Initiate Mysticism

[Kasumi Adsa]

 

Peer Moderation For Zinn'Sunn. This Thread has been approved for Peer Moderation, assigned to Peermod Amarillo under the authority of Gossamer , as per the accepted Modplan. Participants are advised that conditions and circumstances may be adjusted to ensure fairness and balance.

Training: Unbinding and Initiate Mysticism

28th of Melora, Winter, Era I of the Celestial Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum.


Location: The Sunn Monastery



For some unknown reason, the young Adsa felt a somewhat desire to seek out the Sunn Monastery. He had become somewhat interested in the art of arcana, and more specifically, mysticism. Arcana interested him simply because of the power behind it, not to mention the extent of what he could use it for. As for why he chose mysticism, it suited his future ambitions. He wanted to prove the Riishi murdered his brother and with a little mind reading or some other trickery it would be much easier. It had been quite some time that he had been thinking over the possibility of Arcana and today he finally made a decision, though it was more on a whim. There was always a chance he wouldn’t be gifted with the ability to use arcana. If that was the case it would make his goals a little harder, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

The Monastery was a nice change from what was common in the inner city. Most of the scenery around it was relaxing, and open. Unlike the city, there weren’t any merchants or clans, there were just monks. A few other people were around, but their presence didn’t mean much. As much as wasting time taking in the atmosphere could be interesting, he would prefer to get things started. He wasn’t impatient. He just felt that absorbing the atmosphere served little purpose. From what he had heard of Arcanaic training he would have ample time to take things slowly later on.

He approached the reception, or the Monastery equivalent of one. Just a single look at the man gave away a fair amount of information. From the way he carried himself it was a safe guess he was from one of the clans, and from the colour and style of his clothes it was obvious he was a member of the Adsa family and a high ranking one. Other small details confirmed this, such as his somewhat calm, but fierce expression and the passion shown through his eyes. It was quite common for someone of his position to have such an aura, one that demanded respect. His first words to the elf in charge would be a lot less formal or demanding as he appeared. His nature was more humble when he didn’t require the attention of devotion of those he lectured. In fact, more often than not he spoke calmly.

“Lileith, I would like to enquire about Mysticism and what training you offer?” Kasumi answered. It was an informal visit, and it seemed a little weird for someone such as himself to request the training rather than having a less important member set it up for him. He didn’t expect much trouble would come from his actions. After all, he was devoted to the Kemite beliefs and had more honour than most of the people dwelling inside the city walls.

[Amarillo]

OOC: Kasumi ... please check your timestamp. We're still in Era I of the Celestine Mandate ...
Also - I've got the go-ahead from GD Gossamer to be the Peer Mod for your training. Assuming you survive it, that is.

Lilieth watched as the young man in Adsa family colors stepped purposefully toward where she sat coquettishly behind the plain wooden structure that served for receiving first-time visitors to the Monastery. Leaning slightly forward, she turned her infamous smile upon him and - somewhat uncharacteristically - froze for a moment.

Something about those eyes... she thought.

Gathering her confidence about her like a well-worn suit of mail, she sat slightly more primly and looked imperiously toward the youth who had failed to introduce himself. More importantly, she looked down at his still-booted feet and HARRUMPHED softly in discontent. It seemed that youth these days had no true concept of what honor and tradition meant to those who had been around for the past several ordinances ...

Shaking her head sadly, Lilieth used her trademark speaking style to present the required information to the young Kemite standing before her. "Serale, master ..." her voice trailed off as she involuntarily prompted him to introduce himself properly, as was customary. "Here at the Sunn Monastery, we have several levels of learning in a number of Spheres, including that of the Mind. Do you carry credentials?"

She waited patiently for the young man's response, holding the devastating smile firmly planted on her full, rose-colored lips.

