It had been two days
Subaru hadn't eaten
Haven't rested
All he did was follow Eon his Yang spirit
Eon claimed to know the way to Kararagi
And after a painful, mana infused journey
Subaru saw it, I large dry kingdom
But it was fine
Eon promised to take him to the one location that was prosperous and alive
Bannan
But first... they had to borrow some food
"Ok girls, any idea on how we're gonna steal food?"
"I can burn them alive" Said Blaise energetically
"NO, we're not going to go around randomly killing people. I want a semi-peaceful solution."
"What if I used Shamack as a distraction while you steal the food?" Said Shami
"No I wanna hold off from using Yin magic for a short while, regardless of how effective it might be, it's too obvious since I'm like one of the only Yin users alive right now," Subaru said a little upset
"How about I cast Murak on the Appa's while Aeolus uses wind to launch them towards you?" Spoke Eon
"That's a great idea, let's do it." Subaru gave the spirits a thumbs up
It was a normal day for the Appa salesman, he tried his best to sell Appa's and lived a peaceful life.
"Oh boy I love my Appa's, but I love selling them even more," said the salesman
Then to his horror, a Yang spirit appeared next to his Appa's
"What the?"
Suddenly a gust of wind came from another spirit hiding not too far away as his Appa's went flying
"AHHHH HELP EVIL SPIRITS!" The appa man ran away
Subaru was watching with a smirk
He then put two hands up and caught an Appa in each
"Not bad girls. It's a shame that so many Appa's will be wasted but whatever I couldn't really care."
Suddenly Aleolus began to shine bright as he evolved
"Wow Aleolus, I guess you're a quasi spirit now huh?"
"Hmph, I am and you may praise me for it."
Subaru gave her a thumbs up
"Alright let's continue, Eon please show us the fastest route to Bannan."
"Subaru I'll warn you, the fastest route requires a cut through a Ma-beast breeding ground"
"That's fine, I only care about speed."
"Very well."
Along the way to the Ma-beast breeding ground, Blaise evolved into a Quasi spirit
"Ok girls remember once we enter the forest stay alert and on guard, I don't want a dog to chew me to death before I arrive."
"I'll burn any dog that tries"
"I'll heal you if anything happens"
"You'll be fine with us."
"I suppose I'll help you stay alive hmph."
"We got this."
"Let us begin."
Subaru walked into the forest as five of Subaru's spirits floated behind to protect Subaru while Eon went first to show him the way he needed to travel
It was hardly four minutes into their journey when a Ma-beast jumped at Subaru aiming to bite his head off.
"El Goa!"
Blaise had eagerly shot a large fireball at the wolf-gram, creating a large explosion and Turing the wolf into cooked meat
"You've been waiting for this opportunity haven't you?" Said Subaru smirking
"Obviously not, I'm just really good at protecting my contractor." Retorted Blaise
"Well just keep doing it I guess."
Subaru continued walking as his contracted spirits tore apart any approaching ma-beast.
They were cut in half, burnt to death, crushed under rocks, crushed by ice shards while Subaru casually walked on.
He showed no emotion to the carnage around him until he heard a voice
"Hey there, what you doing?"
Subaru confused that someone else was here turned around and saw a tall dog like creature
The two just stared at each other in silence
Subaru wasn't sure how to respond to seeing this.
"My, my what scary eyes you have there." The wolfman said
"Hayyy it's not my fault I was born this way and who starts a conversation like that?!"
"Aw sorry, just wanted to lift the tension in the room."
"Ok, ok I get it, so what bring you here?" Asked Subaru
"Well I was giving word that someone was in the forest blowing everything up. Do you know who might be doing that?"
"
Subaru observed the landscape he accidentally rearranged
"Haha Umm that might be me... but it was in self-defence after all."
"You hmmm? I don't think those arms are capable of all this." The wold name replied cheekily
"Oh you know I used magic, or more accurately my spirits did."
The wolfman observed the six spirits manifest in fount of him
"Wait for a second, Eon? You evolved while being unmanifested?"
"Yes Subaru, it would appear that I have."
The wolfman was a bit shocked
"Wait, you can talk to your spirits?"
"Yeah... well through our thoughts."
"And you said he evolved hmm, how long have you been contracted for?"
"Oh, about two days."
"Really? I thought it took decades to evolve a spirit."
"Well, here we are."
"This kid got potential as a fighter." Thought the wolfman
"Hay kid the names Halibel what's yours?"
"My name is Subaru Natsuki, a broke nobody who only has these six amazing spirits to help him."
