Arc 2 Chapter 6- Progression

Kyosuke and Ken trained day in and day out, Kyosuke’s goal was to hit Ken which would then, in turn, allow Ken to teach Kyosuke his special magic, not only that but Kyosuke would also be put to the test in surviving one month on a dangerous mountain.

-I need to hit him today, it’s already been two weeks and we only have six months! I need to strategize, weak points, weaknesses, blind spots, anything will do.

Ken launched up into the air and sprang towards Kyosuke, without thinking Kyosuke jumped out of the way dodging his attack but not giving himself enough time to counter-attack.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?”

Kyosuke could tell Ken was trying to get Kyosuke motivated, he didn’t want Kyosuke to get a lucky hit on him, if he did, it could mean the end of Kyosuke if he put him on that mountain unprepared.

“Listen Kyosuke, that mountain I’m taking you to isn’t just any normal mountain, it’s called Bakemono mountain, it’s filled with many dangerous species that were put there by me.”

A dangerous mountain filled with monsters was an understatement, it was filled with many deaths and the air around that mountain was thin, causing many to pass out and eventually get eaten before they even had a chance to think.

“Why would you make a mountain like that?”

Kyosuke didn’t know if he was the first of many people to be trained by Ken but hearing that he made a dangerous training ground like Bakemono mountain shows that he’s used it for something other than a petting zoo of monsters.

“Well back when I was in my peak I wanted a mountain full of the monsters that I was easily able to beat at that time so when I found a person like you, I could easily turn it into a training ground for someone I saw fit as “powerful”. I don’t expect you to beat me for a long time, but I do expect you to hit me before you go.”

This gave Kyosuke the motivation he needed, he didn’t need to win, just a single hit would suffice, nothing more, nothing less.

Kyosuke readied his stance for a full-on charge with Adtonitus. Looking around he saw a perfect tree to launch off of, without wasting any time Kyosuke started his sprint in the direction of his launchpad. Ken hurled towards Kyosuke with lightning speed, not even using any magic, Kyosuke quickly dodge out of the way and continued on his course.

-Get ready, DON’T MESS UP KYOSUKE! 3.. 2.. 1..

“ADTONITUS!”

As soon as the words left his mouth Kyosuke was launched forward at lightning speed, the grass on the ground tore up as he passed creating a little dirt pathway to where he was heading. Kyosuke quickly got his feet in position to launch but before he could, Ken had already cut the tree down after realizing Kyosuke’s plan, he wasn’t fast enough. Kyosuke tried planting his feet on the ground with no way to stop himself, which caused him to stumble and fly into the tree stump.

-Dammit! That was my best shot, now that my body is hurting I won't have a chance.

Kyosuke didn’t move when he was on the ground, he knew that even if he got up and tried again that he would fail, Ken was too fast for Kyosuke’s untrained body. Ken felt Kyosuke give up so he tried one last pep talk to help Kyosuke achieve his goal.

“KYOSUKE! You need to listen to me Kyosuke, you have the power to hit me, you have the power to destroy anyone in your path and you’re not even using it! YOU HAVE THE POWER OF BOTH AN ANGEL AND A DEMON AND YOU WON’T EVEN USE IT DAMMIT! YOU’RE SHITTING ON YOUR PARENTS FOR GIVING YOU SUCH AN AMAZING POWER AND REFUSING TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT!”

Kyosuke realized something then and there. The power he held within him didn’t always have to be used at its full potential, just enough to give him that slight advantage he needed. Kyosuke closed his eyes to concentrate.

-The power I have in me, it’s mine, I don’t need to be angry about it, and I don’t need to use it at 100% I just need to think about how I can draw out this power to use it now. I need to learn this for myself.

Kyosuke got up, tossing the dust off his shoulders, he remembered his parents, his friends, his alternate realities. Kyosuke knows what happens to people when they’re killed when they’re turned into puppets.

“DON’T YOU WANT TO LIVE KYOSUKE?! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE AND PROTECT EVERYONE, HIT ME DAMMIT, HIT ME!”

-Only I can save my friends, no one else, only I.

The ground around Kyosuke started to slowly shake, A dark aura grew around Kyosuke enveloping him, his body started to gain a sort of heat, it wasn’t as hot as previous transformations so it didn’t burn Kyosuke’s skin like usual, but it was still hot. The horns Kyosuke grew when he used the power came out a little shorter than the other times, and the aura that settled around Kyosuke finalized, it was dark and calm. He took one step forward.

