Everything Litty, I Love When It's Hot

Since becoming a genin, Lucian had been spending a lot more time with some of the other genin in his class. The three in particular he had been hanging out with were Travin, Ryuko, and Lucid. And though he personally felt like he had been developing as a shinobi at a good pace, sometimes it didn’t seem like enough. As of lately, Travin and Ryuko had been in his ear regarding a certain event within Kumogakure: the Chuunin Exams. Lucian himself had not even thought about becoming a Chuunin yet, especially considering that he was still a fresh genin without a team assigned to him. In his mind, the elders and higher ups of Kumogakure probably didn’t even know his name, nor would consider him for a promotion any time soon. But perhaps that was what the Chuunin Exams were designed for: to make a name for one’s self. And so after his most recent session of training with Travin and Ryuko, Lucian had a lot to think about.

He’d find himself in his backyard on a late night, staring up at the stars which twinkled and glimmered across the midnight sky. As he relished in their distant beauty, he’d start to let his mind unwind. The Goka genin had always been one to hate complacency, but in this case he had not been sure if he was actually content where he was or if he had hoped to grow more as a genin before kick starting the process to the next rank up. And so he reflected. More specifically he reflected on what being a genin meant to him. As he did so, he’d practice some of his jutsu in the meantime, beginning with the Scorch release techniques he’d recently perfected. Performing the hand seals to his Super Steaming Murder technique, he’d expel chakra from his body so that six scorch orbs would form around his body. The heat emitted from them provided a comfort to the genin, which allowed him to better focus his thinking and quell some of the anxiety he faced with the decision at hand. He’d manipulate the spheres to orbit his body, at a rather slow pace. And with each orb that passed him, he tried to think on a principle that he learned since becoming a shinobi. Determination, courage, endurance, camaraderie, leadership, and finally devotion. As he thought on these pillars of his nindo, he’d form a series of hand seals again and coalesce all six orbs to form into one massive one a few meters away from his body but above his position. The orb was controlled, and emanated brightness and warmth. It glowed brightly even in the darkness of the night, and most importantly was a visual representation of how these six principles when combined grew into something greater. Not only was this Lucian’s Incinerating Flare technique, but it was a reflection of his journey as a shinobi and he himself. He was a star among the blackness of night. Just like the moniker he had upheld: The Black Star. And upon recognizing this, the young genin grew a confident smile upon his face.

As his eyes stared at the massive scorch orb, they’d begin to transition into something greater.  And though he couldn’t see this change himself, he certainly could feel it. Perhaps it was the stress he put himself under while mulling the decision. Or maybe it was a product of the intense training regimen he consistently followed. But regardless of what it was, an intense burning sensation began to develop in his eyes. The strain had been immense, and it spread to his entire face, almost feeling as if it had been on fire. With a drop to his knees, the scorch orb he created dissipated. He cupped his hands over top of his eyes, looking to deal with the intense agony that he faced. As he did so, he could feel the sweat trickling from his brows meet his palms. After a few seconds of dealing with the pain, he’d raise to his feet and rush into his house from the backyard. Heading straight for the bathroom, he’d look in its mirror and focus on his eyes. His once white sclera were now bloodshot red in irritation. His vision became immensely cloudy, almost as if he had gotten dust in his eyes. Instinctively, he’d turn on the cold water from the faucet and attempt to flush his eyes with its soothing water. Though it was uncomfortable, it did bring a period of temporary relief. But no matter how much time he had spent rinsing his eyes the pain was only temporarily nullified. Realizing his attempts were futile, he’d dry his face and rush over to his room. Quietly, he would lay in bed and shut his eyes tightly. Quickly he’d notice that as long as his eyes were closed, their pain wasn’t as sharp. And so after what felt like hours, his mind would tune out the pain and Lucian would doze off into a slumber.

When morning would roll around, Lucian would be the first to awaken in his household. No longer did his eyes or face feel on fire, but they had actually felt as good as new. He’d dismiss this experience last night as potentially singeing his eyes with the immense heat from the flames he produced. Though this explanation seemed bogus to him. Never before had any source of firm made him feel in pain or uncomfortable, so why would this start today? Mentally he shrugged off this thought, heading to the bathroom to perform his morning ritual of brushing his teeth and washing his face. And when he had concluded the process with drying his face, he’d look up into the mirror and be astonished with what he saw. The irises in his eyes were no longer a golden orange. Instead they had been crimson red. His sclera were also purely white, signifying that his eyes were not irritated at all. Upon getting closer to the mirror, he’d observe that not only was the pigmentation of his eyes red but also his pupils were no longer black. Instead they were as white as his sclera, and also as white as the solid concentric circle which surrounded his pupil.

Clutching his heart, he could feel his heart rate accelerating. He wasn’t necessarily panicked, but he had not been sure if what he was experiencing was natural by any means. And so Lucian did what any teenager experiencing a sudden and unexpected change to their body would do.

“MAMA! POPS!” he would exclaim while darting out from the bathroom, loud enough to awaken all in the house. At his max speed he’d rush into his parent’s room, swinging the door wide open so that it banged against the wall. With a leap he’d jump into their bed like a tiger pouncing on its prey. Lucian then started patting on them aggressively to wake them up.

“Wake up, wake up!”

“Lucian…” his dad would say in somewhat of a groggy state.

His mother, would lean up and instinctively grab ahold of Lucian’s face. “Lucian, you’ve got to stop doing this. What is it now honey?”

“My eyes! What’s wrong with them?” And as Lucian asked the question, he’d notice that he was not seeing his parents in the same state that he always had. Instead, he was observing some sort of heat profile of their bodies, which each glowed a bright white color among the coolness of the room they stood with.

“Okay, okay let me see,” his father would say, grabbing ahold of his glasses then staring at his son’s face. Immediately his parent’s eyes would widen in revelation, and they’d exclaim in joy. “SON! OH MY GOD!”

“WHAT? WHAT?”

“Your eyes! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! You have them, you actually have them! The Kashogan! We always thought it was just a myth but you actually have them!”

“Wh-what is that??”

“It is the famed dojutsu of our clan…Everyone had always said it was extremely rare, but you seem to have awakened them somehow. Which means that you truly are a prodigy of the Goka!”

Upon this exchange going on, Lucian and his parents would embrace each other in celebration. His siblings would rush into the room and be caught up to speed on the happenings that had the whole house in an uproar. And subsequently his parents would go on to tell their children about the mysteries of the Goka clan, more specifically on the Kashogan and its capabilities. Though they had only a sliver of information about the first stage of the dojutsu. As lore had it, the eyes were something that only manifested into the chosen ones. And all that they had known about its functionality was that they bestowed its users some level of chakra heat vision. However they sort of implied that heat vision was only the surface level abilities of the clan, and with practice and refinement they could develop into something even more powerful.

Following this discussion, the family had breakfast and Lucian was oddly quiet in self-reflection. To him, he had undergone an unexpected but necessary change after some late night training. However he thought more on the happenings, realizing that this all stemmed when he began to question if he was ready to take the next steps in his journey as a shinobi. And so as he ate his breakfast, he smiled in confirmation that he was becoming more of a capable genin. So much so that maybe it did make sense for him to begin his journey of becoming a Chuunin.

-Exit-
WC = 1614. 

25% Max Stat Discount:
- 1500 WC to Stage 1 Kashogan (1500/1500)
- Five instances of using Fire/Scorch Release techniques: First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth above
- 114 WC to 100 Fists of Fury (220/750)

Approved