Alchemy of souls: rune master

New friendships

(Words 3066)
at songrim
"Yong lady what have happened, shall i help you?" a servant ask Sun jung as soon he saw Kim Dahyun on Sun jung's back, with big cut on sun jang's hanbok
"i dont't know, i found her in the woods,no you don't have to help me but just get me Master Heo, i need to go sejukwon

at Sejukwon
"What ever have happened?" Master Heo asked
Sun Jung then answer with
"Well you sent me to find two herbs, Right after I found cheonsimhwan, I saw blood on the ground, So I followed it and I found her, I even cut my hanbok so she wouldn't bleed out by the time we got here. Kim dahyun you should tell him what happened to you."
Kim dahyun then answer
"So I was running in the woods it was huge stone then tried over it and  there was sticks that were that were very sharp, that's how my stomach is bleeding, thank you for saving my life sun jung"
"Not a problem at all  dahyun" sun jang said in her usual cold tone
——————
**at Sejukwon some hours later**
"Are you feeling any better  dahyun?"
"Yeah but it still hurts sun Jung"
Dang gu comes in
Dang gu then ask
"Ohh is that Kim dahyun that master Heo were talking about sun jang"
Sun jang answered
"Yes it is, did you want anything dang gu?"
Dang gu then said
"Oh yeah eh master park have ordered all of living things within the walls to gather in training Center  due to his suspicion  about soul shifter lurking in songrim. Jang uk is here to so don't be surprised if you see him
——-
training center
"Uk? Who is that besides you?" Sun jang ask as she and dahyun stands in front of him and  mudeok
Uk answer then
"Oh this is mudeok, my new maid and who is beside you sun Jung?" Jang uk then  ask
"This is Kim dahyun, the one I saved in the woods, and my new friend, nice to meet you mudeok, I hope he doesn't give you to much to do" sun jung said in her usual cold tone
"have you always been this cold?" mudeok and dahyun accidently said at the same time
"yes she has, haven't you two heard she is cold as ice" Jang uk then butts in and Sun Jang gives him him side eye
"i wasn't like this always, i think i become cold the day my father throw me out and told me to not come until i have my gate open and master all those level" Sun jang corrected Jang Uk
"why are we even here?" jang uk then asked"
Dang gu  then answered  whispering
"they are going to catch Naksu's men who are in  here
Mudeok and Uk looks at each other as sun jang noticed it
"naksu" Uk said
after uk said that master Park and master Heo comes in
everyone bows to them
"one of you  has helped Naksu's men who sneaked  in here today" Master park said
dang gu said
"my lord, everyone here knows each other
"on the outside, you all look like those of songrim, that is why i asked someone for help" Master park said
Lee hal-yul comes and says
"lady jin cho yeon of the jin family has brought gwigu"
cho yeon comes in with the maids holding the gwigu
they take off the thing and now showing the dog scalpel
"wow, that must be gwigu, the jin family heirloom" dang gu said
jang uk then asked
"gwigu? as in a dog?"
Dang gu answer
"yes"
"it is a ghost sapsali that detects sorcery" Sun jang said
"there  is a soul shifter among us and Gwigu will find that individual"  master park says
"they look like one of us on the outside but Gwigu will find the one who has different soul within them" master heo then said as jang uk looks at mudeok with a bit worried on his face, sun jang noticed it again
Master Park says and the guards answer with
"close the doors" " yes my lord"
"whoever tries to leave this building will be considered as spy and will be killed, you may begin" master park says and then looks at cho yeon
cho yeon  then does open Gwigu as smoke comes out
the dog comes in a smok as everyone says ohhh
Dang gu starts to say
"The alchemy of souls, a type of sorcery, has one weakness. There is a gap between the body and the soul. The evil energy seeps out from it and Gwigu can detects it"
the dog looks around, then jumps down to the floor and looks at sun jang and jang uk's direction, it starts to walk towards them, it starts to walk more to jang uk and mudeok slowly. It jumps over Mudeok and jang uk, it tried to go to the men behind them as he cast the dog at side and the man jumps upstairs
"He is a soul shifter! Get him!" master park yells as all the mages stormed out after the guards. they formed a circle with the soul shifter inside, swords aimed at him they followed the guard around to make sure he doesn't escape. shortly after, a fight broke out between them
The soul shifter fought back and formed a huge wave of energy, defeating most of the mages. the last two remaining mages charged at him but they knew they were going to lose
just as he was about to kill the last mage, yul jumped in, and created an energy with his blade, throwing him off. He used two blades as usual, staring at the soul shifter as he let out a scream before attacking yul, Sun jan looks at the fight worried that yul might hurt, as she watch the fight continue. Yul created energy again , slicing it through the air as the sword from his hand got thrown  away. He kicks the soul shifter with all his might to the stairs.