-Adal.

Kyosuke took another step forward, slowly bending his knees to the ground for a pounce.

-Ai.

He lowered his head to the ground, Ken slowly started to brace himself, he knew that this was going to end the way he hoped it would.

-Mom, dad, and Ken, thank you all.

In a calm, silent, and almost instant demeanor, Kyosuke launched himself through the air, bouncing off of trees with ease.

Kyosuke put his fist up and screamed from the top of his lungs. “THANK YOU ALL!” Time seemed to stop as Kyosuke was mere inches from Ken’s face, it was almost angelic on how Kyosuke’s fist connected with Ken’s face. As soon as Kyosuke’s knuckle touched Ken, Ken darted back.

Ken looked over at Kyosuke who was panting after using up most of his energy on that last attack. Kyosuke’s head was on the ground, he was in shame that he didn’t get to hit Ken that day, he really wanted to start his real training but instead was played a fool.

“Oh looky here Kyosuke.”

Kyosuke looked up to Ken who was smiling, on his right cheek was a scratch.

“YEEEESSSS!”

Kyosuke jumped in the air, he was the happiest he’s been in this world, he finally hit Ken, one of the strongest swordsmen that Kyosuke knew and he had been hit by the one and only Kyosuke.

Tears came down from Kyosuke’s face, he finally knew it was time for the real part of training, he wasn’t going to have his handheld anymore, it was going to be real monsters trying to kill him this time. Ken walked over to Kyosuke and slowly began to cry.

“K-Ken? Are you alright?”

Ken looked at Kyosuke while trying to wipe away the tears.

“You don’t know how long I've been waiting for someone to hit me. It’s been too long!”

They both felt tired, tomorrow was going to be a huge day for Kyosuke, not only was he going to learn Rengato (Ken’s special sword style) but he was also going to have that feast he was promised from the beginning.

Kyosuke began to talk as the tears from Kyosuke’s eyes were still falling.

“Ai, Adal, you guys better not have forgotten about me. I’ll be back, we’ll go to Mutien Academy, and we’ll become the strongest people in all of Acrayma. Just you wait Suke, I’ll get you first and then I’ll move on to your son of a bitch boss, Kieran Blakely, I won't forgive what you’ve done.”

Ken and Kyosuke decided to wash up before getting ready for the feast, the good news for Kyosuke was that since he beat Ken earlier than planned (around five P.M) they’ll be able to have the feast that day and they could save tomorrow all for the teaching of Ken's special sword style.

“Ahh, that shower was refreshing.”

Kyosuke stepped out into the main room with his towel on, he started to walk to his room before feeling that strange inversion of thoughts and colors around him. His head was bursting with pain and it caused him to stumble onto a nearby wall. Kyosuke had a feeling about what was about to happen next and he was ready to try to stop it, he had come too far to die now.

The room was empty and quiet, Ken head left earlier to get the ingredients for the feast. Kyosuke thought about how long he'd been gone, it had only been an hour after he left and without a carriage or even a horse, he knew that he wouldn’t be back for a while.

“What’s the w-weird feeling, I can’t even stand on my-”

Kyosuke began to violently vomit blood, the floor had become a pool of food and guts. With the sudden loss of blood, Kyosuke fell onto the floor in pain, he held his heart which seemed to be the leading cause of all of this pain.

*THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP*

Without a second in between he could feel his heart pounding one after another, it felt like the first time he’d ever been on a sugar rush back on Earth, the feeling he had before it led to a crash.

“Dammit, what’s going on with my body. IF YOU’RE GONNA COME OUT, JUST DO IT ALREADY!”

Kyosuke felt like he was screaming in the air to nobody, he felt like no matter what he said, in the end, he was yelling at the air. He began searching the house, all while his heart started pumping faster.

-Come on Kyosuke, find whatever it is dammit.

The world around Kyosuke started to darken, Kyosuke didn’t want to die again, the last time he had died, he was frozen to death, unknowing to his friends, he didn’t know what happened in this reality after he died, and he didn’t want to find out.

