CITY DISTRICT, 10:00AM
AUGUST 14, 2010
It was a busy day as usual, out in the city. Persons going about their business, sidewalk vendors trying to earn, your typical business day setting. Of course, this setting wouldn’t be complete without dragons; not causing trouble, but these were the preachers. Every day, they situated themselves all throughout the city, sharing their beliefs with the populous and inviting them to join the movement.
“We strive to build unity, and oneness among all!”
“The negative stimulus surrounding the use of Majutsu is as a deadly cancer! You and your children grow in this world, forced to believe this God-given practice is the degradation and downfall of our society, when it’s quite the opposite! Whether for medical treatment, spiritual or mental growth, Majutsu is the hope of this world! Make a stand! Set yourselves free from mental slavery!!”
The preaching Dragons seemed to be quite the polar opposites of the Big-Three, advocating for peace and completely shunning the doings of their corrupted kin.
“There are those among us who have turned aside to lives of crime and violence; we do not condone them, nor do we associate ourselves with them! They are vile!”
Most surprisingly of all...they were admirers of the Hunters!
“We have the utmost gratitude to the Two Clans, who stop at nothing to uphold the peace of the land by suppressing those criminals! So, we encourage you all, through the Hunters’ noble agenda and our vision of development, to devote yourselves to the upliftment of this very world!”
The public still had a hard time trying to process why these Dragons were so different...was it just a facade? Could they be trusted?
“Their words are as pure as ever.”
“No way, they’re up to some shady stuff.”
“But even they openly despise those Gangs.”
“They seem genuine.”
“I’m not so sure about them...”
In the midst of the commotion, two individuals were taking a morning stroll:
“A busy place, as usual.”
“Of course, Sir. We’re in the city after all.”
“No, I mean our preachers.”
One was an elderly man, walking with a cane, dressed in a dark suit and a hat. He also wore gloves on his hands, seemingly covering his body, which was a bit odd considering it was still Summer. But upon close inspection, his eyes...were like those of a demon. It was Ivan Ryūjin. He was taking a walk with a long-time acquaintance of his.
“They openly appreciate the work of the Hunters and are disgusted with the Gangs.”
“This impression that we give to the public, is bound to gather up a following. It’s been our way of operating for all these years.”
“And when they actually join...” the acquaintance started to speak, to which Ivan followed up:
“Yes. We warp them.”
That’s right...that was the order of business for the Dragons; gather followers, give them Dragon Energy, and warp their minds. Of course, nobody was aware of this.
“To assume complete control over others rewards the most effective form of obedience, after all…”
“Although, some are given certain privileges if deemed worthy, such as yourself, Daisuke,” Ivan addressed him, revealing the man to be another of his Dragons. He'd been Ivan's trusted aide for the past 21 years.
“Right. I’m allowed to keep my free will. I’m forever grateful, Ryujin-sama.”
“No need, Daisuke. You’ve been a great aide by my side for these last few years. I’d be a cruel man if I didn’t spend my last days on even a little walk with you.”
“That’s right…you know exactly how we operate, yet you still remain a loyal friend to me, Daisuke,” he thought to himself.
“Would you like to stop here, Sir?” Daisuke asked as they were passing a cafe.
“Yes. I should grab something for Gyuwhan as well.”
----------------------------------------
FAMILY GROUNDS
FIELD A, 11:00AM
On the field, the trainees were at their daily routine once more, engaging in physical activity. To the surprise of everyone, however, Tarik was on the field. Most of his classmates looked on at him, marveling at his stubborn determination. Zeke, Kento, Amira, and Kinshi in particular were very concerned.
As they reflected on the happenings of that night, they vividly remembered the way his energy had violently burst out from his body.
“I’ve never even seen Emir-san or Ilmar’s brother do something like that,” Kento remarked.
However, there was none who was more worried for him than his best friend, Jamal. For the first time, it was sole concern for another person that kept him distracted, rather than simply being unmotivated. As he reflected on the aftermath of that night, he sighed a sigh of uneasiness for his friend.
“Tarik...”
