Amara's Studies [Training]

Subject: Amara's Studies [Training] 2nd July 2021, 8:01 am

Jutsu Being Trained:

The sound of training swords clashing and shinobi grunting with effort as they sparred filled the training grounds of Mahougakure. Amara Jiko however could be found tucked away along the wall of the Fira Dome, papers spread out before her and a large tome opened directly in front of her as she scanned the various documents she had brought. Her fingers traced the lines of two separate documents, one a page from the large book and the other a scroll to her right as she flipped her focus from one to the other several times. Though other shinobi regarded her with confusion, after all what was some brat doing in the training grounds studying, she paid them no attention at all. Lost in her own thoughts and reading, the girl would occasionally nod to herself or bite her lip before retrieving the pencil tucked behind her ear and jotting down some thoughts or notes on a blank page of her tome. It wasn't uncommon for other Shinobi or Kunoichi to bring instruction scrolls with them to the training grounds, especially when learning new fighting styles. These scrolls often helped to start the teaching process, although there was no replacement for an actual instructor when compared to reading off of a page. Regardless, it happened from time to time. However, the girl seemed to have brought an entire shelf of reading material and was...making her own as well? While actually on the training grounds? All the other shinobi knew to get the scroll completed first before arriving, lest they simply be in the way of others...as Amara was now.

Get out there and KILL, KILL, KILL! Amara's inner monologue, which she had affectionately named Terrence, yelled in her mind as she read. These are training grounds. Amara said as she flipped through another page, barely paying attention to the voice in her head. Turn them into BURIAL GROUNDS! Terrence shouted again, but Amara simply rolled her eyes and continued her reading. Not trusting Terrence to take over her train of thought, Amara spoke her thoughts aloud, So Mapping will increase the speed at which my Co-Ordinate Shapes form while Weaving should increase their size. Cube seems to be the most basic of the shapes, straight forward and easy to understand really. We won't worry about the other shapes for some time, probably best to get an instructor for that business. Amara bit down on her lip, reading over her notes in silence for a moment, It's this Co-Ordinate Platform that perplexes me a bit. It seems to be used for movement, although from what I've read most Co-Ordinate Shapes are stationary once drawn.
Good for moving BODIES!! Terrence interjected.
Amara sighed and asked herself, Honestly do you ever stop?
...NO! Terrence answered after a brief, uncharacteristic pause.
What really perplexes me is how anyone in this world gets anything done with these horribly interruptive voices in their heads. I mean it's every other minute with them. Amara said, shaking her head. Such a strange topic, these inner monologues. Anyone she asked regarded her with abject confusion or simply disregarded her question. Thus, Amara assumed it was a social taboo, something else she was having trouble learning about, to discuss personal inner monologues. So, for the most part she had just stopped inquiring about how people dealt with their own and relegated herself to focusing on fixing Terrence as best she could. Or, at the very least, learning to ignore him better. He was just always so...so...loud.

Snatching the scattered papers about her, Amara quickly folded them and placed them between the pages of her thick tome, closing it so they didn't scatter in the wind. Then, she stood with the single sheet of notes she had been taking and began mentally preparing and visualizing what she was going to do next. After a long minute or two, she began tracing the shape of a cube in the air, but not infusing chakra into the movements, not yet anyway. It was simple work, shapes were something she had learned as an infant. The circle block goes in the circle hole and all that business. However, what she didn't learn about shapes as an infant was that with chakra, you could make shapes seal objects, living creatures and even other people into a completely different plane of existence. That...simply hadn't come up during the block lessons. The idea of it both excited and terrified her as she realized just how dangerous these simple techniques could really be.
Okay, here we go. She said, letting out a breath.
AIM FOR THE HEAD! Terrence declared.
It's a rock.
THE HEAD! He screamed again with excitement.
Amara shook her head and did her best to block out his screams, then began tracing a small cube in the air with her index finger. The resulting cube of chakra appeared around a medium sized rock in front of her, encasing it and some of the ground it sat on. She hadn't intended this, but considering she managed to get the entire rock within the shape on her first go, she was satisfied. Amara then snapped her fingers and the cube simply...disappeared. As did the rock, and a small patch of grass and dirt which the cube had inadvertently captured as well.
Huh, it really works. Amara said to herself as she approached the ground, toeing a bit. It was a stupid observation, she knew that, of course it worked. Inkan had existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years before her and this was one of the most basic techniques they had, the foundation of almost everything an Inkan was. Proud of her work, Amara continued to practice on the training fields, though she didn't want to leave a field of random square shaped holes, so she practiced the cubes mostly in the air, forming them faster and faster each time and working to manipulate their size as well. The more practice she made with forming the cubes, the faster she could feel her hands begin to move as well. Not only were the cubes forming more quickly, but oddly it seemed she was able to actually move faster as well. Most interesting.

Words: 1023/1000

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 7th July 2021, 8:35 am

In the far corner of a dusty old library sat Amara Jiko. It would be almost impossible for anyone passing by to know that however, as multiple stacks of reading material blocked her from view. The volumes were stacked high, towering over the girl and covering the table. Whether on purpose who by happenstance, she had inadvertently created her own reading fort made of the very materials she was digesting. Few people seemed to venture this deep into the library, including the cleaning staff, much to Amara's annoyance. Many of the volumes she was leafing through had been covered in a fine layer of dust. Apparently people weren't as interested in sealing theory or algorithms as she was, at least not the people of Mahougakure. Her current text was diving into the dangers and abilities of Juinjutsu, a relatively newer version of sealing. The author spoke of how Fuinjutsu, while it could be dangerous, was intended for utility more than anything else, but Juinjutsu's only intention and application was to inflict pain and suffering to targets. It was a dark, but unfortunately highly effective fighting style and interesting to Amara, it seemed to satiate her inner-monologue's voice. Terrence had been completely silent while she leafed through the Juinjutsu text, unlike when she had been studying up on Barrier Ninjutsu. He had talked incessantly through that, enough to honestly make her give up and dive into the darker material she had before her.

Are you enjoying yourself? She thought to Terrence, taking a moment to lean back and disengage from the text. Her head cocked back, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about all of the information she was gathering. A thought occurred to her, why had she addressed Terrence as a separate entity? Was he not really just her, or at least a part of her? Should she be asking him instead how she felt? Or at least how we felt? Before she could deduce a satisfying answer however, Terrence piped in with an unusually tame voice.
Very much so, yes.
Amara frowned, that wasn't like him. No screaming, no excitement. Datara below, he sounded like her with that tone, if truth be told. It was actually more unnerving to have him act like this than it was to hear his usual screams and pronouncements of blood shed or suffering.
The fibrillate curse in particular is interesting. We can cause muscle spasms and sheer agony without actually leaving a mark. Think of all the quiet suffering that could cause! He chimed back in, this time the excitement returning to his voice and Amara nodded, for some reason smiling. Her inner-monologue might be deranged, but at least he was back to his...her? their? normal self. She pushed back from the desk and stood, stretching out. She had been sitting far longer than she thought and it felt good to crack her bones a bit.
Where are we going? Terrence asked with sudden curiosity.
I just need a quick break, we've been here for... Amara trailed off, searching the walls for a clock before seeing one in the distance. She squinted to focus and then her eyes went a bit wide, Oh my, seven hours now. We should probably start wrapping up soon, father will want me home for dinner. Besides, I feel like I've consumed all of the material I can for the day. We covered fuinjutsu, juinjutsu, barrier fuinjutsu, among others. It's a lot to take in.
It seemed Terrence had no response to this, perhaps she had bored him as she was want to do from time to time. Regardless, she continued speaking to herself, it helped her think and it wasn't as if there was anyone around her that would be distracted or annoyed by her ramblings.

