Bargained Freedom(Adam)

Yakuroro hardly cared that he was now a wanted man. In the wake of the prison break he personally initiated there were wanted posters being put up all over the place seeking the capture of a blue haired giant. The sketches on the wanted poster looked nothing like the Imuchakk to an almost comedic degree and he possessed any number of spells to deal with pursuers or disguise himself to enter a town. Despite his confidence that the criminal status wouldn't be a problem, the Imuchakk could not convince his traveling companions to hold the same mindset. After having been scolded by each comrade separately over and over again Yakuroro finally decided to try and resolve the issue so as to put their concerns to rest.

There wasn't really a written guide on how to remove his name from the Imperial Palace wanted list, so the blue magician deferred to the only person he knew who could help with matters of Zouen royalty; Lady Shousui. Lady Shousui was a prestigious magician in service of the empire whom oversaw and managed a stretch of fertile farmlands which had once been barren wastes before she took up residence near by. After visiting his benefactor Yakuroro learned that she could not help him and that only a member of the royal family had the power to wipe away his crimes. With that in mind, the blue mage changed his request to inquire on the whereabouts of said royal family members. Lady Shousui advised against such a reckless act, but there was little she could do to dissuade the blue magician once his mind was set.

Adam had been resting away in his royal palace. The monotonous days of boredom were very rarely interrupted by any sort of surprise; visits were appreciated, although they ended far too quickly to provide any sort of significant break from his endless struggle against himself. He wouldn't dare enter his royal library for fear of the past, nor wander out into the street for fear of society. If he left his chamber he might encounter his father, and that would never do. Thus, he was trapped.

He was laying on the bed. A draft blew in through the window, filling his large bedroom with a welcomed, cool air. He peered outside before shutting the opening tight so as to keep light and more wind out. What would he do today...

Yakuroro learned, from Lady Shousui, that his only chance of encountering a member of the royal family would be to break back into the imperial palace once again. A simple enough feat considering that he had already done so before and while security was surely tightened, no one in the palace knew HOW Yakuroro had infiltrated the palace the first time around. No matter how many times they doubled patrols or how many extra guards were posted along the halls, there wasn't much of anything they could do to stop an invisible man. This left only one question...which member of the royal family should Yakuroro approach? The Emperor was an obvious choice, but it would be hard to catch the man alone so as to speak with him. The Imuchakk was able to learn that a prince in the palace was an adept magician whom was rarely seen in public. Hopefully this meant the heir spent most of his time within his own chambers...

Following that train of thought, Yakuroro activated his djinn equip outside of the city and used Marx Vanish to become invisible before flying towards the palace. The lay out of the building had been provided by Lady Shousui allowing Yakuroro to determine the location of the prince's room. Once it was located and Yakuroro confirmed the young man was inside, he flew in through the open window bringing a draft of air in with him. As Adam got up to close the window the invisible magician canceled his djinn equip and landed softly on the ground behind him before introducing himself, "Greetings Prince of Zou, my name is Yakuroro~" The Imuchakk bowed in greeting as was likely appropriate, however magoi was steadily building inside his body in case he needed to empower his staff for some magic to deal with any...undesired responses from the prince. The door could be frozen shut if he called for guards and the boy himself could be put on ice if he tried to attack the blue haired giant that had suddenly appeared in his room.

Adam was interrupted from his peace of mind by a large, blue-haired man who had materialized behind him. He was rather surprised- was there now a new race of teleporting giant-men? That would be terrible. Perhaps, rather than this, though, the intruder was simply an Imuchakk mage. Adam vaguely remembered studying the Imuchakk- they were men of beastly proportions who towered over their opposition and could win by using brute force alone; one gifted in the arcane arts would certainly be a rather imposing threat, capable of ripping bodies apart through carefully placed spells or bare hands. Adam was still rather pleased he had some company.

The Imuchakk (?) introduced himself as Yakuroro, and bowed majestically for someone of his stature. Adam met his palm and knuckle in an oriental bao quan, before bowing back with a royal flair.

Many salutations. My name is Adam- you needn't address me so stiffly as 'Prince of Zou.'

