ã€ŠAlone No Moreã€‹


 Prologue: Zaion Tragedy

    The warm, yellow sun blanketed the landscape with a soft orange. The clouds above were changed from a clear white to a deep purple as they drifted across the dimming sky. Situated on the edge of a large, dense forest was a rather expansive village. It had almost developed enough to be called a small town, however, the residents still had to patiently wait until the day their village was promoted.

    People paraded around the village in a festive manner. They lifted small lamps attached to rope from rooftop to rooftop, making a circular pattern of light through the village. Everyone was preparing for the night they celebrate the ''birthday'' of their growing village. Cooks brought out platters of freshly cooked food; they grilled large chunks of Spalaur meat on their barbecues, stir-fried vegetables and small bits of Pamite meat, and boiled fresh Pamite eggs so the egg white was firm while the yoke inside was a thick liquid.

    The aroma of so many delicious cuisines wafted throughout the village. The villagers merrily spoke with one another as they busily prepared the finishing touches to the decorations. Children ran through the winding houses and paths playing tag and hide-and-seek. One such child was Jura Hyde.

    "Hey, Halira, you''re too good at hide-and-seek! I can''t find you!" Jura exclaimed.

    "Hehehe, that''s the point!"

    Halira''s voice bounced off the walls of several buildings around Jura as he searched for his twin sister. He ran past building after building, looking behind every crate that was placed against each wall. He called out to Halira again with a hint of urgency in his voice:

    "Halira, I give up! Besides, we can''t be out here for too long! Mom will get mad at us!"

    As he rounded a corner, the first thing Jura saw was a sight he wouldn''t forget. A large, cloaked man held an unconscious Halira in his arms. A long, thin sword was strapped to his back and its sheath lightly gleamed from light provided by the lamps.

    "Halira!- You meany, what did you do to her?!" Jura yelled.

    At that moment, a large boom sounded further away. It sounded like the sound originated from the center of the village where most of the people were located. Jura was shaken by the sudden explosive sound, causing him to naturally look back toward the source. He saw a giant fireball rise into the air followed by a cloud of smoke that billowed upward. The force from the blast rushed outward, however, the energy gradually depleted the farther it spread. Jura was far enough from the original blast to not be injured by the shock wave, though he was still knocked off balance.

    "Guh!"

    He stumbled backward and fell to the ground. His left elbow slammed against the dirt, causing pain to spark through his arm. He quickly turned his head around to look at the man behind him, however, he only found empty space. The man was gone, and so was his sister.

    "Halira! Where''d you go?!"

    Jura got up, trying his best to ignore the pain in his arm. He heard screams coming from the area near the explosion which caused him to remember his parents.

    Mom and Dad! I need to find them, then we can search for Halira together! Little brother Lami is with Mom so he has to be safe as well.

    Jura forced himself to travel toward the center of the village. He could see giant flames dancing wildly across multiple buildings and the heat itself caused the center to be a no-man''s land. Hot air blew against Jura''s body as he traversed through broken walls and debris. The large orange flames seemed to be the only source of light in the now dark night, which caused strange shadows to display on the surrounding walls and piles of rubble.

    Occasionally, because of the destruction, Jura wouldn''t notice a few pieces of debris which caused him to trip. He would fall onto the ground, which caused small cuts and bruises to appear on his skin. However, because of his frantic mind, Jura failed to notice such injuries. He climbed over a larger pile of rubble to witness the destruction around the center.

    Charred bodies lay within the sea of violent fire. Most of the corpses had missing limbs; arms and legs lay about the area, engulfed by the flames. The smell of burnt human flesh filled the area, causing Jura to lift his shift over his nose.

    All of the bodies seemed to have surprised or astonished expressions upon their faces. They never knew they would die by an unexpected explosion, especially on the night of their celebration.

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    The scene was instantly imprinted within Jura''s mind. Tears glided down his cheeks and he just stared at the mayhem. Even if Jura didn''t understand the world of adults, he was still friends with just about everyone in the village. Seeing those same people killed caused him to be filled with endless grief.

    He looked down at his hands. He could barely feel his legs as he moved to the left of the pile of rubble. He still felt the need to find his parents and little brother. He wasn''t able to recognize any of the people that died within the fire, so he hoped his family was still alive.

    As he landed next to an intact wall, albeit greatly burned, Jura saw what he didn''t want to see. The thing he feared most had become a reality before his eyes. He instantly fell to the ground, unable to tear his eyes away from the three figures leaned against the wall.

    There sat two people. Their bodies were burned black, showing that they were no longer living. One, the bigger of the two, seemed as if it was tried to block the smaller one from the blast. However, that attempt was futile as the whole left side of the bigger corpse was gone. Black bones protruded out from the destroyed rib cage as smoke lifted off the charred flesh.

    The muscles on their faces were completely destroyed, causing Jura unable to identify them solely based on their visages. However, the smaller corpse''s arms were in a position that signified it was holding something. There was a bundle of cloth in its arms, as if it was cradling something. The bigger corpse seemed to have successfully blocked most of the cloth from the blast. On the smaller corpse''s left ring finger was a golden ring. It had a single blue Nelsolite gem embedded on it, which signified the bond of marriage. It also had the symbol of a White Mutoda, which was a single white circle with a pentagon inside it.

    There was only one person Jura knew that had such a ring. He had seen it so many times throughout his years that he wouldn''t be able to forget it. That ring was given to his mother by his father on their wedding day. He knew because he asked his mother about it. He kind of regretted it at the time because his mother talked about the story for about an hour until she let Jura go. Now, he saw the same ring on the finger of the corpse before him.

    Jura felt as if his entire world had collapsed. His mind spiraled as it tried to keep itself sane through that tragic event. So many tears had escaped his eyes that he didn''t even know if they were still appearing. His eyes bloodshot, Jura reached out and tried to grab the ring. However, he instantly pulled his hand back at the moment his finger touched the ring. It was incredibly hot, causing Jura''s finger to be burned by touching it just for a split second.

    He also noticed that the bundle of cloth within his mother''s arm was empty. That either means that his little brother was taken or the blast completely disintegrated him. However, there were no ashes within the cloth bundle, so Jura immediately assumed his little brother had been taken.

    His two siblings taken, his parents and friends murdered. Jura could barely comprehend the situation. He tried to keep himself awake. He tried to keep himself sane. Everything had happened so abruptly that he barely had time to even understand the reality of the situation. Grief turned into loneliness. Loneliness turned into despair. Despair transformed into anger.

    Jura softly gripped the cloth bundle in his hands. It was white in color, and, because of his father protecting it, most of it still retained its original color. Jura used it to take the ring off his mother''s finger before he wrapped the cloth around the ring. He stood up and traveled toward the outer section of the village.

    He stood in-front of the boundary separating the forest from the village. He knew there was nothing he could do. As far as he knew, everyone else was dead. His skin felt burned and he looked as if he just exited an underground mine. His brown hair was disheveled, his face was black with dirt, and he held the cloth within his fist. Anger filled his eyes, accompanied by a mixture of determination and fear.

    After taking one last look at the burning village behind him, Jura walked into the forest.

 Chapter 1

    ~Eleven Years Later~

    The sun¡¯s rays pierced through the lush branches above the forest floor. Yellow light filled the entire expanse near a large pond which had a small waterfall spilling into it. A stream extended from the left side of the pond and led down for a mile before connecting with a river. It was winter during that time; a faint layer of frost covered the grass on the forest floor which would crunch under the paws of animals that wandered about, intent on searching for the uncommon berries that were capable of surviving the colder temperatures. Bigger creatures silently stalked their smaller prey as they participated in the hunt for food.

    A small, one-room, wood house stood proudly next to the pond¡¯s outside perimeter. The triangular roof held a soft layer of frozen glaze that shimmered in the cool morning rays. It had a single square window that allowed the entire pond to be visible from within the building. To keep insects out during summer, a window that was capable of being pulled up to allow air inside was constructed inside the window.

    The chimney that was placed in the back of the small house signified that a fire was burning within as smoke silently billowed out from it. The inside was rather warm compared to the chilly forest. There was a single bed and table placed inside; other than that, there was a secret trapdoor hidden underneath a hologram which displayed the same wooden floor around it. That type of technology was never-before-seen in the world of Eonus. It was entirely unique to the owner of the small house, which actually originated from his father''s secret research.

