Magic Man Taien (Academy Thread) [R, NDE]

[Manabu Brock]

"Tilman Hudson. I like you, little guy! Hudson suddenly grabbed Taien in a single-armed bear hug. Some cracking could be heard, but Taien could not (even if he were trying to speak) because there was no more air in his lungs or anywhere else in his torso. As his sight began to get spotty and his hearing began to fade, Taien's hulking new friend let go. When Taien's senses recovered, he was able to clearly hear Tilman laughing heartily.

"I'm hungry! You hungry? Let's get some food!" This he said with a pat on Taien's back, which sent him several feet forward. He lumbered off to begin his search for sustenance, and Taien had better hurry after him. Otherwise, Tilman might just forget about him. It doesn't seem like he has the longest attention span. On the plus side, if he hasn't already made up his mind about what to get, it shouldn't be too hard for Taien to convince him to eat something he wants.

[Taien Hadohou]

"Oya oya! Nice to meet you, Hudson-Sa-"

Taien was about to finish his sentence when the world went black for a moment. What just happened?! Ohh. Hudson-San had just given him a bear hug. Single armed at that. What reaaally interested Taien though was his sudden lack of oxygen. He wasn't expecting that bear hug, and by the Spirit King it was strong! It knocked all the air out of him in one fell swoop. It also cracked just about every bone in his body. Simultaniously. Ouch.

When it was getting to the point where Taien was fading from this life and to the next, (or was it from the afterlife to life?) his new friend let loose his death hug. It (probably) wasn't intentionaly meant to be a hug that could sufficate Taien, as it seemed like this guy a veery short attention span and he might not remember Taien from the Kido Class. He might not even have noticed it was him when he blasted off onto the floor from the cutback effect. He seemed to have a likeable enough personality though.

"I'm hungry! You hungry? Let's get some food!"

"Oya oya! Sure thing Hudson-San! Lets go!"

Taien said with a grin. As they walked along, or in Hudson's case strode, a question came to Taien's mind.

"Oya oya, so Hudson-San, what reasons do you have for coming to the Shino Acadamy?"

Asked Taien.

[Manabu Brock]

"My dad said I should do it. He's smart." Sure, that sounded like the opening of a bit more conversation, but, alas, there was none. It didn't seem as though Tilman had much to say about anything. It didn't occur to him to ask Taien a reciprocal question or elaborate on anything. He just continued on his path towards food.

So too, Taien continued on his path through his first year at the Academy. He made good friends out of Michi and Tilman. The three of them have such generally positive personalities that they developed into a sort of powerhouse of upbeatness. They didn't even care that upbeatness isn't a word. It was especially lucky for Tilman because he could have wound up being an evil henchman under the influence of less respectable characters. Taien's studies went fairly well. He was motivated and never had negative emotions to get in his way. However, his sub-par instincts and physique kept him from excelling in some of the physical disciplines. On the other hand, he was a star in the spiritual realms. In any event, the year came and went, and Taien found himself on the verge of a brand, new year.

SPOILER: Click to show

All classes received passing marks during all four seasons. Thus, only the Average Scores for the year will require listing.

Kendo 1-2 SP: C (74%)

Kido 1-2 SP: A+ (100%)

Travel Class: C+ (77%)

Kick Boxing: C (76%)

Speed: C (75%)

Experimentation Class: A+ (97%)

Boxing: C- (72%)

Wrestling: C (74%)

Technology/Science: A- (92%)

History 1-2: A- (90%)

GPA (Grade Point Average): 3.8/4.0

Credits Received This Year:

Regular Credits: 60 Credits

Special Credits: 20 Credits

[Taien Hadohou]

"I see! He must be a great man. . ."

Taien said, fondly looking up at the ceiling of the hallway. Taien didn't know who his parents were. Generally people just came to the Seireitei via a Konso, and made a family with whoever happened to be around. Taien was a bit different though, as he was born in the Seireitei. Which meant his real parents were out there somewhere. . . Probably. There was every reason to suspect they were gone by now, but Taien wouldn't give up hope. He didn't know the meaning of the word "despair". Or "lonelyness" either. Every negative emotion ever felt by humankind was unknown to Taien.