[Kasumi Adsa]

((OOC: I don’t remember saying he had shoes on... It really doesn’t suit my character to disobey such a simple courtesy. But yeah thanks for taking the thread, I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to change it. I quite want to play a normal Kemite character. The idea is still flexible but breaking a simple custom he wouldn’t do. Also it might take some time to get used to him. I just name his mother in this thread. I think I made this post overly long since almost nothing happens in it.))

For once the man’s reputation didn’t precede him as he had assumed. He made a mental note to remember this for future reference, though he’d discard it before too long. In fact it was trivial to him. A lowly female secretary wasn’t worth the time it would take to give an introduction. He would probably even go as far to consider the elf ignorant to not know who he was. Such little thoughts hardly registered with him. He didn’t care to waste any time on her and followed her request. As expected of someone of his upbringing a simple name was not enough. He had to add a few more pieces of information, such as a title or two. “Kasumi Adsa, third child of Ansai Adsa and his first wife Kotome; eldest son of the Adsa family of the Gryphon Clan.” He informed Lileith in a more formal tone. His pride wouldn’t let him announce himself in his normal demeanour.

Moving on from there the secretary requested if he carried credentials. The request was more a joke than anything to Kasumi. He couldn’t believe the elf would go as far to ask some so disrespectful. Did she suspect he wasn’t who he claimed to be? The very thought infuriated him. She was lucky he was more forgiving then some of most of his clan. He quelled his anger, figuring it was probably out of habit or a requirement. The elf probably didn’t know any better. It went without saying the Adsa didn’t carry any formal Identification on him. Why would the son of a well respected clan bother with such things? Under normal circumstances people knew and respected him. Though he didn’t carry any identification, there were a few ways to prove his Identity. First, a few people around the Monastery should know him. He was sure that the Clan had sent some people to train as Sunn Monks. His own clan’s people would easily be able to recognise him. Secondly, he might not have any formal identification, but he did have his swords, which were passed down through the Adsa family. Thirdly, surely this Master Mystic who would teach him could prove his identity, though he didn’t like the idea of having someone seeing his private thoughts.

“I don’t carry a visa on me. If you need proof of who I am, I’m sure there is someone in the Monastery who can attest for me” He answered after taking a deep breath. He left the responsibility to her, and without words it was quite obvious he wasn’t going to negotiate. Why would he ever need to prove himself to her? The two most likely paths he’d accept would be letting him through without any more trouble, or for her to find the proof she needed. Of course if she continued to waste his time then he’d have to take another course of action and probably one she would not like. Even though such possibilities could come to pass, he hoped everything would move along smoothly. He didn’t like wasting his time, and would quite preferably begin his lessons.

[Amarillo]

As the young man spun off the titles associated with his status as one of the scions of the Adsa clan, Lilieth silently berated herself for what must appear to have been a major gaffe. That is, until she realized that she was an employee of the Monastery, and particularly those who practiced in the mind-bending sphere of arcane associated with the Essence of Thought – those whose Mystic powers were definitely a force to be reckoned with.

His formal tone would have registered as an adversarial approach at the best of times. Now, after the pronouncement by the Royal Magus only a cycle or so ago in the Herald and the uproar it had caused in several circles (not least of which were the practitioners housed here at the Monastery), the combination of pride and scorn rubbed the slender elf the wrong way entirely. However, she was also the consummate professional, and would undertake the interactions required by her position with all the aplomb she could muster.

As soon as the youth’s second sentence parted the quiet atmosphere of the reception area, Lilieth understood at least part of the problem. And at least a portion of the blame lay with her OWN initial presentation. She’d simply assumed the well-to-do clothing meant someone with experience in arcane matters; what she’d failed to impart was the real request that she was making.

“I apologize for any confusion, Master Adsa. When I asked about your credentials, I was referring to your ARCANE credentials. You see, you’d enquired about what we at the Monastery had to offer and part of responsibility associated with my position is to ascertain whether an applicant – such as your illustrious self – would have the necessary background to attempt the courses we offer.” Her voice dropped to a more confidential level as she continued. “After all, it would be bad publicity for a student to be killed while attempting education, wouldn’t it? And as I also have to match the student with an instructor … well, you understand my dilemma.”

