Chapter 1: The Boy from the Sea

It was a calm day at the port town of Hargeon, once again at the least. Considering near a month ago the town had been almost destroyed no thanks to some mages going overboard. But, with repairs done and all, everything was back to being peaceful and quiet, the way the residents usually liked it. Not that there still weren't traces of reconstruction left. It always took time to finish such things after all.

"Well… at least we got some reparations from the Council."

Was the mutter of an old fisherman aiming to simply waste the day away making his catches. He had a good haul so far, but it seemed a previous storm was keeping some of the local fish from going near the shore. A shame really, as it was a good time of year to be shore fishing otherwise. But patience was a virtue of a fisherman, and patience the old man certainly had. A slow day was a slow day, not much one could do about that.

"Hm?" The sudden pitch of the old man's line caught his full attention, the sudden yank downwards sparking excitement in his eye. "A big one he?! Looks like at least one of 'em stuck around! Come to papa!"

The old man stood and yanked with all his might, chuckling as his hooked catch. Whatever it was, it was fighting back hard, and that only excited the old man as he let out a roar. With a fierce pull, a splash sounded as the catch came flying out of the water… and the man realized whatever it was, it wasn't quite a fish he had suddenly pulled up as the shape went careening into the pavement of the dock.

Hard.

"OWWWWW!"

The fisherman could only stare as a person writhed on the pavement while holding their head in pain. He couldn't get a good look at their face thanks to the rather large hood all but hiding their head as they sat up, said hood part of a white mantle with two segments flowing from the ends like a scarf, while beneath it was a set of rugged travel clothes in blues, tans, and browns, with a rather weighty pack to go with it. Not to mention, going by their size the unfortunate individual couldn't have been much more than a child barely into their teens. What was such a person doing in the ocean of all places?

And perhaps making it even stranger was the fact there wasn't a drop of water on them despite just being quite literally fished from the sea.

"The heck kinda person yanks someone out of the water when they're trying to eat?!" Their voice was one just starting to crack from puberty, just dipping into a masculine tone. At least the fisherman knew it was a boy. Also the fact said boy was holding onto a fish with a sizable, and bloody, chunk torn out of it.

"What kind of kid ends up in the ocean to be fished out?!" The old man yelled, finding the priorities of the hooded boy to just be off.

"I got hungry," the boy held up the fish in his hands like that wasn't the oddest thing he could have said.

"That doesn't explain anything!"

"Well I was swimming, and got hungry, so took a moment to grab a fish to eat. And then something hooked my hood. Now here I am," the boy pointed out the fishing hook still stuck in the material of his hood, which to the old man's surprise was merely snagged on the material, not even piercing it.

"Wait…" then the realization hit him. "You were swimming?! And trussed up like that?!"

"Yeap!" The boy plucked the hook free, standing and dusting himself off. He then prompted stuck the fish into his mouth whole, pulling the skeleton and head free with a quick swipe and gulping the rest down. "It's not hard for me to do. I'm a wizard after all!"

"Ehhh? A kid your age?" The fisherman collected his line and stood, the boy nodding beneath his hood. "Sheesh, some of you start young. How old are you anyway?"

"Like… 12? Maybe 14? I don't really know. Somewhere around there," Pulling his hood down, the boy shook dark blue hair loose, letting it fall around his pale face. Emerald green eyes looked out between the strands, the boy showing a grin with quite clear fangs as the man looked him over. "I'm also not in any Guild. I'm a Free Mage that takes jobs wherever I end up in."

"Well that's unusual," The old man sat down and recast his line, the boy watching the hook fly out and the bobber gently fall into the sea. "I hear a lot of wizards start young, but don't most kids your age start it easy in a guild that lets ya ease into that? Not gettin' fished out of the water by some old man?"

