Growth. [Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Lore, Creature (Underworld)
Rank: "E"
Skill: Academia Skill
Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Composure Skill. Die Rolls: 5 Die Rolls. Check Requirement: Described. Characters with this skill can train 1 Region (declared when the skill is chosen) to gain knowledge of Creatures. A character may acquire additional Regions by choosing this skill again. This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has. Actions show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behavior can even indicate the location of a water hole, herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. Each Creature has an Identification Difficulty found in their description. User must beat their Difficulty in order to identify the Creature. If the user succeeds they know what the creature is and what yields they can produce. If the user fails by 20 or less they do not gain any knowledge of the creature and are unable to try again. If the user fails by 21 or more they will gain false information, like a different creature. Synergy: A user with Lore, Creature gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Animal Husbandry to the specific Region.
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0 SP (No Dice Bonuses)

The local Kusagakure no Sato library, a squat building full of books along the walls, on shelves, and on the tables occasionally; depending on who was in there at the time. This early in the morning though, Houkou was nearly alone amongst the tomes, Sekizen laying outside as he could not comfortably fit inside the building. Sekizen is laying around too much. It is time we resume out training, I think. Turning his thoughts from that, he introduced himself to the librarian and began moving toward a section of books, the Lore section of the library. It was here that he found a compendium of creatures that lived throughout the world, pulling the book from the shelf, and making his way over to a table. It was time to hunker down and study, as this knowledge would further his power in this new world, this world without warriors that was now only full of scholars.

[Begin Training]

Houkou opened the book and began with the first section, that labeled ‘A’, skimming the book until he found a creature in the region he would begin with. Looked to be a strange creature that lived beneath the earth, a worker of some kind, like a gigantic ant or termite.

Aarakians, Worker
Rank: ""
Type: Uncommon, Medium, Vermin
Effect: They have tough exoskeletons like most insectiods, and pincers capable of powerful biting attacks.
Special: Preparation: ---; Duration: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Also known as 'Rak laborers. An Aarakian is an insectoid with a hive mind of great cohesion and power. These insects have tough exoskeletons in an array of camouflage colors, including yellow, beige and olive drab. Unless interrupted or attacked, workers will ignore other creatures, concentrating only on the instructions the pheromones of their leaders provide. Workers can bite for 8 Armour Points of damage. Aarakians live beneath the surface of the world in complex hive constructions. Their job is to burrow the miles of tunnels necessary for a thriving Aarakian hive. Typically, workers burrow toward the most populated areas. If somehow cut off from the pheromones of the hive, a worker will become catatonic and eventually starve. Despite their amazing digging skills only 1 in 5 Workers are able to produce the enzymes necessary to digest blood. Therefore, it is the job of 1 in 5 workers to feed the others through regurgitation.
Yields: ---
Diet: Carnivore; Intelligence Semi; Activity: Any; Alignment: Neutral; Organization: Hive; Number Appearing: 2-100; Region: Underworld; Identification: Average; Cultivation: Average; Skills: ; Innate Abilities: Darkvision 20 meters. Low-light Vision. Burrowing.
Limit: Must know Creature Lore for Underworld Regions. 50% chance in finding.
Cost:

The passage for these creature was pretty straight forward, as these creatures did not possess anything outside of the normal for an ant. Miles of tunnels were dug by these worker drones, beneath the very surface, and that could mean interesting encounters for those who had no idea beforehand that their lands were infested. One could be digging a well and run into a hive, or perhaps a hive would dig right into one’s basement, killing them in their sleep as they were active at any time day or night. Hunting these creatures should be easy enough however.

They possessed the typical six legs of their smaller cousins, which more dragged the ground than they did step, making a path of pheromones for others to follow. It would seem that they worked on a hive mind as well, probably all connected to the queen, but these were non-combatants. Or perhaps a better term would be reactive combatants? According to the text Houkou was studying, they would not attack for any reason, unless designated by their leaders. That would mean in order to hunt these and not be swarmed, it would be best to take out the one that was in charge of the Drone Workers. However, how could one determine which of these was actually in charge? Perhaps that would be covered later on in the text.

