Mastery

Ever since the day I'd taken Kisuke down in one blow, not many people had bothered me. A few of them still taunted me but they knew enough to keep distance between us. But I had let those go. Instead I had turned my attention inward to try and learn to draw that power out once more. He had taunted me about my father, and my rage had taken over, but I had been fully aware of it. Most of the stories I'd read about rage indicated that the person in question didn't know what was happening.

So I decided to meditate. Sitting on my bed with my legs crossed under me my breathing was slow and steady. My eyes were staring into a candle in front of me as my chest rose and fell. I was trying once more, willing the rage into my body. The mind was a powerful weapon. By signaling the release of chemicals it could make the human body stronger, faster, even numb pain. It was something amazing, that was the only word for it. And with the right thoughts I could will my body into the same state it had been when I'd taken that jackass down.

I breathed slowly and willed my emotions forward. My chest heaved with every breath as I worked my body into a stressed state. I remembered everything Kisuke had said to me, and tried hard to bring forth the emotions that had come from it. And yet try as I might the only thing I could manage was a headache. Sighing I lay back on my bed relaxing.

I could smell Kaoru making dinner, and it was going to be soon that she called me into the kitchen. And she was going to bitch at me, I know it. Yet here I was, not dreading her words, or her lecture on 'not picking on people' and such. It didn't matter to her that I didn't start it, or that I didn't just knee him. She didn't want me fighting at all, and I couldn't blame her. Before mom died, it was exactly the same way with her.

Mom, that was something terrible. I hated losing her, the last person we had in the world. I was lucky enough to get into the tuition program at the school, allowing us to pay for some things that we needed to take care of. But when Kaoru got in, I was honestly surprised. The two of us brought in enough money to survive, but barely. Sometimes we even had to sell things or just put a bill off until we next got paid for our grades. But that was life sometimes.

But the feelings boiling in me were starting to feel familiar. The tightness in my gut, the shaking of my arm. My vision began to grow red as I caught hold of the emotions my life had brought forth. The darkest fathoms of my eternal soul rising to the surface. I panted as I sat up, my chest tight. It was getting hard to breathe, but it wasn't impossible. I fought for my breath, to keep my chest going. My body felt heavier, harder somehow. And not the usual hardness that men my age go through.

I growl and close my eyes, trying to find something that would stop it. Breathing slowly I think of my mother, my body slowly relaxing as I come down from whatever the hell had happened. Falling to my hands and knees I clutch at the floor. Sweat drips from my face onto the carpet below me. It was a big strain just to do that for a little bit. It even put a strain on my breathing this time, was it that hard? Could it kill me to be like that? How could something that makes me stronger kill me? I mean isn't that the way of the samurai? 'That which which does NOT kill me, makes me stronger.'

I smile as my breathing comes under control and I close my eyes again thinking of the anger and pain I'd felt when my mother died. When my eyes opened, again the world around me was red, and I was feeling stronger. Yet as I stood there I could feel myself getting more and more tired with every passing minute. I again turned my thoughts to my mother and relaxed as my vision returned to normal. Falling to the ground I rested for a moment before my aching arms moved to push me off the ground. It was dinner time, signaled when Kaoru called.

"Leon! Dinner!"

771/750
Spir'ytul Blood Transformation learned.

My body ached, my lungs burned, and my eyes watered. I continued up the staircase, my arms pumping, my legs lifting. I brought each leg up to chest level before putting it down. At the same time my arms pumped up enough that my elbows came up to eye level. My chest heaved with every breath as I went up to the roof.

I pushed the door open and smiled as I took in the scent of fresh air, my eyes closing as I took a few steps out into the moonlight overhead. Glancing up at the moon and starlight I smiled before sliding the sleeve of my sweatshirt up, I smiled sipping the weight strap from my wrist, putting it down on the ground before slipping the other off. Following them up I put the ankle weights beside them and yawned. Moving forward I sat on the edge of the roof, staring out at the city that I could see.

Standing I stretched, my arms rising up over my head before I turned back to the roof and moved forward. Moving slowly I began moving through the moves my master had taught me, my body moving back and forth through the techniques my martial arts master had taught me to go through. I smirked as I pulled a tennis ball out of the pocket in my sweatshirt.

Bouncing it a bit I caught it and threw it at the stairwell housing. As it bounced off and came back I waited, until it bounced up before backhanding it, knocking it back toward the stairwell housing. My training on my own was often like this, but I had no idea what was going to happen. As I worked, knocking the ball back and forth quickly I smirked. This was getting so easy.

Catching the ball I let my mind go to my darkest places. I felt my body tremble as my vision went red, everything taking a red shift before I threw the ball again. I watched a pair of bricks break hard as I moved to intercept the tennis ball again. As it came up my arms came up. One hand caught it as my body moved, I shifted it around, redirecting it's flow of energy before striking it out at it again.

This time I watched it break another few bricks before I caught it. I frowned as I tossed it, and looked around the street below. I smirked looking at the building across the way. If I hit it hard enough at an angle the ball would bounce up and come back for me to try again. And nobody would ever be able to see anything over there, since that building had no windows on this side of it. Strange design but it was there.

