Welcome to Gaia! ::

Namon noticed that Captain Nagi appeared to be taking a break, and walked over.
"Captain Nagi. A moment of your time, please."

((Whooohoo! Yo, Namon. Long time no read!))

Just as he was taking a swig of water, Nagi's head turned to the familiar voice. He would have smiled if it wasn't for the fact that he had a bottle of water in his mouth. Instead of speaking at first, he allowed himself to swallow first as he rose his hand and waved it in a spastic manner. Once he finished his drink, he lowered and corked the bottle then tossed it in the grass beside his bag.

"Namon! How's it going?" he asked, wiping the corner of his mouth with his wrist. Though there was nothing there, he did this by habit for some reason. He then briefly turned to his student. "If you will excuse us for a moment... I will not be long." he said as he walked over to his division member so that he was within comfortable talking distance.

"What's up?" he asked curiously while placing his hands inside his pockets and relaxed.

:Suri entered the training grounds looking greatly altered. Somewhere between her office and the kidou ranges she had managed to lose Raz, so had decided to change quickly, just in case Raz would want to test out his new zanpaku~to after shaping it. Usually people were too tired to spar long since the zanpaku~tos required a lot of reiatsu, but it was not uncommon to want to try them out.

With her long black hair done in a braided ponytail, Suri had bunned up the first half of her pony-tail braid and stuck sleek metal chopsticks through it, leaving the rest of the braid hanging down, still managing to reach her waist level. She wore black jean capris, a black V-neck halter that exposed her shoulder blades, and black lace-up cork sandals. The halter was a bit longish, its hem cutting a diagonal swath from her right hip down to her left mid-thigh, although it hugged her body enough not to create extra air-resistance or be a hindrance. Over her black halter was a leather, metal studded belt from which hung her zanpaku~to.

Choosing an open spot away from Captain Nagi and his student, Suri settled on a low rock, waiting for Raz.:

:Suri knew instantly what Raz was doing when he swept her with a full-body glance that seemed less intrigued than studious. It was something that she had done often enough to know that he would not learn much from her. She had trained herself long ago to have a calm and elusive air. Her fingers rarely fiddled with anything besides the pendant and chain protruding from her zanpaku~to hilt, but that was a habit that also allowed her to draw her zanpaku~to faster in dangerous situations. As for her eyes, they were almost always a cold and steely gray. The only times that ever changed was when she laughed, in which case they were silver, or when she used reiatsu, in which case they turned amber.

"First," Suri instructed, "is that you create a reiatsu orb. This is not supposed to be easy on the first try. The basic kidous are easily used since they only require expelling reiatsu. In this case, you have to have enough concentration to shape it too. Do not try to push it larger or smaller until you have a reiatsu orb that does not waver from its shape."

She demonstrated by holding her hand palm upwards and open. Without a word, Suri's eyes flickered to a dark shade of amber and a ball of autumnal colors burst out of her palm, crackling vividly in the shape and size of a tennis ball. Without breaking a sweat, she expanded it to a basketball before deflating it to the size of a pill and then closing her fingers over it altogether.

:Suri watched without commenting. She could tell that he was focusing his reiatsu in his hand, but she also noted the color of his reiatsu.

"Good, try not to just shape it though. Picture the ball in your head, and imagine projecting that picture into your reiatsu and pulling it out above your hand," Suri saw his concentration, but she knew that being too serious could also detract from imagination at crucial points. "Do not worry about thinking about the color or feel of your reiatsu. Pretend it is second nature to you, like breathing. It's like trying not to take in too much or too little oxygen. You do not care that it is made up of O2 with some nitrogen or whatever, you just care that you can take in a deep or shallow enough breath. Try that idea with your reiatsu.":

(( Btw, you've covered this, so I don't think I need to worry, but just a heads up. When Nagi trains, he usually requires people have at least three lines in their post (3 sentences). A minimum of 5 is usually best unless it's just a really dead topic. ))

:Although Raz's control of his reiatsu was not perfect, Suri felt that they could continue. For now, if he tried a kidou, his aim would be off and he would end up incinerating too much, or too little, of the wrong thing. However, the zanpaku~to was a more personalized aspect than kidou. Since the zanpaku~to was supposed to reflect the user's nature, he would not need to imagine too hard - the image would come naturally, so the shaping would be easier.

"Let your reiatsu expand now," Suri commanded. "But not out of control. Picture in your mind you zanpaku~to. Do not try to be overly elaborate or creative - you will just end up exploding your reiatsu on yourself. Take the image that first comes to you instinctively. That is your true zanpaku~to. Now let your reiatsu flow into shaping. You may use your other hand to steady the reiatsu flow and control. It also makes it easier since it makes the forming of your zanpaku~to more tangible when you 'shape' it with both hands."

She did not bother to demonstrate this part. If Raz could not imagine how to shape his own zanpaku~to himself, he was not fit to use anything besides the Academy issued one. Nobody else could ever fully be another person enough to demonstrate their soul reflection.:

:Suri nodded her approval, seeing the the well-shaped weapon. She drew out her zanpaku~to, a standard katana shaped except it was pure white, and ran it along the sharp edge of Raz's zanpaku~to, to make sure that it was solid and not an imperfect model. Once done, she sheated her zanpaku~to again, swift enough that the chain swung wildly for a bit.

"Good. Now you can go test out your new zanpaku~to on Tagg," Suri commented. "I need to return to my office to meet with another new squad member. You can find me there after your match if you need further assistance or training."

She departed, not glancing back. Though she was 12th on the list to fight Tagg, she knew well enough that she would be watching all of Tagg's other matches, so she would be keeping a tab on Raz's development also.:

(( Exit back to Vice-Captain's Office. ))