A Force Unseen [STR Spec Training C-->B]

Why had he called him here? Peering through the slitted window inside the abandoned building, Yushin took a step forward to enter into a spacious room. He was merely following a middle aged man ahead of him, and frankly speaking, he had no idea why. Briefly, the two of them fell into a scuffle within the capital but just as quickly as it began, the man stopped and ended the bout. "You're that brat from Reim. I remember you. So much potential, yet so little guidance." Yushin was astonished at these words. What had he meant by them? How had he remembered who he was when the Sangju prince had never met this man.

Nevertheless, he was intrigued, and like many times in the past, yushin's curiosity took over and led him to this very building. The roof was still in tact, and the building itself was stable enough, but it was old. Abandoned and dirty, it was actually an ample place to continue with the fight.

...

Why had they fought in the first place? "Why am I going so far? He thought back to earlier in the day, and he realized, he had done nothing to initiate the fight. Rather, he retaliated and defended himself from this man. The attack was so sudden and unexpected, he couldn't fully piece together what had happened. Then, this man stopped, and uttered those words. Why? His young blood boiled in an abnormal ferocity, and even he knew that this was recklessness. "But, I don't care. I want to know more, I want to see what he's up to."

They now stood face to face, two men, one clad in black and the other in white. It was interesting as to why this man had decided to cover himself in black, after all the heat of Heliohapt was generally severe. Perhaps the material was made of some kind of thin cloth?

"Who are you?" He inquired. "Why did you attack me? Why have you brought me here?" The middled aged man, clothed in black and a bandaged face, gave a moment of silence before responding. "I meant you no ill harm, I swear it." The man took his bag and laid it onto the floor. "You can call me Mahd. You, I presume, are Wang Yushin?"

Incredibly intrigued by how he knew his name, Yushin drew his geom and pointed it at the man. He sighed and jokingly laughed at the man as he swiped the air with his blade. "I'm guessing that you're not going to tell me how you know that unless I win am I right?" Mahd appeared amused by the statement and let out a laugh. "I suppose so, yes. As I said before, you have great potential, and I have no intent to mortally kill you." Mirroring the white haired young man, Mahd drew his own blade and got into a ready stance. "However," he swung downwards at an arc towards the younger man, "I have no guarantee of your safety."

The swing itself was surprisingly gentle, too gentle in fact. Confused by the slash, Yushin raised his geom to block the oncoming attack, but immediately, he felt something was wrong. His geom almost shattered upon impact, and before he knew it, he felt immense pain ringing throughout his arms. Blood dripped slowly from his nose, and what appeared to be veins bulged heavily across his face. The attack in itself had knocked him to the floor, and he staggered to get back up. He stabbed his geom into the ground and used it as a lift to carry himself back to his feet. "What...what did you do to me?"

Mahd gave no indication to answer the question, let alone, his very facial features were unnoticeable. The veiled of his bandages kept his face very hidden, so it was difficult for Yushin to assess his enemy's current state. "This man, he's the real deal." Cautious of Mahd's blade now, Yushin began to circle the mysterious man with his geom stretched forward. "I'll need to catch him off guard then." The young prince dashed forward and swung with his geom. As expected, the older man held up his blade to parry the attack. His plan was set into motion. Feinting, Yushin ducked under Mahd and swiped with his hwando which he had hidden behind his geom. "Got him!"

More blood, but not Mahd's, but his. His feint had not worked, in fact, Mahd feinted the parry itself and flanked Yushin as he ducked. His body flew into a column and his figure twisted in a way that was in no question, damaging to his body. "H-how...how are you generating this much power is you swing?!" It was impossible to him. He was completely outmatched and outclassed by this man, and he knew, if he kept going, he would not come of of this fight the same ever again.

His geom was raised into an aggressive overhead stance, and his intentions were made clear now. He would try to end this now.

"Stop. If you absorb any more of my magoi, you might die. Rest, and we'll resume in the morning." Mahd sheathed his sword and sat down on the opposite wall of Yushin.

Outraged by this, the young man spat blood from his mouth and sheathed his geom as well. He wanted to continue, he wanted to carry on, but he knew that Mahd's words were right. If he went on, he would die.

"Fine. I'll be ready by the morning." He himself sat down by the wall as well, and shut his eyes. He rested, but he did not sleep. He couldn't fully trust Mahd yet. It would do well to keep cautious.

"I'll need to meditate on this..."

WC: 1033/1000

The light of dawn broke through the numerous cracks within the abandoned building, allowing Yushin to peek open one eye. Mahd had said they would resume in the morning, and he had rested fairly well enough. The meditation did him many wonders. Well rested, and sound in spirit, Yushin arose from the floor and stood directly in front of the bandaged man once more. The night had been restful, and at the same time, full of thought. He had gone through it in his head numerous times throughout the break. Just what was Mahd doing that kept him so advantageous? He didn't fully understand.

