Improving Foundations (Solo)

Keiko noted that it was time to truly improve her skills. Not just her raw strength, but things such as her Demon Decapitation, and Thunder Thrust.... Hell, the previous battle she was in taught her the value of being able to ascend quickly. The Bronze Dragon Shifter started with improving her skill with the blade, as it was her most favored weapon! She would start with her most powerful skill, Demon Decapitation. Holding her sword in such a fashion that the tip was aimed at the neck of the opponent made it incredibly obvious where and how she was going to strike.

But also, such a method of striking also didn't allow her to put much of her power behind it. It was at least cost efficient to use, but to say she was content with so little... Of course not! Once more, she had no one to practice with, and given how deadly they were... That was for the best. She truly began to notice the gap between herself and most people living in the City. The only ones that could still give her a challenge were those in the Knights of Azeron, but they scarce had time to practice with her.

In any case, the Bronze Dragon Shifter would pull her greatsword out of it's sheath, and then move it towards her side as if holstering it at her side like a sword of more reasonable one handed length. Keiko would focus on the weak points of her target... If she aimed right, she could strike several of them at once. She could even extend the reach of her blade beyond it's normal length by empowering the fire she used with her sword. If the Dragon waited until her opponent was in the right position, and only attacked then...

Suddenly her blade would fly forward with newfound purpose and strength. The embers that surrounded her sword grew into a true flame and as soon as it impacted against the training dummy, it was practically annihilated. Keiko would smirk to herself, that was a much more effective strike... However, it also proved far more costly to used, as she had anticipated. "I'll need to be careful when using it, or I'll see myself tired out in the middle of battle... Demon Decapitation will still be useful, because of that.", Keiko commented to herself. Still, if she faced a more dangerous foe...

There was always the chance that she wouldn't be able to hold back. In such a case, she was more prepared! Keiko would take the time to rest a bit, she would need to practice it a little more, but the basic principles were down now. All she had to do was apply herself and it would be a skill added to her repertoire... In light of that, it was time to improve on the other foundations. The Bronze Dragon Shifter needed to rest a bit first, powerful as it was, that really took a lot out of her.
[Learning Serene Demon Sword [PHY-2]]


After several minutes of recollecting her stamina, she would get right back into it. Though this was meant to improve her skill, she could still grow stronger at the same time, and the only way to do that was by constantly pushing herself! Next was Thunder Thrust, the idea behind it was simple enough, a technique where she charged towards her enemy with her blade in a thrust. Though it was fast, it could be improved even more. She already made use of the wind to enhance her speed, maybe it could be applied to this art as well...

First, she would need a new target to use. Keiko would make her way over to the next training dummy. This one would likely be just as devastated as the first was. The Dragon would bring her blade into a stance, and stare down the defenseless target... In this case, she just had to aim for the most obvious part of the body, the torso. Even though armor was typically at it's strongest in such a location, a piercing charge enhanced by the wind likely wouldn't impede her sword all that much... Keiko would begin concentrating on the wind around her.

Keiko would begin to draw it in, enhancing her agility. Sylph's Wind was something she had practiced many times before, but this was applying it in a newer, more difficult way. The Dragon would take a deep breath... And then she'd burst forth with a blinding speed, her blade an unseen torrent of destruction! The training dummy had been pierced with minimal effort, and was struck with such force that it had been reduced to little more than splinters and fragments scattered all across the floor... Another amazing strike! But just like with her other improvement, it was tiring to use.

"This will probably happen with every skill and spell... It will be even greater when I improve them again.", she mused to herself. Striking power was no longer a concern, it was just a matter that she would be worn down by using these powerful abilities too often... Or in the case of final improvements, completely drained after using them once. To put it simply, it was not an ideal situation. Keiko would sheath her greatsword and proceed to sit down, catching her breath. That was another skill she would have to practice in order to properly rely on it.

Sad to say, but she wouldn't be able to do anything with her stances right now. The Bronze Dragon Shifter could think of no necessary improvements that needed to be made just yet, and learning a new stance took more than just imaginary opponents and dummies to smack around. "Regrettable, but... I have more than just my sword, too. Perhaps it's for the best.", she'd comment to herself. Her physical training was done, at least. Keiko would finally stand back up, eager to get back into her training efforts. It was far from over just yet...
[Learning Lightning Sword Flash [PHY-2]]


The Dragon never considered herself much of a magic user, but her father had shown her the importance of being able to mend her wounds. It was something that could very well save her life one day, and in light of that... Her current method of healing wasn't exactly bad, but it was certainly lackluster. She could only tend to minor injuries, and in the battles that she wanted to participate in, that would do nothing to help her. So with that in mind, the Bronze Dragon Shifter would need to improve on Healing Light. This would be...

