Tabitha hid beside a tree while holding her breath. In front of her was a temple that had been reduced to ruins. Columns that once boasted magnificence had collapsed and fences had rusted away. Bright stained glass windows had been shattered, and weeds filled the garden. It was the temple of a pioneering village that had been abandoned decades ago. It was completely desolate.
A loud explosion suddenly broke the calm atmosphere. Kirche had set a tree next to the gatepost on fire. Tabitha, in the shade of the trees, gripped her wand. The reason why the village was abandoned came dashing out. It was an orc. It was ten feet tall and weighed about five times a regular person. Its fat ugly body was covered by skin peeled off of animals. With a large nose on its face, it looked like a pig. In fact, you could say it was a pig on two legs.
There were around ten of them. Orcs liked the taste of human children, and being attacked by these creatures, the villagers fled. Things like this happened all across Halkeginia, and nobles didn't care too much about it.
The orc talked to the others with sounds similar to that of a pig. They were yelling at each other angrily because of the fire. There was a fire which meant humans were near. Watching them do this, Tabitha considered what spell to use, since there were too many for her to fire a lot of spells.
Just then, seven bronze maidens appeared before them. They were Guiche's golems. Tabitha knitted her eyebrows. That wasn't the plan they decided on. Guiche must've gotten impatient. All of the Valkyries stabbed one orc, but the wound was shallow. The other orcs came at the golems and smashed them to bits before Guiche could merge them.
Improvising, Saito jumped out of a nearby bush and swung Derflinger at a nearby orc. The one he attacked instantly crumpled to the floor.
Using their confusion as an opportunity Tabitha used her strongest attack, Windy Icicle, and took out one of the orcs. Kirche took that as her chance to send a spell of her own, and she sent off a fireball that went straight into one of the orc's mouths.
Saito looked at one of the orcs closer and saw a necklace on the biggest orc. It was a necklace made from rope and human skulls. Seeing it pissed him off, and he went in and slashed the orc's head clean off. The beast's blood was horrible smelling and he wanted to hurl. An orc behind him was about to attack when a flaming spiral hit it from behind frying it completely. Flame had covered for Saito.
The orcs were scared of the boy with the sword. It was as if a dragon was glaring at them. Their instincts screamed that they would die then and there.
But, it was just a human. They couldn't possibly lose. Ignoring their instincts, the orcs ran in for an attack.
Just as quickly they lost their lives.
ㅤ
Saito let out a breath. He felt stronger than the last time he used the runes. What caused that?
Nearby, Tabitha's dragon landed. If the dragon was hurt, that meant the group would have to walk back, so they decided to play it safe and not allow it to fight.
Coming down from a tree, Kirche shoved Guiche.
"Ouch! What are you doing?"
"It's your fault that we got in this mess!"
The plan was to lure the orcs into a pit that Verdandi had dug and light the oil that was prepared in the pit. All the orcs would then burn to death.
"As if they would fall into a pit like that."
"Your mole dug it! Have some faith!"
"Well, we're all okay, so it's fine." Saito tried to de-escalate the situation.
Siesta, who had been hiding, rushed over to Saito and hugged him. "That was incredible! Killing those violent orcs in no time! You're incredible Saito!" Siesta timidly looked at the corpses. "With these around, I guess you can't really go pick mushrooms in the forest."
Saito wiped the blood and fat off of Derflinger with a leaf. His hands were still shaking.
I haven't gotten used to battle yet, I guess... How does Kai make it look so easy? A battle like this is just killing. If I had messed up... I would be on the ground like them...
Noticing Saito's shaking hands, Siesta firmly grasped them. Saito forced a smile.
"You were incredible... but I guess dangerous things like this are bad..."
Meanwhile, despite the small battle, Kirche acted as if nothing had happened. Looking at the map, she said, "Um, within the temple, there's an altar... and beneath that altar there's a hidden chest. And in that chest..."
Guiche gulped.
"Lies gold and silver, and apparently some kind of earrings that the priest hid when he abandoned the temple, apparently."
"Are they special earrings?" Guiche asked.
Kirche read the notes on the map.
"Umm, it seems like it was made thousands of years ago by the very gods themselves! It's making me excited. When you wear it, it supposedly connects two people eternally..."
