(Outdated) The King of Elements

Let Time Tell

Rose sat in the history class, ignoring the various voices from the students as she drew in her sketch book. Below her sketch book was the Amian history book, with a crystalized version of the sword from the Edge Walker's forest on the cover. Every now and then, she'd check on the time; it was closer and closer to eight o'clock, and there was still no sign of Mr. Kimachi. Did he forget that there was class today?

"Hi, Rose!" A young girl's voice broke through the chatter of the students, taking away their attention. She looked to the entrance of the classroom, where Keiko was smiling from ear to ear. She strode to the seat beside hers. "Do you have Mr. Itchy-nose's class, too?"

"Mr. Itchy-nose?" She pulled her schedule from behind her sketch book. "I believe that it is pronounced Ichi-no-say."

"It is?" Confused, Keiko rummaged through her anime cat-shaped bag. Pulling out her own schedule. "It looks like Itchy-nose to me."

Rose struggled to smother her laugh. "I suppose it does, doesn't it?"

Keiko nodded with a big smile on her face. She looked at the open sketch book on her desk. "What are you drawing?"

"A Pegasus. Do you want to see?" Rose held up the sketch book to show her.

Keiko eyes lit up the way a child's eyes would after waking up and seeing a blanket of snow. The Pegasus was drawn taking a drink by a stream, wings outstretched. People were often amazed by her drawings, but Rose often felt that the pictures were amateurish at best. Seeing the picture, Keiko gave a wide, toothy grin. "This is amazing! Did you draw this by yourself?"

"Yeah. My aunt said that she would probably be able to paint it and sell it to a curator once it's finished." Keiko wasn't paying attention. She was too focused on the drawing.

Moments later, a short, Asian man limped into the classroom, though he didn't look to be in any pain. In fact, he was grinning. Standing slightly taller than Keiko, he wore a tan dress pants with a white button up shirt and a pair of oval-shaped glasses. He placed his black, leather briefcase on the teacher's desk as he began writing his name on the chalkboard. The Apprentices all began murmuring to themselves as they read the name on the board: Ichinose Kimachi. Rose was stunned; he looked no older than she did.

"Well, well," he began as he pushed up his glasses. His voice was much deeper than Rose had imagined it would be. "It sounds like you all are just as ecstatic as I am about being here. Welcome to your first day of class. I will be your Amian history teacher, Dr. Ichinose Kimachi." He underlined his name as he turned towards the students. "Feel free to call me Ichinose, or Ichi for short. It doesn't matter."

"Looks like you were right, Rose," Keiko whispered, catching Ichi's attention.

"I'm not boring you already, am I?" he asked.

"N-no, sir, Mr. Itchy-nose." Rose flinched as Keiko called him Itchy-nose.

Ichi's sneer disappeared. "Did I just not tell you that my name was Ichinose?"

"Yes sir. Sorry, Mr. Itchy-nose."

He sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Just like the Human history, Amians has a long, similar history. It's been rumored that Amians are actually a sort of... divergent race of Humans. If you live on Earth, then you would have most likely noticed that you are no different from other Humans. We look the same, eat and sleep the same, and biologically, we are very, very similar. In fact, one could say that we're even a more evolved race of Humans. One of the biggest differences between Humans and Amians is the fact that we all are made of one of five elements of life: fire, water, nature, air, and finally spirit. That is a part of our life essence.

"Now, of those elements, an Amian may be able to control the sub-element of their group. For instance, water's sub-element is ice, so if one were to focus hard enough, they'll be able to freeze the water with their ice. But before you try to control just any element, be warned. The only element that you can control is your own, unless you've created a special bond with someone." A hand shot up. He inclined his head to the student.

"Why do we need to create a bond with someone to use their element?" the girl asked.

"Simple really. See, our elements are controlled mostly by emotion. Our elemental strength will vary, depending on how we feel when we try to use them. So if you have a strong emotional bond with someone else, one of two things can happen. If you are of the same element, both of your elemental power will be multiplied. However, if you have a bond with someone of a different element, you can tap into their element and use their power, or even blend their power with yours and make a devastating elemental combination. Whichever the case may be, tapping into their core will not drain any of their elemental power. In fact, they won't even be aware of this.

"However, before you get too happy about that, I said that the only way that you can do that is if there is a strong bond between you two. And as good as this sounds, it's also incredibly uncommon. Simply being little buddies won't cut it. Nor will a bond via blood. You must get to the point to where you'd die to protect them, both members have to feel the same way, and even then it's still uncommon." The students all began to murmur amongst themselves, no doubt saying things along the lines of, "There isn't anyone I'd ever die for."

Ichi raised a hand, quieting down the students. "I guess that you don't believe. If you don't know, Headmaster Toney is my elder brother. We aren't related by blood, but we were adopted by the same man. Even though we aren't biological brothers, I would gladly lay my life on the line for him, and I'm sure that he would, too. Because of this, I'm able to tap into his element, fire-" he raised both hands in front of him and forged a fireball in his left hand; in his right, he cupped an orb of water. "And he's able to do the same.

"There is, of course, a limit to how many different elemental bonds you can have. You may have as many strong bonds as you see fit, however your body can only tap into two other elements. The only person who doesn't have this restriction is the champion of Amity, the King of Elements."

Rose raised her hand. "Is the King of Elements the king of Amity as well?"

"Not really. Our government is sort of democratic. We have a person we elect to represent their elemental group. The elected person is called the Sage, and of those Sages, the Spirit Sage has the most power. Think of the King of Element as if it was the Buddhist religion. Out of the billions of Amians on Amity and Earth, only one gets to be proclaimed the King. That person may still have the elemental bond limits as the rest of us, but they will also have the powers of the former Kings. And judging by recent events, the King may have already been chosen."

"How can we tell who's the new King?" an Apprentice's voice called from the back of the room.

Ichi's foxlike grin reappeared on his face as he said, "The easiest way to tell anything. Let time tell."