Technique

 Tagunban would be restless for the rainy season for his training in his clan techniques would continue only then. Still he did as Yawanu would order him for his training, Tagunban would climb the highest hills around the village every time thunder would accompany the unrelenting monsoon rains. There he would meditate upon the natural phenomenon around, hear the crack of thunder, watch the distant blue arcs shoot forth from the sky, feel the energy in the air around him. Once as he meditated underneath a tree lightning struck the very tree causing it to explode forth into smoldering splinters as Tagunban attempted to guard himself from the wooden shrapnel. After Tagunban had pulled the numerous splinters from himself he had noticed with a clearer visualization of electricity he could channel slightly faster but figured his acquaintance with electricity as Kagetora on Earth was likely the more key familiarity he possessed with the element. This was an exercise built more to help people native to this world who would never experience things like getting shocked by faulty electronics or see failing transformers arc wicked bolts of plasma in every direction.

When the monsoon rains finally subsided, when Tagunban reached sixteen rains of age, he would first be approached by the chieftain. “The rains are gone boy, therefore I'm going to take you for training before your fool brother can grab you first.” the chieftain proclaimed as he grabbed Tagunban and dragged him to the village center. “Today I teach you the same technique I taught your father and Ta Da, the Mana Star. It's simple in principle really. You take your mana and you channel it through your hands then press your hands together near your core and you combine the mana channeling of your core along with both hands and concentrate your energy into as small a point as possible. Like this.” The chieftain elaborated as he held his hands out and summoned two jetting bursts of flame from his palms. Then he would slowly press his palms together with his arms fighting against the two competing flaming forces as his hands began to redden from the heat. Then with a puff of smoke he pressed his hands together and held them in front of his core as he channeled his mana. Soon he would flick a brilliant white ember into the air where it would drift along the breeze before exploding into a brilliant yellow fireball well over the size of a hut. Some passing clansmen and villagers would cheer in spectacle at the great ball of fire that lit up the sky as they passed. “I mean it's impressive but if you have to charge it for so long it doesn't seem very practical in battle.” responded Tagunban in doubt before being caned about the head by the chieftain. “I see Ta Da has already gotten to you, don't doubt the Mana Star’s power boy. The gods reward the patient, besides I heard you saw Katas use it in his duel while you were out in your raid.” reprimanded the chieftain. “Ya but he was flying in the air and I don't think lightning will ever give me that power. Also his opponent was hiding in a big smoke.... Oh.” Tagunban realized as he spoke, this power wasn't for an exchange of blows. It was for when your opponent was in hiding or when you couldn't pin them down precisely. “Sounds like you figured it out on your own, good, now try it.” ordered the chieftain as nodded proudly at Tagunban's natural intuition. Tagunban would then concentrate his mana channeling it down his arms until two great arcs of lighting shot forth from his palms. Then moving his hands together the two arcs conjoined into one before Tagunban would get smacked in the head by the chieftain’s staff again. “Don't combine your mana flows fool, keep them separate and force them together. The competition between them is key to the Mana Star's power.” barked the chieftain in reprimand. Tagunban grumbled before trying again and getting the same results and the same smack to the head. “How do you know this is even possible? Lighting wants to come together not shoot away like two jets of fire!” Tagunban yelled in frustration. “It is you're just not trying, any technique is possible with any mana attunement if you're smart and dedicated enough.” Tagunban would keep trying and failing for days until one day desperate not to get another head welt and trying anything he would he would reverse the flow of the electricity in one of the streams so that both charges flowed in the same direction instead of each one coming at his core from different directions. This would create the repelling effect and this repulsion is what would concentrate the power before Tagunban released it in a slow flowing coconut sized orb of electricity that sent out an arc to anything that came near. “You’re getting closer boy, now you need to channel mana from your core into the concentration as well.” The chieftain congratulated Tagunban as he observed the weak ball of electricity drift through the air. Tagunban would try the technique again only for the mana channeled from his core to conjoin with one mana flow or the other and destabilize the repulsion ruining the effect. Tagunban would keep trying before he realized that if he added to both streams in bursts from his core he could intensify the effect greatly. While we still couldn't shrink his new Thunder Star into anything smaller than a coconut the result, while slow and long to charge, was a devastating attack whose arcs could hound out any nearby opponents no matter how fast or concealed they were. “I told you it could be done, didn't I? Maybe you'll think twice before questioning my wisdom again.” The Chieftain cheered Tagunban as he grinned.

