Kouryu sukuinushi episode 4

[BlueSonnet]

Yay! My first bit of fiction in this forum. Seeing that Melfice posted his manga story i decided to post up mine.

What i present before you is the most recent released episode (could call it volume but meh) of my series Kouryu sukuinushi. It's bone-crunching ESP martial arts action from start to finish guaranteed to give you a real ride.

If you're interested in seeing the (old) artwork to series, you can find them here in the deviation gallery. Keep a lookout for new deviations on this, the upcoming deviation "kiss from a rose" (which i will be posting a new thread about here at some point).

The previous episodes of the story have also been uploaded here, though the site hasn't loaded the story properly so the paragraphing is wrong in various places. So far the reviews are looking good though. If you have not yet read the previous episodes (i'm betting you haven't) i advise that you do if you want to understand what is going on. Otherwise proceed right ahead. Don't expect what you see at the moment to be the final piece. I'm giving a bit of thought into getting this published so i may rewrite certain bits of he story. A spellcheck far serious than any before would also be in order. I apologise in advance for any errors that i have missed previously.

Btw to help understand the story a bit, bear in mind two things. Firstly the world that it is set in is like one in the final fantasy series; fantasy elements coexisting with (advanced) technology. Secondly as mentioned earlier, this is a manga-based story and whilst its recommended for a more mature audience the cartoony feel that it induces is still apparent. On that note, i should mention that although this story is worksafe, it contains various scenes of blood and violence; not recommendable for kids. Consider yourself warned.

OK enough has been said. Time to bring forth the story. Prepare for combat.

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Kouryu Sukuinushi by Thomas Tuke
Episode 4: Secret principle – 1000 flash destroyer

The outlook didn’t look good.

Ryu cast his hard glare at the Ptera tribesmen around him, the savage maniacal inhabitants of Mount Aruba. Underneath their pterasaur headwear, their bloodshot eyes returned a glance. Their glare was that of evil.
Within minutes after Ryu caught the arrows aimed at him, the group was surrounded by the tribesman as more of them showed up, poking their heads out of caves or emerging from their camouflage. Some of them snarled knowing that their home mountain had intruders. Others cackled with homicidal insanity, as their drooling tongues hung out of their mouths. The remaining lot only comprehended the situation, as they unsheathed their weaponry, blades attached to their wings, small crossbows, primitive swords and axes, among other brutal objects. They were ready for a slaughter, and the group before them were quite aware of it.
Smoke from the mountaintop continued to cloud the sky.
Behind Ryu the children looked worried. Carla clung to Kotono’s leg as she cowered before the size in numbers of the tribesman. Jin backed away a few steps, as his right eye twitched from fright. Kotono remained frozen on the spot. “Not good man. What are we gonna do?” Jin spoke. “Oh no…oh no…oh no…” Carla repeated. Kotono moved her head sideways towards Jin. “Got any good ideas?”
“Um…no.” Jin didn’t have a clue “Oh yes, I got one. Yes, running.”
Somehow running didn’t seem like a good idea to Kotono as she nodded in reply, yet she didn’t have anything better to offer, She turned to Ryu. “What do you think…Ryu?”
Ryu didn’t say a word. He was too busy trying to think of a different idea. At the same time his gaze remained on the tribesman as he looked from left to right. There had to be a hundred of them, at the very least. Ryu knew that it could be a long battle, but that wasn’t what made Ryu uncomfortable with being in this god-forsaken mountain. Something was bugging Ryu, a real distinguishing attribute to these tribesman, yet Ryu could not put his finger on it. The tribesman continued to do what they had been doing for the past few minutes: growling, snarling, chuckling, laughing, or just plain silence. There was something so obvious about these savage beasts that stood before Ryu, but at the same time so distant, just beyond his grasp. “What is it?” he thought to himself.
Then Ryu realised it. It was so obvious, yet so typical and easy to understand. The arrows were meant for him, and so were the glares from their beady little eyes. Ryu’s ears somewhat twitched for reassurance, before the answers were fully clear.
“It’s me they want.”
The other three snapped out of their concentration on the tribesman. All three of them looked at Ryu. “Um…care to explain?”
“They’re not interested in you three.” Ryu spoke; his focus never once went away from the Ptera tribe. “I’m the only one they want.”
“What?” Kotono didn’t fully understand “What makes you so sure?”
Ryu was certain. “They serve Shogun.”
“Wha…” Kotono still didn’t understand, and neither did Jin and Carla. “What do you mean they serve Shogun? How do you kn…”

“Go back down the route we came to the T-Junction and take the path down the other route.” Ryu cut her off quickly “It’s not going to be safe here.”
The other three disliked the idea. “No! We’re not leaving without you!”
“Go! Now!” Ryu finally turned around to face them. “I don’t want you three to get involved”
“But…Ryu…” Kotono didn’t want to leave without her friend. The same applied to Carla. “No. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please Ryu, escape with us!”
Ryu smiled to give Carla reassurance. “Don’t worry.” He patted her on the head as her expression changed from fear to amazement. “They will not land so much as one blow on me.” Gradually taking in the information that Ryu gave her, in such a dangerous situation, Carla allowed herself a smirk.
“Now go. Now.” Ryu said as he turned around to meet the gaze of the Ptera tribe. The other three nodded and turned around to run down the previous route. However, just as they were about to go past the corner, Kotono stopped and grabbed Carla and Jin as she moved slowly behind the corner whilst keeping her gaze at Ryu marching towards the tribesman.
“Kotono? What are you doing?” Jin didn’t appreciate being yanked by the collar
“I’m not going. I wanna know once and for all what abilities Ryu has.”
“But Kotono…” Jin spoke “You heard what he sa…”
“Shhh! Let’s watch.” Jin and Carla didn’t have a choice, nor did they really wish to leave Ryu. So they too hid behind the corner, to observe the fight that was about to take place.

Ryu continued to walk towards them. As he did, grins were now on all of their faces, revealing decaying teeth as all their weaponry were fully visible. At last he was ready for their challenge they thought, and they were only too happy to comply as necessary.
Ryu outstretched his hands, sliding his fingers between each other and pushing inwards to click his knuckles whilst swaying his head from side to side to click his neck. He too was ready.
Before straight ahead of him, on top of the climb, several of the Ptera tribesmen were making way for their captain. He was dressed differently to the others, not to mention a bit bigger, but still maintained the primitive nature. A mail of bones covered his broad chest as he wore large spinal cords for bracelets and kneepads. Rather than a pterasaur skull for headwear, he instead wore the skull of a large reptilian predator as sharp teeth went around his forehead. His face was different to the others, being more brutal and butch than crazed and eccentric. A large axe remained holstered on an attachment as a collar of feathers surrounded the back and sides of his neck. He gazed down at the confident Ryu; his fierce eyes knew the man he was after.

