Envy's Ford [Vanyel, Veralia]

"Seriously? That's it?"

Annoyed, a white-haired man stormed out of the martial arts club. He had gone to see if there was anything new he could learn, or something that could challenge him -- only for him to inadvertently wipe through the entire club without any challenge. He probably should have figure that he wasn't going to get anywhere with it. He was someone who had spent his entire life honing and mastering the martial arts he was taught, the ones he learned on his own, and the ones he developed.

As he left, he already felt regret building in his stomach. He shouldn't have been so crass about it -- hell, he probably bruised a lot of egos in there. He reached into his jacket pocket, fishing for a pack of cigarettes and lighter. Flipping open the lid and flicking the spark wheel with a thumb, Vanyel took a deep drag of the stick as he sat on the seat of his motorcycle.

He had been wanting to refine himself, both in martial arts, and in his own temperament. He had recognized how badly he wanted to throw the calm he had managed to the wind during the confrontation with the person that kidnapped Rita.

It had become a part of him learning to develop his powers -- to also use them as a way to facilitate a newer, deeper mastery over himself. Snuffing out the cigarette and slipping it into a small, personal ashtray, Vanyel started up his motorcycle, and sped off. As he left the city limits, he stopped on the side of the road and headed into a nearby forest, a notebook, pencils, and a large book in tow.

In the quiet of the forest, Vanyel looked through the large book, his copy of A Journey to the West. With each story, passage, or name he heard, ideas came to mind, and the notebook's pages quickly became filled with notes and ideas, some related to keeping an eye on others, some purely out of personal interest and inspiration from those very stories.

The Jade Emperor, Sun Wukong's Eyes of Truth, the story of Nuwa and his memories of how she was depicted -- all of it spurred his mind to write down more specifics, what exactly he wanted to do with his powers, names for them, how he wanted them to evolve in the future. After being bogged down with the Rita situation for so long, finally, he was able to let the creative aspects of his mind roam free, and he finally was able to make the progress he had been seeking.

The living world was filled with many desires that filled men's and women's hearts alike. The desire to be more beautiful, stronger, richer, happier and to grasp for more and have that which your neighbor possesses. After leaving the United States, Veralia certainly had her fill of these covetous pursuits in the souls of those lost humans. So a treat to somewhere secluded, slower, and down to nature was needed.

Wandering an unspecified part of Japan, the openness of the green space around her was a beautiful sight to behold. An endless sprawl of trees, grass, fields, and clear blue skies under a lovely warm sun was all that she needed to unwind, slow herself down, and savor the colors of the living realm. Inhaling the fresh forest air caused a smirk to etch itself across her lips as if it were the beginning of something interesting.

With senses like a bloodhound, it wasn't hard for her to notice a savory presence nearby. Veralia got down on one knee and placed her palm on the ground as she sensed a mighty sense of desire that had stepped forth into this woods. A spirit with the potential to rival her own boiled over in a yearning for something grander that sparked her interest and caused the woman to emerge out of a tree in front of Vanyel.

As Veralia's gaze settled on the white-haired male before her, a flicker of surprise danced across her features. It wasn't often that a human exuded an aura that could catch the attention of someone like herself. Her head tilted slightly, an unconscious gesture that mirrored her intrigue, her eyes narrowing as she sought to unravel the mystery before her.

"Fancy seeing another person out here."

Not being shy one bit, Veralia cut the silence between them with an air of casualness to her voice. As she slid her hands into the pockets of her shorts, the woman locked her blood gaze on Vanyel and continued to size him up.

"Especially one with a power like yours. I couldn't imagine you came all this way to read with a soul like that, hm?"

In the scribbles of notes, Vanyel would soon turn to rather shoddily-drawn visuals of what he was writing down, mixing in the notes with visuals, as well as making it all come together with his understanding and knowledge of power minutia. He had been working on redeveloping something long since lost from his time before he became a Demon -- something that he managed to briefly tap into during a prior incident, but only briefly.

A depiction of eyes, with lines trailing toward them, labeled "energy flow" and a collection of Chinese characters written above them. More illustrations of walls, auras, and even one of a tongue, switching to a colored pencil and shading it in. He knew what he wanted to do -- it was just a matter of putting the hard work behind it.

