A man of nineteen entered the crowded market place and smirked when everyone ceased their activities and turned to him. He was of average height; lean built, was fair skinned, had light brown hair, and had this mischievous glint in his emerald green eyes that one found hard to ignore. 

     He headed to a spot with a tent and a small table in it, shuffling the cards he had with him with experienced hands. A small crowd had gathered in front of him as he put the cards face down on the table and spread them with a sweep of his hand. 

    "Pick one,” he said to the audience. A man with burgundy hair -whom he presumed was younger than him -approached the table, picked the second to the last card on the right side, and flipped it. The word ICE was written on the face of the card. With a snap of the mage's fingers, a green magic seal appeared on the tips of his fingers and the card became frozen. 

     "Pick another one." He gestured to the cards on the table. The younger then picked the one in the middle. The word FLOWER was written on the face of the card. Again, with a snap of his fingers, the card turned into a flower-a rose. 

     "A pretty flower for a lovely young lad." He took the rose and then gave it to the younger with a bow. The audience applauded as they threw coins that varied from bronze to gold. The mage bowed; pleased with the reaction and the money he was receiving. 

     Morning of the next day came. He woke up pleased with the sunny weather as he was about to leave the town. He took his luggage downstairs as his father was waiting for him. The white walls of their living room turned into an ocean blue colour right after his father touched the wall, and he smiled. 

     He sat down on the couch to wait for the carriage to arrive. He rubbed his inner right thigh in annoyance. His father noticed the action and asked, “What’s wrong with your thigh, Dongwoo?”

     “I don’t know." Dongwoo shrugged. "It started itching since the thunderstorm last week,ug but I don't think it has something to do with the storm though.”

     “Then let’s see your healer, maybe it’s something bad.”

     “No, it is okay dad," Dongwoo told his father reassuringly. "I don’t want my visit to my cousin get postponed because of this.”

     His carriage arrived at exactly 8 in the morning. After saying his goodbye to his father, he boarded the carriage and settled down. 

     “Dongwoo sir, why don’t you sleep while we are on our way? It is a 3-hour ride, from Juvila to Etheria," said the carriage driver as the carriage started moving. 

     “No, it’s fine. Thank you.” He smiled as the carriage driver nodded.

     An eighteen year old boy woke up as the sun rose. It was shining brightly, making his hazel eyes glow. A cold breeze entered his window that made him wrap the blanket into his slightly built body. He then remembered that someone was visiting him today. He stood up, revealing his average height and slightly tanned body as he wore his slippers and did a little exercise and stretching.

     He lived all by himself; his parents died when a landslide buried their old house when he was ten years old. His parents attempted to save him and they succeeded, sacrificing their lives in the process. He would be forever grateful to his parents for what they did. That was why he strived to be the person his parents wanted him to be. 

     As for his means of living, he worked as a farmer and a fisherman, for that was the only job he could do here in Etheria. He lived near the river where he could catch fish- the river being near the back of his house, as well as his own garden of fruits and vegetables. 

     A knock on his front door was heard and he immediately went past the living room to the door and opened it. 

     “Good morning, Woohyun,” an old man greeted with a smile.  Woohyun, being the polite kid that he was, greeted the older man good morning as well. The old man noticed him rubbing his left palm and continued with his reason for bothering Woohyun so early in the morning.

     “A rumour was spreading to the whole homestead,” the old man paused as he exhaled, “are you… one of… them?” Woohyun curved his brows as he looked at his palm; his skin was peeling and turning reddish.

     "I do not know what you are talking about," the younger answered. His palm started to sting and bleed now, and it took all of his self control not to scream. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go back to my breakfast." The older man understood and left. Woohyun looked at his palm now, it had stopped stinging and now a wound like tattoo was etched on it.

     “What the hell?”

     Dongwoo hadn’t noticed that he already slept on his seat. The sun was hotter than the morning breeze an hour ago. “Are we there yet?” He asked the horse master as he stretched his arm and yawned.

     “One more road and we’ll be there, sir. But, you have to be ready for that next road,” the carriage driver warned.

     Dongwoo curved his brows in confusion. “Why?”

     The next thing he knew, he was bumping his head on the ceiling and was having a hard time staying still as the carriage went on a very rocky road. This went on for a few more seconds before the carriage finally halted. “Oww,” he said as he rubbed his head, trying to sooth the pain. The door suddenly opened and the carriage driver was seen.

     “Are you okay sir?” he asked.

     “Never better,” Dongwoo replied sarcastically.

     “I’m so sorry about that sir,” the carriage driver apologized sincerely. “I believe that is your cousin’s house?” He pointed to the only house near the river.

