Welcome to Gaia! ::

He sat alone on the edge of the cliff. Below him, about thirty or so feet, lay an expanse of water he could neither see thr bottom of nor the furtherest edges. As the tide played it's tranquil music upon the rocks below, he closed his eyes in pure enjoyment. It was more beautiful than any symphony he'd heard. Mother Nature was a maestro.

Leaning back onto his elbows as he opened his eyes he bathed in the pure, warm light of the sun. It was a perfect day, and he was enjoying every single second of it. Could it get any better?

Suddenly a bit of movement to the side caught his eye but for a second. When he looked, he saw nothing save the low scrub brush that eventually, down the hill further, thickened into a peaceful forest. Shrugging, he turned back to the water only to caught movement from the other side. Again he saw nothing. This was a tad disconcerting to say the least.

"Hello?" Khamsyn called in the direction of the newest flicker of movement. "Reveal yourself." he added climbing to his feet.

As if on command a figure raised itself from the brush twenty yards from him, then a second and a third. They all seemed to be emerging from all around him. His heart started beating more rapidly, but he knew there was no reason to fear. These mischevious figures were just men after all. It was then he noticed they were all slowly moving toward him. Something was off about these people and he couldn't immediately figure out what it was. Not until the sun glinted off the bright red surface of the lead figures large and pumpkin shaped head.

No, not pumpkin shaped. Tomato shaped!

"What the...?" Khamsyn exclaimed, his voice trailing off. "Stay away from me!" he shouted, panic rising in his voice.

Instinctively he stepped backwards with each step forward they took. All to soon his heel found the eroding edge of the cliff. That's when they sped up and when Khamsyn fell.

Down...

...down...

...down...

He was mere inches from the water when he saw the tomato heads peering over the edge after him. He couldn't hold back any longer and screamed.

"Waaaaaaaaa...

*thunk*

Khamsyn awoke with a start, still trying to swim with his bed sheets twisted around him like an angry sea. His body glistened with a cold sweat and his heart was pounding in his chest. After a few more seconds, he calmed knowing he was awake and safe in his room. Still he lay there on the floor, looking up at the edge of his bed like it was the cliff edge from the dream. Cautiously, he raised himself to look onto the bed, as if he was worried a tomato-headed figure would be waiting up there for him. To his relief, his bed was clear. Standing, he shook his head.

"That was the strangest... weirdest... wow!"

Quickly, with the memory and terror still clear in his brain, Khamsyn grabbed a small notebook and scratched out a simple message.

Dreamt of tomato people.

Tossing the notebook onto his desk, he looked with raised eyebrow at his surroundings. He was in his dorm room, yet it was like he was seeing it for the first time. Familiar, yet new. Yet he knew exactly where everything, like the notebook, was and that it all belonged to him. It was like a feeling of deja vu, but twisted in a way. It was odd, and had he not caught sight of his class schedule as he surveyed the room, he might have stopped to explore and reacquaint himself with the room. But it was not meant to be, something told him the schedule was more important, and when he looked at it, and his clock, panic arose once more.

"LATE!" he screamed, tearing around his room donning his clothes and grabbing his school supplies. He was late for class. Not good. Not good at all.

Darting out of the room, supplies and mini-map in hand, he never even thought about running a comb through his hair. He'd think about it soon however. After all, someone was bound to notice the longer hair on the right side of his head was sticking out at an obnoxious and gravity defying manner. This was not going to be his best day.

Khamsyn leaned back in his chair, stretching. The desk in front of him was littered with notes and small sketches on various subjects. He'd been studying for several hours now, and he still felt like he wasn't really learning everything he should, let alone retaining any of it. Still, he was persistant.

Bending his neck to one side until a small, audible crack issued forth, then bending it the other way to the same result, he sighed. Once more he stared down at his class notes and read them again.

He had enjoyed Lelaus' class, and it was quite a way to start his educational process. Both the Bael and the Rakshasa were very interesting subjects, even know they were at opposite ends of the spectrum. One was a shape-assuming spy and the other more similar to a domesticated pet. The class had almost made him contemplate a career in beast training and being a hunter. But in the end, as marvelous as these creatures were, he knew beast training and hunting were not in the cards for him. He had grander plans than that.

After Animal Care had been Science with Professor Abrid. Both professors had the reputation for being... unconventional. And both had lived up to that reputation. The sight of Abrid shooting castor shells in the classroom was an image that would stick with Khamsyn for some time. The subject itself held interest for Khamsyn as well. Though not from a production standpoint. More of a standpoint of being an effective tool for the future. He made a mental note to gain possession of a Castor Gun along the way sometime. Especially since he now owned a castor shell. His eyes darted to the desk drawer where the shell now rested in a ornate, locked box. He still wasn't completely sure which shell it was, but with a little research, he could find out soon enough.

He sighed once more, it was getting late and his brain was beginning to pound from information overload anyways. Capping his ink well to prevent it from drying out, he gathered his notes and put them back into the leather cover from whence they came, tied it shut and placed it back into his satchel for tomorrow.

Smiling once more at the note from Lus regarding his job acceptance, he doused the candle lantern on th desk and turned back to his bed. Sleep would come quickly, and likely with it the tomato people, but he felt braver tonight. Perhaps he dream up a castor gun and drive them away tonight. A shiver ran down his spine. Unlikely. Sadly, unlikely.

