Zero stood in the heart of the forest, his body shrouded in a deep crimson aura with bolts of lightning crackling and dancing around Zero's figure. As this happened the temperature around them began to rise causing Ushin to sweat profusely

A woman fell from the sky landing behind Unagi and Ushin "Hey Cherry!" Unagi smirked turning to look at Cherry who rightfully had a frown on her face after she looked behind Unagi to see Zero's body was covered in lightning mana "Mind explaining what's going on here Unagi" She questioned pushing her glasses up before she heard a girly scream and was forced to catch Ushin as she was thrown at her

Zero heard Ushins scream and dashed for Unagi throwing a swift punch at her but even though she caught it a powerful gust of wind still hit Unagi causing her hair to rise backward

"fly up with the girl Cherry and don't forget to set up a barrier" Unagi commanded as she flared her own Aura and pushed back Zero

Cherry not wanting to get caught in the fight quickly flew upward with Ushin in tow to watch over both of them and began chanting a spell conjuring a transparent dome-like structure that began to cover the entire forest to block off outsiders

"Alright, big boy come get sum!" Unagi yelled as both Zero and she rushed at each other with their fists outstretched and in an instant, they both clashed fists

Upon the clash of their fists, an impact happened that shattered the ground beneath them, sending fragments of dirt and rocks in all directions

Zero executed a kick that she blocked then he spun elbowing her in the stomach and began unleashing a flurry of punches at Unagi who countered each one with ease she then coiled a punch infusing it with her magic causing it to flare with intense heat causing him to put up a cross-armed block and Unagi delivered a heavy blow straight to his into block swore he heard the bones in his arms crack as he was sent flying through forest uprooting trees like mere weeds leaving a trail of destruction

he felt something approaching fast and acting on its own, his body instinctively activated Blast step causing a small explosion to occur beneath his foot he felt something approaching fast and leaped back quickly when a blur crashed onto the spot he was standing on causing the ground to erupt in a violent upheaval which tried to send him flying back again but he poured more mana into the aura covering him forming it into a cloak of lightning which amplified his strength and speed

Unagi did the same but as they both rushed at each other she instead outstretched her hands like she was going to hug him and he outstretched his hands to meet with hers and they began a struggle trying to push the other over 'This guy doesn't just look like hybrid he also feels like one as well ' she thought, taking a closer look as she continued to overpower him

Noticing he was being pushed back he used Blast Step to launch himself away from her channeled a large amount of lightning mana into his fist and used Blast Step to speed up as he rushed at her

Unagi chuckled as her arm began to take the form of a dragon's arm "Dragon Claw!" She roared coiling her arm back and as their fists collided everything went silent for a moment only for it to be shattered by a loud boom that echoed through the air and an explosive burst of ember and crimson energy erupted that destroyed everything within a 300-meter radius within the barrier

luckily Cherry and Ushin were far enough not to be affected by the blast but turned around to see that there was a massive cloud of dust there was a few seconds of silence as Cherry stared at the cloud until "Hey hag can you fly closer I'm tryna get back to my dad!" Ushin yelled as she pulled on the arms of Cherry who was holding her

gritting her teeth Cherry yelled back "Who are you calling a HAG you bratty midget!" Ushin gave her a look of annoyance "Just put me down damnit" Ushin growled as Cherry begrudgingly placed her down

she thought of just leaving until she heard Unagi calling her "Cherry come here I need your help!" Unagi yelled calling Cherry to come over

Cherry followed Ushin as the dust cloud cleared and they saw Zero with multiple burns "Cherry you think you can heal him for me?" Unagi asked and Cherry walked over to Zero to heal him "Sit down so I can heal you" Cherry sighed sitting down behind Zero as he sat unagi noticed something

"What?" Unagi raised an eyebrow as Zero was staring at her arm which was still covered in dragon scales "Oh right forgot to turn that off" She said turning off her dragon claw technique "How did you transform your arm like that?" Zero inquired which made a wide smirk appear on Unagi's face "Well.. I could teach you how to do it but I'll only give you an hour to learn it and if you fail I won't teach you anything else until you learn this move ok?" she said explained Zero just nodded and chuckled saying "I hope I can 'grasp' this technique quickly then!" he shrugged

Unagi gained a big smile of pure joy before she instantly hugged Zero as if they were having a family reunion as Ushin and Cherry groaned "Oh for fuck sake not again/oh for fuck sake not another one," they said which made both Zero and Unagi both snap at them screaming "LANGUAGE!"

