Featherook Training Facility

[Nira]

ooc: ONWARDS TO ADVENTURE, FRIENDS!

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Katto Serena-do (Cutting Serenade)
Rank: C
Skill: Ninjutsu, Vocal
Effect: The user creates sound blades with their vocal cords.
Special: Singing
Drawback: The user cannot perform hand seals while utilizing this technique.
Description: The user forms blades out of the sound waves in their throat, expelling them from their mouth. Three waves will be produced. The waves are thin lines, and very sharp. They will fly, fast, for about ten meters before they stop. The expand in crescent shapes as they fly.
Limit: Art of the Bard, 'Singing'.

0/10

Like winds, sounds can cut. They’re not only limited to the world of vibrations. They’re quite dangerous as well. Sound is the manipulation of air particles in the same way that wind ninjutsu does. Though, of course, you don’t have wind jutsu to compare that too. It’s easy enough though. Just remember that air is thin. So thin, in fact, that you can’t even see it around you. That’s a vital key. You take what you know is there, but is so small that it can’t be gazed upon by the naked eye.

To make cutting blades of sound, the music must grind. Concentrate the energy into your mouth, like an explosion waiting to happen. It must be ordered into lines, and then thrown force with the advancing wave of sound. These lines are impossibly thin, as air particles are much smaller than particles of things such as metal. However, since they don’t have much substance, the distance of the blades is limited. Ten meters, and that is when they stop and move no longer.

The end result of this technique is a set of wide crescent shapes. Of course, your mouth isn’t that big, not as big as you’d want these to be in any case. That’s why expansion is also part of the technique. Although the blades start out compressed, you want them to be just as sharp from beginning to end. Thus, you don’t want a side-by-side compression that dulls the sound blades. Instead, you want a forward-and-back compression that places air in a wider blade.

Think of it as launching a cleaver from your mouth. A cleaver is still as sharp as ever, but there is some luggage of metal behind it. As the crescent of sound blades expand, it becomes like stretching out the metal. It’d be hard to actual metal, but air stretches easily. The blade that’s so much like a cleaver will soon be like a katana. Then it continues on until it’s as thin as a thread, before it finally falls apart and joins the less harmful atmosphere in their usually dance of gas.

There are three blades for this technique, three slices of sound. Each sharp and much like the strike of a sword. Take care as you strike with them, since they may hit allies who are in your day. The air is a moving division. It is difficult for softer particles to remain centered with the sound. Instead, they are urged to part to the side, to make way and split their measly bonds. Arrange the blades however you wish, the key is to do so at a long and enclosed space, where it is nigh impossible to dodge. A hallway being a good one.

[Captain M]

LEARNED

[Nira]

Focused Blast
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A soulcaster can expand the area of Searing Soul, shaping it into a cone to hit more than one opponent.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User is capable of performing Searing Soul, however it becomes a cone effect attack instead of a line attack. Because it's a cone attack the distance is shorter as well. For every 2 meters the user may perform Searing Soul they are capable of creating a cone effect of 1 meter. Knowing Searing Soul 1 time will allow the user to perform with Focused Blast with a distance equal to 7.5 meters in cone effect. The speed of this technique is still the same as the user's capability as Searing Soul.
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster. Must know Searing Soul.

0/10

Let's take a look at our soulcaster capabilities. As you know, there are very few offensive moves you can manage when using soul energy. That's fine, it's the energy of life, and not geared towards the manipulation of the world. However, the primary offensive skill of attacking the soul can be amplified in its range. Usually, it's launched in a straight ray, but this can be expanded into a cone spotlight, which carries the same speed but is much more effective for the purpose of eradicating soul.

So expand the ray of soul, you have the change the intended gear of your attack. That is to say, you must open your soul. Let your emotions come pouring out, one way or another. The human mind is all over the place. Although searing soul is more focused thanks to its offensive application, mixing it to the chaos of the mind allows it to strike at many more foes. Unfortunately, this would reduce the range. After all, you're stretching a concentrated beam like it were gum.

