Chapter 30: Training.
The old wolf turned to walk away. Kazuka immediately called him back.
"Hey, you haven't finished telling it, there are still more races."
"The girl Airi will tell you that, as for tomorrow, training begins."
On the trail leading home. The three walked side by side. Takeshi walked in the middle, Airi on the right, and Kazuka on the left. Kazuka turned his head, his eyes carrying a look of anticipation.
"Hey, Airi, is there anything unusual about me? During training, I mean."
Airi turned her head with a calm expression.
"You are not."
"Is that so? Then why did the old wolf look so pensive earlier?"
"Who knows what that old wolf thinks?"
"Then later, give me a brief overview of the races, okay?"
"Fine, I will tell you while we sit and eat."
The three of them, Airi, Takeshi, and Kazuka, sat huddled around a blazing fire in the middle of the silent night. The flickering firelight illuminated their young faces.
Airi sat cross-legged, hand holding a skewer of steaming grilled meat, her red eyes gleaming under the firelight like a pair of vivid rubies. She blew gently to cool it and took a bite, her cheeks slightly puffing out. Despite her cold exterior, Airi was clearly enjoying the meal.
Takeshi sat beside her, laughing giggling while eating, his mouth smeared with a bit of sauce. He used a branch to poke gently at a potato roasting in the charcoal embers, his face shining with mischief.
Kazuka sat opposite them, both arms folded in front resting on his knees, a nearly finished meat skewer hanging in his hand. He said nothing, only occasionally raising his head to look at the starry sky above, then looking back at the fire crackling with soft snapping sounds as if telling a story.
The surrounding space was quiet, only the sound of insects buzzing from the bushes and the crackling of the burning fire. The warm orange light chased away the creeping cold of the night, creating a peaceful, simple, and intimate moment between companions in a strange land.
Airi swallowed the last piece of meat and tossed the skewer away.
"Alright, now I will explain briefly."
Kazuka and Takeshi had not finished eating but still stopped to listen.
"Energy has 5 different colors, and different races absorb different energies."
"The Human Race is very numerous and strong, usually possessing blue energy. But as the old wolf said, there are still those who are human but have different colored energy; they are the minority, while most share one color. Other races are similar."
"Next is the Demon Race with black energy. In the past, there were battles with humans and both sides have always held bad feelings for each other."
"Next is the Angel Race. They have white energy and are the race that helped humans a lot in battles, but sometimes there are those who oppose and attack humans, though not worth mentioning. They are the race that cannot share the sky with demons."
"Next are the Spirits, their energy is yellow and they do not help or attack any side without a justifiable reason."
"Next is the Monster Race, with purple energy; the Monster Race consists of the monsters we often see. This race is harder to control than others, so many of them run rampant in the human world. Because of that, they made a treaty with humans during the unification. These monsters are allowed to roam the human world, but if they destroy more than three nations, the Monster Race must step in and intervene, otherwise, the Human Race will consider it a declaration of war and an all-out war will occur."
"There are still other races, for example: Vampires, Elves, or the Dragon Race... and many others. If you intend to ask what Vampires absorb, let me explain now."
"Vampires and Demons have no relation, but they still absorb the same type of energy; the Dragon Race is the same. Generally, those are just representative names."
"Like Spirits and Elves, the story goes: long ago a Spirit married a human and gave birth to an Elf. Elves have great energy and energy talent very similar to Spirits. But they do not have wings or powers like Spirits. However, they still share the same type of energy."
Kazuka immediately uttered an "oh" with surprise.
"So that's how it is, no wonder when I trained with sister Kuroha I felt something completely different about energy."
Airi nodded.
"Because the two of you are different species."
Currently, the old wolf lay on a simple bed; the dark moonlight, hidden by clouds, could be seen slightly from the window. He looked pensive.
"A bit confusing. That pursuit was 15 years ago, but the kid Kazuka is 13 years old. Although everything else is clear, this point is not. Could it not be? But at that time, that energy source could not be mistaken."
"Different colored energy is fine. But the feeling of the energy is completely different. When he absorbed it, his body radiated a little; I felt it very clearly, it cannot be wrong."
"In short, he might not be their child, but that energy source is not wrong."
The old wolf closed his eyes to end the deduction.
"What will you do? Kazuka."
The next morning, the sun appeared from afar. Airi wore different clothes to be more convenient for training.
She wore a simple pale yellow shirt; brown fabric trousers helped her move easily to adapt, and high-top boots made moving easy.
Airi stood in one place, looking up at the slope of the mountain. Her face clearly showed boredom and lack of will.
