“Uhh...so what can I help you with?”

Raion brushed off dirt that was on him.

“That fighting stance of yours, where did you learn it from?”

The man with the long red hair moved forward inspecting Raion. He circled Raion checking out his arm, legs and overall body structure.

“From my master...”

“Ohhh? Your master? Your master’s name wouldn’t happen to be Ten Tenshi now would it?”

The man stepped back and looked closely at Raion’s face.

Raion shook his head.

“Nope, my master’s name was Mesu.”

The man cocked his head to the right in bewilderment.

“Was? Does that mean you master is dead?”

Raion had a distant look in his eyes.

“I don’t really feel like talking anymore about this matter, however, who are you?”

Raion pointed his finger towards the red haired man.

“You really came here not knowing anything huh? But nonetheless you can just call me Doriama.”

Doriama gave a thumbs up towards Raion.

“Doriama? Well Doriama thanks again, my name’s Raion.”

Doriama crossed his arms and looked straight at Raion.

“But why are you even here? Better question yet, how did you get here?”

Doriama placed his hand under his chin and stroked it in thought.

You don’t seem like someone who has been here awhile.”

Raion nodded to Doriama’s statement.

“Yeah I got here by climbing Noah’s Anchor.”

“Oh Noah’s Anchor, okay, wait WHAT?”

Doriama examined Raion closely.

“Noah’s Anchor? No Regular has ever been able to climb it, but more importantly...”

“Hey Raion, how did you get past the guards?”

Raion had a confused look on his face.

“The guards? I didn’t run into any on the way up.”

Doriama stopped stroking his chin.

“What?”

Doriama stroked his chin in thought.

“Mhmm something’s off. I need to keep an eye out for this one”

“You’re quite something Raion, so what brings you to Noah’s Ark?”

“To get stronger and defeat [Bahamut].”

Doriama laughed and scoffed at the idea.

“You’re serious? [Bahamut]? Destruction itself? Why?”

“I have my reasons. I know I’m not strong enough yet that’s why I need to enter the Zodiac Tournament to atleast get my hands on a Spirit Equip.”

The edges of Doriama’s mouth hooked upwards.

“Even with the powers of Spirit Equip you still won’t be able to defeat [Bahamut] and you know that already don’t you?”

Doriama shook his head in disbelief at Raion.

“I will end that beast.”

Raion gripped his hands tightly.

“Where does your confidence even come from kid?”

Doriama scratched his head.

“As long as my chance isn’t zero I’ll keep going at it.”

Raion smiled beamed with brightness.

“You know, it actually is at zero right?”

Raion frowned.

“Well that’s just your opinion.”

Doriama let out a hearty laugh.

“I like it, I’ll sponsor your ambitions kid.”

Doriama patted Raion’s back.

“Sponsor?”

Doriama let out a long sigh.

“Come on kid, if you want to join the tournament you atleast need to study up on the process. I’ll give you a short breakdown. The [Zodiac Tournament] is a battle between the Zodiac’s twelve candidates. One of the prizes like you mentioned is a chance to obtain a Spirit Equip, however, the winning candidate also brings back special privileges to their clan. The only problem for you is that, you need to be in one of the Zodiac’s clans to participate and that’s where I come in.”

Doriama pointed his finger towards Raion’s heart.

“Let me properly introduce myself, I am Oni Doriama, the head of the Rooster Clan.”

Raion stuttered stepped back ever so slightly at the presence of Doriama. His aura seemed so much bigger than before. An overwhelming person was in front of him.

“Raion, do you want to be apart of the Rooster Clan and be our chosen candidate for the upcoming [Zodiac Tournament]?”

END