    Beyond the entrance of the trapdoor was a ladder that led down about one hundred meters. The space around the ladder was quite large and there was another ladder on the opposite side just in case something unexpected occurred. Placed at the bottom underneath the ladders was a thick, white padding that had small imprints. Those prints were naturally from the person who frequented the hidden chamber that branched out underneath the pond.

    Beyond the padding was a large opening that expanded into an even bigger area. The ceiling seemed to be a bit too high, as if the one who constructed it had exaggerated the measurements. Large chandelier hung from the high ceiling, giving light to every corner of the underground room. On three sides of the ceiling were vents that connected to the rocks which created the natural waterfall. They were placed near the edges of the rocks so water wasn''t able to intrude, however, the filtration system installed inside the vents would accurately expel water or other items that had the chance of falling through the holes drilled into the rocks. Those vents allowed clean air to flow into the underground chamber, as well as to filter out the bad air within it.

    Within the room itself were several different stations. A couple were complex while the others were simple in design. Near the left-most wall was a raised circular platform that had strange symbols etched into it. Wires connected to the sides of the platform led to two large cylinders that housed a dark purple energy. Contrary to its rather dark appearance, the energy was silently still within the two cylinders. Situated to the right of the platform area was a wide, stainless-steel table that was covered with papers. There was a whiteboard placed on the wall above it; formulas were spread across the entire board and small sketches were placed next to each formula in a tidy fashion. Whether those formulas were correct in their solutions, only the man who created it would know.

    On that subject, a tall, thin, young man stood with a marker in his right hand. He was busily marking down his mathematical steps to complete the formula in-front of his eyes. White hair hung down just above his eyes and the back barely reached lower part of his neck. He wore a tight white gown, white boots, white gloves, and a single white cloth that was tied around his neck. He would always wrap the cloth around the lower half of his face when he left his small home, however, that was only within the forest. Depending on his purpose for entering society during the day, he would wear a different outfit appropriate for the situation.

    He suddenly stopped after he circled a number. He tossed the marker on the table in-front of him and took a couple steps back to admire his completed formula.

    "Finally...So it was a Light Cell that was the solution. No wonder the excited electrons weren''t capable of passing through the energy collector. Now I just need to replace the Plasma Cell with a Light cell. Hopefully the entire prototype doesn''t explode this time."

    Jura Hyde wiped a drop of sweat from his brow and reached for a small remote. He pressed his thumb against one of the many buttons, causing a small whirring sound to manifest. After a few seconds, a stronger current of cool air flowed in his surroundings. He calibrated it carefully enough so it wouldn''t blow his papers everywhere. However, just in case, he placed small paper weights on top of the most important papers. If some blew to the ground, so be it.

    He moved toward a different station which housed a strange machine. Actually, it was more correct to use the plural form of machine. That was because there were several different rotating spheres within a large rectangular box. The front of the box was clear glass that allowed Jura to observe the inside and the rest of it was built from a metal Jura created himself, which he called Oclian.

    The spheres within the box were endlessly spinning, as if they had unlimited energy. Different colored mist surrounded each individual sphere as small vortexes that were slowly compressed down into a small stone upon a platform placed in the middle of each sphere.  There were different colored stones that glistened with an abnormal light which sat within the different spheres. They ranged from red, deep blue, purple, black, yellow, neon blue, and more. In total there were ten spheres that were rotating in the box; the different colors that emanated out from within them formed a spectacular rainbow-effect inside the box.

    Jura knelt down and opened up a section below the box that held the spheres. In the space beneath the box was a storage bin for the stones that dropped below once they reached a certain quality. The pedestals that the stones rested on within the spheres would split apart once the stone reached a certain energy quality, which caused the stones to fall into their own sorted storage bins.

    Jura reached for a specific section in storage which held a few yellow stones. Each storage bin was about 7x7x5 feet; the stones weren''t that big either, measuring a diameter of about four inches. Also, the stones were basically weightless. Jura grabbed one of the yellow stones in his hand before he closed the storage section and moved to a different machine.

    The machine had three different circular metal pieces; two were placed on the left side of a long platform while the third rested on the other end. To the left of the two circular pieces of metal was a small box upon a pedestal. The box was about 1x1 foot so it was definitely large enough to hold an Elemental Cell, which were the energy stones produced by the spheres, inside it. There were several wires connecting the box to the two circular metal pieces.

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    On the back side of the box were two small thick rectangular chunks of metal. One of the chunks acted as an external energy source while the other acted as an energy conductor which allowed the energy from the storage chunk to flow into the Elemental Cell. Inside the box, surrounding the Elemental Cell, is an energy compactor which focuses the energy from the storage battery into the Cell. The Cell takes the energy and, because the energy is foreign and the stone itself is filled to the limit of its energy capacity, it releases the energy as a small blast. On the front of the small box is an energy collector, which gathers the expelled energy and shoots it into the first circular metal piece as a laser.

    The metal pieces hold a special focusing-type glass that pinpoints the energy. This allows the laser to travel with increased precision. Before Jura had installed the glass, the laser would always shoot out randomly after a few inches.

    Jura carefully unscrewed the top of the small box and lifted it. He observed the neon-blue stone within the box, examining it. He waited several seconds before using Oclian pliers to take the stone out of the box. Small sparks of energy drifted off the stone as Jura pulled it out; he slowly placed it on a half-sphere pedestal where it silently rested.

    He took the yellow stone from where he placed it before and carefully transferred it into the small box. He heard a click which signified that the stone was in its proper place. He then attached the top back onto the box and stepped away.

    ¡°Whew, done. Now I just need-¡±

    A ringing suddenly echoed out from Jura¡¯s main desk, which was located within the middle of the chamber. The ringing originated from a small, black device that resembles a phone. However, there were only two buttons and two speakers on it. The idea to add an electronic screen hadn¡¯t come to Jura¡¯s mind, mostly because he never had any use for one, as far as he knew. Besides, it was impossible to take his research above ground anyway so he honestly didn¡¯t have the need for one. Also, his accomplishments with quantum physics had not progressed far enough to allow him to create such ideas.

    Jura quickly walked over to the communication device, which, ironically, he called a radio, and pressed the top of the two buttons. Instantly, a voice emerged from the top speaker:

    ¡°Jura, I know today is supposed to be your day off, but I have to call you in. An unexpected situation has emerged.¡±

    Jura sighed as he lightly facepalmed. He rubbed his brow before replying:

    ¡°Vilis, why are you calling me in when you can do it yourself? I¡¯m in the middle of something.¡±

    ¡°Is that any way to talk to your captain?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get sassy on me. You¡¯re the one who called.¡±

    ¡°Sassy, you say? Don¡¯t even get me started. Look, you can finish your little ¡®science project¡¯ later. I still have to assassinate this one guy which I was supposed to last week¡­You know me, right? The deadline for my mission is today so I¡¯m quite busy. Plus, you¡¯re the only one capable of dissolving the situation. And, before you ask the same question again, the answer is no. The difficulty doesn¡¯t require you to unseal it.¡±

    ¡°Why do you always procrastinate till the last day? You know that¡¯s an important noble that¡¯s supposed to be escorted by a squadron of Kard Knights today, right? The mission would¡¯ve been so much easier if you just completed it the day you received it.¡±

    ¡°Yea, yea, you tell me that every time! Besides, it¡¯s not like those Knights are strong, right? I¡¯m capable of tussling around with a few of ¡®em.¡±

    ¡°A Squadron is twenty Knights, Vilis..¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°...Anyway, are you going to divulge the location of the problem? I¡¯m assuming it has something to do with the trading caravan that¡¯s being escorted across the plains into Kard.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re as smart as ever. That¡¯s the one. Originally, only four of the Destruction Squad were dispatched to the caravan. However, the caravan unexpectedly had a Spirit Master among the guards. This guy is contracted with a black wyvern so he¡¯s able to fly and create large spears of darkness. All he does is fly and shoot. What a coward.¡±

    ¡°Haaah, a Spirit Master? How could you miss such important information?...Alright, I understand the situation. Besides, those are my direct subordinates so it is technically my job. Talk to you later.¡±

    ¡°Cya.¡±

    Jura pressed the bottom button, dissolving the connection. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before quickly moving toward the right-most side of the chamber. Placed against that wall was a large wardrobe; it was about eight feet high and seven feet wide. Jura opened the doors to the wardrobe and peered inside.

