CITY DISTRICT, 12:00PM
AUGUST 12, 2010
“EVERYONE PLEASE, EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY! IT’S DANGEROUS HERE!”
There was chaos out in the city; some dragons from the Big-Three were wreaking havoc, tormenting civilians and being nuisances in general. These guys were from the Inferno Gang, a band of Flame users, and their leader Kallavan the Inferno was with them. A few Hunters were deployed to subdue the troublemakers, but with the presence of the gang leader, they could only defend themselves until reinforcements arrived, and some took the responsibility of keeping the civilians secure.
As they raised hell, Kallavan mocked everyone and asserted the Dragons’ dominance:
“Didn’t I warn you all, dumbasses?”
“Anyone who isn’t one of us, is a waste of sperm. You're all insignificant cockroaches!”
Inferno Blaze! · 地獄の火だ (Ji-goku no Hi-da)
Kallavan’s eyes glowed red, and from the palm of his hand he blasted a large beam of fire at the group of Hunters.
“Shit-!”
Soul Barrier! · 魂結界 (Tama-shii Kek-kai)
One of the Hunters acted swiftly, encasing his nearby comrades within a Soul Barrier. His name was Kodaki Yamaguchi, a Senior Hunter and captain of the unit being led that day.
“It’s really annoying dealing with these Inferno snakes...and that guy’s actually the gang’s Leader, isn’t he?”
“Can our reinforcements go any slower?!”
“He should be arriving any minute now, Kodaki!” another hunter responded.
“‘He’? Singular??”
Kodaki was initially baffled at this information, but then recalled exactly what kind of people his superiors were. He went on to ask,
“I take it that means it’s Emir-sama?”
“No, I believe they said it was -”
Suddenly, the temperature of the area changed…it got slightly colder. This did not go unnoticed by Kallavan, who had furthermore sensed the energy of a person drawing near.
“What’s this? It’s cold...who?...”
Then there was a small rushing blizzard of snow next to the Hunters, with ice forming on the road. There emerged an individual having maya-blue colored hair, snow-white skin, wearing aqua and white clothing. Glancing over at the Hunters, they were all happy to see him.
“R- RAKULLI-SENPAI!!”
“Good Morniiing my lovely subordinates!”
“it’s noon now, sir.”
“Um, we’re glad to see you sir, but, what took you so long?”
For a few seconds he remained silent, until he gave them an annoyed, cold look, and responded very seriously:
“...I Was Taking a Nap.”
They stared at him blankly.
“So, it’s the Inferno Gang, huh? No wonder they sent me, lazy fuckers,” he annoyedly remarked.
“Eh?”
“Nothing.”
Gazing over on the Dragons, he looked steadfastly at Kallavan, disgusted.
“Is that their leader?” he asked.
“Yes sir. He’s way too strong.”
“what a fugly mug.”
Kallavan however, had been wary of the young man from the moment he arrived. The Hunters had shouted his name, but he wasn’t near enough to hear.
“Ever since he got here, it’s gotten a little colder...”
“You. Who are you?” he asked directly.
Stretching his arms and legs, he playfully responded to the Dragon saying,
“Hmph...you’ll find out very soon ;)”
“...what’s this guy’s deal -”
?!
The young man majestically leapt high into the air! Maneuvering his body upside-down, he spread out his hands which gave off a white glow, and there came forth shards of ice shooting from his palms toward the Dragons, who intercepted by accurately scorching each one, as well as launching fireballs at him. His feet, as they moved about in the air, created small platforms of ice which he used as footholds, dodging the attacks while advancing toward his opponents.
“Kehe...I hope you brought a winter coat!” he exclaimed with a grin,
Ice Age! ·い氷の時代 (Ikori no Ji-dai)
As he said this, he landed on the road and placed his arms on the ground, from which spawned large glaciers of ice, rushing toward the Dragons.
Inferno Scorch! · 地獄の焦がす (Ji-goku no Koga-su)
As they neared, Kallavan swiped his arm upward which launched a gigantic flare of fire at the advancing ice glaciers, melting most of the ice and stopping their progress.
“This ice...it’s you! Steffan Rakulli!!” Kallavan declared upon realization.
Steffan applauded his opponent as he took his time approaching from the steam.
“Bingo! 10 Points for you! Took you long enough, though. Minus 5.”
“You act much different from what I’ve heard about you,” the gang leader expressed.
“So, you’re Steffan...the genius descendant of the ancient Ice users, the Rakulli Clan.
“Yup! 10 more points!”
Kallavan glared at him, annoyed by his nonchalant behaviour.
“But, I surely hope you don’t take me for some lackey who stands no chance against you.”
