"Now, if you don't like this present, Little Nimbus." Your Father was already ready to change his mind and give you something else, "Just know that it's not a done deal. I can still go buy you something better. I had picked out a lovely robe." He seemed a little upset that your Brother had told him you wouldn't want the fancy robe that he'd picked out. And you were suddenly very certain that it was mostly your Dad who had picked that out - he always cared a lot about appearances. Even as his became a bit rounder. "But your Brother insisted..." He rolled his eyes as he remembered Tama's antics.
And as you opened your eyes, you saw it - a free pass to skip work for two weeks, not made out to your name. But made out to Tama's. And your eyes grow wide and light up, "Two weeks!?" You were practically bouncing up and down - your Brother never had enough time for you. It seemed like whenever you weren't in school, he was working - and that meant you mostly only saw him between jobs or after he'd already exhausted himself working all day long. "Reaaally?" You almost thought you were being joked with, because while it may seem like a small thing to many people - time with your brother was invaluable to you.
A shake of the head and another rumbling chuckle from your Father, "You're going to make me feel like you'd prefer time with your Brother over time with your old man, Nimbus." He didn't look hurt at all, as he patted your head gently, "I get it. I can't let you go diving off cliffs, after all." How did your Father know about that - your face paled as your eyes widened for a different reason than before, "Aha. No, no. I did not know about that." His rumbling voice echoed through you as he held out one of his huge hands, a poultice for preventing infection in it, "I simply saw your arm, and guessed. You are not the only one who can puzzle out things." People who were mean might call your dad Stupid, because he couldn't script, or soulsmith, or any of the other family tasks. But he wasn't stupid. He was just different.
"I got distracted... everything looks so cool." You opened your eyes up to see the view of your home once more, now that everything's aura reflected off everything. Earth aura surrounded you on all sides - but somehow, it wasn't oppressive. Small treasures that you'd thought of as decorations now gave off little bits of other auras, lightening the view of your home through your copper sight. "But it's fine! Tama caught me!" You didn't want to apply the medicine. Because it burnt, and hurt, and smelled gross. And you hardly wanted that on the day of your Copper-Birth.
Your dad gave you a level stare that spoke a lot - standing still for long enough that his Goldsigns of a creeping fog that seemed to come out of his skin began to actually begin obscuring his features - usually his voice consistently kept the goldsign at bay, "Lōkahi." He didn't use your given name unless he really meant it, and when it rumbled out you knew that you weren't going to be able to leave until you applied it.
So you grimaced and did so, your Father walking you through instructions on how to take care of the wound as you did it. He had always seen every moment as a teaching moment. And luckily, you didn't dislike learning everything you could.
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For the Soft-Storm family, 'waking up' was an early thing. Every. Single. Day. You, your parents, your brother, your cousins, your cousins kids, every Soft-Storm or Soft-Storm associated family with Cloud as part of their Path - nearly a hundred in total. This was because the fog came in densest in the hours before dawn - the entirety of the islands enveloped by the dense fog that blew in from offshore. The peaks of the pillar-islands were prepared for this, and for the first time, you joined your immediate family as they sat in the freezing open air, the soft breeze and extreme wetness making you shiver as you sat there. But focus was important, and as everyone else did, you breathed in the fog and its aura.
Those in the family whose aspects were not purely Cloud carried along their natural treasures or other sources of unrelated Aura - one pillar in particular was popularly known as the Pillar of Smoke, for those who walked the Path of Tamed Smoke, a Cloud/Fire path that was very popular with those who worked the forges and specialized in Soulsmithed weaponry. They lit large bonfires in the hours before the fog rolled in, mixing fire, smoke, and cloud into one. They often left morning cultivation practice covered in soot.
