Blaze and Tom had landed on a hill in the middle of nowhere. And now, their only form of transport had literally and figuratively flown away. Luckily, they hadn’t been too far away from their goal, so they went on foot. Blaze had still felt queasy from using so much mana and they had to wait for a few hours before he could travel again. Tom had advised Blaze to use his new power at the start of a fight or else it might make him immobile. Blaze had not been happy.
“Suck it up.” Tom had told him. “Lots of people don’t even have extra powers for their entire lives. Some people would kill for that gem.”
Blaze had agreed shamefully. He knew that many people were poor and weak, since he had been that himself not too long ago. So, instead of complaining about the star power, he had started training to lower the mana costs.
“Mana doesn’t have a certain amount of cost.” Tom explained. “Mana is a kind of energy you use to power your… well, powers. If you learn to harness this energy, it will barely cost you at all.”
So, Blaze had been training every day, blowing up in gusts of wind every few minutes, since right now he hasn’t learned to harness the energy at all. But he felt that even though it was as small as an ant, the mana cost went down a bit. Tom hadn’t been really happy about getting knocked to the ground all the time, but he thought of it as a training method. He tried to dodge the wind before he got blasted and if he did, he always landed on his feet. Two weeks later, they reached Angel’s bane.
****
Blaze had been deeply impressed by the size of the town, the name of which he still didn’t know. Now, he stood in front of a city a hundred times bigger than the now small town. Tom watched Blaze in absolute awe and grinned.
“I always love your reaction. Don’t stop now.” Tom told him. Blaze glared back but didn’t say anything.
“Maybe I could bring you to every single city in the entire world.” Tom continued, looking mockingly thoughtful. Blaze rolled his eyes and started heading toward the city.
“Hey, want to go to the kingdom? It’s the biggest city around!” Tom suggested. Blaze stopped, took a deep breath, then turned around and lunged towards Tom and exploded into gusts of wind. Tom just sidestepped and Blaze crashed onto the ground.
“I hate you.” He mumbled, his mouth full of snow and dirt.
****
Blaze squinted into a store window. They had wandered into the city and Blaze had tried to not gape–- and had miserably failed. Blaze had seen angels, humanoids with unique wings, some looked like typical angel wings, others were different. Some looked like the ones of a dragon, others were more bizarre. He didn’t recognize them at all, not even from fairy tales. To be honest, he didn’t know if some of them were fairies. Angels floated a few inches over the ground, which made Blaze wonder how much mana they used all the time. Then, something else had caught his eye. He had seen a gem store. Shelves were stocked high with star gems.
“What are you looking at?” Tom asked. He stared through the window, then sighed.
“With the money you have right now, you would be able to afford a common gem that lets you, I don’t know, make a pebble every hour?”
“There’s a power for that?”
“There’s a power for everything.”
Blaze whistled, then froze. Blaze turned his head, slowly, to stare at Tom.
“Is there a star gem to make me like broccoli?”
“Why is that the first thing you think about?”
“Everyone would want a power to like broccoli. It would solve so many problems.”
“For example?” Tom asked wearily.
“Not liking broccoli.” Tom facepalmed.
“You are an idiot, you know that?”
“Yep!” Blaze said happily.
****
“We need to take care of three things.” Tom told Blaze after he had pulled Blaze away from the shops. “First, we need somewhere to stay. An apartment would be best, but an inn would do as well. Second, we need money. The best way to do that is to become monster hunters.”
Tom stopped and glanced at Blaze.
“You don’t know what a monster hunter is, right?”
Blaze nodded half consciously, staring at a man making animated incorporeal animals for children. Tom facepalmed and ran his hand over his face.
“A monster hunter is a profession. The most important part is getting a recruiter. The recruiter gives you quests that he got from an angel or one he made himself. Are you listening?”
“What?” Blaze asked. Tom groaned.
“Nevermind. You need training.” Tom considered for a moment, then grabbed Blaze’s arm.
“Hey, what are… OW!” Blaze yelped, high pitched, when Tom scratched a house number on his arm.
“Let me guess, you don’t know what this is. Just ask where this is…” Tom tapped Blaze’s slightly bleeding arm. “.. and someone will show you where to go.” Then, Tom blinked.
“Or not?” The scratch marks had disappeared, leaving only a little bit of blood.
“Do you have regeneration power?”
“Yeah. From my dragon race.”