Two other things about these diggers really stuck out to Houkou, who rubbed his chin and gazed at the text, curious about if it meant humans or just anything not one of these Aarakians. First he noticed the camouflage that would be effective underground and in some forests, being yellow, olive, beige, or perhaps many other colors. Means they could hide pretty decently if still from animals with lesser intelligence, perhaps even humans that were not paying attention, and strike before reaction. The second was that they always headed toward the most populated areas, although he was not sure if that meant human civilizations as well, or just populated areas in the animal kingdom. He would have to hunt some to find out, although according to the passage, they seemed fairly weak.

[End Training]

It was time to go to the next creature in the book, it seemed, as he had learned all he could about these. One of the Librarians had brought him a glass of water, which was rather thoughtful of them, as he would be here for quite some time.

[An'ei Sekitan]

Lore, Creature (Underworld)
Rank: "E"
Skill: Academia Skill
Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Composure Skill. Die Rolls: 5 Die Rolls. Check Requirement: Described. Characters with this skill can train 1 Region (declared when the skill is chosen) to gain knowledge of Creatures. A character may acquire additional Regions by choosing this skill again. This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has. Actions show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behavior can even indicate the location of a water hole, herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. Each Creature has an Identification Difficulty found in their description. User must beat their Difficulty in order to identify the Creature. If the user succeeds they know what the creature is and what yields they can produce. If the user fails by 20 or less they do not gain any knowledge of the creature and are unable to try again. If the user fails by 21 or more they will gain false information, like a different creature. Synergy: A user with Lore, Creature gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Animal Husbandry to the specific Region.
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0 SP (No Dice Bonuses)

[Begin Training]

Taking a drink of the glass of water, Houkou would swallow it slowly, savoring the lovely taste of Kusagakure no Sato water, but also using his sense to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. You never knew. Regardless, he would continue to read, knowing that poisons would not work on him. Next was the Aarakian Warrior caste.

Aarakians, Warrior
Rank: ""
Type: Rare, Medium, Vermin
Effect: They have tough exoskeletons like most insectiods, and pincers capable of powerful biting attacks.
Special: Preparation:-- ; Duration: 1d6 Days
Drawback: ---
Description: Also known as 'Rak Lords. An Aarakian is an insectoid with a hive mind of great cohesion and power. These insects have tough exoskeletons in an array of camouflage colors, including yellow, beige and olive drab. Warriors are bigger than workers and brood guards, and are equipped with two razor-sharp pincers. Warriors attack any non-aarakian that approaches, unless moving to protect the Queen. Their bite causes painful swelling and 16 Armour Points of damage, half damage and little swelling if the victim makes a save vs poison. All Aarakians are immune to their own poison. Warriors can shoot Web. Aarakians live beneath the surface of the world in complex hive constructions. It is a Warrior's duty to protect the hive and its populace at all costs. Additionally, then workers breach the surface into a city, warriors will go topside to capture the populace for food. To avoid detection, and possible threat to the hive, Aarakians tend to dig their tunnel entrances toward the poor section of cities where missing people go unnoticed.
Yields: Poison Gland may be removed. Poison gland may create an anti=toxin that will give immunity to the Arakian bite for 1d6 days. Webbing Gland may be removed for sticky mixtures.
Diet: Carnivore; Intelligence Low; Activity: Any; Alignment: Neutral; Organization: Hive; Number Appearing: 1-100; Region: Underworld; Identification: Very Difficult; Cultivation: Difficult; Skills: ---; Innate Abilities: Darkvision 20 meters. Low-light Vision. Burrowing. Web. Poison.
Limit: Must know Creature Lore for Underworld Regions. 20% chance in finding.
Cost:

Tough exoskeletons and pincers, just like the worker class Aarakians, although it seemed that these were put to a greater use than those passive worker drones. These seemed to attack on sight anything that is not an Aarakian, unless they are called to protect their precious queen, to which they will ignore all else. This means that if one were to hunt the queen, they would have to deal with a swarm shortly after their initial attack, which could prove fatal if unskilled. It seemed that these creatures were also part spider, with the ability to shoot webbing as a Warrior caste, as well as possessing a venom that would cause pain and swelling along with the pain of the bite.

These of the Warrior caste seemed to be slightly more intelligent than those of the Worker caste, with an invasion plan into a city they happen to dig into, which means that these creatures did actually attack human civilizations. It would seem that they would make a plan to head toward the poor sectors of town, although how they would know what the poor sector of town looked like was still a mystery, perhaps explained further in the book. Regardless, they would then burst through the surface and capture the populous as food, wrangling them and transporting them back into the den. It was all rather mysterious, to be sure.

