Chapter 18 - The Promise [End of Book 1: Planet Magenta (Prologue) Arc]

Marcus and Kane were now roaming in the sky, as Marcus was looking for an ideal place to talk undisturbed, whilst Kane was seeing his surroundings in amazement. He was astonished by the technique Marcus used, and by the splendid view that could be observed from up there. On top of the statue, besides the arena, there was another city and an impressive palace that was the home of the City Patriarch.

Marcus was presently searching for a place to land, until he finally descended and landed in front of an inn. Then Marcus coolly warned, “Follow me kid, we are going inside. Remember not to say anything and allow me to do all the talking.”

Then they entered the inn. The hall of the inn was huge, much larger than the inn of the Zafisi clan. Kane instantly noticed that the service offered by this inn was one of excellence. Judging by the cloths of the various individuals, he realised that these were most likely people of high profile. This place was after all the central part of the city, where only the families of the Patriarchs` guards were allowed to live.

Shortly after, a young elegant woman wearing high class cloths, came before them to greet them. “Welcome to Rubalka inn. How may I be of an assistance?”

Marcus replied politely, “I wish to rent one room for a while for the two of us please.”

The young lady nodded her head gently, “A room for one day will cost you 500 Piras each, for a total of 1000 Piras.”

Whilst she was replying, Marcus took out a yellowish wood tablet from his red crystal powered storage device. The wood had various marks and symbols on it, and it looked timeworn with quite a few cracks covering its surface. He then promptly gave the wood to the young lady for her perusal.

She glanced at it quickly and her expression changed, now seemingly more politely and respectful than before. “It is always an honour for our inn to house a senior imperial official, please let me guide you to your room. The accommodation fee is being waved.”

Both Kane and Marcus followed her till their room, and as she was about to leave, Marcus promptly requested, “Thanks for everything madam. If you don’t mind, we wish to remain undisturbed for an hour.” The Young lady nodded respectfully before departing.

As they entered the room, Marcus complained with a funny face, “Bleh! Bleh! I so hate this!”

Kane wondered what happened and promptly asked him curiously, “something`s wrong?”

“I just detest acting this formal! It goes against my natural character!” Marcus glowered comically. When Kane heard this, he pressed his lips together in embarrassment.

Marcus then sat on a chair and looked towards Kane. “I am now a little curious regarding your story, so how about you tell me everything from the start to the end.”

Kane complied, as he started with the mass genocide of planet Yuba, followed by the events at the SRC base, and his life during his stay at planet Magenta. Marcus listened attentively, sometimes seemingly not believing what he was hearing. After Kane was finished, Marcus remained calm as he raised his head to face the roof, busy pondering. Kane waited unwearyingly for him, but after five minutes had passed, he lost his patience and duly interrupted him with a cough.

Marcus, who was completely lost in his thoughts, suddenly got back to his senses and uttered, “Kid, what a story… Planet Yuba? Never heard of that planet before… and a Genocide ordered by the SRC? I can’t seem to make myself accept that all this really happened! I know you are not lying, but at the same time I feel that such a story can’t be real… However, for now I am going to trust you brat!”

Kane instantly replied, “Rest assured that everything I told you is the complete truth!” Then his eyes shone with anticipation, “Will you be helping me now?”

Marcus stood up as he walked randomly around in the room. “Listen kid, regardless if this whole story is true or not, just forget about obtaining revenge! It is impossible for you or anyone else to do anything against the SRC!”

Kane felt furious and promptly yelled, “I don’t care about others! I will do it by myself if need be! I just need to become stronger!”

Marcus let out a laugh of mockery, “Stronger?! Do you exactly know what you are up against? The SRC are backed up by the all-powerful Lafran Clan! Even if all the other clans combined their forces together and attacked them, there would still be no guarantees about obtaining victory! That`s how powerful they are! Are you by any chance suggesting that you will singlehandedly kill all of their 20 plus immortals?!”

Kane was now visibly angry, “I already told you, I don’t care! Even if the creators side with them, I will still find my own way of obtaining revenge! Otherwise I can just die here and now!”

Marcus grinned and whispered into his heart, “So young and such recklessness… but his resolve is indeed astonishing. I said that to test him and see if it will make him give up, but instead I only made his determination even stronger. His a stubborn idiot like me, and I really like it… since if I were in his place, I would have acted the same!!”

