dev 7 - the test of fortitude

That was a good question, but he figured the way.

"Well... the mana has several sources to come from or to evoke, and I wanted help with that. The Gem is clearly powerful, and I wanted to attune myself to the 'frequency' of mana it has, and then take upon its power."

"I suppose it could work that way. What do you think?"

Maybe she had other ideas too.
(Keitaro)

Sweeping her fingers along the white strands of hair, she'd tuck them behind her ear as she gave a small nod. "It's storm, so do you want me to help you attune to the frequency of wind?" She asks, brows furrowing together as she mulls it over.

She's... definitely a powerful enough wind mage, and she'd be able to hold back the fiery magic within her long enough to make it work, right?

Sooo…

"Where should we do it?"
(Thalia Elisheva)

Declan has exited Reimara Academy.

Where would they be doing was also a good question, but he had few suggestions on his mind.

"Come along. Certainly not here, for beginners... but I'll think of something." And so he goes with her in tow, somewhere away from the Academy.

Maybe they were going to actually succeed? Who knows.
(Keitaro)

Had to be this place.

The serenity of flowers and the gentle breeze around the area all too familiar to the two of them was about to be disturbed by the sweat, work and toil of the two with this Gem. Still, it's not exactly disturbance or noise that he was concerned about... it was the results. Seeing his friends grasp onto fairly complicated magics already, he felt like he was missing out.

Like he was becoming something less.

"Actually... I had something else on my mind." He pauses, and looks over to her. "I was going to tap into as much mana as I can, probably withdrawn through emotion since it's the most powerful method in terms of raw strength, and attune to the crystal that way."

"Then, I could probably draw on its power."

Taking the gem out, he eyed her one more time before they would really begin, but something crosses his mind. He heaves a small sigh, and it's not too long before he casually produces a smile over his face.

"So, no one cares about you? Does that make me a no one?"

A tiny laugh. She should know better than to say such things, really... unless she actually meant to demean him this way, and discard his entire existence. Though, surely, she didn't mean it that way?

"You changed a lot."
(Keitaro)

Wandering along, the wind would carry along her person as she looks around the area. Gaze focuses on the area around, and she gives a small breath from her nostrils. This area, huh? Coming to a halt among the flowers, the gentle breeze seems to come to a halt around her feet.

But, she would give a bit of a pause as the accusation came along the way, and she soon drops her gaze down to the ground, glaring at her feet. "No, that's..." Her hands come up, pressing against one another. "I don't... I slip through the cracks with my family and my dad's spirit doesn't remember me, and it kind of... it..."

A shaky breath leaves her lips.

"I'm sorry. It overwhelms everything else. I try not to let it, but it's hard to control.

But yeah, I've changed. A lot."

It's not like that's something she can deny. A lot has gone on inside of her head above all else, and it was particularly hard to keep control of.
(Thalia Elisheva)

Even despite her best attempts to keep it concealed and hidden away, he could easily tell much was bothering her. He was certain that she never really meant to insult or offend him, and even if her words actually stung the young Shenlong, he just ignored them. Besides, he could always simply shrug it off - her own well-being was something questioned, instead.

"It's alright." No, it wasn't.

"I only regret that nothing seems to work in regards of helping you. But it's okay, I'll find a way eventually." But even he had begun to have doubts. If this continued, would they even have any connections left in few years?

She ran away at some point, after all.

"Let's begin."

These distractions were for naught. Instead, with the gem remaining on his hand, he began to send first few sparkles of the lightning in it, mixed with the holy magic- which was a true expression of what he felt within. Something... caring, and yet something terribly zealous and devoted to what he believed in. Almost to a fault.

The gem reacted, and began to hum.

"You wield winds, right?"

"Could you begin channelling it too? The storm holds essence of the winds as well, and I think if more elements call to it, it would inevitably respond."

And maybe draw something greater.
(Keitaro)

It wasn't alright, but no one could ever expect a sixteen year old's thoughts to be anything near good nor perfect, not even another youth. Bringing her fingers up, she would hold them momentarily against her forehead with a short sigh. "The only thing that can help me is probably myself." She says quietly as she glances off to the side. "And even then, I'm bad at it. Let's continue though."

Distractions would do them absolutely no good at this point.

Bringing her hands up, there would be a small tornado that began to dance between her fingers, moving from palm to palm. Anyone that knew the daughter of Sera Elisheva definitely knew that she wielded the wind, albeit a bit wild.

Drawing in a breath, she would begin to channel forward the magic all around her, causing it to spin around her form. The fire, for now, would be kept at bay as she focused on the pure element there. As she focused on her magic and the divinity within her very blood, she would aim to focus it into the gem that he was holding onto, trying to keep a good grip and focus on it.

"Fire won't work, and I only have wind and fire, so..."
(Thalia Elisheva)

This wasn't going to be something that takes too long.

In truth, he just wanted something- or someone- to make sure that he doesn't literally die in case something goes wrong, and someone to smooth over the process of calling upon thunder. This time around, however, he would stabilize it for his own purpose and seek to make sure that it would remain stable in its workings around the Shenlong. Perhaps, this would be the last step to the mastery of this technique too.

"I don't need you to channel fire. Technically, lightning alone should be alone to draw upon thunder - it would serve as something to attract the lightning, something to draw it out from the sky, but the winds make it easier to gather the storms."

Even now, she could tell that the skies above them were getting darker, but in the most unusual way. It was the dark skies with quiet rumble to them, but with several sunrays shining through. Likely, that's because there was a mix of holy magic to it, so the atmosphere had the soothing feeling about it... but aside of that? There was no other influence, merely the golden aesthetic of what's known as holy lightning.

