"Well, since we're already doing this, I might as well give you a demonstration." Blaine clapped his hands, rubbing them together. At this point, Caeden figured he just liked showing off since neither of them actually requested a demonstration.

"Well, the first thing the both of you should reach is incarnation since Lily only has an aura shroud, and you have much more control with your aura shroud, Caeden." While he talked, Blaine began uncovering his right arm, pulling back the sleeve of his robe in a way that it seemed cut specifically to do. "Incarnations and embodiments are vastly different. In fact, they are usually opposites in most respects. For example, incarnations are almost always inanimate objects."

Blaine started pulling his shroud together until his shroud sigil manifested, hovering over his bicep. "Another interesting fact, most incarnations look very similar to their sigil. It's an interesting phenomenon. Of course, neither the inanimate nature of an incarnation nor its similarity to the shroud's sigil are universal facts. They're just more common than not."

Vast amounts of shroud began flowing from Blaine to his sigil in thick bands of black and red. The sigil itself was, unsurprisingly, a sword. It was the exact same one he had created during class, in fact. A hand-and-a-half longsword, also known as a bastard sword.

"Prepare yourselves. This can be pretty intense for first-timers." Blaine threw out casually. Then his Invasion Pressure bore down on them. Then it doubled. Then it doubled again. Without his shroud actively pressing on them, Caeden and Lil weren't being invaded; all they felt was the overwhelming weight of their teacher's shroud. It was like having a giant hover their foot over your head. You were technically safe, but you were also deeply, viscerally aware that you were not safe.

As more and more shroud flowed into the sigil, it took on a depth that Caeden couldn't describe. It was like the sword became more. That feeling, that sensation of more, grew with each passing moment until it snapped. The thick bands of shroud flowing from Blaine stopped, trailing off. In that instant, the sigil changed. It lurched, and there was a flash of black and red. The flash went deeper than just color, temporarily blinding Caeden's aura sense.

When the blinding light vanished, the sigil was gone. In its place, Blaine's entire right arm up to the shoulder was wrapped in black plate mail with red showing between the gaps. In his hand was the black sword with a red edge his sigil had shown, attached to the gauntlet by a chain of alternating red and black links. The overwhelming pressure hadn't abated in the slightest. In fact, it felt more violent, like standing in front of a hungry animal, licking its chops.

"There you have it, my incarnation of Sword. Every single person's incarnation and embodiment will be unique. You can have shrouds with the same domain, Like Weather for Miss Meteoris's family, but even among them, the incarnations and embodiments will always be different. This is the real reason why each shroud is considered unique. Once you reach this stage, you'll be considered a nascent shrouded, or half-grown." He casually started twirling the sword around by the chain, looping it through the air.

"My incarnation is pretty fun. It's called Sword Release. It vastly enhances my body and can project energy beams from the blade at will. The chain can grow and contract to any length I desire." He demonstrated, the chain snapping back in, bringing the sword to his hand in a blur. He then swung, the blade producing an oscillating black and red arc that flew off into the distance of the Gateway's imaginary world.

"That's cool," Caeden started slowly. It really was. But it all felt a bit…underwhelming. "Is that all?"

Blaine laughed. "I suppose that would be the reaction, right? Plenty of my peers think it's bland, as far as incarnations go. Maybe this will change your mind. When a shroud is incarnated, there is no limit to its power. It will maintain this form, with all of its abilities, indefinitely. Also-" He vanished. Suddenly, Caeden felt an edge pressed up against his neck.

"The boost to my physical abilities is very substantial," Blaine spoke from behind him. "A benefit I also have indefinitely. For a weapon master, this incarnation is perfect." Blaine reappeared, standing in front of them. "Now, incarnations have one really, really big glaring downside. Go ahead and direct your aura sense towards me. The parts not covered by Sword Release, please."

Caeden and Lily did as asked, both of them gasping simultaneously. "I can feel you!" Lily exclaimed.

Blaine nodded, his expression becoming serious. "Yes. When your shroud incarnates, it leaves your body. Right now, my flesh is human, minus the enhancements. I have no infusion to block another shroud from slipping inside me and scrambling my heart or my brains. So keep that in mind."

They both nodded numbly. The implications were insane, both positive and negative. A form of your shroud with no power limits, but that left you defenseless? That was a harsh trade.

"You should also know, when your shroud reaches incarnation or embodiment the first time, you'll experience a massive boost in Invasion Pressure." Blaine dismissed the sword and gauntlet, the immense pressure of its presence vanishing with it. "Now, we're not done yet. We still have embodiment, after all."

He shook out his arm and went through a few stretches, pulling it across his body and bending his fingers back. "Ugh. Embodiment is so taxing. That's your big downside for this one. Incarnation removes your protection while it's active; embodiment makes you both mentally and physically tired once it's released. So, whenever you get to this point, make sure the battle is over before leaving your embodiment. Otherwise, you'll be incredibly vulnerable for a while. The intensity and duration of the exhaustion is relative to the amount of time spent in embodiment. Spend a few minutes, and you'll be tired for maybe an hour. Spend an hour in embodiment, and you'll be down for the day, possibly more."

