Secrets Of OP Basics Revealed! Well, Sorta {Atten Arcon}

[TaiDashan]

Shadar stepped silently through the shadows on his way through the halls. The dim corridors called to mind the dregs of the taint. He had considered the filth the past weeks, and wondered at the genius of the Great Lord of the Dark. Tainting the male half of the Source was brilliance. Sadian was a brutal, destructive force. To destroy those who dared wield it against him was indeed a brilliant plan. The fact that the weaker half of the Source, the female half,  was left untainted was of no consequence. He did not know much in the way of history, but for the Great Lord to leave it safe for mortals showed his unconcern of it being used against him. Arcon had told him that he would eventually receive the Great Lord's protection when he had proved himself worthy. Simply thinking of touching Saidin, whole and clean made him shiver in delight.

 

Channeling on his own was not encouraged. As a matter of fact, he had seen one young one stripped of clothing, held upside down against the rough stone of the courtyard and beaten with the Power. The rest were told that this was a small taste of what Saidin could do if the wielder where not guided properly. The seductive call of that burning, frozen life was almost worth the risk. Almost.

 

He came to himself, gliding silently down the hallways had become second nature to him now, and pondered what he would learn today. He had taken to wearing a dark hooded robe of brushed velvet. He had purchased two such robes from a darkfriend peddler who had been gated in last week. The one he currently wore he had practiced his arts of intimidation on the peddler and threatened the man until he added the third for the price previously agreed upon. Stepping into the Courtyard he walked silently up to Arcon. The man had effectively became his instructor and when he said come, Shadar did not hesitate.

[Kura]

Arcon Dadread sat, idly waiting for his student to arrive. Shadar had accepted every challange that Arcon had thrown at him, with the exception to those that caused him to severe pain, but over the months that the man had been here, Arcon had learned to pull his strings. A slight turn at the end of his lips revealed his inner glee at that thought. He had a merciless killer under him, the perfect tool to be used as he saw fit. To top it off, he even liked the man, though he had no qualms about which of those brought that fox grin to his lips.

 

"Evening my friend. It is about time we kick your training up a notch." Arcon reached to a large canvas beside him, and ripped it away. Under was an odd assortments of fruits and lathes, though much thicker than those used for weapons training. He reached for one of these bundles, "Most do not know this, but if you soak lathes in water for three days, they become almost the exact same strength as a human man's neck." Leisurly, he tossed it in the air and seized the source. Deftly he wove six long air razors with the sharpest edge he could muster and laid them in a grid pattern. Setting them to spin, he attacked the bundle, slicing it to bits. With a gust of air, he blew the remains over to his student.

 

"There are many, many ways to kill with Saidin. Especially those who can not channel themselves. I will be furthering your education on these methods today, using nearly all of the elements. It is time you became what you were born to be Shadar, a powerful warrior, and an assassin in the Great Lord's name." Arcon's grin only widened, transforming it from a fox grin to a sadistic smile. His almost skeletal features giving him a look of the grave...

[TaiDashan]

As Shadar approached Arcon straightened from his casual leaning position and spoke.

 

"Evening my friend. It is about time we kick your training up a notch." Shadar barely suppressed a twitch of his lips. He had come to enjoy being pushed. He was learning faster than with any single other subject he had ever studied and it was thanks to Arcon.

 

"Most do not know this, but if you soak lathes in water for three days, they become almost the exact same strength as a human man's neck." Watching as the bundle was tossed, shredded and blown his way, Shadar's eyes glittered with excitement. He watched the way it was woven and was sure he could duplicate it if not as deftly.

 

There are many, many ways to kill with Saidin. Especially those who can not channel themselves. I will be furthering your education on these methods today, using nearly all of the elements. It is time you became what you were born to be Shadar, a powerful warrior, and an assassin in the Great Lord's name." Shadar found himself trembling slightly and breathing in quick, quiet breaths as he bowed submissively. In a more expressive man he would be weeping with joy. To be an assassin! To serve the Great Lord in such a capacity! He was sure that the Great Lord was not the only person Arcon wanted him to serve, but he was more than alright with that option. Arcon would provide for him the ability to become more powerful than most people ever dreamed of being. For that he would kill for the man on simply a wave of his hand. He was fairly certain that Arcon knew this, but he was not one to make the man sure. There was no need to give the man complete power. He had learned that from Arcon himself. Recovering from the praise he raised his head and twitched what counted for a grin at Arcon.

