Hoseok was never meant for a boring life. He had known this since he was a child. His whole family had known this since he was a child. Which is why even now at 626 years old he was still playing pranks and acting as if he was 16.

Jin was bounding through the now snowed over field with his dog. He was bundled up in a poncho of furs, no doubt made by Yoongi. In addition to the cloak was a round hat that hid the princes pink hair, with the exception of a few tufts. Squeaky laughter was accompanied with pitchy barks from Holly.

Unbeknownst to the prince a few balls made of snow were soaring through the sky at him. When they hit him in the back of his head the prince let out a startled squawk. Jin whipped around to glare at the only other person in the field. Hoseok raised his hands as in innocence and pointed towards Holly who was jumping at the prince barking.

“Is that how it is going to be?” Jin raised a brow and with it a hand. Multiple perfectly round balls made of the fallen snow flew up. With a flick of his wrist the snowballs began soaring towards the White Mage.

Giggling, Hoseok jumped back and raised his own arms to form a wall of snow and ice to block the incoming projectiles.

“You are going to-” Hoseok started, but was silenced by his own shocked scream as he was pushed forward by an ice cold force. Pushing off against the wall Hoseok saw a fist made of snow poised to strike again.  

“I’m going to have to do what?” Jin’s voice sounded from behind Hoseok.

“How did you even?” it was now the White Mages turn to glare.

“Air manipulation.” Jin said as he began to hover just a few feet above the snow.

Hoseok pointed a finger at his apprentice and shouted, “Cheater!”

Jin’s face mimicked Hoseok's own when he shouted back, “How dare you! I am not!”

“This is a snow fight! You can’t just use other elements!” Hoseok waved his hands around wildly as if that proved his point. Both the fist and the wall sunk back into the earth.

“Then you are a cheater as well! You used ice in your wall!”

“Ice and snow are the same thing!”

“Nu uh!”

“Yes huh!”

~&~

“I still can’t believe I trained a cheater.” Hoseok whined, blowing lightly on his tea.

The prince didn’t respond, but Hoseok noticed his shoulders go rigid. Still silent Jin made his way around the quaint kitchen and set some food down for Holly, who barked in appreciation. Then he grabbed his own cup of tea, finding a seat across from Hoseok at the dining room table.

It was by far the largest piece of furniture in the house and had been made by Yoongi. It was made of a dark wood, the name always escaped Hoseok, and you could see the attention to detail that the former mercenary put into it. The legs had intricate designs of different flowers and vines crawling up it. The actual table itself was glossy and continued the theme of growing vines mixed in with random swirls and shapes that mimicked the ones of Jin’s mark. Apparently it had been the prince’s request to make it as big as it was so that their little family could have dinner together every so often.

“When is Namjoon supposed to return Yoongi again?” Jin refused to even make eye contact with Hoseok. The White Mage rolled his eyes, his apprentice could be as immature as he could.

“Don’t phrase it as if your precious Yoongi was stolen away. Namjoon should have him back by sundown tomorrow at the latest. They are just going over some renovations for our newest tower, not rebuilding the castle”

Jin just let out a hum and then blew on his own tea. No doubt he was thinking about the months Yoongi spent in the capital helping Jungkook renovate the Palace.

“Oh would you quit pouting. I don’t believe you really are a cheater.”

Jin visibly got less tense, but still verbally pouted when he said, “I know that. What do you take me for? A child?”

“Oh I would never your Highness.”

“Good!”

“I think so.” Hoseok giggled. Which Jin followed suit and soon they were in a fit of laughs, Holly joining in with a few barks here and there.

After making small talk for a little, Jin got quiet and had a mischievous look in his eyes that had Hoseok worried.

“You know since you’ve insulted royalty I believe you owe me.” Jin smirked.

“Since when have you ever pulled the royalty card?”

“Since right now.”