“You the one who dares oppose Shogun?” he spoke, his deep, barbarian voice echoed throughout the valley. Jin, Carla and Kotono watched with admiration.
“And what if I am?” Ryu responded, his head leaning to his left as his neck clicked again. The captain smiled. This upstart was more stupid than he had imagined he thought. “After all…” Ryu conveniently continued, “It’s hardly a dumb idea on my behalf. The likes of Shogun are no match for me.” He bended backwards to stretch his body. The three kids behind him hid behind the corner before he could spot them.
“Humph! You fool!” the captain snarled, “You will never live to see Shogun. No one has left these mountains alive.” The captain stopped snarling as a grin formed. “We’ve killed them all.” There was some cheering and yelling amongst Ptera tribe as many of them raised the weaponry and hands into the air in remembrance. As they did, Ryu looked at the captain’s smug face. Then his red eyes locked with his. Ryu’s webbed ears twitched gently, before his face frowned.
“You know, I’m surprised you speak human.” Ryu spoke. The captain’s head shook slightly in a mocking manner. “Well…appearances can be deceiving.”
“No. It’s not that.” Ryu spoke “Considering all the people that you’ve slaughtered up here, I think “animal” would be a more appropriate word to describe you guys.” The captain too frowned. Some of the tribesman growled or cursed. Kotono poked her head around the corner. “It’s just as I said guys. It’s as if he already knows them.” She spoke, as Carla and Jin blinked dumb fold.
“But you know what? You’re crappy clothes does contribute to the inhumanness.” Ryu was finished stretching as he got into a fighting pose. The captain was insulted.
“You little dog! We’ll gut you hard, bleed you dry, and feed you to the god of these mountains. Lord Kraulax will enjoy eating your tender flesh.” The leader took a break as he relaxed. The smirk returned. “You’re in for hell, pretty boy.”
The tribesman readied their weapons once more, as they were just about ready to spring forward and kill. The captain chuckled. “Any last requests?” Ryu knew he meant it as some form of an insult, but there was something that he desired.
“I have one.” Ryu replied.
“Oh? Let’s hear it!” the captain raised an eyebrow.
“Give this message to Kraulax. Tell him I’ll be on my way up.”
“What? What do you mean?” the captain didn’t like where this was going. Ryu smirked.
“And tell him this too. After I’m done with these guys, after I’m done with you, he’s next.”
The captain growled from the insult as a tensed eyebrow twitched. “You dog! No one has left these mountains alive! What makes you think you’ll make a difference.” He pointed fiercely at Ryu.
The smirk disappeared from Ryu’s face as he stood up straight. His eyes remained shut as he bended his elbows inwards, almost folding them. He paused for a moment, before thrusting his opened hands forward at the Ptera tribesman. A gust of wind fluttered past his coat.
Behind them Kotono gasped. She didn’t know about anyone else, but she could feel power beyond comprehension building up.
“Ryu opened his eyes again, staring straight forward. “Mark my words.” he spoke “You will not live to see morning.”
“TEAR HIM APART!” the captain yelled. The tribesman manoeuvred into action. Three of them from above sprung forward and glided downwards to slash Ryu, laughing maniacally as their tongues dangled out of their mouths. Ryu broke from his stance and jumped upwards towards them. He was too quick for their attacks. As he went straight through their path he unleashed 3 spinning kicks that hit their groins with pinpoint accuracy. They fell to the floor wounded, whilst Ryu landed softly nearby.
He dodged several incoming arrows coming in his direction. Several more of the tribesmen were flying towards him, shooting arrows from miniature crossbows. Ryu returned fire with electrical bolts shot from his fingers. Each shot perfectly went through their foreheads. Their bodies crashed down to the ground. There was too many for Ryu to shoot down however, as the glider tribesman descended downwards like plague of locusts.
Ryu punched and kick those who got too close. They crashed to the floor wounded behind Ryu. But there was still too many of them flying in his direction. Ryu jumped high onto a ledge on his left to dodge the attackers. There were some ground-based troops up there waiting for him. Ryu unleashed a flying kick to take out one of them. They instantly dashed towards him with spears. Ryu did a spinning jump backwards as they went straight underneath him, failing to strike him. When Ryu landed he rapidly hit all four of their heads with his electrical shock technique. They fell spasmodically to the floor with blood spraying out of their ears. The gliders had soon turned around to fly towards Ryu once more. As they approached him, Ryu kicked repeatedly several of them in jaw with one leg before having to jump to another ledge. The battle was getting tense.
“Hahaha! Oppose us and we’ll guarantee you hell.” The captain laughed from the top as several banner holders behind him smirked.
Down below behind the corner, Kotono and the others were getting worried about the outcome of this battle. “Ryu…”
Ryu jumped at a wall and kicked back off it, flipping over his flying attackers, and again, and once more, in different directions, evading all blows. Their numbers were many, and their speed quick, but it was Ryu’s agility that made both obsolete.
As he flew over another dimwit tribesman, it was almost as if time around him was slowing down as he looked downwards on the Ptera below. Even with those fake wings, his speed is nothing to mine, Ryu thought. Time to turn defence into offence.
His lungs heaved inwards as his jaw dropped down. A red light emerged from the back of his throat. Then, a long stream of hot fire blasted from his lips, scorching several tribesmen that flew underneath him. They crashed to the walls howling, half engulfed in flames before descending downwards spirally. Above, the captain blinked several times discouraged. “Ug?”
Down below, the jaws of the 3 kids had descended downwards, almost more so than their mouths would allow. Jin and Kotono looked at each other. “…Did you just see?” they both spoke at the same time. Carla remained focused on Ryu’s movement. “Is Ryu a dragon?”
Ryu spun around before straightening himself as he approached the ground. His eyes began to glow a faint red. Ryu had plenty of tricks up his sleeve to show.
Below was another couple of Ptera foot troops charging towards him, the axes in their nodding back and forth from their movement. As his trench coat fluttered back and forth, Ryu manoeuvred his hands into a joint position, the palms facing forwards. He gently landed as the palms hunched backwards at his chest. Sparks of electricity crackled around his fingers and thumbs, slowly and slowly intensifying. The foot troops were about ten metres away from contact. As the crackling continued, a faint blue light emerged between his palms. Ryu’s eyes were now fully red as the light between his palms grew brighter and brighter. “Haaa…”
The foot troops were just about upon him when they raised their axes to come down on Ryu’s head. “Diiieeeee!!!”
Then Ryu shifted his hands to his side then swung them forward. “Hah!” a long bright thunderbolt blasted from his hands at the attackers. The bolt did not just strike the several attackers before him but quite a few far behind them. As the electricity from the blast crackled and shimmered into thin air, the foot troops were sent flying. They crashed down many metres away; their bodies could not withstand the high voltage inside them as smoke emerged from burns over their shaking bodies.
Previously Jin and Kotono had covered their eyes from the brightness of the thunderbolt, but again they were amazed. This time round words failed the two of them. Still Carla’s curiosity provoked her to speak. “Is Ryu a wizard?”
“Ha!” The captain spoke from above, trying to hide his hidden cowardice. “You may have some fancy tricks. But you’re still no match for the sheer amount of us.”
Like a snap of fingers, Ryu’s eyes suddenly went back to normal as turned to the captain in the distance. He then noticed that the flying tribesman were now circling his position high above, rather than dashing for him. He could see why. Around him the foot troops had surrounded a vast area around his position, leaving Ryu without a place to run to. Ryu understood their intentions perfectly.
The worried expression had returned to the children’s faces as they realised the situation. “Oh no…”
Around Ryu, was an array of brutal faces, and array of brutal weapons to go with them. Swords, hatchets, maces, spears, javelins, primitive shields, broad axes, all of the basic vicious nature, remained grasped to their filthy-nailed hands. Some of them remained fixed in their positions, ready to make a move, some circled the 10-metre radius that Ryu had for space, whilst others took a few steps forward. They were ready to finish him off where he stood.
Up to this moment Ryu still had not suffered a blow, and he intended to keep it that way. He glanced around him figuring what would be the best way of handling them, what would be the most appropriate move mustered against these savages. How many were now surrounding him on foot? 40? 30? 50? 50. There had to be about 50 of them surrounding him and only a fight to death would answer their killer instinct. Ryu wished not to teleport he thought. He wanted to see this through to the end. Still as his eyes shifted from left to right, he was in question on what would be the best move to get out of this without a scratch. Being picky on what would be appropriate kind of reminded of him of how puzzled he was as a child.
Thus another distant memory seeped into his mind.

“Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!” The young Ryu was rapidly trying punching his crouched father, who used his forearms to shield his targeted body. Even at a young age Ryu had trained for a while in the ways of martial arts, but he was still young nevertheless. When his father had seen enough he broke from his block and grabbed both of Ryu’s wrists. Ryu gasped from the sheer speed of his father, a twinge of fear almost crept up his bare back. But his father reassured his son with a positive smile. He had no intention to unleash a hard counterattack. After all, this was just training.
“Good. You’re getting better. Keep up with your practising.” He stood up and patted Ryu on the head. The people in the dojo around them clapped and praised the efforts of Ryu’s determination and speed. Even still, a look of disappointment hung across the young lad’s face. He still was far from being up there with the father he admired so much. As the clapping died down, and as his father walked away, Ryu turned to face him. “What’s my problem?”
“Uh?” His father turned around to face him. “What do you mean son?”
“I mean… where am I going wrong? What’s the problem with the way I fight?”
“Oh I see.” His father now understood, as he kneeled down. “The main factor you need to work on is your technique. It’s just as important as strength and speed, which you’re not bad at I might add.” He put his hand on Ryu’s shoulder. “Your problem is that your technique and style is too limited to just unloading punches and kicks. If the first attack fails to make a difference, then you should alter your tactics as appropriate rather than doing the same thing. Otherwise you opponent could easily unleash a solid counterattack that’ll give them the advantage, just like what I did just there.” Ryu didn’t answer. His father stood up once more.
“Be mindful of your moves just as much as your opponents. Keep practising. Practise makes perfect.” He spoke. Some of the spectators around them nodded. Ryu tried to smirk, but failed to do so. Ryu always did bear that quote in mind, but he had heard it said so many times before.
“Be aware that combat demands a lot of knowledge if one is to pull it off well, son, and involves many fighting styles” His father continued as he raised a finger. Ryu turned to him again. “It is important to use the most appropriate tactics if necessary in particular fight, or any fight for that matter. Why, if it involves fighting fire with fire, then by all means you should go for it.”
At last a smile grew across the young Ryu’s lips.

The same smile was on face of the now adult Ryu as he snapped back to reality. The situation had remained the same. Around Ryu, was an array of brutal faces, and array of brutal weapons to go with them. Swords, hatchets, maces, spears, javelins, primitive shields, broad axes, all of the basic vicious nature, remained grasped to their filthy-nailed hands. Some of them remained fixed in their positions, ready to make a move, some circled the 8-metre radius that Ryu had for space, whilst others took a few more steps forward. They were ready to finish him off where he stood.
The only difference was that Ryu had decided which method was the best for dealing with such animals. It was the weapons that the tribesmen were holding that gave him the answer.
Ryu shifted his arms into a cross position. In the distance, the kids paid attention every detail of his moments. “What’s he gonna do?”
A moment of silence past in the valley.
Suddenly he swung his right hand to his side, a humming sound was emitted as a long blue blade emitted just on the outside of the skin of his wrist. The tribesman took a jump back bewildered by the appearance of such a weapon. The children too were bewildered. “The heck is that?” spoke Jin as he observed Ryu, still fixed in the same position.
The tribesman gathered their wits again and approached him once more. Suddenly Ryu repeated the movement with his left hand. Another blue blade appeared humming like before. The tribesmen were not as surprised as before, yet caution was still the first thing on their minds. Intense anxiety was building up amongst their bloodthirsty intent.
Ryu remained poised in the cross position for a few moments, the long blades appearing as a blend of beauty and danger. Then, with swan-like grace his arms descended downwards as they both manoeuvred into a practised sequence. Moving left, moving in a circular motion, shifting the position of his body, Ryu had practised this sequence many times before, his blades mastered perfectly.
Ryu moved his arms into a cross position, more stretchy than the last, shielding much of his face, as he kneeled slowly and deeply on one leg. His pretty red eyes were slowing closed by his eyelids. Again he remained fixed in that position. Silence past once more.
Above, a dark rumble filtered through the dark clouds above. Strangely a gentle drizzle of rain descended onto Mt Aruba, and the valley that everyone stood in. No one seemed to notice.
A raindrop slid down from Ryu’s closed eyelid.
With Ryu’s eyes closed, one of the tribesmen saw his opportunity. He could not bear the wait any longer and charged forward hollering. Just when his spear was about to pierce Ryu, he stepped aside and swung the blue blades several times through the tribesman, the blades shimmering at their own speed. He halted a few paces away, eyes shut all the time and arms extended.
The tribesman growled from the sharp pains in several areas of his body. Before he could answer, his body collapsed into a pile of cleanly cut flesh, blood gushing onto the wet stony ground. The other tribesman gasped in amazement, including the disgruntled captain from above. A sickened look hung across the faces of Jin and Kotono. Carla’s eyes had already been shielded from the bloodshed.
After a moment Ryu moved from his position, and continued the dance of the blades that he did earlier. His arms moved in different directions and patterns whilst his body swayed to different directions. His movements had more energy than before, but retained the same speed. As the light rainfall continued Ryu stepped from left to right, forward and back, as the blades moved from point to another in different patterns, with such gracefulness, eyes always shut. His back swayed back and forth, his legs kneeling, crouching and straightening. It was as if he was in a trance, a religious séance with some unearthly being, as showed the movements. It literally seemed as if he was in another world.
The tribesmen didn’t know what to think as they mumbled to each other, as did the children. “What the heck is he doing?” Kotono asked.
“The dance of the Ryusukuinushi blades is one demands the full cooperation of body and spirit.” Ryu suddenly spoke, rain water trickling down his trench coat. “It is a technique that demands much practise in order perfect.” He continued, his eyes still shut whilst his body continued the dance “But once perfected, the user can be more aware of his surroundings than before, in such situations.”
Jin and Kotono looked at each other. “What did he say? What did he say?”
“Bah! You gonna dance all night punk?” the captain waited above. One of the tribesmen behind Ryu was unfortunate to silently take a few steps forward in fatal curiousity. Suddenly Ryu jumped back and slashed at the tribesman’s neck before continuing his closed-eye dance. Seconds later the tribesman’s head fell to the ground. Aggravated, several more of the tribesmen dashed more to attack Ryu. Quickly Ryu slashed the 3 of them, attacking and dodging whilst continuing his dance. The startled attackers coughed up blood and slumped down, punctured and sliced, onto the watery floor. The rainfall intensified, falling down heavier.
“Ryusukuinushi ken is style that goes back many millennia, the powers of the spirit and body working in perfect unison to unleash the abilities and will of the mind.” Ryu had nearly finished his dance as he slowed down, the movements of his arms becoming less varied in pattern. “I’ll never give away the secrets of how it works.” Ryu continued “But whilst the name of my art is mostly at its best when secretive, it’s still a style to be known…and feared.”
Around Ryu the tribesman were getting more and more vicious as they snarled, hissed and growled at him. They were slowly approaching him now, anger replacing caution. Nearby the flyers remained perched on ledges above, watching the scene from a safe distance.
“Why do I tell you people in particular this?” Ryu’s head moved downwards slightly “Why is it important now?” Ryu’s arms went into a crossed position whilst the blades went upwards into the air. His legs remained still, the dance finalized. “I’ll tell you why.”
The flyers above leaned forward, waiting to see what would happen next. The captain above leaned forward, waiting to see what would happen next. In the background, the three children leaned forward to the scene waiting to see what would happen next.
“The answer is quite simple.” Ryu smirked, his eyes finally opened. “These will be the last words you will hear…before I send you to hell.”
The Ptera tribesman bellowed as loud as their grumbled voices could allow and charged forward to tear into Ryu. He closed his eyes once more. Just when an incoming axe was mere inches away from his head, he stepped aside and sliced the attacker in half. More came forward but were quickly brought down. Ryu kept slashing and twisting, too quick for them to react. The tribesman fell down slain, sliced, severed in pierces or in half, skewered, blood spraying finely from the fine cuts that Ryu induced. They were no match for Ryu as he moved through them swiftly and with grace, occasionally parrying an attack before counterattacking. The outlook didn’t look good for the tribesman.
In the background, Kotono had her arms around Carla who didn’t wish to see any of the vicious combat. The occasional screaming and yelling from the distance further discouraged her. Jin and Kotono, though admiring Ryu’s moves, felt like turning away as well. Although they were used violence from the hardships they had endured from Shogun’s tyranny, what they saw before them was brutal. Even the once cocky captain was beginning to stare in dismay as his troops below tried attacking Ryu like lambs to the slaughter.
The rain was beginning to come down heavy as the sky rumbled with thunder.
After slicing a Ptera tribesman vertically and another horizontally, Ryu back flipped over an attacker before bringing him down with two quick slashes to the spine and neck, before thrusting his blade into the stomach of another attacker to his right. Several attackers jumped into the air to come down with their spears and axes, but Ryu jumped straight through them slashing, and they crumbled to the ground in a bloody pile.
Ryu landed just near a wall, and turned around to see 4 more attackers charging towards him, almost cornering him to the wall. Ryu took one step back in anticipation, throughout the whole time his eyes had still remained shut. He readied his blades. Lightning crackled from the sky above.
Bellowing violently the attackers swung their blades forward again. Ryu parried all of their attacks with his blades, above and below, without counterattacking. As the attackers growled with each strike, Ryu himself remained silent, not even twitching a closed eyelid.
When Ryu wad backed up against the relentless attackers he acted swiftly. He jumped through a gap between the attacker’s heads, slashing, spinning and landed a few metres away. He stood up slowly remaining fixed in his position, his right arm down to his left side. The attackers turned their heads around to Ryu but not making a move. Then, the two in middle fell apart. The other two gasped turning to each other in amazement before another fell apart. Not accepting defeat, the last charged at Ryu, but he too slid in half from a cut to the side before he could do any harm.
Then there was silence.
The rain around the silent Ryu continued to come down, over him, the canyon and over the heaps of the dead flesh around him. Scattered across the valley were the bodies of the Ptera tribesman, often cut into one or two pierces. Blood from their bodies seeped into the streams of rainwater that ran down the long valley.
Everyone’s gazes were at Ryu, who stood like a statue. The children watched in awe whilst the captain watched in disgruntled fear. The now-perched flying tribesman merely stared in curiousity, their dim-witted brains barely comprehending what just happened.
Then, some movement flowed into the arms and legs of Ryu. Like a blooming flower awakening to the sunlight, his legs slowly straightened to the weight of his upper torso. His back also straightened as his arms extended outwards, eyes still shut. Strangely enough there wasn’t much blood on Ryu’s trench coat as the rain washed it off, and dripped down from the bottom off the bottom. There wasn’t even any blood on the blue blades that protruded from his wrists. Perhaps he was moving too fast in the heat of the battle. Less surprising was that he did not receive a single blow in return, neither a cut nor a tear on his wet coat, whilst the Ptera tribesman remained dismembered on the ground around him. So far he had kept his promise to Carla; no blow had come to him as of yet.
It was that moment when a faint blue-white aura glowed around him, slowly getting brighter. Finally, his eyes slowly opened. They too were glowing, a bright red colour.

