As Rai exits the infirmary, Kuro was on the side, sitting on the cold floor.
"So, how is she holding up?"
"She'll be fine. However, after looking at her status, we can only theorize that it's her awaken ability."
Kuro fell quiet upon hearing those words.
"So... That means that the cause of her awaken ability being like that is... Because of me, isn't it?"
"Considering your relationship and claim of a promise with her, that has to be the reason that makes sense."
"So it's my fault isn't it... Damn it."
Rai thought of a way to relieve Kuro's anger against himself. In reality, no one could have really thought that the amount of Blants could be that much. Not to mention, the Blant King working alongside with the Shadow King. However, before he could speak, Kuro opened his mouth first.
"Rai... Can you train me again?"
"What's this now? I thought you hated my training."
"... Aina... Lost control of her limbs because I was heavily injured... I was too weak... I don't want to burden anyone for my sake... That's why I'm asking you, the strongest in this world."
"... And here I thought you were a masochist."
"If that's what it takes for me to not burden anyone like her, so fucking be it."
"Alright kid. However, I can only teach you once we go back home."
"... Okay."
Kuro stood up from his place and went on his way.
'But still... A weakened awaken ability... Zeoth, you tell me the craziest shit...'
"Hey uhh Rai?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you tell me where Rin is?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'"Ever since you came back in a literally limbless state, she became very worrying, not even being able to attend training anymore. Well, I can't blame her, even the other kid were shaken up when they saw you. Who wouldn't?"'
As Rai's words resounded Kuro's head, Kuro was running towards Rin's room.
'I'm an idiot. I'm a huge idiot.'
His steps were strong enough for many bystanders to hear from the hallways.
Finally, as to what seems like forever, Kuro reaches Rin's room.
"Rin... Are you there?"
"-?!"
Rin rushes to the door and opens it strongly, to the point that the door might break.
Rin was paler than before, her face still slightly wet with tears, and her legs were sore from what looks to be her lying on the floor.
"Kuro..."
She suddenly hugs him. Kuro hugs her back and caresses her messed up hair.
"It's okay... I'm sorry..."
"I'm sorry I'm sorry... I'm... I'm..."
"Shh, it's not your fault. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise... It's okay now, I'm here..."
"I'll... I'll get stronger so please... Don't let me leave you again... Please..."
"... I'm sorry..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside the room, Rin lost consciousness due to her cries. She was lying on Kuro's lap, where he kept caressing her head and cleaning her tear and snot-filled face.
As Kuro looked at her, knocks were heard from the door.
"Come in."
"Is now a good time?"
"Just... Don't be too noisy. Turns out, she's given herself too much guilt."
Rai nods.
"She kept blaming herself that she was weak you know. But Kuro, there are things I need to tell and ask you."
"Alright, but here's not a secured place. Let's speak somewhere more private."
Leaving Rin asleep in her room, Kuro and Rai went to Rai's room.
"Alright, tell me the news before the questions first."
"... We'll depart to home 3 days from now."
"That soon?"
"Yeah, Merlin's going to the other classes right now to tell them of the news... That damned King..."
'King?'
"Ah, that reminds me. The questions."
Rai leans in closer to Kuro.
"Why did you want to go to the cave again?"
"... There was a girl who helped me of my nightmare as I was being treated here."
"What did she look like?"
"... She had black hair, but that's all I could make out. Her face was covered with a shade and I can only see her mouth."
Rai grabs Kuro's shoulders and looks him in the eyes.
"Kuro, no matter what, IGNORE HER INSTRUCTIONS."
"What?"
"She's the REAL Silver King."
"Wait wait wait, what the fuck? I thought there can only be 1 King of the respective kind. Why is there another one?"
"She's the first Silver King... No, that's not right. She's the first person to become a King without any bloodline."
"Eh?"
"She became a King with her own power. She's not an official King per se, and Kings only emerged when Shin came along."
"Well shit... That's a lot to take in... But wait, why shouldn't I trust her?"