"He mentioned magoi." That word, he pondered over it countless times. Magoi, it was a fundamental principle that was known throughout his people. It was pure power, in a sense, it was one's own life force and energy that flowed within any human being. He at least understood that it played some role in the use of magic as well, as he had heard about such things from the priests back home. Magoi, was it being outputted into him? That must have meant that Mahd deliberately coated his blade with his own magoi somehow. That was the only explanation.

On his feet now, Mahd unsheathed his sword and again pointed it at the young white haired man. "Now. Shall we continued?" His voice was expressionless, similar to his face as it was covered by bandages. Yushin stared back at the man, his own geom full unsheathed now as well. His eyes indicated a complete reversal of his understanding of the fight. Mahd noticed this without fail and internally noted this. "This, won't even need to last a minute."

"I wouldn't be too prideful to call that, old man." He raised his geom up and sideways on his right side and pushed his left hand forward. "Come."

Mahd obliged and coated his sword with his own magoi, and again, as before, he swung down in an arc but this time he did not withhold his strength. A mighty clang rang throughout the building as the two blades of steel met.

Yushin had successfully parried, but with difficulty. Mahd appeared amused, showing emotion for the first time. "Oho, as I said, you have great potential." He pushed off the younger man and chuckled. "I have nothing more to teach you. You have reached a revelation, and it is not my part to guide you further." The black cladded man sheathed his blade and crossed his arms.

Confused by what had just happened, Yushin remained cautious at the ready. "So I was right!" You somehow manipulated your magoi and coated your sword with it!" The man nodded at these words. "The fact that you felt this last night must have helped you to apply this. However," the old man began to unfold his bandages, "I didn't think you'd be able to do this so quickly. Truly, this is a testament to your potential." Unveiling his face, the middle aged man appeared to be a handsomely aged man. He had a black tattoo etched across his face, but other than that, he was a clean man, with middle length black hair that was slitted back.

"Forgive me for being so rude. I had remembered you from the coliseum and well...I just had to try you." The comment triggered confusion from the Sangju man, but he had shrugged it off. After all, he had seen worse in his lifetime.

"Before you ask, I will answer. I am Mahd, you can call me...a scout of sorts. I am impressed by your growth, Wang Yushin. Someday, we may meet again."

"Wait! You can't just drag me all the way out here! Leave me bloodied and then head off with something as vague as that! I need to know more!" the black haired man cut him off and shaked his head. "All in due time. As for now, enjoy my gift to you. You have gained something today, harness it, and we shall meet again."

Still perplexed by the occurrence of events, Yushin could only watched as the man disappeared into obscurity. "A...a gift?" He clenched his fist. "But what for?"

WC: 1000+/1000

Five days...

It had been five whole days since his strange encounter with that man. "Mahd." The very name of the man sent sparks of waves throughout his body, itching him with intensity. Curious. He was so curious. Who was that man? Why did he approach him? What was his overall intention? These questions, as of this moment, could not be answered.....and it was frustrating. The young man sighed as he stood up from his sitting position. He had nestled himself in that same abandoned building since the encounter. Yushin just couldn't let go of what had happened. Perhaps a tiny part of his expected the man to return, but logically speaking, he knew that this was irrational.

The overwhelming clouds of dust puffed at every movement he made; a testament to the age of this building. It was funny, laughable really, that this very rotten and forgotten excuse of an infrastructure kept him so unrelenting from departing. He being there, reminded him of Mahd. Yushin had gone the past five days with only water and minimal food and meditated. The lack of food surprisingly unhindered him as his mind sharpened to adjust to his fast thoughts. "What exactly is this gift?"

Figuring out the existence of this...'magoi manipulation' was one thing, but to apply it...was that the expectation?? Impossible, such a difficult task would require extensive time and training to obtain. The thought lingered heavily within himas he itched the hilt of his geom and contemplated his next course of action. "Maybe I should start with the basics." He crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Magoi...the fundamental principle is that it is pure energy, composed of...what those magicians use. Ah yes, the life force and energy that comprises the living world. Rukh, I believe out priest calls it. Magoi exists within all living beings, however, the quantity of such pure power differs upon individuals." He tsked irritably after muttering these words. The concept was simple enough, now what was he to do with it?

