《AWAKENING - the adventure》


 Prologue

    This is the story of a boy, a boy who is destined to save the world,...multiple times. However, every tale has to start somewhere,


    "See you mama" the young boy Henry Dreherg shouts before leaving the small house, he and his mother lived in.


    "See you" his mother answer''s him, smiling and waving him back.


    "Now what" Henry Dreherg asks himself.


    Henry is 15 years old, the same age his older sister left 2 years ago to start her adventure.


    It is a tradition to leave their parents house and start an adventure, young adults do that all the time in the area where he lived, Henry''s sister wanted to leave as quick as possible. It is unordinary to leave at this young age, Henry is just trying to imitate her.


    Henry:"I think the city is a great start for now".


    The town Gravental is the capital of the province Grafenberg. Grafenberg is named after the family that rules over the province for generations. the Great Empire has with Grafenberg 16 other provinces with Grafenberg being the smallest of them.


    Before passing the town entrance, Henry takes a deep breath


    Henry: "easy Henry, you can do it"


    he says to himself to calm himself from the excitement of finally starting his adventure.


    Twice a year, Gravental hosts a big market were traders and dealers from all over the Empire attend with all kinds of goods. Its morning so most of the tents are closed and less people are on the streets.


    Henry''s stomach rumbles. He grabs his backpack in search of either food or money,


    but he doesn''t find anything.


    He sighs in frustration,


    Henry: "Should at least brought some bread with me until I find a way to get some money, stupid me"


    he says while slapping himself on the forehead.


    "OKAYYYYY!!!!"


    he shouts to the sky with an enthusiastic voice, leaving a loud echo that resounds through the city.


    "Then let me earn some money first".


    The small amount of people scattered around the area starts starring Henry in confusion. Why would you shout for no reason at all. His dark jogging clothes, dark curly hair with some dark red strains at the top of his head isn''t something ordinary you see all the time.


    Henry heads to a wall full of posters and leaflets, on walls like that you can find a high


    variety of tasks and jobs, people hang them on walls like that because they don''t have the money to pay the fee to put them in an organized guild.


    Henry: "Bounty-hunting? Nah, treasure hunting? Nah".


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Henrys eyes starts to shine as if a kid had seen his favorite candy at a candyshop, after seeing a poster of a local fighting club that offers money if you beat their champion.


    Clubs do that all the time; you give money or something with worth as an entry fee, you fight their strongest fighter but mostly you loose, but Henry is confident.


    Henry looks around the dark street-alley where the entrance to the club is supposed to be,


    Henry: "Is this a fluke?"


    He says in frustration. Some people put up fake posters with fake locations to either


    prank them or lead them into a trap to rob them.


    Henry then detects a big metal door further inside the alley.


    He knocks loudly,


    Henry: "Hello? Im here to earn some money"


    He shouts.


    The big metal door opens, loud screams of crowds and heavy metal music unleashes.


    A bald, tall and very muscular man stands before Henry,


    Henry: "You must be the champion"


    He says with a confident expression, the man then starts bursting out in laughter,


    Man: "Surely not boy".


    The man takes a step to his right and a big hall with a lot of gym equipment, (like punching bags), and a huge crowd, surrounding and cheering, the big boxing ring in the middle were currently a fight is being held.


    Henry is amazed, as he watches the tall, dark blonde with pushed back hair, combined with a mid taper, completely demolishes his competitor in the ring.


    Henry: "This must be your champion, right?"


    From the shocked facial expression of the man, Henry answers his own question,


    Henry: "I guess the other guy is".


    The hall gets quiet after witnessing a one-sided fight.


    A man walks into the ring,


    "Weeee have a new CHAMPIONNNN, BUTTTT THE CHALLENGE DOES NOT END HEREEE. Whoever beats him,


    will be rewarded DDDDOUBLEEE"


    Not a single person reacts, everyone is shocked by the beating the ex-champion just


    received, and and his souless body being carried out of the ring.


    Henry: "I will"


    The crowd is shocked while Henry enters the boxing ring,


    Henry: "I will fight him".


    The crowd laughs,


    Man: "You? You want to fight him?"


    ???: "Stop laughing and leave the ring "


    The dark-blonde hair guy says.


    ???: "Your name"


    He asks Henry in a cool-guy tone.


    Henry: "Im Henry and you?".


    ???: "Jack".


    Both now entering a fighting stand.


    The atmosphere gets tense, the crowd is focused, it feels like needles piercing threw the skin.The moment the bell rang for the fight to start, both fighters already rushed at each other.


    Spectator: "This speed..."


    The spectator comments.


    It''s like two alpha predators fighting each other. Everyone stopped cheering for a second, shocked by that feat. Then the whole gym starts cheering loudly.


    Both of them equally throwing punches, blocking and evading at a very high speed.


    Henry blocks the heavy punches launched by Jack, waiting for an opening,


    Henry: "NOW"


    Henry gets rid of his blocking stance and throws a quick punch; Jack then grabs his arm and throws him over his shoulder.


    Henry, laying on the ground, quickly moves his legs to kick away Jack from his stance so that he also falls to the ground.


    Jack falls:


    Henry then quickly gets up to jump on-top of Jack, but Jack shoves his foot into Henrys face, kicking him a feet away.


    Both get up quickly.


    Henry rushes at him and starts a quick barrage of punches with Jack dodging and blocking nearly all of them.


    Jack: "If I want to win this fight, I have to find an opening quickly"


    He says to himself in his mind.


    Jack: "NOW"


    He says while hitting Henry with an uppercut, but while doing that he also leaves an opening for himself, an opening Henry quickly detects and with one quick movement, he successfully is able to also hit Jack with an uppercut.


    ...


    Many tends already opened at the market, some tents sell food, some sell armor and


    weapons, some sell books and some sell ores and magical rocks.


    From quality to fakes, you can find everything here. Sometimes traders bring items of very high quality with them, one of them is the trader Giacomo Bonis, a young rock-trader, skinny with long black hair, who took part in a rock-expedition in a foreign country.


    There he found a blue, shiny stone.


    To rise its worth, he attached a golden chain on it.


    Giacomo opens his tent, expecting to sell his variety of stones today.


    Then, a big, fat customer comes to him to inspect the stones, Giacomo notices that the customer is looking for something worth the long travel he had to attend the market today.


    Giacomo: "Ohh customer, I think I have something for you, something worth spending your money for"


    Giacomo pulls out a wooden box where the stone is contained in,


    Giacomo: "This shiny stone was found, sealed in a cave near a small village in the country of Transilvannia, something worth to spend a lot of money in, right?"


    Giacomo is supposed to sell the stone at the auction house later today.


    What he does is a common fluke, used to trick the customer, letting them think that they will buy the original but at the end, they will receive a cheap replica.


    The customer stares in awe, both of them not noticing the small boy with glasses, a black coat with a hood.


    The boy notices that. He then took advantage of his situation, grabbing the stone and running away,


    Giacomo: "HEY SOMEONE STOP THE THIEF"


    He shouts.


    The boy runs quickly into an alley, where he opens a small shaft. The boy climbs inside


    of it and closes the shaft, crawls through it and opens a grid at the end of the shaft. The boy, now in a bureau like room, walk''s calmly to the door and opens it.


    The boy''s facial expression quickly changes from calmly to shocked, after witnessing the event that happens right infront of him,


    A room full of people cheering and in the middle a boxing ring, where after a furious battle both participants look at each other deeply in the face.


    Henry: "i can still go on".


    Jack: "yeah me too".


    They both say before falling to the ground at the same time.


    Boy: "BIG BRO",


    He shouts while tears fall from his eyes.


    ...

 Making Friends

    Jack: "I won''t accept that"


    Jack shouts angrily.


    Henry: "Me neither"


    Henry responses.


    Man: "I can understand both of your frustration, but you have to understand that a draw is bad for the business"


    A man response to them, he is small and old, wears a tie and a suit, the same guy who announces the fights.


    Jack: "I want my money"


    Jack says angrily.


    Henry: "Me too"


    He responses.


    Man: "I know how you feel but clearly, you know what, Jack you will receive your earned


    money from your previous fight and you Henry, I can only give you a small compensation".


    Henry, happily walks out of the mans bureau, looking at the money he earned,


    Henry: "Finally, now I can get something to eat"


    He says happily to himself, before spotting Jack,


    Henry: "Hey, wait"


    He shouts loudly.


    Jack turns around, next to him is the boy who is wearing a cloak, hiding behind him,


    Henry: "Where do you think you are going"


    Jack: "Outside. I got paid, that''s why I don''t have business here anymore"


    He responses in his cool-guy tone.


    Henry: "Hey i just want to talk a little"


    Jack: "alright talk then...".


    Both became uncomfortably quiet for a short amount of time. Henry then sighs loudly to break the atmosphere,


    Henry: "You fought pretty good Jack"


    Jack: "Yeah? Why do you care"


    Henry: "Just trying to break the ice between us"


    Jack: "Nothing personal kid but..."


    Henry furiously interrupts Jack,


    Henry: "Kid?! You don''t seem much older than me!"


    Jack: "Im 16"


    Henry: "See? You are just 1-year older dumbass".


    Again, it gets uncomfortably quiet between the two, this time Jack sighs loudly to break the atmosphere,


    Jack: "Hey man, maybe I was too hard on you, since it''s been a draw I guess you fought


    good too".


    Henry bursts into laughter,


    Henry: "Next time I won''t lose"


    Jack: "Idiot, next time you won''t be laughing"


    Both start laughing loudly, a loud stomach rumbling interrupt them, it''s the boy hiding


    behind Jack,


    Henry: "And who is that?"


    He asks nicely.


    Jack: "That''s my little brother Lenny"


    Lenny, a short, dark blonde haired young boy, wearing round glasses, comes into the spotlight,


    Henry: "Nice to meet you Lenny, im Henry"


    Henry says with a smile,


    Henry: "Whats that in your hand?"


    Pointing out the blue stone Lenny holds in hisIf you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    hand. Lenny quickly puts the stone into his pocked,


    Lenny: "Nothing"


    He quickly answers.


    All three of them become uncomfortably quiet,


    Henry: "Soo, are you guys hungry?".


    They leave the hall and head to the market. Many people had already gathered with nearly all tents and shops open and hundreds of people in attendance.


    Henry stands at a food-tent were street-food specialties of the Grafenberg province are


    served,


    Henry: "three wild boar sandwiches please",


    the man brings a big, long, fresh baked bread, puts freshly cooked minced meat inside of it,


    and cuts the bread into three parts.


    A wild boar sandwich is prepared with minced meat from a wild hornboar, cooked with onions, cheese and eggs and then shoved into a freshly baked bread, topped with a sauce of choice.


    Inhabitants of the Grafenberg province love to eat it after a hard working day in the summer, giving them the effect of quickly regaining their energy.


    Henry: "One with candice sauce and the other two with ketchup please"


    The man turns to the inside of his shop, where on a counter, a big variety of sauces are located.


    The man grabs a big tube with ketchup and a small tube with an orange sauce with small


    black particles inside.


    Candice sauce is another Grafenberg speciality, it has a similar taste like mustard.


    The orange color comes from the egg yolk of a Grimmbird, named after its discoverer, Peter Grimm.


    The black particles come from the black spices, mixed into the sauce to intensify its


    taste.


    The original recipe comes from the Candice-family, a very famous family in the Empire, who lifes in the eastern part of the Grafenberg province.


    He then pours the ketchup on two of the wild boar sandwiches, puts the ketchup away and then pours the Candice sauce on the last wild boar sandwiche.


    Henry: "Thank you".


    Henry carefully carries the three sandwiches, stacked on-top of each other to Jack and Lenny, who are patiently waiting on a bench, outside of the market.


    Then, Jack and Lenny grab the two sandwiches with ketchup, before Henry could sit down next to Lenny.


    "Thanks for the meal",


    they say in unison, before eating the sandwiches with enjoyment.


    Henry: "Finally something to eat"


    he says with a full mouth and a big smile.


    Jack: "So, where did you learn to fight like that?"


    Henry: "Before living with my mom, I


    used to live with my father, he trained me for some time. After that, me and my sister would


    sometimes train together but since she left two years ago, I mostly trained alone"


    Jack: "You have a sister? How old is she?"


    Henry: "She should be 17 by now"


    Jack: "1-year ain''t that bad"


    He says after comparing his and her age.


    Henry: "Ehh..., sooo, where did you learn to fight like that?"


    Jack: "I fought a lot in events like that to earn money for me and my brother, so I just naturally learned how to fight"


    Henry: "Sorry to hear that."


    ???: "There he is"


    Someone in the distance shouts.


    Its Giacomo pointing out Lenny to three officers.


    Jack: "What did you do Lenny?"


    Henry: "No time for that we have to go"


    The officers pursue them but are quickly distracted by an explosion, coming from a


    building behind them.


    Officer 2: "The auction house"


    He shouts in shock.


    Jack: "Our chance",


    Jack grabs Lennys hand and runs.


    Henry: "Hey wait"


    Henry runs to catch up to them.


    Giacomo: "Hey whats with the boy who stole my stone?"


    Officer 1: "We can catch up to them later first this here".


    The Officers quickly rush to the auction house where in the second floor the explosion took place.


    Everywhere on the ground are parts of the building, that flew out of the second floor after the explosion.


    Officer 2: "Look up there, there''s a man in the second floor".


    By now, many people had gathered to see what exactly happened, but not many have noticed the man, standing in the second floor infront of the shattered wall that now leads outside, starring at them with an bizarre and evil looking smirking expression.


    Officer 1: "Hello Sir? Wait there, we will get you out of there as quickly as possible".


    The man smiles and jumps out of the second floor.


    Everyone gathered gasped in shock, thinking that the impact will at least shatter the bones in the mans legs, but the man lands on both feet showing no visible damage.


    Officer 1: "You alright Sir?"


    The Officer still in a state of shock, pursued the man to check on him. The man has a blonde mullet haircut with black leather jeans and a leather jacked, with piercings in his nose, mouth and ears and an evil looking face.


    Mystery man: "All good officer, in-fact, all perfect"


    He smirks while staring at Giacomo, Giacomo shivers in fear by the evil stare of the man.


    The Officer, quickly becomes aware of the situation and realises, infront of him is not a victim of the explosion but the very man who caused it.


    The Officer pulls his revolver from his weapon carrier,


    Officer 1: "Hands up sir"


    The man smiles at the Officer and stretches his arm in the direction of him.


    The arm of the man then suddenly turns into mud, extending it quickly into the officer''s face and further covering his whole head in mud, crushing and cracking his skull before he could even pull the trigger of his gun.


    The people in the area are shocked by this sudden event, screaming and running away


    from the place where this event is taking place. Most of them never had seen something like that before, a man turning a bodypart into mud and killing someone.


    The other officer quickly pulls his gun, but the man quickly tosses the lifeless body of the just killed officer at him.


    Being hit by the very body of his dear friend, the officer who is laying on the ground panickes, tossing the body away from him and quickly getting on his feet, when suddenly blood flows out of his mouth.


    The Officer, now in a state of shock, did not notice the sharp blade made out of mud that pierced him from behind all the way through his heart and further. He then turns his head around over his shoulder, viewing the smirking evil face of the man who had just killed him.


    The mud blade desolves and merges back into the skin of the man. The corpse then falls onto the ground leaving a straight path between the man and Giacomo.


    Giacomo, frozen in fear and moisted in sweat, unable to do anything just watches the evil man that killed two officers infront of him, smirkingly walking to him.


    The Evil man''s smirking looks so bizarre, just looking at it makes you feel uncomfortable.


    Evil man: "So you the guy who took the stone, where were you at the auction house? I was


    looking for you".


    Giacomo falls onto the ground in fear,


    Evil man: "Come on man, you could at least try to answer me",


    Giacomo starts shouting in fear.


    Two loud sounds suddenly come from behind the evil man, the sound of a gun shooting two


    bullets, flying and hitting the evil man from behind.


    The evil man doesn''t seem bothered from the bullets who hit him in the back, he then smirks again, turning to the man who shot him in the back twice. It''s the third officer, calmly pointing his gun at him.


    The evil man points with a fingerpistol at him and shooting one of the bullets from his finger, that where shot in his back, covered in mud and hitting his head, leaving a big hole in the officers forehead.


    Giacomo: "What...what do you want...I give you everything but please don''t kill me "


    Evil man: "Aye just give me the stone"


    Giacomo: "I...I''m sorry, if u mean the blue stone i...i don''t have it"


    Evil man: "Easy man, just tell me where it is"


    Giacomo: "A kid stole it from me, he...he ran to this way with two older guys"


    Giacomo points out the way Henry, Jack and Lenny ran to.


    Mystery man: "alright thanks man this wasn''t that hard right?"


    The man smirks again while Giacomo cries in fear. then the evil man turns his right hand into a mud blade and pierces Giacomo threw his stomach. Giacomo looks down, before falling to his side.


    Evil man: "alright shouldn''t be this hard"


    The man desolves into mud and flows into the sewer next to him leaving back a scene of chaos

 Balte

    Jack: "I think we are far enough",


    He says to Lenny.


    Jack and Lenny stop running, Henry quickly catches up to them. Now all three are in a deserted alley.


    Henry: "Next time warn me alright?"


    Jack: "There will be no next time, from here our path''s part"


    Henry is shocked,


    Henry: "WHAT? WHY! The officers already seen me with you there is no point in


    seperating"


    Henry thought he finally found his first friends on his adventure. He surely did not expect loosing them this early already.


    Jack: "Yeah but you would only drag us down"


    Henry becomes angry,


    Henry: "I-"


    Lenny interrupts,


    Lenny: "I don''t think he will drag us down big bro, in-fact I think he would be of great help"


    Jack: "Shut up Lenny, you are the reason we are in this mess anyways"


    Henry: "That''s right, but i mean, thanks to the explosion, the officers will leave us alone for now, I think"


    Jack: "You''re right"


    ???: "It was a masterpiece, right?"


    An evil voice echoes from the sewer, right next to them.


    Slowly, mud rises up the sewer until it is big enough to form itself into a man. It''s the evil man, standing in-front of them.


    Evil man: "It really was a masterpiece!",


    He says with his evil smirking face.


    Henry: "Who are you"


    Evil man: "Oh sorry I forgot to introduce myself, names Balte"


    Jack: "Alright baltee, what do you want"


    Balte: "The kid there has something I want, give him to me",


    Balte points at Lenny.


    Jack: "Nope can''t do"


    He responses in his cool-guy tone.


    Balte: "Thought so".


    Balte smirks and turns his right hand into a wrecking ball, connecting the ball to his arm with a chain, formed by mud, flinging it into Lennys direction. Henry jumps infront of Lenny, trying to block the attack but Jack jumps infront both of them, blocking the attack.


    Balte smirks and laughs, but then stares confused, seeing Jack who didn''t took any


    damage by his attack, blocking his wrecking ball with his arm. He stares at Jacks right arm which is wrapped in black reptilian like scales, basically, his hand all the way to his shoulder gained the appearance of that of a dragon.


    Balte: "I never thought I would meet someone like you here of all places"


    Jack: "What, scared of what you are seeing?"


    Balte: "Can''t say that im totally happy, fighting someone with a dragon-beast"


    Henry, who stands behind Jack looks at him excited,


    Henry: "WOW JACK, YOU HAVE A BEAST?"


    Jack: "I thought you would be more shocked"


    Pointing out the fact that he thought, someone seeing something that bizarre would be seemingly more shocked.


    Henry: "WATCH OUT"


    He shouts before pushing Jack to the side, trying to block the wrecking ball that flew from up.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Jack, Balte and Lenny look in shock when they see Henry successfully blocking and tanking the attack without taking any damage.


    Normally, a person would die or seemingly take more damage, but Henry didn''t get a


    scratch or seem bothered by that sudden attack.


    As it seems, the only thing that took damage by that attack is the ground that cracked under Henry''s feet.


    Balte: "Impossible"


    Lenny: "W-WHAT"


    Jack: "But how, I can''t sense you using soul energy"


    Henry tosses the wrecking ball away, leading to it turning back into mud. He then rushes at Balte, punching him in his face.


    Henry: "W-What?"


    Henry is shocked after noticing that the spot where he landed his punch, had turned into mud.


    He was sure he landed it, but it felt like punching into a puddle of liquid mud.


    Balte didn''t even flinch by that punch, basically taking no damage.


    Balte smirks again,


    Balte: "What''s the matter, shocked by my Awakening?"


    He says mockingly,


    Henry: "Not really, but it seems you didn''t took any damage".


    Balte turns his left hand into a hammer, swinging it into Henry''s direction, slamming Henry into the wall to his right, leaving him stuck in a completely cracked wall.


    Balte: "That''s the effect of my ability, my mud Awakening, means if your weak, I won''t take damage"


    Jack jumps at Balte with his arm wrapped in dragonscales,


    Jack: "Take that!"


    Balte swings his hammer-arm into Jacks direction, leading into a clash with Jacks in dragonscales covered fist, leaving a loud sound and shockwave.


    Jack then turns his mouth into that of Dragon. He then opens his mouth and lets out a very loud roar, a roar similar to that of a dragon. While roaring, he unleashes purple lightning from his mouth, launching it towards Balte.


    Balte:


    "Uh-Oh"


    He says, before turning his right arm into a mud shield, trying to block the purple lightning.


    The purple lightning pierces threw the shield and hits Balte in his chest area, burning his chest and launching him around two feet away.


    The Alley is now hulled in smoke, Henry opens his eyes after getting slammed into the


    wall.


    Still in the wall, he is unable to see anything because of the thick smoke.


    Henry: "Jack? Lenny? where are you?"


    He shouts into the alley, hoping to atleast receiving a sign.


    Jack: "ARGHH"


    Jack shouts in pain,


    Henry: "JACK!!"


    Henry is slowly able to see threw the smoke. In the middle of the alley, Jack is risen up over the ground with his upper body fully covered in mud by Balte who turned both his arms into mud, letting it look like a child holding up his plush toy.


    Balte smirks and laughs, while his entire chest area all the way up to his chin is completely burned and crusted by Jacks purple lightning attack.


    Balte: "How you like that?"


    He says while smirking and laughing, crushing Jacks upper body under his mud. Releasing uncomfortable sounds of bones cracking and bursting out of Jacks body.


    Jack: "AARGH"


    He screams in pain.


    Henry: "I have to do something",


    He says before charging from the cracked wall at Balte in high speed and launching a sucker punch to the side of his head. Balte takes no damage by again passively turning the part where Henry hits him into mud.


    Balte: "I told you already, you are too weak to damage me"


    Balte tosses Jack away from him. He then attacks Henry by turning his arms into mud whips.


    Henry jumps over the first whip attack but gets hit by the second one. Henry stands his


    ground, cracking the ground again and holding onto the mud whip but then gets


    slammed onto another wall.


    Balte: "You just had to give me the boy"


    He says with a mockingly tone.


    Lenny approaches Balte from behind, trying to throw punches at his back but while Lenny


    punches him, his hands get stuck in Balte''s back, after he turned it into mud and then hardening it.


    Lennys hands then gets sucked further into Balte''s body.


    Balte: "There you are"


    He says to Lenny again in his mockingly tone.


    He then turns his whole body into mud while keeping his human form. Then puts his hand


    inside his stomach to grab Lennys hand, letting it look like as if he searches for something inside of his body and then pulls Lenny through his body from behind him to the front.


    Balte: "Alright boy, wheres the stone"


    Lenny shivers in fear, thinking he is the only one left, unable to do anything and knowing noone else will come to safe him.


    Balte: "Come on now, your friends are already dead, just give me the stone"


    He says with his bizarre smirking face.


    Henry: "Who says that i''m dead"


    Henry says.


    Lenny: "HENRY"


    Lenny shouts in happiness. Gaining all his hope back.


    Henry, who stands infront of Balte, completely covered in dust and dirt, stares Balte with an expression full of anger, turning his hands into fists, looking like as if the veins in his face and fists would pop any second.


    Balte: "Boy, stop trying alright?"


    Henry: "Let him go"


    Balte: "Boy, did you just ignore me?"


    Henry: "I said let him GO"


    Henry gets more furious and again, charges at Balte at high speed.


    Balte: "Here we go again"


    He says mockingly and tosses Lenny to the side.


    Henry then charges at Balte, throwing a punch. Balte mockingly lets him land the punch.


    But Balte did not notice something. Before Henry could even land the punch something in Henry happened, something Balte did not notice until the very last moment, a phenomenon that is very rare, infact it is so rare, that in the history of the Great Empire, it had been only documented once, it is so rare, that you could even build a monopole worth trillions on it if you have any documentation or evidence of that phenomenon.


    This very rare phenomenon is called: awaken an Awakening.


    This phenomenon happened in that very moment inside of Henry. He awakened his


    Awakening while throwing his punch at Balte. Henrys whole arm had been completely wrapped by a bright blue energy while being in the middle of landing his punch on Balte''s right cheek, allowing him to not only land his punch successfully, but also launch Balte through the wall next to them and even further through the building and even further through another building and another building, leaving only a trail of holes.


    Henry stares at his arm which is still wrapped in that mysterious shiny blue energy, but then turns back into his normal arm.


    Fully exhausted from the fight, Henry sits down on the ground. He then wipes of the sweat of his face.


    Lenny: "whoa, an Awakening".


    He says to Henry before instantly remembering Jack,


    Lenny: "BIG BRO"


    Lenny runs to Jack who is laying, completely wounded on the ground, Henry quickly follows Lenny.


    Henry: "JACK"


    Suddenly, smoke appears from Jacks body, healing Jacks wound by letting it look as if his  wounds are dissolving and turned into smoke. Similar to water turning into steam after dropping it on a hot pan.


    Jack then proceeds to wake up leading to Lenny falling all over Jack,


    Lenny: "BIG BROO"


    He says while crying and hugging Jack.


    Jack: "Im fine Lenny, what happened to that mud guy?"


    He asks, confused of the situation they are in.


    Lenny: "We won big bro, Henry ended him with a MASSIVE punch with his Awakening, launching him threw BUILDINGS"


    Jack: "An Awakening? You? You have one?"


    Henry: "Since now"


    Lenny: "Ain''t that cool?".


    Lenny laughs and hug''s Jack, being happy of the outcome.


    Jack and Henry also start laughing, after winning against this strong enemy. after all, they never lost hope.

 Aftermath

    Jack: "Thanks man"


    He says while nodding


    Jack: "You really saved my ass"


    He says in his cool-boy tone while still sitting on the ground with Lenny all over him.


    Henry: "If it wasn''t for you, we wouldn''t have beaten him"


    Indicating to the lightning attack that Jack released that hurt Balte in the first place.


    Henry: "To be honest, I heard stories about Beasts, but I never seen a Dragon Type Beast before"


    Lenny: "Yeah they are suuuupeeer rare, one of the rarest types and on top of that, big


    bro even has a rare Drago-"


    Before he could end his sentence, Jack shoves away Lenny indicating that he should stop talking and finally let loose of him.


    Jack: "Anyways, what even is that stone the guy had been trying to kill us for"


    Previously, Jack, Lenny and Henry had been attacked by a evil man named Balte. He was a mud type Awakening user, meaning his body was made out of mud and with that he


    could create and manipulate mud by his will.


    He was looking for a stone that was stolen from a fraud-stone trader by Lenny.


    Lenny pulls out the blue, shiny stone, with a golden chain attached to it.


    Lenny: "Here it is, I don''t know why they call it a stone, for me it looks like a blue amethys-"


    Again, Lenny gets interrupted by Jack who this time quickly grabs the stone from Lenny''s hand.


    Jack: "Hm, what do you think Henry"


    Jack says while further investigating the amethyst like blue stone.


    Henry: "You wan''t to know what im thinking?"


    Jack: "Yeah don''t hesitate"


    Jack says, expecting an explanation that would explain the happened event and the mistery behind the stone.


    Lenny, who is by nature a smart boy, now is highly interested in Henry''s thoughts, with


    his expectations rising rapidly every second.


    Henry: "Yeah i have no idea"


    He answers with a straight and innocent smile, not detecting that he instantly shattered Lennys high expectations and Jacks hope for at least a decent explanation.


    Jack: "That stone is a problem; we should get rid of it"


    Jack says, basically taking over the role of the leader.


    Lenny: "To be honest, I don think so, this stone must be of high worth since everyone gets crazy around it. We should at least hold onto it for quite some time".


    Henry: "Yeah, i think so too, I mean this smells like an adventure".Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Henry responses with a big smile and shining eyes, as if a child just watched an epic episode of his favorite cartoon on the TV, while also completely missing the point of Lenny''s argument.


    Jack slaps his hand onto his forehead, groaning in disappointment.


    Jack: "This is a stupid idea; we only get ourselves in more trouble.


    Henry: "Alright we are three people, let''s vote"


    Lenny and Jack glance surprised by Henry''s smart suggestion, thinking that only dumb statements would come out of Henry.


    Henry: "Okay then, who is for tossing away the stone? They should now raise their hands".


    Jack is the only one raising his hand, his disappointment is basically written all over his


    face.


    Jack: "Come on guys really? this is stupid"


    Henry: "A vote is a vote"


    He responses  before patting Jack on his shoulder. Jack then glaces onto his little brother who just gives him a shrug. Lenny and Henry grin at each other before high fiving.


    Jack sighs in disbelief.


    Jack: "Alright what''s out next move then boss"


    He says to Henry, since he lost the vote to him, basically handing the leader role to him.


    Henry: "let''s visit my sister"...


    Lenny gets confused. At first, Jack smiles in agreement about that suggestion but then


    also falls into confusion.


    Jack: "And why exactly should we visit your sister? Don''t get me wrong, I like the idea


    but im also confused"


    Henry: "Guys, my sister is smart, so she will know what we should do, she also knows a lot of people and she is very strong"


    Lenny gives a questionable expression, still doubting why they should do that. Jack otherwise quickly changes his mind, agreeing Henry.


    Jack: "Sounds good for me"


    Responses in an agreeing tone.


    Lenny: "Okay I guess, where is she right now?"


    Henry: "Last time I spoke to her was a week ago, that time she was at the port city Grenzborg"


    Jack: "Good, so still in Grafenberg provinze"


    Grenzborg is a port city, north-western of Gravental. While Gravental is more on land, Grenzborg is completely adjoined to, the Lumarian Ocean. One of the 4 major Oceans.


    Grenzborg is very important for the Grafenberg province since most of its in- and deports are located in Grenzborg. It is also the fish-capital of the Great Empire.


    Henry, Jack and Lenny are now standing before a train schedule, at the Gravental-trainstation.


    Jack: "Great, we have to wait 20 minutes"


    Jack says frustrated.


    Henry: "Twenty minutes ain''t that bad right? I mean, it leaves us some time to talk"


    Henry repsonses with enthusiasm.


    Lenny: "Yeah right, you haven''t told me anything about your Awakening, what''s with that blue energy that completely wrapped around your arm?"


    Lenny is happy, he loves talking about supernatural things like Beasts and Awakenings, probably because he is still 13 years old.


    Henry: "I wish I would know"


    Lenny: "I haven''t heard of an Awakening that has this kind of attribute, first I thought it''s the


    light Awakening but that wouldn''t work since the Awakening color is yellow, then maybe I thought it''s water, but this one is already knowingly taken"


    Lenny references out the rules of an Awakening.


    Lenny: "Of course there are rules for it,.."


    Jack: "Uh-oh here we go, sorry Henry"


    Lenny: "first rule is, there is only one of every Awakening type, means that there are not multiple users of a Water Awakening at the same time.


    Second rule, if an Awakening user dies, the Awakening randomly is respawned in a Child


    who is born around the same time, there is no limit of where the Child is on the world meaning that it does not affect where the last Awakening user had died.


    Third rule, an Awakening slumber in a person until he "awakes" it, the criteria are not really known but the most well known and dangerously known criteria is awaking


    it by combat."


    Henry: "Does he always talks alot?"


    Jack: "It can get worse to be honest, wait let me demonstrate you"


    He says, before chuckling.


    Jack: "You know Lenny, as a kid I always wanted to have a cool Awakening, but since I have a Beast, I can''t have one"


    Jack says.


    Jack: "Don''t get me wrong, I think having a Beast is way cooler"


    Jack smiles at Henry and raises his tumb up, knowing what is about to happen.


    Lenny: "For sure, but most boringly is having basic Soul-Aura"


    Lenny here references the three major sources of strength.


    Lenny: "To know what it is, it is important to know basically its fuel: Soul-energy.


    It is basically the energy, won by the Soul. If your Soul-energy is empty, you die.


    Soul-aura is Soul-energy, turned into useful strength inform from aura, that can boost


    your strength, speed and agility or even lets you use cool techniques.


    Awakenings basically is another form of Soul-energy. An Awakening basically replaces Soul-energy, leading to only being able to use the Awakenings element but on full control


    with nearly no boundarys.


    But you can''t have full control of an Awakening instantly, needing training and hard work for a long period of time to fully get a hang of it.


    Beasts are magical creatures, feeding on the very Soul-energy, naturally you die but a


    Beast basically, similar to an Awakening, exchanges your Soul-energy with it''s own, leading to the user to be able to use the Beast''s ability and gaining a high healing factor.-"


    Henry: "Hey our train is here"


    He responses quickly to interrupt Lenny.

 Grenzborg

    Now in the steam engine like train, the three boys are heading to Grenzborg in search for Henry''s older sister.


    Henry, Jack and Lenny,  are now sitting in the train at a four seater with a table.


    Jack: "You don''t have her number anymore? Or did she lose her phone?"


    Jack asks Henry, sitting face to face with him, while Lenny is sitting on the window side left from him.


    Henry: "What do you mean? I still have her number".


    Henry responds, surprised by Jack''s sudden question.


    Jack: "Then why didn''t you just call her to ask where she is right now"


    Jack asks, while raising his voice in disappointed.


    Henry: "Because I know that she wouldn''t pick up, last time I called her she was angry


    at me for calling, since she is busy all the time. The only person she instantly picks up


    on when they call is our mother"


    Jack: "Don''t you think that your sister just doesn''t want to talk to you?"


    Henry: "Nah, we are family after all".


    Jack then turns his head to Lenny, giving an expression of disbelief. Lenny responds with a similar expression.


    Lenny then pulls out his phone, a flip phone with a display in the inside of the upper part.


    Henry: "Woah, you have the newest model?"


    Henry glances in awe, again with his shiny expression.


    Lenny: "Cool right? Not only can I call someone, but it also has a build in flashlight."


    Lenny ons the flashlight, it is a small light that shines from the backside of the upper phone part.


    Henry: "Whoa, my phone is only good to call"


    Henry takes out his phone; it is smaller then Lennys and the display has some cracks inside.


    Lenny: "You know what? We should exchange numbers."


    Lenny says, grabbing Henry''s phone and typing in his phone number. Henry''s phone then makes a short musical sound.


    Henry: "Neat, I now have three contacts"


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Lenny: "Three? Why so less"


    Lenny questions with an arrogant smile.


    Henry: "My mom, my sister and you"


    Henry responds


    Jack then grabs Henry''s phone.


    Henry: "HEY"


    Jack: "Calm down, I just want to see what your big sister''s name is"


    He says in his cool-boy tone, smiling with a sinister face.


    Jack: "Let me see... Emilia Bruma... interesting"


    Jack makes a surprised expression afterwards


    Jack: "Your profile says that your name is Henry Dreherg, while your sisters name is Bruma, might want to explain?"


    Jack asks, raising up one of his eyebrows.


    Henry: "Easy, I have our dad''s family name while my sister has our mom''s family name."


    Jack: "Makes sense I guess."


    The train stops


    Announcer: "We are now at Grenzborg train station"


    A female voice says.


    Jack, Lenny and Henry now stand up from their seats and walks out of the train.


    First thing they notice is the wide overwhelming view to the Ocean that is visible at the horizon behind the town and the varieties of Birds flying over them and further on.


    in train-stations, there are commonly poster walls since clients also try to attract foreigners to accept their jobs.


    Lenny then noticed something on one of the poster walls, three faces that look familiar, Lenny also noticed that it is a bounty hunting job, not only that, but a high bounty is


    also set onto those familiar faces.


    Lenny then falls to the ground, shocked when he noticed that the three familiar faces where him, Jack and Henry.


    Lenny: "Guys? We have a problem"


    He says with a shivering tone.


    Jack: "What is it"


    Jack says, before also shockingly noticing his face on the bounty poster.


    Jack: "Oh shit, now we are in a deep mess"


    He responds.


    Jack: "We have to go, fast"


    Lenny nods, agreeing with Jack


    Henry: "Why? What''s the matter?"


