5 OLD MAN JUNI (2/2)
”You're right Stella! I should go to different Masters of the field of different topics and ask them to explain it to me in summary if they can! Or force them if necessary...” he laughed for about a minute using his diabolical laugh making Luna bow her head in embarrassment. Yosh noticed this so he continued being serious. ”That can surely help me with my dilemma, minus the forcing part I know it's wrong Luna you don't have to press that thing on me. However though, it would take up time convincing them doing the bit.”
He started running again to the kitchen and grabbed a big slice of chicken, two medium-sized fishes and a tray of different fruits.
”Here you go!”
He grabbed a plate and put the fruits and the meat on separate plates. ”Eat up my princesses! Go grab a nap afterwards, this is going to take a long time and you'll need to restore your energy. Thanks for the tip,” he patted their heads and then strode off leaving the two to feast.
”hmmnn... I have four subjects this year and I really need to pass my primary education. I'm excited to train in conjuring elemental forces.” He walked without realizing he was at the front gate of the Palace talking to himself quietly, sometimes stopping when a servant, a guard, or a seer passes by. ”Geography, Nature of Fusions and Amplifyers, Royal Duties and.... Hmnnn, what's the other one...”
”Hey Yosh.” said a beautiful voice behind him.
”uh-oh...” he thought regretting choosing the wrong hallway to exit. He knew this voice and this time he won't be spared if he stops and chat, but he can't run away either. It's bad for a man to run away from a woman, especially to what everyone believes to be the most beautiful princess in all Nagozul, this can ruin his reputation especially to his twin brothers who regards her as one of their few close friends. ”Why, Princess Illyriah... how lovely it is to see you here...” he turned around slowly to her clasping his hands in agitation while forcing a smile on his face.
”Uhmn... Can you tell me where your brother Reus is at?” she asked hopingly with a shyly beautiful smile beaming at him. She was wearing a simple white gown as always, layered with ruffles of silk. This is her favorite color and apparently, she always wore simple designer gowns unlike other princesses who try hard to have their attires as ostentatious as possible. She displays simplicity, modesty and humility even though her parents own half of the Hishma Caves and are one of the richest nobles in Nagozul. She has a long silky golden hair that gently dances with the soft draft coming from the open windows of the hallway. She has a very beautiful angelic face with small innocent round blue eyes that shies away to Yosh's.
”...why?~” asked Yosh smiling trying to block her question again as always.
Reus strictly instructed them never to reveal his location to this princess. He was so sure that the princess was alive to torment him always trying to impede him reading and disrupting his training just to talk with her. She always gives things like foods, artifacts, or books to Reus which he should like or else she'll get mad and cry. They don't know if he realized that she likes him but considering Reus' reaction with women - being shy, paranoid and clumsy - it's best for him not to know.
She began to turn red and stammered as she grasps something that looks like a book to her bosom. ”I... uh... I was... give... uh... I'm sorry never mind.” She quickly turned around and almost sprinted away. ”uhmn...” she stopped midway and slightly turned. ”Please forget that I ever asked you, and goodness, please, don't tell this to your brother...” after this she raced again and disappeared to one of the doors leading to the Great Steps.
”Huh? That's new. I can't seem to get rid of her last week but now she seems so jumpy. Heh, Women.” He ran smirking to the weird experience just ignoring to dwell on it further to see his first target. A fusion master named Juni.
The city below the great Palace of Nagozul is pretty much impressive if looked on a higher perspective. The city can be seen divided into three areas. The big houses called Royal Residence: which are located near the Palace with inspiring architectural designs that differ from house to house where the rich people of Nagozul lives; The medium built houses called Silver Lane: made from marbles and gold to silver plated bricks standing tall for about twenty to forty feet which the middle class citizens live; and the irregular houses called the Outer Rim: it stands beside each other and are made with gray to white bricks where the commoners live. It may have looked like the city has been separating the citizens giving them a caste like system but in reality, they have their own roles to play and they get along with each other amazingly fine. Though there are some few incidents of social unfairness that can be seen once in a while because of some pompous nobles, the commoners are surprisingly happy and content on how things go. 'A truly rare and remarkable feat to follow and improve on if Dad gets the crown,' he thought, as he strode along now passing the medium built houses of the Silver Lane.
