Seventh Trial - Self-Improvement

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Who: Alric and whoever, depending on the prompt!
What: Various bits of training and so on!
Where: Various places around campus
When: All week (8/9-8/16)
Warning(s): Not really expected!



Okay not entirely knightly, but sort of.

Powers Development (Shulk): Alric had spoken to Shulk a little while ago about meeting up to study how exactly his power worked, the better to develop new ways he could use it. He made a point to go to that meeting relatively early in the day, when he was well-rested, as had been asked of him.

Team Training (Tiamaris and Hijikata): Alric still had ambitions of getting his team (such as it was at the moment) geared up for really doing some good. A bit part of that was obviously going to be intensive training with Tiamaris. Alric had his own control issues, but Tiamaris was downright volatile, and was going to need serious work to get to a point where he could function reliably without risking a meltdown over someone saying the wrong thing. Hijikata's guidance would surely be invaluable, in making that happen, as well.

Power Training (OTA): Alric had taken to practicing with his powers out by the shoreline, where there was minimal damage he could do to himself, to others, or to property, if he slipped. It gave him an opportunity to safely push the limits of his control in every possible way, such as plasma-sculpting sand into glass figures to practice fine detail, or handling multiple plasma constructs simultaneously, or working on getting more acrobatics out of his plasma jets (which often ended with a splash).

Physical Conditioning (OTA): As much as it was important to keep his control of his powers well-tuned, physical fitness was important, particularly for a knight. Moreover, exercise had proven to be one of those things Alric found especially useful for maintaining that discipline he'd worked so hard on, and he regularly invested a solid chunk of time in aerobics as well as strength training in the school gym.

Choose Your Own Adventure (OTA): Alric has lots of other things to keep up on, including guitar and fencing and a long list of more academic areas of study in which his family expects him to keep up. Feel free to bump into him doing any of those in an appropriate space, or taking a break somewhere like a bay window or in the branches of a tree!

Comments

[reallyfeelingit]

As always, Shulk had a smile to greet his guest. Sure, it was his lab, but he was always busy. And visitors, especially ones that had appointments, had priority. Putting away the tools he had in hand, he faced Alric.

"Hullo."

[knighterrantofthedragon]

"Ah, Mr. Franklyn. This is, I hope, a good time?"

He smiled politely, glancing briefly toward those tools.

"I'm not interrupting?"

[reallyfeelingit]

"Of course not. I just try to remain busy as often as I can."

To the detriment to his own sleep times, of course. He wouldn't be a scientist if that weren't the case.

"Come in and I'll get everything set up."

[knighterrantofthedragon]

"Mm, thank you."

Already stepped inside, glancing around at the lab, patiently, but curiously, as well.

"If I can lend a hand with anything, of course..."

[reallyfeelingit]

"No, it's fine, really. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

Said as he fumbled through a pile of things before pulling out an expensive looking camera. Mostly to get it set up on a stand and locked tight.

"I invested a bit in thermal and infrared cameras recently so I decided to get something that could record at high speeds too. Mostly to see how exactly your powers are, uh....'emitted'."

[knighterrantofthedragon]

"I should hardly say that you're troubling me, all things considered, Mr. Franklyn."

He keeps his hands off, though, and makes no more fuss about it; he'd understand perfectly if the reason is just as much "also I don't want you to break the expensive equipment." He raises an eyebrow pensively at that clarification, though.

"Ahh, I see... if I may, I don't suppose you have ultraviolet imaging, as well, by any chance?"

[reallyfeelingit]

"R-Right!" He can be absent minded at times, despite that whole level of super intelligence that he has. He opens up a nearby closet and pulls out another camera, setting it up right beside the original one.

"There. I think that covers everything. The goal today is to see if you produce the plasma yourself or heat up the air around you to force a phase transition at an incredibly quick pace. The difference between the two is vast, so you know."

[tiamaris]

Asked to meet Alric, Tiamaris met him. In borrowed pants and yet another borrowed shirt. He had no clue how he was ever going to replace these things, and he hated that he kept taking, kept being the drain his father always said he was. A waste that should never have been born, that did nothing but kill and take from people.

He tried not to think about that, as he met his friend, his only friend, where requested, his eyes a dull pale orange. He still.... That last time... he should have handled that better. Is that why Alric wanted to meet him? To make sure he understood how poorly he had acted?

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric smiled slightly, when he spotted Tiamaris.

"Ah... Tiamaris."

A brief pause, and he looked a touch more concerned.

"Is everything quite all right..?"

[tiamaris]

"I'm sorry about last time," he said, addressing the ground, more than his friend. "And that I ripped the shirt you loaned me."

More than ripped, really.

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric smirked slightly at that.

"...I noticed. And it's quite all right. But I believe it's something we ought to work on."

He pauses a tick.

"I'd say we ought to get you some new clothes of your own, as well--so you needn't feel as though you've wronged someone else, whenever something unfortunate happens to your wardrobe. I assure you, I've been through more than a few shirts, myself."

[tiamaris]

He looked down at the grass, eyes a dark orange with hints of red. "It's not like I could get a job," he mumbled. "Or even go shopping if I did have money. I'm too dangerous to be around people who don't know to protect themselves from me."

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric shook his head lightly.

