Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2016 10:29:41 GMT -5
[Thread PL: 312,792 base. 3,127,920 in Great Ape. Thread taking place on the Lookout, Mansion bonus applies!]
This particular day on the Lookout was proving to be a rather hectic one. While Atsuko was watching over Earth, she found the carnage of what must have been a Bandit Attack. Thanks to her quick action, she was able to help far more out of that situation... But even so, lives were still lost. Even more could be lost if she didn't do something to help them right now. She only practiced the most rudimentary healing with Avalon, so it was time to improve on her abilities. In this moment, she couldn't afford failure or to hesitate. With that in mind...
Her first targets were the children. "It's going to be alright...", the Knight states as she begins to channel her energy. This time it wasn't into any attack, but instead calling upon her own energy alongside Avalon's in order to heal grievous wounds. Her basic knowledge on how to go through this process helped, but she would need a lot more than it's very light methods of healing in order to save these lives. A common principle when empowering an attack was to channel more energy into it; so that's the principle that Atsuko used.
By pouring more of herself into this process, perhaps that would strengthen the healing effect. It seemed to hold true as their wounds began to vanish before her very eyes. But she had to be certain she could perform this as many times as needed; and there were plenty of 'practice targets' around her... So for this particular level of healing, she used it on each of the children. In terms of helping them, it was very fast. But the technique itself was still slow to activate. At least it was at first, but as she practiced it more...
She found that it felt more natural, that she could begin to activate it on a whim, almost negating the need entirely for prayer. This was going to help her refine it even more. Because many of the adults were far worse off... The Saiyan slowly shakes her head, she has to keep her focus right now. The Sacred Sword had formed into her 'Human' shape, and began to help with tending to the wounded. "It's good that you found them when you did, Atsuko...", the woman in red states. Atsuko understood where she was coming from, but even so... There was a feeling she couldn't shake off.
"It would have been better to find them before the attack started.", the Saiyan replies. The room they were working inside of then falls quiet, the Knight focusing on her tasks and saving as many of the lives as she could. Thanks to her dedicated efforts, none of the children had died. She had also effectively mastered the second level of Avalon's healing property. That meant it was time to turn her attention to the other wounded, and save their lives too... But for them, she would need to call upon an even greater power. The first two levels certainly not being enough.
[Mastering Avalon [ST-2]]
It was with that in mind that the Albino Saiyan then began to channel an even greater amount of energy into her prayer. Even though this was still fast by many standards, the seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours for the injured. And the longer they had to wait, the closer they came to death itself. Atsuko adamantly refused to let anyone else die, but in order to accomplish such a vow, she had to dedicate herself entirely to this; but damn, it wasn't easy. The drain was starting to get to her.
This was also the most difficult level of healing to perform. Even with all of the practice she had on the first two levels, she found that it took her longer to actually unleash it's effects on her target. Even so, she wasn't going to give up with just so little... She managed to heal at least one of the adults, but now she had to push herself to keep going. There were still more injured to tend to, even though constantly pressuring her energy like this wasn't very wise, she didn't have much choice in the matter.
Still, the fact that Atsuko managed to find this village just after it had been attacked was rather lucky, she just found herself lamenting not being able to act even sooner than this... The Knight couldn't even look on the bright side of things, practicing these techniques in this fashion wasn't something that anyone wanted to do. But they would live, and she would be able to save others much easier; it may even be the difference between a victory and a loss in battle one day. Being able to cheat death was very useful, as the Saiyan had learned.
Even so, she couldn't let herself be distracted by such musings, not when people needed her in such a desperate hour. This final level of Avalon was slowly becoming more natural as well, now finding herself able to call upon it to a faster degree, and eventually not even needing the full prayer in order to call upon it's power. Instead she could silently will it to work on her targets, which was going to be very useful indeed... Although the prayer in itself was still useful, it functioned as a focus of sorts. Allowing her to channel it just a bit faster.
Though at this rate, not by much. The time in which she could say the prayer and the time when she could complete it without saying anything were getting to be rather neck and neck... In any case, that covered every single person that she managed to pull out from the carnage those Bandits had wrought upon the peaceful village. Now the Saiyan had to wonder what to do with them... Maybe she would have to help them rebuild everything they had lost; it wouldn't be too difficult for her to do that. But in any case, they needed to rest.
