Alleyway meeting

It was a weekend morning, one he was going to enjoy too since he had come back from his trip in the past. He hadn't been contacted by Izuya either, which was a god send as well. He had come out of his room and had picked up some toast on the way out to spend the rest of the day relaxing. It all came to an end though when he reached the ground floor of his apartment complex and found a messenger in a gorilla costume and over waiting for him. There was only one person that would send a letter via gorilla. He took the letter with up most reluctance on his part and tore it open. It was a brief little message from Izuya to met him in a alleyway. He looked askance at the letter a few more minutes before crumpling it up. *He would just continue to annoy me until I find out what he wants.* He thought to himself as the gorilla messenger moseyed away with several odd looks from passersby.

-Twenty minutes later-

He found himself at the coordinates that had been inscribed into his brain by the message he had received. Kuna looked around a bit before stuffing his hands into his pockets, to wait for the spirit to show up.

Casually, Izuya would approach the alleyway and come into visible range of Kuna wearing a full body hamster suit. When you looked at it, it was more like a black and white flannel sack that covered his body with a hood that included round ears; the face would be normal, save his nose would be darkened as if with a black marker. After entering the alleyway, he comes to a stop in front of Kuna and simply stands there with a smile on his face before chirping, “you came!” Holding his little furry hands out in both directions, he would lunge towards Kuna in order to hug on him. After hugging or being rejected, he would inform Kuna, lifting a finger into the air, “today we will be doing something very important!” With that, a white circle would lift radiance about them and their bodies would be engulfed in the void. As the white light fades, the soundings would become a sunny open field with knee high grass swaying in a light breeze for a far visible range. Mountains would be in the distance to the south with forest lands to the far north, but as far as near proximity, it was simply Izuya, Kuna, and the wilderness.

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He looked at the getup Izuya was wearing, but decided not to comment on it. "I got your little note." He brought up his foot just so that when Izuya lunged for him he would run straight into his heel "Figured it was best to see what you wanted, rather have you not try to be a bed intruder." Kuna would say. He just let out another sigh at what the spirit said and then the next white glow engulfed them. "Okay, so we are in the wilderness...why are we here then...and it had better not be for more non-existent bonding crap either. Getting dumped into the past left me all bonded out." He would say keeping a firm watch on Izuya and his actions and not the surroundings.

Izuya rocks to the side and laps his little hamster hands, then rocks to the other side and claps twice before spinning and vanishing from sight. Though he was not in view, his voice would be. He would speak, “we’re here today to reward your friendship thus far! I’m going to go over a few things with you and see how well you pick them up…” There is a slight pause before he specifies, “I’ve hinted and touched on it before, but I felt something inside you. At first, I thought it was your attitude, but now I’m convinced that you have an affinity for magic. Unlike normal humans, you should be able to do extra ordinary things. You don’t seem to be the type to take initiative on that, so I’m going to take it for you! Now how much do you know about the existence and use of magic?”

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Kuna gave a sigh as Izuya eventually disappeared from sight, but he figured that he still had to be around in the general vicinity. "Since you dumped me in the past, I have been doing some research on it." He would say spinning around slowly to see if he could spot the spirit. "I was more concerned about defending myself physically before I tried branching out into any kind of magics. I was even going to go too the shooting range to practice my skills, when I got your note. The answer too your question though, I've seen it used during that battle, but other then that I don't know too much about it." Kuna explained while waiting for the next missive from the invisible companion.

Izuya would continue to remain elusively out of sight using a small of invisibility on himself. He was still there, physically, only he appeared not to appear. This was different from the intangibility spell that made him visible, but not tangible. He would answer back, “ah, I see, so you’re still a novice. Don’t worry I’ll explain things, no need to be hasty. This is one of those times when you will be given information for free based upon accumulated credit! Now… guns are nice if you like that sort of thing, but magic is simply fun. The type of magic I’m using now is highly advanced; someone like you would want to start out with something more simply and course, such as elemental magic. You see Kuna, there are different forms of known magic. The simplest magic to understand is elemental magic; it’s tangible, something you can feel and touch and you’re already familiar with it simply by living as a human. The six main elemental magics are Water, fire, Ice, Wind, Earth and Lightning. The tome of the elements tells us ‘Fire melts ice, Ice blasts wind, Wind blows away earth, Earth grounds lightning, Lightning electrifies water, Water puts out fire…’ Memorize this passage and you will know the strengths of each magic comparatively. Is this making sense to you?”