    Henry asks confused, not knowing the situation they are in.


    Jack: "I don''t know how or when, but someone put on some high bounties on each of us. We now each have a bounty of 15.000 credits"


    Henry: "Is that much?"


    Jack grabs Henry on both shoulders, with a furious expression,


    Jack: "Hey dumbass, back in that fight club I earned 700 credits and you only 100, I hope this summarizes it"


    Lenny: "We shouldn''t be wasting time here, let''s go"


    Lenny calls out, pulling Jack on his shirt.


    Now after walking for quite some time, the three boys now finally arrived at Grenzborg,


    the port city in Grafenberg province.


    ...


    ???: "Alright idiot, next time don''t call me"


    A female voice says, laying down on a lounger on top of a boat, talking on her flip phone before hanging up. The boat has a large deck area with three  loungers, a table with atleast three chairs, a mast and a steering weel. Inside the ship are three rooms, a large storage room, a sleeping area and the restroom.


    The girl laying down wears a black bikini, tanning herself in the sun. She also wears sunglasses, and her hair is dark and long, with small dark red strains.


    ???: "Emilia i told you the deck area is not a tanning spot"


    Another voice says. it is a blonde boy in a sailor uniform.


    Emilia: "Shut up Daniel, I can do what I want aslong the Boss isn''t here."


    Daniel the sailor boy groans in despair.


    Daniel: "Alright Emilia, as long as the Boss isn''t here, I won''t say anything"


    Daniel then picks up a bucket of fish and goes over a plank, down of the ship.


    ???: "EMILIA"


    A familiar voice shouts.


    Emilia: "Oh no, I know that voice"


    It is Henry standing at the harbor jetty, next to the ship.


    Henry: "EMILIA ARE YOU THERE? THE SAILOR BOY SAYS YOU ARE! I WILL COME UP NOW"


    Henry walks up the plank and sees Emilia on the lounger


    Emilia: "What are you doing here, idiot little brother?"


    Emilia says in an angry voice, raising up her sunglasses, revealing her dark green eyes.


    At the same time, Jack and Lenny walks up the plank, viewing Emilia.


    Emilia: "Ah i see, you even brought some friends"


    She adds on to her sentence


    Henry: "We could use your help Emilia; we have a problem"

 Rejection

    Emilia: "You need my help?"


    Henry: "Yeah, we need your help"


    He asks with a serious face.


    Emilia stands up from her lounger, putting her sunglasses on to then walk  to the stairs, leading down to the boat interior, ignoring Henry while doing.


    Jack then walks to Henry, patting him on his shoulder from behind. Seeing Henry shocked by the hard rejection of his sister kind of makes him smile a little, knowing his ideas would have been better.


    Jack: "You did great boss; you know someone else who could help us?"


    He says mockingly.


    He calls him boss as a sign of mockery and revenge for loosing the vote to him.


    Henry: "I mean, I think so"


    He responds to jack. Jack disappeares in his thoughts, thinking if Henry was joking about


    knowing more people or if he really ment it, getting goosebumps of thinking that they might be worse than his very own sister. Leaving him with an expression of shock and fear.


    Henry chases down Emillia to the boat interior, trying to maybe make her overthink her decision


    Henry: "Wait Emillia, please we need your help",


    Henry looks around the boat-storage room. He sees a lot of boxes filled with fish, left and right.


    Henry: "Whoa Emilia, I didn''t think you would be interested in the fish business.


    Emilia: "Leave me alone Henry"


    She calls from the distance,


    Emilia: "What ever it is you need help in, it will only bring me more trouble than I already have."


    A little note of sadness is in her voice while rejecting Henry, that little sadness is enough


    for Henry to not leave it like that.


    Henry: "Then let me help you first big sis, what is it, tell me"


    He calls into the distance, hoping for an answer.


    Emilia comes out from a door at the other side of boat-storage room, fully dressed in a dark blue shirt and some dark blue jeans.


    Emilia: "Henry, if you could help me, I would have asked you"


    She says after walking to him and before she passes him to walk up the stairs. Henry turns to Emilia.


    Emilia: "But I didn''t, so leave me alone"


    She speaks, not turning around and showing him her back.


    Henry: "B-but big sis"


    Emilia: "Im sorry Henry, I can''t help you".


    Emilia walks up the stairs, where she sees Jack leaning at the mast and Lenny, sittingStolen story; please report.


    on the lounger.


    Emilia: "And who are you two?"


    She says in a serious tone.


    Jack: "You should at least hear him out you know?"


    Jack says in his cool-boy tone, trying to impress her a little but also attempting to


    at least let Henry talk to her.


    Emillia is in disbelief,


    Emilia: "Im sorry but in whatever mess he brought you in, it ain''t my problem"


    She walks down off the boat on the plank, before heading into the town.


    Henry comes up the stairs, sad from the harsh words and rejection by his own sister.


    Jack: "She always like that?"


    He asks Henry,


    Henry: "I don''t know, maybe I just didn''t notice until now"


    He answers in a sad tone.


    ...


    Emilia: "What was he thinking, coming out of nowhere and doing like it is important, as if i don''t have my own things to solve"


    She says in her head, walking down the streets of the small port city with a plastic bag in her right hand.


    ???: "Emilia, wait!"


    A man calls from behind, it is Daniel in his sailor uniform.


    Emilia turns around and faces Daniel.


    Emilia: "What do you want Daniel, I am busy"


    Daniel: "I-I guessed that we have to go to the same place so I thought it would be a good idea that we walk together"


    Emilia: "Whatever"


    She says, rolling her eyes and turning around again.


    Daniel quickly catches up to her and then slows down, so he has the same walking tempo as Emilia.


    Daniel: "Sooo, what did your brother want from you"


    He asks, trying to break the silence.


    Emilia: "Nothing Daniel, matter of fact, mind your own business"


    She responses, not even giving him a glance while talking.


    Daniel: "I-I am sorry, I just wanted to-"


    Emilia interrupts Daniel


    Emilia: "Whoops, sorry Danny but we are here".


    They stop in-front of a wooden door of a big storage hall.


    The big main door is closed, so Emilia knocks with her left  on the wooden door.


    Daniel looks sad for being interrupted without warning, but he quickly forgets it after noticing


    that he got called with a nickname by Emilia, leading to his face turning red.


    Emilia: "Broker, im here, open the damn door, I brought what you wanted."


    She calls, waiting and quickly gets un patient, knocking harder this time.


    Emilia: "Broker, open the fucking door"


    She shouts, scaring Daniel, leading to him taking a step back.


    Daniel: "Emilia, w-w-we should be m-more p-patient y-you know?"


    Emilia ignores Daniels warning, leading to her kicking the door aggressively, ultimately opening it.


    Emilia: "Broker"


    She says to the man, sitting on top of wooden boxes in the middle of the hall, being surrounded by a handful of people.


    Broker, a dark-skinned, long dread-headed guy, wearing a thick winter jacket, with animal


    fur attached at his hood, just smiles at Emilia.


    Broker''s left eye is orange with three, black horizontal lines engraved in it.


    Broker: "Yo guys, lemme introduce ya to a badd chick"


    He says with his deep voice


    Emilia: "Shut up broker, I have what you want"


    She responds, throwing the plastic-bag in her right hand in-front of him.


    The hall is big and dark, from the holes on the roof sunlight penetrates in, basically highlighting the bag.


    Broker: "That''s what im talking about"


    He says, nodding one of the guys around him, another dark-skinned muscleman, basically giving him the order to bring him the bag.


    Broker looks inside the plastic bag. Inside are small liquid bottles with a colorless liquid.


    Emilia: "So we are we''re even, right?"


    She asks Broker with a serious face.


    Broker: " Fisher''s liquid. It can be won from a special type of fish, swimming deep in the Lumarian Ocean. Fishing them is basically illegal now since they are threatened with extinction because of organizations mass-farmed them to gain the liquid and its narcotic effects, making it a drug. Now the market price for one of those bottles skyrocketed making it difficult to even buy one."


    Emilia: "What you want Broker; I brought you what you want"


    Broker: "Yeah you are right."


    He says, before violently throwing them on the grounds.


    Daniel jumps back frightened, while Emilia watches on the ground with sadness, making an expression if she had been caught doing something bad.


    Broker stands up from his boxes walking closely to Emilia, confronting her face to


    face,


    Broker: "Did you forget what my left eye can do? It shows me the information of something


    when I hold it in my left hand."


    Emilia: "I didn''t know that it''s not real, the bos-"


    Broker interrupts her,


    Broker: "The Boss?"


    He laughs psychopathic, echoing through the hall, making Daniel and her uncomfortable.


    Emillia: "What you don''t believe me? Ask him"


    She says while Broker laughs get louder.


    Broker: "YEAH MAYBE I SHOULD!"


    He says while still laughing, before pointing into a dark area, revealing a person walking out of it.


    A white, middle-aged man with little hair on his head.


    Daniel: "B-boss"

 The Boss

    The Boss: "Emilia, i thought i had teached you better. If you lie to others, then atleast make it believable"


    He says, getting closer to Emilia, touching her chin and raising her head up.


    Emilia closes her eyes, letting a tear dropping.


    The Boss: "Oh come on Emilia, don''t cry, a old man like me has a weak heart."


    The Boss let''s go of her chin, touching himself on his breast, making a sad face.


    The Boss: "Seeing a young girl cry breaks my heart"


    Daniel: "E-ehm sorry Boss, b-but i also have something to tell you."


    The Boss turns his head to Daniel, looking at him with a face full of curiosity.


    He then looks up, thinking about something while tipping his chin quickly with his index finger.


    Daniel: "B-boss?"


    The Boss: "Who are you again?"


    He asks.


    Daniel frightens,


    Daniel: "W-what do u mean, i-I''m the new guy, Daniel"


    He responds, shaking in fear.


    The Boss: "Really? I don''t remember hiring someone new."


    Broker: "Yo Boss, I don''t want to interrupt your conversation, but I don''t have time for


    this shit, kill them or let me do it."


    He interrupts them


    The Boss: "Broker, since when did we become so inpatient?"


    Broker: "Since i got fucking fooled by one of yours you old fuck"


    He says furiously.


    The people around Broker take out their guns, basically threaten the Boss.


    The Boss: "So this is the thanks for when I took you in, when you only where a mere street-kid, being beaten up daily?"


    The Boss says in a loud voice, turning his body to him.


    Broker: "Still holding on to the past I see, I paid my debt to you at least double, matter of fact, you still standing here is thanks to me. So, seeing one of yours trying to fool me makes me fucking mad.


    Broker responds in a similar, loud voice.


    The Boss: "Yeah, your right, you did pay me back"


    He responds in a calm tone, turning his back to him.


    Broker then smiles, thinking he finally showed who now is the one in charge, thinking that he demonstrated his position.


    Henchmen 1: "B-broker?"


    One of Brokers henchmen say, turning to him and starring at Broker in confusion.


    Suddenly, every person around Broker starts to get a bloody mouth, spitting out alot of blood.


    They all fall of their lower half of their body, dropping to the ground and leaving a puddle of blood and horizontal cutted henchman around Broker.


    Broker: "W-what the..."The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Broker says in confusion, watching all the people around him drop in half.


    He then turns his head to the Boss, knowing that he is the one responsible for this mess.


    The Boss: "But never say that you are the reason that im still here, you dumb shit."


    He adds mockingly to his sentence, starring Broker down.


    The Boss: "See you living as a sign of us being quit"


    He says to a raging Broker.


    Broker: "BOSSSS!!!"


    Broker shouts in fury.


    Suddenly, the whole hall gets filled with very thick fog.


    Emilia: "Our chance"


    She says before grabbing Daniels hand.


    Daniel: "B-but I can''t see anything"


    Daniel responds with a fully turned red face.


    Emilia: "No problem, leave that to me."


    She responds while stretching out her hand.


    The thick fog in-front of her then moves to both sides, splitting in half, leaving a clear path to the exit while the rest of the room still is covered in fog.


    Daniel: "Whoah Emilia the fog was your doing, right?"


    He asks surprised, amazed by Emilia''s ability.


    Emilia: "Let us get out of here."


    She responds, before finally reaching the door.


    Emilia suddenly falls to the ground, screaming in pain, revealing a deep cut on her right calf.


    Daniel: "EMILIA"


    He shouts, instantly undressing his sailor uniform, completely revealing his upper body while pressing his uniform against her wound.


    Emilia: "Im alright, j-just a scratch, matter of fact i did not expect you to be this trained"


    She says with a surprised look in her face, commenting on Daniel''s well trained body.


    The Boss: "Running away like a coward might be something i teached you"


    He says, before revealing himself by walking out of the fog, leaving the hall.


    The Boss: "This is proof of me getting older, I aimed to cut your whole leg off"


    He says with a smile, before pointing his finger at them, revealing a sharp-edged, spinning soap bubble in front of his finger.


    Daniel stares at the Boss with anger, still pressing his uniform on Emilias wounded leg.


    Daniel: "Hold it"


    He says to Emilia, telling her to press the in blood drained uniform, on her wound.


    He then pulls out a gun from behind him, that he hid in his pants, pointing it at the Boss.


    Daniel: "I-C-D Special Agent Daniel Krueger, surrender now or i will shoot"


    He shouts at the Boss.


    ICD stands for: Imperal Crime Department


    The Great Empire''s department for investigating organized crime.


    The Boss: "I knew I never hire a new guy"


    He responds, having all his doubts instantly leaving.


    Daniel: "You actually did hire me"


    He says with a smile, leaving the Boss confused.


    The Boss: "Then i guess i did get old"


    He responds to Daniel, taking a step to the front leading.


    Daniel pulls the trigger of his gun, shooting at him.


    The bullets bounces off mid air, slightly revealing a big bubble that surrounds the Boss.


    Emilia, still wounded, stretches her hand to the air, turning her arm into a huge axe made out of fog, it being a little shorter than the hall itself, dropping it on the Boss.


    The axe drops on on top of the bubble, pressing it down. The Boss stretches his arms to the top of the bubble, making a stress less face, while holding of the fog axe of dropping on him.


    Emilia: "This is our chance"


    She says, grabbing Daniel and pressing him onto her.


    Daniel: "Yeah time to finish this"


    He says, before making a confused face when suddenly, Emilia turns the lower part of her body into fog, quickly flying away with him.


    The axe disappears, leaving the Boss starring to the sky before chasing them by foot.


    Daniel: "What are you doing Emilia? We could have ended him."


    Emilia: "I don''t know what you have been investigating until now special agent, but by now you should have noticed that we don''t stand a chance, matter of fact, i don''t know how long it will take until he catches up to us."


    Daniel stares at Emilia, confused by her statement.


    He then watches down, shocked by what he is witnessing, watching the Boss chasing them by foot, running at superhuman speed and nearly catching up to him.


    A feat a normal old man could not archive.


    Daniel: "What the fu-"


    Emilia: "Argh"


    She screams, revealing a fresh and deep cut in her stomach, interrupting Daniel.


    They drop from mid air into water, next to the port near the street.


    Daniel grabs Emilia with one arm, carrying her up a ladder, reaching solid ground.


    Emilia coughs out water,


    Emilia: "T-thanks Daniel"


    Daniel, unable to answer her for being out of breath, raises his thumb.


    The Boss catches up to them, standing around ten feet away of them.


    The Boss: "This was a fun chase Emilia"


    He says, watching them laying helpless on the ground.


    He then stretches his hand, making a soap bubble and forming it to a sharp sword.


    The Boss: "But running is pointless now."


    He adds to his sentence.


    Daniel pulls out his gun, shooting at the Boss, but the bullets bounce off mid air, revealing again the giant bubble around him.


    The Boss then stretches his hand out, shooting out a razorsharp disc-bubble, cutting the gun from the front to the back in half, also cutting of Daniels exterior side of his left arm, including his pinkie and ring finger.


    Daniel screams in pain, holding his wounded arm.


    Emilia watches helplessly frustrated, unable to do anything to help Daniel.


    Emilia: "Im so sorry Daniel, mom, Henry, it''s over for me."


    She says, accepting her faith.


    ???: "Yo, old man"


    A familiar voice says.


    Emilia, suddenly filled with relief and happiness, starts to cry instantly.


    Emilia: "H-Henryyy"


    She shouts with a sobbing smile.


    Henry: "What do you think you are doing"


    He adds to his sentence, standing a foot behind the Boss.

 Emilia

    2 years ago, weeks after Emilia started her adventure, she traveled around the Grafenberg province, learning new things and fighting her way through the world.


    While doing that she awakened the Fog Awakening.


    She found out, that it is best for self-defense, learning and trying out techniques and attacks that she could use and combine with her ability.


    It was around that time, where she first met the Boss.


    Emilia used to be registered to the "Adventurer Guild ", the worlds biggest adventure agency, allowing her to accept classified tasks.


    One of those tasks was to recover a specific item, something that is categorized as a Curse.


    Curses are anomalies, created by bundled negative energy, released after death.


    For a Curse to emerge, it needs a lot of negative energy, making it basically a rare phenomenon.


    How much negative energy is released, depends on the strength and aura level of the dying person.


    But a Curse does not really have a solid shape, it is more like a black mist, flying around and doing nothing.


    They can possess either an item, making it a Cursed object, or a living being inform of a Cursed mark.


    Now, the task Emilia had accepted was bringing back a cursed object, specifically a Cursed eye.


    Cursed objects are items that are possessed by a Curse.


    Those cursed items are categorized from most common to very rare, these are:


    Cursed weapons/tools, Cursed armor and lastly, Cursed eyes.


    Strong Curses possess strong abilities that can be used by its wielder, making Cursed eyes the most valuable ones, since there is nearly no information.


    They are categorized as a Cursed Object, since they only possess an eye and being able to change its user under specific conditions, something a Cursed mark can''t do.


    The Cursed eye she had to look for was the eye of information, letting its user willingly


    see all information of things he touches with a specific hand.


    If the eye is left, it is the left hand. If the eye is right, it is the right side.


    Emilias information says that it will be illegally shipped to Grenzborg.


    Emilia, 15 years old, still having the same clothing style and hair.


    She stands at the harbor, looking around and checking anything that could give her hints.


    Emilia: "This is harder than I thought it would be, I mean, how hard is it to look for a single eye"


    She says to herself, underestimating the difficulty of searching for a S-tier item.


    The Adventure Guild also has the task to rank specific items, anomalies and abilities from the ranks: Unranked(F), C, B, A. Everything that exceeds this ranking is ranked at Special-tier S.


    Every cursed eye is ranked under special tier S, for the abilities it can hold and the little information there is about it.


    Emilia: "I have an idea"


    Emilia says to herself, before closing her eyes and covering the whole harbor into fog, before disappearing into it.


    The harbor workers ignored the fog. for them, fog is normal, so they don''t suspect anything


    unusual from it.


    Emilia then appears in-front of an open box, filled with straw.


    Emilia: "Found you"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    She says with a bright smile in her face.


    She then digs out a container. In it is an orange eye with three horizontal black lines


    engraved across its iris, swimming inside a yellow liquid.


    Emilia turns around, happy about successfully finishing her mission, before seeing a man standing in-front of her, angry at her.


    Man: "What do you think are you doing kid"


    He says with a mean face.


    Emilia: "Sorry Im lost, where is the shopping mall?"


    She responds, with a playful face.


    Man: "Who sends you, I won''t back down just because you are a kid"


    He responds, going into a fighting position ready to attack


    Emilia: "Fuck it"


    She says to herself, turning her fist into fog and punching into his direction, elongating


    her fog fist into the face of the man and hitting him clean.


    The man drops to the ground in front of Emilia.


    Emilia: "Cool right? I call it the foggy fist; I still have to work on its name tho"


    She says, stepping over the man and walking away from the harbor, letting the fog disappear after being far enough.


    ...


    Emilia is now in a small room in an hotel in Grenzborg, sitting on her bed while the


    container stands on a table in-front of her.


    The room is small and cheap, allowing Emilia with her small budget to spend a night before


    leaving the town to end her mission.


    She stares at the container, watching the bizarre looking eyeball floating around in the yellow liquid.


    Emilia: "Why does everyone gets crazy about such a bizarre thing"


    She asks herself, still glancing at the eyeball.


    Then, someone knocks on the door to Emilias room, making Emilia jump of her bed,


    running to the door and opening it.


    Emilia: "Who''s there?"


    She asks, before instinctively jumping away from the door, crossing her arms in-front of


    her, while bullets are being fired at her from the door.


    The bullets fly through her, leaving small trails of fog after crossing her.


    Emilia drops to the ground, checking her body and detects not a single wound.


    Three men with guns, completely dressed in back with sunglasses and mouth covering, reveals themselves by entering the room.


    By then, Emilia already took the container and hid in the bathroom.


    One of the men gives them a hand signal, pointing at the closed bathroom door.


    They then stand in front of the door before one of them kicks it open.


    Emilia, hiding in the bathtub, stretches her hand, shooting out a beam of fog, similar


    of that to a flamethrower shooting out flames, tossing the men infront into another behind.


    She then let''s out thick fog from her body, covering the whole room with it, trying to sneak out of the room.


    One of the men then grabs her from behind, holding her.


    Emilia gasps in shock, turning around and facing him before he releases a shot from his gun from a short distance.


    The bullet directly passes through Emilias face, but Emilia is left with no wound, only a small hole in her forehead, filled with fog.


    The hole closes, leaving no visible damage.


    Emilia stares at the man with an expression of pure fear, leaving her in a state of shock, unable to do anything, ultimately dropping to the ground after the man lets her go.


    He then takes the container and inaudibly talks with the other two men, leaving the room.


    After a long time, an older man approaches her.


    He has a little hair left on his head and a smile, at first glance it looks like a friendly smile, but after a while only madness could describe what hides behind it.


    Man: "Hello little girl, I heard a lot about what happened to you"


    He says to Emilia, who Is still unable to move from her spot, not even looking at him.


    Man: "It must have scared you, coming this close to death and that at such a young age. Why don''t you come with me, I can help you"


    Emilia, with a tired face and huge eye rings, turns her head, starring at the Man.


    Emilia: "I-I..."


    Emilia says before interrupting herself with an outburst of tears.


    Man: "It really had been hard for you, right? No problem little one"


    He says before taking her into his arms.


    Man: "From now on, you will be with me"


    Emilia: "I-I don''t want to be like this ever again"


    She responds to the man, sobbing and snorting.


    Man: "I will make you never feel this way again"


    He responds with his smile


    Emilia: "T-thank you"


    She responds with a wounded voice.


    Emilia: "B-but how do i c-call you?"


    She asks,


    Man: "Oh, just call me Boss"


    He responds to Emilia, before helping her up and leaving the room with her, holding her hand.


    After that, the Boss trained her to become stronger, letting her do special missions and tasks for him.


    Making a name for herself in the Underworld, she gained the nickname: the fog princess.


    Knowing the danger of the underworld, she gave her all to protect her family from anything that could threaten them.


    Part of that was cutting her away from them, leaving no connection between them and her.


    So, seeing Henry visit her and asking her for help, was a huge shock for her, thinking that


    if she spends too much time with him, her enemies will find out about her family ties.


    So, she did that what she thought is the right decision, rejecting him and not letting him close to her.


    But hearing Henry say, that he wants to help her, gave her little hope, hope of finally leaving the life she lived for the past two years. Reminding her just how long it had


    been, feeling another emotion that is not the draining feeling of helplessness.


    But at the end, she did that what she can do the best, dodging and rejecting, rejecting


    Henry, thinking it''s the best for him.


    But now again, that shock returned, seeing Daniel wounded and the Boss coming towards them, brought back the memories she had from that traumatic moment two years ago.


    But then Henry appeared, instantly releasing her from the state of shock she was in, making her able to escape that prison made of her memories, instantly letting her cry tears of relief.


    Emilia: "H-HENRYYY!!"


    She shouts, completely overwhelmed by her emotions,


    Henry: "What do you think you are doing"


    He asks the Boss, filled with rage.


    The Boss: "To many faces I do not remember. Young man, could you be so kind and state me who you are?"


    He asks Henry with his smile and a kind voice.

 My Hero (Part 1)

    Boss: "It is not nice to dodge a question with another question, you know?"


    He replies to an angry Henry.


    Henry: "I don''t fucking care; what do you think you are fucking doing"


    He replies, bursting out in rage, starring at the Boss.


    Boss: "Why do you care?"


    He asks Henry, questioning his anger.


    Henry, completely filled with rage, gnashes his teeth, grunting like a wild animal watching his prey.


    Henry: "You ask why I care, old fuck? You really have the nerve to ask?"


    He responds


    The Boss: "Yeah tell me, I am curious"


    He replies, making an interrogating face


    Henry: "BECAUSE YOU ARE HURTING MY SISTER!"


    Henry replies before going completely ballistic, getting the Boss off guard with his reply.


    With one rush, he is in-front of the Boss, swinging at him with his right fist with inhuman speed.


    The Boss doesn''t react, thinking that the bubble will hold of Henrys fist, not noticing until the last moment, that in an instant he


    completely wrapped his arm with the blue shiny energy, bypassing the bubble and


    hitting the Boss to the face.


    The Boss instantly get send flying, not stopping until hitting a car at least 800 meters away, completely demolishing it at impact.


    Emilia stares in shock, not only seeing the Boss getting hit, but the person that hit him being her little brother.


    Henry instantly runs to Emilia, checking on her wounds.


    Henry: "Emilia, are you alright? What happened and who is the old guy?"


    Emilia: "Thank God that you are here Henry, you really are my hero"


    She replies to him sobbingly.


    Henry turns to Daniel, who is laying on the ground, holding  tight onto his wounded arm.


    Henry: "Who is that guy"


    He asks Emilia,


    Daniel: "Don''t worry about me, I have something"


    He replies, before having his right hand surrounded by a yellow aura, holding it against his wounded arm.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Daniels arm then stops bleeding but not regenerating his missing parts.


    He then turns to Emilia, closing her wounds with his healing ability.


    Henry watches him heal Emilia, completely fascinated by his ability.


    Henry: "Whoa, how did you do that?"


    He asks in curiosity.


    Daniel: "It is my soul-aura ability; I call it healing hand"


    He replies to Henry,


    Henry looks at him confused, not knowing what Daniel is talking about.


    For Henry, it is like a completely different language.


    Emilia: "Aura? Like soul energy? Henry, don''t you remember, dad used to teach us about that all the time"


    She says, noticing Henry''s state of confusion.


    Henry: "I never really listened to dads teaching"


    He replies with shame, scratching his head.


    Emilia: "Anyways, where are your friends? They could really help us now"


    She asks Henry,


    ...


    Around an hour ago, Henry still was on the ship after Emilia rejected him, sitting on one of the chairs at the table.


    Lenny sits comfortably at the opposite end of the table, viewing and analyzing Henry''s sad expression.


    Henry stares at the small holes in the table, making a depressing impression.


    Lenny takes a deep breath before confronting him,


    Lenny: "You know Henry, maybe you should talk to her again"


    Henry jumps up in happiness,


    Henry: "Yeah you think so too, right? I should ask her again, she will for sure change her mind this time"


    He replies to Lenny.


    Lenny: "Noo Henry, I ment it dif-..."


    He says before interrupting himself, seeing Henry sacking into his chair in frustration after Lenny replied to him.


    Lenny: "Henry look, you should first confront her and ask her why she wouldn''t open up to you"


    Henry: "Hmm...maybe you are right"


    He says, before standing up from his chair, making his way out of the ship.


    Henry: "Jack, you have the responsibility until I am back"


    He shouts out while running down the plank, leaving the ship.


    Jack, laying on one of the loungers, wearing


    sunglasses, raises his thumbs up to acknowledge the task that Henry gave him


    before sipping on his lemonade.


    ...


    Henry: "Then after looking for you in the city, I saw you fall down from the sky"


    He replies to Emilia.


    Emilia grunts in disappointment, shaking her head.


    Emilia: "Then I guess it is only us three against him"


    She replies to Henry.


    The Boss awakes, laying in a completely shattered car, trying to get out of it.


    He then notices that nearly all his body parts are twisted around in different directions.


    He laughs, never imagining being in a situation like this.


    The Boss: "Wonderful, how wonderful"


    He says to himself.


    Then, all twisted body parts of the Boss suddenly starts to re-twists from alone, one after another, in a machinery like manner.


    First his legs and his left arm, making him able to raise up from the destroyed car, then his neck that is leaning to the side gets


    rearranged back automatically and then the rest of his body-parts.


    He then walks into the direction of Henry, Emilia and Daniel, watching them all stand next to each other, shocked by what they just


    have witnessed from the distance.


    Daniel: "I-Is he even human?"


    He asks Emilia frightened.


    Emilia: "He never was"


    She replies to him, also frightened.


    The Boss: "Oh Emilia, this is not nice of you. After all, I was born human, I just needed some upgrades to keep up with you young


    folks"


    The Boss replies, standing around 10 feet away from them.


    He then turns his head to Henry, starring at him with his unpleasant smile.


    The Boss: "So you are Emilias brother, if she had not keeped you a secret, I would have brought you together much earlier"


    He says to him.


    Henry doesn''t reply, starring at him, filled with


    rage.


    The Boss: "I must say, you have a pretty strong punch, hitting me with that blue"


    He adds,


    Henry: "You talk to much old man"


    He replies to the Boss.


    Henry: "Let''s end it here and now"


    He says, going into a fighting position.


    The Boss: "Going straight for business, that''s what I like, it is a shame that we had to meet under these circumstances"


    He replies, also going into a fighting position, ready to take them on.

 My Hero (Part 2)

    The Boss smiles at them, ready to take them on.


    Henry looks to his right, seeing Emilia standing weakened. Even though her wounds had been closed, the pain still partially remains.


    He then looks to his left, seeing Daniel with half of a left arm.


    He shakes his head, taking a step forward.


    Henry: "You will pay for it"


    He says to the Boss,


    The Boss: "Give me all you got"


    He replies to Henry.


    Henry rushes again in inhuman speed at him, trying to throw a punch just like the last time.


    The Boss this time is prepared, dodging his punch by leaning his head into the other direction.


    Henry takes another swing, this time with his left, but the Boss does the same, dodging by


    leaning to the opposite direction.


    Henry tries again but this time faster, and again, and again until the Boss catches Henry''s fist, surprising him.


    Emilia jumps from behind, turning her arm into a giant fog axe, trying to hit the Boss.


    The Boss notices her and tosses Henry with inhuman strength at her direction.


    Emilia breaks up her attack, getting hit by a flying Henry.


    Emilia starts flying by turning her lower body into fog, gaining balance mid air and catching Henry.


    Henry: "Are you okay?"


    He asks,


    Emilia: "Im alright, he is just really strong"


    She replies, dropping Henry to the ground.


    The Boss watches them, laughing about their efforts to beat him.


    The Boss: "Is this all you got?"


    He asks mockingly,


    Henry: "Not yet"


    He replies with a smile, rushing at him again.


    Henry again tries to throw a punch at the Boss, but he counters it, pushing his fist away, making Henry turn his back to him.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Henry knew the risk he took with this attack, leaving him completely open and making the Boss try an attack on him, but Henry planned that.


    He uses the momentum he got by getting his punch countered into a different direction and continues the moving motion by spinning, eventually jumping, to then face the Boss mid movement while he is charging at him for an


    attack, making himself open so that Henry can land a lethal round-house kick, right at his face.


    The Boss flies through the air, directly at Emilia, while she forms a gigantic foggy fist, hitting the Boss and smashing him to the ground.


    Henry: "You got him good"


    He shouts,


    Emilia: "Not yet"


    She replies, jumping back and watching the Boss rise from the cracked ground with little peeled of skin, revealing some robotic parts in his arm, his forehead and his legs.


    The Boss: "You got me good, now its my turn"


    He replies, stretching his hand into Emilias direction, shooting out a red energy beam from his hand.


    Emilia just barely dodges it.


    Daniel stares at the fight, overwhelmed by the sheer strength of them and the Boss.


    As an ICD agent, he barely has any criminals, using any kind of soul-energy, leaving him who is able to use some, a top peer under his colleagues.


    When he heard that he would receive the mission to investigate one of the head criminals of the underworld, nicknamed "The Boss", he was full of joy, not expecting him


    to be in the situation he is.


    But Daniel knew something, even though his enemy is overwhelmingly stronger than he could have imagined, he knows he can''t just stand there and do nothing.


    He surrounds his fists with soul-aura, rushing at the Boss.


    The Boss looks at him confused, thinking why a weakling like him would waste his life


    like that.


    He stretches his hand, charging up his red energy beam.


    But before he could shoot it, he noticed a hand, made out of fog, pulling his robot arm to a the side, making him shoot his beam into a different direction, leaving an opening for Daniel to charge at him.


    Emilia: "Now Danny"


    She shouts, encouraging him to attack.


    Daniel then swings at the Boss, punching him in the face, making the Boss stepping back a


    little before grabbing him with the same hand, releasing an electricity from his hand directly at the Boss, burning his face.


    The Boss shouts with a robotic voice while his skin melts down from his face.


    He then punches through Daniels stomach, making Daniel stop his attack.


    Daniel stares at Emilia while blood flows down from his mouth.


    The Boss then pulls out his fist from Daniels stomach, revealing a big hole.


    Emilia, watches frightened, completely overwhelmed by what just happened.


    The Boss turns his head to her, showing his melted face and the robotic endoskeleton


    under it.


    The Boss: "Maybe you are right Emilia, maybe I never was human."


    He says with a robotic voice, pointing his hand to his face.


    Emilia bursts out in rage, charging at the Boss, wrapping her fists in fog gloves.


    The Boss dodges her punches, then hitting her to the face, breaking her nose.


    But Emilia doesn''t back down, she screams in rage, turning one of her hands into a fog blade, cutting the Boss at the chest area, only to reveal more of his robotic endoskeleton.


    The Boss then blocks her next swing with his arm, making the blade stick in the metal of the


    endoskeleton to then shoot a beam with his other hand.


    But Emilia dissolves the blade, dodging the beam to then turn her hand back to a blade to then stab him through the stomach.


    The Boss: "wonderful, just wonderful"


    He says to her, smiling at her with his disturbing smile.


    Emilia: "What are you smiling at old man"


    She replies,


    The Boss: "just how strong you have become"


    He replies, shooting out a blade-bubble by swinging his arm vertically into the air at her direction.


    Emilia quickly jumps to the side, not noticing the beam he shot afterwards, hitting her through side, revealing a big wound to the side of her stomach area.


    Emilia looks down to her wound, pressing against it with her hand.


    Turning her head to the lifeless body of Daniel.


    Emilia: " I-im sorry Danny"


    She whispers, with a wounded voice.


    The Boss then stretches his hand into her direction, ready to shoot another beam.


    The Boss: "Truly wonderful"


    He says, laughing afterwards.


    Suddenly, Henry jumps at the Boss from behind, pushing a metal rod into his neck area, piercing him from above.


    The Boss kneels to the ground, shouting in a robotic voice.


    Henry runs to Emilia, holding her and pressing her hand against her wound.


    Henry: "Hold on big sis, okay?"


    He says to her.


    Emilia nods while grunting in pain.


    Henry then turns around to the Boss, who just had pulled out the rod.

 My Hero (Part 3)

    The Boss, tries to say something to Henry, shocked by the fact that only damaged robotic sounds come from his mouth.


    Henry smiles, seeing the Boss damaged after all the pain he caused.


    Henry: "Not so talkative anymore, I see"


    He says to an angry Boss.


    The Boss shouts in a robotic voice, rushing at Henry with his fist up in front.


    Henry dodges the attack, swinging a punch of his own at the Boss.


    The Boss goes to the ground after being hit by Henry.


    He quickly stands up, attacking Henry with his bubble-slash attack.


    Henry crosses his arms in front of him, enduring the pain, leaving a big cut on both of his arms.


    The Boss, frustrated by the fact that Henrys arms where not cutted of completely from him and being unbothered by his efforts.


    He then rushes at him desperately trying to land a punch, but Henry dodges his attacks again, punching him, and hitting him again, and again and many more times, leaving a completely dented endoskeleton.


    The Boss then stands infront of Henry, using his last energy, charge up another beam, shooting it at Henry while he charges at him.


    Henry dodges the beam, not seeing the Boss''s fist that is about to hit him, when suddenly, Henry''s whole body starts to be wrapped around in the shiny blue energy, leading to him being instantly transported behind the Boss, leaving a blue trail from where he was before to where he is now.


    Henry had no idea what happened, but he instinctively knew that now is the chance to finish him off, punching the Boss down to the ground with his in blue energy wrapped fist, cracking up the whole street area around them.


