All the stuff you’ve done till now will be like taking a nap. So, now to give you a bit of ground rules for the future exercises. Starting from the moment you wake up tomorrow, you are to remain in that state for the entire training session until the very bitter end. That means while eating, sleeping, and anything else that is to be done.” “I hope you had fun, Kupo,” Lini finished, “Because tomorrow we start work on strength training. If you want to get stronger, then you’re defiantly going to have to hit a lot harder.” Lini then punched to the side of him and hit the large rock that was next to him and didn’t even watch as it flew off from the force and crashed into a nearby cliff wall before shattering. “Hope you don’t have any nightmares today, Kupo,” Lini said, “Because if you don’t keep up, this is going to be a waking nightmare.” |
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| Seenter | Mar 7 2010, 12:11 AM Post #18 |
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Dynamite
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Sam landed with a tired thud, letting the aura surrounding him disappear into a blue color before vanishing completely. That was actually much harder than he thought as he felt the effects of using his energy to fly and create the aura. It was a much faster drain on his energy than just using his aura, and he lasted longer than he did previous doing it. Right now he was more than ready to collapse, and Lini’s speech just drained the last energy out of him. Nothing lowers a person’s spirit than telling them they need to climb two hundred stairs after they ran four miles. Lying on the ground Sam looked up at the sky as it began to turn dark. Just Lini telling him that it was going to be tough didn’t surprise him. The Moogle said that from the beginning. But telling him that this was a cake walk in comparison, that’s what caused Sam some concern. However after a workout like today, he knew he wasn’t going to have a hard time sleeping. And to prove it, less than 5 minutes later he was out like a light. |
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