Screaming Thunder Across The Sea[Travel/Training]

Just as he had before, Zion boldly left through the west gate in broad daylight. Last time he had been tailed but this time there were no followers in the shadows stalking Zion's departure. The magician heaved a sigh of relief as he hefted a large traveling sack of all his things and stepped off the ground into the air shortly after leaving the west gate. There were no winding roads in Zion's planned route. Since flying came effortlessly to him he would simple fly west at full speed. After all, what better way to travel than by way of the skies? That was Zion's domain, the place where the rukh of his new body felt at home.

The Storm Kitsune climbed higher and higher until his altitude ascended into the realm of the clouds. Though the air was thin, Zion took in a deep breath feeling refreshed as some of the worries holding him back fell away. Rukh danced around Zion in response to his resolve. Zion had barely spent time to rest before setting out again after his harrowing experience as a slave. But after learning of Kornel Klien, Zion couldn't sit around doing nothing. Nor could he continue his magical studies in magnostadt while Klien's power was on the rise. Previously Zion planned to go to balbadd in order to seek a ship to heliohapt, however those pursuing him already knew that. Even if he tried to stay low the risk of there being an ambush waiting for him to walk into it was too high.

This time Zion chose to travel to Reim, from there he would be able to cross the southern border and head to Heliohapt. There were surely new adventures waiting for him in Reim which Zion looked forward to, but his heart was still set on heading to one of the oldest civilizations in the world to learn more about magic and the past.

Magno to Reim: 322/400 words

There was no need to hide himself in a storm this time as Zion chose to ascend so high up that the chances of being visible as anything recognizable up close would be small.  The freedom of being kin with the rukh that form storms allowed Zion access to a unique sort of privacy. As the majestic winds blew across his body Zion could feel his rukn crying out in reunion filling him with a sensation of life and energy. The more Zion delved into this feeling of oneness with the storm rukh around him, the more static and wind surged in the air surrounding him. Suddenly Zion’ts body shifted into lightning which swiftly took the shape of a fox as it shot across the sky. The overwhelming sensation was intense but fleeting however and in just a short moment it passed. The azure fox of lightning abruptly stopped and resumed the shape of Zions physical body.

The foxdoll sucked in a deep breath of surprise as he realized there was still more to this new body of his that he was still unaware of. Did the strange power dubbed “Tunning” still work? And what were the limits of its strange features. Zion could already manage some control over his tails making them smaller and more convenient to hide, but it was uncomfortable and took constant effort. Now that he was so high in the air, Zion could relax and let his tails spread out to full size and his ears could emerge from the hair piece concealing them. Zion let out a stretch and made a comfortable growl as he let the winds carry him westward through the air. An itchy spot emerged at the base of his ear and Zion casually reached up to scratch it only to find that the area had become more sensitive. A shiver went down his spine and into each tail as he scratched the itch causing his hair to stand on end.

Since even with his speed Zion had to spend several weeks in order to cross the ocean, he decided that it was worth his time to take the time to become fully acquainted with the secrets of his new body. Zion looked to his hand and determined that his lightning fox form could deal serious damage to an opponent, but it could also be countered easily with the right preparations. Zion decided not to rely on it too much and that it would be saved for use as a hidden trump card. For the first few days of Zion’s journey he bolted across the sky as a fox made of lightning dancing back and for screeching through the air leaving booms of thunder in his wake. At first Zion could only maintain the form for a second but the deeper he focused on the feeling of being a living storm the longer lasting the lightning state became. Though Zion was unable to maintain the form all day the fruits of his labors was several minutes of constant use which was enough for it to be usable in combat for now.

Satisfied with his progress, the foxdoll turned his attention to the fluffy tails and ears his body sported now. Though they were an impressive sight to behold, they were somewhat inconvenient. But Zion had already felt some control over these new aspects. For a magician it was natural to manipulate his own magoi internally and it could extend into these new appendages. Controlling his magoi and the rukh of his body would respond. But it was a new sensation and Zion still didn’t feel comfortable manipulating them yet.  As he become more aware of them he could feel the muscles and stated to be mindful of their sensations, Zion discovered that three of his tails seemed to be somewhat different. For each of the magic types he had learned, there was a corresponding tail. At first glance there was nothing special about them, but Zion could feel that they would resonate with their magic type more strongly than the others. This interested Zion most, but he put it aside in favor of gaining better mastery over his tails and ears.

The mystical storm kitsune was a trickster by nature and disguising itself came naturally. Zion could already make the tails adjust their size and his ears practically disappear. But it was a far cry from being able to fool anybody who say him without his robes or hair piece on. There were so many new muscles Zion had never used before and it took him a few days of hard practice in order to make some real progress. His tails were now able to shink down so small they were like nine tiny hairs at the base of Zion’s spine and his ears vanished fully into his silvery hair. The sensation of stretching and shrinking the flesh was strange at first, but the more Zion practiced it the more he found that he could take it even further. Another day passed and nubs appeared on either side of Zion’s head, another day and the nubs grew into bean-like folds that took only one more day to bloom as perfectly normal looking human ears. Through a slow process of trial and error Zion made his body shift its form, change the color of his hair,  and even changed the shape of his face. But it was all like holding a look, rather uncomfortable. As soon as Zion relaxed, the changes would undo and he would pop back to his original appearance rather abruptly.

