[Training] Low Air Pressure

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

The island is easy to reach on golden wings, and the carnivorous entities she finds are worth the flight. Though she has no real interest in plant life, Hotaru can respect the voracious appetite of anything with enough cells to rub together to simulate life, and plenty of the plants on the island seem to fit that criteria.

Her exploration has already finished, leaving only a period of rest before she flies back out to the mainland. Enjoying the much warmer weather, she sits on the beach with her legs in the water, idly playing with the water by forcing bubbles to tickle up her shins and pop like oil from beneath. She is not proficient enough to create air below the waves reliably, but all powers start somewhere - plus it's a pleasant, tickling massage to enjoy in the meantime.

we'll just raise hell instead

He had long since assured himself that the underside of the island, though exceedingly strange, was harmless to the Mer half of his people. There had been too many reports of the carnivorous flora above for him to discount the danger the isle posed to his human subjects, however, and so the King occasionally came to the island personally to make sure the signs warning of peril to life and limb remained upright and legible.

A circuit of the perimeter proved all was well, but as he came back around to where he had begun there was something new upon the beach that had not been there when he'd arrived. Hadama swam slowly closer, considering the stranger in his calm, quiet way before inclining his head in greeting. "Do you need help?" he inquired politely, in case the human had injuries he could not see.

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

As the stranger - visually, that is - approaches from a decent distance, Hotaru watches him comfortably from where she is seated. Though unlikely he could have truly startled her given her Attuned senses being active, she is grateful for the unspoken measure of respect all the same. A respect that is clearly inherent to the man himself given what he asks.

"No, thank you. I'm merely training my magic in a more restful way." Much like Deimos, she has never sought to hide her Abandoned status from others despite the constant odds that somebody might rally against it. "Are you a guard?" It would make sense for him to be patrolling if so.

we'll just raise hell instead

Given the Merfolk's own inherent magics it made little sense to Hadama that they should judge humans for having them, too. Air and water magic in particular seemed perfectly natural to the mermanta, and he didn't so much as blink at he mention of her own innate power.

Training in an inhospitable environment was not unknown to him, and he tilted his head in acknowledgment of her prowess in keeping herself unharmed amidst Metacarpal Island's hungry flora. Then his eyes gleamed with silent amusement as he raised his head again to meet her gaze squarely. "Of a sort," he agreed solemnly. "I train my magic here sometimes, too. I am Hadama. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

The name sparks her attention immediately, and she straightens from her relaxed and reclined position to instead curl her arms around her knees, small smile playing at her lips. "So we finally meet," she responds coyly, enjoying being in on a joke she has not yet shared for all of a few moments before illuminating him. "Hotaru. I suppose we never shared our appearances in our letters. A bit of an oversight, really." It was how he'd come to find himself in the ranks of her students, not long after she'd posted the notices up in the various cities.

"It must be a stroke of luck to meet not long before your first official training. Which magic were you hoping to focus on?" Perhaps it was one of the mentioned magics he had alluded to training in these bright waters.

we'll just raise hell instead

For better or worse his name was known - throughout Torchline, if not farther. He waited patiently while the lady smiled, unaware of the joke until she delivered the punchline and then he bowed his head in acknowledgment, keeping his amusement tucked inside behind his serene mask. "It is good to meet you in person, Hotaru," he rumbled. Indeed, the Valkyrie's name was more known than his own.

As was her reputation... but people changed, and Hadama saw no reason to linger on a past he had not been part of. Especially when she was also the mother of his young friend.

He raised his gaze to study her more closely now that he knew that she was his teacher, and at her question his emerald eyes lightened to sapphire and a baseball-sized sphere of water lifted to hover between them. "Water," he answered simply. "It is my only magic." Though his mother had mastered both water and air, and he knew the potential lay within himself for more. "Do you wish to..." he paused, seeking the right word before finishing with, "...evaluate it?" So she would know how best to proceed with his training when the time came.

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

If she knew her supposed reputation extended down into the waters of the kingdom which he ruled, she would likely be impressed. Or confused, given she isn't exactly sure which of her many reputations it could be. As it is, he is as kind in person as he is on paper; and just as bland. Not a negative quality in the least, as it makes him easy to talk to. Likely just as easy to befriend - a good quality for a leader to have.

"A diverse magic to have," she praises, letting her knees relax to straighten her legs into the water, allowing her to sit up straighter to give him her full attention. "That would be wonderful. I'm at a disadvantage in your training, being unable to see you in the Academy weekly as some do. Show me how much you can move at once first and then perhaps I can apply some external pressure." See how strong his control was, what the limitations were on his manipulation.

we'll just raise hell instead

The Tidebreaker tilted his head in acknowledgment of her praise, though his magic was not yet as diverse as it could be. Someday, perhaps, he would create ice and soothe the superheated steam of volcanic vents, but for now he could manipulate water's liquid form with the ease of long practice. A quality that Hotaru could only guess at, as she explained, and he nodded again before swimming back a little ways into deeper surf.

