396/Beginner training

Beginner training
Date of Scene:	09 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Chrono takes Rashmi outside of the city for special training, showing all of the chill and restraint he is known so widely for. It goes well, all things considered.
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown, Rashmi Terios

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Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had told Rashmi to meet him just outside the city. In a nearby wooded area. What... what would likely confuse her, though? Was the 150 pound bag of gravel. She... she didn't even weigh 150 lbs. That and the fact, when she arrived, he created a time-space barrier.

"Terios-san, I'd... like to say I'll go easy on you your first time or that we have the time for me to be gentle. But, frankly? This is an unknown situation. I have never done anything even approaching the intensity and ferocity this world can seem to throw out. Not to mention I am not, yet, able to properly determine what is even the greatest threat. So I can't prepare you to face those kinds of dangers."

"Instead, I am going to focus on what you, personally, can do. You are a support mage and, frankly, have the capabilities to be a great one. My training will be intense, it will be, at times, vicious. And..." Deep, slow breath. "It may even cause you to hate me. I understand if it does. And, if at any time, you feel you can't do it? You are welcome to tell me to stop. But until then, I will ride you as fiercely as any midchildian soldier in preparation to face the most dangerous of lost logia," Chrono said, standing at full attention, arms behind back, hovering a dozen or so feet in the air.

"Today's training will be simple. I have created a barrier that goes out to three-hundred yards. That," Chrono said before motioning towards the bag of gravel. "Is a colleague of yours. They are wounded and unable to fight. I am going to try and rip. Them. Apart. Your job is to get them out of here, while defending both yourself and them. You may use speed to try to outrun me, power to attempt to knock me down, or stealth to try and escape me. If you get them out of here, you've succeeded. You have thirty seconds from now to determine your course of action."

He flicked his rod and a 30 second timer would be loaded to her device, along with other information. "After that, you have ten seconds where I will give you a head start. After that, we start." He then floated up into the air, about thirty feet... and the timer began. After the thirty seconds, a ten second timer started for her to act...

And then there was no more mercy.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Being called into the woods at night is *always* cause for concern, even when it's woods tended next to a school that is its own ward of Tokyo.

Being called into the woods at night, and there's a bag of gravel literally bigger than she is? *Much* concern.

And then a Time-Space Barrier sets up? Concern becomes dread.

And *then* Chrono starts talking, and while listening she's looking from him to the gravel to the distorted sky and back to Chrono...

Maybe it's time to pick a religion and get right with whatever deity(s) it names?

"...I can use my Barrier Jacket, right?"

Eyes flick to the timer, and question time is over!

With a flash of golden magic, her Jacket settles around her shoulders. Decide what to do. Woods at night, but trees still make cover as long as she knows where she's going. Flight will give her more speed and ability to *keep* moving than her own admittly wet-noodle constitution.

<< Nicomachea. Scout the trees ahead, and show me a safe path to the edge of the Barrier. Also, what else was in that message? >>

    << *BONG!* >> << INVESTIGATION >>

The little sensor ball speeds off, and no matter how much time she has left, she's lunging for the bag.

    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

The first few steps are brutal; even with the enhanced strength imparted by a Barrier Jacket, a 150-pound sack of gravel is *not* a cooperative carry partner. But then the spell unfurls at her ankles, and she pushes off from the ground and following the path laid out to her by the sensor ball.

This is going to suhuhuuuuuuck.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown smiled and closed his eyes. Ten. Nine. Eight.

He even had chortled slightly at her comment of 'Could she use her barrier jacket'. It'd be ridiculous if she couldn't. And she hadn't even tried to be smart. He'd seen a number of mages try to use 'teleportation' within those ten seconds to bypass the task.

He'd even set a trap for that. But she hadn't triggered it, judging by the fact she didn't scream. Seven. Six. Five. Four.

She didn't complain, didn't object, didn't even try to sway him from this. It seemed she was taking this serious. Good. She was determined. His hands clenched the rod. Three. Two.