[Mastering Avalon] [ST-3]]
Their injuries were healed, but they were still fatigued and in shock from what had happened. For now, they could stay on the Timeless Lookout. With a deep breath, the Albino Saiyan made her way outside... Already the sun was starting to set, she didn't even realize how much time had passed just in her tending to everyone that was injured. Excalibur walks up behind her. "You did good in there, Atsuko.... Now, come on. We need to do some more training.", the woman in red stated. Atsuko gave a nod in response, it was just about time to train again.
There was so much potential she still wasn't making use of. And on that note... It began to rain. Which prompted the Sacred Sword to smirk. "Perfect. We're going to work on your speed now! I want you to avoid every drop for as long as the rain lasts!", the Sacred Sword stated. It sounded like an insane demand to anyone reasonable, surely. But the Knight gave a nod and began to focus her energy once more... Her body was getting used to all the strain, so more intense training methods were needed in order to get any result.
Soon enough the rain truly began to fall, and the Saiyan would begin to move between each drop! Maintaining her balance and constant awareness of everything around her was incredibly difficult; but her body was well honed, she just needed to keep at it! This would be training that could save her life one day... In order to ensure the maximum effectiveness out of it, she didn't go into Super Saiyan, neither the first or second form. They increased her power, definitely. But that meant an even greater strain had to be placed on her.
Super Saiyan Two would be mastered in time. For now she had to set it aside and focus on the task at hand! Stepping between each raindrop, bending out of the way as each one passes her. It truly was becoming like an art form, a true dance of skill. And it would definitely have it's uses in battle. As one would expect, this began to feel more natural to her. She found herself moving even faster than she ever had before. But this wasn't the peak of her abilities on that front, Atsuko knew that very well! There was still more for her to dig into...
But she had to be sure this step was mastered first. One couldn't simply skip ahead just because they 'felt' like they could. The Knight's focus was unwavering even in the face of such a monumental task. It slowly became rather clear that she could keep this up for as long as the rain lasted, at least at this current rate of downpour; but it wasn't just going to be a gentle rain this time around. It would slowly begin to pick up in speed and intensity, the Albino Saiyan was well aware of it when it happened...
[Mastering Graceful Dance [ST-2]]
So she had to call upon an even greater amount of energy and focus. As long as she didn't let anything distract her, she could do this! Even in the face of a great storm such as this, no raindrop would be allowed to touch her! By this point Atsuko was having to move with such a speed that she literally became naught but a blur, nearly impossible to track! It was the only way she could actually avoid the raindrops at this rate. Even with as powerful as her body had become, this was starting to wear her out a bit...
But the Knight pressed on. There was no other choice but to do exactly that, she wouldn't allow failure. Not when she had to protect her friends, her family. Hell, all of Earth! Her pride as a Saiyan began to burn through once more; which began to push her to ever greater heights. Even as the rain threatened to overtake her, she refused it and still evaded being touched even once. She had to push beyond her fatigue, beyond any other distraction. Right here and now, that was what she needed to keep her focus on.
This speed would help her whenever she fought Nasu and his band again. It would help her with any future threat! The Knight began to ride on the high that it gave her, moving so fast between every last little obstacle. There could have very well been other ways to train her speed, but this worked very well indeed. Soon even this stage began to feel quite natural to her, but that wasn't enough in her opinion. She needed to have it to the point where it was certainly mastered. This was a dance that needed to be perfect.
One to dance circles around her enemies, as well as their attacks. To claim that she was untouchable was too unrealistic a boast, of course. But she had very potentially come the closest to making it a reality. Even Jarvis wasn't able to move as fast as this, with that natural agility of his... At least, not from what she was able to recall in any case. But if they were to have a match now, would he be able to keep up with her? That was an interesting question to be asked, hopefully they didn't fight anytime soon, but...
He ended up changing a lot, to put it lightly. Finally, the rain began to die down. The Saiyan didn't need to move as fast in order to evade each raindrop anymore. Until finally... The rain had ended; not a drop landed on the Knight. Atsuko began to catch her breath, that was... Definitely more than a little tiring. "Don't tell me you're at your limit yet, we're not done yet!", the Sacred Sword would chime in. So what was next on the agenda? Healing was taken care of, as was speed... Perhaps it was Mana Burst, then?
[Mastering Perfected Dance [ST-3]]
"You and I are going to improve that Mana Burst of yours! With your newfound speed, it should be easy for you to control. The only way you're going to get any results is from a constant exercise, so let's hop right to it!", the Sacred Sword demanded. The Knight once more gives a nod in response, and now begins to draw her sword from it's sheath. Like so many times before, she begins to channel her energy. Mana Burst was unlike many other techniques, however. Instead of releasing a beam, or simply coating something with energy in order to increase it's striking power...