    Henry looks down to the ground, staring at the still alive Boss who''s laughing in a robotic tone.


    The Boss raises his upper body up from the ground, now sitting in front of Henry.


    He then puts his finger in his endoskeleton throat, piercing through it and activating his voice again.


    The Boss: "Truly wonderful, this feeling of hopelessness, truly wonderful"


    He says to Henry, with a robotic voice.


    Henry: "You want more?"


    He replies to the Boss.


    The Boss: "No no, I truly lost to you, I had no chance even with my upgrades and with


    my bubble Awakening.


    He replies to Henry, with his robotic voice.


    The Boss: "I truly want to know something, why did my attack not cut trough you."


    Stolen story; please report.


    He asks, pointing out his bubble slash that should have cut of Henry''s arms.


    Henry: "I don''t know, my endurance his pretty high I guess"


    The Boss looks at Henry, trying to make up an  answer for his own question.


    The Boss: "I know the answer, I know it, it is truly wonderful, it truly is wonderful the answer"


    He replies, standing on his feet and jumping up and down,


    Henry: "What? What is it, tell me old man"


    He asks, filled with curiosity,


    The Boss: "The answer is easy when you think about it, it is because you a-..."


    He says, before getting interrupted by a fog blade, piercing him from behind through his chest, destroying his core.


    Henry is shocked by the sudden turn of events, watching the lights in the Boss eyes disappear and his lifeless, dented and damaged half body half endoskeleton, fall to the ground, revealing the wounded Emilia who had pierced him from behind.


    Emilia: "I-I killed him"


    She says, starring shocked at the Boss''s corpse,


    Henry: "Big sis, what have u done..."


    He replies, also shocked by this sudden outcome.


    Emilia: "I-I..."


    She replies, before dropping to the ground, loosing consciousness from her wounds.


    ...


    ???: "Emilia"


    A voice in the distance calls,


    ???: "Emilia"


    It calls again.


    Emilia opens her eyes, laying on the ground in an infinitely large foggy space.


    Emilia: "Where...am i?"


    She asks herself while getting up.


    ???: "Emilia"


    The voice calls again from the distance,


    Emilia: "Who is it? Who are you?"


    She calls back into the distance.


    ???: "Emilia"


    The voice calls again, coming closer, but Emilia can''t see trough the thick fog.


    Then, a shiluette she knows very well walks her, revealing himself.


    ???: "Emilia"


    The voice says directly to her.


    Emilia quickly takes some steps back, going into a defensive position,


    Emilia: "Y-you"


    She says to the person.


    It is the Boss in his human form, smiling at her.


    The Boss: "I know that you are scared, but don''t be, after-all I lost to your brother and you killed me."


    He replies to her,


    Emilia: "Then what do you want old man. Hunting me in my dreams from now on?"


    She asks,


    The Boss: "Can''t an old man say goodbye to his lovely niece?"


    He says sarcastically,


    Emilia: "Fuck off with your crap, we both know you never saw me as something as a niece"


    The Boss: "But I did, I loved you like my own, that''s why it broke my heart when I had to use violence against you.


    Emilia: "You? Love? You don''t know what that even is"


    The Boss: "I know exactly what I am talking about, I took you in remember?"


    Emilia: "Yeah and making a 15-year-old work in  organize crimes"


    The Boss: "I did that to strengthen you, and it worked"


    Emilia: "Quit your crap old man, I don''t have time for this, what is it truly what you want"


    The Boss looks at her with a sad expression,


    Emilia: "Whoa, I never seen you being sad old man, it breaks your heart that you have to go?"


    The Boss: "I wasn''t lying when I said I want to say goodbye"


    Emilia: "Wait, what, where are we even, you are dead, does it mean im dead too?"


    Emilia asks in fear,


    The Boss: "No you are not dead, not yet, depends on the doctors, but I wanted to thank you, for releasing me from my corrupted self.


    Now that Im dead I see that I truly was not human, one would never give up his humanity for some pity reasons like I did"


    Emilia: "Whoa old man, that is really deep, I never knew you could be like that"


    The Boss laughs, waving to her while going back into the fog,


    The Boss: "You where truly my masterpiece Emilia, make me proud"


    He says, disappearing into the fog,


    Emilia: "Fuck you old man, rot in hell"


    She replies, raising her middle finger to the direction he left.


    ???: "Emilia"


    Another voice calls, this time from up


    Emilia: "I know that stupid voice"


    She says to herself,


    ???: "Emilia"


    It calls again,


    Emilia: "Henry?"


    She shouts, before waking up in a hospital bed.

 My Hero (Part 4)

    Emilia: "Where...am i?"


    She asks confused of her situation, looking around the room.


    Henry: "Big sisss"


    He says sobbingly, hugging her while she is laying on her bed.


    Emilia: "Ouch, you dumbass get off me"


    She shouts, hitting him to the face and pushing him away from her.


    Emilia: "Can''t you see that I''m hurt?"


    She adds on to her sentence. She then turns her head to Jack and Lenny, while they sit at the table in her room.


    Emilia: "So now you are here, we could have needed you"


    She says, calling out Jack,


    Jack: "Can''t change it now, after-all you guys managed to beat him without my help."


    He responds to her,


    Emilia: "Yeah? But someone died"


    She replies,


    Jack: "From what I have heard, you kinda encouraged him to attack the obviously stronger enemy"


    Emilia becomes speechless.


    Shocked by the response she turns her head to Henry, who''s starring to the ground frustrated.


    Emilia then turns back to Jack,


    Emilia: "I-I didn''t ment to..."


    The room gets quiet with everyone doing a frustrated face except Jack who then sighs


    loudly,


    Jack: "You can''t change what happened, but you can make something out of it"


    Lenny: "Yeah"


    Emilia then raises her head, looking to Jack, smiling at him,


    Emilia: "Yeah, thank you. But who are you two?"


    She asks, curious of who the two guys are that Henry brought with him.


    Jack: "Im-..."


    He says before getting interrupted by Lenny,


    Lenny: "Im Lenny and this is my big bro Jack"


    He responds with a big smile.


    Everyone gets quiet for a short time before bursting out in laughter, leaving Lenny confused.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Lenny: "What? Did I say something wrong?"


    He asks,


    Emilia: "No it''s nothing"


    She responds, still chuckling a little.


    Emilia: "But what happened after the fight?"


    She asks Henry,


    Henry: "The police came, but I left as quick as possible, I had no choice"


    He responds frustrated,


    Emilia gets angry, grabbing Henry at his shirt,


    Emilia: "What do you mean you had no choice, you left Danny back?"


    Henry: "I-I didn''t knew what to do..."


    Jack interrupts them,


    Jack: "It is not his fault. We have a bounty on us, that''s why we are here in the first place"


    Emilia looks confused at Jack,


    Emilia: "What do you mean?"


    Lenny: "It''s true, we have bounties on us and Henry said that we should go to you because you could help us"


    He replies,


    Emilia: "Why do you have bounties in the first place?"


    She asks confused,


    Lenny chuckles nervously, before putting his hand into his pocket, pulling out the blue stone.


    Lenny: "I took that from a fraud-trader because I thought I could sell it to earn some


    money, but then we got attacked by a crazy mud guy"


    He answers,


    Emilia: "Wait, crazy mud guy? You mean Balte?"


    Lenny: "Yeah I think that was his name, you know him?"


    Emilia is surprised, Balte was a well-known mercenary, known for playing with his prey before killing them.


    Hearing that they not only fought him but also survive, makes her question her thoughts about underestimating them.


    Emilia: "And what happened to him?"


    She asks,


    Jack: "We got him good, but after that we haven''t heard anything about him"


    Emilia: "Wait you actually beat him?"


    Lenny: "Yeah, Big bro and Henry beaten him up"


    Emilia is again speechless, surprised by their feat, before laughing again.


    Emilia: "Sorry, i don''t know what is wrong with me today"


    She replies chuckling, commenting on her sudden laughing outbreaks.


    For a long time, Emilia was filled with hopelessness, wishing for her life to end before the next day, but now since Henry came, things have changed.


    Not only did she smile after a long time, but she also laughed and felt joy again.


    Emilia gained something after the fight against the Boss, a place to be and people that needs her, so she came to an conclusion in her mind, to never let them go and continuing her adventure with them.


    This is the conclusion she came up with, confirming it by again smiling before bursting out in laughter.


    Jack: "Whats so funny? Was he someone you know? Maybe your boyfriend?"


    He asks curiously, questioning her sudden laughing outburst,


    Emilia: "No no, it''s nothing, I just thought about something"


    She replies to him with a smile, grabbing Henry and holding him in a headlock.


    Henry: "W-What? I didn''t say anything big sis"


    He says, struggling to get out of the headlock, while Emilia continues laughing.


    Emilia: "Thank you Henry, you really are my hero"


    She says to herself in her mind.


    ...


    Back at the harbor, the trio, now adding Emilia to their squad, are heading to the boat they spend some time earlier on, thinking what to do next.


    Emilia walks to Henry with a bucket, while he is sitting on one of the loungers.


    Emilia: "Phone"


    She says with a mean, monotone voice.


    Henry doesn''t question her, carefully laying his phone at the bottom of the bucket.


    Emilia then walks to Lenny, staring at him while he is playing on his phone. He notices the dangerous vibe coming from her, quickly responding by also laying his phone to the bottom with care.


    Then she goes to Jack.


    Jack: "Don''t have one"


    He comments with his cool-guy tone, before she can even say something, continuing chillin on his lounger.


    Henry: "What do you even want to do with them?"


    He asks, but Emilia doesn''t reply, taking the phones from the bucket and throwing them into the ocean.


    Henry and Lenny gasps in shock,


    Henry/Lenny: "NOOOO"


    they scream in frustration at the same time,


    Henry: "Why did you do that"


    He asks, filled with sadness


    Lenny: "Yeah you evil witch"


    He adds on to Henrys sentence,


    Emilia: "You have bounties on your head, means that they will track you down"


    She replies to Henry, ignoring Lenny.


    Lenny: "Makes sense but couldn''t you just have warned us before?"


    He asks, also filled with sadness.


    Jack: "Now that we finished our job here, what do we do now Boss?"


    He asks Henry sarcastically, not expecting Emilia to jump up in fright of hearing someone say "Boss".


    Henry: "I actually planned to visit someone"


    Jack: "Great, another one"


    Lenny: "Who is it?"


    They reply to Henry,


    Henry: "A friend of mine who I promised to visit once I started my adventure"


    Jack: "And where is that friend of yous?"


    He asks with no expectations.

 Keeping a secret

    Henry "Bastante province"


    Jack: "Bastante province?"


    He responds,


    Emilia: "I think I know who you are talking about, but why is he in Bastante province?"


    Emilia asks Henry,


    Henry: "Because he got punished to do social work there"


    Emily: "I really missed out on a lot"


    Jack: "Okay, alright but how do we get to Bastante province?"


    Henry looks at Jack, thinking that Jack would have known the answer already.


    Jack: "What''s the matter? Did I miss something?"


    Lenny: "We are on a boat and Bastante province is a bay area"


    Jack: "You guys think we can easily go to Bastante province with a boat? No one here can drive one"


    Emilia raises her hand,


    Emilia: "Sometimes, I had to drive a boat when we robbed a freighter on the ocean"


    Jack: "So we got our captain, bravo Boss"


    Jack says to Henry, frightening Emilia again.


    Since after the battle, Emilia got a small tick, she receives a small fright every time she hears the word "Boss", it''s like if she gets hit by a small electric shock.


    Lenny: "Wait you robbed freighters?"


    Emilia: "Not my proudest achievement"


    ...


    Bastante province is the northernmost province in the Great Empire.


    Bastante province has a rich history, originally part of the Kagetsu Kingdom, the Great Empires neighbor, the Bastante province still holds onto their ex-traditions, being the only province with traditions from two different countries.


    A large river named the Tsukikawa river flows between the Kagetsu Kingdom and the Great Empire, only needing 20 minutes with a boat to drive from the Bastante province to the southernmost province of the Kagetsu Kingdom, the Mitsunaga province.


    Bastante province, originally called Mitsunaga province was once part of the Kagetsu Kingdom, making it the only province behind the Tsukikawa river in their history.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    It became part of the Great Empire after the "Great imperial war", a conflict between the


    Great Empire and the Kagetsu Kingdom from more then a hundred years ago.


    To end the war, the Kagetsu Kingdom gave up the Mitsunaga province, handing it to the Great Empire, leading to the Mitsunaga family to flee from their own land, establishing a new province at the other side of the river, leading to the Bastante family immigrate into the land and taking it over.


    Now, the Great Empire and the Kaketsu Kingdom are really close allies, even having one of the daughters of the Bastante family, marrying one of the sons from the Mitsunaga family, mixing both cultures together.


    ...


    The ocean is pitch black, night had fallen over the coast of the Great Empire.


    Henry: "Are we there yet?"


    Henry asks, before leaning over the boat to vomit into the ocean.


    Emilia: "We are driving along the coast of the Empire, so we will be there between 2:30 and 4 pm, since  it''s night we are driving very slow to none, so get some rest"


    Henry: "O-okay big sis"


    He replies before again vomiting over the boat.


    In the interior part of the ship, the sleeping section, Jack and Lenny are spending


    their time resting.


    In the sleeping section are four loft beds with mattresses at the top and bottom, making room for eight people to sleep there at the same time.


    Lenny took over the top side of one of the beds while Jack is on the bed underneath him.


    Lenny: "So what do you think of Emilia?"


    Jack: "W-what do you mean, like if I like her?"


    Lenny: "No big bro, I think she is cool, a strong girl who hides a soft core within"


    Jack: "Ah that''s what you ment, be more careful how you approach someone with your


    question"


    Lenny: "Why? You like her?"


    Jack: "No I don''t, stop saying things like that"


    Jacks face gets really red because of Lenny''s question.


    Lenny: "I can''t see your face right now but I can imagine it being really red right now"


    Jack: "You don''t know what you are talking about Lenny"


    Lenny: "Anyways, who do you think the friend of Henry is like? You think he is strong?"


    Jack: "I don''t know Lenny, and Im really tired now"


    Lenny: "Come on big bro, you can at least tell me what you think"


    Jack: "I really have no expectations this time, but I''ll trust Henry...for now"


    Lenny: "I hope that he is alright"


    Lenny then takes his blanked and covers it over him,


    Lenny: "Sleep well big bro"


    Jack: "Yeah you too, Lenny"


    Henry enters the room, with swolen cheeks and a pale face from vomiting too often.


    Jack laughs from the sight of Henry,


    Jack: "Whoa what happened to you?"


    Henry: "I only drove once on a boat in the past, since then I guess I get seasick when im on one"


    Lenny and Jack bursts out laughing, while Henry walks to his bed, resting.


    Emilia is up at the captain''s room. As a girl, she does not want to sleep in the same


    room as the boys, but also as the ship''s captain she has no other choice then sleeping there, watching over the boat''s course.


    Emilia: "I wonder how mom is doing right now, she probably called me often but since i


    don''t have a phone anymore I can''t call her. I''ll ask Henry when he wakes up if we should visit her when we have nothing to do."


    Emilia then also falls asleep, driving the ship slowly on autopilot function the Boss had built in back when it was his ship.


    ...


    The sun rises over the horizon, reflecting over the wide ocean.


    Emilia is the first to wake up, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting on a chair at the table, on the top area of the ship.


    The second to wake up is Jack, who walks up the stair, looking like he just woke up a second ago.


    Emilia: "Good morning sleepy head, need a coffee?"


    Jack: "Morning, you have coffee here?"


    Emilia: "Who do you think I am? Of course I have coffee"


    Jack: "I mean afterall you are a criminal, fog princess"


    Emilia: "You done your research, congrats, storm dragon"


    Jack frightens by the fact that Emilia knows that name.


    Emilia just smiles, taking a sip of her cup,


    Emilia: "What, you think you are the only one who did their research?"


    Jack: "Mind keeping it a secret?"


    He asks in his cool-boy tone,


    Emilia: "Don''t worry I''m good in keeping secrets"


    She answers with a smile, sipping on her coffee.

 Eryndor

    Emilia: "Does your brother know?"


    Jack: "Yeah, he does, he thinks it''s cool, but he doesn''t get how dangerous it can be when you shout it out loud"


    Emilia: "I think I understand. You know, my dad used to tell me the story of the legendary


    three headed Storm-dragon and the legendary hero who was it''s host, Kael Thundrend"


    Jack: "Yeah, I know that name, the dragons love to talk about him, complaining how they got downgraded from him to me"


    Emilia: "Wait they talk to you?"


    Jack: "You really don''t know much about Beasts, hm"


    Emilia: "Only the stories and legends"


    Jack: "Trust me, it''s not as nice as it seems"


    Emilia: "I think I know what you are trying to tell me"


    She chuckles a little,


    Jack instantly gets red,


    Jack: "NO, not like that I ment it differently"


    Emilia bursts out laughing, blushing a little,


    Emilia: "I know, I know, calm down cool-boy"


    Jack calms down, slowly getting his usual skin color again.


    Emilia: "To be honest, at first, I thought you are like all the other boys I met, trying to act cool and tough"


    Jack: "And then?"


    Emilia: "Then i thought you were an asshole, being mean to everyone, but this wouldn''t


    make sense since you seem to be good buddies with Henry"


    Jack: "If you can even call our relationship buddies, more like colleagues"


    Emilia chuckles,


    Emilia: "Yeah whatever, but I think you are just an overprotective big brother, rejecting everyone for their and your brother''s sake, just like me"


    Jacks face completely gets red again, making Emilia laugh again.


    Jack: "Oh man, I can totally toss away the idea of impressing her"


    He says to himself.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ...


    Bastante province, after quite a travel they finally arrived.


    Eryndor, a town in the bay area, directly at the Tsukikawa river.


    Docking their ship at one of the harbors, the group splits up until the evening to do separate things, Henry is on his way to meet his friend, Emilia wants to go shopping and Jack follows Lenny who wants to check out the town.


    Lenny: "Whoa, the buildings completely look different then they were in Gravental and


    Grenzborg"


    Jack: "That''s because they are all based on Kagetsu Kingdom structures"


    Lenny: "Awesome, I never was outside of Grafenberg province, this is so cool"


    Jack: "Let''s check for something to eat".


    Emilia: "This bag looks cute"


    She says about a bag, inside of a designer shop,


    Emilia: "Or should I buy this bag".


    Henry: "He should be at the city hall; I should check there first"


    He says to himself, walking down the street in direction of the city hall.


    Jack: "They sell here something called Yakitori, grilled chicken"


    Lenny: "Looks good, let me have some"


    Jack: "Two portion of Yakitori please"


    He says to the seller of a small street-food shop, who is also the cook.


    Lenny: "What do you think we should do after eating? I would love to buy some books"


    Jack: "Yeah, we can do that"


    Lenny: "Come on big bro, you can also do what you want to do"


    Jack: "It is what I want to do, as long as you have fun I have too"


    Lenny: "I just think that you waste too much energy in being with me"


    Jack: "Don''t say that Lenny, you the only family I got"


    Lenny worries about Jack since he spends a lot of time protecting him; Jack doesn''t have anytime for himself and that''s what Lenny tries to change.


    Seller: "Two servings of Yakitori"


    Lennys and Jacks saliva flows out of their mouth from just seeing the perfectly grilled


    chicken skewers marinated with a delicious Teriyaki-sauce.


    Jack, about to bite the juicy meat of the skewers, pauses, after sensing a strong aura


    passing by behind him.


    He instantly turns around from the chair he sits on at the street-food shop, looking around worried in search of the mysterious aura.


    Lenny: "Whats the matter big bro?"


    Jack turns around, biting the grilled chicken of the skewer,


    Jack: "Nothing, it was nothing".


    Emilia leaves the clothing store located inside a shopping mall.


    Emilia: "Been a long time since I went shopping, and I have a lot of money to spend"


    She then walks in the hallway, carrying at least three full bags of clothes,


    Emilia: "Maybe I should bring the bags to the ship since the harbor isn''t that far away, and the bags are getting heavier too"


    She walks out of the shopping mall, walking to the harbor direction while sightseeing a little,


    Emilia: "A lot of people are outside today; I mean it is sunny after all today and the bay


    looks good for swimming today, maybe I should go swimming, maybe I should buy a


    new bikini today"


    Emilia then drops her bags, turning around quickly after sensing a strong and mysterious aura.


    Emilia: "What was that? I-I know that aura, but when did he became this strong?"


    She asks herself, before turning around, picking up her bags and again walking towards the harbor.


    Henry: "I think the city hall is open today, but I''m also very hungry."


    Henry stomach grunts in hunger, he looks down in frustration,


    Henry: "Oh man, I don''t even have money on me"


    He continues walking too the city hall, hopefully meeting his friend.


    Henry: "What? He isn''t here yet?"


    Secretary: "You are half an hour to early, his social work starts at 3:30 pm"


    Henry: "Oh man, and I don''t even have money to buy me food"


    Henry walks out the city hall, sitting frustrated on a bench, near the city hall entrance.


    Henry: "I should have asked big sis Emilia for money; I can imagine the mockery I would have gotten after she hands me some cash"


    ???: "Still getting bullied by your big sis, I see"


    A male voice says from behind, a voice Henry is familiar with, after all, it is the one Henry wanted to meet.


    A boy, shorter than Henry, with long hair, tied to the back of his head, wearing a dark-green


    t-shirt and long dark trousers and on his right hand he holds a classic wooden-head broom.


    Henry: "Ichiro!"


    Ichiro: "Been a long time, Henry"

 Meet Again (Part 1)

    Emilia: "What a drag, those bags are heavy"


    She falls onto the lounger on the ship, next to her are the bags full of clothes, with some falling out,


    Emilia: "I wonder what the others are up to right now"


    ???: "Yo you up there"


    A mysterious voice calls from the dock, Emilia walks to the side of the ship to look who is calling her.


    She sees a bald guy, with a black tattoo on his forehead, resembling an eye.


    ???: "Yeah, you there"


    Emilia: "I can''t give you my number, I don''t have a phone anymore, sorry"


    ???: "Nah I just want you to answer my question"


    Emilia stares suspiciously at him, before answering again,


    Emilia: "What is it"


    The man smiles, making a shady expression,


    ???: "You''re the fog princess, right?"


    Emilias instinct''s alarms her, not attacking or blocking, but running from whatever is gonna happen next.


    The man then stretches out his right hand,


    ???: "Open: Black Veil"


    The tattoo on the mans forehead starts to glow, releasing and spreading out black marks throughout his skin.


    A dark, purple shining big portal spawns above the ship, letting out a black giant skeleton arm, punching through the boat,


    Emilia runs, jumping of the ship and turning her lower body into fog, witnessing the ship collapse in on itself.


    Emilia: "Shit, the clothes I bought"


    The mysterious man looks up to her, stretching his hand again.


    Another dark-purple portal spawns behind Emilia, out of it comes another large black skeleton arm, trying to snatch her mid air,


    Emilia dodges the arm by flying over it, she then flies down to the man at high speed, turning her right arm into a giant fog axe,


    Behind the man spawns another purple portal, out of it comes another black skeleton arm, clashing with Emilias fog axe.


    Emilia: "You will pay for my clothes...and the ship"If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ...


    Jack and Lenny went for a walk in the city after eating Yakitori,


    Lenny: "What happened back there"


    Jack: "What do you mean"


    Lenny: "You suddenly turned around and started looking for someone"


    Jack: "Oh it was nothing, don''t mind it"


    Lenny doesn''t believe Jack, he clearly knows that something happened, and he also knows that Jack won''t tell him,


    Lenny: "Ill go to the library"


    Jack: "Alright let''s go"


    Lenny: "You really don''t have to come with me you know"


    Jack: "What are you talking about, I want to"


    Lenny gets angry at Jack,


    Lenny: "You don''t have to be so overprotective; I am thirteen now, one day I will be so strong that I will be the one protecting you"


    Jack laughs, patting Lenny on his head,


    Jack: "You would have to fight me first"


    Lenny gets angrier, throwing a barrage of weak punches at Jack,


    Jack: "What do you think you are doing, Lenny?"


    Lenny: "Im fighting you so that you don''t have to protect me anymore"


    Jack laughs again, before spitting out blood from his mouth,


    Lenny frightens in fear, seeing a dagger piercing Jack from behind all the way through his chest,


    Jack then gets pulled from behind him, tossed away into a building, revealing a short guy with a purple bowl cut and a tear drop tattoo on each of his eyes, holding a


    metal chain with a dagger attached to its end.


    ???: "Got one, another to go"


    He says, looking at Lenny.


    The street breaks out in chaos, with people running away and screaming all over the place, leaving only Lenny, who is struck by fear,


    Lenny: "B-big bro...BIG BRO"


    The mysterious guy walks to Lenny, swinging around his chain,


    Jack: "Yo"


    He says, tipping the man on his shoulder from behind,


    The man turns around, shocked by the fact Jack is alive, before getting send flying by


    a dragon scale wrapped punch from Jack, crashing into a building on the other side of the street,


    Jack: "Yo, you okay strong guy?"


    Lenny: "ARE YOU OKAY?"


    Jack: "Super regeneration, forgot?"


    The dagger-chain flies into Jacks direction, but Jack catches it, pulling the man whos holding the other end to him, but the man has a small blade in his other hand, trying to stab him while he flies into Jack''s direction.


    Jack blocks the small blade by wrapping his other arm with dragon scales, before head


    butting the man, grabbing and slamming him into the ground.


    He then stands over him, turning his mouth into that of a dragon, opening it and charging


    up a purple lighting ball inside of it.


    The light of the lighting shines bright, purple lighting being tossed everywhere around them, leaving everyone who is witnessing it including Lenny fascinated.


    The man screams in fear, trying to get up, but Jack holds him onto the ground by turning his leg into that of a dragon, pushing him further into the ground.


    A dark shadow emerges under the man with small black hands grabbing him, pulling him  down inside the shadow.


    Jack breaks up his attack, turning around, seeing the man he was about to kill and a new person, a woman with very long


    dark-blue hair, covering half her face and also having a black tattoo on her chin: a circle with four points in it, one on the top, one on the right, one on the left and one on the bottom.


    ???(Guy): "Thank you Sill, you saved me"


    Sill: "Sev thanked me"


    She replies blushing,


    Sev: "Now it''s two against one"


    Jack: "Give me a break"


    ...


    Ichiro: "Oh man, it''s been four years, you gotten taller then me"


    Henry: "Man, you got big too, but we talked on the phone a month ago"


    Ichiro: "I actually called you yesterday, but you didn''t respond"


    Henry: "Oh yeah, I don''t have a phone anymore, my sister tossed it into the ocean because she is scared that we are going to be tracked down since we all got a bounty on us"


    Ichiro tries to progress everything Henry just said right now, basically having smoke coming out of his head,


    Ichiro: "Whoa to much information, but your adventure sounds neat already"


    Henry: "Yeah it is, I even found new friends, you know what? You should meet them"


    Henry stands up, about to walk down the street with Ichiro, but Ichiro stops him by pulling him on his shirt,


    Ichiro: "I have social work to do now, I can''t"


    Henry: "Come on, the son of the head of the legendary Takeda clan can''t skip some social work?"


    Ichiro looks down to the ground with a sad expression,


    Ichiro: "Henry, I have a question"


    Henry: "What"


    Ichiro: "Let me take part on your adventure"

 Meet Again (Part 2)

    Henry: "You want to join?"


    ???: "Ichiro, you are late...again"


    A young woman in a long, white traditional dress with purple flowers engraved on it says, walking out of the city hall,


    Ichiro: "Forget what I said Henry, Ill catch you later, alright?"


    Henry looks at Ichiro saddened by the fact that Ichiro wouldn''t be speaking his thoughts out,


    Henry: "Alright, see you"


    Ichiro picks up his broom, before walking into the city hall with the woman, all the servants and people inside the city hall, bow in respect to the woman,


    Servants: "Greetings, miss Mitsunaga"


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "What were you doing outside, ichiro?"


    Ichiro: "Just talking with an old friend after a long time"


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "You can do that after cleaning the leisure space in the first floor"


    Ichiro: "All right...I''ll do it if I must"


    Ichiro then walks up the stairs.


    ...


    Henry: "Ill just talk to him later again, but first I am hungryyy, I''ll have to ask Emilia for money I guess, by now she must be at the boat again, I''ll just go there I guess"


    He says to himself, walking down the street.


    ...


    Jack turns his right arm into that of a dragon, shooting a purple lighting into their direction, but the two jump away from the attack, leading to it hitting the ground.


    Sev, throws his chain-dagger into Jacks direction, Jack tries to catch it again, but he


    jumps to the air, dodging the chain and the shadow hands that emerged from his shadow,


    Jack: "Where is the woman?"


    Sill: "Right here"


    Sills upper body emerges from the shadow, thrown on Jack''s back by one of the buildings behind him.


    She pulls out a knive, ready to stab him, but Jack grabs her with his dragon-arm, tryint to pull her out.


    Sill laughs while going back into the shadow,


    before Jack gets hit into his shoulder by Sev''s with aura enchanted dagger-chain, quickly draining Jacks fluids out of his body.


    Jack falls to his knees, breathing heavily and slowly mummifying.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Sev: "SO DELICIOUS, YOUR FLUIDS"


    Sev says, sticking out his long, pointy tongue.


    Jack pulls out the chain-dagger from his shoulder, quickly gaining his appearance back, shocking Sev again,


    Sev: "Im-impossible, you shoudn''t be able to stand now"


    Jack: "Now I''m angry"


    Jack grows dragon-like wings from his back, quickly flying towards Sev, but before he could snatch his face with his dragon-arm, Sev gets pulled down into a shadow again.


    Jack floats over the ground, looking around where they could be, noticing that Lenny is


    gone,


    Sev and Sill are on top of a building, near the street, holding Lenny hostage,


    Sev: "What the fuck is this, he never told me that one of them is a fucking dragon"


    Sill: "I know, I know, but we got one of them hostage"


    Lenny is lying on the ground, being chained by Sev''s chain-dagger, and his mouth closed


    by a shadow hand, emerged from the shadow thrown at him by Sill and Sev,


    He fidgets around, trying to loose the chains, but nothing works.


    Suddendly, the blue stone falls out of his pocket, picked up by Sill,


    Sill: "S-Sev, look at this"


    Sev: "Where did you get this from"


    Sill: "F-from the boys pocket"


    Sev: "I-I can''t believe this, they really tried to mess around with us, that fucker"


    Sill: "I-is that what I think it is?"


    Sev:"Yeah, the tear of the forgotten"


    Sill: "W-what do we do now?"


    Sev: "S-shit, l-lets run, if we bring the Amethyst back to count Dracula, we will be


    rich"


    Sill: "A-and the Baron?"


    Sev: "Fuck him, he tried to mess with us by not telling us how big this mission is, when the Count finds out that the tear of the forgotten isn''t in Transilvannia, the Baron is as good as dead"


    Sill: "O-okay I see-..."


    An explosion emerges after the roof is struck by a purple lightning,


    Jack: "What do you think you are doing you dumb fucks"


    Jack says, flying over them while Lenny fidgets in happiness, seeing his brother saving him.


    Sill: "S-SSev, are you alright?"


    Sev stands up while waving her hand way from him,


    Sev: "Shit, that guy again"


    Jack flies in a dive, straight into Sill, but again she sinks inside her shadow,


    Jack grabs her hand while she sinks, trying to pull her out of the shadow, before he gets pierced through his dragon-arm by Sev''s chain-dagger.


    Sev: "When your arm is wrapped in dragon-scales, you get better defense, but your dragon-arm is so vulnerable, it''s laughable"


    Jack doesn''t respond, grabbing the chain and pulling Sev to him, grabbing his face with his dragon-arm, smashing him to the ground before tossing him from the building,


    Before Sev hits the street, he is catched by Sill, supported by shadow hands emerged from her shadow,


    Sill pets Sev''s head, gnashing her teeth in rage,


    Sill: "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS"


    She shouts at Jack, who is slowly landing with Lenny in his arms,


    Sev: "S-Sill, lets do it"


    Sill: "A-alright"


    Sev/Sill: "Open..."


    Sev: "Sable Thorn",


    Sill: "Lament of the Forsaken"


    They say at the same time, their tattoos start glowing, having black marks emerge from the tattoos, covering they''re whole skin.


    ...


    Henry: "Man that city hall is far from the harbor, I hope Emilia is there and didn''t left before I came"


    He says to himself, before reaching the harbor,


    Henry: "Finally here,...where''s the boat..."


    He looks around, looking for the boat, but then he notices something in the water, parts of the boat, swimming in the water,


    Henry: "W-What happened?"


    He then frightens, seeing Emilia floating around on the water surface, holding onto one of the boat''s parts.


    Henry instantly jumps into the water, grabbing Emilia and pulling her out,


    Emilia then wakes up, spitting water at Henry''s face,


    Emilia: "H-Henry, where is that guy"


    Henry: "What guy?"


    Emilia gets a clear head, instantly analyzing what is happening,


    Emilia: "HENRY WATCH OUT"


    She shouts, pushing Henry away, blocking the giant skeleton fist dropping on her from mid air, with a shield made out of fog,


    Emilia: "It was a trap, to lure you here"


    Henry looks around, before noticing the bald man with black marks on his skin, covering his whole body,


    Henry then wraps his body with his blue energy, quickly "jumping" to the man, by leaping from one spot to another quickly, ready to punch him, but a skeleton arm comes from the side, hitting Henry and sending him flying into a boat.

 Meet Again (Part 3)

    Emilia pushes of the skeleton, leading to it dissolving into black ash,


    Emilia: "HENRY"


    She turns to the man, looking at him in rage,


    Emilia: "Who are you"


    ???: "Oh right I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Ros"


    Emilia creates tentacle like arms out of fog from her back, elongating them quickly at Ros''s direction, but he blocks them with two skeleton arms by crossing them in front of him,


    Emilia then looks above her, seeing another portal spawning, letting out a giant skeleton foot which is about to stomp on her.


    A blue light emerges next to her, the light turns to Henry, who then flies against her, basically making Emilia dodge the attack,


    Emilia: "Henry! How did you do that?"


    Henry: " I found out that when I wrap my body with my blue light, I can leap from one point to another, leaving a blue trail behind from where I leaped to the spot I leaped to, cool right I call it shooting-star-..."


    Emilia pushes Henry to the side before she then jumps to the other side, dodging another skeleton foot that emerged from a portal above them,


    Henry: "It looks like a shooting star every time I use it, but the range of it is limited for now"


    Henry says to Emilia, adding on to his sentence after gotten Interrupted


    Emilia: "Can''t you see that we have an enemy in front of us?"


    Henry: "Yeah right, what''s the deal with him?"


    Emilia: "I only read about them, he has a cursed mark and it''s name is Black Veil, I guess those black skeleton arm''s are it''s ability but that means he himself could still have one"


    Henry: "Great, what''s your plan?"


    Emilia: "Since he knows our abilities, he probably prepared for this fight, we are in the disadvantage"


    Henry: "So, just beat him up then?"


    Emilia: "Basically"


    Henry smiles, using shooting-star to get in front of Ros.


    Ros spawns another skeleton arm, trying to punch Henry, but Henry slides under it''s punch, then using shooting-star to get behind Ros, ready to hit him, but Ros spawns another skeleton arm next to Henry, hitting him again, this time sending him flying into a building next to the harbor.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Emilia creates two fog blades, running at him, Ros uses his skeleton arm to hit Emilia, but she jumps above and lands on it, running on top of the arm, directly towards Ros.


    Ros let''s a skeleton leg spawn from the top, again trying to stomp on her, but Emilia dissolves herself in fog, leading to Ros stomping on the skeleton arm and breaking it.


    Ros: "NO! SHIT"


    Ros gets distracted, leading to Henry getting behind Ros with shooting-star, round-house kicking him to his side and sending him flying.


    Henry: "How you like that?"


    He shouts mockingly,


    ...


    Jack stares at Sev and Sill, surprised by their appearance,


    Jack: "What''s up with you guys?"


    Sev: " We activated our cursed marks, you like it?"


    Jack: "Ahh, so this are what cursed marks look like when activated"


    Sill raises up her hand, leaving Jack confused, when suddenly out of the shadows, dark entities arise, running to Jack''s direction from all sides,


    Jack takes Lenny and throws him onto a tree next to him, before turning his other arm also into that of a dragon, taking them all on.