"What the hell? Is this old wolf crazy? Why force us to climb the mountain? That mountain is so high; falling down is certain death. Are those two also crazy to follow along? Your training methods are insane enough."
Airi shuddered.
"Just thinking about rolling down that slope is horrifying, and I don't even have wings yet."
A distance from the foot of the mountain. Kazuka and Takeshi were clinging close to each other; Kazuka's hand gripped a small rock protruding from the steep cliff. His hands appeared scraped; he gritted his teeth hard and reached his left hand to grab a large rocky outcrop.
He hung there, panting.
"My shoulders are about to give out."
Not far beside him, Takeshi gripped two small rock edges with both hands, exhaustion clearly visible on his face.
"I... I think... we should go down..."
Airi shouted loudly to Kazuka and Takeshi below.
"Hey, how do you two plan to get down?"
Above, Kazuka was confused and turned to the hanging Takeshi.
"Takeshi, did she just call us? What did she say?"
Takeshi opened his eyes wide with horror and turned.
"She asked how we are getting down!"
Kazuka was also shocked; his expression shifted to match Takeshi's.
"Oh right, how do we get down?"
Kazuka screamed loudly, echoing everywhere.
"You damned old wolf, why didn't you tell us how to get down?"
Suddenly, the rock Kazuka was clinging to emitted a cracking sound. Pebbles fell clattering onto his head.
Feeling something fall on his head, Kazuka looked up; the large rock showed signs of detaching from the cliff. His eyes widened; he tried to move his hand to another smaller rock but was too late.
The large rock fell out; Kazuka fell with it. A scream echoed everywhere.
"Aaaaa—!"
Takeshi panicked, reaching out after him.
"Kazuka!"
Airi, standing below, screamed in panic.
"He's falling!!"
In mid-air, Kazuka roared, thrusting all his energy into his arm. He raised his fist—and slammed it straight into the cliff.
Boom!
His fist plunged deep into the cliffside. His whole body hung suspended. Kazuka gritted his teeth, his face contorted.
"Dammit..."
After a while, the sun reached its peak. Finally, Kazuka and Takeshi made it down to the ground; the two of them collapsed, breathing continuously, without the strength to say another word.
The old wolf walked over from afar, his voice rising from a distance. Both hands were behind his back.
"Well done."
Hearing the old wolf's voice, the gasping Kazuka bolted up, angrily pointing his finger at the old wolf and shouting.
"Are you playing with us? I almost died just now."
The old wolf curled his lip with contempt.
"Aren't you the one who is not afraid of death?"
"But I won't die in such a stupid way."
The old wolf lowered his voice to explain.
"Come on, this is an exercise for endurance, strength, dexterity, and reflexes. This exercise never goes out of style. Just now, you also reacted very quickly to save yourself, didn't you?"
The old wolf pointed to where Takeshi sat watching.
"And he is very skillful."
"Why blame me? This is the most perfect exercise, second only to a life-and-death battle."
The old wolf turned to walk away again but did not forget to speak back.
"Now you will practice that exercise. As for the girl Airi, you practice too, don't complain."
"Ah, forgot, you must run around this mountain at least 10 laps a day. You've just started heavy training so your bodies might feel pain, but it's fine, just rest properly. I will return tomorrow."
Kazuka clenched his fist, his face a mix of anger and resentment.
"Damned irresponsible old man."
Just like that, they climbed mountains and ran around mountains until exhausted; at night, they sparred with each other until late.
Time passed just like that. They climbed mountains, hunted monsters, carried a large rock on their backs and ran, and dodged attacks.
6 months later.
They looked like different people; Kazuka and Takeshi had become taller and their physiques larger. Airi no longer had a look of boredom; her gaze had changed.
They were sitting around each other and began meditating on a rock ledge protruding halfway up the mountain. Closing their eyes, concentrating at the highest level. After a while, Kazuka was sensing everything around him. A bird flew into his range of perception.
Kazuka opened his eyes wide, grabbed a small stone right beside him, and threw it at the bird. The bird was hit and fell. He clenched his fist as if to celebrate.
"Great."
Airi and Takeshi were still meditating; hearing the noise from Kazuka made Airi annoyed.
"Can't you be quiet, Kazuka?"
But Kazuka had already jumped down; he was like a monkey jumping everywhere. He gripped small rock edges, then jumped down and gripped another edge. Just like that, he reached the ground safely; Airi and Takeshi were right behind.
Takeshi looked around.
"Hey, the old wolf said he was coming, why is it taking so long?"
