Chapter 1: The King with Dragon Fire
There is a world where everything is not always what it appears to be. In this world is the land of Hosail. In the past, 10000 years ago, the people and races all fought themselves and each other for survival. It was an eternal rain of chaos, death, and misery. This had been going on for countless years until one day, ten people appeared, claiming to be the chosen people from the Ten Deities long thought to have abandoned the people. The Wyvern, deity of darkness and sin. The Griffon, deity of metal and will. The Fairy, deity of light and hope. The Leviathan, deity of ice and loyalty. The Minotaur, deity of plants and freedom. The Mermaid, deity of water and life. The Raiju, deity of thunder, lightning and destruction. The Roc, deity of wind and love. The Golem, deity of earth and friendship. And the leader of the deities, the Dragon, deity of fire and power. They showed their proof of the deities' power and from their leadership, the first of the kingdoms, Heaix, was founded. A place where beings from all over from every race could come together and make a home for themselves and the founding of the other ten kingdoms followed soon after. The leader of those ten was the chosen one, or Champion, of the Dragon, he became the first king of Heaix. As time passed and the families and descendants of the first Ten Champions, the First Ten, continued to lead the kingdom and eventually become a single clan, peace has managed to be kept maintained to this day.
火 土 風 雷 水 木 氷 光 金属 闇
The kingdom of Heaix. The entire city is shaped in a wheel with different sections, each in its own color. Clockwise, they were pink, yellow, red, blue, aqua, silver, purple, white, green, and orange. Each section designed after each of the deities. The blue area had a port that was connected to the sea. In the center of it all was a huge brilliant white castle with red roofing. Flying at the top of the tallest tower of the castle was a white flag that had the crest of the kingdom on it, flying proudly.
Calling around in the castle's central garden was a 17-year old boy with hair that spiked upwards and was as white as starlight, and had eyes that where shiny silver. He wore a black short legged sleeveless kimono with purple trimmings and a white undershirt, as well as black baggy pants with purple trimmings. He also wore black boots, black arm bands and two katanas on his hip. This young man was Yuarite Rowale, Champion of the Wyvern and the king's right-hand.
"Kaegu! Kaegu! Damn it, where the hell is that idiot? Kaegu!"
"I take it you're not having much luck in finding him either?"
Yuarite turned to see a boy the same age as him. He had a calm, cool demeanor. He had short wavy metallic grey hair and hazel colored eyes. He wore an aqua colored long-sleeved shirt and white pants, both with white fur trimmings at the wrists and ankles. This was Kolace Rowale, Champion of the Leviathan and the king's left-hand.
"Nope, and I take it you haven't either."
"Afraid not."
"Lord Yuarite. Lord Kolace."
The two turned to see a fiend in silver knight armor and a long snout and talon hands, down on one knee.
"Ah, An," said Yuarite, "did you find him?"
"Forgive me, I'm afraid I haven't. As one of the king's top ten knights, I have no excuse."
"Oh, for the sake of the Deities, where could that happy-go-lucky idiot have gone now?"
"You know him," said Kolace, "more heart than brain. If he isn't attending his duties he's either training and setting things on fire or out having fun in town."
"Uh, my lords?"
The two turned to see a female being with a body made of metal, showing she was a mechborg, also wearing silver knight armor. Her metal tendril hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Ines, what news do you bring?" asked Yuarite.
"I have received some information that King Kaegu has heard of that I think you will be most interested in."
火 土 風 雷 水 木 氷 光 金属 闇
In the blue section of Heaix, where the buildings and roads where colored blue and streams of water ran down next to the houses, the town had the setting of a combination of modern day and medieval times and was bustling with beings of many different races. A small dragon child was at a fruit stand run by a being with a body made of volcanic rocks and fire called a pyronic, while a giant, a woman that was 24 ft. tall, was kneeling while buying some silk and fabric from a being with a body made of rock called a geomin. Next to one of the stands, a teenage human boy wearing a hooded cloak, hiding his features, was eating a pork bun he just bought from a centaur.
"Another one, please," he said to the centaur ounce he finished it.
"You sure? You've already had four."
"You kidding? These things are so good I can't stop myself. Besides," he then pulled out five copper coins and handed them to the centaur, "I can still pay for it."
"Well now, you've got good taste. Tell you what, I'll give ya two more, on the house." He then handed the coins back to the boy.
