A long nap and a couple meals later, Dane once again held the book in his hands.
The boy had to fight the urge throughout the day to simply dive right into it. Instead, he followed his instincts and rested and recuperated first..
As best as he could anyway..
The dim white light of Koh in the air had disappeared ever since he shut off his Athar. He wondered what it all meant.. what was the point of Koh?? What was the Athar and why was it so important to learn??
His dead master had nearly killed him in a frantic attempt to open his Athar... The only answers he would find were in the book...
He sighed and rested a hand on the cover. Feeling calm and rational, he opened to the first page..
As he began to read, he noticed that the words spoke directly to him, much like the cover.. Another strange effect undoubtedly done intentionally by the old man...
And so he began:
"Koh... I don't expect you to understand immediately kid what it is. In fact, a lot of Koh users can go their whole lives without ever truly grasping what Koh is...
What I think it is, after my decades of experience with it and my own master's teaching is this:
Koh is the life, the binding essence of the world... it's the heart of it all. In short, it's like a sort of power, or energy... The old tales tell of mana, and magic.. I think that they meant Koh...
Before we get any further though, you need to understand the point of it all...
The person that killed me was a Koh user.. a very powerful one... Koh defies reason. It defies reality.. you can shape it into objects, turn it into fire or lightning, harden your body to be stronger than steel..
The person that killed me fought with Koh.. they used their Athar, which was stronger than mine, to fight me with Koh... I died because I was weaker. My Athar was weaker and my skill and talent with Koh was less than theirs...
The limit is your skill and your talent... but more importantly how you choose to use and develop your Athar and Koh...
Koh is used for miracles, and in most cases is used for fighting.. killing.. self defense..
It is weaponized...
But it can also be used to heal, to help others.. But those type of users are few.. especially here in the Fain...
What you decide to use Koh for is up to you...
I can tell you the basics. That is all I know... Perhaps you can learn more from others along the way, but this is all the knowledge I have gathered up to this point:
Categories of Koh Users..."
At this point Dane was distracted by a drawing in the dirt nearby.. he stopped reading and watched as a white light drew something magically in the ground..
It was an octagon, and at each point in the octagon there was a word.. in the center of the octagon a small dot that said "obscure"...
He looked to the book for answers..
"The diagram nearby is the chart for all Koh skills, as explained to me by my master.. and now me to you...
Every Koh User is awakened into one of 9 categories.. These categories define what the user will be good at with Koh. You, Dane, are a Diviner..
A Diviner excels at seeing and reading Koh.. I know this because of what you explained to me.. When someone awakens Koh, there is always something that happens to them that is related to one of the 8 categories.., you sensed my strength, you could easily see and feel things out of sight... hence I know you are a diviner..
You can use divining Koh skills up to 100% efficiency... opposite the chart, you see distort.. this means that you can only use distortion skills up to 20% efficiency...
Obscure exists outside of the chart because they are special Koh users.. they have special skills and can use Koh in a way not tied to the other categories... You don't need to worry about this category for now... That is why the dot in the center of the octagon says obscure.. it is related to Koh, but not a part of the rest of it..
I have never met one, they are quite rare. Even Diviners are rare.. you are the only one I've met...
The following is a list of all the categories, starting with shaping 'north most' of the chart and working clockwise... every category next to yours you can use at 80% then 60% then 40% until you reach the category opposite which is 20%...
If Shaping is North (top most) of the octagon, we will work to East, south, west, then back north In that order to get the chart...
The chart is as follows:
(North) Shape - Make Physical things out of Koh
Shapers are the best at making material objects out of Koh, and generally shaping, condensing, and forming Koh.
(North East) Augment - Draw in Koh
Augmenters are the best at 'drawing in Koh.. I.E., drawing it in and enhancing their physical functions with it. This can extend to held objects and anything on the person, organs, senses, etc.
(East) Divine - Read and See Koh
Diviners are the best at reading and seeing Koh. This means they can use Koh to sense things outside of their line of sight, track others with Koh, see Koh itself, and even in advanced forms theoretically read memories in Koh and see the past or even predict the future..
(South east) Control - Manipulate life with Koh
Controllers are best at manipulating life with Koh, be it actual life, people, Koh created life forms etc. This usually involves manipulating beliefs, emotions, thoughts etc. but can even extend to full mind control. It is commonly used to give Koh Constructs and life commands.
(South) Actualize - Create life with Koh
Actualists are the best at creating life itself from Koh. This can be Simple Koh Constructs that can only follow basic commands, to simple life forms such as animals, to even life mimicking humans in their intelligence and form...
(South West) Cast - Push Away Koh
Casters are the best at 'pushing away Koh'. The opposite of augmenters, Casters excel at all things long distance with Koh. This usually involves range attacks of some kind, and in conjunction with nearby categories can make Casters extremely deadly... Most casters resemble what we believe to be mages.
(West) distort - Effect spacetime with Koh
Distorters are the best at using Koh to alter spacetime. This generally involves slowing time, speeding it up, teleportation, warping, time travel etc. in advanced forms.. There are even rumors of Distorters creating pocket dimensions that they can travel to and from and put things in.
(North West) Transfigure - Change the property of Koh
Transfigurists are the best at giving 'properties' to Koh, such as 'hot' 'cold' 'heavy' 'slippery' etc... They can even change Koh into non material forms such as electricity, fire, light, shadow etc..
(Middle/outside chart) Obscure - Using Koh in a way not related to another category
Obscurists are, well, obscure.. They all use Koh in a way that can't be categorized and as such their skills are typically very strange. They are extremely rare.
.."
Dane sat back, pondering over all the information.
"So I'm a Diviner... But I can use other categories too?? That means I can use control and augment to 80% efficiency....
But how do you even use Koh?"
He sighed and scratched his head..
"This is a lot to take in... Or maybe I'm just an idiot?..."
Dane then shut the book and rubbed his eyes. "Time to go hunt again.. I'll take a break from this for now.."
...
Time seemed to slow down in that moment.. The air was dark, and the sound of a heart beat and heavy bringing was all that remained then..
One arm pumped after the other and the owner of the arms moved frantically..
A nearby hooded figure moved as quick as lightning and as silent as a shadow..
It moved past the boy, and made it's way to a teenage girl..
She moved just as frantically as the boy, running as hard as her legs would carry..
It reached out towards her and she screamed..
A second later, the scream reached the boy's ears and his heart stopped, and time seemed to freeze for a moment as his mind went into overdrive, trying to contemplate what was happening...
Then the rage came, and something else.. he cursed at everything around him, at the dark, at the floor guardian, at being weak...
'crack...'
A soft sound followed, akin to glass shattering on the ground.. then it happened again, and again.. and soon the dark fog grew cold and changed altogether..
White light mingled with the soft falling of snow made the scene almost peaceful. It would have been if a girl was not being attacked viciously by a floor guardian...
The Boy felt it, something else, outside his reach... He closed his eyes and sank into his feelings: the rage, the unease, the fear...
Something exploded outward.. and he knew in that moment exactly two things before the world faded to black:
She was safe...
And he would never see her again...