Ephemeral [Plot/Training/Private]

“So how are you doing, Noir?”

A red haired man, putting his hand on top of the table before he rested his chin on his palm, staring at the golden eyed girl with a playful smirk on his face. “It has been a really long time, isn't it? What a coincidence that I could meet you here out of the other places.” He would shift his gaze to the chopstick placed on his right side, taking the pair of sticks up with his hand before looking back towards Noir, smiling.

“I am good.” Noir answered directly as she stared back at Rufus’ eyes, knitting her eyebrow to show that she was feeling kind of annoyed. How could she not feel upset towards this man… “I saw you walking in the street a few days ago, I was certain you saw me but you only smiled before disappearing, I assumed you were blending with the crowds.”

The male magician laughed, but he stopped quickly the moment he felt a sharp glare was being shot towards him, he would reduce it into an apologetic smile while having a cold sweat. “I was rushing, I had to attend to urgent matters. But I apologize okay? I am sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you.” The man would give a faint laugh as Noir let out a sigh, still looked annoyed but it was definitely not as much as she was before. “Okay.” She said before she sipped her tea, feeling the warmth spreading into her body, calming her a little bit.

“I won't lie but I am so happy that we are able to meet again. Let's spend time together while we can though, we have a lot to catch up.” Rufus grinned before he used his chopstick to pick his food and eat it. “I heard you are 1st Kodor now, congratulations! I wish I could watch how you do it. You grew stronger… look at this girl who I taught years ago, she is able to handle herself now.”

One thing that Noir remembered about this man who was sitting in front of him was… that he was a little bit talkative and had this kind of presence that made people get annoyed. But he was her first friend, so he was precious to her despite the annoyance that she felt, although that was just because Rufus kept trying to tick her off with those sly words coming from his mouth. “I found another teacher though… he was really strong, even stronger than you I think.” Noir paused for a second,  “But we went separate ways, however without his guidance and training, I don't think I will be who I am at the moment.”

Rufus would smile brightly to Noir upon hearing that and he would stare towards her, as if signalling her that he wanted to hear more of her story. “Well, then I met a lot of people, learned a lot from them too. There was this man who taught me how to use swords and other weapons too, he was really helpful.”

“That is great, I am glad you are able to explore the world and meet a lot of people. Say, this man who taught you swords, what is his name?” Rufus smiled, although there was something else inside his man, something that he kept as a secret for a long time in front of Noir…

The black haired girl would answer her friend’s question, “Tenma, Mikazuki Tenma… is his name.”

WC: 586/1500

~earlier~

The magician was strolling through the city of Kina again, she had a plan to be done… but she would wait until it was dark and quiet to do what she had planned to do. For now, she would just enjoy the perfect weather under this orange sky, feeling the autumn breeze caressing her cheeks softly. Maybe she could get something to eat as well at the moment, at least to replenish her energy she spent from thinking. It might be quite an exaggeration that she got so tired from all the thinking, but it was an intense moment for her and her brain, a lot of energy was consumed from that alone.

The scenery in Kina never ceased to amaze her, as the night came, those paper lamp lining on the streets began to light up, as if they were welcoming the moon. If she looked up, she would be able to see those strings, attached to one side to another side of the street, with small paper lanterns hanging on it. It must have looked like a sea of light from above if they looked down, a gentle and calming light if Noir could say.

“Noir!” A voice called for her, making the golden eyed girl halt her steps and turned back. It was her old friend, her first friend even, if she could say that although she would never say it out loud because this guy, would definitely make fun of her and she would prefer to avoid that. As the man with crimson red hair, a pair of sharp looking eyes, tall, muscular build with a playful smile approached her, Noir would call him by his name, “Rufus?”

“I was right, hahaha! I swore, the moment I saw you, I ran and cut through those sea of people just to greet you.” The redhead bent his body a little bit, hands touching on both of his knees as he panted, trying to catch his breath from all the running he did. “Glad you didn’t disappear though. Have you eaten yet? Do you want to have dinner together? I am starving.”

~present~

“So I have been travelling around the world, learning a lot of new stuff as well and I wrote the record of my journey inside this book too.” Rufus took out a book from his bag, showing it to Noir with a bright smile, “Well, but I couldn't say that my journey was all fun and exciting, some people or some places that I’ve visited was kind of sad and full of despair as well. There were tyrants, families dying because of poverty… civil war among each other… and many things.” The man would give an awkward laugh before he let out a sigh, “The world is a little bit crazy, isn’t it? But oh! This one is interesting, so I came across this book about that famous screenplay and the whole concept, the story, all of them were so good. Have you read it? I have a copy.” He would take out another book from his bag before showing it to Noir.