    There were rows of different clothing, which ranged from casual to formal. There was one section placed the right which held two different sets of clothing. The first set was Jura¡¯s academy uniform which he was required to wear on campus during a school day. The second was an all-black uniform which was extremely similar to the white outfit he wore. He pulled the black uniform out and quickly changed out from his white outfit into the black. He also switched the white cloth around his neck into a black cloth, which he immediately wrapped around the lower half of his face.

    The only difference between the two outfits was that the black version had a thick hood. However, it was only there to keep the cloth wrapped tightly enough. There was a small magnetic connecter which kept the back of the cloth tied. The hood hid the connecter as a just-in-case scenario. The connector itself was black in color so it was already extremely difficult to discover it. Of course, Jura didn¡¯t actually wear the hood. He preferred to keep his hair clear to the outside world. In reality, he just didn¡¯t like anything covering his head. Hair excluded.

    He looked back at the prototype laser and sighed before walking toward the ladder to exit the underground chamber.

    <hr />

    This is the start of my new story so I would appreciate comments detailing any mistakes that are present within the post. I would also appreciate if any of you readers comment about yoru thoughts on the prologue and/or first chapter. This is a story that will not entirely focus on action (except when it''s necessary). I will also detail the MC''s discoveries and research into his weapons and other inventions.

    Hope you enjoyed.

 Chapter 2

    Jura''s hand passed through the hologram covering the trap door in the corner of his home. He planted both hands on the ground and effortlessly pulled himself out into the room. He knelt down on one knee and slightly pushed in three different sections on the wall near the trap door, causing a small click sound to manifest as the hologram was replaced with real flooring.

    After walking near the door, Jura grabbed a few small berries and tossed them into his mouth. He named the berries Poison Kicker Berries after their powerful taste and strong liquid poison. The taste was rather sweet, sometimes too sweet, which would definitely deliver a kick to the consumer''s taste buds. The berries did actually have poison within them, which was masked by the sweetness. The poison was powerful enough to take down a full grown Gaceon, which are large boar-like animals that are known for their tolerance of poison. Poison Kicker Berries are actually one of the most poisonous plants in the entire Mutoda Forest.

    The most poisonous plant, which was named by Jura, is the Ghost Tree. The tree itself is very thin; the largest Ghost Tree discovered by Jura only had a diameter of a foot. The wood was actually almost transparent in appearance. The tree is covered in similar transparent branches that sprout black leaves; the wood expels a natural poison which results from a defensive mechanism, Jura hypothesizes.

    He actually doesn''t know why the Ghost Trees emit such a poisonous liquid from their wood, because all the life around the trees are either dead or non-existent. The strange thing, Jura discovered, is that the black leaves hold the antidote for the poison from the wood. He used a small Fluro, which is a small fluffy-type herbivore, to test his hypothesis. His first test failed because Jura discovered that the poison automatically attacks the hearts, blocks the valves that release blood into the body, and coagulates the blood. It allows blood to flow into the heart and coagulate but not flow out, which causes the heart to explode from the pressure within it.

    Unfortunately, Jura did not know of the poison''s effects at the time so the Fluro had already perished before he gave it the antidote. He dissected the Fluro to reveal the poison''s effects. After identifying the effects, Jura tested it once again to record the amount of time for the poison to take effect. The time it took for the poison to attack the heart was about ten seconds. After that, the antidote would be ineffective in stopping the poison. Jura would know because he tested it multiple times. Poor Fluros.

    He tried using other antidotes to stop the poison, however, only the black leaves were strong enough to cure it. Unless the thing poisoned had a unique power or equipment, it would definitely die.

    Back to the Poison Kicker Berries. Jura isn''t effected by their poison because of his special equipment. Actually, it was safe to say that is was actually technology. After he traveled into the forest when his village was destroyed, he happened upon a hidden piece of technology. That sci-fi-like item was not the only one, however.

    Hundreds of years before Jura was born, items called Breakers began to appear after a great explosion had occurred on an island in the middle of an ocean. So far, more than 800,000 Breakers had been discovered. There were two different groups of Breakers: The Numbered and the Lettered Breakers.

    Numbered Breakers usually have normal power-types like swords that give the user the ability to create waves of fire and what-not. Lettered Breakers are the real unique ones because their powers are all completely unexplained. Only seventeen Lettered have been discovered, apparently, which is a whole lot smaller than the 800,000 Numbered Breakers.

    The Breakers that Jura happened upon was Breaker Z. It gives him great regenerative powers for his entire body. Not only that, but every area that heals is granted more strength than before. Obviously Jura took advantage of such an ability; who wouldn''t? He vigorously trains everyday to tear his muscle fibers in every single part of his body. His Breaker heals those muscles and strengthens them significantly more than normal workouts would. However, the increase isn''t that much in the short term. Jura had been doing such workouts for about ten years. Not only that, but he also forced himself to go through excruciating pain in order to increase the strength of his skin, eyes, bones, and everything else. His master, Vilis, personally helped with the process of strengthening the more hard-to-reach areas.

    Due to such harsh training and strengthening methods, Jura''s skin alone is stronger than steel. His bones are capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of weight and his muscles give him the ability to lift gigantic boulders that weigh several tons. The reason why he eats poisonous foods is to strengthen his organs and other insides. Not only that, but he enjoys the sweetness of Poison Kicker Berries. To him, the poison inside the berries is just an extra. The poison had long become ineffective against him as his organs had become too resistant.

    Jura walked next to the pond, looked into it, and dipped his hand into the waters. A few small fish swam to his hand and nibbled on his fingers, tickling him. He faintly smiled as he let the fish brush past his fingers before lifting his hand out of the clear water and moved down the path he always travels upon. However, this time, Jura sprinted.

    Along the way to the river a mile down the path, Jura would look for and pick up perfectly round stones. They were big enough to fit in his palm and small enough to not be a nuisance. He stuffed them into the several pockets in his uniform and quickly proceeded onward.

    Each breath he took created puffs of visible carbon dioxide in the air. Because of the chilling wind that blasted against his face, small traces of frost started to materialize. Although his hair was already white, the small traces of ice crystals caused the sunlight to flicker in his hair. The frost on his eyelashes were more accented in-front of his dark blue eyes that seemed to be as deep as an ocean.

    He arrived at the river in just under two and a half minutes. The rushing water rendered frost incapable of forming. However, it was still as cold as ice. If someone fell into the river and somehow escaped, they would have to strip their clothing off immediately and huddle near a fire just to survive. If the person was capable of using fire magic, their chances of survival  would instantly skyrocket.

    Some magicians that specialized in ice or water magic would naturally travel to such places. Water magicians that prefer water as a liquid than a solid would train near ice-cold rivers that still had flowing water to try to comprehend the reason why the water could be so cold yet not frozen solid. Flesh practitioners would sometimes use intensely cold areas like rivers in the middle of the winter to temper their bodies and bolster resistance. Unfortunately, that method is also how many magicians and flesh practitioners die.

    However, Jura had no problem with this as he just simply jumped over the river to the other side. The river itself wasn''t that wide; it was about ten meters wide. That small distance was easy for Jura to successfully jump across. Although he is incapable of using magic, his Breaker would heal him if his body temperature became too low. That also increased his resistance against the cold. A similar method was used to increase his resistance against hotter temperatures, which was a type of body training that Jura absolutely despised.

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    After jumping over the river, Jura quickly traveled the remaining distance through the forest. He passed by several different animals that instantly recognized Jura''s black clothing and white hair. Some instantly ran away while a few simply bowed their heads towards him. The few that showed submissive nature toward Jura were naturally the strongest of the animals in the Mutoda Forest. Jura personally battled against those animals. When he first began training, Jura was under Vilis''s watch as he fought against those animals. However, after several years, Jura was capable of defeating those many animals without Vilis''s interference. This caused those animals to respect Jura for not only vastly improving his strength but also for defeating them in a fair one-on-one fight.

