Chapter 21

Chapter 21,

The Master

Koshiro's POV

Looking at my hand I was shocked, "What is this!!!"

There's a dragon tattoo there that was never present there in all my life. Moreover, there's two of them. They are twisting themselves into each other like vines. They are dark in color but has a red aura being emitted in it.

"You seemed to be fine now, aren't you?" Gin said smiling at me. I didn't realize that the door creaked open since I was too absorbed by the fact that I has no a tattoo.

"What is this?" I shown Gin his hand.

"The heck's problem with this?!" Gin said, shocked.

"What's wrong?" Goro said as he and Hiruki came in because of the noise and was shocked by what's before them.

"Shouldn't I be asking that?" Curiosity filled me.

"That tattoo. . .it wasn't there before. It was in your back," Hiruki spoke up.

Looking back, I saw it moving on my hand while twisting around my hand, "What now?"

"That tattoo appeared out of nowhere in your back, and since then, it won't come off," Hiruki added.

I tried to stand up, but Gin stopped me, "You should be resting right now. Get some rest for a while, you just expended your whole life yesterday," Gin's gave a tone filled with worries.

"I'm fine! As you can see, my body is perfectly fine with no living scars on it! Besides, I've slept more than enough!" I energetically said, trying to assure them, at least a little.

"What's the noise about?! I'm trying to sleep here!" A grumpy voice came ringing in the hallway and there came in a tall man. It was the master!

"What is he doing here?" I asked.

"He's just here to help us take care of you. Most of your damage are given by him, so he carries the burden of conscience." Goro stated.

"That's no truth, I'm fine as an unharmed vampire in the day!" I repeated my reasoning.

"Hai, Hai, well then, were off for something," Gin said, waving me goodbye.

"Wait!" I stopped the three, "Are you going for a dungeon?" I added.

"Hell, no. I've had enough of those. I'll pass," Goro answered.

"Well then. . ." I didn't finished of my sentence.

"We'll be fine, it's nothing serious," Hiruki assure me.

After they left, the master approached me, "My name is Riven Blue." He never added anything back.

"Koshiro. Uhm, are you a Knight?" I asked.

"To be precise, I'm a master. Nothing special 'bout me." He lit up another cigarette in his mouth.

"But, how do you remember you last name?" I asked, curious.

"My master was a former strong Sage. Before she died, she used a certain magic on me and made me remember my name. By the way, I'm from where you came from, but my mother and father aren't the same nationality, so I'm only half," he slowly told his tale.

"Is that so? Did you still remember everything that happened there whenever you come back here?" I added a question.

"Of course. The certain magic that was used in me was a permanent one. I don't know the details, but I think it's a skill," He puts his hand on his chin.

"I know of that! Hiruki can use it," the thought came to my mind.

"When we first met at the Capital of the Knights, he used it on us to regain our memories," he was shocked.

"Enough of that, let's get to training," He hit my back very hard making me groan from pain.

"What was that for?! What training?!" I asked, angered as I scratched my back.

"Huh?! Didn't you knew? Knights needs to be trained for combat. Meaning: you should have a trainer instead of training yourself. That's it, let's go," he said, grabbing be from the collar, trying to drag me somewhere.

We went for the woods. It was in the middle of the woods, but a certain area is cleared from trees that seemed to be used in training. It was wide, and furthermore, it has a few craters in some places about as deep at Riven's height. The craters were black from the use of magic, for sure. It can be lightning, fire, or maybe component of the two. Many magic that burns exists here, after all.

"Sorry for these mess. An another apprentice of mine who's about to graduate is using these for a while," he sighed.

"By the way, what kind of training are we going to conduct here?" I nervously asked.

As far as I know, in animes, most masters give intense training sometimes to their apprentice, so I'm a little nervous right now.

"Elemental and Physical training," He smiled at me cunningly making me feel more anxious and scared.

"Before that, let's have a battle for today. We need to test your capabilities for now to know your flaws, correct?" His next statement worsened my situation.