ㅤ
ㅤ
"Yawn..." Kai put his arms behind his head as he walked back to the academy grounds from training. It had been pretty boring since Saito and the others went off... He even took Derflinger with him. That had been 10 days ago.
You could have gone with.
"Eh, didn't feel like it."
You're confusing.
"Really? I like to think that I'm simple."
To outsiders maybe, but I know what you're thinking.
Kai simply shrugged.
ㅤ
ㅤ
That night... they crowded around a bonfire in the garden of the temple. Everyone had a weary face. Guiche bitterly said, "So the so-called treasure was that?"
Guiche pointed to a hairpin and a few dirty copper coins. The chest beneath the altar was full of junk.
"This thing is made of brass. These earrings aren't even magical, they aren't those earrings you mentioned earlier, right?"
Kirche didn't reply. She just filed her nails with a bored look. Tabitha was reading a book as usual. Saito was lying down, gazing at the moons.
"Hey Kirche, that's the eighth one already! We followed those maps with such effort and yet all we get are a few copper coins! The treasures aren't even close to what the notes on the maps say! Those maps are all hoaxes!"
"Shut up. I said it before, there might be a real map within that bundle."
"It's too cruel! Monsters and beasts dwell in those areas! Only getting this in return for defeating those monsters is far from enough!"
Guiche held his rose wand in his mouth and lay down on a spread-out blanket.
"Well yeah. If you could get treasure by just killing monsters, then no one would be poor."
Siesta's voice cut through the gloomy atmosphere. "Everyone, dinner's ready!"
Siesta started divvying the stew for everyone, it smelled great.
"This is good! Wow, it's really good. What kind of meat did you use?" Guiche asked while stuffing his mouth.
Everyone else tasted it and started saying how good it was. Siesta smiled and said, "Orc's meat."
Guiche suddenly spat out the stew. Everyone stared slack-jawed at Siesta.
"I-it was a joke! I made it from a wild rabbit. I caught it in a trap."
As he was eating, Saito gazed toward the sky. He wondered how Kai and Louise were doing.
"Is it good, Saito?"
Next to him, Siesta smiled warmly. With his mouth full of stew, he smiled back.
After finishing her stew Kirche spread out the maps again.
"Let's just give up and return to school," Guiche urged, but Kirche did not budge.
"Just one more. One more." As if she were obsessed, Kirche's eyes gleamed over the maps. Picking one map, she placed it on the ground.
"Okay, this one! If this one is also a hoax we're going back to the school!"
"What's the treasure?"
Kirche replied with her arms crossed, "Dragon's Raiment."
Siesta, who was eating stew after everyone had finished, choked on her food. "R-Really?"
"What about it? Do you know something about it? It's close to a village called Tarbes. Now where's Tarbes..."
Siesta replied quickly, "It's in the direction of La Rochelle. There's a big field... It's my hometown."
"Tarbes... That isn't too far is it?"
Hearing an unfamiliar voice, everyone turned in the direction of where the sound came from. Everyone pulled out their wands, and Saito pulled out Derflinger.
"Ah, good. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do anything drastic to cause you all to fight." Standing there was a tall figure covered by a cloak. No one could tell anything about the figure, other than it was masculine.
"W-Who are you?" Guiche was slightly trembling. They hadn't noticed this guy.
"Who am I? That's a great question..." The man moved his arm out from under his cloak, and the group could see a green hand with sharp claw-like nails. He swung his arm, and a small bolt flew directly at Guiche, instantly knocking him away.
Before anyone could try and attack, the man put up his gross finger. "Ah ah ah~ Let me ask a question first." He pointed his finger toward Saito. "Are you the one that bested the man known as Wardes?"
Saito gripped Derflinger harder and the runes on his hand shone brighter. "I'm not. But I won't let you hurt anyone."
The man let out a gruff sigh. "Damn... I was really hoping for a better fight. Maybe a true successor... Oh well, I guess I have to kill you all."
Tabitha was the first to react to the man's quick movements. She swung her staff sending out a Windy Icicle, but the man was too fast for her.
"Quite the spell, but," he was right behind her. "You'd best not hold back against me."
