Home Sweet Home (Open?)

After reaching the stony field, which as its name would dictate, was filled with stones of varying size and shape, Steiner let out a deep sigh at the simplicity that his life had taken over the last few weeks. He felt he was on track to being a hero, but without the ability to turn on his own powers or to even speak to the voice that he had heard on top of the mountain, Steiner's growth would remain stunted. So as he wiped the sweat from his brow, began to stretch, and get limbered up for the next part of his training, Steiner couldn't help, but feel like things were getting a bit ridiculous. He had powers, he had been told as such by a certain Iramasha angel on top of mountain, but Steiner just couldn't get them to click on. He knew it didn't work like that, like flipping a switch, and stuff like that, but yet he wished it were that simple and easy. It would make things better for himself and so much more easier if he wanted to do the hero thing and all. For now, Steiner had to settle with training and practice. Practice makes perfect, as the old adage, said.

So with that in mind, Steiner began to tie rocks to his body, namely rocks that were heavy, and would encumber his ability to move. Why rocks, an intelligent man would ask. Well it was because he couldn't afford real weights, he was living in the woods not by choice, but because it was the only thing that he could afford to do. After going to see the Angel of Ice, Steiner's funds had reached zero, and upon his return Karakura, he had found his job had been taken by a much younger much more attractive girl. Needless to say, Steiner had not been thrilled with the situation, but he understood the reasoning. He had barely been working there a week anyway, so it made sense that if he requested several weeks off that there wouldn't be a job waiting for him when he got back. Especially in this economy. So, Steiner stood now in front of the field, covered in rocks of varying size, shape, and weight looking at his next training exercise with a bit more disdain than his previous run through the woods. Steiner's next exercise would not be as simple as that and instead would involve Steiner hopping from boulders in this particular field while the rocks weighed him down, making it harder for him to perform his assigned task.

This was all about working on his speed and building his stamina. In the field of battle he would need to dodge powerful attacks in random directions and the way that the stones in this particular field were spaced it would simulate random dodge motions very well. Steiner, however smart he felt at coming up with this particular training exercise he created, still remembered the pain of falling face first into a boulder with all of those stones weighing him down adding their weight as they basically crushed him as he fell. Needless to say, this time he hoped to dodge the whole falling face first and becoming a pancake part of this particular exercise. So, with a heavy heart (and body due to the rocks), Steiner took his first step on to the starting rock. It was slippery still, as the morning dew had yet to evaporate in the sun which now hung a bit over the trees of the forest, signaling the beginning of a new day. Steiner looked at the stones in front of him and took a deep breath as he placed his cellphone, the only valuable thing on his body, on the floor, and pressed the reset button on the digital stop watch. He then pressed the button again, restarting the timer, as he began to jump from rock to rock.

At first it started easily enough, as the spacing wasn't so bad, and he didn't struggle too hard to jump from rock to rock, but as he got to the middle of the course the difficulty raised dramatically. The spacing began to get farther and farther apart as the stone's added weight caused Steiner to feel sluggish and drained stamina rather rapidly as he tried to put more strength into each and every single jump. This was intentional by design, but Steiner's footing was also compromised due to the nature of the rocks covered in slick dew and moss. In essence, the course that he had designed, also simulated battle situations that were less than favorable in terms of places where footing was hard to come by, but is also could simulate the pain of not being able to get good footing as well as Steiner had learned during the early days of this particular exercise. So, as he continued to jump from stone to stone, he imagined an opponent attacking him with everything that they had, launching a barrage of moves at him to destroy him as he jumped from side to side, dodging the attacks, and nearly losing his footing each and every time. It made it easier if he visualized that as his body put survival into the equation, which made things easier for him as the natural human instinct to survive overrode what ever exhaustion he was feeling.

So as he reached the end of the course, he realized that this was the farthest he had ever gotten on the course. To be honest, not once had Steiner completed this task. He had always fallen in the middle due to the nature of the spacing, but now as he reached the end he realized the real challenge was in front of him. Several large and imposing boulders were placed in varying locations and the spacing was just too far for a normal man to take on. The real challenge however was the fact that these particular stones had received no sunlight whatsoever. Meaning that the dew, which was evaporating at a rapid paced on the boulders he had just been jumping on, was still in full swing on these imposing boulders. So, Steiner, who knew he was timing himself, began the most difficult part of his morning exercise as he made the leap of face to the first of ten large boulders spaced widely apart.

The front of his foot touched the stone and in a second, he slipped, and found himself tumbling back. He growled in rage as he forced himself upon the rock and managed to finally get some solid footing. He fell to a knee on top of the boulder, wiping the sweat from his brow, and breathing heavily. "Damnit!", Steiner shouted to himself as he slammed his fist painfully into the boulder. Why the hell was he so worthless? Something as basic as this was draining him so badly that he could barely do it, but for someone like Cirno or the people she had trained before him this was probably a cake walk. Hell, they could probably fly over these rocks, and that made Steiner angry. More angry than he had ever been. These exercises were all he could do and still his powers were not working, why the hell was it taking so long. He knew they were there, he knew that the voice in his head was there, and the longer they refused to help him, the more Steiner felt like shit. The more angrier he became, the less he felt like doing these exercises. So, he sat down on the rock, and let out a deep sigh as he contemplated his work and just what he was accomplishing here.

Letting out another deep sigh, Steiner stood up, and began to work on the course again. He wasn't going to stop because of his own doubts or anger at his situation. He was going to do this and he was going to get stronger. He would be the best god damn hero the world had ever seen. Even if it killed him in the process. So, he began to leap from stone to stone again, his own shortcomings, and the thoughts of how easy it must be for the other people Cirno had trained filling him with determination to succeed. He would become stronger, he swore it.