“Listen kid, let`s make a deal. I’ll allow you three years to train. If by then you form your elemental soul and reach the rank of apprentice soul fighter, I will then take you in as my disciple!”

Kane curiously replied, “Elemental soul?”

“It is the second form of power, and the most important of the three forms of powers. Once formed, you will be considered a soul fighter!” Marcus replied excitedly. “Don’t worry about the details, I am sure the Zafisi clan will help you with it!”

“And… as proof of my promise, I am going to give you for free this storage device!” Marcus took out a blue crystal powered storage device, which he then gave to Kane.

“Put your index finger on it Kid,” Marcus instructed. Kane placed his finger and a small dimensional portal appeared above it.

“Now bind it with your blood!” Marcus instructed again. Kane then started to softly scratch his finger, hoping that blood will eventually fall off.

Marcus frowned amusingly, “What the hell are you doing you pussy?! How can you become a warrior if you are afraid of your own blood?! Here, let me show you how it is done!!” Marcus scolded him as he grabbed Kane`s finger, then made a deep savage cut with his nail.

“Ahh!” Kane grinded his teeth and let out a short shout of pain.

“What ahh! What ahh! It`s just a small scar you wuss! In a few minutes` time you would have already forgotten about it! Geez…” Marcus replied irritated.

Two droplets of Kane`s blood fell into the dimensional portal, then the blood started swirling and mixing with the portal. Shortly after the blood disappeared, as if nothing has ever happened.

“That`s it, it`s done. This is now your storage device, and only you will be able to open it and close it. Your items can be stored safely here from now on. However, be aware that any dimensional fighters are able to crack open such a weak dimensional lock. You shouldn’t worry that much at this stage though, since only the very powerful soul fighters are able to utilise dimensional power.”

“Now, go ahead, give it a try!” Marcus was clearly enjoying all this. The idea of having a disciple for the first time was slowly growing on him. He was already thinking in his mind about the various ways of how to make his training exercises as torturing as they come! He now wanted his future disciples to experience all kind of hells. Only then they can grow up as fearless warriors!

Kane then inspected his body, and after a while he took out an object that was well hidden under his cloths. It was the amulet of his father, which Kane had always carried it out with him as a lucky charm.

When Marcus saw the amulet, he opened his eyes wide in curiosity and instantly asked, “Kid, can I have a quick look at that amulet?” Kane hesitated at first, because this amulet was very valuable for him. It was the only physical memory left of his parents.

“Hey, why that face! I am just going to examine it a little, then I will give you back.” Marcus replied in a childish promissory tone. Kane trusted him, as he stretched out his hand to give him the amulet. Kane knew that Marcus was a strong fighter, and if he really wanted to take the amulet, he would have already done so by now.

Marcus grabbed the amulet and examined it for a while, then he asked worriedly. “Hey kid, may I ask from where you have obtained this amulet?”

“It belonged to my parents, more precisely of my now deceased mother,” Kane replied as he wondered why Marcus asked such a question.

“What was your mother`s name?” Marcus asked curiously.

“Elena Barker,” Kane instantly answered.

“Elena Barker…?” Marcus paused for a while, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. “Elena Barker he says… I can’t seem to recall…, but this amulet is definitely ‘that symbol’, what is it doing with this kid? Could it be…?” He kept pondering but…

“Hey kid, change of plans!” Marcus suddenly stated out of the blue. “First thing, starting from today, you have the misfortune of becoming my first disciple! Second thing, if you want to avoid any unnecessary troubles, never show this amulet to anyone else, understand?!” He then casually threw the amulet back to Kane.

Kane caught back the amulet, but was left completely dumbfounded by this sudden change of events. He was about to say something, but before he could do so, Marcus chanted out, “3rd Minor art of the soul, Spherical winds!”

Marcus then flew straight out of the window, whereupon Kane was again engulfed by that weird wind technique, and was carried away by Marcus. He was now in a very happy mood as he shouted towards Kane, “Prepare to say your goodbyes to the members of the Zafisi clan! In five hours’ time we are departing this planet!” Kane was still confused, but a smile was visible on his face. In the end he had finally found his first Master!