THE DRAGON SAVIOR DANCING BLADES OF DEATH

The Ptera tribesman from above didn’t move. Even behind their limited intelligence, they too were now hesitant to attack him and waited to see what he would do next. The children eyed his movements very clearly. With the rain coming down it was made easier with the aura that was glowing around him. Kotono and Jin were observing those red eyes of his. Jin was reminded of when Ryu came to his rescue before; before he passed out, he spotted Ryu and those glowing red eyes. Kotono was also reminded of a time where he saw Ryu’s eyes like this: back when he took out Harnchard. Both of them remembered how Ryu was able to heal the mind of their nervous-wreck father, turning him back to the man he once was. At those times they both wondered about exactly how powerful this man before them was. They remembered that Ryu pulled off some rather powerful techniques, both friendly and deadly, and now they had seen him pull off more of his abilities. As they watched him, flexing his abilities after a fierce sword battle they pondered on this idea once more. Behind the thunderclaps that echoed throughout the air, Jin and Kotono had no words to say that would describe the scale of what they thought about Ryu’s abilities.
The rainfall on the mountain began to die down, as did the thunderclaps. Ryu took a deep outtake of breath, as the tension in his body ceased. The aura around him died down, until it was gone completely. His glowing red eyes gently closed whilst his arms lowered, and legs took a small step away from each other. The glowing blue blades shimmered then vanished, his hands relaxing to his side. Slowly his eyes opened once more, no longer glowing. A calm look exhibited his face as he stared outwards in front of him. He then looked upwards, noticing the raindrops descending downwards. The gentle touch of the rain brought comfort to his face as water trickled down him. Silence past.
Then with a perfect flow, he turned around and looked the Ptera’s captain straight in the eye. The captain’s mouth gaped open slightly as an eyebrow twitched. He felt as if he was staring death in the eye as Ryu’s red-Irises pierced through him. Ryu himself felt no need to make a witty comment. The message was sinking in.
“Ah…ah…. At…. *gulp*” the captain took a step back trying to remember how to speak. “Attack!”
The children looked up to the rocks above. Howling once more the Ptera flyers descended downwards from above. They flew towards the entry of the valley, before making a slow turn to Ryu. Rather the cacklelike before, they growled spitting, too furious for a proper sound to come out. Perhaps the anger would hide their fear they thought, but Ryu saw right through them.
Even still the amount of them, though halved, was still many and Ryu felt the need to turn around and run. Water splashed as he ran straight through puddles and jumping over rocks or bodies. What the children noticed that some of the flyers were shooting arrows from their strap-on crossbows. What they didn’t notice was that the arrows didn’t just fail to hit him, but bounced off from what appeared to be an invisible force. Ryu’s eyes glowed slightly once again. They were gaining on him but Ryu remained calm. He was nearly there. The climb at the other end of the valley was near.
The captain realised that Ryu was running towards him and was about to run away. Just then, rather than climb the climb, with sheer strength he jumped, almost flying, all the way to the top, landing on near the edge. The captain froze. Before he could act. Ryu lunged forward with a soft middle kick to the chest, sending him flying 20 metres away from his strength. The pain from blow caused him to grunt but he recovered enough to notice that the Ptera flyers were just about upon him. Ryu turned around to face them.
In the distance the children saw what was left of the Ptera tribe, the flyers pour onto the top of valley’s climb, like something they found nasty; a swarm of locusts, or a flock of bats. They saw those who had made it to the top were flying around their intended target, slashing and striking frantically. Worried, and cautious, they began to run to the end of the valley.
The battle was getting fierce. The speed of the flyers was faster than they ever had been before as they circled their target, but even still the captain 20 metres away was disappointed. The captain got himself up from the ground and observed in awe.
Ryu was pummelling and blocking the attacker’s assault with rapid ongoing speed. He howled continuously loudly. Punches, kicks, even strikes from his electricity and light blades were flying outwards at all the attackers. He was attacking them far quicker than he was earlier, with bone crunching effects. Every attacker was sent flying back, bodies shattered. As more and more of them around him were taken out Ryu continued the attack, howling in synchronisation. “Hyaa-Hyaa- Hyaa- Hyaa- Hyaa….Wyaa!”
The assault was now over. Soon Ryu had taken out almost the entire Ptera tribe as the second to last flyer slumped to the floor. The final flyer came down from straight above. Ryu, without even looking up, took him out with one straight punch up to the chin, internally shattering the man’s face. After a few seconds of hanging on Ryu’s fist he fell off to the ground, amongst many others scattered in the area of radius around Ryu, dead or dying. They had failed to counter Ryu’s great strength, not even able to land a blow on him. At last as the rain came to a complete halt, the Ptera tribe that populated Mount Aruba was now finished.
Ryu took a deep sigh, as he observed what was left of the carnage around him.

