Shadow's Test - Part I

[Muryllis]

Yet another test would soon start, running parallel with that of Ariadne. The potential Wizard-to-be would soon be arriving, and the Master Spellweaver had already planned out what his test would look like. Yet another run of skills examinations, he thought, followed by the combat portion. What fun.

Awaiting his student, he contemplated on the second part of the testing. The weapons rack? Maybe the candle stick.. or the bag of origami. Or a simple duel of the normal kind... It all depends on whether they are worth my time or not, he answered himself simply.

[Shadow]

Shadow walked into the courtyard and looked around. "Hopefully, I'm in the correct place this time." He shook his head and muttered to himself. Something about blasted crazy mornings. Sighing, Shadow walked up to the man in the center of the area, whom he supposed was going to be the man who was going to test him. Shadow inclined his head respectfully. "Hi. I'm Shadow. I got a message that I was supposed to come here?" He looked up at the man in front of him. "I am in the right place, right?" He Looked around the courtyard, examining his surroundings as he said this.

[Muryllis]

"A scholar, eh?" A light breeze picked up, ruffling the instructor's hair a bit, but he did not mind; his mind was preoccupied with ideas of how to start off the test session. "Well then, lets start with you, Shadow, telling me a bit about what you know, what you would like to know, and what you hope to achieve if you reach your goal." The action would come later; idle chatter of this sort would allow Muryllis to gauge his student in ways that showing off magic could not.

((Apologies for the shortness; the person whose computer I am using until I get my own back possesses a wonderful array of dusty rooms, and my muse's brain is clogged with dust (along with the usual doses of alcohol, etc.) ))

[Shadow]

Shadow nodded. "Well, being orphaned at eight, I lived off of theivery for a long time, and i still partially do." he put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "I have, aside from theivery, been working on transforming, because my eventual goal is to become a shapeshifter. So far, I have been able to transform my head and my internal organs to that of a dragon, which is my eventual goal for the creature i will be transforming to. But i cannot do both without fainting yet... no idea why..." "He shrugged and continued. "I would like to know how to transform completely without using all my body's energy, and eventually i would like to be able to change my appearance." he laughed. "But that will come with time, as i have seen so far."

[Muryllis]

"A dragon, eh? I don't know how you're still alive, kid, because you have a slim chance of transforming into anything unless you have expert knowledge of that creature. I suggest you drop your attempts until you are more known and knowledgable within Aesir; otherwise, you'll only end up killing yourself, or becoming a misshapen abomination." Fools, the young ones, attempting to learn things they have no idea about.

"Now then, lets begin your testing, shall we? Take this jade-" and one appeared on his open palm, about the size of a grapefruit, "- and carve it into a small statue of whatever you wish. Use your skills to their full extent and manipulate the stone to achieve your goal."

[Shadow]

((heh... maybe i wanted him to become something un-natural... have you ever heard of Vincent valentine's Chaos form? heheh... but ill go along for now ^_-))

Shadow was surprised. "Really? Thanks for the warning." That’s the last time I'll ever fly... he sighed, but nodded when he was handed the piece of jade. He held the stone in his hand, studying it intently. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out a knife. Gently tapping a small crack with it, He softly traced a line with his knife, and pushed it slightly with his finger, making a v-shaped chunk of jade fall into his hand. Picking it up, he looked it over and sighed. this aint gonna work... He closed his eyes, and concentrating hard, thought about the Jade, and its structure. Using magic, he heated up his hand to a temperature were the Jade was just hot enough to barely mold, but cool enough to keep its form. taking out a needle, he poked several holes in the material, and with his hands, he molded it into the shape of a fish. Using the needle again, he drew in the eyes and mouth of the fish, along with the scales and the lines on the fins. when he was done, he held it in his hand. Well, that took long enough...

[Muryllis]

Observing the average student is fun, he concluded, watching Shadow complete his fish sculpture. Plucking it deftly from the boy's hand, he used subtle magical techniques to perfect the sloppy carvings on the fish's body. There were no leftover shavings and chunks; he merely compressed the target areas into the rest of the stone. Picking up a large glass bowl, he condensed water vapor inside it to fill it like an aquarium, then added a few pieces of glassware he had been tinkering with before; they looked like aquarium decorations.

