Good morning, my readers! I know the chapter was supposed to be uploaded tomorrow, but i'll probably on a train by that time, so i decided to upload now...i know this is a small chapter (like the previous one), but trust me:after this small chapters i promise they will get longer and that the story is goibg to ramp up. Just please trust me on this one!
Since there are no new responses, i think we can begin with this chapter, but first i want to thank you for the support given to my thus far. Like i said before, i won't disappoint!
Shinko was breathing heavily as he was going the way back home:eight months passed since he was training and the pains were getting sharper.
But his strength was growing each passing day, reaching heights he would have never imagined.
'I have to keep going' Shinko told himself as he kept walking, he wouldn't stop now, not after all the work he had put in this training.
He would finish it at all costs (well, maybe not his hair).
X X X
Shinko growled as he went through the park for the fifth time:when he had received a text (just as he finished his daily training) from his mother, Gloria, about him having to take his little sister home, Shinko immediately said yes.
That way he could spend some time with her and get to the bottom of her situation in school.
The bruises she got back at school two days ago were almost enough to make him grind a piece of the marble table to dust in sheer rage.
"Goddammit, where is she!?" Shinko growled exasperated as he punched a tree with his left hand.
He heard several crashes as he walked away, but didn't care a lot.
He just wanted to let off some steam.
'Maybe she's near the lake of the park and i didn't look good enough' Shinko said he went there.
X X X
Meanwhile, near a lake in the park, a little girl with pale skin was sobbing on a bench.
She was seven year old and her name was Caroline, or Carol for short.
She was Shinko's little sister and she had been beaten up for the second time at school.
It was because of another girl one year older than her, Kiara, who beat her up because Carol looks weak and because she wanted to be a hero.
Sure, Caroline wasn't as strong as the other children and got sick frequently, but she was courageous and stood up aganist what she thought as wrong.
Now she was hiding away here, because the sight of the lake always cheered her up, along with her brother.
'No doubt i'm making him worried sick now' Carol though sadly.
X X X
Belphomet was running for his life yet again. Not from a hero though (because he promised Shinko that he wouldn't get into trouble), but from another monster.
He only wanted to eat doves and nothing else in the empty streets, but another bigger monster had the same idea.
And when he saw him, that monster got another one that would be extremely painful for Belphomet.
"Hey...i must have lost him in the park" Belphomet said quietly, realizing his pursuer wasn't near him anymore.
That still wasn't a nice situation because that monster could do a sneak attack on him, but at least he was safe for the moment.
Hearing a nearby sob, he moved in to see who was sobbing.
As he climbed on a bench he found himself facing a child.
A little girl to be exact, with long white hair and icy blue eyes.
'Wait a minute, she really looks like Shinko, could it be that they are related?' Belphomet thought as the girl shuddered away.
A monster! That was something unusual to see, and of course, given her usual luck, she just happened to see one this close!
Caroline had her eyes fixated on the monster's singular one.
He looked like a snake with wings and a dragon head, he was also entirely black and had reptilian eye.
"Wait, i'm not going to hurt you!" the monster said.
Caroline was puzzled by that, but big brother and mom said to be wary of them, so she would.
"Really? How do i know that you're not lying?" Caroline asked with a glare (it wasn't threatening in the slightest).
Belphomet sighed, but understood anyway:Shinko likely told her that to keep her safe.
"Because i know how much Shinko cares about you" Belphomet told her, remembering that Shinko would talk to him about his life.
"How do you know big brother?" Caroline asked, even more confused than before.
"He saved me once and from there we became friends, other monsters know him too because of his strength" Belphomet explained her.
Caroline's eyes widened:she knew monsters were really tough, because they could break roads and lift cars, but she didn't know that her brother was so strong that other monsters respected him.
"How tough is big brother?" Caroline asked quietly.
"Very tough, so tough that he can beat monsters twice his size and lift them" Belphomet answered quietly, Caroline's little face showing supreme awe.
She didn't know big brother was also stronger than heroes too!
He then noted a bruise on her left cheek and decided to ask.
"Who did that to to you?" the monster asked, pointing at her bruised cheek with the tip of his tail.
