Chapter 1: The Beginning

Light burst into the vehicle as the school bus door slowly opened. The light was so intense that it caused the new students to squint as they tried to make out the details of their surroundings. Hatake was no exception. His whole body quivered with excitement as he thought about all the wonders that were out there. Hatake heard the gasps of astonishment as the other children's eyes adjusted and soon enough his did too, leaving him in an open mouthed stare at his new campus.

It all started about a month ago, at that time it was summer vacation and Hatake was nervous about having graduated from his elementary school. Soon he would be entering the local middle school where all sorts of rumors of bullies, and spiteful teachers floated around. But then that day came around, a day that would change the course of Hatake's life forever.

That day was July 22, 2035 in the town of Hopewood in the world of Kasmari. Hatake was out shopping with his friends Liana and Raven. Liana was Hatake's childhood friend and one of the few girls in his class that liked him. She was a bit of an odd ball, preferring to wear her bright green hair in a messy topknot rather than the town's traditional twin braids. She was short for her age but had the strength of a gorilla and the personality of a mink. Raven on the other hand was a pale, red eyed boy who was slim and tall. His hair was black as night and trimmed short. Raven was physically weak, probably because of an illness he had as an infant but he made up for that with his brains. Raven was smart, top of the class and could out score most of the middle school kids on exams.

Hatake was the center of this trio. His hair was tall, white and spikey. His eyes were gold and he was slim but strong. Hatake had a carefree personality and was often considered a goofball. Hatake was smart but lazy, so, many people viewed him as a lost cause. After all Hatake would rather skip school and dance around campus than attend classes. But it was the height of summer, there were no classes and Hatake was hanging with his best friends, nothing could possibly go wrong.

They spent hours in the mall laughing and having fun. Raven was always running into the nearest electronics store, while Liana was all about the clothing. Hatake couldn't even count the number of stores he had been physically dragged into or the number of outfits he was forced to watch Liana try on. They stopped at the restaurant plaza and gorged on food for lunch. In the afternoon they went to the park and played Knights of the Round Table. Liana always wanted to be King Arthur but Raven always tricked her into being Lady Guinevere and Hatake of course would play Sir Lancelot.

They played in the park for the afternoon, killing imaginary bad guys with their wooden practice swords. By the time the sky started to turn pink the trio had successfully defeated the enemy and saved the kingdom. The trio grabbed their plunder of the day and slung their wooden swords across their backs and headed home. It had been a good day and the three of them were making plans for tomorrow.

An explosion nearby rocked the earth and sent all three friends stumbling to the ground. Hatake shakily stood up and surveyed his surroundings. The area was dark, clouded in black smoke but the light of a fire could be seen through the haze and the heat was clearly felt. Wind, fueled by the fire rushed around, pushing the smoke into his lungs. His ears rang badly, his eyes burned and he could hardly breathe through all the coughing. Hatake felt Liana's hand on his shoulder and turned to look at her. The fear in her eyes was evident but she was unscathed. The ringing in his ears was starting to subside and he heard Raven start to rise coughing loudly.

"We've got to get upwind of this smoke" Raven shouted. "Once we are clear we can figure out what happened."

The trio slowly stumbled and coughed as they made their way out of the smoke. Once clear they saw that a building was on fire. The flames licked the door and window frames as the fire roared, trying to make its way outside. A large section of the building was blown away, bricks strewn all over the place. There we people too, and what looked like little green men running out of the building.

"We need to help these people" Hatake heard himself saying "And I want to know what those green things are"

Liana and Raven both turned looking at Hatake in surprise. Hatake was just as surprised but he couldn't let them know that. He reached up and un-slung his practice sword and then ran towards the building and the people around it. He didn't have to look to know that Liana and Raven had both done the same and were following him, albeit a bit more cautiously.

Every person they approached was luckily just injured or unconscious. The sirens of the local Fire and Police Department flared to life in the background letting Hatake know that rescue workers were on their way. But those green men that he had seen were still bugging him so he crept closer to the building.

"This building is Albert's" Raven Gasped. Alberts is the town's only floral shop. Normally it was full of powerful aromas and budding flowers, leafy plants and sky high trees. Now though, with the flames roaring like this, it was hard to imagine what this place was.