Sun jang  quickly steps up and gives the sword to Yul as he is burying it into the soul shifter's chest.
Yul looks at Sun Jang as she looks at her hand in pain after giving him his sword as Yul pulls back with the sword.
Yul  then speaks up
"sun jang are you okay with your hand?" Yul comes to Sun Jang and takes her hand and looks it
"you need to go master Heo so he can heal your hand"
"No need, it's fine with my hand, master Heo, don't need to waste his energy with something that is fine"  Sun Jang says as she pulls her hand away from yul's hand. Dang gu then says
"I heard soul shifters get petrified when they run wild and lose their energy. It was true" All of them looks at the petrified soul shifter
________
After things calmed down, master Park, master Heo and the four season met Sun jang and Dahyun inside of the training center
"we thank you  for your great help" Master Park started, earring a smile from him
" i am sure one day we will ask for your help too" Jin cho yeon said
"I see that  Daeho's five families have all gathered here. I heard you are called the five season. Seeing you all together makes me happy " Master heo said with a laugh, as sun jang formed a slightly smile
"We often gather here but this is our first time after Uk and Cho yeon's call of  wedding" dang gu's words made the atmosphere turn  awkward. Sun jang kicked the back of his knees, making him yelp in pain
"you just had to say that, didnt you?" Sun jang mutters as Yul quickly  spoke  to avoid the awkwardness
"i told them to prepare some tea in reception room"
Master Park and the others turned around to go the said room, Master park hitting his nephew's chest for the comment as dang gu stood speechless, Sun jang snorted and crossed her arms as sun jang spoke
"you were here as well, i heard you were kicked out of gisan"
"right. you should stop keeping tracks of what i am doing" uk answered nonchalantly
"everyone was talking about how you got kicked out again, i just happened to hear
"our precious guest here seems uncomfortable around me, so let me excuse myself" uk ends the conversation and walked the other way.. their exchange of words were quiet the tension and awkward as Sun jang cleared  her throat
"let's go" she said to them, pulling dahyun and dang gu with her to avoid awkward when she heard cho yeom muttering "scumbag" under breath. even tho they were her friends Sun Jang plan to not take any sides
"what did i do wrong" dang gu askes, still couldn't comprehend the tenison he just created, yul and dahyun  chuckles upon hearing him, Sun jang looked at dang gu and sigh in disbelief
"you are the biggest idiot i ever meet dang gu, aside Uk. just lets go and keep your big mouth shut this time" Sun jang says
________
all mage were sitting in a room as the servants served the tea while they converse with each other, sun jang were seated between master park and dahyun, cho yeon infont  and yul and dang gu excused themselves
"ah so i heard you saved this girl next to you Sun jang" master park says and sun jang then answers
"eh yeah i did, i saw her at the woods, bleeding, so i give her piggyback all the way from the woods to sejukwon"
"that's something new, i mean like you usual wouldn't let anyone touch you, but  it was good of you to save her, so what is it your name?
"my name is kim dahyun master, nice to meet you" dahyun says and gives a low bow"
"you are from that kim family whose family isnt a mage but only you are?"
"yes master park that would be true"
"ah thats why your name was so familiar to me dahyun" Sun jang says
"my sword, no no no i forgot it in the woods"
"i can get your sword, you are not well yet,  i go now so i can it for you"
"but sun jang, it is dangerous to go now do it tomorrow" master park then says
"master park, it is okay you know, you don't have it worry about every single time I say I will do something in evening"
"Sun jang, you have your gate of energy close how would you survive?"
"Wait are you possible kam sun jang? Like in only child of master kam suk and lady kam haru?"
Sun  jang nodded
"It is true your gates are closed, but why is it close?"
"Let me tell you the whole story I know, just like jang uk my gate of energy is closed, the reason? I don't know. My father closed the gate when I was a baby, until I can prove myself and open my gate I can't return to Sonrim. After I was born, I  was born under a lighting star so  her father: Kam Suk used a rune to predict the future about my future, so he saw something that made him close my gate of energy"
"Why can't just master park or master Heo open it for you?" Dahyun asks and sun jang answers
"My father forbid the four family and the four seasons to open my gate of energy"
"Sun jang do you even know what it means to be born under a lighting star?"
