The following day, the students arrive for class and question the absence of Kareem and Zachary.
“I’m sure you are all wondering why two of your classmates aren’t here today.” says Cygil, “Unfortunately, they’ll both be out of commission for up to a month.”
“Did something serious happen?” asks Jackson.
“Are they okay?” asks Allen.
“They’re in the hospital.” Amber says softly.
“What?!” shouts Apollo.
“How did you know that?” asks Kian.
“I was the one who found them yesterday.”
“That’s correct. After class yesterday, Kareem and Zachary got into a fight, and both of them were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.” explains Cygil, “Kareem suffered fractured ribs and a broken arm, and Zachary’s muscles are completely stiff and strained.”
“Woah…” says Kye, “They went at it, huh?”
“I knew something would happen between those two…” says Kian.
“Same here, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.” Allen adds.
“That must be while they're replacing glass in the lobby.” says Apollo, “Such idiots.”
“With that being said, I have some unfortunate news. Due to the incident yesterday, we will not be having class today. I need to go to the hospital and question your classmates. Instead, my brother will be sending in two of his students to talk to you all about some of the experiences they’ve had so far on their journey to become Warriors. But before that, we’ll be getting another student added to our class.”
Darren enters the classroom.
“I’m here…” Darren whispers.
“Isn’t he from your brother’s class?” asks Kye.
“He is, but he’ll be in here from now on.” explains Cygil, “Another student from last year decided to return for another year, and since he was in Cyrus’ class last year, he’ll return there. The classes have an eight-person limit, but I offered to take Darren in. Well, how about you introduce yourself, Darren?”
“Okay. My name is Darren Doyle. I’m fifteen, and I was born on December twenty-fourth. I have a learning disability, but I hope that doesn’t make any of you treat me any differently. My Trait is a Spiritual Energy Beast called Fang.”
*Darren is 5 foot 6. He’s a ginger with brown eyes. Being bullied for his hair color and learning disability has put a lot of stress on Darren and caused him to have trust issues. Darren now keeps himself very reserved and doesn’t speak unless necessary. Fang is a Spiritual Energy Beast that can only be summoned by the Doyle Family. Fang is a powerful wolf that serves to protect the members of the family.*
“Trust me, Darren, no one here will treat you differently. We are all here to help you when you need it.” says Cygil.
Two second-years enter the classroom, one carrying an extra desk.
“Ah, here they are now.” says Cygil, “Class, meet two of the students from last year, Kaito and Kenshin!”
“Hey, everyone!” says Kaito, setting the desk in the back row.
“Nice to see you again, Mr Cygil.” says Kenshin.
*17-year-old Kaito Ochoa is an energetic and determined student standing at 5 foot 8. Kaito has wavy brown hair and brown eyes. Originally born in Lullin, Kaito spent the first few years of his life mastering different types of weapons. At age 10, Kaito’s mother and father agreed to split up. Still, his father made everyone believe that his mother had been abusive in the relationship, resulting in many people sending in threats to take Kaito away from her, and some people went as far as even to threaten her life. Wanting the best for her son, Kaito’s mother packed a couple of bags, and in the middle of the night, Kaito and his mother fled from Lullin. For months, they would travel from place to place until they eventually landed in Ticu and decided that this was the place they’d start their lives over.*
*17-year-old Kenshin Sharp is a serious-minded student standing at 5 foot 10. Kenshin wears his long hair tied up in a bun, has gold-colored eyes, and wears a pair of white glasses. As a child, Kenshin was raised in a strict household; he rarely was able to play outside and instead was forced to study. The only excitement he could find in such an environment was learning to play the piano. Kenshin would practice at any chance he could and eventually became an above-average piano player. Unfortunately, whenever he asked to play a song for his parents, his mom scolded him for taking too much time away from studying, and his father removed the piano from the house. His parents then forced him to join Rozer Academy with the goal of Kenshin becoming a high-ranking commander or adviser. Although he disagreed with his parents’ point of view, Kenshin complied and enrolled in the Academy, finishing 4th in the Entrance Tests. After finishing a year at Rozer Academy, Kenishin’s dad returned the piano.*
“I'm Glad you two could make it!” says Cygil, "I know you’ve both just returned from separate missions.”
