The morning after Koji had unlocked the potential to see Ranshio Essences, both he and Yasmin took to the plains of Sobal to continue their training in the art of Ranshio Bending. Yasmin stood firmly before Koji with her arms folded and her eyes fixed on his movements as she watched the boy effortlessly gathering Ranshio Essences inside him.
She was amazed at how quickly he was able to grasp the concept of gathering the essences within himself. She was also amazed at the fact that Koji carried the ability to see the essences that were known to be invisible to the human eye. Her eyes were set on the red crimson glow that Koji's eyes had displayed. Her thoughts retracted back to Kuro, the Fire Fox who harbors inside the young boy. She pondered on the idea of telling Koji what he really was and the power he actually holds inside him.
Her thoughts, however, was soon swept away once Koji began creating a single flame within the palm of his hand. The young boy let out a slight gasp as the look of excitement covered his face. He glanced up to see Yasmin, eager to see what she had to say about his accomplishment.
"Look Yasmin it worked, I saw the essences and drew them inside me. Now I'm able to perform Ranshio Bend!" Koji shouted in a gleeful tone.
"Not so fast Koji, it's true that you're able to gather the essences but Ranshio Bending takes more than just gathering the essences. You actually will have to perform the elemental hand signs to actually start bending the elements," Yasmin replied briefly as she approached the young boy.
"Hand signs? Like the ones that ninja's do?" Koji questioned with a slightly raised right eyebrow.
"Wait, you've encountered ninjas?" Yasmin asked in a curious tone. She began shaking her head slightly in an effort to stop herself from changing the topic "yes something like that, ninjas perform ninjutsu with their hands. They mold a specific type of energy called chakra."
"Do I have chakra?"
"We all have different types of energies in our body, it's just a matter on how you train and use the energy. In this world exist three types of energy, Ranshio, Chakra, and Spiritual."
"So because I'm infected with Ranshio, i'm only able to produce Ranshian energy?"
"Yes that's correct," Yasmin stated while shoving her hands inside her short's pockets. "So now that you know how to gather them essences let's try and teach you a simple Ranshio Bend."Koji nodded his head slightly as he let the flame in the palm of his hand fade into smoke. He watched as Yasmin began spreading her feet apart as the lightning essences started to flow within her body. She started off with the lightning seal, then performed five more different types of seals until she finally ended it with the lightning seal from before.
"Ranshio Bend: Multi Dragon Clone!" Yasmin shouted as she distributed the energy she collected and created another solid copy of herself which stood beside her with her right hand on her hips and her left hand swaying her hair back slightly.
"Whoa...no way..." said Koji in shock as he shifted his gaze between the two Yasmins "you definitely got to teach me how to do that!"
"It's quite simple, all you have to do is focus on distributing the right amount of energy into the clone. Depending on how much energy you give up you can make one or five clones to use as distractions or help in a fight."
Yasmin proceeded in showing Koji the elemental hand sign for fire and then taught him the correct combination of hand signs to use in order to perform the technique. She offered up a slight smile as she watched the boy focusing hard on gathering up his energy while trying to perform the signs.
"Ranshio Bend: Multi Dragon Clone!" Koji cried with clenched teeth and closed shut eyes.Small flames spurted outward beside him as a solid image appear from out of it. Yasmin raised both of her fists in the air as she stared at the back of Koji's clone.
"You did it!" Yasmin shouted.
"Did I?" Koji replied while slowly opening his eyes. He looked up to see his clone standing before him which caused him to become startled slightly. His eyes began twitching as he faltered back away from the clone.
"The height matches, even the outfit, yes I said you did a swell job Koji," Yasmin stated as she approached the clone. "Who knows you might even surpass me one d-" as Yasmin reached her hand over to the clone's shoulder to get a better look at it, her facial expression turned from a happy and proud one to a shrieking wide eyed one as she stared at the clone's nonexistent face "what the hell kill it with fire!"
"Oh um right!" Koji quickly released the seal of the technique causing the clone to disappear into flames. He began ruffling the back of his head slightly while unleashing a nervous chuckle. "So um what do you think?"
"I take back what I said kid, you've got a long way to go," Yasmin replied with narrow eyes.
"Wait what, oh come on that was my first try cut me some slack!"
"A clone is the easiest technique a Ranshio Warrior can learn, hell I learned it on my first try."
"Maybe if I transform like you did I can perform it better!"
"That's a negative kid, you're not ready to handle Ranshio transformations yet," Yasmin stated while raising her nose up to the right.
"Hey just watch!" Koji replied while performing the fire seal. He began gathering up a massive amount of fire Ranshio Essences as he started to push his body into transforming.
"No Koji wait stop, you're body isn't ready to handle that much energy yet, if you try to transform you will turn into a fiend!"
"Wait what!?" Koji retorted, halting his efforts in transforming and shifting all his focus onto Yasmin "i'll turn into a fiend if I transform?"
"Yes...trust me its not something you would want to go through. I've seen it happen before..."Koji began reflecting on what Yasmin had told him earlier, her reasoning in collecting the Dragon Claws. He saw the look of sorrow dwelling in her eyes as she shifted her gaze slightly towards the right while covering her right elbow with her left hand.