I feel as though many people pick one specialization of seals, maybe dabble in a second, but only really ever focus on one when there are literal catalogues of different sealing styles and their effects. Take the storage formula for example, it's probably the most commonly used, after the summoning seal anyway. The Erlang have a specialized version, Lightning...something or other. She frowned, thinking for a minute and annoying that she couldn't recall it, then snapped her fingers, No wait, not Lightning, but Flash Blade I believe it's called. Regardless, it's an advanced variant of the storage formula and its applications. Shinobi enjoy storing things in hammer space, it's not their fault, but they so rarely dig deeper. Even my fellow Inkan seem to focus only on manipulating their Co-Ordinate Shapes with storage formulas for the most part. Incoming Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu? Storage formula plus fire-sealing method plus Co-Ordinate Cube equals bye bye, gonezo. She rounded the corner of one of the shelves, no longer looking for books, but simply walking and talking. They seal it away to Limbo, where it's gone forever, but don't consider potentially storing it in stasis and then re-releasing it at the target or just for later use. Why destroy what you can keep and use again. Oh sure, they keep weapons like incoming Kunai and such, but they don't expand on what they can do. They don't think bigger, they just follow what those before them did and have done, what they've witnessed and they're content. Amara shook her head, she knew she was rambling fiercely now, but she couldn't help herself. Social proprieties be damned, she was on a roll and loving it.

She lay down on the dusty carpeted floors in the middle of one of the aisles, her hands resting on her chest and her auburn hair spread out around her head. Then there's this business with the juinjutsu seals. Imagine for a moment, that one is able to modify their Co-Ordinate seals with not just Fuinjutsu seals, but juinjutsu. Instead of sealing away a Great Fireball Technique, you could place a Fibrillate Seal on a target from a distance. Which would in turn bypass one of the negative requirements for juinjutsu. The fact this hasn't been attempted in the past...or at the very least there doesn't seem to be a record of it... She trailed off, her train of thought departing. It had been fun while it lasted, but mental fatigue from the day's studies was quickly catching up with her. Later, after she missed dinner and her father had shown up at the library looking for her, he and an annoyed librarian would find Amara in that same position snoozing soundly among the books.

Words: 1080/1000

Specialization Trained:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 7th July 2021, 11:26 am

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 19th July 2021, 8:27 am

Jutsu Being Trained:

---- Earlier This Morning - Home ----

I saw you completed your 3 D-rank missions last week. Amara's father said over breakfast. She was only half listening however as she read through a scroll on basic seals, trying to commit them to memory for later use and application. Mhmm She hummed before stuffing a spoonful of cereal in her mouth, the milk dripping onto the scroll a bit. With a sigh, she grabbed some napkins and tried to blot it out before it ruined the scroll. Her father continued talking, That's excellent. And your classes, how are you liking those? Meet anyone interesting? Make any friends? Her father asked, trying to connect with his daughter. Amara frowned, her brow scrunching with concentration. Couldn't he see she was trying to read? Who asked things like this when someone was very clearly studying. Why couldn't the man just enjoy his breakfast in silence like they did every morning.
No, not really. She answered bluntly, returning to her reading. She could hear her father shuffle a bit, clearly wanting more and she racked her brain for the events of the past few days. There was one girl I suppose. Remembering her studying session, or really training session, with Eostre on one of the first days. Although I haven't seen her since, we seem to be in different groups or classes, but maybe I'll see her again later on during the year. She's a deer faunus, very interesting considering how little interaction I've had with their kind. The way she moves and her connection with the world around her...truly fascinating. I look forward to studying her again. Amara said, looking up but then drifting off in thought.

That's wonderful, sweetie! I'm glad you're making friends...although I thought we talked about you "studying" people. They're just people. You need to meet them and interact with them, learn about them but don't...study them, you know? He asked, trying once again to instill those pesky life lessons and social cues in her. It was becoming tiresome. She refocused, her eyes returning to her father and said, I genuinely do not. Amara returned her attention to the scroll in front of her but continued talking, I hardly see a different or how it even matters. I asked politely if I could study her and while she seemed confused for a moment, Eostre agreed entirely. We got along well enough for me to complete my studying session, so everyone seems happy with the interaction.
Her father sighed, clearly not satisfied with this response, but fell quiet for a moment and Amara thought that was the end of the conversation. She could faintly sense annoyance or maybe even pain of some form from her father, but it wasn't really much of her concern right now, then he spoke up again, I just worry about you dear. Amara's head shot up and she stared hard at her father.
Rip his wind pipe out right here, right now and we won't have to suffer this conversation ever again! Terrance yelled from within her and for a frightening moment she almost agreed with him.
What do you worry about, father? She asked, her stare cool and her tone even colder. Her knuckles turning white as she gripped the spoon, preparing herself for the conversation they seemed to have weekly nowadays.
I just... He trailed off, looking away, not even able to face his daughter when he said the words that he knew would hurt her.
COWARD! Terrence yelled and Amara had to agree with him this time.
Your mother, Her father said simply, returning his attention to her and Amara sat stunned for a moment, the spoon falling from her grip and clattering on the table just an inch or two below. The fight drained out of her almost instantly. No, they weren't allowed to talk about her. They didn't do this, it was agreed upon...or at least Amara always assumed it was.
she was a lot like you actually. Both in appearance and...demeanor. She had a hard time making friends, had a hard time forming social bonds. I loved her, of course, more than anything just as I love you more than anything Amara, but I watched her struggle. She was brilliant, but she failed so hard in making connections with people and it ate away at her...quietly...slowly...it ruined her. I just...I don't want the same for you.

Amara put her head down, staring at the table beneath her. She placed her hands on her temples, rubbing and pulling at her hair. They were not to speak of her mother. It hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt TOO much. Her father had promised, had promised to not bring her up to Amara...hadn't he? Did she just assume that was the agreement? Did they ever actually...discuss this? She couldn't remember, it didn't matter, what mattered was he had hurt her by saying the things he had. Hurt her and she needed to make him hurt too, so he knew. So he knew that he shouldn't hurt her like this. She began shaking. Shaking with rage, with fear, with confusion even. Amara? Amara are you okay? Honey, Her father asked, reaching across the table to try to comfort her. As his hand made contact with her head, she lost it and began to scream, emitting a psychic force of energy that sent the rest of her cereal flying. Silverware and cups flew off the table, smashing into the walls of the kitchen. The force was enough to push the table away from Amara, which in turn sent her father in his chair skidding across the floor. The kitchen walls creaked and groaned with the sudden movement of air and energy, then things became unbearably quiet. Amara's father adjusted his glasses and simply stared at Amara, who looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Confused, frightened, unsure of what had just happened. Her father studied her for a second, then made a quick decision, I think you should go for a walk this morning, dear. Take some time to clear your head. I'm sorry, I know that conversation was difficult for you. She nodded and moved to get the towels from the counter to clean the bowl of milk that had splattered and her father's tea from the floor.
No, no. I'll get it, you just go for a walk, take a breather. Her father said, holding up a hand. She thought to fight him, to resists, this was her mess after all. However, Amara simply nodded in agreement and grabbed her notebook off the entryway counter, closing the door behind her.

---- Present Time - Training Grounds ----

This morning was FUN! You should do that more often. Did you see the look on your father's face? I think he's scared of you now, we could use that.
No, it wasn't and no we won't. Amara said to herself in response to her intrusive thoughts. I'll never hurt my father, or anyone else. I don't want that, I just want people to leave me alone. She said, wiping her left eye which had apparently started...sweating? Well, it was hot in the Fira orb.
I just, can you just leave me alone? I just want to study and train.
I can never leave you alone, I'm a part of you Amara. I'll never actually leave. Terrence's tone lacked the usual malice or rage he usually spoke with. Instead, this statement came out cold and matter of fact. It was somehow more disturbing than his usual outbursts and although she knew he wasn't lying, she didn't feel ready to accept that fact just yet. It was too...unsettling in her current state of mind.
Fine then, just...don't interrupt me too much. I need to train for the Genin exams. They haven't announced them yet or anything, but I want to be ready just in case.
Some of the other students had weapons in our class. I think you should start using weapons.
I'm NOT using weapons. She said defiantly.
But- Terrence started.
No.
Finally, her inner thoughts fell silent for the first time all morning and Amara sighed with relief. It was nice to have her brain back to herself, even if only momentarily. Although Amara loved studying and learning, especially when it came to her fuinjutsu, at times it could feel overwhelming. For days she had poured over her books and scrolls on various seals, both of the Inkan variety and just general use ones that people from all over the Republic utilized. She had made lists of different seals to learn at different times, before different dates to be ready for different assignments or, as she had mentioned to Terrence, the exams. Even those lists had become all-consuming. There was simply so much to sift through that after some time she had decided that she'd simply need to learn all of them. Yes, all of the seals that were known about in the Shinobi world, she'd simply learn them. At the bare minimum, even if this compromised her combat use as a shinobi she had to just hope that it would make her useful to be studied and researched later. Perhaps she'd be able to make some sort of break through in sealing theory and change the research world forever. Being a kunoichi was merely a secondary goal and one that she was really just using to get her access to more powerful, potentially more dangerous seals and knowledge of them.