Hearing that, Tabitha's eyes widened. A powerful wind blew her away.
The man twisted his body around, and with his hands, he threw a fireball straight at Saito. The boy barely had any time to block the spell with Derflinger, but the spell was absorbed.
"Interesting... That blade absorbs magic, but that power you wield... it isn't your own, is it?"
The cloaked man appeared in front of Saito and kicked him straight into the air. As Saito started descending from the air, the man prepared to hammer him back down with his fists but was interrupted by a fireball from Kirche.
The man narrowly dodged the spell and instantly countered. A volley of ice arrows rained down toward Kirche, but Tabitha waved her wand, blowing most of the arrows away.
Raising two grotesque fingers, the man summoned stone spikes that shot up right beneath the group, causing Kirche and Tabitha to split up.
Landing on the ground, Saito let out a groan. Something flew right over his head. It was one of Guiche's Valkyries.
Right as the Valkyrie was about to stab the cloaked man with a spear, the man grabbed the golem's arm and flung it right back at Guiche. He couldn't completely move out of the way, but Guiche minimized most of the damage, though it completely knocked him out.
Saito jumped forward, swinging Derflinger at the cloaked man, at which he easily dodged the attack. Saito continued to slash at the man, but couldn't land a single strike. Growing bored of their altercation, the man jumped behind Saito, preparing an attack, but from behind a combined spell of fire and wind shot straight toward him.
Saito jumped out of the way, but the man turned around and fired off an ice spike that pierced straight through the combined spell of Kirche and Tabitha. The force of the ice spike going through the spell knocked everyone to the ground except for the cloaked man.
This fight barely started, but Saito could tell that even if everyone worked together, they wouldn't stand much of a chance against this guy...
Damn it... We need help...
For some reason, Saito's runes started shining brighter.
ㅤ
ㅤ
Sitting the wrong way on a chair, Kai faced Louise, who was lying on her bed. Louise had a scowl on her face while Kai looked mildly annoyed. They were in the middle of an argument.
"Really, I don't understand why you always run off during the day! You never say where you're going and you always come back after I need you for something!"
Kai raised his hands up and shook them. "Oh, my bad that I have to go out and train so someone like Wardes doesn't kill us all!"
That night Kai had come in right after Louise had sloppily cleaned her room. She didn't want to sleep in a pig stein, and since Saito wasn't around, she had to rely on Kai. Since Kai wasn't there until just a little while ago, she had to clean her room.
"That doesn't matter right-"
Kai shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure it does!"
"At this moment it doesn't! You don't need to always go out!"
"Sure, not always, but I need to have a routine! If I stop training for too long, I won't get stronger!"
Louise clenched her fists. "If you're so worried about it, why don't you go off and train forever?!"
Kai stood up. "Maybe I will!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Kai stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
ㅤ
Looking up at the sky, Kai let out a deep sigh.
"God, I'm such an idiot. Why did I get so mad?" He let out another sigh as he leaned his back on the wall at the entrance of the academy.
He didn't want to go back to Louise at the moment. He wanted to give her space, but at the same time, he wanted to go apologize and explain himself.
"You really are an idiot, me. It's a miracle you haven't given up yet."
Kai slowly stood up, and patted himself off. Plan of action: Go apologize to Louise, explain why he does what he does, and if needed, give her space.
Suddenly his runes started shining and a familiar voice invaded his mind.
"Damn it... We need help..."
It somehow sounded like Saito. Kai frantically looked around, but Saito wasn't near.
"We're gonna die..."
Focusing, Kai closed his eyes. Saito?
"K-Kai?!"
Yeah, Saito, what's going on?
"There's this guy in a cloak... We're going to die! We need help!"
Kai's eyes widened. Just hang on! I'm coming!
A red aura burst around Kai as he flew straight into the night sky.
ㅤ
ㅤ
The forest surrounding the group was starting to be upheaved by the battle. Guiche was still knocked out with the remains of his Valkyrie strewn about. Tabitha and Kirche were on the ground injured, barely able to stay conscious. And Saito was standing with Derflinger raised toward the cloaked man.
Saito prayed that he could hold on just a little longer.
"You know, you guys are a lot more boring than I had hoped." The cloaked man was just toying with them.