You would sit like this for the first three hours of your day now - no longer were you a child who could sleep in, whose cultivation could be done at any time of day, as you created a denser, stronger core capable of taking on Aura and converting it into Cloud Madra. Many children fidgeted, grew bored, or left before the full time had passed - even your Brother rarely stayed for the entire three hours, or would arrive late. But you were not most children, as you breathed in the Aura you instead focused entirely on your breaths. Your Mother, Father, and Brother had all taught you the basics of your family's breathing pattern, of how to circulate. Breathing in fog wasn't like breathing in air - but worse than that, breathing in Aura wasn't like breathing in either. So you drew the aura inward, trying to tie the bits of cloud to your dense Pure core.
But it wasn't that simple - your family had their own quirks as well - your Mother would breath in sharper every ten breaths, claiming it sharpened her madra allowing her better control, your Father would fully exhale his lungs every five minutes, claiming it allowed him to absorb more purely, and your Brother had found his own method which relied on his Enforcement technique, and breathing in time with the way it moved, further pushing the technique into his very Core. A part of you wanted to try those methods, but you knew that mastery came from the start. Playing around wasn't what had gotten you to being the youngest Copper in the family in a hundred years. It was listening to what you were told, and knowing when to make changes and when not to. Now was not the time to make the change.
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After familial cultivation time came everyone splitting off - every family had different ways they started their days. Your Mother and Father remained up, eating their breakfast before heading to work, your Mother on crafting some of the finest works of Soulsmithing in the Isles, and your Father working with the various Soft-Storm branches on incomes, earnings, and negotiations for maintenance routines. Usually your Brother would head to work too, and begin doing the daily checks of his assigned bridges, platforms, and other public works devices. But now instead, he lazed about, staring at the ceiling as the two of you finished breakfast. "So, how's it feel to finally really be a Sacred Artist?" Was his first question.
You could have said something simple - that it was exciting, that you couldn't wait to be able to be as strong as him, that you were going to be the best ever. But ever since you'd touched the fog, and made its Cloud Aura part of you, you couldn't help but feel... different, "It's freeing." You said it gently, as you felt your core, "No, not freeing... it's gentle and free but it's not being free it's..." You hesitate to find the words, your Brother's eyes still upon you as he lets you finish your thoughts, "It's finding a shape, not living without a shape. It's different from Earth, but also from Wind, and it's not as wild as Water. It's..." You can't find a good word for it, even though you can feel it "different."
"Wow." Your Brother claps softly as you say all that, "When Mom asked me that question the day of my first cultivation cycle with the family, you know what I said?" You pause, waiting for it, and then he shrugs as he suddenly sits, up, "I don't remember. But it wasn't nearly as good as that." He flicks a little wrapped salt-water treat to you, a candy for a good answer - something that made you like Tama's lessons more than Mom or Dad's, "The key to Cloud is to remember that, like scripts, their Shape is their Use." He suddenly forged a cloud under one of his hands, pushing up against it to fully stand up, "I can use Clouds to block blows, to create footholds, to nearly fly, I can draw in aura to create inescapable fogs, or I can fill my body with the aspect of a cloud to become more like it." He listed off a bunch of uses all at once, "That being said, Cloud isn't great for everything. Our Path doesn't have any proper Striker techniques, because Cloud is too Gentle to Strike on its own. But I'll teach you all of the family's other techniques with this time we've got. And maybe give you a few tips and tricks." He gave you a conspiratorial wink.
"I know you've already pulled the basics of the Gentle Cloud's Connection technique from watching us. So why don't you explain a bit about it to me, and I'll see what I need to add?" He looks genuinely interested in your take - this was his Specialty technique, the one that was his claim to fame if he had any fame beyond being friendly. He'd mastered it beyond what most of the Golds in your family bothered to, and he was only a Jade.
"Well, I've never used it with Cloud... but... uhm, the idea is that you uh, incorporate the gentleness of a cloud rolling across the sky into your body. And it uhm, steadies you, helps you control your own movement, and makes certain you never slip or make a mistake. Right?" Even using it with Pure madra, it steadied your hand, though you couldn't call it a perfect emulation with what you knew. However, you let the technique wash over you, as you channeled some of the Cloud you gathered this morning from your core, letting it roll out through your whole body. All of your little tics, taps, shakes, and unconcious movements stopping in an instant as you did so, becoming dead still except for as you willed yourself to move, "We use it to keep a steady hand when working with scripts, since scripts need fine work without mistake, or you can create something inneffective or worse."
