The Professional (Open)

[Aeon]

This was Damon's first time in this so-called Arcane Academy. To him, it was very unreal yet at the same time extremely real and physical. It took Damon some time to adjust to be around other magic users. Damon had magic abilities but he relied on using his own strength and will in combat. But magic abilities sure came to be very helpful.

Damon was in the courtyard practicing his martial arts. He left his weapons in his dormatory. Only time Damon would need his weapons is if he had a mission that required them. Mainly, Damon rather fight with his bare hands. The 6' Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and Chinese man stood wearing nothing but a pair of black UFC style tight-fit fighting trunks.

He had a very nice and well-sculpted physique and his tattoos were present on his body. The X-shaped scar on Damon's back was also visible as well. Not only was Damon a magic user, he was also somewhat of a cyborg. He would probably be the first cyborg of Arcane Academy. His left hand and right eye were cybernetic. He had a CPU implanted in his brain along with sensors implanted throughout his body due to a near-death injury during a botched mission.

Before he would train in more magic, Damon felt that he needed to train his body a bit more. Due to the Technomagic and his CPU, Damon can access stored data of all of his matches, training, etc.

"Let's practice some Muay Thai," Damon cooly said to himself. Without hesitation, he assumed the stance of Muay Thai. His cool and casual look now changed into cold, emotionless, and robotic.

He started to practice on his punches throwing a barrage of left jabs and right crosses aimed for the face. Damon made sure to throw Muay Thai style roundhouse kicks aimed for the leg area and knee strikes aimed for the face/chest area of his opponents. The man was a relentless machine whenever in a fight or during a mission.

Damon then spun his body in a 180 degree motion for a back push kick aimed for the gut area. That was a very effective kick for knocking the wind out of an opponent.

"Time for some Savate," Damon said to himself. He then quickly changed from a Muay Thai stance to a Savate stance. Savate is basically French Kickboxing. It's a mix of Muay Thai and ballet. Now Damon was practicing with Savate attacks. He would continue training until some people came out into the courtyard of the Academy.

[Ziare]

Ziare was becoming much more social. She was healing thanks to the intense work of Alastin and even Jyo had been starting to help. Things for her were coming back together and she was pleased with her progress. Living in the tower room on the fifteenth floor she was not normally seen about much so today she had decided after a few days of solitude to take a stroll through the academy.

Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeve baby pink tshirt that hugged her perfect figure she stepped out into the courtyard. The wind blew through her long platinum blonde hair that was much shorter than it had been previously. Her ice blue eyes scanned the area and she saw something that caught her eyes.

Walking over towards the boy practicing his martial arts she sat on a bench and pulled her left leg up to her chest. Hugging it to her she lay her chin on the knee as she watched him move. He had an elegant grace to all his movements but you knew from the way he moved that he could kick your butt if you gave him reason to.

She watched silently for a long time. Her eyes taking in all his movements. She rarely spoke. It wasn't really her thing these days but she was learning to do that more now as well. And trust was still a huge issue especially concerning men. But this one had intrigued her and Alastin was always saying that you had to take chances and that she couldn't hide forever.

"You move well." she said finally letting him know she was there. "I wish I knew how to better defend myself like that. It seems an asset." she admitted to him.

[Aeon]

Damon decided to practice a split stretching both legs out. He was pretty much in tuned to his training. There, he heard a young girl's voice.

"You move well."

Damon ended the split and spun into a breakdancing motion to his feet. He took a deep sigh and looked at Ziare who was wearing a pink t-shirt and pair of blue jeans. Damon on the other hand was wearing nothing but a pair of black tight-fit UFC style fighting trunks that said "FULL CONTACT FIGHTER" on the side.

"I wish I knew how to better defend myself like that. It seems an asset."

He cooly and casually nodded.

"Yeah, definitely an asset. Saved my skin on numerous times," Damon explained.

The 6' Asian man nodded and casually smiled to the girl. He stretched out a bit and gave out a relaxed and casual yawn.

"Was doing some physical conditioning. In a fight, it's all about the conditioning, how much you condition, and what kind of conditioning you go through," Damon added. "I just transferred here. Learn to better control my abilities."

[Ziare]

Ziare smiled softly as he began stretching and yawning. She really wasn't paying attention to his body. That was something that currently didn't concern her. She did notice that he was toned .. okay very toned and that he only wore a pair of boxers. She ran a hand through her loose hair and listened as he spoke.