Placing the whole deal on the ground, the Master Spellweaver snapped his fingers - the entire tank, water and all, was enlarged ten times. Now, sitting before them was an enormous aquarium measuring ten feet across, fifteen feet long, and five feet deep. He tossed the stone in, at the same time infusing it with a mind of its own and the ability to move and act as would a fish. He then picked up a larger stone; a diamond. Using the same technique he had used when polishing the small jade, he crafted an elegant replica of a carnivorous fish; this he dumped in the tank as well, but waited to give the directions for the next assignment before giving the clear, practically invisible fish life.

"The creature which you have sculpted, and which I have given life, is now your greatest responsibility. Now, he has a very formidable opponent; a pike about twenty times the size of your jade sculpture, and considerably more powerful and capable. I shall tell you right away that your knife, needle, and other toys that a spellcaster should never worry about, are all useless against the pike's powerful body. That, and diamond tends to sometimes absorb, though rarely reflect, magic. Your next task is to use your magical skills to somehow defeat the rather hungry pike. You hold this advantage: by giving me verbal commands, you shall directly be able to control your fish, and I shall make it perform whatever action you wish; whenever I am idle, I shall allow it to act as brainlessly as any other fish would. Ready? Alrighty then, you may begin."

An odd distortion in the water, no doubt the nearly invisible diamond pike, came to life. It's goal? To eat the shiny green thing floating around at the other end of the glass tank.

((Clarification: I am pretty much allowing you to godmod the fish, since you have direct verbal control through me; you can do as much with it as you can literally say. Cheerio.))

[Shadow]

((thanks^_^ and disregard the pm i sent you))
Shadow observed his fish for a moment, and watched the other one. "up." he intently watched the movement. He thought hard for a moment, trying to remember small things about pike that he might be able to use to his advantage. He found nothing, so he decided just to improvise.
As he was thinking, the Pike made its first move. Darting towards Shadow's fish, it was nearly invisible, but the distortion of its surroundings was all shadow needed. "Diagonal down left, full speed ahead!" he laughed, but it was a short laugh, seeing as the pike had already begun to catch up with his fish. Shadow waited until there wasn’t much of a gap left between the two when he re-issued directions. "Down, left, forward, Diagonal up left, down." Shadow watched as he said this, looking for something he could use. Suddenly, he saw what he wanted. Casting a quick glance at the Master Spellweaver, he shook his head as he returned his gaze to the tank. “Forward, Left, down, forward, left, up, down, right, forward. In.” The fish barely squeezed into the small hole in a rock that was in the corner, and shadow smiled as the pike repeatedly banged its head against the rock, not making any progress. it then swam around the rock, looing for a way in. but the rock was completely blocked off except for the one hole that Shadow's fish had gotten into.

[Muryllis]

With the state of mind he had taken on, it was easy for Muryllis to automatically absorb Shadow's commands and convert them into mental commands for the fish to recieve. His overall strategy was simple and efficient, but it wasn't a victory. He smirked; the diamond pike, build of a much stronger material and infused with more energy - and brains - was beginning to get to the small fish. By nibbling small chips off the stone with it's diamond teeth (for, as we all know, the diamond compound is very, very strong, and can be used to kill the heck out of other materials), it was slowly making the hole the jade fish was hiding in smaller and smaller... "You still have a ways to go," the magician said, awaiting Shadow's next command.

[Shadow]

((dang it, no time to make a new post, I am being *forced* to go to bed. ill post tomorrow, when I get home from the dreaded hell we all know and love, School. sorry))

[Muryllis]

((School starts in a week for me... today is day one of the dreaded process of digging out my old, cobwebby sleep schedule ))

[Shadow]

