Elegy: Lost Shadow

I was told to keep running for two straight hours until I was completely exhausted. Throughout the whole process, I had to maintain my magic release state just so that I could get exhausted.

   "You can stop now." Mr. Vito said, "Now this is where your actual training begins. You have a lot of magic but you are physically weak so we are going to work on that. Maintain your magic release while exercising so that you can learn to keep it stable. Don't strain your muscles and keep the physical enhancement at a steady rate."

    Kano was hyperventilating when he fell to a single knee. "Can I rest a bit? I am tired."

"That's the point. Since you weren't using projections, you are still timing with energy. Your body will build the tolerance if you constantly keep it at that state. You have one minute to rest."

    As soon as a minute was done, he got back to his feet. His breathing was still heavy.

"Your minute is done. The style of art that I am trying to teach is known as a Torrent." It was your mother's specialty. She used a style of water arts know as the Concordant Torrent. The most gentle and volatile water art style I have ever seen. "By using the way of water to enhance your water-based properties, in your case, the fluidity and flexibility of your movement. You will gain more power and speed but your control will lessen. That's exactly why we are doing this when you are tired. So that you don't exceed a certain level of gain. If you gain too much speed and power, your body will pay the price."

     He held up two of his fingers as water condensed at the tips. It was a small sphere. "Here is quick demonstration. This is an ordinary water bullet. It is just a sphere of still water. With the use of Torrent, to be more specific, Concordant Torrent. I can restructure the bullet and increase its penetrative power." The small sphere begun vibrating before a formed a single straight rod of water. It then begun coiling as it compressed. The rolled formed an ogive shape. The water continued rotating while preserving the ogive shape. "Now, this is a bullet with a torrent." He water then changed to a blue aura before it disappeared. "That is how the style alters an ordinary art. I need you to pick up a stick."

    He went and picked up a twig. "Not that one, it's too small and weak. Pick up something longer and stronger." He threw it away before picking up a different one. "Mr. Vito, why do I need a stick? I mean, the torrent thing works without it."

    "You will appreciate that once you learn Crystalis. Before you even ask, Crystalis is the solidification of aura." He held out his right hand as it began releasing a blue. The aura then took the shape of a rod before it solidified and formed a transparent blue rod. "This is Crystalis. For now, think of that stick as being this and coat it with your aura. Keep your aura around it and at my signal transform the aura into water and back to aura again."

      Every time he said 'now', I turned the water to aura. When he said 'again', it was the opposite. I had to keep doing that repeatedly for two months. Exercised until my body felt tired then used the body movement which they called the way of water(a fighting style) while repeatedly following his signal with every move. I had to remain calm and focused through out the whole process. For the next four months, I started learning how to use the torrent though I wasn't compatible with the Concordant Torrent.

     "How is it possible that only half the water you've produced is rotating in that direction? There is no way that's normal. The other half of the water try rotating it too."

   Kano focused the best he could but he couldn't rotate the water in the same direction as the other half. He then tried rotating it in the opposite direction which somehow worked.

   "I see. So no matter what you do, the torrents you form will always be discordant. If one torrent forms with water rotating in one direction, another torrent should exist opposing that direction before a new torrent of that same direction can form. So your style is Discordant Torrent." That does complicate things. I have never heard of any techniques in that category since not many people throughout history have been discordant torrent user. The major rumor that I have heard is that they have tested both life and death for that torrent to be born. I guess it does suit him, he did almost die. I will just leave the formulation of techniques to his imagination after I show him some ordinary water arts.

…

  The first six months were about learning water arts. I had to think of ways to create variants of the water arts he showed me using my discordant torrent. For the following six months, it was on-field learning and I had to go hunting with him. He considered this the last part of my training and before I knew it, he stopped coming to see me.

   He told me that I had to make a delivery for anything caught and he would in turn give me money. Apparently, that became my job. If I wanted money, I had to make a delivery. That was the only time I got to see him since he was always super busy running Fortune's Vitus. After the delivery, I would always go home which was always empty. I lived alone deep in the forest and honestly, it always terrified me.

   Wake up, train, make a delivery, train again, sit alone or sleep, and repeat. My life was like an event kept on repeat. I honestly grew tired of it.

     I don't know what possessed me on that day but I wonder why I did what I did.

     Kano was making his way back home immediately following a delivery. It was a long way home and he was honestly tired. As he was walking, he saw someone crying by a tree by himself. He looks the same age as me, he thought before he walked towards him.

     "Hey, what's wrong? You are crying like you are still a baby or something…" No sooner had he said those words than he was interrupted. "Sorry for the trouble, he cries a lot. Who picked on you this time?"