Hmm so as of right now I have access to Co-Ordinate Cube. Amara said to herself as she walked the grounds in thought, doing her best to stay out of the way of other shinobi and kunoichi who were training nearby. She drew a cube in the air in front of her, small but large enough to look it over. Simple, but possibly one of the most effective Inkan shapes. Snap my fingers and whatever is within it is sealed away, or if I'm not using a storage seal, then whatever seal I've added to it is transmitted to whatever is inside. Simple, effective, but apparently I can do more with it. If anyone was listening, they'd most likely think Amara mad, but then again this was the Republic and the training grounds. Crazier things had happened with shinobi and kunoichi alike on the training grounds. A young girl muttering herself? Sort of a dime a dozen these days. While the Co-Ordinate Cube can't be moved once placed, unless I seal it and then create a new one, I should be able to modify it. She touched the cube, which according to her texts wasn't required for this modification, but it helped her visualize better. She pictured the cube expanding outward, elongating rapidly and-
It did. The cube stayed the same width but rapidly elongated in length, becoming something Amara had read is known as a Co-Ordinate Spear, not exactly a new shape but a modification of Inkan shapes.
Fascinating. She said, pulling out her notebook and walking around the new elongated rectangle...or spear really. She jotted down some notes on the experience and the appearance before crossing the Co-Ordinate Spear off her list of techniques to study. This one was far more set in the realm of combat applications than many of the other shapes on her list, but she knew it would serve a helpful purpose in the exams or possibly even the C-rank mission she'll eventually have to take. A new shape, or at least modification to an existing shape she had, was interesting, but it was more or less worthless if she couldn't seal anything away with it and that was where things became complicated. It seemed that if she wanted to seal things away into storage, preserve them, keep them around, she'd need quite the chain of seals including seals that had to do with states of matter and stasis, especially in the case of organic matter. If she wanted to seal things away just to get rid of them, that was easier but more costly in terms of chakra at times. She already had the most basic of storage base seals down, but she would probably need something with a bit more oomph if she was being honest. She had gotten a taste of what some of the Academy Students in her class were capable of and there were rumors that the Jinchuuriki were in her year, so she needed to make sure she was able to at least survive an encounter with those beasts, never mind actually win a spar.

Amara took a seat in the grass, it was honestly all becoming just a bit too much and she was beginning to have her doubts about sealing methods and studying formulae for the rest of her life. She was after all, only four, and although she knew she loved this material, loved to learn and master it, it dawned on her that she was already becoming overwhelmed with just fuinjutsu itself. She had barely stepped into the realm of Juinjutsu, something she found Terrence liked quite a bit more than she herself did and that was troubling already in it of itself. Then there was barrier ninjutsu...and even barrier fuinjutsu she had read existed. That was not to forget her own abilities as a Jiko, learning her two releases of Psionic and Vapor. They were powerful, frightening elements and she knew that, but she also was becoming overwhelmed with the thought of making time for them somehow when there was so much about sealing to learn. She huddled up her knees to her chest, staring down at the grass below. She knew deep down she'd figure it all out, it would just take time and patience. She needed to control the narrative, control her thoughts and take it all one step at a time. With a sigh, she rose from her seat and headed home, hoping that the morning's events would be forgotten when she returned. She thought of her father as she left the training grounds, shock, hurt, maybe even disappointment on his face when she had pushed away his words...the table. Kami above she had pushed away the TABLE when he overwhelmed her. What was that all about? What was she? "I'm part of you, Amara." Terrence's words sprang back into her mind and she shook with discomfort. She and Terrence were not the same, Terrence was a monster, a bundle of intrusive thoughts that she didn't actually think...right? If they were intrusive thoughts they had to come from somewhere, and the only place that could be...was her.

Words: 2421/2400

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 23rd August 2021, 7:26 pm

Specialization Trained:

Amara collapsed into her bed after a long day of training at the academy. It had become abundantly clear during class earlier in the day that she was not as physically fit as the other students. Sure she could recite fuinjutsu theory better than any of the others and had probably studied more juinjutsu seals than others had even mastered jutsu, but that didn't help her run faster or hit harder. Amara wasn't the type to be perturbed by not being the best at everything, no she wasn't that egotistical or even self-interested. Instead, what bothered her is how underprepared she had been for class. It was one thing to be slow, it was another to be caught off guard by the teacher's request. Ultimately, she had mentally marked this day as an utter defeat. Rising from her bed like the walking dead, she trudged over to her cluttered desk and took a seat. Normally her studies brought her joy and relaxed her, but today, staring at the dusty tomes they only reminded her of her failure. What good was all this learning, all this academia, if she had failed to foresee a simple physical fitness test. Then, something caught her eye. On her desk, mostly covered by papers and drawings of seals, was a small leather-bound book with a note in her father's hand,
I know how much you love your heavy fuinjutsu textbooks, but maybe a change of pace will be good for you once in awhile. Her father's note read and she opened the cover to leaf through this "change of pace."

The book itself was a collection of short stories, not exactly her cup of tea. Short stories couldn't teach her anything. They couldn't further her journey towards becoming a master of the spiritual arts who could bend reality to her whim with seal configurations. They were just made up, fanciful tales meant for children and nothing more. She couldn't even conceive of the idea of "reading to be entertained." Then again...eying a particularly thick tome on barrier fuinjutsu caused a needle like pain in the front of her brain. One story couldn't hurt, right? One quick little story wouldn't turn her into a mindless fiction lover. Cracking open the first page of the first story, Amara read:

-----Book-----

There once was a man named Nim, who lived in a land forgotten by you or me. Nim was quick, he was fast, he could outrun the hunters of the village without breaking much of a sweat. He boasted often, until eventually he no longer needed to as others boasted for him. When members of other tribes from other villages would stop by to visit or trade, Nim's own people would set up challenges amongst the others. They'd boast for him and brag of how quick and spry the young Nim was. So, Nim would race. He would race and run and he'd run and win. This continued for some time, many moons and several changings of the leaves until one day, Nim grew tired of his competitions. He grew tired of running and he fell out of love with the one thing he loved most.

One day, while collecting firewood for the city center fire that night, a task well beneath the station of Nim, but one he had taken more often as he no longer enjoyed running down prey with the hunters; he came across a small wind spirit. The wind spirit danced around Nim playfully, but the young man was careful to avoid interacting with it. He knew how dangerous the spirits of the forest could be, even if they seemed harmless at first.
"I hear you're fast." A voice said as Nim headed back towards the village. The young man stopped and looked about but found only the wind spirit with him, twisting and gliding about the ground.
"Wanna race?" The spirit asked.
"Race you? A spirit? No thanks." Nim said, knowing better.
"I'll bet you can't beat me. I'll be a lot." The spirit said with a chuckle.
"What do you wager?" Nim asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"If you win, I'll make you the happiest you've ever been and ever will be."
"That seems...vague. What do you mean?"
"I mean what I say and I say what I mean. The words are there, do you accept?" The wind spirit asked without really answering Nim's question.
"And what do you get if you win?"
"Your life." The spirit said with another chuckle.