The prince's response was surprisingly pleasant and welcoming despite the circumstances. This was not what Yakuroro had expected or prepared for causing him to pause and show a slight glimpse of shock on his face as his eyes widened for an instant. The change in his visage quickly settled into his usual friendly smile as he rose from his bow and relaxed. "Forgive me, this is my first time speaking face to face with royalty." The magoi that the Imuchakk had been preparing now settled within his body as the blue mage observed the son of the emperor with keen eyes. It was clear that he stood out from the other citizen's of Zou with his unique clothing, however just by looking at him it was hard to say that he was a prince. Yet despite this appearance the boy, whom seemed to be close to Yaku's own age, certainly had an air of authority around him.

Without wasting any time, Yakuroro spoke to Adam with words that were a mix of lies and truth keeping that friendly smile all the while, "My name is Yakuroro. I am a traveling merchant who deals in life, wisdom, and magic. I am here because my business in life required that I...procure something that belonged to the empire. As a result I am a wanted man which makes doing business rather difficult. I'm sure you can imagine how important the integrity of a merchant's reputation can be, so I would like to make a late payment towards the goods I've acquired." The Imuchakk let his eyes peer into Adam's making contact the entire time he spoke, "I've prepared wisdom and magic to trade. In return, Adam, I would like you to use your power as prince to clear myself and my companions of any crimes."

"Consider it done. I've not a clue what you or your friends could have possibly done to get arrested in the first place, or how you escaped arrest and made your way here, but I'm a nice guy, after all.

Adam was about to pardon the great giant who called himself "Yakuroro" and get back to his sleeping, but he realized something. The Imuchakk offered to give anything Adam wished to him, including skill and knowledge. Power, perhaps. Adam knew this was a sensational opportunity- if the man could teach him more magic and train him into a stronger warrior, he might be able to take on his father and seize the throne as he had always planned-

"However, in return for clearing your charges, I wish for you, an obviously talented and hardened warrior, to train me in the arts of magic combat. I have an endeavor which I must carry out, and I know you have the power to assist me."

"Oh whatever could you be talking about? Why would a merchant know anything about combat magic?" The Imuchakk said playfully as he glanced to the unicorn horn staff in his right hand. The weapon had been with Yakuroro since he before he even left his village just over three years ago and had many signs of wear and tear received from the numerous battle-related encounters he'd managed to survive. Before Adam could call Yaku on his lie, the blue magician held up his hand and admitted to the jest, "Alright, so perhaps I might know some things that could help you polish your skills in arcane combat. I assume you already know SOME magic. Teaching you from scratch would be a task better suited for the professors in Magnostadt..." At mention of the famous magic teachers Yakuroro glanced to the side and muttered, "...Not that those useless dolts would be available..." He still felt some resentment towards the academy for failing to accept him for classes. He still didn't know if he was discriminated against for being an Imuchakk, for using such a small scale spell at the entrance exam, or if his paperwork was simply lost.

Seeming to refocus on the conversation at hand, Yakuroro shook the negative thoughts regarding the academy away before continuing, "I need to know what type of magic you possess first. A location more suited for training would likely help as well. Ah, and what KIND of combat magic are you looking for exactly? While it will be dependent on your magic type to some degree, I'll need to know what kind of fighter you are so we can focus on something that compliments that."

(OOC: OH SHIT IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS. Sorry about that, man. Really busy lately. In addition, I apologize to everyone else who sees this message and has noticed my inactivity. I will do my best to return to action.)

Adam smiled at the Imuchakk- he was agreeing to teach him magic. This was very good indeed.

I practice the arts of Black Magic- Strength magic. I presume you know what that is, yes?

In a show of his power, Adam utilized a weak forme of strength magic to lift up a book nearby, maneuvering it with basic telekinesis. He set it down once he was sure Yakuroro had seen.

I was trained by the court mage in my youth, but I worry he has reached the peak of what he can teach me. I know, however, that you are much more skilled than him, and I believe that you could broaden the horizon of my knowledge.