She pondered a moment longer, assessing the apparently impetuous nature of Kasumi. The very depth of his indrawn breath hinted at what could be mistaken for marginal control of emotion. Such a fellow would probably find the quiet calm necessary for practicing arcane highly demanding, if not an unattainable impossibility … she thought.

Sighing, she spoke aloud once more. “To be perfectly clear, Master Adsa … I require certification for your level of mastery in the arcane arts … AND some indication of your understanding of just what it is we DO here. For example – how familiar are you with the prerequisites and abilities of a Mage at each level, what steps are involved in proceeding from one level of expertise to another, etc, This is so that the fees associated with your training are commensurate with the level of difficulty. Higher levels of mastery are more expensive, both in monetary value and in your personal time and effort.”

“Finally – IF I can find an instructor to accommodate your requirements – you’ll have to discuss what you intend to accomplish directly with them, as each instructor sets forth his or her own ideas on curriculum. Please remember we at the Monastery do not guarantee your success. Every individual student has different potential in terms of arcana. We simply try to maximize the value that each receives in the course of their training.”

With that, the elfess rested her hands primly in her lap, somewhat below the level of the wooden surface posing as a desktop. Her attention was focused intently on the next words the young scion would inevitably utter.

[Kasumi Adsa]

He would prefer things to pass quickly but with the small amount of words they had exchanged a misunderstanding had occurred. Possibly due to his nature or to her lack of clarity, though probably more the clarity. Anyways, Kasumi was unaware of this until the elf chose to explain what she meant by credentials. The explanation cleared up most things, including his slight annoyance at the elf. A nagging thought made him wish she had explained properly to start with. The mistake disturbed his calm a little, but much below any noticeable level; it was more like a feeling.

In her explanation he had relaxed a little, moving his hand to rest on the hilt of his sword, though little else changed. He had spent many days in family meetings where appearances were everything, and had grown accustom to it. Only when he was by himself or with someone he trusted did he let he let himself relax. He had to appear strong lest the attempts against his life become more frequent. For a high-ranking member of clan this was often the case. The weak were either achieved nothing or ended up dead. He had made his position clear, but still fools came after him. Their lust for power outweighed their intelligence. Up to now, none of them have succeeded.

After she had finished, his aura -if you could call it that- had changed. He appeared willing to co-operate. After most of the information she had given him, he only had little to give back to her. He could explain to her everything he knew about arcana, but that seemed hardly necessary. He did know a fair bit about arcana even though he hadn’t taken it up yet. His mother was an honourless mage and it somehow it always intrigued him why she was brought into the clan as Ansai first wife. He did a little study on her that didn’t turn up anything useful, but during the time he had looked into a few things she had done, most prominently arcana.

“I know enough about Arcana and the way it is set up to understand its principals, the idea of levels and what is involved throughout it. I know this information yet I am still bound, which obviously means I lack any magic ability as of yet. I’ve come here seeking training to further my own abilities, not only in arcana, but in understanding and wisdom as well. I hope that this training will serve to aid Zinn’Sunn in the future.” He answered in same tone he had used when he had first spoken to her. He had given what he believed sufficient information on what she had asked. Anything he didn’t mention he forgot or felt it wasn’t required. Hopefully, for the second time today he hadn’t assumed too much.

[Amarillo]

It was a good thing her attention was focused so completely on his words; there were several things in Kasumi’s presentation that sounded like book learning, without the benefit of having a live Master of arcane to interpret what someone (undoubtedly still bound themselves) had scribbled on a piece of parchment. And … now that he mentioned it … he didn’t have the “authenticity” to his persona that someone who had been successfully unbound attained. Lilieth should know; all these patterns holding down the desk here at the Monastery had taught her THAT much, at least. The hauteur of his entrance had simply overwhelmed her better judgment for a moment or six.