"The person you wanted to bring back...is that what had happened to him?" Koji asked softly. He watched as Yasmin answered with a slight nod causing the young boy to take a seat on the grassy plains beneath him.
"It was a long time ago...back when I first started my Ranshio training. He was my mentor, my friend...my lover..." a look of shock overtook Koji's face as the wind began coursing through his hair.
"What was his name?" He asked finally. Yasmin began to unleash a slight sigh as she walked towards Koji. She sat right beside him while lifting her gaze up to the white clouds above.
"Titus...his name was Titus. We were on a mission together sent from the Ranshio Academy to retrieve a special artifact that is connected to our history. But we had encountered someone, a man dressed in black with his face masked by the darkness of his hood."Yasmin began to reflect back on that dreadful day. It was stormy with a slight drizzle of rain scouring the earth below. Yasmin and Titus were put to their knees by the mysterious man dressed in black. The two warriors let out slight pants as the looked onward at the approaching figure.
"You two sure know how to put on a show, If only you had ascended in your Ranshio prowess you might've stood a chance against me," said the man mockingly.
"Dammit, we need to access the second stage of Ranshio!" Titus stated with clenched teeth.
"But we can't Titus, our bodies can't detect the second essences," said Yasmin with a worried expression upon her face.
"That's the thing, for some weird reason I can sense the second essence. It's calling out to me begging me to use it's power..."
"Oh is it now? Why not give it a shot and see if you can provide a bit more of a challenge for me," the man commented while beckoning Titus with his right hand.
"Don't do it Titus, he's just baiting you," said Yasmin as she slowly lifted herself back up from the ground "I'll take care of him, just watch!" electricity started to course through her body as she charged forth towards the man dressed in black.
A slight sigh was released from the man as he quickly used his right thumb to push up the hilt of his blade from it's sheath. In a moment's notice, the man appeared behind Yasmin with the small end of his blade sliding back down its sheath. Blood spewed in various directions as Yasmin endured many lacerations from the mysterious man's katana.
"So fast I could hardly even see him!" Titus thought with widened eyes. He watched as Yasmin had fell to her knees once more. The electricity that once surrounded her had dissipated as she glanced back to see the man standing behind her with his blade pointed towards the pupil of her left eye.
"If you're planning to make your move make it quick, otherwise I might have to end this little birdie's life here and now," said the man. Yasmin could see a slight grin forming within the shadow's of the man's hood.
"Don't do it Titus!" Yasmin cried,
"Do it, show me what you are capable of, boy," the man stated while shifting his gaze towards Titus.
"Dammit I've got no choice!" Titus began gathering up massive quantities of earth Ranshio essences at the second stage while unleashing a massive battle cry as the earth began shaking beneath him.
"Oh my..." said the man. He turned to face Titus who started show confidence in his smile.
"You're in for a rude awakening, this power, this power is all i need to stop you!" Titus stated while trying to condense the energy into his body.
"Hmph..." the mysterious man began sheathing his blade as he shook his head slightly "what a pity and here I thought you would've provided me more of a challenge. It looks like you won't even survive the transition."
"What you say!?" Titus questioned. He suddenly noticed his body slowly turning into stone, starting from his feet then to his legs. "There's...there's no way..."
"Titus no, you have to stop!" Yasmin cried, tears cascading off the lash of her eyes.
"I...I can't...it's too late...dammit!" Titus looked up towards Yasmin as he stretched out his right hand towards her "Yasmin!" He cried as the petrification finally completed leaving nothing both a stone statue of the once renown earth Ranshio Warrior.
"A tale of the ages, the heart longs to reunite with those it cherishes but atlas after discovering the sweet pain of loss it can no longer deny the truth that love is only temporary. HEARTLESS Chapter Three..." The mystery man began to let out a slight chuckle as he started to disappear into darkness, leaving Yasmin alone with the statue of Titus.
"Titus please, come back to me Titus..." Yasmin pleaded. She slowly began making her way to the statue of her fallen lover only to see the cracks arising and the shell cascading. Beneath the stone stood a dark vicious fiend that had the face of a killer whale with a tongue that was sixteen inches long. It didn't take long for the beast to finally break free, leaving not a single trace of the boy she once knew behind.
"I was forced to end him, I was forced to kill Titus. The moment he became a fiend he attacked me instantly..." said Yasmin. She had her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared at the ground before her. "That's why it's important to not push through transformations. It takes time to master these things."
"I understand..." said Koji while lifting himself up from the ground "I'll work on perfecting my Ranshio Bends first. Transformations can wait," Koji began gathering up his energy while performing the hand signs in order to summon a clone of himself once more.
"Do you see this Titus, this kid is going to be something special I can feel it..." Yasmin thought as she watched Koji summoned another clone this time with actual facial features.
"Did it work?" Koji stated while opening his eyes, staring up at the clone who held a blank expression and was completely bald.
"I take that back...he's hopeless..."
"Aww man I thought i had it this time!"
"Why the hell is he bald Koji!?"