After their lunch, the year seemed to go by quickly. Taien vaugely remembered Yanaku-Sensei doing something with explosives. . . whoever gave that man any form of explosive, even a simple firecracker or those popping things you throw on the ground, was insane. There was no telling what the man would do with them. . . Probably make them "better".

Taien developed his bonds with Hudson-San and Michi-San even further during the year, forming a trio of nearly unstoppable positive attitude. It radiated off them so much people were visably affected just by being near them when the three were together. The Mage, the Tank, and the Speedster. A formidable combination indeed.

" *Inhale* Oya oya! Ahhh, smell that air! The smell of a new year in the Shino Acadamy! Lets do our best everyone!"

Taien exlaimed in his dorm room. He had better get going fast, the first class was going to start soon! Taien hurridly made his way to the Kido Classroom. What new wonders of the spiritual arts would be revealed to him today?

SPOILER: Click to show

Year Two Schedule

As always, if an advanced placement class or anything of the like opens up to him, Taien will seize the initative and apply for that class.

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kido 3-4
3- Kendo 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- Technology/Science

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1- Kido 3-4
2- Kido 3-4
3- Kido 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- History 3-4
6- Experimentation Class
7- CQC Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kendo 3-4
3- Kido 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- Martial Arts Class
6- Science/Technology Class
7- Experimentation Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kido 3-4
3- Kido 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- History 3-4

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kendo 3-4
3- Kendo 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- History 3-4
6- Science/Technology Class
7- Experimentation Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kido 3-4
3- Kido 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- History 3-4

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4
2- Kido 3-4
3- Kendo 3-4
4- Travel 3-4
5- Experimentation Class
6- Science/Technology Class
7- History 3-4

[Manabu Brock]

OOC: Once again, a post is partially brought to you from the mind of the Great and Mighty Ad-Gin.

IC: The new year brought the promise of new challenges and new forms of pain. There was a new influx of first years and outflux of graduates (as well as the loss due to death, failure, or voluntary leave), but that had little effect on our heroes. They continued to grow among themselves and made it through the year with little upset.

Taien would start out with his forte: kido. That's probably a great way to start off the year. Best foot forward and all that. Of course, if he does a bad job, that would surely destroy his confidence and ruin the entire year as well as the rest of his academy career followed by the rest of his life. That, however, will not have occurred to him as he made his way to the second-year kido classroom.

Put simply, there was a training course, a gigantic one. The obstacle course started on top of a huge, high up platform. When ready, one would have to sprint, and jump over to the next platform, where three targets would pop up. Having been given a scroll of instruction, each student was to attempt to perform Sho on the target, and then move on. Naturally, it would take the whole period just to get a puny push. This meant that students wouldn't even get past this first part of the obstacle course. That was fine, because after the second platform one had to jump through three flaming rings, and shoot an incoming target on a chain, swinging at them while they were in the middle of the jump. Get this wrong, and it was all over. Beyond that, there were other tricky little traps, and one definitely wouldn't want to come across them as a Kido beginner.

SPOILER: Click to show

Year Two Schedule

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kido 3-4 VCP
3- Kendo 3-4 SP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- Technology/Science

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1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kido 3-4 VCP
3- Kido 3-4 VCP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- History 3-4
6- Experimentation Class
7- CQC Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kendo 3-4 SP
3- Kido 3-4 VCP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- Martial Arts Class
6- Science/Technology Class
7- Experimentation Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kido 3-4 VCP
3- Kido 3-4 VCP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- History 3-4

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kendo 3-4 SP
3- Kendo 3-4 SP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- History 3-4
6- Science/Technology Class
7- Experimentation Class

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kido 3-4 VCP
3- Kido 3-4 VCP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- CQC Class
6- Martial Arts Class
7- History 3-4