"Wow, what? You sure?"
"I insist."
"Wow. Thanks man."
They turned at the sound of the wheels of a cart to see an old bear beastman pulling a cart full of fish.
"Hey, old man Bonifacio," said the centaur, "another big catch today, you old grizzly?"
"Ha. Just trying to keep up with the rest of you people."
"HELP!"
They all turned to see a runaway cart filled with meats and a fishman merfolk.
"LOOK OUT! RUNAWAY CART!"
They had only just realized that the cart was heading straight for Bonifacio, who had no time to get out of the way.
"OLD MAN!" cried the centaur.
Bonifacio shut his eyes tight, braising himself for the impact only for it to have never come. He opened them to see the human teenage boy had jumped in the way of the cart and had stopped it by holding out a single hand to catch it, showing a red arm band.
"You alright, old man?"
"Uh, yes. Thank you."
Before they knew it, the boy was pushing up both carts with Bonifacio and the fishman.
"I feel bad for having you help me like this after just saving me," said Bonifacio.
"Same here, and it was my cart that put the old man in danger," said the fishman as he ran his webbed fingers over his dorsal finned head.
"It's alright. I'm happy to help anyone in any way I can. It must be tough though, having to lug these things around all day every day."
"Not at all," said the fishman. "Helps keep a person in shape. Old man Bonifacio here's bin doing it for a long time now."
"40 years and counting. You know, I'm relieved on how the kingdom's bean doing these past 12 years."
"How's that?" asked the boy.
"Didn't you know? The ruler of this Heaix, King Kaegu, has been ruling this kingdom for 12 years now."
"Oh yeah. Didn't his parents and the other 8 Champions of that generation die when he was 5?" asked the fishman.
"That's right. A terrible terrorist attack. It caused that generation of Champions to be forced to sacrifice their lives to keep millions of others from losing theirs. Their children, eight of them only 5 years old while the other two were too young to even remember their parents. The king's younger sister, our dear princess, being only a week old when her parents died. Kaegu knew that becoming king at such a young age would make him and the others of his generation prime targets for assassins and to be manipulated by others with political power who only cared about their political status, but he refused to be manipulated and allow the citizens of this kingdom to suffer, so he took the position and took control. His leadership has turned this kingdom into even more of a utopia where people from every race from all over can come together. Even those who only cared about their political power have been changed by him for the better. I think those kids have made their parents very proud. I'm very grateful to be living here." Bonifacio finished with a smile.
"Yup, can't say there's any other place quite like Heaix in all the world," said the fishman.
As they said this, the boy was smiling under his hood.
Once they reached a certain distance, the boy gave the carts back to the two.
"You sure here's fine?" he asked.
"Certainly," said Bonifacio.
"Thanks a bunch kid," said the fishman as the two set off.
As the two went off, the boy turned to see he was at a bar.
"Well, might as well stop for a drink."
The boy went inside and took a seat and order a glass of water. He was surprised to see a young dwarf girl bring it to him.
"Sorry for asking this, but you're quite young to be working here, aren't you?" he asked.
"I get that a lot," said the child with a smile.
"The kid likes to help out here a lot," said the bar owner who was a skyfolk, a birdman with his wings on his back. "I couldn't bring myself to turn her away when she offered to help, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt."
"Hey sir," said the dwarf child, "you've got quite a lot of scars on your arms and hands." The teen looked down at his arms and did indeed see his scars exposed, along with his red arm bands. "Are you with one of the guilds?"
"Nah. I guess you could say I'm with the military."
"Wow. So, that would mean you're familiar with the Champions and the deities, right?"
"Hm? Yeah, I'm pretty sure there isn't a single person in all of Hosail that doesn't know about them. And the Champions are the people who spread their teachings."
"Yeah, I hear they're really super powerful and wield the power of the deities. I wonder, if I were to carry out the teachings of the deities, maybe I'll be able to get a whole lot of money for it."
"So, you wanna be rich?"
The child shook her head in response. "Not really. My father is somewhat sick most of the time, so I try to help my mother earn money to help take care of us."
"Is that so. Tell me kid, what's your name?"
"Harue, sir," said the dwarf girl.
"Alright, Harue, let me give you a little lesson. Do you know what Aura is?"
"Aura?"