DRAGON RANMA

Realising that it was his turn now, the captain upholstered his axe. He was bigger than the other now-slain Ptera tribesman. He was bigger than Ryu, but a chill down his spine still ran up and down. He was afraid. Still, on the other hand, Ryu had killed all of his men, and this was something that he would not tolerate. Worse still he was afraid what his lord and master would do for his failure.
Knowing that it was hopeless, he gathered his courage, replacing fear with anger and hate, and readied his axe, both hands gripping the long handle. “C’MON!”
Ryu barely noticed that there was a primitive axe-wielding lunatic to his left. He was too busy observing the damage that he had inflicted. He was also paying attention to the environment around him. He did however notice something on his left, a steep crater, though he was too far away to see anything inside it or it’s depth, besides some of the pillars that stretched upwards. He could see that on the other side was a possible exit out of Mount Aruba.
“I said C’mon.” bellowed the captain “What are you waiting for?”
Ryu was still not paying any attention to him. He even turned to his right, noticing the children in the distance, still trying to make their way up the valley. Ryu smirked at their disobedience. Growling from the annoying wait, the captain took a few loud stomps towards Ryu. “Hey I’m talking to you!”
Ryu looked straight forward, and then at last he noticed the crazed captain on his right.
“Didn’t I tell you to go fetch Kraulax for me?”
Insulted by his response, the captain bellowed and charged forward, his axe clutched tightly above his head. To Ryu, this was too obvious an attack, just as obvious as all other attacks that had so far come onto him. Ryu pointed a finger at him, some small amount of energy flowing into his arm. “Tsk! Tsk!”
Without warning the axe suddenly slid from the captain’s hands, flew down to his legs and took a swing through the back of his ankles, as if the axe had a life of its own. Overcome by surprise and pain, the captain failed to notice the corpse before him and tripped over it. He was sent flying towards Ryu. Just when he was about to fall to the ground, Ryu suddenly opened his hand. Defying the laws of physiques, the captain froze in mid air, as if some mysterious force was holding him there, neutralizing any acceleration or movement within his body.
The captain looked down at his suspended body, before looking at Ryu’s calm face. He returned the stare. Then Ryu tensed his eyebrows and his outstretched hand. “Humph!”
A blast of invincible energy burst from Ryu’s hands, sending the captain flying and yelling towards the crater. He came crashing against a rock. A few ribs were shattered from the blow, and scrapes and cuts were induced. The captain fell to the ground immobilised, grunting from the pain.
Ryu turned to him and took a few steps towards the crater. Another sigh slipped from his mouth. He couldn’t help wondering if there was more to what this Ptera tribe consisted of than it appeared.
From the valley below, it was clear to the children that Ryu had won the battle above. Jin was in front whilst Kotono and Carla were behind, holding hands. “C’mon! We’re almost there!”
Carla was generally walking with her eyes shut whilst Kotono guided her. Although the three were trying to pay no attention to the bodies that littered the valley, the smell of moist blood was getting to them. “Eww…”
Above, Ryu’s acute sense of smell was aware of the odour of the dead bodies around him. In front of him, the damaged captain nursed the wounds at the back of his bloody feet.
The smell of blood was in the air.
Below within the middle of the crater was a deep black hole, a drop that led to deep depths within the mountain. Within this murky darkness, something stirred from the smell of the blood, opening its eyes. “Man flesh…”
Ryu’s ears twitched and his eyebrows tensed once more. A serious look appeared on his face. He could detect something emerging within that crater. Whatever it was, it was big. Very big.

The Area around Ryu began to rumble at the sound of movement from within the crater. Something was indeed emerging from the darkness below. It sounded angry. With each rumbling thud, it’s breathing got louder and louder, grunting turning into growling. Two large scaly hands clamped around the edge of the drop. Just as it emerged from the darkness below, the mouth beneath its green snout opened, revealing bleached teeth as it let loose a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the mountains. Even Ryu was mildly nervous. “Oh dear…”

[BlueSonnet]