“...are you underestimating me? Minus 15 points,” Steffan menacingly responded with a glare.
“SCREW OFF WITH YOUR POINTS ALREADY!”
Furious, Kallavan began spitting a barrage of fireballs from his mouth at Steffan, who evaded each one by forming ice skaters on his feet and skating across the area, gradually advancing toward Kallavan. As he progressed closer, a few Dragons tried to stop him, but Steffan after just making contact with each one, froze them within icicles. The Rakulli Clan’s Ice is known within the Sorcery World for being very difficult to melt, composed in such a way that hasn’t even been seen anywhere on the planet. The Dragons however, particularly those possessing the Flame Dragon’s powers, are able to melt the ice to an extent.
As Steffan froze his opponents, he yelled out to Kallavan saying,
“I hope you understand what happens if I get close to you!”
Just as Kallavan seemed to be releasing one more fireball, Steffan got right in front of him, about to thrust his hand upon Kallavan’s face.
But suddenly, Kallavan...smiled!
“JUST KIDDING!”
He was faking the act of releasing a fireball! In that moment, focused on his repetitive attacks, Steffan failed to notice the dragon's hand engulfed in fire, about to make contact with his side. With quick thinking, Steffan cancelled his attack, and just barely created a small covering of ice where he was about to be attacked, tanking the blow. He then quickly retreated back to his comrades.
“Woah, hot!” he yelped.
“Are you ok, Rakulli-san?”
“I expected him to be a one-trick pony, but he pulled that off nicely. 10 Points, you ugly bastard.”
“What happened just then?” a hunter asked him. As he used his Ice to heal the small bruise he received, he explained to the hunters,
“I can’t attack and defend with my Ice at the same time. Plus, in that moment, it felt like he used Partial Transformation in his arm. I rather not have taken that blow.”
Assuming a battle stance, snow began to flow around his body, and he declared with a sinister demeanor:
“But, he soiled one of my favorite outfits...and for that, I won’t let him live."
“please don’t forget we shouldn’t kill these guys,” one of them reminded him softly.
As Kallavan prepared for the next move, one of his underlings made a suggestion.
“Boss...I feel like we should retreat for now. If they’ve sent Rakulli, we can’t imagine how much worse things could get if more are on the way.”
Kallavan took heed to the wise words:
“He’s right, staying here is unwise...I doubt he can actually beat me, but more reinforcements are definitely an issue. The last thing I want to do is confront Emir Yamaguchi.”
“Right now, the best course of action...”
“New plan,” he instructed his goons,
“Time to go.”
With that, Kallavan created a giant wall of fire, and the Dragons escaped using a Transportation Technique.
“Oi! Oi!! Why are you running? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!”
“that sounds like a meme, doesn’t it?”
“shh, it’s 2010.”
And so, the Inferno Gang fled. But, Steffan was quite annoyed.
“What a waste of my fucking time.”
*sigh*
As he looked around at the scene, the demolished vehicles and buildings, and the few injured civilians, he decided:
“Anyway, I’ll leave this scene to you. Bye!”
“H-HEY! RAKULLI-SENPAI! THERE’S STILL MUCH TO BE RESOL-”
Steffan was gone.
“Goddamn it.”
“Well...thank goodness the civilians are still safe.”
Kodaki was troubled, however, as he recalled the happenings of the day.
“...to think that even the Gang Leaders are stirring up problems now...things are getting way out of control...”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
----------------------------------------
FAMILY GROUNDS
FIELD A, 2:30PM
“I’m gonna die.”
“I’m gonna die.”
“I’m gonna die.”
Back on the Family Grounds, the trainees were...well, in training. They had just completed their daily run from Field B to Field A, in a similar timeframe as always: 3 minutes. After a month of this running, Tarik had become accustomed to the distance, even running on his own for a good while, but he still relied on Jamal near the end. After resting for a bit, they all engaged in their own training routines as instructed by Chojo and Miwa. At one part of the field sat Jamal, Tarik, Kento, and Zeke. They were still resting for a bit longer.
“I’m amazed you’re still holding on, Tarik. But, Jamal...”
Jamal laid on the ground, sky gazing, unmotivated.
“it’s been a while since i’ve seen him like that,” Zeke expressed.
“i guess Hayami-nee’s motivation wasn’t permanent,” Tarik remarked.
Tarik had been lamenting on his constant pitiful performance.
“Seriously, at this rate I won’t even make it through half the year...”
However, Zeke and Kento praised Tarik for the drive that he had.
“To be honest, you’re amazing Tarik. To think you don’t even have the slightest bit of Physical Energy, and you’ve been able to keep up with us even a little,” Kento coaxed him.