"Aura is the power that comes from all living things. It's our life force. There are those who train to harness this power and use it in Skills. The ones who do this are called Warriors."
"Those are the people who join guilds to go out on jobs that help out around the kingdom and other towns outside the kingdom, right?"
"Right. The Warriors go to these guilds searching for work. Some decide to leave guild life to join the military. Some Skills are mostly influenced by race, like pyronic use Fire Skills or cryonic us Ice Skills, which makes it very difficult to predict what Skill a human would use. There are also Skills that can be taught or learned by any race, like Sword Skills or Spear Skill. These are called Tool Skills. Of course, it doesn't end there, for Skills or strength. Warriors are always working hard to increase their power. The more and harder they train, the greater their Aura power rises. It's the same for the Champions, and when the kingdom was first founded. They gave us what we needed to start, it was up to us to build it from there. The deities may have given the Champions their set of Skills, but it was up to them to harness it and grow stronger. That's one of the ways we show the teachings of the deities, to take what we have been given and work our way to making a life for ourselves that we can be proud of."
"Amen, my friend," said the skyfolk.
Harue stared in amazement. "Wow. So, I guess being a Champion isn't as easy as it looks, much less a Warrior."
"Nothing worthwhile is, kid," said the teen.
"Well then, guess I'll just have to work harder for the money we need then."
"That's my favorite way, kid," the teen said with a big grin as he patted the dwarf girl on the head, earning him a laugh.
Their attention was grabbed when they heard screaming and panicking outside.
"What the…?"
It was then a big mechborg walked right into the bar with a whole gang of goblins.
"Hey, bartender, will take all your finest booze to go…on the house," said the mechborg.
"Hey know, hold on just a…" the skyfolk stopped talking when one of the goblins pulled out a dagger and pointed at him.
"Didn't you hear, beak face?" asked the skyfolk. "This booze is mine now, and while you're at it, why not through in all that cash you've got as a side order?" He and all the goblins laughed at this. They stopped laughing though when the cloaked teenage boy stood up and grabbed the goblin with the knife by the wrist.
"Huh? What? You got something you wanna say?" asked the goblin.
The boy's response was tightening his grip, causing the goblin to go into pain that caused him to drop the knife. He tried to struggle out of the boy's grip but to no avail. He attempted to reach for the sword on his belt, but was stopped when the boy tightened his grip even more in response.
"Ahhhhh! What's with this guy?! His grip's like iron!"
The teen began to walk towards the group of thugs with the goblin in unwilling tow, away from the bartender and Harue. Ounce he was far enough, he stopped and began to talk.
"I've heard there was a group of thugs, made up of a mechborg and a pack of goblins, that have bin causing quite a bit of trouble in the Water District. I also hear that the mechborg is a rough Warrior. I take it that's you guys?"
"And what if we are?" asked the mechborg.
"What if?"
The teen lifted the goblin above his head, seemingly very easily, and through him straight into some of the other goblins, who all ended up flying to, and right out of the bar, causing a large crash sound and a dust cloud to rise in the middle of the road. When the dust settled down, it revealed that goblins that got caught when all knocked out cold.
"I'll make you pay for it, that's what. Alright everyone, it be best if you were to give us some space." The crowed that was beginning to form took his words to heart and began to leave the area. "You think you wouldn't get in trouble with the Champions and the military acting like this?"
"The Champions?" asked the mechborg. "You think they'd get involved with this? All royals are the same: they sit on their thrown all day doing nothing, only ever talking about pointless things, and sending others off to do their dirty work for them. Besides, why the heck should they care about their countrymen? These fouls are just like plants, they can cut them down whenever they feel like as much as they want and they'll grow right back. So why the hell would they waste a huff of their breath for these filths?"
The teen didn't respond as the goblins got back up and regrouped.
"Come on, boys! Show this punk what happens when you mess with us!"
The goblins drew their swords before charging at the teen. As the charged as him, the teen crossed his arms in front of him. The mechborg could sense that he was beginning to gather Aura around his arms.
"Dragon Wave!"
He through his arms out, creating a blast wave that sent all the goblins flying back. The mechborg crossed his arms in front of him to try and shield himself.
"What the hell was that?" he asked as his goblin minions gathered themselves up.
