Private - Geum-Hwa's Apprenticeship

[gentlemanmonster]

After meeting Yeom Geum-Hwa by chance in London and seeing as he had the gift of Sight and not afraid of him, Elias did the impossible: he decided to take on an apprentice. With a bit of convincing by Geum-Hwa.

But Geum-Hwa would have to pass a very important test to see if he could even become a mage. Having the Sight, seeing fae creatures and the like didn't always mean you had magical ability. So Elias stopped into the first store on the way to the park that had candles and bought the most simple one he found, no matches or even a lighter. Elias had shifted his form into that of an average looking man with gold hair and eyes to avoid attention from the few humans still out and about.

"The test won't hurt" he said, answering his potential pupil's question as they walked down the sidewalk and then turned into the park. It was late afternoon and the chilly winter air was keeping people indoors, but fae loved every kind of weather, and even created it, it would not affect the test.

They found a picnic table and sat down, Elias pulling out and setting the candle down before sitting across from Geum-Hwa. "I'll call upon a Neighbor to aid you, but the rest is on you to politely ask them to help you light the candle. If they refuse, there is nothing that can be done, you cannot become a mage if the fae won't accept you, and they could quickly turn violent if you try to force or insult them. Understand?"

Comments

[inques]

Geum-Hwa wouldn't exactly call his life a boring one (no, he made too many stupid mistakes for that to be the case), but he never thought it would take this particular turn. Magic, fae, apprenticeship... He hadn't believed in those kind of things since he was a young boy. But here he was, throwing himself into it because...

Because what? Curiosity? Survival??

Who even knew.

He was silent throughout their journey, displaying an uncharacteristic amount of patience. By the time they were both seated at the table, his brow was furrowed and his lips pursed. At Elias' prompting, he nodded briefly.

"Sure. Quick question — you could have done that this entire time?"

That being his appearance, which Geum-Hwa quickly gestured at, exasperated.

[gentlemanmonster]

Elias expected other questions like what sort of fae would he call upon or where would Geum-Hwa go if he failed, or if he succeeded.

Nope, back to him.

"Yes. I could have...I just don't like it very much. Its uncomfortable for long periods of time, like being in clothes that don't fit right. Why?"

[inques]

Ah, well. That was understandable, if a little disappointing. In response he shrugged, looking only slightly put out.

"It would have made kissing you a lot more fun," he answered simply.

Anyway.

He placed his attention back to the task at hand, which in this case was the candle. He slipped his hands onto the table, framing the candle with one on each side. Then he glanced back up at Elias, ready.

[gentlemanmonster]

Elias stared at him, mouth open. This thought had never occurred to him. He could...that...

But then again...it was...nice to have Geum-Hwa kiss him, as he typically appeared...Felt more...real.

After a moment, Elias mentally shook himself, focusing on the task at hand.

"Denizen of the wind, are you there?" he spoke into the evening air.

A moment later, a single faerie seemed to flutter in out of nowhere. "Evening Thorn!" they said "Ooh look at you, you faking human!" they teased, whizzing around his head, he didn't follow the fae "You're using that priest guy's face?"

"Ariel." Elias said to get the faerie's attention.

"Yea yea, what-OH LOOK AT YOU!"

The faerie, or ariel, zipped over to Geum-Hwa as if just noticing him, or rather noticing that he saw them. "So you can see us...interesting, what's this half-ass mage got you into, hm?"

[inques]

Well damn. For all he'd already witnessed, Geum-Hwa found himself still struck dumb at the appearance of an actual faerie. It had him wondering where they'd been all this time — could he have always seen them, or was this some weird recent development??

In any case, he was quickly startled back into action when he was directly addressed. Startled into sitting up a little straighter, he blinked at the faerie as he tried to process all that was happening.

"I... candle."

What?

"I was hoping you would light this candle for me."

[gentlemanmonster]

The faerie stared at Geum-Hwa a moment before smirking. "I see..." they turned back to Elias. "Thorn, you're taking on an apprentice?"

"If he can become a mage, then yes." Elias answered simply.

"Being social, who would have thought" the faerie laughed a little before fluttering back over to Geum-Hwa and kissing the tip of his nose. "Hope you know what you're getting into" they said before turning to look at the candle.

A moment-

Then it sparked to life! No matches, no lighter, no tricks. Magic.

"Not bad, your magic tastes interesting, if a bit weak." the ariel said, sitting down on his shoulder. "But the potential is there so the Neighbors will be too" the ariel promised.