----------------------------------------
TRAINING DORMS
NURSE’S OFFICE, 9:55PM
AUGUST 12, 2010
In the nurse’s office laid Tarik on a bed, with the nurse, Satoru, Ilmar, and Jamal in the room. Tarik was unconscious and had been placed on a ventilator.
“Tarik...will he be ok?” Jamal asked the nurse.
“His body muscles and respiratory system came under major stress, but for now it’s nothing life-threatening. He just needs rest,” she reassured them.
“But, if he continues doing this, that’s where the danger comes. The after-effects that come with the Body Reinforcement technique will differ, depending on how strong the user’s body is. Tarik here, is still quite weak. Furthermore, it’s unwise for a Yamaguchi to use that technique at all. To be quite honest, he’s lucky this is all that happened.”
Jamal’s eyes teared up, sorrowful for what happened to his friend.
“Tarik...just when you were catching up with us...” he moped.
“Do you see now, Jamal?”
Satoru began to address Jamal, with an irritated look on his face.
“The two of you should stop.”
Infuriated by these words, Jamal clenched his fist and threw a punch at Satoru’s face:
“SHUT U-”
Just before the punch landed, it was caught by his elder brother Ilmar.
“B-Big Brother?!”
“Stop it. I won’t help you stop a fight that you started.”
Angry with Satoru, Jamal grit his teeth and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him:
“I won’t quit! Neither of us will!”
Ignoring him, Satoru turned his head without saying a word. The nurse was then about to continue what she was saying:
“Well, as I was saying, he’ll be fine, he just needs some re-”
?!
Tarik…had woken up. He heard the entire confrontation that occurred. Turning to his older brother, he simply said to him:
“...Sato.”
“Leave us...alone.”
Upon saying that, he turned his head and went back to sleep.
The nurse, however, was amazed at what just happened.
“This child is only 8 years old...and he woke up so soon after pulling off that stunt?”
Being irritated once more by his brother’s blind determination, Satoru turned and walked out of the room. Ilmar followed after him.
“Whatever. Do what you want, stupid brother.”
----------------------------------------
PRESENT
The day that followed, Tarik had woken up, but he didn’t leave the nurse’s office, still feeling pains all over. But on this day, he shockingly turned up for training as if nothing ever happened. He did however, refrain from talking to his classmates for some reason, even Jamal.
As Tarik continued his exercise, completely tuned in, he was caught off guard when someone stopped by to greet him:
“Oi, blondie.”
“S-Sensei!”
It was Steffan! After giving his pupil a day, he had stopped by once more to check on him.
“I thought I’d stop by and check on your progress. How is it?”
Steffan hadn’t actually heard about what happened on that night; in fact, only the trainees and their teachers Chōjo and Miwa were aware. Tarik then decided to elaborate on what had happened.
“Actually...I wanted to talk to you, sensei.”
“Hm?”
While Tarik and Steffan communed, a few of his classmates looked on. It was the first time they really saw him speaking since he returned.
“Look, Rakulli-san is back,” Zeke pointed out.
“Tarik’s probably telling him what happened that night,” Kento guessed.
It was at that point; Zeke was looking over by Jamal who still seemed depressed. In an attempt to distract him, Zeke made a suggestion:
“Hey, Jamal. Don’t you want a trainer too?”
It wasn’t a bad suggestion; seeing as both Jamal and Tarik were unbalanced, it wouldn’t be right for only one of them to have a personal trainer.
“Well...I do, but who? Big-Brother Fudo is busy all the time. Father is the same.”
“Dude, your brother Ilmar is right there.”
Akiro pitched in to their conversation, pointing out Ilmar. Sure, he was their fellow classmate, but he was quite the capable fighter among them, matched only by Satoru. Jamal was unsure though.
“Ilmar?” - the unenthusiasm in his voice was almost laughable.
“Yeah, why not? I’m sure he wouldn’t say no,” Akiro encouraged.
“Plus, he’s Satoru’s rival. He can fight better than all of us. Go ask him to train with you,” Zeke insisted.
Doubtful, Jamal let out a sigh, and agreed to the idea.
“Ok, I’ll ask him.”
Meanwhile, Tarik had been elaborating the entire story to his sensei.
“So, that happened huh...” Steffan took in the news.
