"Woah!"

Kuro dodges to his right as a silver beam pierces through the ground on his previous position. Kuro then jumps into the air as the ground shook when he landed. Multiple silver dragon heads come out and charge their beams at him. Kuro creates a small ember next to him and punches the air, propelling another small ember created by the crossbow on his arm, then he goes inside the first ember to traverse into the second one, avoiding certain death within hair's breadth.

"Don't think this is over boy!"

"Shit!"

Kuro looks back to see many more silver dragon heads with fully charged beams. Without any other choice, Kuro creates a barrier that covers all of the oncoming attacks. The barrier wasn't a single barrier, but rather multiple small hexagon-shaped barriers in which Kuro created 5 layers off. With all of that, Kuro braced himself of what's to come.

Sadly, his opponent was smart. As Kuro focused all of his defenses in front of him, a claw reaches to his back and swipes at him.

"-?! Shit?!"

With Kuro's movements being limited, he transforms his arm into his dragon form and punches it to counter the strike. With the barrier taking on the blasts, Kuro had a hard time managing both of his fists and the barrier. Without any other options, Kuro detonates his barrier to escape the crossfire to which he succeeds.

"Good! Continue!"

"For Fuck's sake!"

Kuro transforms his whole body into a gem and shrinks, creating a whole new dragon body all around him. The new body is big, comparable to the modern world's view of a Behemoth, with small wings and huge frame, Kuro turned himself into a Behemoth version of his ancestral form, something that shouldn't be possible at all.

"You've gotten faster! Defend!"

"Tch! Bastard!"

Multiple Silver Dragons sprout out from the ground, some charge their blasts at Kuro while the ones close to him bite him, but because of his bulky build, Kuro lifted his body up from the ground, pulling all the dragons and slamming them onto the others before they could finish charging.

"Haa... Haa..."

"You never learn, don't you?"

"-?!"

At those words, many more heads sprout at Kuro and biting at him. Sadly, the last head that sprouts bites at his head.

"Ah-! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

All the Dragons brutally tug at Kuro's limp and weak body before finally tearing him apart and eating him, only leaving a small gem. The gem grows in size and breaks apart, showing a very wet Kuro.

"*Cough* *Cough*... Sorry... I was... Pressured... *Cough*"

"... You've dreamt of something, haven't you?"

"... Haa... Yeah, but... That dream's... Different."

"How different?"

"Those things didn't appear to harass me anymore, but instead, a scene played out."

"Well, don't keep an old man waiting, spill it out!"

"... I was eating something."

"What?"

"I don't know. That's the only thing that played out. I was eating something, a turkey, maybe?"

"Hmm... It has been said that eating monsters can strengthen you, but that's only IF THEY give YOU their mana core. Meaning, they have to be willing to give it to you. Didn't the people outside teach you that?"

"Well, I've only been in class for a few months before having to leave in order to train here."

"Hmm... Kid, the fact that you were delivered here by Rai... Something must be going on."

"Ah, yeah. He says that I need to train here against the first Silver King."

"What?"

"What do you mean what? The first Silver King? You know... Her seal's broken and stuff?"

"... Kid, we'll have to cut out your training."

"Wait what why? Didn't you just call me weak? Shouldn't I like... Train more?"

"At this point, you can only do combat training. You've learned how to use Dragon Slayer magic, all you need to do is to master it and apply it to your combat style. We need to rush as it's the only way to master it efficiently. You can't keep fighting me after all, you'll learn to read me before we can even finish, that's why it's best to fight the people outside instead."

"Will I be able to meet you again?"

The Dragon pats Kuro's head with his huge finger.

"Even I don't know... But, it will all depend on what you'll do after you get out. For now, you'll take on your last 3 exams. Reflex training with Dragon Slayer magic only, Endurance training with it, and finally, a surprise exam."

Kuro smirks as he stands up with more vigor.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!"

'3 years have already passed when I underwent training. I nearly died multiple times, but was saved by this... Awakening ability. It's weird though. How many times would I have died if I hadn't gotten this?... How did I even survive against that Blant King and shade? Did I even live against them? I remember the shade piercing my head with...'

With multiple questions arousing within Kuro's conscience, he could only hold it all in as he kept getting beaten up by his Dragon mentor.

---

It has been 3 years and 5 months ever since Kuro started to train under his Dragon mentor.

Within those 5 months...

"So, when are we gonna tell them?"

"Uhhh... Ma~aybe not now..."

Kenny and Bea were waiting for Rin and Aina, who were taking lessons from Andrew Grienfield.

"Now then, as you may know, monsters can evolve, but how do they evolve? Any answers?"

Newt raises his hand.