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He hadn't intended to be studying magic right now, but it seemed Izuya was actually determined to teach him something. *Guess the credit he means if because of helping him out with the Yakuza or something like that.* He thought in his mind not really caring if Izuya read that. "Right, its like that show pokemon, with all the different elemental types having advantage over the other like that." His eyes scanned the surroundings before finding a boulder in which to sit down on "Magic manifests various different ways, but elemental like you said is more familiar too us. We would know of it from the daily displays of nature that we see around us. The question I have is, what fuels the magic in the first place. Are we using chi or some type of energy that suffuses this world when you invoke magic, or does it just happen without any rational explanation?" He shot off those questions too his invisible tutor wondering what answers he could provide too those questions.

Izuya’s voice is excited at the questions that come from the apt pupil. He giggles, “very good questions. The answer lies in what makes you different from other humans. Like I said, you can do things that no other human can do, which makes you something a little different from a human, but still a human. You’re a delicious paradox so far as ethics go. As you may have discovered about yourself, you’re among a class of enhanced humans. They go by many names, such as Hitorinji, but they’re basically special humans that excel in aspects to a greater degree than other humans. Some humans go all their lives without knowing their inner potential, they end up being great sports stars, or famous gunslingers, etc. But back to the thing what makes you different, you have something in you called an artifact…” There is a pause, before, “back up! All humans have artifacts, only yours, and special humans, is merged with a shochou that grants you spiritual powers.”

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"So, I got something inside of me that essentially makes me different than the rest of the people in Sai city that enhances my physical parameters and at the same time allows me too use magic?" He would say assimilating the information that Izuya gave him. "It is not the artifact itself that grants the power, but the shochou that is bonded too it." Kuna would repeat the information, but then he scrunched his eyebrows in thought. "Okay, you mentioned shouchou once again, and you said that just before you teleported me into the past. The next question I should ask is what the exact nature are these shouchou and artifacts, and what allows those people with them able to use magic, while somebody without it could not?" There was a slight pause "I guess I already have a capability with a magic spell?" He asked.

The scene changes slightly around Kuna as glowing spirit symbols start to rise up out of the fields. They float about passively, non sentient existences that simply waft as if moving in schools like fish. The scene is illustrated for Kuna as Izuya continues, “shouchu are as you see. They’re nothing special and powerless on their own. The merger is what brings the power to the human artifact… it turns on their inner battery. The human body is a pretty fascinating thing. I spent a few years studying it… enamored with it… but I’m over that now. There’s a good chance that you have the ability to use magic; have you ever done something that you haven’t been able to explain?”

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"So, they are two parts too a machine that unlocks magical powers within a human." Kuna would say as he stood up and looked at the illusionary shoushou projected by Izuya. "Yes...gotten over your fascination indeed." He said dryly while trying to figure what his next question would be. "Eh, I don't think there was anything like that, but at certain times I've felt like the earth moved with me." He gave a shrug of his shoulders "So, you said that there are a lot of variety of magics. I guess your more versed in the advanced magics and none of the elemental magics you told me about earlier?"

“Yup yup,” Izuya agrees with him on his observations. “But enough of that,” he comments, “let’s get into the meat and potatoes of teaching you how to use magic. Today we’re going to find out which element you lean towards as well as have you use that element. The man purpose is to feel the artifact inside of you and to draw strength from it. It will be in your core, something like your center… I guess like your belly.” He moves from that point and continues, “so!” The shouchou in the area vanish and three six float up and around Kuna; each orb would represent an element with that orb containing some property of the element it housed. For example the fire orb would be flaming, the ice orb would be frozen over, etc. “Your task is to decide which one of the elements you already have an affinity for. This is going to require concentration and perhaps meditation in finding the artifact inside of you and allowing it to lead you to the correct element. Once you have claimed it, you will be able to begin the process of channeling spells from it. Don’t worry, take your time; I put us in a peaceful place so that you could concentrate at peace.” There is a slight giggle on the end of that, but silence following.

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Ooc: You can type a post longer than normal if you want to do this process in a special way as Izuya probably won’t be able to talk you through this. Kuna’ll have to discover this in himself, etc.

Kuna listened to what Izuya had to say. He needed to find out what elemental magic he had an affinity for, but what if his affinity was not with a elemental magic. The blond listened more to what he said as six orbs floated around him. They each had a visual representation of what they represented. Kuna would fold his legs in a lotus position and closed his eyes. "So, I basically have to look within myself and find out what elemental magic is going to be." He would think to himself as he opened his eyes and looked at the first orb that stood before him, the orb of water. Kuna's hand reached out and slipped his hand into it, but he felt no reaction with it. The next orb that floated in front of him was the one that represented the earth element, and again he repeated it putting his hand on it yet again felt no reaction. "Guess it wouldn't be just as easy as that." He would say with a little chuckle.

His laugh eventually died out allowing him concentrate his mind. Kuna began empting his mind of all thoughts and began expanding his consciousness to deep within himself. A black void expanded within his mind showing the current state of his mind, which he floated within. "This is boring." He thought to himself as the void morphed into the same scenic scene which Izuya had created for him. "Your going about this all wrong." A voice called out through the pastoral scene. Immediately Kuna looked around trying to find the source of the voice at which a laugh resembling boulders grinding together laughed. "Boy you won't find me unless I want to be found." It would say within his mind. "Alright, then what the heck are you?" Kuna asked in a exasperated manner.

There was a low rumble through the ground "I guess the best way to say it. I'm you." It responded before going silent once again. "Okaaay, I can't be going crazy, and this does not seem like a stunt pulled on me by Izuya." He said stroking his chin. There again was a low angry rumble from the ground. "That name angers me too no end, but you aren't hear to discuss about his shenanigans. I will just give you a basic explanation, but first I need to take a more appropriate form." The rocky voice grumbled as the ground rumbled quite violently. The ground broke apart revealing a stone covered dragon, who shook off great clumps of dirt. "Fuuuuck, I didn't think....are those really stone scales?" Kuna asked walking up too the dragon who had settled into a feline lay about position. "Yes, but I am supposed to be explaining things now so sit down and be quiet." The dragon said with a sigh that breathed out miniscule bits of sand. "I am sure you know about human artifacts and shouchou that bind themselves to them. I am a fragment of a much greater being, a elemental dragon, created to regulate the terrestrial elements." It took in a deep breath "You have the smell of Sol Invictus about you, no wonder I was attracted too you in the first place." The dragon explained wondering if Kuna should ask more questions, but the dragon raised its paw to silence him "I can give you access too enhanced earth magic along with higher order of magic, but that is the extent of my power. You will have to develop your own abilities using my powers. " He would explain. "Cool, I guess you will be some subordinate personality, that I can talk too from time to time?" Kuna asked which caused an eye roll from the dragon. "Yes, I guess you could call it that, but if you do I will hurt you." There was a slight nod of his head. "Guess I should get back to the physical realm." Kuna would say.

His eyes opened back to the same scene sans big rock dragon. "Well, I think I know what my elemental affinity is." He said looking up to a small chibi version of the stone dragon sitting on his shoulder, which of course was invisible because it was just a mental manifestation for Kuna.

"Its earth."

When Kuna comes to and realizes his affinity, there would be no answer to his proclamation. The setting would still be peaceful and tranquil, but there would be no major sounds or movements yet. It was as if he were all alone there. The orbs of elements, illusions themselves, remain in place as if paused, but there was no indication that Izuya was still around. Suddenly, from the side, there comes a low sound of growling. The backs of large scavenger wolves could be seen sliding through the tall grasses, slowly making their way towards Kuna with their heads lowered. The low noise emitted by the beasts would be audible enough to gain his attention; they did not attack right away, rather 4, in the pack of ten, shift to both sides as they would attempt to surround Kuna in a semi circle to set up their pack attack pattern.

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"Great did not think he would be around." He said mostly to himself, but the sound of growling cut trhough the glade. His head whipped in that direction, and he could see that he was in deep trouble if he did not get himself into gear. Kuna immediately vaulted away from where he was sitting and pressed his back up against the rock. They would at least not be able to easily attack him from the direction at the very least. His blue eyes immediately locked on the other wolves that fanned out around him. *You know Izuya, would it kill you too at least tell me how to cast a damn spell before sending me too the wolves?* He thought in his mind and hoping he got a response from him before the first wolf struck.

Of course, there would be no reply from Izuya. The growling about Kuna would remain the only ominously audible sound. The grey wolves would have gained their semi circle about Kuna by now and the first would bound towards him with a single stride at Kuna before pushing off of the ground and lunging at the young man at chest height. Unless he moved, the creature would have its paws positioned to strike his chest in an attempt to drive him back and onto his rear side from which he would be able to assume the top position over him.