"...I believe you ought to have an... allowance, or stipend, for your personal expenses. I can help you learn how to use it, if necessary. For the present, it is possible to purchase clothing online, to have it shipped here--but if we are to do good work, much of your training will have to focus on control."

His tone grew just a little more stern--still friendly, positive, and reassuring, but with a more serious quality to it.

"If you are to face dangerous situations with poise, I would propose that--once your training has progressed sufficiently--we should make outings something of a regular exercise. I believe your control, while I know it has been difficult, has also always been better than it feels to you. One of the most important tools you must learn is to trust yourself. Even if it takes you a while to master that one."

Did someone say branches of a Tree?

[rhiaofdruma]

Rhia was hanging out in a tree, closer to the building that usual, watching people, trying to decide who she should talk to next. She was taking his advice, and trying to learn more so she could speak for the trees. So she could help. And then... she could go home.

When the trees told her that someone was climbing about, she made her way over, and when she saw who it was...

She dropped down, more or less, from a branch a ways above him. Her knees remained hooked on the branch as she swung down, facing him from the wrong direction.

"Hi!" she said, giggling, vines from her shirt draping over her face, hair and arms reaching towards the distant ground.

[knighterrantofthedragon]

One of the places Alric often went to relax--and fortunately, there was no shortage, around the grounds of the institute. He was occasionally approached while doing so, although not usually in quite that manner. He raised his eyebrows, just slightly startled at the sudden appearance, but smiled calmly, with at least a little amusement.

"..ah.. Miss Rhia. A pleasure, as always. You've been well, I hope?"

[rhiaofdruma]

"I am trying to learn more about human people. Like you said to."

[knighterrantofthedragon]

"Indeed..? And how had that been going, so far?"

[rhiaofdruma]

She shrugged. "How do I tell?"

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric blinked and chuckled lightly at that, pausing a moment, as though he to show he didn't have a simple, ready answer, himself.

"Ah... well, it's often difficult to quantify, by itself, simply because there are so many ways to gauge progress in a field as broad as 'getting to know people.' Eventually, one develops an intuition for such things. However. Perhaps the number of people you've spoken to recently is a good place to begin; or how well you feel you know them."

Power Training

[jolie_aile]

It wasn't too hard to find Alric; the lakeside was a usual spot for practicing powers, and his were rather visible, though not Marisa-levels of flashy. But then again, no one was really Marisa-flashy except Marisa.

Flandre walked down there slowly, stopping while she was still out of the way of any errant plasma but still within easy speaking distance.

"Having fun there?"

...hopefully she didn't interrupt him while he was flying. She actually didn't want to dunk Alric into the water.

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Balancing on columns of crackling, searingly bright violet plasma above a cloud of water vapor like a rocket frozen at takeoff was plenty flashy enough for him, so that was quite all right. He glanced toward her, raising an eyebrow, and smiled to himself. Of course, there was only so close she could get while he was over water, but she could surely get close enough to be heard, at least. He seemed to have focus enough not to throw himself in the lake just from that, however.

"Ah... somewhat, actually, yes. Just a moment..!"

Alric tilted slightly in the air, redirecting the plasma jets--and rather suddenly, he lurched toward the shore several feet away from Flandre, followed but another flare of plasma slowing him to a relatively soft, controlled landing, although it certainly leaves a couple of visible sear-marks on the dirt at the shoreline.

"Miss Scarlet, wasn't it? You've been well, I hope."

[jolie_aile]

Should she clap? She sort of felt like she should--but what if it came across as sarcastic? She was debating in her head long enough that Alric had already landed. Her wings flicked out to either side instead, a sort of wave hello. She didn't flinch back too much from the sand and dirt flying up, though she did glance briefly at the scorch marks.

"Yes, I have." For the most part. "There was something I wanted to speak to you about, unless now isn't a good time?"

Flandre was still a bit...frazzled--and she'd never really been the best at decision making anyway.

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric brushed his hands together, smiling to himself casually. He seemed pretty unfazed by the burn marks, and placed his landing well enough to keep her clear of any debris thrown about. There were a number of scorch marks here and there in the sand, almost reminiscent of shallow lightning strikes, where the sand was seared and melted.

"It's quite all right, Miss Scarlet, I assure you. With what I might help you?"

[jolie_aile]

"Ah, well-," she twitched her wings again, smile fading a little.

"Reimu--our leader, has left. We're not sure when he'll be back, and...well, neither of us really have a head for leadership. At least not yet. And with...things as they are-" Flandre gestures a bit, a flick of her hand, "-I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to lead us, in the meantime."

Her shoulders slump just a little; apparently that took a very long breath to say. She didn't trust herself if she paused.

[knighterrantofthedragon]

Alric raised his eyebrows slightly at the mention of Reimu, obviously a bit surprised at the request, although he took it more or less in stride. It did make a kind of sense; after all, his team was on the small side, as well, and they'd at least had some experience with him in a leadership role, even if it was from the perspective of the opposition. He nodded and smiled a little more.

"Mm, I understand... a number of teams have experienced upheavals. It would be an honor, of course, Miss Scarlet, to welcome you both to the Guardian Dragons. Although I must warn you, we... have quite a bit of training to do before undertaking missions. I'm sure you must be well aware that some powers put special demands on their bearer's discipline."