"Yes, unfortunately they are a group of fanatics and thugs. The Man you found is probably related to them somehow. If that is the case, the one who stabbed him in the back could be someone defending themselves. You said the Dagger gave you an eerie feeling and this Token makes you feel at piece? I can't imagine them being from the same person. This Token doesn't belong to the Gangsters. It belongs to an old Sect, a very old Sect if I'm not mistaken, your Mother knows more about politics than me. I was just a lucky fool to meet your Mother." Ooran tried explaining the importance of the matter to his Son, things would get messy if he didn't understand.
"Father!" Wu Hai vaguely understood what his Father meant and wanted to leave the room.
"Since you have met with this fate, we cannot be reckless. We have to dispose of the evidence linking that body to this house. Wu Hai, Come with me. We'll take the Crawler with us and bury the hole. Calistown, make sure to turn down all the lights while we are gone and put out any fires." Ooran was serious, and grabbed Wu Hai to leave.
Chasing the moon down the mountain they had an easy time making their way. When they arrived at the falls and the water trap they both had the sense they were being watched, but had no choice but to do what they had planned. "Damned Thugs, why do they have to die here?" Ooran was terribly annoyed, he should be in bed hugging mountains... not digging in the muck.
'Tink!'
While digging another metallic sound rang out. Clearing mud away the edge of a small cube reflected in the moonlight. It was barely visible. Shocked, Wu Hai snatched it out of impulse. More Magic symbols were lit, there were more colors and he now had 12 patterns. "The fates must be toying with me" He shook his head and looked at his Father, "I'm taking this." It was fast witted for a response but Wu Hai knew they had come for a reason and got back to work.
The two worked quickly and deposited the Corpse into the hole. Packing it down with some rock and smearing a nice mud brick over it helped to hide that the hole was actually a fresh grave. The old fish trap was a mess but it was nightfall and murky waters cannot become clear quickly.
Ooran and Wu Hai took the long road back to the house to get some sleep. Ooran kept stressing the need to cover their tracks and the travel home took longer than expected.
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The following mornin, Wu Hai had not yet eaten breakfast or done his chores. He was eagerly looking at the two cubes at the table. They were both emitting such brilliant lights in all but one place and the fire symbol was lit. While thinking about them in detail he used his fire but there was no change in the small wooden cube.
Wu Hai tried pumping more effort into his fire, it had only been a little over a day since he had even gotten his power but still, he wanted to push it to perfection. If he had the capability to use or control magic, he would surely use it. Alone and confused, he sat at the breakfast table for nearly an hour waiting for his mother while staring at the two cubes in his hands.
Watching his mother exit the room with morning hair, Wu Hai signaled her. She looked at her son and fixed it briefly, "What are you doing up so early? Usually your Father has to get you out of bed." Calistown ruffled his hair, payback for reminding her about her own.
"I couldn't get much rest, I keep thinking about the schools of magic. Could you tell me more about them, I know they are divided up but don't understand why." Wu Hai seemed to be eagerly looking for an answer, he took his hands from underneath the table and placed both cubes on it to show his Mother.
She had a worried look on her face, but sat down and said "its nothing abnormal, plenty of people only have 1 type of magic. Although, generally - Magic test cubes only light up they sense potential for other types. I think I have a book somewhere to answer that question, these cubes are different than the ones I saw as a girl." She picked one up and set it back down.
Calistown grabbed a book from the shelf. It was big and White, like it had never seen dirt. "This book has magic cast on it. It will never tarnish or dirty with mud or guts, that's why it looks so new, Ahem." "Okay.. so, here we go." She pointed to the page and started to read, "According this, there are Twelve Schools, broken into fields, 9 Primary, 7 of those are lucky, and 2 Heavenly."
"Mom, that's 11" Zao Wu Hai answered.
"That's true but the twelfth is Dark Magic. Most would call it Demon Magic but its just the manifestations of Darkness. That doesn't mean its evil. Some people have made up their own judgments on what constitutes good or evil in this world, and many just don't care. This is the reason its so important to take yourself seriously, as I hope your brother is. When you both go out into the World, your poor Mother isn't going to know what you two are up to. Don't disappoint your Ancestors, and make sure you come home to us. These are your duties to Family." Calistown was giving her motherly advice, wanted or not.
The only things that mattered to her in this world were her family, children foremost.
"Okay, lets talk about the 9 primary. The Nine Primary are Wood, Lightning, Fire, Water, Ice, Metal, Earth, Mind, and The Soul. The Two Unlucky ones are the Mind and Soul. Those two have nothing to do with training and talent. They are based on knowledge and mystical arts. The 2 Heavenly ones are The Stars And Healing." Running her finger down the page she found the next paragraph, "Only the Guardians wield their power for long and Heavenly powers have a high price. The 12th is Darkness. All magic can be used by Darkness, it can be molded to temper, or inflame an ability." Calistown let out a sigh, she hadn't thought about such matters in a long time. Out in the country there is little to do besides raise a family and fend off the beast in her bedroom.