Kirche and Tabitha stood up, side by side, and cast a combination spell. A flaming spiral from Kirche mixed with an air hammer from Tabitha. The man simply raised an arm and ice spewed from his hand.
The spells clashed against each other, but it was hardly a contest.
"Really? That didn't work the first time, so what makes you think it'll work this time?"
The ice started inching closer and closer to the two girls when a bronze Valkyrie tried to attack the man. He used his other arm to hit Guiche's Valkyrie, shattering it to pieces in an instant.
Saito used that exact moment as his chance. He lunged forward and sliced down as hard as possible.
Derflinger cut straight through the man's disgusting green arm, and it landed on the ground with a thud. Jumping back quickly, Saito got out of the way of the combination spell from Kirche and Tabitha. The spell completely consumed the man.
"Ha...Haha!" Saito smiled. The fight was won-
"Hm... Cutting off my arm was no easy task..." As the smoke cleared, the man turned toward Saito, and held out the stump which used to be his arm. "Hrrng!" With sickening squelching a brand new arm shot out of the stump.
Saito was horrified by the scene.
"Now, let me repay you..." The man lunged toward Saito, his claw-like nails ready to rip the boy to shreds.
ㅤ
ㅤ
"Damn it, I'm not gonna make it!" The wind rushed past Kai's hair as he kept flying at top speed. It was frustrating, he knew exactly where Saito was because of the runes, but he couldn't make it in time.
Kai! Listen to me!
"Gandy! Now isn't the time to tell me to speed up! I'm going as fast as I can!"
Damn it, Kai, listen! Focus on his energy, place two fingers on your forehead, and imagine being there!
"The hell-"
Just do it!
Kai did as he was told. He felt Saito's energy, and it seemed to be fading fast. Next, he placed two fingers on his forehead, and finally, he imagined being at the scene.
And now...
Not a moment later, Kai disappeared.
ㅤ
ㅤ
Before the cloaked man could deal the finishing blow to Saito, he stopped. There was someone new. Turning his head he saw a boy with spiky black hair and a monkey tail around his waist as if it were a belt.
"And who might you be?"
Seeing the new contender, Saito smiled. "Kai, you made it..."
"Sorry that I'm late." Kai started walking over toward Saito.
"You must be confident to ignore me..." The cloaked man seemed to get angry at Kai.
Quickly, Kai moved Saito out of the way. Taking a quick scan of the area he saw that Kirche and Tabitha were on the ground, exhausted. Away from them, Guiche lay down with bits of his Valkyrie thrown around.
Kai turned toward the cloaked man. "So, what's your deal?" Kai was still fairly wary, the energy he was sensing from this guy was monstrous.
"I wanted to find the one who defeated the man known as Wardes."
"Look no further, 'cause that'd be me."
The cloaked man stayed still for a moment and then started laughing. "Bwahaha! Don't tell me that you think I'll believe something so ridiculous! You're weaker than the boy with the sword!"
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Kaioken times ten." As soon as the red aura appeared around Kai, the man stopped laughing and put his arms up to defend himself. From one punch he was flung backward through some trees.
Before Kai could chase after him, a barrage of different spells flew toward him. Below him, the ground froze solid. In front of him, he could see the wind changing its shape to hit him. Finally from above, fireballs rained down.
Kai's eyes widened as he narrowly dodged the air hammers, and he started to backflip to avoid the fireballs from above. Unfortunately, after a few backflips, Kai slipped on his hands.
"Crap!" He directly hit his neck as he slid out of danger. The volley of fire melted the ice off the ground.
As the cloaked man drew near, Kai tried to spin around and kick him, but the man grabbed Kai's leg and threw him directly into the air. When Kai stopped himself from falling, he saw at least a few hundred Ki blasts heading in his direction.
"Eek! Times twenty!" The red aura around Kai expanded, and he narrowly dodged each blast. Flying at a blistering speed toward the cloaked man, Kai threw a Ki blast at the ground, creating a smokescreen.
Kai went in for a devastating kick, but...
"Hm, I have to say, you're doing better than the others. But, you haven't shown off the legend yet."
As the dust settled, the man was holding Kai's leg with a death grip. He tried to pull his leg free from the man's grip, but he couldn't.