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There was no reaction from from Izuya anywhere, but he had to assume that he was still hanging around somewhere. His attention though was focused purely on the wolves at the moment; especially, the one who had just lunged at him. The freight train of fur and teeth would come barreling down at him as Kuna tried stepping too the side to get partially hit by the wolf, but he would recover faster then the wolf. His foot came out and struck its side with all the force he could muster and caused a loud yelp from the beast. He then turned his attention away from that one to focus upon the others who surrounded him.

The kick would be impressive for someone with zero fighting ability, but it would be enough to push the wolf off and to the side after grazing the attack. Seeing another attacking it would take a moment or two recompose before coming back into the fray. Since these actions would be in a matter of instances, the second wolf would be approaching from Kuna’s rear in an attempt to latch down on his hind leg with his teeth. It would be an attack as well as a binding move. Notably, other than this, two wolves behind the attacking one seemed to begin moving forwards in a follow up attack to the one currently attacking.

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He was turning at that time to face the other wolf when he felt a searing pain wash through his body. The wolf that had attacked from behind had managed to find its mark, but the wound seemed shallow since he had been turning to face the creature when it struck. It would only take it a couple of moments though to overcome it, which meant that he needed to work fast. Steeling himself against the pain, Kuna clenched his hand into a fist and with all the strength he could muster struck the wolf, not on the head, but its nose. Kuna had heard that striking a bears nose wold get the animal off you, and he was hoping it would work much in the same way with the wolf. He used the momentary opening before the others attacked to quickly ascend the rock he had previously been sitting and and roll quickly too the opposite side, where he was hoping that no other wolves had congregated and made a sprint towards the treeline.

And oh how cruelly far the tree line previously mentioned was. As described the field was very wide and open, but the attack to the nose is enough to leave the wolf yelping and retreating momentarily to the side after relinquishing his hold on the young man. They break into chase after him, seemingly catching up rather quickly. Id didn’t seem as if he would be able to out run them. As Kuna ran, he would noticed that he had exited the area where the orbs were floating around him, though two orbs in particular, fire and earth, seemed to follow him, one on either side of his body. If he looked into the fire orb, an incantation would inscribe into his mind coaxing him to repeat, “build into form ire of the phoenix.”

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Kuna kept running, but he knew it was a futile effort unless he could find some way of throwing off pursuit of the wolves, that was not going to happen however. His lungs burned with the exertion of running, but he could not stop if he wanted to live. Words continued to build up inside of his mind constantly repeating while his life and death struggle continued. *Build into the form ire of the phoenix.* Were the words that constantly repeated in his mind. They completely shut down when he felt a stinging pain against his heels and a look back revealed the wolves where now in range to nip at him. He was desperate now as he yelled while building up energy "Build into form ire of the phoenix!" The energy which he had been pulling from his body would manifest itself into a basketball sized sphere of fire, which immediately sped towards one of the wolves and exploded over it, showering the wolf in flames.

The wolf is struck squarely by the shot of fire, and it causes its body to roll to the side as flames engulf it after contact, finally subsiding and leaving the wolf too wounded to want to continue the battle. The other wolves take notice of this and almost pause in their pursuit; it was a very surprising thing to happen to this target that was thought to be helpless. But they keep on the pursuit as the predatory instincts are too much for rationale to set in. Faster than Kuna by a bit, three dash in a semi circle around Kuna to cut him off. The game plan here was to encircle him and attack from all sides. The orb of earth would imprint a like (custom) incantation into his mind, coaxing his lips to repeat after them in expectation that something would happen.

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Kuna stopped dead in his tracks as the wolves circled in front of him. He looked back and forth trying to figure out what he could do next, when his eyes alighted upon the earth sphere that was still orbiting around him. He gathered energy from himself and began feeding it into his fist causing a greenish glow to course around it "Earthly mother, Gaea grant me your benediction and strike down my enemies that are before me." He whispered before slamming his hand down onto the ground. There would be a discharge of energy into the ground and suddenly ten foot spikes would shoot out towards two of the wolves that had rushed in too attack, they would be skewered as a result. He turned his attention too the other wolves and waited for them to rush in and attack.