"Well… I have reasons for not being in a guild," The boy sat on his knees, leaning over the side of the stone pier, casting his gloved right hand into the water. The old man watched as it began to stream around his bare fingers, swirling upwards as he raised his hand, gathering around his palm as it formed a small whirlpool just above it. "See… I'm looking for someone. And being in a Guild could help. I was told that before I started traveling. But, due to a… well let's call it weird situation, I've got some special allowances."

"And what'd those be?"

"Hehe, sorry, but I was told to keep that secret," The boy let the water in his hand drop back into the lapping waves. And then his stomach let out a rather loud rumble, to which the boy promptly knelt, clutching his gut. "Guess that one fish wasn't enough…"

"Probably shouldn't have eaten it raw either."

"Ehh, I have a strong stomach. But… maybe."

"Haha! Alright, what about this?" The old man looked to the boy with an amused grin, "I'll cook ya' a meal with some of my catch today, if you use that fancy water magic of yours to coax some of the fish my way. Consider it me making it up for reeling you instead. Sound good?"

"Huh, free food, and all I gotta do is get some fish in line huh? Sounds good to me!" The boy whipped his pack off, setting it on the ground and stepping to the edge, taking a few stretches.

"So… what kind of water mage are you?"

"Hehe… the kind who does stuff like this," the boy took in a deep breath, water beginning to pool from his palms and then spreading outwards along his arms. "Water Dragon's Wave Scales!"

The spreading layer of water quickly coated the boy's body, forming into a scale-like pattern before seeming to vanish, only the slightest glint of refracted light betraying the barrier. With a grin, the boy launched himself from the pier and beneath the water in a smooth dive. The old man watched as the water around his line started to shift, pulling the line with it as things outside of his vision began to turn and flow.

And when that familiar snag hit his fingers, he hoped that this time, he'd get a fish and not the boy yet again. The man smiled when he didn't just yank a fish, but the exact size of one he'd been hoping to get that day, the fish almost as big as the boy was.

"Well now!" The man laughed as the fish went flopping onto the pier, the boy popping up from the water as the man observed the catch, "Where'd you spot this guy?"

"Hanging out further down," The boy answered. It was now the old man observed how despite being submerged he really wasn't wet at all. Likely no thanks to that spell he'd used earlier. ":I can keep chasing more up to your bait if ya' want."

"Why not? Folks're gonna pay good Jewel for a haul like this. What's your name kid?"

"Aki. Aki Halcyon."

"Nice to meet you, Aki. And again, sorry about fishing you up."

"Ehe… actually not the first time that's happened to me."

After what ended up being a far more successful haul than the fisherman had expected, sticking true to his word he next brought Aki to the nearest still open restaurant to treat the lad to a meal made from said catch. Somehow it wasn't surprising to find out the boy had quite the voracious appetite, having plates of food stacked high at the table the two occupied at the joint.

"That magic of yours use up a lot of energy, or are you always this ravenous huh?" The old man couldn't resist the joke, though it was also out of some curiosity."

"Pretty much," Aki admitted, letting out a satisfied breath as he finished what had to be his twentieth plate already. "My style of magic is pretty physical, and since it's a Caster type it means all the energy is drawn from my body. So, unless I eat a lot, I have a hard time replenishing my energy if I overdo it."

"That common with mages?"

"I guess it depends on the type," Aki hummed. "Or maybe it's just 'cause I'm a Dragon Slayer."

"Eh?" The old man raised a brow again, putting a hand to his chin. "Have I heard that before? Can't say it rings a bell…"

"Dragon Slayers…" Aki paused to gulp down another mouthful. "Dragon Slayers are people who were taught magic by a Dragon. So in short, the magic I use is the same type that a dragon would have used."

"But ain't Dragons extinct?" The fisherman muttered. "I've heard about the legends, but all of 'em say dragons died out centuries ago. I mean… maybe there were a few left, and they just never showed themselves."