Had it been any other day, maybe even a week or month before, Nim would have walked away without a second thought. But lately, that melancholy attitude had creeped into him, into his bones and into his being. He could shake a feeling of uselessness, of general boredom and apathy for life now that he had fallen out of love with his one talent. Besides, maybe this challenge would be enough to reignite his love for the thin he lost.
"You're on." Nim said, dropping the bundle of firewood.
"Good, good, excellent!" The chipper spirit said, "First one back to the village wins the contest. Ready?"
"I suppose." Nim said, suddenly noticing the storm clouds approaching from the east.
"Excellent! Go!" The spirit said without warning and took off flying low to the ground. Nim took off after him, dodging branches, stepping over gnarled roots and avoiding depressions in the earth as best he could. He moved the fastest he ever had as the storm behind him blew against his back. He felt not like he was chasing a spirit, but like he was running for his life. He hadn't felt this alive in weeks. No, he had never felt this alive as his muscles worked in conjunction with one another like a well oiled machine. Ahead the trail of the wind spirit came into view and Nim kicked into overdrive just as thunder cracked and the storm began its descent upon the earth below. His sandaled feet chewed dirt and pebbles, kicking up a cloud of debris as he gained on the spirit. With his eyes focused and his chin down, Nim outpaced the spirit, passing him with a whoop of delight.

As the village came into view, two more events happened simultaneously. The storm exploded violently with wind and rain, illuminating the mad runner with lightning that shattered the sky. And the second, well the second event was Nim hitting a euphoric high, his love for running returning with a gust of the wind at his back. As he approached the main gates of the village, his pace began to slow. Disbelief, doubt, and blatant confusion slowed him to a halt just steps from the finish line.
"I, but, you- how?" Nim asked over the roar of the storm just as the wall of rain hit the two figures. Atop the low village wall sat the wind spirit, idly checking his fingernails, which didn't actually exist.
"Oh good, you made it. I was getting worried I'd have to wait until morning."
"But I passed you."
"I am the wind boy, how could you pass me? I'm everywhere all at once and there's a whole lot of me right now, isn't there? Don't be scared, it's not so bad where you're going next and I did give you a bit of a consolation prize." The spirit said with a shrug before plucking Nim's soul from his body and carrying it off to the beyond, leaving the poor, confused Nim with nothing more than a profoundly stupid look of confusion on his corpse's face.
The end.

Words: 1243/1000

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 29th August 2021, 7:22 pm

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 2nd August 2022, 2:46 pm

Amara sat at her desk once more, another fine evening drawing into night. Her head was in her hands, elbows planted firmly on the wooden desk. A massive textbook on various fuinjutsu seals and theories lay in front of her, opened but only partially read. This was her nightly routine and indistinguishable from any other night she had had in the past. Tonight, however, her head throbbed as she tried to make sense of the dense material. She had long surpassed the reading material lent out to normal Academy Students when it came to sealing theories and the interaction of fuinjutsu with the physical world. Months ago she had to have her parents make a special request and sign binding contracts that would allow her to check out and study from some of the most in-depth materials Mahougakure had to offer on the subjects.

With a defeated sigh, Amara sat back in her chair and gazed across her cluttered desk surface. Beneath several notes she spotted the corner of the short story book her father had left for her several days earlier. Biting her lower lip, she thought about how enjoyable the story she had first read from it had been. It was simple and almost child-like compared to what she usually consumed, but it had been a nice break from the headache of seals and realmatic theory. She likened it to eating something fresh between courses of an elaborate dinner. It was simple, but had a job and purpose which it executed perfectly. She looked about her room as though someone would walk in and judge her for reading something more akin to her age group. Satisfied that no one was there to see her weakness, she snatched the book from her desk and dove into her bed, flipping to the next story.

-----Book-----

The Flies of Turrek

Turrek trudged through the jungle, the humid air was thick and suffocating in the afternoon sun. Sweat poured from his brow and bugs buzzed about, diving into his ears and eyes with each step he took. His hunt had been fruitless, just as it had the day before and the day before that. His family's rations were quickly dwindling and if he didn't catch something soon, he feared for the worst. Today he had ventured further out than ever before, hoping for fresh grounds and an abundance of prey to snare. Unfortunately, no such luck had been gifted to him. Now, he was nearly back to the village with only the river to cross and a few hundred feet of stripped jungle beyond that.

Turrek's stomach growled angrily, annoyed that he had pushed his body so hard for so long with such little food to satiate it. Bleakly, he wondered if he'd have the strength to even cross the surging river. He realized a small part of him wouldn't mind being washed away today. It'd be quick, hopefully, just a few moments of panicked struggling and then nothing as the river took him into its own. He shook his morbid thoughts and cut through the foliage to find the very river in front of him. The water surged and churned over the heads of various rocks that dotted the watery landscape. Even from several dozen feet away, the roar of the river could be heard and Turrek heard an audible swallow escape his throat. He licked his lips and trudged forward with determination.

Placing the machete in its scabbard and then the entire bundle in his water-resistant, hide sack, Turrek searched the bank for the best place to enter the rapids. The trick to something like this was to swim not against the current, but parallel to it. He had to allow himself to be carried downstream, so he hiked a few hundred yards upstream and hoped it'd be enough to land him in the general area of the village on the other side. Steeling himself for the frosty mountain water, Turrek stepped into the river, searching for a place to plant his foot. A gasp escaped his lips, but he pulled it back in and gritted his teeth, placing his other foot in the water but still holding to the grassy river bank. Taking several deep breaths now, he took in a large gulp of air before diving into the rapids and beginning to churn the water with his flailing limbs.

He was far from the greatest swimmer in the village, but he could hold his own and get where he needed to get to with little issue. At least, that had been true in the past. This morning had been a difficult crossing and coupled with the fruitless hunt, his body was starving for precious nutrients to fuel his strength. Now it seemed, the river was surging even faster and stronger than it had been just this morning. For several long seconds, Turrek was held by uncertainty and regret. Every time he pulled his face from the water, the frothing waves of the current smashed him in the face. He choked and sputtered each time, trying his best to find the bank on the other side and judge his distance. Each time he seemed to be further and further away, not only making no progress but seemingly traveling backward as well.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, with his arms and legs screaming and his lungs burning for a proper breath of air, Turrek felt purchase on soft, squishy land beneath his feet. He rose from the surging waters, nearly losing his footing again, but seizing hold of the slick grasses on the bank. With his chest heaving, he pulled himself up and over the bank, collapsing on his back. Wet limbs splayed to the baking sun, his chest rising and falling in a crescendo as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The black tendrils of unconsciousness pulled at the sides of his vision. He tried to shake away the feeling, but found no such luck. Instead, he focused on the buzzing flies that seemed to descend upon him in a cloud of hatred and gluttony. They were blood suckers, little gnats that would drain him of his lifeblood and leave him to die. He flailed weakly at them, but his attempts were in vain, merely scattering the black cloud that descended on him, watching it reform before his eyes.

With no energy left, he let them feast. Each fly's tiny bite was nearly unnoticeable, but he could feel his little remaining strength drain from his body. He groaned, not in pain, but in defeat. To survive a trek through unknown woods, splash and struggle his way through the river, and now only to be feasted upon by insignificant creatures. What a strange, almost poetic ending. He had no idea how much time had passed when he heard the first voices but realized that the flies had stopped biting and now clung to him, fat and lazy. They had gorged themselves on...well, on him.
Cousin? Cousin are you okay? A familiar voice said. One of his tribesmen had found him. Two actually, Turrek realized as he cracked open his dried eyes.
Shhhh, cous. No closer. Do not disturb them. Turrek hissed in warning, thinking of the full flies that dotted his skin.
Do not disturb them? But cousin, they're feasting on you.
No, no. They already have. My blood is within them and now they rest, happy and full, but they also keep away the other hungry flies. If you disturb these flies, the famished will descend on me once more and I will be no more. This is my lot in life now, let's not look to make it worse. Turrek said with a glazed look in his eyes. The tendrils of darkness reached across his vision once more and the faintest of smiles touched his lips as he stared at the blue sky overhead.

