Hyun-Mu: Jin

It was good to be back. No, it was good to be out of that stuffy gigai. Arawn's trip to the Human world had ended and he was now enjoying the feel of the sun on his real skin. It was a hot day, but he never had a problem with heat. The sun felt good, the wind felt good. Arawn was in a great mood. It was good to back. He must have been quite a sight to those in the district as he strolled happily through the area. They had gotten used to seeing him, but his smile was a new one even for them. His sunny disposition faded only slightly when he came upon the stone steps that lead up to his master's domain. The old man had sent him to train and he had done so. Yet for some reason he hadn’t seen for him for nearly three weeks after his return. Honestly, he had thought his master would want to see the fruit of his training right away, but obviously, this was not the case. Instead, Arawn quickly went back to work in the laboratory as if nothing had happened. While he waited for Master Sung, he started to wonder what the man’s intent really was. The instructions had been to go to the human world to train and in a gigai. Therefore, he had figured something special about it. Yet there were not special instructions about his training beyond that. The fact he had stumbled upon something might have been a fluke or it was all part of his plan. A part of him couldn’t accept the scenario that had played out. There was no way the old man could have know Arawn would decide to strike trees as a means of exercise. It was impossible predict that he would get tired and take a swing at leaves. All of it was highly improbable.

After the first week, those thoughts faded as things returned to normal for him. There was no time to practice or much else as he tried to catch up with all the work he missed. With a server crash on the system, he had his hand more than full helping Bryce. Therefore, the weeks flew by with him confined in the lab. It was a surprise to receive the usual summons of a letter under his bedroom door and so he started his journey to the rocky home of Master Sung. Those questions that buried themselves were slowly rising as Arawn climbed the stone steps. Higher and higher, he climbed and in moments, he reached the peak. The elegant home standing at the top was just as he remembered. Having vanquished the stone stairs he had only to overcome the five wooden one that led to the door. Arawn easily skipped the last two steps as he landed on the porch. His hand knocked against the frame of the sliding door.

“Master?” he called out. There was no reply, he was about to reach out and open when someone finally spoke. His hand froze.
“Come in.” came the familiar voice. With permission granted, he pulled the door open and stepped inside. Closing it behind him he removed is shoes and stepped into the main room. Sure enough, the old man sat at the small square table. There was a cup of tea before him and an empty plate. It has seemed he had come upon the man while he was enjoying a snack.
“I’ve returned Master Sung.” He stood at the entrance of the room and bowed to the old man. To this, the old man just sipped his tea. The silence was growing awkward as Arawn stood there expecting some kind of response. Finally, the white haired main put down his cup and motioned for the other man to join him at the table. Arawn quickly kneeled to sit at the short table across from his teacher. “It is good to see you again; I hope you’ve been well.” Again, there was silence, but the man smiled at the statement. The windows against the wall were all open allowing a nice breeze though the room.
“I’m most disappointed, my student.” The old man finally spoke after another sip of his tea. Although it was quite warm, Arawn broke into a cold sweat. Something about the man’s words the worried him. There wasn’t even the smallest trace of malice in the words, yet why was he so afraid?
“I didn’t break the rules you set master!” Arawn was quick to stammer. “I stuck to training.”
The man smiled. “Of course you did. I had Yuki follow you; I had thought you’d have noticed her presence.” There was relief in knowing that the old man wasn’t angry then shock that he had been spied upon. “There’s another reason I’m disappointed.”

The chill returned, Arawn racked his brain trying to figure out what he might have done to offend his teacher. There was no memory that came to his mind that fit the criteria. Has he merely forgotten the incident?
“How long have you been under my instruction?” the man asked as Arawn tried to figure out what he had done. The question sent him for a loop, but even if he had his full facilities, he wouldn’t get the question right.
“I sorry, I do not recall Master.” he answered truthfully. A wrong answer would probably anger the man more, so it best to be honest. Subconsciously he winced awaiting some sort of punishment. Again, the warm smile, but Arawn was too afraid to appreciate the gesture.
“It has been quite awhile, my student. And yet in all that time you’ve never really inquired about the meaning of the art I have taught you.” Arawn was shocked. He blinked repeatedly not sure; he had heard the man correctly. Finally, it sunk in. Since the beginning of his instruction he had never asked anything about the skills he had been taught other than learning them.
“Wait master, you did tell me the history of the art.” He recalled the conversation from long ago.
“Ah.” The old man’s smile remained on his face. “Yes, I told you its history, but you never asked it’s meaning.” Arawn could think up no retort. He could only remain silent as Master Sung sipped his tea.