It instead built up an energy to be expelled in order to increase speed and momentum, which in turn enhanced striking power and made it more difficult for her opponents to avoid it. "You're going to run laps around the Lookout's platform with Mana Burst. Keep using it over and over again until you've mastered it to the same degree as your dance!", Excalibur states. The Saiyan seemed eager to get right into it, as soon as the Sacred Sword finished giving her instructions, Atsuko was off like a rocket! Maintaining a constant movement around the Lookout's platform.
The Knight didn't have any targets to attack, so instead she focused on improving her ability to call upon energy and then expel it through Mana Burst. She really was starting to feel the strain on her body again... Truth be told, Atsuko had missed it somewhat. There was nothing that really compared to the feeling of a great workout, because it meant that you would have so much more results to show for it. Ever since she hit around 300,000 Power Level, she wasn't able to feel strains like that as easily. And all of her training efforts...
Well, they weren't helping her as much, as one would have expected. She was starting to hit walls, but she couldn't stop even despite that! If she was running into walls, then she'd damn well climb over them and still maintain her progress! At the very least she wanted to master the Super Saiyan Two form as fast as possible. Nasu as a threat still loomed over her and Earth... In any case, all of this could be viewed as a stepping stone, making her more ready for the future battle that she was going to have with her brother.
There was simply no avoiding it; they were going to fight. Truly mastering every technique within her Martial Arts would perhaps see to it that she was ready to face him properly. Soon enough it became clear that Atsuko wasn't going to be able to improve this level of Mana Burst any further; it was as easy as it was to get to perform. So with that in mind, she needed to bring it to new heights... The Knight would have to keep up this constant level of training, too. If she really wanted to get strong enough to deal with all of her fears.
[Mastering Mana Burst [OT-2]]
The Saiyan begins to pour even more of her energy into Mana Burst. At this level it proved to be incredibly difficult to control, she had to keep her balance very carefully in order to be able to use it effectively; more than a few times she had threatened to go off the edge of the Lookout if not for the fact that she was able to turn just in the nick of time. Mana Burst proves to be very unwieldy in even the most capable hands... So in order to master it, she needed to know it's best uses.
The Knight was slowly starting to figure out just how far she would be launched when expelling her energy. As well as how to shift herself in the air and on her landing so as to change directions and keep up her laps around the Timeless Lookout's platform. It certainly wasn't the easiest thing to learn how to do, especially with all the fatigue she was certainly starting to feel now, but through her determination she was able to press on. All she had to do was envision what failure meant... Nasu getting exactly what he wanted.
Her friends dying. Earth being destroyed. Losing her own family... When her body wanted to give in, her pride and mind wouldn't allow it! She was going to perfect Mana Burst, and with it truly become the Master of her Martial Arts! The Sacred Sword was quietly watching all of her struggles. "Good... The harder she pushes herself even in what seems like a hopeless situation...", the woman in red states with a small smile on her face. "The more she'll realize that nothing is hopeless.", the Sacred Sword adds. Her words going unnoticed, however, as the Knight was too wrapped up in her training.
How much longer could she keep this up, even with her newfound strength? That was the real question. Whenever it cropped up in her head, the only response she could give was 'Until I win'. Her control over Mana Burst proved to be very refined now; but it wasn't quite mastered. Her balance was still a bit off, she needed it to be perfect when she wanted to use it in battle. Nothing short of perfect execution would be accepted in her standards! So she kept pushing herself again and again.
Finally, it was becoming clear that she had mastered every nuance of Mana Burst, it took a few more uses of it to bring her back around to the front of the Timeless Lookout, where she would finally land on her feet and stop. The Knight fell to her knees, taking ragged breaths. She still had her limitations, and pushing herself like this was going to make her hit them. Still, that seemed to have finished up everything involving her training now. As the Saiyan begins to look over to where Excalibur was standing, the Sacred Sword was simply gone.
[Mastering Mana Burst [OT-3]]
As the Albino Saiyan raises a brow, she suddenly feels a sharp pain course through her entire body; her tail had just been grabbed! "After all this time... Your tail is still a weakness, all of the strength that you have means nothing if this counter still remains. You need to overcome it, Atsuko! Power through the pain and break free from my hold!", the Sacred Sword demanded. Atsuko bares her teeth, trying to keep herself held up. But damn... The pain was crippling! On top of all of her fatigue, this really wasn't very easy to do. The Saiyan collapses against the white tiles.
