Asahina training(Closed)

SAY MY NAME! CALL OUT MY NAME AND TAKE MY POWER!

Rain fell heavily around the swordsman that stood in the courtyard of Kyuuden Asahina. He'd come seeking knowledge, and the Shugenja there had offered him the opportunity to earn it. Each Shugenja would choose a champion one from each house of the temple. If Adrian could defeat each of them then the knowledge he sought would be open to him to learn. They had not accepted it lightly though. They could all feel the aura he gave off. And despite the fact that it was hidden they could see the Soul Eater shining beneath his robes. The dark aura of the cursed rune was powerful but even the Twenty seven true runes had limited strength, and they had to see how much control it had over him.

He'd come to them in desperation. It had gathered strength, and no matter how much he tried Adrian found it harder and harder to stop this thing from controlling him. He'd woken up countless nights, his heart broken and his body throbbing with pain. He'd left Jyabil and Sodina's place, despite the place he'd earned as the apprentice blacksmith, but he wasn't about to put them in danger because of the curse he'd been born with. The curse that Hild had unleashed inside him. He'd served the demon goddess faithfully, and she'd used him. Used him and threw him aside like so much trash. But he couldn't blame her. It was how demons were. But that didn't mean he'd forgiven her.

The elders of the Asahina temple had granted him the chance to earn the knowledge he would need to destroy his enemies. They would suffer in his wake. And even if it cost him everything he'd worked for to now, he would take his revenge! Hild had given him purpose! Had given him power, and even made him think she loved him. But it was nothing to her. Nothing more than a way to gain the power she lacked before. She'd convinced him that he was being used by Sierra and the other demon hunters that trained him. He'd killed Juraviel, someone he'd considered his friend! And all because he'd let himself be manipulated by her.

"You hold the taint of the Soul Eater. To gain the knowledge you seek, you must show us that you have power over it, and not the other way around." one of the Shugenja said.

"I will do what I must." he said, nodding.

"Indeed you will. But you will have to pass our tests to do that. Sakura, Sumire, Kohran, and Kana will be your opponents. Let's see how you do against them."

Stepping into the 'arena' was a young woman with shoulder length red hair. She had soft pale skin, giving her a sickly look, though she wore a beautiful and elaborate violet kimono, with a lavender obi around her waist. She stood there, her eyes watching him. In her hand was a naganita, the long red pole almost as tall as she was, with a three foot blade. The weapon was obviously specially crafted. The blade was six inches wide, but only sharpened on one end, with a slight curve at the tip. She charged him, the weapon spinning in her hand. She was surprisingly swift, much faster than he had expected her to be.

He shifted his stance, drawing the sword from his hip before he brought it up in a block, catching the long head of the naganita in the center. But as he pushed it away, the weapon had too much give! He spun, with his push, his body dropping low. He felt the head sheer some of the hairs from his head as his sword came around toward her legs. But his opponent was skilled. As he came around her legs came up, before kicking the blade out of the swordsman's hands. Weaponless his body vanished in a blur, before he reappeared across the field, his eyes narrowing.

Something was wrong, and he had to find out what. This girl was holding back, but he wasn't fighting in his prime either. It was strange, she was an open book but at the same time she was hidden behind veils of shadow. He willed the Devil's Teardrop to his hand, not caring if the others saw what he was able to do. He'd given up his speed tactic already so he might as well stop holding back all together. He frowned, watching her before she vanished! Her body blurred for a moment before she vanished completely! Just as Adrian had done a moment before.

"DAMN!" he said, his body turning.

He saw her behind him as she brought her weapon up placing it under his chin. As it came under his chin he leaned back, his eyes wide, the Devil's Teardrop coming around in a slash to cut the head off of her weapon. As the blade came loose from the weapon he shot away from her panting lightly as he stood there. He watched her as she picked the head of her weapon up. She examined it for a moment before she put it back down. Again she vanished, but again he couldn't keep up with her he turned but saw nothing! His eyes glanced left, then right, trying to keep up with her movements even though, for all he knew, she could be staying behind him!

He grunted when he felt the shaft of her weapon smash against his back. Growling he stumbled forward, before it smashed against his face, throwing him back. Combined with the stumble forward this threw him to the ground but he didn't remain stationary. He rolled, his eyes wide when he saw her rushing toward where he'd been. He heard the sound of the metal on the flagstones before he saw it. but he still rose. He watched her move, his eyes wide as he followed the after image.

"So you think you can keep up with me!?" the woman asked, grinning as she came to a stop her weapon against the side of his head.