"Dragon Wave, it's a Power Skill of his," came a voice. They all turned towards the direction of the castle to see Yuarite with Kolace, An and Ines with him and an entire squad of guards behind them. "He gathers his Aura around his arms and builds it up to increase the power and then lets it loose, creating a blast wave like that. Isn't that right, Kaegu?"
The teen removed his hood to reveal spikey emerald green hair and fiery red eyes.
"Man, this is my dirtiest outfit and it's still a bad disguise for you guys," he said with a smile.
The citizens and thugs all around were gasping in surprise.
"No way."
"He's the king?"
"What's he doing here?"
"Ines told us that you heard about some thugs causing trouble in the Water District," said Kolace, "and knowing you, as always, instead of leaving it the guards, you took matters into your own hands."
"What? You expect me to do what this guy said? Just sit around, talk, and send others off to do my work?"
"Jeez, I hate it when you're right like that at times like this," said Yuarite.
"Cannon Blaster!" They turned to see the mechborg had turned his right arm into a high tech looking cannon, sending forth a blast at Kaegu.
"Barrera Pura!" Ines called as she ran in front of Kaegu. She held out her hands and two sky blue circles began to glow from her palms, creating and energy barrier that protected her and Kaegu from the attack.
"Thanks, Ines," said Kaegu with a smile.
"No thanks are necessary, my king." Their attention was draw back to the mechborg thug as he chuckled.
"To think, the oh so special king himself had graced us with his presents. If I were to take your life with my own two hands, there wouldn't a being in all of Hosail who would have the guts to stand up to me."
"To think, someone like you could come from my species," said Ines with a sneer.
"You really think we'd let that happen?" asked An.
"Easy, An," said Kaegu.
"Your highness?"
"If this guy wants to have a go at me, then let him. Besides, there are a few things I wanna say to him to. You guys handle the grunts."
"Yes, your majesty," Ines and An said together with a slight bow.
"If you insist," said Kolace.
"Oh, so the silver spoon fed brat-" before the mechborg thug could finish, Kaegu was already right in front of him, moving faster then the thugs could keep up with.
"If you and I fight here, we'll cause trouble for the people. Let's take this down to the docks, shall we?"
Kaegu bought his fists back as they caught fire.
"Raging Dragon Fire!"
Kaegu sent both fists forward, letting loose a stream of fire that engulfed the mechborg and sent him flying back, all the way to the docks. The citizens and lowlifes simply stared in amazement at what the boy had just demonstrated. He quickly used his surprising speed to catch up after him.
"What the hell?!" gasped a goblin.
"What is he?! A monster?!" another asked.
"That's not what you should be concerned about," came Yuarite's voice. The goblin's turned to see he had drawn his two blades as they were instantly covered in darkness. "It's us you pore idiots should be worried about. Dark Blades!"
He charged forward and started slashing at the goblins, as fluently as humanly possible, without killing any of them. As he slashed with his swords, the dark energy increased their power and sharpness.
"Kuàisù Kǎndāo!" An called after flexing his talon-bladed fingers. He then started moving at high speeds, too fast for the goblins to keep up, and slashed them, weakening them to the point that they could be captured.
"Onda de Pulso!" Ines delivered an air palm strike, sending out a blue energy wave, knocking down the goblins. "They're all yours, Lord Kolace."
"Don't mind if I do. Freezing Blizzard!" Kolace through his arms forward, sending forth a blizzard that incased all the goblins in ice, trapping them in ice statues.
Down at the docks, where there was a large statue of the beautiful Mermaid deity in the center of a fountain holding a blue orb up in her right hand acting as a lighthouse, the mechborg thug was collecting himself off the ground. He looked up to see to Kaegu already there with eyes closed, gibing proper respect to the Mermaid.
"Mermaid, forgive me for bringing this fight to hear, in front of your statue, but it was necessary to get this away from the people. I ask for your forgiveness and permission to wage this battle here."
"Hey! King brat! You gonna fight me or what?!"
"Show some respect to the deities, would you?" Kaegu then removed his cloak, revealing his attire. He was wearing white baggy pants tucked into red boots, a red sleeveless vest that showed off his muscular chest and six-pack, as well as the varies different scars that decorated him. It was all topped off with a flaming sash tied around his waist. "Don't you have any?"
"All I hear is a lot of talking when I should be hearing fighting! Your pretty knight's not here to save you from this one this time. Cannon Blaster!"
The mechborg fired another shot at Kaegu.