Difficult. To say the least. But Keiko would close her eyes and begin focusing, she needed to focus on the energy that gave life, mended it. Her Father explained that prayers helped with this, and she could understand why... Chants made you more focused on a given task. Though it wasn't as if she was about to claim there was no divine intervention. There was plenty of proof that Azeron and others were very much real. But what interest would deities have in the affairs of mortals? She would need to use her own power to survive, then perhaps one day...

She could be a proper Knight of Azeron. In any case, she would hold her hands out as if grasping an orb in her hands. A golden ball of energy softly floating slightly above her palms. Healing Light was something she had practiced several times as well... But now she needed to find the key to improving it. The first and most obvious choice was to simply pour more of her mental focus into it, and as she did so, Keiko could feel the fatigue hitting her already... But that could only mean one thing, her spell was more effective.

The Dragon would gently raise her hands, releasing the sphere into the air as it's rays shined brightly throughout the training yard. Though she had no injuries to speak of, it was clear to see that it certainly looked much stronger than it did before. So it was safe to say that she could now rely on being able to heal herself from considerable injuries. Or at least, she'd be able to practice it... Hmm, perhaps she could take a trip to the healers and see if they have any extra patients that she could test her healing on.

Though now there was little else she could do, the sphere of golden energy would dissipate, and it's rays would slowly vanish. With this, she could practically cheat death, and do so for her allies as well... But this did have the downside of, once more, tiring her out much faster than with the base technique. Keiko would just have to be careful in it's use, as with everything else. The prospect of such challenging battles was not lost on her, however. Instead it excited the Bronze Dragon Shifter even more, there had to be people out there that could give her a real challenge...
[Learning Cleansing Light [HP-2]]


Now it was time to improve on yet another aspect, she was no mage, but she was Dragon! Her firebreath saved her life against the Assassin, but he was able to survive that attack, too... More over, if she wanted to make her flames stronger, she would need to be careful while doing so. The Knights of Azeron likely wouldn't appreciate houses being caught on fire, after all. In this case, it wasn't really something she had to mull over the principles of, it was just... Something that she could do, natural as breathing really.

Though Keiko did imagine that it would be a difficult concept for people not of her race to grasp. The Dragon would set that thought aside, and begin to draw in a deep breath. Since she didn't intend to burn down the city, or anyone in it, Keiko was aiming up, far up in to the sky. She could already feel the fires inside of her... The heat was not an unpleasant sensation for her, though once gathered, they must be expelled! The Bronze Dragon Shifter would then begin to exhale, and fire fit of many a Dragon would shoot out into the air.

Her flames had a lasting presence, long after she had finished breathing, in fact. But slowly they would fade, and Keiko would then be forced to sit and recover once more... She was able to see the difference in it right away, how much more brightly the fires burned, how much longer they lasted. Whoever or whatever was unlucky enough to be caught in such a blast would likely not survive unless they were considerably strong, or resistant to fire in general... Given some of the stories she had heard of the wilderness...

This was a very, very good thing. Her Father warned her to stay away from the Forest, and most especially at night. There were creatures there, apparently too fast for the naked eye to see, and they would hunt at night. The only things left from their attacks were mangled corpses, suffice to say, most dared not to even look towards the trees when the sun began to set. But just as the creatures were docile during the day, fire was something that warded them off. So having this in her expanded repertoire would definitely be something useful. She didn't intend to fight those things...

Whatever they were. If even the Knights of Azeron were cautious around them, she knew better than to take up the prospect of fighting them. Keiko would need to improve herself several times from what she could currently manage, and she would need far more than fire to best such a foe... Still, it was a bit exciting to think that perhaps one day, even those beasts would have cause to fear her, rather than the other way around. Perhaps then the Forests would be save to venture inside of... Perhaps it would also be an excellent method of training.
[Learning Drake's Fire [MAG-2]]


Speaking of training, she still wasn't done yet! This time it was no simple spell nor skill to improve. The Dragon would get back onto her feet all the same, however. Her defense still didn't quite match up to her strength, but given all the improvements she had made, it was much less of a concern nowadays... Even so, Gnome's Earth had so little potential being used. With it she was able to sharply increase her endurance, and even break out of binds, whether magical or physical due to newfound strength... Truthfully, she had no complaints in it.