She lifted her right hand from her lap, and waved it unceremoniously over the space on the desk to her left. Where once had been but bare wood, now there lay an open ledger and a sharpened quill. An open glass pot containing vermilion-colored ink also appeared. As her hand stopped moving, she let her fingertips touch the top of the page, right where the first empty line appeared.

“As you have yet to be unbound, that automatically puts you at the level of pre-Initiate. Which, fortunately enough for you, ALSO means you’ll be paired with Sunnfather Benis. We’ll need you to sign the register … here … and date it … here … and print your full name … here.”

She waited a moment to make eye contact. When she was sure he was watching, she let her gaze narrow ever so slightly and tapped the page meaningfully as she added, "The fee for Initiate training - which includes the act of Unbinding - is five hundred Empire crowns, in gold. Payment is to be made at time of registry."

Her gaze softened somewhat at the obvious youthfulness of Kasumi. Indeed, what human could hope to appear other than youthful to an elfess of some hundred or more patterns? Lilieth’s vibrant tone softened slightly as she finished with a single sentence. "Of course, should you fail to achieve Unbinding, your fee will be returned to you, less a small administration charge of fifty crowns."

The sentence would perhaps serve as a reminder that not all things occurred according to the planning of the participants; sometimes the greater Weave had other surprises in store. Besides, the "administration charge" only covered a portion of the costs associated with the removal of a corpse.

[Kasumi Adsa]

Things had definitely started to move in a positive direction. After a few more minutes with this elf he’d begin his learning, or so he believed. Kasumi didn’t know much about the temple other than what he had heard or read, and the details of applying for training wasn’t something he picked up. Therefore he listened to the elf’s instructions on what to do next. The request was easily granted by the kemite. He wrote down his details in near perfect hand-writing. A useless skill he had picked up from his youth in the clan. It might impress a few, but he definitely didn’t care about it.

While he finished off the last of what he was writing the elf started speaking about payment. It was normally around five-hundred gold crowns to learn any arcana at the basic level. It wasn’t something he could recall off the top of his head, but she had reminded him anyway. Normally a trivial amount as such would mean nothing to Gryphon such as himself. This time however, he had to pay for it with his own money. Something he couldn’t say he had a lot of. The clan didn’t give out money too often to their people, though Kasumi still was able to get some money out of his work. The amount he had at the moment though, wasn’t enough to afford this training. Still, there was a chance that wouldn’t matter. Admitting he couldn’t afford the training would be absolute last thing he’d rely on. Surely this Monastery would give him training in exchange for something else. He had supposedly learnt sometime in the past how to be convincing and such, but without practice he couldn’t be sure if he could completely hide his ulterior motive to get out of paying.

Once he had finished writing and she had finished speaking, instead of handing over the crowns he gave pause. “It feels a little cheap for me to just pay with crowns. I’d feel better if I could offer my services to the Monastery instead. I’m sure the skills I have will be worth much more than simple crowns.” His expression and body language followed his question perfectly. Nothing was over exaggerated, and the simple signs of lying were avoided. To him, it was a quite successful attempt though nothing was ever perfect. Maybe the elf with all her experience could see through the young humans act, but he prayed not. He had faith that even if she was experienced she wouldn’t be able to tell without knowing him a little better.

What happened next depended on how the elf wanted things to go. If she wanted to ask a little more into his reason behind not wanting to pay then he’d have to continue with his lie. She could also agree to his conditions without looking into why he didn’t want to pay. At worst she could even refuse his offer and force him to try to find another reason that he shouldn’t pay, but by then it would be very difficult for his motive not to be noticed. There were other paths, but these were the most obvious and the ones he had put most of his thought into. He was quite good at planning things, but this time like most, he preferred not to think too far ahead.