Adrian froze, his eyes wide as he glanced, at her out of the corner of his eye. He'd been following her but she'd been moving faster than he'd expected. Even though he could follow the movements she made he was only following her after image. He had never seen anything like that before, but he was more than capable of dealing with it. He lowered his weapon, growling lightly.

"Not bad. He was able to follow you Sumire." a woman in red said.

"No. He followed an after image. He's too slow to follow me. Even if I could follow him." she said, grinning.

"Still following you, princess." the tall, amazon of a woman responded with a grin.

"Alright, alright. Next up. Kohran, it's your turn." one of the Shugenja said.

(1,000/1000) - Speed of Sight(Passive, Novice)
(155/2000) - Novice to trained

Adrian stood there, watching the beautiful woman enter the 'arena' as Sumire left. Kohran wore a long red dress, with a slit up the left side to her thigh. She had thick coke bottle glasses over beautiful brown eyes. Her long purple hair was tied in pigtails. She smiled gently as she approached the swordsman, her hand extending. Adrian blinked at her before he shook her hand lightly. She seemed much more polite than Sumire did but that had yet to be seen. Kohran was smiling at him, as if waiting for him to say something before she frowned.

"Uh... Oh. I'm, uh... Adrian." he stammered, looking somewhat worried.

"I am Kohran. It's a pleasure to meet you." she said, the smile returning to her face. "I hope you don't mind but I don't fight very often."

"Um... Okay." he asked more than said.

Confusion was not enough of a word to explain what he was feeling. Bewilderment was closer but still not nearly good enough. The girl before him was telling him she didn't fight often. Was she asking him to go easy on her? Was she trying to trick him so he'd lose the match? He just stood there, trying to find out what the hell she was talking about as the rain fell around them. And he seemed to be way too focused, because he didn't notice she was ready until it was too late. He blinked when he felt the ground coming from under his feet. He blinked, really confused when the world inverted itself but it didn't last long. With the impact of the ground he grunted. Kohran had literally taken him and flipped him over her shoulder! His eyes widened as he sat up before he looked at her.

"You don't fight often?! I didn't even see you move!" he said, his eyes wide.

"You lack focus." Kohran responded, shrugging.

"No, I'm just really confused about you."

"Yes. And that is the cause of your lack of focus. I'm sorry if you feel frustrated."

"That doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Do you want to start again?"

"Technically we can't do that but okay.."

With that Adrian rose, but he hadn't been standing more than a second before he had to shift his body out of the way of a kick the girl had sent his way. He turned his body with the blow that came at him. But by the time he'd gotten to his own defensive stance with the Devil's Teardrop poised to strike, the girl just smiled at him, tilting her head lightly as if she didn't understand why he was ready to fight with her.

(1000/1000) - Speed of Sight
(600/2000) - Trained

"What's wrong? You act like you're in a fight." Kohran said, smiling at him as if nothing had happened.

But he wasn't buying it this time. He stood there, his weapon readied, but it seemed she wasn't going to hold back in those 'bursts' of combat. He growled and shot forward, his body arcing around her. He shot around behind her, his weapon slashing out toward her head. But it passed over her as she bent over backwards! He'd used the burst of speed that he had developed to perfection to allow himself an advantage over his enemies! But still the girl had followed his movements to turn to him and when he'd attacked she'd bent over backwards! He growled and altered the arc his weapon was on. The path put it in line to take the woman's legs out from under her. But he should have learned this lesson with Sumire.

Her legs left the ground, curling in. As the blade passed under her the girl her legs uncurled her feet slamming into the swordsman's chest! She drop kicked him, throwing him off his feet and away. She landed in a roll, coming up in a fighting stance, her right arm extended upward, her left arm extended down. She shifted her legs, her left bending to support her as her right slid behind her to brace her for anything that might come.

Adrian rose to his feet, his eyes glowing softly as he brought his weapon up. His knuckles turned white as he brought the weapon up above his head, the weapon shifting as the air around it swirled as he willed it. His eyes glowed darkly as he lifted his head to the woman, an evil grin on his face.

"I WILL SHOW YOU! I WILL WIN! I WILL TAKE THE KNOWLEDGE FOR MY REVENGE!" he shouted.

His right arm began to drop as his left came up. He caught his own arm, halting the attack much to the surprise of several spectators. His hand released the blade, allowing it to shift before he brought it down, driving the blade into his gut. His head bowed as he trembled. He slowly pulled his weapon from his mid section, his shoulders and chest heaving with every breath he took. He lifted his head, the glow missing from his eyes as he smiled wearily at the girl in the dress.

