I might have to put another time skip in, but probably don't have to.
This one's action packed, enjoy!
Chapter 4: Invasion
Almost 100 moons later did the boy finally break through to a warrior of the second rank. And, now, he will have a harder time reaching rank three than it took him to reach rank one.
It was unordinary that the boy had grown this quickly in such short time – in fact, many children didn't break through to rank one until they were twelve. But, Igneel knew that it would take the boy years before he reached a rank three warrior, even with his glorious talent.
It was even worse for his Mage training; because the boy was so young he wouldn't reach rank two until he was ten, and then from then on it would be a breeze to him. This boy was special, but there aren't many like him in the world, some will have greater talent than him.
Undeniably, though, this boy was special.
"Father, how many saints inhabit the world?" The boy asked; the draconic, red beast looked down on him.
The boy had finished his training and now focused on his meditating. Children developed at a slower rate to those who had reached their teenage years and then once reaching adulthood the pace of their development would slow again.
"There are enough to count on your two hands, the rest vacate to other planes," His father saw the boy's concentration and decided to tell him about the artefacts that inhabited the world, "There are items we call artefacts, like my five scales, those are artefacts. And, they too, come in ranks. But, you will never find an artefact bellow a saint level. They can be weapons or jewellery, and eat will have a power-like element to it."
"Would I need a weapon when I am older, father?" Still in his meditating position, and slightly focusing on the elements around him, the boy asked his father. Not out of curiosity, but as to help him in the future.
"Every great warrior has a weapon, I have on in mind for you, too..." Igneel trailed off, his voice was a booming echo in the cave; his voice was proud and deep. "But, we shall attain it when you are seven."
The boy broke from his meditation in a hurry, looking at his father with wide eyes that shimmered in amazement and glee. The boy's mouth was wide with a toothy smile, and Igneel could clearly see the fangs that stood out from the rest of the teeth.
This boy had truly become a beast in a human's body.
But Igneel worried for him. The boy had never seen a human other than when he turned into his human form, he wondered if the boy might be confused and scared, then act irrationally out of fear.
"I've never seen a weapon before! What do they look like? Are they as sharp as your claws, or as big as your teeth!?" The boy asked in a hurry, climbing the wall with excitement.
Igneel simply chortled, then he told the boy to continue his training and fret about his weapon when he had finished.
Natsu immediately began to train, his rough cut shorts had grown slightly smaller on him as the boy had grown to almost one meter. And, the bangs that he had disliked 100 moons ago had been cut away by Igneel's black claws; he now had spiky short hair.
Upon reaching rank one as a mage in both fire and earth elements, he now felt it much more easy to move the earth and the flame.
His father had told him a few moons ago that he would have to undergo another test, and this would help to see how much spiritual energy the boy had in his body. The average human would not have much, and so wouldn't be able to cast spells or use magic, from this they would then say how many times higher it was than the average human.
"My spiritual energy was 20 times higher than the average humans, but today it would be much greater as I have trained it."
He remembered how Igneel had said the test would go. Igneel would create a field of energy that the average human could not stand in, and then Natsu would have to stand in the field until he could no longer stand and would probably collapse or fall to his knees in. However many seconds the boy lasted, is how high his spiritual energy was.
The average Mage was only ten times higher than the average human.
Natsu began to focus himself on the flame. The little red dots that flickered here and there in his closed eyelids slowly began to move to the boy's hand and soon enveloped it in its hot flame. The boy then proceeded to thrust outwards with his fist, trying to maintain his fiery hand, but it only lasted a measly few seconds.
Only when a Mage reaches rank three will they be able to cast spells. And, whenever a warrior ranks up they increase in strength and speed, and their endurance is helped a little by the break through too.
Natsu was quite speedy without needing to break through, but with his breakthrough, he got a little faster after he did, so he did not complain.
The boy continued to train in the cave until nightfall...
When the night set over the cave, all that lit up the cave was the dim everlasting flame. It flickered in the slight breeze that came from the top of the crevice, but it stayed in one place as the boy and his father slept.
His father had been in his dragon form, his beast form, and his tail wrapped around where Natsu slept peacefully. The hard, yet flexible, tail, had been over ten meters long! It's brilliant, blood-red scales were lit dimly by the flame.
Compared to the small boy, he looked nothing more than a bug compared to it.
Although it seemed peaceful, they did not know of what beast lurked in the shadows at the crevice opening. These beasts were attuned with the darkness that engulfed the cave, and with their black, beady, lifeless eyes they could see past 50 meters. They could see the bottom of the deep pit that the boy and his father lived in, and they stalked the two like they were nothing more than pray.
Slowly, as though they had all the time the world had to offer, they began their careful descent into the abyss bellow. Taking careful footsteps; stopping every so often, and scanning the two down bellow.
These beasts seemed to have darkened skin, almost as black as soot, and six limbs coming off of them. They were almost 2 meters in length, and muscles ripped from their bodies as though they could not fit in their arms and chests.
These beasts were called Divians. The lowest rank that a Divian could be was a rank seven, and they were powerful warrior beasts, but could not use any magical spells. These magical beasts, though, could increase their strength with an enchantment.
Steadily, the beasts lowered themselves to the ground, but they made one fatal mistake. The dragon and human they were hunting had exceptional hearing, and when their feet patted on the ground like raindrops, the draconic beast was wide awake and alert.
The dragon pounced into action, pushing the boy into a crack in the wall. The beast began to move, shifting it's long, scaly tail to the side.
The six-limbed creatures did not waste haste and began to charge at the dragon that stood proudly and terrifyingly above them. The dragon lifted its black claws, and strike down upon one of the beasts in front of him, severing the body into three, unevenly cut pieces.
The second Divian climbed upon the dragons back, taking its huge fists and pounding into the armoured scales with full force. The other punched on the dragon's large tail and began pulling at it trying to remove it from the dragon.
Unfortunately, for the beady-eyed creature, the red beast flung its tail into the air and then swung right smashing the beast into the sharp wall. The Divian loosened its grip and fell lifeless as a spike protruded out of its body. Its body stayed in place, like a trophy.
Meanwhile, the boy watched from the wall. He watched as the large, pitch-black beast pounded into his father's back with its large fists. He watched as his father struggled to get the clingy beast off of it's back.
The scale began to break, and like dust, bits of it fell to the cold, hard cave floor.
Natsu watched on in terror, then closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw painfully. Suddenly, the fire in the room began to move, it cracked and spark and intensified becoming a bright, burning heaven.
It sprung towards the eyes of the all-black beast, blinding it – the beast fell from the back of the dragon.
And, with the opening, the dragon slammed one mighty foot down on the head of the beast, silencing its life. The cave was filled with the stench of blood, and the wind gently blew it to one side of the cave.
The dragon looked at the boy, whose arms were wide and pointing towards to where the deceased everlasting flame had been.
In Natsu time of panic, he made the flame move and burn brighter as to blind the enemy, which could be done by a Mage who had an exceptional ability for the fire element. It was a simple thing to do, but being a boy and using it in one's time of need, Igneel thought it would have been much harder due to fear. Natsu was a young boy after all.
The dragon slowly began to shift, and then decreased in size – he became a human again.
The silence enveloped the cave, and all that remained was the smell of blood that stained the floor and cascaded down the walls.
"Go back to sleep, you will train tomorrow," Igneel said, moving the body that had had its head stomped on, "Do not forget what happened here, always remember that fear. But, fight against it. Fight in your fear, and fight without fear of death."
The boy nodded meekly, then stayed in the crack of the wall. He felt safe from anymore attacks if he was in there...