Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kaede sighed tiredly, and spoke to her assistant in a low, calming voice. "Miss Niku, there's no need to get upset. It's their first day after all." Rejoice while it lasts, she added in her mind, for she wasn't the one to be known for her indulgence.

Being tired of waiting for other students to arrive, she decided to start the lesson. They will just have to catch up somehow, because she wasn't the one to repeat things twice either. Turning back to the students, she adresses them in the confident voice she used for lectures. "So, dear crackers, we'll start if you're ready." She paused to emphasize the effect of the first lecture being held, and continued in a pleasant voice - for she knew that a lecture held in a monotonous voice is one of the hardest things to endure.

"The Art of Kidou, or Demon Arts as some would call it, is one of the four basic Shinigami combat forms. However, not all Shinigami are able to master it. Now why is that?"
"To perform a Kidou spell, one must channel his spiritual energy precisely, and give it the required shape and strength. Put simply, a high level or reiryoku control is required to perform Kidou. I will not ask you whether you will continue taking further Kidou classes; Senbei students mostly don't. But by the end of this lesson, you will be able to control your reiryoku perfectly."
"Now, can any of you two tell me what "reiryoku" is?" Kaede glanced at the two studends, watching them curiously, wondering if anyone of them was already familiar with the strange word.

One...two...three...

And to the final right of the halls, Ren skidded to the next tile line and stepped into stairs up to the class. By the time an inch surpassed the entrance, her torso sagged down into anxious exhaust. It hadn't taken her long, but it took a lot of effort to run down from here to the dorm while expecting to surpass her previous track meet average. Not that it was worth mentioning anyways. Already on the first day of classes, she has made a tardy dunce out of herself. Well, the significant part was...she felt an adrenaline burn from the soles of her straw sandals. Odd..

Before any more strands of her blonde pony tail would slip over her shoulders, she stood back up, barely catching her breath as she bowed to the instructors before looking for a seat. Seems..she wasn't as late as she suspected, or these were just the legit numbers of students in this class. It made her wonder, but also gave her the urge to bite her tongue if she thought any deeper. As she was walking down the aisle of desks, her dark drowsy eyes took notice of the girl who greeted her... Though more significantly, stood up to the bald maniac and retained her courage. Renkishi couldn't care for the bigger details, but that visual alone back from the dorm was enough to add in respect. For her Senpai that is anyways. She smiled to her before lowering her head a little. Even though they were all...well, young adults, they were probably at best in their hundreds. And Mama always did say to respect those who lived at an exceptional rate.

Asides from the female Senpai, there was another. A guy who just seemed to care as less as her about academic activities, but more distant in a way. If she could recall as she was running down towards this room, it was a male's voice that made the smart artsy remarks. Well, attitude asides, she wouldn't give a turdball as long as he isn't one of those people to put up with in duty. Sadly, her concentration of that subject greatly lasted a minute before it was dumped. She didn't care for it wasn't important. Now no one can say that she cares for things other than school work. With a vivid thought in mind, she found a seat on the second row, at the edge. Particularly a seat where it meets the contents to see from above.

(this classroom is outdoors, it's only a roof over a grassy plain to put it simple.)

Kaede snorted silently as two new students arrived. Senbei just can't make it on time... Silly of me to keep my hopes. However, she decided not to show any reaction, and merely nodded to the two newcomers and motioned them to take their place around her, under the roof on the open grounds. Most of this class was practical anyway, so holding it in a classroom would be rather pointless.

The teacher then diverted her gaze back to the student that dared to voice her guesses, and was surprised by her good thinking. To be honest, she didn't actually expect any of the Senbei students answer the question, not to mention coming up with at least a partially correct answer. The corners of her lips curled up hardly visibly, and that meant she was very pleased. "Excellent... Ioma-san, if I not mistaken? You're one clever cracker. As you suggested, reiryoku is basically energy. We call it spiritual energy. Reiryoku is what is stirring within each and every one of you, and the reason why you're here." Her voice lowered to a pompous tone as she ended in a slow decrescendo, trying to emphasize the privilege of being able to become a shinigami.

"Reiryoku can be manifested in several ways. It can be directed into a blade, which you will learn in you swordsmanship lessons; it can be directed in various parts of your body, as it will be revealed in the hand-to-hand lessons; it can be used to solidify spiritual particles and use them as steps to achieve immense speed and the ability to walk in the air; it can also be manifested in a form called reiatsu, or spiritual pressure. And last but not least, it can be given various shapes and functions, which combined with the correct incantation and name, create a Kidou spell."

Kaede took a deep breath after the chunk of data she just poured over to her students, and gave them few seconds of time to chew on that. Then, she asked casually: "Any questions as of yet?"