"Let me tell you this, boy. If you continue to hold back, you will die. After that, your friends here are next."
The runes on Kai's left hand burst to life and the red aura around him grew much more intense. Wrenching his leg free, Kai used the momentum to kick the man's arm with his other leg, breaking the man's arm instantly and sending him flying.
Kai quickly followed it up by bringing his hands to his side and charging up an attack. "Ka... Me... Ha... Me...!"
Right before the man recovered from the attack, a gigantic blue wave of energy shot straight toward him.
With a large explosion of energy, smoke billowed up into the air.
Breathing more heavily, Kai focused on the man's energy. His eyes instantly widened. It vanished. It completely vanished!
Kai keep on guard!
Frantically looking around, Kai tried to use his eyes to find the cloaked man, but he was nowhere to be seen.
From behind one of the nearby trees, a green arm stretched out and completely wrapped around Kai as if the arm were a snake.
"Y-You... What the?!" The life was starting to be squeezed out of Kai.
"Whew... that attack was fairly rough." The man walked out from behind a tree. Parts of his cloak were singed by the attack revealing sickly green skin.
"What... are you...?" Kai kept trying to get himself free, but the arm started constricting around him more.
"I would answer, but I'd rather not waste my breath on the dead." He tightened his grip on Kai.
"Kch..." Using the last embers of strength, Kai found the nearest bit of arm to his head and...
CHOMP!
"GRAGH!" The man retracted his arm. "You... bit my arm!"
Falling to the ground, Kai started gasping for air. "Hah... Serves you right for tryna choke me."
The man angrily lifted his non-broken arm with a fully charged spell in it. Before he could fire it, Saito jumped in and tried to attack the man, but he dodged out of the way.
Quickly moving, Saito stood next to Kai. "Alright, if we work together, I think we can win..."
Kai looked at the bruised Saito, and then back to the cloaked man. "Hey, you're here after me, right?"
The man shrugged. "You could say that."
Kai nodded. "Right then, Saito, you go back, and rest some more. I've still got a trick up my sleeve."
"Kai are you insane?! That was you at your strongest, and he just shrugged it off!"
Kai let out a nervous laugh. "Haha... Well, truth be told... I may have lied about how I beat Wardes..."
Saito's eyes widened. "So you're gonna beat him like how you beat Wardes?"
Kai hesitated for a moment. "That's... what I'm hopin' for. Though... Keep this in mind. It's still me in there."
Saito started to question Kai's words, but he nodded and ran over to help Guiche off the ground.
"Finally, I thought you two wouldn't ever shut up." The man shook his head.
"Says you." Kai looked as though he were about to power up, but the man held up his hand.
"Hold it. Fighting with a broken arm wouldn't be good for me." Kai raised an eyebrow, but the man didn't explain. He pulled his broken arm out of his cloak with his other arm... and didn't stop pulling.
"Wait wait wait! It gets better, you don't have to rip it off!"
The man laughed as his arm fell onto the ground. A brand new arm sprouted from where he had ripped off the previous one.
"What... What the hell are you!?"
The man took off his cloak. His entire skin was green and there were spots of pink over his biceps, forearms, and his shoulders. His head was entirely bald but had two antennae sprouting out and he had long pointed ears. He had baggy purple pants with a golden belt, greenish-brown pointed shoes, and a purple shirt. "I go by many names. The hundred-year-old demon. The slug from hell. But you can call me Tropod, the Namekian."
From further away, the spectators of the fight, namely Guiche, Kirche, and even Tabitha had scared looks on their faces. This was a genuine demon right in front of them. Siesta was nowhere to be seen since she had hidden away when the man showed up. Saito was the only one who didn't understand the significance of what was going on.
"Tropod, huh? Well, let me ask you one more thing. That thing you mentioned earlier, that legend... You weren't referring to Gandalfr, were you?"
"Gandalfr?" That word seemed somewhat familiar.
Kai smiled. "Didn't think so." He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. "It's just a power-up..."
The area started to darken more. Dark clouds covered up the night sky as the wind started to pick up. Kai's body started to violently shake as his hair rose up. A golden aura started to surround him.
"Hraaaaaaah!"