"That's a good assessment - and a better demonstration. I find it unnerves people if you don't move a little while using it, so if you ever find yourself pursuing my path of constant Enforcement, maybe try to remember to introduce some of those." Your Brother slipped in that bit of knowledge that went right over your head, as he grinned at you, "That is to say, that is the most basic technique of our Path, and why we all learn it. But it also has a myriad of other uses." As if to show you this, he moved over to where his weapon lay, kicking it against the wall in such a way that it bounced upwards out of the weapon rack, the handle of the sword landing in his hand without him making a single movement outside of the kicking.
"Oooh!" You exclaimed at his little parlor trick.
"Exactly!" He puffs up, seeming proud of himself, "If you have perfect control over yourself, you can learn to do things that people consider impossible. I could look at my sword, remember how it moves, and kick it up and out of its stand without effort, because I trusted myself." He preens under the attention of his little brother, waving his sword around a few times, "But I also have another trick -" He brought his own sword down on his arm, in what should be a bloody and violent display. And you close your eyes. "I'm not gonna maim myself around my kid brother, silly." He called you out on it.
You opened your eyes to find him whacking his arm over and over again with the sword, "You see, most of us see the GCC - Gentle Cloud's Connection -" He winked as he said that, "As our control over our own body, and what can happen with it. But what if we apply that gentleness to everything we touch? If you punch a cloud, it's just a cloud." He smacks himself again with the sword to display, not a single mark on him, "It's all about controlling yourself, but from a different angle, you know?"
You didn't know. How did fine tuned coordination become turning your skin resistant to a blade? "What?" You had seen your Brother use his technique through your whole life, to do all manner of things - catching you as you fell the least amongst them. But you hadn't seen him fight ever.
"That's the lesson I wanted to teach!" He grinned as you looked confused, "Don't be trapped in your own logic. You're smart, and you like to puzzle things out. But that doesn't mean what you puzzle out is always the only thing that can be puzzled out of it." He patted you on the head, spinning his sword idly in the other hand, the motion perfectly synced to itself, never a milisecond faster or slower than the spin before, "Being a Sacred Artist and being a Scripter can sometimes seem at odds - scripts work in logical ways, defined by strict rules. Sacred Arts... can, or can not. And expecting something to obey a certain rule? Means when it bends from that, you're the one who gets hurt."
"Now then," He tossed his sword behind himself, and it not only perfectly righted itself, but it slid into the floor mounted weapons rack as if he had pressed it cleanly in. Without him even looking at it, "Over these two weeks, I'm going to teach you all of our Path's base techniques. You might make your own when you're older, or you might alter them like I did mine. But they're good to know." He sat like a frog, inviting you down with him, "I know you're used to getting things in just a few tries. But don't be surprised if it takes awhile."
"Maybe for you!" You grinned cheekily as he said that - you were a genius after all. In multiple ways! You had learned the basic Enforcement technique without even having copper sight to see Aura properly! "But I'll probably get them all in an afternoon!" Even standing up you were barely taller than your sitting brother, who just shook his head.
"Just don't be discouraged. Our first Technique is going to be what I consider the second easiest. It has a few different names, depending on how people want to use it - I call it the Free Floating Footing technique, but when I learned it Dad called it the 'Construction of Rolling Skys'. It's the more basic of our Family's Forger techniques, and the closest thing Dad has to a specialty." He holds out his hand, and a few instants later he Forges a complete cloud at the end of his hand, "You utilize this to shape and maintain a cloud, but - well, punch it."
"Huh?" You ask, but you still do it. Punching the cloud as hard as you can, it's soft like a pillow, and yet it doesn't move.
"Now keep going." His eyes light up a little in amusement at your little punches, "Maybe twenty or thirty more times."