Have you ever watered down a garden with a hose? You know how you can shift the expansion of the water with proper manipulation? A jet stream of water originates from having a lot of pressure behind a small and precise opening. When released, all that power helps to increase the distance of the water, and allow you to reach far expanses. You'll still have a high concentration of power now, but with a larger and angled opening that releases the water into a heavy shower.

Careful though. When you release soul in a high concentration, they break through the walls of your body like water through a broken dam. If you don't control it, the soul will erode you and let loose far more than you're able to give. Open far enough to let the soul overwhelm your enemies, but keep that opening as rigid as the hardest steel. Never give away what you can't afford to lose, soul especially. That is the source of your life. Be too reckless with it, and there's nothing that awaits you except death.

The purpose of all this trouble should be obvious. The searing soul is a single ray to hit a single opponent, not useful enough for us in most cases. When confronted with a team or an army, you need the range to hit them all at once, or as many at one time as you can. The divided soul hits just as hard, because the force of life is absolute over the souls of others. It will fly forth, push away the essence of your opposition, and wash over them like a mighty and unstoppable wave. The diminishing of their heart.

[Solus]

Look at that, it's a +10 o.o

[Nira]

<Exit>

[Nira]

<Utilizing Training Thread>

<+1 TP per post still in effect from Component>

Lofted Stride
Rank: "D"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: User gains the ability to walk on water and do it silently.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User's soul grabs hold of their body and holds it just off of the ground making their movements much more quiet. The target of this Jutsu is personal. Duration is 5 hours per Class Level. By performing this Jutsu the user gains the effects of walking on any liquid as if it were firm ground. Mud, oil, snow, quicksand, running water, and even lava can be traversed easily, since the subjects’ feet hover an inch or two above the surface. (Creatures crossing molten lava still take damage from the heat because they are near it.) The subjects can walk, run, charge, or otherwise move across the surface as if it were normal ground. Does not leave footprints. User also gains a +10 per Class Level against an opponent's Observation Check due to the silent running.
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster.

0/10

Deena spoke,

There was a time where I had to outrun some lava after a failed attempt at conquering a cliff-side village.

It was quite terrifying.

So, like I usually do, I marched my armor over to this place I wanted. I burned it, smashed it, and made a mess of things, but their shaman eluded me. Then he used whatever kind of mysterious power to ignite the mountain peaks. There came the lava.

I recognized the danger, so I immediately began to retreat. Unfortunately, the lava apparently formed from the entire mountain. There were literally red cracks of heat coming to life right beneath my feet. In that time of stress, my instinct to survive reached into the depths of my soul. Even I, with all my abilities with fire, could not hope to survive stepping into a puddle of molten stone.

In a wonderful sort of understanding, the life essence in my feet reacted violently against the liquid rock coming to the surface. It was a strange feeling. I felt like I was sprinting regularly, but there was no thump of my feet against the floor. The tap of footsteps grew silent, because my soul had forced a distance of inches between the sole of my feet and the danger beneath.

Ha, rhymes and puns. Tanni’s a horrible influence.

Anyway, back to the mountain. See, with the shaman’s spell, the mountain itself grew red. It was never a volcano, which is why I never called it as such. Every bit of substance from the entire mountain was being formed into liquid destruction. I knew that if my body were to sink even a centimeter into that dreadful substance, then I would have met my demise. My skin melts in the heat, and then fuses with the stone. It was the greatest natural deathtrap.

Knowing the absolute power flowing under me gave my soul vigor. The repulsion that developed did not waver. It maintained the distance between me and my death. Our soul will always refuse to die, that trend was started way back with Vi. It assists us so long as we let it, and I was perfectly willing to let it assist me in that moment. Granted, I still burned. The heat that radiated from the surface was more than enough to give me trouble. Still, as long as I didn’t physically touch the liquid, my own flame resistances could withstand the rest of the damage.

So yes, I got away from the mountain that turned into a massive pile of melted stone. My feet got burned, but that’s just something that happens. It was a fine trade for being able to survive that ordeal.