"Since you have the fire ability, go start one in the fireplace and show me what you know." Calistown wanted to see what he could do. She had been a little worried that he would experiment without thinking things over.
Wu Hai was excited when he walked up to the fireplace and tossed in a small logs. He summoned a small black fist size fireball of black and blue flame, "Okay, if I move my fire near something it catches fire pretty quick." Placing his hand near the wood, he opened his fingers close to the log and watched the fire in his hand float off his palms and engulf the logs instantly. "Uhh?, Why did it burn up so quickly, even my bed didn't go up that quick." Wu Hai looked at the ash in the fireplace, he was happy but still surprised.
"You burnt your bed?" His Mother sighed, "Well, Fire is the natural suppressor of Wood, its only natural that it would burn hot and quickly but those black flames really work fast. Maybe we should start a Fire the old fashioned way and see what you can do to train after your Father wakes up." Calistown was proud of her son, she knew that having a fire ability didn't necessarily mean he could burn things. When someone gets the power of flame, its sparks comparatively. 'My sons are both so strong, Ooran, I want a daughter!' She sighed again and went to prepare breakfast.
It was still morning and Ooran had yet to rouse from bed. He and his wife had been busy nearly every night since Zhan's departure. When he finally came to, he remembered the night before and how he had to dig in the muck, he cursed a little under his breath again about the thugs and stared at the two cubes on the table. Although he wasn't a Magic User, he knew that it was a Tool. He saw that Wu Hai had taken both cubes but as to why he wasn't so sure. Only now did he realize, with their luster that these two cubes can be considered precious in some circles and they didn't seem like ordinary tools either. Putting it to the back of his mind, Ooran looked at Wu Hai and started asking "So, your brother leaves and you learn magic. Its just so weird to see it happening, most mages are just crapshots with vague power.. you seem to have a knack for this stuff. Come outside and show me what you got."
It was dew covered outside and cool, ready to be a winter in no time at all. The Trees in the distance still had most of their leaves but the dry summer weather and fall have turned them to crisp versions of themselves. With a Crack, a Fireball left Wu Hai's hands and clashed with a tree 1000 meters away, instantly disintegrating it. There was little explosion and the Tree went up in flames crashing into a pile of ash before smoking slightly and turning to dust in the wind. The soil wasn't even get disturbed, the ash quickly filled the holes. However, if you stepped on it, you'd fall into the hole where the roots once were.
Wu Hai noticed that he kept hitting wooden targets and they keep getting instantly incinerated, wanted to try something harder like metal. His father had a few broken tools laying around, they were piled in a heap and they stepped back a bit before he tested out the flames from his fireball.
"Okay, I'm going to put some effort into this one!" With a little bit of concentration, he made the fireball a little bit bigger, then pointed towards the pile of scrap. With a quickness the fireball reached its target and engulfed the pile of scrap. The black flames made short work of the pile but it melted to slag and goo that caught grass around it on fire. The flames that persisted on the material didn't stop for anything, they just kept burning. It wasn't until Wu Hai decided to pull the fire back that it stopped. A small bead of sweat rolled down Ooran's face as he turned to his Son.
The same could be said about Zao Wu Hai, he had only just come into contact with this power. This Incredible power, He had to endure, and had to train it. If not, he would regret it his entire life. Thinking about it, he wasn't hot. His father was hot, but why was he not hot. "Father, I am not hot. Is this an effect of fire magic?"
"Probably. There aren't too many high powered people I've met, only heard of. its likely true, make a fireball and try touching it" Ooran was curious.
conjuring the Fireball it stayed in Wu Hai's Palm rotating swiftly. Ooran came closer, but ultimately had to stay back a bit, his face was starting to feel sunburnt but it was cloudy outside. Wu Hai took his hand and waved it through the fire fast, then slow, then fast again.. then stopped while he had his hand in the flame with disbelieve. "I can't believe it, I don't feel the fire. This is too amazing". In the next instant the fire went from one fist to the other and another green glow circulated around his feet. "What is this?" Wu Hai tried to ask his father, but his father only heard high pitch noises and then saw Wu Hai moving at incredible speed... it was about 5 minutes till he could finally understand what his son was saying "Father, Why didn't you answer me. We've been standing here for half an hour and I've been asking you questions but you just had this blank face on." Wu Hai couldn't hold it in.
Zao Wu Hai looked at his father in astonishment, how could he not understand, he was looking directly at him the entire time. Looking down at his fists that had both been covered in 'darkflame' he shook it off. When the flames turned down, he didn't even feel a drain. "Maybe it was because I didn't send the fire away." Wu Hai thought, he started the entire process over again.
He conjured his flames. 'Check.'