That doesn't sound very fun - but you were dedicated to learning this. So you punched. And punched. And fifty punches later, the cloud lost its shape and disappeared, to your Brother's concern, "Oof, yeah, sorry, overestimated your strength a bit there. It's fine. Anyways, this technique can be used a lot of different ways. The most obvious is shields. But I use it to keep up with Lani." He grins as he namedrops one of his friends, "You dont have to Forge with your hands, you know." You look down, and notice that two more clouds exist between his frog-posed feet, "This might be a useful technique for you, since you like to throw yourself off cliffs."
"I don't throw myself off cliffs!" You throw your hands up at your chuckling brother, but your little punches do less than nothing as you rage at him.
"Just ten million more punches and I'll be felled! Oh no!" He jokes as he lets himself fall backwards, a forged cloud catching his head before it hit the ground - though even you realize he wouldn't have hit the floor with his head unless he wanted to, with his Enforcement technique. And even if it did, would it hurt? Was he just showing off the technique again, by making it Forge out of his head? "Yes, I am."
"Huh?" You opened your eyes wide as he said that, a little smirk on his face as he looked up at the ceiling again.
"You were wondering why I went through the effort of Forging another Cloud, right? It was because I wanted to demonstrate again, yes." Could he read your mind? "Now, this is the hard part of this technique - you need to imagine a cloud that is thick and you need to manifest it. You need to keep it in place with your willpower, and link it into a self sustaining solid cloud. Dad describes it as 'beating it into submission', but I prefer to think of it as 'convincing it to behave'. I'm sure you'll find your own way."
You close your eyes, and imagine a cloud. A cloud that is bound together tightly, like it's within a bound rope. A cloud bound in rope that can deflect swords. And as you focus on that, you try to push that image into the cloud madra you are slowly circulating through your body. And then you push it out, using your hands as part of the image.
And a little wisp of fog floats away, a Forged cloud that dissipated in an instant under the conditions of your home. And you furrowed your brow.
"Like I said. It's not simple. Don't feel discouraged. Just keep trying." Your Brother tossed a little grain of sand in the air as he let you practice, catching it and tossing it again each time it fell, "We've got plenty of time."
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You do not successfully manifest a solid enough cloud to name it as a success before your core runs dry. Which forces your Brother to relocate you both - towards one of the edge Pillars. "It'd be easier to just use Scales." Your Brother explained to you, as you walked together across the cloud bridges that made you feel proud of your family's contributions every time you stepped on them, "But we're not made of money. And apparently all three of our Uncles decided to band together and charge top dollar to borrow one of our cousins to fill in for me."
Luckily, your family lived close to those ones - the most Central pillars belonging to the Spire-Carvers and Heart-Menders, whilst the Swift-Stride and Depth-Watchers held the ones further out for their families and those related to them. Your family's pillars lay closer to the edges of the Pillar-chain known as the Salted Spires, but even as Cloud cultivators you were unwilling to live within the fog that was lightly present at all times at the edge of the islands.
These Spires were home to Outcastes who had no pledged to a family, or those who had left their family in less than positive ways. Most Outcastes had done nothing wrong - they simply had sailed into the islands on driftwood with tales of a family that did not arrive with them. Somehow, every Outcaste was at most a Jade - but some being younger children at the Copper rank, and between. Never had a Gold entered your home from the Outside. Nor had any Gold who left for these far off lands returned.
"Tama!" A few of the children amongst the Outcastes cheered as he showed his face on the slightly foggy island, "Did you bring snacks?" Very few people went hungry on the Salted Spires. But that didn't mean they ate well either. Most of these kids were probably two years your senior, but one seemed your age - and still at Foundation most likely. The children who swarmed your Brother seemed to know him, and he slipped a hand into his robe's arm.
"Hmm, one, two, three, four... Yeah, I think I have enough for all of you." He suddenly tossed the candies into the air - and they came down perfectly on top of each of the kid's heads, which made them alight in a giggle. "This is my Brother, Lōkahi that I've told you about. He hit Copper yesterday, so I'm teaching him." The mood seemed to shift as that was mentioned, "This here are Ali, Bojing, Taha, and hey, Aning here is actually your age."