     Kano turned around only to see yet another boy. He wore a black short and a white shirt. "Are you with him? You should probably tell him not to cry so loudly."

   "So should I take it that you the one who did this?"

 "No, I wasn't, I just stopped because he was crying so loudly. If you want, you can even ask him."

   "Is that so?"

"it is," Kano sighed, "He looks pretty badly hurt, I mean he is bleeding and everything. You should be paying attention to him and not me."

   The former went to check on the one who was crying. "Stop crying Niveen and tell me who did this to you. Where is he?"

   "Xem. There were three of them. They went that way," he said as he was pointing towards an alleyway. He was trying to wipe his tears.  

     Xem sighed as he said, "Do you mind coming with me? You don't have to do anything, I just need someone to be a witness for what I am about to do."

    "Okay," Kano replied as he joined them. As they were walking, Xem asked, "By the way, I don't know what your name is. Do you think that you can tell me?"

    "My name is Asim. Yours is Xem right."

"It is. It's a strange one right? I get that a lot."

"It is strange but not as strange as his. Niveen sounds like a name they would give a girl."

    He chuckled when he replied, "Yeah, it belonged to my mother." While they were walking, they heard the sound of laughter.

   "Did you see when that horse jumped_ that was crazy.?"

      "Niveen, was it them? Just tell me."

"It was."  

      Three boys were seated on a board as they were talking when they walked up to them. They were sharing a bag of crackers.

     That's Niveen's bag….. "Are you the ones who messed with my brother?"

    "What are you, crazy? I don't even know who your brother is."

Kano sighed as he added, "Niveen, we should probably take a step back. We might get injured."

    Xem rushed at them as he lunged at the one who was answering, dropping him from the board. He was about to deliver a blow when he received kick to the back of his neck. He fell to the ground before they started kicking him.

    "This isn't looking good for your brother." Niveen was about to rush forward when Kano grabbed his hand. "I will go and help him."

      As they were stomping him, one of them was met by a punch from Kano. He stumbled before he fell to the ground. The others shifted their attention to him. One went for a jab which he dodged before delivering an uppercut. The other went for a hook which he side stepped before delivering a right hook nailing him straight at his jaw. This sent him stumbling before he came rushing back and flailing. His so slow and completely open too.

     He parried the blows before grabbing the attacker by the shirt and feinting a right, to which the latter responded by closing his eyes. He then swept him off his feet sending him to the ground. He heard a clung as a rod fell to the ground.

    He turned around only to find that Xem had knocked one of them to the ground. He had a metal rod which he was planning to strike Kano with.

    "Oh, Thanks for that." As soon as Kano said those words, he was met by a pipe straight to his head. He stumbled, before turning back and delivering a right hook, completely knocking one of them out. Before he could fall, he grabbed him by the shirt and delivered another blow nailing his jaw. He then let him fall. Kano held the back of his head as he had begun bleeding. That really hurt.

      The one who was swept off his feet grabbed the unconscious one as he was pulling him away. "Hey…you are forgetting about the other one. It is okay Xem, you can let him go. By the way you three, I shouldn't hear that you tried to do anything to these two. You can leave."

     Xem was hyperventilating when he shouted, "Leave the bag." They kept walking before Kano added, "You should listen to what he said just now." They dropped the bag before proceeding to carry the unconscious one.

    Kano sighed before saying, "I am so glad they are gone. I thought that would never end. Also Xem, are you okay? You did get stomped on pretty badly. I thought with your speech earlier, you could actually take them."

     "Just Shut up. You also took a pretty bad hit. You are even bleeding."

"Yeah, like you are one to talk, you are bleeding plus your lips are swollen."

       Niveen walked back after having picked up the bag. He placed his hand on Kano's shoulder, his eyes just slightly over the shoulder. "What are you doing?"

     "You are bleeding…so I am trying to stop it."

The pain he felt at the back of his head suddenly disappeared. He touched the back of his head only to find out that the bleeding had stopped too.

     "What just happened? It doesn't hurt anymore."

Niveen went to sit next to his brother as he healed him too. He placed his hand on his head to do so.

     "Niveen is a healer. He can heal a lot of wounds. He just healed you just now."

"Wait, so what you are trying to tell me is that he could have healed himself instead of crying earlier."

       "That's not how it works," he explained, "He can only heal others and never himself."

"Huh?"