But she knew that like with everything else she had done today, it could be more effective, and that was the point of all this training. Everything was going to be improved! That included her control over the elements! The Dragon would tightly clench her fists, already feeling the effects of Gnome's Earth coursing through her body. "Just as potent as I remember it... But there has to be something I'm missing here...", the Bronze Dragon Shifter mused aloud. This really couldn't have been the peak of it's power, so how could she improve it?

Well, maybe it was just like with how she improved her flames... Breathe deeply? "Take the Breath of the Earth into my body...", Keiko would then add. Well, it was an idea, at least. She'd close her eyes and take a deep breath, though this time she felt no fires raging inside of her. The Dragon tightly clenched her fists once more, and she could then feel the power slowly building up within her. She had to focus on that feeling, draw it out even more! This was not quite as simple as she hoped it to be.

But Keiko was not one so easily deterred, as you might have imagined. It didn't matter how long she had to sit here, focusing on that feeling! Slowly, but surely it would continue to rise... And by the time she opened her eyes, the power had hit a new level. She would definitely be more defended at this point, though her ability to break out of binds likely didn't get any stronger. That would have to be saved for another day. Still, if one expected her to go down easily... She could surprise them with this power.

She would dub it Breath of the Earth. This time, she didn't feel a fatigue either. That was good, so at least these abilities wouldn't become more taxing. In a pinch, she would be able to rely upon them. Speaking of which, this wasn't the only type of technique in her arsenal... Though there were no further improvements she currently had in mind for Breath of the Earth, it was time to move on in her training, soon enough she would be content to set out on her journey, perhaps another training session or two first? It was hard to gauge.
[Learning Breath of the Earth [PAS-2]]


In any case, the last thing she intended to improve was Serene Mind. The basics were already useful enough, with it she was able to better evade and counter her enemies, and anyone hoping to render the Warrior blind and unable to fight would get more than  a nasty little surprise in that regard... But her skill with it was very minimal at best. That would not do at all! Still, to enhance this, it didn't take a fiery spirit and unstoppable determination... It took a calm mind, to take in one's surroundings and become like water, which bends around it's obstacles.

Keiko would take a deep breath, and close her eyes. The Bronze Dragon Shifter had to calm herself down considerably, battles were exciting, and she loved the adrenaline rush that they gave her... But this particular ability demanded focus. Yes, to focus on everything around her. The sounds, the energies. The sources of life... Once more, she had the training yard all to herself. But that didn't mean it was entirely devoid of life, either. There were insects, birds. Many animals that practically dotted the landscape. So she dedicated her attention to those feelings. To see them without seeing them.

The Dragon tuned out all distractions, picking out her targets... The change felt subtle, almost unnoticeable at first. But Keiko was soon able to grasp that her senses were being enhanced. Far more than what she could normally manage, at that! The Bronze Dragon Shifter was able to feel that due to this, she would have an even easier time evading incoming blows, as well as reacting to them. Again, without a proper means of training this, she would just have to work off of assumption and work out the rest later, but that's what training was for anyway.

Keiko opens her eyes, by this point she felt more than a little exhausted... But that was good! It meant that she would have so much more results to show. With nothing else on the agenda to train for now, the Dragon would simply begin making her way back to her home. This time, it proved to be an uneventful day. No more attacks by unknown assailants hired by powerful employers... But still, that was lurking in the back of her mind. Just what the hell was all of that about? She got the distinct feeling that if she stayed in Aramore...

She would never find the answers she wanted. Perhaps now it was time to find a group that she could travel with; for that was another thing that her Father taught her. Never travel alone, especially not into the Forest, but Thera in general was a dangerous world. No Warrior, no matter how great they were, could survive without any support. That was a lesson she would take to heart, with all of that in mind, where would she even begin on finding others to travel with? Most people in this city were homebodies for obvious reasons...
[Learning Serene Mind [PAS-2]]
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Learning: Serene Demon Sword [PHY-2], Lightning Sword Flash [PHY-2], Cleansing Light [HP-2], Drake's Fire [MAG-2], Breath of the Earth [PAS-2], Serene Mind [PAS-2]

Everything checks out, 10500 Soul/Resolve and 2250 Essence!