    With his sharp nails and dark thin fingers, he shreds one shadow entity after another, making it look effortless,


    Jack: "Come on, if you want to beat me with those, you need to make them stronger"


    He says, before dodging another attack by Sev''s chain-dagger after defeating every single one of those shadow entities,


    He grabs the chain after dodging, trying to pull at it again, but this time something is different, it feels like his soul is drained out of him, falling to his knees, eventually dropping to the ground.


    Sill: " You got him Sev"


    Sev: "Thanks to Sable Thorn''s soul-drainer"


    Sill: "What are going to do now?"


    Sev: "Let us kill him here and now"


    Sill: "But let me first get his shadow and turn it into one of my shadow-minions"


    Sev: "Yeah sounds good to me"


    Sill then walks to Jack, grabbing his shadow and ripping it off from him.


    Sill: "Okay Sev, kill him"


    Sev takes his chain-dagger, walking into Jack''s direction, before stopping because of Lenny who jumped of the tree and now stands before Jack, facing Sev,


    Sev: "Kid, go away, I don''t care about you anymore"


    Lenny: "Leave my brother"


    He says, showing no sign of fear,


    ???: "What''s going on here?"


    A male voice says,


    Sev turns to the boy who just spoke, it''s Ichiro holding his broom,


    Sev: "And who are you?"


    Ichiro: "I''m talking to the boy"


    Ichiro points at Lenny,


    Lenny: "T-They attacked us"


    Ichiro: "Say less"


    Ichiro wraps his broom with soul-aura, swinging it into Sev''s direction, releasing a energy cut into his direction,


    Sev tries to block it with his chain-blade, but it''s cut into two at contact:


    Sev is pulled down into a shadow again, dodging Ichiro''s attack,


    Ichiro: "Hm I see, it''s like that"


    He says to himself before quickly disappearing and showing up in front of Sill and Sev, stirring up the dust from where he was all the way to where he is now, about to cut them with his enchanted broom.


    Fear is written all over Sev and Sill, thinking they are about to die, when suddenly a shadow-minion emerges from a shadow on Sill''s body, blocking Ichiro''s attack.


    Lenny stares in shock, seeing the shadow-minion looking exactly like Jack,


    Lenny: "WATCH OUT"


    He shouts, before the shadow-minion turns his mouth into a dragon-mouth, shooting a purple lightning beam at Ichiro,


    Ichiro quickly dodges, letting the purple lightning beam hit a building behind him,


    The beam completely destroys the building,


    Ichiro falls back, jumping quickly to Lenny,


    Ichiro: "Let me guess, the shadow guy is the guy behind you?"


    Lenny: "Yeah"


    Ichiro: "Is he your brother?"


    Lenny: "Yeah"


    Ichiro: "If I beat them, the shadow guy dissolves?"


    Lenny: "I guess"


    Ichiro: "Alright, I''m Ichiro by the way"


    Lenny: "I''m Lenny"


    Ichiro: "Nice to meet you Lenny, let me handle them".

 Meet Again (Part 4)

    Ichiro wraps his broom with soul-aura before kneeling a little and rushing with high speed at the shadow-minion.


    The shadow-minion wraps his arm and fist with dragon-scales, clashing with Ichiro''s broom, letting out a shockwave that swirls up the air around them,


    Lenny turns to Jack, who still lies unconscious on the ground,


    Lenny: "Wake up, big bro come on"


    He shakes Jack''s body, hoping for him to wake up,


    Lenny: "Now is not the time to sleep, Ichiro needs your help"


    Ichiro blocks the dragon-scale punch from the shadow-minion, being pushed back a little,


    Ichiro: "He''s stronger than I though"


    He says to himself before quickly dodging the next purple lightning attack,


    ...


    Emilia evades another punch from the big skeleton arm by quickly flying to the side, rushing at Ros with her fog-blades.


    Ros creates a small portal next to him, exactly like those where the skeleton-arms and legs are attacking from, he puts his arm inside and pulls out a skeleton sword, blocking Emilias''s attack.


    Henry uses shooting-star to appear above Emilia, drop-kicking Ros to his face.


    Ros gets back on his feet, quickly being attacked by Emilia again with her blades, blocking her with his sword, but Henry again uses shooting-star to attack him fron his blind spot, but Ros is prepared, creating a round shield out of soul-aura, blocking Henry''s attack.


    Ros then spawns two giant portals above them, letting out a skeleton-foot each:


    Henry and Emilia both jumps away from the attack, meeting after gaining a distance from him,


    Emilia: "I got all the info I wanted, good job Henry"


    Henry: "So what you got"


    Emilia: "Our enemy has not really a hidden ability, that''s why he completely relies on his curses ability, that aura-shield probably was his own ability, meaning he got nothing else in his sleeve"


    Henry: "Alright what''s the plan"


    Emilia: "Keep on using your shooting-star to get to his blind spots while I distract him"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Henry: "Alright, let''s beat this guy"


    Henry uses shooting-star to get in front of Ros, but gets his punch blocked by Ros''s aura-shield.


    Ros then gets hit by an fog fist elongating from Emilia.


    With shooting-star, Henry quickly gets behind Ros, trying to hit him again but Ros turns


    around and grabs Henry''s fist, punching him in his solar plexus, letting Henry spit out a lot of fluids from his mouth,


    Ros: "You think that I''m weak and only can rely on those skeleton parts? My curse also rises my strengh and speed, making it able to easily overpower you kid''s"


    Henry gets up, but Ros still holds his fist, He then creates a aura-shield above him by stretching his hand to the air, blocking Emilia''s fog-axe.


    Ros: "You can''t beat me"


    Henry smiles, using shooting-star to go back a foot, freeing himself from Ros grip, to then again use shooting-star to get in front of Ros, ready to hit his face.


    Ros, ready to block his punch again, notices that he can''t move his arms, he then notices the fog-chain piercing his arm and stretching it to the air, leading to Henry wrapping his arm in his blue energy, hitting Ros clean to the face.


    Ros is send flying again, stopping by hitting a wall, breaking it at impact.


    Emilia: "Good job Henry"


    Henry: "Yeah you too big sis"


    Emilia slowly floats down to the ground, high-fiving Henry with a smile,


    Ros: "HALT, IT IS NOT OVER NOW"


    He shouts from the distance, completely covered in blood, laughing maniacally,


    Ros: "BEHOLD, MY STRONGEST SOLDIER"


    He shouts, maniacally laughing while spawning a gigantic portal above him, letting


    out a gigantic, black skeleton with fire in its eye sockets and a golden and red crown, dropping on Ros, crushing him.


    Next to the skeleton spawns a portal, he then grabs inside it pulling out a bigger version of the sword Ros had,


    Henry: "Did he just..."


    Emilia: "Yeah that idiot killed himself by accident, you hit his head good I guess"


    ...


    Ichiro slashes at the shadow-minion with his broom, but he dodges it, letting the tree behind him split in two,


    Sill: "I want that kid''s shadow, he will get tired soon and that is when I will rip of his shadow before my shadow-minion kill''s him"


    Sev laughs, while wiping away the blood from his face.


    Lenny: "Come on big bro, Ichiro needs your help"


    Jack doesn''t give a single sign.


    ...


    ???: "Kael would have never get his soul drained"


    A voice says, waking up Jack, who finds himself inside a large, dark space with storm clouds in the sky.


    Jack: "I know that place, why am I in the soul-area"


    ???: "It''s what happens when you get inattentive while fighting"


    Another voice says,


    Jack: "Shut up you stupid dragon"


    ???: "Dragons, plural"


    A gigantic, dark Dragon with three heads emerges from the dark, letting purple lightning strike from the clouds to the ground all around the infinitely large space,


    Jack: "I don''t care, what do you want"


    He replies in his cool-guy tone,


    Dragonhead (1): "We found you when you were a small child"


    Dragonhead (3): "Crying and begging for strength"


    Dragonhead (1): "So why do you despite us"


    Jack: "You are the ones comparing me to that shithead of a hero Kael"


    Dragonhead (3): "Don''t speak bad about Kael, boy"


    Dragonhead (1): "His last will was to choose a successor, worthy to carry on his will"


    Jack: "And again, I won''t do that, now wake me up"


    The dragon heads turn to the middle head, waiting for him to speak,


    Dragonhead (2): "If it''s your will, then we will accept your wish, but one day you will do what you are destined to do, to fulfill Kael''s will"


    Jack: "I don''t care what his fucking wish is, I am your host now, either you help me or die with me, your choice"


    The dragonheads look down to Jack, starring at his serious face,


    Dragonhead (2): "So it be, but one day you will fulfill Kael''s will, that is your destiny"


    Dragonhead (3): "Pathetic, you will never be as good as Kael"


    Dragonhead (1): "You won''t be able to stay all by yourself"


    Jack: "I won''t, I am not alone anymore"


    Jack replies, before waking up.

 Meet Again (Part 5)

    Lenny: "JAACCK!"


    Lenny cries and hugs Jack,


    Jack: "What happened"


    Lenny: "I-Ichiro came and saved us, but he is fighting against...you"


    Lenny responds sobbingly, leaving Jack confused,


    Jack: "Ichrio? Me?"


    Jack looks at Ichiro, smiling in fright after sensing the same exact aura he had sensed back then in the city,


    Jack: "I see, that''s the Ichiro guy and the other guy is?"


    Lenny: "Your shadow the woman took from you"


    Jack: "And it is fighting us alright "


    Jack says more confused then before,


    Lenny: "You guessed it"


    Jack: "Alright"


    Jack gets on his feet with one jump, growing wings on his back before quickly flying at the shadow-minion,


    The shadow-minion fights against Ichiro, before he could throw a punch at him he


    gets hit by Jack''s foot,


    Ichiro: "Yo, nice one, you think you can handle him?"


    Jack: "Yeah I got him"


    Ichiro nods, rushing at Sill and Sev,


    ...


    Henry: "Big sis...you got a plan?"


    Emilia frightens a little,


    Henry: "Big sis?"


    Emilia: "Just hit him with all you got Henry"


    Henry uses shooting-star to get near him, hitting the skeleton with his fist wrapped in the blue energy,


    The skeleton falls back, landing on a building behind the wall,


    Henry drops to the ground, smiling at the skeleton,


    Henry: "You like that? I call it energy-fist"


    Emilia laughs, thinking the name sounds stupid,


    She then grabs a boat with a gigantic fog-hand, throwing it at the skeleton who just got


    up from the building, hitting him and letting him land on the building again,


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The skeleton gets up, grabbing his blade and making a strong swing into their direction, whirling up a lot of air and dust,


    Henry ducks while Emilia escapes into the air,


    Emilia: "Don''t get to near his blade Henry"


    Henry: "Got it"


    Henry gets up on his feet, running inside the destroyed building while Emilia distracts him.


    Now standing directly under the skeleton, Henry uses shooting-star to fly up to him, hitting him with a energy-fist upper-cut.


    The skeleton loses balance, not being able to defend against Emilia who takes another boat and hits him to his side, making him fall into the water next to him, dissolving into black ash.


    ...


    Jack blocks the punch of the shadow-minion, before throwing another punch, but he also gets his punch blocked,


    He then flies up a bid, shooting out a beam of purple lightning from his dragon-mouth, only to get it countered with a purple lighting beam from the shadow-minion dragon-moutg, letting both clash in the middle, illuminating the whole area with bright light and purple lightning,


    Ichiro wraps his broom in aura, ready to cut them both with one slash,


    Sill and Sev are watching in fear, how Ichiro rushes at them at lightning fast speed, with a serious expression is ready to kill them with one move, showing no remorse.


    In this moment, the world around Sev and Sill moved in slow-motion, but both are unable to move, only leaving them to accept defeat and ultimately death.


    Ichiro notices their fear, letting out a small smile, swinging his broom above them and cutting the building behind them, ultimately scaring them into fainting.


    The shadow-minion jumps at Jack while Jack also jumps at him, but before hitting each other in the middle, the shadow-minion falls onto the ground, turning back into Jacks shadow, letting Jack fall on the ground.


    Jack: "Is it over?"


    He calls out,


    Ichiro: "Yup, got them alive"


    ...


    Sev wakes up, seeing the ocean before him,


    Sev: "Am...am I dead?"


    Ichiro: "Nope you are at the harbor, but you better be answering our questions first"


    Ichiro stands before him,


    Sev looks behind him, seeing him bound to Sill with fog,


    Sev: "Is that fog? Wait this means..."


    Emilia: "Yup, your friend is gone, so you better answer our questions"


    Sev: "Are you serious? We are not over ye-..."


    Sill: "We give up"


    Sill says, Interrupting Sev,


    Sev: "What are you doing Sill?"


    Sill: "G-Guaranteeing our survival, l-leader is probably dead"


    Jack: "You better listen to your girlfriend"


    Sill blushes,


    Sill: "G-G-G-GIRLFRIEND"


    She shouts out loud, turning completely red,


    Sev: "Alright, what do you want to hear"


    Emilia: "First, what are you"


    Sill: "We are a mercenary vampire group"


    Henry: "VAMPIRE?"


    Sev: "Surprised idiot?"


    Lenny: "How come you are able to survive in the sun?"


    Sev: "Because of the moonstones? Did you never hear of them, glasses?"


    Lenny: "What are those?"


    Sill: "We got them on as a amulet around our neck, they are found in the land of the moon and they basically protect us from the sun, I don''t know how they actually work"


    Emilia: "Why did you come here"


    Sill: "We had the mission to kill two blonde brothers, another boy and the fog princess companying them"


    Sev: "Yeah but that motherfucker didn''t tell us that it''s about that fucking stone"


    Lenny: "You mean this stone?"


    Lenny holds the blue amethyst in front of them, Sev nods,


    Lenny: "Tell me what that is"


    Sill: "It''s a important artifact called the tear of the forgotten that can heal every disease, it''s found in the tomb of the count, near the border of Transilvannia, it is said to appear every-time a count dies, it was prophesied to appear this year after the latest count, Dreyghoul the third, died in combat to the newest count, Nostradamus Dracula, who desperately wanted it"


    Sev: "Sill, if you continue to talk, you bring us both in danger"


    Sill: "The b-baron can''t do a-anything now; h-he won''t just appear and prevent u-us from


    talking"


    Sill: "The baron is the one who gave us the mission, he was supposed to watch over the cave or it''s other name, the tomb of the forgotten, basically messing up pretty bad by not noticing that the stone had been stolen, so he does everything in his might to get this stone back"


    Lenny: "So that is where that fraud-dealer got it from"


    Jack: "And hired that mud guy"


    Emilia: "And who is that baron?"


    Sev: "Sill stop"


    Sill: "The baron is-..."


    Jack: "What? Why did you stop? Tell us who he is?"


    Sill coughs, spitting blood out of her mouth, before having blood flow out of her ears, nose and eyes,


    Henry: "What is happening to her?"


    Sev: "Please don''t kill me, I never said anything, let me life, please, please, please"


    Sev shouts and cries, looking to a building in the distance, before also coughing out blood,


    Sill and Sev both cough out more blood, levitating into the air, screaming in pain before being squished into meat and blood, dropping to the ground.


    Everyone around is left in a state of trauma, before Jack and Ichiro snaps back into reality,


    They quickly turn to the building where Sev had looked towards in his last moments, spotting a dark silhouette, with really long hair and red eyes, starring at them from the distance while the sun goes down behind him, suddenly disappearing.

 Ichiro’s path

    Jack: "You seen it, right?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah"


    They say, quickly rushing to the building,


    Jack flies to the top, carrying Ichiro, seeing no traces of the shadowy figure,


    Ichiro: "What was that?"


    Jack: "If I could guess, the baron those two told us about"


    ...


    Night has fallen over the city, the damage is high, and the city is in shamble.


    The group had gathered at the staircase of the big city hall, sitting there and sorrowing all on their own,


    Henry: "What even happened, I-I mean, we had them, we should have noticed that something is wrong"


    Emilia: "And if it''s true what Jack and Ichiro are saying then the enemy was right there and could have also killed us with no effort"


    They all get quiet, still processing everything that happened today,


    Ichiro: "I have to go into the city hall, I have to clear things up"


    Ichiro gets up and walks into the hall,


    Jack: "And us? We don''t have a ship to sleep in anymore"


    Emilia: "I still have some money, should be enough to get us two rooms"


    They all nod and follow  Emilia.


    ...


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "Ichiro, where were you"


    Ichiro: "Sorry I-I was outside"


    He replies with a saddened face,


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "So you had something to do with that chaos?"


    Ichiro nods saddened, shocking ms. Mitsunaga, she then takes Ichiro and hugs her,


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "You have to explain me exactly what happened"


    ...


    Emilia lies in her bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking,


    Emilia: "Even though I have seen worse, it''s still shocking that only them died, why did he not kill us? Something just feels off"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Henry, Jack and Lenny share a room together, Henry sits on his bed, doing nothing


    while Jack lies on the bed, throwing an apple into the air and catching it, Lenny presses his head on the pillow, trying to sleep.


    Henry: "So you fought against your own shadow?"


    Jack: "Yeah"


    Henry: "I fought a giant skeleton"


    Lenny raises his head, looking at Henry tired,


    Lenny: "A giant skeleton? Cool"


    Henry: "Yeah, right?"


    Lenny: "I was no help today, I''m weak"


    Lenny gets frustrated, just thinking how much of a burden he was for Jack makes him sad,


    Henry: "Why don''t you just train? Ichiro is only a year older than you, but he trained a lot to get this strong"


    Lenny is left shocked, he thought that Ichiro is at least three years older than him because of his strength, but now that he thinks about it, he notices that Ichiro is pretty small and has a young face, even with his serious expression that kind of let''s him look a bit older than he actually is,


    Lenny: "Right, why did I not think of it? Training, I''m so stupid"


    ...


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "So that''s what happened, promise me one thing, don''t tell my mother what happened under my supervision-..."


    ???: "Something I shoudn''t know?"


    An older but beautiful woman, with a blue and red traditional dress and traditionaly tied back hair with a lot of  jewelry walks up to them,


    Ichiro instantly bows,


    Ichiro:" Mrs. Mitsunaga, good to see you"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh please, Ichiro, the son of my little brother should not be bowing in front of me, after all, you have a history of being a rebel"


    She says, laughing about Ichiro''s effort, making him laugh nervously,


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "M-Mom, y-you are already here? How was the family meeting in Akehiro capital?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You know, at first it was boring, but my little brothers just couldn''t behave so the elders moved the meeting to next month"


    Ichiro laughs, while Ms. Mitsunaga gets ashamed,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga laughs, wiping of the tears from her eyes,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You would never guess how often my little brothers step out of line when they are together, but I can see that the city also got in some kind of mess"


    Ichiro: "I-Im sorry aunti, it is kind of my fault too"


    ...


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I see so that''s what happened, and your friends?"


    Ichiro: "They are fine, but also not in the best state"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Let me see what I can do"


    Ichiro: "Thanks aunti"


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "Tomorrow is my big sister''s wedding, this means your social work


    ends today, you could arrive at Akehiro capital by tomorrow"


    Ichiro doesn''t seem too happy about that information,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "What''s the matter?"


    Ichiro: "I-I don''t want to go home aunti, I actually enjoyed my time here"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I heard what happened in Akehiro and I mean what really had happened, not the cover-up they told the citizens"


    Ichiro is left shocked, looking at Mrs. Mitsunaga,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I can understand how you feel, after all when my husband died, I was offered to take over the role as the head of the Mitsunaga clan, at first I did not want it, but now I embrace it with pride"


    Ichiro: "Still, I want to do other things, there is so much more"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Your friends, right? They are going on an adventure?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah..."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "And you didn''t follow them?"


    Ichiro: "No...I didn''t"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You should, at your age your father also left for his adventure and look at him now, he is the head of the Takeda clan"


    Ichiro: "He went on an adventure?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Of course, all young boys want to go to an adventure and your father done exactly that, leaving together with his twin brother"


    Ichiro: "Wow I didn''t know that, I want to go too"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga smiles,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Let''s do it traditionally then, the Takeda style: Ichiro Takeda, son of Takeshi Takeda, you are from here on permitted to leave your social-work and go on your adventure"


    Ichiro smiles, feeling all the burden of his body leave, hugging Mrs. Mitsunaga,


    Ichiro: "Thank you aunti"


    Ichiro takes his broom, instantly leaving the city hall,


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "Mom, was this really the right idea? What will uncle say about this decision"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "He will understand Ichiro''s decision, after all Ichiro is exactly like he was when he was younger, that''s also the reason he didn''t get angry at him for what he did in Akehiro capital"


    Ms. Mitsunaga: "I only know the cover up story they made, it must have been really bad, what he did"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "If it weren''t for his status as Takeshi Takeda''s son, he would have been executed immediately..."

 Fact-check

    Someone knocks on the door violently, Henry stands up from his bed to open it, seeing Ichiro in front of him.


    Henry: "Ichiro, how did you find us?"


    Ichiro: "Aura-control, I noticed your aura and followed it"


    Henry: "You can do that?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah but I was joking, I was the one suggesting this hotel to Emilia"


    Henry: "Ohhh, okay makes sense but, what do you want?"


    Ichiro: "Remember what I asked you in the evening?"


    Henry: "Yeah I remember"


    Ichiro: "You think I could still join?"


    Henry: "Even after all what happened today?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, even after all I have seen, after all you guys'' kind of involved me into your matter"


    Henry smiles, dragging him into the room,


    Henry: "Welcome to the squad, Ichiro"


    Jack smiles a little at Ichiro while Lenny gives him a thumbs-up with a big smile,


    Emilia walks from the hallway to the open room,


    Emilia: "I see, so you guys are all awake,"


    ...


    Everyone is gathered together in the boy''s room, sitting on the beds, talking with each other,


    Emilia: "Quick fact-check, the three vampires were a mercenariy group send by the border-baron of Transilvannia to get that blue stone also called the tear of the forgotten"


    Lenny: "Right"


    Emilia: "The stone can somehow heal any disease and that is why the new count of Transilvannia: count Nostradamus Dracula, wants it for unknown reasons"


    Ichiro: "Right"


    Jack: "And the baron is scared of the count that''s why he want''s the stone as quickly as possible back"Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Emilia: "Right"


    Jack: "So this fucker gave us the bounties on our head, not the police or the government or the Adventure Guild"


    Ichiro: "Basically"


    Emilia: "So we now know who our enemy is and we know that he wont stop until he gets what he wants"


    Henry: "Why don''t we just give him the stone?"


    Jack: "Easy idiot, that guy wants everyone that knows about his failure dead, since he didn''t kill us with those vampires means he couldn''t, means he will send more mercenaries to us"


    Henry: "Why don''t we just go to him and beat him up"


    Jack: "How do you want to get into a country with closed borders, without a map and most


    importantly: without a boat"


    Henry: "Good point, but we can''t let him just send more mercenaries at us, look what happened in Eryndor, this doesn''t just affect us, it drags everyone around us in it"


    Ichiro: "My aunt will arrange something for us as a thank you because we kind of protected the city"


    Emilia: "A new boat?"


    Ichiro: "I don''t know yet, but I guess"


    Lenny: "Your aunt must be pretty rich for her to be able do that"


    Ichiro: "Yeah kind of, she is the head of the Mitsunaga family"


    Jack: "Wait what? You''re a Mitsunaga?"


    Ichiro: "No, only my aunt because she married their previous head"


    Jack: "How come that she is the head then"


    Ichiro: "When her husband died, all their kids where still kids so she took over the role as the head until one of them is ready"


    Jack: "So you are related with the richest family in the Kagetsu Kingdom, nice"


    After the war and their emigration from their old province, the Mitsunaga family joined the rise, tea and textiles market, dominating and building a monopoly on it, gaining control


    over important trade routes, caravan routes, harbors but also building up their financial and social influence.


    Ichiro: "Jack, you know a lot of the Kagetsu Kingdom, how come?"


    Jack: "As a kid, I read a lot of books, this was my way of passing the time"


    Jack gets quiet, making a sad expression, before snapping back into his normal self,


    Jack: "Why? Is it a problem?"


    Ichiro: "Nah, I just found it really cool"


    For Ichiro, it''s not ordinary that someone outside of the Kagetsu Kingdom talks with him about his family business, meeting someone outside of the Kagetsu Kingdom who has some knowledge is a first timer for him.


    Lenny: "I got two questions for you, first: why are you fighting with a broom, second: why did you have to do social work?"


    Ichiro laughs ashamed,


    Ichiro: "I am to broke to buy a katana and when I have the money I spend it for other things, forgetting that I need one"


    Jack: "And you do social work to earn the money?"


    Ichiro: "No, basically I cut the statue of the first shogun in half out of anger"


    It gets quiet,


    Everyone: "YOU DID WHAT??"


    The statue of the first shogun, also known as the "Heiwa o motarasu mono" or "the


    bringer of peace", is one of the five national treasures of the Kagetsu Kingdom, glorified by the Kagetsu citizens.


    Damaging one of the national treasures means as much as starting a war against the country.


    Emilia: "Why did you do that?"


    Ichiro: "My dad wanted me to be his next successor as the Takeda-clan head, but I


    didn''t want to, he then showed off to his brother that he had found his successor before his brother had, but I then told him that I did not want to be the head, since he never stopped posing, I had to do something as a protest"


    Emilia: "By destroying a national treasure"


    Ichiro: "When you say it like that, it sounds like Im a terrorist"


    Jack: "You basically are one because of that, you know?"


    Emilia: "How come that you only got away with doing social work?"


    Ichiro: "My dad and my uncle laughed about it, saying something like "that old man never wanted a statue anyways" so they made a cover-up story about renewing the whole garden the statue had been standing"


    Jack: "Who is your family that they possess such high authority?"


    Ichiro: "Eh, I don''t like to talk about my family that much, but my father is Takeshi Takeda, and his twin brother is Akihiko Takeda"


    Everyone gets quiet for a second before,


    Jack: "YOUR FATHER IS THE HEAD OF THE TAKEDA CLAN?"


    Lenny: "YOUR UNCLE IS THE KAGETSU KINGDOMS SHOGUN?"

 Wedding

    After a wholesome and fun night, the group are making their way to the city hall to join the wedding of Mrs. Mitsunaga''s daughter, who is ready to become Mrs. Bastante in the near future.


    Before entering, the group splits up to quickly pursue things before the wedding.


    The city hall is decorated with white flowers, Kagetsu flowers to be specific, at the front of the entrance stands a servant, calmly waiting for someone.


    Servant: "Welcome young master, your parents await you inside"


    Ichiro: "M-My parents are here?"


    Servant: "Yes young master, also your two sisters too"


    Ichiro: "You got to kidding me"


    ???: "Big bro Ichiro, there you are"


    A female childvoice says from inside the building,


    Ichiro: "H-Hello Yuna"


    A young girl with long black hair bound to the top, with Kagetsu flowers tied to it, wearing a pink Kimono with Kagetsu flowers engraved in it, walks out the hall, having a lollipop in her mouth, revealing herself,


    Yuna: "You were gone quite a while big bro, mom didn''t want to tell me why you were gone but after threaten Tadashi with eternal suffering, he told me what you did"


    Ichiro: "Poor Tadashi, from a war-hero to the bodyguard of the chaos-twins"


    Yuna: "Don''t let Rina hear what you said, or she will cry again"


    A girl, nearly looking exactly like Yuna reveals herself, wearing the exact same dress and having the exact same hairstyle, also having a lollipop.


    Rina: "B-Big bro, where have you been?"


    She says pouting,


    Ichiro: "I-I had to help decorate the city hall, R-Rina, so please don''t cry"


    Rina: "Y-Yuna is B-Big bro saying the truth?"


    Yuna: "Yes Rina, Ichiro really had to help decorate"


    Rina: "T-Then I will forgive you big bro"


    Ichiro: "If you two are here outside, this means Tadashi is also here"


    Tadashi Taketa, a further relative of Ichiro, now an older man, once and still is adored as a war hero in the Taketa clan. Still possesing great strengh he now works as Yuna''s and Rina''s bodyguard.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Tadashi: "Young master, it has been long, I hope you kept training"


    Tadashi, a silvery gray, cut short but not styled, giving him a natural yet disciplined


    appearance. A neatly trimmed beard, streaked with white that frames his strong


    jawline. His piercing eyes are dark, sharp and calculating, those that can see thorugh lies and into the hearts of those he faces.


    Despite his old age, Tadashi''s physique is still imposing. Broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, muscular arms and hands bearing scars from countless battles, his body remains powerful, a testament to years of rigorous training and discipline.


    Wearing a dark-grey Hakama, he approaches Ichiro,


    Ichiro: "How could I have forgotten to train, knowing you would have punished me if I would, master"


    Ichiro laughs together with Tadashi,


    Tadashi: "I heard what you did young master, you really had the elders sweating"


    Ichiro: "Talking like you weren''t once one of them. Wish I could have seen their faces, they think they are important because of


    their high positions in the council"


    Tadashi: "Don''t bother, as long young master Akihiko is the shogun, they will always be on the edge of their seats"


    Both start laughing again,


    Rina: "Y-Yuna, I want to laugh too but I can''t understand the joke"


    Yuna: "Rina, your brain is too small to comprehend the jokes of an adult"


    Rina: "O-Okay Y-Yuna, If you say so"


    Tadashi picks up both of them, carrying them on each of his shoulders, both start giggling,


    Tadashi: "You should go in and talk with your father, he will be happy to see you after all this time"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, but first I will have to bear moms scolding"


    ...


    Emilia: "Henry, have you seen the clothes the servants brought us for the wedding?"


    Emilia shouts from a dressing room into the distance, getting dressed-up by three servants,


    Henry: "Yeah I have seen them, how did we get them?"


    Henry answers from the distance, also getting dressed by three servants,


    Emilia: "They gave us them as a present since we kind of protected the city"


    Henry: "Cool, but why do we have to wear them and not our regular clothes?"


    Emilia: "Because we are going to a wedding, idiot"


    Emilia walks out in a pink Houmongi with blue patterns and her hair tied to the back,


    Henry walks out in a blue Kimono,


    Emilia: "Don''t I look good?"


    Emilia smiles, posing in front of a mirror, Henry makes a saddened face while looking at himself,


    Henry: "I want my clothes"


    Emilia: "Shut up Henry, wait for after the wedding".


    ...


    Lenny: "Big bro, we should head for the city hall now"


    Lenny wears a blue Kimono, the same as Henry but in his size,


    Jack: "Yeah wait, we still have time"


    Jack also wears the same Kimono in his size, both of them are outside in the city, walking around,


    Jack: "Everyone in the city walks around in Kimonos all of a sudden, even those who


    have no roots to the Kagetsu Kingdom"


    Lenny: "Yeah i think It''s tradition here to wear them on the day of an important event"


    Jack: "I know, I still find it funny"


    Lenny: "Anyways, we should head to the city hall now"


    Jack: "If you know the way, sure"


    Lenny: "You don''t?"


    Jack: "Why do you think we are walking around?"


    Lenny: "We are so lost"


    ...


    After a while, the wedding has ended. It was a beautiful event, filled joy and tears, with traditions of both the Mitsunaga family and Bastante family, now having strengthened their relationship with the wedding.


    Henry is outside, looking at dark night-sky, filled with bright shining stars, feeling the cool breeze, touching his face.


    He moves his head down, now starring at Ichiro who is in the distance, talking to his mother, an middle-aged beautiful Kagetsu woman, wearing a pink Kimono with white Kagetsu flowers engraved in it, having her hair tied with golden accessories, hugging Ichiro and saying something to him.


    After a while, Ichiro walks to Henry, relieved from his mothers scolding.


    Henry: "How was it?"


    Ichiro: "Worse then I expected, by the way, I see so all four of us had the partner-look Kimono"


    Henry: "This wasn''t your idea?"


    Ichiro: "No, Mrs. Mitsunaga organized them including the whole wedding, I had nothing to do with our clothes"


    Henry: "We should all thank her for all she did for us"


    Ichiro: "Don''t thank her too early, she still wants to talk to you"


    Henry: "TO ME? WHY?"

 Offer

    Ichiro: "Calm down, she wants to talk to all of us"


    Henry: "When?"


    Ichiro: "Now so let us get the others"


    ...


    Gathered together, the group still in their wedding clothes, are meeting Mrs. Mitsunaga in a completely empty dining room in the city hall.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga sits at a big, round table with at least 5 bodyguards behind her, eating her food, dressed in a black and gold Kimonlo, wearing golden accessories all around her clothes. Even though she is a beautiful and calm woman, the power and authority she possesses is written all over her.


    She cleans her mouth with a napkin,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Don''t be shy, sit down please"


    The group nervously sits down, each on a chair next the other.


    Ichiro: "So aunty, what is it you wanted to talk with us"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "First, I want to thank you all for protecting the city and attending my lovely daughters wedding"


    Emilia: "It has been an honor Mrs. Mitsunaga, we also want to thank you for your hospitality and gifts"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh it was nothing, really, this is the least I could do. My nephew told me about your ship that had been destroyed in battle"


    Emilia: "Yes, it was our place to stay until recently"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "And since it had happened in Eryndor, a city under administration of one of my daughters, I feel responsible for it so I want all of you to life on the Mitsunaga residency until we find a solution for your problem"


    Everyone is shocked by that sudden offer of Mrs. Mitsunaga, the table gets quiet,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "So? What do you think, this is really the least I could do"


    The group looks at Emilia, waiting for her responds,


    Ichiro: "Aunty, are you sure? This isn''t something you can be offering to strangers"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh please Ichiro, you are surely not a stranger and they are all your friends, right? On top of that, they are heroes that protected the city"


    Ichiro gets silent, suspiciously looking at Mrs. Mitsunaga and her smile.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Emilia: "I-I think we have to think about your kind offer, Mrs. Mitsunaga"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Please, take your time"


    Emilia: "Thank you Mrs. Mitsunaga-..."


    Emilia wantesd to stand up, but is being hold down by Ichiro, making a serious face and looking at Emilia, as if she is about to do something stupid,


    Emilia: "What''s the matter? She gave us time to think"


    She whispers to Ichiro,


    Ichiro: "She is one of the most powerful women in the world, she wants you to think now, if you had left who knows what would had happened"


    Ichiro whispers back. Emilia looks at Ichiro, then carefully looks at Mrs. Mitsunaga who hadn''t stopped smiling since she gave Emilia time to think, slowly making her smile look creepy.


    Emilia: "I think we will kindly accept your offer, Mrs. Mitsunaga"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Perfect, we will leave tomorrow morning, get ready then, we will


    meet at the harbor to cross the Tsukikawa river"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga stands up and walks out of the room followed by her five bodyguards.


    Emilia: "What was that?"


    Ichiro: "Aunty always been like that, she has ulterior motives by inviting us to the residency so please everyone, be careful"


    Jack: "I have noticed that too, something is feeling off"


    Lenny: "Is she really your aunt, Ichiro?"


    Ichiro: "The oldest of three siblings of the Taketa head family, Ritsuko Mitsunaga. It


    is said that she is the scariest of the three siblings and since she became the Mitsunaga head, her respect and authority drastically increased. Some say that bad things will happen to you if you reject an offer from her"


    It gets quiet again, the room is filled with tense air,


    Henry: "OKAYYYY"


    Henry shouts into the room, losing the tense air,


    Henry: "Mitsunaga residency, here we come"


    ...


    The group head to their new hotel. A luxurious hotel located on the hills near the


    border of Eryndor. The Mitsunaga family took the bill for their rooms, one of many gifts they gave the group.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga walks into her gigantic room inside the luxury hotel, undressing herself and heading to the bathroom, entering the bathtub to clean her slim and beautiful body.


    After that she wears her night clothes, started praying before sitting on a chair at her terrace, drinking a tea and viewing the city from up.


    On the table is a framed wedding picture of her and her husband.


    ???: "Quite a hostility you are showing, Ritsuko"


    A voice says from the background of the terrace.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "For a moment I though you where my dead husband, but it is only you, Takeshi"


    Takeshi Taketa, Ichiro''s father and the head of the Taketa clan. He has long hair, bound to the back of his head and with a freshly shaved face and a scar on his right cheek. He looks like an older Ichiro.


    Takeshi: "Why are you showing my son and his friends such hospitality"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "How did you even got on the terrace"


    Takeshi: "By climbing up the wall"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Am I not allowed to show my dear nephew and his friends some hospitality? After all they protected Eryndor."


    Takeshi: "I know you better, you seen something in that boy, right?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga''s face turns serious all of a sudden,


    Takeshi: "It''s his Awakening right? You never felt something like that, this power"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "As the woman I am, I have seen many Awakenings over the years even


    if it''s the same Awakening with a different user, but I never felt an Awakening like this"


    Takeshi: "So you bring him to your residency to keep an eye on him for a while?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Is it bad? I am a curious woman, after all my curiosity is what made me who I am"


    Takeshi: "I am not judging; I also am curious of what will happen"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "So you did not come to judge me?"