The ground started tearing itself apart. Standing on end now, Kai's hair flashed gold, fading back to black. His eyes completely turned teal. Thunder started striking around the area as his muscles bulged out.
The air itself seemed almost charged with energy.
Pulling his arms back, Kai let out a bloodcurdling yell as a bright golden aura enveloped the entire area.
Standing in Kai's place was a boy with spiked-up golden hair, a fierce gaze, and a golden aura.
Tropod let out a guttural laugh. "Haha! Yes! YES! This is what I've been searching for! The Golden Demon!"
Kai took a deep breath in. The power that coursed through him... it felt somewhat similar to back then, but it wasn't... nearly as controlling.
Not knowing what had just happened, Saito turned to the rest of the group to ask, but he only saw their terrified expressions. The hundred-year-old slug was scary for sure, able to easily destroy them... But The Golden Demon...
"Maybe this will be a good fight after all!" Tropod was still delighted at the sight in front of him.
Cracking his neck, Kai stretched a little causing Tropod to narrow his eyes.
"You may be the Golden Demon, but do not take me lightly, boy."
Finishing stretching, Kai smirked. "Sorry, just wanted to pass the time while you kept going on and on about the 'Golden Demon'. Sorry to disappoint, but you're the only demon here. I'm just plain ol' Kai Atsura."
Tropod clenched his fist. "It isn't wise to mock your opponent."
Kai. Stop messing with him. Even as a Super Saiyan, I'm not sure that you can keep up with him.
Feeling this guy's energy, he's around my strength, but that little regeneration stunt cost him some power.
I'm not so sure. He may be holding back.
Tropod's eyes narrowed. The boy was distracted. From his eyes, small beams of energy shot out.
Kai's eyes widened as he rolled out of the way. The ground beneath where he was moments ago was scorched.
Rebounding from the sudden attack, Kai rushed toward Tropod, trying to hit him with a flurry of blows. Tropod barely blocked Kai's attacks, and with an opening, he landed a kick on Kai's face, but not without receiving a punch from Kai.
The two of them were knocked a few feet back from each other. As soon as Kai's feet touched the ground, he started running straight at the green man.
Just as Tropod lifted up his arms to block the attack, Kai disappeared from sight. Just as Kai was about to land a hit on Tropod, he disappeared, reappearing behind Kai. The two of them kept creating afterimages behind one another, trying to land a hit.
When the two of them appeared at the same time, they struck each other. Kai's fist was implanted in Tropod's gut, while Tropod's fist was firmly on Kai's face. The force of each blow was enough to knock them both away from one another.
The two of them started to pant slightly from the brutal blows.
Tropod coughed a little and a little bit of blood came out. Seeing his purple blood, Tropod started to laugh.
Using his thumb to wipe some of the blood off of his mouth, Kai smiled. "Y'know, something about this is gettin' my blood pumping."
"Haha! Yes, now this is a fight!" A purple aura burst around Tropod as he released more power. "Show me what you can really do, Golden Demon!"
"I told you, I'm Kai Atsura!"
The two of them yelled as they rushed toward each other.
ㅤ
Not far from the fight, Guiche was shaking in fear. Kirche was near him, not shaking, but she was afraid. The ever-silent Tabitha looked troubled as well. The only person who didn't look scared was Saito.
"Kai... He was... T-The Golden Demon?" Guiche gulped as soon as he finished his sentence.
With each clash between Kai and Tropod, the group was blown further and further back. The power being thrown around in front of them was mind-blowing.
"I can't believe it either... Right under our noses..." Kirche's voice was a bit ragged as well.
"What... is the Golden Demon?" Saito asked in confusion.
Guiche wildly turned to him. "How do you not know?! The Golden Demon is a being that terrorizes people! With just a flick of his wrist, he could wipe out a village! A mere glance and an army would be decimated! With some effort, life as we know it would be-!"
The 'terrifying' aforementioned being was kicked so hard that he went flying toward the group. His face dug straight into the ground forming a line dividing the group into two.
The group looked at the crater in horror. Kai was just lying there, face fully submerged in the ground.
After a moment, Kai's arms started pushing at the ground to pull his head out.
