Chapter 3: Bran the Bully
They stood beside the river surrounded by a fog.
Kuroiichi stood before Kaiser, "Demons die under the sun, and the only way to kill them is to destroy their brain using mana.
As demon hunters, we have two main goals: one is to protect and hunt down the soul demons. And the second goal is to find the source of this curse."
"Big Brother Kuroiichi, what do you mean find the source?"
"For the past hundreds of years, no one has figured out how or when demons came to be. We are completely in the dark when dealing with these demons, and our only hope of winning is to learn more about them"
They walked along the river, and found themselves in a rocky stretch.
The silver coloured environment was filled with sizes of boulders and rocks, there was no green to be seen.
Kuroiichi continued, "Demon hunters mostly use swords as it is the most efficient way to kill a demon, it makes it really easy to just slice their head"
Kuroiichi pointed at a distance, "You see that boulder?"
"Yes" answered Kaiser.
Like electricity, an intense crackling sound echoed out. And before Kaiser could process it, the boulder was instantly obliterated into pieces.
"What just happened?" Kaiser exclaimed
"That was a Kaidan. I used a technique called Kaidan, which is outside the four natural elements.
Anyway we won't go deep into that, for now we'll focus on teaching you how to use your mana." And began the training.
...
Multiple field of swordsmanship; Stances, swinging, dodging. Kuroiichi taught Kaiser every detail in the field of sword, and they spent the whole day learning concepts and how mana is utilized.
The day was used productively, and Kaiser was a fast learner in which he understood concepts rather easily.
The next day came like a blink, and Kaiser was ready to train again.
"I did more than 10,000 swings yesterday, and memorized the stances Big Brother Kuroiichi taught me" He rubbed his sword with a piece of cloth, cleaning it.
"And magic is even more amazing than I imagined, I never thought I could produce real water using my sword technique."
He got up from his seat, and unsheathed his sword.
He looked at a distance and stared at the boulder that stood beside the river.
He muttered, "Water Style: Ocean Slash!" A crescent shaped water flew out from Kaiser's sword, and cleanly slashed the boulder in half...
"You never fail to impress me, Kaiser" Kuroiichi walked towards him.
"Big Brother Kuroiichi"
"Listen Kaiser, after our training you will go to a city called Maelstrom, and there you'll attend the academy for demon hunters"
"Academy? Do I need to attend one?"
"The academy stands to nurture new demon hunters, you'll have the resources to become stronger there. And yes, you need to go there to become a demon hunter.
And Kaiser"
"What is it?"
"I'd appreciate it if you could keep our training and meeting a secret"
"Okay" Kaiser agreed immediately
"Are you not going to ask me why?"
"If you don't want me to reveal it, there must be a reason for it."
With a smile he patted on Kaiser's head, "Thank you Kaiser, you are a good person"
…
'Maelstrom City' was a city cradled inside a mountain. It was the largest city in the North, and was governed by Clan Maelstrom. The houses were mostly made of wood and stones, and the roads paved with rocks.
Kaiser spent the remaining month training relentlessly, never skipping a single day. His stats went up, and even learned a list of new techniques.
The productive month ended, and now Kaiser had to part way with his caring Big Brother.
"I took care of everything, so you won't have a problem inside the city. Don't slack off Kaiser." Mist enveloped the forest, the birds and rabbits still sleeping soundly.
"You'll find yourself stronger than your peers, but never let your guard down and become arrogant. You might want to show off, or maybe not. But remember to keep up with your training" Said Kuroiichi.
Kaiser nodded, "I'll make sure to remember your words.
You probably won't need to, but be careful Big Brother Kuroiichi" They hugged each other, and Kaiser finally began his journey to Maelstrom City.
…
The mist began clearing up, and the further Kaiser went from the mountain, the colder it got. Kaiser walked in a field where there were no trees, only grass and plants. And the air and sky started becoming whiter and whiter.
"The sun is finally coming up, but looks like there are no clear sky. let's eat some apple"
He looked over to the horizon where the mountains stood, "Mizugawa City huh? This will be my first time meeting other people.
Open profile…"
"CLING!"
[ STATUS ]
NAME: Kaiser
STATE: Earth-0
AGE: 13
ATTRIBUTES:
- Enhanced Stamina Lv. 10
- Enhanced Strength Lv. 10
- Enhanced Speed Lv. 10
- Mana Retention Lv. 12
- Water Affinity
SKILLS:
- Void Style Lv. 1
- Water Style Lv. 5
He read his profile as he walked, "Looks like they're still at Level 10, my attributes have been stuck for a while now except Mana Retention.
And this Void style, it's in my skills but I can't even use it or open its description."
He walked under the thin gleam of sunlight, and took a big bite out of his green apple.