 

"As you wish Arcon, I live to serve." He mumbled humbly.

[Kura]

Arcon nodded, coming to accept the subservance of Shad, and enjoying every minute of it. Still, he could not quite bring himself to believe that the man was completely dominated by the Cairheinin, and he knew he still had to tread carefully, or else shatter the work that he had done so far in attaching the man to himself.

 

"Fire and air are potent when combined. I have shown you a basic fireball before, and it is a lethal weapon to be sure, but it has limits. It simple burns, when it can be made to do more. Namely, explode and utterly destroy an opponent, or as the need fits, opponents." He didn't bother telling the other man to watch; Shad knew the pattern all to well by now. Rant, demonstration, you try. It was simple and effective, and Arcon saw no point in deviating from a successful formula.

 

As such, Arcon whipped several large melons high into the air. Weaving air and fire generously, a normal fireball took shape. Before contact though, Arcon pulled on the threads of air, causing them to expand rapidly. This had the effect of forming a concussion wave, spreading out fire and a literally solid wave of air to smash the melons in an explosion. He kept the effect small, controlled, and again gusted the bits of leftover melon away, so they didn't fall and stain his silks.

 

That done, he pointed to three melons close together, and nodded, letting his student take over.

[TaiDashan]

Shadar waited expectantly for his first lesson. Over the weeks he had been here Arcon had continued to teach him something new. Today was no different.

 

"Fire and air are potent when combined. I have shown you a basic fireball before, and it is a lethal weapon to be sure, but it has limits. It simply burns, when it can be made to do more. Namely, explode and utterly destroy an opponent, or as the need fits, opponents." Arcon explained. He had always patiently explained what he was doing and for this Shadar was grateful.

 

Shadar watched closely as Arcon wove. Air and Fire began in the usual way, but then the Air pushed outward, the Fire ballooning outward so quickly that it resulted in an explosion. Shadar nodded to himself. That would be most effective, especially on a larger scale. Stepping aside, Arcon motioned that it was Shadar's turn. Shadar studied the melons Arcon had pointed to and thought. The expansion of Air did not look so difficult, however doing so without proper control could be messy. He furrowed his brow a hairs breath and planned it out. Weaving Fire and Air as shown he duplicated the weave almost perfectly the second time. Looking at the third melon Shadar twitched in a grin. Weaving Air he tossed it high above their heads. Thinning his flow to a minute level he wove Air into the melon, piercing it to the center. Quickly as it fell he wove Fire to wrap around the filament of Air. Without stopping to look at Arcon he sent a surge of both into the center pushing outward. The melon flew apart harder than the first two and most went to ash before he wove a shield of air to stop the remainder. He knew he had not done what Arcon told him, but his idea had worked. Blank faced he turned and looked at Arcon. How would he react?

[Kura]

Arcon nodded, impressed with how fast Shad had picked up on the weave. Thinking he himself would have done so just as quickly, had he a teacher to show him how to do it right. "Good Shadar, you mastered one of my own custom weaves, and even managed to modify it slightly. Even a well trained army of lightfools would stop and think about attacking you after that demonstration. Not to mention the absolute terror that will be unleashed when they realize a male channeler is in their midst." A chuckle escaped his lips, a hollow sound. "Following that line of thought, let us use one of the elements I truly have no talent for, Earth, combined with fire."

 

Arcon selected another melon, admittedly because he loved to watch them explode. He set it on the ground between the two future dreadlords. "This weave is a bit simpler, and doesn't require quite so much finesse as the explosive ball does. However, it also has the advantage of being faster, not requiring a secondary step to the channeling." With that, he snapped earth and fire into the ground, causing a burst of rock and flames. Arcon applied much more fire than earth, turning most of those rocks into slag and the melon to ash. "Riven earth, the extra fire being my addition to it."