"I dunno," Aki sighed. "See, part of why I'm traveling like this is because I wanna find the Dragon who taught me. He vanished seven years ago, and… well I've kinda just started looking. My teacher said it would've been a bad idea for me to start running around looking for a dragon when we first got to Fiore, so I spent the past seven years training to get ready for it."

"Well at least she was responsible," The old man chuckled, Aki scratching his cheek with a light flush coming to his cheeks. "Still, if your teacher decided to let ya' loose when you're still just a kid, you've gotta be a pretty talented mage. So then, little Dragon Slayer, why'd you come to a town like Hargeon? We're not much more than a humble little fishing village. Barely anyone here uses magic, and I doubt you're gonna find a dragon in the waters around here."

"Honestly I was actually looking out further in the ocean," Aki chuckled. "I wanted to check out some ruins that were on an island not far from here first. Places like that seemed the kind of place I might be able to find the dragon. Oh, his name is Timaeus by the way. See… the issue is my memory of him is kinda spotty. I remember being trained by him, but not much else. The only other thing I know besides that is that he raised me in some ruins. So, I figured if I look around, I can find those ruins, and hopefully some traces of Timaeus."

"Wouldn't you have had to take a boat for that?"

"Ehehehe… I'm actually not good with transportation. See, a bit of a problem with being a Dragon Slayer is, uh… I have really bad motion sickness. I can barely even stand on a boat or a train without wanting to hurl."

"Huh? How the heck does that have anything to do with you being one of these Dragon Slayers?" The old man had a face that was one of genuine confusion, to which Aki could only look to the side.

"I don't really know. A doctor I visited said something… some kind of lack of synchronization between my eyesight and something else… I forget the word. The simple thing is, Dragon Slayer magic causes my body to take on the traits of a dragon. And it… doesn't always match up. And apparently that mismatch is why anything other than solid ground makes me motion sick. I've tried to get around it in some ways. Meditation kind of helps."

"Yeesh. Must suck. Trains and boats are damn convenient, especially the former. If you're gonna be travelin' around Fiore, that's your best option for movin' quickly. Can't just avoid 'em cause you got a small issue like that."

"Yeah, I know. It's why I try to manage it. But…" finally setting the last plate aside, Aki clapped his hands together. "Thank you for the meal."

"Sure sure, least I could do for you helpin' me out after I yanked you out of the water. Don't worry about payin', like I said, the catch covered it."

"And again, I need to thank you."

The boy collected his pack and stepped out of the shop, the fisherman electing to follow him. He felt he couldn't just let the boy run out on his own like that.

"So, what even happened here?" Aki looked to the fisherman as he scanned the various bits of scaffolding and leftover wreckage still being cleared out.

"Ahh, about a month ago some wizards got a bit ahead of themselves in some fight," The fisherman let out a groan. "Damn near tore up half the town before it was over. The guards got a few of 'em, some gang that was tryin' to kidnap a bunch of young girls. Good riddance I say. But, there was a couple who got away, not sure who they were. But, if they were responsible for stopping those rat bastards, then I suppose a bit of collateral damage is forgivable."

"Though this clearly isn't a bit," Aki chuckled, the old man nodding. "Well, guess the Council made their Guild pay for the damages. Hm… kind of sounds like Fairy Tail. I hear they're good, but they have a bit of a habit of causing more damage than they'd get rewarded for."

"Sounds like quite the guild. So kid, what're your plans now that you've checked something out? We got a train station, so getting back to where you came from shouldn't be hard."

"Well… I was thinking of taking my time," Aki chuckled as they stopped at an intersection. "That and… well where I'd be going back to would be Crocus. I'd have to take a few trains to get there."

"Eh? Crocus? As in the royal capital? You're from there? Dang… you're far out to be in a coastal fishing town. No wonder you wanna make it a trip before heading back. I'd definitely wanna see more of the kingdom if I had that much distance to travel."