Throwing the ball as hard as I could I watched it bounce and come back but my eyes were wide as the world began to invert itself. I'd missed the edge of the roof! I was about to fall from the roof of this building and I was going to be royally fucked on the landing below me. My breath caught in my chest as everything moved in slow motion. I twisted myself, bending at the waist, my arms grabbing at the edge of the roof, but still it was out of reach.

I held my breath and prayed, my eyes wide as I stared up above me. But as I fell I realized it was slowing down even more. Past what whatever this red shift did. I frowned when it stopped moving and I looked around, my eyes narrowing. I was floating just five feet under the ledge! I wasn't falling, and I sure as hell wasn't going up, but I was just floating there!

Panic began to set in and I felt myself falling. Holding my breath I focused, the fall ceasing immediately before reversing! I was going up! This was awesome! Up until I went above the roof. Too high! Down! Take me back down to that roof!

My thoughts were rushing around, trying to figure out exactly how to control 'this thing.' Needless to say there was nothing I could really do about anything happening to me, but it was still fun. Up until I started falling again!

I landed in a heap, groaning as I did. The impact had hurt but not as much as I had expected it to. And thankfully I had landed on the roof of my apartment building. Though I expected the tenant below me to come up screaming.

765/750
Spiritual Flight Learned

Breathing slowly as I stand on the roof, I smile. My arms came up slowly before I took a fighting stance. My left arm was extended out in front of me, my palm pointing out in front of me. My other arm comes up, my fist at eye level. It was a stance I'd learned not too long ago, but what I was waiting for was the build up of energy. I could feel it rising through my body as I willed my darker emotions forward.

As the world went red I smirked and kicked off the ground. Rushing forward I kicked off the ledge. My legs came up to my chest as my arms rotated lightly as I flew off the edge of the building. Twenty feet below was the roof of another building. I breathed slowly as I came down one leg extending as I slowed the fall. Behind me a pair of red wings glowed, as I slowed. I was smirking as I came down a number of feet. Then I felt it vanish suddenly. The remaining ten feet I fell, but Parkour was something I enjoyed, a ten foot fall was only exciting. As I neered the roof I extended my other leg. My knees bent as I hit the ground, absorbing the the force of the impact, before I pushed, rolling myself forward onto my shoulder. As I came up I smirked, nodding. This was going to be fun.

244/200

Looking back up at the roof above my I growled. My flight had lasted only a short ten feet, and the roof was at least twenty feet above me. I was going to have to go down if I wanted to get back up. Or I could just try and see if I could get up higher.

Leaping out toward my apartment building I kicked off the roof, my body twisting as I tried to gain height. At the crest of my arc I willed it forth again, my wings flashing into place as I reached out toward the ledge of the roof. I went up my eyes narrowing as I nearly came within reach of it, only to start falling again.

Falling I turned, my hands reaching out, grabbing the edge of the shorter building's roof. My legs came up, my knees absorbed the impact before I pushed with my legs, and pulled with my arms, slipping up over the edge and rolled onto the roof.

This was going to be a lot more difficult, and I was going to have to work at it if I wanted to get back up to the roof of my apartment building.

200/200

Growling I glanced down at the alley below, trying to calculate how many feet down it was. I'd fallen at least ten feet before my wings had given out. But I was still able to keep my form so far. I just needed to make it down to get off this roof. There was no telling when someone might see me. But I didn't want to just give up either. I had to keep trying. Backing up I mentally calculated how High I could get if I kicked off of the ventilation ducts that ran along the roof around me.

Shrugging it was worth a shot. Crouching low I shot forward using my arms to give me a little extra push. Running forward I kicked off the ground, before pushing off the vent. It gave me an extra few feet, but it was still going to be close if I got there. I reached for it, as my wings formed behind me, my body flying up toward the ledge of my building. I growled when my wings faded but my upward motion didn't stop. I still had a little more to go, and still I didn't make it. Just too far out for me to get to.

207/200

My arms hit the wall as my body turned. Inverted I brought my knees to my chest and kicked off the wall, throwing myself back to the shorter building's roof. Rolling over my shoulder when I hit the ground I came up, kicking off the ground. The roll wasn't enough to displace the momentum I'd built up this time. Instead my flip was enough to make it stop but still here I was on the roof of a building and unable to really go anywhere. There was no stairwell or ladder that went up there, and the only hatch that was there for access had to be locked.

Looking around I sighed and moved forward, before leaping off the side of the building into the alley below. As I got close to the ground I felt my wings expand before I came to rest on the ground. This was going to be interesting. If it was limited flight so be it, but I could use it to slow any falls from my failed free running or even if I just decided to leap off of something to get away from people. Yawning I walked from the alley, heading back inside my building.

202/200

Yawning I made my way back up stairs to the roof of my apartment. If I could fall a short distance, what would happen if I fell from an even higher distance. Moving up to the roof I smirked. Running forward I kicked off the ledge of the building, my body shaking as the world around me moved in slow motion. As I arced through the air I flailed my arms lightly, holding my breath as I went. As I came down toward the street I braced myself, ready to splatter against it.