She was still conscious however. "Gah... It's like all of my strength is gone... I can't even push myself up...!", the Albino Saiyan managed to struggle out. "It's the greatest weakness any Saiyan has. But that weakness can be trained away through sheer effort; just like how you were able to use that determination of yours to overcome every obstacle before!", the woman in red replies. It made perfect sense, but... Just how was Atsuko supposed to break out of this? Ignore the pain? Somehow cope with it? She didn't know how to do it.
But she had to at least try! The Knight slowly begins to move her arms. Every movement taking an incredible amount of effort on her part, but finally she managed to her arms moved to the right position in order to start pushing herself up. "Gh... I won't be beaten through this method...!", the Knight exclaims, finally on her knees as she then begins to call upon her energy. However, instead of empowering her body, she was sending her energy into her tail. Hoping to bolster it's defenses against those seeking to harm it. It wasn't a very fast process, as one could imagine.
Having her tail gripped like this and then trying to channel her energy... But it was the only thing that came to her mind. Slowly it becomes apparent that it's working; the pain begins to fade, and she can move without as much difficulty... But it wasn't enough yet, Atsuko needed to train her tail to the point where grabbing it would do her opponent no favors; overcoming the agonizing pain it gave her was just the first and longest step. The Saiyan begins to stand up, calling upon her energy even more to do exactly that!
"Very good! You're almost there!", Excalibur praises the Knight, who is finally able to overcome the weakness in her tail. Atsuko begins to take ragged breaths once more. "That... Hurt like hell... But now I don't have to worry about my tail being a weakness anymore... Whoever grabs it from now on is going to be quite surprised.", the Albino Saiyan muses with a smirk. "You've earned a break, Atsuko. Why don't you take a seat and admire the sky with me?", the Sacred Sword says in a calm tone of voice. "That sounds nice, Excalibur... I think I'll do that."
[Mastering Tail Mastery [ST-1]]
As the Saiyan looks up to the sky however, it has already turned night; and even more than that... The Full Moon was out. As soon as her eyes spotted it... Well, nothing happened at first. But then her expression began to droop slightly, as if she were incredibly tired, about to fall asleep on the spot... Her eyes glazing over soon after. What was it about the moon that was so beautiful tonight? It practically brought her into a trance... Then, her body begins to twitch and bulge. Surging with a great power as she bares her teeth once more.
Her eyes begin to turn into a fierce, pure red. Cracking and snapping sounds begin to fill the air as her form begins to change very rapidly; silver fur begins to grow out of her. Then, her body begins to increase in size. She had assumed the Great Ape form, just as Nasu had done once so long ago. Only she lacked the same control that he did. This was another weakness that Excalibur wanted to train out. The silver maned Great Ape lets out a mighty roar and begins to pound on it's chest. But it's soon interrupted by the woman in red.
"Atsuko. It's me. I know you can hear me in there; you need to take control of yourself!", Excalibur shouts to the silver maned Great Ape. There's a brief moment of clarity within the fierce red eyes, but it wasn't quite enough for Atsuko to take control just yet. Her primal instincts were fully bared for all the world to see, and she could very well be a raging beast nearly impossible to stop before extreme damage had been unleashed... But the Sacred Sword wasn't going to let it come to that. She was here for her.
"You can do this, Atsuko! It's just like controlling your anger. You know what failure means, too! You don't want Nasu to win, right?", the Sacred Sword states. The name 'Nasu' prompted an angered growl out of the Great Ape, but it slowly began to calm down even further. The Saiyan could do this, she could take control of this form as well... She had to. Finally, the Great Ape begins to let out slow gasps for air. "I...", the silver maned Great Ape manages between it's gasps. "I can do this...", it states; her voice was deepened.
Distinctly very animal-like as well, but it was definitely still Atsuko. Her feral eyes began to fill with the clarity that the Knight was known for. "I've conquered my Saiyan side... Thank you, Excalibur.", the silver maned Great Ape states. Then she begins to use Ki Suppression in order to revert back to her normal form; still a slow process to do so. But finally she's back to her normal stature, no fur covering her body... And no clothes or armor, either. The Saiyan collapes onto the white tiles soon after. It seemed that the nonstop training took it's toll on her...
[Mastering Great Ape Mastery [ST-2]]
Excalibur smiles knowingly and begins to take the unconscious Atsuko to her room so that she could sleep it all off. This was a very long and chaotic night for her. But it was finally over.
WC: 4,040
_________
Learning
Avalon [ST-2] > Avalon [ST-3],
Graceful Dance [ST-2] > Perfected Dance [ST-3],
Mana Burst [OT-2] > Mana Burst [OT-3],
Tail Mastery [ST-1] > Great Ape Mastery [ST-2]!