The old wolf radiated a terrifying source of energy and stood right behind Takeshi, his breath carrying a great aura right in the boy's ear.
"I am here."
Takeshi and Kazuka were startled and backed away. Contrary to them, Airi was very calm, her gaze as if she didn't care.
The old wolf laughed loudly.
"Alright, physical training and those reflexes are settled, now we will spar."
Kazuka jumped up vigorously with joy.
"Great, I've been waiting for this day."
"Alright, follow me."
They followed right behind the old wolf, sticking close to the foot of the mountain and crossing to the other side. It was a vast land with sparse green grass; the wind blew continuously, making their hair fly with the breeze.
Takeshi was surprised by this place.
"Is there an empty land here? If we had gone a bit further while hunting before, maybe we would have seen it?"
The old wolf spoke: "Alright, sit down, I will explain briefly."
They found a patch with a bit more grass and sat cross-legged, their gazes all directed toward the old wolf. He coughed once as if to begin.
"As you know, this world has many strong people. But do you know how to recognize a strong person?"
Airi shook her head, "No."
Kazuka rubbed his chin, thinking.
"I think it's by sensing their energy."
Takeshi answered: "I don't know."
The old wolf nodded.
"There is no way to determine a strong person. Sensing energy is just sensing their energy and of course, it is not accurate, Kazuka."
Kazuka was dissatisfied, his face frowning.
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because I felt like it."
"Let me explain; surely the brat Airi knows a bit, but I'll say it anyway."
"To know a strong person, you can only engage in combat. Because we cannot know how large the opponent's energy gate is, or what their combat skills are like."
"In a battle, focus and tactics are the most important things, utilizing everything around to fight."
"Having a larger energy source and a larger energy gate, you will still lose if you lack tactics and focus."
The old wolf pointed toward Kazuka.
"You said you once fought a very strong murderer, right? Tell it so I can analyze."
Kazuka nodded and began the story.
"At that time I was chased deep into the forest..."
"That's how it happened."
The old wolf uttered an "oh," his face clearly showing satisfaction.
"Oh, not bad."
"Alright, this kid Kazuka was much weaker than him but being able to corner him into a pincer position is very good."
"Relying on luck is truly interesting."
"Thus it is clearly seen, tactics and calmness hold a very large part of the battle. And the match where you faced that murderer is an example. Probably needed some luck too."
"Alright, try fighting each other. Now all three of you will fight and everyone is an enemy."
Takeshi nodded while speaking: "Is it a chaotic match?"
The old wolf stood far away and observed the three of them. Airi, Kazuka, and Takeshi stood and entered combat stances. Their eyes darted continuously, observing their two opponents.
Kazuka with his body and sword overflowing with energy. Takeshi with both hands clenched, orange energy enveloping his body. Airi with her left hand spread out as if a prepared attack.
The silent situation where no one made the first move became even more tense. Kazuka did not attack to open the battle; he jumped backward and tumbled continuously on the ground to maintain distance. Airi raised her hand to the sky, summoning a series of blood-red swords and aimed them at Kazuka and Takeshi (estimated about 50 blood swords).
She lowered her hand without hesitation. Kazuka ran in a circle, making them unable to catch him; Takeshi, being closer, had to struggle to fight back. His hands were filled with energy, punching away the incoming attacks.
The attack phase just ended, Kazuka rushed in from Airi's flank. A slash carrying a lot of energy approached her horizontally. But Airi was very alert; from her hand, a bright red longsword manifested. She slashed vertically from above and blocked Kazuka's attack.
Unexpectedly from above their heads. Takeshi, carrying his punch, was suspended in the air. He braced himself, eyes wide, the punch aimed straight down, but Airi and Kazuka managed to jump away in time.
Boom!
The large explosion from Takeshi's punch made the ground crack. Kazuka jumped back with vigilance.
—"Takeshi is very strong now, his punch is even stronger than mine, I must be careful. As for Airi, her moves are all hard to block."
Airi unleashed a vertical energy slash toward Takeshi. Then she dashed extremely fast toward Kazuka.
Takeshi braced his left arm and fired an energy beam, successfully blocking it.
On Kazuka's side, he was surprised, unable to bring his sword up to block in time. Airi unleashed a slash but Kazuka leaned back and dodged it.
He braced his hands on the ground and used his arms as a pivot, like doing a handstand. Both of Kazuka's legs kicked straight into Airi's stomach, sending her flying away.
Kazuka just stood up normally, not yet catching his breath. Takeshi had already closed in right beside him. Takeshi's left hand swung a punch into Kazuka's chest; he opened his mouth, let out an "ah," eyes wide. Kazuka was thrown back, his feet skidding on the grass, his sword stabbing into the ground as if to brake and stop him from sliding further.