Besides that instinctive activation, I also figured out how to use the floating mechanics of my sole’s soul for other applications. When used, we could walk across water without leaving a trace. No more of that splashy noise. It could be used in other forms of liquid terrain. Swamp mud or pools of quicksand come to mind. If you ever learn some of Elsie’s invisibility gimmicks, you could also leave no trace as you move about unseen.

[Beltran]

Learned

[Nira]

Shadow Perception
Rank: "C"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: Jutsu allows the user to perform Shadow Perceptions.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Shadows are quasi-real, drawing on energy from the Chakra of the User. Because they are at least partially real, they can have real effects. If you want to cause physical damage, bind or entangle someone, or create an obstacle, Shadow is a good choice.
Limit: ---

0/10

Elise’s wispy voice slipped in.

It’s about time to dive into the art of darkness. I can instruct you in the use of one of the more powerful realms of illusion. The shadow perception, as people call it now.

The blackness is a constant that endures for all of time. It is everywhere, so long as solidity persists. When we look to the ground, we see if following out every move. Even in the grandest realms of light, shadows exist anywhere the light fails to pierce. Thus, it is always persistent within us. That is the mindset you must adopt to use this perception. You must know that you are not using the shadow, you are a shadow.

Darkness is absence, but it is not oblivion. To act with shadow is to act with the negative side of reality. A monster of the shade, when summoned by your hand, will rob the world of its warm and comforting light.

Reach out now and touch the empty air. The light of this room pours in from every corner, and many shadows are cast onto the ground. Watch them now. Trace the pathway from your arm, to the shadow of the arm. Notice that, although the shadows do reach it, you can’t tell its path until you see the greys on the hard floor.

This is an example of another feature in shadows. The darkness can exist partially. Light can invade its presence, but it isn’t totally erased. Not only are shadows always waiting for the light to leave, they stick together like companions. The different levels of shadow perception techniques depend, many times, on how much the darkness is willing to associate itself with the light.

Look down again, and confirm what you already know. Every movement you make is copied by the shadow. It is itself a mirror. It performs like you do, and its actions are recorded into the past. This is what gives shadows intelligence as well. We fuel them with chakra and bring them to life, but they are still empowered by their ability to mimic. They can carry intelligence, because they life and act alongside intelligence for all of their existence.

The hidden realm never leaves us. If we ever expended all our energy for the sake of eradicating the realm of shade, there is only defeat at the end. Our existence is so temporary, but an absence is willing to wait forever.

So work alongside it now. Take the shadows into your hand and understand that it is a substance of infinity. Place chakra into your shadow and let it rise. Let the record of all your past actions be returned to you. The mirror of retreating brightness is the perception of shadow.

[rabble']

+10 & learned

[Nira]

Illusory Bolts
Rank: "D"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: Bolts of Illusory energy seemingly spring from the user's outstretched hands.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: Affects 5 where no 2 may be more than 10 meters apart. The user is able to perform this technique at a distance of 30 meters plus 15 meters per class level. The duration of this technique is Instantaneous. Illusory bolts strike unerringly (since the user's mind determines the flight path of the bolts), even if the target is in melee combat or has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the Jutsu. For every Class Level the user may hurl 2 Illusory Bolts. If the user fires multiple bolts, they can have them strike a single creature or several creatures. A single bolt can strike only 1 creature. The Jutsu can assume any appearance the user desires (i.e., small flaming skulls, pulsing orbs of electricity, globs of acid, shards of ice, etc.), each target receives a save to resist the damage they inflict. If the save fails, the target suffers "D" Rank worth of damage per bolt. If the save is successful, the target only 20% worth of damage, so 5 Illusory Bolts would feel like 1 believed Illusory Bolt.
Limit: Must know the Shadow Perception.

0/10

A simple attack for you to start off with is the illusionary bolts.

The shadow perception opens up to physical damage from illusions, and illusionary bolts is one of the most versatile of the basic strikes. To start with, concentrate your chakra into the shadows within yourself. The darkness present in your body from the lack of light. That is the origin point of your strike.