"Say kid, I can tell you have an unbreakable will to become stronger. I'm not exactly sure why you seek more strength but since you have more potential than anyone else I've seen I have an offer for you."
"An offer?"
"I own a few rentals, I will let you live in one for free until you can get a source of income, but doing so means you gotta let me train you."
"Halibel was it? What can you offer me as training?"
"Well I'm the strongest in the country so I might have a few things you could learn."
"Wait really? Your the strongest?"
"Yep"
"Prove it."
"Ok sure, attack me, and when you do I'll knock you down like a child."
"Good luck getting past 4 Quasi spirits and 2 lesser spirits."
Subaru pointed at Halibel as his spirits powered up
They manifested their magic weapons
And
Halibel moved towards Subaru at blinding speed and punched him once in the stomach
"GAH" Subaru yelled
"You left yourself open" Halibel smiled and offered Subaru a hand
Subaru took the hand
"Geez you are pretty strong, alright I accept your offer."
"Ok follow me and try to not burn down the forest on your way out."
"Sure."
Subaru and Halibel walked over to the new house Subaru would stay in
"Heya thanks for this, I'd be homeless if not for this."
"Hay it's not free, in a few months some pay would be nice."
"Fair enough."
Subaru entered the rental and looked around
It was small
Possessing one bedroom, a kitchen and a living room.
It was small but perfect
"It's perfect. So when do we begin training?"
"Eager are you? Well, I would rest for today and train tomorrow. In the meantime, you should settle in."
"Alright thank you."
Halibel left as Subaru sat down on the bed.
"Ok girls this is it. Our future may begin now."
"Subaru what are you gonna do to earn money?" Asked Aqua
"I was thinking about that and I've decided bounty hunting could work. I mean think of it, I can wear a full-body cloak to hide my appearance while not having to interact with anyone. It's perfect for someone like me.
"Ahh yes that's clever, so can I burn the people who are wanted dead?"
"BLAISE STOP ASKING IF YOU CAN BURN PEOPLE TO DEATH! Ahh whatever, for now, let's just look around the city."
"Alright"
"Be careful"
"Burn?"
"I will come I suppose"
"Ok"
"Sure"
Said the spirits
Subaru stood up and as he opened the door he noticed a piece of paper fall to the ground.
"Huh, what's this?"
Subaru read it and realised it was just Halibels instructions on where to meet him
But oddly enough it also said
"Subaru in case you're wondering how much money you need to pay me in a few months it should look like this much."
And attached to the paper was a few silver coins and 1 gold one
"That's generous of him, helping a complete stranger like myself to such an extent, well girls we better not fail his expectations tomorrow. Anyways I say we buy some food and maybe the cloak I was just talking about with this money."
Subaru and his spirits then walked into the town of Bannan
As Subaru looked around he felt wave after wave of nostalgia
The entire city seemed to be Japanese themed
Subaru was truly happy to see this plant from the past
The first place Subaru entered was a clothes shop
Subaru looked over the clocks and found a Black one that covered his body and head. It wasn't long enough to trip on but just long enough to mask his identity.
( This but completely black and has no horns)
The man who ran the shop asked for 2 silver coins which Subaru paid and left to find food
"You know if you just let me burn him to death that cloak would be free?" Said Blaise
"No another comment like that out of you Blaise." Said Subaru annoyed at the fire spirit
Subaru then purchased some Tatto's for dinner
He wasn't the best cook, but if he just observed them cook there would be no chance they burn... Subaru, unfortunately, undercooked them resulting in him bitting into a cold Tatto
"This cooking thing is quite hard."
"What a useless contractor you are," said Aeolus
"Great another Tusundere spirit, Eh it's fine I still love you."
When all was said and done Subaru went to sleep finally after months he had a bed to sleep on.
While most people would call it a below-average bed
To Subaru, it was even more comfortable than the lap pillows the half-devil gave him
...
Subaru woke up feeling great
His spirits manor boosters had truly done wonders for his weak body
"No fatigue at all hmm. Great, let's go train and... did you two evolve while I was asleep?"
"Yep," said Toph
"Yes I, fortunately, have evolved," said Aqua happily
"Nice guess that means I'm already becoming Op."
"What odd words" pondered Shami
You know before we go I have an idea
Subaru walked over to his orange tracksuit
"This thing reminds me of my past, Blaise, when we walk outside you, may burn it into ash."
Blaise shorn happily at this
Subaru put on his new cloak and walked outside holding his tracksuit in hand
Then he threw it up
Blaise took this as the go-ahead so she shot a single fireball at it completely obliterating it.
"Now then, let's go train, after all, it's rude to keep someone doing us such a favour waiting."
