I decided to release 2 chapters today to make up for not sending out one at all this week. Enjoy this chapter and the introduction of some new characters. Please review, comment, and follow so that we can get this story into the top 50.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 26

Hiro woke up in the morning and went downstairs to get his armor and begin his daily training. He noticed that Leo was not there. It was not the first time and he could see Leo’s status was unchanged so he let him have some alone time. Hiro went out to begin his training. He pulled out the hammer from his inventory and began to train with it. The hammer had become much lighter now. He was able to wield it with two hands now well enough that he could use it in battle.

“Now it’s time for level 2 of my hammer training.” He placed the hammer down and tried to pick it up with one hand. He was unable to do this so he went back to the beginning of his training with the hammer. He started dragging it with one hand the dragging it back with the other hand. Hiro did this until he was completely exhausted.

Your strength has increased by 24 points!

Hiro then sat down and meditated. He began by trying widen the range of his detect presence.

Sense presence has increased to advanced level

Through your constant increase in the manipulation of ki your ability to sense the presence of ki around you has improved. You can now sense the presence of ki at a greater distance and you can sense the affinity of the ki within a being.

"Wow! That is should be fascinating to use. How far does my sense presence reach now."

He found now that he was able see about 4000 meters away. He now knew where Leo was. He was back with his pride of ligers. Hiro continued his meditation for another hour.

Wisdom increased by 5

Finally he stood up and decided to revisit making an external ki attack. He thought that with all the ki control that he has recently developed he should be able to manage the task. He stood up and placed his left hand on his right wrist. He then began to concentrate his ki into the palm of his hand. This time he did not worry about the shape but more about the collection of ki. His hand was quivering with all of the power that he had stored in it. Now it was time to release it. Hiro pointed his hand at a nearby tree. He then pushed his power out his body but nothing happened.

The ki he had gathered returned to his body. The attack was a fail.

“What went wrong? Why did the attack fail? Maybe I need to visualize what I want the ki to do like in my strengthening techniques.”

He decided to try again. This time he thought his hand as a cannon and the ki gathered as the cannon ball. Once he had gathered his ki again, he yelled out fire. A white ball shot out of his hand and flew across to the tree. When it struck the tree, It knocked an entire section of it out vaporizing the area completely. The large tree was ripped into two pieces.

You have developed the technique ki blast.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Ki BlastBeginner0100%This is an attack that gathers you ki into your hand and allows you to shoot it out with great destructive power. By increasing your proficiency you will reduce the time it takes to fire the blast as well as increasing the damage done by the blast.

You have gained 10 points of wisdom.

Hiro looked at the toal amount of mana he had left. The bar showed that he had 75% of his ki left.

“That blast was definitely powerful but it is still using too much of my mana for it to be effective in battle. I need to increase my proficiency with that skill and improve my ki manipulation to make that more efficient.”

Hiro was then decided to begin fixing the leather armors. He began using the thread to patch up the holes. Each time he worked on repair one of the pieces of armor he seemed to go faster and the repairs were better until…

You improved your leatherworking skill from novice to intermediate. Now you can make more powerful sets of leather from medium leather and hides.

He continued to work on repairing the arms for a few more hours until he completed 60 sets.

"I think that is enough of working armor. Now I think it's about time that I meet the person who has replaced Snow as my second in command. I wonder what he will be like. No sense in thinking about it. I might as well just go meet him."

Hiro made his way to the training area. It had been upgraded. Now there was a place where people were doing callisthenic exercises, a place where recruits were using wooden weapons to hack and slash at a straw dummy, a place where archers where shooting targets made of hay with bullseyes painted on them, and a large dirt circle which looked like a place to spar. There was also a small building that Hiro did not recognize. He walked in a saw that his was the armory.

Inside of the armory there were rows and rows and rows of what appeared to be lockers with mannequins in them holding each soldier’s equipment. Most of the mannequins had no armor or the armor was tattered. Hiro took the tattered armor and replaced it with the armor he had repaired. Once he finished he stepped out of the doors and continued looking at the improvements on the army’s training area.

“The training facility is looking great!” He thought to himself. Hiro entered into the ring and everyone who was there froze in their tracks and ran to him.

“General!” they screamed with joy. “Glad to have you back!”

Hiro bowed to his group, "It's great to be back! Thank you all for remaining vigilant and taking care of the city while I was away. I see our numbers have grown as well."

"Yes sir! You legend is growing and people want to go into battle with you." said one of the soldiers.

Then he felt a large aura moving towards him from the training ground. He looked over and from the area where the archers were training a large man came. He was huge! He stood about 250 cm in height with an eye patch over his left eye. His skin was dark and he had huge muscles. He looked older and he had thick beard and goatee. Hiro looked at his status and saw that he was a level 45 ki vanguard.

