Post by Hadrian J. Ryan Ⅻ on Oct 2, 2013 13:49:45 GMT -5
John looked around his bare quarters. Being one of the lowest ranking members of the Vandenreich, he wasn't entitled to the same perks as a Captain, or even a Lieutenant might have. He looked at his watch. While there was no true sense of night or day in the castle, the very idea of there being a bit of order in the days comforted John. His transition into the ranks of the Vandenreich had been less than smooth. He was substantially less powerful than the other soldiers, and had a lot of catching up to do.
"Might as well get some training done before morning meal..", he thought to himself.
The palace had a large training ground, where all the lower ranked Vandenreich members trained. There were few people out, it was only the early hours of the 'morning', after all. He decided, even though he wasn't a huge fan of the idea, to try some physical exercise first. However, after a few laps of the grounds, he was already working up a sweat (which was impressive, as the palace was made of ice). After some press-ups and stretches, he decided he was ready to try some reishi manipulation. His grandparents had taught him a string of exercises that kept his skills up to scratch, but didn't let him do anything too impressive.
He looked at his watch again, his stomach rumbling. He envied the Shinigami and their spiritual forms, they didn't really need to eat or drink anything except as recreation. Whereas, his human body needed regular sustenance and nutrition. Some more early risers were filtering into the training grounds now, some already in the white uniform of the Vandenreich. John always detested the white coat, it was a pain to keep clean and gave away one's position in battle very quickly. His trusty brown longcoat, which he wore instead, was much more practical.
He sat down with his back against the cold ice-wall, and watched the other Quincies running laps, there were quite a number of them now. He amused himself by trying to guess their strategic weaknesses. One poor fellow was lagging behind the main group, red-faced and panting after only quarter of a lap. John couldn't help but smile. He would be easy. All John would have to do would be find a secure vantage point, and rain a few arrows down on him to keep him running, then, with his strength exhausted, John would have no problem jumping down and finishing him off with a blow from a Hohle Schneide.
He took a quick glance at his watch. Excellent. It was breakfast time. John jumped up and strolled towards the mess hall. He was anxious to get there before the crowds, he didn't want to end up with the last few dregs of food from the bottom of the pot, the food was bad enough as it was.
After the morning meal, John had another period of several hours of free time. The company of the other privates didn't really appeal to him, and he had no serfs assigned to him yet. He strolled around the corridors, until he came across a room which he had never seen before. Calling it a room may have been misleading actually, it was more of a yard than anything else. It was surrounded on all four sides by the imposing walls of the palace. John decided that it was suitably vacant and walked in.
Nobody stopped him, and no alarm was triggered, so he figured that it was ok to be here. He decided that this would be an excellent place to train without embarrassing himself in front of the other privates. He removed his coat, folded it neatly and placed it on the ground. As he had done this morning, he began with physical exercises and stretches. He moved on to his reishi manipulation exercises, practising his control of the flow of spirit particles around him. He had become used to the large amount of reishi available in the palace, it made things so much easier than when he had practiced in the world of the Living.
He finished with his manipulation exercises and decided to practice his bow technique. He had always enjoyed the sensation of creating a bow, it made him feel like a true Quincy, in control of a true Quincy power. He allowed a small portion of reiatsu to flow into his right hand. Before allowing it to materialise, he focused it, twisted it and wove it in his hand. The sense of power felt amazing. Finally he let the bow materialise. It's blue-grey colour was typical of his reiatsu techniques. He did not bother to notch an arrow, simply materialising the bow was enough practice for now.
The 'midday' bell tolled, and John let his bow fade away. Midday bell was the call to prayer, a re-affirmation amongst the lower ranks of their faith in der Kaiser. John unfolded his coat and pulled out his copy of 'Seine Pracht' from the inside pocket. He sat down and opened it on page one and began to read aloud. All Quincies prayed aloud, not doing so could be seen as a lack of pride in one's Quincy heritage and a lack of devotion to der Kaiser. And so, the icy hallways of the Vandenreich palace echoed with the chorus of over a thousand Quincies in prayer.