"... What she wants isn't to get you stronger. She wants what's in your soul."
"Well shit dawg, ain't that disgusting. What's she gonna do to my body? Turn it into a sex doll or some shit?"
"No, most likely she'll feed it to her allies."
"That's... Quite tame really."
"Oi, can't you at least be more scared?"
"BETTER THAN HAVING SEX WHILE DEAD!"
Kuro sits down on his chair again.
"So, next question for you Rai."
"Hmm?"
"Can Aina at least be treated to have control over her limbs back?"
"Of course. If it really is an awakened ability, then it might be hard to undo. Overall still, she can get her limbs back, don't worry too much about it."
"Haa... Good..."
Rai smiles at Kuro's reaction.
"Well, it's not her you should worry about though."
"Hmm? Why?"
"You should worry about yourself, your training's going to be the hardest it's going to be."
"How hard are we talking about?"
"Hmm... If we put it in numbers... It'll be 100 times harder."
"Eh?"
"Yup."
"Wait wait wai-"
"No waits. You only have these few days of rest. Once we come back, I'll have to excuse you for a very long time. You won't be in school for the time being, and you won't be able to meet anyone within that time period."
"What?!"
"I'm sorry, but your training will be very serious from now on."
"Hold on just a bit he-"
"KURO!"
"-!!"
".... Ha... Kuro, you almost died... I can't let my students die... Especially you. Right now, you came into contact with 'Her', and I have to hide you. We can't trust anyone else, who knows if they were already possessed by a shade. If they were to locate your position, all hell will break loose. Kenny, Gran, Bea, Levy, Rin, Aina, your classmates, your teachers, EVERYONE will die."
"Then... Why didn't they..."
"It's because they finished their main goal. She had already set her eyes onto you, and now we have to hide you."
"So it's all my fault..."
"No. It's not your fault, no one really expected her to plan out this attack, let alone be free from her seal."
"How did she get out anyway?"
"No clue at all... I can only guess that the seal weakened."
Kuro could only massage his brows at the thought of what's to come.
"I'll... I'll go prepare tomorrow... I want to sleep right now..."
"Yeah, it's this late and you just recovered. Best not to use too much of your mana right now."
As Kuro heads back to his room, Rai goes to the window and summons a blazing bird.
"Fen, relay this message to Merlin immediately. 'Prepare the hero summoning ritual. The plan is a go.'"
Fen the phoenix burns brightly and opens its wings before enveloping itself in flames and travels like a shooting star towards Merlin.
"... I'm sorry Kuro, you have to understand my reasons."
"I don't want you to die, not anymore."
"We have sent a lot of our men towards his friends, thanks to an insider."
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Kaayy~! Hmm~ Hmm~"
The black haired woman holds an orb with Kuro's face attached to it as an image. With an expression filled with ecstasy, she hugs it really tightly.
The other Kings who were forced to follow her could only sigh.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, we lost so much allies to the point that even some lost their will. I know we have to follow the strongest one but... All those lives lost just for an image of him? Isn't that too... Imm- mmgh?!"
The Shade King covers his mouth and tries to silence him.
"Shhh... Don't let her hear you. I may be her right hand, but I can't do anything once she gets mad. I know what you mean, but please say that when she isn't here."
"Ah... Sorry."
"I just hope... What we're doing shouldn't cost us more lives than now."
"I never knew you had empathy."
"I'm only like that once we're in battle, but when all's over... All I want is my cloak to shelter the weak."
"... I may be a monster King, but I can't believe I'm agreeing with a demi-human King."
"Right now... We're all just pawns waiting to be thrown away."
As the two have a heart-felt conversation, the woman that doesn't care about them stares into the orb.
"Angh~ Shin~ We're going to be together again~ Just wait for me~~♪♪"
"Alright kids, pack your bags! We're going to leave the day after tomorrow okay?"
""""Yes~!""""
As they slowly headed back from their dungeon excursion, a boy reaches his hand out to Bea, who was sitting on the floor, panting.