Forgive me, Terios-san, he thought to himself.

One.

Simple scan. Night visual overlay. Hm. Just carrying. Attempting to make it away from him before he noticed? No decoys. Grab and go. Not the worst tactic. One doomed for failure, mind. But there were PLENTY of times where such a tactic would work well. And this was still basic training. So he didn't have to go full tilt, either. The goal here was to strengthen her body, her will and her determination.

<Stinger Snipe!>

She'd recognize this attack. An incredibly fast little blue ball of magic. Dashing at her from behind, piercing THROUGH trees on its way towards her...

While he flew around from the right, casting a low cost stealth spell. Not hiding himself visibily, but designed to cloak him from passive scans. If she was focusing on scanning, though, she'd easily be able to pick his attempt to come around from her right, to try and dash in front of her and block her way... Attempting to strike her from above with his rod, while the stinger snipe whirled around to try and throw her off balance to get at the bag she carried.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
So, a few things are readily apparent.

    1 -- Rashmi is no aerial ace. In fact, when the Stinger Snipe starts bursting through trees to get to her, she jinks instinctively, and slams her shoulder against a tree.
    2 -- Rashmi also does not corner very well. With the Stinger Snipe *still* coming after her, she only takes a couple of seconds to shake the dizziness from her eyes, then rockets off in another direction, hiking up closer to the treetops where mistakes in navigation won't be so... ballistic. And the spell *keeps coming.*
    3 -- Currently the problem she is attempting to solve is 'How do I make room to break off?' The first attempt at a solution to this dilemma is a Solar Shield, and now a very obvious bubble of yellow light is crashing through the treetops.

Shortly after that, another pair of sensor balls peel away from the bubble, allowing her to maybe see Chrono -- and that damned spell -- coming.

When Chrono strikes her from above, the reaction is, more often than not, close enough to that 'pinball' Earth amusement that the TSAB Agent might see the appeal.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown watched her ping pong across the ground, cringing with each bang... but... her barrier held. She--

Oh crap the sniper ball was veering DOWN at her. WHY WAS IT SO FAST?!

He wasn't letting up. And then she'd get an alert. The path she was taking now had two binds waiting for her to trigger them, going forward was dangerous.

But the stinger snipe was coming from above.

<Stinger Blade!>

And so began a new experience. A few nlades started to rain down on her left and right, coming down and attempting to drive her back. Fortunately nowhere even APPROACHING the amount that had been sent at Precia. But the goal here was simple.

Because back the way she came, he was preparing... A short range bombardment spell. If she did go that way, he'd be waiting.

<Blaze Cannon!>

A short range, incredibly destructive blast of spinning inferno, one that would destroy all in its path. Grass. Wood. Likely her.

The binds ahead of her, the swords to the left or right. The deadly ball of sniping above... Or the seemingly 'clear path' behind herself, that would lead to the flames of hell itself. Which route would she take?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Okay *this* is starting to feel a little bit closer to what she expected a high-stakes fight would be. Even with her lumbering bumblebees self, she gamely tries to avoid the dangers around her.

LEF-- nope nope, magic sword rain.

UP-- nope, and *how do you give a Barret more endurance than *she has?!*

RIG-- Dammit more blades.

BAC-- ...Back? ....Huh, this is not at all suspicious.

<< Nicomachea, how's my Linker Core looking? >>

    << *BONG!* >> << MANA SATURATION 72% AND FALLING, MASTER. >>

<< And how much energy does a Barret take, as a percentage? >>

A moment later, and she *is* rocketing back toward Chrono, angling herself on an upward trajectory. But apparently, the lesson on saturation fire is being heeded. Three Barrets at a time is all she's comfortable summoning at one time. Perhaps four, if she's feeling spicy. But it turns out, it's a bit more mana-efficient if you only summon *one* Barret after the last in its place is being fired.