Shadow sighed. "Uh-oh..." Shaking his head, he observed intently, looking for a way he could get his fish out of the cavernous rock without getting eaten. Watching the pike, making sure that its mouth had a sizable chunk of rock in it, he seized his opportunity. "Out, down, left, forward, up." he watched as the fish slipped past the pike, which went to grab it, but was interrupted by the piece of stone in its mouth. Shadow nodded. "Up, forward, left, right, down, loop-de-loop." he paused again, seeing as his jade fish was now behind the diamond pike, for however short of a time. Shadow had a sudden thought. "Bite the pike's tail." it really had no affect, not even getting a small scratch on the tail. The pike lashed out, as it spun, and shadow quickly resumed his commands. "backward, down, about face, forward, left, right, down, up, Diagonal up left loop." he sighed as he watched the pike follow the jade through the maneuver. "I didn’t expect it to work twice, but there was a chance. Up, down, left, diagonal down left, down, forward.” He shook his head. This isn’t going to work forever… he sighed. but until I think of something else, this is all I have. he shouted out another chain of commands. “Up, left, forward, barrel-roll left down, forward, down, left, left, forward." Then it hit him. Walking up to the tank, he placed his hand on the glass, and with magic, formed a few cracks in the glass as his fish swam towards it. “Forward….” Shadow held his command for the last possible second. “UP.” He added his own magic to the fishes speed, lifting it as it maneuvered up. The pike, unable to stop directly, Crashed head-long into the already weakened glass, and went straight through it, into the air and onto the ground.

[Muryllis]

"Aahah, brilliantly executed," the instructor exclaimed, reaching out a hand for the jade fish, still alive, to flop into. Taking a small glass bowl, he scooped rapidly-depleting water out of the massive tank, tossed the living stone into it, and handed it to Shadow. "Your new pet, I presume?" Beckoning the flapping pike to him, he flew into his hands, silenced as its life was snuffed out with a chilling gaze from Muryllis.

"Your ability to strategize has been proven, now we shall once more see your ability to manipulate the weak magic you are familiar with to perform tasks that would normally require much more powerful sorts. Take, for example, this boulder." Said boulder could be seen when Shadow turned around, replacing the emptying tank of water that once stood; it was massive, towering two feet over the instructor when he came to it, and was resting on the ground, almost daring a willing man to try to move it. Once could see bits of diamond - no doubt from the pike sculpture, which no longer rested in the old man's hands - embedded into the rock, strengthing it physically and magically. "I want you to move this boulder twenty paces away, across the level grass; using magic, of course. Once you are finished with that, we may move on to the second and final phase of your testing."

He chuckled, almost maniacally, but quietly to himself.

[Shadow]

Shadow walked up to the boulder, which was only a bit taller than him. he examined it. well, obviously i wont be able to push it, especially if it has the pike in it. he looked around, wondering. an idea crept into his head, and seemed to be a good one. re-enforcing his hand with magical 'plating' he made a fist and slammed it into the ground, creating a small depression and a shock wave that caused the boulder to titter a bit. He looked at what it had done for him. "allright... lets get this ball rolling. Where do you want me to move it to?" But as he was speaking, the ground repaired itself. he turned back to it, frowning. "darn it... OK, plan B..." he returned his hand to normal and shook it out a few times. closing his eyes, he used magic to create a wedge, and placing it on the ground behind the boulder, used magic to drive it beneath the stone, in between it and the ground. It sunk under the weight of the stone, but the ground repaired itself again, and the wedge rose with it, causing the boulder to move forward a bit. nodding thoughtfully, he enlarged the wedge, and repeated the process. this time, it moved a length equal of ten normal men's paces, only five of shadow's he scratched the side of his head, and tried again, enlarging the wedge only a little bit, and repeating the process. this time, the rock went merrily rolling... nineteen paces. Snorting in aggravation, shadow enlarged the block one more time, and pushed it in. he watched its progress, and counted the paces. Turning back to Muryllis he cocked his head to the side. "how's that?"

[Muryllis]

((Well, besides the fact that I never actually said that the ground would "repair" itself... good enough ^.^))

"Well done" he replied, not bothering to lift his head up to check; he was busy contemplating the second part of Shadow's test; all the weaving he would have to perform to finish off the setting... "Good enough," he said, snapping back to the present. A snap of his fingers extracted the diamonds from the boulder, carrying them in tiny pieces to a pouch on the ground. The boulder itself turned to dust, covering the grass with thick powder.

"The next portion of your test will take place shortly. It is highly suggested that you use this time to rest up; you can count on it being hell," he concluded, the sinister smile once more planting itself on his face. He walked across the lawn, entering the academy for his own odd, unknown purposes.