Drawing his geom, Yushin pointed his blade towards a block of stone that had fallen as debris. His blade would have easily sliced through it by this point, but could he do more? Concentrating, he pictured just how this rukh would look like and tried to will this image onto his geom, almost like a coating. For a very long time, he accomplished nothing. The more he tried to concentrate and focus, the more he exhausted his mind. Half a day had passed and he still stood exactly where he stood 12 hours ago, only this time, thick beads of sweat tricked down his face from overexerting himself. He had realized that during his attempts, he flexed his muscles considerably for extended periods of time. This would've helped greatly with definition training, and his muscles were surely sore, but it was not what he wanted to accomplish.

Sighing at the little development of his training, Yushin resheathed his geom. Perhaps he was thinking too big. After all, his magoi resided within himself. First he should know how to control his own body before extending it further outwards. The task would be difficult, most certainly because he had no specific instructor to guide him. It was a pity, but nonetheless, this setback wouldn't stop him. For the meanwhile, he'd master his own body first, and then attempt to manipulation the magoi inside of him.

With a huff, Yushin sat back down once more. Firmly determined to be patient and hone his discipline, he allowed himself to rest until the next day to continue his training.

1000+/1000

The Next Morning

Yushin shook the dust off his hanbok when he emerged from the back of the abandoned building. Ideally speaking, the building wasn't exactly the place to train for an extensive period of time, and the dust created too much irritation to get any work done. With a sigh of relief, the young white haired man welcomed in the glorious welcome of the morning sun and took in the surprisingly fresh air of the desert morning. Even at this early of a time, the heat from the sun pierced through the clouds of dawn and shone brightly to radiate the day. The temperature was bearable, and the dry air of the day felt breezier and cooler than he had remembered. With a final shake of his clothing, Yushin allowed the remaining remnants of the abandoned dust to fall to the floor. "There we go then."

He decided to begin with a job back to the outskirts of town, several kilometers away from the building. It was not too long until Yushin's feet met with sand rather than gravel and for the remainder of the time, he trudged forward determinately through the heavy sands. With each step, he could feel the grains below him absorb the impact, causing him to exert more effort into each step. It had been a long while since he had put himself through endurance training. More so, he hadn't really needed to train his mind either as he tended to meditate quite often. However, the blazing sun and the brutal sands were unfamiliar to him, and for the first time in a very long time, he felt himself slipping away. Mentally, he should have been capable of withstanding the heat, but even with his honed training, he was not prepared to tackle a grueling training regiment under the desert sun. It was here, that he realized while jogging that he would need to condition himself for any sort of environment or circumstance.

"If I can hold out here, I should be able to hold out under any heated conditions!" So, with determination flowing through his veins, Yushin devoted the entire day to heat resistance and endurance training. He would not only need to train his body, but also his mind so that he could remain sane in the future under similar circumstances. With each lap, he lowered his speed briefly to enter town and grab himself some water. After doing so, Yushin continued his exercise whilst the grabbed water hydrated him for the remainder of the lap.

With each huff and puff he gritted his teeth fiercely; he was determined not to give up. This Mahd character promised to him that they would meet again. If this was true, he would have to be ready to for him. To be ready, he would need to become stronger, physically and mentally, so that his body would be able to keep up.

""Tomorrow, I'll need to wrap this up..."

WC: 1000+/1000

The blazing heat should have completely drained him of his stamina by now, but the young man had by this point grown accustomed to the unrelenting heat of the desert. Conditioning had turned around to be a fabulous idea. His body felt stronger, his lungs larger, and his mind unbreakable as he spent a good majority of time growing close to the heat of his surroundings. The very nature of his training would prove to be beneficial in later times, as undoubtedly the future would hold a time where normal physical boundaries would be crossed. It would be this time that he would look back to that would remind him why he would be set apart from the normal man.

The words of Mahd still held very heavily within his heart, and the curiosity deep inside of him felt torturous regarding the circumstances. He was miles away now from the nearest town, and he was left quite alone to his thoughts. With nothing but space ahead of him, Yushin reckoned he would spend the remainder of his day treading nonstop back to the nearest source of civilization.

He began with a simple jog, nothing special but it warmed him up nicely. Within a couple minutes, he accelerated his pace to evolve into a sort of run and then in no time he was off flying in a sprint. This would be a self rule. If he did not reach the nearest town within 30 minutes of a sprint, he would spend an additional 7 days in the desert. Although the benefits would be enormous, Yushin held no kind thoughts to the notion.

To his surprise, he found the trek back to be seemingly easier than he had initially expected. He was out of breath, of course, but he wasn't dying. A month ago, he would not have made it this far without a rest, yet with his newfound conditioning, the journey had been accomplished in a mere 23 minutes. He even slowed down to a nice jog to steady his heart rate and upon arrival to the town, he rewarded himself deservingly with some nice water.

"Well then...that wasn't so bad now was it?"

WC: 1000+/1000