    There was one animal that Jura had never dared to fight against. That animal was the White Mutoda, a large tiger-like animal that had ferocious black claws which were very apparent among its lush white fur. It had a black metallic spine that ran down from it head to its tail. Small spikes jutted out from its spine and it was capable of shooting those spikes out if it was desperate. Its three eyes were suited for high-speed and group battles. It could individually control each eye to look wherever the eyes were able to move. It was three meters tall on all fours, which allows it to look down at Jura when he stands next to it. One of the reasons why he wouldn''t fight it was because it caused him to discover Breaker Z. That alone created a sense of respect and, for lack of a better word, companionship that would never be broken.

    After exiting the forest, Jura entered a large, grassy plain that had a few large hills placed randomly around. Forty miles northeast was the large trade city of Kard. The Darli River, which began in the Mutoda Forest because of a giant mountain, ran straight past Kard City. The river rushed past the city and into the vast Luoa Ocean, where a giant ship dock was located to allow traders to sail from other continents. Kard was actually one of four major trade cities; the other three being Dreim City, Todon City, and Zila City. Of course, each city had a large military force capable of defending the city if it was needed.

    Kard City was where Jura''s academy was located as well. Because Jura was seventeen and in need of education pertaining to the world''s workings, history, and other information, Vilis recommended Jura to go to the academy. It would also give Jura a better identity as a student rather than the Destruction Squad''s vice-captain of the Black Market. The academy has its other uses and also allows Jura to not become more of a shut-in than he already was, which was mainly caused by his research.

    The road leading into Kard led to a separate production city called Vimdun City. The name was taken from an ancient race that practiced forging to a very high extent. Unfortunately, that race, the Forions, met their end when the Human King of the time wanted to take their technology for himself. The Human King ended up discovering that the Forions forging methods were passed down through tongue and experience rather than paper. In his anger, he tortured the remaining Forions in order to obtain their knowledge. However, he was only met with more misfortune as none of the Forions spilled their secrets. That Human King had basically massacred an entire race for nothing. The only reason some people used Forion names is to give some respect towards them, even though those events occurred almost two thousand years ago.

    Vimdun and Kard would trade resources and items all the time. Kard was unable to forge their own weaponry because the architect that built the city had miscalculated by a large margin. The error was only caught after the entire city was already completed, so the architect was executed and Vimdun city was built nearby. The reason Vimdun was built as an entirely separate city was to allow skillers, which is the name of those who practice certain skills, to practice their crafts among other skillers. Vimdun attracted large amounts of skillers, and, because Vimdun was always sufficiently supplied, its reputation grew even larger. Thus, it became a major city for skillers. Though it wasn''t a great place to start if you''re a beginner.

    The caravan that was traveling from Vimdun to Kard held a secret prototype weapon that, if successful, would be capable of matching up to the Artificial Breakers created by BBU, or Breaking Breakers United. BBU was responsible for the Breaker Academies being built and they led the journey of discovering new Breakers around the world. In a way, the academies were like military training schools and graduates are usually recruited by BBU.

    Anyway, the reason why members of the Destruction Squad were dispatched was to destroy the caravan, steal any papers related to the weapon, take pictures of the weapon, then destroy it. Jura would then obtain the information about the weapon, to which he would have to try to reconstruct the weapon or at least explain what it was. Of course, reverse-engineering technology was incredibly difficult for normal people. However, Jura''s own understanding of science was far above anyone else''s, even his father''s. Although, without his father''s blueprints and notebooks, Jura would have never accomplished anything scientific.

    The Destruction Squad members were quite powerful, as everyone was equipped with a Numbered Breaker. However, some Numbers were weaker than others. Spirit Masters on the other hand were very powerful, because only a magicians capable of controlling the rare Spirit element would be able to contract with a Spirit Beast. That increases the magician''s power by several folds instantly, thus making them more powerful than almost all Numbered Breakers. That is fact in one-on-one battles, of course.

    Jura assumed the only reason why the DS (Destruction Squad) members had trouble was because the Spirit Master was capable of flight. That, coupled with the Darkness element, would bring about a large amount of destruction because Darkness attacks corrode and breakdown all matter, including Numbered Breakers. Fortunately, Lettered Breakers were special in that they could be absorbed into the body of the host.

    Jura felt excited about encountering a Darkness Spirit Master. He had fought against dark magicians before, however, their power is nowhere near a Darkness Spirit Master. Jura wanted to test his body''s durability in the face of real power.

    <hr />

    Second chapter released, woohoo! As you can tell, these starting chapters will slowly introduce the world as Jura travels to and from Kard city and Mutoda Forest. Also, for those who have experience with fictions such as these, you know that they tend to be a bit longer and slower. If you''re a reader that is looking for a thriller fiction, you''re in the wrong place.

    Of course, this story will feature action scenes (why wouldn''t it) and other...scenes...but it will most likely take more time to get to them. Once most of the world building is complete, the plot will begin to take over more quickly. I don''t know when that''ll be though.

    Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Time to finish Modern Deity''s chapter. :)

 Chapter 3

    As Jura traveled closer to the trade route connecting the two cities, he started to survey the long expanse. Because he wasn''t given an exact location of the caravan, he had to search for it himself. Jura softly sighed to himself as he thought of his older prototypes. He called it radar and it was supposed to create an image of any lifeforms within its range. Unfortunately, he failed at creating the signal that would detect the lifeforms or objects. There''s only so much one seventeen year old can do.

    Anyway, after Jura stepped foot onto the road, he looked both ways to determine which direction was best. Because of a certain torture technique he unwillingly had to go through, Breaker Z had to heal both of his eyes entirely. Due to this, his eyesight had increased significantly over the several times such a technique was used. Although he doesn''t have superhuman sight, his eyes were still far better than normal.

    The road itself was about twenty meters across, which allowed caravans and carriages to pass by each other. It was also a stone-based road, which was only changed in the last two decades. Before, the road was only a clear path of dirt. Rain would create large puddles of mud which would trap carriage wheels, ultimately halting caravans from traveling across the trade route. Of course, if there was either a water or an earth magician present with the caravan then they would be able to solve the problem.

    The only reason why no earth magicians already created a stone route was because it would''ve taken way too long. There was tens of miles separating the two cities, so no earth magician, even a team of them, would want to waste their time creating a stone road. So, the two cities split the pay and paved a road themselves. Magicians aren''t rare per se, but they usually hold themselves as a higher ranking than normal humans. That is especially so for certain magicians like Spirit and Gravity magicians. Even more so for the legendary elemental magicians, like the Void, Death, and Time magicians.

    Anyway, Kyte closely observed the left road before turning his head to the right. He noticed a small black dot moving around in the air above the road. Jura instantly began to sprint in that direction. When he was close enough to perceive the entire caravan within his sight, he reached into one of the pockets inside his black robes and pulled a small radio. He pressed the top button and spoke into it:

    "Destruction Squad, this is your Vice-Captain, Jura. What''s the situation?"

    "C-captain Jura! The caravan unexpectedly had a Spirit Master among the guards! Vars has already been gravely injured, sir! We are currently doing our best to defend each other from the Spirit Master''s darkness spears, but it''s almost futile." A rough voice passed through the speaker.

    "I understand the problem. Don''t worry, I already see the caravan and I am currently rapidly decreasing the distance between us. I''ll arrive in less than one minute. Survive until I arrive, understood?"

    "Yes, sir!"

    Jura heard yells of excitement pass through his radio as he continued to sprint toward the caravan. He placed the radio back into his robe pocket before increasing his speed even more. A full thirty seconds had passed until he saw the distinct figures of his DS comrades. One of them created a wall of light in-front of his body, however, a black spear easily pierced through it. The spear passed the man''s body before it slammed into the ground, trapping the man''s body with it. Jura heard a voice come from the sky:

    "Hahaha! Lowly basic magicians. You think you can compare to me, a Spirit Master?! Ha! Pathetic!"

    Jura noticed the man in the sky. He had black wings that stretched out from his back and a black tail hung from his lower back. The man held a black spear in both of his hands as he looked down at the DS members below. Around the caravan were multiple corpses that laid in pools of blood. Jura''s expression turned ice-cold as he cracked a faint smile.

    When he was fifty meters from the Spirit Master, Jura flexed all the muscles in his legs before blasting off the ground toward the man in the sky. Small cracks spread out from underneath his feet and the wind whistled as he pierced into the sky.