"Lōkahi Soft-Storm." You bow stiffly to the Outcaste children, Aning the only one who seems to regard you with curiousity instead of... something else. The girl has bright golden hair, and equally bright eyes, which make it obvious she is not one of the native families.
"Aning." She says it softly. Her voice barely above a whisper.
"Lets leave Tama to his brother then." The oldest of them, the boy named Bojing, took control swiftly, directing them away.
"I didn't know you were giving candy to all sorts of kids..." You frowned as you said that, watching the Outcastes go. Tama giving you a little hit to the side of the head as you do.
"Those are good kids, who lost their parents and somehow ended up trapped here. Don't be a jerk." For once, he seemed actually a little upset with you, "If you're going to be a genius, you have to at least be a kind one. Or I'll have to kick your butt."
You rubbed the side of your yeah, "I mean, they could just... join one of the branches. People only live out here because they want to." You've been to school long enough to know about Outcastes. And Outcastes either chose their lot in life, or deserved it - that's what all your teachers had said. "Even Mom and Dad could find them a job if they came and asked."
"Sure, they could." Tama shook his head, as he started to pull you up the less-well maintained Pillar, one of his hands holding yours as he guided you, "If they wanted to give up everything they have left of their Family. Ali's on a Dream and Ice path from her family, Bojing's family practiced a Life and Poison path, and Taha's a path of Shadow and Sword." Tama gave you the lesson on society as he guided you to where you could learn your lesson on Techniques. "And if they gave up their Paths, they could learn our Family's, or the fisher's, or the healer's, or the carver's, and they'd live a little more comfortably. But that's all they have of their parents. Some kids are willing to give that up - it's hard to grow when you've got no one to teach you. But some kids are sentimental like that. Would you give up our Family's path for comfort? I mean, the Spire-Carvers are tougher. And the Depth-Watchers stronger. And the Swift-Striders are more agile. Wouldn't those make you comfortable?"
"Of course not. I'm a Soft-Storm. Not any of those!" You furrowed your brow - you might change the Path, one day, like everyone did. But you would always be a Cloud artist, and always part of your Family, "That's why I want to learn all these techniques! So I can be part of the family!" You didn't fully get it, but you... kind of did. Death was a weird concept.
"Exactly. So stop being a little asshole to the Outcastes. We have enough of those." Your Brother paused for one... two... three seconds, "And don't repeat that word."
"Don't be an asshole." You nod as you say the exact word you're not meant to mimic. Prompting him to pick you up and shake you lightly by your arm. Making you scream-laugh as he does so.
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It took the rest of the day as you found a quiet patch away from most of the 'lived in' section of this edge Pillar, so that you could alternate between cycling the fog in the air and practicing your technque - but you finally managed to create a fist sized cloud that didn't disappear instantly. You even managed to press a finger into it - hard - and not break it. Though when you punched it, it shattered pretty easily. It had been a pretty exhausting exercise - both mentally and physically, you felt drained.
"Good job." Your Brother hoisted you up onto his shoulder, "One success is good enough for today. I was gonna cut you off fifteen minutes ago, but I could tell you were getting close. And trying to sleep on a failure sucks. I know from experience." He tosses another candy up at you, and you stick it in your mouth quickly, savoring the taste. The food he'd brought with you both had not been particularly tasty - Tama was many things, but a cook was not one of them.
"Clouds suck." You mumble, after spending a full day trying to wrestle clouds into keeping a shape.
"And that's one of the easier ones too!" Tama kept that eternal grin up, as he told you that. But you could only groan.
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It only took a couple of hours for you to be able to Forge the clouds more consistently. Which meant 'above half of the time you tried' - which was good enough for Tama, "Keep practicing in your own time. My rule of thumb is a half hour of dedicated practice a day keeps the rust off. If you get into fighting a few hours will keep it off most of your techniques. Same with if you get into Aqua-Rush when you're a bit older." You've gone back over to the edge-pillar already, because your Brother said it would be easier to practice the next technique there.