These Aarakian Warriors seemed to have some materials that one could harvest however, unlike the Worker caste, and that could prove useful to some degree. First that could be harvested was the poison that these Warrior caste Aarakians used with their bites, which could then be synthesized into a type of anti-venom, used to make one immune to the poisons of the bite of an Aarakian. A very niche use, useful if one is hunting these creatures exclusively, and perhaps the most useful when hunting queens. The second was the webbing, which could be harvested to make sticky mixtures like adhesives, a useful thing when making exploding tags or anything else that would need to stick to a surface. The constant was the hive mind, which meant a central hub, one that Houkou could possibly exploit. It might have more further into the book.

[End Training]

[Nekomata Minh]

Rolls Done

Sp: 49/125
Tp: +10

[An'ei Sekitan]

Lore, Creature (Underworld)
Rank: "E"
Skill: Academia Skill
Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Composure Skill. Die Rolls: 5 Die Rolls. Check Requirement: Described. Characters with this skill can train 1 Region (declared when the skill is chosen) to gain knowledge of Creatures. A character may acquire additional Regions by choosing this skill again. This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has. Actions show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behavior can even indicate the location of a water hole, herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. Each Creature has an Identification Difficulty found in their description. User must beat their Difficulty in order to identify the Creature. If the user succeeds they know what the creature is and what yields they can produce. If the user fails by 20 or less they do not gain any knowledge of the creature and are unable to try again. If the user fails by 21 or more they will gain false information, like a different creature. Synergy: A user with Lore, Creature gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Animal Husbandry to the specific Region.
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

SP 49 (No Dice Bonuses)

[Begin Training]

Another drink from the glass of water, another page to turn, and another Aarakian to learn about. This time it was the Brood Watcher caste of the Aarakian, although what they did, Houkou could only take an educated guess.

Aarakians, Brood Watcher
Rank: ""
Type: Very Rare, Large, Vermin
Effect: They have tough exoskeletons like most insectiods, and pincers capable of powerful biting attacks.
Special: Preparation:--- ; Duration: 1d6 Days
Drawback: ---
Description: Also known as 'Rak Enforcers. An Aarakian is an insectoid with a hive mind of great cohesion and power. These insects have tough exoskeletons in an array of camouflage colors, including yellow, beige and olive drab. Equipped with two razor-sharp pinchers, the brood watchers rarely leave the confines of the hive. Their primary concerns is the protection of the queen and her eggs. Brood Watchers can shoot Web. Aarakians live beneath the surface of the world in complex hive constructions. The Brood Watchers coordinate the Queen's orders. While they cannot actually carry eggs, they direct the workers that do. In particularly well-populated hives, one Brood Watcher may be assigned to guard the mid-way point of one of the important tunnels to the Queen. Brood Watchers prepare for possible disaster by cocooning no less than 2 to 12 Warriors and 3 to 24 Workers, as well as several sources of food, which usually includes some humanoid victims. If a battle looks to be going against the hive, a Brood Watcher will give the signal to the Workers to collapse the tunnels to cut off the enemy from the Queen. These Workers sacrifice themselves in this way, to protect the hive.
Yields: Poison Gland may be removed. Poison gland may create an anti=toxin that will give immunity to the Arakian bite for 1d6 days. Webbing Gland may be removed for sticky mixtures.
Diet: Carnivore; Intelligence Average; Activity: Any; Alignment: Neutral; Organization: Hive; Number Appearing: 3-30; Region: Underworld; Identification: Difficult; Cultivation: Difficult; Skills: ---; Innate Abilities: Burrowing. Poison. Web.
Limit: Must know Creature Lore for Underworld Regions. 10% chance in finding.
Cost:

It would seem that these Brood Watchers were of the same type as the Aarakian Warrior caste, possessing much of the same traits as its brethren, although with a few subtle differences. Houkou noticed that there was no mention on how powerful the pincers could be in this book, though it does state that these Brood Watcher caste Aarakians are protectors of the queen, which could only leave two options. Either they could bite and poison like the Warrior caste, or they were more powerful than the Warrior caste, although the former seemed to be the implied. Were these chosen out of the Warrior caste and did that mutate them, or were they different at birth and thus chosen that way?