With a sigh Hoseok quickly stands up from his chair. Both his arms shoot into the air before one crosses over his stomach and the other over his back. The White Mage bows forward and loudly asks, “What can I do for you, my liege?”

Jin lets out another trill of laughter at the spectacle, “Please stop! Oh my gods just act normal!”

“Just tell me what you want.” Hoseok sits back down.

Jin pauses for just a second. His hands wrap around his still warm cup of tea and he bites his lip. “Even though I’ve known you for many a season now I still have no idea how you and Namjoon met and fell in love. Not to be rude, but you really seem like such opposites that it’s a wonder as how you two are even together.”

“Oh because you and Yoongi are carbon copies of each other? What of the former thief Jimin and noble Commander of the Royal Army Taehyung? If you are too much like one and other then it gets boring, because you are really just by yourself.”

“I guess that’s true. Well was it love at first sight then?”

“Oh gods no! I hated him at first.”

Jin’s jaw drops a little, “What?”

“You’ve met him. He can be a bit difficult at times.” Hoseok smiled at his memories of his first encounter with the Black Mage.

~&~

Hoseok had always been a lively child. As soon as he could walk he was getting into trouble. His mother constantly told him that he was going to be her downfall, causing her to have a heart attack one of these days. Although, it was always said with so much love that Hoseok never took her seriously.

So when she did pass suddenly one day it was a shock to the whole family. A teenage Hoseok had been out tending to the cows when it had happened. According to his older sister, Jiwo, one second their mother had been stirring their dinner and the next she was on the floor. His sister tried her best to help their mother, but she was too far gone.

Hoseok had been such a mess that it had been up to Jiwo alone to plan their mother’s funeral. As they lived a few miles out from the capital, Laytani, there weren’t very many attendants. Hoseok and his family had never interacted all that much with the city folk as his mother was wary of being so close to anyone in the budding capital.

She and his father had grown up in a time where Laytani wasn’t around. The now land that made up the small nation of Alyistania used to be a nomans land that was used as an almost constant battle field. What little villages existed lived in a constant state of fear that a war would be waged in their backyards. That is until King Jungho came in and laid claim to the surrounding areas. The nation was only two decades old when Hoseok’s mother passed.

Although his mother and father moved closer to the capital to ensure the safety of their family, his mother was scared that any day now the nation would crumble. Hoseok and Jiwo had been forbidden from going into town by themselves, because of this most shopping was done by their father as was everything else that required leaving the family farm.

“W-When will father be back?” Hoseok whimpered as they watched their mother being lowered into the ground. Her grave was at the base of a sycamore tree that she had planted on their first day at this home. The only people in attendance were the family from the next farm over and a priest.

“I don’t know, Hoseok.” Jiwo guided his head onto her shoulder. Their father was gone on a hunting expedition that was made up of the closest farms. Winter was quickly approaching and they had to work together if they were going to survive it.

The farm boy let out a strangled whimper and let himself cry again. However, he vowed this would be the last time that he would shed a tear for his mother. He had spent the last two weeks hiding from the world crying for her.

After that day Hoseok had decided what his purpose in life would be.

“You want to be a Healer?” Jiwo quirked a brow from where she sat across the dinner table.

“Yes. I don’t want to have anyone else die around me!” the farm boy puffed out his chest.

“Hoseok-”

“I know it’s not a realistic goal, but I want to do what I can to help prevent as many deaths as I can.” Hoseok said in a more grim tone.

“You can hardly read.”

“But you the most literate person within a ten mile radius..”

“So?”

“Teach me!” Hoseok said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And so she did. Over the next few months Hoseok read more and more complicated literature. He and his sister ventured into the city to visit the library. The first time Hoseok had stepped into the building he felt himself vibrate with excitement. Never before had he thought about how many things he could fill his brain with. Just looking at the rows and rows of tomes made the young boy more determined.

