RP:Fowl, Fox. Fox, Fowl.
On the Rynvale Plateau
The central portion of the plateau is windswept; clouds of fine rock grains are blown up into the air by howling winds easily blinding travelers. To make matters worse all the tracks in this part of plateau are covered by the dust and scattered small jagged rocks that can easily cut through poor quality foot wear. As you ponder where the winds may come from you notice winged shadows that cover the ground occasionally accompany the howling winds, indicating this entire plateau may be the hunting ground of a brood of dragons
Fox, Meet Fowl
Kirien probably chose the oddest spots to attempt reading, but there was method behind his supposed madness. The empath, seated quietly amidst all this dust and wind atop the flat plateau, had at least brought his visor to ward off the constant sprays of grit in his eye, sand sweeping across the pages of the heavy tome spread open over crossed legs. A thoughtful sort of humming might be heard over the wind's tear and howl, the sound carried like an echo across the plateau; a wraith's song amidst a gale, enticing, innately curious. Nameless, ever-faithful and a guardian of sorts up here where there be dragons, lay half-curled round his kit vampire companion as Kirien ran his fingers across indentations and words, tracing out scrawls on the old papers until he snapped his fingers with a triumphant sort of expression forming on his face, raising one hand to splay an open palm out into the dust storm. Eye closed behind that onyx-glass visor as triumph melted into concentration; and the earth gave a low murmur in response, and the mess of dirt whirling in the air began to coalesce into something slightly more tangible. Out of the gale appeared a strange amalgamation of the various small rocks and pebbles picked up by the strong winds - an entity with a vaguely humanoid shape crafted by shards of stone, its insides a lazy swirl of shimmers and dust. Kirien cocked his head to one side, heard Nameless give an approving nod, then allowed the apparent being to disintegrate and be torn away across the plateau. "Aha! So we're gettin' there at least." Seemed he was practicing despite the possible dangers of passing dragons.
Veriun came, not flying but not quite walking either. Rather, the avian seemed to be somewhere between the two in a sort of glide forwards and downwards onto the plateau. He didn't come from above but simply lost altitude from his almost levitating state above rough surface beneath before taking ground with a sound muffled by the howling wind and the exclamations of Kirien. After the first step, upon landing, others soon followed as the grounded avian strode across open area in a unbothered but business like pace that matched his current appearance. Without his usual coat and hat, he looked much more the role of a middle-class intellectual. Adorned in white high grade shirt and black pants of the same general style, only reinforced by the rather large book in black binds tucked under his left arm. He kept his gaze forwards and his hands in his pockets. Not faltering from his course. He did nothing to acknowledge Kirien, however. Perhaps he had yet to spot the man, hidden in the swirling dust and dirt.
Kirien looked up. It was unconscious habit to turn his head and try to pin his gaze on the source of what he'd picked up on, despite the fact he could no longer see out of that eye. But he had caught something that'd drawn his attention and that much was clear; sensitive ears were perked up and swivelling in the direction of the approaching Veriun. Steps, soft as they might be but still quite noticeable to one with Kirien's sort of heightened perception, were followed and tracked across the dusty plateau right from where the man landed to where he came close by Kirien's seated spot of apparent study. Nameless shifted some and growled low in his throat but a hand was raised to pat the wyvern absently on the end of his snout and silence him. Canting his head slightly to one side, the empath continued to watch the other curiously, taking a couple of moments to ascertain his identity through the storm. "…Ah! You--!" The call was probably loud enough to carry to Veriun and perhaps turn his attentions in Kirien's direction. "You're that…man. Ver…something? I remember you from…" Cornelius. "…a wake with lots of alcohol."
Veriun tore his eyes from the path ahead and glanced very briefly, as if taking a note in the margin of the metaphorical notebook in his head, at Nameless before turning his attention to the recently turned vampire, lazily raising a hand to the side of his face to keep his hair from blowing into his face, and slowing his pace down somewhat, although not stopping entirely. “Ah. Hello Kirien.” he said with the slightest of smiles that, while not seeming dishonest, gave of a rather enigmatic impression. As If it didn't belong on the mans features. “It's Veriun, by the way.” he added as an afterthought to the greeting before moving on to the main point, of sorts. “What brings you to such a place?”