Shortly after, Marcus had transported Kane to the Zafisi clan, then left again to meet with Cory one last time. In the meantime, Kane had bid farewell to the various servants, members and Elders of the Zafisi clan. Many of them were still startled at what happened earlier today at the arena, but with Kane`s elimination, Charles was then ranked 3rd, which meant that the clan had obtained the same result as six years ago.

Time kept passing by, and now the five hour period was finally over. A large crowd gathered outside the gate of the Zafisi clan, including the elders and even the Matriarch, of what was one of her very rare appearances outside of the clan`s palace.

Kane then felt emotionally, as he bowed respectfully. “I am very glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of your clan. I will keep these good memories close to my heart for the years to come.”

He then turned his gaze towards Oliver and the Matriarch, “I promise you that in three years’ time, I shall get stronger, and will come back to participate in the Young genius tournament. I will raise your clan to first rank within the city again; the place it deserves!”

The Matriarch emotionally replied, “It was a pleasure to have you in our Zafisi clan. I shall be awaiting your return with anticipation. Until then, on behalf of my whole clan, I wish you a safe journey. May the creators be with you!”

Oliver, who now had watery eyes and somewhat emotional, softly said, “That care young man, I look forward to see the newly obtained level of your strength in three years` time. I’ll definitely miss you by then!”

Suddenly, two man appeared out of nowhere. One of them was Marcus, while the other was the injured Charles!

“Charles!!??” Oliver instantly shouted in a surprised worried expression. “Your injuries aren’t healed yet, why have you already came!”

Charles smiled as he replied, “I heard from this man that Kane is about to depart, so I annoyed his ass to bring me back here.”

Charles walked painfully towards Kane, then gave him a brotherly hug. “Thanks Kane… Thanks for everything… really… thank you Kane…,” as he burst crying like a baby. “After I heard… what you did to Yakov… I felt overjoyed… just too great… I couldn’t believe it!”

Kane smiled as he patted him on his back. “You shouldn’t be ashamed at all, you fought bravely, and everyone could see that you are already stronger than him. Don’t give up, you have a bright future ahead!”

Kane then seemed to remember something as he whispered in Charles ear, “I recommend you take a rest now, and you should take more care of Monica in the coming days!”

Charles let out a painful laugh, as he departed slowly towards the elders of the clan, “Farewell Kane Barker, it was a pleasure to meet you!”

Marcus then coolly shouted, “My dear disciple, the time has arrived for us to leave!” When he noticed Marcus pretending, Kane sulked comically whilst he turned around and followed him. As they were walking away, Marcus grinned and spoke softly, “Hey kid! When I give you the signal, turn around and look to your left!”

Kane felt puzzled, but he still obeyed. After walking for some more time, Marcus randomly chanted, “1st Minor art of the soul, Wind blow!” Which was followed by a quick instruction, “Quick! Now kid! Turn your head!”

It so happens that today was a rather warm day, a lot of the Zafisi clan`s female fighters and servants were wearing skirts. Suddenly, a powerful wind erupted from the ground, headed straight upwards. As Kane turned his head, he could see all kinds of sexy legs and colourful panties, with different colours and images. There was even a particular woman who was wearing a pink panty with the face of a gululu imprinted on it. Kane`s face turned bright red and his face fell upon seeing this wonderful scene.

Marcus laughed out as he chanted, “3rd Jointed arts of the soul, Teleportation Spheres!”

“WOOSH”~~~~~

Kane felt himself dragged away at incredible speed, and after few seconds, he found himself before a very large dimensional portal, which was around ten metres high, and suspended by two big green crystals on both sides. The resting Portal Keeper opened one of his eyes and then spoke slowly, “1000 Piras per person, and you can go to any planet you wish, as long as it is within the range of the portal that is.”

Since there is no way of avoiding the teleportation fee, Marcus didn’t use the yellow wood trick again. Instead he casually threw a bag of 2k Piras in the direction of the Portal Keeper, as he replied, “Just send us to the farthest planet, towards the north east direction. Our destination is far away and we will have to take several portals anyways.”

The portal keeper adjusted some mechanics and the crystals moved, changing the angle of the portal. “Done, you can safely enter the portal now.”

Then the Master and his disciple entered the portal and left Planet Magenta.