“Yeah, I envy your motivation!” Zeke added.
He was happy for the praise he received, but he knew improvement was necessary.
“Still, I need that energy now more than ever...I need some tips...”
“Hey, look. Isn’t that -?”
Looking over by the road next to the field, they spotted Steffan Rakulli, who’d just returned from his mission.
“It’s Rakulli-san! He’s your cousin, right Kento?” Zeke pointed out.
“Yeah. Tarik, I think you should ask him for some advice.”
Kento went on and added to what he knew about Steffan:
“We don’t talk very much...but I’ve heard that when he was younger, he had terrible control of his physical energy...and now, he’s mastered it in a completely different way than normal.”
“Hear that, Tarik? Sounds a lot like you. That’s a High Ranker for you!” Zeke encouraged. “Well, go find out his secret. Quick, before he goes away!”
Steffan was still annoyed about the happenings of the day and was heading to get some more sleep.
“As usual, that was exhausting...don’t deploy me unless it’s something actually serious, for fuck’s sake.”
“...hm?”
Suddenly, he was approached by the young trainee. He hadn’t even noticed them on the field at first.
“Excuse me, Rakulli-san...” Tarik opened the conversation.
“Oh, you’re Tenchi’s kid, aren’t you?”
He looked at Tarik from head to toe, examining the boy who was shirtless at the moment,
“For someone with no physical energy, he has a decent build...” Steffan thought. He too, knew of the conditions of the Heads' sons.
Tarik was still thinking about what exactly he should ask the elite Hunter:
“Wait, I haven’t really thought about what I should ask him...I can’t ask him about his secret out of nowhere. How about...”
“Is there...a way for me to use my Spirit Energy as Physical?” he asked.
Steffan’s heart almost skipped a beat when Tarik asked him that. He immediately developed an interest for the young trainee.
“...you’re sharp, kid,” he thought.
“You’ve got a good head on your body. Tell me your name, kid.”
“Tarik!”
Clapping his hands together, he gladly put off his sleep schedule and decided to train Tarik!
“Alright Tarik, I’ll be teaching you the art of Mana Replacement!"
“Well, first off, do you understand Mana Manipulation?” he asked.
“Um, no I don’t...Uncle Emir said he wouldn’t tell me since I’d learn it in training camp.”
“wow, what a mean bastard,” he remarked.
“Well, I’ll give you the most basic explanation. Let’s go.”
They then headed on to the field, and all the other trainees watched Tarik receive training from the High Ranker. Jamal even stopped lazing around and watched his friend. Steffan then proceeded to teach Tarik:
“First of all, let's talk about 'Majutsu' - this is the term we use to refer to Magical Energy, which our bodies possess in the form of Physical and Spirit Energy. Majutsu Manipulation is the process of controlling your inner energies. That’s as basic as it gets.”
“It’s possible to control those two energies individually, as well as simultaneously. Most people normally stick to the former since doing the latter is mostly unnecessary, although it is impressive. But since you only have Spirit Energy, let’s not worry about that.”
“First off, clear your mind. Try to picture...an empty plane, with a single dot out in the distance. Focus on that dot,” he instructed him. “A form of hand-gesture helps too, any one of your preference.”
Following these instructions, Tarik sat on the grass and interlocked his hands, extending his ring and pinky fingers, and closing his eyes as he went in a deep focus, drawing on his inner energy. After a few seconds, Tarik noticed something; it felt as if his nerves were vibrating ever so slightly, and his spiritual awareness increased tremendously. Upon opening his eyes, Tarik beheld a lightly glowing bright blue aura all around his body.
“I’m-!”
“Look at that...he’s a natural,” Steffan thought to himself.
“Nice work, 10 Points for you! However, this next and final task will be the most difficult...for you, that is.”
As his classmates saw this, a few were envious:
“Oi, is he seriously learning that before us?” Amira asked bitterly.
“What are you talking about? You know Tarik’s situation-”
“So what? He’s been keeping up all this time, hasn’t he?”
As Zeke was defending Tarik, Kinshi cut him off, also annoyed by the extra lessons being given to him.
“And I guess Jamal’s gonna be next, huh? Talk about privileged.”
“Hey.”
At that moment, Satoru who had still been training in silence, stopped to address his fellow Clan member:
“Don’t be that kind of person.”
With that, the two put away their envy, and went back to training. A few continued watching Tarik such as Jamal, Zeke, and Kento. Steffan continued teaching:
“So you’ve got Majutsu Manipulation under control, but now, you’ll have to perform Majutsu Replacement,” Steffan continued. “I’ll just show you firsthand...”