“It’s not a problem.” says Kenshin, fixing his glasses, “We can handle this.”
“C’mon, Mr. Cygil, you didn’t think I’d pass on this opportunity, did you?” asks Kaito.
“That’s not it at all! I didn’t wish to overwork you.” explains Cygil, “I suppose I’m overreacting, though. I know you two are capable leaders. I’ll be heading out now. Thanks again!”
Cygil grabs his belongings and leaves.
“I suppose we should properly introduce ourselves. My name is Kenshin Sharp. I’m more of the analytic type and not much of a fighter, but despite that, I managed to finish ranked third in the class last year.”
“And I’m Kaito Ochoa. Unlike my friend here, I am more of a brawler. I finished second in the class, and I’m currently trying to evolve my Spiritual Energy Trait.”
“That’s possible?” asks Kian.
“Of course it is!” says Kaito, “If you work at it for a while, molding and shaping your Spiritual Energy to fit the Trait you wish to create, anyone can evolve their Trait.”
“However, one must know all of the ins and outs of Spiritual Energy to be able to do so, and even then, the upgrade you wish to create might be impossible.” adds Kenshin, “Fortunately, I am living proof that it is possible as I’ve evolved mine myself.”
“Really!?” asks Apollo.
“What kind of Trait is it?” asks Kye.
“It’s called Power Keys. If I hold out my hands as if I’m playing an invisible piano, depending on how many fingers I push down and in what order, I can send out powerful wind blasts. After the upgrade, I can even send electric shocks towards my enemy.”
“That’s sick!” exclaims Apollo.
“Can you show us?” asks Allen.
“I guess I can show you the basic wind blast. Shouldn’t mess up too much in here.” Kenshin holds out his hand and pushes down his left pinky finger, sending out a small amount of wind that blows back everyone's hair and a few pieces of paper.
“Woah…” whispers Darren.
“My hair!” shouts Amber, trying to fix her hair.
“Sorry about that, kid.” Kenshin apologies, “I'll pick up all of the paper.”
“Kaito.” says Jackson.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“You said your last name is Ochoa, right?”
“So you noticed, huh.”
“Does that mean you're from Lullin?”
*The Ochoa clan of Lullin are regarded as some of the best weapon wielders in the world. Pick any weapon, and at least one clan member can master it naturally. The Ochoa clan’s unique Trait is called “Bone Manipulation”; with Bone Manipulation, the user can easily extract bones from their own body and turn them into sharp and deadly weapons. Unfortunately, this Trait is rare, as only five known clan members possess it. Those people are 72-year-old Conley Ochoa, the 4th leader of the clan. Kenny Ochoa, Conley’s 14-year-old grandson. 24-year-old Brett Ochoa, a high-ranking Warrior. 27-year-old Ava Ochoa, a Warrior who ran away from the clan. And finally, 6-year-old Lowri Ochoa, the only clan member ever to awaken the power before age 10. An Ochoa with Bone Manipulation can use their opponent's bones against them through direct contact, but this is strictly forbidden and is considered a war crime.*
“That’s right, I’m not from Ticu.” Kaito confirms, “Me and my mother came here when I was six after she was falsely accused of being an abusive parent and wife.”
“Sorry that I brought it up…” says Jackson, “I’ve never met someone from a non-Ticu-ruled place.”
“It’s fine; my mother and I live safer lives now. The past is in the past.”
“Wish our mom was here too…” whispers Kian.
“Now let’s see… what story should I tell first.”
“I’ll go first.” says Kenshin, “Let’s tell them about our first mission.”
“That mission… I'd rather forget that one, y’know.”
“As do I, but unfortunately, it contains the most important lesson we could give them.”
Kaito sighs. “I guess you’re right. Go ahead and tell them.”