Also requesting PL!
This particular day on the Lookout was proving to be a rather hectic one. While Atsuko was watching over Earth, she found the carnage of what must have been a Bandit Attack. Thanks to her quick action, she was able to help far more out of that situation... But even so, lives were still lost. Even more could be lost if she didn't do something to help them right now. She only practiced the most rudimentary healing with Avalon, so it was time to improve on her abilities. In this moment, she couldn't afford failure or to hesitate. With that in mind...
Her first targets were the children. "It's going to be alright...", the Knight states as she begins to channel her energy. This time it wasn't into any attack, but instead calling upon her own energy alongside Avalon's in order to heal grievous wounds. Her basic knowledge on how to go through this process helped, but she would need a lot more than it's very light methods of healing in order to save these lives. A common principle when empowering an attack was to channel more energy into it; so that's the principle that Atsuko used.
By pouring more of herself into this process, perhaps that would strengthen the healing effect. It seemed to hold true as their wounds began to vanish before her very eyes. But she had to be certain she could perform this as many times as needed; and there were plenty of 'practice targets' around her... So for this particular level of healing, she used it on each of the children. In terms of helping them, it was very fast. But the technique itself was still slow to activate. At least it was at first, but as she practiced it more...
She found that it felt more natural, that she could begin to activate it on a whim, almost negating the need entirely for prayer. This was going to help her refine it even more. Because many of the adults were far worse off... The Saiyan slowly shakes her head, she has to keep her focus right now. The Sacred Sword had formed into her 'Human' shape, and began to help with tending to the wounded. "It's good that you found them when you did, Atsuko...", the woman in red states. Atsuko understood where she was coming from, but even so... There was a feeling she couldn't shake off.
"It would have been better to find them before the attack started.", the Saiyan replies. The room they were working inside of then falls quiet, the Knight focusing on her tasks and saving as many of the lives as she could. Thanks to her dedicated efforts, none of the children had died. She had also effectively mastered the second level of Avalon's healing property. That meant it was time to turn her attention to the other wounded, and save their lives too... But for them, she would need to call upon an even greater power. The first two levels certainly not being enough.
[Mastering Avalon [ST-2]]
It was with that in mind that the Albino Saiyan then began to channel an even greater amount of energy into her prayer. Even though this was still fast by many standards, the seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours for the injured. And the longer they had to wait, the closer they came to death itself. Atsuko adamantly refused to let anyone else die, but in order to accomplish such a vow, she had to dedicate herself entirely to this; but damn, it wasn't easy. The drain was starting to get to her.
This was also the most difficult level of healing to perform. Even with all of the practice she had on the first two levels, she found that it took her longer to actually unleash it's effects on her target. Even so, she wasn't going to give up with just so little... She managed to heal at least one of the adults, but now she had to push herself to keep going. There were still more injured to tend to, even though constantly pressuring her energy like this wasn't very wise, she didn't have much choice in the matter.
Still, the fact that Atsuko managed to find this village just after it had been attacked was rather lucky, she just found herself lamenting not being able to act even sooner than this... The Knight couldn't even look on the bright side of things, practicing these techniques in this fashion wasn't something that anyone wanted to do. But they would live, and she would be able to save others much easier; it may even be the difference between a victory and a loss in battle one day. Being able to cheat death was very useful, as the Saiyan had learned.
Even so, she couldn't let herself be distracted by such musings, not when people needed her in such a desperate hour. This final level of Avalon was slowly becoming more natural as well, now finding herself able to call upon it to a faster degree, and eventually not even needing the full prayer in order to call upon it's power. Instead she could silently will it to work on her targets, which was going to be very useful indeed... Although the prayer in itself was still useful, it functioned as a focus of sorts. Allowing her to channel it just a bit faster.
Though at this rate, not by much. The time in which she could say the prayer and the time when she could complete it without saying anything were getting to be rather neck and neck... In any case, that covered every single person that she managed to pull out from the carnage those Bandits had wrought upon the peaceful village. Now the Saiyan had to wonder what to do with them... Maybe she would have to help them rebuild everything they had lost; it wouldn't be too difficult for her to do that. But in any case, they needed to rest.
[Mastering Avalon] [ST-3]]
Their injuries were healed, but they were still fatigued and in shock from what had happened. For now, they could stay on the Timeless Lookout. With a deep breath, the Albino Saiyan made her way outside... Already the sun was starting to set, she didn't even realize how much time had passed just in her tending to everyone that was injured. Excalibur walks up behind her. "You did good in there, Atsuko.... Now, come on. We need to do some more training.", the woman in red stated. Atsuko gave a nod in response, it was just about time to train again.