Kyosuke’s mind started to blank out as the loss of fluids and blood started to consume him, he looked at a final door that he never noticed before, he thought to himself on how the tunnel vision of death allowed him to see this door, he slowly stumbled over to it, leaking blood from his mouth onto the floor with every step.

A memory in Kyosuke’s head started to play, one that wasn’t his, the memory was one of a boy’s, a boy with white hair and gray eyes.

Kyosuke took the last few steps before opening the door and...

* * *

“What’s your name kid?”

A strange female bartender asked the white-haired boy’s name while behind the counter.

“My name- My name is Kyosuke Matsuda

The bartender reached her hand out to signal a handshake before blurting out her name. “I’m Kadi”. She was friendly towards the boy, she knew his circumstances and she understood how scared he must be to not know where his friends or family are.

“Are you running from someone, kid? Or are you just a bit lost?”

She poked some fun at Kyosuke, trying to get his mind off of his situation, nothing seemed to help him through and he began to cry. Any child at his age would revert to crying, he had just been murdered by his dad and was now stuck in a strange world that he didn’t know.

Kadi tried her best to cheer Kyosuke up by giving him some free food and water from the bar but it didn’t seem to affect him.

“You’re not gonna get anywhere from simply crying all the time, my sister had a son who looked a lot like you and he seldom cried, I haven’t heard from her in a few years but I’ll bet he’s somewhere around your age. I only saw him once, right before they went on vacation out to a cabin in the woods, I hope they’re doing fine.”

Listening to the rambles of Kadi allowed Kysouke to calm down a bit, he was no longer focused on his situation but more so focused on the story. Kadi continued with the story, giving Kyosuke time to finish his food.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but where are we exactly?”

She was both flattered and annoyed to be called ma’am. On one hand, she felt the level of respect that she’s giving her but on the other he made her feel old, either way, she answered his question with a sigh.

“Well that’s quite easy, you’re in the kingdom of Delpa, the planet we’re on is called Acrayma last time I checked, but I bet even you knew that right kid?”

Kyosuke shook his head at this question, he had no idea about anything in this world, he was just happy to have someone to talk to.

“Ma’am, do you happen to know how I got here? Did I walk in earlier?”

She started to think like she doesn’t quite remember yet she feels like she does.

“You know, I don’t exactly know, I turned around and you were kind of there, in that predicament with the lizard.”

This made young Kyosuke’s brain start to tick, he now knows that he didn’t just take the body of a random person, he was still in his body, and not only that but he was also in an opposite world type. He couldn’t read or write the language and he also couldn’t perceive the amount of animal hybrid people.

“Why are there so many scary monsters around, is this normal?”

Kyosuke pointed at a few demi-humans, some cat people, and some lizard people. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he was curious about how everyone fits into the world.

“There’s a ton of demi-humans around, some even formed their own countries. The kingdom of Delpa allows any race in it without any prejudice.”

This reminded Kyosuke of his world, how not everyone was born equal, and those put into a country or city predominantly one race were automatically subjected to hate. The kingdom of Delpa though was a lot like America in its diversity aspect.

“Hey kid, the bar’s closing early today for the festival, I’d recommend you go attend it if you can, people might just be nice enough to give you some more free food.”

Kyosuke got up and started towards the door, he waved Kadi goodbye before leaving the bar. The sunlight blinded him and caused him to put his hand on his eyes. The colors of this world shined brightly and were nothing like the colors from his world, they seemed more vibrant and clean, also animated.

People walked the busy streets, adults buying their food from vendor carts while their kids ran around without a care in the world. Kyosuke watched the people walk past him as he made his way through the crowd.

-I need to find someone to take care of me, even though I’m just a kid even though I know there’s no way I’ll survive by myself.

Kyosuke watched people’s every movement, he was looking for the right person to ask for help from. It wasn’t long before Kyosuke bumped into a nice young man and woman, they were both in their early twenties and looked to be on a date. They were the youngest single-looking couple in the area so Kyosuke decided that if anyone could help take care of him, it would be them.

“Excuse me, I’m all alone and I need someone to help to take care of me.”

It was the most basic excuse Kyosuke could come up with, even in his child-like brain he knew that he’d have to lie to gain access into their lives.

The couple looked at him and smiled, it was a warm and welcoming smile.

“Hey there kiddo, we’re kind of new to this kingdom too so if you want, you can stay with us for a bit until you’re old enough to move out on your own.”