“Yeah...sensei, what should I -”
Before Tarik could even continue, Steffan slugged him in the back of his head.
“MINUS 100 POINTS!”
“Ack!!! Why??”
“Why did you push yourself that hard? Did you rest at all??”
As Tarik held his head, he had no answer to Steffan’s question, and instead frowned.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Good grief…listen, Tarik. It can’t be helped that you were born the way you are. But that doesn’t mean you should push yourself the hardest out of everyone. All that will do is lead to your downfall,” Steffan began his lecture,
“First of all, I taught you how to perform Majutsu Replacement, not Body Reinforcement. That’s a very dangerous technique if used carelessly. You Yamaguchis are warned not to even use it at all.”
“Secondly, you still need to improve on your Manipulation. From what you told me, your body was engulfed in a bright light, and that’s not supposed to happen. Your energy should be contained within your body at all times, unless you’re trying to kill yourself or the others around you.”
“One thing that makes Manipulation more difficult in particular, is fatigue. Basically, you should have just gone to bed after your evening run from Field A to B. That’s why I didn’t even bother checking on you yesterday.”
Tarik listened to what his teacher told him and made important note of it.
“I...see.”
“Anyway, what’s done is done. Though imperfect, you did manage to perform Replacement, so I’ll give you 10 out of 20 points.”
Steffan then stood up, and having his eyes closed, formed a shard of ice in his hand. Tarik looked at him confusedly, but Steffan continued, saying,
“Let’s move on to another exercise, which is...”
Without looking, Steffan flicked the ice shard into the air. As it descended to the ground, a small bug was flying past them, and when the bug approached…it was impaled by the ice shard.
“Spiritual Awareness.”
Meanwhile, Jamal approached his brother who was exercising. He still had doubts in his mind:
“I feel so out of it...I don’t even want to bother him right now...but, I have to fight this. I can’t stay unmotivated.”
He looked in all directions, but eventually let it out:
“...please train me!”
The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a few seconds.
“Haha! So, you finally decided you need some help, huh?”
“now I know exactly why I didn’t want to do this,” he thought to himself.
“Well, you have no issues physically, and I can’t teach you Magic techniques...so I guess you wanna learn to fight, right?” Ilmar asked, to which Jamal nodded his head.
“My brother...”
Getting up from the ground, Ilmar looked at Jamal. Suddenly, he closed the distance between them, and delivered a gut punch to his brother.
“...I won’t be going easy, y’know.”
Ilmar then sent him to the ground with a roundhouse kick. Jamal waited for a moment to get his bearings together, caught off guard by Ilmar’s speed. This caught the attention of the other trainees, who turned in their direction.
“Start by dodging! When you’re good in that area, I’ll teach you how to fight. How’s that sound?”
Standing to his feet, Jamal spat on the ground, and responded saying,
“...fine by me, Big Brother.”
As the rest of the class looked on at them, they were motivated to take things up a notch themselves.
“Hey...everyone’s trying to improve, one way or another,” Genki observed.
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?” Zeke supported.
Standing up, Zeke then announced to his classmates saying,
“All in favor of becoming the greatest Hunters ever, say aye!”
Majority of them happily responded:
“AYE!”
Even Satoru, who was training on his own as usual, could not resist the wave of excitement among his classmates:
“...yeah, I can’t ignore it...this actually seems interesting.”
As Steffan looked on at their enthusiasm, even he got excited.
“Kehe...what a vibrant generation they’ll turn out to be.”
----------------------------------------
UNDERGROUND CHAMBER, 2:00PM
Within the Family Grounds, we see Lord Gado and Lord Tenchi entering an underground area. It was a place where they incarcerated Dragons who were captured by the Hunters. They were about to carry out an interrogation on a notorious Dragon captured yesterday by Fudo and his team. As they neared the interrogation room, the sounds of punches and grunts got louder and louder. Arriving, they found an individual torturing the inmate.
“Sure sounds like you’re having fun.”
It was one of the Dragons who was captured some years ago by Fudo, Katashi, and Emir. After being imprisoned for a while, he had gone through rehabilitation, and eventually, he agreed to become an ally of the Two Clans, assisting in providing intel as well as carrying out interrogations, in return for receiving special support from Lord Tenchi and Emir. He was quite familiar with the inmate, both of them being from the Orochi Gang.