"Yes?"

"Is it by time?"

"Haha, not quite there Newt."

Andrew draws an outline of the human body on the board.

"Now then, this is our body. As you may know, everyone has a singular mana core. This applies to all living beings, even monsters."

He draws a small circle in the outline's torso.

"Now, how is this related to getting a monster stronger, or even evolve? You see, in the past, there was a tribe whose tradition was to feed themselves willingly to their own children in order to get stronger. This tribe also consisted of Dragonkins. The only way for your mana core to get stronger is to strengthen it by using it more and absorbing more mana. But what if you absorb a mana core? That's how they evolve. The monsters willingly let themselves be eaten by their own young. However, for some reason, it can only work IF and only IF they are willing to give themselves to the one who will eat them. Of course, the way we knew is because of bandits who wanted to get stronger. They inevitably failed and were captured."

"But sir, why is it like that? Has any research been done about it?"

Andrew shakes his head.

"We have, but nothing came up. We can only believe it to be Gaia's will so that no one can abuse it. It may not be obvious to you, but eating someone is quite traumatizing for those who aren't accustomed to it."

"Then... What happened to that tribe you mentioned?"

"... They were eradicated by one of their own."

Everyone became shocked at his response.

"I'm telling you all of this because of some important piece of news. As some of you may know, huge monster stampedes have already occurred... And even killed one of our mentors. Although it's been 3 years since you last went in in a dungeon dive, we've been trying hard on making the dungeons as secured as possible. There's a reason for the recent behaviors, and we believe it to be something big about to happen. Some of Ms. Riel's students here knows about it, but a Death Dragon attacked the Kingdom of Earth 3 years ago, the same day when everyone underwent on a dungeon dive and the time when a stampede occurred. We believe... That the first Silver King is about to be unsealed."

The whole class became noisy, mainly because of fear knowing how destructive they were, to the point that the Gods had to intervene and ending up dead.

"Calm down all of you, as if we haven't made a solution to that problem yet."

"""Eh? That fast?"""

"Of course, Rai had seen through it. With his research, he had found a method in order to kill the Silver King once and for all. He will announce it later as not even I know of it. He kept it in secret from us so as to not induce panic. All I've told you, the fact that the Silver King will awaken, is all just a mere speculation made by me. However, I only told all of this to you in order to prepare for the worst. Now then, class dismissed for now, see you all next time."

As Andrew leaves the classroom, some of the students discuss what to do with their lives while some brush it all off. For Rin and Aina who were concerned about Kuro still not returning, their worries were redirected as they saw Kenny and Bea.

Aina: "Where's Gran and Levy?"

Kenny: "Not sure, they might be at the training hall again. They've stuck themselves in there since 3 years ago."

Rin: "Aight, let's go."

Kenny: "You know, you sound more and more like Kuro."

Bea: "Well, that's because she misses him."

Rin: "Guh!"

Upon arriving in the training hall, they were greeted with a battered and scarred room.

Kenny & Aina: ""Wah- What the heck happened here?!""

Levy & Gran: ""Uhh, training?""

Kenny: "Come on, we gotta go eat lunch!"

While Levy and Gran were switching their clothes from combat to school uniform, Kenny spoke with Gran while the girls spoke with each other.

"So Gran, I haven't really asked this of you since a long time because I thought you'd tell us but... Why're you training with Levy?"

As Kenny said that, Gran's spine become shocked.

"Uhh Gran?"

"Erm... Don't laugh, alright?"

"Yeah yeah dude, just lay it on me."

"Well... I... Have a crush on her you see..."

"BAHAHAHA!"

"You idiot! I told you don't laugh!"

Gran slaps Kenny as he kept laughing to the point that his tears were falling.

"It's alright it's alright, you see, I've also been meaning to tell you guys something."

"Hah?!"

"You see... Me and Bea are..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aina: "Ehh?!"

Bea: "Yeah, we're having a relationship."

Aina: "Well isn't that good!"

Aina hugs the shy Bea as she rejoices with her.

Levy: "When it comes to fighting, you should utilize your tail some more."

Bea: "Why? Doesn't that make things harder for me?"

Levy: "Yes, but it also makes it harder for the opponent."

Bea: "Ohh... But how do I fight with my tail?"

Levy: "Hmm... Maybe Kuro will have an idea for that."

Aina: "Ah! What are you guys talking about?"

Bea: "It's about..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kenny: "Kuro huh... I wonder how long that guy's gonna train."

Gran: "Well, they did say he got into an urgent situation, but they didn't know how urgent. Guessing that it's quite bad seeing as Kuro immediately trained after coming back. Doesn't want to meet us again huh..."

