A heavy, suffocating darkness pressed down on my eyelids. My body felt as if it were made of lead, each breath a struggle against an invisible weight. Slowly, painfully, I forced my eyes to open. The world was a blurry mess of shadows and dim light, but a familiar voice pierced through the fog.
"Kaelo? Can you hear me? Stay with us, buddy!"
The voice belonged to Luke. As my vision cleared, I saw his worried face hovering over me. A sharp, throbbing pain pulsed through my temples—a lingering souvenir from my encounter with the Giant Boar. The last thing I remembered was the collision of steel and tusk, followed by a world-shattering impact.
"Where... where am I?" I croaked, my throat feeling like I had swallowed dry sand.
"Relax," Luke said, letting out a long sigh of relief. "We're at Grandmother Banbwa's house. She's a local healer who specializes in the path of Incantations. You're lucky we got you here when we did. A few minutes more, and the internal bleeding would have been fatal."
I looked around the small, earthen hut. It smelled strongly of dried herbs and pungent salves. An elderly woman, her face a map of deep wrinkles and her eyes sharp with annoyance, stood by a boiling cauldron.
"If you're awake enough to talk, you're awake enough to leave!" she barked, her voice like grinding gravel. "Pay the fee and clear out. I have other patients who aren't as reckless as you children."
Luke reached for his coin pouch, but I held up a shaky hand to stop him. "No... it was my fight. I'll pay my own way."
Despite the protest of my aching muscles, I pulled a small stack of Riya from my belt. At that moment, Luke handed me a separate heavy leather pouch.
"This is your share, Kaelo," he said. "We sold the Rank 2 Atara Stone from that boar. After the Guild took its cut, your portion is 5,000 Riya. Also, the merchant caravan we saved was so grateful they added an extra 3,000 Riya as a bonus for your bravery. You were out cold for two hours, but you're a rich kid now."
By evening, we were back on the road, heading toward Boro on foot. The sky had turned a deep indigo, and the first few stars of Aster began to twinkle through the canopy. We decided to make camp near a clear, crystal-blue lake.
As the campfire crackled, the aroma of roasting boar meat filled the air. On Aster, there is a fundamental difference between a regular animal and a Monster—Monsters contain an Atara Stone, a core of pure energy that grants them supernatural strength and abilities. Eating the meat of such a beast felt like eating lightning; I could feel the energy surging back into my tired limbs.
After the meal, we took turns bathing in the lake to wash away the blood and grime of battle. The water was icy, but beneath the moonlight, it felt like a baptism. When it was my turn to sit by the fire, Luke sat down across from me, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
"Kaelo," he started, staring into the dancing flames. "Why do you want to be a Slayer? You're ten years old. You have the talent to be a scholar or a nobleman's guard. Why risk your life in the dirt?"
I looked at him, then at Rim and Mason who were sharpening their blades nearby. "What about you, Luke? Why are you here?"
He let out a dry, hollow laugh. "Money. Simple as that. My parents died when I was ten. I have a younger sister back home who depends on me. I'm thirteen now, and every Riya I earn goes toward her education and safety. I don't have a choice."
My heart went out to him. In my past life as Ryuji, I had no one. In this life, I saw people fighting for those they loved. I looked up at the vast, azure sky, the twin moons of Aster rising in the distance.
"I have a dream, Luke," I said, my voice quiet but unshakable. "I was a shadow once... someone who didn't matter. In this world, I want to be the light. I'm going to become the greatest Slayer this planet has ever seen. Not just for the power, but so that no monster can ever take away a family again."
The silence that followed was filled with mutual respect. We weren't just a group of kids anymore; we were warriors with a purpose.
The next morning, we reached the outskirts of Boro. But instead of the usual peaceful gates, we were met with a scene of absolute carnage.
A pack of fifty Steel-Jawed Wolves—Rank 1 beasts standing two meters tall with metallic fangs—were launching a coordinated assault on the city walls. A few exhausted city Slayers were struggling to hold the line.
"Positions!" I roared, the adrenaline instantly numbing my old wounds.
Luke moved first. He activated Circulation, his blade erupting in a sheath of roaring flames as he carved through the wolf pack like a hot knife through butter. Rim closed her eyes, her hands clasped in Prayer. A barrage of miniature suns—fireballs of pure light—rained down from the sky, scorching the earth.
Mason stood firm, she voice echoing in a rhythmic Incantation. "Frost of the deep, bind the earth!" he shouted. Suddenly, the ground beneath the wolves froze solid, trapping their paws in jagged ice.
I saw my opening. I dashed forward, my Steel Gauntlets manifesting in a flash of blue light. I moved with the speed of a predator, my fists becoming a blur of kinetic energy. With every punch, a wolf's iron-like skull shattered. Within minutes, the fifty-strong pack was reduced to nothing but cooling carcasses and glowing white stones.
When we entered the Guild hall to report, the atmosphere changed. The receptionist looked at our report, then at the two Rank 2 stones I placed on the counter.
"Kaelo," she said, her voice filled with awe. "You've defeated two Rank 2 monsters in a single week and led a successful defense of the gates. By the authority of the Black Sword Guild, you are hereby promoted to SR (Slayer Rank) 2."
A cheer erupted from the hall. Luke, Rim, and Mason exchanged glances before turning to me.
"We want to make this official," Mason said. "Kaelo, will you form a Party with us? A permanent team. We've seen what you can do. We want you to lead us."
In the world of Slayers, a Party is more than a team; it's a family bound by blood and contract.
"I'd be honored," I replied with a smile. "And I already have a name for us. From this day forward, we are 'Blue Sky'. Because no matter how dark the world gets, the sky is always waiting to turn blue again."
The following weeks were a blur of training and hunting. As a team, we were unstoppable. We hunted Level 2 Giant Boars and navigated treacherous marshes, our synergy growing with every mission. I used the time to secretly practice the remaining eight paths of Atara, realizing that Adaptive Learning allowed me to combine Mason's incantations with my own physical strikes.
But as the days bled into weeks, the atmosphere in Boro grew tense with anticipation. The month of Maizara came to an end, and the first morning of Chatalee arrived.
The air was electric. Banners were being hung from every balcony, and warriors from across the continent were pouring into the city. The Great Boro Tournament was no longer a distant dream.
I stood on the balcony of our new team headquarters, looking out over the arena. My Rank 2 badge caught the morning sun.
"Earth had its limits," I whispered to the wind. "But on Aster... I'm just getting started."
The Tournament was here. And the legend of Blue Sky was about to be written in gold.