"Next, we're going to be practicing a technique you probably don't have the power to fully pull off. But you'll be able to show some results, and get the basics down." He gave a thumbs up, "This is a Ruler technique known as the 'All Encompassing Cloud Cover' - and it's the art of making everyone around you unable to see." As he demonstrates it, the light fog that always envelops the edge pillars becomes thicker, and soon enough as he channels his technique, it becomes so thick that you cannot see your own hands when you stretch them away from your body. "Unlike what people think, this technique doesn't innately let us see in it any better than anyone else inside of it. So it's more useful to avoid a fight than to ambush someone."
The fog begins to thin again, "And of course, we can also use the same technique to reverse the direction we are moving the cloud aura. That spreads it away from our body. Not super useful in a fight, but it can be useful for exploration. And for keeping things drier."
It is mind numbing to practice a technique you barely have enough madra to see the hints of. But your Brother insisted you practice it even before your madra core had fully filled with Cloud, despite the difficulties. And you knew he wouldn't do it just to watch you fail. So you rinsed and repeated. Practicing to your limit each day slowly but surely building your stamina - and pushing your core's madra capacity as you filled, emptied, refilled, and emptied.
-------
And so... three days after you first started practicing the Ruler technique, you had managed to maintain a fog almost perfectly around your body. Which didn't really conceal anything, because you were clearly within the tiny fog. But your Brother was satisfied enough. "Good! I knew that'd work." His expression tells you that he wasn't as sure as he made it out to be. "Your Core's like a muscle. You gotta use it to grow it. Or, well, get a Refiner to make you a fancy pill or something. That also works for muscles." He shrugs as he says that.
"Anyways, our next technique's... you got it! Another Ruler technique!" He gives a thumbs up, "And it's the technique I'm most worried about teaching you, so keep close to me and don't stray!" He reaches out, but where before he spread his arms wide for the technique, drawing in the cloud aura, now you can watch the Ruler technique drawing it all towards a single point in front of where he is pointing, "This technique is, technically, only barely a Cloud technique." He speaks as he channels it, all of the cloud condensing above the water just off the cliff. The fog turning into a soft white cloud, which continues to condense into a grey cloud, which soon turns a deep forboding black. It takes almost a minute for the formation of the cloud, "This 'Unleashing of the Storm'." He says it just seconds before the cloud crackles and strikes down with a horrifying lightning strike. The boom alone enough to make your ears ring from how close you were to the thunder clap. Below you, fish begin to rise to the surface of the water that was just struck, killed instantly by the powerful lightning blast.
He winced himself, shaking his head, "Yeah, not a fan of that one. The principle is pretty simple though. Condense Cloud Aura enough that it rages against the bonds you've forced on it, and it becomes a Storm. The problem is that it's hard to manipulate a Storm with a Cloud, so you better have good aim at where you make it." He cracked his neck afterwards, the storm cloud letting out another couple of lightning blasts at the water below, before beginning to dissipate, "This technique will kill a man, Lōkahi. Not just a child, but a man. I've witnessed it used only once on a living being , when our Uncle utilized it against the great Water Tyrant when I was ten years old. Despite being barely into Gold, his Unleashing of the Storm tore apart a beast of Highgold." He was deathly serious for once, as he told you this story, "This technique takes time and precision to manifest. But it can do terrible things."
The idea of having that power in your hands was tempting. You didn't have enemies persay, but who hadn't dreamed of being the strongest? Who hadn't dreamed of being the Jade who topples a Gold, or the Lowgold who topples a Truegold? How had you never seen this technique before? "Why don't Mom or Dad use it?" You had seen them fight a handful of times, when spirit beasts slipped past the Swift-Step perimeters. But you'd never seen anything like this power.
"Because not everyone learns the Sacred Arts in order to kill." Your Brother said it simply, "And the only use for that technique is to do just that. And now you're going to learn it. Because I'd hate nothing more than for you to discover it on your own, without knowing the risks."
