Several days had passed since Derivan, Ronibo, and Ranika left the Kingdom of Dedho.
"Are you finally going to tell me where we're going?"
"You'll find out in time."
Soon, the trio reached a small town.
"Alright, we'll stop in this town for a bit. Let's grab something to eat," Ronibo suggested, and Derivan immediately agreed.
"AWESOME, I'M STARVING!"
Ranika only sighed. "Ugh, you two go eat. I'll try to buy something for the rest of the journey."
"Great plan."
Ronibo and Derivan went off looking for a restaurant or a tavern when they suddenly heard someone calling Ronibo.
"Ronibo, is that you?"
They turned around and saw an elderly man and a young boy, not much older than Yashimiro.
"Hey, Kajon. What brings you here?"
"I could ask you the same."
"Hi, my name's Ratoi."
"I'm Derivan."
Soon, they all headed to the nearest restaurant.
"So you're telling me this old man is a former holy mage?"
"Exactly."
"See? My grandpa is amazing," Ratoi said.
"Don't exaggerate. I don't like it when people react to me like that."
During the conversation, Ronibo came up with an interesting idea. "Hey, Kajon, how about letting the kids test themselves against each other?"
"Are you sure about that?"
Ronibo nodded. "Of course. I'd like to see how strong your boy is. What do you think, Derivan?"
"Sounds good. I'd be happy to try him."
"And you, Ratoi?"
"Sounds interesting."
The four of them left the town and headed to a clearing, where Derivan stood opposite his older peer.
"This is just a friendly spar. Don't overdo it," warned the former holy mage.
The boys nodded, and at the starting signal they both rushed at each other. When Derivan tried to attack Ratoi, the latter suddenly appeared beside him and knocked Yashimiro several meters away with a punch to the face.
"He's fast," Derivan thought as he got back on his feet.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?"
"That was just a warm-up," Derivan replied, charging again.
Before Shonetsu could reach Kajon's grandson, Ratoi appeared right in front of him and began delivering a series of incredibly fast blows to his torso, finishing with a kick to the stomach.
"Kajon, does your grandson fight only physically? I didn't see him use any magic."
"As always, you draw the right conclusions. Yes, you're right Ratoi was born without choki, so he can't use magic. To make up for that, he focused on developing his physical abilities," Kajon explained.
"I never thought I'd meet someone who doesn't use magic at all."
"As for your student, it's clear he's struggling with Ratoi. But if he were to use his true potential, he would defeat him easily."
"I think it's too early for him to use his true power. First, he has to become strong enough to control it."
"I understand."
Ratoi attacked Derivan again. This time Shonetsu dodged by jumping into the air. Suddenly, however, the former holy mage's grandson appeared in front of Yashimiro, catching him off guard, and knocked him to the ground with a kick to the face.
"Damn it. Shindo!" Derivan fired a stream of lightning from his hand.
Ratoi dodged the attack, letting it pass right by his face. "You still need more training if you want to be on my level."
Derivan clenched his fists at the comment and charged again. This time Ratoi leapt over him, grabbed Derivan by the head, and slammed him into the ground.
"See the difference between our levels?"
"Damn it…"
"Alright, that's enough" Kajon and Ronibo decided to stop the spar.
Ratoi extended a hand to Derivan, helping him up. "You okay? I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"
Derivan took his hand. "I've had worse. But now I've got another reason to keep getting stronger. Next time, I swear I'll beat you" he said with a confident grin.
Kajon's grandson smiled as well. "That makes me really happy. I'd like to see that." The two teenagers bumped fists.
"Alright, we should head back to town. Ranika is probably looking for us."
After saying goodbye to Kajon and Ratoi, Derivan and Ronibo returned to town.
"Where the hell have you been?" an angry Ranika asked.
"Sorry. I ran into an old friend and we talked for a bit" Ronibo replied with a nervous smile, scratching the back of his head.
Ranika sighed. "Sometimes I really regret coming with you."
"Ronibo, where are we going now?"
The man smiled at his student's question. "This time, we're heading to a place where we'll continue your training."
Derivan was excited to hear that. "Really?"
Ronibo simply nodded in response.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Nohara continued her training with Barkut.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course. Let's begin."
Barkut created a dozen magical energy projectiles, while Nohara activated Kuritaizu. Barkut sent the projectiles toward her; Nohara's hands were covered in purple crystals, and the red-haired teenager began deflecting the attacks with her hands. Two projectiles appeared behind her, but she sensed them, and before they could hit, Nohara formed a crystal shield behind her that protected her.
"You're getting better and better at using Kuritaizu" Barkut praised her.
"Thanks."
"And to think she handles it this well even though she awakened Kuritaizu just a few days ago" Barkut thought.
After finishing their training, Nohara and Barkut returned home.
"I'll make something for dinner," Barkut suggested.
"Okay." Nohara went to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection specifically, her long hair.
[Flashback]
Several years earlier…
A young Nohara was running through the forest, fleeing from a pack of wolves.
"Please, someone help me!"
At one point she tripped over a rock and fell to the ground as the wolves began to approach. The daughter of the King of Kasegi closed her eyes, waiting for the end when suddenly a young boy stood in front of her.
"Leave her alone!"
Nohara's eyes widened at the sight of a boy about her age. He began striking the wolves, forcing them to retreat.
"Hey, are you alright?" the boy asked, turning to Nohara and offering her his hand.
"Yes, thank you."
The boy smiled and then ran off in an unknown direction.
[End of Flashback]
"Dinner's ready."
When Nohara came into the kitchen, Barkut was surprised to see her with short hair.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"Long hair would remind me of my weakness, so I decided to cut it."
"I understand."