broodboy
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Since his induction into the First Division Theo has been insatiable in his goals of creating the world. However, only he knew the real reason of why he wanted the world created. However, with all of his intellectual development his practical field experience and battle tactics had suffered. He could not remember the last time when his life felt like it was threatened or his intelligence felt like it was matched. There were not many people the young shingami trusted in SS or respected. To be honest he mostly felt indifference toward most of them. However, there were a few gems that he could bare the company of and appreciated the intellect of.
A black moth landed on his finger as his thoughts were translated into a telepathic message for its intended recipient.
Fourth Seat Picca Lilli, I hope all has been well for you. This is Unseated member of the First Division Theodoor Holiday. With the ever growing responsibility of the First Division I find myself ignorant to many of our techniques. Would you please meet with me on the roof of the Fourth Division west wing for a lesson in these matters? I will be there at sunset waiting should you accept my request. Thank you.
That message was sent a day before he wished to meet with the woman he remembered from his first encounter with the First Division Captain. The wind blew softly as the sun set on the horizon. The boyish shinigami waited with a book perched in his lap for his teacher to arrive.
“Ye ken what wid be nice?” Picca asked as soon as she stepped through the doorway to the roof a bit later than sunset. “A date wid be nice.” And that was because she arrived here yesterday to an empty rooftop. This time, she had taken a look at the rooftop before coming all the way over.
Picca wore a standard shinigami’s uniform, one that didn’t show off any indication that she was an officer. The only modification was that the cloth for the left leg had been torn off. She walked with one normal leg and one metal leg prosthesis. The fake leg didn’t look much like a normal limb at all. It was sleek and tapered at the end, looking more like a sword. Her long, blond hair swayed back and forth in a thick braid with each step.
“Why wid ye want to train out here?” It was rolling into winter and was getting rather cold.
There was a slight nip in the air as the small child wrapped his silk scarf around one more time and tucked it into his uniform before closing his book on military tactics. The last time the unseated shinigami met with the unusual woman she had been in a wheelchair but this time she was combined with metal and style. His cold eyes matched the steal of her leg and bubbly personality with their gaze.
“I enjoy the quietness of this venue. I appreciate you coming all the way out here from the Observatory. This place holds nostalgia for me and Shidari-sama, it is where we first met.” His hand touched the hilt of his sword that stuck up from his back.
Picca sighed, sending out a barely visible trail of white, and shrugged. “If it helps ye focus, I suppose its fine.” For her, though, the inside was much better. The outdoors was just a lot of wind, dust and general uncomfortableness. She had not been prepared for the coldness. Her cheeks were stinging red and her fingers were frigid.
She Material Summoned forth a nice set of winter clothes: a fluffy jacket, some mittens, ear muffs and a hat. Now that everything was nice and toasty, Picca said, “Well then, what is it that ye want training in?”
The boy made note of the things that readily appeared by mere thought of the woman. He began to step slowly toward her making notes about her unusual leg and small mannerisms. “That seems like an interesting ability, is it one specific to our division?” Small talk was not something the child made easily but he knew that people liked to be spoken to that way. His dull eyes conveyed thoughts that his mouth did not say.
“I am interested in two things, the relationship between the First Division and the Ninth Division and secondly learning techniques specific to our division. Since being assigned under the Taichou most of my training has been in solitude. However, I can not teach myself things required to be taught.” He shuffled feet stopped a few feet from the woman as she towered over his small stature.
“This?” Picca extended her arms and then spun around on the mechanical leg. She remained spinning for as long as she could maintain balance, because the leg had a really low amount of friction. “I just brought them over using Material Summon, the twentieth way of binding.”
“As for our relationship with the Ninth, I cannae speak specifically for the whole division, but as long as ye respect their equipment and their captain’s rules, ye should be okay. I mean, in the end, we’re all shinigami, ain’t we?”
Picca shook her head slightly. Most divisions would prefer to be left alone in normal times, but they probably wouldn’t refuse someone from the First.
“What dae ye want from the Ninth?”
The boy placed a juice box in his mouth as his cold eyes spoke with a small sense of intrigue and muffled grammar. “I was just curious as to the relationship we had with them and more so why they are fighting with the Tenth.” He was not in the slightest though and his absent-minded stare was only a reminder.
He reached the end of his juice box with the proverbial slurping of the last bits. “I have already learned the three stages of the First Division tattoo.” He said peeling down his scarf for a moment. “What other techniques does the First have that we may acquire?” The silence merited a search for something else to occupy his mouth and callousness.