     “I think it is,” Dongwoo said, squinting as if trying to see if that was the house. He then grabbed a pouch of coins from his pocket and handed it to the carriage driver. The carriage driver thanked him and then left. Dongwoo grabbed his things and started for the house near the river. When he neared it he saw a man watering his plants. The water, Dongwoo observed, was coming from the man's hands. A blue magic seal was on the ground under the man's shoes. Dongwoo smirked mischievously; he just thought of sneaking up on his cousin. He tiptoed to the gate but stepped on a twig, which broke. 

     Oops.

     The next thing Dongwoo knew he was soaking wet as the man was now aiming the water at him. "Good morning to you too, cousin," he greeted sarcastically.

     When the man realized who his visitor was he quickly stopped the water and apologized, while laughing, of course. “Dongwoo! I am so sorry!”

     “You do know I’m visiting, right Woohyun?” asked Dongwoo as he used a card that had WIND written on its face to dry himself. 

     "I do! But you do know I don't like people sneaking up on me, right Dongwoo?" Woohyun countered. 

     By now Dongwoo was almost dry and the card vanished as he snapped his fingers. “Touché. Anyway, do you have food? I just realized I haven’t eaten yet.”

     Woohyun dried his hands using his pants and then nodded at Dongwoo. “I think I still have some extra from what I ate earlier. Come on in.”

     Woohyun led his cousin inside through the back door and into the dining room. As Dongwoo sat down Woohyun served him a plate of pancakes. “Thanks,” Dongwoo said as he started eating the food.

     Woohyun watched as his cousin gobbled down the pancakes that he had cooked. His palm started acting up again so he looked at it. He realized that it was just then that he had carefully observed it, noting how the wound-like tattoo was shaped like a water drop. “What the hell does this mean?” he murmured to himself, unaware that his cousin had heard him.

     “What’s wrong, Hyun?” Dongwoo asked. He saw his cousin staring at his left palm as if something was there.

     Woohyun snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at Dongwoo. “Look at this.” He showed him his left palm and the tattoo. “What do you think of it?”

     “What happened?” Dongwoo asked with concern in his voice. “Since when did you have it?”

     “Just this morning, really.”

     Dongwoo inspected it for a few minutes before gasping. “I have one too! It’s just that, mine’s a card with an infinite design on it, and it’s on my inner right thigh.”

     “I wonder what it means,” Woohyun whispered.

     A few seconds later  a knock was heard coming from the front door. Woohyun stood up and went past the living room to greet whoever was outside. When he opened the door, he expected the old man from earlier that morning to be outside. But instead, he was greeted by a man with purplish hair and a pleasant smile. “Minkyu!”

     “Hello, Woohyun,” Minkyu greeted as he hugged the younger. “How have you been?”

     “I’ve been well,” replied the younger. “Come on in!”

     Woohyun moved to the side to let Minkyu in. They proceeded to the dining room where Dongwoo had just finished washing the dishes he used in the adjoining kitchen. Woohyun and Minkyu sat down while waiting for Dongwoo to return. When he did, he broke into a smile. “Minkyu! How lovely it is to see you!”

     Minkyu was Woohyun and Dongwoo’s cousin as well. He worked for the council and since then had rarely seen his favourite cousins. That was why Woohyun and Dongwoo looked pleased at his visit. “Dongwoo! It’s lovely to see you too!” The two hugged and then Minkyu went down into business.

     “Now, as much as I would love this visit to be of leisure reasons that is not the case. I suppose you know of the rumour that an evil force is threatening to cause havoc in our country?” he asked the two. Woohyun and Dongwoo nodded; they have heard about that. “And how the council had sent a salamangka that will choose seven men to fight this evil?”

     The two nodded again.

    “Now tell me,” Minkyu said. “Do the two of you have tattoos that have a connection to your salamangka?” Woohyun’s eyes widened as Dongwoo gaped. Minkyu smiled. “I was right. Do you mind showing it to me?” 

     Woohyun showed him his palm while Dongwoo said that he couldn't because it was on his thigh. Minkyu laughed while Dongwoo smiled, embarrassed. "It's okay Dongwoo. But do you know what those are for?" Minkyu's cousins shook their heads. "It's the sign; the manifestation of the salamangka. The salamangka has chosen you two, to fight the evil when it attacks."

     "But why us?" Woohyun frowned. 

     "It's because the salamangka deemed you two worthy to fight for Magnolia. And I personally agree."

[140609] Thank you to the new subscribers hihi

OMG YAY UPDATE AFTER A LOT OF YEARS! Yehesssss :)) okay I'm sorry I took so long! This hasn't been proofread because it's already 23:43 here and I reaalllyyy want to update so please excuse any mistakes. Pamygyu0928 had started this chapter and I just continued it. 

She had told me that from now on she'd only be giving me ideas and I would be the one writing the story itself. 

Good mornight!

-rumourhasit12

PS. Minkyu = Brian Joo if anyone was wondering.( Like the picture wasn't enough) :) Let this Die has been in my head for a while (along with Gijeok gaah omg Gijeok ❤️❤️) that was why I decided to include him :)