“Sa Shin Mu” he began. “Means the Art of the Four Gods. Actually the true translation is Way of the Four Gods.” Arawn only listened although questions popped into his mind. It was an ambitious name to be sure rather arrogant. Still, it wasn’t odd for martial artist to name their skills after animals. There was crane, snake, mantis, tiger, and even dragon style. So why not have a martial art mirror the divine? However, would the skill truly measure up to their god like namesake? “I established it in later years of my life on earth. Although only human, I used the skill to tap unnatural power. This form mirrored the sacred beasts that were worshiped.” The man’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he remembered the long time ago.
“Ju-Jak, the scarlet sparrow. The great bird with wings that can silence the wind. Chung-Ryong, the azure dragon. It claws the sky as it ascends to the heavens. Beck-Ho, the white tiger. A beast’s whose roar echoes across the plains. Finally; Hyun-Mu. The black turtle that strikes with it’s two heads.” Arawn said nothing, letting the words swirl in his head. While the names were different, the he knew of similar godlike animals that had dominion over all things.
“I have taught you the way, and you have learned well.” Sung continued “I never expected you to have so much potential! Yuki witness you using Jin of all things!” The old man said triumphantly. “You have indeed come very far from the young man I met in that bar many moons ago.” he smiled. For once Arawn shared that smile. “While you cannot call yourself a master, you are at a level that many warriors will never see. You do this old man proud.” The red haired man was genuinely touched by his teacher’s words. There wasn’t the slightest bit of disappointment on the man‘s face. Arawn moved from the table and bowed his head to the floor.
“Thank you, sir.” he said respectively to Master Sung, “I’m in your care!” The old man nodded.
“Come let us practice.” he stood and walked toward the stony grotto.

The make their way slowly into the rock quarry located just behind the manor house. Many months had Arawn spent in the small gully. How many times had he moved the slabs of rock from one side to the other. He couldn't recall the number of hours spent breaking the large boulders into pebbles. The walls of the crevice were covered in holes where he had practiced his art. Those holes told a story of his progress. At first there were only scratches and then dents, then large gauges in dense stone where he'd broken it using Sa Shin Mu. Following behind the old man he passed all these landmarks. Deeper and deeper they traveled. The further they traveled the rougher the walls became. Whatever hand that had carved the quarry had stopped there and now it all resembled a cave. It wasn't long before the sky vanished and they were inside a tunnel. Arawn wanted to question his mater, but he blindly followed the old man. Even as it became completely black he managed to stay close to his master by listening to the footsteps just ahead of him. It was tricky there was a wall that he nearly ran into, but somehow he survived the awkward tunnel. Up ahead a light could be seen, they'd come out the other side.

The bright sun greeted them as they came out, but that wasn't all. A lush green landscape greeted the travelers. There was a forest here and a long flowing river. Arawn remembered now the oasis hidden within the mountain. This was the place that Master Sung's wife was teaching Yuki. Their exit had them on a short rise overlooking the woodlands. While Arawn admired the view Sung made his way into the forest. Arawn ran to catch up with the old man. Thankfully his teacher hadn't gone far. He found Sung barely a few feet within the line of trees. Arawn stopped before his teacher.
"I want you to strike that tree." The man said pointed to one of the thick oaks. Arawn nodded, but before he could move towards the tree, his master held up his hand stopping him. "No, like this." The old man turned to face the tree. The distance between him and his target a good five feet or more. He swung his fist at the tree. The trunk shattered like glass. A cannonball would have done less damage to the oak. The whole thing teetered and then fell over. To be expected of his master. This was no doubt what he had done when on earth. In the past he could barely perceive the discharge in energy, but this time he caught the glimpse of a grey haze from the old man's fist. Arawn recalled the golden burst he had seen in the real world. The old man was smiling at his student. He knew the young man was already trying to analyze all that he had seen.
"This is Jin. It means to exhaust. This is the second stage of of Hyun-Mu." he said "Hyun-mu, the black tortoise, has two heads. The first strike is the the mighty turtle, the second is the snake. One is firm and slow, the other is flexible and fast." Even as his master poke he was replaying what he had done and what the older man had done. There was no special pose when he had done it. Nor had he really focused his power, he didn't even recall releasing it. Without waiting for permission Arawn took a fighting stance facing another tree. His left hand forward and his right hand back he focused on the spot he wanted to hit. He punched once more he tried for the feeling he had felt the first time it had worked. As he arm extended he felt nothing. The second punch was the same as the first. Master Sung had already retreated to the side to watch his student. Arawn's mind reflected on his previous techniques as he continued to strike. Each lesson had taught him better control of his energies. None of them felt similar to what he had felt. Finally he stopped and took a deep breath.
"Breathe, don't force it." Came the old man's voice. "Just let go." he said calmly. Arawn took another deep breath and held it. He listened to his heart beat steadily in his chest and slowly exhaled.Breathe Arawn said to himself. Exhaust Was it that simple? Just letting the energy flow?
He punched, there was focus, but not force. His hand wasn't holding any power, but the releasing it. From his the top of his fist came the stream of golden energy spiraled forth. The energy bridged the five foot gap and hit the tree trunk. On contact the bark splintered and the wood creaked. Something so simple, and yet it was as strong as his own fist.

Hyun-Mu: Jin - The ambient energy in the body (arm) is used to extend the reach and strike. (5ft range) Although it employes spiritual energies it's only a punch and lacks any destructive force.