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Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 4:15 pm
by Hilana Chenzira
The sisters listened to Lykos’ explanation of why he tasked the ward the way that he had, and they found that it made sense. Neither one of them had any real training in Negation, though both of them understood some of the theory and the basics - Lia more than Lana, what with the fact that Hilana had refused it and spurned it in the time that she was at home. Lia, at least, had seen it in action far more often, and heard more about it from their father. But he had gone for the most direct course, which had been precisely what they’d asked of him. To block fire from it and not let it reignite.
Efficiency was a good thing, after all - especially since they were only days out of such an ordeal, and all of them were still recovering. Releasing vast amounts of aether that didn’t need to be spent was unwise, and taking it easy as much as possible was what the doctor had ordered. “Considering how powerful that shield was that destroyed the Void-shade who was attacking us, I would hazard a guess that the Negation is the one you resonate the most strongly with, yes. You’re likely right about that.” Hilana was in agreement.
“We will figure them out,” Lia smiled at him. “I would say that the odds are in our favour. You said that you believed another one to be Kinetics,” she looked at her sister, who put the text on Animus aside to sort through her Featherlight Satchel to withdraw the book on Kinetics, setting it on the table. “Hilana?”
“Kinetics is about the Aether Flux around us. Everything in this world is made of aether, right?” Hilana smiled at the Rathari. “Kinetics is about influencing that Flux and flow of aether to make ripples in it or effects as you would desire to produce. My friend Raithen, for example, has Kinetics, and he uses it with ranged weapons in order to enhance the way that they are used to create a devastating effect, piercing and flying much farther than they could otherwise. One of my other friends uses Kinetics to keep track of everything and everyone around him - he is able to sense things that are otherwise hidden to most of the senses using the Aether Flux.”
She sipped her lemon iced tea, and opened the book, checking the table of contents before turning to the appropriate page. “I thought I saw you use Push, or maybe Pull, earlier. Push is the ability to push an object by thinking about it and using the Aether Flux to will it to move in a direction that is away from you... kind of like ripples on water,” she introduced a drop of air in the pitcher of the iced tea, causing little ripples across the surface of the liquid contained within the crystalline pitcher. “Pull is doing the opposite, you redirect the flow of aether so that instead of going away from you... it goes towards you. Why don’t you try one of those?” The girl selected a date, one of Lykos’ absolute all-time favourite things so far, and threw it before catching it with the wind, letting it bob and dance a distance away from them. It was his for the taking... if he could retrieve it.
Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 1:56 pm
by Rickter
It led Lykos to wonder just how powerful the shield enchantment really was, if it were really strong enough to help destroy this Void-shade that Hilana referred to. The story he recalled sounded rather a scary tall tale nonetheless, but, if it really were his power that helped save her at the time... then, surely he could put it to greater usage in the days ahead. But of course, the encouragement the sisters continued to feed him was not lost on Lykos.
Giving Lia a smile in return he contemplated the next subject to come up. Kinetics. The prop of another textbook led him to eye it momentarily, before his ears nearly perked once he looked back to the younger sister. From what she described the concept matched his observations, that is, the fluctuations he perceived when he gazed upon the Rune initially. If it enabled him to encourage forces within the Aether Flux, then, it stood to reason that he could potentially do quite a bit with it. Movements could become enhanced, force could reinforce momentum, and even perception could allow a deeper sense of insight.
The Aether Flux was already a fountain of power of information, as it were, it merely depended on how one regarded its influence over the natural world. Combine that with Semblance already, and that information itself already maintained overwhelming promise. "Interesting..." He regarded with another sip of his tea, before resting the cup back down to take another bite of the salad. Lykos still listened, of course, as it became obvious when he raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
He used Kinetics earlier? The wolf had barely even perceived the action let alone the intent, but, he knew Lana wasn't one to play him for a fool either. If he had performed an act of magic without knowing, then surely, it had stemmed from the flex of his muscle memory at best. "Really?" He murmured with a hearty chuckle once she seemed to make a bit of a game out of it, be it a test or not, using food to get him to achieve something amused the wolf to no end. "Alright then." He agreed after swallowing his bite of greens, admittedly, he found it rather interesting to try and see if he could intentionally use this power.