Words: 1306/1300

Techs Being Trained:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 3rd August 2022, 10:41 am

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 30th August 2022, 7:58 am

Things at the Academy had been...slow lately, so Amara had taken a bit of a sabbatical. She was still enrolled of course, and would return as soon as classes picked up again, but for some reason the teachers seemed to have simply forgotten their students existed. Independent study work had been assigned, but she had finished a month's worth within about three days, leaving her teachers flustered and with nothing else to assign while the other students worked through their tasks. They had encouraged her to reach out and spend time with some of her fellow classmates, which she had only to learn more about them and study them. At times she even thought back to the strange swordswoman and the host of the Ichibi. Such interesting characters, particularly the energetic Ichibi host. She hoped to spend more time with them at a later point, but for the time being she had learned all there was to know about them. Perhaps once they became stronger and more proficient at what they were meant to do, then she could revisit and reassess.

For now though, it was back home for Amara. The Academy library housed only so many texts and had a rather shallow depth of knowledge. It was a place for learning, sure, but it was also geared towards young, budding shinobi. She had breezed through the vast majority of what interested her on those shelves within the first month of enrollment. The archives at Mahougakure however still housed ancient texts that piqued her interest and she had an ongoing, positive relationship with the head librarian there. So long as she didn't try to take any of the older scrolls or tomes home, she was free to request whatever interested her. Though Amara of course wanted to take them home or even just check them out, she had too much respect for the wealth of information they provided to risk such a thing. They were safe in the library and so long as she respected the rules, her access to them was safe as well.

However, even these fascinating tomes on deep levels of Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu had begun to wane in interested to her. She was still fascinated by the possibilities, but had perhaps spent too much concentrated time on only one or two subjects. It was for this reason she approached the head librarian's desk with a small smile and asked, What do you have on Medical Ninjutsu? Or Medical Fuinjutsu? Medical Genjutsu would be of use too I suspect. The old crone looked up at Amara from the book on her desk, her eyes staring at the young girl over the tops of her wire-framed glasses.
Ah, good morning Amara. How are you today? I'm sure such a pleasant girl as yourself hasn't forgotten her manners after attending the Academy for just a short period of time. The crone gave a knowing smile, warm but deeply sarcastic as well. Amara chewed her bottom lip, mentally punishing herself for forgetting basic manners. It was something her parents had tried time and time again to instill in her and she had wanted to learn, truly she had. It was just...in the pursuit of knowledge, who had time for proper manners? Evidently the old librarian crone always had the time.
Oh, um, good morning Ms. Grekko. I apologize for my...haste, I'm just excited to get started. I'm fine, thank you, and yourself?
So much better now, my dear. Are you on holiday? I didn't realize the Academy had a break coming up.
Amara groaned inwardly, squirming to get the information she desired and away from this fruitless confirmation. The look in Ms. Grekko's eyes made Amara suspect the woman was perfectly aware of how much anguish she was causing Amara, and possibly even taking some level of joy from it.
We're not on break officially, but I've finished my work for the semester and the proctors all seem...otherwise occupied by something. I know we spent a while rebuilding, but it feels like the villages have gotten some semblance of normalcy back. Honestly, we learned more during the height of reconstruction than we are now. It's...odd.
Grekko frowned in thought, Odd indeed. She said, before falling silent in contemplation.

Amara bounced from foot to foot, itching to ask her question about the medical tomes again. Grekko regarded her with a single eye, pretending to look away in thought. Just as Amara was ready to blurt out the question again, the side of Grekko's mouth twitched into a small smile, Oh alright my dear, I've made you suffer long enough. Well done, I believe that's a new wait time record for you. You can find the medical section in the north wing, second floor, section three. There should be about five shelves full from floor to ceiling. That should keep you busy for a few days.
Amara nodded with a smile, Yes, thank you Ms. Grekko. She turned to leave when the old crone called out to her again,
Oh and Amara? Might I suggest you visit the hospital sometime if you are truly interested in this pursuit? Books are wonderful, I'm the first to tell you that, but nothing beats first-hand experience. Something like medicine and surgery...you really need a hands-on approach to truly learn anything. Besides, the hospital almost certainly has more up to date information than we do.
Amara nodded in agreement, it was a fair point and something she'd need to remember going forward, Yes, I'll do that, thank you Ms. Grekko. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Don't forget, closing is at 9:00 PM! You've used up your number of little 'sleepovers' this year, missy.
Amara rolled her eyes but nodded as she walked away, I know, thank you.

For a moment, she thought she could hear the old woman chuckling behind her. Amara was glad someone found Ms. Grekko amusing, even if it was only herself. Oh sure, the woman was pleasant enough and beyond helpful, but sometimes Amara wanted to just wring the woman's neck until she spewed all of her information and teachings. Someday, when she was older, Amara would appreciate the games the head librarian played with her, but at this age she'd have no idea of realizing it.

Words: 1032/1000

Jutsu Being Trained:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 1st September 2022, 3:19 pm

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 1st September 2022, 3:46 pm

Jutsu Being Trained:

Another day, another book on the training grounds. Amara liked the training grounds though. Not because of the sweaty, usually half-clothed young men and women that pranced around showing their muscular figures and demonstrating the clear advantages to securing one of them as a mate. No, that was for the older females in the stands that sat and fanned themselves idly while sipping tea. Amara liked the training grounds because it was one of the few places in public she wouldn't be judged for the thick tomes she lugged around everywhere. Granted, this place wasn't constructed with reading in mind, but many young shinobi came to the training grounds with scrolls or instruction manuals in hand from either their senseis or something they bought on clearance from the scholars. As a result, though Amara rarely got up to actually practice what she read, it offered a literal breath of fresh air to get out of the stuffy library and crack open a book amongst the sounds of training, grunting, and occasional sounds of joy or pain.

Today she was looking into proximity seals. An interesting bit of reading and something she had been considering after a quick analysis of her own failings. There was plenty to do in the shinobi world, but the hard fact of it is you were nothing if you couldn't win a fight. Granted, there were plenty of different ways to win a fight and raw power was actually one of the statistically least reliable ways to do so, though it had the highest belief rate that it was the best. So being rather slow and not terribly durable, it seemed to fall to reason that traps and possibly explosives were her best avenue. Although perhaps less explosives and more so hidden seals that triggered her co-ordinate shapes to form instantly around someone who got too close, then seal them away into some sort of limbo demi-plane for all of eternity. Yeah, that sounded nice.

Words: 328/200

Subdivision (Fuinjutsu Specialist) - Perfect

3 B-ranks & 1 C-rank & 4 D-ranks
Becomes:
3 B-ranks & 4 D-ranks

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 2nd September 2022, 9:25 am

Well, that was enough studying and theory practice. It was time to put this to the test. Amara closed her tome and rose from the ground. She dusted herself off before approaching an open area in the field. A few Genin a bit older than her practiced on the training dummies nearby, but for the time being, she ignored them. Visualizing the proximity seal in her mind, she channeled chakra into her finger tip and began etching it in the dusty soil at her feet. After a moment, she stood straight up again and inspected her work. From what she remembered, it was pretty much perfect. A bit rough on the bottom corner line, but still intact and should work just fine. She had sealed a singular kunai within, making it harmless for anyone who triggered it, but the trap wouldn't trigger with just her presence. In fact, it was frustratingly designed specifically not to trigger by the presence of the creator.

She did some quick calculations, judging the distance of the genin practicing and then called out to them with cupped hands, Excuse me! Can one of you start walking towards me? Slowly please. When I hold up my hand, you can stop and go back to training. The three older shinobi looked at each other with confusion before one shrugged and stepped forward. Amara watched the seal with intent and as the boy came within range, a kunai appeared in a small puff of smoke at her feet. Amara smiled and raised her hand to stop the boy before making a shooing motion, Thank you for your time, you're dismissed.