Kirien would be toying with his letter had he not feared it would be torn from his grasp in this windblown place. That letter, insignificant to everyone else but of great importance to the empath, could be found residing in the breast pocket of his beloved overcoat, its edge waving in the strong breeze until Kirien tucked it back out of sight for safekeeping. He might've raised an eyebrow when the other appeared to already know his name but the recollection of the fact he'd actually introduced himself once evened his features out again, and Kirien nodded his head absently. "Veriun! Right. An' uh…" The question brought a pause in which he fell to lean back against Nameless' side some, waving a hand to the storm about them. "I was practicin' of course. I gotta do somethin' after all." To keep up his training, to distract himself…
Veriun came to a stop, watching Kirien as the fox speaks, with his side facing the two and his head turned. The hand holding his hair out of his face held up as if frozen in time while greeting someone in the distance. The avian raised an eyebrow. Although it might not be visible in the bad visual the place offered. Much less to a blind man. “Practicing?” he said in a tone of mild surprise. Perhaps a tiny bit of curiosity. “Personally I would have chosen a different location for that..” he said, taking a quick look around at their surroundings. “..or perhaps not. I can see this place could have potential benefits..” he apparently mused aloud before looking back at the duo, his smile returning. “It all depends on what you're practicing, I suppose.”
Kirien caught that arching of brow - blind his eye might be, but he possessed a different sort of vision that allowed him to perceive far more than he would with regular sight, via a particularly handy way of using the ground beneath both their feet. He mimicked the action himself as he spoke. "Practicin', aye. This spot's the best spot for what I wanna mess with - save the dunes down at the beach maybe, but it's usually windier up here. Slight more chance of runnin' into danger," he said with a faint smirk, "but I ain't too worried about that. This is my domain, an' any dragons round here are large enough I can hear 'em in the sky." Shoulders rolled in a slight shrug against Nameless, prompting the wyvern to rumble low in his throat, almost purring. "I'm toyin' with terramancy, Veriun. Dust golems of a sort today, hence me bein' up here."
Veriun tilted his head and tryingly tapped the ground a few times with the tip of his right foot before peering over the horizon in the direction of the beach as if expecting to be able to compare the two places. “Dust golems, rather than, say, sand or stone..” he said, apparently in some sort of thought process. “for practicing the binding of lighter materials?” he then asked as a conclusion or the like, turning his attention back to Kirien and the 'purring' wyvern. Displaying a kind of scholarly interest, or at least something in that general direction.
Kirien 's visor-obscured gaze fell back to the book and scanned it sightlessly, following the motions of his fingers over the indentations scraped in over every word so as to allow it to remain readable now he was blind. It was a precious book to the empath; an old, heavy book likely pilfered from some library somewhere so as to allow the self-teaching of terramancy. Most of its lessons consisted of working with the ground so it was the perfect book for Kirien. "Aye! That's exactly what it is. I'm not so used to working with dust and controllin' it in the air an' such, an' I figured I might as well start masterin' that too. I can do it already but…keepin' it all together takes some concentration." As if to make a point, he'd summon another of those strange beings out of the haze of dust whirling above the plateau - flat shards of rocks once more formed its outer armour and vaguely humanoid shape, a twister of lighter sand grains visible through the cracks in that shell, spinning at a slightly slower speed than the winds tearing across the plain just now. "I can hold it for--nnh--maybe thirty seconds at most if I really want to," Kirien managed, his outstretched arm shaking some; the dust entity moved toward him, drawn by his will, to briefly brush its own 'fingers', wicked claws carved of stone, against his open palm. Then, suddenly, it vanished into the storm again as Kirien's concentration faltered and the inner core was ripped away by the stronger winds. "…So I'm practicin'," the empath said after a moment, casting a sidelong glance to Veriun. "Since one day, I'ma be a master terramancer."
Veriun watched the display with slightly increased interest. He remained still, however, even as the golem passed him by to make contact with it's creator before dissipating back into the wind. “I take it you're self trained?” he asked plainly as the dust blew away in an almost artistic, unnoticed by the avian who was paying attention to the book in Kirien's possession at the time. His head tilted much like a birds. He looked up at the terramancer again, speaking in a tone one might use when answering a silent question or explaining actions or words that might seem strange. “You seem to make it needlessly complicated for yourself.”