The Imuchakk frowned at Adam's response and sighed before shaking his head, "If you presume me so skilled then why do you give me such a shallow answer?" The wanderer spread his hands open in a gesture signifying how light and empty the young black magician's information was. "So you know strength magic, surely the extent of your abilities isn't lifting books into the air! It's a given that you should be capable of such things if you've really been receiving quality training up till now. You still haven't answered all of my questions and all you've done now is remind me of more that I need to ask." Yaku's tone was light hearted and his smile remained friendly but beneath the surface of his mask he was feeling a bit frustrated. Not because Adam had been stingy in his additions to the conversation, but because he was having second thoughts about imparting magical knowledge that would have military uses to an empire known for it's expansionism. Oh well, too late to be worrying about that now.

Yakuroro asked all the questions he needed answers to once again with an additional inquiry, "First things first, magic is not to be absorbed from the pages of books. You must speak with the rukh yourself to truly learn anything so we must find a suitable training area. Preferably somewhere that it is okay to rough up our surroundings a bit. Please, lead the way and while we walk, tell me what kind of fighting you feel most comfortable with. Strength magic is effective at all ranges and is able to support all kinds of fighting styles but having too many choices can be a bad thing. How do you wish to fight? Lastly, you should show me a display of your current top two...no, three spells. You should be able to handle casting that many in a row with no difficulty, right?" The last comment was an attempt to stir Adam's pride. It was a challenge of sorts to test the black magician's talents, but there was also a hidden test at play.

Yakuroro would not just look for which spells Adam used, but how he used them. Any mediocre magician could just sling spells at an empty field mindlessly, but those born to be elite would be more...creative. Only time would tell how much talent Adam had.

Adam followed the orders of Yakuroro, the Imuchakk; he was very sleepy and dozed off whilst the giant spoke to him, causing him to only answer a part of his question. Thus, he decided to finish off the rest of the response as he led the giant to a large stone courtyard.

"As for my fighting style, I'm more of a relaxed fighter- I despise tense auras. I go with the flow. I seek to learn combative magic that will give me a strategic edge in battle- paralyzing spells, trapping spells- even basic damaging spells would suffice. As for the fight I'm most comfortable with, perhaps we could engage in a little spar in one of the palace's courtyards- they're immense, and there's literally nothing there to break."

Adam led the way to the largest stone courtyard within the palace's walls. It was enormous; 50 square meters of empty space- perfect for a battle.

"So, I guess I can pop off a few spells here... I'd appreciate critique. They are quite new, in fact. I'm still perfecting them."

The blonde prince called forth one of the palace's officials, who brought a wooden dummy in the shape of a man. He would be the target of Adam's spells. He started by unhitching his staff, Kingsbane, and taking a few cautious steps back, until he was in the dead center of the courtyard. Then, he swung the staff in the direction of the dummy violently, and once it was pointing towards its target, released a blast of converged Rukh- they traveled 20m at 15m/s, buffeting the wooden figure and sending it flying into a wall. He called for a target- not just one, but two- and focused his energy. After this he expelled a forceful blast of converged rukh which would travel for 30m at 20m/s. It knocked the two targets 30m back- they flew into walls and exploded upon impact, leaving small craters.

"That's not all I've got- but do you have any comments you would like to throw out?

[TRAINING FOR ADAM: 362/1500]

((Don't forget to add your magoi consumption))

As the two men walked together Yakuroro thought on Adam's words and the fighting style he claimed to prefer. It sounded like he wanted to focus more on supplementary spells that would hinder his opponents and grant him more versatility but such an approach would be counter intuitive for the strength magic he possessed. The basic damaging spells mentioned in passing were honestly the greatest strength of a black magician and Yakuroro felt that should be the Zouen prince's main focus for not but alas, the customer is always right as they say. The Imuchakk kept silent until they arrived in the courtyard for the magic demonstration and dummies were brought out as targets.

The spells Adam generated were small in scale and had the power of a magician just one step above a novice. It was good to know that he was not a total beginner and had indeed received decent training up to this point, but there was still a lot of room for improvement. Once the display of black magic concluded Yakuroro clapped politely before going on to voice his concerns and advice, "I see that your magic tutor was not a sham. You seem to have the basics down for strength magic. But it doesn't really match your desired combat adjustments. Your second most compatible magic type, Light, would be far more suited to paralyzing and trapping people..."