Several other aspects of the Brood Watchers piqued his interest, though not to a major point, yet it was still a curiosity. This caste of Aarakian was larger than the others it seemed, which could only prove that the latter of the two options was true, these were in fact stronger and more deadly than the Warrior caste. Additionally, they seemed to possess a higher cognitive functioning, putting them on average level with perhaps a human, per say? Maybe a dumb human or a very smart dog. It would seem that these were the tactical caste of Aarakians, judge from the ability to collapse tunnels, and they intelligence enough to spot a poor sector of town and take those that would not be missed.

A final curiosity is the fact that these creatures did not deal in picking up or moving the eggs of the queen, although they were there all the time, rarely leaving the queens side. This put them on the level of Royal Guard, where the Worker caste would be more peasant class, as they were the ones to be tasked with moving and placing the eggs. They were also sacrificed by the Brood Watcher Aarakians in the event of a tunnel collapse, as they were expendable. Finally, the intelligence to store some workers, warriors, and food in the event that catastrophe struck, meant that these Brood Watchers were not to be underestimated.

Houkou would take another drink of water and find that there was food on the table as well, very curious, but he could smell no poison on the meat or bread. He would take a bite and continue to read.

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Lore, Creature (Underworld)
Rank: "E"
Skill: Academia Skill
Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Composure Skill. Die Rolls: 5 Die Rolls. Check Requirement: Described. Characters with this skill can train 1 Region (declared when the skill is chosen) to gain knowledge of Creatures. A character may acquire additional Regions by choosing this skill again. This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of a creature, interpret what is going on, identify the creature, and have knowledge on what yields the creature has. Actions show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behavior can even indicate the location of a water hole, herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. Each Creature has an Identification Difficulty found in their description. User must beat their Difficulty in order to identify the Creature. If the user succeeds they know what the creature is and what yields they can produce. If the user fails by 20 or less they do not gain any knowledge of the creature and are unable to try again. If the user fails by 21 or more they will gain false information, like a different creature. Synergy: A user with Lore, Creature gives a +5 per Mastery Level Synergy Bonus to Animal Husbandry to the specific Region.
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

SP 49 (No Dice Bonuses)

[Begin Training]

Houkou would chew the meat and read the page about the Aarakian Queen, although she did not seem like much of a threat alone, it was good to have knowledge on the highest tier of the Aarakian society.

Aarakians, Queen
Rank: ""
Type: Rare, Gargantuan, Vermin
Effect: Has a tough exoskeleton like most insectoids
Special: Preparation:-- ; Duration:---
Drawback: ---
Description: Also known as Lady 'Rak. Aarakian is an insectoid with a hive mind of great cohesion and power. These insects have tough exoskeletons in an array of camouflage colors, including yellow, beige and olive drab. Queens are massive, and for the most part, immobile. For every season a queen lives, her bulk increases, making it necessary for workers to enlarge her chambers on a regular basis. Aarakians never make morale checks within the territory of the hive. Because of their immensely bloated bodies, Queens cannot fight. They will, however, coordinate attacks and defenses. If a Queen is attacked, and brought close to dying; they will send a pheromone alert to the remaining hive. This will signal those members of the hive that are not involved in combat to gather as many eggs as they can and flee to safety. With these eggs, they will start a new hive. If the remaining hive includes 2 Brood Watchers, the hive will split, each following a watcher, and create two hives. Warriors protecting the Queen will stay and fight to the death. Aarakians live beneath the surface of the world in complex hive constructions. Queen: The Queen is the only member of the hive to collect treasure. The treasuries of Aarakian Queens have been known to rival that of Dragons. The main function of the Queen, however is to lay eggs, which she will do on a continual basis. The reason that this race is not encountered on a more frequent basis, however, is that in spite of the great fertility of Aarakian Queens, 50% of the Eggs do not hatch. They are used for food for the Queen, whose high metabolism requires to eat almost constantly. While these creatures are not common, they do pose a deadly threat to the entire planet because of their voracious appetites. There is some speculation that this race is more prolific than anyone knows because of its ability to remain hidden. Legends say there are thousands of Aarakians living in the Darkunder. Ancient scrolls tell of entire cities of trolls and orcs that have fallen to these monsters after tunnels have collapsed beneath them.
Yields: ---
Diet: Carnivore; Intelligence High; Activity: Any; Alignment: Neutral; Organization: Hive; Number Appearing: 1; Region: Underworld; Identification: Very Difficult; Cultivation: Extremely Difficult; Skills: ---; Innate Abilities: Darkvision 20 meters. Low-light Vision. Burrowing.
Limit: Must know Creature Lore for Underworld Regions. 15% chance in finding.
Cost:

