Mind and Body[Training]

[Body Manip D -> C]

Desolation. The wasted and battle scarred lands between Reim and Heliohapt had seen an ocean of blood shed onto the dusty earth over the years. When the two countries reach a point of conflict the grounds are filled with soldiers and cries for battle. But now there was peace and silence reigned over the place known as the Battle of a Thousand Swords. There was only to breeze, the ground, and bits of rusted junk that had been left behind and failed to get scavenged before losing its value.

There was little reason to come here in times of peace for most people. But for Zion, that very fact gave him reason to be present. His time in Reim made it clear that Zion's progress in controlling his body still needed a lot of work. For short durations he could manipulate his form, but it was inconvenient for comfortably strolling throughout town. The young magician longed for the ability to more perfectly manage his transformation to look more human.

Quiet and isolated, it was a decent place to practice. But more importantly, it was on the way to Heliohapt. Zion's next destination.

WC: 192/500

Zion walked through the remnants of carnage and found his way to the edge of the battlefield where a maze of strange rock formations rose out of the earth. The magician made his way into the meandering paths that spidered through the canyon-like rock formations. Confident that he wouldn't be easily discovered here, Zion carefully removed his makeshift cloak and let out a groan of relief as his fox ears and tails emerged. It felt good to relax his tensed body and let the foxly features display naturally. Alas, Zion could only let himself indulge in relaxation for a moment as he had come here with a purpose.

The kitsune closed his eyes and began to focus as deep slow breaths brought his body under control. His face wrinkled in slight effort as his fox ears slowly bent over and conformed to his scalp before producing hair to blend in with the rest of his head. Then a pair of growths formed, one on either side of his head. The small growths were like flower buds which soon bloomed open into what appeared to be normal ears. Meanwhile, the nine flowing tails behind Zion started to shrink in size until they gradually flattened against the base of his back. Each minute which passed caused the strain and effort on Zion's face to slowly intensify. But the doll held firm and focused all his willpower and thought towards persevering.

"Phwaaaaa!"

Eventually the kitsune just couldn't hold it any longer. Both ears and tails alike poofed back outwards into their full sprawl once more as the magician let out a huge breath. Zion's tails and ears felt like they had fallen asleep after being forced into suppression for so long and they were full of numbness save only for an unpleasant pins and needles sensation. He grimaced at the thought of going through that every time and hoped that thins would improve with training.

Giving his fox exclusive features time to rest and recuperate, Zion turned his attention towards and aspect he had used to help hide his ears. Hair growth was something which Zion initially felt was useless for much other than disguising himself. However, after giving it more thought he realized that if properly trained it could be a useful skill. Especially if he could learn to control the movement and growth of the hair. Right now it was like an untrained muscle, but Zion could feel and sense from the hair growth he had done so far that it was possible to reach such heights. The youth spent several hours experimenting with producing more hair from his head and even on other parts of his body.

Once the rate of hair growth started to slow, Zion realized that he was starving so he stopped to consume a meal and replenish some of the lost mineral and nutrients used up by the days training. After a quick lunch, Zion spend the rest of the day messing around with another idea he had which was to apply the same shrinking and stretching his tails could undergo with his arms and legs. It was different from his strength tuning which used magic to increase the size of his body. If Zion could master his magical body then there would be no need to use spells  as often and precious magoi could be conserved. After his contest with Caelus, Zion became painfully aware of how quickly he could burn up his reserves after all. He couldn't rely so much on magic all the time.

Zion secluded himself in the badlands for three weeks until he ran out of food. The entire time he rotated between the three focuses of manipulation he'd pursued on the first day. Controlling the appearance for disguise, growing hair at will and commanding its movements, as well as a method to stretch and grow the limbs. The Storm Kitsune transformation Zion received seemed receptive to these shape shifting abilities and though they were not easy to perform at first, his efforts bore fruit.

---

An outpost stood on the edge of the desert leading to Heliohapt as a waystation for travelers to make last minute preparations before crossing the dangerous lands. In walked a middle aged looking man with long raven black hair dressed in Kou robes. "I'd like to stock up on supplies, I plan to cross the desert and reach Heliohapt." The traveler said as he placed payment on the counter. Zion Koval had emerged from his seclusion disguised as a middle aged man slightly taller than before. All three aspects were displayed at once as Zion hid his fox features and took it a step further to warp his fair skin to appear older. His hair had not only been grown out to include some facial hair, but the pigment had been changed as well. Perhaps least effective was the limb stretching as his proportions did look somewhat unnatural, but it wasn't too drastic to stand out terribly.

Satisfied with his results, Zion felt ready to walk among people again without fear of exposing himself too easily.

[Body Manip D->C: 500+/500]