Nemui Works for a Day Pt.2 [Mission]

Starting with Stealth

Early in the morning on a new day full of missions for the young Nemui -- the boy quickly rolled out of bed, washed himself and dressed. The first mission involved improving his abilities of stealth or more specifically his breathing control. To do this, after exiting his apartment the boy began running with no real goal in mind. While running he focused on taking deep, quiet and meaningful breaths. This would prove difficult while exerting himself but having done the exercise now it was something he could practice every day until he perfected it. Next on the list was acquiring equipment that would lend itself better to remaining quiet and inconspicuous.

Nemui didn't often buy new clothing due to his upbringing going against that idea. However, since this was a mission it couldn't be helped. Still running through the village he'd stop at the first clothing stall he saw. Perusing their wares, Nemui looked for tight clothing that wouldn't flap in the wind while still being comfortable to move in. Eventually he'd settle on some dark purple clothes that were adjustable in tightness using string -- although he wouldn't wear them until after he had the chance to wash them. Glancing at the mission notes for his next objective, he was expected to reduce his presence. Nemui looked down at his clothing, from side to side at his long hair and sighed.

The boy would make a quick purchase of some dark red string from the same clothing stall and use it to tie his hair into a ponytail. Although it would cleanly gather at the back of his neck (excluding his bangs), his hair still flowed quite freely beyond there. This new hairstyle alone didn't complete the objective of reducing his presence in motion though. Nemui was ordinarily quite anxious and could be singled out in a crowd easily, being the bundle of nervous energy that he is. Shaking his body out, the boy attempted to relax despite being surrounded by people in the market. This however, proved far more difficult than he expected. He couldn't magically become unbothered by his surroundings no matter the effort he put in.

Walking off to the side of the road, Nemui sat on a comfortable stone and began observing people in the market place. Since he couldn't become comfortable with his surroundings to blend in all he had to do was mimic the way ordinary civilians acted. Studying dozens of people as they walked by, Nemui spent around an hour just observing people while attempting to remain inconspicuous. Whenever someone he watched would look in his direction he'd subtly look elsewhere. This activity in itself was good practice for reducing his presence. After the hour he spent people watching, the boy felt confident enough to put his newfound knowledge into practice.

Nemui rose to his feet and stepped back onto the road; acting as though he hadn't a care in the world the boy would smile at people, wave at children as they passed by and move at a casual stroll. He'd spend thirty minutes practicing until he reached a dead-end. Somewhat satisfied with the progress he was making, Nemui read the next objective to understand his body dimensions. This was a slightly odd task he thought and walked over to a large glass pane window. Looking at his reflection, the boy observed how his hair moved when he did, crouching, jumping and running sideways. Nemui realized it could get in the way if he had to hide quickly but there were remedies for it.

He was also quite short so his body dimensions leant themselves well to hiding already. Also as a practitioner of Taijutsu, he was more aware of his body's dimensions than most so he required very little practice in that department. Next on the list! Interacting with various things to practice being quiet. Nemui looked up at the building whose glass pane he was using as a mirror, a few stories above there was a very quiet construction site. He'd launch off the ground and jump onto the side of the building using surface walking to scale it. Nemui ran upwards and quickly ducked over the ledge into the worksite, scanning the area for people immediately. The area was abandoned currently explaining how quiet it was.

On the ground were loose sheets of metal roofing and some ceramic tiles. Nemui walked up and shifted them onto a flat surface, attempting to quietly pick them up and place them down. Afterwards he walked across the metal sheets, causing them to creak and scratch with every step. This was.. Pretty difficult. Thinking for a moment on how he placed each foot, the boy tried again, again and again. Practicing non-stop for two hours. Eventually Nemui gained some understanding of where to step on that kind of surface and how to place his feet so as to reduce the noise. Checking the sun's position in the sky, it dawned on him that he'd be late at the next mission if he didn't get moving now.


WC: 843

Mission Completed: Starting with Stealth
Claiming: 16 AP for 800 words
Mission rewards of 1000 Ryo and 5 AP
250 words for learning Sensory Deprivation
250 more words for handseal mastery of Sensory Deprivation
Remaining 343 words go towards Feint, now at 343/500