Follow me on my path to the heights...

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Magic training was going better than reading, so far. Even had told him that was only because magic training had tangible results, whereas reading wasn't something that you couldn't do and then suddenly could. Kadaj had lost his temper with a book, once, shoving it away as if it had personally insulted him and telling Even he was just incapable and this was stupid.

Even had been calmer about it than Kadaj had expected, but he also hadn't let him give up. Instead Even had taken him to what he now thought of as the magic training room and let him work on his base level spells. Wind was still giving him trouble, but his ice spells had come along well, and his earth and fire spells had actually become pretty good. The good thing about training with magic was that it forced Kadaj to get a grip on his temper; when he was tired or frustrated his casting became weak and sloppy, like his chakra control, so he'd had to learn to regain that focus when he'd lost it.

Then Even had asked him to explain what it was that he was finding difficult about the specific part he was trying to read, and 'I don't know' and 'It's just stupid' wasn't an acceptable answer. Following the words with his finger hadn't helped, so Even had covered up everything except the line he was trying to read with blank paper, and that had made it easier for Kadaj to focus on the words he needed to read.

He'd tried to refrain from losing his temper since, but Kadaj got the feeling that Even had figured out how to tell he was getting frustrated before he got to the point of taking it out on the book. Reading was now bookended with magic practice, and broken with it if needed.

Kadaj still wouldn't say the reading was going well. He still had to read aloud, tracing his finger along words, or covering up the rest of the page if he was really struggling, but it was more than he could do before. He just didn't like that he was still struggling along like that, rather than sitting back, holding a book in his lap, and reading in silence. He might never be able to do that, and he'd have to come to terms with that.

They'd stopped reading for today, thankfully. Kadaj was open with his relief about that. He'd gone to Even for his help, but he found reading practice more exhausting than magic practice, and infinitely more frustrating. It was only the fact that he'd gone to Even for help that kept him coming back. They'd put the books away, and then gone to the magic training room, which had been warded and protected so that the rest of the Palace wouldn't be able to tell what was going on in there, in addition to the protections Even had put in place in the rest of his lab.

Kadaj stood in the usual place, one hand resting on Souba, and glad of the change of scenery. He was hoping to start moving on to the next level spells, now that he had the first level ones down for, well, almost all of the elements.

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This only served to make Kadaj warier, and he frowned, weighing up his options. He trusted Even, which was a strange thing to realise, because he didn't just trust him with sensitive information he might not know how to make use of, but he trusted him, right now, not to slam him with a crippling ice spell when they were somewhere no one would ever know about it until it was too late. He'd just developed an intense dislike of being a participant in some mad scientist's experiments.

"All right," he said, still wary, and slowly drawing Souba. He had plenty of reasons to hide his bankai, even from Even, but it was common knowledge what it looked like, and Even had already witnessed Geostigma. Kadaj just had to trust that whatever this was going to be was magic based, and not some attempt to see what his bankai was made of. Somehow, that didn't quite seem Even's style.

[thechillyacademic]

"Good," he said.

Calmly, he raised one hand and, with a flick of the wrist, cast a wordless, nameless spell on Kadaj. The visible Chakra told him that the spell had hit, but he knew that already. Magic was Even's speciality and playing tactically came naturally to him. He gave his student a smile and, with a palm-up gesture, invited him to use his Bankai, as agreed.

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Kadaj narrowed one eye. He wasn't sure if Even had used silent magic to show off, or just so that Kadaj didn't know in advance what he'd cast on him.

He was about to find out, either way.

He held Souba in front of himself in both hands and gathered his chakra. "--!" Nothing came out, and he scowled. Even had used Silence on him, then. He'd never been silenced before; no one had needed to bother.

The problem was, he realised, he couldn't activate bankai without saying it, either. He tried again anyway, keeping his chakra gathered and trying to do it by talking directly to Souba instead.

When she clearly wasn't having any of that he dropped his shoulders, and gave Even a flat look. He'd made his point.

This was a frightening problem he hadn't considered.

[thechillyacademic]

Even gave a nod in response to Kadaj's obviously wordless, flat look and raised the hand again, this time casting Dispel to free Kadaj from the effects of the status affliction.

