Aim True, Kid [Liltotto, Daniel]

"Remember to breathe! Tensing up will screw up your aim! Cya!"

That was another person helped out today, some younger Sternritter who was having trouble using their Fullbring effectively in the heat of the moment. It was just her typical routine of taking requests to help with training or bettering techniques; she was the perfect punching bag for it after all, so why not? It was a role she took up reluctantly at first, but grew into with seeing how thankful and bettered by it those she helped seemed to be. She couldn't help but admit it made her feel "warm fuzzies", ugh even admitting that mentally felt weird and childish of her.

She held a fond smile either way, getting through a good amount of food as her hunger was starting to drag her down, hmming as she wondered... Swore there was another request at this time, wasn't there? She checked her phone.. Yep, he should've been showing up some point soon, but she didn't smell anybody coming yet. Hopefully he wasn't lost and could find his way to the training centre.

"Yep, totally lost. Why did I decide to take up someone else's time by requesting some training when I have no idea where I'm going?"

This would mark the third time that he had asked for directions and just completely lost his way. He didn't know if it was his own lack of direction or if it was simply that people didn't want him to get to the training center, but right now he was beginning to get a bit annoyed. Taking out a protein bar and once again beginning to walk toward what looked like a large building in the distance, he would begin to snack a bit to keep himself from getting more irritated. He had always called himself a punctual person, hell most of the time he was early, and now he was wasting someone's time by not being there. So much for turning over a new leaf with his Quincy training, eh? Maybe he could cast a spell to get directions? Never tried it before, but he had no cylinders or his gauntlet on him to try and make that dream a reality.

"Could just start asking random people?"

Daniel said to himself as he stepped inside of a building that looked rather important and walk past someone with a strange feeling about them. They wore the Sternritter badge, that much he knew from all the books that he had read on the Vandenreich when he was younger, but he was clearly not a Quincy. He thought that they were all Quincy? Good for them opening the ranks up to other people, the name of this day and age was inclusive.

"Hey, Mr. Sternritter? Know where the training center is?"

The weird feeling Sternritter turned to look at him and then pointed at the sign over his shoulder that read "training center". Daniel nodded and then shook his head.

"Way to go, Daniel, make yourself look dumb to a Sternritter...thanks man! Have a lovely day!"

The first part he uttered under his breath and the thanks was spoken out loud as he turned around to make his way into the building finishing his protein bar as he did. Hopefully the instructor wasn't too mad at him for arriving late, he would hate to have their first meeting be taken in a negative light.

Hm, maybe it was a stroke of luck they weren't here yet; she did want to sit and eat a little longer, there wasn't a rush unless someone else wanted to walk in - it wasn't like there was appointments for this, she just gave time slots she'd be available and anyone could walk in or say when they were coming in as they pleased, she had zero problems training a variety group.

Then her senses caught someone coming her way. Oh, finally, she should clean up real quick and not look like she was just bumming around, anybody who didn't know her or of her would've thought her a slob with how much she ate on the job. Annoying, but a reality she's grown numb to.

As he walked in, she was already looking at the door, as if she knew exactly when he'd arrive, an unreadable expression on her boring face that didn't indicate a feeling one way or another, "Heya newbie, Cross, right?"

That was a surname she recognized, but if anything it made her a little put off; either was as up in his own ass as other old school-minders or he was of their betters.

Of the few times that Daniel had been referred to by his last name only, things usually lead to one of two outcomes: a lecture or a desire for something. There was rarely a third option and at that moment, Daniel wondered if he was about to receive some kind of lecture for not being punctual. It hadn't been his fault that common citizens tended to not know where anything was at in this city, and it wasn't his fault either that he was fresh off the boat, so to speak. So he prepared to defend himself as best he could if it came to it, getting the turn of events that occurred leading up to this meeting in proper order to help her understand.

"Sorry I'm late, Ms. Lamperd. Still new to the city and all, who knew there were so many places that could be considered a training center here?"

He said in all seriousness, but not before quickly adding.

"Also, Daniel is fine, being called by my last name makes me feel a bit awkward."

She probably didn't know much about his family, which suited him just fine, but most of the time there was a great deal of expectations forced upon him just because he was a Cross. And so far he felt like he couldn't match any of those expectations, at least not at his current level, but he was trying! Trying to improve, trying to make connections, and trying his best to make a good first impression if he could muster it. Being tardy probably didn't win him many brownie points here he was sure of that though.

"Anyway, everyone who I've had talks with pointed me to you. They say you are good at helping people refine their technique and I am really hoping you can help me out...no pressure of course if you can't make anything happen. I know a guy like me probably isn't the ideal student with all the lack of talent and stuff, but I will try. Of that you have my word."

He nodded his head, unzipping his jacket, and giving his new teacher his complete attention. Who knows, maybe she could do something with him that he just couldn't figure out on his own. Wishful thinking, but maybe!