[Amarillo]

She’d read Kasumi’s story from his initial appearance correctly, it seemed. He was one of those who came from a rich (literally!) background, adrift in crowns because of clan connections – and maintained his status because he’d not spend the coin for something he could otherwise attain through action … or even inaction. The fact that he offered service to the Monastery in exchange for payment meant things would probably become very interesting, once Sunnfather Benis got his … talons … into the young man.

She frowned thoughtfully, as if considering the Adsa scion’s request as unusual; in fact, if he’d bothered to do some field research(like asking one of the monks or trainees outside) instead of just waltzing in like the third son of a powerful noble he’d have discovered that the Monastery PREFERRED community service. For one thing, it kept the tax burden down by not having to claim income! And in her book, any monies not being sent to the local Thane or that poor excuse for an Imperial Regent were better used to support and develop the local populace – in this case, the City of Song and the Sunn Monastery. Tapping her fingers on the still-open tome, Lilieth let the frown drift cautiously away, to be replaced by a slow series of nods that inevitably punctuated her next few words.

“If you’re actually serious about trading your skills for learning, I believe there MIGHT be room in the Initiate program. Just what you’ll have to offer will be up to Sunnfather Benis, of course. He’ll be overseeing your service, as it were.” She kept nodding for a moment longer and then straightened self-consciously to a more prim and proper position.

“Of course, it may be that what you have to offer isn’t enough, in which case he’ll arrange that the Monastery finds a way to have you pay the difference in coin of the realm.”

She picked up the same quill Kasumi had used and dipped it in the vermilion ink before making a notation in flowing elven script just beneath his signature. What the notation said was probably not understood by the young Kemite; not unless he’d been a scholar of obscure Trelorean dialects, handed down from mother to daughter for nearly six thousand patterns.

Lifting the quill gracefully, Lilieth used the feathered end to point to an as-yet-unnoticed doorway off to the left of the main entrance … approximately halfway around the room from where the dark-haired youth now stood. On the good side, it appeared he’d controlled his nervousness (if, indeed, he had any to begin with) and had exhibited some amount of patience – at least, it could be read that way by an impartial observer once the initial fog of misunderstanding had been cleared.

“Through that door, turn to your left, second doorway on your right. Sunnfather Benis is currently away on personal business, but will be in his office and ready to see visitors …” She consulted a small book lying below counter level, flipping a few pages in each direction to make sure there were no other scheduling conflicts. “… around the sixth candlemark after rosyun, on 29 Melora.” She paused a moment to fix the young man with her best gimlet stare. “That would be tomorrow, Master Adsa. And in case you haven’t heard yet … he does NOT wait well.”

[Amarillo]

Today was the second-last day of the third cycle in Melora. Yesterday’s business had not gone as well as he’d hoped; there were still several loose ends needing to be sewn up. And there’d been that message from Lilieth that there was a new student supposedly coming in today. Good thing the artisans had used the first part of this cycle to finish with the redecorating …

The Master’s chamber seemed perfectly normal when compared with the rest of the Monastery’s architecture. There was the requisite thin sliding panel of carved bamboo that passed for a door to the hallway on the room’s north side. It was the entry sued by all the Monastery staff; at least, by those who wanted to continue enjoying their personal allotment of life expectancy. A pair of colorful rugs with motifs representing the heavens sprawled comfortably across the tiled floor. A window frame was on the wall opposite the door; through it, a view of the Monastery’s fields appeared with the more distant horizon defined by the Chinthe District’s northernmost wall.

The furnishings were almost austere; a large, low, square table stood near the west wall. Made of a black wood not native to Lauryl, its worn surface drew the observer’s eye and held it – usually. Scattered along the eastern wall were a handful of colorful silk pillows and a pair of plain bamboo chairs. The chairs were situated such that they faced the table, and not each other. In fact, someone sitting in one chair would only barely be able to discern someone in the other chair out of the corner of their eye – without physically turning their head, that is.