There was so much potential she still wasn't making use of. And on that note... It began to rain. Which prompted the Sacred Sword to smirk. "Perfect. We're going to work on your speed now! I want you to avoid every drop for as long as the rain lasts!", the Sacred Sword stated. It sounded like an insane demand to anyone reasonable, surely. But the Knight gave a nod and began to focus her energy once more... Her body was getting used to all the strain, so more intense training methods were needed in order to get any result.
Soon enough the rain truly began to fall, and the Saiyan would begin to move between each drop! Maintaining her balance and constant awareness of everything around her was incredibly difficult; but her body was well honed, she just needed to keep at it! This would be training that could save her life one day... In order to ensure the maximum effectiveness out of it, she didn't go into Super Saiyan, neither the first or second form. They increased her power, definitely. But that meant an even greater strain had to be placed on her.
Super Saiyan Two would be mastered in time. For now she had to set it aside and focus on the task at hand! Stepping between each raindrop, bending out of the way as each one passes her. It truly was becoming like an art form, a true dance of skill. And it would definitely have it's uses in battle. As one would expect, this began to feel more natural to her. She found herself moving even faster than she ever had before. But this wasn't the peak of her abilities on that front, Atsuko knew that very well! There was still more for her to dig into...
But she had to be sure this step was mastered first. One couldn't simply skip ahead just because they 'felt' like they could. The Knight's focus was unwavering even in the face of such a monumental task. It slowly became rather clear that she could keep this up for as long as the rain lasted, at least at this current rate of downpour; but it wasn't just going to be a gentle rain this time around. It would slowly begin to pick up in speed and intensity, the Albino Saiyan was well aware of it when it happened...
[Mastering Graceful Dance [ST-2]]
So she had to call upon an even greater amount of energy and focus. As long as she didn't let anything distract her, she could do this! Even in the face of a great storm such as this, no raindrop would be allowed to touch her! By this point Atsuko was having to move with such a speed that she literally became naught but a blur, nearly impossible to track! It was the only way she could actually avoid the raindrops at this rate. Even with as powerful as her body had become, this was starting to wear her out a bit...
But the Knight pressed on. There was no other choice but to do exactly that, she wouldn't allow failure. Not when she had to protect her friends, her family. Hell, all of Earth! Her pride as a Saiyan began to burn through once more; which began to push her to ever greater heights. Even as the rain threatened to overtake her, she refused it and still evaded being touched even once. She had to push beyond her fatigue, beyond any other distraction. Right here and now, that was what she needed to keep her focus on.
This speed would help her whenever she fought Nasu and his band again. It would help her with any future threat! The Knight began to ride on the high that it gave her, moving so fast between every last little obstacle. There could have very well been other ways to train her speed, but this worked very well indeed. Soon even this stage began to feel quite natural to her, but that wasn't enough in her opinion. She needed to have it to the point where it was certainly mastered. This was a dance that needed to be perfect.
One to dance circles around her enemies, as well as their attacks. To claim that she was untouchable was too unrealistic a boast, of course. But she had very potentially come the closest to making it a reality. Even Jarvis wasn't able to move as fast as this, with that natural agility of his... At least, not from what she was able to recall in any case. But if they were to have a match now, would he be able to keep up with her? That was an interesting question to be asked, hopefully they didn't fight anytime soon, but...
He ended up changing a lot, to put it lightly. Finally, the rain began to die down. The Saiyan didn't need to move as fast in order to evade each raindrop anymore. Until finally... The rain had ended; not a drop landed on the Knight. Atsuko began to catch her breath, that was... Definitely more than a little tiring. "Don't tell me you're at your limit yet, we're not done yet!", the Sacred Sword would chime in. So what was next on the agenda? Healing was taken care of, as was speed... Perhaps it was Mana Burst, then?
[Mastering Perfected Dance [ST-3]]
"You and I are going to improve that Mana Burst of yours! With your newfound speed, it should be easy for you to control. The only way you're going to get any results is from a constant exercise, so let's hop right to it!", the Sacred Sword demanded. The Knight once more gives a nod in response, and now begins to draw her sword from it's sheath. Like so many times before, she begins to channel her energy. Mana Burst was unlike many other techniques, however. Instead of releasing a beam, or simply coating something with energy in order to increase it's striking power...