Kirien , huffing a sigh, fell back to lean against Nameless again; the wyvern curved his great neck round in order to rest his head atop the spell book as a silent hint that maybe they should take a short break. His companion just puffed his cheeks at him in a childish manner, blind gaze straying beneath that visor to reaffix to Veriun's location. "Mostly, aye. Got the very basics from Tiph," he said, and the name might have left the empath's lips more bitterly than it usually did, as though it were poisonous, "then went alone from there. It's worked out all right so far. Probably because I have a book." Another shrug against Nameless' side and a hand came to rest atop the wyvern's large head, stroking absently over golden scales. He almost growled though, when Veriun spoke again. "Look, I don't need you--" Snapped out and then he halted abruptly and shut his mouth, scowling. The man probably knew more about magic and its workings than he did - he remembered clearly the way he'd felt Cornelius' body stitch itself back together at the wake, despite his being quite drunk at the time. "…How am I makin' it needlessly complicated?" Kirien asked eventually, sounding a mite less irritated this time.
Veriun listened idly at Kiriens words, paying what might have been half his attention as the other half was occupied with.. something else. Nodding silently at the comment about teaching oneself with the use of a book as well as taking note of the tone of disdain at the name of the elder mage of the drow. Smiling somewhat at the antics of the two and the overall childishness of the situation. Before displaying only mild surprise as the rejection he'd expected turned into a question. “I take it you are familiar with the fact that earth does not move as much as it reacts. While one'd think to pull, one should in fact push, yes? This applies differently to earth not solid. Such as sand and dust. Your golems are always partially moving. You waste concentration and energy on an animate core when you could simply harden the shell and leave it be. Dust and sand moves, just as all other earth, in a chain reaction. Infuse movement into the right parts, and the others will follow them accordingly.”
Kirien 's resignedly polite demeanour did not last long, clearly. He huffed again at the man's words, perhaps mildly exasperated as he flipped over a page in the tome spread out across his lap. Behind him, Nameless seemed to be resisting the growing urge to smack the empath over the back of the head with a wing and knock some manners into him. "Of -course- I know." Kirien honestly sounded quite disgruntled, as though he were somewhat miffed that Veriun thought him unintelligent enough to not already have figured out the way earth moved in the past year of his training. "But to harden that shell would just-- just make a regular, if hollow, golem-- wouldn't it? A dust golem, from what I read here…" A finger tapped absently at the book as he spoke, "…Is always in constant motion like that. I figured I should be trying to allow as much of that movement as possible, an' if I practised enough, I'd get better at it." Or exhaust himself trying. Nameless exhaled a heavy sigh and nudged his head a little closer to Kirien's stomach, his warm breath washing over the eternally chilly hand still laid atop his snout.
Veriun nodded briefly. Taking no note of Kirien's comment of already knowing. He had in fact said that he of course knew. Watching as the empath flipped the pages in silence while letting the tome beneath his arm drop from its position into his hand so he could hoist it up under his other arm, also turning position a bit, changing the hand keeping his hair out of his face. All this while idly listening to the fox-vampire. “Indeed. But the definition of a golem is wide. And you need something that works for you, yes? And therefor relying on a shell, letting the inner parts remain as normal dust until it moves is an easier stepping stone. Once you mastered such a form you could easily advance to constant movement. Using two forms of control is infinitely more difficult than one.” he said in reply to Kiriens musings in an almost casual manner while attending what seemed to be an itch in the back of his neck.
