Chapter 2: Talent

Have you ever experienced an earthquake before?

For the inhabitants of an Ascarian fortress, it is just as common as breathing.

Every minute or so the city would take a step forward and ground would shake.

Over here the cups are never filled to the brim or else they would spill over when the city moves.

Some say its like spending time at sea when the city rocks firmly at a set interval, causing disorientation for people who have no "sea legs".

In a dry barren wasteland where only a few weeds grow in between the large cracks, these cities roam.

Always on the move in search for food, it chases different monster herds each week to prevent overhunting.

Every walking fortress is different with each having it's own speciality and custom design .

What started from one crazy person's idea was adopted by powerful merchants who wanted to be lords.

It was a great aspiration to be the lord of an Ascarian fortress as it brought money and power.

A medium class city roamed the northeastern area of the large Ascarian territory, near the border between Ascaria and the Ursian Empire was it's hunting grounds.

Yarr, the name of this city originates from the name of the first owner, the first owner is always given the honours of leaving their mark on the city.

This one held the family name of the Aaron Yarr and has been passed down for 5 generations.

Like most Ascarian influential families, this one came from a trading company.

Monster cores and materials are the main products of trade here but since the city borders the 2 countries, post war artifact scavenging has been gaining popularity.

Pawn shops usually buy up artifacts that weren't complete scrap and sold them, the quality was questionable but one's man trash was another man's treasure.

An insignificant shop sold what the other shops wouldn't buy at the corner of the desolate street .

Here, Ravien was hunting for an artifact that would help him become a skyblade.

Disappointment in his eyes as he scanned through the broken items put on display --- what was he expecting from a substandard store like this anyways?

Even the store owner showed no intention of serving him since Ravien was paid no mind when entering the run down store.

Ravien stopped for the day, although it seemed unfruitful at least he managed to check out the all the stores in the area today.

'Nothing interesting like always' --- he thought.

Kuaaaaaaaa!

He quickly retracted those thoughts, a roar of opportunity bellowed in his ears.

Wyverns, they were raiding the city now.

Normally, a person would find shelter after hearing a wyvern's roar in the distance and the alarm bells that came afterwards.

Sounds of doors and shutters slammed echoed the streets, the citizens were scrambling to safety.

Ravien ran down the road, passing the main shopping district full of closed shops.

The citizens acted fast, it only took less than a minute for the entire place to clear, as it was routinely practiced.

Sounds of metal clanged in the sky, a battle went on.

Balls of fire shot from high up, striking a building next to Ravien, its sparks flew along with some fragments of wood and stone.

Ravien found cover behind the stall of a food vendor.

He dodged the burning debris and continued running.

"We need more water, someone get a water mage!"

A group of men were working hard to put out the fire with buckets full of water, they were the firefighters of the city.

Ravien bumped into one of them and fell down.

"Watch where you're going! Hey, Ravien... what are you doing... get inside!"

Perkins had no time to care for a kid running on the streets, after scolding he quickly changed his attention to the flames which were eating the building.

He got up and continued running.

Ravien run was interrupted multiple times by the firefighters, alot of them ordering him to find shelter.

Ravien didn't care cause he needed to get to one place right now.

In a workshop he worked at, he kept a few of his inventions.

Ravien arrived to the door of a blacksmith's shop, he violently tugged it open.

A heap of items layed in the corner of this store, all of them were his products.

On the top of the heap sat comfortably a winged full suit of special design.

Ravien donned the leather suit which showed similarities to a flying squirrel, it's sides were webbed allowing the user to glide the wind.

He rushed the stairs to the roof floor where rows of leather skins were tanning on racks.

The edges of the flat roof gave a clear view of the city, Ravien positioned himself on top of the barrier on the edge.

Gulp --- he swallowed his saliva.

The blacksmiths was a 4 storey building at a high elevation, if the city had 4 height levels then this one would be overlooking 2 levels from level 3.

A fall from this height wouldn't let you off with just broken legs, so naturally Ravien felt tense.

He scanned the city and saw around 5 wyverns in the middle of a hit and run, wyverns like all other beasts had to find food to survive.