To use the illusionary bolts, you must allow that shadow to take a specialized shape. It can be anything you want. You could make them arrows or fireballs or lightning bolts. They will be a one-target strike no matter what type of projectile you make them into. Personally, I advise empowered arrows. It’s a bit neater, so forming it with a snap isn’t difficult.

When you have the image in mind, and the chakra fueled up, you can release the bolts as you please. They have no effect on inanimate objects, so you can only target the living. There’s no real point to targeting stones with trickery, after all. Due to the nature of it being an illusion, these bolts come with an added benefit of being immune to error. They strike true so long as the target isn’t completely cloaked by cover.

Isn’t that a wonderful feature? They are arrows that will not miss, and stopped only by shields absolute in their coverage. If you fire them now, you can direct them to any target within your awareness. With our other abilities, that’s quite a lot of possible targets to choose from. You should strike now at the dummies in this training arena to get an idea of it.

See? As you release the bolts, they hit the target without fail, even if it doesn’t inflict any damage on those dolls.

Unfortunately, there is a flaw with illusion attacks. If the enemy realizes that they are unreal, then they aren’t as affected by them. There is no complete immunity to the illusionary bolts, though. Even if you can’t strike with maximum force, the opponent still receives a fraction of the damage.

Each arrow, if recognized as unreal, deal a fifth of the damage that would have otherwise been dealt. Strike yourself with them and you’ll see. They are mere pins when they are make believe.

There is possible no better technique for the hunter, if they don’t put too much emphasis on the integrity of the hunt itself. Once you know the target and they are in range, you can begin an assault suited to your desires.

I’ve already used this technique plenty of times before, so as you can see, you can fire quite a lot of bolts right off the bat. Unfortunately, you can’t hit exact spots, only exact targets. The damage is still there, but their points of contact are essentially random.

[rabble']

+10 & learned

[Nira]

<Actively applying extra +1 TP per post with 'Training Area, Combat' component>

Shadow Walk
Rank: "A"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: User moves within an area of shadowy illumination to where it looks as if the user may be transporting from one area to another making the opponent feel and seem as if the user transports.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: Affects anyone the user touches up to 5 creatures per Class Level. The user is able to perform this technique on the target they touch. The duration of this technique lasts for 5 hours per class level. This technique may be negated. To use the shadow walk Jutsu, user must be in an area of shadowy illumination. User performs the hand seals needed and from an area of shadowy illumination those who are within the facility will see as if the user or users is capable of moving within the Shadows, as if they can teleport from Shadow to Shadow seeping out. The opponents who feel the attack will somewhat blank out as the user may move. During this time it looks like the User seeped from within the shadows, and then slowly seeps out from where the opponents come out of the small blank. Within this time the GenJutsu keeps the user or allies concealed from all those that are seeing. The user is able to continue on this technique into areas where the opponents cannot see the user as long as there is an area of shadowy illumination. This technique makes it difficult to hit the user.
Limit: Must know the Shadow Perception.

0/70

Now for something less about damage and more about the nature of darkness.

The shadow walk is a powerful displacement technique that makes you extremely hard to hit during a fight. It gives you the appearance of oneness with the shade, and you can then use it to dance around your opponent without a care in the world.

To begin with, know that this is an illusion. You have to project the nature of your dark shifts into the minds of those around you. To them, you have to be able to become a wisp that stretches out of their sight. Once again, you have to draw from the darkness inside yourself.

Imagine showing everyone around you the depths of a cavern without a single spark or shine. That emptiness that refuses you the ability to see your own limbs is what you want to inflict on whoever gazes upon you. To them, you have to be as irrelevant as the air.

You can't hold the effect, not with this technique at least. If you maintain the break of awareness for too long, the opponent will recover and realize the nature of what afflicted them. Ironically, it's like you're trying to be the sun. You shine with a darkness that forces people to keep you out of their center of attention, but doing so for too long makes them realize exactly where you are.

