??? Arc - Tome III: Rebuild

Location: SW Forests - Sunnveil

Targets
~ Unlock & Upgrade Combine: Advanced Telepathy = 12400 to Master
~ Unlock & Perfect: Psionics - Mind Magus = 1000 + 12500 = 13,500
~ Perfect: Support: (Wing Black, Wing Silver, Restore Life) = 12,000
~ Unlock & Perfect: Support: Talon Black & Talon Silver = (2000 + 27500) = 29,500
~ Upgrade & Master Sensing Base Stage 2 (4500) to 4 (Tracking, Sight, Smell, Sound) = 12,000
~ Unlock & Master @ Stage 3: Defense - Purity = 1000 + 6000 = 7000 EXP
~ Upgrade & Master Defense (Willpower, Fortitude, Purify Blood, Purify Body) Stage 2 (4500) to 3 = 6000 EXP
* Trained: 1000 Honed: 2000 Mastered: 3000
~ Upgrade & Master Defense (Juggernaut) Stage 2 (4500) to 4 = 3000 EXP
* Trained: 1250 Honed: 2500 Mastered: 3750
~ Upgrade & Master Defense (Psionic Armor & Master of the Void) to Stage 2 (4500) to 5 = 9000 EXP
* Trained: 1500 Honed: 3000 Mastered: 4500
~ Unlock & Master Defense (DEF, AEG, DEX + Regen) = 22,000 to Master

Target Total = 126,400 EXP

Optional
~ Upgrade & Master Void: Formless Zero & Formless One Stage 3 (2250) to Stage 5 = 9000 EXP
* Trained: 1125 Honed: 2250 Mastered: 3375
~ Unlock & Upgrade: Sensing: Attune I, Attune II, Speed of Sight = 16500 to Master
~ Unlock Calaki Ghataka Techs Set 2 (Wasteless, Bala, Pulse, Winged) = 4000 EXP

Optional Total = 29,500 EXP

The battle in the Core had been a foolish one. We weren't even able to make it in that far before we met opposition that we weren't quite prepared for. How can I defeat my true enemies and rescue my master if I can't even best the outer minions and creatures. This was a disgrace. Even now, I am not even consciousness or aware of my surroundings. To be honest, I'm not even sure that I am still alive at the moment. The last thing I remember is feeling a sharp blow to the back of the head and from there, things started to fade out. As I was losing consciousness, I swear I saw a massive bird fly by me and when it did I felt a sense of warmth and comfort. Almost a feeling of true solace. I just let go in that moment with the bird flew by me. There was familiarity there and soon he was at the surface...

I can feel his thoughts even from within the fortification that I place him in when I need to take over control. There are just some things that the Kautuka is not ready to face yet. One of them being the fact that he was betrayed in such a way that I do not know if he would be able to recover from it. Or that he did not die b/c I used up much of my power to protect him and that one of my servants came to aid me and is currently evacuating us to the safest place that he could be at the moment. We are going home...

269

Cinos crows loudly as he moves into the South West Forests. He flies as fast as he can in order to make sure that he evades any ambushes by the enemy that also resides here. Cinos is an avian spirit that lives in the kingdom to the far western edge of this region. A kingdom of spirits that are much different from the kami and oni that roam freely. They tend to keep to themselves and protect their own and their borders with great ferocity. They rarely venture out which keeps things in a good balance with their hostile neighbors. As I muster the strength to sustain consciousness for a while, I look up at Cinos. I try to get free to fly on my own and he looks down at me, "Be still. You have kept the Kautuka safe. Now I must keep you safe. We will be home soon, Master." He knew that it was me and not the human. Impressive. Still, I can fly on... argh. Or maybe not. It would seem that my injuries were a bit more severe than I first thought. Cinos tells me, "If I remember correctly, you should be able to heal yourself by absorbing my energy, correct?" My glowing eyes look at him and I tell him that I will do no such thing. He smiles and tells me that he will be just fine. He tells me to do it but I refuse and he tells me to either heal myself or he'll drop me. Considering that my injuries have already shown that I am currently unable to fly on my own, I see no alternative. "Siphon... Life." Talons of raw spiritual energy release from my body to Cinos' and dig into him tho he probably doesn't even see them and drain out some of his life force. The energy flows from the talons back into me. A moment later, the talons dissipate. Cinos release another crow, but this one is very soothing... actually too soothing... my eyelids get heavy and my breathing slows. Did he just force me to sleep...?

EXP: 368

Voices above and around me...

"He should not be here. He is not one of us."
"Then how was I summoned to him? He is the offspring. I spoke to him."
"Cinos, there are darkness within this... creature. Great destruction is what I see, lust for blood is what I smell, and the unbridled chaos is what I feel. He cannot remain."
"That is NOT your decision to make, Raha. The Elder Avians will decide."

A female voice interjects, "All of you, be quiet. He needs rest. For now, he is here and I am trying to treat his wounds, but they are not healing. Cinos, what happened to him?" The avian spirit looks down at my body and shakes his head. "I am not sure, bahana. The human form went to The Core apparently, but he was too weak. The spirit form took control and saved him. He knew that his powers were not at full strength, so he summoned me. I do not know how his mind reached me from there, but it did. Your healing magic has never failed before. Could it be that because he is... who he is that you cannot heal him?" She has a puzzled look on her face as she tries again. Just like her previous attempts, my wounds close only to open right back with dark energy festering from the wounds. Pain flows thru my body and mind causing my subconscious to unleash a psychic scream that rips thru a spherical radius of ten yards in all directions. The female's powers would receive the most accurate interpretation of the psychic burst due to her empathic nature and powers. She feels the pain of being poisoned and stabbed several times. She would feel something trying to shield me, but it is greatly weakened. She begins to understand what I am even though I do not understand it myself.