“What is a vanguard?” he thought to himself. “Well I know he has a higher level than I do so he should be pretty strong.”

Before Hiro could inspect the man’s stats, he came up to Hiro and said, “So you are the legendary warrior that rides on the liger, huh? You don’t look like much to me.”

Hiro smiled and said, “Yes, my name is Hiro nice to meet you. You are?”

The man replied roughly, “I am called Caesar and I will only follow the strongest so I challenge you to a contest of strength and skill.”

“If you wish, I will accept but I want you to understand no one here fights for me, they fight with me” replied Hiro.

“Enough talk about philosophy, little man. Show me you skill. Where I am from strength is the only language that needs to be spoken. Tell me everything about you through your fists and blade.”

“If you want a battle then I will honor your request. Whenever you are ready, Caesar”

The two men equipped their weapons. Caesar who was smoking a cigar had strange brownish gold metal suit of armor. It appeared to be very strong and sturdy. He also carried a huge hammer but no defensive items like a shield or large gauntlet.

“Looking at his equipment he is definitely strong and his defensive ability is probably very high. Looking at that hammer I know he has to be strong as well. I can’t let him hit me with that no matter what. I will have to use my speed in order to defeat him.”

“What are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Come on legendary warrior. Come and fight me!”

“I guess I will really have to show him my complete strength as not to leave any doubt on who the strongest is” Hiro thought to himself.

Hiro decided to activate his ki strengthening skills at the onset of the battle. One of the soldiers came up and asked were the two ready. They both nodded in agreement. The power of the two warriors was stifling. The soldier could barely stand between the two.

The soldier standing between them weakly said, "Begin!"

The battle commenced. The Caesar immediately charged Hiro. Hiro decided to test out Caesar’s strength. The hammer crashed down on Hiro’s Shield which was strengthened with his ki. The attack was defended but Caesar’s raw power was so immense the Hiro’s knees bent so much that one knee was buried in the ground in order to take the blow.

“In terms of physical strength, this guy is stronger than Snow but after taking an attack from the troll and Snow’s ki attack this was no so bad.”

Hiro pushed the hammer away blowing Caesar’s hammer towards the sky. While his stance was broken,Hiro hit Caesar in his face with hilt of his sword and spun on his pivot foot to continue his attack bashing his shield into Caesar’s chest. Caesar was knocked back several feet. He then spit some blood out of his mouth. Hiro noticed Caesar was also bleeding from his nose.

"He's got strength but his technique not nearly as refined as Snow's" Hiro thought to himself. "With his level of technique I should be able to defeat him without too much trouble but I shouldn't get cocky."

“Not bad young whelp but it will take more than that to stop me.” Caesar said as he used his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth.

Hiro banged his sword on his shield and said, “Then come get some then old man. I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”

Hiro then went on the offensive. He used his dashing strike to deliver a vertical slashing attack against Caesar while he was recovering from the previous blow. Caesar managed to block the attack with his hammer but the shear force behind the blow forced him to stand flat footed making him unable to move quickly. Sensing his opponent's mistake, Hiro delivered a kick to his enemy’s knee which buckled his legs and broke Caesar’s stance. Once his stance was broken, Hiro quickly kicked Caesar in the chest making him fly back about 20 feet. Caesar was now visibly injured but he stood up.

Hiro asked, “Do you concede?”

“Not a chance!” replied Caesar as he wiped blood from his mouth. “You are arrogant to think that was all you would need in order to beat a real warrior. I acknowledge that you have some skill and you definitely are strong so now I will show you my true strength.”

“Bring it!”

“Tell me something Hiro, have you ever experienced fear!?”

"What?"

"HHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!" screamed Caesar

Hiro could see Caesar’s ki rising an engulfing his entire body. The color was brown like mud after a rainstorm. The murderous intent that was coming from Caesar was on a completely different level than anything that he faced up until this point.

“I can see it! My sense presence is showing me his affinity is earth so that means his defensive is going to be sturdier.” Hiro thought to himself. “I’ll have to be careful.”

Hiro ran in to attack. Caesar didn’t even take a defensive stance. Hiro swung his sword and it slashed at Caesar’s armor. The sword stopped cold and a serious vibration went up Hiro’s arm. Before he could regain his fighting stance, Caesar grabbed Hiro by the throat and lifted him off his feet. Hiro struggled to breathe.

“His strength is incredible. I can't breathe. I’ve got to get free.” Hiro thought. “His defense is so strong that my sword could even penetrate it. That’s it! I need to do something that doesn’t penetrate his armor but still damages him.”