"You okay?"
"Ah- please don't help me."
"Okay. Rude."
The boy waits for her as she tries to catch her breath.
"Why- are you- waiting?"
"Don't want you to get lost now would I? Come on, just take my hand."
"Haa..."
Annoyed, she takes his hand and is pulled to stand up.
"Why don't you want help anyways?"
"... A friend of mine... He's... More powerful than me. No, than me and my friends."
"Wait, you have friends?"
"Of course I do."
"But wait, aren't you already the most talented of us? You can cast multiple elements all at once rapidly and you have tons of mana! How are they stronger than you? Let alone including your friends!"
"... He... He's more talented than all of us. He's almost as fast as Levi, almost as tough as Kenny, almost as precise as Gran, and almost better than me in magic... But even then, he's better than all of us in fighting. I don't even know how strong he is now."
"Woah... But surely, he can't beat you when it comes to firepower, right?"
She calmly shakes her head.
"No, he can cancel out all of my magic, even with just null and fire magic."
"Woah woah woah... Wait, can he even lose?"
"Yes. As a matter of fact, he did lose multiple times. But it was against adults who are more experienced than him. Like Rai our teacher, or Zane Agate, an ex-S-rank adventurer."
"So you're telling me that he needs a really powerful person to be defeated?"
"I'm not so sure..."
As the dead silence looms around them, the boy smiles.
"Now I'm curious."
"Hmm?"
"If you hold your friends in high regard, then tell me about them!"
"Eh?"
"Well, wouldn't want to always be quiet now do we?"
She giggles.
"Well, I guess so. Now, who do I start with..."
On Kenny's dungeon excursion, everyone was retreating as fast as they could. The teacher, Sheoth, along with some class officers were behind Kenny, who was carrying 6 heavily injured students.
"Kenny, go to your left!"
"Right!"
As Kenny dodges, a huge boulder had impacted the location he was about to head into had he not dodged.
"Sir, once we're outside the cave, I want everyone to run. I'll rush my way through."
"Alright! You heard him everyone, we're almost out of the cave too!"
"'Rock wall'!"
"Sir, I'm almost out of mana!"
"Go near Kenny, everyone compress the formation!"
Sheoth pulls out his remaining sword and faces the monster horde.
"'Wind blade'!"
After cutting up the several incoming monsters, Sheoth continues his retreat.
"We're out sir!"
"Kenny, go!"
"Yes sir!"
Kenny holds out his free hand creates a large boulder out of the surrounding rocks far away from him.
"What the..."
"Everyone, hold on tight! I'm going to rush!"
His leg digs deep into the soil, mana starts to swirl around his legs and head and finally, a burst of mana blows up his feet, thrusting him into the huge boulder.
"Agh!"
"Ngh!"
Those who were awake winces in pain as Kenny's sudden rush's recoil affect them as well.
"Everyone, the path will be clear. Let's rush!"
On Levy's dungeon excursion, things weren't looking too well as well. With her exhaustion taking a toll on her, she has a hard time killing the monsters one by one as she specializes in 1 on 1 matches.
"Levy, get out of this dungeon, now!"
"Sir Zane, I can't leave you as well!"
Zane, even without his limiter on as well as going all out, was still having a hard time with the seemingly infinite number of enemies.
"Gaia's fucking sake, you know wind isn't easy to manipulate!"
"That's why you have to trust me, I can dodge it."
"... Try touching your right cheek."
"Eh?"
As she touches her cheek, her crimson red blood was flowing down from a sharp injury.
"Now do you understand what happens if you're not here?"
Just by his voice, Levy could tell that Zane is mad at her for continuing to butt in.
"... Don't die."
Levy retreats, but her intentions were to call on some soldiers in order to come back for Zane.
"So, Azure... Hah... Hah... Is this our last?"
'Well, if we're going to die anyways, might as well go with a bang shall we?'