    Takeshi: "No, I have nothing against your plan, I am here to see my older sister"


    Takeshi sits down on a seat on the opposide site from Mrs. Mitsunaga,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Next time knock, alright?Also show more respect, I am sixteen years


    older than you"


    Takeshi: "You sound like mother"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "She was a wise woman, just like I am"

 Voyage

    Eryndor harbor, much of the destruction still remains but it still is filled with crowds and boats.


    Of all the boats and ships that are there, a big ship stands out the most, being loaded with various goods and products, the Mitsunaga crest is engraved on its side and its flags.


    The crest has a special design: at its center, a golden stylized sun radiates three distinct rays. Surrounding the sun is a cherry blossom branch in soft pink and white.


    Henry: "Woah, and with that we will cross the...eh"


    Jack: "Tsukikawa river"


    Henry: "Awesome"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, right?"


    Lenny: "Ichiro, what are the things that are loaded inside the ship?"


    Ichiro: "Eh, I think those are...-"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Goods that we don''t have in the Kagetsu Kingdom, like various spices"


    She says, interrupting Ichiro. Mrs. Mitsunaga had just arrived, followed by her five bodyguards and servants who are carrying countless bags on the ship.


    Henry: "Mrs. Mitsunaga!"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Good to see that you are on time"


    Emilia: "Yeah, except that all of them had a hard time waking up"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I know that from my brothers"


    Emilia and Mrs. Mitsunaga start laughing together, leaving all the boys confused.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Alright let us get on the ship before It leaves without us"


    She says before getting on to the ship with the group.


    The giant ship makes a loud sound, announcing its departure.


    All the people and children on the harbor are waving the ship good-bye, wishing it a safe journey.


    ...


    Henry runs to the side of the ship to puking.


    Ichiro also goes to the side, viewing the sigh of the gigantic Tsukikawa river, Emilia lies on a lounger, relaxing on it while Lenny and Jack are spending their time inside.


    Henry: "You finally are going back to Kagetsu Kingdom"


    He says to Ichiro after puking,


    Ichiro: "Yeah, but not home, my first stop in my adventure is the Mitsunaga residency"


    Henry: "Have you ever been there before?"Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Ichiro: "Only once. Its gigantic, much larger than the Taketa residency"


    Henry: "Woah"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, but Im worried"


    Henry: "About Mrs. Mitsunaga?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, but also what''s on the residency"


    Henry: "What''s on the residency?"


    Ichiro: "A monster in form of a man"


    Henry looks confused,


    Henry: "What? A monster in form of a man, is that supposed to be a riddle?"


    Ichiro: "Arashi Mitsunaga, the leader of the Mitsunaga private army. His strengh is nearly unmatched and his thirst for blood resembles that of a wild animal. Do not try to mess with him or even try to get his attention, alright?"


    Henry: "Is he this scary?"


    Ichiro completely turns to Henry, unknowingly getting lowder,


    Ichiro: "Did you not listen? He can''t be considered human, this man is crazy, he will kill you if he wants to and no one can stop him because of his strengh and his high authority inside of the Mitsunaga clan"


    Henry: "Alright, alright, I got it, I will not try pick a fight with Mitsunaga...eh..."


    Ichiro: "Arashi Mitsunaga"


    Henry: "Arashi Mitsunaga"


    Henry smiles at Ichiro, raising his thumb. Ichiro shakes his head in disbelieve, hitting his forehead with his hand.


    Ichiro: "Something will go wrong; I can feel it"


    He says to himself.


    ...


    Lenny: "Ywou gwotta twaste twat bwig bwo"


    Lenny says with a full mouth. Sitting opposing to Jack in the diner, Lenny takes his opportunity to taste as much of the free food as he can.


    Normally, the food and drinks would have cost money but everyone in the group received a free-food and drinks ticket from Mrs. Mitsunaga, one of the many gifts they received from her.


    Jack: "Don''t fill your mouth too much Lenny, you''ll choke and don''t speak with a full mouth"


    Lenny takes a big gulp, emptying his mouth,


    Lenny: "Sorry big bro, but I never had free food. Matter of fact, I never went to another country, do you think it will be different than the Empire? It must be, Eryondor had been completely different so the Kingdom will be different too"


    Jack: "Calm down Lenny, we will see"


    He says in his cool-guy tone,


    Lenny: "Oh come on, don''t act like you aren''t excited"


    Jack: "Im not, Im worried of what will await us"


    Lenny: "You still don''t trust Mrs. Mitsunaga after all her gifts?"


    Jack: "Exactly, because of all her gifts I only get more suspicious of her"


    ...


    Emilia lies on the lounger, relaxing and thinking when suddenly someone approaches her,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Making yourself comfy, I see"


    Emilia startles, falling of the lounger,


    Emilia: "Mrs. Mitsunaga? I didn''t expect you to come here?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Why? It''s the VIP area and on top of that, I own this ship"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga laughs,


    Everyone in the group received acces to all the VIP areas on the ship, another of many gifts of Mrs. Mitsunaga.


    Emilia: "I have to thank you, the VIP area is really a blessing"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Really? No problem, I enjoy it too much though"


    Emilia: "How can someone enjoy a VIP area too much"


    Emilia says jokingly,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "When you had been living VIP for the past 51 years like me, then you will also loose the excitement of a VIP area"


    Emilia: "Sorry but did you say 51 years? You look way younger than that and I mean it"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Wow, thank you very much Emilia, you really are the mature one of your group"


    Emilia: "I mean, I am the oldest so It''s only natural"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh I know how it is to be the oldest"


    Emilia and Mrs. Mitsunaga start laughing together.


    ...


    The short voyage ends, the ship arrives at the other side of Tsukikawa river, Mitsunaga province inside of the Kagetsu Kingdom.


    Tsukikawa harbor, a gigantic harbor filled with gigantic ships, all with the Mitsunaga emblen engraved in it. Buildings similar build to those of Eryndor, but the size of the buildings are way larger and not comparable to those in Eryndor.


    The distance view of the Tsukikawa harbor leaves its visitor gasp in awe.


    The group leaves the ship. At the harbor, there awaits three carriages, operated by fuel motors. One for Mrs. Mitsunaga and her bodyguards, one for the group and one for the servants.


    After a while, they leave Tsukikawa harbor and drive towards the hills. Located in the hills between Tsukikawa harbor and a town called Tsukihana is the Mitsunaga residency,


    a gigantic residence which hostels over hundreds of people: servants, private soldiers and Mitsunaga family members.


    The carriages pass the gigantic gate, entering the residency. Everywhere are buildings, build out of wood after traditionally construction instructions. Engraved everywhere on the residency is the Mitsunaga emblem.


    Arriving at the front yard, the group leave their carriages.


    A muscular man with pretty long, messy hair and a sheathed katana in his hand approaches from the top of the roof of one of the buildings, watching down at them, checking who had arrived.


    ???: "So, we got visitors"


    The man says, with a rough voice.

 Arriving

    Henry: "So this is Mitsunaga residency"


    Henry is amazed by the gigantic residency in front of him.


    Ichiro: "This whole area is Mitsunaga property with residency''s all over the place.


    The gigantic one in front of you is the residency of the main family, we will probably live in a separate residency near this one"


    Lenny: "Still, this is amazing"


    A servant that had awaited them, walks to their direction,


    He is an elderly man with short grey hair, with a grey mustache covering his mouth, he wears a black servant uniform with the Mitsunaga emblem engraved on its back side.


    ???: "Hello visitors, I am Soshi, the chef-servant of the Mitsunaga''s. I am supervising every servant that works for the Mitsunaga family but for now I will be your personal contact person"


    Emilia walks out of the carriage,


    Emilia: "Hello Soshi, then please show us where we will sleep"


    Soshi: "Very well, master Emilia"


    Emilia looks surprised, Soshi should not be able to know Emilia''s name since no one has mentioned her by now.


    Soshi: "I am aware that you are surprised by the fact that I know your name, don''t worry. Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama has told me your names so that our introduction won''t take much time"


    Lenny: "All right then let''s go Soshi"


    Soshi: "As you wish, master Lenny"


    Jack stays behind for a second, looking up to one of the buildings around them,


    Jack: "What was that?"


    He asks himself after briefly feeling a strong aura from up there.


    ...


    Mrs. Mitsunaga sits on her couch in her gigantic living room, drinking tea,


    Soshi enters the room, bowing to Mrs. Mitsunaga,


    Soshi: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, I have completed your assignement"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh come now Soshi, raise your body before your back breaks in and drink a tea with me"


    Soshi: "I am really sorry Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, as I hate to reject an offer from you, I cannot sit next to you and act like an equal"


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "If it''s because of your crime you had committed to the Mitsunaga family nearly 50 years ago, it had been forgiven"


    Soshi: "Even then, I bear great dishonor, remembering it leaves me in shame, questioning why I have been pardoned for my past actions even though I am not a Mitsunaga"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Yes I know the story. Since then you have been Mitsunagas most loyal servant, my husband told me all about it, but don''t forget, I am also not a Mitsunaga by blood"


    ...


    Everyone got their own room in the giant residency they are living in; all are connected by one hallway.


    Emilia heads out of her room to check out not only the residency but the whole property.


    She wears her sunglasses to hide her face a little.


    She then walks out of the residency, following the stone way with a roof over it, connecting the residencies with each other.


    She notices that she only had seen servants but not a single member of the Mitsunaga family.


    ???: "Hello?"


    Someone says behind. Emilia turns around, seeing a short woman, around 18-19 years, in a simple white and pink Kimono with the Mitsunaga emblem on its back side.


    Emilia: "Hello, something wrong?"


    ???: "Oh no, nothing is wrong, you are the visitor Mrs. Mitsunaga has told us about, I''m Hinata Mitsunaga"


    Emilia: "A Mitsunaga?"


    Hinata: "Yes, but I''m not part of the main family"


    Emilia: "Main family?"


    Hinata: "It is complicated, why not talk in the spa?"


    Emilia: "You have a spa?"


    Hinata: "Follow me, you will love it"


    ...


    Jack wakes up from his nap, he was really tired this morning that''s why it was difficult for him to get up in the first place.


    He originally was against Lenny having a own room but after having a discussion he left it be.


    He opens his door to leave his room, nocking on Lenny''s door, not getting a response.


    ???: "Already up?"


    A voice says, it''s Henry who just had left his room as well.


    Jack: "Yeah, you slept pretty good I guess"


    He says, laughing a little about Henrys look; his hair is messy and his eyes are still nearly closed.


    Henry: "You want to check out the residency with me?"


    Jack: "Why don''t you go with Ichiro"


    Henry: "Oh come on, Ichiro is probably still sleeping, and you have nothing to do"


    Jack sighs loudly,


    Jack: "Alright, alright, I will come with you"


    Jack follows Henry to check out the residency.


    ...


    Lenny had waited for Jack to leave,


    Lenny: "Okay now is my chance"


    Lenny leaves his room and knocks at Ichiro''s door,


    Ichiro opens it, looking completely sleepy; his hair untied and hanging down and his face is completely pale.


    Ichiro: "What''s up"


    Lenny: "Ichiro I have a request"


    Ichiro: "Alright what''s the matter"


    He responds with a raspy voice,


    Lenny: "Please train me, I want to be stronger"


    ...


    The Mitsunaga property is surrounded by a big wall, near the gate to enter the property is a building, smaller than the residencies but big enough to host over dozens of people.


    This building is used as a hostel for the private security of the property and since it''s near the gate, they also function as some kind of gate watch.


    A guy, with bandages covering his head and piercings all over his face with half of it being covered in burn scars stands in front of the gate,


    Balte: "Alright, inside the residency they are"


    He says, before turning his body into mud, passing trough the thin gap between the gate and the ground.


    He turns back into his normal form after passing the gate.


    Balte: "Easy, now let me find these fuckers and get my revenge for what they did to me"


    He says, making his bizarre smirking face.


    Another person walks into his direction from the distance, a man with long black and messy hair, only wearing a grey baggy trouser and a sheathed katana.


    His face and his body are overly masculine, and he has a scar across his face.


    Balte: "I guess I have to pass through you first"


    ???: "So many visitors in one day"


    He responds in a rough voice,


    Balte: "From your appearance I am sure that you are Arashi Mitsunaga"


    Arashi smiles widely, showing his teeth. His eyes widen while he chuckles.


    Arashi: "You better don''t make it one-sided"

 Prodigies and Monsters

    Emilia: "So, the main family are the heads of the Mitsunaga family"


    She says, walking out of the spa in a white bathrobe with the Mitsunaga emblem engraved on its back,


    Hinata: "Yes exactly"


    Hinata also walks out in a similar bathrobe,


    Emilia: "Sounds more like a clan than a family"


    Hinata: "The Mitsunaga family were once considered a clan, but because many of them


    died in the war, only two branches were left"


    Emilia: "Mrs. Mitsunaga''s husbands family line and your family line"


    Hinata: "You understood, good job"


    They both laugh together,


    Emilia: "So, what are we going to do now"


    Hinata: "Let us grab something to drink and rest on a lounger"


    Emilia: "You know, I really start to like you Hinata"


    ...


    Ichiro: "Your first lesson will be theory"


    Lenny and Ichiro are outside. Lenny wanted to get stronger so he asked Ichiro if he could train him.


    Lenny: "I know what soul-energy is"


    Ichiro: "Okay good, make an aura then"


    Lenny: "That''s why I asked you for help"


    Ichiro shakes his head. He wrappes his hand in a yellow aura,


    Ichiro: "This is soul-aura, if you can''t do this, we don''t need to start your training"


    Lenny: "I can''t, teach me how to do this"


    Ichiro: "Close your eyes"


    Lenny closes his eyes, waiting for the next step,


    Ichiro: "Try to feel the energy inside of you, it should feel warm"


    Lenny focuses, feeling a warm energy from his core


    Lenny: "I-I can feel it"


    Ichiro: "Now try to pull it out"


    Lenny stays focused, trying to pull out the warm energy from his core,


    Lenny grunts, even starting to sweat, before loosing focus,


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    Lenny: "Shit! I was so close"


    Ichiro: "Every beginning is hard, keep up the work"


    Lenny: "Let me try again"


    Ichiro: "No, you will do 100 push-ups as a penalty"


    Lenny is shocked


    Lenny: "WHAT? 100 PUSHUPS?"


    Ichiro: "You want to get stronger or not?"


    Lenny thinks. He made up his mind, falling to the ground and starting doing his penalty push-ups.


    ...


    Henry: "So they have a training area, cool"


    Henry and Jack are in a room full of wooden training dolls, wooden weapons and a


    sparring ring.


    Jack: "I thought Mrs. Mitsunaga has only daughters, who trains here?"


    Henry: "Maybe that monster in form of a human"


    Jack: "Who?"


    Henry: "Some guy that Ichiro warned me about, he is a Mitsunaga and pretty strong"


    Jack: "But Mrs. Mitsunaga has only daughters"


    Henry: "Maybe a distant relative? Who knows"


    Jack: "When we first came here to the residence, I felt someone watching us from the distance, could be him"


    Henry: "You felt?"


    Jack: "Yeah?"


    Henry: "How can you feel someone"


    Jack: "Wait, you are telling me you never learned aura-control?"


    Henry: "What is that?"


    Jack looks at Henry in disbelieve,


    Jack: "Wow, to think that you happened to beat someone, alright doesn''t matter, can you make an aura?"


    Henry: "I thought my blue energy that I wrap around my fist is aura"


    Jack: "No, you should be able to look through it if it were aura, but your fist completely shines blue when you wrap it with that energy"


    Henry: "Mind showing me?"


    Jack nods, stretching out his hand and wrapping it with a purple aura,


    Jack: "My aura is purple because of my beast; normaly, soul-aura is yellow"


    Henry: "So mine color would be?"


    Jack: "Probably blue, every beast and awakening has a different aura, this comes from their aura color and since your energy is blue, your awakening color probably is blue too"


    Henry: "Alright, let me try"


    Henry closes his eyes, before wrapping his hand with a blue, see through aura,


    Jack: "Not bad for a first timer"


    ...


    Lenny: "98...99....100"


    Lenny finishes his pushups. Completely out of breath he looks at Ichiro who fell asleep next to a tree.


    Lenny: "ICHIRO"


    He shouts, waking up Ichiro,


    Ichiro: "W-What? Are you finished?"


    Lenny: "Yeah, what now"


    Ichiro: "Now try again?"


    Lenny closes his eyes, focusing and feeling the warm essence in his core.


    Lenny tries to pull it out, but he looses focus again.


    Lenny: "S-Shit, I can''t do it"


    Ichiro looks at Lenny with a surprised expression,


    Lenny: "Whats the matter"


    Ichiro: "Look at your body"


    Lenny looks down, seeing a yellow see-through aura, surrounding his whole body,


    Lenny: "Whoa, this is so cool"


    Ichiro: "I have never seen someone doing a full-body aura before learning to wrap only


    one body part"


    Lenny: "You say that Im a prodigy?"


    Ichiro: "Yes I think you can say it like that"


    Lenny: "How do I wrap it around my hand?"


    Ichiro: "Try compress the aura and focus it on your hands"


    Lenny listens to Ichiro, compressing his aura to only wrap it around his hand.


    Ichiro: "Congrats, you made your first step to learn aura-control"


    ...


    Balte: "I''m not here because of the bounty, only to get my revenge"


    Arashi: "Don''t care, I am bored so entertain me a little"


    He says, pulling out his katana from its sheet before throwing his sheet away,


    Balte looks at him, smirking. Suddenly Arashi who was before him is gone,


    Balte: "Oh shit"


    He says, before turning his arm into a mud shield to block Arashi''s strike after he appears right in front of him,


    Balte jumps back, exhaustingly he looks around, searching for Arashi who had dissapeared again, not noticing his cut of arm.


    Balte screams in pain,


    Balte: "H-How, I should have blocked it with my mud shield, did he cut through it? How strong is that monster"


    He says to himself, holding his wound while walking backwards before bumping into Arashi.


    Balte turns around, scared to death by the giant, masculine figure looking at him with a disgusted face.


    Arashi: "You are nothing more than an ant, disgusting"


    Balte falls to his knees, sweating and shouting in fear,


    Balte: "P-Please let me leave, I will never step a foot to the residency ever again"


    Blood splashes to the ground, Balte then looks down, revealing a cut on his body before falling to the ground.


    Arashi: "Pathetic, couldn''t even entertain me a little, but maybe one of the other visitors can"


    He says, chuckling while making a big smile, revealing his teeth.

 Thoughts and Memories

    Lenny lies in his room, exhausted from the training he done with Ichiro.


    He then stretches his hand to the air and wraps it with aura, smiling of his new learned technique,


    Lenny: "I have to get stronger"


    He says to himself, giving his best so that Jack doesn''t have to protect him anymore.


    Someone knocks on Lennys door,


    Jack: "Lenny? You there?"


    Lenny: "Y-Yes big bro, come in"


    He replies, looking at Jack while he enters his room.


    Jack: "I haven''t seen you the whole day"


    Lenny: "Y-Yeah I have been...eh been outside"


    Jack: "Outside? What''s so cool outside?"


    Lenny: "You tell me, you have been outside too"


    Jack: "Yeah, Henry and I explored the residency and found a training room"


    Lenny: "A training room?"


    Jack: "Yeah its pretty big and it seems that someone trains there all the time"


    Lenny: "But I thought that the Mitsunaga''s only have daughters"


    Jack: "Apparently there might be a distant relative who lives here so who knows"


    Lenny: "Alright, good to know"


    Lenny''s stomach growls loudly,


    Jack: "You hungry?"


    Lenny: "Yeah"


    Jack: "Alright then let us get something to eat"


    ...


    Henry is outside, still exploring the residency when he suddenly hears a familiar sound,


    He opens a door to get outside, seeing Emilia and another girl near a pool, drinking


    cocktails and laughing together,


    Henry: "Emilia?"


    Emilia stops laughing, turning her head to Henry, feeling like if she got caught doing something she shouldn''t be doing,


    Emilia: "Henry! How are you doing"


    Henry: "Who is that girl"


    Emilia: "Oh this? This is Hinata. Hinata this Is my little brother Henry"


    Hinata smiles at Henry,


    Hinata: "Hey Henry, nice to meet you. Your older sister is so nice, she told me everything about you"


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    She says while chuckling,


    Henry gets nervous,


    Henry: "W-Where can I get something to drink?"


    He says while nervously smiling,


    ...


    Ichiro walks around outside as well, simply minding his own business.


    After a while, he delves into his thoughts,


    Tadashi: "1000 penalty push-ups"


    Ichiro: "Why?"


    Tadashi: "Your form was bad, and you used aura to cut down the tree when I strictly said you should not use it"


    Ichiro: "B-But it is impossible to cut a tree with only a stick"


    Tadashi shakes his head, deeply disappointed in the young Ichiro.


    He picks up a stick from the ground and strikes it at one of the many trees in the


    forest they are in, cutting it in the middle.


    Ichiro: "WHOA, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"


    Tadashi: "By having good body control and strengthening your core, you will awake your true potential"


    Ichiro: "That was so cool, I want to learn that too"


    Tadashi laughs, patting Ichiro on his head,


    Tadashi: "Then start by doing 1000 push-ups and after that you do your 1000 penalty push-ups"


    Ichiro: "WHAAATTTT???"


    Ichiro smiles, thinking about his past,


    Ichiro: "Master Tadashi, even thought I am a troublemaker, you always gave your best to


    train me"


    Ichiro sees a tree, he then picks up a stick near the tree and strikes it with the stick,


    cutting it in the middle.


    Ichiro: "Still got it"


    He says before laughing,


    Arashi: "So you are not a complete weakling, good"


    Ichiro turns around, questioning who said that,


    Ichiro: "Who are you?...I know who you are"


    Arashi: "Im just a hunter, looking for his prey"


    ...


    Jack and Lenny are sitting in a cantina, looking at the menu,


    Lenny: "Where are we?"


    Jack: "Apparently, this is the canteen for the servants, but guests are also allowed to eat here, or that''s what one of the servants told me"


    Lenny: "What''s Udon"


    Jack: "I think noodles"


    Lenny: "Let me have one"


    Jack: "They also have Yakitori here"


    Lenny: "I already had It in Eryndor, let me try something new"


    Jack: "I will stick with the Yakitori"


    Jack stands up, looking at the table number before walking up to the counter,


    Jack: "One portion of Udon and one portion of Yakitori"


    Servant: "[hai]"


    Jack: "Something feels off with Lenny; his aura feels different, did he train?"


    He says to himself, waiting at the counter,


    Servant: "Oden and Yakitori"


    She says, giving Jack a tray with a plate of Yakitori and a bowl with Udon,


    Jack: "Here is our food"


    Lenny: "Thanks big bro"


    Jack looks at Lenny as if something is wrong,


    Lenny: "Is something wrong big bro?"


    Jack: "You trained your aura, right?"


    Lenny makes a shocked expression,


    Lenny: "How did you find out?"


    Jack: "Where did you learned it?"


    Lenny: "Since you would never train me, I went to Ichiro"


    Jack: "Ichiro? Really?"


    Lenny: "Yeah, he trained me, and I will continue to train and there is nothing you can do against it"


    Jack: "You bring yourself into danger Lenny"


    Lenny: "I am always in danger and because I never trained, I can''t help you or even protect myself"


    Jack: "You don''t have to, that''s why i am here"


    Lenny: "I have to"


    Lenny stands up angry, leaving his Udon unfinished,


    Jack: "Lenny"


    Lenny: "Leave me alone"


    Lenny leaves the cantina, leaving a saddened Jack.


    ...


    Lenny: "I can''t believe this, he never wanted to train me and now when I started training, he gets mad at me"


    Jack: "Lenny? Where are you, I can sense your aura"


    He shouts from the distance,


    Lenny: "Oh come on, of course he can"


    Lenny stands up and runs away, stumbling over a step, falling of the way and falling


    into a pit that hid between the grass next to the way.


    The pit is not deep, Lenny could easily get out of it, but he doesn''t.


    He notices a small gap that lets him look into a dark room,


    Lenny: "Hello?"


    He calls into the gap


    ???: "Is someone here?"


    A mysterious and bizarre voice calls back,


    Lenny: "IS SOMEONE THERE? HELLO WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE THERE?"


    Lenny shouts into the gap, worried.


    ???: "I am trapped, the Mitsunaga''s have captured and hold me here for a long time"


    Lenny: "DO YOU NEED HELP?"


    ???: "Please, free me"


    The voice says,


    Lenny: "OKAY, DON''T WORRY, I WILL GET YOU OUT SOON, WAIT UNTIL"


    ???: "Okay, what is your name?"


    Lenny: "I am Lenny, and you?"


    ???: "Kaelvyn"


    Lenny: "Okay Kelvin, hang on for me, alright?"


    Lenny gets out of the pit, running back to the way,


    Kaelvyn: "I will wait, Lenny..."

 Prey

    Jack sees Lenny running past him, he then grabs his arm,


    Jack: "Lenny wait"


    Lenny: "I don''t have time to talk, I have to help Kelvin"


    Jack: "Kelvin? Who is that?"


    Lenny: "Someone that has been imprisoned by the Mitsunaga''s. You were right, they are


    hiding some shady secrets."


    Jack: "Don''t you think that if he''s imprisoned that there is a reason for it?"


    Lenny: "See? I knew you wouldn''t understand it so let me go"


    He says, violently pulling his arm away from Jacks grip before running away,


    Jack: "What is wrong with him? Since we got here, he became weird, and on top of that


    I can''t sense any aura from that Kelvin guy"


    ...


    Henry sits together with Emilia and Hinata outside, drinking cocktails,


    Henry: "Wow this is pretty good, what is that?"


    Emilia: "This is a cocktail; you shouldn''t be drinking too much of them"


    Henry: "Why? I am 15"


    Hinata laughs,


    Hinata: "It''s not a problem; those are without any alcohol"


    Henry gets nervous again,


    Henry: "I-I drank some alcohol in the past you know?"


    Emilia: "Really? When, because while I was home you never even graced anything with alcohol"


    Henry: "But when you left"


    Emilia: "Oh come on, you think mom would let you drink alcohol?"


    Henry looks down embarrassed,


    Emilia: "Come, have another of your non-alcohol cocktails Henry"


    She says while laughing.


    ...


    Ichiro: "Arashi Mitsunaga, I remember you"Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Arashi: "That aura, you''re that little Taketa fucker"


    Arashi brightly smiles,


    Arashi: "This will be fun"


    Ichiro: "What, you want to fight me here?"


    Arashi: "You think an antelope can decide were a lion pursues it?"


    Ichiro: "From what I remember, you always wanted to be a Samurai with honor"


    Arashi: "What, you want to dig up old memories?"


    Ichiro: "Come on man, let us at least decide on a place and time to fight, has your mother never told you to never fight on another woman''s garden?"


    Arashi suddenly snaps, pulling out his katana in high speed, releasing a strong wind and a slash,


    Ichiro nearly dodges it, letting a path of destruction arise behind him,


    Ichiro: "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"


    He shouts.


    Arashi jumps into Ichiro''s direction, attacking him with his katana.


    Ichiro quickly grabs a stick, wrapping it with aura to block his attack.


    Arashi''s katana cuts through the stick, cutting up Ichiro''s upper body.


    Ichiro screams before jumping to the back but Arashi already catched up, attacking him


    again with another slash.


    Ichiro dodges it, using his hand to push Arashi''s sword away from his hand, but Arashi simply does not care, punching Ichiro to the face.


    Ichiro''s nose bleeds. He tries to jump back but Arashi simply grabs his arm, pulling Ichiro


    to him and hitting him with another punch, followed with another punch and another one.


    Arashi smiles in bloodlust, enjoying the splashes of blood that spurts out of Ichiro''s


    face right onto his own face.


    Suddenly, a purple lighting flies at Arashi, hitting him and exploding after sending Arashi flying.


    Jack: "Yo Ichiro, you don''t look so good"


    Jack says in his cool-guy tone, looking at the badly wounded and beaten-up Ichiro that lies on the ground,


    Jack: "Let me safe you so that we are even"


    He says, while looking at the dark and menacing shilouette, emerging  in the distance, walking out of the burning flower field, smiling at Jack,


    Arashi: "I thought I have to look for each of you, but here you are walking straight to me"


    Jack: "I don''t know what your problem is, but you hit someone from my group, so you have


    to pay for that"


    Arashi laughs menacingly, wrapping his fists in aura,


    Arashi: "Show me what you got, my prey"


    ...


    Henry: "I wanted to tell you something cool I found, big sis"


    Emilia: "What Is it?"


    Henry: "So, Jack and I were discovering the residency, when we found a used training room"


    Hinata gasps silently,


    Emilia: "Really? But the Mitsunaga''s only have daughters"


    Henry: "Yes I know, but we could maybe also use it to train, It has so much cool stuff inside"


    Emilia: "You have to show me the room later Henry"


    Hinata looks at them worried,


    Hinata: "You shouldn''t be going into that training room, please"


    Henry: "Why? It''s a simple training room"


    Hinata: "It''s not because of the room itself, its because of who trains inside there"


    Henry: "Who is it? Who trains inside there"


    Hinata gets silent for a second, before looking at them with a saddened expression,


    Hinata: "The chief of the Mitsunaga private army and security, Arashi Mitsunaga. He''s...he is my older brother"


    ...


    Lenny runs around the property, looking for a way to get down when he suddenly bumps into Soshi,


    Soshi: "What is the matter master Lenny?"


    Lenny stares at Soshi with frustration, knowing he is not able to ask anyone for help


    and surely not Soshi who is a loyal servant to the Mitsunaga''s


    Soshi: "Master Lenny, if something is wrong you can tell me"


    Lenny: "It is nothi...you haven''t seen a place that leads under the property? Something


    that has a high worth to me dropped down into a gap and I could hear it hit the ground"


    Soshi looks at Lenny suspiciously, knowing that Lenny is hiding something behind his smile,


    Soshi: "Sure master Lenny, let me show you the stairs down"


    Lenny: "Thank you very much Soshi"


    Soshi leads Lenny to a door in one of the residencies near the gap he met Kaelvyn in,


    Soshi: "I am being called so please don''t take too long"


    Lenny: "No problem I won''t"


    Soshi leaves Lenny alone, running to where he got called too,


    Lenny opens the door in front of him, walking down the stairs that leads to a dark and grey hallway,


    Lenny: "I don''t think that Soshi would have brought me down here if Kelvins cell had been right here, there must be a hidden door or something"


    Lenny walks along the hallway, looking for small gaps or hints of a hidden door inside of the walls,


    Lenny: "This will take a while"

 Honor

    Soshi stops running after meeting a female servant who had called him in the first place,


    Soshi: "What''s the matter"


    Servant: "A fight has started"


    Soshi: "Between who"


    Servant: "Its Arashi and one of our guests"


    Soshi: "QUICK, WHERE"


    Servant: "The flower garden-..."


    Before the servant could end her sentence, Soshi already started running.


    ...


    Arashi rushes at Jack, throwing a punch directly at him, but Jack dodges, punching Arashi to his stomach.


    Arashi looks unbothered, smiling menacingly at Jack while grabbing his arm, twisting and breaking it.


    Jack shouts in pain, shooting out a purple lightning out of his dragon-mouth.


    Arashi quickly dodges it by disappearing and appearing some feet away to the side,


    Jack: "He can use quick-step, this means he has extreme aura-control"


    He says while smoke erupts from his wounded arm, ultimately healing it.


    Arashi uses quick-step again, appearing in front of Jack, clashing with him by getting


    his punch blocked by Jack''s dragon-scales arm.


    Jack grows a blade out of his arm, letting it attached and striking at Arashi, but Arashi punches against it, breaking the blade.


    Arashi then quickly takes the broken blade, stabbing Jack many times into his arm,


    Jack shouts in pain again while turning his other arm into a dragon-arm, slicing up Arashi''s chest.


    Arashi doesn''t back down, stabbing the blade into the dragon-arm and punching Jack with an aura-fist into his face right afterwards, sending him flying.


    Jack hits a wall, flying through it and being completely covered in wounds.


    Unable to move, voices start to talk in his head,


    Dragonhead (3): "Pathetic, weak"


    Dragonhead (1): "Why do you reject us?"


    Dragonhead (3): "Do you think you can win without using us to a full extend?"


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    Jack screams in frustration,


    Jack: "If I use you, am I able to protect everyone?"


    Dragonhead (1 and 3): "Yes"


    Jack: "Say...am I able to protect the ones dear to me?"


    Dragonhead (1 and 3): "Yes"


    Jack: "Why haven''t you said anything yet, leader?"


    Dragonhead (2): "Because I have always told you that you will be able"


    Jack: "THEN PLEASE, GIVE ME POWER"


    He shouts with tears in his eyes,


    Dragonhead (2): "Very well, just like Kael prophesied it"


    Smoke comes out from Jacks body, more then when he normally heals.


    Purple lighting erupts out of his body, destroying everything around him in a small radius.


    His appearance changes, being completely covered in dragon-like scales and horns growing from his head.


    Two big wings grow from his back and his teeth become spiky and sharp, letting him look like a complete monster,


    Arashi glances at the building where countless purple lightings erupts, revealing the shilouette of a monster,


    Arashi smiles again, but different then before, his eyeballs grow gigantic, and his mouth opens.


    He quickly takes his katana and wraps his whole body and sword in aura,


    Arashi: "GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT, PREY"


    Jack flies at an abnormal speed at Arashi, grabbing his face and slamming it into the ground,


    Arashi stabbs Jack with his katana while he lies in the giant crater,


    He kicks Jack, sending him up, but Jack quickly gains balance again, shooting a dousen purple lightning out of his mouth,


    Arashi runs and dodges most of the lighting strikes, jumping at Jack who is in the air,


    Jack easily punches Arashi back to the ground, nosediving into Arashi, leaving another crater.


    Jack stands above Arashi, punching Arashi, making a heavy and loud sounds with each punch.


    Jack then opens his mouth, charging up a purple lightning ball in his mouth, illuminating


    the whole area, letting purple lighting shoot out of the ball into every direction.


    The energy ball continues charging up, now in front of Jacks mouth, making it grow even bigger,


    Arashi laughs maniacally while his whole face is covered in blood,


    Arashi: " IT IS BETTER THAN I HAVE IMAGINED, YOU ARE MY ULTIMATE PREY"


    Right when Jack wants to shoot the energy ball, Arashi grabs his katana, piercing through the energy ball and through Jack''s mouth, letting the energy ball explode, mostly hitting Jack but also burning Arashi.


    The purple light of the explosion illuminates the sky making it visible to the whole Mitsunaga property, also starting an earthquake,


    Henry, Hinata and Emilia look into the direction the light comes from,


    Henry: "Whoa..."


    Emilia: "What is happening..."


    Lenny who is under the property, feels the ground shaking violently,


    Lenny: "AN EARTHQUAKE"


    He shouts, falling against a wall, activating a hidden button in the wall, opening a hidden door.


    Lenny: "Whoah"


    He says, seeing a giant crystal with a neon-green and black substance swimming inside of it,


    Lenny: "What is that?"


    Kaelvyn: "Lenny...it''s me"


    Lenny: "Kelvin?"


    Soshi runs to the direction of the flower garden, stopping after viewing the purple light coming from the gardens direction,


    Soshi: "Oh no...I might be too late"


    He says before running again,


    Arashi, burried in dirt, stands up, looking at his body that is covered in burnmarks,


    Arashi laughs, he laughs like a madman,


    Arashi then sees the unconscious Jack, who is back to his normal self but also looks unharmed,


    Arashi then takes his broken katana, limping to Jack, ready to give him the finishing blow,


    Ichiro: "Wait"


    Ichiro says, completely covered in blood because of Arashi,


    Ichiro: "You want me, right?"


    Arashi: "I don''t want you, you are merely an ant"


    Ichiro: "I can prove to you that I am worthy of being your prey, but let him live"


    Arashi drops the broken katana, looking at Ichiro angered,


    Arashi: "And how do you think you can do that? Taketa boy"


    Ichiro: "Give me a day to rest and then we will have a swordfight, just like samurai''s with honor"


    Arashi chuckles a little before completely bursting out in laughter,


    Arashi: "Honor...In this world honor simply does not exist"


    Ichiro: "I don''t know what happened to you in the past, but I remember when I was little that you wanted to be a samurai with honor, so I know a small part in you does not want to decline my offer"


    Arashi looks at Ichiro in disgust, spitting on the unconscious Jack before walking away,


    Arashi: "You have one day to rest, Taketa boy"


    He says while walking past Ichiro.