After the first moon cycle of learning with his sister their father returned and he hadn’t taken the news well. He was a shell of his former self. In just a few seasons he passed as well. His funeral was just Hoseok and Jiwo, along with the priest. They had known for a while that it was just a matter of time. As soon as their father had heard the news the light left his eyes. Hoseok was sad of course, but he knew there was nothing he could have done for a broken heart.

It took the farm boy three years to get an apprenticeship. He had been accepted just after his twentieth birthday. It was a slow process due to him having to pick up the slack on the farm. Jiwo tried her best to help him when she could, but she mostly tended to the house and took care of their finances. So after many seasons of memorizing as many herbs applications and different medical procedures he was taken up at the biggest apothecary in all of Laytani.

The shop was run by a nice older woman named Jeonghi. She had decades of experience under her belt and Hoseok was chomping at the bits to learn everything that he could. In addition to her knowledge of different potions and rubs she had some experience in the arcane arts.

“Now I’m nowhere near as strong as I used to be but I pride myself in being able to heal even some of the worst injuries.” she claimed boldly one day, laughing at Hoseok's amazed face. His eyes twinkled with excitement and he was beaming ear to ear.

“Please teach me!” the apprentice clasped her hands firmly between his own.

“It’s not that easy, dear.” She smiled solemnly.

Hoseok had visibly deflated. His shoulders had sagged and her hands slipped from his grip. With a pouted he made his way over to his own desk and began grounding up some ginger root.

“Well…”

With just that drawn out word Hoseok perked back up.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

As it turns out it did hurt. A lot. It was the reason that Jeonghi was hesitant. She explained to him that since he was trying to manipulate something as strong as a living being that it would cost him severely. Hoseok had to use his own life force and pour it into the wounded to restore what they had lost.

It had taken Hoseok months to even figure out how much it truly hurt. His training consisted of mainly sitting around at first. Jeonghi had made a deal with King Jungho that Hoseok and she would heal the soldiers as they were wounded during their training. The apprentice had desperately tried to close gashes on the many soldiers with no success at first. Everytime Jeonghi tried to instruct him it felt to vague. She kept speaking of the flow of life forces and at first Hoseok was truly confused.

His problem was that he was thinking to much about it. Eventually it clicked that it was more of a feeling. It was raining on the day that everything finally fell into place for Hoseok.

A strapping young lad was on the ground clutching his side. Sticky blood poured out and mixed in the mud below. His leather armor had been easily sliced through by a metal sword and left his wound exposed.

“Hi, my name is Hoseok and I’m going to do my best to heal you.” If Hoseok were this soldier he wouldn’t have believed in him. After so much failure Hoseok was half tempted to just jump straight to the healing ointment he had on his belt. However, he knew that he was here to at least try to master this magic.

With a deep breath the apprentice placed both of his hands on the wound. His eyes fluttered shut and he focused on taking deep breaths, a tip from Jeonghi. The calming sound that came with the rain drowned out the moans and groans from the fallen boy. Hoseok felt himself drifting away and that's when he felt it.

He felt far away and oh so close at the same time. The boy’s aura was echoing off of him with each drop of blood that left his body. Without breaking his concentration, Hoseok pushed his own energy from his body. Once he made contact with the fallen man he gasped.

“Force your energy into him. Replace what he’s lost.” Jeonghi’s voice sounded in his mind.

Hoseok winced as he felt the first sting in his own side. He continued to pour his own energy into the wounded soldier. The more that he did the more his side hurt. When he couldn’t handle it anymore he let out a yelp and ripped his hands away. The apprentice was short of breath and on the verge of tears when he opened his eyes.

All that remained of the gash was a now small scar.

“Oh my gods.” Both Hoseok and the soldier said at the same time.

“I did it!” Hoseok jumped to his feet, but he then let out a scream of pain when the pain in his side worsened.

He fell to the mud and that's when he noticed that his white shirt was coated in red. With a shaky hand he pressed it to his stomach. On the same side that the soldier had been hurt, Hoseok now had a bleeding gash. In addition to that he felt as if he had just done ten laps around the farm.