Upon seeing the book’s title, she would shove it back to the man, “I’ve read it. One of the greatest books, perhaps. However, this country also has a lot of interesting books as well. Try to read some of those too.” Noir would then stand up from her seat before putting some money on the table, “I have to go though, Rufus. I have something to do.” She would stare at the man’s eyes, pausing her words for a second before continuing it, “Do you want to meet again tomorrow?” She would ask the man, making the redhead carved a wide smile on his face before giving her a nod as a response. “Of course, let’s meet here again in the afternoon?”

---

After going their separate ways, Noir would head to the nearby forest, far enough from the houses and people. It was not like she didn't want people to see what she was about to do. But she felt like it would be dangerous if people suddenly appear, they might not survive. After spending a long time not really training her own Djinn, Noir thought it was supposed to be the right time to do it at the moment. She had been postponing it for so long, more because she...was still trying to do the concepting on how she wanted to use the power. Not only that, she had to find a safer training ground as well…

The magician took a deep breath as she touched her arm bangle, her fingertips touched the red orb attached at the snake shaped accessory, pouring magoi into it and in a split second, she would transform into her djinn equip. She remembered about that book though, the one that Rufus recommended to her, amused because the thing she was about to try was based on the inspiration she got from that book.

“Nunc autem requiem mea, Dulcis Regina Filia.”

She would chant slowly, almost whispering every word as she concentrated, coating the scythe in her grip with dehydration aura. It took her less than a minute to manifest her concept, but now to actually try and see if it actually worked or not. She would swing her scythe, aiming it to the nearby bamboo tree and the dehydration aura would quickly sucking every moisture within it. Happy on what she did, Noir decided to try it again, perfecting it until she was satisfied.

WC: 1500/1500

Trained ability:

The magician was in her room, the place offered by the Morihana clan as her resting chamber on her stay at Kina, an exchange of the help that she gave to that very clan. It was quiet there, when the sun went back to his chamber to sleep and the moon was awake to brighten up the world with her light, it felt like everyone had fallen asleep. No one could be seen wondering, no voice, sound or even noise coming from anywhere within the Morihana palace… It was as if Noir had been stranded at an abandoned castle, and there was only Haku who was loyally accompanying her. It felt like them alone against the quietness in the world now.

Her golden eyes stared at the moon with a longing, as if the moon was her home. Her topaz orbs would be glimmering, shining bright as the moonlight basked into them. She would quietly gaze at the moon, as if she was in a trance. She wouldn’t be moving, no sound would escape from her pale colored lips, only tranquility. Within her mind, she was deep in thought, wondering about a lot of things, everything, even went as far as questioning the existence of Djinn power. Why would such ancient power wished to be discovered by current civilization…? But people seek power to reach their goals… and she was also one of them. To be able to reach her goal, she needed more power. It was not easy to reach her goals to be honest, she didn’t know where to start. So far she was only able to help other people with her power, even though she knew it was still not enough.

The magician sighed, starting to feel like she was wasting her time by thinking like that when she could just spend it to read new books. Since when did she start to be this mellow? Well, perhaps the mood was just right to be like that.

As she closed the wooden sliding door behind her, the girl would wander, walking away from her room without any set destination. She even motioned Haku to not come with her, it was not that she was pushing him away at the moment, but she just wanted some time alone. There was nothing within her grip as well, no weapon, no magic staff. There was only the bangle with the ruby stone wrapped around her arm and it seemed it would be the only thing accompanying her tonight. She would begin to walk to where her feet would bring her to, it didn’t matter where she might end up at this point, she just wanted to walk quietly.

It felt pleasant actually to walk quietly, even the sound of crickets gave her a sense of peacefulness. Even the darkness that was awaiting for her on her path didn’t feel scary or intimidating at all, even when the moonlight couldn't reach it, Noir would keep moving forward without any kind of fear.