Words: 271/200

Jutsu Learned:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 3rd September 2022, 8:33 pm

Amara chewed on the eraser of her pencil, deep in thought as she took a break from tracing a new fuinjutsu glyph. Hmm, what would happen if I extended the outer markings of the seal here and here? She mused to herself, now tapping the wet eraser end on the two outermost markings of her sketch, Would that increase the range it would set off or apply some sort of delayed effect? The young kunoichi frowned with concentration. In truth, there was no point wondering without at least trying, but Amara was a careful girl, especially when it came to fuinjutsu. She'd rather research for hours and hours on end to be absolutely certain something was safe to test than be sealed away to some demi-plane by accident. Measure twice, cut once. She said to herself in a poor imitation of her father's voice. It had become his trademark saying and something she heard just about every other day for as long as she could remember. Finally, with a sigh, she closed her sketch pad and rose to give it a shot. It was a reaction that required another's presence, so she was in no real danger as long as she stood far enough back. Worst came to worst, some brain-dead genin training over there would just...poof...disappear. These things happened.

Alrightyyyy. She said, having drawn the marking in the dirt once more. Yooohooo! She called to the same genin squad that was training over at the dummies. This time they rolled their eyes, but the same boy that had helped her before obliged with a smile. However, this time he only got about one step in before there was a poof of smoke and a kunai appeared on the seal.
Interesting, so it does work. She said to herself, returning to her eraser end.

Words: 302/300

Spoiler:

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

Both are approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 6th September 2022, 8:23 am

Note: This is a continuation of her previous training for chakra control.

The area Ms. Grekko had indicated was easy enough to find and Amara vaguely remembered passing it on several occasions. A respectable four rows had been dedicated to all things medical-related and while deep down she knew Grekko was right about experience being king, this was at least a solid start in the right direction. Without a thought, Amara activated her Makers' Hands technique, a technique originally designed to help her formulate seals faster and simultaneously, she found that these spectral hands had a plethora of other, day-to-day uses as well. Plus, considering the fact that they were invisible to anyone lacking chakra vision, it was an extremely amusing joke to have other library goers walk by a small girl with numerous, open books floating over her head.

On the practical side, it allowed her to cross-reference texts immediately, without having to open or flip through new pages manually. All of this could be done with her mind and that was something Amara enjoyed very much. As she browsed the spines of the hundreds of medical texts, a thought crossed her mind. She really didn't know where to start. Though complicated in it of itself, the actual art of learning fuinjutsu was rather simple. There were base seals and modification seals. This was true even for juinjutsu, an area she had begun to dabble in. You learned base seals first, then modification seals, and finally how to incorporate and utilize modification seals with those base seals for the best result. What was the foundation of medical though? There were no real base techniques. She had of course heard of the Mystical Palm Technique, a cornerstone in the arsenal of any medic, but there was so much to learn before ever being able to tackle something like that. So the question remained, what had to be learned first?

As she selected texts and browsed their writing, a single fact continued to surface. Something about chakra control and the strength of one's chakra control. It was becoming apparent that this was an integral piece of Iryojutsu. It was also something she hadn't been entirely aware of a person being able to increase or improve. In a way though, it made sense that this was no different than training and improving a muscle. A person's chakra coils release stored chakra naturally when needed. It rationed the proper amount of chakra needed for the level of the technique being prepared. The body did this naturally, without conscious thought, just like breathing. It stood to reason then, that as with any anatomical process, there was room for excess loss. The human, nova, and zireh bodies were all incredible feats of bio-engineering and natural selection. That being said, they weren't perfect. If one could control how much chakra they output for techniques and purify it down to only the absolute necessity, then they would have a leg up in just about every conceivable way. Or at least every conceivable way chakra was concerned.

Amara bit her bottom lip, her mind now working in overdrive as she had a purpose and a mission in mind. The spines of books flew past her vision as she searched, no, hunted for texts on chakra flow control and training such a thing. She emerged from the labyrinth of bookshelves several minutes later, a healthy stack of old medical texts floating above her head. Sequestering herself off to a table in the corner, Amara got to work. From just the first few minutes she realized that the simple trick to learning and training something like this was to be consciously aware of it from the beginning and to start young. The less conditioned one's chakra coils were, the easier it was to make them produce as efficiently as possible. From there, she had to turn to utilize chakra from a subconscious act into a conscious one. This would allow her to consciously ration the exact amount of chakra needed for each of her techniques, no more and no less. As the hours ticked by, Amara lost herself in her research, a not uncommon act. However, it was a singular voice that shocked her from her reading.

This is...interesting. Terrence said in her mind, a noticeable lack of the usual malice or gore desire in his cognitive, detached voice.
Oh? You think so? Amara asked aloud, not caring if anyone nearby heard the strange bookwork seemingly talking to herself. She was shocked that Terrence would take an interest in any of her studies, especially something designed to heal and help people.
Yes, the humanoid body is so fragile. This opens up so many avenues for direct pain and destruction in so many glorious ways. This could be so much fun Amara. I'm so glad you've taken a darker turn. The voice said with malicious glee.
Taken a darker tur- She began to ask, now confused by what the voice in her head had seen that she hadn't. As she looked over the texts laid out in front of her and considered what it was like to view medical textbooks as a psychopath, Amara broke out into a cold sweat. Terrence was right. On the surface, these techniques and theories were excellent for training, building, and repairing life. Turned around or even just tweaked ever so slightly and a practitioner could cause true, everlasting damage to a living creature. It made her skin crawl at the thought of someone as bloodthirsty as Terrence getting ahold of this material and utilizing it for nefarious ends. Surely this disembodied voice wasn't the first to realize this possibility, which meant there were others out there, already practicing such dark and disturbing medical practices.

A cold sweat broke out across Amara's brow, her mind racing faster and faster at the destructive possibilities of this. Should she even be dabbling in such a dark art? Then again, she prided herself on areas like fuinjutsu and juinjutsu. Those could cause just as much pain and destruction as misused Iryojutsu techniques. She closed her text and nodded, she'd keep going but have to keep an eye on Terrence and any techniques she came up with. This could get bad very, very fast. I think that's enough studying for today.

Words: 1031/1000

Jutsu Trained:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 6th September 2022, 8:38 am

Previous training takes my weekly, this will take my daily slot.

Amara didn't even go to the training grounds for this modification seal. Today would be a simple day, her brain still reeling from all of the medical knowledge she had absorbed at the library the day before, not to mention Terrence's realization still reverberated her to her very core. So instead of going to the training grounds or cramming herself into the stuffy library again, Amara sat at a small cafe table, leisurely reading some studies on Energy Modification Seals. This was hardly a strain for her and gave her a chance to mentally detox with some light reading and hot tea. A pleasant breeze worked its way down the street and Amara relaxed in its refreshing efforts.

Words: 118/100

Jutsu Learned:

Posts : 3780 Join date : 2012-05-06

Both approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 7th September 2022, 8:00 am

Her class with Gin and Kin had been enlightening, to say the least. Though they had been surprised by how much she already knew about seal work, they had also taught her a great deal about what she was still missing. Amara had the sobering thought that she may never actually be done with this work and that fuinjutsu and juinjutsu possibilities could extend endlessly, potentially even further than she herself could train. It made her head swim with frustration and anxiety, but she wouldn't let herself be overcome by such feelings. Instead, it was a good time to take a break from studying and consume some more of those simple tales that her parents sometimes left out for her. It was funny really, though she was aware they were leaving them out in clear view specifically for her to find, treating her like a rabbit and the books like breadcrumbs, she didn't mind. In fact, she looked forward to it. Parents had a strange sixth sense for detecting when their children were in need of something. It wasn't always perfect, but when it worked, it turned out to be exactly what she needed. So, settling down into her bed, allowing the blankets to envelop her in a warm, satisfying cocoon of comfort, Amara cracked open the latest tale and got to work.

------Book------

There once was a girl who lived in a small village beneath the shadow of The Wall. She worked as a simple laundress, collecting the village's clothes and cleaning them for a small fee with her mother while her father operated a small-time tailor business out the back of the house. It was simple work and a simple life. Times were tough when the light diminished, but runners always came back with more before things became too desperate. The girl wanted for little in life, happy to live with her parents and siblings, though she dreamed endlessly. The Wall was so captivating. It called to her in her dreams and in her waking hours. It loomed above the village, towering endlessly into the sky, and though there were guards that trekked up the steep switchback to the top, she was told never to go near The Wall. For there were monsters on the other side and they would steal the village's light if they were ever allowed over. The sentries stood watch endlessly, making sure no creature could scale the other side and rob them of their light or their lives. So the girl continued her simple life, stopping each day to stare up at the great wall or watching the changing of the guards pass each other on the switchback path.