Kirien 's fingers began to tap at Nameless' snout, then drum with a little more force until eventually the sensation became too irritating and the wyvern pulled back, breathing a warm torrent of air into his companion's face in lazy retribution before he settled back down at his side, watching Veriun with intrigue. His intended plan to move the wyvern's head having worked, Kirien turned another page in the spell book and prodded at it a couple of times, fingertips running lightly across the paper and all its useful indentations and instructions. "Hm…that makes sense, aye. I figured maybe just going at it might help me learn faster, but…" A laugh escaped him despite it all, sand and grit flying across his lips although it did not seem to bother the vampire much. "So, let's work on messin' things up a bit an' make it more original - make something that's hard on the outside, but filled with sand inside. When it's fused together, I only have to focus on the outer shell. If it's struck…" His hand shifted to prod at the ground instead, stray pebbles nearby flattening out to form the shell of a granite forearm, which would quickly fill with sand and close itself off. Kirien unceremoniously whacked at the clenched fist on the other end and knocked it off, sending sand spilling everywhere. "…If it's struck," Kirien repeated, coaxing the dust out as it fell and bending it into a golden likeness of that fist, only in constant motion, "then it'll do somethin' like this…?" Sandy fingers flexed and clenched a few times before the topmost grains hardened and coalesced together to form a second armour, the dust left within returning to a motionless state. "Or…something?" He looked to Veriun, raising a brow. "If I work on it. It's still constant movement, but contained to a certain area."
Veriun watched Kiriens development with the calm air of a teacher reading a students essay or the like. Gazing at the, undeniably, rather nifty solution he'd come up with and nodding once. “Minimized effort for optimized effect, is it..?” he said, rather thoughtfully. Apparently analyzing Kirien's methods, if only with somewhat absent interest. “Yes. Much less complex and equally, if not more effective.” he commented, finally, at Kirien's 'question'. Before continuing with gesture of indication towards the large book in the empath's lap. “A book of learning is a template. It helps you grow into the core knowledge. But you cannot learn completely until you apply yourself to the equation, Yes?”
Kirien shifted his focus to the air about them as Veriun spoke, ears pricked in the avian's direction hinting to the fact that he was still most definitely listening to the other. Though he could not see the way the dust swirled around them, it did seem as though he could feel it in some way, the empath's visored gaze clearly watching something. A hand raised to run fingers through the whirlwind, not quite grasping at it, just feeling - at least until another of those sand-crafted, disembodied forearms reached out of the gale to wrap fingers about his own and easily pull the vampire to his feet. "I know." Head canting back toward Veriun as the entity faded back into obscurity, Kirien brushed dust off his jacket almost absent-mindedly, mimicking the avian's posture and tucking his spell book under one arm after shutting it with an audible snap. "What do you think of me, Veriun? D'you think I can become a force to be reckoned with through this sorta study, or d'you think I should just give up an' try somethin' else? The earth moves well with me an' me with her, so I thought it might work. You seem to know things, so what do you think? I wanna be able to defend people I care about, you know?" He wanted no one else to end up like Leoxander had, or Cornelius (although he was sure the latter had intended to die, despite his supposed self-preservation instincts).
Veriun kept his eyes on Kirien all the while as the man spoke. His expression remaining unchanged throughout the rather short lived speech. The avian turned away briefly and tapped his forehead. But the empath would feel amusement. As if the avian was, in fact, not having any trouble thinking about the subject at all. And then he returned his attention to Kirien. “You're well on your way. How far you can go is limited to yourself. One can only walk the path so long. And you do indeed seem to have the drive to keep it up and... as they say... 'go the distance'. Although that's simply a personal opinion. I'm sure there are others, say... my comrades at the academy, who could make a much more accurate evaluation.”
Kirien might have quirked a brow some in silent response to that flicker of amusement garnered from the other. Behind him, Nameless yawned, stretched out much like a cat would, back curling with the fore-claws in his wings stretched out and his tail swishing around, then shook himself off and began pacing the area. The wyvern's eyes were on the sky, suggesting he was either intending to take off hunting or making sure the coast was clear of dragons around the little group. The empath, meanwhile, managed a small quirk of the lips to Veriun in a grin. "I have eternity on my side," he said with a wave of the hand, the other keeping hold of the book under that arm to make sure it wouldn't slip. "The academy, though?" Mention of that institution seemed to have caught Kirien's attention. "Where's that? I'd like an…evaluation of a sort, I guess? I dunno. Whatever they say, I'm gonna keep tryin' anyway, but I can take their opinions too." He cast a cursory glance over a lean shoulder to Nameless, curious.
Veriun followed the Wyverns movements with slight curiosity as well. The two had that in common. Tapping his pocket idly, probably subconsciously, before answering Kirien. “It is in larket. Should not be very difficult to find.”