EXP: 341

Her face turns very pale and Cinos manages to break her out of the empathic link that had been established with me. She gasps for air and looks at me. "He is... complete, yet still incomplete. He needs to become whole. He is broken and must be rebuilt anew. Raha, the darkness you feel, is what is afflicting him. We must act quickly or it might taint him and your visions will come true. He is in great pain." The one known as Raha, a hawk spirit, looks at both Cinos, a hayabusa falcon spirit, and the female healer, also a falcon spirit, still holding his head from the psychic attack and shakes his head. "We should simply cast him out. He is a thre-" Raha is flung into the left side wall and pinned against it as he clutches at his throat. My body radiates with energy and glows blood red. The female spirit places her hand on my chest and it starts to glow a soft silver light. She places her other hand on my forehead and it glows as well. Raha drops out of the air and gasps to take in oxygen. Cinos looks at him, "Do you still doubt who he is, Raha?" The male hawk spirit says nothing. The female, having subdued the aura around my body, tells Raha that she needs him to ask people whose names are foreign to me to come and help her. Wanting to get far away from me, he agrees this time.

EXP: 263

She looks at Cinos with worry and he sits next to me and sings. His songs relax me again. So much that when the group she requested is assembled, I don't even notice. What do manage to notice is that when the next flareup of pain flows thru my body, it is not a psychic attack that is launched, but instead, another form of energy blasts out from me as I attempt to heal myself and recover on my own. Well actually I'm not attempting to do anything, but my body is. A pulse releases from me and everyone in the same ten yard radius would feel their vitality being siphoned away. Moments later, my body would glow faintly before relaxing. With that, my body calms itself allowing them plenty of time to work. One of the mystical spirits opens her eyes and nods. "He has been cursed and this is a rather powerful curse too. Whoever did this wanted him to suffer greatly." The eyes of one of the males around me open and they begin to glow blood red. He speaks out loud, "We do not have much time to speak. We can break this curse, if you can sustain us. We must be placed into a deep sleep. This curse has damaged much. We shall undo. We require light energy, dark energy, mystical energy from an avian spirit, spatial energy, psychic energy, healing energy, fire and wind, song, and we require physical chi energy. One of these must be part human. Bring the energies here to meditate and we will do the rest. Please hurry."

EXP: 289

Witnessing another less destructive aspect of my powers, the group obliges and Cinos leaves to retrieve spirits to help. His sister, the empath, had requested a few hybrids that were close to them and whom she knew would be willing to help. They remain. Any in the room currently who do not fit what was requested, move away from my body to make room for the missing links that are being retrieved. The empath sings to my unconscious form while Cinos is gone. When he returns, he joins in on the song before taking over the song. The others begin meditating and Cinos falls silent. At least as far as any of the onlookers could tell. His song continued in the minds of all who are linked by the empath and the psychic magus. I need a hive mind setup in order to accomplish what needed to be done. I needed their collective power to balance my own powers in order to suppress myself into a trance like state within my own mind. It is certainly dangerous what I am attempting, but a necessary risk. Slowly, my breathing comes to a near halt. Instead of one consciousness or the other coming into control while the other drifts away, we both fall together into a psychic realm created by our mind to represent our body. Now we would begin to fighting against the curse.

EXP: 256

Arriving in this realm, we find ourselves inside a badly damaged citadel. I float up to the wall while the human form remains on the ground assessing the internal damage. As I reach the wall, I see the enemy encampment and everything around their camp as well as the path they traveled to get here has been badly damaged or completely destroyed. The walls of the citadel were badly damaged and the people within them are in low spirits. We need to get to work quickly. Before we are able to truly get to work, the skies begin to darken and the ground begins to rumble. The second consciousness, taking the form of the distinctly avian version of me, well us, tells me that this is not going to work. The entire scene fades away and he tells me that we will have to approach this from a different angle. Looking at me, he remarks to me, "They are not going to like this... and neither are you, Kautuka." Without warning or pause, my body is overwhelmed with pain as I begin the sole recipient of the curse's pain. Searching frantically, I look around and the avian form is nowhere to be seen or I am in such a way that I cannot see him. My vision begins to blur a bit and sounds start to echo and drown out. I am completely unsure of what to make of what's happening around me. There is a bed or some form of gathered energy. I am not completely sure given the state of my senses right now. I stumble and crawl towards it. Any form of a reprieve would be welcomed at this point. Crawling onto the construct, I clutch at my chest with my right hand. Weakly, I try to speak, but I cannot muster the strength to actually form words. After several moments of struggling, I finally manage to painstakingly utter, "Help..." I see blurred images begin to surround my body. I wanted to die in battle. Fighting to protect someone worth fighting for. Not like this.

Moments later, several figures would appear with the Avian Form standing at the head of the altar, which I mistook for a bed of energy. The gathered spirits find themselves surrounding me and the avian form looks at them and tells them that they will have the honor of aiding him in fixing me.

EXP: 435