    Jura''s speed was so quick that the Spirit Master was unable to see him until Jura arrived just before him. The Spirit Master tried to raise his hand to block, however, Jura''s speed didn''t decrease whatsoever. Jura outstretched his right arm and grabbed the Spirit Master''s throat within his hand. The force behind Jura''s speed made both of them shoot a hundred meters into the air before they stopped. The Spirit Master tried to speak, but because Jura''s grip was so strong, only a couple syllables were capable of escaping his throat.

    "Wh..at..?!"

    While suspended in the air, and being horizontal to the ground, Jura raised his arm and spun his body 360 degrees before throwing the Spirit Master toward the stone road below. The air visually vibrated before the Spirit Master''s body smashed into the ground, which created a small crater that caused cobweb-like cracks to spread out for several meters. Jura heard the relief-filled cheers from the DS members as he fell to the ground. Because he didn''t have a method to slow his descent, the only thing he could do was wait for himself to slam into the ground.

    Jura''s feet connected with the ground, causing their own cracks to spread out. His black robes fluttered as the intense wind finally caught up with him; his white hair was roughly blown around before it slowly rested back to its original position. Jura coldly glared at the Spirit Master who was struggling to crawl out of the small crater. Jura noticed a hint of fear within the man''s eyes as he realized who attacked him.

    "B-...Black Death..." The man muttered.

    Jura took one step and he was already before the Spirit Master. He retracted his arm and threw his fist downward, aiming toward the man''s face. The Spirit Master''s eyes intensely focused as he instantly reared back to avoid Jura''s fist. He successfully dodged Jura''s attack as he simultaneously manifested two black spears before launching them toward Jura.

    Jura just stood there as the two spears smashed into his body. Jura wasn''t even forced to take a single step back; not even his robes were harmed. In fact, the power behind the two spears were greatly diminished because of one certain component of Jura''s robes. They were created from a type of Oclian fiber and a Darkness Cell. It took an entire year to finish the robes and another two months just to craft the boots and gloves. Fortunately, the defensive ability of the robes were fantastic.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    If Jura''s robes didn''t have the Darkness attribute, those two spears would''ve definitely cut through them. However, because the robes had the Darkness attribute, its defense against Darkness attacks was greatly enhanced. Though, even with his robe''s defensive ability, Jura still expected the Spirit Master''s power to be greater than it was. Jura took one step and was once again in-front of the man. He stared into the man''s eyes and spoke:

    "You''re pathetic."

    "Stay away! I''m a Life Magician! The Mayor of Kard won''t let you get away with this!"

    "Life Magician? Hm, I''ve been meaning to have a test subject with an affinity for the Life Element. I haven''t been able to create an Elemental Sphere of Life yet, so this will be a great opportunity."

    "Test Subject?! The fuck are you talking about?!"

    "You''ll find out soon enough."

    Jura made his hand into a fist before throwing it toward the man''s face. He was surprised at the suddenness and speed of Jura''s attack, so the only thing he could do is thrust his darkness spear toward Jura''s fist. The gloves covering Jura''s hands were created from Oclian fibers and a Darkness cell as well, so the outcome of the confrontation was to Jura''s expectation.

    The darkness spear was shattered into pieces as Jura''s fist smashed through it and slammed into the man''s hand. Loud cracks sounded out as the man screamed out in pain. His body was pushed back several meters before he landed on his back. He looked at his hand only to see a jumbled mess of bones and flesh. Blood dripped off the meat paste of a hand, creating small puddles of blood on the man''s right side.

    "AHHHHHH!! MY HAND!! IT FUCKING HURTS!! YOU BASTARD!"

    "Oh? You think that''s bad? Heh, you don''t know what''s coming."

    Jura moved in-front of the man before he knelt down and glared at him.

    "Your future punishment will be extra interesting because you almost killed two of my subordinates. Anyone who injures my men deserves pain beyond their imagination."

    "Eeuuahh..."

    The man uttered a low cry of fear as he saw Jura''s cold, expressionless visage. A sudden spark of desperation flashed through the man''s eyes as he reached out and grabbed Jura''s arm.

    "Life Steal!"

    Instantly, Jura felt the energy in his body rapidly deplete. He ripped the man''s hand away from his arm and backed a few paces away as he stared at the man. He noticed his raised hand, which had a small ball of energy in-front of it. The man looked up at Jura, with a hint of crazy in his eyes, and said:

    "Life Extermination."

    The ball of energy transformed into a pillar of energy that exploded toward Jura. The light pink-colored energy completely enveloped Jura''s body as it surged outward. The air around it vibrated and the stone beneath it changed from gray to light yellow-orange as it was heated to a very high degree.

    "Hahaha! Lowly human, no one can defeat a Life Magician! Know your pla-eh, what the?!"

    An intense barrier of electricity manifested, completely blocking the blast of Life energy. A single swipe of the electric energy forced the Life energy backward into the Spirit Master. The energy smashed into the man''s body, knocking him back multiple meters before he roughly landed on the dirt away from the road.

    Jura stood in the same spot he was before, however, his entire figure was cloaked with intense electrical currents that danced around his body. Several different currents would explode with power and connect with the ground before returning to it''s natural flow around Jura''s body.

    In his right hand was a weird sword. The blade was a light gray color, with a neon-blue line straight down the middle, and was connected to the sword''s hilt by a black ball that emitted waves upon waves of lightning. The black ball floated between the blade and hilt, keeping both connected. On the blade itself were the numbers: 530095.

    The Spirit Master, with his entire right arm missing, noticed those numbers.

    "Numbered Breaker?!"

    "So you noticed. It''s not the best but it does its job."

    The sword, as if responding to Jura''s mixed comment, emitted a low hum that increased the amount of energy being manifested. Jura looked at the Spirit Master and silently thought to himself:

    It''s a good thing Breaker Z heals everything, even my Life energy. Otherwise, I would be dead right now.

    "Now, I can''t have you dying on me so I''ll just have to knock you out before I heal you. Then I''ll restrain your ability to use magic before I begin my experiments on your body."

    Jura faintly smiled as he walked closer to the man. He looked over to his subordinates before slightly motioning with his head toward the caravan. They instantly understood Jura''s signal as they rushed into the back of the large caravan. Jura turned back to the Spirit Master and controlled the electricity around him which then rushed toward the man''s body. He was instantly paralyzed, and Jura made sure to cauterize the remaining section of the man''s arm.

    "Captain Jura, we have a problem!"

    "What is it, Hazen?"

    "The weapon isn''t here. They probably used this caravan as a decoy."

    "I see. Immediately make your way to my house inside the forest. Stop Vars'' and Laxin''s bleeding first. I''ll be right behind you."

    "Yes, sir!"

    I thought as much. Transporting such an important item, why wouldn''t there be a decoy? However, this Life Magician is already a large gain for me.

    <hr />

    Third chapter! How''d you like the first action scene and display of Jura''s power? He may seem OP right now, but just remember...there''s 16 or more holders of Lettered Breakers. Also, Vilis is Jura''s captain for a reason. It''s only the 3rd chapter, so not all of Jura''s capabilities have come to light. The same can be said for other characters.

    So, how''d you like the story so far? Don''t be afraid to comment! They''re always appreciated.

 Chapter 4

    Jura walked to the carriage and climbed inside. He searched the entire interior only to find a single note, which read:

    "Haha."

    Jura crumpled the note in his fist. He grit his teeth as he jumped out the back of the carriage. He walked to the side of the road and pulled out his Numbered Breaker, which caused electricity to pulsate out of the sword into the surroundings. He controlled the energy and blasted it at the entire carriage, transforming it into ashes. He continued on to vaporize each corpse that was present, completely erasing them from existence.

    Even if Jura wasn''t angry, he still would''ve destroyed everything. If he just left everything, there was a chance for the Knights of Kard to discover any evidence that Jura had failed to consider. He had already experienced such an event, so he personally knows how crafty those investigators can be.

    After he vaporized the last corpse, he threw the Life Magician''s body over his shoulder and sprinted to the other side of the road opposite of the other DS members. Because the terrain was full of large and small hills alike, it was easy to find a big enough hill to hide behind. Jura created a hole wide enough for the Life Magician to be placed into. He created the hole by stabbing his Breaker into the hill and exploding energy inside it. Of course, he couldn''t use that method profusely because he could create too much of a disturbance of the terrain. It was better to have a smaller hole than to have an entire side of a hill missing.