Yakuroro rubbed his chin and tried to look as though he needed to think very hard about how he could help Adam. Truth be told, the Imuchakk already knew exactly how to help the prince get the results he wanted using just strength magic alone, but he was still holding doubts about teaching a prince of Zou anything dangerous. Finally Yakuroro gave in and shared with Adam the answer he needed to produce such effects with strength magic alone. "Hmm...I suppose if you used strength magic and it's sub-type gravity at once...it IS possible. Tell the rukh to pull and twist the air to constrict around an opponents limb and you can stop their movements with a localized distortion. Then by using gravity magic you increase the weight of the air you've wrapped around them. Alternatively you could gather particles and condense them into projectiles targeted at key pressure points on the body. These approaches would allow you to limit your target's movements directly."

"A more indirect approach could involve using gravity magic to pull a wall of earth or other environmental substances in a dome around someone before condensing it greatly with strength magic...although keep in mind that it would take time to build a condensed wall in this manner and that time would vary greatly based on what the medium is. A dome of water would be far more difficult to create than a dome of ice." Yakuroro smiled and then chuckled to himself as he ended the lesson which was really more just random magic theory. The final comment he made was what the blue magician found so funny as the words he'd just spoken sounded so counter intuitive to the way his own magic worked. Ice was supposed to be harder to work with, but from the perspective of his theory it would actually make life easier for a strength magician. Oh how grand the world of magic was!

Adam heeded the words of Yakuroro- he would attempt to unleash waves of strength magic in order to rock the earth around him and utilize it in battle. He converged rukh and blasted it towards the ground, displacing a large amount of earth. From there, he converged more of his rukh and launched dirt and rocks from the courtyard into the air, clouding it. He emerged, hair ruffled, clothes dirtied, grinning somewhat.

I agree with you; Strength magic is indeed versatile. Perhaps it would be possible to stir the earth under me and create clouds of dust; those could trap and bind the opponent as well, am I right?

474/1500

OOC Sorry for crappy post. Tired and sad.

The blue magician watched Adam work with the rukh commanding it to his will as he tested out the theory Yakuroro had suggested. A slight frown appeared on the Imuchakk's face as he noticed Adam seemed to be somewhat detatched from the rukh. Instead of listening to its wisdom he was merely imposing his intentions upon it. While this was the foundation of magic, it limited him in many ways as the rukh itself was the greatest teacher any magician could ask for. This disconnect was something that would hold Adam back, but instead of pointing it out Yakuroro reclaimed his false smile and nodded in reply to the prince's question, "You certainly could. Strength magic applications are vast when gravity magic is applied as well. A cloud of dust could quickly become a binding seal on a targets movements."

Yakuroro intended to keep the insight of listening to the rukh a secret so as not to bolster Adam's combat potential TOO much. However this would prove to be a mistake in the long run as the dictatorial method of magic would support the black rukh stirring within Adam. Instead of listening to the natural flow, his magic was purely bent to the will of an individual. However since Adam was not currently having depraved thoughts or emotions the Blue magician had no way of predicting this unintentional disaster awaiting Adam in his near future.

Adam knew at that moment that he had potential with his magic prowess. However, he felt rather hungry. So he decided he would put off this training session and go eat, before resuming alone. He would need to dismiss Yakuroro first.

Thank you for the advice, Yakuroro. Consider any bounty you have on your head cleared completely. I hunger for some food currently, and I deem thee dismissed. If you need return to my palace, the servants and I shall welcome you with open arms.

He waved Yaku off and went to eat some lunch. He'd need a little extra food for the preparation he would put himself through later.

Exit.

Yakuroro wasn't expecting to be dismissed so suddenly, however he was relieved to have been so. Now he wouldn't need to worry about having to reveal much more to the Zou Prince and yet still accomplished his original goal in coming here. With the bounty on his head cleared, Yakuroro would be once again free to move around the country without worry for watching out for soldiers and guards everywhere he went. "Thank you for holding up your end of our deal Adam. I wish you success in your magical studies." Yaku said with a deep bow before turning to the servants whom moved to lead him out of the palace. "No thanks, I'll be departing from here~" The Imuchakk said with a smile as he reached down to grasp the flying carpet tied around his waist. With a simple tug the knot was undone and the belt unfurled into the magical mode of transportation which Yakuroro promptly mounted before flying away out of the Palace.

[End]