Hiro activated his wildfire armor and his body was immediately engulfed in flames. The flames immediately burned Caesar’s hand and he let go.

“My sword can’t cut through that armor what should I do?"

"No time for daydreaming young warrior" said Caesar as he swung his hammer at Hiro.

Hiro could not avoid the attack. He concentrated his ki into his arm and shield and braced himself for the impact. "SMMMMAAAASSSSHHH! The deafening thud of Caesar's hammer on Hiro's shield could be heard all over the place. Hiro flew 20 feet out of the sparring circle.

"Do you concede Hiro?!" Caesar yelled.

Hiro got up but his legs were unsteady. "That attack took a third of my health even though I blocked with my shield and reinforced my arm and shield with my ki. This guy is amazing." He thought to himself.

"This is where the real battle begins Caesar!" Hiro yelled.

"If I can’t cut through it maybe I can hurt him in places where his armor isn’t” Hiro thought to himself.

Hiro placed is ki into his legs to make him speed up. Next he attacked Caesar head on. His attacks were blindingly fast. Caesar’s armor held up when Hiro slashed the large pieces on his chest, shoulders, legs, arms, and back but then it happened.

“I see it. His black armor hides it but it doesn’t cover his joints completely.”

Hiro quickly thrust his sword toward Caesar’s face. Caesar easily stopped the blow using the head of his hammer. Hiro quickly recoiled his blade and quickly slashed it across Caesar’s arm in the crease between his bicep and forearm.

“AHHHHHH!!!” scream Caesar as blood squirted out from the deep wound. It looked to be so deep that, he could no longer use his arm because the tendons had been cut.

“I knew it! His armor is powerful but without the armor and his ki working together he can’t stop my attacks” Hiro thought to himself. “Your arm is useless and I have figured out the weakness in your defense. Do you concede? I do not wish for this to continue.”

“Hahahaha! You cocky little bastard! You think this small cut will stop me. I will never surrender not while I still stand!”

“Then I will just have to remedy that!”

Hiro decided to prove to Caesar the difference in strength and skill so he dropped his sword and shield and prepared for hand to hand combat.

“You dare challenge me bare handed?” He charged at Hiro wildly swing his hammer. Even without his prediction ability Hiro could have seen through these attacks.

"It's over now. His poor technique has gotten even worse no due to his anger and the injury to his arm. He can't beat me now."

Caesar’s anger had ruined his technique. After dodging a few attacks Hiro began to counterattack with his snake style attacks. The blows landed at all of Caesar’s joints. Caesar took the blows better than Hiro expected but the punishment was building up.

“The only way to end this is to knock Caesar out.” Hiro thought to himself.

He continued attacking Caesar's joints which caused his enemy to further slow down making the attacks easier and easier to land. Caesar began breathing heavily as wildly swinging the hammer had depleted most of his stamina.

"I need to end this." thought Hiro.

He gathered ki in his hand preparing his ki strike. As he gathered the ki he continued to narrowly dodge all of Caesar’s attacks waiting for the right moment. Caesar's stamina had almost completed emptied then Hiro saw it.

“There!”

Hiro’s eyes widen and charged in ducking under a wild swing that caused Caesar to turn slightly. Hiro land a blow to Caesar’s temple. His armor gave him some protection agains the massive blow but Caesar’s body went limp and he fell face first on the ground. Hiro cast his healing spell on Caesar, who quickly regained consciousness.

“Sorry about that. I just saw that you would give up unless I killed you, so I decided I would knock you out because I would like to keep you in the army.” Hiro said while extending his hand to lift Caesar up.

Caesar grabbed his hand and said, “You are definitely the real thing. I didn’t think anyone could beat me. I acknowledge your strength and I will follow you anywhere you lead.”

“Thank you my friend. You are definitely strong yourself. Would you mind if I left you in charge of training the men and in the afternoons you and I will have help push each other in sparring matches or share training methods. Agreed?”

“Agreed. I Just have one question for you”

"What is it?"

"If you could use magic why didn't you use it during the battle?"

"You said you wanted it to be a test of strength and skill so I figured you would want a melee contest. Strength is the only currency remember."

"You are alright with me!" Caesar said as he laughed hysterically. "You are my kind of guy Hiro."

Caesar whistled and out came a gorilla with silver fur and huge muscles, with 2 large fangs protruding from his lower jawing going up towards his nose. It stood about 2.5 meters tall and was definitely a formidable partner.

“His name is Gori and he was the son of the leader of a pack of apes in the south. I found him when he was just a little guy caught in a trap. His leg had been mangled by a metal trap laid by a hunter. I freed him and bought to my home. There I gave him some of my healing potions and his leg was healed. He hasn’t left my side since.”