“Well!” Picca held up a finger, though it more looked like she was holding up all fingers due to the mitten. “The tattoo allows ye tae dae many things. If ye already have all three stages, that’s even better. A simple, and useful, skill is bypassing the way of magic at a much stronger rate than normal. Typically, when ye bypass a spell, it will be coming out at around half strength. By learning how to bypass effectively, ye’ll be able to cast spells at, oh, roughly three-quarters strength.
“My personal favorite is learning how to cast two spells at the same time. This is probably the hardest one to master, but ye’ll be able tae cast a way of destruction after a way of destruction, a way of binding after a way of binding and even mix the two.
“Lastly, the we have an ability that makes the way of magic easier to retain. With that, ye’ll be able to learn more spells at once and keep them in ready for combat.”
Picca nodded at the end. “Just so ye ken, I dinnae ken how tae bypass spells at a stronger level. I dae ken how tae cast two spells at once and retain more spells.” She turned her eye towards the young shinigami and smiled. “So, dae any of these fancy ye?”
The blank stare of the young boy focused momentarily on the woman mid conversation before trailing off to his own devices. His brain was littered with thoughts of each aspect of technique the woman mentioned but there was one that stood out to him that would increase his flexibility to lead, support, and fight.
He gave a muffled response while his shoulders shrugged, “The second technique sounds useful. How do we proceed?” His small feet leisurely walked over to the metal leg work to inspect it closer.
“Are you a robot?” All things scientific seemed to intrigue the young man but even more so was machinery and computer technologies.
A light burst of air radiated out from the the mechanical leg as Picca swept it away. The end floated just a bit off the ground, pushed along by spiritual energy. “Ye widnae look at a lass’s real leg like that, now wid ye?” Her long coat was swept forward so as to cover it up.
“Now then, the second one I mentioned, that’s how to cast two ways of magic at once, right?” Picca glanced up at the cold skies. That was just great. This was one that was likely to take the longest. “This will take a lot of concentration, so I guess its good that ye like this place. Dae whatever it takes tae feel comfortable, then pick either two ways of destructions or two ways of bindings.
“I’d suggest something simple, maybe Seki. It’s simple but visible. Ye could cast two of that and see both of them.”
If Picca knew Theo at all she would not need to suggest with starting out with something simple. It was a waste of breath and his aloof demour showed it. He stood still for a moment as he pondered the kidou he would string together while he gathered kidouic energy.
He raised his right arm and subsequently his pointer finger toward the sky as his neck began to glow with the faint shimmer of power. “Futatsu.” instantly a burst of controlled electrical energy streamlined for the sky. Quickly he began preparing for another kidou to follow. “Futatsu!” However, nothing happened. Energy gathered in his hand and seemingly diffused outward with no display of control or power.
A mixture of determination and irritation appeared on his face as the fires of rage began to ember within his mind. Again he tried, “Futatsu!” but nothing came, even less than last time. There seemed to be a refractory period that he had not learned to exceed.
“This proves to test my patience.”
“This proves tae test my patience,” Picca mumbled under her breath.
She hadn’t even given him any other instructions yet and off he went. His futatsu was fine for their purposes, though it was a bit flashy. Lightning didn’t usually go up from the ground and from the same point repeatedly.
“Calm down, listen. Normally, using A way of magic puts a strain on yer body and disrupts the energy flow inside. Usually, this happens by drawing all the energy tae the point where the spell originates as well as changing the form of the energy. Ye need to actually pay attention to how yer energy feels while doing this,” Picca said.
“Ye want tae not cast it directly after saying it. Try another second dot spell, this time, focus on how yer energies flow back into place afterwards.”
There was a brief moment that the young man thought about what his instructor had said. The young child was never one to be patient and he was never one to listen to people on how to do things, he much prefered to figure things out on his own time which usually did not take as long as most although there was plenty he could not do; throw a punch for instance.
“I understand, it is about the energy.” He said as his hands slid through his hair in frustration.
Energy gathered in his body as he strained to focus on it for the first time in his life. Usually he would just fire off a kidou with no thought to it but the backup of energy created a refractory period within his body which he would need to learn how to break past or mold into another spell.
“Futatsu!” the energy erupted into the sky in a blaze of lightning but that was not what the blue eyed boy focused on. He felt the build up of energy in his finger and the concentration slowly begin to flow back into the rest of his body but he did not want to lose it.