      "His power makes use of the materials in his body to create what's needed for another person to heal inside them. When he makes contact with someone, materials inside his body are transferred into the other person and reconfigured to create what is needed. Let's say you want blood to clot. He can make that happen. But he doesn't have the ability to reconfigure the same material inside his body, it can only happen in someone else's. Plus, he also can't manipulate their material to suit his needs."

       Kano said, "Wait, If he has magic, why didn't he just fight back. If his magic could even heal my cut, it must be strong. I mean, he still has energy to heal you too."

     "He couldn't because he is a pure concept user."

"Okay, Xem, now make sense."

"All he can do is heal. He doesn't have any other power aside from that. That's why I always have to be with him."

    "Oh, I get it now." He sighed.

I didn't think much of it at first, but I would often see them. Maybe at least once a week or so. I grew fond of them.

    Five months later;

Will I still find them at the exact same spot or will I have to wait for them, he thought before he heard a loud thud. What was that? He took off running, heading in the direction that he thought the sound was coming from.

   When he made it past the corner, he saw a boy lying on the ground. He was battered and bruised. Towering over him was another boy. Wait, I remember him. Isn't he the one who hit me with a metal pipe to the head. "Hey!" He exclaimed before running forward and grabbing him by his shirt. He then shook him before he ran away.

   "Are you okay," Kano asked, "That sounded pretty rough."

  "I am okay," he replied as he sat up. Was he scared of him just now.

    Kano sat next to him before he said, "I was hoping that I would never get to see them again. The last time I met them, they were fighting too."

     "So like, What happened after that? After you met them. Did you beat them up or something?"

     "Yeah, I kind of did. I honestly thought that they wouldn't try that anymore," he said before he dusted himself and stood up, "If they bother you, just come and find me. I am usually around here around this time every two days."

     "But they look a lot older than you. You can't fight them."

     Kano sighed before he replied, "They just look older. If you just focus, you can beat them. If you can't, just come and find me." He then started walking away.

    "Wait!" the former exclaimed. As he rushed towards him and gave him a bag. "Here, this is for you."

    He received the bag before saying, "That's not necessary, it's fine, I don't need it."

"No, please just take it. It's yours and I will give you more too."

    "I have to get going. Later then."

…..

"Xem, do you by any chance love crackers?" Kano asked as he held out the bag.

    "I don't enjoy that stuff. But you should give it to Niveen though, he enjoys that stuff. I would even go as far as to say that's his favorite."

   "I have gotten sick of eating this stuff. Some kids keep giving it to me and I don't know why but I keep accepting it. Would Niveen enjoy this though, if he would, I will be giving it to him."

    Xem sat down to rest before he said, "Hey, have you heard the rumors about? They are not good ones. I can tell you that at least."

     "Nope, this is my first time hearing that there are even rumors about me. I feel flattered."

"You probably wouldn't be if you knew what they were saying."

      A girl came rushing to him as she called, "Asim…we need your help!"

"Xem, give these to Niveen for me. I will be back." He then took off running. Running after the girl.

     Xem opened the bag of crackers before he thought, This has been happening a lot since he found that boy a month ago. In fact, that was around the time he started receiving the same crackers. His reputation has shot up too, and they aren't good things. Is he being used or something?

….

"You are back pretty late?" Xem commented, "You are done fighting."

    "Yeah, I have to go home now. These are for Niveen. I went and bought some since you told me that they were his favorite. Here." He put on his bag before he turned having realized something, "How do you know that I was fighting?"

     "There is rumor….plus, you have a cut on your cheek."

     "I see…I must have gotten careless. I will use my magic next time if they are too many. Anyway, I will be going now."

...

     Kano was walking through the streets of Ganase following his delivery when he heard another call, "Asim! We need your help!"

    He sighed. This again. I feel like this is all I have been doing lately. "I am coming!" He quickly rushed over to see what was up. He quickly found a man that was whipping the boy. He was that boy who first gave me the crackers, right? He quickly dashed towards him and grabbed the stick before asking, "What are you doing?" His hand begun releasing a blue aura.

    "So you are with this thief!" He then tried pulling back the stick.

    He is just an ordinary person, his magic is nothing special. My current magic release should be able match and possibly surpass his strength. The aura spread to the rest of his body before he said, "What do you mean thief? Make sense!"

     "He stole from my shop! Do you want to pay!"

He looked back down only to see purple cloth that was torn up.

"Like how much do you need? I think I can pay for it."

     "It's worth four silvers or just get out of my way."

Kano exhaled before he turned to look at the boy. "I am sorry, I won't help you with this one." His aura then dissipated before he let go of the stick and walked away. He could hear the loud sound of the whip as it met his flesh with every step he took.