Okay, didn't sound like he was up his own ass all that much, good for him easier for her. Guy sounded hopelessly lost and new, which was expected and she'd never think poorly of him, but sometimes she wondered if people didn't engage with those new-fangled devices with maps and the internet in them and stuff to figure out where they were going. She normally chose to not use her phone unless she absolutely needed it or strictly for phone calls; she was used to getting the lay of the land on her own.

"Hey, hey, i'm not mad your late. It's not a strict appointment and you're not holding up my day - you're fine." She'd wave off his anxiety with a casual air, "Alright, Daniel it is. Was just making sure I got the right one."

Brows rose, so people have been talking about her? Well that shouldn't be surprising, but she mentally waved away any useless feelings of flattery - no need for that. She was kind of happy her suggestions and guidance sunk in with people, that was something she could be proud of safely. This guy sounded pretty all over the place, must be a runt in the family trying to prove something.

"Okay pal, I hear ya." She'd adjust her seating a little as she spoke, "Give me a rundown of what you're good with, and demonstrate something. If you got anything specific you're struggling with, you're free to show it. No judgement, and no family nosings here. Leave any sense of pride at the door, coz you're going to be making quite a lot of mistakes to beat yourself up with otherwise."

A smile spread across his face as he realized he had not made her upset by being late. Sure he could have probably have used his phone to find her quicker, but he had chosen to find it himself mainly because he wanted to learn the lay of the land. If this were to be his home, temporarily, then he would at least need to be able to find things on his own, and learn where everything was at. Still, he would probably need to be more reliant on his tech in the future as opposed to just being stubborn, and force fumbling his way around. Making important appointments was more important than some sense of pride in knowing his way to the location after all.

"What I'm good at?"

He asked her as he took a deep breath and pondered what exactly he truly excelled at outside of casting spells. There wasn't much more than a floor level understanding outside of his spellcraft when it came to being a Quincy and on a physical level he kind of found himself being just good enough to be considered to be fit. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to answer honestly.

"Well to be honest with you, I don't really find myself to be too good at anything outside of casting spells. I mean...I guess I could show you just how messed up my spiritual weapon is to kind of give you an idea of how bad off I am."

He summoned his spiritual weapon, Azurblauer Spatz, a winged hand crossbow that glowed an extremely bright blue before pointing it at a target dummy off in the distance. He fired his shot, a smile spreading across his face in an already defeatist attitude.

"Accuracy isn't my issue..."

The shot hit true, but instead of piercing or exploding on impact, it bounced off the target like a nerf dart off a wall, and then kind of just fell to the ground before dissipating into nothingness. He looked down and sighed.

"My shots always just bounce off without causing any damage. I can't take pride in that...what Quincy would take pride in his shot ricocheting off its' intended target?"

He glanced over to Liltotto, fully expecting her to be laughing at this point at his shot failing so spectacularly. She probably had never seen anything like that before and he was wondering what brand of laugh he would hear escaping her lips at his predicament.

And there was that classic bout of hesitance - she'd grown accustomed to the newbies getting a bit frozen in the spot over her question, it was natural - not everyone was a prodigy ground into the perfect soldier from birth, and his brief explanation prompted her to nod, giving him the floor to demonstrate his little problem area.

Wow. Oh lordy. She didn't see anything like that too often - it bounced right off, miserably clattering to the ground and fading out. Already she was mulling over possibilities as Daniel did his little bout of self defeatism, getting up with hardly a reaction he may have anticipated - it was best to work with what she could see, and that would be his posture.

"Fix your feet a bit closer, space between your legs should look like a thin triangle." She'd place her hands on his body to gently adjust his posture, "Back straight, shoulders relaxed, slightly turned, arm goes no higher than your cheek. Make the bow again."

Standing behind him this time, she'd continue her instruction, "Look, I dunno what you've heard about it, I dunno how much anyone has made fun of you for it, but forget about all of that now, it's not helping you. Breathe. Focus. Imagine your arrow to be as sharp as mountain tops or pine trees. Fire."

Was posture a major component of utilizing a spiritual weapon such as his? He had seen his father multiple times using his bow and he did realize, at least now, that his father did indeed have a stance that he took to fire off his shots, and utilize the ability of his own weapon. Still, he doubted he could just stick to a single stance, and posture while using his much shorter range hand crossbow type of weapon, but he trusted her. Which was odd for a person he had just met, but he was fine putting his faith in her understanding of Quincy arts. He had chosen to come here and had chosen her because she was THAT good at her job. Maybe she didn't realize how many of her students were doing fine now or were singing her praise, but he had heard in his short time there plenty of people doing as such. So, he took her advice.

Wordlessly and without hesitation, he focused on every single word she uttered, and tried to follow here instructions to a t. He took his stance, he felt good, and he felt loose. He took aim and then then she began to speak to him about his issues with the people around him. While he had not shown many people outside of his family his particular shortcomings, he had always felt like a disappointment to them. Mainly his father. The man was a former soldier, he was a well trained sniper, and had elevated the family status with his skills. What had Daniel done? He had become a streamer and had neglected his training outside of his magic studies. It was no wonder things had turned out the way they did. Still, he listened to what she said, and pushed all that aside.