“Futatsu!” The energy was in his arm, it pooled within the area before rushing to his finger in a large explosion of power; not the desired effect. He flew back several feet as he hit a nearby wall. His rage began to boil.
Picca took a seat on the ledge of the building. She could feel the wind blowing up from behind, though her thick braid resisted moving.
“This is yer happy place, right?” Picca spread her arm across the roof. “Remember, casting two arts of magic in quick succession is all about practice, patience and concentration. Or, well....” She crossed her arms, thinking. What was the best way to get through to him? He was already using the mark of the Tenth for this, meaning he was forming spells easier than normal.
“It might hurt a bit, but try forcing the spell through using two different arms as close to the same time as possible. It’ll feel like yer being pulled apart, just a wee bit.”
He dusted the rubble from his uniform and the dust off his feet before he stood back up. A fox like grin seemed to snake its way onto his face. “Yes, this is a happy place for us. Although, it is normally raining when we are here, that is no excuse for my failure however.”
The child was naturally drawn to the rain and even water. He felt alive in it and was able to drown out the thoughts of his mind and the paranoia using the sounds of drops against the ground.
“Picca-sama would it be possible for you to make it rain for me?” His veins burned from the failed casts, his throat was sore for some odd reason and his ego was bruised far worse than it was the first time he was on this roof.
That should be doable. Picca nodded and clapped her hands together. Spiritual energy formed into water and air. It was so dense within her palms that her hands were drenched already. Slowly, the two mixed together into a grey cloud. It swirled and pulsed, struggling to leak through her fingers. “Way of Binding, Rain Prayer,” she incanted while raising her arms to the sky.
The entire area became dark as dark clouds rolled across the skies, blocking out what little light there was. A frigid downpour started. Picca quickly raised an arm above her head. “Way of Binding, Arc Shield.” A thin barrier appeared, in this case, acting as an umbrella.
“There ye go, it’s raining. Let’s have a keek at bairns skill before it turns into snow, eh?”
The rain fell on his head and began to soak his cloths. The familiar feeling of waters embrace felt akin to a hug against the pale boy’s skin. This was the nostalgia he was looking for, it was as if Shi was hugging him for the first time again for the briefest moment. He knew he had a plethora of power in him and he could feel the energy swirl at his center.
The youth was not sure what ‘bairns’ meant but he could tell from the tone that she was mocking him, something he did not allow. He closed his eyes and viewed his body like a medical diagram and mentally drew lines from the source of the power to his hands on either side.
He opened his eyes and whipped around while mustering the energy needed for the spell. “Futatsu!” White lightning rushed out of his right hand like a gun. before the spell was even over he was slinging another spell from his other hand. “Futatsu!” Energy rushed out of his left index finger like hot lava. He had never felt kidou be so dangerous before and in the briefe moment of pain he hit his goal.
He wanted to jump up for joy in his success but he chose not too. He turned around facing Picca with a look of assurance. “Your instruction was most helpful, Picca-sama. Thank you.”
A low whistle was let out as Picca watched the lightning blasts rip through the clouds. The grey skies flashes with white for two brief moments as light bounced off the rain and air.
She clapped her hands, making a dull sound due to the mittens. “That’s how ye dae it!” The bright smile on her face shone through the darkness. “If ye wid be willing to take some more suggestions, keep practicing. Eventually, ye’ll want tae cast spells normally, not with the Symbol of the Tenth and also without the rain.” She glanced up to see sheets of water rolling off her barrier.
Picca blew a breath of white air into her cupped mittens. She said, “But that was good work, very good work. If ye think ye have it now, I’ll go back inside. I could use a nice, warming drink. Ye can stay out here and practice if ye want. This rain should last for quite a while, yet.”
He had done it. This new found ability that Picca helped him with would prove to increase his abilities ten fold. He shivered at the thought of slinging spells like a mad man with a trigger finger. The bionic woman left the bland rooftop that the young boy had grown fond of for the sweet embrace of her warm tower that overlooked the entirety of the Gotei Thirteen.
“Thank you Picca-senpai!”
The young boy stayed for another hour or so practicing his new way of slinging kidou before his water logged cloths and exhausted body told him it was time for a nice long rest. Something that he had not looked forward to in quie a while.
He looked out toward the sky with a slight smile on his face and maniacal ideas in his head. “I will protect this place at all costs and no one will get in my way Shi. We are going to revolutionize this world.”
[endcollab]