Kohran stared back at him with a harsh expression on her face. She seemed much more serious, her eyes focused on him. But when she saw the smile on her face her expression softened. She'd seen the terrors of the Soul eater before, not many years ago. But no matter how much control it seemed to have gained over him for that moment of weakness Adrian had returned to his senses just as quickly. This boy was skilled. And she had no doubt that was why the Shugenja had chosen him for the training. She had no doubt that if she didn't have the advanced agility and speed in combat that he would be the superior one.

He had speed, that was true. But he fought on instinct, with little skill. He had no balance. She would have to show him what that meant. Kohran shot forward, her body blurring but Adrian could follow her movements just a little better. He watched her come at him and blinked when she kicked off the ground. Her body spun, her leg snapping out in a spinning back round house. He grunted when her heel smashed against the side of his head, throwing him off to the side.

"Let's just say I owed the rune on your chest that much." she said, before bowing and stepping out of the arena. "You're up Sakura."

Entering in her place was a beautiful woman clad in miko robes. She had long raven hair that fell down her back and deep red eyes. The one known as Sakura had a sword at her hip. She entered the arena and drew the katana from her hip. She brought it up as she took her favored stance. The blade was raised to eye level, her arms curled in, with the tip of her sword aimed at Adrian.

Rising, Adrian picked his sword up and grumbled something before shaking his head. He shook off the dizziness that threatened to overcome him. He set his jaw and turned to Sakura before he brought his own weapon up into a basic stance. Both hands gripped the hilt of the Bastard Sword, his body turning. One leg behind him braced him, the other bent lightly allowing himself to angle toward her. They were both advanced sword masters, that was obvious. But something was different about her. She wasn't as carefree as Kohran, but she didn't seem as uptight as Sumire.

(1000/1000) - Speed of Sight
(1407/2000) - Trained

Shifting stances Adrian lowered his weapon bringing his sheath out of the embrace of his sash. He watched her as he slowly slid the black bladed weapon into the sheath before he shifted once again. His body turned so that his side was to her. He watched her as he brought his right hand to the hilt of his sword, resting the back of his hand on the grip.His legs bent as the slid apart, shifting to shoulder length. He stood there in the classic stance of the technique known as Iaijutsu.

Though commonly used with a katana, it was practiced with short double edged blades. But none present had ever seen it used with a bastard sword before. But Adrian had found a way to remove the long blade from a sheath just as quickly as one could from a katana. He waited patiently as he watched Sakura take her own Iaijutsu stance. They waited, each watching the other, breathing slow and steady. It was a battle of wills as much as it was a battle of skill. Iaijutsu was used in ancient times to resolve issues that, while not able to avoid fighting could be dealt with by two duelists. The opponents would wait, and watch their opponent, waiting for a sign of weakness, a sign for them to attack. It was only when the fighters struck that the duel would end, and nobody was stupid enough to interrupt a duel between two people so very skilled.

But Sakura had the advantage in a common fight. She'd seen him fight so far, and he wasn't very impressive. The girls could best him in some aspects but it was also true that if they didn't have their own advantages they'd lose against him. But she'd seen him. His form was good but still rough around the edges. He didn't have a formal training he only had experience in combat. While not very effective in duals like this she'd never seen anyone try it with a sword like that. She had to wait, she couldn't afford to lose this fight so easily.

(352/1,759)

Lowering his stance, Adrian stood there with his eyes focused on Sakura. He slipped the Devil's Teardrop back into place at his hip before he bowed to the woman in front of him. She was a superior fighter in this instant. He would require half a second longer to strike her than it would for her to strike him. He bowed his head and brought his hands together in a sign of respect as he bowed. Smirking he folded his arms over his head, uncaring for the rain falling on him. He looked to the other women of this temple that had helped him and bowed to them in order before he turned to face the Shugenja of the temple.

"You have shown yourself to have potential. Now all you have to do is master the Rune you bare. You may train here under your opponents. You will learn the techniques that you have come to learn. And perhaps, with time, you will learn to suppress your Rune all together." the old bald man said.

"Thank you. Perhaps with time I will be able to attain the same level of strength your warriors here have." he said.

"Yeah and maybe they wont kill you like that last guy did." Rubi said, sitting off to the side where she was dry.

"Shut up. I don't appreciate you being such a bitch sometimes!" he said, glaring at the cat.

"Watch your mouth!" Sakura said, tapping her scabbard on top of his head roughly.

(1000/1000) - Speed of Sight
(2,000/2000) - Trained
(10/10)