Chapter 1: Ultima Academy
It was still early in the night, when Kensei reached s small town. He immediately headed towards a relatively cheap inn and rented a room to stay the night. There was only a small problem in which the owner was suspicious of how 14 year old would roam about in the wilds, but decided that earning more money was important.
Kensei entered the average looking room and removed his cloak. Sitting down, he touched an unremarkable black ring on his left index finger, from which a gray book appeared. The black was was actually a rare World Dimension Ring, of which is said to contain a small mini world of it’s own. It is capable of sustaining life, and a small number of people can live in it for their entire lifetime without any danger. It was given to him by his father, since he was the most talented out of his generation. He had always tried to give it to Julius or Irene, but both rejected, saying he would need it the most. Looking at the ring now, he believed they had great foresight to force him to keep it.
Now he turned his attention to the unassuming gray book, which was titled ‘Divine Speed Style’. Though the name seems lacking, it is the original swordplay style created and used by the Supreme Sword Saint Valius Glavo, his ancestor. It was a style that emphasizes on using speed and perception to kill the enemy in the fastest way possible. However, as it has various skills and stances unique to it, Kensei had to rework the every single thing he learned into a different style. This was done to hide the fact that he was the last remaining descendant of the Glavo Clan.
As he flipped through the book, he continued to memorize important points of each and every single move, training his mind at the same time. After awhile, he closed the book and kept it in the ring and began practicing. He trained the unarmed techniques that were brought in from his mother’s clan, as the room was too small for sword training. These techniques were apparently one of the few techniques that were considered important for building a strong and solid foundation for both the body and manipulation of energies. He never really knew the clan his mother had come from as he was just a young child, thus he never knew how important these techniques were. Even so, from the time he could start practice, both his mother and father drilled the basics of both the unarmed and sword techniques into his mind.
At first, he had no idea why his mother emphasized on sensing his own body every time he trained. He never knew until four years ago when he actually felt faint traces of energy moving within him according to his techniques. Excited by such a mysterious change, he went on to practice the techniques more intensely and actually gained a basic understanding of energy manipulation. It was only a year ago after reading through the manuals stored in his ring, that what he manipulated, was called inner energy. It was recorded that grandmasters can even go as far as manipulate the inner energy of other people with ease, either harming or helping them. However, most users can at most use it to increase their combat abilities, by hardening their bodies and be used as a form of air cannon and so on.
This has led to him wondering if it can be applied to weapons, and he tried many a times on his sword, with each time ending in failure. Thus he had given up on inner energy infusion until he was able to grasp a more deeper understanding of this mysterious ability. As of now, he can sense that his inner energy has synchronized with hi body, as he can see his own body glowing faintly in the dim room. After going through the techniques a few more time, he decided to go to sleep.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Morning came and Kensei went down for breakfast. After a plain breakfast, he went on his way and walked north. As he walked on, he began to sense several killing intents forming ahead. Soon enough he saw a group of rough men hanging about the road waiting for someone to come. He walked on without any regard to their glares and as he tried to walk pass them, a burly man steps in front of him.
“Brat, what are ya doing out here all alone? There are bandits all over the place who will just gut ya and take ya stuff. So for your sake, give me all your stuff for safekeeping!” the burly man said with a sneer.
“If you wanna live, better let me move on. I am in a hurry.” Kensei replied in a rather threatening tone. This made the burly man and his gang laugh.
“Alright then!” the burly man shouted as he swung his axe horizontally. Kensei jumped before the axe made contact and landed shortly behind the burly man. Angered, the man turned and raised his axe for another attack, but he suddenly stopped. His fellow bandits looked at him in confusion and his head suddenly dropped down with no warning. This shocked all the bandits, as they could only stare at the now dead burly man.
“Kill the brat!” one of them shouted and charged towards Kensei. Kensei drew his sword and began to unleash incredibly fast slashes, instantly killing 3 bandits who were charging at him at the same time. Another 3 more surrounded him and and charged at him from three different directions. Kensei jumped up at the last moment and killed all 3 by slicing their heads before landing.
“Brat! Looks like you are some genius, but against me you will just die!” a tall bandit who have been watching from the side said. He thrust a spear out at Kensei aiming for his heart. Kensei deflected the spear and slashed the tall man’s stomach. The tall man clutched at the wound with surprised and fell on his knees, looking at Kensei. Kensei immediately decapitated him and kept the tall man’s head.
Kensei recognized this bandit, as his wanted posters were everywhere. Vignor Mares was his name, and he was a deserter with 7 others. They deserted the army and became bandits in this area, as the kingdom have not been able to maintained peace due to ongoing wars. After he cleaned himself up at the nearby river, he continued on until he reached a city.
The guards stopped him and asked to check his identity. Kensei frowned ans showed the head of Vignor, to which the guards showed surprise. One of them led him to their captain.
“Well done lad! I was hoping to catch the bastard, but looks like you got there first!” the captain exclaimed.
“I just happened to run into them. Thought I was easy prey.” Kensei replied.
“And they paid the price for it. Well, here is 25 Gold for killing his entire band and getting his head.” The captain said as he handed over a small bag of gold. Kensei took the bag carefully as he has only enough money to last him for a few weeks. The captained suddenly gazed at Kensei with interest.
“How old are you lad?” he asked.
“14 this year, and I am also an orphan.” Kensei replied.
“14 years old and already this strong! You are talented for sure, and my condolences for your loss. Must have been hard.” the captain said with a tinge of sadness.
“Not at all, I have always been independent.” Kensei replied quickly.
“I see. However, are you interested in going to Ultima Academy?” the captain asked with curiousity. Kensei did not reply, showing a confused expression.
“Looks like you really have no idea. Listen, Ultima Academy is a large academy north of this city, 2 weeks away by carriage. It is larger than this city and is also a neutral location. Everyone is allowed to study, though their status sort of determines what is available to them. However, exceptional talents are granted scholarships, more than enough to cover the tuition costs of almost any courses they have there. With your talent, I am sure you can get in easily. So, are you interested?” he explained and asked. Kensei pondered for a bit and seemed to be enlightened.
“Guess I will go there and try it out.” Kensei said. The captain nodded, a smile appearing on his face.
“Good, you can rest in a spare room on the 2nd floor tonight. Tomorrow, one of my men will bring you to the caravan headed towards the academy at the North Gate. Oh, and welcome to the city of Bose.” the captained said. Kensei replied with gratitude and went to sleep in one of the spare rooms.
Tomorrow, he will begin a journey, one where he would meet new people who would stand by his side. This will be where his legend begins.