Kirien , still watching Nameless' movements, was quietly contemplating questioning the wyvern on what had apparently captured his attentions so far above when a familiar name was mentioned and the empath looked back round. His face might have fallen then. "Larket…oh." Cheeks puffed slightly in disappointment and slight agitation. "Me an' Larket don't exactly get on very well. In fact, I'm sort of banned from the city on pain of death an' all that." Despite such a severe threat being imposed on him, the empath laughed, amused. "Not sure they'd appreciate me bein' there at all, let alone settin' off earthquakes or other magical s*** in their city."
Veriun chuckled and joined Nameless in the peering at the sky. Perhaps he'd seen what it was. Perhaps not. But his attention seemed caught. Until he spoke to Kirien again, that is. Now with a slight smile. “I suppose you will have to settle with what you can come across then, no?” he said before taking a few steps forwards to gain a better viewpoint. “After all. Death would be very counter-productive to learning, I'd think.”
Kirien could not see much that moved in the sky, at least not if it was small and high above ground. It was something of that sort that had enticed Nameless; a falcon, soaring in lazy circles above the Barrens, perhaps searching for a small rodent meal scurrying somewhere below. It'd get far more than that, it seemed, for suddenly Nameless was leaping skywards, his great wings unfurling to bear him up into the air with a powerful beat. His vampire companion looked confused for a moment, a soft frown crossing fine features before he waved the wyvern off with a sigh, looking to Veriun. "Death is just another adventure, so some say. I would kinda prefer not to suffer any…permanent death though, aye." Shoulders rolled in a light shrug. "I'll just keep goin' at it. Earth elementals might be able to tell me somethin' - if I ever manage to visit them…" Trailing off, he appeared briefly troubled, then shook his head as though clearing some heavier thought. Above, Nameless wheeled and twisted through the air after the fleeing falcon, jaws opened wide to emit a deafening roar. Kirien huffed. "-What- is he chasing? It better not be a damned dragon."
Veriun smiled a bit wider, turning away from Nameless as he shot into the air after the most probably doomed bird, and faced Kirien yet again. Speaking with some amusement. “Oh I'm quite sure death makes learning rather difficult..” before moving on to the more serious subject of the empath's hope to repeat what Satoshi had done to become what she was. “Your repeating the learning process of your friend the ice queen is... extremely unlikely, Kirien. I'm afraid you're stuck with mortal knowledge. At least for the time being. I hear there are those who can summon elemental spirits. There are many potential teachers. Even if the most important one will always remain yourself. No style you can learn will ever surpass what you yourself can develop for your own use with the right knowledge and tools..” he said in a dismissive yet somehow encouraging tone of voice. Before boredly adding: “It's just a falcon.”
"-Sister-," corrected Kirien a little tersely at the mention of his ice queen 'friend', "although she's certainly a friend to me too." And a reassurance and a teacher of a sort, but he did not elaborate this far. "I don't intend to copy her path. I can tell you though, that if I want to seek out earth elementals, I will damned well do it." Free hand delved into the breast pocket of the vampire's coat, the same pocket that precious letter was contained in - he withdrew not that piece of paper but a small, earthen bell. When rung it chimed softly, oddly, sounding like a musical, tinny rush of pebbles down a steep slope. It was shook a little to emit that call before Kirien waved it around in front of Veriun; and the avian might notice the way the ground underfoot almost seemed to whisper in response to the bell's ringing note as if answering. "This was given to me by an ice elemental, when I visited them with sis. It'll lead me to earth elementals. I've no intention of summoning them, just visiting, and seeing what they think of me an' if they have anythin' useful to teach me." He paused, glancing down at the bell himself. "It's been ringing more clearly lately, and they've been answerin' louder, like they're tellin' me I should come soon…" This was an absent murmur before Kirien shook his head, his gaze shifting skywards again. "Oh," he said, just as there was a pained squawk from somewhere above and a few bloody feathers were whipped away by the wind. "Guess he wanted a snack. Least it's not a dragon."
