[center]
[b][u]REVELATIONS[/u][/b][/Center][hider=Training into the morning]
The rising sun signalled of the passing hours, it brought with it a warmth and renewal as a new day was beginning, but for Drakus it was only a cold burden. Serving as nothing but another taunting reminder and finalising yet another passing night of failure. Night after night in the darkest hour he practiced new techniques. One in particular. While every failure made him stronger, granted him new knowledge and brought him closer, he would not be happy until it was complete.

With the rising of the sun there were also the obvious implications it brought to his Shadow abilities. It increased the difficulty of his powers, weakening them, requiring of him more focus and causing him the need to push harder. Were he not meditating on a single column of shadow stuff protruding high out from the dangers of the Kappa pond, this would not be an issue... But like much of his life, Drakus took his training to the extremes. 
He would put himself in positions where failure was not an option. This was no different. Do or die. [/hider]
[hider=The sun and darkness]
Sweat began to bead down his forehead as the sunlight hit his pillar of shadowstuff. Uncontrollably he began to sway, desperate to re-find his balance on the thinning shadow as it lost some of its density and strength. The sudden movement caught the attention of the hungry Kappa’s below. Beneath the surface of the water they began circling him impatiently. Only meters above them, to fall now would mean assured death, there was no way he could fight off that many in their own home territory. If his powers were at their full he might hold a slim chance but he had already pushed himself far beyond that point, now teetering on the edge of exhaustion, having already began paling from blood loss. He deliberately didn’t take into account the skirmish from earlier on, the cost of his arrogance now carrying a greater toll than he’d dare admit.

Fear took its place in a far recess of his mind but he gave it no power or control, instead, with a rational clarity he took in the situation. He couldn’t be here when the other students arrived. He had to go now, worse than being caught by the supervisors, he couldn’t risk being seen in his current state by his classmates. But first he had to survive.

The ponds edge was just under double the length of his pillars height, which meant even if he could ride its fall, there would still be some distance to cover by swimming. 
In this harsh light he hadn’t the stamina left to create much more shadow stuff, most definitely not something structural noteworthy, he was barely maintaining that which was keeping him dry and safe. 

[i]’Dry and safe...’[/i] those words echoed in his head. Seemingly mutually exclusive. 
[/hider]
[hider=The Balance]
With a deep focused inhale Drakus brought himself up to the ball of his right foot, balancing perilously in the centre of his shadow pillar. Now taking up less surface area he was able to condense and strengthen its form. 
Thinner, it was now far more difficult to balance on, unable to even accommodate a whole foot. The Kappa made things even worse by bumping into it in their frenzied circles. 
Everything seemed to be going all right until one impatient Kappa leapt out of the water and tried to scale the shadowstuff pole.
Earlier Drakus had protected himself from this with angled spines up the pillar, and the Kappas quickly learned it was hopeless endeavour, but now as he thinned and struggled to maintain the pole, new opportunities had arisen for the demons. 
As Drakus looked down at the demon he understood its blood thirsty enthusiasm. It bore an ‘X’ shaped cut across its chest and an inflamed gross conclave below its right eye socket. It was the same one he had encountered before with the silver haired girl. 
It’s beastly claws aggressively clampered up the shadow structure with a terrifying ease. To make matters worse this caused the pole to shift and shake about wildly. 
It took every spare ounce of will power just to maintain its upright position let alone balance on top of the shaky structure. This left no room for Drakus to contemplate the quickly closing threat. 
As the demon climbed, the pole swayed to his weight, Drakus tilted to the right to compensate, rolling on his ankle as his spare leg reached out wide to counter balance himself. He had to dig his focus in all the way down to the base of the pillar at the depth where it connected with the ground. He had to do what little he could with what little he had left to try support its stability. Despite all odds everything remained in balance. He had held it together with exceptional skill, focus and stamina. Right up until the point that the razor sharp claw of the fierce angry one eyed Kappa came swinging at his leg.
[/hider]
[hider=The fall]
He was sure it would have severed his leg into two or more pieces of Kappa pond fish food had he left it where it was. Exhausting the last of his remaining physical strength, Drakus hurtled himself off the pillar and into the air above with a single flipping hop. The Kappas claw found only air as it swiped where he once was. Airborne, mid flip, with no hope of re-landing, the Kusarigama unfurled and lashed itself around the Kappa and the shadow pillar. Drakus had managed to bind the creatures arms and body to the pole. Helpless. It screamed at him furiously in a high pitched snarl as he landed on its head. 

It was only for the briefest of moments though for as soon as the force of Drakus landing was transferred into the pole, it collapsed. Not like a falling building but more like a fastly contracting muscle. With a snap it pulled Drakus and the chain bound Kappa down into the pond faster than Drakus could fall. The shadowstuff literally pulling them into the Kappa filled waters. They hit it hard with a loud ‘SPLASH’ as they were quickly submerged beneath its cold surface. Drakus only just managing to take a short breath before water surrounded and rushed up past him. 
[/hider]
[hider=Under the Kappa pond]
Due to their sudden speed of entry and the displacement of the Kappa beneath him, Drakus managed to get past the circling Kappa’s unscathed, but he was far from free yet... Now, in the centre of the pond, deep within the water, beneath a swarm of hungry eager kappa’s, with only a short breath of air.

It might have seemed like a stupid move or even a suicide mission but Drakus was where he wanted to be. Not only was he further from the sun but he was sure to stir up the sandy floor upon his entrance, creating an underwater dust cloud. Now this, this was his element. Surrounded by danger, submerged in utter darkness, pressing beyond new limits and with easy access to his own blood. 

Something was different down here, and Drakus didn’t have time to question it. Why look a gift horse in the mouth after all. His power was always greatly accentuated by the mixing of his blood into the shadow stuff, but here, underwater, it took to the dispersed floating crimson far better than he could have imagined. With an almost ease the empowered shadowstuff, blood tainted and free from light, lashed out upon his command. Reaching under his feet it whipped Drakus across the ponds floor as it extended back out and propelled him up towards the bank. It gave him enough momentum in that short sudden burst that he didn’t need it to follow him out. Very unceremoniously he came crashing and tumbling up out of the water, a coughing and spluttering mess as he rolled up the muddy water bank. 

Wasting no time he found his feet and put some fair distance between himself and the Kappa pond, leaving that nightmare behind him along with his Kusarigama still sitting at the very bottom of the hellishly dangerous place. 
[/hider]
[hr]

Tired, wet, bruised and bloody he would stagger back into the house. Making his way into the busy kitchen Drakus acknowledged no one as he got busy rummaging through their supplies. He would take very measured proportions of specific foods with his shaky hands. When eating he sought only nourishment and not joy. He would meet and feed his bodies requirements for optimal performance and recovery, nothing more, nothing less. Years of nutritional information and biochemistry permanently seared into his subconscious. Right now he was being forced to make do with what was available. He paused once to examine every oneelse’s food, and with the faintest scoff, he piled up his odd concoction of non-breakfast foods onto a plate.