The Queen of the hive, head of the Aarakian colony beneath the earth, and the mind of the Hive. She alone was in control of the hive and how it would progress, creating the plans and contingencies to go along with, ensuring that the hive thrived or failed. Her bulk was massive, making her nearly immobile, although that did not mean she was completely helpless; unless she was alone. Due to her size, the Worker caste was used to enlarge her chamber constantly, accommodating to her ever growing girth as she birthed more and more Aarakians with the aid of her Brood Watchers. Normally, at the rate of every day, there should be more of these things than the earth could likely handle, however there was a check in place for that as well.

According to the book, the Queen sported a very high metabolism, and it was so insatiable that it created the check on the hive that kept it from overrunning the planet too quickly. It would seem that the Queen would eat her own eggs, fed to her in order to keep her from starving to death, as she needed to constantly eat or parish as her body would eat itself. Typically a society was against cannibalism, often weeding it out so that the society could thrive, or participating and centering their society on cannibalism. The Aarakians did neither, instead feeding the Queen her own young without a thought, but eating other creatures than themselves instead. Clearly this was an effect of the hive mind.

Lastly, the Queen possessed a vast intelligence, on par with that of an intelligent human and tactician. In a coordinated effort, the Queen would organize the Warrior and Brood Watcher caste to fight and defend her, as well as the hive. However, in the event that they would fail and be routed, the Queen has a contingency plan in place to get the young out of the hive, along with a few Brood Watchers, and start new hives elsewhere. All others would be called to grab as much young and evacuate as well, creating a mass confusion that almost all but ensured that a new hive would form again. This meant that a very coordinated attack on a hive was necessary in order to cut off all escape, while a plan to hunt them had to be in place in order to stop a new hive from being created, which was very impressive for creatures of these types to command such a need for planning.

Rubbing his chin, Houkou would turn the page, leaving the underworld for the moment and entering new pastures.

[End Training]

[Deleted]

narutoforumrp.proboards.com/post/1065428/thread

69 total sp

[An'ei Sekitan]

Iron Will
Rank: "C" Always 20 Training Points
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: User is more resistant to mental effects.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User gets a +2 bonus on all Will Saves.
Limit: Must learn from Universal Miscellaneous.

[0/20]

[Begin Training]

Houkou would leave the book on the table for a moment as he rose, walking back to the librarian’s desk, who was gazing at him very intensely, her hands below the desk counter. What’s her game? Houkou thought this to himself, and then began to feel a pressure building on his mind, as if someone was pressing a great weight upon it, trying to destroy his resolve. A booming headache blossomed, electric fire pulsing on all the synapses of his brain, his natural defenses kicking in when assaulted by some form of mental attack. Who could be assailing him right now, here in the very library of Kusagakure no Sato, and yet the answer was obvious. The librarian.

Images began to swim before his eyes, flashes of images for the most part, without substance as they tried to burst through his own mental firewalls. It was a Genjutsu that was being cast upon him, although he did not know which one it could be, only that he would need all of his concentration to beat this powerful imagery. His hands gripped the desk as his veins bulged, caught unaware by this attack he did not have his Sharingan active and it was all he could do to hold on, sure he could break at any moment. Already he could feel his vision begin to slip, becoming blurred and shifted, those images becoming more tangible as his will began to weaken.

This was the power of compulsion, but it was so heavy to nearly break through his own will, which meant it could be the work of the Sh.U.B.O. Hello again, Houkou. The voice was invading his mind, it was her again, his mother. Did he not kill her? Just submit…give in…. He could feel his own will beginning to crack, he would have to dig deep to fight this, the barrier that was his will was evaporating rapidly and soon he would be under their control again. However this was a power struggle, they were just barely beating his will, the cracks were very slow to spread, the barrier slow to evaporate. He could not go back! He could not be captured again! Despair was sinking in, pulling him beneath the waves, choking him in those black depths…

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Iron Will
Rank: "C" Always 20 Training Points
Skill: Supplementary
Effect: User is more resistant to mental effects.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User gets a +2 bonus on all Will Saves.
Limit: Must learn from Universal Miscellaneous.