'What did he just said? A battle with him? He's a Master, right? What should I do?!' I thought anxiously.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Remember: this is just a test, it's okay to lose the battle, for now. And, don't use the Crimson Gale, I assume you know the consequences." This time, even though my face was unchanged, I knew that I have to face these fears like what I did before for me to become strong and protect those who are dear. Nothing more.

"Well then. . ." I nodded in agreement.

"Here I go!" Riven warned as he charged forward.

He draw out a sword and I did the same thing for my bow and arrows. I barely use this, but I'm confident that I have mastery over it. I just know it myself.

When he was about to attack me, I distanced myself from him, since bows are commonly used for long-range battle. I draw out an arrow and shot him head-on, but it was futile. Our abilities in using weapons are in a huge gap.

"Hmm. . . Not bad," He said charging forward more closely at a high speed to attack me.

"With the flow of the falling waterfall, I beseech for your power, Waterfall Mirage!" I called forth making rain pour down only in a certain area and arrows that are made out of water fell down to the ground.

Riven minded the falling arrow instead of me out of surprise from the attack. I can't blame him, he never seen such magic before. I always remember this: Magic can take any form depending on the user's imagination and spells are created also by imaginations. Magic is all about imagining infinite possibilities and potentials.

"You can't get away!" Riven smiled as he was enjoying himself from the fight attacking me.

Suddenly, I disappeared from nowhere shocking him, "I wouldn't have the title 'Untouchable Wind' for nothing, Sir Riven," he suddenly diverted his gaze on me, who was standing on the trees from afar.

"What a tricky opponent, aren't you?" He grinned.

I jumped off the tree attacking Riven, "With the fall of the wet rain, I beseech for your power, fall down the ground and flood this grounds to clean, Basin of the Seas!" I chanted as swiftly as I could.

With the spell, I launched three arrows in his direction before falling into the ground, trying to hold him on his current location. After he defended the arrows, heavy rain came pouring and a weird sound can be heard. Water came surging into the area and small, but strong waves came towards Riven's direction distracting him.

It's amazing that he could float in the water. Maybe it's because he's great at manipulating Mana.

After the storm-like power calmed down, he was panting, and so do I, "You're good, aren't you? As expected from the Land of the Archers. You guys are really strict when it gets to Elemental magic training," he laughed.

"N-No, didn't remember living there. I spawned at a different place. I'm different from the others, you know?" My words shocked him.

"Sorry about that," he apologized

"It's okay," I said with a tone of no care.

Slowly, he put on his stance, ready to attack "Wind Sword Art, Form One: Silent Slash,"

Before he could reach me, I summoned forth the Gigantic Acid Slime's Acid and dropped it in front before jumping back to secure my safety. Hitting the water, the Acid reacted to it and exploded throwing Riven away, and breaking his form.

"It's time to finish this," Riven once again, grinned.

In a sudden he was in front of me, and it scared me to the bones. I reacted to it and summoned forth lightning magic. Next to it was a consecutive firing of arrows towards him with the acid in it. His wet, so it'll explode once he touch the acid. Next to those attacks was teleportation spell. I used it on the acids and teleported it on the air and make it fall towards him. Even if it didn't hit him, I'll hit the water making it explode from the contact, harming him.

All at once, the water came exploding and smoke covered the place. I used my wind magic to clear up the smoke when suddenly, an attack from Riven came up. I was shocked that I couldn't react on time since my body is tired and my mana is low, added to it is my senses is almost dulled from the toll of using consecutive spells and elemental magic.

He pointed his sword on my neck as I fell down, "Not bad. Your rank should be high I you register as my apprentice, Koshiro," he pulled out a cigarette on his pocket, but it was already wet, so he threw it away.

"You have a potential. You might be able to reach the ranks if you work really hard. I'll be rooting for you," he reached out his hand to pull me up as the water slowly disappeared.

"We're done for today, let's continue tomorrow after you heal. We have a healer, after all," he said casually. I bet Hiruki sneezed just now, "We'll eat a feast, so get ready!" He laughed hard.

Well, I'll guess I'll be continuing this training. I have a goal, after all.

***