It was almost instantly that they took him in, they must have felt the aura around Kyosuke, if anyone could sense it they’d see that he really was depressed, he had lost everyone he cared about in his life in a matter of seconds and now he had to restart from zero.

“Here, we’ll be staying at the festival for another hour, let’s spend the rest of it together, oh, and before I forget, what’s your name?”

The young man seemed to speak the most out of the couple, he was outgoing and daring while the young lady seemed to be more quiet and collected. Kyosuke decided to give out his name, not long after, the male spoke up giving their names.

“Well hi there, Kyosuke! I’m Matt, and this is my fiancée, Bre, we both come from a small village outside of the kingdom and grew up together, she never really spoke to anyone so I decided to pick her up and have her follow me around. Days went by in a breeze and now here we are almost a decade later and we’re getting married. Time sure does fly by.”

It seemed like Matt could talk about his past for hours, he didn’t go into it, but the way he looked into the sky, searching for words to express how happy he was growing up was certainly a sight to be held.

Kyosuke quickly got used to hanging out with his new friends, he began making jokes and asking more personal questions to the couple in hopes to get even closer to them. They all enjoyed the festival and before they knew it, it was over.

“Are you guys ready to go home? I’m sorry if our home is a little small, we’re still looking for some good-paying jobs here in the kingdom.”

Anyone would forget how wealthy the kingdom was, there were jobs everywhere looking for people and with the low racism rate in Delpa, almost any race had a chance here, it’s what made this kingdom grow to the size it was at today.

Kyosuke starts to remember overhearing a conversation about a man named Edwin, he heard that Edwin had been the best king almost fifty years prior, his acceptance of everyone allowed for the financial growth and population boom to increase the size of the kingdom.

They all enter the tiny home in pitch black, they lit up the lantern and Kyosuke got to see where he’d be living for the next few months. Kyosuke looked and noticed that while walking in, he was automatically in the living room, there were four rooms to enter, three were bedrooms and one was a bathroom, the kitchen was in the same room as the living room just a little ways away. It was a small quiet home that no one would dare to harm.

“I hope you like it here Kyosuke, what’s ours is yours from now on so if you need anything, don’t feel the need to ask.

Bre spoke this time, for the first time that whole day, it was a soothing tone and clearly, she was scared to even talking, she showed no emotion and even braced for some sort of resentment from Kyosuke hearing her voice, but, Kyosuke didn’t care how she sounded, he just smiled.

“It’s amazing, anything’s better than sleeping on the streets, and I’d say this is a huge upgrade from that!”

Kyosuke made light of the situation, he tried making her feel comfortable so that maybe she’d talk more someday, they were a family now, and no one or nothing could stop them from living their carefree lives. Kyosuke slowly closed his eyes as the sandman entered his room, switching his brain from daytime to nighttime, awake to asleep.

* * *

“AHHHHHH”

Kyosuke’s eyes shot open.

-What the hell, did I pass out?

Kyosuke looks up to see a flight of stairs leading to a door, when he opened it, he must have passed out and fallen here. His dream lingered in his mind, Kyosuke lived in who he thought to be Suke's body, learning more about the world of Acrayma and the kingdom of Delpa before he showed up.

“My heart, it still hurts, -Da-Dammit!”

Kyosuke starts convulsing, slowly losing consciousness again. he passed out again and woke up again, slowly going in and out of the realm of the living. It wasn’t before he woke up that final time that he realized someone or something was down there with him, two glowing eyes in the corner of the room caused his heart to sink.

A slight growling caused him to stumble onto his butt, looking out in the dark void.

“No… No.. No. No, NO, NOOO!”

The animalistic beast charged towards Kyosuke in his weakened state and began devouring him, eating him alive, Kyosuke couldn't help but scream in agony as the beast ripped his hands off, then his arms, and finally starting to dig into his stomach, ripping intestines out and shaking them against the wall, blood flew everyone, spraying Kyosuke’s face with every drop of it. Kyosuke tried using his other hand to stab at the beast but to no avail, before Kyosuke could get his hand to any sort of weapon, the beast had already eaten his way to Kyosuke’s heart, eating it whole.

-I will... stop you...

Again, Kyosuke’s world like it had time and time again began to return, giving him another shot, to change the fate of the universe, all by fixing the mistake he made before, in his past life.