"I mean I might as well," Aki chuckled. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a map, rolling it open. He scanned it until he found Hargeon, then trailing his finger along the railway lines marking it. "Let's see… the closest town along the railways is Magnolia, near Lake Sciliora… wonder if there's anything in the lake worth checking out while I'm there."

"Ahhh, speaking of that Guild, I think I recall Magnolia being where their Guild HQ is," the fisherman glanced at the map, chuckling when he caught the sudden shin in the boy's eyes. "Could also be a chance for you to meet some strong mages. Maybe even reconsider not being in a Guild. From what I have heard about those folks, they're the strongest around despite the trouble they cause."

"Sounds fun, but I'm not sure about which Guild I wanna join yet. Plus, I've got a friend back home," Aki chuckled as he folded up the map and returned it to his pack. "She'd get pretty mad at me if she found out my first trip ended with me running off to join a Guild without bothering to tell her about it."

"Ohhhh? Does the young mage have a little sweetheart back at the capital?" The old man couldn't help but laugh as Aki's face turned a fierce shade of red, the boy yanking up his hood to try and hide it.

"I-It's not like that! It's just… we grew up together, so we're close is all. Plus, there's some other people I know back home I'd need to tell first, y'know?"

"Ahahaha! You talk all refined and polite, but you're definitely still just a kid, eh little Dragon Slayer?" The old man clapped the boy on the shoulder, steam downright coming from under his hood as his embarrassment only mounted. "Don't feel embarrassed by it. You made a promise to a close friend and intend to honor it. I'm sure anyone would respect you not joining a Guild knowing that. For a kid your age, that's especially respectable. Not even some adults are that keen on keeping promises."

"Th-Thanks…"

Before the two could continue on their way to the train station, the sudden echoing of surprised yells carried on the air, a loud roar following suit that boomed through the streets like thunder.

"The hell?! That's coming from the marina!" The fisherman gasped.

"Ah crap!" Aki dashed off as his eyes went wide. The old man tried his best to keep pace as the boy took off at a sprint, a wide gap forming between the two as they headed for the marina. People were running from the place as they did, some calling out to the two to try and stop them, but to no avail as Aki seemed all too focused on reaching the shore as fast as possible.

When the boy did, his jaw tightened as he saw the water suddenly burst upwards. A serpentine creature burst out from the waves, it's roar echoing through the air as its dark blue scales sent water flying everywhere.

"What in the hells?!" The fisherman managed to yell despite how short of breath he'd gotten at seeing the towering serpent crash back down into the water. "What the hell is a sea serpent like that doing near this town?! Those things only swim out in the deepest parts of the ocean!"

"Or near ruins," Aki grumbled, the fisherman looking at the boy as he growled. "Can't believe it followed all the way here. Persistent thing…"

"Wait a minute, you know that thing?!"

"Well… I may have accidentally ticked it off when I was checking out those ruins," Aki grumbled. "But I didn't think the damn thing would be that persistent. Damn… gotta drive it off!"

"Hold on kid!" The fisherman grabbed Aki as he was about to jump into the water. "Sea serpents are A Class monsters! You may be a Dragon-whatever, but you said you just started doing the mage thing! There's no way you can take it on!"

"And if I don't, it's gonna start wrecking this town more than it already has been!" Aki snapped back, the fisherman gritting his teeth. The boy then gave a confident smile, tapping a fist to his chest. "Don't worry. Water's my domain after all. Doesn't matter if it's some big serpent thrashing around. Besides, it's kind of like a Dragon… and that's my magic's specialty. Just watch. I'll make sure it stays away from the port!"

Aki turned and jumped off the port, chanting the same spell he'd used before as he broke the water's surface. As he swam along, he saw the serpent turning about in the water just head of him, it's roar bellowing through the water enough he could feel the pressure of it even then.

"I swear… you check out one ruin…" Aki sighed, shaking his head as his gaze steeled. "Water Dragon's Brine Claw!"