Then again, that was the whole point, wasn’t it? Benis “dabbled in the Mystic Arts” as he kept telling his colleagues. How he managed to keep a straight face when uttering a line like that was a minor mystery in itself, according to Monastery gossip…

Other than the furnishings, the room appeared to be empty.

[Kasumi Adsa]

Thankfully an easy path had been given to him. She gave indication that his services would indeed be accepted as a replacement. Though whether his so called services would be worthy enough to cover the whole fee and the extent of what he would do was up to Sunnfather who’d teach him Mysticism. Kasumi saw little reason to conclude this as a bad outcome since he had got his wish. So he’d consider this a success until he learnt something new. The Sunnfather he was assigned to was Benis, and along with a quick description of how to get to his room and when he could meet with him, was a warning. She advised him not to be late and he’d take her advice. The only thing that was left was his schedule, but luckily everything checked out there; a gift from the gods perhaps.

He nodded slightly in acknowledgement when she was done. “Very well, Lileith, I shall come back on the 29th.” He left the Monastery without wasting another second after the business had concluded. He was always preferred things to end quickly, because the more time it took, normally the more complicated it got. He could spend a little time observing the monks though it wasn’t really his place. Surely the Gryphon clan had some members already doing so. Since waiting around the Monastery wasn’t for him, he would return to the Gryphon Clan Complex and maybe play some board game to pass the time.

29th of Melora.

He had written down the appointment he had in some sort of schedule he had in his room when he had arrived home on the day before. It was little more than a habit since in a day he couldn’t possibly forget something so important. Kasumi was prepared much earlier than he needed to be and he left with ample time to make it to the Monastery. The elf had said the Sunnfather didn’t like waiting and Kasumi didn’t intend to make a bad impression ever, if he could. He navigated through the streets with ease until he finally left the city walls. The Gryphon Clan probably arranged for him to be followed in case anything happened. They liked to force hardships on their sons, but they wouldn’t risk losing an important member to some cheap ambush.

The quite long walk to the Monastery had turned out to be uneventful. Something the Adsa found quite pleasant. Not only did the walk give him time to relax and possibly think over a few things, he also didn’t have to put up with any unwanted trouble. This meant his journey to the Monastery was well within his set time limit. He should arrive early to meet this Sunnfather, which should make his first impression a good one. Kasumi from face value alone looked to be strong, determined, and intelligent. That along with not doing anything that would outright annoy the Sunnfather would give quite the impression. The fact he was from the Gryphon clan might cause a little trouble, but Kasumi couldn’t change that.

Before entering the Monastery Kasumi followed proper procedure and remove his footwear, which was nothing more than simple sandals. He again approached the counter straight away and said a quick word about his arrival before moving on to the room he had been instructed was the Sunnfathers. Whether the person at the desk was the same person as yesterday depended on how he treated the situation. If it was the elf he had met yesterday he’d keep thing simple, if not he’d have explain a little more. None the less the interaction between him and the secretary was quite short today.

He entered the room of the Sunnfather following whatever would be considered to be polite, such as waiting until the Sunnfather was ready to see him or whatever. The room wasn’t much different then Kasumi had expected and in fact he quite liked the feel of it. In his residence there was often a little more wealth shown off them he thought was needed. To him, some of the rooms looked a little tacky, but it wasn’t worth changing. He waited for the Sunnfather’s words or something of indication of what he wanted to Gryphon to do.

[Amarillo]

As Kasumi had expected, the streets of the city between his residence and the Shisa Gate were fairly empty at the hour he chose to journey to the Monastery for his appointment with Sunnfather Benis. The portion outside the walls was not a problem either, except that the distance covered was longer due to the roundabout nature of the path itself. With the dips and turns in the roadway, Kasumi could not be absolutely positive that he had clan members following him … but it WAS a fairly safe bet that the Adsa family would not let one of its scions – even the third son – come to a grim end through inaction or ignorance.

