Dragon Soul

Chapter 4

After Kenji, Rebecca, and Lilith got lunch they left the guild and started to walk around Orion. The city that they were specifically in was called Hunterion, named that because of the many people hunting for opportunities. Kenji was mainly admiring the sights of the city since it's a place he hasn't been anywhere besides Owari. Rebecca and Lilith acted more as babysitters than crewmates. They constantly held back Kenji from doing things that he wasn't supposed to, for example trying to duel random strangers in the middle of the streets. 

They were all having a good time, Lilith and Rebecca were mainly laughing at Kenji's ignorance the entire time. Kenji felt something he hasn't felt in a long time, this feeling almost seemed alien to him. To him this feeling made him feel secure and happy around his new crewmates that he would consider his friends. 

As the day came to a close the crew found themselves walking back to the guildhall, where they usually have apartments for rent. The two suns were beginning to set as they walked down the streets of Hunterion for the final time that day. Suddenly Kenji felt a strong presence next to him. Time seemed to have slowed down as Kenji looked behind him. In his vision, he could see someone trying to swing a massive sword down on Rebecca's head. Kenji unsheathed Red Lily and tried his best to block the attack. He pushed Rebecca out of the way into Lilith, knocking them down. Kenji tried to block the strike but the sword was too heavy and it ended up throwing him off his balance. The attacker jumped back and put his comically large sword over his shoulder. 

"Ah I see, so there is someone who can at least match my skill in swordsmanship." Said the attacker. His voice sounded young, around Kenji's age (which he is 15 btw). His outfit consisted of a black jacket and black pants. He also wore a red sash across his waist and on his face was a face mask. His eyes were a soulless grey and his hair was brown and was let down. On his arm was a watch.

"Wait people still use swords? I thought only Owari still used swords." Kenji said.

"You may look strong but you're a fool." The assailant said, "I have never met an Owarian before, so before my job is done I will fight you." 

Kenji smirked, "I accept but tell me one thing why were you going after my friend?"

Rebecca and Lilith both got up and armed themselves with their weapons. The attacker simply sighed.

"Why would I tell you? I'm not a cliche." 

Kenji took a deep breath and unsheathed his other sword, "You seem like a worthy opponent so I'll use both my swords against you-"

Before he could finish that sentence the attacker seemed to have teleported behind Rebecca yet again. But Lilith shot him before he could land a clean strike on her. The attacker grimaced in pain as he fell to the ground. He could feel the bullet inside of his body, but that didn't stop him. 

"You are quick on the draw, I will give you that," He said before getting and moving to Lilith to deliver a strong strike using the flat edge of his sword. 

Lilith seemed to be knocked out cold after she hit a wall with such force it left a crack in it. The attacker then put his sights back on Rebecca once again. Then suddenly Kenji's voiced began to boom.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kenji yelled.

The attacker was very close to killing Rebecca but he stopped himself before he could do it.

"Let's make a deal!" Kenji said.

"And what would the deal be?" The attacker said.

"You said you wanted to duel me before you complete your mission, so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone?" Kenji pointed at the attacker, "We'll have a duel, and if I win you go back to your master with your tail in between your legs and tell him that you couldn't complete your mission! But if you win you can have Rebecca, but keep her alive!" 

The attacker sighed, "Fine, I will let her live but I can't say on my boss's behalf. But I will try my best and there will be no interference." 

"Alright, challenge accepted! I, Kenji Yamamoto, wielder of Red Lily and Shuhei challenge you to a duel!"

"I, Griffith Wendbrook accept your proposition of a duel!" 

Whilst tending to Lilith, Rebecca overheard Griffith, 'Griffith Wendbrook? I feel like I've heard that name before.'

Then, before a single drop of sweat could fall to the ground, Griffith and Kenji began to clash blades. Sparks began to fly and fall all over the ground of Hunterion. Griffith's massive sword was very overpowering compared to the two katanas Kenji had. But Kenji didn't let that get the better of him. He used his pure power to constantly keep parrying the strikes. Multiple times the blade came close to hitting Kenji but Kenji played the defensive. Kenji kept taking deep breaths to keep up with Griffith's strength. But Kenji parried the blade so perfectly it caused an opening and Kenji took it. He rammed Red Lily through Griffith's chest with all of his strength. Griffith coughed up a little bit of blood and grabbed Kenji's wrist.

"Well looks like you were able to land a hit on me, I'm impressed." After Griffith said that he teleported behind Kenji about to make a strike.

Kenji took a deep breath and dodged the attack. But by dodging Griffith's sword slammed the ground causing him to be thrown up. Kenji tried attacking from the back but Griffith kicked back and hit Kenji in the face. Griffith picked up his sword and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Tell me Kenji, how can you still fight after the constant punishment I've given you?" Asked Griffith. 

"Glad you asked," Kenji said, "I have a weapon technique that has been passed down generations through this dojo I trained at. And it pretty much allows me to increase the blood flow through my body, making me stronger." 

Griffith tried to teleport yet again but was interrupted by Kenji.

"You don't want to do that, because I know how it works! You scan someone using that thing on your wrist and it allows you to teleport behind them."

"H-how did you know?" 

"This weapon technique also improves blood flow to the brain and eyes, allowing me to access some type of precognition. But let me show you in practice."

Kenji held his swords tight as he went for numerous strikes against Griffith who tried blocking with his massive blade. Griffith could feel Kenji's strikes becoming stronger and it felt like any moment his arms would break from the impact. Rebecca watched in absolute amazement as Lilith slowly began to heal. The fight between Kenji and Griffith raged on, their blades clashing and making more sparks. To stop the fight, Griffith decided to use the tip of his blade to kick dirt up into Kenji's eyes. The dirt entered Kenji's eyes causing him to scream in annoyance as he tried to rub his eyes. Griffith used this time to teleport behind Kenji and stab him in the back using his massive blade. Griffith rammed the blade into the ground causing it to go through Kenji's entire body.

"Now Kenji Yamamoto, you have lost," Griffith said walking up to a distressed Rebecca.

Rebecca tried her hardest to attack Griffith but he just dodges the plasma arrows fired from her bow. Even when she tried running he just teleported behind her and grabbed her by the arm.

"It's about time we leave and don't worry I won't kill her," Griffith said before he teleported away, out of sight and leaving a sword inside of Kenji's back.

Kenji stuck his hand out and began to shed some tears, getting flashbacks of blood on his hands, "DAMMIT!!!!!"

AUTHORS NOTE: And thus marks the first arc of the series. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with dragon soul and I hope you're enjoying it. I am putting a lot of time and effort into this and I hope I get good feedback to help improve the writing and therefore improve the reading experience. I just want this to be a good space fantasy epic and something that would just be really fun to read.