Subaru arrived at the training ground Halibel told him to go
And as expected he saw the Wolfman standing their menacingly
"Yo Halibel are you ready to train?"
"Ahh Subaru, I hope your ready to train harder than you have ever trained in your life."
"You bet, I'll do almost anything to grow stronger."
So Halibel's hellish training began
First, it was basic stuff like push-ups and running
But it soon turned to combat Training
And Subaru loved it
He loved the feeling of fighting with Mana and magic
It was freedom to him
Yes, he got his ass kicked by Halibel but it never once make Subaru consider stopping.
No Subaru knew that if he were to grow stronger Halibel would be the first obstacle before he can remake his return
After the day of intense training, Subaru's body was aching all over as blood slightly flowed down his left arm
Most would go rest and recover but Subaru had a better idea in mind
He got Aqua his contracted quasi water spirit to heal him
Then he faced Halibel
"Thank you for the training, I will see you tomorrow. Oh, and could you please point me in the direction of some bounty hunters guild."
"Ahh, I see you've already decided to get a job and stop being lazy."
"You recommended I took that day off."
"Yeah your right, anyways the guild is 10 blocks away in the southeastern direction. It has a sign that says Hunters Guild so it's hard to miss."
"Ahh thank you."
Subaru walked towards the guild
All thanks to Aqua and his spirits mana boosters he felt at least 70% recovered
Subaru walked into the Guild and immediately smelt sweat and beer.
This was probably a place for tough people
Subaru adjusted his cloak to cover his head as he approached a board with a few kill quests and bounty's
"Hmmm which do you think I should do?"
Subaru said mentally to his spirits who weren't manifested.
"Do the ma beast kill quest" suggested Toph
"That guy with the eye patch's bounty," said Eon
"The Ma-beast quest might be too easy...but I mean that's not a bad thing and nobody will see me in action. Good idea Eon"
"Thank you for such a kind word Subaru." Said Eon
"Ok, we're family, no need to thank me for something as basic as thanking you."
"I understand Subaru"
Subaru took the poster with him as he headed out
Along the way, he heard a few bounty hunters make jokes about him and warn him to not do it
But he ignored them as he left towards the forest
Halibel was enjoying a smoke
After a long day of kicking Subaru's ass, he needed a break to relax
"That kid going to be an incredible warrior one day."
Halibel rested his head and tried to fall asleep
BOOM
"what the?" Halibel looked out his window and saw a large explosion
"What's he doing... Nar I'm on a smoke break I'll question him later."
Halibel went back to sleep as more explosions erupted from the forest
Subaru and his spirits were slaughtering the Ma beasts
They threw unfair amounts of firepower at them
To Subaru, this was literally free money
"Jeez, this is a pretty good career path huh girls?"
"Watch out dummy!" Aeolus yelled
Subaru turned around to see a Ma-beast charging towards him
So he sidestepped and allowed Aeolus to cast El fura cutting it in half
"Alright only about two more beasts to go."
Subaru smiled thinking to himself this would be a nice and peaceful career for him
...
Subaru was walking from the guild, having earned enough money to pay Halibel back and more he smiled
Then he saw a couple, a make and female couple being harassed by a group of thugs
"Give us all your goods and we might let ye go unharmed!" Demanded the leader
"Yeah, and while you're at it beg for your life." Said another
Subaru rolled his eyes five thugs would be a breeze for him
"Hay!" Subaru shouted
"Wha, who the hell are you?" A thug asked rudely
"I'm a nobody, the nobody who's going to kick your ass and throw you in jail for violation of this couples rights... and the law."
Two thugs pointed their weapons towards Subaru
"Ohhhh very scary and what are you going to do about it?" Asked a thug
Subaru held out his hand as his 6 contracted spirits manifested
"How about this?" Subaru smirked
Suddenly Blaise shot a blunted ice shard at each thug
"The hell? Your a spirits arts user?" Said the leader turning his attention away from the couple
"Yep prepare to get your ass kicked."
Subaru struck an epic pose as Blaise fired 3 more ice shards at the thugs knocking them out cold.
"Well, that was easy." Said Subaru out loud
The couple approached Subaru
"Thank you for your heroic acts of kindness young one," said the man
"How may we repay you?" Said the woman
Subaru smiled "don't worry about it, a hero doesn't accept payments from those he saves"
"Then please tell us your name," the man said
Subaru paused and thought for a second
He liked the idea of being a hero but if news got around that a spirit art user named Natsuki Subaru was being a hero it would take maybe a day to be found.
Subaru smiled and struck another pose
"My name is Neo. No family name it's just Neo."