SPOILER: Click to show

1- Kido 3-4 VCP
2- Kido 3-4 VCP
3- Kendo 3-4 SP
4- Travel 3-4 SP
5- Experimentation Class
6- Science/Technology Class
7- History 3-4

[Taien Hadohou]

Taien looked on in wonder at the gigantic room that was the Kido-Classroom. A gigantic obstacle course dominated the room, and people, so many people!, were running around, attempting to push targets, jumping through firey hoops of death, some succeding some failing, the Fourth Division doing the best they could with those injured, but most of all, the sheer excitment in the air. . . Taien inahled deeply. Ahh. . . bliss. He was in his element once again. Time to get working.

Taien had figured out what to do so far from watching what everyone else was doing. Plus there was a helpful little scroll that had the instructions on it given to him as he entered the classroom. Convinent. Taien's endurance and stamina had improved by far from what it had been last year when he first entered the Acadamy. Though he still had to improve his speed. Anyways, time to get started on the first task. Taien backed up a little to give himself enough room to run, then went at full sprint, and jumped as high as he could to get to the other side. Once there, the three targets did indeed pop up. Now to test the results of last years training.

Hado #1: Sho, a Kido that hit something with force, the force in question being as strong as the user currently was. It was also known as the weakest of all Hado, but that didn't stop it from being useful. Taien quickly turned to the first target, and aimed his finger of his right hand at it.

"Hado #1: Sho!"

Taien called out. He manipulated his Reitsu to make it do what he wanted it to. Taien recalled something Brock-Sensei had said at one point.

"Lift your left hand. Good. That doesn't require visualization. Neither does lifting your dot. See?"

Using Reitsu was just like using any other part of your body. Brock-Sensei had taught him that. It had helped him many times before in the past. Taien was greatful to Brock-Sensei because of that.

The Sho sped towards its target.

[Manabu Brock]

The targets were blasted away by the force of Taien's hado. Everyone around him paused in shock for a second. Nobody else had been able to get any of the targets to move yet. Everyone had known about Taien by this point. It's a bit conspicuous when you're the head of the class in any subject. They really should have expected something like that from him, but seeing it in action, up close and personal is a different experience.

Three new targets popped up immediately. Everyone returned their attention to them and began to try again. Some seemed annoyed by Taien's show of power, while others were impressed. Either way, most people were barely getting any push out of their shos. People went on trying as hard as they could, but they weren't getting anywhere.

"Dude, how do you do that?"

[Taien Hadohou]

Yup. That had done the trick. The targets were blown away by the Hado! Excelent. That meant he cleared the first part of the obstacle course. The next part was jumping through firey rings of death and then shooting a target that popped up when you didn't die. Perfect. Then one of the nearby students asked him how he had done what he had done. Taien smiled before he answered. Before his training he probably would have said something about vizualization. Of course that wasn't really the reason. Taien knew that now.

"Oya oya, its easy! Its as easy as moving your hand, or lifting your foot. Do you think about it? No. You do it. Its the same with manipulating Reitsu. You don't think about it, you just do it. If you want to push something you just. . . do it."

Taien then proceeded to the next part of the course, leaving the other students to try and get a push of their own out of the targets. Taien had to back up again. He really didn't want to crash into those flaming rings of firey death. That would certainly put a damper on his career early wouldn't it? Taien positioned his body, aimed himself at the firey rings, and then took off at the fastest sprint he could muster.

When he was about to run full speed into the flaming rings, Taien leaped and dived. If this worked out as planned he wouldn't come into contact with the firey rings of death. Or at least minimize the contact as much as possible. He didn't want his uniform charred after all. When he got to the other side, his dive turned into a roll, and stopped himself in a sitting position, one leg on the floor, one against his left shoulder, and his finger aimed like a gun at the target that had just fallen down from a chain. He knew what he had to do.

"Hado #1: Sho!"

Taien called out once more, the shot of force rushing at the target.