3 hours have passed since Zero began training to use the Dragon Claw technique and even after Unagi explained how to activate the technique he has been failing to complete the technique

"There are steps to activating it the 1st step is to let your mana flow through your whole body to get used to the feeling before you begin focusing on infusing your arm with mana. Then coat it with mana and harden it into something like a gauntlet" Zero followed her directions accomplishing this in a short time

"Now that your arm is enveloped in the mana coating, imagine a mental image of dragon scales. Envision the scales gradually emerging from the mana coating until your arm is completely covered in scales from your fingertips down to your elbow"

This was the second step of the process and Zero followed her explanation slowly covering his arms in scales bit by bit but stayed focused and continued to the third step

"Keep your focus on transfiguring the coating into scales and picture your arm transforming more into that of a dragon claw. Visualize it and let your imagination run wild with the looks of the arm!"

Zero was intensely focused as the scales began covering more and more of his arm but was beginning to struggle to maintain its form

"The last step is to solidify the transformation, concentrate on reinforcing the dragon claw shape, by fueling the scales covering the limb with mana to form its shape into the form you desire"

That was the last thing she said before she sat down next to the others to watch him but Zero tried his best to concentrate on finishing the transfiguration until suddenly it exploded slightly damaging the muscles of his right arm and sending dragon-scale shards flying and cutting up his face 'i don't get it what am I doing wrong?' he asked as he stared down at his now torn up arm

Cherry who sat behind Zero watched as Zero failed once again even after nearly 3 hours of straight repetition he was still going and as Cherry was healing his right arm he was going to try on his left again since it was fully healed he had been doing this over and over again like a machine

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Ushin felt uncomfortable watching as her dad let his arms be torn in front of her and Unagi felt the same even though she didn't know him that much. Unagi stood up and walked over placing a hand on his shoulder to grab his attention "Zero I think it's time to take a break" Unagi suggested Zero looked at her and was about to object to say he felt that he was close to finally clearing the final step

Ushin stepped in "Dad you've been at this for hours already can we PLEASE go to the festival!" she pleaded leaping onto his lap "Ushin I feel like I'm close can I just get 1 more try" Zero objected but Ushin refused and hugged his chest tightly as she pleaded "NO and if you wanna try again your gonna have to do it with me right here" She continued Zero let out a sigh before standing up with Ushin hanging off his chest "fine we can go to the festival today" Zero said giving in to Ushins begging

Ushin crawled around him to get a piggyback ride Zero turned to Unagi and Cherry "Hey you wanna join us for the festival!" He asked

Unagi thought for a moment, placing her hand on her chin "I never thought you'd ask but there's something we need to do before we go" Unagi said placing her hand on her chin "What would that be?" Zero questioned, "We need to get you some new clothes 'cause no way you're going out still wearing that," Unagi declared, tugging at his shirt. "When was the last time you went shopping for clothes" she added with a playful smirk

Scratching the back of his head, Zero chuckled, "I don't think I've bought any clothes since we got here." Meanwhile, Ushin clung excitedly to his back, Unagi's face shifted to a look of pure annoyance, as she didn't even give Zero a chance to argue and immediately, she scooped up Zero, Ushin, and Cherry simultaneously, and she began sprinting toward the city, she grumbled "No protests allowed! We've got a fashion emergency to fix before the festival begins!"

They arrived at the bustling shopping district inside the massive city Unagi dropped Zero, Ushin, and Cherry near a clothing store with a decisive huff, leaving no room to debate "All alright look around for something in the store and then Zero will try them out!" she stated

While Unagi scoured the racks for outfits, Cherry and Ushin exchanged worried glances, feeling bad for Zero who was going to have to deal with Unagi. Eventually, Unagi came back to them with an armful of clothes, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

As Zero stepped out of the fitting room with a new outfit, Unagi and Cherry exchanged dubious looks, their expressions revealing that they did not like it "No," Unagi began, "change again" Cherry nodded in agreement "Dad Go back again please" Ushin added, not wanting to see the outfit any longer

he went back and began changing into another as Ushin turned to Unagi "Can we please hurry up we got him 9 different outfits already why do we need another one?" she complained leaning against the wall "This is the last one okay after this we can head to this restaurant called 'Angels Home' its this big place and they got so many different foods to try " Unagi giggled resting her head on her arm as they waiting for Zero to come out

Zero stepped out in a black long-sleeved shirt that had soft luminescent white threads complemented by a crimson vest along a pair of black pants, and dark crimson elfin boots Unagi nodded, a satisfied grin on her face. "Not bad, It suits you," she said and Cherry chimed in with a smile, "It looks good unlike the last too"

Ushin couldn't contain her Impatience "Yeah, Dad You look amazing! Now let's go, Miss Unagi, you Paying since it was It was your idea bye!" she grabbed Zero's hand and dragged him away. Unagi let out a sigh and ran her hand through her mane of hair "Guess I'll pay for the clothes while they hang out"

he walked through the streets passing by food stands and stores "Ushin what are we looking for?" Zero asked carrying her on his back as he made his way down the street Ushin placed her head on his shoulder muttering "I wanna find a store to get you a gift" Zero curiously glanced at her "Why would you want to get me a gift?" he inquired