"Thank you," he said, appreciating that Kadaj hadn't taken his request as an assassination attempt. "You see why I wanted to do that?"

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"Yeah," Kadaj said, looking at Souba. "That's a problem."

Even was also frighteningly efficient at casting status effects, or at least Silence. Part of Kadaj wanted to ask if he'd got the practice with Ienzo, since Even had admitted to having taught him to read.

The rest of Kadaj was too preoccupied with the very large flaw that Even had just uncovered in his abilities. One Silence spell and he was next to useless. He doubted that the likes of Gin, and Aizen, suffered that weakness, although he was tempted to ask Gin about it. They had mastered their bankai long ago, so maybe it was only a problem because Kadaj, and his bankai, were still what they called 'juvenile'. He hadn't even uncovered everything he and Souba could do together yet, let alone have mastered it. He was still practicing his control over his aim and strength with geostigma.

"I'm going to have to invest in an accessory." Not that he much fancied the idea of wearing a ribbon, or a rose corsage; he got mocked enough, but he'd rather not be crippled by a really basic Saboteur spell.

[thechillyacademic]

"Or," Even said, sounding thoughtful. "You could attempt to incorporate silent casting into your magic from the early stages of your lessons?"

Even had thought about magic in depth, especially where Kadaj was concerned. He was skilled in swordplay and powerful in terms of Chakra, but his juvenile Bankai and former lack of magical ability had left him short, that being the reason he had come to him. If he was going to teach him magic, he intended to teach him properly, and to use it to the best of his ability, not school him in a crash-course and have him content with that.

"As you know, there are numerous forms of magic and many different techniques. Kido requires incantations, non-Class magic usually requires a spoken word and a corresponding action with a wand. Mage magic generally makes use of the name of the spell being called and, depending on the caster's preference, a pointing tool, such as a staff or rod, is often used in conjunction with that. For Ninja magic the user must manipulate their Chakra with hand-signs and formally schooled Chakra speciality magic makes use of full physical kata," he said, listing off the numerous ways Spiran natives overcame natural difficulties where the mage arts were concerned. "Chakra control is vital to all types of magic, that's a given. However, there are common themes throughout. Words, such as are used in magic, are powerful and pointing tools are valuable aids when it comes to directing the spell. Magic can, of course, be cast with a hand alone, but unless you're exceptionally skilled, this is not advisable."

He paced as he spoke, folding his arms once again as he recited what he'd learned about magic during his research on the subject.

"Saying the name of a spell bolsters it and also serves as a verbal cue to the sort of chakra manipulation required to cast it," he told him, "and a pointing tool, as I said, is a great asset. However, requiring verbal affirmation of the spell being cast does leave one open to being silenced and a staff, rod or wand does rather limit the caster's weapon type. Natural substances, such as wood, are ideal, though magically infused metals, such as Mythril, are an acceptable substitute. Other materials can be used, but they diminish the power of the spell considerably. This is the reason why a Ravager's Spellsword spells are invariably less potent than those cast by a Black Mage of a similar ability level."

He paused in his pacing and turned to look at Kadaj. He would never use either of those things, not as a Zanpakuto user.

"Given the inherently magical nature of your weapon, you should be able to use that as a substitute for a staff to great effect," he said, looking quite serious. "That should make up for some of the power lost when using non-verbal casting. Many mages can use wordless casting to great effect across magic types, though the general consensus is that there is a marked reduction in the potency of the spell when used this way. However, this drop in power is mitigated somewhat in that it doesn't clue your opponent in to what is coming their way."

He had just proved that with Kadaj. Casting his Silence spell non-verbally had meant that Kadaj had no idea what he had been hit with until he attempted to use an ability that required a command.

"I think non-verbal magic would be of great advantage to you," he said, drawing to the conclusion of his lecture. "Many of your abilities require you to speak their names and, if you overcome the need to do that in the early stages of your magical learning, you should be able to transfer that strength and apply it to your other skills, leaving you with fewer weaknesses across the board."

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It was all becoming clear where Ienzo had got it from, Kadaj thought.