The next to take him under his wing for advanced training would be Ta Da, who would quietly approach him and lead him to the outskirts of the village for training. “It was a strange move for the chieftain to teach you Mana Star first, it's a fallback move and doesn't meld with how we Highland Tribesmen tend to use our mana. I'm going to teach you how to enhance your fighting abilities with your channeling mana. This is the Mana Step.” Ta Da stated as his skin began to run blood red and his veins swelled before he began to breathe heavily. To demonstrate the full capacity of his ability, in a burst of speed Ta Da would appear behind Tagunban before with one swing of his axe felled an entire mango tree in one swing. Yet Tagunban would notice a peculiarity in Ta Da’s body, the tips of his fingers on his one hand began to turn blue. Ta Da would then exhale as his skin turned back to its normal tanned hue before a trickle of blood ran down his nose. “You may not have recognized it but that technique was the same as Katas's when he used those jets of fire to speed up the swing of his axe. That is the mana step.” Ta Da elaborated. “That was incredible but I don't see how they can be the same technique.” responded Tagunban as he observed the large remains of the mango tree. “Because they come from the same principle, using your channeling mana to make your attacks hit harder and faster. We just use different methods to get the same results.” Ta Da exclaimed as he sat down on the log he just created. “But Dad used jets of flame coming out of his axe to swing faster, your skin changed color and you got faster.” Tagunban questioned. “My head trophy is of the Masa attunement, so I use my mana to control the flow of blood in my body. I can breathe new life into my muscles through the process but my version of the technique has downsides. I always tend to run out of breath after using it for too long and it's incredibly hard on my body. I know you saw my fingers turn blue and my nose start to bleed.” Ta Da answered as he caught his breath. “So what other ways can the technique be used?” Tagunban asked not able to think of a way electricity could be used to speed himself up. “Not wanting your brother Bongao to follow in my path I led him away from manipulating his muscles with his Lugangu attunement. Instead he manipulates the wood in his axe handle to create and release tension along with bending and manipulating his axe handle in other ways. I've heard of Mupepe users creating gusts of wind to blow their weapons along yet I've seen a warrior steal air in the path of his weapon the suction of which made it fly faster and his blows landed with an implosive power.” Ta Da answered again, looking like he was getting sick of talking and lecturing. Tagunban would explore several ideas in his attempt to use his lightning attunement to somehow enhance his physical prowess. The first and shortest lived idea was to simply see if he could somehow use his lightning to generate enough heat to move his axe around. Through hours of work Tagunban could generate enough heat to generate some slight movement but concluded it used too much mana for no real benefit. The second idea was taken from the mechanics of the Thunder Star technique, by using the repulsion of two objects with the same charge to speed up his axe swings. Tagunban would charge his body and his axe only to realize it made the axe unwieldy and want to slip from his hands. Exploring this idea for days alternating between charging only parts of his body at a time to repel the axe and using huge amounts of mana to test the maximum abilities of the idea; Tagunban would find once again that the power used too much mana for the amount of benefit it actually gave. The third idea which was also only briefly explored was to give and opposite charge to a target and then charge his axe making the two attract. The idea would be quickly abandoned however on account that having to get close enough to an opponent and actually imbue them with a charge would be difficult and risky, along with the fact that materials like flesh could not hold charges very well after he broke contact. Tagunban would struggle before turning back to Ta Da’s implementation of the technique as well as his severe electrocution from training with Katsu. Tagunban thought back the spasming of his limbs and how exhausted he felt after the incident, that was when he discovered his winning idea; by using electrical currents to contract his muscles he could make his body faster and stronger than he could with just his own nervous system. However this was a long and a difficult process to master, months of painful self electrocutions, accidental muscle sprains, and pushing himself well past the point of exhaustion. This training continued well into the rainy season monsoon again, for this technique wouldn't work at all until it was perfect. All the while Ta Da sat and silently wondered if this approach was the wrong one and that he helped birth another technique that was as dangerous to its user as it was to their enemies like his own. Still Tagunban trained diligently both inside his father's former and older brother’s current hut as well as out in the monsoon