I would quickly like to thank all those who have read this story and enjoyed it. This chapter has my idea on how dragon slayers get their dragon slayer abilities, like super senses and the ability to eat their element.(After all, I doubt they were born like that.) Enjoy!
Things in bold are magical attacks, and unless otherwise stated, the rest of the story is in Ryu's POV.
-Year July 15, X784-
It had been five days since I had awoken and found a new home with Yūrei. I had pretty much returned to normal, my skin was no longer pale and I had put some more meat on my bones. And today, my first day of training would begin.
At first, when Yūrei had told me she would teach me Dragon Slayer magic, I had been a little apprehensive. But then she had told me I didn't have to use it to slay dragons, and that there were evil dragons out there. Her eyes had glazed over and her face had darkened as she said this. It made me wonder what bad experiences she had with other dragons.
Back in the present, I was sitting in front of Yūrei. The sound of waves lapping against the shore gave a calming effect, but also reminded me about where I had been before washing up on the beach.
"Young one," Yūrei's voice called me out of my thoughts, "Today you will be learning the basics of Spirit Dragon magic." I nodded my head, ready to learn.
"Okay."
"First off, when you think of spirits, what do you think of?" I racked my brain and quickly replied, "Ghosts."
"Good," Yūrei said, "but that is only one part of the Spirit World."
"Spirit World?"
"Yes," she used her claw to draw two circles, one slightly smaller than the other and placed in the middle of the bigger one, "The spirit world is the realm in which spirits live. It is like a part of our world that no one can see or touch except for spirits."
"What did you mean when you said that ghosts are only one part of the Spirit World?"
"When people die they become spirits, but there are many kinds of spirits. The most common of which are ghosts or Specters." She separated the smaller circle into 7 segments, "There are the Wind Spirits, the Fire Spirits, the Water Spirits, Earth Spirits, and the Pure Spirits, or Specters. And then there are Celestial Spirits, whose power can only be used by Celestial Spirit mages." Yūrei explained as I listened intently.
"So when people die they turn into one of those spirits randomly?"
"No, what kind of spirit they are in death depends on what kind of person they were in life." I looked at the circle, staring at the strange markings she had made in 6 of the segments and noticed one segment was still blank.
"You left one of the segments blank." I pointed out, "Why?" She looked at the last segment with a sort of anger, or maybe fear?
"That group of spirits are ones that we never call upon in battle. They are the Underworld Spirits, spirits of people so evil that they are not allowed to interact with the real world even in death. So understand that you must never use their power."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, now we need to prepare you for the hardest part of the training." I gulped nervously as Yūrei stood up and walked back to the cave. I followed her as she started to prepare a bunch of stuff. A bed, some medicinal herbs, and other stuff like that. She motioned me over and told me to lie down.
I nervously did so and she placed a claw on my forehead and started to chant something. I would have been able to understand it, were it not for the enormous pain that racked my body as soon as she started to chant.
I screamed as I felt my body changing. I could feel parts of my body becoming different, like my lungs, stomach, hands, even my skin. It was like my entire body was on fire, and no amount of water would put the flames.
"I am sorry, Little One." Yūrei murmured, "It will all be over soon."
That day, I learned our definitions of soon vastly differed.
-Year July 16, X784-
After the process I had been through yesterday, I was allowed to rest for the remainder of the day. Yūrei explained to me that what she had done would allow me to use Spirit Dragon Slayer magic. My lungs had changed so I had the ability to breath Spirit Energy. My stomach had changed so I would be able to eat Spirit Energy as a source of power. My skin had changed so I would be to use the Spirit Energy without damaging myself. In Yūrei's words, I had become part dragon.
In addition to this, a black band was now wrapped around my forehead. This was to cover something else that had been added in order to use Spirit magic. A third eye that allowed me to see into the Spirit World whenever it was uncovered. Unlike a normal eye, the sclera was black and the pupil was white. The iris was an inhuman gold. I had to keep it covered because of how the Spirit World was.
Yūrei told me that those who had the ability to see the Spirit World while still alive could only see it like it was a negative photo. Also, spirits were quite chatty and that could have broke my concentration while training.
Yūrei and I were back on the beach and after the change, I found out that I could hear more, smell more, see more. The salt in the air was more noticeable, and it was quite pleasant to my nose. The waves pounding the sand was magnified to where it sounded like Yūrei walking along the sand.
I stood still on the beach, Yūrei sitting several yards in front of me.
"Hold up your arm, Little One." She commanded and I did so, holding my right arm out in front of me.
"Good, now I want you to concentrate on your arm. I want you to feel the Spirit Energy surrounding it. Find the energy that seems the purest, that will be the best one to use as a beginner." I closed my eyes and concentrated on the energy surrounding my arm. I could feel 6 different kinds.
The first was slightly chilly and, but was definitely the purest. The second was warm and made me feel like I could do anything. The third was wet and gave me a laid back attitude. The fourth was hard and bumpy and gave me a feeling of stubbornness. The fourth was fast and kept changing between warm and cool, it made me feel a little shy. The fifth was soft and warm, giving me an energetic feeling that made me want to start jumping around. The sixth was even colder than the first and it radiated pure evil, as soon as I felt it, I could feel goosebumps breaking out on my skin.
