"Grah! Hut! Oo—"
The swinging of dull swords, and the subsequent clashing, was quite noisy so early in the morning.
They continued to clash, until Damien was smacked in the cheek with the weapon, taking the hit and falling to his butt with an "oof!"
"Did'ja have to hit so hard? Yeesh," Damien groaned, getting back up. "You're the one who wanted my training, so do not complain," responded Hiein.
"Yeah yeah, my bad."
Damien readied himself, taking on a two handed stance, as Hiein rushed forward and began to swing.
Hiein went high and Damien blocked, going for a counter which Hiein had to react to by attacking the blade, getting it out of the way for his own attack, which would have stabbed Damien through the head.
"Tch, you got me again," Damien said, taking a step back and sitting down on the basement floor.
The destruction and death caused by Arthur's assault was being taken care of by the police. By this point, it was known that dragons existed in the world, and it was causing quite the hassle for every one of them.
The Assas family went from one mansion to the next, as they were indeed very wealthy.
'Get strong and protect mom.'
That was Arthur's goal which he bestowed upon Damien, who took it with gladness. He had a pretty highly competitive spirit, so trying to get as strong as he possibly could was not something he rejected.
"I suppose you're done with weapon training for now. Now we're going to train your Dragon Art."
Damien got up and, with a hasty slash, was cut on the face enough to draw a drop of blood.
"Yeowch," Damien yelped, before touching his face and looking at the blood.
"We've tested most of the known Dragon Art's for you, but there are a few that have been untested. Let's try two of them, known as Vampirism and Blood Enhancement."
"Okay, how?"
"Firstly, lick your own blood, and then," Hiein commanded, before cutting his own hand. Damien licked his own blood without much issue, and nothing happened.
"So you didn't get lucky, then," Hiein told him plainly. "What do you mean?" Damien asked.
"On rare occasions, assuming you do have either Vampirism or Blood Enhancement, one's own blood could suffice. I don't need to explain why being able to be boosted by merely licking one's own blood is useful."
Then, Hiein extended his hand, and Damien looked at it with wide eyes, shrinking away.
"Ew, what're you showing that to me for?"
"Lick it."
"Oh no, my creepy uncle's telling me to lick up his body fluids!"
Hiein looked at him with an unamused face, before Damien clicked his tongue. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said before swiping his finger across Hiein's hand, taking some of his blood before putting his finger in his mouth.
'Ah? This tastes like drinking Sprite!'
Then, he healed his wound, and felt a hint of strength surge through his body.
"Well, you've just healed, so your Dragon Art is Vampirism," Hiein said. Then, Damien looked at him, saying, "but I feel stronger."
"Hm?"
"My body feels a little bit stronger. Do I by chance have both abilities?"
Hiein put his hand over his chin, before healing his wound and looking over Damien.
"Ah… no, it is definitely possible. Rare, but possible."
"Wait, so I actually can have two Dragon Arts?"
Hiein nodded his head, explaining,
"In certain cases, if two Dragon Arts are similar enough, it is possible to have two of them. It is still counted as just one Dragon Art, because as far as recorded history has shown, no one can have two Dragon Arts at once, perhaps with the exception of those who break the Second Taboo, but that's just myth."
"Oh, I see… dude, this is pretty sick, though! I'm assuming Vampirism allows me to heal when I drink blood, obviously. And does Blood Enhancement strengthen my body if I drink blood?"
"Yes, it does."
Damien smiled pretty gleefully, taking his sword into his arms once again.
"Alright, I'm feeling pretty pumped up now, not gonna lie! I've got two Dragon Arts in one, that's some main-character stuff right there!"
Damien was pumped up, and so Hiein continued to train him.
…
Some time had passed, and Damien had to go to school. However, seeing as there was a situation in which Damien was needed, he had gone back to school to tell his friends that he was moving.
After that, he was taken to a rich neighborhood not too far from the Assas family, and went out, seeing the Ost family, descendents of the Bone Dragon.
The Ost family and the Asssas family were allies, so Damien was sent over to get some training.
…
"Ah, you're 16 too, right?" Damien asked, to a gray haired boy, Jack. Jack was a boy of average height with purple nails and gray eyes.
The two were sent down to the basement while the adults discussed what to do about Arthur.
"Ah, yeah, I am," Jack responded, in a pretty low, unenthused voice. Damien smiled and shook his hand.
"Alrighty! I'm Damien, nice to meet you. Please don't whoop me too badly, I'm still pretty new to this whole dragon thing, after all!"
Damien laughed a bit and was given a sword.
He had a choice in the weapon he trained with. Everyone recommended a spear, naturally, but Damien chose a sword, as it seemed the coolest to him.
Then, Jack reached, putting his hand over his stomach as it opened, giving him a sword made from his own bones. He drew the sword, and the wound closed on its own.
Damien's eyes widened, as he took a step back in fear.
"Gah! Dude, that's so freaky, but kinda cool at the same time?!" Damien yelled out, gripping his sword even tighter.