[TaiDashan]

OOC: Sorry for the disappearance last night, internet went down and decided to be finicky :-\

 

IC: Arcon nodded and a muscle loosened in his back that he had not been aware was tense.

 

"Good Shadar, you mastered one of my own custom weaves, and even managed to modify it slightly. Even a well trained army of light-fools would stop and think about attacking you after that demonstration. Not to mention the absolute terror that will be unleashed when they realize a male channeler is in their midst." A chuckle escaped his lips, a hollow sound. "Following that line of thought, let us use one of the elements I truly have no talent for, Earth, combined with fire."

 

Shadar thought on that comment, had not talent in Earth and Fire? As always he tucked that bit of information away and listened patiently as Arcon explained the next weave.

 

"This weave is a bit simpler, and doesn't require quite so much finesse as the explosive ball does. However, it also has the advantage of being faster, not requiring a secondary step to the channeling."

 

Watching him weave Earth and large amounts of Fire into the ground, Shadar's eyes widened slightly at the resulting explosion. Shadar liked fire and was pleased with Arcon's self professed modification to the weave. Shadar thought that he could see a way to alter it with Spirit and...no no no that was for another time. Right now Arcon was motioning for Shadar to try.

 

Shadar assumed the Void, what Arcon called the Ko'Di, seized Saidin,  and filled himself with it. He felt like his bones must shatter from the cold, like he must have the blazing sun pulsing along his veins. Life along with Death flooded through him as well, and once again he pondered briefly what it would be like sans the Taint of the Great Lord.

 

Earth, and mostly Fire, had come fairly easily for Shadar and he reveled in showing what little power he had. Mindful of control, he wove the elements out and down, plunging them into the earth. The ground shook and a section of stone erupted upward. A gout of flame errupted sending ash and molten rock surging upward for spans before plunging back to the glowing hole he had created. His lips actually curled slightly as he wove Earth again to smooth the stones of the courtyard, repairing the damage. This weave was fun.

[Kura]

Arcon kept his smile in check, long since having learned to read Shadar like an open book. “There, a couple weaves that are flashy and effective, I knew you’d like them. Still, being an assassin requires more than the art of killing, one with the one power even more so. It requires you to be able to kill silently, without trace. To that effect, I will show you perhaps the simplest use of water as a weapon, and this weave could almost certainly be modified to use earth or air as well.”

 

For this demonstration, he would need more than fruits. He would need something live to kill, and of course Arcon was prepared. Removing another cover, a set of five cages were exposed, each with a small rabbit inside. Arcon had bought them off the same peddler whom Shade had negotiated his robes off, using similar tactics of course. Opening the cage with a flick of air, Arcon levitated a truly distressed rabbit in front of himself. Then, it was a simple matter of wrapped the beasts head in threads of water. What Arcon tried to hide however, was his weakness in this element; it was even weaker than that of earth. Still, with concentration, he managed it, and the rabbit literally drowned.

 

“When you have advanced in your training, there is an advanced form of this weave that I will have taught to you. I may be a bit busy bending the world to my will by that point, rest assured that I will make sure you are well taken care of Shad.” He left out that he couldn’t perform the weave himself, it was unnecessary information.

 

[TaiDashan]

“There, a couple weaves that are flashy and effective, I knew you’d like them. Still, being an assassin requires more than the art of killing, one with the one power even more so. It requires you to be able to kill silently, without trace. To that effect, I will show you perhaps the simplest use of water as a weapon, and this weave could almost certainly be modified to use earth or air as well.”

 

At the word 'Assassin' Shadar almost grinned again. It seemed as though Arcon knew exactly how to excite him. Arcon stepped up to the next covered lump and twitched it away revealing cages of rabbits. They looked frightened, which made Shadar even more excited. He fed on the fear, relished in it. Shadar watched as Arcon opened a cage and floated a particularly frightened rabbit on a flow of air. As he watched Arcon weave the threads of Water that led to its demise, Shadar wondered at the simplicity of the weave. Most weaves during this lesson had been far more complex, using multiple flows and elements. Yet this one was simple. Once again, he tucked it aways and focused on the weaving. He could see, if he understood correctly how with a weave of spirit you might be able to weave this into a victim and waited for Arcon to finish before saying as much.