WC: 506/1500

It was unexpected to be honest, her feet and absent mind brought her to a vast pond. She didn’t know where she was, but judging from how high the moon was compared to when she started her quiet stroll, it seemed she had spent several hours walking. Strangely, Noir didn’t feel tired, her shoes covered feet were fine and there was no muscle pain because she was walking nonstop. It was as if a magic had brought her here, reminding her of that day when Shousui, the past self of that noblewoman, kidnapped her without her even noticing. Well, Noir wondered what Shousui was doing at the moment, she did tell the older woman that she would be traveling alone to Kina.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stood at the side of the lake, staring into the dark water that felt like it could hide anything it wanted under the darkness. The magician's finger would make its way to the arm bangle, her metal vessel of Dantalion. "Good evening, isn't it?” She whispered, as if she was greeting her Djinn. There would be no answer from her, not even a single word and that was to be expected. Without Magi, she wouldn’t be able to communicate with her.

Dantalion, the Djinn of Drought and Dehydration. Like her title, she bestowed Noir the power of dehydration, letting the young magician to use the power without the help of wand or even a staff. Knowing the power of the Djinn itself, Noir would always try to not use it, not even the weapon equip as she rather saved it for a more dire situation. But it would be a good thing to train the power, she figured. So she would be able to control the power better, considering the level of the dangerousness. Well, she lied, she didn’t really know how dangerous the power would be, she just knew that every power given by the Djinn would be very powerful and that was why the wielder of the power was called as King’s Candidate. However, today would be the day where she tested the power. She might not be able to explore its full potential, but at least it would give her more understanding of how to control it.

The magician would infuse her magoi into her bangle, feeling how the Djinn power engulfed her and changed her appearance. No matter how many times she saw how it was capable of changing one's appearance, Noir still found it interesting. She would lift her hand, staring at the now gloved fingers, covered with claw-like decoration. “Okay…” She murmured, feeling the power spreading to every part of her body as well as the scythe she was holding with her right hand. The girl would swing her scythe, unleashing the evaporating steam towards the lake although she wasn’t able to get the result that she wanted. With a sigh, Noir would close her eyes, imagining what she wanted, figuring out what kind of thing she wanted to achieve by gaining more control of the power. Then she opened her fully determined eyes...

WC: 1035/1500

The magician, cladded in her Djinn Equip, would begin to prepare herself. She would take several deep breaths and prepare her mind, wanting to deliver what she had in her mind. Although it might be too much, the golden eyed girl wanted to dry up the lake with her dehydration power. Perhaps it wasn’t that much after all? Well she was not sure, she never tried to do this anyway. But for now, small, simple steps would be necessary as her stepping stone. Once she was able to get the feeling and performed what she wanted, then the next step would be to hone it more.  

The theory was similar to how she could cast magic, but that required her to speak to the rukh, asking for their help by sharing some of her magoi with them. However, utilizing Djinn’s power requires something else. She just had to concentrate and pour her power into the medium, then unleashing it. She would hear something within her mind, a word… ‘...um... e...a… um…’ It wasnt really clear enough for Noir to understand the word, but she would listen more to the faint voice. ‘Le...a...um.’

It was still not clear, but Noir lifted up her scythe, ready to unleash her power like she was in a trance. Like something was guiding her. Then her lips would be muttering a word, “Legatum.” The soft words, almost sounded like a whisper, accompanied the moment when she finally swung her scythe. The sirocco cone was formed from the slash before travelling right towards the lake and drying it up in an instant. The magician was surprised, it was exactly what she wanted to do. But it was surprising to find out that she managed to do it, especially after something was guiding her. Was it the rukh…? Or was it Dantalion, herself? Well… whoever that was, Noir was grateful.

Even though she managed to do it, she didn't feel like she was capable of doing it correctly yet. So the magician kept practicing, even though there was no water left inside the lake, but she would keep trying. She would keep swinging her scythe, whispering the name of the power and keep practicing until she felt exhausted. Using the power of Djinn was much more draining than using a regular magic to be honest, she could feel it on her knees, it was shaking and she felt weak. But it was all worth it. This power would be useful in the future.

The magician would walk back to her room, surprised that she didn’t take a long time to find her way home after wandering aimlessly by herself. Haku would greet her as she entered the room and a loving pet would be given to the liger as Noir sat down beside him, ready to fall asleep whenever due to her fatigue. It was a really pleasant night to be honest...and she enjoyed it. So as she laid herself down on her back, the magician would touch the bangle and closed her eyes. “Good night.”

---

WC: 1500/1500

Legatum trained

Skill learned: