There is a Light [Secondary Spec Training-->INT/SOLO]

"Humph...so you're awake."

The blurry world came into focus slowly yet, yet surely, as the young man opened his eyes groggily. He was sore, heavily so all throughout his body. It was almost as if he had been paralyzed and the numbness was fading. Why? What had happened? His vision still left much to be desired as the world appeared to just be waves of fog. By his side he could make out a small counter, or at least he thought it was a counter. A wide array of strange vials and concoctions littered the messy wooden counter and at times he could make out colorful fumes arise out of what seemingly appeared to be nothing. Confused and unaware of his surroundings, Yushin rubbed his eyes as he slowly rose up to a sitting position. A sharp pain ambushed his sides as he did so prompting him to let out a small gasp.

A-a bed? What was he doing here? Why was he laying down on a wooden floor knocked out on a thin bed and with sheets? He was simply perplexed and as his vision began to return, he noticed a slightly aged man with his back turned and faced towards another counter. Taking a closer look, he noticed that he was merely within a smaller room of a much larger abode as he glimpsed an open door at the left hand corner leading to a far larger space.

The elder man cleared his throat prompting Yushin's attention to shift. "Ahem, so...like I said, you're awake now?" A wave of pounding pain passed through Yushin's head. Clamping his hands into his temples, he grimaced at the short lived discomfort. Groggily, he muttered unintelligible words as he rubbed his head. The elder man noticed the obviously gestures of discomfort and offered the young man a drink.

"Drink. You've had quite the queer day. You've been out for a few hours now." The elder man handed Yushin the cork of the deep blue liquid which the white haired young man gulfed down in a hurry.

"GAH! This K-AH tastes awful!" He looked up at the older man to stared back amused by the youthful man's reaction. Taking back the corked container the old man walked back to the counter.

"Well you seem to have recovered your energy quickly. How'd you like that? Tastes awful you say but one bottle of this and you're bouncing!" The man laughed out warmly as he set the drink down. Upon closer inspection, there was a youthful glow to the old man's eyes as well and he certainly didn't dress normally either. The elder man was robed in gold and black as well as wore a spectacle on his left eye.

Confused and with a massive surge of curiosity, Yushin bounced out of his bed and onto his feet. He looked down and clenched his hands and in awe he realized that the soreness had all but disappeared. "H-how?!"

"Sit down and listen up youngster!" The elder man grinned as he set aside a chair for Yushin. "You can hear it now...can't you?"

546/2000

At first, Yushin felt perplexed by these sudden words. "Hear what? Other than your colorful hocus smoke and a couple butterflies, this is a- uh...fairly normal...room. The old man cocked and eyebrow as he listened amusingly. "Is it just me or is it feeling brighter in here?" He turned his head towards the window but to his utter surprise, he found it to be closed with the blinds drawn. Then...why was it so bright? No it wasn't bright, it merely...felt bright.

"Come now, you must've taken a serious blow to be THIS dense now now." The robed man stood and procured a staff from a cuboard. It was quite the peculiar thing. The entire staff was silver and it was lined with black cloth. Across the tips of the staff were three points and an orb of sorts in the center. Upon closer inspection, the orb displayed unknown scribblings of words that he could not make out. Without much notice, the robed man pointed the staff at Yushin and a bright blue light eminated from it's core. Suddenly, the entire room was swarming with butterflies, no....they weren't butterflies. How could he not see them? They fluttered excitedly throughout the room in an energetic swarm, It sounded....absolutely beautiful.

The old man fixed his gaze onto Yushin as he held his staff. "They're what we call the rukh. Of course, you know all about the rukh now don't you?" Startled by the revelation, Yushin's eyes widened at the realization of the spectacle. "B-but...I thought only-"

"-magicians can see the rukh? You are quite right. Those that possess the capabilities of channeling the rukh tend to be able to see them...although there are a few abnormal cases. In your case...hmmm it appears that you can only hear the rukh." The boy was obviously shocked. It was apparent by his agaping jaw. The old man chuckled at the sight. "Now now...it should be coming back by now."

Yushin cringed at the utterance of the words as his mind tackled back to the forefront and his memories returned. The desert scorpions, the poison, the grueling week surviving off the lowest supplies of water. He had been searching, searching for the one who could help him. He knew the task and journey ahead would've been difficult, but for him to be ambushed so suddenly caught him off surprise.

"Ah yes, it appears that you remember now. Sorry about the soreness, my lads can be...uhhh quite rattled by the presence of unexpected visitors. But hey! Look at that! If you didn't have even the slightest speck of innate magical capabilities you would've been dead by now. The magoi inside your body was...well..disintegrating. I found you just in time." The old man placed the chair back into the table as he watched Yushin rise to his feet and stood there without taking his seat.

Puzzled by the resurgence of his memories, the young man couldn't quite bring himself to mutter any words. Rather, the best he could muster up was a croak.

The old man, obviously noticing the slight difficulty of Yushin's efforts merely chuckled again. "I'll just continue then. Welp, congratulations young man! You have unlocked the inner potential of your magical capabilities! Good for you! The old man feigned applause jokingly and set down his staff in the meanwhile.

Gathering his composure, Yushin managed to bring his mind together to form cohesive thoughts once again/ "Then, you're telling me...that those giant things...were your pets?"

The old man bellowed at the statement. "Yes, I suppose you could say that. But now now don't get so tensed! They were only doing their jobs! I'm not quite inclined towards visitors, except for Wol Ryung of course...but he's out."

Yushin choked when he heard the name. No, it couldn't be! Wol Ryung...Wol Ryung was a legend, a legend that had disappeared quite some many years ago! Flipping his switch into action, Yushin reached for his geom but found his side to be empty. Well of course, he had realized that he most likely wasn't asleep with his sword by his side. He could see that the robed man noticed the action and simply stared back in amusement.

Patting the side of his own staff, the old man smirked. "Like I said, no need to get tense. Anywho, I believe now it's about time to see what you're made of. The old man stood up and walked out of the room for a quick moment before reentering with a strange statue of sorts. Yushin eyed it suspiciously but the old man paid no mind to it. This was one of his favorite parts after all.

1373/2000

the old man eyed the young lad inquisitively as Yushin stared back blank faced and confused. With a puff of his nostrils the old man squinted a stare back as he patted the statues's head. "What? Did you think leaving you out there for a week alone like that practically dying as your magoi disintegrated is all you'd have to fight through? come now, you've hurdled over your first obstacle, now let's see what you've got!" Yushin glared back and hissed in retaliation. "Leave me out there? LEAVE ME OUT THERE?! You're telling me that you waited a WHOLE week before you stepped in and helped me? I was dying-!"

"You were settling your inner conflicts." The aged man replied simply and calmly as he sifted towards a more serious tone. "Like I said, your magoi was disintegrating and you and only you alone were capable of unlocking your inner potential. Yes, it took a grueling week for you to sort things out, but in the end you succeeded, and most importantly...you did it without help." Silenced by this, Yushin merely kept his gaze on the old man whilst keeping note of the head figure statue in the while.

For a time, the two remained silent as Yushin processed this information. It was true that he remembered instances of fighting throughout his near coma. The light, he remembered, was so strong, like it was burning a hole into his chest and digging into his eyes. Whatever he was injected with, it jump started something completely new within himself. No, that wasn't right...it wasn't new, he already possessed the innate qualities of magic. Rather than gift him with a light anew, the injection simply acted as a catalyst, a kicker so to say to give him a push towards his talent. Content and finally accepting the events that occurred to him, Yushin face forward with newfound determination in his eyes.

The old man without a doubt saw this shift in attitude and smiled by the outcome of the young man's pondering struggles. "Good, now let us begin."

...

Yushin peered over the crystal statue in interest as it was set before him. "I see. So this, whatever you call it-"

"Eight Magic Color Selection Crystal." The old man interjected.

Yushin nodded in apology. "Ah yes for give me. So, this Eight Magic Color Selection Crystal is capable of revealing to me my elemental affinity?" The old man grasped the table and nodded. "Precisely so. One must simply channel the rukh, as I have shown you already, into this crystal, and the results will speak for themselves."

Without really much hesitation, Yushin proceeded to flank the crystal on both sides with his palms and concentrated on gathering the rukh under his command. In all honesty, the task was surprisingly simple, and once the young man had input his rukh the crystal responded smoothly to jet out a bright illumination burst of light. Blinded yet captivated, Yushin did his best to view his results. With a nod of approval, the old man took the crystal and grinned. "Well there yah have it! Congrats sonny! You're a user of the third type of magic, and Orange Magician!

"Third type...Orange...then, that must mean, that I have an affinity towards light magic!" With humility, Yushin bowed before the old man to express his gratitude. "I give you my thanks sir, truly-"

Suddenly, Yushin was interrupted. "Alright then, good luck to you lad, you've found out what you needed to know. Good bye." The old man grinned as he tried to hold back his laughter. In turn, Yushin grinned back as well.

"Now, come back when you've gotten your new self figured out alright boy? Then, and only then, will I consider telling you who I am because come now let's be honest, I'm a pretty cool old man and you DEFINITELY want to know! Bahahahaha!" Without anything more that the laugh, the old man shooed Yushin away and slammed the door after giving the kid one last wink before setting him loose.

"Well well," the old man grinned uncontrollably as he walked back towards his room, "I've stumbled upon quite the game changer now haven't I?"

[2000+/2000]