It instead built up an energy to be expelled in order to increase speed and momentum, which in turn enhanced striking power and made it more difficult for her opponents to avoid it. "You're going to run laps around the Lookout's platform with Mana Burst. Keep using it over and over again until you've mastered it to the same degree as your dance!", Excalibur states. The Saiyan seemed eager to get right into it, as soon as the Sacred Sword finished giving her instructions, Atsuko was off like a rocket! Maintaining a constant movement around the Lookout's platform.
The Knight didn't have any targets to attack, so instead she focused on improving her ability to call upon energy and then expel it through Mana Burst. She really was starting to feel the strain on her body again... Truth be told, Atsuko had missed it somewhat. There was nothing that really compared to the feeling of a great workout, because it meant that you would have so much more results to show for it. Ever since she hit around 300,000 Power Level, she wasn't able to feel strains like that as easily. And all of her training efforts...
Well, they weren't helping her as much, as one would have expected. She was starting to hit walls, but she couldn't stop even despite that! If she was running into walls, then she'd damn well climb over them and still maintain her progress! At the very least she wanted to master the Super Saiyan Two form as fast as possible. Nasu as a threat still loomed over her and Earth... In any case, all of this could be viewed as a stepping stone, making her more ready for the future battle that she was going to have with her brother.
There was simply no avoiding it; they were going to fight. Truly mastering every technique within her Martial Arts would perhaps see to it that she was ready to face him properly. Soon enough it became clear that Atsuko wasn't going to be able to improve this level of Mana Burst any further; it was as easy as it was to get to perform. So with that in mind, she needed to bring it to new heights... The Knight would have to keep up this constant level of training, too. If she really wanted to get strong enough to deal with all of her fears.
[Mastering Mana Burst [OT-2]]
The Saiyan begins to pour even more of her energy into Mana Burst. At this level it proved to be incredibly difficult to control, she had to keep her balance very carefully in order to be able to use it effectively; more than a few times she had threatened to go off the edge of the Lookout if not for the fact that she was able to turn just in the nick of time. Mana Burst proves to be very unwieldy in even the most capable hands... So in order to master it, she needed to know it's best uses.
The Knight was slowly starting to figure out just how far she would be launched when expelling her energy. As well as how to shift herself in the air and on her landing so as to change directions and keep up her laps around the Timeless Lookout's platform. It certainly wasn't the easiest thing to learn how to do, especially with all the fatigue she was certainly starting to feel now, but through her determination she was able to press on. All she had to do was envision what failure meant... Nasu getting exactly what he wanted.
Her friends dying. Earth being destroyed. Losing her own family... When her body wanted to give in, her pride and mind wouldn't allow it! She was going to perfect Mana Burst, and with it truly become the Master of her Martial Arts! The Sacred Sword was quietly watching all of her struggles. "Good... The harder she pushes herself even in what seems like a hopeless situation...", the woman in red states with a small smile on her face. "The more she'll realize that nothing is hopeless.", the Sacred Sword adds. Her words going unnoticed, however, as the Knight was too wrapped up in her training.
How much longer could she keep this up, even with her newfound strength? That was the real question. Whenever it cropped up in her head, the only response she could give was 'Until I win'. Her control over Mana Burst proved to be very refined now; but it wasn't quite mastered. Her balance was still a bit off, she needed it to be perfect when she wanted to use it in battle. Nothing short of perfect execution would be accepted in her standards! So she kept pushing herself again and again.
Finally, it was becoming clear that she had mastered every nuance of Mana Burst, it took a few more uses of it to bring her back around to the front of the Timeless Lookout, where she would finally land on her feet and stop. The Knight fell to her knees, taking ragged breaths. She still had her limitations, and pushing herself like this was going to make her hit them. Still, that seemed to have finished up everything involving her training now. As the Saiyan begins to look over to where Excalibur was standing, the Sacred Sword was simply gone.
[Mastering Mana Burst [OT-3]]
As the Albino Saiyan raises a brow, she suddenly feels a sharp pain course through her entire body; her tail had just been grabbed! "After all this time... Your tail is still a weakness, all of the strength that you have means nothing if this counter still remains. You need to overcome it, Atsuko! Power through the pain and break free from my hold!", the Sacred Sword demanded. Atsuko bares her teeth, trying to keep herself held up. But damn... The pain was crippling! On top of all of her fatigue, this really wasn't very easy to do. The Saiyan collapses against the white tiles.