Which means what breaks out of the treetops, is a spiderwebbed golden Shield, with an extremely frazzled Rashmi at its center, summoning and firing homing Barrets like a tri-barreled cannon.

Loaded with wiffle balls, but *still distracting!*

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had his rod leveled at her to--

Except the first thing to burst out of the woods isn't her. It's barrets. He paused, then held up his left hand. Forming a barrier. Huh. What was she--

Ohhhhh. Not a bad tactic. He couldn't help but admire her attempt. His shields caught them easily. But...

It saved her. The fires of hell didn't descend on her. Instead, Chrono fell back slightly, his barrier peppered. The barretts weren't destructive, but they were pretty effective at what they were doing. A distraction.

He held his rod out towards her and, to her likely delight, the orb behind her was gone! She--

Wait, she was out of the tree tops.

<Stinger Ray!>

And suddenly RAPID FIRE MACHINE GUN OF MAGIC! Worse, she could feel them wizz by, and they were designed to rapid fire take down MAGES! They had amplified barrier penetrating ability, but couldn't penetrate the trees like his sniper could.

And, once again, focused on her 'patient' rather than her.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Entire chunks are being carved out of her Shield by the rapid shield-busters, and in a panic, she throws out a Round Shield in front of her, and another, and another. They tend not to last more than one blast apiece, and kick hard against her flight path when they collapse. Which point she hits on an idea, and then the shields kick her *harder* back, toward the upper bounds of the Barrier.

She's not flying forward, focusing on the defense, and tweaking the shield to kick back against *her* when they collapse. And she looks quite pleased with herself!

So pleased, in fact, that she fails to notice her Flier Fin glitching out, and when her Linker Core is at 10%, her Shields cut out entirely.

And the very next shot rips the bag open.

Somewhere, perhaps, Michiru is practicing Ave Maria.

Then another hits, and another, and another, and now both bag *and* Mage are pretty shredded, as the impacts push them up, up...

Just shy of the Barrier's limit.

And now is fall time.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown watched her, his face cold, merciless. He was the enemy. He was trying to kill her. And the bag of gravel... well, it wasn't going to last much longer. The shots that hit her wouldn't kill her, but they could certainly hurt. And he was relentless, knocking her into the air, inch by inch... And then the gravel and mage were toppling through the air.

And she was falling and...

And then he was there, beneath her. Appearing in a flash of blue magic, intercepting her tumbling form. Arms outstretched to catch her. He'd balanced her precariously on both arms, while still holding his staff so the tip was up above them. A round shield appearing a moment later as gravel rained down around them.

"Very good, Terios-san," he said, not sounding at all displeased by her performance. "You failed to disappoint. Your quick thinking and adaptability are very strong for one with such a short time of training. While your combat instincts still require work, that will come with time."

Slowly, he'd drift towards the ground. After all... the goal was never truly to see if she could get through on her first attempt. IT was to see how she would react to a seemingly 'overwhelming' forces. What tactics would she employ to get through them. And she had lasted quite a bit longer than most might have. Longer than he likely would have when he was beginning.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"....Ow..." Hanging from the arms of a boy Chrono's size can't help but be a *little* damaging to dignity, and her everything seems to hurt like when she tried to run a ten-minute mile. But that was when she was eight, and she learned then she would never be a track star.

But here, there's no luxury of quitting. Not just because of everything Chrono has said about their enemy, but just... Because of *everything.*

If she quit now, people might die.

"...Doesn't *feel* very good," she says shakily. "But you promised the opposite of going easy, so... yaaaaay?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown slowly let her climb out of his arms... but, noticeably, did hover up a bit so the uhhh... ground wasn't too close. As embarrassing as it was to be held by a boy this small, probably a little more to be that size. There was a REASON he loathed being princess carried.

The fact she hadn't given up, didn't complain, didn't object... it resonated within him. A part of him felt annoyed, though.

She was determined. But she shouldn't HAVE to be. There was a beauty in a stone that became something compressed and beautiful from tremendous pressure. Jewels and the like... but...