As he walked further to the city, he noticed an owl flying up above. Owls should be sleeping at this time so that must mean it's Stella. A meow and a scratch from behind his leg caught his attention as he saw Luna purring below.
”Hey, I told you two to get a nap...” he grabbed Luna and placed her inside a pocket at his chest so that now she is clinging like a baby kangaroo. He climbed to the nearest post and saw a clump of people following Stella's location. ”Hahaha, now I get it... That's very thoughtful of you two. I almost forgot about my stalkers...” he jumped to the nearest roof and made his way around to where Stella is flying. ”Decoy! Decoy! Hahahaha!”
In a matter of minutes, he arrived at the old man Juni's house. He's a revered Elemental Sage who now lives at an old cottage-like house at the center of the city between the Outer Rim and the Silver Lane. He's a retired sage of the Kingdom but now and then practices fusions at no cost to the citizens. He's a kind and eccentric old man with a long beard and a pair of spectacles magnifying his clear shining brown eyes. He ignores his old wrinkly face and totally believes that he's in his prime shape which they just go along with even though it's very evident that he's really old, unhealthily thin and his voice, a little groggy. He's a great friend of their father Grand Prince Artemus. He treats them normally as if a grandfather treats his grandchildren.
He doesn't care if you're royalty. He doesn't bow or kneel or give names like 'your highness' and 'sirs'. He just refers you to your name as one would address an ordinary commoner. This led him to some trouble with the other royal families and almost led him to imprisonment if not for their father Artemus who protects him and makes him invincible against any royal persecution.
”Well, well, Yosh... trying to sneak up through the window again I see...” coughed Juni with an old crackling voice but full of spirit. He is sitting at the far end of his room away from the window. He's fiddling something at his table with a glowing crystal lighting a concentrated portion on his hands. ”Try knocking sometimes on my door downstairs - I would be delighted to open it up for you...”
”Whoa~ - how'd you do that Juni!?” asked Yosh who is mystified to Juni's sharp senses.
”Even if I can't see you, I certainly can sense you Yoshy boy! I delivered you myself after all!”
”Hey- don't call me Yoshy boy, I'm not a kid anymore! I'm a MAN!”
”Hmnn - A man you say!” he stopped tinkering and looked behind him to see Yosh. ”Let's see how you've grown up, eh?” he stood up to look at Yosh who is now circling around to show his body and standing firm at his spot, stomach in, chest out. ”Hahaha, you've grown up just a wee bit after I last saw you.”
”Meroounrr...” shouted Luna in Yosh's pockets.
”Yes, yes, you too Luna... I see that you're still with your pets as always...”
”They're not my pets! They're certainly not just friends, they're part of our family!” he then sat at Juni's bed which is soft and bouncy. He pulled Luna from his pocket to put her on the ground to stretch for a while and looked around to see his room. Juni then grabbed a seat and pulled it near Yosh.
”Okay- 'Family'. So, where's Stella?”
”She's flying somewhere outside giving me time to lure out the stalkers that's hunting me.”
”Hahaha! When will you admit that you are a handsome young man and that many kids respect and appreciate you? Normal infatuations are a part of growing up. So, stop calling those kids 'stalkers' - think of them as admirers. They're just children, for goodness sake. If I were on your age, I would've loved jumping here in the city parading myself instead of your usual scurrying.”
”What!? Well, I agree with what you're saying, that I'm a handsome young man,” Juni interrupted with a burst of laughter but Yosh irritatingly continued. ”...but they are NOT my admirers! Admirers don't stalk you and take up all your time caging you in a single spot for the rest of the day. No sir, no one does that torment to another individual! Not even to a normal citizen! That's torture!” Juni gave another chain of laughter making Yosh somewhat annoyed for not taking his point seriously. This made him change the subject to get away from that dreadful topic which he thinks he's losing. ”...by the way, why is it always dark in your room. You should open some holes in the walls to make them tiny windows.”