"Puwah! Blah!" Kai brought his head out of the ground, quickly shaking the dirt off his hair, and then he used his hands to wipe at his tongue, ending it by spitting. "Gross! That was a jerk move, jackass!"
A golden aura surrounded Kai as he jumped straight back into the fight with Tropod.
"He's... still sane..." Guiche was in disbelief. "But, that power... How can anyone handle it? I... can't even see them..."
Saito turned to Guiche, confused. "You can't?"
ㅤ
"Gak... Duh... Buh..." Kai made some sort of noise every time he hit the ground. After a hit to the head, he started to roll as if he were a ball. Quickly getting up, he shook his head. "Quit kickin' me!"
Tropod smirked. "If you say so."
His green arm stretched out and grabbed Kai's neck. While choking the boy, Tropod retracted his arm.
"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"
While hitting Tropod's arm with all of his strength, Kai choked out, "T-That... all you got?"
"As a matter of fact..." Tropod's muscles seemed to bulk up as the grip around Kai's neck grew significantly tighter.
"G-Go back...! It was a joke...!" Kai's words were getting quieter as the air was being choked out of him.
Just as Kai's hair started to fade to black, a strong kick sent Tropod flying. While desperately breathing on the floor, Kai's hair regained its shiny gold sheen.
"Hah... Hah..." Kai looked to see who had kicked Tropod away... "Saito? How did you..." Then something caught his eye. "Your runes..."
Saito looked down at his runes. Just like Kai's, they were shining a bright golden light. However, the most surprising thing was the insane power increase. He couldn't quite tell how much stronger he had been getting, but Saito could feel the enormous power jump from moments ago.
"We'll figure that out later. Right now, we have to beat this guy." Saito held Derflinger towards Tropod.
Kai nodded. "Right!" A golden aura burst around him as he put up his fists.
Just as Tropod started to stand up, the two boys rushed toward him. When Saito brought Derflinger toward Tropod's head, he jumped out of the way, just to be met with a volley of Ki blasts from Kai. He broke through the volley and prepared to stab Kai with his sharp nails, but Kai jumped back.
Tropod gave chase, but the other boy appeared in front of him. He wasn't this fast before! What changed!?
Saito swung Derflinger with such speed and fervor that Tropod couldn't completely dodge. Tiny cuts started popping up all over his body.
Just as Tropod tried to attack Saito, the boy jumped to the side. From behind him the other one had a gigantic blue ball in his hand.
"HAAAA!" A large Kamehameha flew straight toward Tropod, who didn't have enough time to counter.
He put his hands forward, grabbed the beam, and with some serious effort, threw the beam toward the sky. As soon as his hands went toward the sky, Kai hit him with a devastating gut punch and Saito cut deep into his back.
Kai and Saito backed away from Tropod and started to catch their breath. Kai was noticeably much more tired than Saito.
Coughing up a hefty amount of blood, Tropod started to laugh. "Haha... Ha... I had taken you too lightly before boy... no... I understand how your power works now. But, it seems that this fight is at an end."
Before Saito could ask what he meant, he felt his power drop as the golden glow of his runes disappeared. Next to him, Kai's hair faded to black as he dropped to a knee.
"Kai! What happened?!" Saito started to panic.
"G-Great question... Why the hell did I... run out of energy so fast...?" The runes on Kai's hand completely lost their glow.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Tropod answered. "It's because that boy uses your power to fight."
Kai and Saito were both confused.
Letting out a sigh, Tropod began to explain what he meant. "The boy with the sword, his power isn't his own, it's yours Golden Demon. He uses your energy to bolster his own strength. How it works, I'm not completely sure, but I do know that it drains your energy."
Still panting, Kai tried to get up. "W-Well, we ain't done fighting... Urk!" Kai fell back to his knee.
Tropod started walking over, but Saito blocked him. "Even if I'm weaker now... I won't let you- Hey!"
Tropod ignored him and walked past Saito, and before Saito could attack, Tropod offered a hand to Kai. "Get up, Golden De- No... Kai, was it?"
"Eh?"
"Take my hand."
After a moment, Kai took Tropod's hand. Instantly he was heaved to his feet, and a purple glow surrounded him.
"Kai!" Saito was about to attack, but Kai raised his hand for Saito to stop.