    After he was finished, Jura traveled closer to the road. He remained hidden behind the plentiful hills in the surroundings and revealed only part of his head so he could see. The hills progressively became larger the farther they were from the road, so it wasn''t just a straight drop from a tall hill to the road. Jura was located approximately fifty meters away from the road.

    The only reason why he stayed behind was to wait for any back-up troops that would arrive. There were always usually back-up forces that would be called in to help any soldiers in distress. This was a different situation, however, Jura still stayed behind. The battle was a bit flashier than he had expected, so he assumed at least one magician from the city noticed large mana fluctuations from the battle location. The disturbance would only come from the Life Magician only because he was the sole magician capable of creating large enough mana fluctuations that are detectable from the city. Of course, only a magician of similar power or one that is especially sensitive to mana would be able to notice such a disturbance.

    Jura suspected that a Knight Squadron would arrive with an Investigator. In order to give the DS members enough time to make it into the forest, Jura would have to delay the Squadron''s advance. Whether or not it was a full Squadron, well, Jura would find out when they arrived.

    Now, if the Investigator was on the same level as the Squadron Captain, things would get tricky. Investigators were usually proficient in at least a basic elemental magic, like fire or water. The more efficient ones were adept with elemental magic that includes lightning or light. Those two are more geared toward subduing a runaway suspect, though lightning is better because it is capable of paralyzing muscles. Jura hoped an Investigator wasn''t within the Knight Squadron, because that would make the upcoming battle significantly easier.

    About twenty minutes passed before Jura sighted a small group of people. They wore plated steel armor which emitted a faint cloud of mana; swords were strapped against their backs and the sheathe was covered by a blue cape that reached to the back of their knees. A red icon showing membership of the Knights of Kard were imprinted on their breastplates and capes. Aside from those Knights, there were two people that stood out.

    The first was the Knight Captain that had a red cape instead of blue. Unlike the other Knights, the Captain did not wear a helmet around his head; instead, a red hood was hung over it that created a shadow that covered the top half of his face. A stronger mana cloud permeated around the Captain, which naturally caused others to look at him with a respectful gaze.

    The second figure wore a long red, golden-trimmed robe. On the back of his robe was a white symbol of Kard, which was an octagon inside a square. The white symbol signified an Investigator, and, not only that, the man''s naturally emanated mana that was much larger than the Captain''s. He had long, brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail that only reached his shoulder blades.

    Jura watched on with unease. The moment he caught sight of the Investigator was when he breathed out a heavy sigh. He silently cursed to himself as he observed the group as they surveyed the area. The Investigator calmly examined the piles of ash on the road.

    The Investigator will obviously send the other Knights to follow the others. I can either ambush on the ground or just attack openly.

    Jura stared at the road for a few seconds before faintly smiling.

    Or I ambush from above.

    Jura focused all his power in his legs. Within a split second, he jumped into the air at a slight angle. A loud bang resounded out from the hill as the ground beneath Jura cracked from his legs'' strength. The Investigator turned his head to look at the direction of the sound, however, he didn''t see anything out of the ordinary. After a couple seconds, he looked back at the piles of ash. He stood up and, while he was in the motion of standing, he saw a small shadow move across the ground. A loud explosion blasted out from the sky which created powerful rays of light to reach the ground.

    "Investigator, above you!" The Captain shouted.

    The Investigator instantly formed a barrier of condensed mana above his head as he looked up. He saw a dark figure with pure white hair, surrounded by lightning, speeding down toward him. He saw the glint of a sword tip connect with his mana barrier before it ripped through the barrier like it was paper. The Investigator instantly side-stepped to dodged the sword, however, he was still slashed down his chest; blood splattered onto his robes and the ground.

    Jura''s sword and body smashed against the ground as he instantaneously produced an explosion of electricity, which sent a wave of energy outward followed by a shock wave of sound. The regular Knight''s ears started to bleed as they were blasted off their feet. The Captain shielded himself with raw mana as he unsheathed his sword, which was covered with magical symbols.

    At the exact moment he could move, the Captain sprinted toward Jura. Fire burst out from his feet as he shot toward Jura which he sword raised in a thrusting position. The Captain crossed the distance between him and Jura within a second as he thrust his sword toward Jura''s head. Jura instantly reared backward as he slashed his sword upward.

    The Captain forcefully stopped himself just in-front of Jura''s sword as he created another barrier of mana. A large explosion of energy burst in-front of the Captain, destroying his barrier and tearing his hood of his head. The Captain countered by controlling mana above the explosion and transforming it into a giant fireball before slamming it down toward Jura.

    Jura wavered at the sight of the fireball as he blasted to the side. He didn''t control the power he used, causing him to smash into one of the regular Knights that had struggled to stand. Jura''s body smashed the steel covering the Knight, taking the Knight with him. He finally smashed against the ground, which instantly killed the Knight. Jura used the force behind his collision with the ground to flip upward off the Knight and onto his feet as he forced himself to stop. The Knight''s body rushed past him as blood trailed from the corpse.

    Jura looked at the Captain as his face turned red. His eyes filled with dangerous light, Jura shouted:

    "Alex, Sulcoss!"

    The Captain, Alex, locked eyes with Jura as he frowned.

    "Black Death."

    Jura''s brow slightly twitched at the nickname before he said:

    "Sacrificing your own men, what kind of monster are you?!"

    "I don''t need your opinion. I will use my resources as much as I need in order to capture you."

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Alex looked behind him toward the Investigator and said:

    "Investigator, you will need your Breaker for this fight."

    The Investigator frowned at Alex''s statement. He had never had to use his Breaker in an investigation before because his magical talent was higher than other Investigators. Despite this, although he couldn''t see any mana fluctuations surrounding Jura, he knew Jura was someone he should take seriously. Through his many experiences with murderers and other criminals, he knew that he should not underestimate an enemy. Especially now that he was injured. He was slowly healing his injury with mana, but because his expertise wasn''t focused on healing magic, his lack of skill caused the injury to heal rather slowly.

    The Investigator stood up and moved next to Alex; a metallic staff slid out from his palm. The staff had a multi-colored orb at the top of it, and the numbers 430193 were engraved upon the staff''s shaft. Ripples of energy emanated out from the orb as if to show its power.

    One of the regular Knights had sneaked up behind Jura since the start of the fight. He raised his sword and sprinted the last several meters in order to slice Jura''s head off his body. Unfortunately for him, a surge of lightning blasted out from Jura''s sword and smashed against his body. The Knight was sent flying back into a small hill a bit away from the road. Pieces of steel broke apart as the Knight smashed into the hill.

    Jura watched Alex''s face and saw that he had no change in expression. It was if Alex didn''t care at all about that Knight. Jura grit his teeth as he, Alex, and the Investigator watched each other. Jura flexed the muscles in his legs and, before jumped forward, he exploded energy from the blade behind him to propel his body with even more force. He shot toward Alex and cloaked his fist with energy. He punched straight at Alex''s face and, predicting Alex to dodge, he gripped his sword''s handle tightly.

    Alex side-stepped and thrust his sword toward Jura. Jura did a half somersault in mid-air, bending his body so that Alex''s sword pierced empty space. While Jura was still moving, with the top of his head facing the ground, he slashed toward the Investigator with his sword. Jura''s sword tip sliced straight through the Investigator''s stomach, making blood spurt out from his new wound. However, the sword did not cut deep enough to allow the organs to spill out.

    Still moving because of inertia, Jura flew past the two men and completed his somersault in order to land on his feet. Immediately after his feet touched the ground, he jumped into the air. A blast of fire surged underneath him, directly where he was when he landed on the ground. Jura condensed energy in his blade and slashed out at the ground, exploding the energy at the same time. The blast pushed him farther into the air, where he rotated his body to look at the two men.

    The Investigator was charging an attack while Alex blasted fire out from his feet to shoot himself toward Jura. He held his sword in a thrust position as he sped toward Jura, ready to pierce through his stomach. Jura exploded another ball of energy to offset Alex''s trajectory and to also move himself away from Alex. Alex maneuvered around the explosion by using strong enough fire blasts to change his direction. He faintly looked at the Investigator, slightly nodding to give his approval.