The water around Aki's feet began to churn as he adjusted his legs, sending him rocketing through the water like a bullet. The sea serpent angled its head as it caught sight of the approaching mage, to then promptly received a whirling kick slamming right into the spot below its eye, the rapid swirls of water around Aki's foot shearing into the scales of the serpent as its head snapped back. Aki didn't waste time in darting away as the serpent snapped back around to try and clamp its jaws down on him, then raising his hands upwards, jets of water swirling around his arms as he shot back towards the serpent.

"Water Dragon's Loch Wings!" Aki swiped his arms like claws, the jets of water slamming into the serpent, pushing it further into the depths as it was sent careening down. Aki glanced to the side as he saw its body move, yelping as the tail came flying towards him, slamming into his body and attempting to wrap around him, only being prevented from almost crushing him by the layer of watery scales. "Dammit, let go you… crud…!"

The serpent had angled its head back up as it stopped its descent, a bright ball of swirling water gathering between its jaws as he moved to loom over the boy. Aki responded by opening his mouth in turn, water swirling around his face into a night identical bright orb.

"Water Dragon's Roar!"

Two large streams of water burst from the orbs both had gathered, and yet the one Aki fired was larger and even faster. As the two blasts collided, Aki's burst through the serpent's, crashing through and into the beast's head full on, the blast carrying it further down and out as Aki angled it away from the direction of the town.

"Sorry, but a serpent isn't a match for a dragon," Aki wiped off his chin as the serpent wheeled back around towards him. "Sheesh… holding both spells like this is tiresome. But… hehehe."

With a chuckle, Aki opened his mouth again, water beginning to stream into his mouth as he sucked in. The drain that Aki was starting to feel began to ebb away as he sucked more and more water in, holding it until he felt the drain alleviate.

"Peh, salty…" Aki stuck his tongue out, then rolled around as the serpent fired a blast of water at him. More blasts followed, Aki nimbly maneuvering past the blasts, a grin on his face as he did. "Heh, I can do that too! Water Dragon's Rapids Burst!"

Aki aimed his hands forward as water swirled around his palms, bursts of water firing from the swirls as he maneuvered around, either slamming into the serpent's blasts or shooting past and slamming into its long body. He moved closer with each shot, right until he was within close distance again. "Water Dragon's Delta Stream!"

The swirls around Aki's hands burst outwards as he swung his arms down, turning into two massive blades of water that came down on the serpent. The beast roared as the slashes cut through its scales, blood flying from the wounds and into the water. With another roar, the beast craned around and charged, its snout slamming into Aki as it rushed upwards. Aki growled as the beast carried the rush through, both bursting through the surface and high into the air. The serpent flung Aki off, the water scales around the boy trailing from him as he arced off back towards the town.

"Damn!" Aki had an eye shut as he turned back to the serpent, the open eye widening as he saw it readying another larger blast like before. Gritting his teeth, Aki spun around, streams of water flying from his arms. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Roaring Sea: Bursting Whirlpool Blade!"

As Aki spun, the water around his arms burst outwards into a massive torrent. It rushed for the serpent as it tried to loose the blast from its maw, slamming right into it and sending the roaring beast flying away from the blow. As he watched it sail past the horizon, crashing once more into the waves, Aki laughed as he tilted downwards.

"Dang… forgot how tiring it is to use one of those…"

As his eyes shut, Aki fell back towards the water, crashing into the ocean with a resounding splash and pillar of water.

Back at the docks, the fisherman and several others had gathered, unable to see most of the battle side from the sudden bursts of water coming up from below. When the serpent had sudden burst above the waves and sent Aki flying, they couldn't help but feel panicked as the boy went careening down. But, it had quickly broken out into cheers when he'd sent the serpent sailing away in a brilliant torrent of water… only for the elation to turn to panic again when Aki went crashing into the waves.

"Did the serpent get him?!"

"Is he gonna come up?!"