"Draw out the winds to the sky. I'll bring the lightning to myself. My goal is to actually sustain it via tapping to my own reserves and holy magic - it should go much smoother than the last time."

A single hand extends to the sky, and he forms receptive two fingers that point upward; it's like a lightning rod, something that was meant to draw the attention of thunder above. The visualization of the gem certainly helps, and even now Keitaro's own magic extends to the atmosphere, intending to bring about true lightning on himself.

"Do it now. Don't hold back either, I need the mightiest lightning out there."

They weren't children already. Although they were still young, Keitaro knew that limits had to bepushed - nothing less than that would work.
(Keitaro)

The teenager standing there would absolutely make sure the poor Drakanite wouldn't die out here. It would've been a heartbreaking scene if he actually managed to do something foolish enough to cause it, too. So, watching intently, she would give a small huff of smoke from her nose. "I know, I know. No fire," she stated plainly as she nods her head.

A flicker of her glance comes up as she watches the skies beginning to get darker, and a surprised look begins to cross along her countenance. It was impressive that one little gem could've had so much influence all the while, was it not?

With his statement, one of her arms comes upwards and she allows the draw to come, and like he asked?

She doesn't hold back.

A large, spinning vortex comes to play, all around, threatening anything that might not have been secured to the ground. She would draw and draw hard upon the likes of what was around them, a breath drawn inwards as she pulled, aiming to coax out the lightning with the vortex honed and mastered within her hand. Pure wind, no fire attributed to it like she normally harbored.

Should one ask, they will receive, and Thalia was no pushover anymore when it came to her wind magic, so the whole area around them felt the pull, a focused look on her features as she draws, tugging and pulling intently.
(Thalia Elisheva)

The skies answered.

With so much wind and lightning going up, and attuning to the Gem of Storms, there's no doubt that it would be receptive to all of the effort made by the teenagers on the fields; the skies grow considerably darker still, and despite the golden aesthetic of holy lightning that stretches to the skies, first drips of light rain come about, wetting the soil they stand upon.

A rumble.

It's no doubt that the thunder is near. The Shenlong only reaches out to energize the skies with his own lightning, striking out a bolt that stretches to the skies; it's made from the tap into his own ancestry as Shenlong, much more potent than a human could achieve, but it all made more sense as to why he would wish for such endeavours in the first place. And still...

"Here it comes..."

Before he could say anything else, the thunder itself strikes Keitaro right where he is; he made himselfthe lightning rod, and this is the result. Although he wavers for a moment, his skin is covered quickly in countless scales, displaying his ancestry as a Drakanite - it's not only power, but also toughness that he had in him. And he wasn't a child anymore either...

So when it strikes? He stands.

Bewildered, quite shocked- with no pun intended- and with lightning surrounding him entirely, he endured. The pain was meant to fade away, for he mixed this endurance with his own holy magic, allowing him to bear with pain. As result of constant endurance, his own body became more durable to potential blows - truly impressive feat.

"Wait, what-"

The surprised gaze turned to Thalia. Despite him being in control, despite holding onto that lightning just as they speak, he gazed upon Thalia with the widest eyes she's seen from him before. It's almost like he couldn't believe it.

"Did I make it, or am I just seeing things?"
(Keitaro)

The skies certainly did answer the call made to them. As the ran began to fall, the various drops that would come down against her skin would give an audible sizzling sound outwards as she continued to focus upon the likes of the wind that had been placed beneath of her control. In and out, she would try to control her magic and keep that needed even flow in this situation above all else.

He pulls upon that lightning now, and there is a loud cracking sound that echoes throughout the area as he practically catches a hold of the lightning with his body. Keeping a bit of distance now, she would shudder a bit as the lightning rode along his skin, and her gaze remained wide eyed in shock as she witnessed such a feat completed.

The wind still hazed, but they weren't demanding of the storm here and now-- she didn't want to accidentally make him accept more into his body and cause issue when he...

Seemed to have succeeded.

An impressed look to her features comes as she looks toward the sky, then back toward him.

"You... you definitely did it!"

She couldn't imagine honing such a wild force. Lightning... Pure lightning, at that. "How does it feel?"
(Thalia Elisheva)

It was still fairly unusual, and likely if it wasn't for holy magic helping him sustain himself, it would go poorly; but for this long, he managed to sustain himself, and as far as things go, he seems to be handling it fine. Would it be possible that he actually made a great leap in this at last?

This might as well be his step to becoming the best lightning magi on Agartha, just as he dreamed.

"It feels... odd. It feels like thousand currents of energy rushing through me. I can barely contain myself to just stand here, I..." He pauses.

"I want to run, jump, climb. Anything, just to not stand still."

And he does just that. With so much energy acquired from the currents of lightning, his legs unintentionally move about, like he runs in a single spot- that only lasts a few seconds, soon calming down. Yet, something tells him that he should avoid prolonged usage for now...

"I... I should probably let it go!"

Even his voice sounded uplifted and full of energy. His hand stretches to the sky, and in a single motion, a large bolt of lightning is fired to the skies; it blacks out the light around them for a moment, making an apparently bright area immediately dark due to excess of brightness. A natural effect that lightning has from up close.

Then... he just falls on his behind, steaming, with occasional spark coursing around his skin.

"Ough…"

"Now it doesn't feel that good anymore... maybe I should've kept it." He produces a tiny laugh, trying to keep it light-hearted. At least he wasn't severely hurt, and this is just an onset of exhaustion after experiencing excess of energy. Still, he looks up at Thalia.

"Thanks a lot. Your help is appreciated."
(Keitaro)