That was the past, this was the now. He needed to make strides now to show his father that he cared about his opinion, that he valued his contributions to the family, and for the most part to get him off his back. He needed to be a real "Cross" not just in name only, but also in his actions. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes, releasing his shot. His shot, once again, flew true, but much like last time it hit its' target and bounced off, but this time an odd occurrence happened. Daniel's eyes looked to the training mat beneath the target dummy, expecting another failure, and as if on queue the bolt of spiritual energy fell pointy end first into the mat. Impaling it as Daniel turned around to face Liltotto, not even realizing that his shot had pierced the mat.

"Damn...and I felt like that one would have worked too."

He said disgruntled and a bit frazzled by his own perceived failure. The day was still young and he still had a decent chunk of time left, maybe there was something that she could do to help him!

She had the sense the guy had a lot going on, his hands felt tense and her senses told her he was going through some kind of stress; she could understand the amount of pressure some younger Quincy from long established families were going through, the need to perform with excellence and be another to carry the bloodline's long chain, but even she thought the whole thing was stupid. If their kids didn't want to carry that legacy, why should they be forced to? Why should they have so much pressure? All it did was get them killed in the end if there wasn't anyone propping them up.

Her eyes followed that arrow, even as it bounced off it's target, keeping her gaze to that arrow even as Daniel turned to address her,
"Nope, shut up," She'd speak quickly to turn down that defeatist talk, quickly turning him back around and pointing to the bolt jutting out of the floor, "Look. That one was sharp, see?"

Putting her hands on his shoulders, she'd take a breath, momentarily holding her eyes shut, "Look Daniel, I dunno anything about your private life, but i'm getting the sense you aren't too confident in your abilities. Well, i'll tell ya this - you're going to fuck up, a lot, you'll probably have more screw ups than you do successes before you croak... But those successes will be huge compared to those fuck ups. Perfecting a skill isn't just in your practice, it's also in your head - you need to have more faith in yourself. Damn what anyone else says or thinks - if this is something you want to do, what you want to perfect, it's something that'll get you forward in life, then have some confidence in it. If you can't convince yourself, then nobody can."

Before Daniel could even give a full response, he was quickly turned back around to look at what his bolt had done, and a surprised gasp escaped his lips at the realization that this one had pierced something. Maybe not the thing that he had wanted to pierce, but it had pierced the mat! He almost wanted to jump for joy, a little progress in this department was a breath of fresh air in what had been a room full of stale air. He then took a deep breath and composed himself, trying his best not to show just how joyful he was as to not embarrass himself in front of his instructor. Still, there were questions that were wandering around in his head, and as a logical man he needed to dig deeper into why this had happened the way it had.

His thoughts were interrupted by a very heart felt message given to him. He took in every word, making sure not to miss a single syllable that she said, and then after she was done speaking, shoulders still on his hands, and looking her dead in the eyes he began to speak.

"I wasn't always the first choice to inherit the Cross family."

He got a bit choked up, should he be talking about this, and was it right to spill what his life was like to an almost total stranger? Maybe it would be therapeutic? Though he didn't like dumping all his problems on other people, it would probably be for the best if she at least knew a bit about him.

"My brother Gregory was going to be the next head honcho. Had all the training, all the skill, and all the natural god given talent. He was, to put it lightly, the ideal Quincy."

Daniel looked to the side, his eyes losing a bit of their sparkle, and a bit of their emotion as Daniel traveled down memory lane. He had always been in his brother's shadow, but that did not mean he had not respected or loved him. That however, wasn't the true in reverse. Gregory had never liked him and even till the end he had no idea if he had loved him as a brother or not.

"He joined up with the Vandenreich, he wanted to, dad wanted him to, and he left to basically serve his people in the best way that he could. He never came back. Killed in action, serving his people, at least that is what the top brass of the Vandenreich said. To this day they still won't tell father about what Gregory was doing that got him killed, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that it broke my dad and it put all the weight of the family name baring down on me when I wasn't ready for it."

He looked back up, a faint smile creeping up on his lips, and a bit of the emotion returning to his eyes. This was getting oddly personal for a training session, but he believed she deserved to know a bit about him to understand his situation a bit better.

"I appreciate your words and I know I'm going to fuck up, royally I might add, quite frequently. But that is just who I am, I'm a guy who has to shoulder the burden that his brother left him, and instead of it putting me down I need to rise to meet those expectations. Even if I myself don't think I can. I need to make my dad happy, he doesn't think I can defend myself properly, and deep down inside I know he is concerned about losing another son. And to be honest, after all that stuff going on in Africa? I can kind of see his point. I need to get stronger... even if I don't think I can get much stronger so that my family can know that I am safe. So that my dad can rest easy at night and so he can know that I won't end up like Gregory. My family has had enough tragedy for one lifetime."

Wiping maybe a tear from his eye, Daniel turned his head back to look at the bolt still in the ground, and turned his head back to look at Liltotto.

"I wonder why this time it pierced the ground after bouncing off the main target...is my aim off or is it something else?"

Daniel queried, trying to change the subject while internally wondering why he spilled his life story.