Hyper Regeneration (Tier 5)
Race Ability
Dragon
Enhances the user's regeneration ability. Can regenerate wounds. Cannot regenerate eyes.
“Of course. Why shouldn’t you? You have absolutely overpowered powers. I forgot.” Tom shook his head.
“Nevermind. Just ask for the Hedgelow Dojo, got it?”
Blaze nodded. “Do I get to buy some…” “NO!”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
****
Blaze knocked at the wooden gate. Blaze had asked around for the dojo and had found it quickly. It had high demand and lots of people wanted to go there. Apparently, there was a test or something. Also, rich people just gave their children overpowered powers to get into the dojo. Blaze had rolled his eyes at this. Of course rich people would do this. He was starting to detest them. But then again, he had overpowered powers. Then suddenly, the gates flung open, startling Blaze, and revealed an old man.
“Uh, hello. I’m here to meet Mr. Hedgelow?” Blaze asked the old man.
“The old man didn’t say anything, just looked Blaze up and down. Then, he met Blaze’s eyes.
“You are a Draconis, aren’t you?” The man asked. Blaze blinked in surprise.
“You know my family?” Blaze asked. But the man was silent again. They stood in silence, staring at each other, until the man spoke.
“Follow me.” He ordered and turned to walk slowly into the house, which looked japanese.
“Oook.” Blaze murmured and stepped inside. The door flung shut and Blaze yelped.
“What the –”
****
The old man led Blaze through the house into the back, where Blaze found to be a training yard. Other children were there, all sitting, chattering among each other. The old man tapped the ground with his stick and in a flash, everyone was silent.
“This is Blaze. Blaze Echo.” The old man said. Blaze turned his head to stare at the man and was about to reject when the man threw one glance at him. It was a challenge. A challenge of silence. Blaze raised his eyebrows but didn’t speak up. The man turned to the students.
“He will join you in your education.” Blaze blinked in surprise. Blaze had heard that there was a test but he hadn’t done any trial. The other students were also confused, muttering to each other. One spoke up. It was a girl with silver hair and green eyes, who looked around the age of 13, so around Blaze’s age. “I thought the initiation hadn't begun yet, master.”
“It hasn’t, yes.” The old man said. Blaze turned his gaze towards the old man again. So, this man was Hedgelow.
“Why is he here, master?” Another student asked, a boy with blond hair and brown eyes.
“He came to me just now and asked for training. I took him in.” Mr. Hedgelow answered calmly.
“From the street?” The same boy asked. Mr. Hedgelow nodded.
“This is a joke.” A gruff voice called out. The crowd split to let a huge boy with rippling muscles through.
“There’s absolutely no way that you will just take anyone. He is a streetrat.” Mr. Hedgelow said nothing, his expression unreadable.
“I’m not going to let this insult stand, master. Leave, you peasant, or pay the price!” The boy roared and pulled a massive greatsword from his back to point at Blaze. No one spoke. No one tried to stop this, not even Hedgelow. Blaze turned to glance at Mr. Hedgelow for the third time and saw a small smile in his unreadable expression. He had wanted this. There had been a test after all. A test of resolve and courage. Blaze snorted and turned to face the boy. He rolled up his right sleeve and grinned. The boy raised his eyebrows.
“Fighting a swordsman on my first day. What’s your name?” Blaze asked. The boy blinked, then growled. “Derek.”
Blaze made a predator grin. His father had taught him this tactic. If he ever faced an opponent, there were three things he had to remember. First, never show if you’re scared unless you’re faking it. Second, smiling in the face of danger unnerves enemies. And finally, unnerved enemies make mistakes. Derek snarled.
“How are we going to do this, Derek? Fight here or in free ground? No, wait, let me choose,...” Blaze pretended to consider his choice. “Here.” Blaze launched off the ground and dashed towards Derek. Derek raised his sword in anticipation and swung. Blaze leaped into the air and tried to kick Derek. But Derek wasn’t some random child. He was a noble child with combat training. Derek grabbed Blaze by the collar and flung him high into the air. Blaze was sent flying.
“Strength enhancement or uncommon rank.” Blaze muttered and flipped in the air, using his aerial acrobatics. Blaze was high in the air now, directly over Derek. Blaze grinned and raised his hand and aimed it at Derek.
“Magic is mine to wield.” Blaze chanted.