"Hm. You're the younger brother of the Dragon, correct?" Jack asked nonchalantly. Damien slightly tilted his head with a "huh?"
"You mean Arthur? Yeah, I am, but aren't we all dragons?"
"Yes, we are, but he's been given the nickname of The Dragon…"
"Ah, yeah. I'm his younger brother, why?"
"It's just… he's made quite a name for himself," Jack said. "I can't imagine that you're going to be too well-liked because of your relation to him."
"Hmmm… maybe so. But that's how it is. Not everyone's going to like me, and that's okay," Damien replied.
"Hm."
Jack waited in silence, making it even more dramatic.
"How admirable. Let's begin," he said blankly, before the two began sparring.
…
As expected, Damien didn't win a lot. However, despite being a newcomer, he showed tremendous talent, taking the occasional win against the far more experienced Jack.
After their training, they were sent to go eat dinner. They sat next to each other, as Damien didn't really know anyone else there other than his family, and he and Jack talked a fair amount while training.
"Dude, you guys even have the good bread rolls…" Damien muttered as he grabbed several bread rolls and some meat as well.
He turned towards Jack, offering him a roll.
"Dhude, c'mahn, ya gotchla try it." He said, still chewing. Jack shook his head, putting his hand up gently.
"No thank you. I'm not hungry," he said. Damien looked surprised, looking over his body.
Jack was a fairly pale boy, and quite thin at that. Damien finished chewing and spoke clearly.
"Are you sure? It's reaaally good~!"
"Again, no thank you."
"Okay, more for me then."
Damien continued to eat like a pig. Jack did nothing, sitting in silence for a bit before finally saying something.
"You know, you act the exact opposite of what I'd expect from a brother of The Dragon."
"Hm?"
Damien continued to chew and then swallowed to speak clearly.
"What'cha mean?"
"You talk… weirdly. But in a positive way. I'd expect The Dragon to talk weirdly too, but in a negative way."
Damien looked away, shrugging his shoulders.
"I can see why. When I talked to him, he did talk pretty sadly or whatever, but that's cause he's an idiot who thinks he's in a villain arc or whatever."
Damien leaned back in his chair, elbows up and hands around the back of his neck as he stretched.
"I'm telling you, man, he wants to be the self-sacrificial hero so badly! He goes off like, 'do you love me?' And when we say yes, he's like, 'I can't keep you around because then you'd be targeted, and I want you to protect mom and be kept safe.' Like dude, give it a rest! You're not that important, y'feel me?"
When Damien looked around at everyone, he saw them all staring daggers at him. He also could feel the silence, and then realized his mistake.
"Ah."
His face grew hot with embarrassment and sweat, as his mind thought of ways to backtrack.
"Er… that's what he would've said if, uh, he wasn't evil! I read that line in a fanfiction or whatever, but he totally tried to kill me and mom!"
"Damien," Hiein said. "Come with me."
'Ah fuck.'
Damien got up, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut as he followed Hiein to the master bedroom, which was lined with bookshelves.
"Ah, ye—"
A hand was placed around his throat, and he was lifted up into the air. He grabbed the wrist, looking down and squirming a bit.
"So not only did you lie to me, you also are allied with a traitor?" Hiein asked.
"Clagh! I, I didn't, agh…!"
"Oh?"
"Listen! I, I didn't, agh, I'm sorry!"
"Sorry will not cut it. Do you understand what Arthur's objective is? Word is, he plans on killing every single dragon. To ally yourself with him is to support genocide."
"Huh? Wha…"
The door to the room opened, to which the owner of the house entered, a short old man with gray hair.
"Easy on the boy, place him down."
Hiein dropped Damien to the floor. Damien coughed and held his throat, gasping for air.
"What do… agh, what… Do you mean?"
"He plans on killing every dragon, wiping us all out. We are training you to one day be prepared to face off against him. He is the most active threat to our entire kind."
"But… no, then why did he spare me and mom?"
"Perhaps lingering feelings. But I ask you, is it worth helping him kill hundreds of innocent people, men, women and children?"
"I… no. But…"
"Then do not ally with him. This is your final warning. There will be no next time."
Damien kept his eyes on the floor, as his eyes secreted liquid as a result of being strangled. He wiped his eyes, getting up and nodding his head.
'No way… he wouldn't… ah, but he just outright killed Clover… why didn't I… agh… my head hurts.'
Damien went back down, to which Jack approached him.
"I am quite tired. I assume we shall share a bedroom?" He asked. Damien let out a small "ah, mm…" as he nodded his head.
Jack showed Damien the way to his room, entered and sat down on the bed, turning on his console.
"It seems earlier was rough, so, would you like to run duos?" Jack asked. Damien's face lit up a tiny bit, as he smiled and accepted the second controller.
He wanted to think about it later, as his head was filled with painful thoughts and conflict.
So, he enjoyed the rest of the night playing games with Jack.