[0/20]

[Begin Training]

A light above, his freedom, it was dwindling as the metaphoric air was choked from him, his mind becoming ensnared as the images of a false freedom danced before his eyes. His mother’s voice rang in his head now, she was deep in his mind, his defenses almost defeated. Quit fighting my son. This is your destiny. No more running. No more running? No more pain, no more questions, all of that would go away and he would not have to worry any longer. His body would be autonomous, working of its own accord as they would puppet him, while he got to stay in the bliss of oblivion. Another image passed, a young girl, blond hair and light pink flesh…Ko.

What would happen to Ko? They had tried to kill her before, when Houkou had run with her, when he had fought his way from the grips of Sh.U.B.O to make sure she lived a free life. They would use him to kill her, to kill his own daughter, and he could never allow that. A roar that was possibly in his mind, or maybe it escaped his lips, and he began to fight back harder. That light above began to flood his vision as he pushed back against the tides of Compulsion, the power of their Thrall, and he could feel the cracks sealing in his defenses. Nobody would take Ko from him, none could have his daughter!

Again and again his will pulsed and bulstered, becoming something more than it was, rebuking that mental attack from the librarian. It was stone, it was rock solid as it held against the onslaught, but it was not rock at all. It was stronger than that, it was Iron, pure and powerful, heavy and resilient. From deep inside he fueled his reserves, powered his will, and pushed back the compulsion that was flooding his mind. The images began to decay, becoming nothing before his eyes and he could see clearly again, opening them although he did not realize he had closed them in the first place. The final skin of that attack was shed by his iron will, a bastion before him that would allow no others purchase.

[End Training]

As his eyes opened and focused, he found himself still at the table, and realized what had happened before he even looked around. He had fallen asleep at the desk, dreamed the whole thing, but his mind felt more powerful than before regardless. A powerful dream and a powerful reminder.

[KoKoKo]

learned

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

Something caught his attention to the left, movement between the shelves, and the ghost of someone he thought he had seen before. Someone potentially threatening. Slowly he rose from his seat, quietly, so as not to draw their attention as they had not noticed him yet. His first step was tentative, slow and deliberate, testing the ground as he tried to move as quietly as he could. The floor boards would creak as the toe of his boot would meet the floor, a long a slow groan as he shifted his weight onto that foot, resting his weight on the ball of his left foot. Gritting his teeth, Houkou allowed the rest of his foot to come down on the board, eliciting another agonizing groan from the floor, and a tougher gritting of the teeth once he was finally done.

Lifting his other leg and maneuvering it around the chair slowly, his calf would rub the edge, causing the chair to slide ever so slightly, grinding on the wood floor. Holding back a sigh as he had never needed to be stealthy before, having always blasted his way into everything, Houkou brought that left leg to bear and placed it upon the floor after a step fashion. This time the floor did not creak as he placed his foot down on the floorboards, the only rustle being his pants, which were jeans for now. That scrape was not nearly so loud as to concern him, but he could not be sure, so as he placed the weight on his left foot, he kept his eyes on his target, who seemed to have not been alerted so far. She was two isles away, a cart of books next to her, and Houkou realized it was the librarian that looked familiar. Just like the dream…

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

Another step to bring him closer to his target, that right leg relinquishing the weight that it held, slowly it would begin to lift from the board. To accompany it was the loud groaning creek, seemed elongated by the need to be stealthy, as the heel of his boot finally lifted from the board. With more muscle control he would begin to lift that foot the rest of the way, as slowly as he could, trying to mitigate that groan from the boards so that he could be somewhat successful at avoiding detection. To no avail however, as the ball of his foot was finally leaving that board, so did another sound to accompany his departure, calling out to any who were paying enough attention to hear him.

Finally he would bring that right leg to swing before him, rustling his jeans as he had before, but another problem would arise that he had not considered. The shifting had caused the blade on his left hip, Unnamed, to bang against the table he was still near, and although it was light, it sounded deafening to his ears. Normally that would not be a problem, however with the concentration it was taking to attempt stealth, he abandoned the normal muscle memory that kept his blades from striking the table or any other objects around him. Cursing under his breath, he watched in mid step to see if the librarian had noticed, but she made no indication of such.

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

Finally satisfied that she had not heard, still stocking those books on the shelves, he would begin to move again. Slowly he would place his right foot on the floor before him, the toe of his boot finding purchase on the wooden floor once again, but this time without the creaking that had come from his last step attempt on this leg. Gingerly he would allow the weight to settle on the right leg, first allowing the entirety of the ball of the front of his foot to take the weight, then allowing the rest of the foot to settle, and finally allowing an equal distribution to each foot. So far so good, but then a voice from behind him.

