"... Mmgghh..."
As Rin opened her eyes, she felt the pain in her stomach slowly coming in. As she held her stomach that slowly cramped up, she looked beside her to see Kuro sleeping as he sat with his arms crossed, weapon in hand.
"... Kuro..." She tries to reach for Kuro's hair. Suddenly, Kuro wakes up and almost grabs her arm in an instant, which surprises her.
"Haa... You scared me Rin." Kuro let down his hand and sheathed his weapon.
"... Why are you here?"
"Don't you remember? You were almost kidnapped. You were lucky I found you before you were taken. What were you doing last night?"
"I was... Looking for you."
"... I see... Anyways, I tried healing you, but for some reason, my magic can't affect you. I can't do anything beyond that point but get an apothecary seeing as my magic won't work."
"Nn, thank you. I'll be fine."
"Alright, Rai told me to tell you to go rest for the time being. I'll be leaving for now."
Kuro then ruffles her hair and smiles happily.
"Have fun with your break, okay?"
"... Nn."
"Okay, someone will bring you your breakfast so I'll be leaving for now. They said that it'll be a maid, so if it's a male, scream as loud as you can. I'll be going now, bye."
As Kuro left the room, the bright atmosphere slowly diminished as she laid down on the bed once more.
"Haa... It's lonely here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Kuro walked down the halls, he sees a maid coming to the opposite of his direction, carrying food.
"Ah, young master. Have you had your breakfast yet?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'll have it soon, I just wanna stretch my body for now. If you may, just tell the others I'll eat at the table. Just ready the food, no need for drinks or any other servants. Eat when you need to and rest when you need to when you're with me, I won't tell."
The maid had a relieved look as she released her tension from her shoulders, "Alright young master." She leaves as she smiles.
"Alright, I guess I'll explore some parts of this castle for now."
Kuro walked down the huge halls of the castle, observing the other soldiers train outside as some of the servants fix the garden. Kuro also saw some of the students running around playing while some sparred with one another. As he continued walking, he found himself standing in front of a big door. There, he could hear Rai's voice along with a burly man's voice.
"Kuro, I know you're at the door, come in."
Kuro sighs as he gently opens the door.
"Come."
As Kuro entered the room, Rai grabbed him on the opposite shoulder and introduces him to Zeoth.
"Zeoth, this is the kid I was talking about."
"Ah, the silver kid!"
"Wait you told him?"
"Yeah, don't worry, we can trust him. He already knows about you and your reincarnation and race."
"Damn you told him about everything huh."
Kuro faces the King and bows to him.
"I greet you, your highness, my name is Kuro Aagney Sylphias. Like you, I am also a King. However, I am still young and immature, so my 'King' ability can't be used yet. Please take care of me."
"Wow, this kid's got some manners!"
"If I may, I am no young man as I am internally an adult man at the age of 32."
"Well, you're still a kid on the outside, so be one! You were reincarnated so enjoy your youth!"
Kuro nods as he stands up.
"Rai, this kid's stiff huh?"
"He's just not used to you yet. Trust me, once he does, he'll start punching you and messing around."
"So he is immature... Come here kid."
Zeoth grabbed Kuro's head and stared into his eyes.
"I see... So he really holds the power of a 'Silver King'... Alright, I've decided!"
Zeoth stands up smiling as he stretches his back.
"I'll train this kid up!"
"Alright. By the way, where's Yild?"
"Ah, she's training our daughter. Although she has an insane amount of mana, she can't really utilize it."
"I see..."
Kuro then looks at Rai, "Why can't you train her then?"
Rai shakes his head, "She's a special case. Her mana is... Very different in my case. Maybe you can do something about it in one of the stories you've read."
"... As if."
Rai continued staring at him before sighing, "Zeoth, I'll go to the other kids and do their training. You go take care of him. Be rough, he learns better that way."
"Aight. Kid, you ready?"
Kuro nods.
"Follow me. I'll have to assess you first."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Zeoth opens a huge door, inside, there was a huge blank arena with 5 people sitting in a circle, waiting.