“How did you even?” Jeonghi whispered to herself as he suddenly appeared at her apprentices side. She tore open his shirt and smeared her own healing ointment on it. Instantly Hoseok felt relief, but still he faded from consciousness.

When he had awakened it was no longer raining. Taking in his surrounding Hoseok had surmised that he had somehow had made it back home. He was laid in the small living room on a mat. Seated at the dining room table was his sister with his teach and surprisingly the soldier.

“You are awake!” Jeonghi was yet again at his side suddenly.

Her wrinkled hand was pressed to his forehead. She squinted her eyes as she looked at her apprentice, almost as if judging him. With a sigh she asked, “Have you healed before and not told me?”

“What? No?” Hoseok croaked out, his throat felt like he swallowed a knife.

“You are sure?” Jeonghi still had one hand pressed to his forehead, but the other gripped his arm tightly.

“You would have been the first to know if I had.” Hoseok winced and that's when Jiwo brought him a cup of water. After taking a few gulps he cleared his throat and spoke again, “Why?”

“There is no way that you should have been able to take on his wound on your first try. Your potential is unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“Really?” Hoseok smiled from ear to ear.

“Yah! Stop smiling! You almost died!” Jiwo slapped his chest.

The two siblings began to argue much to the amusement of Jeonghi and the soldier. As it turns out the solder, Wonil, wanted to thank Hoseok so he stayed over for the whole day until the apprentice had awakened. After expressing his gratitude he then thanked Jiwo for her hospitality and the kiss he placed on her hand lasted a little to long in Hoseok's opinion.

Hoseok had taken the rest of the week off from work, but after a few days he was raring to go. The only thing that kept him from going was Jiwo yelling at him. So when he finally strutted back into Jeonghi’s shop he was full of energy and ready to continue learning.

“So…” Jeonghi started slowly, Hoseok was in the process of gathering ingredients for her, “I didn’t think I was going to have to explain this just yet, and in my defense i never foresaw you being as potent as you are. However, I have a few things I need you to know when it comes to arcane healing.

Like I’ve said already you are using your own life force to heal others. That means that it is leaving you. So when you are healing someone you have to be sure that you don’t over do it. Think of a weighted scale, it too much goes to one side then the other side rises which is why you got hurt. You put to much into him. What you have to find the perfect equilibrium so that they are as healed as they can be before you starting hurting yourself.”

“So I can’t fully heal anybody this way without me getting hurt?” Hoseok felt his heart drop. He didn’t want that. He wanted everyone to be okay in the end.

“Kind of. If it is a more serious wound, yes. However, if it is just bruising or small cuts then you could easily age those to nothing without any harm to yourself.”

“But why? Does this mean I can only heal one person at a time if it is serious enough.?”

“Well the more train the more you will be able to heal. Think of it like training physically. The more you train your body the stronger you become. The longer you keep at this the more arcane energy your body will store and your magic will become more potent.”

“Well that’s goo-”

“However-” She cuts him off with a sharp look, “There will always be a price to pay. Our human bodies can only take so much.”

“Human…. Does that mean that there other species that don’t have this issue?” Hoseok felt excitement prick in him.

“Well yes. Fairies are the first to come to mind. While it drains their energy they do not risk taking any physical wounds. They utilize nature and the elements that surround them to avoid it.”

“Why can’t we?”

“We just aren’t connected to nature in that way. Humans use only arcane magic which can call upon the elements, but not in the same way.”

“But why?”

“Because that is the way it is.”

“That’s dumb.” Hoseok pouted, shuffling some recipes around to distract himself. He suddenly felt very useless. Magic was supposed to be this all powerful thing and he was going to wield it to do good. Or he was supposed to anyways. Now that he knew of the limitations he felt helpless just like he had as they lowered his mother into the ground.