Caroline's eyes fell and her head dug in her knees "Just a mean girl at school, when big brother sees this...he is going to be angry"
Belphomet remained silent, Shinko seldom got angry and the times he did he was scary, almost brutal (he remembered seeing his full strength when two tiger levels were aiming at the monsters watching their fight).
"But he must-" Belphomet was cut by a rustling in the bushes in front of him and an horrible sensation began forming in his stomach.
Immediately he wrapped himself around Caroline and his wings outstretched, eliciting a yelp from the latter.
It was a good move, because a sickle and three tentacles attacked right were Caroline was.
So the attacks hit him instead. Belphomet snarled in pain as the tentacles whipped his wings and the sickle left a gash just below his neck, which began bleeding.
"Sorry hun, but that snack of yours is now mine" A bipedal, eyeless monster with two sickles for hands and six tentacles protunding from his back said, his drooling mouth full of needle teeth.
Caroline quivered, but Belphomet stood his ground "She is neither my snack nor yours, this girl is the little sister of my friend and i won't let you touch her" he said as he narrowed his eye.
"Oh really? then die for her!" the monster lunged at him.
Immediately a fist collided with its face, wracking its body in a bloody mess and sending it into the lake.
Now in front of them was Shinko, looking worried.
"Thank god you're both alright!" Shinko hugged his sister and Belphomet, who slithered besides Carol afterwards.
"Sorry for running away big brother, but Kiara was being really mean" Caroline said as Shinko caressed the bruise on her sister's cheek.
Belphomet trembled on reflex as Shinko's body hardened, his muscles sharped and his eyes widened, sending a gust of air all around and cracking the earth beneath him.
'This pressure, it isn't aimed at me, yet i feel like he's going to attack me' Belphomet thought terrified, while Caroline didn't notice any of that since her mind was focused on getting to mommy.
Shinko snapped out of his state and scooped his little sister up.
"Now let's go, i think we made mom worried enough" Shinko said as he went away, but then stopped and turned to Belphomet "And Belphomet, thank you for keeping an eye on Caroline"
Those words meant a lot to the snake-like monster, who looked at Shinko's retreating back with appreciation.
X X X
"You never told me you were that strong! You're even stronger than Mizuki!" Caroline said as she sat behind Shinko's neck with her small hands on his hair
"Yes, i am, but can you please keep it as a secret? Not even mom must know" Shinko told her seriously, but then said "Watch the hair!)
"But why?" Caroline asked, completely ignoring the last remark.
"Because people aren't supposed to be friendly with monsters, also because this training causes me sharp pains. But don't worry, i can take it" Shinko simply explaimed to his little sister.
"Ok..." She answered.
"Also you have to stay away from all monsters, except Belphomet" Shinko said.
"Ok!" Caroline said happily, but then asked "Do you think you can take on the big, mean monster around here?"
"What mean monster?" Shinko asked confused.
"The one who did that" Caroline pointed at five smashed trees.
Shinko remembered that he punched a tree before and heard several crashes. His blood ran cold.
"Don't worry about that, i'll take care of it in the night" Shinko hastily said as he and Caroline exited the park.
Unbeknownst to them all the fishes of the lake began eating the dead monster's remains, mutating beyond comprehension.
X X X
The next day, at the park...
"Big brother, look!" Caroline run to Shinko with something on her hand.
Shinko and Belphomet froze as they looked at the fish-like being on Caroline's hand:it was a normal fish with six tentacles (three per side) and sharp teeth.
Shinko immediately grabbed the fish, the speed of the movement easily surpassing the speed of sound.
Belphomet looked at the fish, then at Shinko, with hungry eyes.
"Ok, you can have it" Shinko said as he tossed the fish to Belphomet, who ate it happily, while Caroline looked at her empty hand with a puzzled expression, wondering where the fishy went.
Not that much in terms of quantity, but i think that it's still pretty good.
Anyway, we'll see each other next Tuesday!
Small update:because of personal reasons i will not take that train, just to let you know. Also, i'm going to start my summer homework, so i'll have a bit less time to work on the chapters i'm currently writing.