Until one day, like a siren's song, she simply could not bear the questions any longer. She waited until dark, after the sentries had passed one another on the switchback and leapt from the bushes. Truly she didn't know what she was doing. Her legs simply moved of their own volition and she was propelled up the switchback. There was no wall on this side of the switchback path, nothing to protect her from prying eyes except for the lateness of the hour. The path itself was faintly illuminated by torches holding pieces of their light. She was quick but careful to not misstep and plunge over the side to her death. What a story that would have been. Foolish girl doesn't listen and stupidly steps out over the void to her doom. That would have been a tale for the children to hear at night, a warning to never disobey their elders and their sage wisdom. The girl was resolute to make sure this did not become a footnote in history.

When she was about halfway up, the girl stopped to rest, sucking wind and cursing herself for not bringing water or sustenance. The Wall towered well into the clouds and though she knew this, looking at it had been one thing. Climbing it was an entirely different ordeal. She groaned but continued. By the time she was about three-quarters of the way to the top, the first fingers of light began to creep up and over The Wall. People would be rising soon, ready to start their eight-hour day, for the sun graced them with light for only so long with The Wall in the east. Up this high, they may notice her, but it would take some time for anyone to get to her from the bottom. Instead, she'd simply have to contend with the sentries at the top. Now covered in sweat and huffing, her lungs aching with a burn that threatened to seize them, the girl clambered the last few feet of the switchback incline to the top and froze. A sentry stood above her, silhouetted by the morning light. His arms crossed and the shadow of his face spoke of only disappointment and annoyance. The girl steeled herself for a beating...or worse, but then the man's features softened. He sighed heavily and offered her an outstretched hand from where she was crawling, Well, you made it this far, no sense in sending you back down now.

The sentry pulled the girl to her feet and stepped aside, allowing her to walk atop The Wall. As she did, she peered out over the vastness of what lay on the other side and her breath caught in her throw. There, far out across the horizon was another wall and between the two of them sat a village, similar to her own. She turned, facing the west now and for the first time in her life, spotted another wall that she had never seen before, shielded in her pleasant little village during her pleasant little life.
They say it goes on like this forever, village after village, wall after wall. Dunno if any of that's true, but here we are. The sentry said, standing beside her with a quizzical look on his face as he stared out across the second village and forest below. Makes you wonder...eh? He asked and the girl nodded, it really did make her wonder, she just wasn't sure exactly what to wonder.

-----Book End----

Words: 1020/1000

Spec Training:

Posts : 1483 Join date : 2015-12-05

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 7th September 2022, 2:28 pm

A boring but necessary seal, that's what was on the agenda for today. For the first time, Amara found herself dreading research. It was probably because the Base Sealing Method: Storage Formula Lvl 3 was such a boring seal to learn. It didn't do anything new or different than those she already had. It simply allowed her to seal more difficult, more powerful targets away with her other seals. Was this important? Of course! Was it interesting or fun to read? Not particularly, no. As it was, Base Sealing Method: Storage Formula Lvl 3 was a cornerstone seal to just about everything she wanted to do in the future. Without it, she would be incapable of sealing elements and other various targets she'd have a need for at some point in the future. What didn't help was the fact that she felt she already knew it and didn't need it. The core design was the exact same as Lvl 2 and Lvl 1, with each new level adding a new feature around the outside of the seal. It would probably take her a max of five minutes to memorize the new written feature, attempt the seal, and perfect it.

That is why her research book remained untouched on her desk still as the girl lay across her bed, head over the side and staring at the world upside down. Her auburn hair fanned out beneath her, drooping to the floor in an autumn-like puddle. She huffed and groaned, refusing to get up from her bed. Though, it wasn't as if anyone was forcing her to learn this seal. No, only Amara herself propelled her to dive deeper and deeper into seal theory, fuinjutsu, and even juinjutsu. In fact, only Amara propelled herself at all. Her parents were proud of her of course, but in that loving parent way of being proud of her no matter what she did or strived to become. She could have declared a desire to become a shoe cobbler for an exclusively shoeless village and they would have cheered and encouraged her even after she was laughed out of the village. At times, it was downright draining being their daughter. Still, she knew better than to complain. Thinking of all the newly orphaned children after the bijuu attacks across the Republic made her frown. She rose from her bed and returned to her desk, cracking open the tome to get started.

Words: 404/400

Jutsu Trained:

Posts : 1483 Join date : 2015-12-05

Approved

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 8th September 2022, 7:51 am

Fire, now here was something to get excited about. Amara was finally dipping her toes into elemental sealing. Granted, presently she wouldn't be able to do a whole lot with it. In fact, all it would allow her to do is seal the element within one of her co-ordinate shapes and actually store it. Previously, she was able to seal away elements within her co-ordinate shapes, but they'd just disappear. There'd be no storage, only destruction. Now, by learning the various elemental seals, she would be able to keep bits of them stored to experiment on them and discover various combinations and attributes she wasn't aware existed. This was perfect and oh so much better than the Base Sealing Method: Storage Formula Lvl 3 she had learned the other day. Though, admittedly, that had been a necessity for her to learn the elemental seals. After all, what fun was it to have access to elemental seals when you didn't have the storage to actually seal away techniques? She'd simply be right back where she started, sealing away elements into the void of nothingness rather than keeping them safe for storage.

As Amara poured over her notes, she began to realize just how dangerous this would be. Granted, she was training to be a Med-Nin now, but she had absolutely no training or techniques related to it whatsoever at this point. If something went wrong, it would go wrong quickly and she'd have no way to help herself. The thought of accidentally self-immolated weighed heavy on the young girl as she studied the intricacies of the Fire Sealing Method fire seal. Though she was confident it would all work out, as it always had, she still had doubts and nerves about attempting this. With a sigh, she crumpled more paper and tossed it into the waste bin before pulling out the matches she had taken from her father's desk. Here goes...something? She said to herself, striking the match and tossing it into the waste bin. Immediately, flames lit to life, licking and crawling up the sides of the waste bin. Amara breathed evenly, carefully, as she drew a co-ordinate capture: cube in the air around the trash receptacle. She then traced the fire elemental seal onto the side of the cube, alongside her storage seal and snapped her fingers. The fire was gone, but the blackened waste bin remained, leaving the girl smiling with pride.

Words: 403/400

Jutsu Learned:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 9th September 2022, 9:22 am

With the Fire Sealing Method mastered, it was time to move onto a new element and what better element than the antithesis of fire? Water was on the agenda for today, mostly because she found it easiest to find water naturally rather than try to seek out something like lightning or life. It also wouldn't hurt to be able to keep a reserve of water sealed away in case of any fires she simply cannot seal on her own. So, Amara made her way to the local swimming pool, not the training grounds. She was fully clothed and had a backpack filled to the brim with books and scrolls. To say she received some odd, confused stares was an understatement. At one point, as she was unpacking all of her study material on one of the lounge chairs (two actually, she had a lot of stuff), a lifeguard even wandered over to bother her.
Hello miss. You know this is a public pool, right? Not a library?
Amara regarded the civilian youth with a flat stare, sizing him up and down and within moments she pretty much knew what she was dealing with. It had nothing to do with her intelligence or ability to analyze people and make logical deductions, this boy was as basic as it got and anyone with a working pair of eyes could see everything he was within seconds.
Are there rules about reading at the pool? Amara asked, seeing the various people scattered about the loungers with different forms of reading material. Though, in fairness, none of them had brought thick tomes on sealing theory.
Err, no. The lifeguard said.
Am I taking up more space than I should? Amara asked flatly, noting the abundance of open chairs scattered about the pool deck.
No, no, you're fine unless it gets considerably busier later.
Is there a bathing suit strictly policy that's not listed on your sign at the entrance?
...no. He said and Amara could tell he was already defeated, but apparently got a second wind of confidence, But most people usually choose to wear a bathing suit. You know, because of the water.
Ah yes, because of the water. How could I have missed that? Well, rest assured young keeper of the hydrogen dioxide, I venture into these unknown depths of potential splishy-splashy of my own volition and will not hold you, or any persons of your unwavering, courageous guard accountable for any wetness that may occur here today.
Uhhhh... The boy stammered until Amara made a shooing motion, which, in his confusion, his brain actually obeyed and he wandered off shaking his head.