[Manabu Brock]

Unfortunately for Taien, he had failed to read his scroll properly and pay attention to his surroundings. As he went through the rings, a large object came smashing into him. He was knocked significantly off course, into a burning ring of fire. After that he went down, down, down as the flames went higher (from his perspective since he was now falling and the rings were not). It burned, burned, burned, that ring of fire. The ring of fire.

However, it was the impact with the target and, a bit more so, the floor that left Taien unconscious. Fortunately the impact with the ring was very brief, so his burns were very minor. There wouldn't be any permanent damage. The on duty Squad 4 officer jogged over to Taien and looked him over. There was blood, and some bones were clearly broken.

"Suck it up, Tofi."

The medic's zanpakuto turned into a leech, which he dropped on Taien's forehead. The leech proceeded to bite into Taien and start sucking. As he sucked, the blood that had pooled on the floor began to recede into Taien's wounds. After it was all recovered, there appeared to be nothing happening for a while. However, the internal damage was slowly being undone during this time. While his zanpakuto worked, the shinigami tending to Taien went about positioning his body and setting bones in a cavalier fashion. When he was finished, he went back to his seat and watched from a distance (some of the time). Eventually, Tofi finished, and Taien's body was back to normal. By the time he fully regained consciousness, the bell had rung. He awoke to find a note on his chest.

Go to Reti's class.

[Taien Hadohou]

Ouch. . . well that was quite a trip up for Taien. He didn't die at least. Some people weren't as lucky as he was. Of course this mistake was entirely his. He knew better now. He wasn't going to run into the target again. His life depended on it. Literally. He made a mental note to shoot the target before he tried that again. Of course that was for another time and another place. The bell had already rung. He noticed the note on his chest as he came to. Ohh right. His next class. He had Kido twice in a row. Reti-Sensei was probably going to grill him. Or worse depending on the mood he was in. . . It was hard for Taien to predict the mans changes in emotions. Mostly because he lacked the nescessary emotions to understand what they were.

Taien picked himself up and headed out the door. Taien swiftly made his way to his next Kido class, all the while practicly unaware of the maybe impending doom when he came into the room. Well, he was about to find out shortly, wasn't he? He opened the door and entered the room.

[Manabu Brock]

It was the same room as it had always been. He'd know it well by now. Reti was there as always. "Taien! Good! Come here! Big day! This is the beginning of your second year! How did you do with the obstacle course?"

After Taien relayed what happened (or not) Reti gave him his instructions. "Give me your arm." Reti just sort of grabbed Taien's arm as he said this. He brought it clolser to his face and began to examine it. He looked up and down the entire length, and gave special focus to Taien's hand. He even gave attention to each finger. Over the course of the previous year, Taien had perfected his reiatsu dot, and he was now able to produce one from each finger.

"Mhm, fine. Now, go over there. I'm about to begin class. Every time someone introduces himself, make a reiatsu ball with your hands. Today we begin working with your palms." With that, Reti turned to address his new class. "Welcome to kido! My name is Reti-sensei, and I will be your instructor! I want all of you to try to shape reiatsu into a ball one after the other, telling me your name as you do!"

[Taien Hadohou]

"Oya oya, it was fun and deadly! Deadly fun!"

Taien responded to Reti-Sensei's question. Taien always loved comeing to this class. It always had something new and exciting, and usually new people! Taien loved new people! They had so many personality sets that it was mind boggling for Taien. He usually just got set in an endlessly happy loop in his head whenever he came here. Taien listened as Reti-Sensei explained to him what he wanted Taien to do, and as he examined his arm.

"Mhm, fine. Now, go over there. I'm about to begin class. Every time someone introduces himself, make a reiatsu ball with your hands. Today we begin working with your palms."

"Oya oya, yes sir, Reti-Sensei sir!"