"... Hehehe.... Hehe... HAHAHAHAAHAHA! VERY WELL THEN! LET'S GO AZURE!"
'Let's-'
"'FUSION!'"
"Miss Karin, please stop looking back!"
"Heh, well isn't this shameful? Being assisted by young'uns..."
Karin chuckles as she keeps applying pressure to the wound on her chest. Gran's classmates were assisting her retreat to the surface. Meanwhile, innumerable shots passes through Karin and the others and kills the monsters that were giving chase.
"That Gran is something isn't he?"
Gran, who was at the entrance of the cave, had all of his guns floating behind him, firing rapidly against the monsters.
"Hurry up, all of you! I won't be able to hold on if you guys keep slowing down the pace!"
"Gee, we could really use some help you know?!"
"AM I NOT HELPING?!?!"
Slowly yet surely, as Karin and the last remaining students finally go behind Gran, he retrieves his guns and puts out his satchel filled with grenades Kuro made for emergencies.
"'Wind magic: Shotgun'!"
As he punches the satchel, the grenades spread out within the monster horde. With one last grenade at his hand, he throws it last and aims at it with his rifle.
"A~nnnd... There!"
By shooting it at the right moment in the right place, the grenade affects the other grenades, exploding one by one and eliminating the horde of monsters.
"You have to teach me how to make that."
"Ask Kuro."
As the grenades all blow up, the floor beneath the horde collapses, essentially delaying the monsters plenty enough for them to reach their refuge.
"Weaklings."
Rai tries his best not to chuckle at the sight of Kuro.
"Are you that concerned?"
"Yeah, it's been 2 days yet she doesn't have control of her limbs yet. How the fuck can I not?"
2 days since Kuro started preparing, today was the day of their return to their school.
"So uhh... Hehe... Feelin some weight there buddy?"
"Haa... Please stop."
"No, I won't let go again."
Rin was clinging on Kuro by hugging him tightly like a Koala.
"It's not that she's heavy... BUT I KEEP HAVING TO USE MANA THAT I SHOULD USE TO RECOVER!"
"Your mana regen is fast, didn't you boast about that?"
"Gosh damn it Rin!"
As Rai laughs at their sight, Kuro looks through the window to Aina, who's sleeping peacefully.
"... I shouldn't have awakened her magic."
"Idiot."
"Why?"
"You said she wanted to learn magic right? She must have known the consequences."
"But not this one. This one's partly my fault."
"Kid, an awakening ability is based on the person's truest desire. That means she really did want to heal you, no matter what."
Kuro falls into silence, before finally moving once more.
"Come on Rai, I need to train ASAP. I... Don't want any of this shit happening again."
"Of course. Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, is everyone ready?!"
"""Yes sir!"""" "Yep." "Nn."
"Let's go home everyone!"
As they slowly fly up, the people in the Kingdom, though they were recovering, had to send out a wave to the departing students. Of course, they did the same.
"Goodluck everyone!"
"All of you, come back here once you're old enough, okay!"
"We'll meet again next time!"
As screams exchange one after another between the civilians and the students, Kuro looks at the castle and sees from afar, Zeoth's large figure waving at them. Kuro smiles and awkwardly waves back at him.
Flying through the journey, Kuro couldn't sleep at Rin staring holes straight into him.
"Uhhh... Could you not?"
"No. You'd leave again if I don't stare at you."
"Urrggghhh...."
Kuro could feel the boys behind him, plotting out how to murder him without any trace as quick and efficient as possible while the girls were squealing with their fanfics already in mind.
"Geez luiz all of you too!"
Rai laughs at his rowdy class.
"This class is giving me way more laughs by the day!"
"Oh you asshole!"
The class stayed rowdy throughout half of the journey, singing songs that they learned from the Kingdom and even dancing to them as they set aside their belongings and chairs. Singing like drunken dwarves, slowly, they slept like one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kuro, wake up."
"Eh? Wha?"
"We're above our home. I'll need to drop you off for now."