-----
Your brother hovered much more closely for this technique, as you tried to condense fog into cloud into raincloud into stormcloud. And then you realized - you'd done this before, in part. You could use what you'd learned in the days before, and push it all to congregate into a single place, rather than to spread around you - except that the one time you tried to use that logic, your Brother hit you over the head hard enough to make it spin, "You fool. All Encompassing Cloud Cover uses you as the focal point of the technique. If you try to use the same concept for Unleashing the Storm..."
Your eyes widen, as you realize, "I would create a Storm either inside of myself, or above me. And probably hit myself with Lightning." You were so proud of putting together a puzzle on how to cheat and be better at Unleashing of the Storm that you didn't think of that. You just wanted to succeed.
"I prefer my brother not being toasted. And I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad would literally kill me if you killed yourself here." He smiled and ruffled your hair, "Sorry for smacking you that hard. Bit of a panic response when I saw imminent death as a possibility."
"I wont use it like that again!" You hold a hand up to your heart, bowing as you make the promise to him.
-----
Four days later, eight days into your time with your Brother, you got as close as either of you expected you'd be able to until you hit at least Iron - forming a small rain cloud before running out of Aura. But you managed to hold it there and sustain it long enough for small amounts of rain to fall from within the cloud, which basically meant that you'd managed it. With more Madra you'd be capable of compressing it more, pushing it into being the deadly technique your Brother knew it as.
"Ah, crud." Your Brother sighed as he watched the success, "Now I'm gonna have to demonstrate the technique I'm worst at, and you're going to lose all respect for your older brother." He straightens himself up, cracking his neck, "This is another Forger technique. But it's a lot more... precise than the Construction of Rolling Skies one. This is Mom's signature technique." He held up a finger... and he started to draw in the air. Small bits of cloud floating where his fingers just left, characters forming as you recognized what he was writing -
"Those are scripts!" You said it loudly, excitedly. You could read scripts better than the vast majority of the Irons in your family, and on par with where the Jades were on average. So you recognized these instantly, "You're fortifying... wait, why would you use that script?" You started to critique your brother's scripting.
"Tchtchtsh" He made a bunch of noises to shush you as he finished writign the scripts in air. And it took him more than a minute to write a simple strengthening script - the kind of thing you'd write on a hammer to make it hit with more force. Though you were pretty sure it was a fairly inefficient form of them. "Look, trying to maintain my enforcer technique, write in air while keeping my forging solid, and plan out a script on the fly isn't easy." He said it as he finished up, looking annoyed for once, "That's why I call this my least used technique. Anyways, it's called 'Proclamation In The Skies'. And it doesn't do anything on its own." He brushed a hand against the script, but nothing happened. He turned to punch a rock he was standing next to, and while he managed to put his fist into it, it was no more explosive than most other Jades could manage.
"Until you imbue the script with more Madra." You said it before he could explain it, understanding the concept behind the technique already. And he nodded, putting his arm along the length of the script, and bleeding his cloud madra into it. Suddenly the scripted words followed his fist, as he turned and punched the stone - his fist going nearly twice as deep as before.
"Excatly. This technique lets you Forge scripts out of clouds. To a lot of uses. Mom uses it to make on the fly Remnant traps, to turn wooden planks into shields capable of blocking Sword Strikes, and all manner of other things - and she does it hands free. But it's difficult and it's expensive. And more than anything, you have to be extremely good at scripting." He crossed his arms as he looked at you, "Which is why I think this technique fits you perfectly." He isn't joking, "I was hoping to pester Mom into teaching it to you, when we ran out of time. But you're better at cycling than I thought you'd be, and were refilling faster than I planned for." He kicks a piece of the broken rock off the cliff, but pride shines in his eyes. "So now I had to show you my lack of talent with it."
You run up and hug him anyways, as he puts himself down, "I still think you're the coolest!" You promise him, even after that sad display of on the fly scripting, "I mean, you made your Enforcer technique so cool! I still don't really... get it." Your brain was just too... logical for the odd justification that he used for how he figured out to make his Technique do that. But that just made it cooler.