"So, he's the kid?" A black haired man stands up as he asks Zeoth.
"He is. They already know your circumstance Kuro, you can show them."
Kuro closes his eyes and swipes his hair from the bangs up to the back. His hair color slowly turns from black to silver as his eyes turn into crimson as he opens them once more. The 5 and even Zeoth stood in awe.
"I didn't know that silver looked... Smooth." Zeoth says as he kept looking at Kuro's hair.
"So, who am I going to spar with?"
"Ah, *ehem* ahhh... You pick." Zeoth pushes him towards the 5.
'Inspect.'
"... You." Kuro points to the girl with white hair.
"So, you're going to fight me? Why? Because I look the weakest?"
"No, because I feel like you're the strongest."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Loile Ishra
Titles:
The Earthen Kingdom's strongest Royal guard
Race: Half-elf, Half-dwarf
Class: Mage slayer (Assassin/mage)
Stats:
MP: 12419/12419
Str: 194
End: 199
Vit: 25
Dex: 156
Agi: 241
Int: 280
Skills:
Wind magic - Lvl MAX
Null magic - Lvl MAX
Lightning magic - Lvl MAX
Status: N/A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other royal guards looked at each other, as if communicating to one another, 'This kid crazy?'
"I see... But be warned, I'm one of the only sparring partners of the King that could match his full power. Are you still sure?"
Kuro smiles creepily, "Yes."
Everyone in the room once again became surprised.
'So this is what Rai said... That Kuro really is crazy.'
~~~~~~~~
Kuro changed his clothes into the battle garments given to him. It was a skin-tight sleeveless suit that covers his torso and lower body. There were no footwears given, but because of the room itself, it wasn't needed at all. The only thing Kuro could take with him in the spar was his bladeless sword.
Kuro prepared himself in front of his opponent, Loile. He did his stance once more, identical to his stance against Zane when he first fought him.
"3... 2..."
Loile prepared herself, holding her 2 daggers in a reverse style.
"1... GO!"
Loile dashed onto Kuro, but he still doesn't move.
'Assassin arts: Dragon's fang!'
'Dangerous.'
Kuro dodged by blasting condensed mana on his right foot and charged onto her.
'Wah-?!'
'Original sword art: Moon style: New Moon.'
Kuro's blade condensed into a needle, stabbing at high-speed, piercing through wind resistance and creating a loud bang as it broke through the sound barrier. The sound wasn't caused just by the sword, it was also caused by Kuro's arm immediately becoming severely broken and dislocated. Kuro misses as Loile already knew he was about to attack, but she felt something she hadn't felt before in a long time. Fear.
'Sweat? Why am I... Shaking?'
Loile held her shaking hand as Kuro held his right shoulder.
'FUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK! IT FUCKING HURTS SO DAMN MUCH! AAAAAHHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! IT ALL HURTS!... But... IT'S SO FUN!'
Kuro breathed in and out as he tried looking at Loile, who was pretty much paralyzed as well.
'Have I grown dull since I was leniently training?'
'GUIDE! NUMB MY PAIN RECEPTORS AND FOCUS RECOVERY IN MY ARM!'
'Understood Sir.'
As Loile had calmed down, Kuro stood up with his sword on his left arm.
"I'm sorry child, but I'll have to go serious."
"As shall I."
Kuro puts his left hand above his right shoulder, with his sword in hand. Loile crouches herself as she holds out her daggers.
'Mage slayer art: Thunderclap.'
'Original sword art: Moon style: Rising Mo--'
*TSSSS*
Before Kuro could even cast his sword art, Loile had already beaten him to it. Kuro knelt down as blood exploded from his body. Their healer, Selene, was about to get close and Loile was about to calm herself down. However, Durn, their tanker, felt Kuro's mana about to burst and yells at Loile and grabs Selene back.
"LOILE! BEHIND YOU!"
As Loile hears her friend, she looks back to see a huge mana slash flying at her face. She evades it by bending her body, but the intent behind that slash didn't contain any intention to continue sparring. Everyone saw Kuro's bloodied body immediately get healed. His limbs getting covered in silver scales, his horns rising from his head and his wings and tail popping out from his garment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warning! User has taken unexpected lethal damage!