"... Okay."
Before jumping off, Kuro looks at Rin, who was sleeping while hugging Kuro's bag. Reason for this is because Rai switcheroo'd Kuro and his bag.
"Please handle her."
"I'll join you after doing so."
With a nod, Kuro jumps off their carriage, falling from a 5km drop from the sky.
"Hmm."
As he nears the ground, he creates multiple explosions far beneath him, timing it perfectly as he falls, slowing down his vertical movement, before landing to the ground as if he fell from a 2-story building instead.
"I missed this place... Although it's only been a few months."
Caressing the porch he used to sit on, Kuro clears away the dust and rests himself on it.
"Well I'm parched."
As he takes a drink from his bottle, searing pain coarses through his throat, he immediately retracts the bottle of water.
"Ha... Ha... Gosh damn it... I kind of hate the spirit contract now... It didn't hurt this much... What gives?"
Preparing himself once more, he continues to drink again. As pain was coarsing in as he drinks, something forces him to stop.
"STOP! STOP!"
"What the-?!"
A fire spirit shows itself in front of Kuro, its appearance clearly shows that it's in pain.
"Please... Break the contract..."
"What? Wait, I thought-"
"I can't handle it anymore! There's something forcing me to break it!"
"What's forcing you to break it?"
"I... It's scary... Please, just break it..."
"... Alright."
Kuro pulls out the spirit contract from thin air and holds it on his hand.
"By the will of the 2 parties, I, Kuro Aagney Sylverius and..."
"The fire spirit, Salamancerriotte..."
""Hereby declare that the spirit contract we have created, is now treated as null.""
Tearing up the paper, it burns in a bright and quick blaze. The spirit has become calm after that, as if a whole planet-sized fear and worry was removed.
"... If I've done anything wrong, I'm sorry."
"..."
The spirit stays silent and leaves as quick as it appeared.
"Damn it... Well, at least I learned the spells I need to learn, and I'm no longer a part-fire spirit huh..."
But there was one thing in Kuro's mind.
'... Why was it scared?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rai, what's a Spirit contract?"
"Well, Spirit contract is a forbidden ritual that involves making contact with spirits and making a contract with them. The conditions? One must convert their species into a spirit through the help of a spirit in order to converse with one. The reason why it's forbidden is because the only way to turn back into your original race is by breaking the contract, which requires the 2 parties' genuine permission, no torture. Turning into a spirit means that you can't live in the mortal realm anymore."
"But what's the upside of that?"
"The upside is the fact that you can level your spells faster than anyone else so long as it's the corresponding element."
"Hee..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'By being a halfling, I cheated it by converting my half-human race to a half-spirit... But how can a spirit be afraid? In the first place, no one can even visit the spirit world other than spirits and the people they bring with them. How can someone bypass that rule?'
The more Kuro thought, the less answers he could think of. It continued like that until night came, which is when Rai finally arrives.
"Yo."
"Aren't you late."
"Handling Rin was harder than you thought."
"No shit."
"Now then, are you ready for your training?"
"No dinner?"
"No need. Now then, let's go."
Kuro watches as Rai draws a magic circle in the ground. The magic circle, through Kuro's familiarity, is used to absorb more mana into the center.
As Rai finishes the drawing, he stretches and looks to Kuro.
"I want you to meditate here and try to draw as much mana as you can."
"Uhh okay."
Kuro sits in the center nervously.
"So uhh... What should I meditate about?"
"Just let the mana flow. As much as you can."
"Okay then."
With the ambient mana surrounding Kuro's body, he absorbs it and lets it run rampant around his body. Rai on the other hand sits behind Kuro.
"Just breathe."
Putting his palms on Kuro's back, Rai suddenly starts injecting a rainbow colored mana. As soon as it collides with his body, pain immediately flows through his body.
"Geh!"
"Just breathe Kuro, let it flow."
Slowly, as more and more mana comes in, his consciousness gradually fades.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...
"Where am I?"