But people weren't jewels. They weren't objects. When people were forced to become like this, when they had to be this strong.... they were beautiful in their presentation. But they shouldn't HAVE to be. This wasn't WHY he became an agent of the TSAB.

And worse, the fact... there was... something here, trapping everything? Was it for good or ill? Would.... they crumble and break? Or would they all become beautiful jewels.

"You weren't going to not get hurt," Chrono said. "In fact, you've been hurt a lot less than I thought you would. I imagined I'd at least give you some second degree burns by the end, or possibly cracked a bone."

"The aches were inevitable, Terios-san. But they weren't as severe as they could have been, because you have the groundwork to become a great mage. Now? It just requires determination and hard work. Both of which I believe you are going to be more than capable of. Before long, who knows? Maybe you'll be doing this to another rookie mage," he said with a light chuckle.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"No I get that," Rashmi says quietly, clasping her arms around her stomach and curling inward. Maybe it wasn't *extremely* high-power, but those shots *hurt,* and staying standing took effort. But she still had enough left in her for one thing, at least.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR HEAL >>

With such little capacity left, the spell can't even cover that wide an area. But it's there, and it works.

"...Training.... ow... has to be harder than the real thing, right? So you... know what to do when something *worse* happens?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small smile, letting her expend her energy. Until she was all out... and then he lifted his own staff.

<Physical Heal!>

Oooooof course. Maybe he'd try to boost her next? Or maybe any number of other things? Except... she might realize...

His heal was possibly stronger than hers. But despite all of his experience, all of his training, all of his mastery? His would only be a little stronger. He wasn't a support mage. She'd likely outpace him with ease in this field of expertise eventually.

But... "No," Chrono said. "Training will often be far, far less severe than what you can face. The threats out there... if Precia is the strongest? Then she'll be handled. But I've already seen things that... put even her might into question. And I have only been here a short time."

"The training will likely be more frequent, however. And one thing they'll help to teach you... there will be times where that extra split second will be all that stands between you and someone else's death. A moment where you'll need to react instantly to... things you never imagined. My duty for this is to make sure when those moments come, you'll not hesitate. In my fate against Precia, it was my instincts to move back and bind when Fate attacked me. A move I had done a thousand times in the past. If I had hesitated even for a moment, I wouldn't be here now." A hand moved up to where the faint outline on his chest now was. Almost fully healed. Just a little itchy. "Even then, I only narrowly avoided death." Then he sighed. "But... for all the strange dangers that exist here, I've seen some amazing, wondrous things to aid us. To save us. Things... that I believe will allow us to get through these fights."

He walked towards a piece of gravel, kicking it away. "I'll try a wide range of different tactics against you. This? Was explosive assault. An enemy with excessive fire power. Sometimes I will try stealth, other times speed, other times melee, traps, long range baraging, all different manners. There is a lot for us to go over, Terios-san..."

Then he gave a soft sigh and turned to face her, a smile on his face. "But I believe you are up for the challenge. Now, tell me. Do you feel up to walking or should... I... uhhhh..." And he was going to offer to carry her. But, judging by the red suddenly flooding his cheeks... he... hadn't... realized exactly how that would work until... Just now...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The extra boost of recovery does a *lot* to make what had seemed like a nightmare, only an onerous task. Enough that she can focus on the words, not the pain, and once again she proves to be an exceptionally good listener. "...If it was just the two of us," she says after a moment's reflection, "I think I'd be terrified. ...Well. More than I *am,* anyway. Because I mean... I've met someone with magic food and *combat cooking.* A singer who flies around on a stage, and it's *never* as bad as it could be with her around. There was a girl who says she's the guardian of the *Moon,* and she could just pick up random pieces of stuff and enchant it so it hits a-- maybe close to as hard as you!"

Yes she's temporizing, because she *knows* her own assessment is faulty given the probably concussion she'd suffered, then. So, err on the side of bigging up your new mentor.