/ studied the bell with newly awoken interest. He clearly found the item curious and interesting. Gazing at it with piercing eyes, as if looking into the secrets it held rather than at it's physical form. “By elementals, hm? Yes. I suppose they could indeed. Teach you the essence of the arts, should you be ready to learn it..” he answered. Tearing his eyes from the bell and back into Kirien. “Provided that they are indeed willing. One never knows. The world is a strange place. A learning experience indeed...” he continued before looking back up at nameless as the feathers came fluttering by, heralding the death of the bird. “It could well be, soon enough.” he said. And left it at that for a short moment. Before clarifying. “A dragon, that is.”
Kirien would not let Veriun take the bell if he attempted to, and after a few seconds of waving the trinket around, pinning it between forefinger and thumb, he stored it safely back in his pocket again for safekeeping, giving it a light pat. "I'd like to meet them, if nothin' else, y'know? I love the earth an' they're a part of it, so it'd be interstin'. An' f course I'd be ready to learn it!" Nameless swooped down close by the pair just then, not quite touching the ground but coming very close to it before another beat of wings sent him careening back up into the sky, twisting and arcing about dust clouds and swirls of sand. Kirien watched him, or tried to but the wyvern was moving too fast for his eye to keep up with when it was blind. "…If he lures a dragon here, we'll just have to kill it! Their scales sell quite well, after all. An' their meat!" A grin and a flick of an ear to the avian followed.
Veriun chuckled and shook his head at both the antics of Nameless and the comments of Kirien. “I suppose so. Alltought i'd find it regretteble to kill such a creature. I have no love for the dragons as such. Only the lost past they represent, I suppose. Not that it matters. Burning a book that no one can read damages no one and nothing...” he looked after the wyvern as he spoke almost absentmindedly. Although he smiled back at Kirien. “as for your being ready, that is something I wouldn't know anything about. I am not an earth elemental.”
Fowl, Meet Fox
Kirien hummed softly, looking thoughtful as he observed (or tried to but he wasn't going to let on that it was almost impossible for him) the movements of Nameless through the sky and contemplated that remark. "That's true I guess, but I'll defend myself -- an' so will he -- if one decides to attack us, y'know? Wouldn't you do the same if you were caught off-guard in a deadly situation?" He'd cast a sidelong glance to the man then, quirking a brow some. "Burning books is horrible, as a side note. Even if you can't read them, it's fun to feel the pages. I've noticed," he said absently, looking back up at the clouds, "that you can feel echoes of things in books. Feelings, an' such. Well. I can. Comes with the empathy. As for earth elementals…I guess I'll just go see them an' wing it, and we'll see what happens."
Veriun looked toward Kirien again. Silent for a brief moment before he finally said, Very plainly. “You are a very interesting person, Kirien.” he did nothing else.
Kirien canted his head slightly to one side, and might have blinked before he grinned to hide that brief moment of surprise. "You think? How so? I'm not sure I'm interestin' really…"
Veriun smiled a bit but didn't give a straight answer as he proceeded to look behind himself as if checking weather he was being followed, furrowing his brow a bit as he peered into the dust-veiled distance. “Suppose you wouldn't be, no..” he said absentmindedly before flipping a stand of hair off his own shoulder in a most likely subconscious movement. Snapping back into the previous subject with no further notice “As for self defense, that would most likely be true. One'll just have to hope you do not end up having to defend yourself against a book then?” he chuckled and returned his attention towards the soaring wyvern, apparently having found nothing of notice behind them. “or a earth elemental for that matter.”
Kirien eyed Veriun, blindly. He was not fond of people being cryptic with him and looked a bit huffy, shifting his book to hold it against his chest as he exhaled a needless breath of mild exasperation, but he would not comment on it or press further. Doubtless the avian would pick up on his slight displeasure at the lack of a proper answer; so if he deigned to elaborate, then he would, thought Kirien. "Why hope I don't have to fight a boo-- oh. Well." The empath wrinkled his nose some, frowning as he turned his head to peer over a lean shoulder in vaguely the same direction as Veriun. Perhaps he was trying to figure out what exactly had captured his attentions amidst the dust storm. "…If it was a dangerous book that attacked me, I might…burn it. Or, y'know, just crush it into the ground.." He waved a hand and huffed another breath, ears twitching some in response to the powerful beats of Nameless' wings somewhere overhead. "Fightin' an earth elemental would be fun though, wouldn't it?" Surprisingly, Kirien grinned.