The roar could be heard from the valley nearby, just when the children were about to make the climb. Their bodies refused to make another step forward as their faces froze with fright. Jin and Kotono looked at each other, neither making word. “Ryu!” Carla on the other hand was worried and dashed forward to make the climb. Jin and Kotono followed.
Beneath the pain of a few broken ribs and sliced ankles, the captain allowed himself a wide grin. “Heehee! He’s here!” he murmured with hilarity “You should have legged it when you had the chance!”
Kraulax had now fully emerged from the drop below and made his way up the crater, tail swaying side to side, towards Ryu’s direction, directed by the smell of blood. As he clambered his way upwards, he was just about to reach the rim. Suddenly, he stopped. He sniffed the air. The eyes in his dark sockets narrowed their gaze. There was a particular signal within the scent he smelled.
“You smell weak.” Kraulax’s deep rumbling voice spoke. The captain laughed out loud, assuming that his master was talking about Ryu. Ryu knew otherwise.
That moment, Kraulax’s green hand suddenly lurched over the rock where the captain lay. Ryu took a faint intake of breath. The captain gasped in shock. His hand searched the ground, looking for the captain. Then, detecting a leg, he snatched it and lifted him up over the rock. Ryu observed the man wailing from disorientation as dangled there, held by Kraulax’s poised hand.
Within the crater, Kraulax scrutinised the mangled captain above him. He could tell that the captain had been immobilised and could not fight anymore. He didn’t like what he saw. “You’ve failed me.”
“No master! I was just…” the captain begged. “I have no use for you.” Kraulax spoke once more and lowered the screaming captain to his mouth.
Even from his distance Ryu could hear the man screaming as teeth grinded his bones and body. It didn’t sound pretty.
Ryu started walking towards the crater. That moment, Kraulax fully emerged and stood upright on a large enough ledge to let out another bellowing roar. Without a doubt, he was the ruler of these feared mountains.
Ryu found himself looking up at the creature. He had to be between 15 to 20 stories tall Ryu thought, observing the frill of spikes that surrounded the back of his head, and the horn protruding at the end of his reptilian snout. His age showed within his prehistoric appearance. He was at least old enough to develop a cult around him, Ryu thought. There was somewhat a zealous devotion to the Ptera tribes assault earlier. Now this monstrous giant wanted vengeance for the death of his following.
Ryu continued to approach the crater. This was the last obstacle in their way of getting out of these mountains. “The “god of Mount Aruba” I presume.”
Kraulax suddenly turned his head to Ryu, the small figure before him reflecting in his pale eyes. “No one alive outside these mountains knows me by that name.” He snarled.
“Let’s just say the thought slipped the minds of your tribe.” Ryu spoke, swaying his head from side to side, seeing if he could click his neck. “Nice of you to save me the bother of looking for you.”
Kraulax gritted his teeth. He didn’t like this man’s smell, and didn’t like his attitude. He turned around to face him. He sniffed the air once more, catching the smell of his men’s blood. He snarled in disgust, looking down to see some of his men littered across the area behind Ryu.
“You’ve killed all of my cult?” he paused “…And you’re the one who dares oppose Shogun?”
“Yes, that is the case. Your men got what they deserved though. I’m pretty aware of the crimes you ordered them to commit. Murder, torture, maiden sacrifices. It’s not pretty.” Ryu replied, ears twitching. “Your death won’t be pretty either.”
The huge monster clutched his fists in anger, his forearms shaking in tension. He opposed his beloved master, he wiped out his entire following, and on top of this, he hit the nail on the head by referring to things that no one alive within or outside the mountains knew they had committed. How could he know these things, without visible evidence? The anger stimulated by these facts overwhelmed him, and he could not bear this man’s existence any longer.
His fierce glare widened his gritting teeth still visible. Then with another loud roar he raised his head and body upwards. Ryu got into a fighting stance, ready to take on this giant. Kraulax swung his head down, positioning himself to charge at Ryu with his long horn.
“Diiiiieeeee!” he dashed his head forward, skidding across the stony ground, crashing through rocks, his horn aimed at smashing Ryu’s little body. Ryu crouched slightly, then, jumped forward high, over Kraulax’s horn, his head and even his body, just in the nick of time.
Below in the valley, the children had nearly made it to the top of the climb. “Almost there…”
Then, Kraulax’s huge head came skidding across the top of the climb, just 5 metres away from the children, several stones falling down the climb. The 3 of them could do nothing but scream. Angered, Kraulax moved his head back over the edge, disappearing from their sight.
The 3 of them were speechless, having escaped death by mere metres. If that thing they had noticed them, they would be done for. The 3 were fixed in their positions. Kotono’s twitching eyebrow hinted the possibility of fainting.
Whilst high in mid-air, Ryu swung round to face Kraulax’s straightening back. He fired more electrical sparks from his fingertips. The sparks flew down to hit the huge beast in the back. They hit his back in several areas, but to Ryu’s disappointment, no damage was done on its hard, scaly hide, not even a scratch or bruise.
“Hmm, he must have a tough hide from years of shuffling through rocks.” Ryu thought as he descended downwards. Kraulax stood up, a satisfied smirk across his face.
“Heheh…that tickled.” He turned around swinging an arm aimed straight at Ryu. Knowing that he was falling down too slow to avoid the incoming punch, Ryu decided to use his abilities once more. “Swift!”
The fist was mere inches away from Ryu’s face when his descent was suddenly fastened, defying the laws of physiques itself.
“Huh?” Kraulax was taken by surprise by the sudden technique that Ryu applied. Ryu landed hard on a pillar below. He turned around to look the beast in the eyes once more.
The two of them stood still for a moment. Then Kraulax reacted with sudden violence. He frantically tried to punch Ryu but every time he came close Ryu either stepped aside or jumped to another pillar with inhuman speed and agility. Kraulax remained persistent and chased his prey from pillar to pillar around the crater.
“Hold still!” he was nevertheless getting tired of this chase. By this time Ryu was at the other side of the crater, on a narrow ledge, where he waited for his attacker. “Here I am.” He spoke, ready to test the strength of the giant.
With one tremendous heave, Kraulax swung his fist once more. This time Ryu did not step aside, but caught the blow with both of his hands. The attack forced Ryu to slide back a few metres, as he leaned on his right leg whilst his left leg straightened and pushed back to steady his position. Kraulax couldn’t believe that such a small person in comparison would be able to block such a powerful blow, but he still strengthened his resolve and began to push his arm into Ryu’s grip. Ryu too also started to push back.
The struggle was tense. Both of them gritted their teeth in tension, growling slightly under their breath. Neither one of them were willing to hold back.
That moment the children clambered over the top of the climb and sprinted down towards the crater. There, they spotted the giant they saw earlier, struggling with Ryu. They saw Ryu, having caught the giant’s hand and pushing back. They didn’t believe what they saw. Even Carla had to rub her eyes to be sure about what she observed. “No way…”
Ryu tried to take a few steps forward but only found his feet sliding back with each step. Even for Ryu’s apparent super strength, he could feel the strain this was putting on him. Kraulax body began to make sudden shoves into his arm, hoping this would break Ryu’s block and smash Ryu into the rock behind him, but it was to no avail. Ryu kept pushing, just as determined as he was. Then Kraulax slowly placed his other hand onto his outstretched arm. He then pulled outwards, to try and give his push some greater strengthen. Alas, the ground beneath Ryu began to give way under the pressure and he found himself being slowly pushed back.
Ryu tried to step forward, pushing back, but it was to no avail. Ryu tried breathing fire once more on Kraulaxes knuckles but his thick hide was more than used to the extremities of heat. Even still this technique made Kraulax look forward in morbid curiousity.
Coming to the rock behind him, he moved his legs so that they were both leaning on the rock for support. Then with all his might, he made one final push back in order to stop the great beast’s movement. It was successful, but it was too late for the rock behind Ryu, which quickly gave away to the pressure of the grapple.
As soon as the rock cracked and crumbled away, Ryu descended an 80-foot drop to the stony ground below. He swung his whole body around so that he would land feet first. As soon as he landed he took two good jumps back, many metres away from where he fell, as the giant remained persistent. There, Ryu looked up, panting. The ferocious goliath came crashing past pillars and jumping down. The area around shook when the soles of his reptilian feet connected with the ground, causing rocks and boulders to come rolling down. Ryu looked up in awe. The creature stood tall.