”I like my room dark. It keeps me focused.” he broke his hysterics as Yosh anticipated and got a little bit serious. ”So, on to the agenda, why are you here? I believe you wouldn't risk yourself being caught by your 'stalkers' for no reason, eh?”
”Oh right! I just wanted to ask if you could summarize a whole year of tiresome explanation about Nature of Fusions and Amplifyers and such...” he paused for a second. ”...that is if you can. No rush here old man I know you're way too old for this...”
”Hmnn... not focusing on your studies, I see. Well, I have to tell this to your father.” he stood up slapping his thighs in dismay.
”What!? Hey, hey! Don't do that!” he grabbed his sleeves pulling him to his attention. ”I came here because I thought I can trust you!”
He burst out laughing again like a crazy person. ”Don't worry I'm just pulling your leg. Of course, I won't tell your father - but only if you promise me that you will obediently listen to your instructor's lectures come next academic year.”
Yosh looked straight in his eyes smiling. ”You're one demented man. You know that, right?…” Juni gave him a striking smile and opened his big round eyes while gently shaking his head. ”...Okay! Okay! I promise!”
”Ohohoho! You mischievous prince, you! I see that you're lying.”
”Okay, Okay! I'm going to listen... but just a little bit. I can't promise you more than that! Now tell me my summary Old man or you're going to face the wrath of Luna!” he grabbed Luna from her forelimbs and extended her right in front of his face. Luna created a soft purring meow with her cute shiny round yellow eyes that directly gazed to Juni's. Juni, seeing this sudden gesture, gave a series of boisterous guffaw that led to Yosh pouting in frustration.
”Okay, okay! 'Luna' is SOOO SCARY, Yoshy-boy.” he gave Yosh a pat on the headshaking his hair in all direction.
”Hey! I said don't call me that, old man!”
”Okay okay. Listen carefully and I will condense your whole year's worth of 'agonizing' lecture.” He grabbed an old book that is painted with thick dust. He blew the dust away and brushed it rigorously with his hands. He sat again on the chair near Yosh and prepared to read the dusty book by scratching his throat and giving some creepy noises. This raised Yosh's eyebrow, weirded-out by his actions.
”Hey, umn... old man... are you okay?”
”Shut up boy! I said listen” suddenly snapped Juni. ”- so, don't speak until the lecture is over.”
This is one of his bad habits. He doesn't want to be interrupted and no one ever wanted to cross that line again after his great debate with the royal council. The debate ended so bad that this led to his early retirement, so Yosh's twin brothers say. Rumor has it that he actually conjured the mythical white fire in his furious irritation to the stubborn council.
”Uh... Yes sir!” Yosh snappily replied.
”Well let's see...” he flipped some pages and ended somewhere in the middle of the ancient-like book. ”...aha! Now - Nature of Amplifyers and fusions...” his eyes turned white and gave a radiance of warm light. He flipped his pages with great speed as if reading it all at a fascinating rate. He then closed it with a single hand giving a breaking sound that echoed in the room.
”Whoa... what'd you do!?”
”Hmmnn... I need to review some topics so excuse me for taking my time...” he placed the book away and clasped his hands to start. He gave a stern look at Yosh giving him a warning, anticipating him on pursuing to give another question. Yosh, who saw this, duly noted and after having his silence he continued on. ”Now, we'll start with elements. There are four known elements that our forefathers wrote about: Fire, wind, earth and water. Each of these elements has different effects on the person innate to it. Fire innate individuals are strong willed and are full of energy that they can last days without sleeping - they are called the Fire Starters; Water innates are calm and resilient - which are somehow almost immune to disease or poison - they are called the Water Casters; Wind innates, on the other hand, are focused and understanding with the capacity to anticipate what others would do - they are called the Wind Blowers; while the Earth conjurers are great thinkers and master tacticians - they are dubbed as the Earth Molders. We are called Elementals collectively by our brothers - the Yagisivians and the Daomagarians.
