The sunlight shown overhead, and the boy lie there under the tree, with crimson stains in his clothes. He definitely wasn't healing at a fast pace due to strain, but such a thing didn't bother him. His eyes were beginning to open once again, but sheer lack of energy kept his eyes closing and allowing him to enter the dream scape once again. Only when a boot kicked him in the leg did his eyes pop open. The bright light from beyond the trees made Erebus cover his face, and he was surprised to see a man in front of him.

It was Kaidou, the southern star. Stories were told, but Erebus never thought he'd meet him in person. He struggled to stand up. Buckling from previous battle wounds. The man with white hair was muscular beyond the average, and peered at his new student with content. The potential leaking off of Strategist was exceptional. This would be his legacy, his blood-luster. The boy who showed derangement and hunger...His style would be the Nova's and they would be master and apprentice here forth. With a grunt, the man tilted his head and spat to the side. No introductions were needed.

Names were already known between the two. Kaidou's through rumor... Strategist through the tournament. "You got my letter I guess, good. The sword is feeble to the fist. You'll learn that soon enough, granted, you become what I hope you will be. Kick that hilt to the side. Raise your fists and watch me..." The man said, entering his combat style. Kaidou sighed out loud, as his body loosened and tightened. The Death Cutter stance had been taken.

In a fully upright stance, Kaidou stands with the legs shoulder-width apart and the right foot a half-step in front of the left. Both feet are parallel, and the right heel is off the ground. The left fist is held vertically about a few centimeters in front of the face at eye level. The right fist is held beside the chin and the elbow tucked against the ribcage to protect the body. The chin is tucked into the chest to avoid punches to the jaw which commonly cause knock-outs and is often kept slightly off-center. Wrists are slightly bent to avoid damage when punching and the elbows are kept tucked in to protect the ribcage. The stance allows the user to attack and move while upholding it.

The boy watched, emulating the stance to the best of his abilities. He messed up in places, but had plenty of time to fix it after taking a few quick, but lightened jabs to the face and chest. Staggering against the tree, the cat gritted it's teeth and held up two fists. He practiced the method for hours, seeming to absorb all of the damage, but very little of the style itself due to them not talking much. "How do I know this is working?"

The neko replied in disdain, holding his form together to brace for impact. With every slam of the  fist, the dark one learned discipline. He learned pain, he learned strength, and he embraced the art in a masochistic way. Pretty soon he felt his body growing to tolerate the jabs. They pushed his anger over the edge. His blood-lust. He was a new kind of man. Or rather, person, since being human no longer applied to him anymore. He had changed recently; while he still needed to grow a custom to the magics used on him, he remembered the event vividly. His eyes gazing into the cascading hands which punished him. All the while he zoned out. Remembering what happened after he tried to pike Celeste the other day.

It had all began right after that actuallu, he was walking when a small white cat walked in front of him. For anyone who knew Erebus well, he was no fan of animals, they were fans of him sadly. He kicked the little bastard as it came to pur on his foot and soon after. It struggled up to it's four feet, hissed and transformed into a naked woman wearing a witch's hat. The girl sent out some insults that Erebus couldn't quite remember due to his wandering eyes. By that time, she gave one of those feline-like smirks and a wand materialized into her palms. She aimed and shot the boy. Sending him into a whirlwind that ended him up in Nekomatana. There he was taken in cuffs before the Neko Oracle. Unable to change his mind about cats-- the oracle decided to take his humanity away and make him one. Now he was to walk the earth a cat forever.

It was kinda bad, but there were some good qualities to it. For instance; he was much faster, ambidextrous, and had some other passives. Ones' he hadn't even learned about just yet. In fact, he barely knew he was faster if at all just yet; other than the fact he saw things in a delayed manner now that he was paying attention. This kind of bonus was a handy one. Giving him more ample time to react in a battle. However to the Southern Star, even now he was failing to cover some of his body. (80 Speed) He was just taking in the damage at an alarming rate; struggling to defend. Even slowed down and softened, Erebus fell under the Nova. He'd need to grow much stronger in order to conquer these trials if they were to grow more difficult...

"Keep your arms up, move with your feet. See the opponent's broken defense. Soon you will be learning to swing like this. Absorb all of the information I give to you, understood?"

"Mm.. Yeah. Affirmative."

The two pressed their training on, what started at morning was now becoming late evening. The boy was hungry, but Kaidou didn't appear to budge much. He was resolute and focused. Something the young cat would need to learn if he ever intended on excelling in this fighting style. After taking whopping amounts of blows to the body. Erebus coughed blood. He had felt his arteries being hammered into this whole time, soft hits like this shouldn't have hurt him so bad. But it wasn't the severity of the punches. But the techniques manipulated by it's bearer that was damaging his frontal organs.

"Enough Kaidou, I can't breathe..." -- The boy finally managed, through sheer grit of tooth. He despised fighting a battle in which he was taking a beating. He was losing his patience.

To answer this frustration, Kaidou smirked and began upping the speed and intensity so that he was able to cause the student to cry out upon taking a lash to the lower abdomen. The dark adventurer was losing his patience. He had remained stalwart. But this was getting unreal. His mind was drowning in aggravation. Finally, the defensive broke. He was moving onto the offensive

Strategist's body hardened in stance, sending out a rapid jab which was sidestepped by Kaidou. The two had traded places, and an excited look of thrill shown across the Nova. He had done it, pressing the buttons of a student to make him closer to a warrior by all accounts. The cat's eyes were white like another being was in control. He moved against the punches that were sent, and the two competed their style into the other's head and body. Granted though-- that Kaidou was much more powerful, and only took the lighter hits. All but eating the shock damage that his little apprentice was trying to thrust out.  

"Good... Good... feed your rage. Fuel your lust for blood. We get our powers from the damage we deal and the life we take. Death Cutter, the style in which you have been taken under. Use it's stance to eradicate anyone who enters the ring with you. Manipulate the power Strategist, manipulate the flow of battle."

Clashing faster the two grunted, and swerved hard hay-makers and jabs. Their feet slid and pressed against the ground. Each doing impressively well. Then, out of no where a hard left hook landed and Kaidou stepped backwards. Nodding in approval. The air around them got heavier. When the man came in swinging a second time, his skill had jumped in at 50%, much stronger than how much he was at, instead of holding back as much as before. The damage alone was too much to bare, blocking only hurt the bone. The older warrior put the cat against the tree now and crushed down on him with massive strength. Destroying whatever defense was left there before. In the time frame to pass... Erebus lost connection with reality. Blanking out and coming in to see massive strikes bludgeon his face.

He grinned through the pain. His master grinned too, and let off. Only for Erebus to drop against the tree. Defeated. "You're something else I gotta say... I thought the rumors were urban legend." Erebus managed through a swollen lip. He breathed heavily. As if fighting for life, Kaidou only stretched his arms and turned around. "... As my legacy you'll address me as Master or Sensei. You did well to learn our stance, I was surprised when we got to have that bout at the end. I'll be seeing you again soon." The man made off, as Erebus's eyes faintly closed and he passed out. Exhausted and damaged beyond typical repair. In his sleep he'd relive the training. Having adopted the stance in as his main and physical form of fighting style from here out.


1610+/1600