"Blazing Dragon Claws!" Kaegu's right hand caught fire before he lunged his 'claws' forward into the blast, cancelling out the attack in flames. The surprise was clearly visible on the mechborg's face. "Who says I needed them to protect me? The did so because they insist on doing it. And by the way, you may think you're hot stuff, but Ines is a much better mechborg Warrior then you."
The mechborg charged forward in response to this with his left hand transforming into an ax and raised over his head.
"Ax Hack!"
The blades of the ax began to glow yellow from Aura. To his surprise, Kaegu easily stopped the ax with his bare right hand, catching it with his fingers before the blade reached his palm, seemingly with little effort. The surprise returned to the mechborg's face. He tried to move back but Kaegu's grip was too strong. He couldn't get loose.
"You're in a whole lot of trouble, metal mouth."
"Oh right. Since I've attacked the oh so important king, I'm sure I'll be going away for a long time."
"No. Attacking me, I can most certainly forgive."
"Huh?"
"What I can't forgive is the thought of the people of my kingdom being unhappy." Kaegu spun around and threw the mechborg into a pile of empty crates. "Liston here, pal. About what you said, where the people of the kingdom where just like plants. Where I can cut them down us much as I like and they'll grow right back. Do you even realize how incredibly stupid that is?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Listen, tin head, do you know what a kingdom is?"
"Of course I do, it's just a cluster of buildings under a single person's rule."
"No, you dumb ass! It's far more than that!" The faces of the people he saw in town that day all flashed through his mind. "A kingdom is a place where people come to work together to build a home and life for themselves. A royal is the one who makes sure the people of their kingdom stay safe and happy, for without the people, there is no kingdom. So, without the people, a king is nothing. I am nothing. That was the most important rule of being a ruler my father taught me, so I swore that like he, my mother, and the rest of my friends' parents, I would protect the people of this kingdom with my life, noble or common."
Kaegu began to walk towards the mechborg, and as he did, the mechborg began to feel a pressure from him. One that began to make him feel fear towards the young king. Ounce Kaegu reached the rouge Warrior, the mechborg could see the obvious anger in the king's eyes. Kaegu held up his tightly clenched right fist which burst into flames, which seemed to have gotten more intense along with Kaegu's anger.
"And should anyone dare test me on that promise by threatening my people I don't care who they are, I will make them pay for threatening their innocent lives!"
"Hey! Wait! Time out!"
"Dragon Fire Fist!"
Kaegu brought his hand down and punched the mechborg right in the gut, causing a large cracking crater to form beneath him and a pillar of fire to erupt where they were standing, which the others could easily see.
"Well, Kaegu's talk with the mechborg must be going well," said Kolace.
"Oh really? What makes you think that?" asked Yuarite.
火 土 風 雷 水 木 氷 光 金属 闇
The sun was beginning to set as the guards where loading the goblins and the mechborg, who now had bad burn marks all over his metallic body and was passed out, into an armored vehicle all set to take them to the prison cells located in the Ice District. While they were doing that, Kaegu was getting an ear full from Yuarite.
"Why must you do this every time, Kaegu? Every time you leave the castle, the guards, the knights, and not to mention all the other Champions all get worried sick about you. Don't you understand that if anything were to happen to you, the whole kingdom would be drowning in chaos? I just don't get why you don't tell anyone anything whenever you decide to leave the castle."
"What I don't get is why you aren't used to this kind of thing by now," Kaegu said.
"He's got a point," said Kolace, "this has happened enough for us to expect this kind of thing now."
"Just please," said Yuarite, "try to take your responsibilities as king a bit more seriously."
"What? You think I don't take them seriously?"
"I'm just saying…"
"You know what? Forget it. There's something I need to take care of."
"Huh?" Yuarite wondered as he walked off towards the bar. He knelt in front of Harue and handed her a sack of coins.
"Huh? What is…"
"A little tip from me. Your dad needs the medicine, right?" A big shining smile appeared on the little dwarf child's face.
"Thank you so much, your highness."
Kaegu patted her head as he walked back to the others.
"Alright guys, what's say we head back to the castle now?"
"As you wish, your majesty," said Kolace with a smile like everyone else was wearing.
They then began their way back to the castle, but as they did, a shadowy figure was watching them from the ally ways, his face covered. When they disappeared from sight, the figure took their leave as well.