    The Investigator shot out four large beams of Light and Darkness energy. The Investigator controlled the energy to move directly toward Jura. Alex blasted himself higher into the air as he raised his blade up. The magical symbols faintly glimmered before the entire blade burst in flames. Alex slashed down his blade, releasing a giant wave of fire at Jura.

    Faced with five different attacks at once, Jura used his blade to counter Alex''s fire by releasing his own energy. Jura didn''t have time to even look back at the result before he rotated his body and exploded energy to shoot himself lower to the ground. Four beams of energy shot straight toward him, and he shot a ball of energy toward one of the Light beams. However, one of the Darkness beams instantly increased in speed and protected the Light beam. The Darkness energy dissipated while the Light energy surged toward Jura with even more speed.

    Jura only had enough time to slice his sword into one of the Light beams, destroying it, before the last two beams of energy collided against his body. The Light energy slammed into him, causing him to smash into the ground. The Light energy boiled his body as the Darkness energy plowed onto him, increasing the energy output by at least two times. A full second later, an explosion of energy knocked away the Light and Darkness energies. Jura jumped out of the large crater that was created as steam rolled off his body in clouds.

    He was badly burnt, however, fortunately, his robes weren''t destroyed. He had created a barrier out of electricity to block the Light and Darkness energies out of desperation, which worked. He hadn''t expected the Investigator''s magic to be so strong. Usually they only use one element with great proficiency, yet this one was capable of controlling two opposing elements with harmony? Of course, Jura already knew of the harmony of the Light and Darkness elements, but he''s incapable of using magic. He knows how difficult it is to control magic because of his experience in the Academy, and even then he had only witnessed one magician using two elements. That magician wasn''t using two opposing elements, however.

    What Jura didn''t know was that the Breaker the Investigator used helped him control elemental energies. He simply wouldn''t be capable of controlling Light and Darkness energies together without the help of his Breaker. However, that doesn''t mean he''s weak. The Investigator has master-level mana manipulation, something that not all Investigators have. Actually, he''s the only Junior Investigator that has that high of a skill level.

    Right when Jura took a single breath, a wave of fire quickly blasted toward him. He jumped back to avoid the fire, which he just barely accomplished. Although he has an incredibly powerful physical body, he wasn''t capable of training his mana quantity. Any person that is unable to use magic is also unable to train their mana quantity. However, Jura was blessed with a higher quantity than normal people. Despite this, his quantity was nowhere near what a magician''s would be.

    The only reason why Jura was capable of fighting drawn out battles was because he didn''t blatantly use his Breaker all the time. Magicians that had large mana pools would extravagantly use their magic and Breakers. Jura didn''t have that ability, so he mainly relied on his physical body to take most of the damage until the power behind attacks reached a certain point.

    Because of this, Jura was breathing heavily to catch his breath. Although he couldn''t train his man quantity, his mana recovery was directly linked with his physical body. Therefore, the more powerful his body was, the faster his mana recovered. However, even when this is so, mana recovery is something that takes time.

    Alex landed on the ground, slowing his fall by releasing powerful flames underneath his feet.

    "Hey, you can''t really be tired already? We just got started." Alex shouted.

    "Heh, I''d say I''ve done pretty well. Haah, injuring an Investigator twice while being attacked by a, haah, Knight Captain? That''s pretty badass if you ask me." Jura replied, trying to delay them.

    "Oh really? Can you still say that when I cut your hands off and publicly execute you?"

    "You''re saying that as if you have the ability to do so. If you have any real ability, then why don''t you fight against me by yourself?"

    "Hpmh, you do realize I haven''t even used my Breaker yet, right?"

    <hr />

    It''s time once again. This chapter was a full on fight scene, which I actually enjoyed writing. Hopefully it made sense, because sometimes it''s difficult to describe certain movements. Next chapter will pick up right where this one left off, and then go one from there.

    I''d like to know your thoughts on the story so far! Any questions asked will be answered, unless the answer is a spoiler.

 Chapter 5

    Jura furrowed his brows and frowned. It was true. Not only did Alex have superb mana manipulation, but he also had a Breaker. However, he had never used it while fighting with Jura. Therefore, Jura didn¡¯t know if Alex was telling the truth. He had never seen him use it, so he always wondered if it was a bluff.  There was always something that stopped them mid-fight so they never managed to legitimately win against each other.

    Jura¡¯s breath gradually softened as the two sides stared at each other once again. The Investigator walked next to Alex with a limp as he held his stomach. The Breaker in his hand emitted a low hum, as if showing his desire to battle. He had never expected that his first real mission would turn out so horribly, but the excitement he felt superseded the pain from his healing injuries.

    ¡°Captain Alex, haah, what do we do?¡± The Investigator asked.

    ¡°Why are you asking me such a stupid question? Hm¡­¡±

    Alex stepped closer to the Investigator and whispered a few words. Jura calmed his breathing and stood up.

    If I escape, they¡¯ll follow me. I expect the others to have made it halfway to the forest by now. If I don¡¯t finish this up, Vars and Laxin will probably die. Since I can¡¯t unseal it, I¡¯ll just have to compromise.

    Jura reached into his pocket and grabbed a few small stones in his left hand. He grabbed one in his right and flicked his wrist. The stone shot through the air toward Alex¡¯s neck. A small whistling sounded out, causing Alex to instantly bring up his sword and jump backwards. The stone slammed into Alex¡¯s sword and ricocheted off of it, which sent the stone straight through the Investigator¡¯s shoulder. Pain filled the Investigator¡¯s face as he took several steps back while gripping his shoulder.

    ¡°AHHHH! C-Captain, what the Hell?!¡±

    ¡°That was an accident! Just try to dodge his stones!¡±

    Jura threw two more stones, one directed at Alex and the other at the Investigator. Alex was capable of barely deflecting the stone, however, the Investigator was not. The stone ripped through the front of his throat, allowing blood to spill out onto his robes. He coughed up small globs of blood as he frantically tried to stop the bleeding.

    Jura saw the Investigator¡¯s panic, so he took out two more stones and threw them at him. They shot through the air and the first one pierced into the Investigator¡¯s stomach while the second ran through his neck. It flew out the back of his neck, causing blood to gush from both ends. He instantly fell onto the ground, the Breaker leaving his hands and following down with him. He stared wide-eyed at Jura, unable to accept his unexpected demise.

    Alex instantly sprinted over to the Investigator¡¯s body. Jura understood his intentions, so he threw out a couple more rocks to try to stall Alex. One rock smashed against Alex¡¯s plated thigh, thoroughly crushing it. The second was barely blocked by Alex¡¯s blade, which cut the rock in half. A small groan of pain escaped his lips as he fell to one knee.

    Jura jumped forward with enough force to instantly arrive next to the Investigator¡¯s corpse. Right when he stretched his hand out to grab the Breaker, a conflagration of fire blasted toward Jura. The intense heat caused him to jump backward before he was able to snatch the Breaker. He watched as the fire engulfed the corpse and the Breaker; the corpse was burnt to ashes while the Breaker was lifted out of the fire by a tendril of mana. Alex gripped the Breaker in his hand and dropped a small bit of blood onto it, which appeared after he lightly cut his finger. The orb faintly shined as the blood disappeared.

    Jura¡¯s frown deepened as he was basically powerless to stop Alex. As far as Jura knew, there was no limit to how many Breakers one person could hold. He¡¯s also never encountered a person that has a Lettered Breaker, as far as he knows, so he doesn¡¯t know if the same logic applied to Lettered. He himself held two Breakers, and that was the only time he¡¯s engaged with someone that held two just like him. There weren¡¯t any real increases in strength since another Breaker would only increase mana usage, but the more variables with the attacks could be one advantage.

    Alex had a smug smile plastered across his face. He tightly held the Breaker in his hand and stared at Jura.

    ¡°Hahaha, nice try, Black Death. However, we both know about your heavy dislike of fire. It¡¯s only natural that I gained this Breaker. The more I think about it, the more ironic it is. My specialty is fire magic, and your most hated element is fire. Haha! It¡¯s quite wonderful, because I don¡¯t have to expend as much mana as I normally would.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Jura¡¯s body tensed up immediately. The heat from the flames before still lingered on his body. If he had known Alex¡¯s main element was fire, he would¡¯ve installed a Fire Cell instead of a Darkness Cell. He only used a Darkness Cell because he was pursuing a runaway Darkness Mage at the time and the only way he could defeat him was by bolstering his Darkness defense. Although it would take a shorter amount of time to craft a new suit, it would still take several months.