Veriun chuckled at Kirien and idly shook his head as a comment to himself. Perhaps not noticing or choosing not to take note of the empaths frustration, letting him run his thought out loud about the book and onto the mention of the possible fun of a battle with a being of the earth. “Until it started overpowering your terramancy with it's own. Leaving you to rely on your much inferior physical prowess, yes?”
"M-My 'physical prowess' is not inferior!" Kirien looked indignant now, and may have puffed his cheeks up a bit in quite the childish manner following that outburst. Either because he realised what he was doing and that he probably looked silly, or he was readying to speak again, his cheeks quickly deflated a second or so later, and then he opened his mouth. Apparently it was the latter, since he was continuing. "I'd just-- I'd just train until I was as skilled as it, then - or better!" Because he did understand, albeit somewhat grudgingly, that his melee abilities had suffered greatly due to his focusing solely on terramancy.
Veriun remained silent for a moment as to not outright laugh at the childish reaction, smiling widely and shaking his head to himself slowly before he held up a hand as to get kirien to pause in his onslaught of counter-arguments. “I did not comment on your skill in physical prowess, Kirien. I merely referred to the fact that a creature of the living earth would not have much trouble in crushing an ogre as if were it a fragile child.” he explained in a calm tone, almost parental in nature. Still, apparently, greatly amused at the turn of events.
Kirien wisely shut his mouth when that had was raised, though his brows furrowed some in the process. With his expression displaying a clear desire to continue arguing, but with perhaps enough sense to stay quiet and listen, the empath clutched his book against his chest, arms wrapped round it, blind gaze turned upon the avian and staring calculatingly at him. Behind him, his tail swished in what could be construed as slight agitation. "…Then I'll train until I reach the same level." This compromise, while still probably entirely impossible, was something he felt he might accomplish even a little easier than actually besting an elemental. Shoulders rolled in a slight shrug. "Though…I don't think this book has all the knowledge I'll need to do that."
Veriun shook his head and returned his hand to his pocket, making no mention of the most apparent foolishness of the so called compromise. “Indeed. That is beyond what a book can teach. At least one without magical properties.” he proceeded to agree with the vampire, looking a bit thoughtful. “In fact, you would most likely need to learn from your potential enemy to reach the level where you could potentially best them. Ironic, isn't it?” he went on in an... calculative, perhaps one may call it, tone of voice, as he eyed Kirien with that very same piercing gaze he'd used before. Seemingly looking past the physical appearance of things. “beyond that? You need mastery. Personalization. You currently use a rather crude and undeniably rough form of the magic. While unconventional and somewhat unique, it is not a personal form quite yet.”
Kirien looked down at his book, once or twice. It was a large, heavy thing, a couple of its pages ripped and sticking out at odd angles, its cover both weather-beaten and time-worn, but it had served him well in his thirst for knowledge so far. He did, however, understand that it was most definitely not a magical book - at least not in the sense he figured Veriun referred to. It had words, and spells filled its pages to bursting, but that was all. Hefting it up a little higher, he rested his chin atop one ragged edge. "They're not my potential enemies. Companions, if anythin' - an' teachers if they're willing. I dunno. I don't want to make enemies with them. That's not why I want to visit," he said slowly, wind tugging at his hair, sand brushing over his clothes. Nameless shot by close above, twisting through the air, seemingly on the tail of another bird of some kind. Kirien tilted his head. "Personalisation. How would I…go about all these things? Just practicing still, or?" He slid the man an enquiring sort of glance, expression melting into something almost unreadable, but tinted round the edges with curiosity and contemplation.
Veriun already knew Kiriens intention with the elementals and therefor more or less let his words about them fall unheeded. Or perhaps simply unanswered. His attention seemed to be on the wyvern sweeping over their heads while the man spoke, at least. It soon returned to Kirien and the book however, together with his answer. “It's something you essentially must do yourself. Even if there are those who can aid you with the process much like a teacher. Personalization is something to improve ones magic, no matter what level one has reached. Although it applies to all but exact arts. To put it simply, it is to find your own way of using the magic as well as possible. Your very own version of terramancy. Surely you've touched upon it now and then, yes? Finding ways to preform spells that otherwise proved too challenging? Such as with the dust golem mere moments ago.”