Initiating emergency survival protocols!
The skill, 'Ancestral transformation' has been temporarily unsealed.
The title 'The Silver King' has been temporarily unsealed.
Activating hidden 'Awakening' skill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuro's body slowly turned into a full bipedal dragon with his head still being completely human excluding the horns. His body emanating both gray and silver energy, his pupils gaining slits similar to a reptile's, his hair slowly getting longer down to his back. As his transformation finished, he slowly floated mid-air and screams as if he had finally been freed.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!"
Everyone readied their weapons, it was a subjugation that could cost them their own life and the kingdom's if they were to make him progress any further. Suddenly...
"Take a break kid."
'Goliath's fist.'
"-?!"
Zeoth flashes behind him and punches his head onto the ground. Kuro slowly transforms back to his human form. His horns, wings and tail slowly retracting, his scales slowly dissipating, his nails turning normal once more and his mana slowly weakening.
"Haa... This kid really is troublesome. Loile, I thought I told you not to use any lethal moves? You do know that that kid couldn't live had he not have that kind of defensive mechanism, right?"
"I'm sorry sir, heat of the moment."
"Well, it's okay. Being honest is good, but please don't get carried away again. Although, Rai did say that it's best to go serious on him, I'm still afraid."
"But sir... Although that move was supposed to be fatal, I didn't intend to fully attack him. I expected him to defend himself, but..."
"It's okay it's okay. If you're saying that, then he must have done something. But if any of you were to do that again..."
Zeoth looks at his fist that rapidly shook with pain.
"I'm afraid that there won't be a second time, so be careful."
"""""-?!"""""
The fact that even their King cannot guarantee their safety already meant that Kuro was at the level of the past Oni King brothers. A calamitous event that costed them half of the whole Kingdom. If it weren't for Rai and Merlin being there, the Kingdom would've been used as a nesting grounds for those monsters.
Suddenly, the huge door behind them opens, showing a scared Rai.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"Rai! You felt that?"
Rai looked around and saw Kuro knocked down, head on the ground.
"Haa... Thank goodness..."
"... Rai, I know he's strong, but not this strong. That kid could match the Oni brothers alone!"
"I know. But, what happened? Why'd he go out of control all of a sudden?"
They suddenly heard mumbles.
"What?"
Kuro then pushes his head off the ground.
"It's my fault. Ah geez luiz, d'you have to punch me that hard? Gosh damn..."
"Wait what do you mean it's your fault?"
"I had a theory. When that monster killed my family and was about to kill me, I did the same thing. I deactivated my mana barrier at the time Ms. Loile struck me to test it out."
"... Rai, this kid's fucking reckless and stupid at the same time."
"Don't look at me, he's been like this when we met."
"Oy, don't talk about me like I'm some sort of Asylum patient."
""That's because you're fucking crazy.""
Kuro was then healed by Selene, which Kuro continuously apologized to. As everyone fixed themselves, Rai let Kuro go on his own while Rai talked to Zeoth and his royal guards.
"So Rai... Wanna explain his abilities?"
"Yeah, but the problem is the fact that even I don't know his full abilities. All I know is the fact that he's powerful and that even I got scared."
"... Rai."
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can knock him out again."
"Why?"
"... Try to check my arms, they haven't been healed yet so you can try to see the full damage I took by punching him."
"This is..."
Rai was astonished to see Zeoth's bones. He could see through the use of one of his magic spells. Zeoth's bones were fully cracked, as if one reckless action could blow his bones to smithereens.
"Selene, please heal me."
"Yes sir."
"Rai, if he hadn't been surprised by that attack, he could've killed all of us. Luckily, he didn't expect me to be so fast, but if I were to try that again, he would surely have a defense already."
"I... I'll think of a solution, for now... Please bear with him, I beg you."
Zeoth laughs haughtily, "Even if you don't beg, he already interests me. And you want to prevent the prophecy from happening right? That's why I'll help you out my friend. If this action of mine could save the world, then I'll gladly do so, betting my title as a King."