The power was far from mastered, but Zion could see that he was able to take it further with more practice. The assassin Zafar had mentioned to him that it was possible to manipulate one’s body. Zion saw for himself those holes in Zafar’s arms and the insects that came flying out of them. According to Zafar, attaining those holes that could hose insects was a very painful experience. Thinking of this, Zion was grateful that for this body it only required some mild discomfort to get what he was after. The painful procedures needed to carve chambers into your own body were still far on the list of priorities for the foxdoll. But he was grateful to have heard a bit about it from Zafar as he would never have even thought to step onto this path were it not for the former killer’s insight on the matter.

Body Manip Secondary: 1081/2000

As Zion sped through the air practicing the motions of shifting his hair length and color, fatigue from days of flight began to wear on him. Every time Zion found a small island jutting out of the sea that looked abandoned he would swoop down and take the chance to rest. One such occasion had been a close call as Zion noticed a ship on the horizon. But the sailors either didn’t notice him descending from the cloudscape or they simply just didn’t care to investigate and sailed on leaving Zion free to rest without concern or fear. Alas, the ocean wasn’t made for the convenience of a magician crossing by way of flight and there wasn’t always an island reliably nearby. Though it didn’t require magoi for Zion to fly, he couldn’t just fall asleep in mid air as gravity would claim him the moment he stopped dancing with the rukh in the air around him. Since it still required conscious effort to fly, Zion was forced to find a place to rest. It had already been two days since he last slept and the impact it had on Zion was interfering with his ability to focus properly on his training.

Thankfully, there was a ship nearby and Zion had reached a level in his training where he should be able to put up the disguise long enough to fool some sailors. Stretching his arms out as he yawned, Zion made his hair shorter in length and turn raven black in color as his fox ears folded down and two human ears popped out from the sides of his head. The nine bushy tails receded into his backside and with a bit of effort Zion looked to be a human magician no different from any other. Just to be safe, the foxdoll went a step further and lowered his cheekbones whilst making his nose and lips thinner. Having adjusted his appearance thoroughly, Zion decided to descend upon the sailing ship with caution, even going so far as to flick his staff to perform a gravity flight spell so that the rukh around him wouldn’t be acting funny in case a magician were on board.

The ship had a number of lookouts, but their eyes and scopes were searching for ships and land, not for magicians from the sky. Zion was able to fly right up next to one completely unnoticed before giving the sailor a fright by greeting him. Despite the initial scare he gave, Zion introduced himself politely and within moments he was before the ship’s captain who seemed rather uneasy about this mysterious stranger aboard his vessel. Zion explained that he was traveling and needed a place to rest. In exchange for some good coin, he asked if it was possible to borrow a cabin for a nights rest. The captain was the only one on the ship with a room of his own, so he was inclined to deny Zion’s request. But the magician’s money was good and there was no shortage of magical weapons on his person. The thought of stealing from Zion crossed his mind, but the captain quickly banished his greed and agreed on the condition that it was only for one evening.

Zion paid the captain in full and entered the cabin, closing the door behind him. As the foxdoll obtained some privacy he let out a sigh and relaxed his muscles. The human ears shrank back to his body and the fox ears popped up as Zion’s hair grew longer and numerous tails emerged in relief as the locks turned from black to silver. It was difficult to maintain the disguise when he was so exhausted, Zion felt that he could only have lasted another few minutes and felt grateful that the captain didn’t negotiate the price of his stay further. Exhausted from his lack of sleep, Zion crashed onto the captain’s bed and covered himself in blankets drifting off into a slumber that lasted ten hours. The foxdoll didn’t wake up until the captain was banging on the door shouting that the sun had come up.

The nights rest in a bed hadn’t washed away all the fatigue of Zion’s travels, but it certainly helped him feel more refreshed. He got out of the bed with a belly full of yawns as Zion scrunched his face before slowly returning his face and features to the disguise of a black haired young man. The captain kept banging until the door finally opened and Zion stepped out past him, apologizing for having imposed upon him. Since there were no magicians on board as far as Zion could tell, he didn’t wait for the captain to reply or bother casting a gravity spell, choosing instead to simply take off into the air heading west once more. The captain was left behind frowning and grumbling to himself, already in a bad mood for sleeping down in the hull with the rest of the sailors. Zion didn’t mean to come off as arrogant or ungrateful, but he was starting to feel that he should be closer to Reim now and didn’t want to lose a single moment.

Once the ship had been left behind and out of sight, Zion released his transformation and returned to his training of the lightning form. The screams of a fox cut through the air as lightning carved a path through the sky leaving rumbles of thunder in its wake. The fox shaped bolt zig zagged across the morning sky expressing cries of joy and freedom. Crackling arcs danced across the storm kitsune’s skin as the lightning form peeled away from him leaving behind a physical body. It was refreshing to use this power freely while he could. Once Zion reached land he would need to hide this lightning state away after all. If he were to use it carelessly in front of others and relied upon it regularly, it would be too predictable and easy to counter.

After user a few more days to go over and hone all the skills he had practiced, the western continent was finally in sight!

Body Manip Secondary: 2000+/2000

As the coastline came into view, Zion searched for an unpopulated place to touch down and made his way into a small grove of trees to rest a bit before making the rest of the trip to Reim. Though Zion had arrived on the western continent and could technically just head south west to reach his final destination, one of the worlds greatest empires was just another half days flight away. Not one to miss out on such an opportunity, after recovering in the grove Zion set out flying through the air once more. This time he reached into his robes and revealed a pipe styled magic tool. Bringing the pipe to his lips Zion blew into it and a billowing storm cloud emerged to shroud the storm kitsune from view as he ascended into the sky. Flying west towards Remano, Zion eagerly awaited the sight of a grand civilization said to be even bigger than Magnostadt. The magician's city was all Zion knew of the world after all.

Magno to Reim: 400+/400 words