Kuro couldn't see anything. The place he's in only has the ground as its floor; even then, he couldn't see much other than the floor around him. Looking at his body, he's still the same. Meaning, he's not dreaming yet.
"What the fuck..."
Before long, Kuro suddenly felt vibrations coming from under him and jumps out.
"What the fuck?!"
Springing from the ground is a silver dragon's head with its mouth open, and then it shuts its mouth tightly. Its actions were akin to an ambushing beast that was about to pounce on its prey.
"Shit, what is this?!"
Again, more vibrations come in. Jumping around, more silver dragon heads show up the places he lands on.
"Shit, what the fuck's going on- ?!"
Before Kuro knew it, he was already surrounded by silver dragon heads. Without any visible way to escape, Kuro stops to think of another tactic.
"So, you're finally here..."
"What?"
Suddenly, from the ground outside of the ring, another dragon comes out. Unlike the heads, its full body is shown.
"So... You're the current silver dragon, correct?"
Its long body that resembles the Chinese dragons of earth, its eyes that scarily gaze into his soul, and its deep voice made Kuro feel intimidated to the point that he can only be silent.
"So... Are you?"
"A- Ah-- Y-Yes!"
"Why must you be afraid?"
"Ah- n-no, o-of course not!"
"Aish... If you're gonna lie, at least make it convincing."
"Ah..."
"Well no matter. You're here to train, correct?"
The moment Kuro heard that sentence, he was reassured.
"Yes. I want to grow stronger."
"Then... Look into my eyes. Let me know... Your true desire."
Looking through his soul, the dragon saw countless memories. All were vague, but one thing was obvious. They weren't complete. Different memories from his past to present, his family, his friends, Kuro only had one desire that stemmed from them.
'Power. I want power to protect those I love. I want power for my own selfishness. I do not wish to be alone anymore, all I need is power. The power to defeat my opponents, the power to take what I want, the power to go anywhere anytime, the power to keep my belongings in place... I WANT IT ALL.'
The dragon laughs.
"So that's your desire... Power. Is that why you made such a selfish deal with the true being?"
"So you looked... If you're talking about Noel, yes. I made a deal I might regret in the future, but... If it's to gain power to do anything I want, then I don't care."
"How selfish... Yet intriguing."
The dragon raises its long body and starts to float once more around the ring.
"My name shall only be known as 'Signus'. I will train you the magic I can only teach you in a short span of time... Any complaints?"
"How short?"
"... Around 5 years or so."
"Why that? And what magic are you going to train me?"
"The reason is because the false Silver King is rising. She needs to be stopped, but can only be stopped by the real Silver King. The magic I'm going to train you with is one that the past... "Heroes" used against the True Silver King."
"Dragon magic, isn't it?"
"Indeed, and we shall discover your true self. Now then child, one should not worry about food as the mana around you provides what you need. One shall not worry about exhaustion as this place is the astral world, where a mortal can rise upon dying. One shall not worry about their original body as the mana connects it and your astral form. So train all you can within these 5 years child!"
"WELL SHIT, LET'S FUCKING GO THEN!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rai was observing Kuro, who had been inside his own astral world.
"So it begins."
"So, when should we start, Rai?"
Merlin lands next to Rai, who closes his eyes to think to himself.
"... ASAP."
"Alright then, I'll prepare the trusted scholars. I suppose you'll handle the location and coordinates of the heroes?"
"Yeah. We only have less than 5 years left. If Kuro discovers us while we haven't finished it yet, he'll do literally everything to stop us."
"... I suppose, what we're doing is akin to kidnapping."
"Yeah, but we have no other choice after all."
"We do."
"... I will not let him go to his grave, Merlin."
"If that's what you wish. Now come, as you've said, we have no time left to waste."
"... Alright."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In her own bed, Karin sheds a tear.
"Miss Karin?"
"Ah, sorry Gran. I just... Felt like I lost something important."
VOL. 1 ~Prelude to the war of Kings~ -END-
