"Now, it is about time," Arashi said, his katana pointing at Vance Sensei, the blade weeping flux like blood from a wound that wouldn't close.
"MUSŌ: BREATH OF THE DRAGON GOD."
The battlefield they had made of that bar became completely silent. The screams of the dying had finally stopped, leaving only the stench of cooked meat and vaporized bone.
A low, distant rumble began, almost too deep to hear. Flux started gathering around the tip of Arashi's katana, not as a bright glow, but as a violent distortion in the air. The world itself seemed to bend towards him, reality screaming as it tore.
And then, suddenly, a shockwave detonated outwards.
Behind Arashi, an enormous spectral Dragon God emerged from the distortion—its silhouette stretching across the sky like a living mountain, as Vyrm peeked from inside Arashi's left pocket, the creature's eyes reflecting the coming annihilation.
BOOOOOM!
A colossal beam of flux erupted forward, carrying the shape of the Dragon God itself. The shockwave tore across the battlefield, swallowing everything in its path as the sky lit up from horizon to horizon, the light burning retinas, the heat flash-cauterizing the earth into glass.
Vance stood alone, blinking, raising his left hand as he saw the flux beam in the shape of a dragon approaching him, his posture relaxed, like a man greeting an old friend.
"I can say this: if it had been anyone else except Ren... they would have turned into dust." Vance let out a faint smile, untouched by the heat that vaporized stone around him.
"It is a very impressive attack, though." Just as the wind tore at his clothes, "I will still survive," Vance smirked, not a hair out of place.
"As it is me, I need to tell you about myself as an introduction for our new journey as Sensei and student." Vance raised his fan, as casual as a man at tea.
"First, why I was given the title 'The Dragon Hunter'," Vance said, taking a stance, his shadow the only thing that moved.
"But by this attack, I know why your sword was named GOD... GARUDA."
"RYŪGARI."
The compressed Dragon's breath suddenly launched straight upwards, ripping through the atmosphere, tearing a wound in the sky itself.
For two impossible seconds, the entire battlefield became silent. Even the wind died, afraid.
The attack reached the clouds. They boiled and blackened, pregnant with destruction.
Then, Vance opened his fan.
"You aren't going to lose, are you, Sensei?" Arashi said, putting his God Garuda back in its scabbard, the metal hot enough to sear his palm.
"HEAVENLY DRAGON'S DOWNFALL."
Vance pulled the fan downwards. The sky answered. Arashi's attack answered the direction. His attack was returning to the ground, now twisted, corrupted, and hungry for its master's blood.
"3 o'clock tomorrow; don't forget, and buy yourself new clothes, unbastard," Vance said, turning, his back exposed to the coming death, unconcerned.
"Consider it done, Sensei," Arashi said with a smile.
BOOOOOM!
The Breath of the Dragon God fell between Arashi and Vance, destroying everything there, leaving nothing but...
[Cut]
[June 4th, 2010]
[Zorian Sterling - POV]
"Oh! Is this what workers do, clean the mess made by the arcanists? Actually, it wouldn't be that bad if Arashi hadn't paid for me to be an arcanist," I said to myself.
"Sir, you came out of TENKOKU to help us here, didn't you?" a voice said.
"Actually no, that was just an excuse to come and find a sensei... a mythic one."
Tock... Tock... Tock!
As I wandered the streets of the Netherlands to find a sensei, I just found a new way of dying, which was freezing to death.
"Ah! Zorian, at least you should have worn something warm," I said, rubbing my palms.
"Hey! I am in the mood to chat, but I have got an extra pair of these warmers," a voice came from behind me.
"Here, you can have them." Before I could turn, the man tossed the warmers to me and vanished.
"Thank you so much for this—" I stopped as I saw no one.
"Vanishing like that, you must not be human; you must be a graduated Arcanist from one of the 4 academies," I said to myself.
"But little did you know, Sensei, my flux stage 2 enables me to track movements made by Arcanists." My eyes glowed as I said it.
Clap!
I clapped my hands together and closed my eyes to focus on the remains of flux left when an arcanist moves.
And when I opened my eyes, I could see where he had gone.
"I don't think of it as a trap, but he is going straight to the city's main market," I said.
"But as an optimistic person, I think more people means a higher probability of finding a sensei," I said... running... towards the market.
[Black screen]
Huff... Huff...
For more than 3 hours, I was constantly getting crushed in this crowd, trying to find the person who gave me the warmers to say 'Thank you' to him.
But instead of finding him, I found a man who looked no older than thirty despite carrying the weight of countless years of battle.
He had a broad frame, a steady gaze, and straight white hair in a ponytail, with criminal tattoos all over his body except his face.
He wore a deep blue Haori over a black kimono and geta made from an old oak tree.
He sat right beside the public bench on the ground. His posture was straight, and his sitting position was like a king filled with pride.