Amara shook her head as he wandered off. Some people just had no respect for the scholars of this world. Was it fair of him to assume someone like Amara wouldn't enjoy a leisurely day basking in the sun? Of course not, it was ridiculous and very stereotypical. Did he happen to be right this time? Yes, but everyone gets lucky once in awhile. She huffed and shook her head, refusing to dwell on it any longer. It simply wasn't worth her time at this current moment. Instead, she spread out her scrolls and tome and flipped to the relevant pages for the Water Sealing Method. Much of it was the same, or at least similar, to the Fire Sealing Method. The outer runes and markings were nearly identical, while in the center was the kanji for water rather than fire. This naturally made sense and within a few moments, Amara had already committed it to memory. So, closing the tome and placing the corners of her scrolls under its weight so they wouldn't blow away, she wandered over to the edge of the pool and sat down, dipping her toes in the warm water. She picked a spot relatively void of people before closing her eyes and imagining the seal. She began tracing in the air and within seconds, a cube of chakra appeared in the water. With the cube there, she snapped her fingers and sealed it away. She hadn't applied the seal yet and this was on purpose, wanting to see if anything would be sealed away. It was. Water was displaced where it had once been and the level in the pool went down a bit. However, checking that sixth sense of her limbo demi-plane, she found no water sealed there. Instead, it had effectively been destroyed as she had predicted.

So, performing the act all over again, she reformed the co-ordinate cube in roughly the same location. By this point, pool goers had taken note of the strange girl in the corner, not to mention the slightly lowered pool water levels. In fact, she frowned when she saw the same lifeguard begin to climb down from his chair. She wasn't surprised people were displeased with her experimentation, but she had hoped she'd have a bit more time. Focusing back on the cube, she quickly traced the Water Seal and snapped her fingers. The cube disappeared and with it, several dozen liters of water. Reflecting back to that Inkan sixth sense, she smiled to herself realizing there was a sizable chunk of chlorinated water now sitting in her demi-plane and ready to be unsealed whenever she needed. Just as she wrapped up, the lifeguard boy was turning the corner and heading straight for her. He looked less than pleased. She quickly sprung from the edge of the pool and hurried over to her things. Frantically, she stuffed everything into her backpack and headed for the opposite exit.
I was just leaving, thanks for your time! She called over her shoulder to the lifeguard before disappearing through the exit. Outside the pool now, she turned back to see the lifeguard had not pursued her further. It surely wasn't worth his time and well above his paygrade to deal with a young shinobi child stealing pool water. With a satisfied smirk, Amara turned the corner and headed for home. Some new seals learned, a brain dead lifeguard annoyed, and some free pool water to boot. Not too bad of a day at all.

Words: 1012

Jutsu Learned:

Subject: Re: Amara's Studies [Training] 13th September 2022, 7:38 am

The hospital was unlike anything Amara had experienced before. It bustled with people, both staff and patients moving frantically about. As Amara sat in the corner of the emergency room, she observed so many people experiencing, potentially, the worst days of their lives. A husband sat in the corner with a blank stare, Amara had overheard a doctor tell him his wife hadn't made it through emergency surgery. Now he seemed to have nowhere to go and no one to tell him to go. He was lost. Meanwhile, a child whimpered softly into the crux of his mother's arm, his own arm bent at an awkward, unnatural angle. Elsewhere, a group of people sat away from others. Their clothes clearly hadn't been washed in days and their hair was oily, scraggly and overall unkempt. Pill seekers, Amara found herself assuming, though she had a feeling she was right when not a single staff paid them any attention. It made her sad to think that they could very easily be in actual pain and not a single soul would even acknowledge them. She wasn't sure who to blame for something like that. Were the hospital staff wrong for denying them care based on an assumption? Were the pill seekers wrong for having duped the giving hospital staff so many times before? This world was a dark and dismal place at times and it made Amara's stomach churn uncomfortably.

She was not expecting the sheer volume of patients and the overcrowding of the emergency room to be quite THIS bad. It had been months since the bijuu attack and the hospitals and medical ninja seemed to have gotten things under control. Which meant that this was just a normal volume of patients and overcrowding in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. A time that she assumed would be at its least busy. Her hope that a doctor would come take her back to the archive room was diminishing with each passing second. She had already been here for over two hours without so much as a glance in her direction by the front desk staff. In fact, when she had gone up to the desk to explain why she was here, the woman behind the counter had regarded her with a look of disbelief. Perhaps she had assumed Amara was on drugs. Still, the woman had told her to go wait and that she'd phone it up to the powers that be and see if she could get Amara a badge for the archive room. Amara had then been told to sit and that was it, now nearing three hours ago. The girl sighed and put her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. The various sounds of pain and anguish had become overwhelming and she wasn't sure she could take much more of this. Behind the take-in doors, beyond the waiting room, the sound of a woman's anguishing screams of disbelief pierced the air. Amara racked her brain for who had been taken back recently and settled on the young mother who had brought her blue-faced baby in only moments ago. The child had quickly been rushed back and now, Amara assumed the worst had happened. She felt queasy and rose from her chair to leave. This was all a bit too much and it was obvious she was wasting her time.

Amara? Amara Jiko? A strong, feminine voice cut through the noise and Amara turned to find a doctor in a pristine white coat with a clipboard staring down at some notes before looking up to search the room. Amara was in disbelief, she was actually being seen. She raised her hand tentatively and walked over to the doctor.
Um, yes, that's me. Amara said and the doctor looked her up and down.
A bit young to be wanting access to material as dense as what the medical archive has, eh? Oh well, you shinobi seem to start younger and younger these days and I won't turn away potential future help. Come with me. The woman said, turning and walking through the double doors. Amara swallowed nervous anticipation she didn't know she had and followed.
My name is Doctor Sonja, I am a civilian doctor, not a medical ninja. I heal the traditional way with drugs, knowledge, most important of all, patient time. Next time you want to access the archives, don't ask through the emergency room check in. As you can see, they already have more than enough to deal with. Just come in through the main entrance and talk to the service desk. You'll be seen faster and it's one less thing for the emergency staff to deal with. Is that clear?
Yes ma'am, err, doctor.

The woman smiled at Amara's correction, You pick up things quick, good. So what does a Jiko kid from the academy want to do with Iryojutsu and the medical world? What piqued your interest so much you pursued the hospital archives? Wouldn't the library be a better fit to get started?
Hmm yes, it was a good fit for a time, Dr. Sonja. However, I've already made my way through all of the texts the Mahougakure library has to offer.
You what? The doctor asked, stopping in the middle of the hall to stare at Amara. Surely you're exaggerating.
Amara tapped a finger on her chin in genuine thought as she reflected on all of the tomes and scrolls she consumed already.
Mmm I suppose it's possible I missed one or two, especially if they were checked out at the time or simply placed in the wrong section, but I consumed over 800 different medical-related scrolls, tomes, and research notes over about a two week period.
Huh, well alright then. The doctor said, turning a corner and approaching a set of double doors made of oaken wood. It was quieter in this area of the hospital and Amara could no longer hear the anguished screams of patients, something she was eternally grateful for. The doctor threw open the double doors and turned to Amara, Well, here we are. See you in two weeks, I guess?

Words: 1016/1000

Jutsu Trained:

» Civil Studies
» Lost Studies
» Nocturnal Studies(Bounty #4)
» Studies Anew(Bounty #1 Vêlas)
» Training Thread of Justice (Team Training Topic - Vendetta, Jean & Judal)

Road Trip

With the first round of classes complete and the students already acclimated to life at the academy. The school has organized a field trip in order to give the students a taste of what …

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