"I imagine it would depend on your conditioning. I really have never fought physically so I'm afraid I really have no conditioning." she said with a soft smile.

He began to tell her that he was knew and she nodded. She could tell he was knew. She had known most of the people in the academy right before the accident and that wasn't that long ago. So he must have been knew. She scooted over on the bench so that if he wanted to he could sit next to her.

"Well welcome to the academy then." she said with a soft smile. "What kind of magic do you do, if you don't mind my asking." she said softly.

[Aeon]

"What kind of magic do you do, if you don't mind my asking."

Damon took a seat on the bench and looked up in the sky. He had no reason to lie and such. The man decided to just let out what type of magic he uses.

"I specialize in four types. My primary style is the use of Chi," Damon explained and continued, "which is life energy. Also used in the martial arts. Other parts of the world it's known as Chakra or Vajra. I basically use Chi in conjuction with my martial arts training."

Damon popped his neck a bit.

"Let's see, I also use Psychism to an extent. I use that with my Chi. The Chi lets me predict an opponent's movement and Pysche magic lets me read their thoughts and copy their techniques."

He then stood to his feet and showed the girl his cybernetic left hand and his cybernetic right eye.

"Lost my hand and my eye during a botched mission back in the day. I was outfitted with cybernetic replacements. However, I have a CPU implanted in my brain and sensors all over my body. I'm basically a cyborg. I was introduced to Technomagic which I use with my Chi and Psychism. Helps a lot in combat and when learning new things."

Damon proceeded to show her the X shaped scar on his back, "along with the CPU and sensors, a small generator was also implanted. Technomagic with Psychism is pretty effective, but it gives you a major fucking migraine."

He then turned back to Ziare.

"Lastly, I use Wind Elemental magic."

[Ziare]

Ziare could only blink and stare at the boy as he began to talk about all the different ways he used his mana. She had never heard of an apprentice having so many styles before. When she stood and told her that he was also cybernetic she smiled. That was just.. neat really and she nodded. Looking at the eye and the left hand she just thought they were really neat period.

"Well that's cool. I have to admit but if it gives you migraines is it all that safe?" she asked softly reaching out she tentatively touched his left hand letting her own normal hand feel his.

He went on to explain more and also showed her the scar across his back. He sure had a lot of tattoos as well and she thought how fun it might be to get herself a tatoo. Maybe something neat and put it somewhere.. well fun.

"That is quite an amazing selection of magic you have there. Wind element is something I have experience in so I can understand that completely but the other things are just down right amazing." she said a bit astonished as she let go of his hand and let it fall to her lap again.

[Aeon]

"Yeah, wind magic is amazing. Air is like total freedom. Wind magic is extremely handy. Especially when I have to get the hell out of some place," Damon explained.

Then he thought about the migraines part. That was a drawback that Damon had to deal with.

"Yeah, migraines are a draw back. Everything has it's pros and cons. That's the way of life. Whenever you have a solution to the problem, another problem comes with the solution. That's one of Murphy's Combat Laws," Aeon explained.

He then continued, "that's one of the reasons I came here to Arcane Academy. Needed to improve on my magic abilities so I'd reduce the migraines I've been getting. The best type of magic styles solely depends on your style and your compatibility. Same goes with taking up a hobby, religion, sport, etc."

Damon then finished off with, "I basically keep honing my body. Of course I'm here to improve my magic. There are times where you can't use your magic. If you're in a situation where you can't use magic and that you depend on it a lot, you're basically screwed."

[Ziare]

Ziare listened and nodded. She knew all too well about getting into situations where she couldn't use her magic. And had not been able to get out of them. Usually her magic worked just fine but at that time he had supressed her ability to access her magic and she had been vulnerable. And then he had taken advantage of her.

"Yes, I know all too well about situations where magic cannot be used. I can vouch for that. Which is why I'm thinking about learning how to use a weapon." she admitted.

She didn't have much body strength it was in her magic that her strength truly lay but she was willing to give it a shot. All she really wanted was to make sure that she was never caught without some kind of back up plan again. Even though she knew that her body hadn't moved an inch that entire time because of the drugs the guy had given her didn't mean that she couldn't have done something. She felt that maybe had she had a weapon she might have been able to fight back.

"So where are you from then?" she asked softly as she looked up at the man that was still standing in front of her. He hadn't seemed to mind her touch but she wasn't going to touch him again unless she had to so it didn't really matter anymore.