"Chrono-kun just a *random volleyball player* one day woke up in the middle of a monster attack and *spiked a fireball the size of me into its face."

By now, yes, she *is* flailing her arms a bit, and when she stops talking her injuries catch up with her. "...Point is... That's the reason I'm okay fighting, Chrono-kun. Because even if you're busy or hurt and can't come to help me? Or the other way around? It's getting hard to believe that *someone* won't be there to back us up, someone that we never accounted for."

Her arms raise a bit from her sides, then drop. "I know... This place is weird and scary and every other day something new comes up that never existed in your world. But a girl who was sick her whole life, woke up in the middle of a fight and suddenly could punch hard enough to put a hole in a museum. And then she was never sick again."

"That's a kind of weirdness that gives me hope, y'know?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown nodded, the smile on his face growing. "It... really is. I don't understand what's going on here. But I have to agree with you. I've yet to meet a magic cook. I did meet the singing girl, though. Actually, today. As well as a girl who shot lightning, another device mage such as us, a... girl with a rocket launcher... still... not sure what that is."

Then he took a slow, deep breath.

"As for this... moon girl... I... oh god... I... I met a... guardian of pluto... apparently she can... pilot the planet like a ship. I... I'm still at a loss for that one. I'm still at a loss for the fact I *believe* she could do it," he said before he began to chuckle.

"This world? It's mad. But I don't think you're wrong. There is a lot of hope here. The people here are strong. Maddeningly strong. The threats here are dangerous. Incredibly destructive. But... but the more time I spend amongst the people here... the more I begin to question if whatever is around this world isn't actually a good thing. Something to protect the rest of the universe... but also the precious things inside it."

He started walking, it was going to be a long walk away.

"I hold no doubts that there will be many, many incredible threats. But... I truly think, so long as there are people like you and all the others I met here? You will be able to face it. There may be nobody better than every one of you TO face it."

However, as light spirited as he sounded when he said that... "Though... it doesn't change one fact. I still need to find the remainders of my crew and get them out of here. Not to mention stop Precia."

But now he was... having questions of something else. If he got everyone out of here, if he did manage to rescue them...

Should he go with them? Or should he stay and help? Was his future, here, to be but a flash in the pan? To appear, aid them for a bit and then leave, with just these lessons to guide them?

He glanced back towards Rashmi.

Or was he supposed to stay and fight besides them? He had maybe... six years. Then he'd lose everything he knew. Everything he WAS. What... then? Could he do more in 6 years here than he could the rest of his life... outside?

...Odd how already such a thought didn't have a clear answer.

"Are you hungry? Maybe we could grab something to eat while we're this far out. My treat."

... where did he get money from?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Utterly oblivious to the thoughts racing through Chrono's head, when he looks back Rashmi beams, tilting her head to one side, then hurries to catch up. "A...rocket launcher? Isn't that a tube you fire like missile out of? ...Oh. A 'missile' is like a Barret, but it's completely nonmagical and explodes like *a lot* when it hits something."

Almost entirely wrong, but close enough.

"Wait... but... Pluto's not a planet?" One can almost *see* the image of Sailor Moon But Not Really, sitting sidesaddle on a little planet half her size going *VRRRRRRRR* all through space.

"We do need to find them, Chrono. And if there *is* a way out of here, I'm *going* to help you find it. Not... y'know, because I think you'll run. But you've got your own important people to take care of, right? And they can't stay here."

For right now, Rashmi is on a fairly simple, if scary, path. Solve Every Problem You Can. Save Everyone You Can. Life saved = success. And maybe that'll bite her in the butt when the time comes to make an impossible choice, but for right now she has so many luxuries most schoolgirls don't. She gets to *fly around* and *save lives.*

And really, put against that, isn't a little existential terror worth it?

She pauses mid-stride, as her stomach makes noises usually reserved for 800-pound guard dogs. "...Dinner sounds good," she says faintly. "Hey there's a beef don place a couple blocks over, how's that sound?"