 Theories

    Jack: "Where..."


    Jack wakes up, again in his soul-area,


    Dragonhead(3): "Even though we gave you our power, you still managed to lose somehow, weak"


    Jack: "What have you done with me? I wasn''t human, what was that?"


    Dragonhead(2): "All this time, you have been using the powers we gave you, what we did was simply emerging some of our soul with your soul, making you to us"


    Jack: "You mean I was a dragon?"


    Dragonhead(1): "Not a dragon, but a beast."


    Dragonhead(2): "Kael called it the Beast-mode, a form that increases your strength significantly"


    Dragonhead(3): "But unlike Kael, you haven''t been able to control our power, pathetic"


    Jack: "You could have warned me at-least"


    Dragonhead(2): "You were too frustrated and there was no time..."


    Jack: "Still, this beast-mode didn''t help me against him, what even is he"


    Dragonhead(2): "He has inhuman strength and his aura is non-standardly high"


    Jack: "Why? How can he be this strong?"


    Dragonhead(1): "You should have known by now, but you haven''t noticed"


    Jack: "What do you mean?"


    Dragonhead(2): "Just like you, he is a supernatural"


    Jack: "A what?"


    Dragonhead(2): "All living beings have a soul, humans, demi''s, even trees and plants have one, but once in a while, a living being with an enormous high aura-level is born, those are marked by their soul with a simple black mark behind their ear and since they shown great strength and power from a very young age, people like that have been called supernaturals"


    Jack: "That guy and also me are supernaturals?"


    Dragonhead(1): "Not only you, but Henry, Emilia, Ichiro and even Lenny, but you haven''t noticed"


    Jack: "B-but how?"


    Dragonhead(2): "One of Kaels theories is, that people with a high standard level of soul-energy attract each other, basically by fate"A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Jack: " Why have I never heard of any of that?"


    Dragonhead(2): "It was Kael who made those theories and explanation, many of those he shared with others and some he took with into his grave"


    Jack: "So that Kael did something useful after all"


    Dragonhead(3): "Don''t speak so harshly about Kael, pathetic boy"


    Jack: "Oh shut up, just let me wake up already, would you?"


    Dragonhead(2): "Very well, your friends are waiting I am sure about that"


    ...


    Jack wakes up, he feels a little numb, but he gets up and sits in his bed, looking around the room.


    He sees Ichiro who is wrapped in bandages, sleeping in peace.


    Jack: "This must be the Mitsunaga''s hospital room"


    He says before standing up and looking outside the window.


    It''s night, probably around 2 am so everyone is already asleep.


    Jack: "I wonder what happened after the fight"


    Ichiro: "The servant, Soshi, he arrived and carried both of us here, or that''s what they told me since I fainted after Arashi left because from my wounds"


    Jack: "He left? What happened"


    Jack says, turning around to Ichiro who still lies in his bed,


    Ichiro: "He wanted to kill you, so I made him an offer to fight him tomorrow in form of a sword fight"


    Jack: "So I owe you another...wait did you say sword fight?"


    Ichiro: "Yeah, it was a gamble, but he surprisingly took the offer"


    Jack: "You are pretty much beaten up and nearly got killed and now you want to fight him one on one in a sword fight?"


    Ichiro: "The others already scolded me for it"


    He says while looking embarrassed to the ceiling from his laying position,


    Jack: "I don''t get this guy, who is he anyways"


    Ichiro: "Arashi Mitsunaga, the monster in form of a man, I met him once when I was here


    as a small kid, he was already pretty strong, but he changed, I heard rumors from him


    afterwards, brutal rumors but he exceeded every expectation I had, he is a madman"


    Jack: "So Henry and I were right, he is a Mitsunaga"


    Ichiro: "I warned Henry on the ship to not fight him, but I don''t know why he just attacked me"


    Jack: "We have to get out of here, if we continue to stay here, he will kill us"


    Ichiro: "It''s too late, since he knows our aura now, we won''t be able to escape. The deal I made with him includes that he won''t attack us before we had our fight but also that we don''t leave before"


    Jack: "Good job, I guess"


    Ichiro: "You too, you gave him a hard time"


    Jack: "Yeah? I don''t know how"


    ...


    Lenny wakes up, still in thr dark and cold room.


    Before him is the crystal, but he notices something, the thing that was inside of it


    is gone and the crystal has a gigantic crack inside of it.


    Lenny: "Kelvin? What happened?"


    Lenny waits but he doesn''t get an answer,


    Lenny: "Oh shit, it must be night already, Jack probably is worried"


    He says, quickly leaving the room, running up the stairs and running back to the guest residency.


    ...


    The sun slowly rises behind the horizon, waking up Mrs. Mitsunaga.


    At the same time, someone knocks on her door,


    Soshi: "Your tea, Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Come in Soshi"


    Soshi enters the room with a tray, on top of it is a can and a cup,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga makes herself comfortable by sitting in her gigantic bed, taking the tray from Soshi and pouring tea from the can into the cup,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "So tell me, what was that light yesterday and has it something to do with that earthquake?"


    Soshi: "Very well Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama. Yesterday, Arashi and master Jack got into a fight, leading to that purple light and even the earthquake"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "This Arashi, only causing trouble and now even getting in-between my plans. Atleast tell me who won"


    Soshi: "Very well Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, it was Arashi who had won against master Jack"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "He lost? Arashi might be more troublesome than whe thought, Soshi"


    Soshi: "Another news Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, the Plasma King has escaped"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga spits out her tea in shock, completely wetting Soshi,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "HE DID WHAT? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE"

 Talk

    Henry wakes up, stretching his arms and back before leaving his bed.


    He then goes down to the ground to do his daily morning routine starting with 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups and 50 pull-ups.


    He then stretches his legs, arms and back before leaving his room with an unusual look


    in his face, a face filled with anger.


    Emilia leaves her room shortly after, seeing the expression Henry has while passing by her,


    Emilia: "If you think you can avenge them by attacking Arashi, then you are more stupid than I thought"


    Henry: "Don''t worry, I only try to talk a little"


    Henry didn''t even look once at Emilia, only looking to the distance with an expression full of rage.


    ...


    Ichiro: "Am I good to go?"


    Doctor: "Yes, you are but take it slowly, okay?"


    The young, male doctor says,


    Ichiro who is still wrapped in bandages, stands up from his bed in joy,


    Ichiro: "Alright good, thank you doctor"


    He says before the doctor leaves the room,


    Jack: "What are you going to do now?"


    Jack asks Ichiro who sits in his bed,


    Ichiro: "I don''t know, but what are you going to do? The doctor also cleared you"


    Jack: "I''m thinking"


    Ichiro: "About Lenny?"


    Jack: "Yeah, his wish is to get stronger, but what had happened yesterday just proven my fear"


    Ichiro: "Maybe the answer is him becoming stronger to maybe hinder things like that to


    happen. He is your brother so it is natural he wants to get strong"


    Jack: "Do you have siblings?"


    Ichiro: "Two little sisters, they are twins"


    Jack: "What do you do to protect them?"


    Ichiro: "I train so I can hinder that bad things happen to them"


    ...


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    Henry walks to the building near the gate, knocking on its door,


    ???: "What do you want?"


    A male voice says behind the door,


    Henry: "Is Arashi Mitsunaga here?"


    ???: "Depends on who''s asking"


    Henry: "I just want to talk"


    The door opens, revealing a big, muscular guy with a full beard and a gun, looking at the smaller Henry in pity,


    Soldier (1): "What do you want, boy?"


    Henry: "Arashi hurts my friends, I just want to talk to him"


    Soldier (1): "Too bad, the boss isn''t here yet, but we can have some fun if it''s only talking"


    The man says, dropping his gun and pulling of his jacked, revealing his muscular arms and tattoos.


    Henry smiles in joy,


    Henry: "Just what I needed"


    The man swings at Henry with his fist, but Henry dodges the punch and quickly throws a punch of his own into the man''s stomach.


    He then kicks against the man''s knee joint from the front before hitting him with an upper cut, knocking out the soldier.


    Inside the buildings are other soldiers who had been playing cards until now,


    Henry: "You guys want some too?"


    Henry says mockingly,


    The soldiers quickly stand up and grab whatever they can find in their range of view, rushing at Henry who had entered the building by now.


    Henry dodges the first attack by the first soldier, hitting him with a punch.


    The next soldier has a knife, trying to stab Henry, but Henry grabs his arm, breaking it and hitting him with an elbow to his face,


    Henry quickly grabs a glass that was near him, smashing it against another soldier''s


    head who was approaching him from behind.


    Henry looks at the last soldier in the room, looking at him full with rage,


    Henry: "Where'' is Arashi Mitsunaga"


    The soldier, who is still in training, shakes in fear.


    Unable to answer Henry, the soldier runs away and leaves the building through the back door, bumping into Arashi outside.


    Arashi: "Where do you think you are going"


    He says, looking disgusted at the young soldier with his half-burned face,


    Henry who quickly catches up, stops in front of them,


    Henry: "Yeah you must be Arashi Mitsunaga"


    Arashi: "Who are you?"


    Henry: "We need to talk about what you did"


    Arashi: "I don''t like to talk about the past, if you want to fight then come at me"


    Henry smiles again,


    Henry: "That''s what I wanted to hear"


    ...


    Lenny wakes up, looking around confused and completely drained in sweat,


    Lenny: "What happened to me..."


    He asks himself, frightening after suddenly hearing a voice in his head,


    Kaelvyn: "You saved me, remember? So, we made a contract"


    Lenny: "K-Kelvin?"


    Kaelvyn: "You are now my new host; I will lend you my powers"


    Lenny: "Wh-where are you? Why are you in my head?"


    Kaelvyn: "I am now part of you, I chose you as my new host, the first after hundreds of years"


    Lenny: "What are you?"


    Lenny asks, before falling into a state of thoughtlessness, finding himself in a dark, infintetly large space with volcanoes scattered all around and neon-green and grey smoke errupting out of them.


    Lenny: "Where am I?"


    Lenny asks himself, confused and scared by the new location he found himself in,


    Kaelvyn: "You are in the soul-area, an area reflecting your inner soul"


    A loud voice says from behind,


    Lenny turns around, seeing a smoke wall with a giant humanoid lizard like silhouette behind it with four, neon-green eyes, shining through it.


    ...


    Emilia: "How are ya feeling, boys?"


    She says, entering the hospital room where Ichiro and Jack are currently in,


    Ichiro: "I''m fine, but the other guy doesn''t feel too well I guess"


    Jack: "Shut up, I am also fine"


    He says in his cool-guy tone,


    Emilia laughs,


    Emilia: "I see so both of you are still yourself"


    Ichiro: "Why? Does someone not behave like themselve?"


    He says as a joke,


    Emilia: "Henry isn''t himself; he is full of rage and the Mitsunaga property is currently under alarm"


    Jack: "Alarm? What happened, is Lenny alright?"


    Emilia: "Last time I checked he was still in bed, I asked Hinata why the property is under alarm, but she didn''t answer me"


    Ichiro: "And Henry?"


    Emilia gets quiet, looking down to the ground,


    Ichiro: "Emilia, where is Henry, tell me right now!"


    Emilia: "He left the residency to go to the Mitsunaga private security base, he wants to meet Arashi there"


    Ichiro: "Emilia, we have to go there now!"

 Clash

    Henry rushes at Arashi, throwing a punch at him but Arashi dodges the attack, raising his new katana and slashing at Henry.


    Henry quickly dodges with shooting-star, gaining a safety distance but Arashi takes a quick-step, closing the gap between them and attacking with another slash.


    Henry jumps to the side, dodging Arashi''s attack, and throwing another punch at him, hitting Arashi''s face and making him step back a little.


    Arashi holds his face, wiping away the little blood that came out of his nose,


    Arashi: "You visitors have been special ones, worthy to be my prey"


    Henry: "You will pay for what you did"


    Arashi laughs, swinging with his Katana around,


    Arashi: "Come at me with all you got"


    Henry is filled with pure rage, wrapping his fists with his newly learned aura and rushing at Arashi,


    Arashi wraps his katana with his aura, also running at him, clashing in the middle.


    Arashi is shocked by the fact that he is not able to cut through Henry,


    Arashi: "His aura is strong, this must be it since I am not able to cut through it"


    He says in his mind,


    Henry and Arashi go at each other, blocking and evading every attack, but Arashi gets


    the upper hand, dominating with his experience, technique, superior speed and strength.


    He hits Henry to the face with his left fist, kicking against Henrys legs making him


    kneel before him to then take one final slash to finish him off,


    Henry wraps his arm with his blue energy and aura, making it shine even brighter then befkre to then block Arashi''s attack.


    Arashi pushes further with his blade, trying to cut through Henrys arm, but Henry doesn''t give up, struggling to hold on with his enchanted arm.


    Soshi: "Arashi, that''s enough"


    Arashi looks to his side, seeing Soshi with a serious expression, stopping his attack.


    Arashi: "Soshi, you have a death wish old man?"


    Soshi: "Since when is it okay to attack our dear guests"


    Arashi: "This is none of your business, leave or die old man"


    Soshi: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama wants to speak to you about your behavior"


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    Arashi: "I don''t care what she wants, she isn''t even a Mitsunaga"


    Soshi: "Still, you are here on her property, living in one of her residencies"


    Arashi: "You know nothing about me old man, I will kill you if yoh don''t stop talking"


    Arashi is getting angered by Soshi, walking at his direction while Soshi looks unbothered by Arashi''s bad intentions,


    Hinata: "Brother, stop it please"


    Arashi freezes, slowly turning his head to Hinata who just had arrived,


    Arashi: "Hinata, I told you to not come here, do you have a death wish?"


    He says with an angered expression,


    Hinata: "I don''t know why you do this, but I know it is for my sake, but I beg you, stop"


    She says with a sad voice,


    Arashi gets more furious,


    Arashi: "Go back to your room you idiot"


    Tears slowly come out of Hinata''s eyes,


    Hinata: "Please brother, stop it"


    Arashi walks to Hinata, raising his left hand and giving her a slap across her face.


    It gets completely silent, not even the birds are making a sound while the sound of the slap echoes throughout the whole area,


    Hinata froze, not making a single sound while Arashi looks at her angered,


    Arashi: "Go to your room"


    He says before quickly turning around, seeing a in rage filled Henry jumping at him,


    Henry: "ARASHIIIII"


    He shouts in complete fury and his arm wrapped around in his blue energy and aura combo,


    Arashi quickly wraps his sword in aura, ready to clash again with Henry, creating a shockwave at impact.


    Soshi quickly grabs Hinata, protecting her from being blown away from the heavy winds.


    Ichiro, Emilia and Jack quickly arrive to the area, being stopped by the shockwave coming from the clash between Arashi and Henry,


    Emilia: "We have to stop them"


    Ichiro nods,


    Ichiro: "Arashi, stop it this is not part of our deal"


    Arashi looks at Ichiro, grunting in anger before backing down a little, grabbing Henry''s arm while he falls to the front, throwing Henry over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground,


    Arashi looks at the knocked out Henry,


    Arashi: "You are lucky that the Taketa fucker and I have a deal"


    Arashi looks at Hinata who lies between Soshi''s arms, looking back at him in fear,


    Arashi then walks to his sword sheet, grabbing it and disappearing with quick-step.


    Jack picks up Henry before him and the group gather together around Hinata.


    Emilia: "Are you alright?"


    Hinata wipes away her tears,


    Hinata: "Yes I am alright; you must believe me when I say that he wasn''t always like that"


    Ichiro: "Yeah I wanted to ask you about it"


    Hinata: "What do you want to hear?"


    Ichiro: "What happened to Arashi and how did he become the person he is today"


    ...


    Lenny awakes, wiping away the sweat from his body,


    Lenny looks around, confused about everything that just happened.


    Lenny: "Kelvi...no, your name is Kaelvyn, what do you want and why did you choose me? I am nothing but a weakling"


    He says to himself before standing up and leaving his room,


    He knocks at Jacks door,


    Lenny: "Big bro? Are you there?"


    He says, receiving no answer,


    Lenny: "He probably is outside"


    Lenny leaves the guest-residency, seeing not a singe person or servant around,


    Lenny: "Where is everybody?"


    He asks himself before he sees a masked man, completely in black and the Mitsunaga emblem engraved in his shoulder plate, approaching him with a rifle,


    Masked man: "I found the target"


    He says to a com that is inside his mask,


    Masked man: "Alright I will get him now"


    He answers back to the message he received from the com,


    Masked man: "You there, surrender now or I am going to use violence"


    He says to Lenny,


    Lenny looks confused, not understanding what the man is talking about,


    Lenny: "What? Me? Did I do something?"


    He asks the man before he suddenly points his gun at Lenny,


    Lenny frightens and jumps back a little, stretching his hands to the sky,


    Lenny: "What is going on?"


    He asks the man,


    Masked man: "You are under arrest"


    He replies to Lenny while slowly approaching with his gun pointed at Lenny,

 Arashi’s past (Part 1)

    7 years ago, in the Mitsunaga province, a young Arashi, around the age of 15, was training hard everyday, having one thing in his mind: to become a samurai with honor,


    Arashi: "I will become the strongest samurai"


    He says to himself, swinging his katana while being outside,


    Hinata: "Brother, mother is calling you she has not seen you this whole day"


    Hinata is sitting on a tree, watching Arashi from above.


    She always loved to climb, and since she does it everyday, she was able to climb up a tree in seconds.


    Arashi: "Okay okay I am coming"


    Arashi takes two swings before putting his sword back into his scabbard and running to


    his mother who is waiting for him in her room.


    Arashi loves his mother, for him she is everything, a true mama''s boy.


    Arashi opens the door to her room,


    Arashi: "Mother, I am here, I woke up early and trained until now"


    Meyio Mitsunaga, the mother of Arashi and Hinata Mitsunaga has been sick for a long


    time, until now she has been able to hide it but for a week now she hasn''t been able to get out of her bed.


    Arashi: "Mother, do you need something to eat? I can bring you whatever you need"


    Meyio: "Arashi, it is alright, how is your training going?"


    She replies, taking Arashi into her arms,


    Arashi: "It has been great! I am getting stronger everyday"


    Meyio smiles at Arashi


    Meyio: "Good, I am proud of you. One day you will be just like the great first Shogun"


    Arashi smiles back, standing up and posing,


    Arashi: "One day I will be even greater than the first, everyone will know my name,


    Arashi Mitsunaga, proud son of Meyio Mitsunaga"


    Meyio claps, even laughing a little,


    Meyio: "That is my son, now go outside and play with your sister"


    Arashi walks out of his mother''s room, smiling and jumping in joy,


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Hinata: "What did mother say?"


    Hinata asks, she has been waiting near the door but was unable to hear what they had been talking,


    Arashi: "N-nothing"


    Hinata looks at Arashi with a treacherous smile, knowing Arashi is dodging her question,


    Hinata: "Brother, tell me, I want to know"


    Arashi looks away from Hinata,


    Arashi: "You know, you look like mother"


    Hinata: "Yes, I mean I am her daughter"


    Arashi: "R-right, I remember I have training to do see you"


    Arashi runs away quickly, jumping on top of a roof and jumping on to the next one, reaching


    higher by every building he crosses until he is on top of the main residency, stretching out his hands and watching the beautiful view over the landscape and the sunset.


    Arashi closes his eyes and smiles, feeling the light breeze of the wind, touching his skin, he takes a deep breath before shouting something out,


    Arashi: "I AM ARASHI MITSUNAGA, SON OF MY MOTHER MEYIO MITSUNAGA AND I WILL BE THE MOST HONORFUL AND STRONGEST SAMURAI TO EVER LIFE"


    Arashi has been shouting that out everyday, on the same roof on the same time, making


    it kind of a ritual for him to end his day with his announcement.


    It echoes throughout the landscape, reaching out to everyone on the residency,


    Also reaching the guards, the servants and Mrs. Mitsunaga,


    Soshi: "He has been doing it again"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "It is cute, the servants said that he had been training everyday"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga sits in her room, drinking the tea that Soshi freshly poured inside her cup,


    Soshi: "Yes he has, but it kind of became a little burden since he now is able to cut a tree in half, demolishing the great garden"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga laughs a little,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Kids, always finding a way to demolish things"


    Soshi: "Should I reprimand him?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh come on Soshi, let him have fun, it must be hard for him since his mother got sick"


    Soshi: "Yes it really is, her condition is getting worse every day"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Have you find out what her sickness is?"


    Soshi: "We are still on it, but some specialists have been theorizing it to be a curse"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "A curse?"


    Soshi: "Curses that have the ability to weaken someone are common, but they normally are easy to remove but this, this is something else"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "If she dies, who knows how badly it will affect the Mitsunaga''s let alone her children"


    Soshi: "Very tragic, we will do our best to ensure Meyio-samas survival"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Very well Soshi"


    Soshi nods and bows, before heading to the door,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Ah Soshi, before you go, could you please tell me the important thing that is tomorrow? It has been much lately, so I completely forgot the specialty of tomorrow"


    Soshi: "Very well Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, tomorrow your dear brother and his family will come visit you"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Wait what, my brother Which one"


    Soshi: "It will be Takeshi Taketa and his dear family that will visit us Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Great, thank you very much Soshi"


    Soshi nods and bows again, before leaving Mrs. Mitsunaga''s room.


    ...


    Night has fallen over the property. Normally, everyone is already asleep including the servants, but some soldier''s have the task to watch over the residency in the night. Arashi sneaks out of his room to train outside in the dark, also trying to train his senses,


    He goes to his usual spot where he has been training, doing his usual training sets.


    ???: "Have you heared the news?"


    A soldier says in the distance, slowly walking past Arashi''s training spot,


    Arashi quickly jumps into a bush next to him, trying to overhear the soldier''s conversation,


    Soldier (2): "The visitors that will come tomorrow? Yeah, I heard that it will be the Taketa-clans head family"


    Soldier (1): "Yeah this too but I ment that Meyio Mitsunaga has been sick lately"


    Soldier (2): "Oh really? Poor her, she is way too beautiful to leave us this early in her life"


    Soldier (1): "Yeah right, and she has been raising two kids this whole time"


    Soldier (2): "Since her husband died, she had no time looking for a new husband"


    Soldier (1): "I can be her new husband, a woman like her shoudn''t be living on her own"


    Soldier (2): "Oh come on, this is not fair, I am a way better guy for a woman like her"


    Both soldiers start laughing together while Arashi gets furious inside of the bush,


    Arashi is about to jump out of the bush, ready to confront the soldiers, but someone from behind stops him,


    Hinata: "Don''t"


    Hinata says, pulling Arashi on his shoulder''s,


    Arashi: "What are you doing out here this late?"


    Hinata: "I should be asking you the same thing"

 Arashi’s past (Part 2)

    Arashi: "I was here training"


    He says while looking at Hinata confused, he grabs Hinata at her arm before pulling her into


    the bush with him,


    Arashi: "What are you even doing here? You should be sleeping"


    He says quietly, trying to not get caught by the soldiers,


    Hinata sighs quietly while shaking her head slowly,


    Hinata: "I heared you walk out of your room, so I followed you and hid on a tree, but I decided to come down to stop you from doing something stupid"


    She whispers,


    Arashi: "Did you not hear what these soldiers said about our mother?"


    He says, getting a little louder but still not too loud so the soldiers won''t hear him,


    Hinata: "Please don''t do anything stupid brother, if you attack them who knows what


    will happen to you"


    She says, worrying about Arashi, knowing the outcomes of his stupid decision making,


    Arashi gets silent, thinking about what Hinata had said to him,


    Shortly after, Arashi opens his mouth, hesitating a little before speaking out,


    Arashi: "They will get what they deserve, but not now"


    Hinata sighs, preventing something that could have ended badly,


    They slowly get out of the bush to prevent any sounds before quickly heading back to each of their rooms.


    ...


    The sun slowly rises over the horizon shining over the Mitsunaga''s gigantic residency.


    At that time, every servant already is awake to prepare for this special event.


    Arashi had been awake for quite some time now, training hard to accomplish his dream.


    He takes one swing after another, wiping away the sweat from his face with his forearm, ignoring every sound in his area, including the furious Soshi is trying to call him for a while now,


    Soshi: "YOUNG MASTER"


    He shouts into his ears, frightening Arashi,


    Soshi: "Young master, have you forgotten what day it is today?"


    He asks formly,Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Arashi gets quiet for a time, obviously not knowing what''s so special about the day


    today,


    Arashi: "Wednesday?"


    He replies carefully,


    Soshi shakes his head, slightly frustrated by Arashi''s reply,


    Soshi: "Our guests will arrive soon, so get ready quickly and join your mother to welcome our guests"


    Arashi looks confused at Soshi, not remembering when someone ever mentioned that guests will arrive today,


    Arashi: "Why do I have to join? It''s not my job to welcome guests"


    Soshi: "Since you are a Mitsunaga, honor is part of your blood, meaning it is only natural to show yourself from your best side to represent the Mitsunaga family, that is


    something your mother, sister and the rest of the remaining Mitsunaga''s know"


    Arashi: "Alright, alright I got it, let me change my clothes"


    Arashi walks past Soshi, putting his hands inside his pockets, making it noticeable


    that he doesn''t want to do it,


    Soshi: "And don''t forget to wash your body, you stink young master"


    Arashi doesn''t bother answering, he continues walking while stretching his hand


    up and throwing a thumbs-up,


    ...


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "How are you doing Meiyo"


    Meyio: "Oh Ritsuko it is you, I am fine, really"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga visits Meyio inside her room, watching her getting dressed by several servants who are also helping her stand on her feet,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I think you really shouldn''t be joining us, you are still sick"


    She says with a worried face,


    Meyio: "Come on Ritsuko, I have to, it is my duty as a Mitsunaga you should know that


    as the head"


    She says before showing a friendly smile,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I still don''t know why the elders gave me the role as the head, that''s why I am thankful that you are here supporting me"


    Meyio: "That''s what I do, we are family afterall"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga gets quiet for a while, looking at the ground with a sad expression,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "But I am not a Mitsunaga by blood, you know that"


    She says hesitantly,


    Meyio looks at her angrily, knowing she shoudn''t have said something like that out loud,


    Meyio: "Don''t ever say that again, no one in the history of the Mitsunaga-clan has ever embraced the name with more honor and proud then you"


    She says, making a serious expression. Mrs. Mitsunaga looks Meyio into her eyes, quickly gaining her confidence back,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Thank you Meyio, I don''t know what I would be doing without you"


    She says with a smile. Meyio replies back with a smile,


    Servant: "We are finished"


    One of the servant''s say after they finished their duties,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You look lovely Meyio"


    Meyio: "You too Ritsuko"


    They say before laughing together,


    Meyio: "Let us go"


    Meyio says, before attempting a step, fainting a little and dropping down. The servants catch her before she could hit the ground.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga trembles, pressing both her hands against her mouth, shocked by that


    sudden event,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Meyio! Please be alright"


    She says, loudly before turning to the servants,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Quick! Get a doctor"


    She shouts at the servants, sending some servants away while the others try to help


    Meyio.


    ...


    Arashi and Hinata stand near the front yard of the residency,


    Hinata looks around confused before turning her head to Arashi,


    Hinata: "Brother, where is everyone?"


    She asks confused.


    Arashi is bored, he would rather go train right now then stand here in the front yard,


    Arashi: "I don''t know, but where is mother?"


    Hinata looks around again before turning back to Arashi,


    Hinata: "Seems like she still is getting dressed"


    She replies to Arashi.


    Horse carriages are getting visible after passing a curve located inside the road that connects the main entrance gate with the front yard.


    Two carriages with a different emblems than the Mitsunaga ones arrive at the front


    yard, stopping around 50 feet away from them.


    Soshi quickly passes by Hinata and Arashi, looking completely exhausted and quickly walking to the carriages, welcoming the guests.


    A man with his hair binded to the back of his head and a beautiful woman leave one of the carriages, shortly after a young boy with a similar hair style like the man and two very young girls accompanied by an olderly but serious looking man are leaving the same carriage.


    Hinata: "This must be the Taketa clans head family"


    She says, surprised by their appearance,


    Arashi carefully looks at them, noticing the young boy who is sharply looking at him.

 Arashi’s past (Part 3)

    Takeshi: "Soshi!"


    Soshi: "Welcome dear guests, I hope your travel was pleasant"


    Soshi responds, completely exhausted after quickly running to the front yard to welcome


    the guest.


    Takeshi: "Where is my big sister?"


    Takeshi asks nicely, looking around and noticing that no one is here to welcome them,


    Soshi: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama apologizes for not being able to come here, an emergency


    happened involving her, so she isn''t able to welcome you right now"


    Takeshi: "Wha-..."


    Takeshi is Interrupted by his wife, Emiko Taketa or how other''s call her, Mrs. Taketa,


    Mrs. Taketa: "This is sad to hear, is everything alright with dear Ritsuko is what my husband wanted to ask"


    She replies with a smile while pulling Takeshi on his ear, dragging him down,


    Soshi: "Yes, Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama is alright, but the matter involves her, and she also


    refused to leave the matter so she begs for your patience until she can welcome you by herself, until then I kindly ask you all to follow me to your rooms"


    Mrs. Taketa: "Very well Soshi, and I again apologize for my husband''s immature behavior"


    Hinata: "Did you hear that brother? Something happened this explains why we are the only ones"


    She says to Arashi, lately noticing Arashi''s concerned expression,


    Arashi: "M-mother"


    He says to himself before quickly turning around and running back the way he came from quickly followed by Hinata.


    Arashi quickly jumps on top of the buildings, running quickly to where his mother''s room is located,


    Arashi: "Please don''t let it be mother"


    He says to himself while jumping of the roofs, landing back on the ground,


    Hinata: "Arashi, wait a minute"


    She replies, finally reaching Arashi who stands in front of his mother''s room,


    opening the door and seeing his mother, laying on her bed in a coma like state,


    with doctors all around her.


    Hinata: "N-no..."


    She says, quickly turning to Arashi who is frustratingly watching what is happeningStolen story; please report.


    in front of him.


    Arashi: "W-what happened"


    He asks silently, but he gets ignored,


    Arashi: "Hey, did you guys did not hear me?"


    He replies, slowly getting louder. Hinata holds his hand, trying to calm him down,


    Hinata: "Arashi, I am also confused but we should let them-..."


    Arashi: "Hey you fuckers, are you ignoring me? I am asking what happened"


    He says, getting even louder, ignoring and interrupting Hinata,


    Hinata: "Brother, stop"


    Arashi ignores her again, clenching his fists together and getting angrier.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Children"


    She says from behind them, noticing Arashi''s anger.


    Both turn around, looking Mrs. Mitsunaga and her worried expression,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Why don''t you follow me, and I will explain what happened"


    She adds on to her sentence, holding both in her arms.


    ...


    Mrs. Mitsunaga, Arashi and Hinata are settling together in her room, pouring tea into three cups while sitting around a small table in her room.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I was there when your mother collapsed, her state got worse, the


    doctors and specialists suspect it to be a sickness that is weakening her body and attacks her immune system, but don''t worry, I asked the elders and they let me use every medium to ensure that your mother will be healthy again"


    Arashi: "Really? I felt something in that room, something that wasn''t a sickness"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga gets silent, thinking for a second before speaking out,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I can tell you that you don''t have to be concerned about your mother, she will be fine"


    Hinata: "Okay good, I trust you Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga smiles, standing up and hugging both of them,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I promise you that she will be alright"


    She adds on to her sentence, sending both of them out of her room.


    Arashi walks along the hallway, he had left a bracelet in Mrs. Mitsunaga''s room earlier so he would have an excuse to turn around and talk to her without Hinata being near them,


    Arashi: "Hinata, I forgot something inside Mrs. Mitsunaga''s room, I will get it quickly, you can go without me"


    Hinata notices that Arashi isn''t honest with her, but she simply ignores it,


    Hinata: "Alright brother, but you heard Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, mother will be alright"


    Arashi turns around, quickly walking back to Mrs. Mitsunaga''s room, seeing her break


    out in tears, not noticing Arashi.


    Arashi: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama..."


    He says quietly, watching her cry before she notices him,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Arashi, what can I do for you?"


    She says surprised, wiping away her tears,


    Arashi: "I noticed that you weren''t honest, probably because we aren''t full grown adults now, but I am old enough to hear the truth, I beg you, tell me the truth"


    He says, falling to the ground, begging her on his knees.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga stares surprised at Arashi, who is on his knees begging,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I don''t know if I can"


    Arashi: "Please, I do whatever you want"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga falls into silence again,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "It will break your heart..."


    Arashi: "I am ready"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Your mother has been the victim of a curse, making her weaker, each


    and everyday."


    Arashi: "If it''s only a curse, why don''t you just hire someone to remove it?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I wish, but the elders won''t let me, not yet"


    Arashi: "What, why?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I am sorry, but I don''t know either, the elders just simply won''t let me"


    Arashi: "Okay so I just have to simply convince them to let you hire one"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Arashi, wait-..."


    She says, trying to stop Arashi but it''s too late, Arashi already ran away, heading


    to the room of one of the elders,


    Arashi: "I just have to convince one of them to safe mother"


    He says, full of hope while running to another room, standing in front of a door.


    Ready to knock on the door, but he stops, he hears a conversation between one of the elders and another person,


    ???: "How can you mistake Ritsuko Mitsunaga with Meyio Mitsunaga, you good for nothing necromancer,..., you will not get paid until at least Meyio Mitsunaga has


    died,..., her death will make Ritsuko want to stop being the head of the Mitsunaga''s that''s why you will get paid half of the price,..., see this as accepting your apology for your stupid mistake,..., we made her the head because


    we though that she will support our ideas just like her husband did but after all this years all she did was listen to herself and to that stupid Meyio,..., I will discuss this with the other elders later in our meeting,..."


    Arashi is shocked, falling to the ground, filled with confusion and rage,


    Arashi: "Those fuckers...I''ll kill them all"

 Arashi’s past (Part 4)

    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I shouldn''t have told him the truth."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga said, regretting her decision.


    Takeshi: "He deserved to find out the truth."


    Takeshi responds to her.


    For a while now, Takeshi and Mrs. Mitsunaga had talked about the future of the Mitsunaga family, and now with Arashi knowing the truth about his mother''s sickness, more worries had come for Mrs. Mitsunaga.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Arashi is unpredictable, and what makes him even scarier is his strength."


    Takeshi: "Then it is the Mitsunaga''s job to lead him on the right way."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "But I am not his mother; I don''t even know him that well. I am the head of the Mitsunaga family; what he needs is his mother."


    Takeshi: "We both have children, and both of us have responsibilities. You have been a head longer than I have. I am the wrong person for you to seek answers from; I can only offer an open ear."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Why did I even ask you?"


    Takeshi laughs, taking a little sip of his tea.


    Takeshi: "What do the elders say about the situation?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Surprisingly, the elders are less of a help than you are."


    She responds, also taking a small sip of her tea.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Let''s see what the elders will decide."


    Takeshi: "Is there a meeting today?"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Yes, there is one right now¡ª..."


    She says before getting interrupted by a servant who stormed into her room,


    Servant: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, something terrible has occurred."


    The out-of-breath servant says, wiping away her sweat,


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "What is it? What happened?"


    Servant: "It is terrible, the elders, the Elders are dead."


    She responds in a dramatic fashion, completely out of breath.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga shockingly looks at Takeshi, who just looks back at her in confusion.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Servant, what do you mean the Elders are dead?"


    Takeshi: "I mean, they were old."


    Servant: "It is terrible; they were killed... killed by Arashi Mitsunaga"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga gasps dramatically; meanwhile, Takeshi starts laughing.


    Takeshi: "I think Arashi is a step ahead with lifting the mystery of Meyio''s sudden sickness."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "SERVANT, QUICK, WHERE IS ARASHI NOW?"


    She says, standing up and grabbing the servant on both her shoulders,


    Servant: "It is terrible; he is on the run now."


    ...


    It is night; Arashi is on the run. Covered in blood, he passes through the bushes and trees while being hunted down by the private security soldiers.


    Arashi turns around quickly, grabbing his blood-covered katana tightly before cutting a tree in half, letting it block the way behind him.


    Arashi: "These damn Elders, they thought they could do what they wanted, and when they messed things up, they could do as if nothing happened."


    He says while continuing to run away.