“What can I say?...I’ve had a bone to pick with this asshole for quite a while now. I’m grateful for the opportunity you guys have given me.”
Tenchi couldn’t help but notice the friction between the two of them.
“So, even among the Dragons, there’s internal conflict, huh...”
At that moment, a few more individuals appeared; Fudo, Emir, Katashi, and Steffan. They had been involved in the mission to capture this Dragon.
“Yo!” Katashi greeted the Heads.
“We’re here. How’s it going?” Fudo queried.
“Well, our friend here’s is having himself a laugh. We’re ready to ask our questions now, so if you don’t mind, Danjo-san.”
Delivering one last uppercut, Danjo stepped aside at Gado’s request. Danjo was an average height, muscular, short-haired individual, wearing a black tank top and army pants.
“Yeah, go right ahead. I think I’ve had my fill.”
Taking the lead in the interrogation, Tenchi took a seat in front of the Dragon. He was a middle-aged guy, having long hair, with a scar over his left eye. He was bloodied and bound to a chair. Tenchi had also suppressed his Dragon Power on the night before.
"One-Eye Ronin...I have a few questions I’d like to ask.”
Catching his breath, Ronin looked up toward Tenchi, blood running down his face.
“Tenchi Yamaguchi...”
“So, this is what you punks do, huh?...acting all genuine and sincere in public eyes, but in this place, it’s a torture chamber. I bet you’ve even killed some of us too, huh?”
“Relax. We honor our ancestors’ promises, and violators of our code of conduct are severely punished. However, I can’t tell a Dragon not to hurt a Dragon, can I? I didn’t instruct him to do so either, you heard Danjo-san,” Tenchi expressed.
He glanced over at Danjo, who gave him the middle finger.
“Tch...I suppose you’re not wrong,” he glared at him.
“I’m glad you understand.”
“So, Ronin-san. I hear that you’re the right-hand man of Shigaraki Orochi, the leader of your Gang. Based on intel we’ve received, we heard that you’re a guy who’s quite knowledgeable about the Dragons’ agenda...and I must say, I’m quite curious about it,” Tenchi addressed him.
Ronin then looked over on the group of Hunters who captured him, astonished.
“...I still can’t believe you guys had managed to infiltrate our territory, let alone find it.”
“Hmph. Who exactly do you think we are?” Katashi arrogantly responded.
As Ronin sat down, he recalled his conversation with the Gang Leader that night, before he was captured…
----------------------------------------
OROCHI HIDEOUT
LAST NIGHT
“Kehehe, so that happened the other day, huh? That Kallavan sure raised up a racket. Still, he’s quite the pushover.”
In a big room sat a few members of the Orochi Gang with their leader, Shigaraki Orochi. As they talked, drank, and joked around, Ronin sat over nearby a window, seemingly in deep thought. One of his associates called out to him, sick of his killjoy demeanor.
“Oi, Ronin. Are you going to space out forever?”
“...” - he responded with silence.
Shigaraki looked over at him, and got up, going to another room. He called after Ronin, saying,
“Ronin, let me pour you a drink.”
Following his boss, they left the crowd into an empty room. As Shigaraki poured a drink, he talked with his subordinate.
“I know you’re not a fan of crowds, so I decided to do you a favor.”
“…thanks,” the assassin thanked him, taking a seat.
“…”
“Y’know…you’re like family to me, Ronin.”
The Dragon was slightly caught off guard by his boss’s words.
“I remember when I first became a Dragon…that feeling of helplessness, completely suppressed by that voice that stands above all…unable to even kill myself to escape it,” he opened up to him.
“My family was taken away from me. I had nothing left. There was no purpose left in me…but, that old guy took a liking to me, and eventually he made me a Leader. I finally had some freedom.”
“But here’s the thing, just being a Leader is nothing special, ordering a bunch of mindless knuckleheads around. There’s not a single shred of happiness in that. But, having others who were initially just like you, coming to acquire that bit of freedom that you desperately longed for…”
Handing Ronin his drink, Shigaraki said to him:
“I’ll gladly call them my family.”