Since her ,late~, arrival, Renkishi felt pretty flustered enough to display such a pathetic image, but.. That irritable feeling gently melted the second the grassy needles softly poked around her tabis. And just when Renkishi felt just the tiny bit of expectation from such a wondrous class, far different contrasting to 'human' schools, the scales of her fictional imagination had deceased at negative coordinates. Her eyes couldn't explain as much, but it was foggy to what future her cloudy irises exemplified. Almost every year Ren can ever recall in school or clubs, no teacher was ever expectant of her. Pretty lame for her to complain, and mostly it was because Renkishi herself, knew she lacked the effort to really get their attention and the motivation. Though in exact memory, she can recall the best of pixels to determine one teacher. Heki-sou Sensei. Art teacher in grade 4. Pretty much, Ren's heretic trait followed since she was in first grade. Because the staff knew what was told and what is to be expected, they never looked down on her, but never eyed her on visual level either. And in second grade, often taking the role as the weed out of the flowery class. One rainy afternoon, the bus was late, and a little eight year old walked to school all by herself with lucky memory of the Japanese street intersection. Even as she pleaded to continue in that class, she was thrown out to hold up the 'tardy water bucket on top of her head'. Back then, Ren thought it was simply because she did something irresponsible on her part. But a good friend of hers, Hanaki, came seven minutes late after her. Drenched in the rain. Went in. Renkishi was actually overjoyed back then, since she expected her to be thrown out too. Then they can chat until the class was over. And she waited.. and waited. But Hanaki didn't come out. So she peeped through, and there she was. Jotting down notes. Since then, it made her think, why her sense of ambitions were different than the others.

Funny though. Even a visual of her mental mind had managed to wring a spiteful grin at the pest-like memories. No matter what, it was something that couldn't be buried.

But Kaede-Sensei wasn't so expectant it seems. The signs were tricky to estimate, and despite her not really smiling, nor scowling, she was being very lenient. Even so, why did she have that feeling? Why could Ren only assume as much? No coins for someone who has lived with that? That was simple enough. For spite really. Ren quietly scoffed to herself, nearly raising her shoulders in the process of that hideous humor. She can very well guess why the other one was in a down mood. Maybe this class was more sensitive, to synchronize with a classmate's feeling just by direct link. NO, it was something else.

Bet the Dango House has it better. They must be the kingly group, hm? What has history done to make me assume...that our house is deemed bitter? She thought to herself, petting at the grass, facing away from the manual lesson for a minute before turning her attention back. A little sigh squirmed through her nostrils much less than her stubbornly tight lips. Not angry, not anxious, but a bit down. Eyes so drowsy and dark, it's as if she'll fall asleep right this instant. Better now, but more consequences later. Already Lilyth Senpai is becoming the credited star pupil. Oh. That made her think. What was the lesson again? The teacher was saying something about..Reiryoku's manifestation. Hm. An interesting topic, and this girl was quite glad that she listened in on the other's question. Both blended within the mights of her brain, and stirred up a curious question herself.

"It can be used to solidify spiritual particles.' So there are other energy links than us, I assume? Sensei?" Ren THOUGHT. She might as well ask that one after Lilyth. Albeit, it's already a pain for the woman to have to overlap her answer with another one. Tch. Just a feeling I get.

Kaede nodded approvingly to Lylith, and elaborated the matter further. "By manipulating your reiryoku in various ways, you, so to say, gain more weapons, or more techniques that can prove useful in battle. But one couldn't confidently state that they make you more powerful that your physical strength. They do arm you better, allowing you to use complex Kidou spells for example; but if you do not master the technique sufficiently, it can actually weaken you. A failed attempt of a kidou will not only lower you spiritual energy level, but could also backfire and cause damage to the caster." However Kaede wanted to honour the Kidou Arts above everything, she could not bear not telling the truth - even though it didn't sound encouragingly for one starting to get interested in the art of Kidou. The teacher was honestly surprised at the student's sudded interest in the subject, as it was not usual for the students of the Senbei house to appreciate anything but physical strength and combat techniques. Supressing the emotions behind her expressionless mask, she waited in silence for a few seconds, to give the students the opportunity to pose another question if they had any, before she continued.

So if I screw it up or just can't get it then it will harm me. Lilyth thought to herself. She contemplated that for a moment, either she would have to work really hard to be able to use it right or she wouldn't be able to do it at all. "Then I will try hard." she mumbled quietly to herself, she hadn't meant to but the thought was so strong it slipped from her lips. She then heard the other girl ask a question and looked at her then back at Kaede, waiting for the answer, this knowlegde could be useful for her.

Kaede listened carefully to another question posed, and contemplated a bit before answering. "A very good question,... Sanabi-san, right? This is actually more a part of the theory class, but since you're not taking it until the next term, I might as well explain some basics to you, at least from the point of spiritual power. Yes, there are other sources of reiryoku. Every spiritual being and every human has a certain amount of reiryoku. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person superhuman abilities; but such cases are extremely rare among living humans. It seems to be that the most basic ability that humans with a higher level of reiryoku have is the ability to see ghosts: Pluses, Shinigami and Hollow alike.
Now, I am not sure how familiar you are with these terms. Pluses, or Wholes, are spirits of the deceased. Yourself have once been a plus, and a shinigami has sent you to the soul society. Hollows, on the other side, are what shinigami fight against. A race of creatures which are born from Human souls, corrupt spirits with supernatural powers that devour the souls of both living and deceased humans. Hollows, if they make active use of their reiryoku, usually do it to catch their prey or to evade Shinigami more effectively." However honest she was, Kaede decided to keep quiet about the arrancar, with an amount of reiryoku equal to a shinigami, and able to use it just as efficiently. "Now, what you crackers are about to become, are the shinigami. Essentially, we are the departed souls in Soul Society with very high levels of reiryoku, who through special training learn to utilize our powers. As I said before, and I will keep on repeating, in each and every one of you lies the potential of greatness." Kaede's gaze slid over the student's faces, wondering whether new information will discourage them, or drive them to try harder.

((OOC: Bean? You must mean Being. A Human Bean would be some sort of freak biological experiment...
Bean = Plant
Being = Living Creature.))