 

“When you have advanced in your training, there is an advanced form of this weave that I will have taught to you. I may be a bit busy bending the world to my will by that point, rest assured that I will make sure you are well taken care of Shad.”

 

Something at his words pulled at something but Shadar brushed it aside. Explaining what he had thought about and demonstrating in the air in front of him after a nod from Arcon, he sat and thought about it. Would it even work in that manner? He was not sure but Arcon would certainly explain.

[Kura]

Arcon chuckled to himself as his student spoke. "Yes, you are exactly right Shadar, however, that weave is a bit more difficult, and is beyond your abilities at the moment. As soon as you get another power leap however, who could say?" Arcon wondered for a moment, if Shadar knew that men advanced in leaps and bounds in the power, while women advanced slowly, evenly. He almost brought it up, but decided that the class was of more importance.

 

"For now, I have an incredibly useful ward, one that I'm sure you can find many, many purposes for. Though I warn you, it uses all five elements in it's weaving. It is also the first of several ward's I will be teaching you, ward's being weaves that trigger when someone crosses them." With that, Arcon wove low to the ground, using primarily spirit, fire, and air. Though as promised, the other two were there as well. He wove around one of the rabbit's cages, allowing a sadistic grin to spread over his skeletal features.

 

The ward laid, he used a flick of air to unlatch the cage on the rabbit. After a few moments, the rabbit dashed out, running as nature told it that was the best way to live. Unfortunately for the rabbit, it crossed Arcon's ward, and exploded in a burst of gore and white fur. "The power on this weave is quite adjustable, it can be used to protect documents, guard your rooms, or whatever. In a few days I'll teach you the less destructive alarm ward, but for now. have a ball."

[TaiDashan]

Shadar grinned inwardly at Arcon's affirmative response. The fact that it was beyond his abilities to do did not matter so long as he was coming up with the how before it was taught. The fact that his power would surge was evident in just the last weeks of channeling. Shadar secretly was excited for the next jump to see just how far he would go.

 

"For now, I have an incredibly useful ward, one that I'm sure you can find many, many purposes for. Though I warn you, it uses all five elements in it's weaving. It is also the first of several wards I will be teaching you, wards being weaves that trigger when someone crosses them."

 

Arcon wove a complex net of all five powers. Once again, Shadar noticed that Water and Earth were far less prominent in the weave. He remained silent as he committed the weaves to memory and watched the result.

 

"The power on this weave is quite adjustable, it can be used to protect documents, guard your rooms, or whatever. In a few days I'll teach you the less destructive alarm ward, but for now. have a ball."

 

Shadar's expression remained blank, slowly he looked at the proffered cage and considered the weave. It took skill to weave multiple elements. It was not a difficulty that Arcon had, Shadar however did. Sometimes he felt like he was threading a needle with his feet. Beginning to weave he concentrated, using more of Water and Earth than Arcon had. Thoughts slid along the Void and he fumbled a few times, watching the weave dissipate harmlessly before getting it right. After he watched with a small satisfaction the demise of the pathetic creature, he raised his eyes to Arcon.

 

"The weave works well with more Water and Earth than you used as shown by my efforts. Is there something additional you have to teach as to why you prefer to use less of said elements?" Shadar cocked an eyebrow and waited.

[Kura]

Arcon sighed, raising his arms up in a shrug. "Actually, there is. I have equal talent in fire, air, and spirit. However, my talents in earth and water are next to nothing. This weakness suits me however, as air and spirit are used for more subtle forms of killing, and fire can be added to form the devastating weaves that every dreadlord should know. Still, I hold a modicum more skill than most of my 'allies'," he said that word in a way that made it mean inferiors. "At least the male ones, not to mention my odd strengths provide and edge. They expect me to tear the earth asunder, when I choose to turn the air they breathe into my weapon."

 

In secret, Arcon hated admitting his weaknesses, and his inherent lack of strength in the power. Even so early in Shad's training, he could tell he would be the better channeler, and Arcon was hoping he could keep him from learning as such. Alas, the man was proving to be to observant for such maneuvers... which just meant that he'd have to change his tactics.