Pride of Warnell
Legendary Spell
Human
This ability grants the user the ability to harness the power of rituals. Users can use legendary rituals. Rituals which require additional materials can only be cast with additional materials but material cost will be decreased. The user will gain instant proficiency and knowledge in rituals. This star power increases rank with the highest rank star power in the user's star deck. This star power uses moderate mana.
His power had upgraded thanks to his Fallen Demon Set. “Grant me the strength of giants.” Blaze chanted. Instantly, his muscles started growing bigger. Blaze grew slightly bigger but nothing crazy. Blaze started falling and he was falling fast. Blaze raised his fist, ready to strike.
****
Mr. Hedgelow had recognised the boy as soon he had stood before his door. He had his father’s eyes and his mothers hair and the same lean, sleek body of his mother. He still had little muscle but not much. Hedgelow had to work on that. Hiro Hedgelow hadn’t seen Alexander and Elyn for five years and when he heard of their first child, he had been happy for them. They had even named the child after him, Blaze Hiro Draconis. Then, he had heard of Elyn’s death. Hiro had been crushed and both he and Alexander had retired from their jobs as monster hunters. Victor had continued working. Then, Alexander had crafted the mythical gem. Using the core shards of two of their greatest foes and had made the star set Fallen Demon. Blackthorn had instantly demanded for it but Alexander had made a requirement that it had to be part of the Draconis family. This conflict had finally parted their team and Hiro had opened a school for young monster hunters. He hadn’t known the fates of the other two but seeing this child standing in front of him had memories come crashing back. Now, he was watching that exact child fighting one of his most brutal trainees with a grin on his face. He knew that was just an act but many didn’t have enough resolve to even make a poker face. He watched as the boy summoned a rune ritual and he watched the boy get stronger, muscles growing. Rare strength. This boy could do rare strength rituals in record time. Hiro knew this boy would become great one day… and it filled him with dread.
****
Blaze came crashing down on Derek. He started incanting another incantation. “Release the…” Blaze paused the incantation until he was in Derek’s range of attack. “... storm.” Derek swung his greatsword at Blaze but Blaze parried using his backhand. The greatsword cracked. Blaze landed on the ground and wind escaped him. Blaze had trained the entire trip to Angel’s bane, so he was confident it wouldn’t cost him too much mana. The wind knocked Derek off his feet and Blaze punched Derek rapidly five times on the chest, knocking him upwards.
Congratulations! Martial Artist (Tier 5) has reached Level 6.
Your racial ability Boiling Blood has reached Uncommon Rank.
“Boiling Blood.” Blaze said and prepared to leap. Derek roared and swung his blade, a storm of freezing air following. Blaze felt ice all over his body but ignored it. Blaze leaped into the air but missed Derek, who had escaped. Derek aimed his sword at Blaze and chanted a spell. A cone of cold wind spat out of the blade and covered Blaze. When Derek stopped, Blaze had stuck inside an ice cube.
“Weak.” Derek snorted and turned to speak to the crowd. “He’s weak! He doesn’t belong…” Derek cut off. Everyone was staring behind him. Derek turned to stare at Blaze. His fist was glowing red.
“What is he doing?” Derek growled. Mist started rising from the ice cube and it melted. Blaze shot out of mist, slid under Derek, tripped him and punched him directly in the stomach.
Derek gasped and spat out blood. “What the hell?” Derek could still rasp out before he was sent shooting into the air. Blaze landed and glanced up, nonchalantly. All eyes were on him now, staring at Blaze.
“I think I had hit him too hard. Is he coming down?” Blaze asked and squinted, glancing up. “Oh, yep, there he comes.” Derek was plummeting down, unconscious and burning.
“I should probably catch him.” Blaze muttered to himself and leaped, launching himself. His strength power had only reached uncommon rank but the strength boost was far greater than before. Blaze grabbed Derek’s giant arm as he was falling and landed, dropping an unconscious Derek on the ground.
“Anyone else?” Blaze asked, before spitting out massive amounts of blood. He groaned and sat down on the ground.
“Hey, I didn’t faint.” He said to himself, not noticing the gazes set on him. “Is there a healer here? For good old Derek over here.” Blaze poked Derek. “Is he dead? Nope, he’s breathing.”
“I believe you gave us enough proof to accept you into my dojo, Blaze Echo.” Mr. Hedgelow said. “And yes, please get a healer.”