[Nira]

?/70

The entryway for illusions of this nature are the eyes. Let your enemies gaze upon you, only to see the formless puppet you keep leaving behind. Don't let them get too close or study too hard. You need to be completely cloaked by every inch of gloom within your range.

A good exercise is to stand in the utter darkness. Yes, with the training room lights turned off. That empty darkness you see now has to be condensed onto the surface of your skin. Use your chakra as a baseline, a tether for the elusive black to find a home in. You have to welcome what you're trying to project.

It has to be stuck on like glue. It must remained attached regardless of what external elements may assault you. Wear it like armor, or perhaps another skin. As your motion is caught by the eyes of those who dare to observe you, let them see a girl without a light to return.

You must be fluid in your movements. Although the technique does most of the work for you, your motions still have to connect you with a portion of the shade where you wish to go. When you see shadows move over things, they bend and cave into every curve. They wash over surfaces like a wave, a puzzle piece that you can't impede. Your movements must be similar.

[Nira]

?/70

After you get projections of shadow to function over your body, the next step you have to take is merging with the shadows of your surroundings. This is a bit more difficult, but the shadows are external. You won't be able to draw from the absence of light within your body.

Shadows in your surrounds seek to remain in peace. They don't like to be disturbed, and try their best to return to their proper shapes after they have been influence. This technique recognizes that, so the amount of manipulation in surrounding shadows amount to very little.

When you move with a Shadow Walk, you make your self appear to fade in and out of the dimness in the area. You melt like a droplet of liquid moving through rivers and oceans. Instead of moving the shadows around you, use take advantage of how they are already set.

To an observer, you have to appear like a portal jumper. As you move into one void, you must come out from another. This technique helps by blanking the mind of the observers, so that a longer motion feels much shorter in comparison. The gap in their mind makes your speed extraordinary. To make sure that the illusion doesn't shatter, you have to constantly match your darkness with the natural darkness of the environment.

[Nira]

?/70

This technique is capable of functioning with allies. It's an ability you are able to grant to others without consequence if that is your wish. To do so, you must apply the principles of project to them with a touch. This is almost as difficult as attempting to merge with external shadows, but not quite.

The factor that makes it easier on you is the similarity of body times. You are a living thing, you have a general idea of how living things function. You also have an understanding of the shadows that are bound within a person's insides. Drawing it out becomes your art.

One of the primary problems with this is that you can't feel the darkness in others as well as yourself. You have to work based on assumptions. This is something better done as an empathic person, but not required. An easy and relatable method is to image your face upon theirs.

It's harder with creatures that aren't humanoid, but there is darkness waiting behind everything. Their cells want nothing more than to dance in the lush absence. Through the use of this technique, you undo the chains to a person's internal shadows. As it becomes free, others are forced to observe the gaping black. When they move, light is swallowed up and spit through, forcing a person's image out of an observer's mindset.

[Nira]

?/70

Another bit of imagery to help you out is bubbles. If you've played with suds, and I know you have, you are aware of how it operates. Dryness is the light. Treat the shadows like bubbles. They enjoy the company of their kin, but are eliminated quite suddenly by their opposite.

In other to make your shadows comfortable, you have to create a dark environment where they can thrive. If one isn't immediately available, you have to forge your own. A general area of dimness is enough. Once there's a foundation for darkness to exist, it can begin to overrun the illumination that threatens it.

To make this area, practice removing the light. Cloak yourself in chakra and push aside the rays as they touch you. Reflect like a mirror, and you'll make the way for gloom. As you get the hang of it, begin expanding the area. Increase the range that your shadows can melt into.

Now it'll begin to resemble a bubble. To those that observe from outside, it's a blob of intense grey. Here, those with the technique applied to them can move within cover. They are granted a special concealment with every step they take. As long as they do not stop, it will cover their movements. They will hop in and out through portals of void.

[Nira]

?/70

As a note, you don't have any idea what an opponent is seeing when you move while this technique is active. The goal is to appear much like shunshin allows you to. The line that you tread is generally invisible during an instantaneous movement, and you have to mimic that effect.

