“I send you out for a new Crasher, and you bring home a kid from some unknown island that was destroyed by a monster, is that about right?” Teo said. He was a slim man, a similar height to Khai with sharp features. He wore his glasses on the edge of his almost comically pointed nose, giving him the ability to quite literally look down his nose at anyone with the misfortune to upset the man.
Since arriving in the small side-cave, Khai had come to a few conclusions about the slim man; firstly, he would not allow anything out of place, evidenced by the large stacks of bound papers organised in a perfectly perpendicular manner on the carved slab of wood being used as his desk. Secondly, he did not like things he did not understand. The evidence of which Khai was continuing to gather as the man had yet to stop chewing his bottom lip as Velodin recounted their encounter in his unwavering baritone voice.
“The only reason I can almost believe that you are from another island, is the fact that anyone with half a witt in their head knows not to climb a tree when encountering a Crasher. So you are either an extreme simpleton that has fabricated this story for some unknown reason, or what you say is true.” The up-tight pitch combined with Teo’s perpetually condescending tone made Khai feel like a child that had just been caught raiding the winter stores for dried meat snacks. “Whilst I recognise your divination abilities Velodin, I will need to examine the boys Kaor for myself before I believe he is touched by Spirit. If what you say is true, then this will be the first anyone has heard from Spirit in almost a century. Boy..”
“It’s Khai” Khai said, unsure why now felt like the right moment to find his spine. Teo paused momentarily, raising one eyebrow slightly but showing no more response than that.
“Okay Khai” He put enough emphasis on the name that Khai could hear the implied annoyance through the simple word. “You look old enough to have been taught to circulate your Kaor’s energy, do that whilst I check your Kaor and it will give me a clear view if there is any trace of Spirit in your Kaor.”
Khai looked from the slim man to the stoic Velodin at his side, both looking expectantly at him, Khai looked down at his feet. “I don’t know how to do that, the circulate thing. We didn’t have anyone with a Kaor on the island, I barely even understand what it is honestly. Granda-Hime used to talk about it when I was younger but everyone said he wasn’t quite right in the head.” It wasn’t until Khai finished that the reality that they were all gone hit him once again. Swallowing the thought and not letting the tears form, he looked back up to meet Teo’s gaze.
Teo either didn’t notice Khai’s momentary emotions or didn’t care enough to point them out. After a quick pause, he spoke “Well then, come here and I’ll do it the old way. I’ll be careful to only use a small amount of energy but this won’t be comfortable, remain still please”
Much like with Velodin, Teo placed a hand on Khai’s shoulder and momentarily closed his eyes. Instead of the pressing sensation enveloping his body, Khai felt like his blood was moving quickly, too quickly. It felt as if his body was swirling around in side of him, churning his blood in a building torrent inside of him. Khai jerked his body back reflexively and, after breathing heavily for a few moments while his body returned to normal, he noticed Teo staring at him, eyes squinted and mouth hanging slightly open.
Teo looked toward Velodin, after a small nod from the chain-man, he looked back to Khai. “How is this possible?” Teo said, barely a whisper to his voice. “Spirit has been gone for so long, and now I’m supposed to believe that she picked a random island boy to send to us for some reason and we just accept it?” The seemingly unflappable man was quite clearly flapped by the revelation. Khai wasn’t sure how much to say of what Spirit had said to him, so he stayed quiet for now, not wanting to be condescended upon any further.
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Teo turned and sat back behind his desk, staring at the wall behind Khai and intently chewing the skin on his lips. Khai looked to Velodin, unsure of if he should speak up or leave the man to think. He decided to risk a question. “What happened to my Kaor?, and what happens now?”
Teo’s eyes focused back on Khai, shaking his head quickly the man quickly regained his previous nose-focused stare. “I will explain it in a way that should make sense to someone even as naïve as yourself” His condescending tone already making Khai regret breaking the man from his shock. “Think of your Kaor as a small ball inside of you, it would seem that rather than creating a bond that allows for you to develop like a typical Kaor user, Spirit has quite forcibly put a large quantity of her energy through your Kaor, presumably to place you in this general location. This has not created a bond, instead it has left a residual layer around your Kaor of her energy. A veritable beacon of proof that she is still with us.” Khai nodded, mostly understanding what was being said. He opened his mouth to ask another question but was silenced by Teo holding up a hand and continuing his explanation. “At this point in time I’m going to believe what you’ve said regarding your coming here as the truth. You are the first in a very long time to have an affinity for Spirit and you having no knowledge of how Kaor’s work is a waste to not only your own potential, but more importantly a waste of potential research into a greatly unknown divine attribute.” Teo had started speaking faster the longer he went on, getting up from his desk to pace back and forth as he spoke, becoming visibly excited at the prospect of potential research.
Khai didn’t understand the full extent of what Teo was rambling about, but he needed to weigh his own options. Realistically, he had no way to travel anywhere else as he was likely surrounded by a jungle filled with predatorial animals ready to kill him with a range of claws, tusks, fangs and many other pointy objects he’d seen from the carvings along the cave walls. That was assuming he was able to get past the small mountain of a man stood next to him, which he likely couldn’t.
However, so long as he wasn’t the subject of any invasive experimentation, what was the harm in staying? If he understood correctly, Teo was planning to train him to use his Kaor. Spirit had made it very clear that Khai needed to get a lot stronger if he wanted to figure out why his island was destroyed, and figuring out how to use his Kaor correctly was the first step in that journey. If she sent him here for a reason, then who was he to go against an Elementals plan?
Smiling to himself and filled with a comforting sense of purpose, Khai nodded along as the wirey man continued to babble about divine reserearch implications and other things Khai didn’t really understand. As Teo turned back from a round of pacing Velodin, who had made no noise since giving his recollection, made a pointed jingle with the chains on his arm. Clearly used to Teo’s epiphany’s, this worked at reminding the man that he wasn’t alone and still needed to finish the conversation he’d been having.
“Oh yes yes sorry, Velodin please show Khai to the bunks and hand him over to Jorn, tell him he’s got a new piece of coal to forge, he shall know what to do” Teo pushed his glasses up from the edge of his nose, smiling for the first time to reveal a set of stained teeth. The smile looked out of place on the stretched skin across the mans face, as if his skin wasn’t sure what to do with the motion.
Teo quickly returned to his desk and began muttering to himself, writing as he spoke. Assuming this to be the end of the conversation, Khai gave a quick “Thank you” and turned to leave the room, the soft clinking sound telling him that Velodin was close behind.