Rai smiles at the words of his friend, "Thank you, Zeoth."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuro, bored at the castle, decided to walk around the kingdom, buying food with money given to him by Rai. As Kuro explored the whole place, he looked up at the tower again, only to see hair on the window.
'Hair?'
Kuro enhances his eyes and climbs onto a roof. Looking at the window, he saw the same brown haired girl. This time, she was crying as she plants her face with her arms. As Kuro saw this, he closes his eyes.
'Like I care.'
He goes down and continues wandering around. However, the more he ignores it, the more his heart cramps up.
'GAH! FINE FINE FINE!'
Ruffling his hair from defeat, he climbs up again and places down an eternal wick. Lighting it up, he then shoots a small ember to the window. Aina notices this and gets scared, however she calmed down as Kuro teleported there and put out the fire before entering.
Aina sniffles as she asks, "Why... Why are you... Here..."
"Well, I saw you crying. Couldn't help but get curious. So, what's the problem?"
"... I..."
"Hmm?"
"I can't... cast a magic..."
"... Can I take a look?"
"Eh?"
"I want to take a look at your mana flow."
"... Are you gonna ridicule me?"
"Look, I know you just met me princess, but there's no way I'm going to be a jackass at my friend's daughter."
"You know Papa?"
"Yeah, he's my training partner along with the other Royal Guards."
Aina looks away and pouts.
"Oh come on! What's the problem now?"
"... I can't even train with Papa... I can only meet with a few maids and Mama..."
"Well, I'm here right? And besides, I've got nothing to do but go anywhere in this kingdom anyways. I'll help you out by helping me waste time, how about it?"
"..."
Aina faces Kuro, "Don't laugh at me, okay?"
Kuro sighs, "Come on, it can't be that bad."
"Grr..."
"Okay okay I promise!"
This time, Aina closes her eyes and tries to gather mana on her palms. Kuro enhanced his eyes with mana and tried to see her mana flow... There was none.
'What the heck? I certainly felt her mana yesterday, the fuck's the big deal on this one?... Ah, right!'
"Okay, I want you to stop."
"Huh? Is it that bad?"
"No, it's really simple. What's your element affinity? Earth?"
"Nn."
"Okay, for now, I want you to punch me like yesterday."
"Huh? Are you sure?"
"Yep, I'm well prepared this time!"
Kuro positions himself quite far from the window to the center of the room. He opens his arms wide and smiles at her.
"Come on, punch me as hard as you can!"
Aina hesitates, but then she steels herself and charges at Kuro.
"Haap!"
*THUD*
"Gh!" Aina held her fist in pain.
"Hmm... Can't you cast dispel again? Like what you did yesterday?"
"... I can't do it anymore."
"Well then, try it again!"
Aina went to her bed and pulled out her book. She opens the same page and pulls out her hand. There, she chants once more.
"Show your self, be free to your own will, let the mana dance freely in the air as it should, 'Dispel'! Gih!"
As she finishes chanting, Kuro's hair turned silver again.
"Yup, I knew it."
"Huh?"
Kuro stood unscathed. He transformed his torso and even enhanced it with mana. As Aina charged at him, Kuro had observed her hand, there wasn't a single mana particle. However, when he was targeted for the spell, 'Dispel', he saw a lot of mana particles.
"You wanted to see my hair again, didn't you?"
"Yeah... But what does that have to do with magic?"
"That's because magic needs a solid foundation... In my term, imagination."
"Im... Maginasyon?"
'Gosh this new world kind of sucks.'
"Hah... Let me explain."
Kuro held out his hand and conjured a small ember.
"There are 3 things that a conjurer needs before they can utilize mana. Will, image and formation. You need to have a solid will. What do you want to do? You have to be specific on this part. Right now, my will is to show you an ember floating ABOVE my finger. Again, being specific is needed, else it will fail. Image, you need to be clear of what you want to SEE. Right now, I imagine or rather, I try to think of what an ember looks like. The result is this ember. And finally, formation. Each and every magic will need a magic formation. The reason why you don't see one here is because this is a very simple magic. Other magic such as 'fire storm' or 'conjure: golem' will need formations. These formations are chants arranged in a circle written by using mana. Within the circle of chants, are symbols."