Kirien 's attentions remained mostly on Veriun but occasionally he'd turn his focus upwards to the sky, unseen by him but currently a blue, blue canvas spread out above, dotted with stray, wispy blobs of white racing by, golden dust clouds swirling below them. "You sure know a lot about this stuff," the empath stated a little absent-mindedly, squinting a bit at the sun as though trying to see it better; but of course it was a useless endeavour. He reached to run a hand through hair weighed down slightly by sand, scruffling up unruly locks a bit so as to dislodge grains of grit. "Hm. Maybe I need a teacher then! Someone who knows a lot about what they're talking about." There was that look again - that expectant sort of stare.
Veriun joined Kiriens gaze and therefor didn't see his expression. Perhaps willfully so. “Perhaps.” He said, rather plainly. Answering both the statements, equally absentmindedly. As if partially fading out of the conversation.
Kirien squinted at the avian instead of the sky, brows furrowing into another soft frown. "A more definitive answer would have been useful there, but it seems you enjoy being vague and cryptic." The spell book was tucked back under one arm again. "Would-- would -you- teach me?" He looked mildly awkward, saying that, but Kirien was doing his best to be polite. Veriun did seem to know his stuff, after all. "That'd be…good."
Veriun turned his gaze back at Kirien with a mild look of surprise, tilting his head much like the bird he resembled. He remained silent for a while, probably considering the request, although his expression gave nothing away. The empath might pick up on first, obviously, surprise (just as the avian's expression had shown) but then reluctance and some kind of nostalgia. And then he seemed to give up in favor of some unknown reasoning or duty. And nodded shortly. “Very well. I suppose I am supposed to, seeing as you asked at a well chosen time.”
Kirien continued to watch and scrutinise the other blindly during his silence, even when Nameless finally landed again nearby, spitting feathers out his mouth. Making his way through the dust storm to the pair, the wyvern shifted alongside the empath and rubbed his head against his waist some, rumbling low in his throat; the movement was somewhat reminiscent of a cat's and Kirien's free hand raised to idly scratch across those shimmering scales, eliciting further 'purring' from Nameless. "Sap," he might've murmured with affection to his companion, still watching Veriun intently, feeling those flickers of emotion. At the agreement, the vampire's pallid features lit up with a beaming smile, clearly pleased. His tail wiggled behind him. "Aight! I like it!" That was obvious enough already.
Veriun chuckled at the others rapid change of mood and scratched at that nonexistent itch at his neck. Gazing idly at his own feet. “I will try and aid you in developing your personal style of terramancy. I'll need to know more before I can do such, however. Your current methods and spells as well as who you are as a person. A style is useless to learn if it does not fit you personally.” he said as he returned his gaze upon his new student and took his hands out of his pockets, letting the book fall down into a waiting hand, assuming a somewhat less sloppy posture.
Kirien had something infectious in his smile, not that he realised it. Maybe it was less the expression itself and more the ecstatic emotion emitted during it that might brush against those possessed of a particularly perceptive mind, working its way unconsciously into them. Whatever the cast, he smiled right now as if there was not a thing wrong with the world. "Aight, I get that," he said, reaching to ruffle up his own hair again while Nameless sat back and looked between the two, interested in working out what he'd missed while airborne. "Get to know me as a person, ah…do I just say things? I'm not very good at describin' myself, really." A finger tapped thoughtfully at his lower lip. "I want to learn a lot about terramancy though! I'm pretty versatile."
Veriun smiled back, if only a little and perhaps not entirely honest. It was nigh impossible to properly tell. He nodded once, however at Kirien's words and changed the book over to his other hand. “Indeed. I suspect we shall simply have to get to know each other over time as the initial stage. Besides the obvious try outs to get a good grasp of what your magic is like currently.” he said in a idle, somewhat business like voice. “Willingness to learn is good. Your enthusiasm is needed, seeing as earth dues not budge easily. Yes?” he added before looking off into the distance with the slightest shadows of a frown. “But before that... I suspect we would do well in leaving this place. I have already lingered dangerously long. Let us not tempt faith. At least not quite yet.”