With a grunt I felt my wings explode into form behind me. Coming down to the ground I smirked, and rolled, landing beside my neighbor's car, before smirking. I glanced at the homeless man that had seen me jump, and nodded at him before walking away. I grinned, at the thought of his face. He'd seemed more shocked than anything that I hadn't been injured, let alone, survived the fall.

Heading down the street with my hands in my pockets I smiled, heading to my favorite cafe. I figured I'd earned the snack I was craving, even as the world shifted back to it's normal color.

"That was fun."

202/200

-5 stars to Spiritual Flight
55 exp

Standing on the roof, I smile, staring up at the star filled sky. True, within the city you can't see too many of them but you could still make some out. With a smile on my face I nodded and looked back to the world around me. I had lost control around Kisuke last time, I'd been ready to take a human life, and worse yet I had frightened my sister to tears. I had to find a way to master myself in order to prevent that from happening again. I couldn't allow my only family to find me frightening.

I stood patiently in my centered stance as I let the world shift red, my body set patiently before I closed my eyes, falling within myself. Breathing slowly I began to move through the kata of relaxation, one that my master had showed me. It was a form of martial arts designed only as a form of meditation, nothing more. If used in combat it probably have been less than useless. But I still had to go through it. I had to learn what had come over me that would make me be willing to end a human life abruptly.

200/200

My body moved through the style slowly. My eyes opened, as I kept the world bright red around me. I had no choice but to keep hold of my darker emotions and yet at the same time let my mind calm. It was difficult to move through the slow calm motions of the meditation kata, and yet still draw on the darker emotions in order to keep the world shifted in red. But at least if I could do this, I could probably find a way to control myself next time I got into a fight with someone. At least this way, if I was able to do what I wanted, I could continue to use this technique and never have to worry about losing control. Or worse yet, lose my sister over it.

With a swift movement I kicked off the ground and flipped forward. I smirked as I came around, landing in a roll. As I came out of it I turned, my left leg kicking out to my side as my right hand shot out in front of me. As I moved I found myself moving faster through the motions of my kata, not sure why but something kept urging me to move faster through it.

209/200

Growling as I caught myself rushing I came to a stop and took up the beginner's stance once more. Breathing slowly as I stood there I let myself calm, falling out of the red shift to return to normal. As I stood there, I smiled and stretched a bit, leaving my stance. It was probably procrastination but I had to try at least. I would NOT lose my sister for any reason! I breathed slowly as I entered my red shift again before turning. And despite the fact that everything was slow, despite the fact that I was much stronger I nearly had a heart attack.

Standing before me were 'Panty' and 'Stocking' and they didn't look happy. Gulping I smiled weakly before Panty pointed her gun at me.

"Oi, Geek boy, I never expected you to be a ghost. But it was a convincing disguise!" she said, smirking.

"Agreed, you did well to hide yourself, until you got fed up with that bully." Stocking said.

"G-Ghost? What the hell are you talking about?" I stammered. "What are you talking about?"

"We could feel your presence here, and every time you turn ghost. Now repent!" Panty said, pulling the trigger of her gun.

203/200

My life was over. I was so dead, as I watched the flash from the muzzle of her gun. But nothing happened except some pellet of some kind bounced off my head. It stung but I was still alive, feeling things! Growling I frowned, glaring at her, only to take a few more shots in the face.

"Oi... Not working sis." Panty said.

"Then we can just cut him up!" Stocking said, her katanas at the ready.

"What the hell are you two talking about?! I'm not a ghost! I'm just... I'm ME!" I said, glaring at them.

"He even reacts like a ghost." Stocking said.

I didn't like the look in her eye as she approached. My eyes were wide as she got closer, her weapons coming down. Raising my arms defensively I blink when they come down but nothing happens. No cuts, nothing!

"Eh? Not happening. He must not be a ghost." Stocking said.

The two of them just walked away, as if nothing had happened, as if they'd just passed by. They'd attacked me and I was still standing, which was surprising, I'd seen them take down things before. Yet here they were walking away from attacking me with no apology or anything!

206/200

They walked away. That's all they did, after accusing me of being a ghost? They attacked me and just walked away. And still they got away with calling me geek boy? I mean I'm sure they're a level above me but still, it's insulting! But then again they're the type that insult for the hell of it. So fuck it, doesn't matter if they insult you or not, they're gonna do whatever the hell they want. But they could have at least said they were sorry for attacking. But apparently the kiss our asses look was their way of saying that they didn't care.

Oh well. At least I wasn't blindly raging like some hugely muscled green guy, what did they call him, Bulk? I dunno, comic books were never really my thing, though like any boy my age, there were a few I had read. With a relaxing sigh I let the world shift back to normal and shook my head. I give up, I'm going to bed. Those bitches don't give a damn about anything, and this was the best I was going to get, at least. But that was life, I guess. At least I could move on and go get food.

205/200
-5 stars Spir'ytul Blood Transformation
23 exp