Yarr always had an abundance of carcasses left out to be dismantled from the morning hunt, in their eyes it was probably a walking buffet table.

Around the street next to his, a girl was on the "to eat list" of one of these wyverns, she screamed for help while running .

The convenience of ready for take away monster meat did not stop the wyverns from hunting people who could still run.

Wyverns would eat anything that had meat on it, people included.

Ravien felt the adrenaline circulate his body, there was pleasure in that pressure.

Her scream was calling for a hero and Ravien answered it with his heart steeled.

He leaned forward as the gust blew strong, leaving it to the wind to carry him towards glory.

The wind launched him into the sky, with his winged suit he became the first human kite in Yarr!

200 meters... 150 meters, he was getting close.

Luckily the strong winds favoured him that day, it allowed him to fly a higher altitude than his target.

Thump!

The city took a step and the ground shook , leading the girl to trip and fall on the ground.

Her distance with the wyvern was around 80 meters, in the next minute she would be lizard food --- she thought to herself.

Ravien played the scene in his head one more time, he envisioned splitting the wyvern in half with his special attack, the blazing tornado of slicing destruction!

He would cut a wyvern in half, his dad would be proud, other kids would be lining up to be his friend, maybe he would even earn himself a girlfriend.

He descended at breakneck speed, after a certain 30 meters of closeness to the wyvern he rolled into a ball with his sword poking out.

He collected mana in his sword and manifested a fire aura, it shot out in the direction behind leaving a blazing trail of fire.

The aura was forced out in a direction that propelled Ravien to spin at a higher rpm.

A spinning wheel of fire was rapidly approaching the wyvern.

Ravien met with another battle on the inside, the gravitational force was disorienting him, he struggled to stay focused.

His mana concentration slipped and the spinning speed dropped.

The power was too low when the fire wheel clashed into the wyvern, it did do some damage but the cut was too shallow to kill the 2 ton beast instantly.

After going through a quarter of its torso, his body slammed into the wyvern, knocking it off course.

They crashed into a few stalls and shops before coming to abrupt stop.

Ravien was incapacitated but the wyvern still had some fight in it, it tried to bite Russell who was on its back.

It was an awkward position and the wyvern only chomped on air before there suddenly was a loud thud followed by its groaned.

Kuoooooo...

A large figure stomped on its nose, restricting it from moving.

Kiaaaaaa...

A shriek followed shortly after, a large broadsword was plunged between it's eyes.

Ravien looked up, his eyes met the man's.

"Haha, I've managed to hunt one dad. Let's go eat out tonight."

***

Dead silence played in the dining room.

A kid in his teens stood pinching his ears while his dad was sitting at the table.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous your stunt was?!"

The fury of captain Mason was unleashed upon his son.

"I had to ..."

"Had to what? Cause public damage while almost getting yourself killed? "

Mason cut his son off, it was the first time he gave Russell such a stern scolding, which shows just how dangerous his stunt was this time.

"I just wanted to be a skyblade like you..."

Ravien's eyes reddened, his eyes gushed out streams of salty tears.

"You know that it's just not possible right? You were born with an affinity to fire."

"I know, but I thought if I tried hard I could maybe make it. "

Mason gave Ravien the cold reality, better to break it to him earlier before he has more of these "incidents".

It was a known fact that only people who had a wind affinity could be a skyblade.

Even if he was a genius child that achieved the level of a 3rd tier mage at the age of 15, it did not changed the fact his element leaned towards fire.

He excelled in manipulating fire but the habitat of a skyblade was the sky and required one to be loved by the winds.

Ravien was like a fish trying to climb a tree when he attempted to enter the habitat of a skyblade.

His dreams were as unreachable as the stars.

Bang!

Ravien ran up to his room with a heavy slam of the door, announcing his dissatisfaction.

Leaving Mason alone at the dining table.

'Was I too harsh on him? He almost died today.'

He contemplated his decision.

Mason risked his relationship with his son to ensure Ravien's safety and happiness.

'Ravien would only find disappointment and despair on this path' --- Mason reasoned.