And while Kaiser was making his way to the city, Maelstrom had its own event going on inside.
***Inside Maelstrom City***
"I heard there's going to be a new transfer student in the academy, who is he?" The man sat on the throne, he was the king of the city.
The King's Pillar replied, "His name is Kaiser, my Lord.
Our upper demon hunter, and also your daughter, Tomoe Maelstrom personally vouches for him. I think he will be an interesting fellow."
"I see, if my daughter is taking care of it, then I suppose I have nothing to worry about.
You can go now, I need some time alone"
"Of course, my Lord"
The city was lively and crowded day and night, but Tomoe did not like it inside.
There was a field of sand on the outskirts of the city, where Tomoe Maelstrom went every afternoon.
She looked at them, "You two are from the Maelstrom Academy aren't you? You'll have to try harder if you wish to become a demon hunter" She talked in a cold, calm voice. Her hair and eyes were dark blue, and wore a cloak of the same colour.
"B-But you're an upper demon hunter, there's no way we could even touch you" One of the boys cried out as he held his wounded arm.
The other boy cried out as well, "That's right. There's no student who could touch you, or even graze you. We asked you to train us so we could become stronger, but you just keep beating us up"
The two boys ran away in anger, they did not see a point in training with Tomoe.
She sighed, "I made multiple openings in my defense on purpose, yet they could not even see it." She looked up to the sky.
"13 years have passed since the Seven Years Curse, new talents should've emerged by now…" A hopeless look settled on her face.
***
Kaiser ran with heavy, short breaths.
"I have been running for at least an hour, but I should be able to reach the city sooner this way.
This is still nothing compared to the hell training I did on Thror Mountain anyway." He sprinted even faster.
After a few more hours of running, Kaiser finally reached Maelstrom City before sundown.
His breath smoked out in the cold weather, but he was lucky to have a cloak that Kuroiichi gave him.
He stared at the city from afar, and drank his water from the waterskin.
"It really is built inside a mountain…I made it this far thanks to Big Brother Kuroiichi, I'll make sure to repay him when I get stronger"
He made a slow approach, closely looking at the structures of Maelstrom City as he walked.
30 feet of stone walls surrounded the inside, and there were four towers at the corner with guards situated on it.
"Hmm, are those people?" Kaiser saw something moving just outside the walls.
"What are they doing?" He decided to walk closer, and watched them from behind a tree
"Come on you filth! Stand up and fight"
"Are you going to cry and tell mommy? Or are you going to cry and run away?" They laughed at the boy as they kicked him and stomped him.
A group of five boys, and their leader Bran were standing circle to a boy who was lying on the ground. They were bullying him, calling him a filth and a weakling that did not know how to fight.
The boy's name was Lucas, a boy who had the brains but not the brawn. He was smarter than most people, but ever since he was admitted to the Maelstrom Academy he was constantly bullied by the other kids.
In an environment that glorified strength and talent with the sword, he never found a friend to accompany him. He became just a boy that other students never looked at seriously.
Kaiser saw what was going on, he scoffs. "The strong bullying the weak…I never thought this would be the first thing I saw in this city" Kaiser reached for his leather pack, and took out a piece of cloth to use as a mask.
...
Lucas spoke up, "I-I will not tell anyone" He stood up from the ground, sobbing. "And, and I won't cry either. You guys are just bullies that only pick on people weaker than you"
"Tch—" Bran the bully clicked his mouth in anger.
Bran unsheathed his sword, and pointed it at Lucas' face.
"Oh so you're a hero knight now? Let me show you what happens to weak heros then!"
Without a thought on his mind, Bran the bully swung his sword as hard as he could; it was a swing that would undoubtedly kill a 13 year old boy had it landed…
"Don't you think you're going too far?" A voice suddenly appeared from behind. It was Kaiser, who grabbed the wrist of Bran making him completely immovable.
The bully Bran could not swing it even an inch further, it was as if it was stuck inside a stone.
"Who…who're you?!" He yelled out
"Attempting to kill someone for standing up for themselves. Don't you think you're going too far?" Kaiser calmly asked with a piece of cloth covering his face.
Bran shouted in anger, "This is none of your problem! Get him!!" The other five bullies rushed forward, jumping in all at once to catch Kaiser.
But like a soundless shadow, Kaiser was already gone from their sight.
"Huh? Where did he go?" They exclaimed in confusion.
They looked around the area in panic, and at a distance they saw that Kaiser, already standing beside Lucas.
"Hi there, are you alright? What's your name?" Kaiser asked
"M-My name is Lucas"
"Okay Lucas, just stay here"
Kaiser slowly turned around, glaring into the eyes of Bran and his friends. He raised his right arm, pointing at the group of bullies.
"You brats…let's see you try and do the same thing to me?"
End of chapter 3.