With the prayers finished, John decided to work on his Holy Arrows before the rally. He replaced his copy of Seine Pracht and stood up, dusting off the ice-fragments which had formed on his uniform. He was alway reluctant to show off his Holy Arrows, as they weren't particularly strong. The erratic nature of his training through the years had made his reiatsu strength quite weak. He was determined to use this time to build it up.
John allowed his bow to form. The blue-grey light caused the ice around him to glitter and sparkle. He had four steps to firing a Holy Arrow. The first, he called Target. He focused his mind on a small inconsistency in the wall of ice, letting nothing else cloud his mind. The second step was Formation. He pulled his left arm back, notching an arrow. He felt his arm shake with it's power. He did not let the weakness cloud his mind though, only allowing the small dark blotch on the wall. The third step was Charge. Instead of firing immediately, John allowed the arrow to absorb as much reishi as possible.
And the final step... Firing. John let the string go, and the arrow shot from the bow, striking far left of his target. John exhaled calmly. He was not going to get annoyed at his own weakness, he had no time for that. Anyway, he had identified the problem. He had let his focus on the Target slip during firing, causing him to relax to quickly, pulling the arrow off course, as it had yet to clear the bow.
He took two deep breaths and tried again. "Ok... Target. Formation. Charge. Fire." he murmured. Obviously, orally going through the steps helped, as the arrow landed far closer to his target than the original one. He decided to commit himself to firing once more before the rally. The rallies allowed the Vandenreich members to vent some of their fanaticism. Prisoners of 'War' were brought before the masses and executed publicly for not believing in the power of the Quincy. Heretics, they were called. John wasn't comfortable with the proceedings when the prisoners were Fullbringers, Shinigami or even other Quincy. But when the prisoners were Hollows or Arrancars, he was as passionate about the proceedings as anyone else was.
The mere thought of Hollows brought a certain clarity to his mind about his training. They were the reason he became a Quincy in the first place. Filthy things, preying on the innocent, they deserved nothing more than a Heilig Pfeil from a Quincy bow. Without even running through his steps, John notched an arrow and fired. With that, the bell for the beginning of the rally rang. He allowed his bow to dissolve and ran to grab his coat, looking at his watch more out of habit than necessity. He sprinted down the corridor, determined not to be the last arrival. In his haste, he had forgotten to check where the arrow had landed.
"Might as well get some training done before morning meal..", he thought to himself.
The palace had a large training ground, where all the lower ranked Vandenreich members trained. There were few people out, it was only the early hours of the 'morning', after all. He decided, even though he wasn't a huge fan of the idea, to try some physical exercise first. However, after a few laps of the grounds, he was already working up a sweat (which was impressive, as the palace was made of ice). After some press-ups and stretches, he decided he was ready to try some reishi manipulation. His grandparents had taught him a string of exercises that kept his skills up to scratch, but didn't let him do anything too impressive.
He looked at his watch again, his stomach rumbling. He envied the Shinigami and their spiritual forms, they didn't really need to eat or drink anything except as recreation. Whereas, his human body needed regular sustenance and nutrition. Some more early risers were filtering into the training grounds now, some already in the white uniform of the Vandenreich. John always detested the white coat, it was a pain to keep clean and gave away one's position in battle very quickly. His trusty brown longcoat, which he wore instead, was much more practical.
He sat down with his back against the cold ice-wall, and watched the other Quincies running laps, there were quite a number of them now. He amused himself by trying to guess their strategic weaknesses. One poor fellow was lagging behind the main group, red-faced and panting after only quarter of a lap. John couldn't help but smile. He would be easy. All John would have to do would be find a secure vantage point, and rain a few arrows down on him to keep him running, then, with his strength exhausted, John would have no problem jumping down and finishing him off with a blow from a Hohle Schneide.
He took a quick glance at his watch. Excellent. It was breakfast time. John jumped up and strolled towards the mess hall. He was anxious to get there before the crowds, he didn't want to end up with the last few dregs of food from the bottom of the pot, the food was bad enough as it was.