    He still hadn¡¯t discovered the method to install more than one Elemental Cell in equipment, mostly because he didn¡¯t have the time nor the resources to create experiments pertaining to the subject. If he had a few more people that had his same level of understanding, he would probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry about such problems. He had kind of winged it on most of the technology he built based on his father¡¯s numerous research papers, because the Elemental Cells were capable of replacing certain energy sources otherwise impossible to obtain or build.

    The hologram, for example, used a Light Cell as the energy source. Without the Light Cell, Jura¡¯s version of the hologram wouldn¡¯t work. The most complicated calculations his father created were much too difficult for Jura to understand with his mathematical prowess, so he wasn¡¯t capable of recreating several ideas his father wrote down. Therefore, he substituted some of the unobtainable items with Elemental Cells, which are created by the Elemental Spheres.

    Jura lightly chewed the inside of his cheek as he took one step back. Alex pointed the staff at Jura and created several blasts of fire that surged toward him. Jura jumped into the air high above the fire blasts. Several more manifested from Alex¡¯s Breaker and shot toward Jura. He exploded energy to his left side, forcing his body to the right in order to dodge the fire magic. He created a ball of lightning before shooting it toward Alex. A giant fireball crashed into the lightning ball, causing both to burst into a large eruption of wild energy. The shock wave blasted Jura back several meters before he fell.

    Jura stumbled backward after he roughly landed on the ground. Alex calmly strode forward, Breaker in hand, as he smugly smiled once again.

    ¡°Hey, is this really all you have? All those other encounters we¡¯ve had; you really haven¡¯t been hiding anything. I expected more from you, somehow.¡±

    Jura was once again breathing heavily as he took a few steps back. Sweat dripped down his cheek before it fell to the ground. He grit his teeth and glared at Alex with his tired eyes. A blast of fire manifested from Alex¡¯s Breaker and flew directly at Jura. He jumped to the right, however, the right half of his body was engulfed by the flames. An intense burning sensation enveloped his right half, causing him to involuntarily yell out in pain. Images of a flaming village flashed through his mind as the similar heat covered his body.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Jura crashed onto the ground, bouncing a couple times before coming to a stop. Smoke rose from his right half as he struggled to his feet; half of his face was burned off, including his hair. His breathing turned ragged as he stood up; his chest heaved as the muscles in his jaw were contracting. Jura grit his teeth and opened his mouth, revealing guttural words from his throat:

    ¡°I...will FUCKING KILL YOU!-¡±

    Jura turned his body toward Alex and glared at him with his remaining eye.

    ¡°You asked me...if this is all I have?! Hahaha! Guess what you fucking bitch, IT¡¯S NOT!¡±

    A small cracking sound spread throughout Jura¡¯s head. His body slightly vibrated as an incredible surge of energy manifested within it. Instantly, the healing speed of his injuries increased by over three times. An invisible wave of energy wafted off Jura¡¯s body; his Breaker emitted a low hum as the lightning coming forth from it explosively increased.

    Jura¡¯s figure slightly flickered before it appeared directly in-front of Alex. Jura smashed his fist against Alex¡¯s chest, completely destroying the plated steel. Alex flew back at least one hundred meters and bounced several times off the ground before coming to a stop. He puked blood as he tried to breath in precious oxygen. He was completely caught off-guard. Jura¡¯s entire movement happened within a split second; Alex had no chance of blocking. Disbelief covered Alex¡¯s face as he looked around for Jura¡¯s figure, all the while frantically trying to heal his severe wound.

    Suddenly, a black figure smashed into the ground before Alex.The ground was completely crushed underneath Jura¡¯s feet and, by this time, his injuries had almost all healed. Jura reached down and, despite his resistance, grabbed Alex¡¯s undershirt. Jura instantly shot into the air, destroying the earth beneath his feet even more.

    Jura reached a new height of three hundred meters before he slowed to a stop. He tightly gripped Alex¡¯s shirt as he started to spin his body faster and faster. After several rotations, Jura used all the strength in his arm to throw Alex toward the ground. The air vibrated from the force of Jura¡¯s throw and the remaining pieces of steel on Alex¡¯s body were ripped off by the wind resistance alone.

    Alex instantly used his Breaker staff to created a giant pillar of fire to try to slow his descent. He suddenly felt an incredibly dangerous feeling above him, so he turned and saw a gigantic bolt of lightning striking down toward him. He mustered all of his strength to create an incredibly thick wall of Darkness energy. The lightning pierced through the barrier, however, roughly a third of its power was depleted. That didn¡¯t stop its descent, though.

    Alex pulled the cape off his back and waved it in-front of him. His cape was actually his first Breaker, and it was given to him when he was promoted to Knight Captain. It folded in on itself multiple times before it was about two feet wide and long. The lightning smashed down directly on the folded cape, unable to pierce through it. However, the force behind the lightning caused Alex to crash into the ground at an incredible speed. Cracks rolled several meters outward and a large cloud of dirt billowed up.

    Alex uncovered himself from his Breaker, which he wrapped around himself before he fell to the ground. He eyes were filled with fear as he looked up into the sky.

    The lightning manifested from Jura¡¯s Breaker continually increased. It was like a river of electricity that surrounded him, and he gathered all of it behind him. He controlled it to strike down on his body, causing his falling speed to dramatically increase. After a few seconds, all of that electricity exploded; the energy created from the blast visibly shook the air as a shock wave spread outward, completely flattening the ground and casting away the clouds high in the sky. The force created by the explosion made Jura shoot down to the ground with incredible speed. He outstretched his sword and gathered lightning at the tip of it.

    Alex blasted fire out from his feet to move him out of the large crater that formed from his impact. He had barely moved just outside the crater when a flash of black, which was followed by white, enveloped his vision. He had managed to fold his Breaker two times to protect him from the attack, however, the energy was just too powerful.

    A split second after Jura collided with the ground, a gigantic wave of lightning surged outward to cover the landscape for several hundred meters. It wasn¡¯t smooth energy but rather individual lightning bolts that arced outward across the ground; several bolts charged into the sky, snaking their way through the air with incredible ferocity.

    Alex¡¯s Breaker barely held on for a couple seconds before a lightning bolt pierced through it. The bolt severed Alex¡¯s right arm from his body while instantly cauterizing the injury. An entire second later, the lightning storm dissipated into nothing. Intense pain covered Alex¡¯s body, especially his severed arm. Despite his harsh training to become a Knight, the pain of having his arm torn from his body was on a completely different level.

    He instantly covered his entire body with his Breaker, using the hole in it for his eyes. He looked around for Jura¡¯s figure, however, he was unable to discover him.

    Meanwhile, Jura had the Life Magician slumped over his shoulder as he soared through the air. He was still in his unlocked mode because he had to enter the forest before Alex caught sight of him.

    His unlocked mode wasn¡¯t exactly an ¡®unlocked mode¡¯. Basically, because of certain events in his past, the limiter in his brain which protected his muscles from being overused was destroyed. Before he encountered Vilis, his Captain, he was unable to leave the broken limiter state. Because of that, he always used literally one hundred percent of his strength at all times. This caused Jura incredible amounts of pain and suffering, however, because he had Breaker Z, his body healed over and over again until he eventually got used to the feeling of incredible power. Vilis created a way to repair his broken limiter as a type of safeguard.

    Breaker Z made Jura¡¯s real power insanely high, so high in fact that Jura wasn¡¯t capable of controlling it even after several months of no limiter. He continually increased in strength because his muscles would always tear, his bones would always shatter, and he would hear absolutely everything around him down to the movements of worms in the dirt.

    When Jura asked Vilis about other Lettered Breaker holders, Vilis told him that Jura¡¯s Breaker Z wasn¡¯t even the strongest. He could potentially become the strongest after a long time, however, several other Lettered Breakers already had power far greater than Jura¡¯s.

    <hr />

    Chapter 5. Yes, this is the true extent of Jura''s current ability. Of course, he can''t just use it willy-nilly, because it over-exhausts his mana and physical endurance.

    Any questions, just ask. If the answer isn''t a spoiler, I will answer to the best of my ability.