    Anger has taken over Arashi; without a second thought, he decided to end the life of the Mitsunaga''s last elders as an act of revenge for what they did to his mother.


    After getting caught, he didn''t have an escape plan, killing everyone who had witnessed his killing, leaving not only the elders but also around three servants and soldiers.


    Arashi stops after reaching the end of the woods, entering a giant meadow.


    Arashi: "I can''t run away the whole time."


    He says to himself before turning around, ready to confront his pursuers.


    Countless soldiers are walking out of the woods, ready to fight the young Arashi.


    Arashi: "I don''t care how many you are; I will kill every one of you."


    He says, going into a fighting stance, holding tight onto his katana, ready to slay every one of them.


    ???: "Halt! Soldiers fall back; I will take care of him.¡±


    A voice says from the woods.


    It is a man, muscular and with a scar across his face.


    Arashi: "And who are you?"


    He asks, confused,


    ???: "I am private security army first commander Koji; my job is to keep the peace inside of the property and the residencies, something you have broken. I will prevent your killing spree by facing you myself; as a samurai, I will face you with great honor.¡±


    Arashi looks surprised; he has never seen the first commander before, but he knows that he is a samurai, someone with great honor, he thinks, someone he wants to be like.


    Arashi thinks, after all, it was his dream to be a samurai with great honor and to duel someone like that.


    Arashi: "I will accept your offer."


    He responds to Koji.


    Koji: "Very well."


    Koji steps to the front, unsheathing his katana before going into a stand, much different than the one Arashi is inside.


    Koji shouts a battle cry before committing a slash into the direction of Arashi, making Arashi block quickly and surprising him with his quick speed.


    Arashi holds onto his katana, pressing against Koji''s katana, slowly overpowering him.


    Koji backs down to take another swing, quickly making Arashi go back again into a blocking stance.


    ...


    Soshi stands in front of the room where the elders had been brutally slain.


    Soshi: "A long time ago I wished the same thing onto you elders, but when I tried to commit the violent act, someone stood in front of me, accidentally stabbing him and making me regret my decision."


    He says while looking at the brutal scenery.


    Takeshi enters the room, also viewing the scenery.


    Takeshi: "Was that the unforgivable crime you committed that you were pardoned for?"


    Soshi: "It was Soshiro Mitsunaga, the father of Mrs. Mitsunaga''s husband, who I had stabbed; it was also he who on this day stopped me from committing a crime I would have regretted my whole life, and it was also he who gave me my new name, Soshi, and pardoned me, leading to me devoting myself to the Mitsunaga bloodline for the rest of my life."


    Takeshi: "What a story, but you can''t say that you finally feel even a little better after the death of these assholes."


    Soshi doesn''t respond, turning his head away from the scenery and leaving without making another comment.

 Arashi’s past (Part 5)

    Koji makes another swing, hitting Arashi''s katana, making sparks come out the moment they clash.


    Arashi pushed back, making him use all his strengh to press Koji back, but Koji only smiles about Arashi''s effort, falling back a little, making Arashi unbalanced to then hit him with a punch to his face.


    Arashi falls to the ground, shocked by this honorless attack.


    Arashi: "T-that, that wasn''t... Where was the honor just now? A samurai should have honor with every attack he does."


    He says in frustration and anger, staring at Koji in disbelief.


    Koji just stares back in confusion, not understanding where that sudden outbreak came from.


    Koji: "I think my punch just made you a lot dumber than you already were, because I never heard anything this stupid just now."


    Koji says, laughing a little before continuing to talk,


    Koji: "You think there is any honor in this world? Children starve to death, people kill for money, heck, even in the animal world something like honor doesn''t exist."


    Arashi stares at Koji in disbelief.


    Arashi: "I don''t believe a single word you are saying."


    He says while standing up, grabbing his katana while


    Koji: "Yeah? You psychopath killed a whole bunch of people just today and you believe there is honor in this world? Go out there and see for yourself if there is something like honor.


    Arashi: "Shut up, I''ll kill you."


    He says with anger in his voice,


    Koji laughs, throwing his katana away while Arashi rushes at him, swinging his sword and slicing Koji across his body, making blood spread everywhere.


    Arashi looks at Koji, shocked by Koji''s sudden action.


    Arashi: "W-what? Why?"


    Koji looks at him, laughing while blood flows from his mouth.


    Koji: "Go out and see for yourself, kid; there is nothing to live for in this world."


    He responds, dropping to the ground, staring with his lifeless eyes into Arashi''s soul.


    The soldiers around them are shocked; not knowing what to do, they go at Arashi, who is currently in a state of confusion, slicing one soldier after another, leaving a pool of blood and corpses.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Arashi looks down at himself, staring at his hands, which are covered in blood.


    ???: "There he is."


    A voice calls from the woods, bringing Arashi back to his senses. Arashi quickly takes his katana, inserting it back into his scabbard before running away as fast as he can.


    Arashi runs and runs, leading to him arriving at the bay.


    ...


    From there on, Arashi decided to travel and see if Koji was right. With the death of the elders and Meyio, Mrs. Mitsunaga got full control over the Mitsunaga family, spending a lot of its money into technology, getting ownership of new companies, those who would later on produce the revolutionary flip phones, steamships and motored carriages, making a name for herself in the marketing world.


    Arashi traveled around the world, also making a name for himself as a young mercenary, doing jobs for money.


    While doing those jobs, he tried to hold onto his honor, but with each day it only got harder for him, because with each day he was reminded of Koji and his statement that there is no honor in the world, but the moment that broke Arashi was two years after his departure.


    Arashi, now considered a monster, had an ego higher than any mountain, so when he was currently on his journey to another country for another job, he made an encounter that he would never forget.


    In this world, strength is what really matters. People who possess strength and power are those who will be remembered, so it is uncommon for people with power to gather in a group.


    Around that time, something unordinary would happen, something that would silently spread across the world: the making of a group called "the Soul-Reapers.".


    A group made from the worst terrorists, mercenaries, and criminals known to man.


    One of them was Arthur Morningstar, the abandoned son of the Morningstar family, one of the five great families.


    Arthur, a young, blond, and handsome boy with beautiful hair that reaches down to his chin, was named by his famous great-grandfather; Arthur was equipped with his sacred sword "Excalibur" that he had pulled out of a stone and since then passed on in his family bloodline until the current Arthur stole it and ran away.


    Normally, when two people with great power and who are known around the world meet, they would start a fight to see who is stronger, but Arthur doesn''t care about such nonsense. Strength, power, and fighting are things that Arthur has no interest in; in fact, it is still a mystery why he even became a soul reaper.


    Arashi: "You..."


    Now older, with longer hair, more muscles than before, and possessing more power, Arashi is ready to take on Arthur.


    But Arthur showed no interest, turning his back on Arashi and simply ignoring him.


    Arashi is angered; without a second thought, he pulls out his katana and rushes at Arthur.


    Arthur continued to ignore Arashi, still walking while behind him. Arashi falls onto the ground with a wound across his upper body, leaving him unable to do anything.


    Arashi has never felt such embarrassment before, and the last thing he had seen before passing out was the black, metal bottom attached to Arthur''s trousers, with a number engraved on it, the number seven.


    After that, Arashi returned to the Mitsunaga property, completely broken; he returned, not only losing his ideals and dreams on his journey but also his humanity.


    His sister fought hard for him being pardoned, which Mrs. Mitsunaga did, also making him the new head of the Mitsunaga private security and army.


    He never really spoke to anyone after his return, only about what he learned in his journey, that first, there exists no honor in this world, and second, you either are the hunter or the prey, and Arashi would never again want to be the prey; he learned that in this world, monsters like Arthur exist and even worse people, and that the worst of them all gather together, and the most fearsome group of them all are the Soul-Reapers, who slowly made a name for themselves.


    Since then, Arashi trained every day on the residency, making it his only purpose to become stronger.

 Miracle (Part 1)

    Henry: "So you''re really going to fight him, Ichiro..."


    Henry says. He knows that it''s a bad idea and that Ichiro will probably not survive this, not only because he had no rest but also because Arashi Mitsunaga is a monster. This doesn''t change the fact that Henry believes in his best friend.


    Ichiro: "I have no other choice..."


    Ichiro knows that he has no chance, but he also knows that it is either him or his friends; he didn''t waste a single second deciding that it should be him.


    Henry: "This is stupid; I should fight him."


    Ichiro: "You already did, and look what happened."


    Henry became silent; he has nothing to say except,


    Henry: "I wish you the best, and don''t die."


    Ichiro: "You think I will just die and leave you alone?"


    Both laugh; Ichiro then enters the small arena. Arashi, who has been waiting, smiles at Ichiro.


    Arashi: "Ready to die? Taketa fucker"


    He says, while drawing out his katana,


    Ichiro: "I see, a new sword."


    Ichiro responds, drawing out his broom.


    Henry, who is sitting at the small spectator area, alone, shaking his head, thinking about all the scenarios of the fight,


    Henry: "Don''t die, please."


    He says in his head.


    The arena they fight in is a traditional Mitsunaga arena where members of the Mitsunaga clan fought; back when they had more than two family branches, it''s a place with over two hundred years of Mitsunaga history.


    Arashi: "A broom?"


    Ichiro: "I don''t have a katana, not yet."


    He responds with a smile.


    Arashi wickedly smiles at Ichiro before rushing at him full-speed.


    Ichiro, who is still wrapped in bandages, quickly swings his broom, blocking Arashi''s attack.


    Arashi falls back, confused by Ichiro''s quick counter and how he wasn''t able to cut through the broom.


    Ichiro: "Confused? Did you forget who you have in front of you?"Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Arashi, who is quick to anger, loses it.


    Arashi: "You fucker."


    ...


    Emilia: "Don''t you want to see the fight?"


    Hinata: "No, I already know who will win."


    Emilia: "Arashi?"


    Hinata: "I know my brother; even the person he is now, I know him very well. He has the highest potential in the history of the Mitsunaga, but his quick temper will be the reason why he will lose..."


    Emilia: "Whoa."


    Hinata: "Don''t you want to watch the fight? He is your friend.


    Emilia: "It''s alright, it''s just as you said it, Ichiro will win, not because of Arashi''s temper, but because he is Ichiro Taketa."


    ...


    Jack: "Where are you, you idiot?"


    Jack has been looking for Lenny for a while now; his worries for his little brother even made him forget about the battle that just begun, but deep in his mind he already knows that Ichiro will not fail, which gives him also some sort of ease.


    Jack looks around before growing dragon wings on his back to fly up to the sky; from there, he has a better view over the area in which he can try to sense his little brother via sensing his aura, but he doesn''t sense anything.


    Which is weird because right after Henry fought Arashi, he felt a weird sensation, something that included Lenny; at first he thought that no way Lenny would have to do something with it, but now after not being able to find him, he starts to worry more and more about him.


    Jack: "Lenny, if I find you, I will make you pay for making me worry this much."


    ...


    Lenny: "Where, where am I?"


    Lenny asks himself, while finding himself in a dark basement, chained to a metal table,


    Lenny: "What the?"


    Kaelvyn: "Don''t worry, whatever they try, it won''t work?"


    Lenny is frightened by the voice that suddenly started talking in his head.


    Lenny: "K-kaelvyn? Where am I?"


    Kaelvyn: "Deep down under the Mitsunaga main residency"


    Lenny: "Why? How did we get here?"


    ???: "He is awake."


    A voice says from the distance, revealing a soldier who then opens a metal door.


    A man enters the room; it is Soshi.


    Lenny: "Soshi? Good to see you. Can you get me out?"


    Lenny asks with fear written all over his face,


    Kaelvyn: "Don''t trust him."


    Kaelvyn says quickly before Soshi opens his mouth to speak,


    Soshi: "Lenny, you have something that the Mitsunaga family wants back."


    Lenny: "S-sure, whatever it is."


    Kaelvyn: "He will kill you."


    Lenny: "WHAT?"


    Lenny responds, not knowing that he spoke it out loud.


    Soshi: "You are hearing him, so you already have a bond with him."


    Soshi says while putting on gloves,


    Kaelvyn: "You have to trust me."


    Lenny: "Whatever you''re trying to do, get me out of here."


    Lenny responds, again saying it out loud by accident.


    Lenny then notices something, something weird; his body starts to change; his eyes are shining neon green while slowly a neon green aura is forming around him, slowly charging up.


    Lenny: "I¡ªis this your doing¡ª...?"


    Lenny asks, before getting interrupted by something crashing in from above, leaving a hole in the ceiling of the room,


    Jack: "Found you."


    Jack says after crashing into the room,


    Jack looks around, noticing Soshi and the neon-green shining Lenny.


    Jack: "What the fuck is going on here?"


    ...


    Arashi takes another swing just to get it blocked again by Ichiro.


    Arashi: "FIGHT BACK!"


    He shouts in anger.


    Ichiro smiles while continuing his strategy. Ichiro knew from the beginning that he had no chance against Arashi, but he also never doubted his skills, so instead of attacking, Ichiro decided to concentrate on blocking and countering Arashi''s attacks.


    Since Ichiro fought Arashi once, he remembered Arashi''s style of fighting; based on that information, he created a combat style only focusing on countering Arashi''s wild and brutal attacks. This is the prodigy that Ichiro Taketa is.


    Ichiro knows that his only way to win is either by making Arashi tired or frustrating him so that he would give up, but he knows that before either of those two happens, he will be the one to get exhausted first.


    Ichiro''s only chance to win is him holding his ground against Arashi until a miracle happens .

 Miracle (Part 2)

    What Henry witnessed was a true prodigy of the sword, showing off, but not against just anyone, but someone who has been known as ¡°the Monster in the body of a Man.¡±


    Henry¡¯s jaw drops to the ground, admiring Ichiro¡¯s skill, holding his own against Arashi.


    Henry: ¡°YOU CAN DO IT, ICHIRO, YOU HEAR ME?¡±


    He shouts with enthusiasm, believing fully in his friend.


    But Ichiro knows that he can¡¯t win like that.


    Arashi is way stronger than him, so it is a matter of time until he finally gets overpowered, and believing in a miracle won¡¯t help him anyhow, so Ichiro needs to waste more time somehow so that he can think of a plan, a plan to win.


    But what happens shortly is something nobody had expected¡­


    ¡­


    Jack had just crashed inside the room where Lenny had been held. He then notices Soshi and Lenny, who has a weird, neon-green aura surrounding him, seemingly charging up.


    Jack: ¡°What is going on here?¡±


    He says, angry at the situation he found his little brother in,


    He looks at Soshi in anger, grabbing him at his shoulder.


    Jack: ¡°What are you doing with my little brother, you dumb fuck?¡±


    Soshi grabs Jack''s arm, throwing it away from him to then swipe his shoulder with his hands.


    Soshi: ¡°Your brother has stolen something that has been in the possession of the Mitsunaga family for more than one hundred years.¡±


    Jack: ¡°Stolen? You mean the stone?¡±


    Soshi looks at Jack in confusion, not knowing what he is talking about.


    Soshi: ¡°Stone? No, I mean the Plasma King.


    Jack: ¡°Plasma king?¡±


    He replies confused,


    Jack: ¡°I don¡¯t care; I will take my brother now.¡±


    He says, walking towards Lenny, Soshi quickly holds Jack on his shoulder.


    Soshi: ¡°No, you cannot go to him, not before I take back what he took.¡±


    Jack looks at Lenny and then at Soshi; he then nods, agreeing with Soshi.


    Jack: ¡°Okay, but I will stay here.¡±


    Soshi: ¡°Very well.¡±


    Soshi leaves the room to get something, leaving Jack and Lenny alone.


    Lenny: ¡°Big bro¡­¡±


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    He says with a weakened voice,


    Jack: ¡°Lenny, what happened? What have you done again, and what is that Aura?¡±


    Lenny slowly raises his head.


    Lenny: ¡°He¡­he is warning me¡­Don¡¯t let Soshi do it¡­¡±


    Jack: ¡°Don¡¯t let Soshi do what? Who is warning you?¡±


    Lenny: ¡°K-Kelvin¡­¡±


    Jack: ¡°Kelvin? Who is that? Is he warning you¡ª¡­¡±


    Jack becomes silent, thinking and putting one plus one together.


    Jack: ¡°W-where did you get it? Lenny, where did you get a Beast?"


    Jack asks Lenny, quickly getting overwhelmed with worries,


    In the meantime, Soshi enters the room with a chair; attached to it are various wires and a big and long hose connected to somewhere out of the room.


    Soshi: ¡°Master Jack, can you please bring Master Lenny on this chair?¡±


    Jack: ¡°No, I finally understand what is happening; we can¡¯t do this; it will kill him.¡±


    Soshi becomes silent; he didn¡¯t want to tell Jack that there is a high chance of Lenny not surviving the process. Ripping a beast from the person it has a contract with could also rip away the soul of the person, leading to his death. As a Beast user himself, Jack knows that, which is why he is against Soshi¡¯s plan.


    Jack: ¡°There must be a much safer way.¡±


    Soshi: ¡°I am sorry, Master Jack, but there is no safer way. In fact, it is the only way.¡±


    Jack: ¡°Then I am sorry, Soshi; I will not let you take my brother.¡±


    Soshi: ¡°That¡¯s what I thought¡­¡±


    Soshi says, before pressing on a button next to the door, activating an energy barrier, caging Jack.


    Jack is confused but then gets angry.


    Jack: ¡°LET ME GO, SOSHI, I WILL KILL YOU.¡±


    He shouts in anger, hammering against the energy barrier that emerges from above.


    Soshi: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Jack.¡±


    He says, before walking to Lenny, injecting him an drug that knocks him out and carrying him to the chair.


    Jack: ¡°STOP SOSHI.¡±


    Jack says, but Soshi ignores him.


    Soshi then ties Lenny to the chair before closing his eyes.


    Soshi: ¡°Sorry, Master Lenny.¡±


    He says with deep regrets in his heart,


    Jack gets more violent, punching against the barrier with his dragon-scaled fists.


    Soshi then goes to the back of the chair, activating it.


    The chair makes a weird sound before lighting up blue and then green, leading to Lenny opening his eyes, screaming in pain.


    Jack: ¡°STOP IT, PLEASE, HE IS ALL I HAVE.¡±


    He shouts, with tears in his eyes,


    Soshi turns away from Jack and Lenny, with pain in his heart, not noticing Lenny¡¯s body getting neon-green cracks, looking like something is charging up from inside of him.


    But Jack notices it, knowing that it cannot be anything good.


    Jack: ¡°You have to stop it, NOW; this will end badly.¡±


    But Soshi ignores it, thinking that Jack is trying to trick him.


    Lenny starts screaming louder, but his voice changes, and so does his body, lighting up neon green.


    Soshi then turns around, witnessing that bizarre spectacle, quickly running to the chair to deactivate it, but it is too late.


    It has reached its climax; the energy that had been charging up inside of Lenny erupts out, leading to an explosion, not only completely blowing up the room, but also the whole underground basement and the residences above it, and also the arena and the main residence.


    ¡­


    Right before the explosion, Ichiro had finally thought of a plan, but at the same time, he noticed that he had no power left, something Arashi also noticed.


    Arashi wickedly grinned at Ichiro.


    Arashi: ¡°Getting tired? Seems like your time is over, Taketa fucker.¡±


    Ichiro just smiles at him, putting everything on his plan.


    Ichiro: ¡°You will see, this fight is already over.¡±


    Arashi laughs before rushing at Ichiro again, also putting his full strength in his next attack.


    Ichiro: ¡°Here he comes¡­¡±


    He says, getting ready for what will happen next,


    The moment Arashi¡¯s blade was about to reach Ichiro, he noticed something, a weird sensation, an immense aura, erupting from the ground, but Arashi simply ignored it, but Ichiro, who also had noticed it, didn¡¯t ignore it; no, he understood that this might be the miracle he had been waiting for, a way better chance than his plan, something he could not simply ignore.


    Ichiro didn¡¯t dodge Arashi¡¯s attack; no, he even let himself get pierced by Arashi to then press himself away with all of his aura left, launching him far away, directly into Henry.


    Ichiro: ¡°HENRY, DO IT.¡±


    He shouts, Henry did not understand what Ichiro said, but he understood that with Ichiro next to him and an angry Arashi looking at them, this might be the time to get away.


    Arashi, full of anger, screams, shouting ¡°TAKETA FUCKERRR¡± before rushing at Henry, who then uses shooting-star to get up into the air, only to then see the arena, the ground, and the residences blow up by a green explosion.

 Trust

    Emilia wakes up. The explosion didn¡¯t hit her directly because once she had felt the aura that erupted from the ground, she took Hinata and trapped her and herself in a thick cocoon made out of mist, protecting them from the damage.


    Emilia: ¡°Hinata, are you okay?¡±


    She asks her,


    Hinata slowly opens her eyes, looking around amazed.


    Hinata: ¡°Is this your doing, Emilia?¡±


    Emilia: ¡°Pretty cool, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Emilia proudly replies.


    Emilia then dissolves the cocoon, gasping after seeing the complete destruction of her surroundings.


    Everywhere they look, they see waste and fire, ripped-up ground, and no trace of life.


    Emilia: ¡°What in the world¡­¡±


    Emilia says, not believing what she is seeing.


    Hinata, who also cannot believe what she sees, quickly comes back to her senses before running somewhere.


    Hinata: ¡°Mitsunaga-sama¡±


    She shouts, leading to Emilia also snapping back.


    Emilia: ¡°Oh shit, the others.¡±


    Emilia says, turning her lower body into mist to then fly into the air,


    ¡­


    Jack wakes up, noticing the heavy huddle lying on top of him.


    Jack, who is unable to move at first, wraps his arms in dragon scales, pushing against the ground, lifting himself up, and the huddle on top.


    Jack, overwhelmed with pain and confusion, shouts as loud as he can, giving all he has to push the heavy huddle of him.


    Giving all he has, he is finally able to toss it to the side, just to then let out a loud exhale before shouting out the only person in his mind, ¡°LENNYYYY!¡±


    ¡­


    Lenny, who is standing outside, not even having a single scratch on him, just stares at the destruction caused by the explosion. ¡°Kelvin¡­ Was that me?¡± He asks, confused by what has happened, trying to find an answer to all of this.


    Kaelvyn: ¡°No, this was our doing.¡±


    Lenny: ¡°I see.¡±


    Lenny had expected a response, telling him that in no way did he have anything to do with it, but now hearing the answer to what happened, his guilt grew immensely.


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    Jack: ¡°Lenny¡­¡±


    Lenny turns around to Jack, staring at him with eyes that have lost the will to live.


    Jack: ¡°Lenny¡­this isn¡¯t your doing.¡±


    Lenny: ¡°Stop it, Jack, this is my fault.¡±


    Jack: ¡°Stop it, it¡¯s not¡ª¡­¡±


    Lenny: ¡°IT ISN¡¯T? LOOK AROUND, JACK.¡±


    Lenny shouts, interrupting Jack.


    Jack, who understands how Lenny feels, knows that no words in the world can comfort him now.


    Lenny: ¡°HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF MY WISH OF GETTING STRONGER? TELL ME.¡±


    Jack doesn¡¯t respond; he slowly gets closer to Lenny, whom he then takes into his arms, holding him tight onto him.


    Lenny is shocked; he didn¡¯t expect Jack to react this way; he didn¡¯t expect for anyone to somehow have empathy for him.


    Jack: ¡°This is my fault; I should have never forbidden you from getting stronger.¡±


    He says, pressing Lenny at him,


    Lenny becomes speechless; it overwhelms him, that feeling. The only thing he can do now is cry.


    ¡­


    Ichiro: ¡°What just happened?¡±


    Ichiro asks Henry while they get back to the ground,


    Henry: ¡°Did you know that this would happen?¡±


    Ichiro: ¡°No, I did not. I was guessing something, but for sure not this.¡±


    Ichiro replies, viewing the destruction around them,


    Henry: ¡°And Arashi?¡±


    Ichiro: ¡°I don¡¯t know; he is probably still alive, so we should get going quickly.¡±


    Henry: ¡°Yes, let¡¯s look for the others¡ª¡­¡±


    Henry replies before stopping after noticing something in the air. It is Emilia, flying around, looking for them.


    Henry: ¡°EMILIA, WE ARE HERE.¡±


    Henry shouts, waving in her direction, trying to get Emilia to notice her, with success.


    Emilia quickly lands, turning her lower body back to normal.


    Emilia: ¡°You two are alive!¡±


    Henry: ¡°Yes! If Ichiro hadn¡¯t warned me to fly up, who knows what would have happened with us?¡±


    Emilia: ¡°No, I meant you guys survived Arashi.¡±


    Ichiro: ¡°Yeah, but he nearly got me.¡±


    Emilia laughs a little before grabbing both boys and hugging them.


    Emilia: ¡°It is good to see you two being well.¡±


    She knew that Ichiro would be able to survive and even win against Arashi, but she is still glad knowing that her fear became reality.


    Ichiro: ¡°Where are Jack and Lenny?¡±


    Emilia: ¡°Good question, let us look for them and finally get out of here.¡±


    Henry, Ichiro, and Emilia quickly look at each other before nodding; for them, their experience on the Mitsunaga property wasn¡¯t the best.


    The trio starts to go in the opposite direction from where Emilia came from when suddenly, from the ruins of the arena, a hand arises that holds a broken katana.


    It is Arashi Mitsunaga, who is more furious than before.


    Arashi has only one thing in mind, and that is to kill, kill everyone that made a fool out of him, especially Ichiro Taketa and Henry Dreherg, who he thinks are responsible for his disgrace.


    Arashi pulls himself from the ruins, standing on top of it, shouting in anger.


    Arashi: ¡°TAKETAAAA FUCKERRRR¡±


    He screams before running in the direction of the three.


    Emilia: ¡°Did you guys hear that?¡±


    She asks them, before being pushed by Ichiro, who then blocks the quick ambush by Arashi,


    Ichiro: ¡°You crazy bastard, you lost! What do you want?¡±


    Arashi: ¡°Shut the fuck up; I lost whenever I said that I lost.¡±


    Ichiro: ¡°Then say that you lost, you psycho!¡±


    Arashi: ¡°NO¡±


    Arashi says before attacking again, but this time it is Ichiro who is getting saved by Henry, who blocks Arashi¡¯s broken katana with his blue energy-wrapped arm.


    Henry: ¡°Ichiro, Emilia, go and find the others; I still have something to clear up with Arashi.¡±


    Ichiro hates this idea, but he also knows the situation he is in; being completely wounded, he has no other choice than to leave it all to his friend, whom he deeply trusts.


    Ichiro: ¡°Alright, but don¡¯t die.¡±


    Henry: ¡°I¡¯m not dying against a psycho like that.¡±


    Henry says before Ichiro and Emilia continue to run the opposite direction from where they came from,


    Arashi: ¡°What was your name again?¡±


    Henry: ¡°It¡¯s Henry; you better not forget it.¡±


    Arashi: ¡°Make me not forget it, prey.¡±


    Henry chuckles before going into a fighting stance.


    Arashi, who wickedly smirks like he always does, also goes into a fighting stance, wielding his broken katana.


    Henry: ¡°Let¡¯s end this here and now.¡±

 Confrontation

    Arashi swings his broken katana at Henry, who dodges the attack, quickly going for a counter, but Arashi is quicker; he hits Henry''s face with the backside of his katana, quickly going for another slash, but Henry uses shooting-star to get behind Arashi, only for Arashi to quickly turn around, releasing a slash, which Henry dodges, leading to the ruins behind him getting hit by Arashi''s slashing attack, completely breaking it.


    Even though Arashi is weakened and wounded, Henry has no chance against him.


    Arashi is stronger, faster, and has more fighting experience than Henry, but Henry does not give up. The last thing Henry would do would be giving up. Henry tries punching Arashi again, this time with his blue energy, but Arashi doesn''t give Henry a chance; he hits him in the stomach with his fist, sending him flying and crashing through the surrounding rubble.


    Henry grunts after getting up from the rubble, only for Arashi to already be standing there, waiting for Henry to get up so that he can continue beating him up.


    Henry uses shooting-star to get away from Arashi, but Arashi is still able to keep up with Henry by running after him.


    Henry quickly gets afraid by that sight, leading to him not watching where he is going, crashing into a half-broken residence.


    Henry: "What am I doing? How do I beat that monster?"


    He asks himself,


    Henry: "Shit, I''m not as smart as Emilia, as skilled as Ichiro, nor do I possess strength like Jack."


    He says in frustration, hiding in a room he just entered,


    Henry: "What would Mom have said?"


    He asks himself, remembering his mother, who always would use to say, "Believe in yourself." It is pretty basic, but those words have always helped Henry on his path, and even now, it helps him.


    While Arashi cuts through rooms with his broken katana looking for Henry, Henry has walked out of the residency, standing outside, shouting, "Arashi, you dumb idiot." Arashi hears it, running outside like a wild maniac, staring at Henry with anger.


    Henry looks at Arashi before shouting something out loud, "Arashi, I won''t use my ability for my next attack, and with that I will end you." Arashi, who already is angry, just lets himself get more provoked.


    Arashi: "Who do you think you are? You are nothing more than a mere ant waiting for its turn to get crushed by me!"


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    Henry: "I guess that you already lost once, and since then you are just a broken guy, trying to get approval from the world that you are truly the strongest, and I can tell you something, Arashi, as long as I am here, you will never be the strongest. I will prove it to you here and now."


    He says. Henry knows that it is complete bullshit what he is saying, but he also knows that his best chance of winning is by trusting himself and his plan.


    Arashi gets angry, so angry that his veins nearly burst.


    Arashi: "BRING IT ON, FUCKER." He shouts, rushing at high speed at Henry.


    Henry wanted this to happen; he noticed in the fight between Arashi and Ichiro that he is very easy to provoke, and when he is angry, he gets careless, something Henry wants to take use of.


    Arashi holds his broken katana, swinging it at Henry, ready to cut through him, but he hadn''t noticed Henry''s fist that he swung into his direction, but Arashi doesn''t care because his blade already reached Henry''s body, and killing him now would prevent him from being hit. But then something happens, something Arashi did not expect and Henry neither, The moment Arashi''s blade hit Henry, it breaks into hundreds of pieces, giving Henry no damage at all.


    Henry, of course, did not know that this would happen, but Henry instinctively knew that he had to use this chance.


    He gives all his strength into that punch, all the pain of his friends, and the pain that he had to bear until now, hitting Arashi straight in the face with everything he has, not only knocking Arashi out but also sending him flying through the huddle of destruction and the ruins of the residencies.


    Henry breathes heavily, falling to his knees.


    With no power left, he stares at the sky, smiling and laughing,


    Henry: "D-did I just...won?"


    He says before falling to the ground,


    ...


    Jack: "Lenny, let us go."


    Lenny: "Yes, big bro, we have to look for the others."


    Jack: "But first, I want you to do something for me."


    Lenny: "What is it?"


    Jack: "Do not tell the others of your beast, it could bring you in danger"


    Lenny: "Why? Don''t you trust them?"


    Jack gets silent after Lenny questions him.


    Jack does trust them, but Jack''s first priority is his brother, and to secure his brothers safety as good as he can, it is better that as less people as possible to know about Lenny''s new abilities.


    Jack: "Could you do that for me?"


    Lenny gets silent, thinking about it before giving a quick answer,


    Lenny: "Yeah, I think I can do that."


    In the same moment, Emilia and Ichiro find Jack and Lenny, quickly running to them.


    Emilia: "Jack, quick, we have to go."


    Jack: "Why, what is it?"


    Emilia: "It is Henry; he is fighting Arashi in this exact moment."


    Jack looks at Lenny and Ichiro before nodding, making their way to Henry as quickly as possible.


    ...


    ???: "Arashi"


    A voice says, making Arashi open his eyes to check who it is; it is Hinata who sits on the ground with his head on her legs.


    Arashi: "H-hinata"


    He says exhausted and confused,


    Arashi: "What happened? Where are the¡ª..."


    Hinata: "You lost Arashi, you lost to them, your dream has ended again, and you were proven wrong."


    Arashi gets angry hearing that, but after his long battles and the little rest he had over the past days, his body just can''t take anymore, making him unable to move, only letting him take one big breath, cooling him down,


    Arashi: "I-I lost?"


    Hinata: "Yes indeed, Arashi."


    Arashi: "I never wanted to lose again; it was my fault that Mother died. If¡ªif I just were stronger¡ª..."


    Arashi says sobbingly with tears in his eyes before getting interrupted by Hinata,


    Hinata: "You think Mother would want all this? You, training like a psycho and fighting every strong person you can see? I don''t know what you witnessed on your two-year journey that had changed you to an animal, but now is the time to end it."


    Arashi: "Is¡ªis it really okay for me to stop it all? Have I done enough to pay for my past sins?"


    Hinata: "It never was your fault, Arashi."


    Arashi: "A-are you sure? Am I allowed to be with Mom again?"


    Hinata: "Come back to us; we all miss you, especially Mother."


    Arashi: "I-..."


    Arashi cries; his emotions overwhelmed him, making him unable to say anything or do anything except to cry.

 New beginnings

    Emilia, Ichiro, Jack, and Lenny find Henry lying on the ground. Quickly they get to him to check him.


    Emilia: "Henry..."


    She says, worried, before looking at him with anger,


    Emilia: "Henry, you idiot, wake up."


    She shouts, making Henry jump up from his spot, fully awake and unaware of his situation.


    Henry: "I''m awake."


    Henry looks around, staring into the confused faces of his friends.


    Henry: "Oh hey guys, how are you doing?"


    He says before all of them laugh,


    Ichiro: "Great, Henry is still the same."


    Jack: "What happened with Arashi?"


    Henry: "I beat him, of course; what else did you expect?"


    Everyone gets quiet, shocked by Henry''s response.


    Everyone (except Henry): "YOU DID WHAT?"


    Henry laughs, proud of himself and his feat; he starts making a bright and gigantic smile.


    Emilia hits Henry on the head.


    Emilia: "There''s no time for that; let us leave that psycho-house."


    Everyone nods, agreeing with Emilia, and so they quickly get going.


    ...


    Outside, in front of the main gate, a camp was made for those that were injured by the explosion; there waits Mrs. Mitsunaga, worried about what happened, when an exhausted Hinata drags a wounded Arashi.


    At first Mrs. Mitsunaga is shocked because not only is Arashi with his sister, but he is injured, with wounds that came not only from the explosion but from a fight, indicating Arashi''s loss.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Quick, servants, help them."


    She says, sending servants to aid Hinata and Arashi.


    Hinata: "Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama"


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Hinata, what happened?"


    Hinata: "Arashi got into a fight with one of our guests, but he lost."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga is shocked; she did not expect Arashi to lose this early. She had her theories about what would happen once Arashi lost and how it would change him, but now, seeing him sitting calm and making a sad expression, she is reminded of how he was back then when his mother was still alive.


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "And our guests?"


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    Hinata: "I was with Emilia while the explosion occurred; she protected me, but she went to look for the other guests."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "And Soshi?"


    Hinata: "I am sorry, Mrs. Mitsunaga-sama, I did not hear anything from Soshi."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga: "We have to expect the worst..."


    Mrs. Mitsunaga makes a sad expression, looking at the ground for a few seconds before snapping back. As the Mitsunaga head, she can''t mourn; there is simply no time for that.


    With the explosion that occurred on the Mitsunaga property, not many have lost their lives, but one of those who did was Soshi, who was nearest to the explosion.


    Soon after the group reached the main gate, they met Mrs. Mitsunaga. There, Mrs. Mitsunaga deeply apologized about the incidents that occurred while they were living in her residence.


    Since Mrs. Mitsunaga did not know the reason for the explosion in the moment, she let the group go, even giving them one of her ships at the Tsukikawa harbor.


    For Arashi, losing against Henry and talking with Hinata made him rethink his past. For him, his sister stayed his top priority, but except for sending her away, he tried to stay in her life, making him strive to improve his behavior. But he knows that confronting his past won''t be easy and changing will also take a lot of time and effort.


    ...


    Emilia: "Finally, we are free."


    Emilia stretches her arms into the air after they all reach the Tsukikawa harbor.


    Henry: "And we have a new ship, finally."


    The ship they got from Mrs. Mitsunaga is basically the same ship they had before; since it is one of Mrs. Mitsunaga''s companies that made their past ship, it has all the same features their past ship had, and it even looks newer than the past one.


    They all enter the ship, viewing how it looks like from inside before they all get comfortable on the ship.


    Jack and Lenny are in the sleeping chamber; Emilia is back at the captain''s area while Ichiro and Henry are checking out the kitchen.