After he had finished stretching, Blaine formed his sigil again, but this time it was on his skin, much like when Caeden showed Physical Enhancement's shroud sigil. The sword ran the entire length of Blaine's arm, which he had fully extended as if reaching out for something in front of him, fingers spread wide. Once more, thick bands of shroud rolled into the sigil, starting from his chest right over his heart and running across toward his right shoulder, then down his arm into the sigil.

Unlike with his incarnation, which he used almost casually, Blaine's face was a mask of focus, his brow furrowed in concentration, his mouth twisted into a snarl. As the seconds ticked on, Blaine started to growl, a low intense sound of uninhibited ferocity. Once more, the violent, intense force and increasing pressure started to emanate from their teacher.

Finally, there was that snapping sensation, like his power had reached its pinnacle. The shroud that had all funneled into the sigil reversed, wrapping Blaine's entire body in an impenetrable layer of black and red. His entire body was impossible to discern, his shape blurred by the layers of shroud surrounding him.

Then his form started to expand. It grew taller, lengthening and stretching. Finally, when the Swordmaster stood over twenty feet tall and nearly as long, his shroud receded and fell back into his new flesh. What stood before Caeden and Lily was not a human, but some form of monster Caeden had never seen. It had feathers all about the torso, with a long tail of plumage. It added ten feet to his length on its own. His legs were long, bare, and scaly. He rested on four toes in an x pattern, all with long, devastating curved claws.

The odd part was his new face. It fully resembled an alligator with massive scaly jaws and exposed teeth. He even had reptilian eyes. His whole body was in shades of red and black, a match to his shroud. The legs were red but with black claws. Most of his fathers and scales were black, but when he shuffled a step, Caeden saw under his wings, folded at his sides, to see red feathers underneath. His tail was a chaotic mix of the two colors, all mashed together with no pattern.

"What are you?" Caeden couldn't help asking.

"This is a Bladefeather Alomingo." Blaine's words seemed to reverberate out from his closed mouth without him opening those massive jaws. He spread his wings out wide, revealing a wingspan of dozens of feet. He was huge in a way Caeden had never seen before so close. "These feathers are sharp enough to cut through stone by falling on it. I can fire them off my wings and then regrow them with shroud. Also, my legs have an edge to them, not to mention the claws. Honestly, my embodiment isn't considered very powerful. Both my incarnation and embodiment are regarded as underwhelming by most standards. It was in my second year, when I reached incarnation, that I truly began to attempt to master Ki. It has helped me become a respected warrior, despite my lackluster shroudforms."

"This is weak?" Lily said with hushed awe. The pressure Blaine was putting off in this form felt more tangible than with his incarnation. It was intense, especially when combined with the visual. Caeden wouldn't be able to reach their teacher's face in his nine-foot-tall, fully enhanced form. He was massive and imposing.

"Yes, this is on the low end of the spectrum, as far as embodiments go. Many have additional powers they add to their shrouded's repertoire. Mine is just a large monster with some sharp attacks. Not much additional utility to add besides flight." Blaine shrugged with his bird shoulders and tilted his reptilian head as if to say, 'what can you do?' It was a strange look on a twenty-foot-tall monster bird alligator thing.

"Where's your robe?" For some reason, the thought struck Caeden out of the blue. His teacher's monstrous form obviously wasn't wearing it.

"I figured you would have noticed by now." Blaine lowered himself down on those long legs until his head was closer to their height. He turned a little, showing Caeden and Lily a black and white scarf wrapped around his neck. "All school uniforms, student and faculty, are infused to transform into a shape suitable for whatever form the wearer takes. Otherwise, every creature shroud user would be walking around naked every time they transformed." He let out a bestial laugh. It was an odd, choking chuckle that shook his whole body.

Blaine rose back to his full height and let out a sigh. His shroud once more covered his body, and he began to rapidly shrink back down to human dimensions. Back to his original shape, his shroud dissipated, revealing a very tired teacher.

"It's always more taxing than I ever remember." With a groan, Baline fell back, sitting down in the dirt. "I don't use my embodiment at all. Its only real use is for flying, but the comedown afterward isn't usually worth the speed. Just take an ethership. Man, I loved when those were invented. So convenient." He shook his head.

"Well, thanks for showing us, but our actual question was how to train them, not what they looked like," Caeden said after a long pause while their teacher sat on the ground, staring at nothing.

"What? Oh, right. I forgot."

Once more, Caeden felt like screaming. Blaine was an incredibly frustrating man to learn from.

"It's pretty straightforward. Meditate while having your shroud manifested. Feel it, move it. All you have to do is gain a deeper understanding of your shroud and how it functions. The shroudforms will come along naturally. You have to have it in the equivalent state, though. If you want to get incarnation, have your shroud manifested as aura. Infusion for embodiment. There you go. Now, I'm going to take a nap. Or maybe go to bed. Have a good night, lesson over." Blaine promptly laid down and rolled over. Apparently, he intended to sleep right here, in the Gateway.

"Ok, good night." Caeden looked at Lily and shrugged. Together, they turned and left, the softly snoring Swordmaster sleeping in the dirt behind them.