“Tell me a little about yourself, Caesar. Where do you come from? Where did you train to be such a powerful warrior?”

“Well I am from a small town outside of the capital city Atraps. In my town my family were farmers and all I did from the time I was young was work on my parents farm. One day when I was about 12 years old goblins and orcs raided my village. I watched my father get murdered by those beasts so that my mother and I could escape to Atraps.”

“Wow. That is rough.”

“Well once I got to the city my mother enrolled me into the military.”

“So you were trained by the military in Atraps?”

“Yes. I was very young so I spent my first 4 years doing body strengthening exercises and learning to channel ki.”

“4 years? Are you serious?”

“Yes, in order to begin combat training you had to have a strong body and a strong will.”

“That makes sense. What happened after you were strong enough?”

“Once I was strong enough I was sent to a drill sergeant who taught me to defend myself by dodging attacks. Once I could dodge attacks, he taught me how to block attacks using my ki. This is where I excelled as you may have noticed. My ki became like an iron coat that most attacks could not penetrate.”

“Wow that sound a lot like how Snow trained me.” Hiro said to himself.

"Yeah your defense is the real deal. My attacks could not pierce your armor and your ki at all." Hiro said to Caesar.

Next, he made me pound on a tree that grows in the south that feels like a rock. After a year of hitting that tree my limbs felt like iron. Then I was taught how to use ki as a means to attack. Once you mastered your own body then and only then were you given a weapon.”

“So why did you choose a hammer? Why not choose a sword or spear?”

“Well I thought about my own ability. Swords and spears have to cut through their opponent. I thought what if I came up against an opponent like myself whose defense could not be penetrated. The answer came to me like a flash. If I can’t cut your armor, I would simply crush you inside of the armor with my hammer.”

“Wow! That is definitely scary.”

“Once I got my hammer I was thrust into battle. I began as a low level grunt soldier but in about 6 years I was promoted to a lieutenant. I won battle after battle against the minions of darkness. I’ve seen it all werewolves, treants, orcs, hobgoblins, trolls, ogres, even a dragon.”

“Really?! Even a dragon?! That sounds amazing, Caesar. If you don’t mind me asking, you rose up through the ranks, why did you leave the army.”

“One day I returned home to see my mother who had at that point become very sick. When I came to her house there was no one there. Immediately, I looked all over town but I couldn’t find her. I became very distraught. My mom was missing.”

“What happened to her?”

“She passed away while I was in battle. I wasn’t there for her funeral. I wasn’t there in her last moments to hear her last words. She died alone. I returned to the military and retired. I told my Commanding Officer that I wanted to retire. He approved and after that I wondered around for a while before I ended up here.”

“…. Well I’m sorry about your mom. We are glad to have you here.”

“Thank you. Enough with this sentimental crap! What are we going to do about these monsters invading the towns surrounding the area.” Said Caesar

“Well right now we are trying to build up or town. I want this place to be a safe haven for those in need. I would rather it not become a place to enslave the other races or to be a weapon for merciless killing.”

“So if the orcs come what then?”

“I will fight with all of my strength and kill them without mercy but I will not go to their home in an attempt to destroy them. That would make me no better than those monsters”

“You have a good heart Hiro. It is a rare quality. I have fought by man many over the years in more battles than I care to remember and none have spoken like you. I hope that your kind heart does not get corrupted by the ecstasy of battle.”

“The ecstasy of battle?” Hiro asked

“Yes… It is a feeling that you get when you are on the battlefield. It is a state of being in which you enjoy the killing and bloodshed. The sound of metal meeting flesh, the smell of blood in the air, they all titillates your sensing making you feel almost a state of arousal.”

“Uhhh… I’ve never felt like that on the battlefield. I actually don’t like the killing. I see it more as a means to an end.”

“You are definitely a peculiar one Hiro. I mean that in a good way though.” Caesar said with a hearty laughed as he patted Hiro across his back.

Hiro “Caesar, Gori, come with me I would like to let you meet my partner.”

“Your partner? Yest that’s right I heard you were the man who rides on a liger. Where is he?”

“He is with his pride a few thousand meters from the town.”

“Is he powerful? Well… I think you should assess that for yourself when you meet him.” Caesar nodded and they left town towards where Leo was with his pride.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading. Please rate my story and leave any comment whether you like the story or not. I will respond to any comments that are written good or bad. I love any kind of feedback that my readers give. I really want to make this story great. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting in the top 50 fan fics on the site so please review, follow and favorite my story.

As always if you like what you've read please feel free to donate. No pressure though.

Back to Main Page