After the morning meal, John had another period of several hours of free time. The company of the other privates didn't really appeal to him, and he had no serfs assigned to him yet. He strolled around the corridors, until he came across a room which he had never seen before. Calling it a room may have been misleading actually, it was more of a yard than anything else. It was surrounded on all four sides by the imposing walls of the palace. John decided that it was suitably vacant and walked in.
Nobody stopped him, and no alarm was triggered, so he figured that it was ok to be here. He decided that this would be an excellent place to train without embarrassing himself in front of the other privates. He removed his coat, folded it neatly and placed it on the ground. As he had done this morning, he began with physical exercises and stretches. He moved on to his reishi manipulation exercises, practising his control of the flow of spirit particles around him. He had become used to the large amount of reishi available in the palace, it made things so much easier than when he had practiced in the world of the Living.
He finished with his manipulation exercises and decided to practice his bow technique. He had always enjoyed the sensation of creating a bow, it made him feel like a true Quincy, in control of a true Quincy power. He allowed a small portion of reiatsu to flow into his right hand. Before allowing it to materialise, he focused it, twisted it and wove it in his hand. The sense of power felt amazing. Finally he let the bow materialise. It's blue-grey colour was typical of his reiatsu techniques. He did not bother to notch an arrow, simply materialising the bow was enough practice for now.
The 'midday' bell tolled, and John let his bow fade away. Midday bell was the call to prayer, a re-affirmation amongst the lower ranks of their faith in der Kaiser. John unfolded his coat and pulled out his copy of 'Seine Pracht' from the inside pocket. He sat down and opened it on page one and began to read aloud. All Quincies prayed aloud, not doing so could be seen as a lack of pride in one's Quincy heritage and a lack of devotion to der Kaiser. And so, the icy hallways of the Vandenreich palace echoed with the chorus of over a thousand Quincies in prayer.
With the prayers finished, John decided to work on his Holy Arrows before the rally. He replaced his copy of Seine Pracht and stood up, dusting off the ice-fragments which had formed on his uniform. He was alway reluctant to show off his Holy Arrows, as they weren't particularly strong. The erratic nature of his training through the years had made his reiatsu strength quite weak. He was determined to use this time to build it up.
John allowed his bow to form. The blue-grey light caused the ice around him to glitter and sparkle. He had four steps to firing a Holy Arrow. The first, he called Target. He focused his mind on a small inconsistency in the wall of ice, letting nothing else cloud his mind. The second step was Formation. He pulled his left arm back, notching an arrow. He felt his arm shake with it's power. He did not let the weakness cloud his mind though, only allowing the small dark blotch on the wall. The third step was Charge. Instead of firing immediately, John allowed the arrow to absorb as much reishi as possible.
And the final step... Firing. John let the string go, and the arrow shot from the bow, striking far left of his target. John exhaled calmly. He was not going to get annoyed at his own weakness, he had no time for that. Anyway, he had identified the problem. He had let his focus on the Target slip during firing, causing him to relax to quickly, pulling the arrow off course, as it had yet to clear the bow.
He took two deep breaths and tried again. "Ok... Target. Formation. Charge. Fire." he murmured. Obviously, orally going through the steps helped, as the arrow landed far closer to his target than the original one. He decided to commit himself to firing once more before the rally. The rallies allowed the Vandenreich members to vent some of their fanaticism. Prisoners of 'War' were brought before the masses and executed publicly for not believing in the power of the Quincy. Heretics, they were called. John wasn't comfortable with the proceedings when the prisoners were Fullbringers, Shinigami or even other Quincy. But when the prisoners were Hollows or Arrancars, he was as passionate about the proceedings as anyone else was.
The mere thought of Hollows brought a certain clarity to his mind about his training. They were the reason he became a Quincy in the first place. Filthy things, preying on the innocent, they deserved nothing more than a Heilig Pfeil from a Quincy bow. Without even running through his steps, John notched an arrow and fired. With that, the bell for the beginning of the rally rang. He allowed his bow to dissolve and ran to grab his coat, looking at his watch more out of habit than necessity. He sprinted down the corridor, determined not to be the last arrival. In his haste, he had forgotten to check where the arrow had landed.