The wolf ruminated on everything he'd heard earlier, at how the perception of the Aether Flux could reveal things not visible to the naked eye. With a bit of concentration on the dangling fruit, he closed his eyes to breathe in the heated dry air. If aether flowed through everything including this, then naturally breathing meant he out to be able to focus its directed path. His Kinetics Rune responded yet again, and as he engaged his perception on the Flux around the date, the wolf perceived a world where ripples danced throughout the space around it.
Lana was using the wind to fluctuate it, making it so that the fruit lingered in midair rather than simply float. She certainly was a good Elementalist, hell, he'd reckoned she'd do great with Kinetics too if given the chance. Seeing the gentle pulsations though, Lykos focused on the patterns where the wind generated them. As light of a breeze as it might've been, aether was still the source that directed the path. He merely needed to alter that path with his aether somehow, creating the push or pull effect that the lady had described earlier.
Asserting his own aether into the Flux, he tried to create a current that would pull the fruit toward him. It seemed like the simplest of approaches, but of course, when the date grew still in the air for a moment he tilted his head just a little. Maybe a bit more? He was trying to be frugal with his aether after all, so another dose wouldn't have harmed the attempt. Needless to say, the gauge of concentration led the fruit to swivel a couple of times, before it launched into a full course trajectory to the trio at the table. Only...
The velocity was far too intense to even dare attempt to capture it, so rather than try, Lykos dunked his head in hopes that the other two would act in suit. The fruit itself unfortunately suffered a minor fatality, splattering into the nearby wall of the citadel with full force, which left a rather small smear across the surface of the red stone in turn. "Oops..." He regarded with a bit of a blush. "Didn't think I put that much force behind it." He looked to the pair with a bashful grin after the fact, clearly still not aware of the full extent of his powers even with the simplest of abilities.
"Sorry about that, having this much power is... tricky." He admitted with a minor chuckle, quick to reach for another date and plainly eat it without the aid of magic.
Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2023 1:49 pm
by Hilana Chenzira
When the fruit came flying backwards at them, Hilana had intended to catch it. But when she realized just how fast it was going, she shifted off to the side and let it wing past her. Lia also leaned well out of range, having zero desire to get a concussion by a date, or anything else, for that matter. Neither of the women had to look to realize it smashed against the stony wall of the Citadel, and Hilana used a bit of sand to clean it off. The insects would take care of it, so would any of the little creatures who could benefit. It would not be wasted.
“Well,” Lia chuckled. “That was certainly Kinetics. You will get used to it. It’s just a matter of tempering all of that power and managing to use it efficiently. Rather than overdoing it, you will use exactly the amount you want to to get your task completed. But sometimes the air spirits are less likely to give things up when an Elementalist has asked them to hold onto it, so this was completely understandable.” She sipped her tea, and picked up a date, one that mercifully had not collided violently with the wall. “This confirms Kinetics and Negation, along with Elementalism, Semblance, and Nyx.”
“So that leaves Animus for our next attempt today,” Hilana agreed. “This will be harder, since it requires you to remember what sorts of animals you’ve made totems for,” she made a face at herself for even thinking this was a smart choice as she put the kinetics book back in her satchel and retrieved the tome on Animus. The book was flipped open in front of her, and Hilana started to have a look through the pages.
“There are different realms of animals,” Lia offered helpfully. “Like insects, or land-based animals like cats and dogs and wolves and so on, or reptiles...”
“Since we don’t know what your totems are, beyond the fact that you are definitely a Rathari, I brought one of Tiaz’ for you to try,” Hilana pulled out a rather large shed snake skin. “Or that of a type of hawk that lives around here. A red-tailed hawk,” she also produced an orange-red feather, setting it on the table with the skin. “This way you can try and meditate on the totem, and if it works... then the sixth rune should theoretically change. If it doesn’t, and nothing happens... then Animus is off the table and we’ll try another one.” She could tell that poor Lykos was not the biggest fan of her pythons, but the hawk shape might have been something else he might like.
Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:40 am
by Rickter
Lykos honestly felt a little bad from the extreme reaction his Kinetics generated, even from just a subtle nudge as he gave when the date went flying. Sure enough, the older sister rewarded him with logic and encouragement, and that kept him grounded to the moment long enough to realize something. As overly driven and earnest his powers were, he was only reacquainting himself with the old nuances he'd virtually forgotten. After all this trial and error with them, muscle memory would only continue to reinforce it in due time, given how easy it seemed to achieve something he set his mind to.
With five magics now identified for him to go over and analyze again, that had left one more rune to discern between the three of them. Hilana seemed to have an idea with trying Animus next, something that didn't surprise him since he seemed nearly a natural at shifting. He doubted he bore such a Rune though, as insofar he only had one animal form he could take. Given the nature of that form and how he could essentially hybridize himself into a combination of human and animal, he challenged that to be the caveat born of a Rune but didn't fully concur. Who was he to deny when Lykos himself didn't understand everything about his being at the moment?
But of course, part of that testing phase required him to actually attempt the magic. And admittedly, Lykos didn't look entirely thrilled when he noticed the scent of dried scales. The snakeskin definitely earned a look from him before he observed Lana presenting a feather on the table next. He could've tried becoming a danger noodle or becoming a red-feathered bird. Well, either way, he wasn't going to miss out on petting and cuddles if he took on either. Nonetheless, he wasn't entirely excited at the prospect of holding a snakeskin either. So with some milder enthusiasm to his posture, he took up the feather and looked upon it introspectively.
If the way he shifted was how the magic worked, then surely they would've noticed the Rune before, wouldn't they? Perhaps it was because of the situation and how caught up in turning back he'd been at the time. Regardless, the wolf reached within himself to call out that feeling, the sensation to turn as he meditated on the feather he held before him. But nothing. No reaction came out of him as he felt a ghost of a growl resonate in his cage, the warmth of his skin increased only noticeably enough to ward off the lingering chill that clung to him.
"Yeah, I feel nothing. At least," he lowered the feather with a glance at himself, "not in any way we're expecting. I feel ready to turn but it's just the wolven form that beckons." In resting the feather back on the table, he then reached for another date to chew on, a minor shrug given in his shoulders as he bit into the fruit with a playful smirk.
Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 6:38 pm
by Hilana Chenzira
His trepidation at being presented with Tiaz's most recent skin did not go unnoticed by the Vastii, but perhaps thankfully was unremarked upon. They understood; reptiles were not for everyone, and snakes, well... that was perhaps Hilana's obsession and not one that Athalia was inclined to share. She worshiped reptiles was part of their religion, with the venerable Zalkyrian dynasty; but she was perfectly content to leave their handling to her younger sister. Who, according to her, had bigger snakes than Tiaz, and far more lethal... even if they were mesmerized to behave for Hilana.
"No? That's fine," Hilana was reassuring. "There are many others, and we will figure them out. We can--"
"Enjoy the food and relax," Athalia cut in with a smile. "Learning two today, and working on them when he has nothing but the aetheric memory to work off of, is enough for today. I know you started running before you walked, soror, but the rest of us need a break." She was quite certain that Lykos was fine and would have done some more if she allowed Hilana to push him into the next ones, but all the same, it was better to curb her enthusiasm for a day and let him rest. They were still recovering from their ordeal days ago, and it would not hurt either of them to take a break. "Let's enjoy the day and the food. We can get some books for him to learn and reorganize his thoughts and abilities later."
"That is fair," Hilana conceded the point, the books set aside for now as she picked up her drink. "I can always ask father for a Negation book. He would lose his mind if I did."
"Do that. He has a hundred of them, and Lykos and I could use one. I'll translate them for you," she smiled at the demigod before raising her glass to him. "Sit saluti. Well done, my friend."
Re: Continuing Their Research [Lykos]
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 6:41 pm
by Talisman
Review
Name: Lykos
XP: 10 Points, may be used for Negation or Kinetics
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: Learning more about his Runes: Kinetics and Negation discovered, yay!
Name: Hilana
XP: 10 Points, may be used for Semblance
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None
Notes: That date went whoosh. That was a very clever bit of Negation Lykos performed, but I expect nothing less!