He constantly moved his pencil to draw; he looked like he was writing something, but he was actually just drawing every woman who crossed his path from top to bottom, which made him a pervert.
Aside from women, his eyes were locked onto the wallet of every other man, even though his right pocket, which held his wallet, was so...
...heavy that it was pulling his Haori to the ground.
[My thought]
Except for his appearance, everything I knew about his pride, his perverted and somewhat greedy nature, came from the person's small notebook, which I was reading.
He was inhumanly tall, wearing a round pair of glasses.
He wore a pitch-black kimono underneath a white-colored Haori and had a scholarly haircut.
"You know, reading someone's private writings is wrong," a voice said from behind me.
"But I don't mind it," he said as I turned.
"See, I am sorry for this, but let me—" I was interrupted.
"You want me to be your Sensei," he giggled.
"I am sorry, but you weren't threatened over me not being your Sensei."
"What!? You know Vance Sensei? But why did he threaten you?" I asked.
"That isn't important now. My name is... and if it becomes important, you will know it in the future," he said, kneeling on one leg to match my height.
"Then why are you even here?" I asked with genuine curiosity.
"Well, that's a good question, but as you have read what I wrote in my pocket diary, you only know half the part," he said, pointing his finger at the man wearing the deep blue Haori.
"You know, that Sensei, he was my sensei, a legendary arcanist whom the world now views as a man filled with flaws," he said, his face completely...
"So what should I—" I stopped as I realized.
"Oh! So you want me to become the student of that legendary person and make him remember who he is," I said in excitement.
"Yeah, I also wanna do it 'cause he was the one who gave me my surname, SHIKYŌ," the man said as he stood.
"Listen, I may look like a fool, but I am not a fool. A random arcanist I don't even know is powerful or not says anything and I will believe it?" I said, taking a stance.
"Expected from a worker," he said, turning.
"Only if you have heard his name: Master Genryū," he said.
"You must know that I removed every outcome that didn't belong to you," he mumbled, though I failed to hear it.
"Wait," I said, stopping him.
"He is your last option, as besides him, no other person is fit to be your Sensei," he said.
...vanishing in the crowd.
As my eyes went to see that man in the deep blue Haori, he had already stolen 7 wallets and was preparing to leave to talk to... a group of girls.
As I lunged and closed the distance between me and him, I was about to grab his hand.
Grasp—! Grasp!
I was on the ground, with one of my hands grabbed by his.
Since I was also very fast, even for an arcanist, I started to believe Shikyō partially.
"Sir, I mean no harm to you. I just saw you, so—" I stopped as I had no excuse.
[My thoughts]
Wait, he is stealing wallets, but he also has money. I am too young to get him a girl. Wait... found you.
"Sir, I just wanted to ask you out for dinner as I... I have no friends to come with," I closed my eyes, thinking he would hit me.
[Genryū's thoughts]
I think he was right. The King, the Blasphemy...
...found me himself and is offering me food. He is exactly the way I thought he would be.
"Stand up, boy, you can't go to the cafe while sleeping," Master Genryū said.
"Yes, sir," I said, following him.
The moment we reached the cafe, his finger hovered over every dish, all of which he ate when they arrived. In just 30 minutes, the cafe was out of supplies.
In the meantime, I told him everything, which I don't think he heard 'cause he was too busy eating.
"So you understand everything, sir?" I said uncomfortably.
"The reality of all this is that I want you to train me. Train me until I become the strongest," I said, begging him.
"You don't even know me, yet you still want me to train you, haha," Genryū giggled.
"You think I can take a student? You are wrong—" Master Genryū was interrupted.
"Don't lie to me, Sensei. You can't eat that much if you are not on the verge of dying from hunger. You cannot look at every woman if you are not a pervert," I said in a calm voice.
"What!? Why are you saying this..." Genryū said in a low voice.
"Say it out loud 'cause I am not small; I am as big as the biggest pervert you will ever meet," he said as he stood on the table.
"This habit of yours makes me wonder if you are even something they call legendary," I frowned.
"Don't worry about me, they call me a legendary pervert. But why should I train you? Your friend Arashi unleashed an attack this morning that would DESTROY ASIA IN A SPLIT SECOND," Master Genryū said, sitting.
"Your other teammate is getting taught by Ren, the one-in-a-billion strongest; she must have gotten something. But why should I train you?" Master Genryū said, getting close to me.
"Test me. I won't say anything else," I said.
KRAK-SHATTER!
"This is my companion. See that? It moves faster than light. If you catch it—" Genryū stopped.
KLICK!
I caught that bee between my teeth before he could complete his sentence.
"And what makes you think I am less than them? If Arashi can bury a continent, I will bury continents and also I just don't have reflexes faster than light I can move faster than light itself," I said, my glare sharp.
"But it is more like Arashi and pearl can do it from the start but I am not late" I said to myself.
"You fed me, I owe you one. So I'll train you, BUT ONLY AS A REPAYMENT OF KINDNESS," Genryū said.