However, he never quit. He knew that if he got stronger then he could do more and that was going to have to be good enough for him.

Hoseok became a permanent figure at the training grounds for the years to come. As did his sister, but she was there mainly for one man rather than the whole of the army. The man just so happened to be Wonil, first man that Hoseok had successfully healed.

On the summer after Hoseok’s twenty fourth birthday two very important events happened. The first was that Wonil and Jiwo had married and taken over the farm home. Hoseok was more than okay with this as he had found his own home in the city a year prior. It was more convenient for him to go to work and he much prefered to be surrounded by people.

The second being that the Black Mage was to visit the capitol to find an apprentice.

“Who is the Black Mage?” Hoseok asked a soldier as he healed a wound.

“Wait.” The soldier let out a laugh, “You don’t know who the Black Mage is?”

“Obviously not.” Hoseok scoffed.

“He’s only the strongest arcanist ever. He’s lived for hundreds of years and traveled across the world. Rumor has it that he is finally ready to share his knowledge with someone. It’s probably because he’s so withered and old that he’s about to croak.”

“Is that so?”

“I mean magic can only take you so far, right? Like with you and how you can’t heal all that many stab wounds.”

Hoseok gritted his teeth together and stopped his magic, “Oh would you look at that, you are all done.”

“What no-”

“Sorry. Magic and only take you so far.” Hoseok slapped the still present bruise causing the solder to wince. The young man took the hint and skittered back to training. With a sigh Hoseok leaned back on the bench and shut his eyes. He welcomed the rays of sun on his skin. With a small laugh he said, “Strongest arcanist ever, huh?”

~&~

The Black Mage was set to arrive on the next new moon after Hoseok had heard of him. From what he and Jeonghi had gathered the mage will be in the town square and he will be inviting people to show of their arcane prowess. From there if anybody peaks his interest he will train them.

Hoseok had tried to get his mentor to try out as well, but she adamantly refused, “There is nothing that he could teach an old geezer like myself. You surpassed me years ago.”

“But-”

“Have him train you for the both of us. Carry on my legacy as my apprentice.”

So on the next day after the new moon Hoseok found himself standing in the town square with dozens of other men and women. They ranged in age from teenagers to people who would have shared the same age as his parents. Hoseok was suddenly feeling self conscious. What if the Black Mage didn’t see anything in him?

However, these thoughts didn’t last long as he thought about everything Jeonghi told him over the past four years. About how he was the strongest arcane user she had ever seen. How he was a natural when it came to healing magics. So he found himself beginning not to care how the Black Mage thought of him, because he already had the best teacher ever.

Having collected himself, Hoseok made his way to a bench and sat down. He watched the fountain shoot out water at the top and have it cascade down it’s many layers. It was a warm and sunny day so Hoseok took to sunbathing to pass the time. It was very calming so when he heard a scream he was successfully startled.

Blinking to adjust to seeing in the sun again he noticed that the fountain was now shooting out fire. A bright green circle appeared at the top and out stepped the most handsome man Hoseok had ever seen. He wore many layers of black robes that were accented by a black belt tightly around his waist. His grey hair didn’t look like it was from old age and have been slicked back. The man wore a smug smirk that featured dimples. His calculating eyes swept through the crowd and landed on Hoseok for just a second longer than everyone else. Or so it felt.

“Hello all. I am Namjoon, the Black Mage.” His deep voice boomed through the town center. He stepped out onto the fire and Hoseok gasped in fear. However as Namjoon’s foot touched the flames they turned back to water and he simple stood at the top of the current, his robes not soaking up any of it.

Thunderous applause filled the area and Hoseok shrunk away from the noise. Namjoon raised one hand and it was suddenly silent again. Hoseok was surprised to see that people were still clapping they just didn’t produce any sound from it.