“Alright, everyone, listen up. This story takes place about a month ago, while Kaito and I were stationed in Debel, a town just south of here.” Kenshin begins, “We were tasked by the village Elder, Don Vega, to supervise his grandson, Archie, on his trip to what is now known as Blood Beast cave.”
“A group of miners were sent to the cave to mine some ore, and Archie asked his grandfather to go with them.” Kaito adds, “Although reluctant initially, Don allowed Archie to join the mining trip. He suggested sending a few Warriors as backup in case of any attack, but Archie assured him there was no need for that.”
“Don agreed to let him go without backup but changed his mind about an hour after they had already left.” explains Kenshin, “He ended up calling the two of us in and requested that we tail them in secret.”
“This doesn’t sound like it will have a happy ending…” Amber says sadly.
“About halfway there, we ran into one of the miners running back towards Debel. He was screaming that they’d all been attacked by some beast and that he’s the only one to get away.” says Kenshin, “At that point, we had to make a life or death choice.”
“We could either rush back to the village and request that Warriors who are more fit for the job go to the cave, but that would’ve taken a while, and at that point, everyone could have already been killed. Or we could continue to the cave and fight something we know nothing about, risking our lives for the chance to save anyone left alive.” Kaito explains, “I wanted to go to the cave to save Archie.”
“And I wanted to get more help.” says Kenshin, “After arguing for a second about what we should do, I told the miner to get help, and Kaito and I went towards the cave. When we arrived, we heard screaming coming from inside.”
“We ran into the dark cave until we reached what looked like a dead end. Using Fire Release, I lit up the area, revealing a smaller cave to our left. Crawling through the smaller cave led us to a huge, dimly lit cavern.” Kaito explains, “The area was filled with tons of bones of small animals and pools of blood. It was creepy as hell, and I wanted to get out of there, but we kept searching. When we looked at the wall, we noticed human-shaped cocoons attached to it.”
“We went over to the smallest one and cut it down, and out came Archie. He was completely covered in blood and lacked the energy to stand up.” Kenshin adds, “When we questioned him about the situation, he informed us that the cocoons drained whatever was inside of it of their blood.”
“We cut down the rest of the cocoons, but unfortunately, all of the people inside them had already passed away. As we were helping the survivors towards the exit, a bear-like beast emerged from the shadows and tried to attack us.” says Kaito, “We tried to fend it off, but our attacks did nothing, so we were forced to switch to defense.”
“Archie informed us that making any contact with the beast could result in it draining your blood and that the more blood it takes, the stronger it gets. Unfortunately, since I’m not much of a fighter and Archie could hardly stand, the beast could easily land hits on the two of us. After that, I passed out, so I have no further knowledge of what happened.”
“I’ll tell the rest…” Kaito sighs, “After Kenshin passed out, the beast grabbed Archie. I tried to rescue him, but I was powerless. I sat there frozen in fear as I watched that thing drain the rest of his blood. It then rushed at me, but I couldn’t get myself to move; I sat there crying and prepared to die. That is until Jiro saved me.”
“Wait, Jiro?!” asks Apollo, “Ticu’s strongest Warrior?”
“That’s right. I don’t know what a Warrior of that caliber was doing in Debel, but I owe him my life. After the miner told him what happened, Jiro rushed to the cave and defeated the beast. He then carried me and Kenshin back to town and dropped us off at the hospital.”
“The lesson we want you all to take from this is to always ask for backup.” says Kenshin, “If we’d just returned to Debel and asked for help, Jiro would’ve been able to take down the beast and save Archie in time.”
“That’s a depressing story…” whispers Darren.
“I can’t believe you met Jiro!” says Apollo.
“That can’t possibly be what you took from that story.” Kian says disappointedly.
“Yeah, sorry we had to tell such a sad story… but we have plenty of more light-hearted ones we could tell if you want to hear them.” Kaito offers.
“Yeah, totally!” says Jackson.
“Do you have any more stories about Jiro?” asks Apollo.
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