I focused on the first energy.
"Got it." I told Yūrei.
"Now imagine that energy moving across your arm and growing. After you've done that, I want you to direct some of your magic power to your arm." I did this and felt a tingly sensation through my body. I opened my eyes to see my right arm covered in a strange matter. It was grayish in color and had the appearance of liquid flames.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"You have harnessed Spectral Energy, which, albeit the easiest type of Spirit Energy use, is no small feat. Good job." I smiled at the words as Yūrei placed a paw on my shoulder. I continued to practice and by the end of the day I had near full control over Spectral Energy and could summon Water Energy for about 30 seconds.
-That night-
I woke up from my sleep, haunted by nightmares. Sweat covered my body and I was breathing heavily. I stood up and walked outside, careful not to wake the sleeping she-dragon. Learned that lesson already, and it was not pretty.
I walked down to the water, taking a deep whiff of the air and sighing. I scrunched my toes up to feel the soft sand in between them. The small waves occasionally washed around my feet, helping to calm me down. I placed a hand on the small of my back and the memory of how I got it came back to me.
~FlashBack~
I was carrying a bag of stones towards a large building, hundreds of other people around me. Most of them were like me, dressed in rags and starving. I then noticed the girl in front of me fall down and a man wearing strange robes that hid his face ran over.
"Get up!" He ordered, but the girl was tired and weak. I saw the man rear back to strike her when I jumped in front of her, dropping my bag in the process. The man stopped suddenly.
"Oh, looks like we've got a wannabe hero." He nodded and I suddenly felt a burst of pain in my back. I looked back and saw one of the magical guards flying behind me, a magic circle disappearing. I could smell something burning, I think it was me. I felt myself slumping forward as the damage took its toll.
"We don't need weaklings like you. The sharks could use a small appetizer today." The man in robes grabbed my arm and started to drag me towards the oceanside cliff. I looked back to see the girl looking at me with. I had only been here a couple months, but this girl had been one of my best friends.
"I will never forget you..." I whispered, taking one last look at her scarlet hair and brown eyes, "Erza." The guard threw me over the cliff and I landed in the ocean, the impact making me slip into blackness.
~End FlashBack~
I wondered how Erza was doing, along with the other friends I had made when I had been forced to help build that thing the men had called the "R-System".
"There he is!" A voice exclaimed and I nearly jumped in horror. I turned to see the man in robes standing nearby, four other men standing beside him. They must have found out I was still alive and came to finish the job. I wished that Yūrei was awake, but she wasn't. I had to deal with this on my own.
"We meet again." I said calmly, trying to focus on the energy surrounding me.
"I don't know how you survived that fall, but looks like we'll just have to finish the job. After all, we can't have you telling anyone about our little project." I was outnumbered 5-to-1, but I had to try to defend myself.
"You won't be finishing anything." I replied, glaring at the lead man defiantly. He chuckled and the entire group stepped forward.
"Don't try to be a hero, kid."
"I never claimed to be one." I let loose the energy and my entire body was surrounded by the gray Spectral Energy. I saw them flinch slightly, but they continued. One charged at me, preparing a magic attack.
"Spirit Dragon Spectral Fist!" I shouted, launching my hand toward him, sending him flying. The others traced his path with their eyes and then looked back at me. I charged at them and took three more out in record time. The last man, the man that had thrown me off the cliff, was shaking slightly.
"Wh-what are you?!" I didn't answer, I was low on power, but I had a way to remedy that. I tore the band off my head and glanced around.
The landscape turned colors and spirits started to appear around me. I noticed the closest one, a sailor whose ship had probably sunk around here, and charged towards him. I opened my mouth and the Spirit Energy was sucked into my mouth, in the place of the transparent human body was a small, floating orb. The form the spirit would take until it's body reformed in a couple of hours.
I looked back at the last man whose face seemed slightly paler, probably due to the fact the spirits become visible for a split second before I start to eat the energy that forms their bodies.
"To answer your question," I told him, "I am Ryukishi. And I'm the Spirit Dragon Slayer!" I placed my hands in front of my mouth like I was holding a blowpipe.
"Spirit Dragon Roar!" A tornado of pure white, Spirit Energy flew towards the man and sent him into the pile with the others.
-Nearby(3rd person POV)-
Yūrei watched with a small grin on her face as she watched her pupil take on the men in robes. She had sensed them earlier that day, carrying the same smell Ryu had on arriving here. She assumed they were here for him. But she had wanted to see how well Ryu could use his magic, and had not told him about them.
The five men, now done with their beating, stood back up and stared at Ryu. Yūrei was amazed at how well he had had learned the basics of Dragon Slayer magic, perhaps it had something to do with the vast amount of magic inside him.
Yūrei had smelled the large well of magic in him when she found him, but had really noticed it during training today. It made her question who his parents were. There was one person she could think of who had a similar amount of magic power, but it couldn't possibly be him, there was no record of him having children.
But as the robed men ran, Yūrei found herself strongly thinking about that option as she turned to go back to the cave.
She never noticed the figures of a blonde haired woman and a black haired man who watched the scene briefly before vanishing into thin air...
To be continued