[Aeon]

"I was born in San Jose, in northern Cali. I guess that's where I'm from," Damon cooly and casually answered.

"Never met my parents really. Most of my life I travelled around the world. I was recruited into a top secret government program that combined magic and special operations training. I'm the first of its kind. However, not long ago, there were budget cuts and the program I was part of fell victim to the cuts. I was out of a job."

Damon took a yawn and slowly started walking around the courtyard looking up at the sky.

"The last place I lived in before I transferred to the Academy was in Toronto, Canada. Canada is pretty nice. The States is good, but the government downright sucks. Plus the job market there is at a downtime low," Damon explained. He then added, "I was born in California. Last few months, I was living in Toronto."

Damon then finished off with, "what about you?"

[Ziare]

Ziare leaned back on her hands as she looked at the boy while he walked around the courtyard talking briefly about his life. She listened liking to meet and know about people and where they were from. Aside from Junpei he was the first person she had ever met from the states.

"Cali huh? I've never been there. I bet it's nice. That government thing sounds a lot like D13. We do a lot of business with them here at the academy. We kinda help each other out a lot so I'm sure you might meet some D13 operatives here later. I know of a few to say the least. Though none are cybernetic still." she said with a shrug.

"As for me. Well I was born in a small village really. Called Rosewood. It's in England somewhere outside of London and it's very small. There aren't any cars or anything you just walk every where. After coming here I found out just how nostalgic where I lived was but I still love it. It's kinda nestled into this little grove of trees. Really nice though. Anyway, I came to the academy a while back and have been studying here for a long time now. I've never really traveled anywhere or done anything neat and I'm one hundred percent human so I can't be all cool and cybernetic like you." she chuckled.

"By the way my name is Ziare." she said with a smile as she nodded to him. "What's yours?"

[Aeon]

Aeon nodded. The girl was half right about California. But there was more to California than meets the eye.

"As for me. Well I was born in a small village really. Called Rosewood. It's in England somewhere outside of London and it's very small. There aren't any cars or anything you just walk every where. After coming here I found out just how nostalgic where I lived was but I still love it. It's kinda nestled into this little grove of trees. Really nice though. Anyway, I came to the academy a while back and have been studying here for a long time now. I've never really traveled anywhere or done anything neat and I'm one hundred percent human so I can't be all cool and cybernetic like you."

Damon let out a nod and a smile.

"By the way my name is Ziare."

"Nice to meet you, Ziare. I'm Damon," Damon replied introducing himself to her. "You're from England, huh?"

"England's very nice. Don't care much for Tony Blair, though. Royal Family pretty much act like figureheads from what I've seen on the news," Damon cooly and casually replied. He then assured, "I've been to England a few times. As for being cybernetic. I'm that to an extent. But I'm still human just like you."

"As for Cali... The northern part of California is much nicer than southern Cali. In Southern Cali, the crime rate is through the roof. Prisons are extremely overcrowded. Southern Cali, that's basically the epicenter of everything that's wrong with humanity."

That was a fact.

Damon then added, "Los Angeles is the worst. It translates into "City of Angels" but it's fake as hell. Especially with all those shows like Laguna Beach, the OC, and other things. Crime rate is very high in L.A. Lots of drug dealing, rapes, robberies, and other things."

[Ziare]

He began talking about the crime in California. Her hands on the bench began clenching when he listed them. She chewed on her lower lip as her knuckles went white and her nails began cutting through her palm. The pain right now was keeping her sane and that was what she needed. She wanted something to keep her grounded. It wasn't going to do any good to freak out right now.

Calm child..

I'm trying.

You aren't doing a good job.

Damnit leave me the hell alone if you have nothing better to say.

*chuckles* and now you're better.

He was right. Armenius was right. He had taken her mind of the thoughts of rape and she was slowly starting to relax.

I'm still not giving you credit.

Naturally.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Crime happens everywhere these days. It's not just down on Earth or just in Cali. It's everywhere." she said softly looking away unable to meet his gaze at the moment.

[Aeon]

"Yeah, I'm sure. Crime happens everywhere these days. It's not just down on Earth or just in Cali. It's everywhere."

"That's true."

Damon cooly nodded. Yeah, that was true that crime happens everywhere. However, the United States has one of the highest crimerates all around. But at this moment, Damon felt that he could use some excercise.

"Was wondering if you were up for a spar? I just got here to Arcane Academy. Need some major excercise."

Cooly and casually, he waited for Ziare's reply.