Welcome to Gaia! ::

While he was here, he might as well finish up the next stage as well. It would definitely be a bit harder, but he was confident he could manage it. He opened up the scroll to the next section, and began to study the diagrams for the Counter Thrust. According to the scroll, the Counter Thrust was good for, well, countering thrusts. Apparently, he had to swing his staff out, slightly awkwardly, but in a way that would slam it into the shoulder of the opponent, countering their thrust and paralyzing the limb. Closing the scroll, he reset the "puncher" dummy, and prepared to practice. Al went forward, until he was just out of range of the "puncher." He'd start off with it going slowly, and work his way up to full speed. As its arm slowly rocked forward and backwards, he practiced the angling of his staff to the position of the arm, making sure he could do it near-reflexively. Cranking up the speed a little, he spent a few minutes making sure he could handle the increased speed. Once he was confident, he began to practice slamming the staff into the arm of the dummy. Clouds of dust rose from the repeated strikes, as Al smashed the dummy over and over again. For the final test, he cranked it up to real-speed and performed the technique. He executed it perfectly, slamming the haft into the arm in moments, causing it to fall limply to the side. After repeating the exercise a few times, he took a small break, then returned to the scroll.
5/5 Counter Thrust

The next technique that had peaked his interest was the Gatling technique. Similar to the Double Strike, this technique allowed for rapid, multiple attacks to hit within moments of one another. It was the perfect addition to his repertoire, adding close in techniques to his medium ranged ones as well. After reading the moves carefully, he memorized the diagrams and shut the scroll. After setting up a single dummy from the wall, he began to slowly practices the technique, first by carefully practicing the thrust, then the return motion. After a short while, and several thumps, he began to pick up the pace. He started to get a good rhythm going, a steady "thump, thump, thump" as the pole flew into the dummy, then back. He'd almost perfected the technique when a small rumble shook the floor from the Ice Ball. Tripping, he sighed and got back up, brushing off his clothes. After straightening the dummy, he paused to chew on some jerky. Once he started again, he got into the rhythm a little quicker, and managed to return to his former pace. He kept going, trying to push just a little faster. Once he'd reached his peak, huge clouds of dust rose from the dummy as a steady rapid-fire beat of thumps impacted it's stomach. Exhausted, Al slowed and stopped, taking a huge gulp of water as he reset the dummy, and waved out the air. He sat down, and took a breather.
5/5 Gatling Technique

The final technique of the day was a pretty good move both to close a distance, and instigate an attack. Al got up and opened the scroll, instantly gazing down to the Aerial Assault. He was suddenly glad he'd never had a fear of fast speeds. Setting up a dummy, he returned to the board on the wall, and after studying it a bit, shrugged and pulled a lever. One wall slid aside, revealing a large, poofy landing mattress. Satisfied, he returned to his standard stance. He practiced the haft-slam for a short bit, before taking a quick reminding glance at the chakra diagrams. This was the first technique that took chakra, so he'd have to be extra careful. He prepared himself to launch, and wound up on the floor again. Cursing that giant Ice Ball, he readied himself once more. Slamming his staff into the ground, he shot forwards at a ridiculous speed, . He'd nearly forgotten his Wind Cape, and the effect it would have on his launch. Quickly, he wrapped his legs in an extra dose of the chakra shown, and prepared for landing. He slammed into the large, poofy pad with a "THWACK" that would resound through the lower floors of the facility. Dizzily, he stood up and wobbled around in a circle until he'd regained his balance. That was INSANE! He almost wanted to do it again.
5/5 Aerial Assault

As Lucas entered the room, Al gave him a wave, still panting from the super-high velocity. Walking over, he noticed his tired stance and figured that he'd been practicing as well. "Sure am. This place is more tricked out than the Suna Dojo or Academy. Still, the giant Ice Ball is super-annoying. But, y'make do, right?"

"I mean that it interrupts concentration at the worst moments, that's all. Man though, you Miyamotos are crazy, I mean my clans house is pretty cool, since its hidden and all, but this place really takes the cake. Personally, I can't imagine what Suna would be like without you guys." Al said, sighing as he adjusted his blindfold. "Anyways, its getting late. We ought to rest up for tomorrow." he added, before heading along to the elevator. "Know any way to slow this thing?" he joked, before he got in and headed up.

Lucas smiled as Al went up and then went back to running around. eventually he came across manny.
"what are you doing scaring everyone?"
he said casually.

On the lowest floor, Zyonu walked straight through her office's door. Her hair changed from its brilliant scarlet color back to white as she strode toward the globe of water in the center. The Princess disappeared in a puff of smoke as she Reverse-Summoned it away, following which the researcher laid a hand on the frosty underside of the sensory technique. Ice thawed and the water became perfectly clear again, allowing her to observe the bubbles within it.

The closest group of bubbles were the few from the rambunctious Suna children, but there was another that had just entered the building seemingly out of nowhere. It was deep within the laboratory, near a place that she hoped sincerely it was not. A sinister feeling came from that Chakra source, but that was not the reason why Zyonu's face suddenly became grim. She was thankful that the Suna kids could not see the brief change before she could revert to her normal flat expression.

The woman lifted up her wrist and looked at one of the metal marbles in her prayer beads. It showed a cluttered but orderly room--hers--and a man sneaking toward her mirror. As she watched, he stepped through it. She swore internally and immediately wished that she had not linked that particular mirror with the power room for the facility. A surge in the bubbles overhead confirmed that he had come out on this end.

"Tenchouchikyuu!" she said to herself while forming hand seals.

Wires of Chakra shot upward from her and formed a mesh lattice of a tower around the central bubble water. The mesh took on the appearance of a heavy steel tower that encompassed the ball from the lowest floor to the ceiling above the highest. She placed her hands on the side of the structure and exerted Chakra once more.

"Ten no Houritsu!"

There was a flash as the technique activated, bestowing all areas within the tower with one rule: "No contact with foreign liquid." Luckily, nobody would be in the tower because of its sudden appearance, but anyone entering it by some means would find it impossible to come within a meter of the orb of water. Thereafter, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Lucas decided to start training in a technique. he'd snuck a few away with him and pulled them out to see what they were. the first one he looked at was called xinyi liuhe quan. and from a brief skim he figured it would be a very useful one to master. he sat down and began to read through the first stage.

The elevator, having returned to the surface, came screaming down at a nearly impossible rate, before gradually decreasing and barely halting at the last floor. "LUCAS!" Al exclaimed, looking about. As the rumbling grew louder, he mentally examined the walls, then shrugged and smashed in a random button, praying it would do SOMETHING to get his attention.

((Going to get this out of the way right here and now...))

The button did absolutely nothing. In fact, none of the buttons did anything, especially the ones in the halls because there were none there to begin with. At any rate, the facility's power shut down a moment after the roar as the creature's struggling caused it to break free from its confinement. Deep within the facility, a monster had been freed and was looking to escape.