Ushin replied "It's cause I simply want to give you something to remember me by" he sighed not quite understanding her reasoning but decided to let her be and continue on their stroll before Ushin pointed out a store that had jewelry displayed on the inside window "hey lets check that place out!" She exclaimed

he nodded walking through the door of the store and placing down Ushin who ran off to look through the store's wares she looked for a few minutes until she found a red locket necklace she opened it seeing it was empty and pondered on what she could place inside it before a lady approached her "hey little girl what are you doing here?" she asked

"I'm here with my dad I'm tryna get him a gift and I wanna get him this but I don't know what to put here," Ushin said letting out a sigh the lady rubbed her chin "Ah I got an idea let me see it for a minute!" she extended her hand and Ushin let her take it before the lady went to the back

Ushin waited for 20 minutes wondering if the lady was going to return "I hope that lady didn't just run off with it" she murmured thinking of what she was going to do if the lady had robbed her until her thoughts were broken by the sound of the lady returning with the locket "Sorry it took so long I was thinking of a pose but I finished it" The lady explained handing Ushin the locket

Ushin opened it and thanked the lady before going back to Zero and handing him the locket "Here!" taking the locket from her he tried to open it seeing it was a drawn picture of Ushin grinning "Thanks Ushin" He thanked her and they went to pay for the necklace but didn't have to pay much since the clerk thought it was cute of Ushin to try and get something special for him

he put on the necklace and thanked the clerk before walking out with Ushin they didn't have to walk far before they spotted two familiar people one had a child beside him "Hey Zero where have you guys been!" said Enrique waving at them Kai chimed in asking "where did you guys run off to" clearly mad at them since they sped off while he was trying to introduce them to the festival the last time

"Oh, ya know just walking around doing some shopping! Whether it was our choice or not" Ushin said muttering the last part under her breath Enrique, intrigued, raised an eyebrow. "Shopping, huh? Guess that explains the new look" he asked, glancing curiously at Zero's new outfit

"Shopping well whatever I wanna introduce you guys to this troublemaker who is my little brother, Kaden," he introduced, gesturing towards the young boy beside him. The young boy simply waved at them

since he already met the kid Enrique asked "So apart from that where you guys heading?" Ushin scratched her head "We heading to someplace called Big Mamas with two people if you guys want you can join us!" She suggested

Kai, having been listening, chimed in, "Big Mama's? I think I've heard of that place before I've always wanted to go there! What you think Kaden?" he added, nudging his brother who quietly nodded Enrique grinned, "Sounds good to me lead the way" The group headed down the bustling street, the tantalizing aroma of a variety of cuisines wafting through the air.

As they entered Big Mama's, the lively atmosphere embraced them. Ushin looked around and couldn't spot Unagi or Cherry "damnit where is she!" Ushin asked rubbing her chin Zero pointed toward a large table "She's over there" Zero answered

Unagi and Cherry were already sitting at a large table, Unagi spotted them and screamed at them. "Hey, get the hell over here we've been waiting 30 minutes hurry up and sit down" Unagi called, as they made room for them

The group settled into their seats at the large table in Big Mama's and a waitress approached, ready to take their orders. "can I take your orders please!"

Enrique grinned, " Yeah I'll start with 5 large chicken legs, please."

Kai followed suit, his eyes lighting up with anticipation. "I've been craving it! One large plate of curry and rice for me, and a smaller one for my little bro here," he said, patting Kaden on the shoulder.

Cherry quietly ordered, "I'll take 2 fried rice and stir-fried steak bowls, please"

Ushin saw something familiar on the menu and decided, "Yeah, I want the meat special bowl with two large garlic steak bite meals with ranch"

The waitress noted down each order Zero didn't look up from his menu, and declared, "I'll have 10 plates of curry rice, 10 large chicken legs, and 10 wyvern steaks" The waitress wrote down everything on the list

Turning to Unagi, hoping she wouldn't order a lot like Zero did, the waitress inquired, "And for you miss?" However, Unagi, wearing a mischievous smirk, pointed at Zero and said, "I'll have what he's having." The waitress let out a sigh and asked "What would you all want to drink with your orders?"

Kai whispered something to Enrique who then said, "Three iced teas for us!" Ushin chimed in, "I want grape juice!" The waitress wrote it down and turned to Zero to get his order, but Unagi spoke up first, "Just get us a few rounds of Brown Ale for the three of us!" The waitress walked off to tell the chefs and fetch their drinks.

as everyone at the table conversed with each other, Unagi, with a mischievous grin, suggested to Zero, "So Zero ya wanna have a drinking contest?" Leaning on his shoulder, Zero didn't quite understand what she wanted but nodded in agreement.

Cherry, catching wind of the idea, hunched over onto the table, groaning, "Oh nooo" her voice muffled as she knew what was going to happen