The next few nights saw Khamsyn pouring over the tome by Orrys he had borrowed from the library in what spare time he had. He mixed the reading with a few trips to the Arena to not only keep up the skills that Kallisto had taught him but also to test out a few he was beginning to learn from the book. It was a long and tedious process, except for maybe a kinesthetic, but Khamsyn was determined. He first learned how to use the ground conditions and his surroundings to his advantage. This gave him a higher defensive capability and if used right, it could increase his offensive skills too. He suffered many and stumble and bruise before he learned to use terrain to his advantage.

Next, he concentrated on another defensive ability, the ability to roll with a fall or hard impact and absorb some of the potential damage. It was harder than it seemed and unfortunately the only way to master it was to throw himself off of things and try to hit the ground rolling. He failed often, got discouraged a few times and almost quit, but in the end he forged on and figured he had the hang of it now.

Lastly, he decided to fall back on something Kallisto tried to teach him. To try and land blow after blow to the same location. To zone in on that area and filter out distractions. In affect, to focus. This one took the longest and most of that time was spent seemingly doing nothing but honing his mind and melding it with his body. Only time would tell if he had mastered it as well, but he thought he was close if not there already.

"Two down, one to go."

His last book was a catalogue of castor shells in which Khamsyn found there were way too many to try and commit to memory. So instead, he focused on a few that Zero's could use and seemed the most useful or interesting. #4 the Heal Radius shell and #6 the Barrier Radius were the shells Professor Abrid had given out in class to Khamsyn and Abacus respectively. And #27, the Frozen Radius, had also caught Khamsyn's attention. Especially with it's prospects in the dueling arena. A wicked little smile creased his face. "Now all I need is a castor gun and these few shells..." he thought, trailing off with a grin.

Taking a break from his studies, Khamsyn leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together behind his head, audibly sighing. His eyes were beginning to get sore from reading for hours, and restoring a particularly tricky book in the library prior to that. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax a bit. He took his mind off of his studies for the moment by considering his future within the heirarchy of Empyrean city. He knew he wanted to one day become a part of the Seraphim, using the various magicks to defend the citizens and the city itself from both external and the occasional internal threat. He had quite a ways to go before he could accomplish this dream, but he'd already started walking the path. He knew no offensive or defensive magicks yet, but those would be revealed in time. He had started learning how to augment both his personal defenses and tap into the Essence within him to make casting a little easier.

Opening his eyes, he started working his hands and fingers into the few mudras he knew. Bear Grip first, the mudra for defense. His fingers gripped together, right palm facing in, left palm facing out. He then released the mudra and shifted to Prayer. Palms together as if he was literally prayer to some higher power. Next he shifted to Shuni, dropping one hand and touching the tip of his middle finger to that of his thumb. Those were the only ones he knew off by heart. The only ones that had stuck in his head, and perfected, after he returned the book to the library. Still, he often attempted others.

Slowly, he released the Shuni mudra and brought up his other hand again. With index fingers extended he touched them together, vaguely remembering that the mudra was called Jupiter and it could be used to aid in the breaking of barriers. A useful ability for a Seraphim trying to defend the city. Especially since he'd heard that there were some monsters who could form barriers. He concentrated on the mudra, trying to perfect the precise finger positions to unlock the power.

Once more Khamsyn felt that familiar and exhilerating tingle in the back of his brain. He'd done it again. His smile widened and his whole body shook just a little with excitement. He'd pulled it off twice now. In a row no less. He released the mudra again and took a deep breath trying to force the excitement back down within him. Although his smile was wide and his pulse was quick, a nagging in the back of his mind told him not to get cocky. There was still a little speck of doubt in him that told him that if he was called upon to use the mudra in a stressful situation, that he could and very likely might still flounder. He was one hundred percent sure he could pull it off when needed. So, setting his jaw and steeling his nerves, he started to focus once more. He'd keep repeating the mudra over and over again until that speck of doubt disappeared. No matter how long it took. He had prived to himself that he could do it, now it was just a matter of locking it in.

Bringing his index finger tips together once more, he focused and breathed, slowing his heart and forcing himself to calm. Somewhere in the back of his brain he was chanting "please, please, please, please, please let this work again.... please, please, please..."

Khamsyn's smile almost threatened to circle his entire skull when he felt that tingle again. He smiled so widely that it literally hurt and he had to breakthe mudra to massage his jaw. He was filled with excitement however, so the pain was quickly forgotten. He'd pulled it off again and this time he felt like he had it. This time he felt confident that whenever, where ever, he'd be able to form the Jupiter mudra and use it's power as intended. It was a good feeling. No, it was a great feeling.

Jumping from his chair, which ended up laying on the floor on it's side, Khamsyn started dancing around like a fool. His happiness had carried away his sanity and he didn't care. He shouted and laughed, giggled and darn near cried. Most others might not get so carried away over something so cosmically minor as learning a new mudra, but Khamsyn wasn't like other people. He was Phlegmatic in every sense of the word and his emotions often got the better of him. Even it was only for a few moments.

As he jumped and danced around, something else typically Khamsyn happened. He fell flat on his butt after tripping over his downed chair. As he lay on the ground, stunned for a second by the sheer embarrassment, he started to laugh once more. Not as maniacally as before. More subdued. He was laughing at himself. Standing, he righted the chair and sat back down in front of his desk. His eyes weren't hurting anymore, and glancing past his hands for the first time in awhile, he saw his notes from class and sighed happily. "Back to studying Khamsyn." he muttered to himself with a pleased grin. "You've taken another small step towards your greater goal, but the journey is still long."