As luck would have it, his Reikaku picked up the incoming presence. As it came out from behind a tree, the sound of his book snapping shut echoed through the dense, quiet forest as he got to his feet. Immediately his feet habitually slid into the defensive stance of Taijiquan, despite a hand being occupied by his belongings.

Just as in his illustrations, he tried to direct the flow of his energy and his Reikaku from around him, diverting it and concentrating it into his eyes, rather than as a sensory field around him. Vanyel's oceanic eyes lit up a slightly brighter color for brief instances, flickering as he stared at her. A brief aura stuttered to life around her, colored bone-white.

'White. Death and funerals. So, probably a Hollow or Arrancar.'

Wincing and covering his eyes for a moment from the sudden strain, he blinked a few times, before uncovering them to look back at the unexpected visitor.

"Could say the same for you. Normal people, even Arrancar, generally don't wander around forests. Unless you're a Hollow with some kind of shapeshifting power, lure, or somethin' else, and you're here to try and eat me. But, this snack bites back, rather than smiles."

Despite the brief distraction from his eyes being strained at his testing, he still remained in a firm stance, ready to move either onto the attack or stay on the defense, should he need be.

"I'm just doing some brainstorming in the peace and quiet. How about you?"

"Eat you? Huh, could say I've toyed with the idea."

Veralia's voice held a bit of devious intent behind that quip, but it was hard to tell if she was serious or not. With a mischievous glint in her eye, her tone straddling the line between jest and a darker curiosity. She casually propped her chin on her hand, as if pondering the taste, letting the silence stretch just enough to stir unease or intrigue.

When the moment passed, the woman brushed it off and gave a carefree shrug; her demeanor shifting with the wind as she smiled.

"Ah, but screw that—the human world's too damn fascinating to just stick to one menu. You stumble upon all sorts of wild stuff out here."

Now holding her scarlet gaze to Vanyel, Veralia's interest was unmistakable as she cut through the silence.

"Guess you can say whatever desire your soul is carrying piqued my interest. I ain't a mind reader, but when I sniff desire, I can't help but want to find out why that is."

Moving forward without care and a lack of malice, she stood on her toes, positioning herself so that she could gently tap his nose as she gave Vanyel an intrigued smirk.

"And something tells me you are trying to get stronger by staying out here. If so, perhaps I can help with that."

Even if he didn't have certainty behind if she was a Hollow or Arrancar, and whether or not she intended to try and eat or kill him, Vanyel's free hand was quick to reach for a blade, a one-handed, imperial-style jian, a weapon that most would not see in most situations beyond ceremony or martial performance.

Quietly, the weapon inched from its scabbard, the gentle scrape of metal against wood sounding out through the forest as part of the weapon was exposed to the cool air. But, upon the sudden dismissal, the weapon made its way back into the sheath, though his hand still remained on it. He noted her mention of his desire -- so, she could sense that? He wondered -- just how far could that sense extend?

As she drew closer, he noticed she was even shorter than he was -- not that he was particularly tall by any real means, but, it was something to note. Given her emphasis on desire to the point where she could sense it, even feeling called to by it, as well as her height -- he figured that all culminated into some kind of desire, or envy-themed powerset.

Whatever that theme could entail -- if it was even correct -- was something that he'd have to keep an eye out for, especially if they came to blows, whether through active hostility or through sparring. But, in the midst of his thoughts and analysis, he was shocked back to reality by a tap on his nose, causing him to instinctively swat her hand away, taking a few steps back, as well as his hand off the sword.

"Not really by staying out here, mostly just writing down and drawing the ideas that are coming to mind. Dunno if I'd really call it gettin' 'stronger' by normal definition, but, I've been workin' for months to start creating, developing, and re-cultivating my powers again."

Veralia could sense the man was ready to defend himself at the drop of the hat, much like herself if a situation should ever go astray. Despite that underlying tension, she was not concerned as she had no malicious intent in her heart. Instead, her gaze seemed to look up and linger on Vanyel; curious as it could be as another knowing smirk etched itself across her lips.

"Re-cultivating your powers? So you lost them?"

The phrasing of his last sentence caused the woman's eyebrow to raise in intrigue as she wondered what regime he put himself through. With her hands casually clasped behind her back, Veralia nodded, seemingly in rhythm with the thoughts swirling in her head.