Kai looked over himself quickly. His energy... was restored? That and his clothes had been repaired as well.
"I gave you a small bit of my own energy. Despite the fight just now, I hardly used much of my power." Tropod raised a finger toward Saito, and his damaged clothes were repaired as well as his energy. Next he pointed to Kirche, Guiche, and Tabitha. Each of their lost energy was restored.
"Why'd you do that?" Suspicion dripped from Kai's voice.
Tropod smiled. "Take it as an apology for fighting so suddenly. Once you live for as long as I have, self-control starts to fade away."
"How old are you?"
"One hundred and twelve."
Kai and Saito's mouths dropped.
Tropod turned back toward Kirche and the others. "I apologize for how I attacked you all. I mostly wanted to test you all, but I may have gone too far."
Guiche stepped forward. "T-That's right! You should back off!"
He instantly backed up when Tropod gave a quick glance in his direction.
Shaking her head, Kirche said, "An apology doesn't make up for what you did! You were about to kill us!"
"You think I was actually about to kill you? Tell me, how do you think people could tell tales of the 'hundred-year-old demon'? I let them go. I just wanted to have a good fight." Tropod gave a wide toothy grin. His teeth were much sharper than the normal person's.
With a disgusted look, Kirche backed away.
Tropod turned to Kai. "So then, Kai. I have an offer for you. Demon to demon."
Hearing demon, Kai let out a groan.
"I would like to help you train. Your style of fighting is interesting, but you are at the level of an amateur. You lack proper technique. As you are now, you are nothing more than a street brawler."
Kai was a bit taken aback. On one hand, this guy was trying to kill them mere moments ago, but on the other... He could get stronger...
"Give me a moment to talk to my associates." Kai instantly pulled Saito into a huddle a bit further away from Tropod. "What do I do?"
"What do you mean what do you do?"
"I mean, do I train with him or not?"
Saito blinked a few times. "He just tried to kill us. He might say that he wasn't, but he definitely was."
"It might've seemed that way, but then how would the 'hundred-year-old slug' get recognition?"
Tropod yelled out, "Demon. Hundred-year-old Demon."
"What he said..." Kai whipped his head around with wide eyes, and then turned back to Saito. "Well then... I guess he can hear us..."
"Kai, just think about it..."
Kai nodded and closed his eyes. Should he take the offer?
You should.
Ya think so?
Kai, you've started to hit a wall with your training. Your growth has started to slow down, and I can't exactly help you develop a style of fighting.
Kai let out a sigh as he approached Tropod.
ㅤ
ㅤ
The next morning, the group consisting of Siesta, Saito, Kirche, Guiche, and Tabitha were riding the wind dragon while Kai and Tropod were flying next to the dragon. Tropod was explaining to Kai how he should be flying to minimize energy consumption.
The group hadn't given up their ambitions of finding the Dragon's Raiment, so while they flew to Tarbes, Siesta explained it to everyone. Though, there wasn't much to tell. There was a temple near the village, and it held the Dragon's Raiment inside.
"Why is it called Dragon's Raiment?" Saito asked.
"Apparently, you can fly when you use it." For some reason, Siesta's voice was trailing off.
"Flying, huh?" Saito looked over at Kai. "So is it a wind-type item?"
"It's really not that important..."
"Why?"
"It's a hoax. It's a 'treasure' to the locals, but junk to anyone else..."
"Really?"
"Actually... the owner of it was one of my ancestors. One day he appeared in the village. Apparently he told everyone that he came from the east with the Dragon's Raiment."
"Hm..."
"But no one believed him. He was said to be very weird."
"Why?"
"The story goes that someone told him to fly it, but he couldn't for some reason. He made different excuses, so no one had a reason to believe him. After he couldn't fly it, he settled down in the village. I think that was over two hundred years ago now."
"Well, it's still something treasured in the village, right? Then, we can't take it back with us, can we?"
"Well... it is our family's property... If you wanted to, I could ask my father to show you."
Hoaxes are useless though...
Just as Saito thought that, Kirche remarked, "Even if it is a hoax, there are people that would buy it."
"You're a horrible woman." Guiche was shocked.
The wind dragon flapped its wings and headed toward Tarbes.