”We are all great and magnificent living with nature in our own way but after much generation passed, these elements created a flux of complicated proportions. It seemed that the elemental innate of our ancestors were somehow blended to their blood reaching their brain therefore altering their bodily chemistry, creating a change in their behavior when using their elemental powers more and more. Fire elementals grew lustful for blood and are violent; Water innates became apathetic; Wind inherent turned paranoid and lost their short-term memory; and Earth conjurers were reduced to become dementedly crazy. At that time, our people prayed for Bathala's blessings. We mortals cannot possibly contain this power within and only a selected few can concentrate their energy properly to be able to conjure them without it controlling their behavior. Bathala answered our prayers and delivered our people to mine in the Hishma Caves, south west from the Palace of Nagozul. He then instructed us to grant the gems located there to be given to the people. Red rubies were distributed to the fire; blue sapphires to the water; green emeralds to the wind; and yellow topazes to the earth.”
Yosh raised his hand to pose a question clearly interrupting the old man in his running speech.
”NO! Questions are later... So anyway, that was the decree of Bathala that was passed on to the great council of the ancient times. Since then, people were given elemental gems to restrain their energies within. These were primary called 'Binds' because it shackles one's elemental powers. People with binds at their proximity cannot conjure their powers to the maximum which was great because it helped to protect them from themselves.
”A few years later, a brilliant sage created some experiments to these gems to create a much more effective and convenient way to carry them- 'cause at that time it were only given to them to carry in their pockets or fiddled to be necklaces or bracers. He accidently discovered a way to fuse the elements to the people causing them to amplify their powers to twice or as much as thrice. Thus, the name 'Binds' were changed to 'Amplifyers'. His soul is fused with the Amplifyer, so it becomes a part of him, like an arm or a foot.
”These Amplifyers were fused to individuals by sages only. Wrong fusions can result to an erratic chain of disasters to the person. It consists of a variety of bad things but to be short, it could lead to death.”
”OH~” Yosh interrupted with a slight smile and with much effort in raising his hand persistently trying to ask for a permission to ask.
”Shhh! I'm nearing the end so keep quiet now! Hmn... Where was I? Oh right! So anyhow, these Amplifyers magnify the elemental energy so it drastically changed the whole people of Nagozul but the Nagozulians have different views about this rare find. Because the technology that we have presently today hinders us to move forward, it seems that it led us to have a stale and imperfect fusion on our brothers, the Fire Starters. Because of this, these Amplifyers apparently have limits. The chances of successful fusions to fire elementals are drastically slim to none. Some fire elementals that were fused with these Amplifyers unsuccessfully magnified either their bloodlust or their power to ten or twenty times making them very destructive and a danger to society. There was once a time that children who were born to the will of the fire were even executed or imprisoned depending on their essence.” he saw Yosh slightly having confused so he stopped to think. ”Oh! Right? I'm a blundering fool. Essence is the elemental quality that the seers search for in infants. The higher the essence of the child, the greater their Bathala-given Power is enabling them to have a greater chance of success and to become one of those promising Elementals in the future. That's why they check those things very carefully. This essence selection tends to shift the Nagozulians apart if you don't mind me saying. This created a somewhat caste system to our society which is totally seen around at the city or even outside the Palace.”
He saw Yosh's face furrowing then he realized that he's branching out on another topic, so he immediately changed his tone and returned.
”Going back to the topic at hand, the unlawful and inhumane decree of containing fire elementals was abolished by your loving great grandfather, whom I owe my life to. Anyway, the elemental fusions were developed to reach this age of improvements where the elemental stone will follow you wherever you go, floating in the air or wherever you want it to float - like mine.” He stopped for a moment to show his red ruby floating around Yosh. Yosh tried to grab it quickly but it managed to evade him every time which made the old man laugh a bit.
”As for royalty,” Juni continued grabbing his Amplifyers back. ”Which are you and all of your brothers, the decree was to fuse your Amplifyers to the forehead near the brain to enhance the intensity of its effect. That concludes the lecture...” he paused to see Yosh trying hard to remember everything he just said. ”Any other question?”