She was still conscious however. "Gah... It's like all of my strength is gone... I can't even push myself up...!", the Albino Saiyan managed to struggle out. "It's the greatest weakness any Saiyan has. But that weakness can be trained away through sheer effort; just like how you were able to use that determination of yours to overcome every obstacle before!", the woman in red replies. It made perfect sense, but... Just how was Atsuko supposed to break out of this? Ignore the pain? Somehow cope with it? She didn't know how to do it.
But she had to at least try! The Knight slowly begins to move her arms. Every movement taking an incredible amount of effort on her part, but finally she managed to her arms moved to the right position in order to start pushing herself up. "Gh... I won't be beaten through this method...!", the Knight exclaims, finally on her knees as she then begins to call upon her energy. However, instead of empowering her body, she was sending her energy into her tail. Hoping to bolster it's defenses against those seeking to harm it. It wasn't a very fast process, as one could imagine.
Having her tail gripped like this and then trying to channel her energy... But it was the only thing that came to her mind. Slowly it becomes apparent that it's working; the pain begins to fade, and she can move without as much difficulty... But it wasn't enough yet, Atsuko needed to train her tail to the point where grabbing it would do her opponent no favors; overcoming the agonizing pain it gave her was just the first and longest step. The Saiyan begins to stand up, calling upon her energy even more to do exactly that!
"Very good! You're almost there!", Excalibur praises the Knight, who is finally able to overcome the weakness in her tail. Atsuko begins to take ragged breaths once more. "That... Hurt like hell... But now I don't have to worry about my tail being a weakness anymore... Whoever grabs it from now on is going to be quite surprised.", the Albino Saiyan muses with a smirk. "You've earned a break, Atsuko. Why don't you take a seat and admire the sky with me?", the Sacred Sword says in a calm tone of voice. "That sounds nice, Excalibur... I think I'll do that."
[Mastering Tail Mastery [ST-1]]
As the Saiyan looks up to the sky however, it has already turned night; and even more than that... The Full Moon was out. As soon as her eyes spotted it... Well, nothing happened at first. But then her expression began to droop slightly, as if she were incredibly tired, about to fall asleep on the spot... Her eyes glazing over soon after. What was it about the moon that was so beautiful tonight? It practically brought her into a trance... Then, her body begins to twitch and bulge. Surging with a great power as she bares her teeth once more.
Her eyes begin to turn into a fierce, pure red. Cracking and snapping sounds begin to fill the air as her form begins to change very rapidly; silver fur begins to grow out of her. Then, her body begins to increase in size. She had assumed the Great Ape form, just as Nasu had done once so long ago. Only she lacked the same control that he did. This was another weakness that Excalibur wanted to train out. The silver maned Great Ape lets out a mighty roar and begins to pound on it's chest. But it's soon interrupted by the woman in red.
"Atsuko. It's me. I know you can hear me in there; you need to take control of yourself!", Excalibur shouts to the silver maned Great Ape. There's a brief moment of clarity within the fierce red eyes, but it wasn't quite enough for Atsuko to take control just yet. Her primal instincts were fully bared for all the world to see, and she could very well be a raging beast nearly impossible to stop before extreme damage had been unleashed... But the Sacred Sword wasn't going to let it come to that. She was here for her.
"You can do this, Atsuko! It's just like controlling your anger. You know what failure means, too! You don't want Nasu to win, right?", the Sacred Sword states. The name 'Nasu' prompted an angered growl out of the Great Ape, but it slowly began to calm down even further. The Saiyan could do this, she could take control of this form as well... She had to. Finally, the Great Ape begins to let out slow gasps for air. "I...", the silver maned Great Ape manages between it's gasps. "I can do this...", it states; her voice was deepened.
Distinctly very animal-like as well, but it was definitely still Atsuko. Her feral eyes began to fill with the clarity that the Knight was known for. "I've conquered my Saiyan side... Thank you, Excalibur.", the silver maned Great Ape states. Then she begins to use Ki Suppression in order to revert back to her normal form; still a slow process to do so. But finally she's back to her normal stature, no fur covering her body... And no clothes or armor, either. The Saiyan collapes onto the white tiles soon after. It seemed that the nonstop training took it's toll on her...
[Mastering Great Ape Mastery [ST-2]]
Excalibur smiles knowingly and begins to take the unconscious Atsuko to her room so that she could sleep it all off. This was a very long and chaotic night for her. But it was finally over.
WC: 4,040
_________
Learning
Avalon [ST-2] > Avalon [ST-3],
Graceful Dance [ST-2] > Perfected Dance [ST-3],
Mana Burst [OT-2] > Mana Burst [OT-3],
Tail Mastery [ST-1] > Great Ape Mastery [ST-2]!
Also requesting PL!