[inques]

Geum-Hwa should probably be feeling excited right now, or maybe even just relieved. But instead, his expression twisted into something strange, even as the faerie made herself comfortable on his shoulder. Rather than address her, though, since doing so would involve turning his head an awkward angle, he turned to Elias, brows arched.

"You can taste magic?"

[gentlemanmonster]

"Neighbors who feed upon your magic in exchange for spells do, yes." Elias replied

"You really haven't told him anything Thorn." the ariel laughed

Elias ignored them "A mage has their own stores of magic within them, allows them to perform a certain amount of magic without outside aid. But when a Neighbor helps, those spells can be limitless for they feed upon your magic in return for using their own. If your magic is weak as the ariel says, then its possible you might only have enough for a Neighbor to feed on but not perform on your own with, time will tell though, you'll learn your limits."

[inques]

To be fair, Geum-Hwa was just in much in the wrong here for agreeing to all this without having asked anything, but. He was here now, and he was still alive, so all in all he'd say this was a success.

"So does that mean if I want to cast any spells, a Neighbor has to do it for me?"

[gentlemanmonster]

"Technically they don't cast them for you, you're still casting the spell or making the potion, but the Neighbor is lending you their power to do it. Like having a spare battery pack when your phone is at one percent." Elias elaborated.

The ariel giggled and flitted about their heads.

Elias continued. "There's no quick way for magic. This will be a long road for you and its a lifetime commitment. But its not all study either, you'll come to know the earth and its creatures, magical and otherwise. Your body will slowly cease to age as the magic of the fae settles in. And should you have children, they too will be imbued with long life." He put out the candle without even looking at or touching it.

"I have shown you how to light the candle, but its up to you keep it lit, or put it on the shelf. I will gladly take you on as my apprentice, but only if you're willing to, knowing what you now do. You'd live with me in the countryside to make tutelage easiest. But you don't have to decide now. Do you have further questions?"

[inques]

"A lifetime commitment..."

Geum-Hwa hesitated. He tried to think back to the last time he had ever committed himself to anything... and just then he was reminded of why he bothered with any of this in the first place.

If nothing else, some time away at the outskirts of London would be a perfect place to drop off the radar. Even if all of this would be for naught, at the very least, Min-Hyuk would not be able to find him there.

"No, I'll do it." He looked up at the other and smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Can we start right away?"

[gentlemanmonster]

"What?"

The faerie laughed with a snort, "Eager aren't you? Well, see you around!" with that the ariel disappeared into the sky.

Elias sighed and looked to Geum-Hwa a long moment. His teacher Lindel had taken on a few other apprentices after he left, some succeeded, most failed for one reason or another. Geum-Hwa would be his first apprentice as he had been Lindel's. While the old bastard had his faults, Elias hoped he could succeed like he had, and Geum-Hwa would too.

"Very well. Let's go to your residence so you can pack up any belongings or clothes you might want and I can also use it as a place to teleport us to my home." he said standing up.

[inques]

Teleporting... How convenient. Geum-Hwa rose along with the older male, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I guess it's fortunate I don't have that many things," he mused. He had a steady apartment, sure, but he moved around a lot when he could, which made a venture like this a little more plausible for him.

"Oh," he said after a moment, glancing to Elias. "I'll need to contact a few clients to let them know I won't be able to finish their ink for them, and get them set up with another tattooist. That might take a few hours, is that okay?"

[gentlemanmonster]

So he was a tattooist, it would be interesting to see if Geum-Hwa could integrate his art with his magic. Magical tattoos were possible but he hadn't met a mage who did them. Lindel's specialty was healing, Angelica's was crafting, Rahab's was...naming things. he honestly didn't know hers. And most of the mages during the world wars specialized more towards attack or defense or healing, little in the way of art. But every mage had a specialty and essence. It'd be fascinating to see what one like Geum-Hwa's were.

At the mention of everything that needed to be done, Elias suggested, "How about I come pick you up tomorrow after all?" The evening would give Geum-Hwa time to get his affairs in order without having him hang around waiting.

[inques]

Sorry, Elias, but Geumhwa had an actual life to take care of before suddenly disappearing off the grid. Not a particularly substantial one, mind you, but a life nonetheless. He was at least responsible??

Anyway...

"Okay, sounds good. Do you have a phone? I can text you my address."

[gentlemanmonster]

He didn't mind but he assumed Geum-Hwa was pretty much ready to leave since he was so eager to right off the bat.

"I'll come with you, easier to see where I'm teleporting to if I've been there before" he said. "I don't own a phone anyway." he said "Not many power lines or cell phone towers out in the countryside." if he needed to contact someone he just sent a paper bird with the message. Slower but he usually wasn't in any rush when it came to sending messages. Urgent ones required other means.