      "Come back please! COME BACK! Please help me!" he begged as he was whipped. Kano then took off running. He felt a stone hit his head as he stumbled but kept running still. He ran all the way to where Xem and Niveen were. Blood was dripping from the back of his head. He was hyperventilating before he sat next to Niveen.

     "You are bleeding," Niveen said as he touched his head.

"It's not that bad, I am fine."

"What happened? Do you need any help? Did you finally lose a fight and need our help?"

      He then began crying as he said, "I ran away…he was begging me to help and I still ran away. They were all there, they were watching. They saw me abandon him."

     "What are you saying? He stole right…their was nothing you could have done." Xem added.

"Even though that was the case, I should have tried to help him. He was my friend!"

      "I highly doubt that he thought of you that way. You are probably the only one who thought like that."

    "What do you know?"

"Please keep quiet! The both of you. Asim, I stopped your bleeding. Your wound is completely healed too. I have crackers, so we should eat."

….

   A week had passed since that day and Kano was making his way to Xem following yet another delivery. When he arrived, he found that Xem was injured and Niveen was healing his wound.

  "Who did this? I will go and bury them."

"It was…"

"Niveen shut up…it was no one."

     "No one… like hell I will believe that! Just tell me! I will deal with it."

 "No Asim! Just calm down. If you do anything now, you will just make it worse. They will know that they succeeded in messing with you. Niveen will heal me and that will be the end of it."

   He clenched his teeth as he whispered, "So, it was my fault? Sorry, Xem."

"Just shut up and eat some crackers. I mean Niveen has even finished healing me."

…..

Two days later, Kano found Niveen in the same state. He was battered and bruised. This time, much worse than the last. But this time too, he was stopped. Again, it happened but he was still told not to act.

…

 Two weeks later, as he was making his way to Xem, he ran into Niveen who was running his way. He was swollen as he looked as though he was from fighting.

    "Asim…Xem went to fight again. They were a lot of them."

    He then begun running as he asked, "What happened?"

"He found me crying. I told him that it wasn't that bad but he went anyway. I am sorry."

    "Why are you apologizing? If anyone hurt him at all, I am going to break them. Stupid twigs."

   As soon as he made it there, he found Xem hyperventilating as he was trying to catch his breath. "What are all of you doing!!!" He ran in front of Xem.

   He was the one who gave me the crackers. "Did you come to help him? I am glad. I thought you hated me."

   "You came, I was right. You couldn't stay away from him, could you?"

"What are saying?"

     "Niveen, why did you bring him here? I told you not to bring him here!"

"I am sorry but you were just going to get beaten up because of me again."

      "Didn't you ever wonder why we gave you what we did. Because you protected us. I thought you would never betray us and never leave but you left me!!"

    "You stole, what was I supposed to do? That was no reason for our friendship to end. You chose to still, I had nothing to do with it." He dodged the stone that was thrown at him. Wait, that was never going to touch me. He turned around only to see that Xem was hit. "Who threw that stone?!!!!!"

     Xem grabbed his shoulder before he said, "Stay out of this. You will only make it worse. He hit my brother, this isn't any of your business."

     He began releasing a blue aura before his eyes became coated in blue. "Shut up, Xem!" He exclaimed before he delivered a hard right. Xem stumbled and fell to the ground. He then stepped on him before he sat on him and begun punching him.

    "What are you doing?" Niveen said as he grabbed his arm. "Just shut up!" he exclaimed before he pushed him to the ground. Water bullet, he said before water condensed at his fingertips and he shot it at Xem. He then shifted his attention to everyone else who was around. He picked up a stick before he exhaled.

 ...

     Niveen was healing Xem's wounds. "Why did he do that? I thought we were friends. Why did he attack you and just leave without saying a word?"

    "Niveen, when he attacked me, what did it look like you?"

    "It looked like he was trying to hurt you."

"Then that was what everyone else saw. The truth is, he was crying. He was hiding his tears by forming water from his aura. He wanted everyone to think that he hated me. Your reaction made it seem genuine. One question, did he hurt you? Like at all?"

    "He pushed me…I didn't get hurt or something ."

"That's because he knew…he knew that you couldn't heal your own wounds so he hurt me instead. I guess it is a fair to assume that we won't see him again. After all, like everyone else, we were just his victims."

.....

   I hurt Xem and I am pretty sure that he and his brother must have grown to hate me. After all, I betrayed them when they thought that I was their friend. In their minds, I was reduced to nothing more than a traitor.

     As he was walking in the streets of Ganase, he encountered someone he thought that he would never get to see again. The person who hit him with a metal pipe.