The shrill cry of Liana's scream split the air. Hatake spun around to see Liana pointing down the alley. "W-w-what was that thing" Liana asked. Hatake and Raven both just looked at her and then started down the alley. "W-w-wait for me, I don't want to be left alone with those creepy things running around"

Hatake reached the end of the alley first, with Raven and Liana close behind. The chaos on this side of the building was worse. Here dozens of green men with Leafs on their head were attacking people who had gathered to see what was going on.

"What has happened to our town" Hatake whispered. "This is crazy, it can't be real"

"It is real! We need to get out of here" Raven advised. "Leave this to the authorities, I'm sure it's just some prank gone terribly wrong"

"I can't! I can't just let this happen!" Hatake brought forth his sword and charged. The first group of monsters he came across was triple teaming a man that was trying to crawl away. Whap! Whap! Whap! Hatake's sword went to work, coming straight down on the first monster and then slashing right to left to catch the other two across the back. The monsters flew off of the man, driven by the force of Hatake's attack. But the monsters were no push overs. They charged back at Hatake, whipping the leaf like structure on their heads at him.

Hatake slapped his sword down to the right intercepting the first whip, and then back across to the left catching the second before he pivoted and stepped inside the third attack. Hatake pulled in his sword extending the butt end into the face of that third attacker, and then continued through his initial pivot bringing his sword around in a circle catching the other two monsters across the face. This time the monsters went down and slowly faded away.

Hatake's friends just stared at him, mouths agape. Hatake had always been a good swordsman in class, but he was lazy and unfocused. He rarely ever accepted a fight let alone won one. But here he was, rushing forth to battle with skills never before seen. Hatake on the other hand felt great, he had never before felt so good, and it was like a power was welling up inside him. He knew what he was doing and he knew that he could win.

On Hatake rushed jumping into battle with the next group of monsters. This time there were five monsters, and they were waiting for him. They whipped those leaves straight at him, but Hatake dropped to his knees letting his momentum carry him underneath and past the threat. His right foot slammed into the ground in front of him. Pushing off with all his might he sprang at the backs of his enemy. His sword blazed red with power as he stabbed into the middle monster. Continuing his attack he cut left through the second monster before arching in back down into the third monster. All three monsters let out "eeps" before fading away, leaving just the two on the right.

The two remaining monsters launched simultaneous attacks high and low forcing Hatake to back-step out of the way. At the same time he heard Raven and Liana yelling. Hatake looked up to see Liana and Raven engaged with a group of eight monsters. "I need more power" Hatake thought and he reached forward gripping his sword fiercely. The red light flared and Hatake pulled in opposite directions splitting his sword into two identical curved blades. "Now this is more my style!" Hatake yelled.

Hatake swept his left blade out intercepting the oncoming attacks of the monsters. At the same time his right blade shot forward catching one monster in the face. That monster shrieked an "eep" before fading away. Hatake's left blade then rolled over the remaining monster's whip and cut across its chest causing it to disappear. Swords in hand, Hatake rushed forth to help his friends. They had dealt with two of the monsters but were sorely pressed by the remaining six. Hatake's swords blazed again with that red light and he dashed into the midst of the monsters. His swords worked on both sides of him, slashing left and right. Soon all the monsters faded away leaving no trace except for the damage they had caused.

"When did you become so good?" Raven asked his friend in amazement.

"And where did you get a second sword?" Liana chimed in.

"I don't know" Hatake replied, "But I felt this power inside of me and I knew that I was meant to fight these monsters."

The wall behind Hatake exploded sending brick shards everywhere. Hatake turned to see what was happening. All he saw was the shadow of an enormous being as a large vine like structure crashed down on him and his friends.

Two days later Hatake awoke in a Hospital bed, with his friends being treated to his left. "It was a Mandrake Queen that hit you" an unfamiliar voice said. Confused Hatake turned to his right to see a tall muscular man in a suite and an eye patch sitting comfortably in a chair.

"What? Who are you? Hatake asked.

"A Mandrake Queen" The Man replied. "It was the large shadowy figure that crashed down on you and your friends the other day at Albert's Fire. I'm sure a warrior like you would want to know what defeated him. The smaller monsters which you dealt with were called meeps. They are monsters known collectively as skalari, beings from another dimension that were sealed away long ago. As to who I am, I am the Headmaster of Dragon School. It's an academy for gifted children, like you. The first day of classes start in a month. Your uniform can be found at your house."

With that the man stood up and left, leaving a very stunned and confused Hatake in his hospital room.

END CHAPTER 1