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At first, the situation hadn't changed much. In fact, the crocodile attacked in exactly the same way it had, and Axcel seemed to intend to avoid it in the same way, as well. Something was different, though; he bent down, readying his body for a much more powerful jump. His intentions were unclear at first, though I soon understood his plan. Instead of using Hien defensively, he used it offensively--pure, Tenjouken style. So, too, did it display that he did, indeed, understand the merits behind Hien's use aside from simply jumping higher. He rocketed toward a vulnerable spot on the monster's tail, both closing the distance to strike faster, and building up momentum which he would turn into power. The spinning axe-kick he performed was filled with such power, and I watched as the base of the tail nearly collapsed in on itself from the pressure.

Now, I knew, that it wouldn't be using that tail anytime soon. Thus, it was a highly successful Strike Guard, well adapted to the situation it was in. Still, there as no way such an attack would be taking the creature out--at least, not aimed where it had been. That wasn't to say it was a bad move; in fact, I felt it was the smartest thing he could have done. For now, he wouldn't have to worry about the limb at all--only four claws and a large set of teeth.

"Your chance will be when it attacks with its teeth," I said, pointing out its biggest weakness. This was a thing to consider with human opponents, as well--when they attacked, did they use something that would be dangerous to lose? Such as an arm, or, worse, a leg. A kick deflected with Strike Guard was an incredibly disadvantageous situation for the kicker; the possibility of a useless leg was incredibly high, and without a useful leg, little movement would be made.

Perfect, I thought as I witnessed my student perform Hien. It was, essentially, flawless. He'd channeled the correct amount of chakra, in order to produce a force that matched that of his own legs, and in doing so, was able to jump against the air as if it were the ground. Later, he would go about understanding the multitude of uses this had: and not only to get higher, but to change momentum completely. To re-route one's aerial course, sideways, forward, backward, up, even down--but now wasn't the time for that.

"Great! Now focus on defeating this big guy!" I shouted, in order to reinforce the idea of defeating it. Frankly, I didn't want to risk him attempting to learn another defensive technique, although we didn't have many of them. At that moment, a thought occurred to me: this would be the perfect chance to practice Strike Guard. The crocodile was always on the offensive, and its large stature made for easy targets when utilizing Strike Guardp. Only, he'd have to watch the amount of force he was dealing with; using the technique against the wrong spot could be more dangerous for the him than the beast.

"Try using Strike Guard now! Just make sure you don't aim to strike at the part of the attack that has the most momentum, unless you know you have more force!" With that warning, I'd let him go about doing it in his own way. After all, I'd already explained the basics of the technique to him, it was up to him to emulate it, and, eventually, make it his own.

Although Hien didn't require chakra control on the level that which medical ninja possessed, it was still quite challenging to produce effective results quickly. This was especially true for shinobi like me--those who focused almost entirely on their body's physical attributes, rather than intense chakra training. Frankly, I couldn't mold chakra for shit, but with enough practice, I was able to perform Hien reliably whenever it was needed. At first, I would assume this position would throw the man into a panicky state, which would throw his chakra molding off entirely. If it were almost any other student, I would have cut this off--but with this guy, I didn't feel like he'd mess up due to pressure.

For now, though, if his focus was on training Hien, well, it meant two things. One: he'd come a hell of a long ways in a damn short time--Hien was a fairly advanced Tenjouken technique, and for him to be learning it now was impressive. Two: he wasn't going to come out the victor any time soon. Hien had no offensive capabilities--it was purely utility and mobility, things which aid in combat, but, ultimately, never win it. In this situation, he'd be tiring himself out focusing on training such a technique. Something told me I wouldn't be able to convince him to train anything else, though, so I'd just have to help him.

"Imagine creating a platform out of chakra," I said. It often helped students succeed when they were able to visualize what they were doing--it helped in molding the chakra, probably. Either way, I only hoped he'd succeed soon, so he could move on and win.

It became apparent to me that the man was attempting to stay at the creature's blindside. This allowed him an obvious advantage, in which he was able to avoid any incoming attacks with increased ease. Still, there would be no winning by dodging and avoiding alone--and Tenjouken was an offensive style. Soon he'd be forced to strike, or lose. It was one of those two--but that didn't mean that rushing in head on was always the best idea. Tenjouken did have its techniques which allowed for quite a bit of utility. In this situation, as if I read his mind, I could see quite a use for Hien.

"Oi! I saw that you were interested in Hien!" I shouted, running to position myself so that my voice would be carried to him easier. "It's simple--coat your feet in chakra, just like walking on water, and jump off of the air using the chakra!" This was training, after all--to learn a new technique in the midst of this fight would be quite impressive.

Hopefully, he'd be able to concentrate on learning the technique whilst surviving the fight. Certainly, he seemed as if he'd gained a second wind of sorts, which was, from what I could see, quite necessary in this situation. Still, I knew that the technique was immensely more difficult to perform than simply coating the feet in chakra.

Things would be alright, though, I knew that.

There was something reassuring about my feet touching the earth. At the same time, there was something extremely disappointing about it--and I felt myself more inclined toward the latter. With a sigh, I crossed my arms and looked about, up and down, everywhere--we'd made it to the top. This was it, our mission, complete. Apparently this had been quite a feat, although I was sure Kaeor's little detour had probably lessened the trials that it offered us. Still, it was amazing to be up so high--above the clouds, even.

But I knew our time was ephemeral, and the sooner we returned, the better. So, with one last, longing glance around, I reluctantly took Kaeor's hand to descend.

[ e x i t ]

For quite a while--longer than I'd preferred--I was captivated by the experience. The wind through my hair, soaring through the clouds and the feeling of flying. With enough willpower, I was able to stop myself from smiling like an idiot, but couldn't quite cover up the look of awe strewn across my normally hard features. Still, my body was tense--I was uncomfortable being carried as I was, whether it was Kaeor or not. Unfortunately, Kaeor knew me too well not to understand how I felt about the situation--which, in truth, was mostly complete joy and awe. The other part, minuscule in comparison but still very there, was irritated that I was being held like some damsel in distress. When Kaeor voiced exaclty what I'd been thinking, I looked up at him in surprise.

"I-I . . . o-of course not, idiot," I said, pursing my lips, closing my eyes, and stubbornly turning away from him with a "Hmph." Still, I couldn't quite keep my eyes closed or put forth much energy into ignoring Kaeor's gaze, as the prospect of being able to see everything around me more was far too promising. So, I peeked out hesitantly, much like a child, before I finally let go and simply took it all in. In that moment, it didn't really matter anymore, and the tenseness in my body all fled. I sunk down lazily, though completely subconsciously and unintentionally, and simply watched as we flew.