'Yes," he agreed to her instruction, wasting no further words as he began to pull the surrounding water upwards in a great, broad wave that curved into a circular pillar. He rode atop it at first, then slipped down inside the column of ocean among a handful of very confused fish. The pillar rose twenty feet in the air before leveling off, though it extended invisibly beneath the water as well in an area where the currents suddenly ceased. One fish swam right out of the side of the column in a panic and fell ten feet to the ocean below, dazed for long moments before wriggling frantically away as Hadama followed calmly in its wake and poked his head out into the air to hear what was needed next.

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

Scooting closer to her calves to sit up straighter, the Valkyrie's mild, welcoming expression drops away to something far sharper and more calculating as Hadama begins to put his magic on display. It is quite adept, but not yet fully mastered. Even so, it's clear that his experience with being in water day in and day out has led to a creative expansion that she normally has to teach her students to think around.

"Perfect, your volume is coming along quite well," she praises as the man's head becomes visible once more and capable of hearing her. "Now I'm going to apply a bit of pressure externally, okay? I want you to focus on keeping my magic from distorting or separating the water - like pushing back against someone shoving your shoulder." With two different ways of viewing it explained, Hotaru wastes no further time in much the same way Hadama had, utilizing her air magic to whip around the surface of the extended water, trying to find a weakness to exploit to blast through.

we'll just raise hell instead

He inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment of the headmistress's praise, but his attention was fully focused on what she would ask next. When she described her plan he nodded again, this time in satisfaction with a worthy challenge. He waited until she had finished her explanation before murmuring a quiet: "I understand." Then he pulled his head back into the column of water so that he was fully encased within his element and ready.

He wasn't sure how she meant to disrupt his domain until the first wind-whip lashed the column and his brows furrowed in concentration. Maintaining control of that much water at once was no easy feat, and feeling where the attack was disrupting it was no less difficult. Still, he pushed back at the places where the wind struck, swiftly refilling the gaps. Without ice to properly stiffen the liquid he put his attention into swelling the water within the column back out as soon as the pressure from the wind released from an area so that the disruptions were minimal to the naked eye.

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

He responds exactly as she had hoped he would. Considering he has no other way of strengthening the tensile properties of the water itself, the best alternative is increasing the depth and volume where she is attacking. "Very good," she calls loudly enough for him to hopefully hear from beneath the water, withdrawing her magic for a moment so she can wait for him to emerge or otherwise indicate he's listening for her next command.

"This time I'm going to push down just from the top, so you'll have to focus on repelling it by forcing the water upward in a constant cycle." She gives him a moment to prepare before doing exactly that, focusing the air into a pillar that presses down in buffeting waves from overhead. It would show her how his endurance was coming along, and if he could keep the internal motion going even after utilizing the water defensively and reaching his maximum range.

we'll just raise hell instead

When the wind-whips ceased their attacks Hadama returned his attention to Hotaru and saw that her lips were moving. He opened a passage in the water column so that her voice could reach him clearly as she began her instructions for the next round of testing.

It was an intriguing idea, and one he had never explored before. He nodded agreement and closed the 'air tunnel' to focus on his defense once more. Although his control over the water was quite good it still needed perfecting and he was not so overconfident that he would split his attention for something that wasn't immediately useful.

He could feel the water being forced down by an opposing force and Hadama's jaw and shoulders tensed as he drew his own magic up in return, fighting both gravity and the air magic that hammered down upon his column. His endurance was significant but he had a trick up his nonexistent sleeve as he struggled to repel the invisible waves of wind.

He wasn't at his maximum range above the water. Encased in his element as he was, he could pull the water up from below and extend it above, not simply resisting the air but pushing back against it and building the column higher, inch by inch, in the split seconds between each buffeting wave the headmistress send down at him. It was a matter of brute strength rather than fine tuning, and that he was well-suited to handle.

Hotaru

if we can't raise the dead

While his original opposition was impressive by itself, the creativity he displays is exactly what she'd been looking for - apparent in the bright grin that overtakes her face, clearly pleased and impressed. But there is no time for releasing him now, not if she is to gauge his endurance properly.

Standing, she moves further into the water to better witness his creative column-building, all the while pressing down with her magic with the same strength and persistence instead of seeking out the holes and weaknesses the way she had done before. Letting her eyes half-shift to account for the rest of the distance so she might catch on early for any signs of fatigue to keep this a safe training for the both of them.

we'll just raise hell instead

He couldn't see her grin or appreciate her approval; the mermanta's attention was focused entirely on his magic within his element and her repeated attacks upon it. He built his column higher, inch by patient inch, until it was around twenty-five feet above the surface of the sea. He made no sudden lunges higher, content to push back the air in slow, steady increments and ensuring that the column remained strong and secure on all sides.

But the sheer quantity of water that he was controlling eventually grew wearying, even to someone of his prodigious endurance. It didn't show on his face; his expression remained as unchanging as the sunrise even under pressure, but slowly the column began to shrink. First it narrowed in small increments and then it began to shorten as Hadama began to slip it back into the ocean, drawing on the sea's power to augment his own.