Steffan then held out both his hands, and snow began to flow around them, with small pieces of ice forming on them as well.
“Now, Tarik, tell me what kind of energy I’m manipulating in my left hand.”
“If you get this wrong, I’m done teaching you.”
“huh???” he blurted out nervously.
Looking at Steffan’s hands, Tarik thought hard about the answer he would give.
“How the heck am I supposed to tell? They both look a lot similar...”
It was then that he noticed the flow of snow seemed less intense in the right hand.
"I see...then, wouldn't that mean the intense energy flow in his left hand is Spirit Energy? I think...!"
Within a moment's decision, he quickly changed his answer:
“Physical,” he answered.
Steffan looked at Tarik in silence...and the snow stopped flowing around his hands.
“Tarik Yamaguchi...” Steffan started.
Tarik’s heart sank in his chest...
“...you’re officially my new student! 20 Points for you!”
“i almost had a heart attack,” the boy held his chest with a sigh of relief.
Outstretching his fingers, Steffan formed two small swords of ice in his palms - they both looked a lot similar, but with a quick demonstration Steffan clashed them against each other, and the one in the left hand destroyed the blade of the other.
!!
“As I’ve shown you, Majutsu Replacement is the art of using one energy for a purpose not normally intended. Just now, I took my Physical Energy which makes up my stamina, and I used it to perform my Majutsu technique. Normally, you’d perform them with Spirit Energy, but doing the opposite generates greater results. That’s the secret behind Majutsu Replacement,” Steffan explained, in a noticeably quieter tone.
"Wait...if it's that good, does that mean most Hunters use it?" Tarik asked, referring to the last bit of Steffan's explanation.
"Hmph...that's a secret between me, you, and the Rakulli Clan," he responded with a smirk.
Tarik couldn't believe it...just like that, the hunter revealed his secret and was about to teach it to him. A technique that only he apparently knew.
“As of now, this is as natural as breathing for me. But, it's really difficult. In your case however, you'd have to take Spirit Energy, and manipulate it as if you’re handling Physical Energy. So basically, you need to know the feel of Physical Energy.”
“Right,” Tarik responded.
They stood looking at each other for a few seconds.
“...Tarik?”
“Yes?”
“You heard me, right?”
“Yeah, you said I need to know the feel of-”
Reality hit him.
“AGH!! I DON’T HAVE ANY!!!”
“took you long enough.”
“Anyway, no need to worry. I can help you with the impossible aspect, but the rest is up to you. Step forward.”
“Ok,” Tarik responded as he went closer to Steffan.
Placing his palm on Tarik’s chest, Steffan focused, and suddenly, Tarik felt energy rushing into his body. It was cold, and it felt rather intense, but it was overall painless.
“Ah-!”
“Relax, just try to control it,” Steffan calmed him.
Tarik calmed himself down, and watched as his aura got a little brighter with his body slightly tensing up.
“This is...I’ve never felt this before...” the boy marveled.
“I just poured Physical Energy into your body. It’s like the Inverse-Flow technique, except I’m not trying to paralyze you. You’re gonna spend time manipulating that energy so you’ll come to know the feel. Understand?”
Tarik’s eyes lit up; for the first time ever, he felt Physical Energy in his body!
“Ahh! I get it! Thanks so much sensei!!” he thanked him as he bowed happily.
“Don’t mention it, just practice your Manipulation of that energy, and after getting the feel of it, perform Majutsu Replacement. I won’t teach you anything else until you do,” he informed him. “Also, this goes without saying, but that energy won’t last forever, so get to work. I’m not giving you a refill either, so it’s pretty much do or die.”
Infatuated with the power flowing through his body, Tarik almost didn’t notice Steffan leaving. One more time, he waved his new teacher goodbye, and thanked him.
“Hmph...I’ll be seeing you, son of Tenchi.”
With that, Steffan vanished in a small blizzard.
Jamal, Zeke, and Kento then went over to Tarik, curious to see what things he learned. With his aura glowing, tears running and a smile on his face, Tarik clenched his fist and declared:
“Now this is getting good...let’s do this!!”
----------------------------------------
FAMILY GROUNDS, 9:30PM
At night, after Steffan had gotten some rest, he went out to find his friends. Arriving at a small bar, he found Fudo, Katashi, Hayami, Chōjo, and Emir.
“Yo!”
“Where the hell have you been all day?” Katashi asked.
“Sleeping.”
“you lazy shit.”
“We had an important meeting last night. I messaged you the details, but essentially, we need to get stronger,” Fudo informed him.