"And more to my point, I was thinking we could spar. I've hit a wall lately in my growth and hell, maybe knocking each other around could shake things up for us both."

With a gentle chuckle escaping her mouth that seemed to brush off any tension, she kept her eyes locked on Vanyel, waiting to see how he'd respond to everything.

Despite his readiness to attack and defend himself at a moment's notice, Vanyel could feel the lack of hostility -- not something entirely unusual with some Arrancar, like the recent meeting and encounter with Sabre. While he relaxed a little bit and wasn't nearly as apprehensive as he usually was, he still kept his stance prepared, yet unassuming.

"Yeah. Went from human to demon, then back again."

He didn't really have a problem elaborating on that -- it wasn't like he was keeping that aspect of his life a secret. If anything, it made things easier, without divulging too much information. But, upon hearing her say that she had hit a wall in her own growth, Vanyel raised an eyebrow. This whole situation wasn't too dissimilar from some of the wuxia he had read and watched.

Two powerful fighters, reaching a bottleneck in their training, seeking greater heights to reach, to transcend and overcome their personal limits and become even greater. With how much creativity he'd been itching to get out and experiment with, amidst all the illustrations and notes he'd made in that notebook, the idea of a spar wasn't something he was against.

So, drawing the sword from its sheath and setting his notebook and copy of A Journey to the West down next to him, Vanyel's footwork shifted from defense to offense as cerulean eyes met the scarlet of Veralia's.

"Sounds good to me. Been a while since I sparred with someone other than a friend of mine. Perfect time to test out some things I've been theorizing about, too."

Interesting. Veralia didn't encounter too many spirits who had such a violent transformation from human to demon and back again and lived to tell the tale. The woman knew of the capacities that demons possessed, but she figured the devil's blood would overpower other races as it fought to be the dominant trait. If he was to tell that truth, then he might have a greater sense of will or power than she imagined.

Her eyebrow arched, obviously intrigued by the whole affair. So, she decided to speak up and commend him on his efforts as a low whistle escaped her lips.

"Badass. Sounds like you are more fierce than you think as not too many humans walk away from something like that and live to talk about it."

A light chuckle punctuated her amusement as she observed him becoming to shift into an offense stance. In response, Veralia had a surge of emerald energy swell around her; the heat warming the area around them instantly.

Yet, amidst this show of strength, she performed a thoughtful act, her hand guiding a portion of her spiritual energy to envelop his notebook in a protective barrier of gem-green light.

"Wouldn't want your book to get burned there, would you?"

Veralia's voice was tinged with a teasing nature, as her smile was both playful and reassuring. With that considerate gesture complete, she offered a wink and a challenge, inviting him to take the lead in their impending spar.

"Men first~"

It wasn't something a lot of people walked away from, she was right -- but, then again, he was also pretty most humans didn't get involved with demons like he had. The things he had gone through was something he'd never wish on anyone. So, despite Veralia's visible amusement on the matter, his expression ultimately remained indifferent.

Sensing the movement of energy and its path, Vanyel was quick to turn his head to its destination, seeing a jade-colored barrier manifest around his things. An Arrancar kind enough to protect his things during a spar? That certainly wasn't something you saw every day. Nevertheless, it was enough to make him raise an eyebrow and give a small, appreciative nod.

At her invitation, Vanyel's foot creased as his toes pressed against the ground. Taking in a deep breath, he pushed forward with an powerful initiating step, garnering a great deal of forward momentum and power to close the distance quickly. In doing so, Vanyel would start out with a quick, low swipe to her legs, wasting no time as he immediately followed up with a high palm strike to the side of her head.

Even if he struck a barrier or some kind of hardening ability, there wouldn't even be so much as a flinch from his end, the idea of pain or some other obstruction dampening his desire and ability to fight being barely anything more than an inconvenience. In even such actions, he could feel the energy flowing through him begin to heat up, and even with just martial arts, he remained conscious of that flow, something present in his thoughts.

'Focus on the energy flow, shift it as you move through the stances. Get a feel for the flow, remember what it's like to channel and move it around your body.'

As his general attacks and movements began to quicken in pace to increase the pressure, he'd shift the flow of energy, channeling it fluidly to increase the output of his attacks. All of it was merely a build-up for the first test run of something new -- or, rather, something old, with a new coat of paint.