Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:53 am

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Ryuzaki

Artist: Nujabes/Idst - Song: BattleCry - Word Count: 527

Ryuzaki opened his eyes, and lay in his bed gazing at the ceiling for a moment, wondering if the previous day had actually happened, or if it had all been some sort of ridiculous dream. He rested a bit longer before he stood, got dressed, grabbed his zanpakuto, and made his way out of the door, into the streets of the Seireitei once more. A light rain was falling and the occasional drop hitting his face was rather refreshing. He had awoken later than the day before, and there were already people wandering about. His body was still slightly sore from the training he had engaged in the previous day, but his determination did not waver in the slightest. Returning to the forest, he once more took up his sword and began to swing it vigorously. It was a different feeling than he had experienced previously though, somehow more coherent, more structured. He felt that his swings were swifter, more powerful, and this gave him a great sense of accomplishment. Instead of returning to all of the swings he'd been attempting the day before, Ryuzaki felt that his time would be better spent concentrating on a select few. First he attempted a downward attack, lifting his blade above his head with both hands and then swiftly bringing it down in one smooth motion, stopping it around he height of his midsection. It felt wonderful, certainly more effective than his attempts the previous day had been, and somehow he just knew it was right. Ryuzaki did this about fifty times before he decided to move on to another swing that the felt would be very effective. Ryuzaki held his blade in one hand this time, and positioning it for a horizontal attack he swung and stepped forward at the same time. Again, Ryuzaki could just tell that this was right. It was exhilarating, feeling the power flow through his blade, such an increase from just the day before. He performed this maneuver fifty times as well. Finally, for his last attack Ryuzaki held his blade in both hands once more and performed a diagonal slash. This felt better than even the other attacks had, and at the end of his fifty repetitions Ryuzaki witnessed a small gust of wind leave his blade. This wasn't something he'd ever had happen before, and it was a surprising and exhilarating new experience. The rain was starting to fall a bit harder now but Ryuzaki's spirits could not be dampened. He continued to practice for about another hour, going through those 3 motions a good amount of times more, attempting to recreate the small gust of wind, but he had no luck. Eventually the rain became a full blown downpour, and Ryuzaki decided to go get some lunch and return when the weather was a bit nicer. He'd worked up quite an appetite during his training, and hadn't had all that much to eat the day before so he decided to treat himself to a large lunch somewhere nice. He'd also skipped breakfast that morning in his hurry to get back into his training, so it was about time for a meal.

Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:41 pm

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Ryuzaki

Artist: Nujabes/Idst - Song: BattleCry - Word Count: 568

Ryuzaki enjoyed his lunch and relaxed for a time, and eventually the weather calmed down once more. He wasn't entirely sure why, but the forest was certainly his favorite place to train. Maybe because he enjoyed being in nature, or perhaps it was because he preferred to be on his own sometimes, or maybe it was just that he didn't yet feel like he belonged in Soul Society, but regardless of the reason Ryuzaki felt a deep connection to the place, and decided he would return there for further training. It didn't take him very long to reach his favorite clearing once again, and this time, with a full stomach and clear weather, he was prepared to continue his training far into the night. Before he got back into it though he attempted to talk with Asanagi once again. He felt like he and his zanpakuto spirit had grown closer in his training session the previous day, and wondered if there was any advice Asanagi had to offer. Ryuzaki sat on the soft grass in the lotus position with his sword across his lap and attempted to contact Asanagi, but for some reason he couldn't clear his head of all of the unnecessary thoughts. He continued this for around twenty minutes, but he felt himself grow no closer to reaching his goal. Eventually he sighed and stood once more, accepting the fact that his thoughts were just too tumultuous for the time being, and decided that he would try again tomorrow, in the mean time it would be best to focus his efforts on his own ability. Drawing his zanpakuto he practiced the same attacks he had earlier, doing his best to perfect them. He felt that he had the movements down pat, but now he was focused on the swiftness of his blade, as well as his own endurance, so he got it into his mind that he would repeat the earlier training except this time he would perform five hundred repetitions, no matter the circumstance, if it rained he would get wet, if his arms began to hurt then they would just have to hurt, if he grew hungry then his stomach would have to wait, if he felt tired then he would just have to find whatever energy he had inside of himself and push forward relentlessly. As the sun set and night fell on Soul Society Ryuzaki could feel the strain from his vigorous training beginning to effect his body, but he refused to quit until he'd done everything he promised himself. As dusk shifted into proper night Ryuzaki still kept at it, although his arms were beginning to feel like jelly and his energy was running extremely low. The last thirty minutes were by far the hardest part of the exercise, and Ryuzaki wanted to quit more than anything but he was so close to completion that he forced himself to continue to the very last. When he finally finished his training it was around midnight and he simply could not find the strength to move his body any more, so he collapsed in the grass and slept until morning. When he awoke his arms were still incredibly sore, and he realized that he hadn't had the most comfortable rest ever, but he felt like he'd proven something to himself, and in his mind that was reason enough to have undergone this training.

Sat May 06, 2017 7:11 am

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Ryuzaki

Artist: Nujabes/Idst - Song: BattleCry - Word Count: 731

Ryuzaki had a small assortment of tasks to see to today, but before he got started on that he felt it would be beneficial to attempt to communicate with his zanpakuto one more time. He sat once more on the ground and crossed his legs before taking a deep breath and placing his zanpakuto across his lap again. At first he thought that he was having no luck for the umpteenth time, but then he started to feel rather strange. Ryuzaki could feel the world starting to spin around him, and he began to feel a bit dizzy. He had his eyes closed but he imagined that if they were open he would have seen the actual landscape shifting around him. This feeling gradually increased in intensity and right around the time he began to think that it was becoming too much to bear it suddenly ceased. He felt that the ground he was sitting on was markedly different than what he expected, a strange shifting was happening beneath him, and the consistency was grainy. Opening his eyes he first saw Asanagi sitting in front of him, hair billowing outwards from his body as it always did, although there was no wind. Then he began to take in his surroundings. The terrain was grainy because he was on a beach, but it wasn't like any beach he'd ever been to before. The sand was a deep black in color and the air gave off an extremely strong scent of salt water. The ocean in front of him was wild and untamed, with giant waves frequently crashing into the shore and leaving behind a layer of foam. He turned back to Asanagi at last, and began to speak.