*yawn*
“Dragons are up to something, huh? No worries. It’ll be business as usual,” Steffan nonchalantly replied as he took a seat next to Fudo and Hayami.
“I wish I could be as carefree as you.”
“No one’s stopping you, Fudo-kun,” Steffan replied as he waved back to some passers-by.
“Hey...we really need to do something about this No-Killing rule,” Katashi pointed out.
“for fuck’s sake can you stop bringing that up?”
“None of us like it, but we can’t do shit about it. As far as the public knows, only the Big-Three are problem causers, not the Dragon-Tails on a whole. Killing them would only raise hell. Furthermore, our ancestors put us in a bad spot-”
“Alright alright, I get it. I won’t talk about it again,” Katashi responded, avoiding a full-blown lecture from Fudo.
“Thank you.”
After finishing a glass of wine, Emir stood up from his seat:
“I’m gonna get some early sleep for once. Be ready for our mission, Fudo, Katashi-kun.”
“Alright. See you sensei,” Katashi ignorantly responded.
On the other hand, Hayami and Steffan were bothered by Emir’s odd behavior. Fudo then made signals to them, gesturing toward Chojo, who was more or less silent the entire time.
“...I see,” Steffan comprehended the situation.
“We’ll talk tomorrow. Later,” he said to them as he also got up from his seat. Steffan picked up on the issue and left them to go catch up with Emir.
“You’re not fooling me, y’know.”
Steffan walked with his friend and teacher for a while.
“...you and Chojo-san still on bad terms?”
“Well, you know, Steffan,” Emir responded. “For now, I’m just giving him some space. Things will be normal again soon.”
Looking at Emir, Steffan attempted to reassure him saying,
“Dariyo’s death wasn’t your fault, sensei. Nobody knew -”
“No, it’s my fault, Stef-kun. I take full responsibility.”
Steffan stopped walking a little when Emir said that.
However, he went on after that to say with a smile,
“But, I already took the first step: I’ve forgiven myself.”
Hearing this, Steffan was reassured, and started walking again.
“So, have you met the trainees yet?”
“I made a pupil today!”
“Oh? Who’s that?”
“Your nephew!”
Emir was slightly shocked to hear this, but was glad.
“Hehe, I guess I’ll leave him completely in your hands now.”
“Well, that’s if he can accomplish the first step.”
“Hm...whatever it is, I think he will.”
“No…I know he will.”
----------------------------------------
FIELD B, 9:50PM
*pant, pant*
On Field B stood an individual, drowning in sweat and his clothes filled with dirt. It was Tarik. Ever since Steffan gave him that energy, he had been using it to perfect Physical-Majutsu Manipulation. It was much more difficult to do than with his Spirit Energy, since he was operating with energy that he doesn’t naturally have. After hours of practice...he finally got the feel of it. With a small amount of Steffan’s energy left, he had used it to do the evening run from Field A to Field B, and surprisingly completed the entire run on his own. Since the evening however, Tarik had been attempting Majutsu Replacement, to no avail.
But, he wouldn’t stop.
“I’m gonna master this tonight...no matter what...”
As he trained, Jamal and some others watched from the Dorms. Two other trainees, Maki and Saki, watched as well, but they hid their interest from the others.
“Isn’t he tired?...” Zeke wondered.
“He’s the youngest of us all too...” Galib added.
Jamal however, was unfazed. He was confident in his friend.
“He’ll definitely do it,” he affirmed.
At that moment, Satoru began walking toward the field.
“Are you really gonna stop him, Sato?” Ilmar, who was watching as well, questioned him.
“I know what I’m doing.”
Arriving on the field, Satoru looked at Tarik, who was facing away and standing still for a while.
“Tarik?...”
Remaining silent, Tarik slumped his body a little...and uttered these words...
Majutsu Replacement · 魔術変える (Ma-jutsu Kae-ru)
A bright and large light of energy burst forth from Tarik’s body, engulfing his surroundings: he had done it! He performed Majutsu Replacement! His classmates all watched in shock and awe at the flow of his energy.
But Tarik wasn’t finished; crouching down, he prepared himself:
“Now-!”
Body Reinforcement! · 身体強化 (Shin-tai Kyou-ka)
In a flash, Tarik bolted from his position and started circling the field, running much faster than Ilmar or Satoru had ever ran before! But after just one lap, he collapsed to the ground!
“Tarik!!”
Satoru ran to his brother and picked him up. He was still breathing, but it seemed the power had overwhelmed him. More practice was needed on his part but still, this showing by Tarik had left all his classmates speechless.
“He actually...”
Lifting his brother onto his back, Satoru carried him back to the Dorms, and had an upset look on his face.
“...damn show off.”