He moved his Flame from his Right to his left, and Made more. 'Check.'
He charged the flames a bit. 'Check.'
... A few moments passed, but nothing. Then he took a step and found himself across the yard. His father still looking the other direction, Wu Hai turned around and approached his father. His mouth was moving, but just a low deep tone keeps coming out. Wu Hai extinguished his flames, and everything suddenly came back to full speed. His father looked over where he had just been looking only to see Wu Hai standing beside him.
He jumped a bit and said "W-What! Okay, seriously what's with the Green Glow?"
Wu Hai told his father about had just happened. It was hard to explain, but somehow Zao Wu Hai knew what to say.
He broke down the steps and Ooran was delighted, to think that his son managed to find a way to train himself without any help. 'What a Genius. Genius? this could be a problem if he tells his mother about my stash of alcohol.' "Eihh!, Chechecheche, so lets not tell your mother how powerful it is, just make sure you don't overdo it and destroy things. The Zao Family doesn't have much, but we can't afford to lose what we have" Ooran set some firm rules for Wu Hai hoping it would encourage him to be vigilant in the future. Fire might not hurt him, but it can certainly hurt those around him.
Wu Hai took his time, he spent the majority of the mornings and afternoons practicing the exchange of fire from hand to hand. He didn't dare fire another 'darkflame fireball' at any of the trees, they needed the firewood. With that in mind, he channeled the green light again and decided to see what exactly it was. He knew he felt faster, but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. The speed increase he felt before seemed like everyone around him was slower, but everything was normal for Wu Hai.. even his clothes were not lagging behind him in any way. His hair and the pressure of air also came to a near halt. That wasn't all, if he put some 'oomph' into his footstep he could easily travel a few dozen meters. Attempting to grasp the ability to move about, Ooran looked at his son Zipping and tripping over everything at such a speed it was hard to keep up with him. When Wu Hai finally came to a stop, it was nearing sunset and Zao Ooran came up to his youngest son and said "You're going to need a Master!"
"a Master?", suddenly an image came into his mind and immediately it vanished. "Do you really think I can become like the Top Masters? I know humans can't be Guardians, but Some of the more powerful Magic users can live a really long time, that lets them learn more!" excited, Wu Hai couldn't stop hero worshiping the upper echelons of the magic user world.
"I heard there was one man who could float, Father.. When I hold the cube, I also Float. look" Wu Hai grabbed the cube then tried to walk, only to remember that he was floating and had not figured out how to move yet. Ooran burst into laughter while Wu Hai free floated in the yard.
Gazing out the window at her 'Man' and 'little man' laughing in the yard, Calistown felt heartwarming sensations and put some extra food into the meal. "They've worked hard today", she smiled and got back to work on the Dinner. A Snake-headed Fish with vegetable soup, It was rare to get larger fish on the mountainside; So Calistown decided to make the efforts to use all of it, she made a large pot of soup.
The boys came back inside and cleaned up before dinner.
Ooran looked at his wife and son, happy that his family had grown so much. It wouldn't be long until it was time for Wu Hai to get out into the world as well.
Thinking about it, he stopped and turned to Calistown "Sweetheart, Our Children are both strong and strong-willed. If we don't put their talents to work, they will rot. Since Wu Hai had learned of magic he's been obsessing over it. Look and you'll see it for yourself." He pointed, gesturing at Wu Hai who was currently using the 'Darkflame' to heat up his food, bored. "We must get him books if he's going to learn magic here, or we could go to the Capitals Repository of Knowledge. At least there we will have a better understanding of what abilities he might have so we can train them. Either way, He needs more to learn from than what we have now. What do you think we should do, you cried so much when Zhan left last week. Now, we're discussing how to best help our youngest and that might included us having to send him off as well. I need to know what your thoughts are."
Calistown looked at her son, cheekily roasting his fish before shoving it into his mouth. "Okay, since you insist I have no objection, I just want my boys to be strong and to make me a grandmother. so!" pulling her head up from her plate with a sense of pride and a streak of light crossing her eyes, she stood up and walked to the kitchen. "Don't stay up too late, tomorrow your father and I will take you to the capital. If we leave early in the morning get there by next week, its a long journey. Thankfully we have the crawlers, I'd rather not carry much." While looking at her husband, he laughed with an awkward smile. "Whats so funny?" She asked.
"Sweetheart, we are lucky. Don't worry about the little things tonight, hurry up with the dishes and get to bed early. " He winked, she blushed and hurried the dishes along. Changing his discussion back to Wu Hai, he said "Don't get your hopes up too much but we're going to the capitol; If we can afford it, we will get some books about magic for you. For now, finish dinner and get some rest. Pack when you're awake and be ready to go by breakfast." Chuckling while he made his way to the kitchen, soft 'no's' could be heard and then his mother dashed into the bedroom.
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