But that was a mistake; the close distance allowed Takeshi to close in again. Sensing Takeshi behind with a large energy source coming. Takeshi smirked.
"Take this, Kazuka!"
"Not a chance!"
Kazuka's right hand holding the sword let go; he spun around, unleashing an elbow strike. The blow hit Takeshi straight in the nose, causing blood to spray and knocking him aside.
Still not letting Kazuka breathe, a red chain wrapped around Kazuka. He could not react and was bound. Blood swords from afar flew straight toward Kazuka. Unable to counter or dodge, he could only stand there. But those red swords stopped in time right next to him, then vanished along with the chain.
The old wolf sitting under the tree shouted: "Keep fighting."
"Are these brats in a two-on-one? Feels like the law of nature somehow?"
Kazuka tumbled backward again to maintain distance and observe the situation.
Takeshi, with a large energy source surrounding his body, saw Airi closer than Kazuka. He dashed toward Airi. Seeing Takeshi closing in, she shouted: "Blood Abyss!!!"
The old wolf watching also went "oh."
Takeshi stopped immediately; he threw a punch into the air, his energy flew like a large boulder, but carrying great power toward Airi.
"Blood Explosion Body!!!!"
Airi's body was surrounded by a large pillar of red energy; Takeshi's attack rushed in and collided with it. Then it disappeared.
The energy pillar just vanished and from within, Airi slashed out three energy strikes toward Takeshi.
He crossed both arms with the intention of blocking the three incoming attacks. The first slash caused the energy on Takeshi's arms to decrease; before he could refill that empty energy. The second slash rushed in, it blew away all the energy on his arms.
Sensing something wrong, Takeshi gritted his teeth, wanting to avoid the third slash but it was too late. His arms hadn't moved when the third slash hit.
Takeshi gritted his teeth and let out an "ah," on his two arms were two long wounds bleeding.
—"Must stop the bleeding."
His eyes widened, as if just discovering something wrong.
—"Energy? What's happening? Why does it feel like it's interfering?"
Kazuka saw Takeshi's opening and rushed in. But the old wolf had already jumped right beside him. He kicked him away, sending him flying to land on the ground.
"Alright, that's enough fighting."
Kazuka flew far, rolling several times on the ground. He bolted up with anger and roared.
"You old dog! Why stop while we're fighting?"
The old man walked to Airi.
"Hey brat, you are not allowed to use interference energy."
Airi looked up and gave an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry, I forgot."
"Among the three of you, only you know how to use it, those two don't know yet. Furthermore, that's energy from another race; how can these boys filter that energy?"
"I said I'm sorry."
Airi ran to Takeshi and smiled.
"Sorry, Takeshi."
Takeshi was still bewildered and did not understand.
"What happened to my energy?"
"You'll probably learn that soon, sorry, I ended up bullying you."
Takeshi looked into his palms.
"Is that so? There are even things like that?"
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"It's fine, no need to apologize so many times. After all, this is a spar."
Kazuka ran over with curiosity.
"Hey, what's wrong with everyone? There must be a reason that old man stopped the match."
Airi smiled awkwardly.
"Well, I accidentally used something you two haven't learned yet."
Airi grabbed Takeshi's hand and sucked her energy from inside Takeshi's body back into her own. Kazuka observed with curiosity.
"What is it? Tell me, I'm so curious."
The old wolf spoke while walking over.
"You don't need to be curious, kid, I'm about to show you two soon."
"Really?"
The old wolf got angry.
"Hey kid? Why do you have to ask again every time you hear something?"
"Huh? What's the big deal?"
The old wolf shouted.
"It's no big deal to you, but it's annoying to me, brat, you better stop that habit of asking again just to be sure, I hate it."
Kazuka also raised his voice.
"Don't think just because you're my teacher I'm afraid, you damned old man, do you always have to be satisfied?"
"Do whatever you want to me, let's see how good you are."
"Just wait, I will take you down in the near future."
Airi and Takeshi, standing before this daily argument, clearly showed helplessness and annoyance.
"Arguing every day, don't you get bored, just like cats and dogs, so noisy."
Takeshi stood there shrugging.
"Haizzz, leave them be, they'll make up normally after arguing, happens every day. This scene is too familiar to us."
Airi shouted.
"Are you two finished arguing?"
Finally, they stopped. The old wolf sighed.
"Truly a waste of time with a kid like you."
Kazuka stuck out his tongue to provoke the old wolf.