    Ichiro: "So, what is our next destination?"


    Henry: "I don''t know; we still have our bounties, so it would be a good idea to first get rid of it."


    Ichiro: "And what is the idea?"


    Henry: "And that is the one thing I am still thinking about."


    They both get silent, thinking hardly for an answer. Ichiro then stretches his finger into the air, making a surprised face.


    Ichiro: "I know the answer."


    Henry: "Don''t make it so exciting; say it."


    Ichiro: "We know who gave you the bounties; why don''t we just confront him and beat him up so that he takes back the bounties?"


    ...


    In the Tsukikawa harbor, it is not unusual if there is news of a minor crime incident. Minor crimes are common everywhere, but after the message of Arashi Mitsunagas defeat had spread like a wildfire, the crime rate became unusually high.


    On the same day, right after the message of the Mitsunaga residencies incident spread, crime bosses around the area tried to claim important areas around the Tsukikawa harbor.


    One of those was a man known all around the Underworld, the Broker.


    After his confrontation with the boss, he left Grenzborg for new territories, and right after the message of the death of the boss was publicly known, he took over everything the boss had left.


    ???: "Broker, the other mob bosses won''t settle with our demands."


    Broker: "Do they know they are talking too?"


    The broker responds to one of his servants, sitting on his new and fancy leather chair in his bureau, which seems to be a room inside of a yacht.


    Broker: "Tell Angelini that if he doesn''t want to settle with the demands, he is at risk of starting a war; now go."


    Right after the servant leaves, the broker lays his head against his table. The chaos that came out of sudden has brought him to his limits.


    Broker: "Whoever beat that monster, I have to thank him for canceling my vacation on this new island I bought."


    He says, frustrated and sarcastic. Suddenly, the same servant, drained in sweat, runs through the door to the broker''s bureau.


    Servant: "Broker, Broker, something has happened."


    Broker rolls his eyes in frustration, gasping loudly.


    Broker: "What is it?"


    The servant takes multiple deep breaths before speaking out.


    Servant: "It is Dracula; he found interest in the chaos around the Tsukikawa harbor."


    The broker quickly snaps, his eyes widely open and his jaw dropped to the ground.


    Broker: "WHAT. D-DRACULA? Did he make any moves yet?"


    Servant: "Apparently he gave the task to one of his closest servants, the border baron of Transylvania; he has the green light to take any matters possible."


    Broker: "Where did you even get all this information?"


    Servant: "One of our insiders directly heard about this; we are the first to receive that information."


    Broker: "And where is this insider you are talking about?"

 The Silver Flash

    Near the Tsukikawa harbor lies an outpost of the underworld organization of Transylvania: the Crimson Court.


    In there the organization of the broker, Underwire, has put an insider to give them classified information that could be of use in this new conflict.


    The insider''s name is Emanuel Rapida, or Manu, as most call him.


    He is tall, has short dark hair, green eyes, and a beautiful smile that wins the heart of any girl.


    Manu was tasked to infiltrate the base and get as much information as possible, so he finds himself in the information center of the base, where he overhears the information of Dracula tasking the border baron to take control of the harbor under any means necessary.


    Manu: "Dracula, what does he want from the harbor? I have to inform the ICD about it."


    What neither the Crimson Court, Underwire, or the Broker knew was that Manu secretly works for the ICD and had successfully infiltrated the Broker''s new organization.


    Manu has a deep hatred for criminals, but he knows that he has to do the dirty work to destroy the Underworld forever.


    So he thinks of a way to distract the mobs until the ICD has enough information to take initiative.


    Manu: "Let them just destroy each other while I have my fun."


    Manu first calls the servant of the broker to inform him of this new information, but then he suddenly notices a sound coming from the door to the information center.


    The door handle gnashes loudly while the door itself is pushed open quickly. Two men dressed in black, each having a red symbol engraved on their breast armor.


    But Manu is unbothered by his current situation; he simply takes a step to the front, to which he suddenly finds himself behind the two men, leaving a silver trail from where Manu originally stood to where he is standing currently. Then a strong wind draft appears, launching the two men and everything that stood between the trail against the wall outside of the door.


    Manu laughs loudly before taking another step, now finding himself outside.


    Manu: "These idiots won''t know what hit them."


    He says it out loud, laughing and smiling until behind him someone approaches him.


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    Soldier: "Hey, what are you doing here?"


    The soldier of the Crimson Court holds his gun at Manu; he then notices Manu.


    Soldier: "Hey, you are the new guy; aren''t you supposed to be outside?"


    Manu holds his hands into the air, slowly turning around to face the soldier.


    Manu: "I have a special mission from the base commander."


    Soldier: "Yeah? Let me talk to him.


    Manu: "You can''t; he is currently taking a nap."


    Before entering the information center, Manu knocked out the base commander in his chamber.


    Soldier: "I will just ask him quickly."


    The soldier pulls out a radio, trying to get contact with the base commander.


    Manu: "Fuck it."


    Manu takes another step, now standing behind the soldier with his gun and radio in his hand.


    The soldier didn''t notice what happened; it all was too fast when suddenly a quick silver flash hit him in the face, breaking his face and launching him away.


    Manu: "Oh, I think I was a little too fast with my punch."


    Manu says, looking at his fist before wiping the blood on it away.


    Manu: "I have to train more so I can have better control over my Awakening, but first the Broker¡ªI heard he wanted to meet me. This will be fun."


    Manu smiles before stretching his body and quickly running at high speed away from the base, leaving only a silver trail behind.


    ...


    The servant rushes again into the broker''s bureau, drained in even more sweat than before and roughly gasping for air.


    Servant: "Broker, the base that our insider infiltrated was attacked."


    Broker: "So what? What happened?


    Servant: "Apparently, they didn''t know what hit them, so they assume it was one of the other mobs."


    Broker: "This is perfect; if Dracula and the other mobsters start to fight against each other, we can just run over them after they weaken themselves."


    Servant: "The ICD is also apparently getting involved in all this."


    Broker: "The ICD? But this isn''t the empire.


    Servant: "Apparently, the empire and the Kagetsu kingdom are operating together in this mess."


    Broker: "This is bad; we have to move now. Tell the captain that he should locate us somewhere else."


    Servant: "Yes, I will inform him immediately..."


    Manu: "Inform him of what?"


    Manu taps the servant on his shoulder from behind, smiling at the broker.


    Broker: "And who are you?"


    Manu: "I am your informant, sir; didn''t you order me to come here?"


    Broker: "You were infiltrating their base until recently; how come you are here this fast-..."


    Broker interrupts himself to think; he puts the puzzle pieces together while he stares at Manus''s smile.


    Broker: "How did the ICD find out so quickly about all this? They must have an informant in one of the involved mobs, and there is only one person inside of the ICD that can travel long distances in a short time: you are the silver flash of the ICD."


    Manus''s smile gets wider after hearing Broker say his nickname out loud.


    Manu: "You''re damn right I am."


    Broker grabs his gun that lies on his table, pointing it at Manu, when suddenly the gun isn''t in his hand anymore but in Manu''s hand.


    Broker: "So, what do you want from me? Are you trying to arrest me? Or even better, do you want to kill me?"


    Manu: "Trust me, I would enjoy killing you; arresting you wouldn''t settle my hunger for revenge, but the ICD sees use in you, so why don''t we just talk a little? You, me, and even your sweaty servant."


    Broker: "So you want me to snitch on my business?"


    Manu: "No, not only your business, but every little detail you have on every mob and organization inside of the Underworld, and don''t let a single detail out."


    Broker: "Who do you think I am? Selling information is what I started my business with."

 Mob war (Part 1)

    Manu: "And with all the information that Broker gave us, we could immediately start an operation, SAC Jenap."


    Jenap: "Can we? We still have to wait for the green light, and you know that."


    Manu: "Sorry, but I think I didn''t hear correctly. Why do we have to wait for a green light with all the information we have?"


    Jenap: "Because if everything is true that Broker had said, this ''mess'' isn''t just only a mess; it''s way bigger than we thought."


    Manu: "This doesn''t make any sense."


    Jenap: "It doesn''t have to be, special agent Rapida; the only thing that has to make sense for you is your mission, which you successfully ended. You can take the rest of your day off; that''s an order."


    Manu is left confused, not knowing why the ICD won''t make any move now.


    Special agent in charge Jenap is a lady with power and seriousness; doing a move against her will, basically means you are trying to get fired, but Manu''s ego won''t just let him ''take the rest of the day off''; after all, he just ran all the way from Broker''s yacht to the ICD outpost, 8 miles from the Tsukikawa harbor.


    Should he listen to his heart and take matters into his own hands? Or to his mind, which shouts to stay on standby and take the rest of the day off.


    Manu hates to decide between two things that are clearly the right things to do.


    Manu: "I hate it; this is not fair; people will die if the ICD takes too long."


    Manu uses his super speed to quickly leave the outpost without anyone noticing.


    Manu: "If I stay hidden at least, SAC Jenap will never find out that I was ignoring her order."


    ...


    ???: "So, the ICD got Broker and dismantled his ''Underwire''?"


    ???: "Yes, correct, the border baron should have given you all the information needed, right? Yuri of Shadows"


    Yuri: "Yes indeed, and you are the base commander that got hit pretty hard, right?"


    Dons: "Base commander Dons, yes. I don''t work with mercenaries, but since it is a direct order, I have no other choice."


    Yuri: "We will have a great time together, Dons."


    Yuri, the stunning mercenary dressed in pitch black, and the dangerously looking base commander, Dons, who has been overwhelmed by Manu once, are now forced to work together to complete the task they have been ordered to: win the conflict of the Tsukikawa harbor for the Crimson Court.


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    ...


    Manu has found himself in the Tsukikawa harbor, spying on a potential crime scene.


    Angelini, the Godfather himself, an elderly man with grey hair, and his mob are expecting a shipment that is supposed to be stolen substances.


    Manu takes out a camera, photographing Angelini and the mobsters before the ship with the supposed substances arrives.


    Mobster (1): "Sir, the ship has just arrived; we will bring the container instantly."


    Angelini: "Tell them they should hurry; I don''t have the whole day; it''s my granddaughter''s birthday, you idiot."


    Angelini''s face turns red from anger, hitting the mobster with his walking stick.


    Mobster (1): "Yes, the container will be here shortly."


    After a while, Manu has fallen asleep, bored from the waiting for something to happen; he didn''t notice the time that flew away while he slept.


    Manu: "Did I, did I fall asleep?"


    Manu slowly opens his eyes, seeing the sky that''s slowly getting darker. Realizing that he missed the potential crime scene, he quickly looks if they are still on the same spot.


    There he notices the true crime scene that had occurred. A bloodbath and corpses everywhere, all of them being the mobsters.


    Manu: "Oh shit... What happened here?"


    Manu quickly gets down from the container he had been spying from, observing it from close.


    Manu: "What the...most of those guys are missing limbs?"


    Manu notices something else: none of the corpses are Angelini.


    Manu: "He did say that it''s his granddaughter''s birthday, but then why were his men still here?"


    He then notices the empty container that wasn''t there before he fell asleep.


    Manu: "Inside of this were the stolen substances, so Angelini was still here when they were attacked, so he either escaped or he has been abducted. But who were the abductors?"


    Manu quickly runs the whole area to look for any more clues, but finds nothing.


    Manu: "Whoever attacked them was a pro, so probably a mercenary, but who sent him? An enemy of Angelini? Another mob?"


    Not only is Manu known as the Silver Flash, but under his peers he is also known as a really good investigator; thanks to his ''Speed Awakening,'' he is able to process information quickly.


    Manu: "But why would I abduct a mob boss and not kill him directly to get money? Revenge? Information? Or just to torture him. As a mercenary, I wouldn''t abduct someone for money only if the order is to do so, but why the mob boss and not one of his family members? I could have gotten the information directly in the same place, so it''s revenge or torture."


    Manu: "I have to find him quickly."


    ...


    Yuri: "Dons, look who I brought."


    Yuri drags a tied-up Angelini behind her before sitting him on a chair inside of a dark room.


    Dons: "So Angelini''s mob will end today, but first I have to take my revenge on him for sending one of his men to infiltrate my base."


    Yuri: "Then let us hear what he has to say."


    Yuri gets close to the tied-up Angelini, ripping away the tape that had closed his mouth and prevented him from talking.


    Angelini takes many deep breaths with his mouth after the tape has been ripped off his mouth before speaking out loud.


    Angelini: "You crazy son of a bitch, who do you think I am? I am Angelini, the Godfather.


    Dons takes his gun and hits Angelini against his head with it.


    Dons: "Shut up and tell me who you sent to infiltrate my base."


    Angelini: "Send? You have the wrong guy. I sent no one to infiltrate you; I don''t even know who you guys are."


    Dons: "Stop lying; was it a mercenary? I want to take out revenge directly on him after I finish with you."


    Angelini: "But I swear, I don''t know who attacked you; just let me free, and I will forget all this, deal?"


    Yuri: "What if he is right? And the person that attacked you was someone else?"


    Dons: "Was it someone from the ICD then?"


    Yuri: "I heard that they have a hidden outpost somewhere here where they also hold Broker."


    Manu, who had been listening for a while now, just realized the damage he caused.


    Manu: "I have to stop them."

 Mob war (Part 2)

    Angelini: "Yes, right, it could have only been the ICD. Now that we solved the riddle, you could let me go."


    Angelini asks, fear is basically written all over his face. He looks at Dons and Yuri for a response, but all he gets is nothing.


    Yuri: "We are picking a fight with the empire and possibly the Kagetsu Kingdom as well; do you really want to risk it?"


    Yuri ignores Angelini, and so does Dons. Angelini''s sweat drops from his face to the ground; scared, he tries to get their attention.


    Angelini: "Yes? Am I free now? Do you listen?"


    Dons: "This would be bad for the Crimson Court, but I have an idea."


    Yuri: "Yeah? Does it involve the guy that has spied on us for a while now?"


    Hearing that, Manu is frightened. Yuri turns in Manu''s direction, smiling wickedly at him and waving at him.


    Manu knows that attacking them without knowing her ability could cost his life, but he also knows that doing nothing will also mean the end for him.


    Manu runs in her direction; already nearly face-to-face with her, he walks past her at Angelini, freeing him from his bondages.


    Angelini: "The White Flash?"


    Manu: "GO."


    At that moment, Yuri runs at Angelini with a wicked smile spreading from one cheek to another and her arm stretched out in his direction. Manu, who did not notice her, gasps when Yuri''s hand touches Angelini''s face.


    Manu, who is about to run at Yuri, notices that the ground underneath him has disappeared, falling into a hole filled with ash.


    Yuri: "Where did you think you were going?"


    Angelini, fearing for his life, stares at Yuri''s pitch-black eyes, seeing nothing but evil and himself reflecting through her eye-lens.


    Manu quickly gets back up, running in Angelini and Yuri''s direction, but it is too late.


    Yuri: "Goodbye."


    Yuri bites her lips, making blood flow out of her mouth, dyeing her evil smile red. Angelini''s eyes turn to Manu, who runs directly at him, but suddenly the only thing that remains from Angelini is nothing but ash.


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    Manu directly runs into Angelini, who had turned into ash, completely being covered in it, falling to his knees.


    Yuri laughs; her laugh gets louder once she sees Manu, who looks at his hands, covered in ash.


    Manu: "You..."


    Yuri''s laugh only gets louder.


    Manu: "You are sick; this is sick; what is wrong with you?"


    Yuri: "What? Don''t you like what I did to him? His life was fueled with crime anyways; you should thank me for getting rid of this scumbag."


    Manu: "But, but not like...this, killing him, you are the same as he was."


    Yuri: "Anyways, you are the Silver Flash; finally I get to meet you."


    Manu: "And you are?"


    Yuri: "This is rude, but we never met before, so I guess it is fair if we make a little game out of it. Hit me, and I will tell you who I am."


    Manu doesn''t wait another second; he quickly gets up and runs at Yuri, making all ash disappear from his body.


    But then Manu notices the outstretched hand, perfectly aligned in his running course. Trying to dodge it last second, he trips over his foot, landing on the ground, away from her.


    Yuri laughs again at Manu while wiping away the blood from her mouth with her dark clothes.


    Manu: "I know her abilities; she must have an ash-type awakening, which makes her extremely dangerous," he says to himself.


    Manu: "And the other guy was the base commander I knocked out, but they know who I am, so this is a problem. I have to finish them here and now," he says again to himself.


    Dons takes out his handgun, shooting at Manu, but Manu quickly disappears from his sight, appearing behind him out of sudden from his view.


    Dons quickly turns around, trying to shoot another bullet at Manu, but he pushes Dons hand with the gun to the ceiling, making him shoot against it.


    Manu then tries to hit Dons, but he quickly moves to the back, dodging a dark spear made out of ash thrown at him from Yuri.


    Yuri creates another spear out of her hand, making it look like she is pulling it out of her palm, before throwing it again at Manu.


    Manu moves away, letting the spear hit the wall, piercing through the thick metal.


    Yuri: "You really are quick, Silver Flash."


    Manu: "Thanks, ash awakening lady."


    Yuri: "So you found out what my ability is; cool."


    Yuri touches the wall behind her, smiling at Dons and then at Manu.


    Dons: "Are you crazy? You are going to kill us all."


    Yuri: "Let us find out."


    Yuri smiles again, laughing loud and hard while turning the walls into ash, making the whole building collapse into itself.


    ...


    Jenap: "Have you heard from Manu yet? Tommy"


    Tommy: "Manu? Weren''t you the one who gave him the ''day off''?"


    Jenap: "I have this weird feeling that he is ignoring my order."


    Tommy: "Not trying to make anything worse for you, but what did you expect by giving him a ''day off''? That he would run home and spend the time forgetting the day?"


    Jenap: "Shit, I should have known better. Why does he always have to make my job harder than it already is?"


    Tommy: "That''s Manu for you."


    ???: "SAC Jenap, it''s important."


    Jenap: "Yes? Special Agent Caramilo


    Caramilo: "The outpost of the Crimson Court has been attacked."


    Jenap: "What? By whom?"


    Tommy: "I can guess who it was."


    Jenap: "Shit, this idiot. Quick, send out a group to investigate."


    Special agent in charge Jenap walks out of the ICD outpost main building with special agent Tommy and special agent Caramilo, followed by a group of agents. Then, gunshots are fired in their direction, hitting at least two agents.


    Tommy: "Quick, to me."


    Tommy goes down to the ground, touching it and making thick walls out of wood appear in front of them, giving them cover.


    Jenap: "Can anyone tell me who is attacking us?"


    She shouts, but her voice is overshadowed by the loud gunshots, hitting the wooden wall behind which she is taking cover.

 Mob war (Part 3)

    Agent (1): "Let me check."


    Jenap: "DON''T."


    The agent peeks over the wooden wall. Jenap, who is next to him, was surprised with a splash of blood coming from the agent''s head after a bullet pierced through his head.


    Jenap: "Oh no..."


    Tommy: "Caramilo, I give you cover; try to see who the attackers are."


    Caramilo nods her head; with all seriousness, she gets up from behind the wooden wall. Tommy then creates two wooden pillars, raising them from the ground in the direction of where he guesses the attackers are shooting from.


    One of the pillars collides with a small tower that was part of the base, making it collapse and with it some of the attackers.


    Caramilo carefully observes the scenery. She notices the black armor of the attackers with the logo of an organization they know very well.


    Caramilo goes back behind the wooden walls right before the attackers shoot at them again.


    Caramilo: "I found out who the attackers are; it''s Underwire."


    Tommy: "What? But we have Broker here..."


    Caramilo: "Are they trying to free him?"


    Tommy: "But it doesn''t make sense; we completely took out the organization; there shouldn''t be anyone left."


    Caramilo: "Maybe Broker lied."


    Tommy: "Or maybe this is all an act?"


    Caramilo: "By whom?"


    Tommy: "WATCH OUT!"


    Tommy pushes Caramilo to the side; he notices one of the attackers standing on the tower beside them who is pointing his gun at them.


    His arm then turns into wood with his hand turning into a sharp blade, which he elongates to the tower, piercing the attacker through his chest.


    Caramilo quickly turns to the direction of SAC Jenap. She notices the attackers on the tower on the other side.


    She creates a bow out of soul-aura, which is then attached to her hand; with her other hand, she creates an arrow, shooting it at the tower.


    The arrow flies at a high speed, making a long, bird-chirping sound while being in the air before hitting the tower and creating a giant explosion at impact, blowing up the whole upper part.


    Jenap turns to Caramilo, waiting for an explanation of what is happening.


    Caramilo: "The attackers have pushed through; we are guessing that they are here for Broker, but we are also considering the possibility of it being an act of another organization."


    Jenap: "Good job; we have to fall back into the building if that is true."


    Tommy: "Let me handle this."


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    Tommy again touches the ground with his hands, quickly letting trees grow out of the ground surrounding them and the building entrance, giving them cover to retreat back into the building.


    Jenap: "Everyone, fall back."


    As Jenap shouts, she hears a disturbing sound from the distance, the sound of someone whistling a song, a song that makes her feel uncomfortable.


    But she ignores it; she brings her attention back to retreating, waiting until everyone has retreated back into the building before she goes in.


    Jenap: "Is everyone inside?"


    Tommy: "Yes, everyone successfully retreated."


    Jenap: "Good, close the doors."


    Caramilo: "Wait, what is with Manu?"


    Tommy and Jenap fall silent; both are feeling unwell about the decision they had made in their heads, but they also both know that they have to do what is best for everyone.


    Jenap: "Close the doors, Tommy."


    Jenap doesn''t lift her head after giving Tommy the command; she falls into silence right afterwards, staring at the ground in sadness.


    Tommy: "Very well."


    Tommy lifts his hand, creating a thick wooden wall right before the entrance, blocking it. He falls silent too, and just like Jenap, he stares at the ground in sadness.


    Jenap: "We are in war right now. Make sure that we have as many agents as possible available inside here and protect Broker; they will not get him under any circumstances."


    Tommy and Caramilo both quickly run to assemble as many agents as possible, gathering all the weapons they have and also freeing Broker from his cell but binding him with handcuffs.


    After their efforts, they sit on the stairs, mourning about their current situation.


    Caramilo: "We shouldn''t have let Manu outside; what if he is in danger?"


    Tommy: "Do we know the same Manu? He has survived much worse situations than the one he probably is in.


    Caramilo: "How do you know that?"


    Tommy: "Because I have known him for a very long time now, wherever he is, he is probably fine."


    ...


    Don opens his eyes; he finds himself outside next to the destroyed base. He looks around, hoping to find anything that could help him now; he then sees Yuri, standing next to a tree, trying to get an apple from its branches.


    Dons: "You idiot, you could have killed me."


    Yuri doesn''t bother to reply to Dons; her focus is completely on getting an apple from the apple tree.


    Dons: "I should have known that you are fucking crazy."


    Yuri sighs loudly, turning half of the tree into ash and making it fall to the side.


    She then grabs an apple and bites it.


    Yuri: "This one is good; I like its sweetness."


    Dons: "Are you even listening to me?"


    Yuri: "No, all I hear is complaining after I saved your life and killed the Silver Flash."


    Dons: "You killed him?"


    Yuri: "I think so; who could survive an entire building collapsing on him?"


    Dons: "Wait, so you didn''t even check?"


    Yuri: "Why should I?"


    Dons: "Because we also were inside there, and we survived."


    Yuri: "Yeah, but only because of my efforts."


    Dons: "You are crazy."


    Yuri: "So what was the plan?"


    Dons: "Don''t worry about it; while you and the Silver Flash fought, I sent out a group of armored soldiers dressed as Underwire."


    Manu: "So that was your plan, I see."


    Manu says from the distance, running at Yuri, trying to hit her, but in perfect timing she dodges his high-speed attack.


    Yuri: "You are quick."


    Manu: "And somehow, I can''t hit you."


    Yuri: "Don''t worry about me; worry about your friends."


    Manu: "I am not worrying about them; they can fight."


    Dons reaches for his gun, but he notices that it isn''t with him anymore.


    Dons: "Shit, my gun."


    Yuri sighs; she shakes her head, disappointed in Dons.


    Yuri: "You were useless from the beginning anyways. Oh, I remembered something."


    Dons: "Don''t worry about me; we can get him. We are two against one."


    Yuri: "But you should worry about yourself; the border baron gave me an order to punish you for your previous failures, but I wanted to play along with you for a while."


    Dons: "Wait, what did you say?"


    Yuri smiles again wickedly; she quickly runs at Dons to grab his face.


    Manu: "No, not again."


    Manu runs at full speed at her, but just as he thinks he''s got her, he finds himself nowhere near her.


    She had turned herself, except for the hand that grabbed Don''s face, into ash, appearing right behind Don so that he is between her and Manu.


    She peeks from behind Dons with her evil glance and wicked smile, laughing loudly while turning Dons into nothing but a figure of ash, which collapses shortly after.


    Manu: "You are sick; weren''t you working together?"


    Yuri: "I had my fun with him, but orders are orders."


    Manu: "Orders? You said something about the border baron; did he hire you?


    Yuri rolls her eyes while grinning widely before holding her hand in front of her mouth.


    Yuri: "Ups, did I really say that?"

 Mob war (Part 4)

    Yuri creates a spear, pulling it out of her hand. She then stares at Manu, grinning from one cheek to the other.


    Yuri: "Come at me, Silver Flash"


    Manu doesn''t say a word; he doesn''t even flinch. He runs at her, stopping before her to then move his arm at her direction with high speed, trying to land a punch.


    Yuri perfectly times it and dodges; she then swings her spear, making Manu move back in high speed to evade and then move back at her, moving his arms at a high speed, making them vibrate to have the same effect as a chainsaw.


    But Yuri blocks every attack he throws with her spear; she then yawns before evading another attack, creating an opening for her to hit Manu.


    He doesn''t see it coming; she kicks him in the stomach before hitting his face with the bar of her spear and then grabbing him by the face.


    Manu''s eyes widen; her palm touches his face. While she palms his head, he realizes the situation he currently is in.


    Yuri''s grin gets disturbingly wider; her madness takes over her. She bites her lips again, painting her grin in blood red.


    Yuri: "This is your end, Silver Flash"


    She laughs loudly, until she hears the sound of something ripping through meat.


    More blood flows from her mouth suddenly; this could not be from her lips alone. She looks down to her stomach, where she notices the hand of Manu, piercing through her gut.


    She automatically lets go of him, holding both her hands onto her open wound.


    Yuri looks at Manu furious, her teeth gnashes and more blood flows out of her mouth right before she gives out a loud scream from her.


    Yuri: "What? Do you think a mere wound like that will kill me? ME?"


    Manu: "I didn''t think that it would kill you, but I won our game, right?"


    Yuri eyes widen, her expression of fury suddenly turns into one of joy, she makes a wide smile, with tears flowing out of her eye balls.


    Yuri: "You haven''t forgotten."


    She says with pure excitement.


    Manu: "How could I? Now give me my price."


    Yuri laughs loudly, as loud as she ever did, before coughing up more blood.


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    Yuri: "I have to go, but you deserve your price, this will not be our last meeting, Silver Flash. Just call me Yuri of Shadows."


    Manu: "Shadows? Do you mean you were part of the Shadow society?"


    Yuri puts her hands in front of her mouth, chuckling a little. She then waves at Manu, slowly dissolving into ash and flying away with the wind.


    Manu drops to the ground, sighing loudly before stretching his limbs a little.


    Manu: "Having a whole building dropped on me surely isn''t pleasant, but at least I got out of this alive."


    Manu remembers what Dons had said about his plan.


    Manu: "Oh shit, I have to go."


    Manu quickly gets up before running at full speed into the distance, leaving a silver trail behind.


    ...


    Tommy: "They are about to break through the wooden wall"


    Jenap: "Good, we are ready for them."


    Jenap, Tommy, Caramilo, and many other agents are getting cover behind wooden barricades, pointing their guns in the direction of the wooden wall, which is blocking the entrance.


    Jenap: "Everyone, get ready; this is our last stand."


    The wooden wall explodes, breaking into pieces and covering the whole entrance in smoke.


    Shortly after the explosion, a group of attacking troops ambush through the entrance, starting to fire at the wooden barricades.


    Some agents are trying to shoot back at them, but the attackers possess too much firepower.


    Tommy lets wooden spikes grow from his back, elongating them in the attackers direction, piercing some of them, but he quickly gets hit too by the bullets.


    The places where he got hit turn into wood before quickly turning back into normal skin.


    Tommy: "They possess too much firepower."


    Then suddenly, a silver trail appears between the attackers all the way to the wooden barricades. Followed by a strong gust of wind, knocking the enemy attackers off their feet.


    Manu then stands on top of the barricade in which Tommy takes cover behind, smiling at him.


    Manu: "Did you miss me?"


    Manu says while winking with his left eye.


    Tommy: "Manu... you are alive?"


    Manu: "No time for that; I gathered a lot of information, but first the attackers."


    Tommy nods; he then grows a giant wooden fist from the ground, punching through the line of attackers. But more appear from the entrance.


    Caramilo then shoots more aura arrows at them, but their numbers increase.


    Jenap then stands up from the barricades, nodding at Tommy.


    Tommy: "EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!"


    He shouts, creating a barrier completely blocking the way between the agents and Jenap, who now is alone with the enemies.


    Jenap then closes her eyes, she then stretches her hand out, letting an blue and silver katana appear.


    She then grabs the katana, opening her eyes, revealing that her eye color had changed to a neon shiny dark blue.


    Jenap: "Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi"


    The very moment Jenap says those words, the whole room illuminates in a bright light, letting the sound of a single swung blade be heard all across the area.


    ...


    Tommy touches the wooden barrier, letting it fall back into the ground. In front of him sits Jenap, on a wooden barricade, in a dark-blue kimono-type dress, and with the blue and silver katana lying on her lap.


    Tommy then sees the gigantic hole, which opens the front area of the base, followed by a path of destruction leading outside of the base and even further.


    Tommy: "Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. What destructive power; you could have used it before," he jokingly says.


    Jenap stands up from the barricade; her clothes turn back to her regular working outfit, and her katana disappears, and with it all her wounds on her body, which dissolves in smoke.


    Jenap: "You know exactly why I couldn''t have used it before."


    Manu gasps in shock after seeing the destruction before him.


    Manu: "This was all you, SAC Jenap?"


    Jenap: "Good, you are alive; we have to talk."

 Conclusion

    Inside of Jenap''s bureau, she and Manu are having a conversation. The part of her bureau behind her has been completely destroyed, since her bureau is located over the entrance.


    Jenap: "So, mind explaining to me why we were attacked in the first place?"


    Manu chuckles a little; he knows that nothing good comes from an eye-to-eye conversation with her.


    Manu: "It was all a plot of the base commander from the outpost of the Crimson Court."


    Jenap: "Wait, what?"


    Manu: "Yes, I came in direct contact with him; we fought eventually. There I found out that he is a direct subordinate of the border-baron of Transylvania."


    Jenap: "So, are you telling me that Transylvania has been pulling the strings in this mess this whole time?"


    Manu: "Based on the information Broker gave us and on what I directly heard, yes."


    Jenap: "This is bad. If that''s true, then this mess is way bigger than we thought. You fought him, right? So, you probably arrested him, right?"


    Manu falls silent; he presses his lips against each other while raising his eyebrows.


    Manu: "He is dead."


    Jenap: "Were you the one who killed him?"


    Manu: "No, there was someone else."


    Jenap: "Who was it?"


    Manu: "A mercenary, her name is Yuri."


    Jenap: "Yuri? Does she also have a full name?"


    Manu becomes silent again, making Jenap curious. For personal reasons he isn''t able to tell her Yuri''s complete name.


    Manu: "No, she told me it''s only Yuri."


    Jenap: "If you know something, then this is the perfect timing to tell me."


    Manu: "I wish I could, but this is all I know."


    Jenap stares at Manu with curiosity; she knows that Manu is hiding something from her, but she is more curious about why he is hiding something rather than what.


    Jenap: "Alright, then tell me about the basement of them that had been attacked."


    Manu: "It wasn''t attacked; it was one of their own that had destroyed it."


    Jenap: "Was it Yuri?"


    Manu: "Yes, she used her ability to drop the building on top of me¡ª..."


    Manu interrupts himself; he quickly goes through everything he knows about what had happened in that mess, calculating everything together.


    Manu: "Oh no, I think I found something."


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    Jenap: "What? What did you find?"


    Manu: "She wasn''t sent to aid or only to kill the base commander; she was sent to destroy all the evidence we have against them, and with that all our evidence of Transylvania''s involvement in this mess is gone."


    Jenap: "What do you mean? How"?


    Manu: "She destroyed the base, killed the base commander, and with the attack she even erased all the evidence we have gathered from Broker, and with her help they erased every opposing organization in this conflict."


    Jenap: "So this whole time, we played directly into their hands."


    Manu: "Does this mean...?"


    Manu falls again into silence.


    Jenap: "Yes, we lost."


    Following the conflict over the Tsukikawa harbor, the worth of the harbor has drastically dropped; with this, the Mitsunagas have decided to sell major shares of it to Transylvania. They had offered a gigantic amount of money for its low price, something the Mitsunagas couldn''t have declined while being in the middle of their crisis.


    With that, the ICD was forced to move their outpost from the area.


    ...


    Surrounded by the harbor lies a small town, technically still part of the harbor; it bears the same name, that''s why people call it the ''Tsukikawa harbor town.''


    There, Henry and Emilia are walking around, looking for something.


    Henry: "We have been here for two days now; are we going to depart soon?"


    Emilia: "It is not easy to just travel to Transylvania, especially not since I have three guys with their faces on a wanted poster on board."


    Henry: "Can''t we just start and drive to wherever it is?"


    Emilia: "How when we don''t even have a map, dummy?"


    Henry: "Can''t we just buy one?"


    Emilia: "First, with what money? Second, maps to Transylvania can''t be bought in every map shop."


    Henry gets confused; he tries to think of a way to solve the problem, but he isn''t able to come to a conclusion.


    Emilia: "Don''t bother; what we need is an informant or an insider who knows the way."


    Henry: "And how do we find someone like that?"


    Emilia: "Lucky for you, I have experience from my time in the underworld," she says, winking at him with an eye.


    Henry and Emilia now stop in front of a building; on it is a sign that says ''Maliha''s Bar.''


    Henry: "Is this the place?"


    Emilia: "I think so; I never have been here before."


    Together, they enter the mysterious bar. At first glance it seems like an empty, old bar that never had seen a customer before, but then they notice the dark-haired woman with round glasses drying glasses behind the bar.


    Emilia: "Are you Maliha?"


    Maliha: "Bar''s closed."


    Emilia: "I heard you have information that we need."


    Maliha: " The bar is closed; are you deaf?"


    Henry: "Come on, please; this is a life-and-death situation, and the information you have could help us a lot."


    Maliha: "Kid, am I looking like I have time for your playground shit? Bother your mother or something with your games, but leave me the fuck alone. Bar''s closed; leave.


    Emilia: "Don''t bother, Henry."


    Emilia walks up to the bar; she leans sideways against the counter in front of him, trying to make a serious expression, basically copying Jack''s ''cool-guy tone.''


    Emilia: "Look, I know what you want; it''s some good ol'' cash, right? I have it here, but you have to talk."


    Emilia winks at her; she then puts her hands deep inside her pockets, grabbing two banknotes and some coins.


    She looks surprised at her hand.


    Emilia: "I expected that I would have a little more money."


    Maliha: "Am I a joke to you? LEAVE."


    Emilia and Henry find themselves outside of the bar. Together they are sitting at the bar''s stairs, kicking stones on the street and hitting misery.


    Henry: "What now? The others are expecting something from us."


    Emilia: "I don''t know; I thought it was easier than that to get information about Transylvania."


    Henry: "Yeah, I guess I will have to stick with that bounty a little longer."


    Emilia: "I have seen that it has risen."


    Henry: "Really?"


    Emilia: "Yeah, around double or probably more."


    Henry: "That sounds cool, but at the same time also sad."


    Emilia: "We have to be more careful then; more bounty hunters will try to kill you from now on, or who knows who is currently watching us from behind."


    Henry exhales loudly; together with Emilia, he goes back to hitting misery.


    Suddenly, Maliha walks out of the bar; she then stops behind Emilia and Henry.


    Maliha: "You two, come back in; I have something that might interest you."


    Emilia and Henry turn their heads, staring at each other before quickly getting up, following Maliha inside the bar.


    There they notice someone sitting by himself on a table.


    Maliha: "That guy you see there? He wants to talk to you.