Taien chirped in response. Taien mentally prepared himself as Reti-Sensei went about his introduction to the new students. How many were actually in this batch anyways? Taien really hadn't gotten a good look at the new class before Reti-Sensei pulled him over. Ahh well. Taien was going to go at this task with his all!!! As a certain someone would put it, REITSU BALL MAKING TO THE EXTREME!!!!

[Manabu Brock]

About 40 reiatsu balls and a brief lecture later, Reti walked over to Taien. The rest of the students spread out and began trying to make sparks, dots, balls, or whatever they could. As usual, almost nobody created anything during the introductions (except Taien of course).

"You should be sufficiently warmed up now. Now you'll be doing push-ups. Don't bend your arms, that'll just make you tired more quickly. I don't want you popping up and then falling down either. I want you to try to get smooth movement up AND down. Anyone moron with a lot power can just pop up. Control of power is what will make you great. I know you're not use to producing through your palm anymore, but it should come fairly easy. Now drop and give me... EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

[Taien Hadohou]

. . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . 40

Taien counted off in his mind, ending with the final number he had been set to achieve. Fourty people in this batch huh? Reti-Sensei certainly was certainly going to have fun with his classes. He generally did. Taien remembered the first day he came into this very same class, the wonder, the excitement, ahh. . . nostalgic. Wait, what was he doing reminicing like an old man? He had work to do! Reti-Sensei had another task for him.

"You should be sufficiently warmed up now. Now you'll be doing push-ups. Don't bend your arms, that'll just make you tired more quickly. I don't want you popping up and then falling down either. I want you to try to get smooth movement up AND down. Anyone moron with a lot power can just pop up. Control of power is what will make you great. I know you're not use to producing through your palm anymore, but it should come fairly easy."

All right! Taien was fired up and ready to go! The first year Taien had spent at the Acadamy had greatly improved his endurance abilities. He could go for longer periods of time running now, and other physical activities were less demanding than before. This came from the fact that young(?) Taien regularly pushed his body to its utmost limits in class, training, and play. It was a wonder he hadn't completely broken his body yet. But thats why the Acadamy had a dispatch of the Fourth Division at the School.

Taien got into his pushup position. . . waiting for the signal. . . wanting to suceeed as much as possible. . .

"Now drop and give me... EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

Reti-Sensei shouted out. Taien was off, he had to achieve the fluid motion of up and down. This was a bit trickier than it sounded, and additionally, Taien hadn't been using his palms that much. His finger strength was good, but he had to use his palms. He had to go up and down fluidly without bending his elbows. However, as Reti-Sensei said, it should come fairly easy now.

Taien set into it, going off of the instructions of Reti-Sensei. No bending elbows, no popping up and falling down, and a fluid transition from up to down and back again. At was rough at first, he was a bit rusty. However, after a bit, he found the rhythm he needed. A constant motion of up and down, never stopping to bend, only using as much energy that was required. It was almost natural to Taien. It sort of reminded Taien of his Reitsu training as a matter of fact. Maybe that was why.

[Manabu Brock]

Though Reti described popping up and down as something that could be done by any moron, Taien would find moving himself purely with the repulsive force of reiatsu a difficult task. The amount of reiatsu flow required to get any sort of lift would be significantly more than Taien anticipated. Getting off the ground at all took a tremendous amount of effort. It actually took half the class period just to get to popping up, though it was only a few inches. Eventually, Taien was able to get smooth movement for an inch or two of upward pushing. Of course, that was a great deal of progress for one day. He'd have to continue later because now was the time for the next class!

The toll of the bell sent Taien running off. It wasn't a bad idea to hurry in that fashion. Being late for kendo can lead to pain. Lots of things in kendo can lead to pain. Luckily, Taien Hadohou is a punctual fellow. On he went until he arrived at the appointed classroom. This was appointed in traditional dojo form. At the far end of the hall in a seat of honor sat the sensei. Old he was with hair and beard long and white. All white was his shihakusho as well as his blindfold. Wait, a blindfold? How strange. There were many swords within his reach and many more on racks on either side of him. Students were still trickling in as the several minutes left until class began marched on.