rains. For its successful execution Tagunban would have to rely on the same technique of non-thinking memorization that Ta Da had taught him in the previous year. Tagunban would practice moving each muscle in his body independently with nothing but the electricity from his Channeling Mana over and over again until he perfected each muscle. Then using that spiritual muscle memory as a foundation he would practice larger movements such as moving an entire arm or taking a step with nothing but the same technique. Once that was perfected he would combine the technique with his own true muscle memory, to reinforce his speed and strength to a great degree. Walking, running, jumping, striking, blocking, and redirecting all were done so quickly that Tagunban appeared to be nothing but a crackling blur of energy to the naked eye. Then he would bring out Ta Da to see the full extent of his training and new technique, the Thunder Step. Tagunban bolted circles around Ta Da in a rough jagged pattern resembling the shape of a lightning bolt. While the Thunder Step used a great deal of Tagunban's mana, was incredibly wearing on his muscles, and could risk electrocution and other serious injury if done wrong; unlike all the failed ideas from the months before the results were undeniable. Ta Da nodded in begrudging before looking at his missing arm. “A formidable technique, just remember before you use any technique so dangerous to yourself what the consequences may be and if your goals justify that risk.” Ta Da spoke quietly before getting up and walking back to the village in the unrelenting monsoon rains.

Before the monsoon rains ended Katsu would approach Tagunban in their hut. “It's time little brother, time for you to learn the technique our father would have taught you; the Axe Bird.” Tagunban solemnly nodded as he stood up from his bed of woven sticks, straw, and animal hides. The pair would then step outside and walk behind the hut. “As you remember our father’s version of the technique was the Fire Bird, my version of the technique is the Storm Bird.” Tagunban would state as stepped forward into his flighting stance and held his axe out to the side of him. Concentrating a breeze began to build around the pair as a whirlwind began to form around the head of Katsu’s axe. Then the shimmering winds concentrated more and more around the axe head until rushing air formed in the shape of an eagle with its wings spread as the air whistled the familiar cries of a greater eagle. It was only then Katsu would slash forth into the air causing the winds of his axe to strike forth towards a distant tree. When the gust of violent winds hit the tree they would a great slash into it before the winds collapsed into the cut and caused the entire top half of the tree to explode into a rain of splinters. “I was going to teach you that first but the chieftain and Ta Da got to you first, bastards; father would have wanted you to learn Axe Bird first not last.” Katsu mourned as he stood up normally again. Tagunban nodded as he stepped into the same forward heavy stance, much like the Thunder Star Tagunban concentrated his mana into the point of his axe head and with his refined control over his mana from months of training to use the Thunder Step the electricity quickly flowed into the axe head before he swung forth and arced a shot of lightning at the same tree. “You idiot you think that Axe Bird is just some half assed charges shot of man through an axe? The Axe Bird is about power, about taking your power and pushing it to the breaking point before you unleash it in an unrestrained wicked blast. You concentrate your mana until you struggle to control it and release it all at once using your axe to aim and control it. It's not just the Mana Star with an axe.” Katsu shouted in passionate abandon. Tagunban took a breath and tried again, he concentrated his mana into the head of his axe and unlike how he normally had to carefully control his mana as for it not to turn against him he flooded his axe head with wild abandon as it began to shoot arcs of lightning wildly around him. Soon the ball of electricity on the central point of the axe head began to destabilize as Tagunban poured even more Mana into it, the ball slowly shaped into the familiar spread eagle shape as the electric cries of an eagle echoed throughout. Tagunban swung his axe forwards and a great arc of lightning struck the stump left behind by Katsu, the initial blast made the stump swell and pop at its seams yet the real damage came when the blast reverberated at the end of the arc; the stump would then explode into a pile of burning splinters much like Tagunban's first training session with Katsu. However unlike that first training session with the use of the Thunder Bird technique Tagunban could cause the same effect from much further away and without having to use up all his mana. Katsu bellowed out a hardy laugh as he patted Tagunban on the back. “Now there's the family prodigy! Keep working that through the rainy season and you'll be half unstoppable.” Katsu cheered his brother in pride. Thus Tagunban would work to refine all his techniques through the rest of the rainy season monsoon, all with a dangerous idea in mind.