39 Path of an Eidos

Hoseok was shocked at the speed and force of Jungkook. He simply leapt forward yet he had closed the distance between them so much. His gauntlets and greaves were definitely not just for show. Hoseok quickly grinned as he jumped forward and then, as Jungkook drew nearer, Hoseok jumped up into the air and Jungkook charged right past him.

Jungkook stopped, tried to look up but was blinded. Hoseok had jumped and positioned himself with the sun at his back, so Jungkook couldn't see him properly. Hoseok floated in mid air chuckling to himself before using the wind to propel him forward, directly at Jungkook.

Jungkook sensed an attack, she threw up his gauntlets to block. Hoseok slashed down with his blade as it clashed with Jungkook's gauntlets. To Hoseok's surprise, he was the one deflected as he was sent back from the force of the collision. As he looked over at Jungkook's feet, Hoseok understood what had happened. Jungkook's greaves had dug into the ground, keeping him in place.

Hoseok was impressed, he had a powerful defense that would be hard to break through. Hoseok was happy to see his dongsaeng grow this strong. Now, let's see how his attack was. Hoseok gestured for Jungkook to come.

Jungkook nodded as he ran forward, again with insane speed. Jungkook reached Hoseok, throwing a punch. Hoseok swiftly attacked the inside of Jungkook's forearms, deflecting and redirecting the punches away from him. Jungkook continued to throw punches and Hoseok continued to deflect them away from him. Hoseok smirked.

"Come now, Kookie. I know this isn't all you learnt, right?"

Jungkook grinned. He thrust both his fists forward, pushing Hoseok back. As Hoseok regained his balance, he saw Jungkook with his fists above his head. Then he sent them crashing into the ground. As they hit the ground, a powerful shockwave vibrated through the ground. As the shockwave reached Hoseok, giant spikes made from from rocks burst out of the ground.

Hoseok responded immediately, twisting and dodging, weaving through the rock spikes. Just as he was able to get out, he found a fist was close to him. He quickly put his blades up to block and he was sent flying backwards, pushed by the powerful force coming off of Jungkook. Just as Hoseok landed, he found Jungkook had his fists on the ground again.

At that moment, giant tree roots exploded up from the ground, lashing at and trying to grab Hoseok. Hoseok had barely enough time to dodge and weave his way out of the large roots way. He slashed his way through the roots and tried to leap out but was intercepted by a powerful kick, which sent back into the chaos of the large, attacking roots. He finally was able to slash his way out of the roots.

He was now huffing and puffing, breathing heavily, clearly exhausted. But he had a bright look in his eyes as he looked at Hoseok. Jimin and Sung Deuk were also looking at Jungkook with the same gleam in their eyes. He was truly powerful and those that were Battle Mages could see and respect it. They all looked over excitedly. Taehyung wasn't as informed as the others, but he could clearly understand and recognize that Jungkook had changed a lot over the past month.

Seeing Jungkook as he was now, Taehyung silently decided to grow as a Battle Mage to one day be able to fight on the same level. Namjoon was in awe at the improvement of the young maknae. Seokjin and Hyosang looked at each, completely shocked. Yoongi observed quietly, but the corner of his mouth flicked up in a small smirk.

Hoseok gathered his energy and charged at Jungkook. Jungkook began punching the ground, causing rocks and large branches to come out of the ground and attack Hoseok. Hoseok moved swiftly, dodging the attacks with ease. Jungkook threw more attack but still couldn't stop Hoseok who continued forward with such speed.

Jungkook realized that Hoseok was now fighting serious.

Jungkook pierced the ground with his fists as Hoseok came closer. Jungkook roared as he pulled out two large chunks of the ground, each fist now a giant ball of earth, and slammed them together on Hoseok, seemingly crushing him.

The others were stunned to see Jungkook catch Hoseok. They hadn't expected him to beat Hoseok like this. Jungkook's eyes suddenly went wide as he turned to the side, but he was too slow. He felt a powerful kick send him flying sideways. Before he even hit the ground, he felt a strong breeze brush past him and then he was kicked into the air.

He again felt another rush of wind past him as he looked above him. Hoseok was floating in midair. He was spinning his blades quickly, gathering wind around him. Jungkook was heading straight towards Hoseok. He tried to block or defend but he didn't have enough time. Hoseok sent a surge of wind down as he smashed against Jungkook.

Jungkook was sent hurtling down at an incredible speed. With a loud bang, Jungkook crashed on the ground, breaking through it. Embedding himself in the floor. Dust flew into the air at the force of this collision.

Jungkook couldn't see anything due to the dust, when suddenly he felt something land on him, hitting him hard. As it hit him, the dust was blown away by a powerful wind. Jungkook then felt a blade on his neck. He them saw the smiling face of his hyung.

"You have improved, but you still have a long way to go. Those were some nice moves, Kookie."

Hoseok removed the blade and stretched out his hand. Jungkook sighed as he took Hoseok's hand and was pulled up.

"Oh man. I really thought I had it. I improved so much but it still wasn't enough to beat you, hyung."

Jimin came over and chuckled.

"Do you think we would just sit here while you trained? We have been growing as well. If this was before you left, the current you would have easily defeated Hoseok hyung."

Jungkook looked at Hoseok surprised.

"Really, hyung?"

Hoseok grinned as he helped to carry Jungkook over to the others.

"It is true. You are at a level that we were before. But we have grown just as you have. Never stop growing."

Namjoon came over nodding.

"There is always room to improve. I can see that you want to be on the same level as Jimin and Hoseok. If you really want it, keep up your training and continue to grow."

Jungkook nodded. The boys all came around and joyfully talked with him, welcoming the maknae back. While everyone talked though, Jungkook was thinking about something and wasn't entirely there. Jimin picked up on this, and as the others all left to go back to the dorm, Jimin pulled Jungkook aside.

"What's up?"

Jungkook looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

Jimin gave him a gentle look.

"I know that something has been on your mind. It was clear after the fight that you were thinking about something."

Jungkook stayed quiet. Jimin sat patiently and waited for Jungkook to speak. After a few minutes of silence, Jungkook finally told him.

"I'm thinking about focusing on Battle Maging. I never knew how fun it was and I don't need to use my voice. I can just use my body. Spirit Calling and Magic-Channelling involves me needing to speak, and I still get nervous around people. I don't know if I can do that. But Battle Maging is fun. So, I think I might pursue being a Battle Mage and move away from being an Eidos."

The two boys sat in silence for a while. Jimin turned to Jungkook.

"You are talented as a Battle Mage. But your are also talented as a Spirit Caller. I understand you aren't confident with Spirit Calling and it is easier to just focus on being a Battle Mage. But you can't limit yourself. You can't keep holding yourself back, Kookie. If you want to grow, you need to keep pushing yourself. You can do better and be better."

Jungkook sat in silence, taking in all of his hyungs words. Jimin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me. Trust the team. And trust yourself. You can be so much more than just a Battle Mage. And being an Eidos doesn't mean you can't grow as a Battle Mage. It just opens more paths up to you to explore and grow in. Believe in yourself more and see what you are truly capable of."

Jimin stood up.

"Think about it, dongsaeng."

Jimin walked off, leaving Jungkook to think over what Jimin said.