Yet, even a monster as tall as Kraulax found his strength challenged by the small figure before him. Even though he had managed to surpass him in physical strength, it was only just. Nothing had ever been able to challenge his titanic strength up to this point. And on top of this, Ryu was fast, much faster than he was. These mixed ideas made Kraulax very uncomfortable, and cautious.
A green eyelid twitched, whilst his yellow teeth stood out beneath his lips. Ryu waited to see what he would do next.
That moment. Kraulax noticed a large boulder on his left, one quarter of his size. The thought of perhaps throwing that boulder at his attacker came to his mind.
“Go ahead. Chuck that boulder if you think it’ll help.” Ryu spoke, as if on cue. Kraulax was surprised at how Ryu read his mind but he quickly gathered his wits and reacted as follows. “You think I won’t?” he dashed for boulder and lifted it up with great heave, above his head. “Take this!” he bellowed, hurling the huge boulder straight down at Ryu. Rather than running away, Ryu stood his ground, and prepared to catch the boulder. “Tsk.”
The boulder came crashing down on him, and from above titan allowed himself a smile. It appears that the boulder crushed him, he thought. But, to Kraulax’s surprise the boulder on the ground wobbled and rose from the ground. “Catch!”
Ryu unfazed kicked the boulder straight back, like a football. The boulder came hurling back at Kraulax, who shielded his face with his arms. The boulder crumbled on impact. Thanks to the great beast’s age-old tough hide, there wasn’t so much as a bruise.
Pieces of rock fell to the ground around Kraulax’s reptilian feet, and Ryu gasped from amazement. Behind his huge arms, the sound of snickering could be heard. As the beast lowered his arms, the snickering turned to laughing.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! It’s impressive that you’ve managed to survive this long in a fight against me. Even more impressive is your speed and strength. But you do not have the same thick hide as I do.” Kraulax smiled. He patted a clenched fist on his chest muscles. “Heh, heh…that’s right. This hide is tough. It has endured many years of grinding through solid earth and the heat of hot volcanic magma. Many have struck my hide with swords and the like, and it ain’t about to give way now.”
Kraulax pointed a finger straight down at Ryu. “You don’t stand a chance.”
Ryu sighed, blinking slowly. To him, what this big dope was saying didn’t mean a thing.
That moment the children had finally made their way around the crater and gazed down into the valley at the action before them.
“You’re right. I don’t have the same thick hide as you…” Ryu spoke, taking a few steps forward “…adding to that, I don’t have the same thick brain either.” He continued. Kraulax frowned from the insult.
“The fact is your time is up, and you have no more new moves, whilst I still have plenty.” On that note, Ryu positioned himself steadily. He stood on his left foot, whilst the other foot from a bended leg rested on his left knee. His right arm stretched outwards to his right, the palm of his hand flat. Then Ryu took a deep breath and placed the two middle fingers of his left hand on his forehead, the remaining two fingers by each side widened their distance. Then Ryu concentrated hard.
He slowly started to glow a fluorescent blue. This aura around began to shine brighter and brighter. Rather than continuously expanding, it stopped. Then rather than flicking outwards like a flame, the motion of the blue aura began to move around him forming a swirling pattern. Far above, the children observed in wonder. This technique was pretty to look at, but they hoped that he knew what he was doing by standing there. “Ryu…”
This time Ryu’s eyes did not glow a bright red. Rather the pupils and irises of his eyes went vertically slant, like that of a lizard. A vein throbbed near his forehead and his teeth gritted, almost making a twisted grin. He was breathing very heavily, heaving like a dragon. This technique was putting strain on him, but still, power was indeed building up.
Kraulax observed in sudden bewilderment. This stance seemed awfully familiar to the hulking giant. It was slowly coming back, and he was piecing it together a bit at a time. Somewhere at the back of his aged mind, he knew he had seen something like this before.
“Those ears…” Kraulax looked at those webbed ears of Ryu’s. They resembled that of a dragon’s.
“His strength…” he remembered how he struggled back there by the crater above.
“That stance…” he had seen another person who used this stance, very recently in fact. The facts span around in his head, slowly drawing nearer and nearer as it became clearer. Kraulax eyes squinted in observance, then widened from realisation. He remembered now.
Slowly the words came to the beast’s scabby, flapping lips. “You’re…a.”
“Ah?” the children turned to the giant. They wanted to hear this. Kraulax pointed a finger at Ryu in realisation.
“You’re a…”
The energy that Ryu was gathering intensified. For Kraulax, the words finally came through.
“You’re a…You’re a Leviathan…Yes! You’re a Dragon savior of the Leviathan race”
The children from above blinked dumb fold as soon as they heard the words come forth. “Leviathan…” Kotono murmured. She had heard stories about leviathans when she was very young. Memories of what she heard seeped into her consciousness. She recalled ancient stories of men and women who could change into dragons at will and thus inherit their strengths and wisdom. They were distinguishable from men by their inhuman abilities and certain features such as webbed ears, horns, or even tails and wings. It would explain why Ryu had those ears, strengths and his ability to breath fire, thought Kotono, but these new abilities of teleportation and mind powers she still did not fully understand. This however was replaced by a new question; what is a dragon savior that this monster mentioned of?
For a moment Ryu remained silent, for he knew that Kraulax had hit the nail on the head. Even still Ryu continued the build up of energy within him. Around him small stones began to levitate upwards from the force of the energy. The aura turned to a purple-white colour and swirled even more so.
Within time the aura began to die down. The stones soon lowered themselves onto the ground. As the aura died down however, Ryu’s eyes crackled bright with blue electricity. The charge up was now complete and Ryu smirked with satisfaction.
“That’s right.” He spoke; his voice was more trebly than earlier from the energy that had been built up. His voice could be heard throughout the area.
“I am a leviathan. I’m also a dragon savior.” He continued. “Adding to that I’m one of the Psyomaster class of Dragon saviors, sent out to carry out the requests of the Dragon savior order.”
Ryu started to walk towards Kraulax, who remained silent and casual. “In other words…” Ryu continued, “…It is my duty to defeat the likes of you.”
“Fah!” Kraulax gritted “You may be a Leviathan and a Psyomaster, but you’re still no match for me!” the monster let out a triumphant roar stomped forward towards Ryu. The area shook from the anger induced. Above, Carla placed her face on Jin’s chest. “I can’t watch!”
“Let’s cut to the chase.” Ryu spoke. “Haaaahh!”
Ryu took a tremendous jump into the air, hurtling straight towards Kraulax. The blue blades again unsheathed themselves from his hands, but due to the energy that Ryu had gathered they were now much, much longer than they were before, and glowing even brighter.
Kraulax snarled loudly and swung his right fist forward at Ryu. This time Ryu did not dodge the attack. He strangely wanted to meet his fists. A blur of white swished forward
“Urk!” Kraulaxs punch was blocked with sharp pain throughout his right hand. To his horror, his clenched fist fell apart in a shower of dark blood, cleanly cut from Ryu’s blades.
Kraulax howled in excruciating pain, but strengthened his resolved and raised his left hand. He swung it down to try and swat Ryu like a fly. Ryu was coming straight towards the palm of the hand when he used his blades to cut a path straight through the hand. He flew through what was left of the hand, wielding his blades like a katana.
“Impossible!” For the first time ever Kraulax’s beloved hide had been pierced deeply and he felt a new degree of pain. It was all too quick.
He looked at the bloody stumps that were hands earlier, then noticed Ryu was still hurtling towards him, mere metres away from the front of his snout. His blades were now sheathed, and Ryu had one more trick in store.
“May the art of Ryusukuinushi ken end your life.” Ryu yelled “YeeeaaarghWayah!”
A kick connected on Kraulax’s snout.
“Yayayayayayayayayayayay!” Ryu covered the snout with a blur of rapid kicks. With each kick electrical bolts were induced that seeped into the unguarded skin. Kraulax whimpered from the paralysis the electricity induced. It was hurting him.
“YayayayaYah!” Ryu finished the attack with a strong kick to the side. “Oof!” Kraulax felt the blow and fell back, crashing into several pillars, before collapsing on to the ground. Ryu slowly levitated onto a nearby ledge, back turned to the destruction. He took a deep out take of breath, and his eyes returned to what they once were.