“Sir…what are you doing?”

Houkou turned to the voice, the assistant librarian, and shrugged before walking away into an isle; he would need to be more careful. His target was three isles away now, due to that interruption, but he would not give up hope, although she was moving much quicker than previously. Instead of avoiding all sound, he would move with the shadows of the book cases themselves, being early morning, they cast quite a few. He stayed low and moved forward, eyes alert for the assistant as well, as she would give away his location just as easily. This seemed much more efficient as he slid through the darkness, although he would need to keep practicing his footwork too, as he was practically clomping along with his heavy boots.

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

Another foot forward, another step to take on his path to discovery, but in this case it was the identity of that librarian that had haunted his dreams as well; if it had been a dream at all. He stepped with his foot, testing his footing, seeing if these boards would creak. They did not, instead holding his weight quite well, and he allowed his foot to take its equal portion of weight to keep himself centered. But as he began to move his left, he could feel a shift, as if he had not been completely on that foot and his weight shifted to the left. As his left foot, the one the front collapsed briefly, Houkou had already made some commotion.

He had reached his hand out to grip the bookshelf to steady himself, a reflexive action, but one that might cost him everything he had been working for. A single book had been knocked off the shelf and slapped the wooden floor, which sounded like a thunder crack to his ears. Quickly he picked up the book, placing it on the shelf and keeping his eyes peeled. The assistant librarian was on her way, walking steadily toward his isle, which meant that Houkou would need to hide before he was spotted or it might ruin everything he worked for.

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

Swiftly he moved around the shelf to the other isle, staying near the side he entered, the opposite side she would enter the other isle from. Hopefully she had not seen him, as she entered a split second after he got out, and now he was watching her through the top of the second shelf of books. She was searching for him, the source of the disturbance, and she seemed to have a critical eye. As those eyes swept his way, he would duck and use the books on the shelf as cover, finally peeking after a second or two to see if she was still looking, and she was but turned from him. Having never noticed before, Houkou found that he had rather heavy breathing, something that others could easily pick up on.

With a bit of concentration, Houkou began to focus on his breathing, calming it down ever so slowly. It began to change from the heavy pant of a wolf to a slower huff, a little quieter, a bit less animalistic. Each second would afford him more control over his breathing, as it began to come to him like a short gust, closer and closer to silent. Then a breeze would be his breath, followed by a passing of air, until finally there was no sound to be heard from each breath he took.

[End Training]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Stealth
Rank: "E"
Skill: Sophisticated Skill
Effect: User is skilled at avoiding detection, allowing the user to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Relevant Abilities: Initiative Skill. Die Rolls: 1 Die Roll. Check Requirement: Always. Opposed: Observation. An individual or creature uses this skill to hide from a casual observer using available concealment and/or cover. In essence, they try to remain motionless and crouched down or prone, so as not to draw attention. Unless the user hides behind total concealment, however, the user may still be visible to the careful observer. This skill also allows a character to move without being heard, a successful check avoids drawing the attention of observers and thus the user can sneak past them if not in their line of sight. Some practical applications of Stealth follow:
Limit: Must learn from Skills.

0/5 TP
0 SP

[Begin Training]

The librarian assistant began to turn to her left and Houkou began to move right, stepping lightly as he did so, attempting to keep from making any sound with each step. In turn, he was doing his best to make sure that his blades never banged the shelf, as they would surely give him away. Keeping low, he watched her for any sudden movements to her pattern, although it looked like she was almost about to give up the search. A creak in the floor was the last thing he had wanted, and yet there it was, and then her eyes were moving swiftly toward him. He ducked again, but he was a little too slow.

“Who is that?”

Houkou began to move the opposite direction as the assistant made her way to the right side of the isle, whipping around the corner just as Houkou disappeared to the other side. Watching her from the books once more, he could see her scanning the isle swiftly, taking in everything, but Houkou dare not move. Finally she turned and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The assistant looked back at the sigh, Houkou ducking once again to maintain his stealth, and waited until she walked away. That was a very close one.

[End Training]

[Deleted]

learned 6 times
+30 tp

narutoforumrp.proboards.com/post/1066205/thread

31 sp