He tried to focus on what Even was saying, but it was hard. He had to force himself to keep paying attention somewhere around the explanation about chakra control and words in magic, and he couldn't honestly say he hadn't tuned some of it out, at least. Even....

Well, Even really liked lecturing you on what he'd learned, didn't he? And he'd learned a lot, so there was a lot to lecture about.

His attention snapped back fully when Even actually addressed the speech to him, instead of being some form of stream of consciousness, and when Even finally stopped, Kadaj looked thoughtful.

"So," he said, trying to get to grips with the massive amount of information he'd just had thrown at him, "you think that if I learn non-verbal magic, I should be able to activate my bankai silently too?" Or at least the stigma; he had to say the name of that for it to work, too.

[thechillyacademic]

Even shrugged, still looking thoughtful, but he then gave a nod, "yes," he said. "I do."

The theory was the same, anyway. It was a case of separating the Chakra control needed to do something that required that Chakra, from a verbal cue. Ninja magic got around the need for an incantation of any kind by assigning the Chakra manipulation to sequential hand signs instead of a word, but that could be clumsier than just speaking the name of your intended attack.

"Wordless magic is fairly high level, or, at least, it is considered to be," he told him, watching for any sign of wariness. "Part of the reason that it's considered such is because most Mages learn all levels of magic verbally, then find themselves having to strip back what they know of magic from the top all the way to the bottom. If you include a non-verbal spell technique in your casting from the lower levels as you gain mastery of them, it should be much easier for you to attain it at the higher ones and if you master the theory behind it, which you should, you ought to be able to apply it to your Bankai."

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj didn't look wary, instead he only looked thoughtful. He hadn't devoted any time, yet, to letting himself wonder at the fact that Even seemed to care how well he learned, and what he learned, and that it would be useful to him; Kadaj hadn't asked for this, and Even could have stopped at teaching him how to use third tier spells and Kadaj would have appreciated that plenty. Instead, Even seemed determined to do the job well, if he was going to attempt to do it at all. Kadaj hadn't thought about that yet, because he'd have to sort out his feelings about that too, once he did.

"I already use Souba to direct some abilities," he said, quietly, and thoughtfully. He was a Summoner, but he didn't carry a staff, he performed his summonings with Souba. Tayuya used music to call hers, the same way she'd use magic. It wasn't really that different, was it? The stigma too was a kido based ability, and that had to come through her, just as he had to begin exerting Reunion's control through her. "Learning to cast silently is probably going to be the difficult bit," he said, "if you think it's better for me to start learning that now," he trailed off, and gave a one shouldered shrug. "We can at least try."

[thechillyacademic]

"Casting silently is more difficult," he admitted, but nonetheless sounded reassuring, "but it is how I cast, so at least you can learn from somebody with the ability, instead of by yourself further down the line when Silence becomes a problem."

He smiled at Kadaj's tentative resolve to at least give it a try. That was good.

"You're welcome to refuse and learn traditionally should you not get on with it, but it's something that could be of benefit to you, so it may prove worth your time to give it a chance. Once you have the technique down, your rate of learning should return to what it is now."

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Kadaj actually afforded Even a smile. "It can't be harder than reading," he said, with a trace of humour. Even resolutely refused to take 'Because' and 'I just can't' as good excuses for why Kadaj wanted to quit, or skip a lesson, so Kadaj didn't see why he'd hold any different an opinion of silent casting.

Besides, he couldn't afford to get caught out as being that vulnerable. One little Silence spell and every technique he was working on to try and make himself harder to kill was completely negated. That was a crippling weakness in his abilities. He couldn't let it stay like that.

"I hope not, anyway," he added, seriously hoping that he wasn't about to be contradicted.

[thechillyacademic]

"It should be much easier than reading," he said, smiling back at him.

Even had seen the flaw in Kadaj's plan early on. Learning magic would bolster his abilities, but he didn't doubt that the people he was scared of running afoul of would have something as simple and ordinary as a Silence spell in their arsenal.

"The first step is to separate the Chakra control necessary for casting a spell from the word," he told him. "I know, it's easier to use the word itself as a trigger for the level of manipulation required, that's why we do it, but if you learn to do it without that ... you'll be far ahead of most casters by the time you hit the second level. Now then, shall we?"