"Hah!" Tama laughs as he pats your head, "Maybe you'll understand one day. Or not, you don't have to be like me. Actually, you shouldn't be like me. Because I need you to be better so I can get away with slacking sometimes." A thumbs up from your brother makes you laugh too.
"I'll still make you work, even when I'm in charge!" You waggled a finger at him, the same way your Mother wagged her finger when she was scolding either of you.
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Thanks to your quick cycling skill and the speed at which you had improved your madra capacity, you managed your first script for Written In The Skies only a couple of days later - it was easier than the Ruler techniques for you, though you still had to use your fingers like your brother did, and you could at most manage really basic scripts with your madra supply. But it was a fun technique, it made you feel like you were writing in air - and as expensive as it may be, it made you feel smart to pull it off. Indeed, it was good practice for when you did normal scripting - forcing you to be more succinct in your scripting.
"Well, that's all five of our Path's techniques. I really wasn't expecting you to be that fast, or to already know our Enforcer tech." Your Brother gave another salt water candy over with a flick of his wrist, it landing directly in your mouth this time as you succeeded, "And you've still got me for another four days. Which means that we can work to refine one of them." He grins as he says that, "This is a good chance for you to really surprise someone. Most of the kids your age are gonna be bigger and stronger than you - but if you pull out a well refined technique, when they're running off the basics? That might flip the script. I'd recommend mastering the GCC, but that's 'cause, well... it's what I'm best at. But it's your choice. And I personally believe firmly in mastering something you wanna keep pushing, going forward. The more you practice, the more it burns into your being."
Which technique did you want to focus on with your remaining time? How you improve it will be in the next post.
[x] A. Gentle Cloud's Connection (Enforcer) - Your brother's specialty, increases your coordination greatly, your brother's version improves his toughness and made it much more efficient.
[x] B. Construction of the Rolling Skies (Forger) - Allows you to create solid masses of cloud for defense or mobility, your father's specialty - his version creates cloud shields as large as a wall to shield many at once.
[x] C. All Encompassing Cloud Cover (Ruler) - A ruler technique that helps create or disperse fogs, allowing you to block enemy vision for all manner of uses. Does not provide vision inside of itself normally.
[x] D. Unleashing of the Storm (Ruler) - A ruler technique that condenses Cloud until it turns into a violent storm that launches lightning at those around it. Extremely long wind up. Extremely deadly.
[x] E. Proclamation in the Sky (Forger) - A forger technique focused on creating scripts out of Forged clouds, that can then be powered to create truly myriad effects by the user or others. Extremely difficult, precise control, requires scripting knowledge, expensive.
While refining your techniques with Tama, one of his friends(?) tracks him down to visit him. Who goes through the effort of finding him?
[x] 1. Merae Spire-Carver - A short, stocky girl from the Spire-Carver family shows up on the outer-Pillar one day, looking severely annoyed with Tama for something, not even noticing you.
[x] 2. Nikora Heart-Mender - A tall but extremely thin... person (you file away questions on that for later) quietly calls out to Tama as you walk through the crowds - and Tama sweeps them into a hug as greeting when he notices them.
[x] 3. Roa Depth-Watcher - A well muscled boy shows up to your training, demanding that your Brother fight him - his trident brandished and pointed to your Brother's face when he tries to ignore the black haired boy.
[x] 4. Lani Swift-Stride - A thin girl literally comes down from the sky and practically lands on Tama's shoulders, giving him a kiss to the forehead before jumping off - and literally running into you, not having noticed you practicing nearby.
[x] 5. They all show up - Comedy Harem Protagonist Shenanigans Ensue
You've gained all your family's Path techniques at basic level much earlier than you would have otherwise, thanks to Tama. You've also increased your Stamina to Copper 2, as you deepened your madra capacity through the constant cycle of practicing and cycling. This means you now have the same stamina stat as non-Sagacious starting characters/other fresh coppers who are 2-3 years older than you.