With all that in mind, it was little wonder that the young man arrived early for his scheduled meeting. Not tremendously early … it was more than five candlemarks past rosyun. In fact, as Kasumi removed his sandals the Kalendryas device within the Monastery chimed the half-past mark. His brief comment to Lilieth did not go unnoticed; however, her only response was to smile encouragingly and wave her hands in a shooing motion toward the doorway that led to the hall outside the Master Mystic’s offices.

He passed through the doorway, made the correct turnings to reach the Sunnfather’s door … and paused. Although he’d been led to believe he was expected, the sliding portal was closed. There was no sound from the other side to indicate occupancy, either. After he thought he had waited sufficiently, he opened the door and entered … into what appeared to be a furnished chamber devoid of life. There was no sound or breath of air coming from the south-facing window, even though there had been a typical late-season wind aiding his passage from the city to the Monastery grounds.

His brief examination of the furnishings was interrupted no sooner than it had begun by the portal being slammed back into its wall slot and a solid-looking Kemite with hair the color of a burning sunset bustled through mumbling under his breath. Without looking up from the parchment in his left hand, he barged right past Kasumi – so close the Adsa scion could smell the mild scent the stranger used during his morning toilet. All the younger man could make out of the mumbling was the phrase “… burn those bunnies to the ground, I will …” repeated several times in quick succession in a very guttural rendition of the Kemish tongue.

When the newcomer had reached the wall furthest from the door, he did not bother to turn but simply waved his right hand nonchalantly in the general direction of that opening – which meant he also waved it at Kasumi, since he’d passed in such close proximity. From his hand there blossomed a sphere of actinic light about the size of an apple, which proceeded to float with alarming accuracy toward the young man’s midsection.

If he was favored by either Io or Prensia (or, given the circumstances, both!) Kasumi had about three seconds before the spheroid made contact.

[Kasumi Adsa]

Not long after Kasumi had entered the room, another man had done the same. Kasumi had only been able to catch a slight view of this person, but would assume he was the Mystic teacher, Sunnfather Benis. Things such as the weird smell and whatever it was the man was reading suggested he had only just woken up. Kasumi didn’t mind that, as long as this man wouldn’t want to wait for too long before beginning the lesson. Kasumi didn’t like the idea of waiting around when he had been requested to come in so early. Everything else seemed fine except for possibly the most disturbing feature he had noticed so far. The Sunnfather was mumbling something weird – very weird – about bunnies or something. This training could be a little more hazardous than he had originally expected.

Kasumi had decided it’d be better to leave the Sunnfather alone until he was ready to teach. Something about an insane master mystic made him cautious, enough so that his hand had subconsciously made its way to his sword. What the mystic did next really through Kasumi’s mind. Even though he had taken some sort of defensive stance he didn’t really think the mystic would attack him. Maybe his positioning triggered the mystic’s reaction. Surely he didn’t think the Adsa heir would do something so brutal. Whatever the case was the mystic had thrown some visible form of energy. Kasumi was a little slow to react due to his initial shock, but was able to recover with ample time to still avoid the slow moving ball of energy.

The question was what he did and how to do it. The attack was slow enough to give Kasumi ample time to think about his options. The main focus was on what the mystic would do next, and why he had attacked him. The thought of killing his mysticism teacher before learning anything seemed a little wasteful, so he’d avoid that. Other than that he had to moving out of the way of the energy ball quite quickly. From his memory of the room before the situation he made his decision on what way to go. There was always the next move after this one and he had to be ready for whatever the mystic had planned, if there was indeed a following move. He chose to move to the right. There was enough room for him to dodge the attack and a little more room for whatever should come next, at least compared to moving left. Forward would be really foolish and backwards or trying some other dodge like ducking would leave him in a worse position. He didn’t have much time to spare after deciding on how to react. He waited a little longer, observing the mystic and then moved with a simple side step, graceful yet swift, out of the way of the energy ball. He was a warrior and had to deal with many combat choice in h