There is the sound of blood curling yelps as the wolves are impaled with critical hits from the spike attack. This would remove those two wolves from this battle as well; three were down in the pack of ten, but two flee from battle after seeing the attack rendered on the two mentioned canines. This would leave Kuna facing off against 5 more feral opponents. The wolves decide to go all out, not wanting to give Kuna too much time to counter attack. Two would attack from one side with one attacking from the other. Three would stay back and gain better positioning during this instance.

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He was breathing quite heavily, not just from the fight and running, but it seemed like those spells had really drained him. His blues shifted towards the five surrounding him, and they were regulated too a semi-circle around him since his back was pressed against the spiked barrier. "The eternal light of Sol Invictus, show these welps your true glory." He yelled creating a orb of fire above him, while he covered his eyes. They wouldn't stop there charge though, so he instead would detonate the orb of fire above him causing a blinding flash of light and heat, while suffering minor burns across his body. The ploy had worked however in temporarily blinding them while he maintained his vision. He moved his battered body too its fullest trying once again to reach the tree line.

The distraction would work long enough for him to make a run for it. The tree line would still seem like a dauntingly impossible task. The chase would ensue when the canines were able to recompose, realizing that they now had him on the run. As wild animals, they would continue to chase Kuna until he ran out of breath. Much like vulchers were able to circle around and gauge when an animal was about to drop, the wolves seemed to act accordingly; though they would not attempt to cut Kuna off any more… they would simply stay on his heels. Suddenly there would be a large explosion behind Kuna and the wolves would be dispersed by the blast. Striking a dramatic pose with the fingers of his left hand to his face which looked closed-eyed diagonally down and his right arm extended behind him, Izuya would be visible in Kuna’s path, and smartly enough, intangible. Turning towards Kuna, he changes the pose to hold his left hand over his heart while tending his right to the heavens as he hails, “I have come to save you!”

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He was running out of steam in this fight and dogged chase. Kuna was saved from further confrontation by a mysterious explosion, but the reason behind it soon appeared, Izuya. "Good you could have done that moments earlier." He yelled barreling through the intangible spirit. He came to a full halt and turned around to get a full view of the devastated wolves. Taking in a deep breath he would collapse too the ground. "This was why I was trying to work on my shooting in case stuff like this happened." He muttered mostly to himself. "Was that one of your illusions Izuya, or were they actually wolves?" Kuna asked.

Izuya points to Kuna’s leg and admits, “no no… this is real” he states. The comments, “the past realm is home to many wild animals… luckily, you were attacked by small ones. Still, that was the extent of your magic? I was sure you were going to do something great on your first manifestation…” With a shrug he admits, “oh well, something is better than nothing. I see you learned how to properly chant… chanting’s the thing that channels the spell through your body. Normally people will not be able to use certain magics without chanting of some sort. Some people can get past chanting, but not all.” Looking at the minor scrapes, Izuya mentions, “some people can heal too… unfortunately, I can’t.”

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Kuna would give a sigh before grimacing in pain while he examined the bite he had suffered. "At least there was not any serious damage, but I guess going to a hospital or healer would be for the best." He would say taking in a deep breath while trying to calm down. "I'm sorry if my first spells were not spectacular affairs, but I am just happy to be alive at the moment." He would say not exactly appreciating Izuya's comment. "Being able to invoke magic without having to chant would be nice, but what are we going to do about my injuries?" He asked the spirit hoping for a teleportation too a hospital or a healer.

“Hmm…” Izuya says while looking over Kuna, “probably a temple or something since we’re already here in this realm. There should be a priestess that can patch you up or something.” After thinking a smile comes to his lips. “I can carry you there,” he offers, “because once we teleport there, we’ll have to travel by foot.” The image of Izuya carrying Kuna like a blushing bride is sent into the back of Kuna’s mind. Still, even if accepted, that would be impossible, since Izuya wasn’t the type who could actually, physically carry another person, or would try. “When you’re ready, we can get going,” he allows.

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Kuna gave a slight nod while he listened to what he said. "Yeah, there are two temples if this is the past realm. One in that Saichuugai village, and the other one in that place called Domenance that you dumped me in." He would say as he got up, but a spasm of pain racked his lower body and grimace in pain. "I doubt you would carry me at all cause we both know you aren't that type of person." He said wincing once again in pain. "Yeah, I am ready, let's go already." He said.

Ooc: My WC goes to Kuna.