When you move while under this techniques influence, you don't want to appear like you're out of breath, but you do need to run. You have to close the distance between one shadow to the next as fast as you can. If you take too long, the opponent recovers from their forced state of blank.

At the same time, from the moment you disappear and the moment you reappear, you have to seem like you are the same. It must resemble a teleportation for the opponent to truly be thrown off by your sudden displacement. From one end to another, you have to erase the line of travel, and exist only in the beginning and the end.

This technique expels a force that erases your presence to observers. It's like your first step releases a small pulse of chakra that disrupts the flow of energy in your opponents mind. As long as you keep stepping around and moving about, that pulse continues to fire and disrupt the minds of the observers. The effect only ends when you deviate from traveling.

[Nira]

?/70

Time for some demonstrations. Make a clone real quick, and I'll show you how the technique functions.

Okay, perfect. So here's how it goes. After I perform the technique, you'll see no change from me, yet. Although the effect surrounding my body, it has no form when I'm standing still. That's how it's supposed to work, it's not something that functions eternally. The nature of the technique is very subtle.

The goal is the surprise the opponent in combat. Watch what happens when I take a step towards you.

See? I'm behind you now. Weird right? Hardly saw me move before I slipped into the shadows. Before you can react, I'm already right behind you. Scary isn't it? I could engage you in melee now, and you'd have a rough time countering or increasing the distance between us.

Try and hit me now. See what happens if I dodge. As your attack hits, you'll see me melt away back into the shade. By the time you recover, you guessed it, I'm right behind you again. Watch this, too. I can unsheathe my blade during the movement period. Yes, a sword's in my hand before you even noticed.

Behind again, it'd be quite easy to slash you now. That is the effect you're striving for with this technique. Every new move you make to position yourself should be confusing to the opponent.

[Nira]

?/70

I get what you're thinking. You could hear my movements still. Surprising you with this technique isn't that big of an advantage. However, this is the bane of those who rely on their vision. Silence your ears and watch my movements again. This is more intense than any shunshin. To the enemy mind, at least.

When I move, I slip away from existence. It's not that I'm moving fast. If you really saw this outside the realm of illusion, you'd see my movements to be quite average. What we're doing is removing our presence from the reality of our enemies. When we blend into the shadows, we're not moving into a new physical realm.

The truth is much more powerful. We're slipping the knowledge of our movements into the darkness of a person's mind. The realm of the forgotten, where lost memories exist. They no longer understand the seconds where we step somewhere else. Their defensive instincts aren't even activated due to our peaceful intentions.

Beginning and end are the only parts that remain in the conscious part of an observer's brain. They see us only before our first step, and after our final one. The shade that removes acknowledgment is the shadow our technique taps into. There's no way for a person to erase their forgetfulness. If a person could not forget, then they are cursed by a burden of overwhelming knowledge.

[Nira]

?/70

Since the opponent blanks out when you move under the cover of this technique, you must move in a way that avoids making the opponent aware of their forgetfulness. By this, I mean to watch out when they're moving. If you force them into blanking out when they are using a quick motion, they may snap out of the trance.

Basically, a person pauses when they blank out. The world grows silent for a small moment, and they hesitate. If that person were running during this moment, they may fall. When you begin to fall, your mind goes into a panic, and that may break the technique's hold. Keep it in mind when you keep yourself out of theirs.

Imagine a person being frozen solid whenever you step from shadow to shadow. Think to yourself, what would happen to their bodies if they were to be frozen in that exact moment? If they're standing still, they'll naturally keep standing still. When they're leaning too far over, they may tip into a fall.

It's an exercise in awareness. You need to know about how things will act during special moments. There's a lot of physics into it, but I think I have a good way to summarize it. When invoking the technique, just keep one thing in mind. As you see the oppoent, think to yourself, are they in a pose that you'd expect to find on a statue? If you can imagine them as a statue, then you're free to walk through the shadows.