Kuro then conjures an incomplete magic circle in front of Aina, which scares her.
"Don't worry, this is incomplete. See here?" Kuro points to the center, which has a huge blank space. "This is an incomplete magic circle. Thanks to our skills, we know which ones to use if we were to construct what magic we want to create, so long as it falls under that category."
Kuro then dispels his magic circle.
"This applies to physical art."
"Art?"
"Mmhhmm. Art is something similar to spells. It mainly falls in the Null or Elementless category. When one conjures an art, it is applied to the body and their weapon instead. However, they can fuse both Null and any other element they want. Similar to how I constantly use both Lightning magic and Null magic to create an art that enhances both reflexes, speed and reaction speed. Quite wasteful, but because of another art I created, I can constantly absorb the mana around me, so I gain more than I use."
Kuro then pulls out his bladeless sword.
"This is my weapon. It may not look much, but it's intended. This sword conjures a blade using barriers. The reason why I chose it to be like this is so that it can be thin. A thinner blade is a sharper blade, however, it's also weaker. So, I had to make do. The reason why this sword can flow my mana a lot easier than any other swords or other weapons is because it's made out of bones. My bones. I've learned that bones were the best conductors or transferrer of mana, so I decided to do this."
"Eww... But how come your body is still fine?"
"Well, I'm half-spirit. I can regenerate any body part or injury easily with mana. I can hasten the recovery if I top it with white fire."
"Then, why can I use 'Dispel'?"
"That's because that's a grimoire. You see these gems on the book? Those are monster cores. Another conductor for mana. It'll absorb mana and conjure it with the user's will."
"Woaaahhh... But, how can I use magic then?"
"Hah... Come here, let me teach you how."
Kuro went behind her and grabbed her hand which is a lot smaller than his. He straightened her hand and opened her palm, Kuro placed his hand above hers and aligned it. He then places his other free hand on her back.
"Can you feel my hand?"
"Nn."
"Now then, since we're doing it through your clothes, it'll be a bit harder for you, but this is for your sake, okay? I'm gonna put something in you now. It might hurt since it's your first time, but it'll slowly feel good and warm. I'll put it in now, okay?"
"Wha-?!"
Kuro inserted his mana within her. Since they were doing it through clothes, Kuro had to insert more than usual.
"... Kuro... It's... It feels... Weird..."
"Try to remember this feeling, okay? I'll try to move it."
As Kuro kept moving it, Aina twitched again and again as she felt the warmth go in her.
"Alright, try to cast a spell. Your intent will be to shoot on the wall. I'll assist on chanting, repeat after me. Imagine a small sharp rock floating away from your hand and after the chant, you shoot it out, okay?"
Aina nods as she struggles to keep her composure.
"Speak straight! Oh Earth."
"Oh Earth..."
As she starts repeating Kuro's chant, a magic circle started forming on her hand.
"Listen to my will."
"Listen, to my will..."
"Rock shot!"
"Rock shot!"
As she finishes the short chant, the rock flew out and broke as it made a *THUD* on the wall.
"Phew... That was... Harder than I... Thought..."
Kuro collapses on his butt as he catches his breath.
"I... I can use magic!"
Aina jumped with joy.
"Wait! Status!" Aina checked her own stats and skills.
"There it is! Earth magic!"
"Hoo... Wait, what's your class?"
"Hmm? Ah, here."
Kuro's eyes widened as he saw it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Aina Dwarvos
Titles:
The Beloved Princess of the Earthen Kingdom
Race: Pure dwarf
Class: King
Stats:
MP: 1052/3876
Str: 11
End: 15
Vit: 8
Dex: 9
Agi: 7
Int: 9
Skills:
Earth magic - Lvl 1
Status: N/A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class: King. She was another King, just like him.
Chapter 19 -END-
Lmao I didn't know that I had a mistake in the middle of the chapter. Sorry!