When Cao said I was strong, you probably imagined a hefty boy with rippling muscles that had resisted arrest by punching at least half of the ubejans (soldiers) until they finally overpowered me. Or probably you imagined a skinny boy who surprisingly could lift quite a number of heavy things due to some sort of mutation. Whatever you imagined, here's the real answer.
I, Oki, am a tall fair-skinned boy, with red eyes I know I have when I looked at my reflection in the water, sixteen years old with the normal proportions.
But I am strong.
My raw magic is basically strength. I can also condense it into weapons like the others, but not often. I could break a tree in half with my bare hands, much like the Djarnn. I could snap a person into bits without batting an eyelid. I was strong!
Then how could the ubejans arrest me, if I had so much power? They sealed my raw magic, as they did every single person in that cell!
Well, enough about those depressing memories. Once we'd broke out, we'd put it all behind and faced north, faced freedom, faced Axihome and Furhad Academy and all the other pleasures it had. We'd heard about it all our lives. We wanted to experience it.
Back to the present, I had created the base of the wagon, wheels underneath, everything held together with Zin's poison glue. I'd tested it and found out that, even with my strength, I could not pull it apart after it had dried. Giving Zin a thumbs up, I continued to cut the rest of the wood into planks, with a saw I condensed from my raw magic.
Before long, the wagon stood ready on four double wheels, everything held together with Zin's glue.
"Now to find a wild horse," Ruha said, looking around our surroundings, "I'm not sure if one can coexist here, with that creature that was roaming around,"
Ruha never called the Djarnn's name. She simply couldn't pronounce it.
I smiled at them all.
"There's a wild horse in this jungle. I found the tracks when we first wandered around. Just trust me,"
Zin pointed at herself, then at me. I didn't understand at first, then I realized:
"You want to come with me?"
She mimed a series of actions, pointing at her head, then at her eyes. I frowned in concentration. She did it again, then changed her actions halfway and pointed to Iris.
"What?" Iris asked.
Zin motioned for us to step back, then made Iris maintain eye contact with her for a full minute. Suddenly, a light shone on Iris' palm. Zin's imprint!
I was so excited I forget to breathe! Zin was actually a Controller! A powerhouse had been added to our team! With Cao's fire affinity, my strength, added now to Zin's Controlling prowess, we would actually be able to muddle along quite well in the martial world should we be rejected from Furhad. See, I am a person who thinks of everything. The others might be like, 'Furhad or nothing', but I was already planning our alternative course of action in advance. Just in case. That was why I was really happy when Zin came back with the monster core of the Djarnn.
"Ruha, you and Iris stay here with Cao," I said, "Zin and I will track down the horse,"
"When will you be back?" Iris asked.
I thought for a bit.
"We'll go for two hours at most. If we're not able to subdue it, we'll come back."
Ruha looked at Zin. She nodded, then pointed to Cao and mopped her hand over her forehead. Ruha nodded, understanding.
"We'll take care of him,"
Zin turned to me.
"Okay, let's go," I reached out to take her hand and guide her over the slippery paths. The wagon and our three friends were out of sight by the time I looked back.
The horse we wanted was grazing slowly and mechanically, not paying much attention to Zin and I, crouched behind a tree. We were both covered in mud, having fell into a mud puddle when a monster creature had charged out suddenly. Thankfully, it wasn't chasing us, neither did it notice us.
Zin nudged me, pointed at the horse, and pointed at her eyes.
"I gotta make it maintain eye contact with you for a minute? Got it,"
She looked at me with shining eyes. I was probably the person who understood her best, after Cao.
I left her side and went the other way. I stepped on a fallen branch and the horse finally raised it's head to glare at me. Not a horse. At least, not a total horse. Whatever. As long as it could pull a wagon, it would do.
Leaping out suddenly, the horse suffered a fright as I latched onto it's back and swung its head in Zin's direction. I was strong enough to hold it down for a full minute, before it bucked me off. I landed in the underbrush, thorns ripping my clothes.
Zin waved at me energetically from her position, the horse cantered docilely to her side.
I grinned from ear to ear.
"Let's go," I called to her, sprinting to her side, swinging her onto the horse and getting on behind her.
She pointed here and there and shrugged her shoulders.
"I know the way, don't worry," I reassured her.