The mostly insensitive assassin of the Orochi Gang was touched for the first time in a long time by the words of another. Nevertheless, something slightly bothered him.
“…sorry, Boss. I’m going outside for a bit.”
“Hmph, don't get lost.”
Heading outside, Ronin looked around as he sipped his drink. The feeling of uneasiness dwelt within him for some reason.
“...it’s rather quiet out here.”
!!
He didn’t even have time to look around, as he swiftly dodged an individual’s close-range attack; it was Fudo! He had infiltrated the Orochi Hideout!
“Who the hell are y-”
?!
Before he could even finish asking his question, he was stopped. He couldn’t move an inch. Another individual stood behind him, having completely caught him off guard. As the individual laid their hand on his back, ice began to form all over his body - Steffan had accompanied Fudo!
“Shh,” the ice user instructed him, silently freezing his body.
“Damn it…DAMN IT!”
Freezing him completely, they accomplished their mission, and began to retreat.
“Let’s go,” Fudo instructed.
“5 minutes, 30 seconds...could’ve been better.”
“You’re quite the perfectionist, Fudo.”
----------------------------------------
PRESENT
“Damn it, I knew something was up...I should’ve called the boss out with me too -”
“Boo-hoo, dumbass” Katashi mockingly responded.
“Can you shut up, Kakkun?”
Continuing the interrogation, Tenchi asked the Dragon,
“So, you plan on talking? Or should I call Danjo-san?”
But Ronin was confused as to why they so desperately tried to get information out of him.
“These idiots...don’t they know by now that the spell cast on us Dragons prevents them from getting anything out of us? I can’t spill out too much even if I wanted to.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just give them some false hope.”
“Hmph. No matter what you punks may try...there’s no way in hell for you to stop what’s coming. The resurrection of the 9 Dragons is inevitab-”
?!!
“Just as I suspected,” Tenchi responded with a smirk.
Ronin was horrified; he should have stopped speaking but didn’t.
“HUH? WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS? MY THROAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CRUSHED!..”
“Did they...no, no fucking way. That can’t be possible.”
“Hellam Ryujin...the master of Forbidden Arts, and the most dangerous man to set foot in this world...I don’t know the full details, but based on the information we have, I came to a single conclusion: sometime after his death, someone took the liberty of rebuilding the Dragon-Tails, passing down powers the way those 9 Leaders did. However, this came with something more; a spell being placed on new Dragons that prevents them from revealing crucial information.”
Ronin was shocked to see that Tenchi knew more than he thought.
“He knows that the spell is something new, and hadn’t existed before??”
“But how were you able to break the spell? Surely your knowledge doesn’t surpass that of Hella-”
He accidentally revealed more information.
“S-SHIT!! I DIDN’T MEAN TO SAY THAT!!”
“I see...so that means the someone has to be a close acquaintance, or Hellam himself. Though I don’t see how the latter would make sense,” Tenchi confirmed.
By this point, Ronin was losing his cool. The spell on him had come completely undone. This meant that the spell could now be broken on any Dragon.
“Anyway, you wanted to know how we broke the spell, right? Well...I am Tenchi Yamaguchi, after all. But it would have been impossible without the help of Danjo-san. Combining my knowledge with a former enemy’s intellect, we made a hypothesis, and the fruits thereof seem to be bearing right now.”
“Damn that Danjo...that’s what he’s been up to, all this time?”
!!
Suddenly, Ronin had an idea.
“Wait a minute...he can freely use his powers, and he’s from the Orochi Gang like me. Based on what I learned from Shigaraki-sama, I can make use of Danjo’s powers if I make contact with him!”
“Excellent, I just need him to attack me again...I’ll seize that moment!”
“Now, Ronin-san, if you have no more questions...I’d like to start asking mine.”
With a gaze as if he stared directly into his soul, Tenchi asked him,
“Do you mind...sharing what that someone tried to hide after Ryūjin’s death?”
“Hehe...kehehehe....” the Dragon laughed menacingly.
?
Looking up at Tenchi…Ronin spat some blood into his face.