"So this is your world is it? Interesting place you've got here"

"I like it rather well, thank you. So you've finally managed to come visit me here, hmm? I must say I'm impressed with the recent show of dedication you've displayed, what with all of the training and meditation you've done"

"I was always dedicated, you just never payed it any mind Asanagi."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I was testing you, wondering whether or not your dedication was wavering and would eventually fail. At this point that doesn't seem to be much of a concern so I accept you."

"Are you saying I've passed your test then?"

"Indeed, I am. You've done well, and I believe you will be a capable warrior if you continue your training. Well then, lets get down to business."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well I assume you've come to learn about the abilities of your sword. Hopefully by this point you've deduced that the powers of this sword are wind based, after all you've had some rather big hints."

"Yes, I've gathered that much, but I haven't had much luck actually doing anything with it."

"Here, let me show you a few things."

At this point Asanagi stood and held out his hand. Slowly a sword materialized in his hand and Ryuzaki looked down to see that his zanpakuto was no longer in its sheath. Asanagi swung the blade a few times, apparently getting a feel for it, although Ryuzaki seriously doubted that this was necessary. Then he swung it one last time, mightily, and a visible crescent of air left the blade and traveled along at an impressive speed. Ryuzaki was stunned, and didn't know what to say.

"Well there, you've seen it now. Just concentrate on moving the air to your will. With enough practice and hard work you should be able master this technique eventually. There's not really a good way to explain it, you just have to feel it out. Now you better get out of here, if I'm not mistaken you had some things to attend to, and it may be later than you think."

As Asanagi finished speaking he gave Ryuzaki a small wink, then returned to his initial position with his back to the waves and closed his eyes once more. Ryuzaki thanked him for the guidance and then focused on waking himself up to get on with the day. When he opened his eyes, back in the forest, he looked upwards and realized that the sun was already halfway across the sky. Hurrying back towards the more populated areas of Soul Society he set about completing his menial tasks, he would have to wait until later to return to his training.

Thu May 11, 2017 5:55 am

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Ryuzaki

Artist: Nujabes/Idst - Song: BattleCry - Word Count: 767

As the days passed Ryuzaki continued to train his swordsmanship and endurance and that seemed to pay off fairly well. During this time he also spent many hours attempting to access his abilities, but he still wasn't anywhere close to being able to shape the wind to his will. Many would have been disheartened receiving no results from all of this training, but he knew that if he simply continued to focus and exert himself to his fullest then eventually everything would pay off, and he would be able to harness the power of his zanpakuto fully. He tried to apply what Asanagi had taught him but it just didn't seem to make much of a difference, occasionally when he concentrated immensely he was able to unleash a small burst of wind with next to no offensive power if he was being honest, but that was about it. Accepting this he decided to simply train his body and skill further and to assist in this goal he got himself some weighted bands for his wrists and ankles. They all weighed fifty pounds and at first he found it rather difficult to practice his swordsmanship but he did not relent and simply forced himself to continue as he always did with his training. Ryuzaki realized at this point that continuously practicing his main strikes was obviously something beneficial, as even with the weights on his wrists he was still able to keep his form mostly in tact, with only a few slight missteps from time to time. He kept this up for as long as he possibly could and when his arms grew too tired to continue any further he moved on and began focusing on his legs. First he found a suitably large, open area to conduct his training and then he started to run, first at a moderate speed and gradually building up to a full sprint. He was noticeably slower than he would have been under normal circumstances, and he could feel the weight dragging down on him with each successive step he took but he knew that he was far too weak to be a respectable shinigami as of this moment, and that without intensive training he would never be able to surmount the rather large difference between himself and some of the stronger individuals that inhabited the Soul Society, so he carried on, taking it step by step. Eventually though Ryuzaki's energy began to wane and he was forced to rest, at least for a time. His arms and legs felt like they had been turned to jelly, and he was exhausted but only after a short rest he resolved himself to push this even further than he had already. Realizing that he didn't have the energy to continue with the weights any longer he removed them and then got back into his training. He decided to continue training his legs as he was most concerned about his swordsmanship, and felt it would be wise to give his arms more time to rest as he had spent about twice the time training them as he had spent running. Ryuzaki felt much quicker now, even though he was already fairly warn out, and came to the conclusion that getting these weights had been a good idea, and that weighted training was something that he would continue. When he finally returned to practicing his zanjutsu he noticed a marked improvement in his speed, even more so that he had with his running, which admittedly was not something that he had been very focused on up to this point. He realized that a lot of this was to do with how slow he had been moving previously, but couldn't deny that there was at least some improvement over his usual speed. Most likely because he was still using the force required to swing with the additional weight added to his wrists, which were, of course, no longer there. As the sun started to set on yet another day of training Ryuzaki felt that he had put his time to good use, and that the continued use of these weights would benefit him greatly in his endeavors to become stronger. Finally, too exhausted to do much more than take a shower, get a quick bite to eat and then immediately pass out, he left his training area behind and returned to his home once more to let his body recuperate. Perhaps he would take tomorrow off from his training as a sort of reward to himself for all of the hard work he'd been putting in lately.

Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Re: Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Re: Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Re: Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]

Re: Harvesting the fruits of labor [Solo]