𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙
𝘼𝙧𝙘 1: 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙧𝙘
𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 2: 𝙊𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙖’𝙨 𝙃𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨
Five days had passed since Akira received the scroll revealing the location of the flame fragment.
Tonight, he stood deep in the hills of Osaka, a part of the mountains even the locals avoided, warned of wild animals and hidden dangers.
The wind cut across his face as he ran along the rocky path, leaping over roots and brushing past dense foliage.
His breath came in controlled bursts, his steps silent despite the rough terrain.
Suddenly—a 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚 in the 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨.
Akira froze.
In one fluid motion, he drew his wooden sword from his bag and dropped into a fighting stance, eyes scanning the darkness.
From the shadows, glowing eyes emerged.
A wolf lunged, teeth bared.
Akira sidestepped, the animal’s claws tearing through empty air.
He swung his wooden sword, striking the wolf squarely on the forehead.
The creature stumbled, dazed but not defeated.
He quickly drew a small 𝙠𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚 from his back pocket and struck carefully, piercing the 𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙛’𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.
The animal collapsed, whimpering.
Kneeling beside it, Akira pulled out the scroll and murmured a soft incantation.
Mana pulsed from the parchment, glowing faintly.
Slowly, the wound on the wolf’s side closed, leaving only a faint scar.
He then took a small bowl from his bag, filled it with water, and slid it toward the wolf.
Akira whispered gently, “𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭… 𝘐’𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯”
The wolf lifted its head weakly, sniffed the water, and drank, its glowing eyes following him for a moment before he turned and disappeared into the dark forest.
After walking for some time, Akira arrived at the mouth of a 𝙘𝙖𝙫𝙚.
Mana surged from its opening, thick and tangible.
He inhaled deeply and muttered, “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 other𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦…𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.”
A small chuckle escaped him.
“𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙖-𝙨𝙖𝙣 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
He stepped inside, the cave swallowing him in darkness.
Bats fluttered overhead, startled by his torchlight.
Moisture dripped from stalactites, echoing off the stone walls.
At the end of the tunnel, he found a 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 stone door.
His hand hovered over the carvings.
“𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚…” he whispered.
The door creaked open, revealing a chamber of shadows and 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨.
The remains of past searchers lay scattered, reminders of failure and death.
Creepy statues lined the walls, each holding a weapon as if waiting to strike.
At the center of the hall, a stone plate was inscribed:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. ”
Akira studied it for a moment, then glanced up.
On a pedestal against the wall lay two objects: 𝘼 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.
He ignored the book.
A katana-shaped glow radiated from the sword.
“𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵… 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥” he muttered.
Shrugging, he added, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰.”
As soon as his fingers touched the blade, the statues’ eyes lit up with a burning red glow.
Stone groaned.
Weapons were raised.
They moved.
Akira’s grip tightened on his sword.
“𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵” he muttered.
“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭… 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸.”
He swung at the nearest statue.
The sword shattered.
Akira’s eyes widened.
The unbreakable sword… broke?
Before he could react, a stone fist slammed into his ribs.
Air left his lungs in a painful hiss.
He flew backward across the hall, crashing into the wall and scraping against the stone floor, blood spilling from his mouth.
Groaning, he forced himself to his knees.
“𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺… 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬…” he muttered, scanning the room.
His eyes caught a strange stone object near the wall.
It looked like a sword handle—no blade attached.
“𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦” he whispered, jumping over a charging statue.
He grabbed the handle.
The stone cracked, revealing a hidden core.
Mana surged violently, surrounding Akira in a blazing aura.
In an instant, flames erupted and formed a 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙠𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙖, perfectly shaped in his hands.
He looked at it, then grinned.
“𝘈 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢? 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦… 𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺.”
Clenching the handle, flames coursed along the blade.
He leaped forward, slicing through the statues with precision.
One by one, they shattered under the burning edge.
But the heat was relentless.
His hands and arms burned with every swing.
Finally, the last statue fell.
Silence returned to the hall.
Akira exhaled, wiping sweat and blood from his face.
“𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵… 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦” he muttered.
Then—movement at the entrance caught his eye.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
A man, cloaked and hooded, his face hidden.
His gaze swept slowly over Akira, then the flaming sword in his hands.
A calm, dangerous voice broke the silence.
“𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢.”
He tilted his head slightly, lips curling in a faint smirk.
“𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳.”
The hooded figure took a step closer.
“𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯.”
He paused.
“𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩… 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.”