“As I’m sure you have heard I am on the hunt for an apprentice to share my knowledge and skills with. I will not guarantee that any of you will be that person, but you could be.” Namjoon looked directly at Hoseok again as he finished, “So who would like to volunteer to go first?”

Suddenly a bunch of people were clambering towards the fountain, shoving each other out of the way. Shouts began to fill the area again, annoying Hoseok slightly. However, Namjoon looked overjoyed, clapping his hands as if he was watching a comedic play. Like a feather the Black Mage floated down to the crowd, which formed an orderly line.

Hoseok watched as the people came and went to show off from the safety of his bench. Quite a few people produced a small flame in the palm of their hand, but it was quickly snuffed out by the Black Mage just whisking his hand through it. There was a woman who shot sparks out of her fingertips, but when Namjoon asked if that was it she ran away crying. Nobody impressive came forward until there were just two left.

Hoseok watched with interest as a woman who had been leaning against a building the whole time walked forward.

“Keep a close eye on me.” She said and then she began to swirl her arms around in complex movements. Behind her a purple light began to form and then a purple circle appeared much like Namjoon’s green one. She let herself fall back and then she disappeared, only to reappear through a new purple portal right next to Hoseok on the bench.

The apothecary was surprised to say the least, and let out a scream to show as such. However, his scream was nothing in comparison to the womans. Hoseok just barely heard Namjoon click his tongue off to the side.

The woman fell forward off the bench, twisting in the air to fall on her back, and Hoseok gasped when he was that her stomach was covered in blood. Looking over to where she had first been he saw the front part of her blouse covered in blood. Without another thought Hoseok lunged to the ground next to her and placed his hands on her stomach, causing her to let out another scream.

“It’s going to be okay. It’s just a thin layer of skin.”

With that Hoseok closed his eyes and began to focus on the light breeze and the fountain rather than her pained gasps. Soon enough he could feel her life force pouring out. After taking a deep breath he began to put his own energy into her wound. Unbeknownst to him his hands began to glow, causing the Black Mage’s eyes to widen.

Hoseok had healed so many surface wounds over the years that this was a cake walk to him. He hadn’t even broken a sweat when he started to feel that she had almost fully healed. Her stomach was still painted red, but was no longer bleeding.

“There you go.” Hoseok stood up, helping her get up with him.

“Thank you so much!” She wrapped him up in a hug and Hoseok was forced to look at Namjoon. The Black Mage stared at him with calculating eyes, any trace of joy devoid on his face.

“No problem.” Hoseok struggled to seperate them.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Oh nothing at all.” Hoseok shook his hands back and forth.

“But you saved my life!”

“It was nothing.”

“A-are you sure? I don’t mind paying you or if you need something else- like anything else.”

“I promise that I’m fine.”

The woman brushed some fingers through her hair and sighed. She thanked him one more time and went on her way. She didn’t even spare a glance at the Black Mage, having known that she failed his little audition.

Once she was gone Namjoon spoke up, “So was that it?”

“What do you mean?” Hoseok felt small under the powerful man’s stare.

“You can heal wounds? That’s it?” the Black Mage crossed his arms and Hoseok felt his blood boil.

“And what of it!? My master says that healing magic is that hardest to-”

Namjoon scoffed and spoke over him, “No it’s not. Do you want to know whats harder? Keeping yourself young for over three hundred years. Now that’s hard. Practically killing yourself to save others is child's play.”

“Excuse me? How dare you?” Hoseok had never been so offended. He had been working so hard for almost a decade to help others and this man had the gall to stomp all over that. No! He is no man! He’s an insect!

“It’s the truth. Come back when you have something more to show for yourself.” Namjoon began to dust off his robes and turned away from the apothecary. With a swish of his wrist another green portal appeared and the Black Mage stepped through, disappearing from sight.

Hoseok let out a shout and stomped off to Jeonghi’s shop.

---

Woot it's finally out

I'm now working on two stories so I just wanna let y'all know updates might be slow ;-;