"Kid…" The fisherman bunched a hand in worry, flinching away as the water before the crowd suddenly burst upwards.

"Gyaaaaaaaghhh!" The scream that followed from the burst made the crowd join right in, only for it to die down when the spray vanished, revealing a panting Aki bobbing in the water on his back. "Craaaaap! Good thing I fell in the water! Wouldn't have been able to get my… uh… hi?"

"Don't give people a scare like that kid!" The fisherman shouted, Aki drifting towards the pier and setting his arms on it. "For a second there we thought you were done!"

"Ah don't worry! Dragon Slayers are tough, so a fall like that is nothing!" As he started pulling himself up, Aki caught the fisherman holding out a hand. With a chuckle, he took the offered help to get out onto the pier. And no sooner was he standing there did people suddenly flock around him. "Whoa!"

"That finisher was amazing kid!"

"I never thought I'd see someone send a serpent flying like that!"

"What Guild are you with!? They've gotta be impressive!"

"Ahehehe, can we maybe not crowd so much?" Aki raised his arms as he nervously chuckled, his eyes darting to the fisherman, who was near bent over in amusement. "I-I'm just a newbie Mage is all. This is my first outing, and I'm not even with a Guild! So uh… p-please slow down a bit! Yaaaagh!"

The boy could only yell in surprise as he was suddenly hoisted up by the even more impressed crowd… and also very quickly looked like he wanted to hurl as he started getting carried around.

"Ah, right… kid said he has motion sickness."

"Hagh, finally free of all that… people need to learn to cool it a bit."

"Ahaha, don't blame them for being excited after seeing something like that."

A good deal later, Aki and the fisherman had made their way to the train station, Aki intent on getting the first train out from Hargeon to Magnolia. With the commotion that had been kicked up by the sea serpent and all that, the boy had spent more time than he'd wished being tossed around by the celebratory townsfolk. At least now he had a few trinkets to add to an intended collection, along with a decent sum of Jewel to hopefully last him a few days' worth of travel.

"Anyway, I do wonder what kind of things I'll find when I'm out there," Aki chuckled, peering down the train tracks as the whistle of an incoming one rang through the air. "Oh boy… let's hope the meditation Ms. Anna taught me comes in handy…"

"That your teacher?" The fisherman asked, Aki nodding.

"Mhm. Ms. Anna's been taking care of me since Timaeus disappeared. She's also the one who taught me how to read and write, plus kept the notes about my magic so I can learn the techniques Timaeus didn't personally teach me. Though she also travels a lot, so I usually stay with that friend of mine."

"Sounds like you've got a good one taking care of you," The fisherman eyed the train as it pulled into the station, tapping Aki on the shoulder as the boy adjusted his pack. "Good luck out there, little Dragon Slayer. I'll be keeping an ear open for any news about you. You've already got plenty of fans here in Hargeon."

"Ehehe, guess that's a success for my first adventure, huh?" Aki chuckled as he trotted onto the train, turning back to the fisherman. "Just watch me. I'm gonna be one of the best mages in Fiore for sure!"

"Good luck out there, Aki!" The fisherman waved Aki off as the boy vanished into the carriage. He took a seat on a bench as other passengers filed onto the train, watching as soon enough, the doors shut and the train began to depart. While the old man had certainly expected to see Aki near a window, he couldn't help but belt out a laugh when he saw the kid was clearly trying his hardest to fight off his motion sickness as the train started moving, his eyes shut tightly and steam downright pouring from his ears. "A kid like that… heh, he's got a bright future ahead of him."

As the train pulled off, the old fisherman let out another chuckle when he saw a quick flurry of motion, saw Aki lean out, doing his best to keep his lunch down as he waved back towards the old man, and to the town that had become the first point on what the fisherman could tell was going to be a long, and hopefully fruitful series of adventures.

And that was how the story of Aki Halcyon, the Water Dragon Slayer, began. The story of one of the finest mages in Fiore.