Master Heo and master park looks at each other
"No, why?" Sun jang ask and dahyun takes out a book from her hanbok and says
"Those who are born during a lighting star are rune master, they are more likely powerful then a normal mage"
Dahyun gives the book about the rune master to sun jang and sun jang opening it and reads it out loud
"A rune master appears once a 100 years after the other but this time it hasn't been one over 200 years, the last one was during the songrim founder's time then after 100 years , one supposedly come but the lightning star hasn't been appearing ever since. Rune master are supposed to go through difficulty and hardships so sometimes the parents close the gate of energy of their child to go through extra hardship, some have never closed their gates and some have. They are descendants of the Kam family. To open their gates either it can be open by a mage or jumps into the Gyeongcheondaeho lake and then directly open their rune powers"
sun jang reach the last Sentence  of the last page
"Master park and master Heo why didn't you tell me?" Sun jang looks at them with innocence and cold look
"Am I really a rune master?"
Master Heo then answers
"Yes you are, we wanted to tell you but your father forbid us"
Sun jang stands up and says to dahyun
"We are going home"
"What? But I don't-" dahyun tried to say
"You are sleeping over with me"
A loud shattering sound suddenly echoed through the building, making some of the guards flinched
"what was that?" she asked, looking at master park who looked at her for a second before rushing out. they followed his lead, curious as to what the sound was and eventually arrived at the training center where they could see uk with the gwigu smashed to the ground
Sun jang  widened her eyes, while the others stood there with a shocked face. master park's reaction was the worst
"gwigu's pottery. it was our family heirloom" cho-yeon said with a devastated voice, scared as to what her mother would say after hearing about it
"what the hell is wrong with him?" she muttered frustratedly, worrying about the punishment awaiting him after this master park will definitely make him pay
"i just wanted to take a look at it. but what kind of heirloom is this fragile?" uk started with a scoff, kicking some of the pieces away as master park yelled
"jang uk!" uk flinched, sending   Sun jang  let out a frustrated sigh
"we need to talk. come here" master park said with a smile, trying to grab uk but the troublemaker had already walked away, fearing what's coming for him
"uk. hey, uk. jang uk!" master park called out repeatedly when the boy bowed to leave. He turned to look at them, chasing after uk who had run away. but to their surprise, master park suddenly fell down but quickly got up to avoid any embarrassment. Sun jang  nearly laughed but remembering how angry master park earlier  so she held in herself
"gather all of those pieces since i have to put them back  together " Cho Yeon said to her servants with a sight, looking at sun jang who grabbed cho yeon's shoulder gently and says
"I apologize on his behalf.  I sometimes really don't know what  goes through his mind Cho Yeon"
"Sun jang, you don't have to apologize for him, i'll try to figure it out and put them back together. I am sure it'll work" They both smile at each other, Sun jang looks over to at dang gu and mudoek who were standing at the entrance as dang gu smiles at sun jang and wave his hand to her to go there, sun jang bids goodbye to  Cho yeon and walked over them
"Where is uk?"  Sun jang ask, earring a sight from dang gu
"he was dragged away. i am sure this time jang uk will get a punishment which is going be severe"
_______
**the guards and master heo were gathered at the entrance of the training center, while uk was kneeling down on the ground for his punishment, although his face holds no regret. mu-deok, sun jang, Dahyun,  dang-gu and yul stood still at the side, waiting for master park to finish his yelling** 
"i sent you to gisan. then you were kicked out in less than six months. why did you come here tonight?"
"i heard you were troubled by the news, so i came to apologize" he replied nonchalantly
"is this how you apologize?!" master park yelled again, almost collapsing to the ground as his assistant immediately stepped in. however he was told to not interfere
"why did you break the pottery?"
"i was fascinated by it and wanted to take a look, but it slipped out of my hands. had i learned spells, that would not have happened. i guess i lack the teaching" he answered playfully
"JANG UK!"
the mentioned boy quickly put his hands back together to show manners, scared by master park's loud voice
"he also tampered with the door of the secret room and damaged it" sang-ho spoke, angering master park even more. Sun jang was beyond disbelief on how much trouble he had made in just a night
"he definitely did that on purpose. he's just jealous" master heo added, angered as well
"i won't let it slide this time around. until i say so, i forbid jang uk from moving or talking. repent"
both masters then walked away, leaving uk who was sighing at the floor. chae-won also sighed quietly, still grateful because the punishment wasn't as extreme as she had imagined. but again, if master jin left him like that for days,
uk could be in danger again
she looked over to mu-deok and saw how she sighed while looking at her master. she smiled softly and put her hand on the servant's shoulder making the girl looked at her
"don't worry, he won't punish him for too long"
"she's right. he almost died of a cold after he was punished all night long one day. uk's gate energy is opened just enough to keep him alive, so extreme cold or heat can be life-threatening. he can't recover when he falls ill" dang-gu added, his eyes kept on his dear friend
"then open his gate of energy for him. When he is so desperate"
"Mudeok, we are to weak to open it and no one, I mean really NO ONE  can go against his father"  sun jang answers