”First question!” he said with his eyes lingering to the ceiling. ”What about my brother, Reus? What's with the diamond?”
”Oh! He's of Life element. They found that out two thousand years ago. Apparently, it was first called 'non-element' or 'elemental-void' because the individual having that innate cannot conjure any element and his skills were unknown - it disappointed their parents though at that time seeing that it first appeared in a royal family not so far to the Royal Nagozul lineage. They are found to be great thinkers with magnificent logical minds that are rumored to read minds or even the future. They control light and they are immune to any elemental attack there is. There are only two known living Life elementals around: your Father, Artemus and your brother, Reus. There is a total of - I think - twenty or so that has this element to date. Their amplifier is the white stone in the Hishma that are called diamonds, though there is also a black one in contrast which is called the black diamond - worn only by people blessed with all four elements. Only one person in history was able to use this and fuse it to himself - the wicked King Dogal who reigned Nagozul a thousand years ago. His amplifier is the black diamond which can magnify all elemental powers to five to ten times normal. This is maybe why he became so mad.”
”Wait a minute, Dogal the Liberator of Evil? The one who created 'everlasting peace' throughout Nagozul?”
”Heh, that's what they say in the books now eh? Well, I think you don't know what that is but it's a long story I would glad to tell you next time - now isn't the time to dwell on such topic. Just to help you out, he was known as the Supreme Elemental Harbinger, or as they call him the Elemental Incarnate, for he has an innate of four different elements in one. Just a little bit like your Aunt Prodea who has three which they like to call as one of the rare Elemental Entities. Two elemental innates can grant you the title of being an Elemental Prodigy. All of these two or more elemental combinations can be seen practically rare, so they are celebrated when they are born. Festivities are grandiose in honor of the birth of the child granted by Bathala with magical prowess which makes them a luminary star their whole life being carefully watched over by the Nagozulian Kingdom's seers, nobles and sometimes the kings themselves. The most notable ostentatious display of celebration is the birth of your Aunt Prodea. The party lasted for months! And... Oh, what the heck! I'll just narrate you that next time. It'll be hard for me to stop once I start story-telling”
”Okay - second pool of questions! What about Kuya-Karus' condition? What will happen to him and what's the remedy? Who's the one who fused him?”
He hesitated to answer this. It seems that his face changed immediately to a serious one after the question was given.
”Uh - what's with Karus?”
”You know? The blood-shot teary eyes, the squirming pain and such? You know the thing, him being a prodigy and all and having his fire essence greater than of the wind?”
”Oh, uhm... well he'll live, there's no remedy and... I... uh... don't know who gave the fuse - but I can tell you that he'll probably be ok.” he gave his reassuring smile after seeing Yosh's reaction having his doubts about what was explained. ”So, he's having headaches now? At his age?”
”He told me he was misdiagnosed and was fused with the wrong Amplifyer! He was fused with an emerald instead of a ruby or something. Is there any danger to that whatsoever?”
”Oh - yeah, well technically no. I mean NO! Heh, he'll probably outgrow that when he reaches his twenties.”
”Oh, great! Whew, glad that I have that worry out in my system! Well for the third question,” he paused for a couple of seconds scratching his head, ”is that it?”
”What?” Juni asked with confused eyes.
”I've been listening to my tutor for long hours with his weird eccentric lecture about this subject and you've condensed it to this short, ten minutes or so, lecture?”
”I believe so, yes... minus the other small details but you'll learn that yourself once you go about your Princely duties”
”Tey'Arn!” he murmured cursing thinking about his old persistent professor. ”Okay that's it for now Old man!” he hurriedly ran towards the window and braced himself to jump. ”So sorry Juni, gotta run! I got three more lectures to gather so I'll just visit you when I can. Thanks for giving me your time!”
”Always a pleasure - Oh! Don't forget your promise now Yoshy-boy!” he replied as Yosh vanished into the bright city, running on rooftops, scurrying to avoid the rushing girls he dubbed as 'stalkers'.