1000 FLASH DESTROYER

“Awesome” Spoke Jin. Kotono remained speechless from observance. Carla remained with her head turned away. She didn’t want to see what was going to happen next.
Kraulax slowly got up from the rubble. He was about to get up when an electrical shock brought him to his knees groaning. Something was wrong. Normally if one was separated from the electrical source, the electrical shocks would flow out of the body, but here the shocks kept on shocking him throughout various parts of his body, hurting his spine and skull in particular, and they were getting more severe. Kraulax eyes observed with horror how all his veins were sticking out throughout his body. “W-What is happening to me?”
Ryu nodded his head. “1000 Flash Destroyer is a technique of the Shen-lung branch of Ryusukuinushi ken. The Shen-lung branch specializes in wind and lightning, as you have discovered.” He spoke, voice back to normal. Kotono peaked her head over the ledge to listen carefully to what Ryu had to say.
“1000 flash destroyer generates psychic electricity that is poured into an opponent’s body through the contact of rapid kicks. This electricity focuses its shocks on your nerves and veins causing their temperature to rapidly.” Ryu took a pause. “Your nervous system will keep heating until a degree that your body can no longer withstand.”
A sharp stuttering of pain emerged from Kraulax’s mouth as the pain intensified. “You only have a few moments to live.” Ryu finished. “Say your prayers.”
Gasping for breath, Kraulax crouched down and observed Ryu, electricity crackled around his dirty skin. Beneath the pain, beneath the horror, beneath the fact that he was about to die, Kraulax somehow allowed a giggle to surface from his smiling lips. “You may be strong, Leviathan, but not strong enough.”
Ryu heard this, but dismissed this as a throwaway death threat.
“Shogun is also a master of Ryusukuinushi ken, and his strength at the art is far greater than yours.”
“What!?” Ryu turned around instantly, shocked from what he just heard. The sound of giggling grew louder. The sparks of electricity around his skin intensified. Kraulax pointed a bloody stump of an arm at him.
“Heeheehee! Shogun is a god and you’ll endure his wrath soon enough.” Kraulaxed laughed “I’ll see you in hell!”
The laughing was engulfed in a high wail as the nerves heat went too high for his body to endure, just like Ryu had said. The veins glowed an orange yellow. Flesh dripped from his scarred body. A red puddle formed around his feet. Kraulax’s long face slid in two, like an ice-lolly in the sun. He was literally melting!
Soon wailing died down, as did its echoing. Kraulax’s body was now more than a gooey puddle of flesh and bone that flowed onto the area around it, seeping into cracks within the earth.

The legend of Mt Aruba was no more.


“See? I told you they wouldn’t land so much as one blow on me!”
Ryu was walking down a long ongoing path that exited the mountains and into the natural wilderness. On the horizon was some distant light as sunrise was creeping into daytime. Having survived the horrors of what Mt Aruba held, the 4 of them were feeling quite cheerful though Kotono and Carla kept studying Ryu’s appearance to check that he wasn’t hurt. His trench coat was wet from washing the blood off by a nearby stream, but it didn’t stop his youthful face from smirking.
“So Ryu…” Jin walked backwards-facing Ryu. “You’re a dragon.”
“Close.” Ryu replied, “I’m a leviathan. Whilst I have dragon dna in my blood, I still remain humanoid, even in my dragon form, which I’m not demonstrating now mind you.”
“Aw…” Jin was disappointed, but continued. “Well it at least explains about those ears of yours, and how you were able to breath fire.” Ryu nodded in reply.
“What about your other powers? What about this Ryusukuinushi ken thing?” Kotono suddenly asked. There was a brief moment of silence as they walked on.
“May as well fess up.” Ryu spoke. “Ryusukuinushi ken is an extension of my kind’s discovery of ESP.” he took a pause. “So yes, you guys made a good guess, for I am psychic. Naturally my race is more capable of ESP than regular humans, but Ryusukuinushi ken is a martial art that channels such mind-induced power into a desired technique, and stimulates the growth of its power. Indeed it is an style that cannot be mastered by all.”
All three of the children were engrossed in what he had to say. “So that explains why you can read people’s minds, guess what they’re gonna do and stuff.” Kotono spoke.
“Yup. Reading minds, detecting another’s presence and the like is part of my training…” Ryu explained nodding. “…As is healing people’s minds.”
“Healing people’s minds…” Kotono then remembered what he did to her father; how he was able to steady his nerves, bring him back to his former self. “So that’s what you did to father?”
Ryu nodded. There was a moment of silence. Kotono remembered how earlier she was treating him with suspect and feared disloyalty to the friendship. She felt an apology was in order.
“Say, Ryu? I’m sorry for doubting you earlier…thinking you were one of the baddies an all.” Kotono said to Ryu, scratching her back from shyness.
“That’s alright.” Ryu addressed. “You came along out of your own free will, only to be disturbed by what I’m capable of. You didn’t understand my abilities. It’s perfectly normal for someone to fear the unknown, especially when it knows how to kill. To be honest its my fault for not telling you earlier.”
Kotono blinked dumb fold. “Wow. You sure seem sure how people think.”
“The study of Psychology is also part of my training…” Ryu spoke. “…As is one’s cooperation with companions.”
That moment, the group stopped as Ryu turned to Kotono. He offered a handshake, smiling. “No hard feelings, friend?”
Carla and Jin looked at both them as they paused. Kotono smiled back and shook his hand firmly. “No hard feelings at all, friend.”
On that note they hastened their quest towards Barda, proceeding towards the forest ahead. From the horizon the sun had finally risen, initiating daytime.
Jin felt curious “Say Ryu, since you can read people’s minds, what’s on m…”
“Ladies breasts.” Ryu cut him off, knowing the answer in advance. Jin frowned from disappointment, and embarrassment. Kotono laughed at his folly.
“What’s on my mind, Mr Ryu?” spoke Carla, holding Ryu’s hand. He lifted her up into his arms, and glanced into her eyes.
“Your mind is on your parents.” Ryu spoke “And fear not, you will see them soon enough.”
Carla hugged him by the neck, joyful to be around him, before looking at the distance before the four of them.
They had just about reached the end of the path, and a new day awaited them. Yet, behind Ryu’s cheerful exterior, lied a discomforting uncertainty. Kraulax’s dying words still rang in his mind, that Shogun is also knows Ryusukuinushi ken. This alone would prove a problem, he thought, but the fact that he was able to get that monster and his tribe to do his bidding was all the more uncomfortable. It was just as Kotono had said back at the village; Shogun had many minions at his disposal.
“What’s wrong?” Kotono asked, noticing the serious look that had befallen Ryu’s face.
“Oh nothing.” Ryu smirked at her to reassure her. But as soon as she looked away the look returned.
Ryu was the only one who noticed Shogun’s emblem on a boulder nearby, painted in human blood no less.
Just when they were about to submerge into the depths of the forest, Ryu turned around to take one more look at Mt Aruba. As he observed how the fearful looking mountain stood out against the sky, he recalled his previous battles, and considered the facts.
A big question came to mind.
“Shogun…Just how much influence do you have?”

[m0l0t0v]

that's a lot of text. People like me are scared of by that...

Maybe next time you could release your story in several smaller parts...

[BlueSonnet]

m0l0t0v said:

that's a lot of text. People like me are scared of by that...

Maybe next time you could release your story in several smaller parts...

Sounds like a reasonable idea. Looks kind of daunting i will admit, and it took me an hour to read roughly. Do think i should edit this thread as necessary? Its just that i may delete these posts as necessary to give this thread a fresh start.

Heck maybe i should just delete this thread and start from the first episode, using your advice. What do you think?

Edit: On second thoughts to hell with that. Loads of other users have gotten away with posting long stories all at once (eg: dsm). No reason why i can't.

Take it or leave it.