“...Danjo-san.”
“Say less, Tenchi-san.”
Danjo approached Ronin once more, commencing the next round of beatdowns. However, Ronin had a dangerous card up his sleeve.
“You poor fool...I thank you, SO MUCH!”
As Danjo threw a jab to Ronin’s face, he withstood it and quickly bit onto Danjo’s hand! Now in contact, he manipulated Danjo’s Dragon Power and declared:
OROCHI-STYLE: DRAGON RELAY! · 竜心移す (Ryu-shin Utsu-su)
In that moment, Ronin relayed all his memories over to his boss, Shigaraki Orochi. Upon receiving it all, he was alarmed:
“Eh?”
“This is...!!” he was shocked when the contents of those memories unfolded before him.
As Ronin bit his hand, Danjo was startled and confused. He felt his power spark up which concerned him even more.
“Huh? What are you-?”
“Kehehehe....HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
“Hey, hey, what the fuck did he just do?” Katashi worriedly asked. “I felt that energy just now!”
“Oi...Danjo...”
Holding his head down, Ronin sinisterly taunted Danjo, saying:
“I hope your family will be okay.”
His eyes widened at that saying, and he went toward Ronin to land a heavier punch,
“QUIT SCREWING AROUND, BASTARD!”
“DANJŌ, WAIT-”
As he was attacking, Ronin glared directly at Danjo, stirring up his Dragon Power. Danjo temporarily lost control, and landed a lethal attack, blowing out Ronin’s chest!
“NO!! STEFFAN, NOW!” Tenchi ordered hastily.
“I’m on it!”
Cryogenic Ice! · 冷たい氷 (Tsu-metai Koo-ri)
Steffan quickly froze Ronin’s entire body except his head, to keep him alive a little while longer.
“This won’t keep him up for long, so do what you have to do, Tenchi-sama.”
Startled and confused, Danjo was in a panic. Upon hearing those words, he was sore afraid for his family; his wife and daughter. He then stormed out of the chamber, heading outside:
“S-Sorry, out of my way!”
“Oi, Danjo-san!”
“Follow him, Emir. This guy did something just now,” Tenchi instructed his brother.
“Roger,” Emir quickly responded as he fled after Danjo.
Performing Partial Transformation, the Dragon flew into the skies and left the Family Grounds, intending to get to his family.
“No way...in that moment, I felt it...”
As he flew…he couldn’t stop seeing images of his wife and child being murdered.
“No, no!! Stop showing me this! I’m gonna check on my wife and daughter, and they’ll be just fi-”
“Danjo.”
A voice…called out to him. Only he could hear it. Looking around, he didn’t see anyone, but he answered:
“Who...?” he wondered if he imagined it.
“Who’s there?!”
“I’m disappointed...”
“...And they will be too.”
He had recognized the voice; it was Shigaraki Orochi. But as he was about to respond…
“Shigara-!”
*thump, thump*
In that moment…Danjo’s heart stopped beating. His body then began to undergo a change. He was transforming, but something was wrong; snakes began to emerge violently from his body, hundreds in number. As he was lost in a trance, the last thing he saw was Shigaraki’s cold piercing eyes, staring into his soul. Finally…he fell from the sky. Shigaraki killed Danjo.
At that moment, Emir had caught up to him, only to witness his death.
“Dan...!”
“DANJO-SAN!!!”
Back at the Orochi Hideout, Shigaraki sat in silence as he took in all of Ronin’s memories. He was also able to sense Ronin’s energy signature disappearing as well.
“...excellent work, One-Eye Ronin.”
“…rest in peace, my family.”
“I’ll let the rest know about all this...” the gang leader promised.
In the interrogation room, Tenchi held his hand on Ronin’s forehead, analyzing what information he could while he was still alive. But Ronin eventually gave up the ghost.
“...I lost him,” Tenchi announced.
“Were you able to gather anything?” Fudo asked.
“A little.”
“Like?”
“...those trainees...”
“?”
Fudo, Katashi, Steffan and Gado were confused. Why did Tenchi bring up the trainees? But, with a horrified look…he instructed them, saying:
“All of you...”
“...train them as best as you possibly can.”