Kenny: "Don't say that! I'm sure he has a reason. I mean, if it weren't for him we-"

Gran: "Yeah yeah I know he cares about us a lot. It's just... He suddenly left just like that... Isn't that kinda bad? He should have at least told us and let us join him. Like, how are we gonna catch up with him?"

Kenny: "Hmm... Should we ask Rai after all?"

Gran: "Well... Maybe? I mean, it won't hurt to try."

Kenny: "I just noticed."

Gran: "Hmm?"

Kenny: "When'd you stop playing cool?"

Gran: "Wha- HEY STOP IT!"

Kenny: "BAHAHA!"

As the boys were messing around, they finally got out of the changing room along with the girls. They ran up to the cafeteria and saw that there was one spot left, enough to fit all of them.

Racing through the crowds, they manage to win and sit.

Kenny: "Alright, what're your orders?"

Bea: "The usual for me."

Levy: "I'll have the fruit salad."

Gran: "4-piece juvie cock! [1]"

Aina: "I'll have 3 bowls of Behe-bulls [2]."

Rin: "3 servings of Demon pigs [3]."

Kenny: "Alright, give me the money, I'll walk."

As they were still counting their money, a sound immediately rang through their minds.

???: "Ahh- Ehem ehem! It's me, Rai. I'd like to announce to everyone that once lunch period is over, I want everyone to come to the announcement hall. This is, after all, a special speech I need to deliver to everyone."

Kenny: "What the...?"

???: "I wonder what kind of announcement that'll be?"

???: "Meh, beats me. Let's go eat fast, he says it's important after all."

As the students started discussing to themselves, the group had a sliver of idea as to what it is.

Aina: "... Is it related to what sir Andrew theorized?"

---

Gran: "Aaaannnnnhhhhh.... That meal was good~!"

Kenny: "I still can't believe you can eat all 4, feels like yesterday you could only eat 2 and cry about your bottomless stomach not being able to eat more."

Gran: "Shut up!"

Levy: "Calm down you two, the announcement's about to start."

As the 6 of them position themselves in their seats, Rai walks up to the platform along with Merlin.

Rai: "Ahhh- Can anyone understand me? Raise your right hand if all of you can hear me."

Merlin: "*Whisper* Is that necessary?"

Rai: "*Whisper* Well duh, I only tried it on Kuro in the past, not on an audience. And besides, this spell's better because everyone can hear it instead of some echoes, see? Plus, I'm not too sure that everyone heard it."

As Rai points out, everyone was raising their right hand.

Rai: "Alright everyone, put down your hands. Now then, you might be wondering as to why you're all here. I'd like to tell all of you a story first. In the past, there's a time wherein a peaceful village of Dragonkins existed. They were all powerful keepers of peace, living in harmony and harnessing their strength solely for the purpose of stopping every man-made disaster, such as wars and all. But, that village immediately turned to dust and ash in a single night. All of that was only caused by a single King that was born in that village, the 'first Silver King' is what everyone knows of them. They were so powerful, they even killed the Gods and threatened the very balance of the world, but because of the remaining Gods, Kirin and Diablo, they managed to create a spell, designed to keep the Silver King sealed. 500 hundred years have passed, and now... The Silver King is breaking free."

As Rai spoke those words, everyone had their own reactions.

???: "Wait, sir Andrew was right?"

???: "Shit, the Silver King?! They exist?!"

???: "Wait-wait-wait, what's going to happen to us now?! I don't want to go to war!"

Amidst the chaos about to happen, Rai could hear multiple students say one name.

'Sir Andrew?'

Rai: "Silence everyone! I know how all of you feel. Fear, confusion, I know you still want to live, be with your families, achieve your dreams... Although the Silver King's breaking free, they aren't that strong yet. So long as we kill them before they regain their full power, we can all live. That's why I have already created a way. Through my research, I have made a breakthrough. In the past, it's believed that we aren't the only living beings. That hypothesis... Has been proven false. It was false, until we looked at outside our world. I have created a way to summon those said living beings. They are known as... 'Yuusha'. They are our Yuusha, OUR HEROES!"

Rai points to the rising curtains, showing the 36 figures known as their heroes. Some had gallant figures, some were scary, some were cute, some were handsome and some were beautiful. They were the new Heroes... The Heroes of the otherworld. The Heroes from Japan.

 

Chapter 26 -END-

[1]  Juvie cock - Short for Juvenile Cockatrice.

[2] Behe-bulls - A sub-species of Behemoth, much weaker, but smarter.

[3] Demon Pigs - A bigger, more aggressive pig.

 

Word of the chapter!

Just in case you didn't know, Yuusha (Japanese) means Hero (English).