The Sun Prince Volume 1: The Trial Saga

Chapter 3: Difficulties

I always wondered if it was good or bad to be challenged. Some people see challenges as fun or a great way to improve their skills. Other people find them infuriating because they make their lives harder and can be very difficult that they become annoying. I've always thought both, they can make you better if that's your goal and they can be annoying if you never asked for a challenge. As of right now though I'd say I have one clear viewpoint on them, and it's that I'm pissed!

The minute I got back to the house I burst through the door and ran into the living room to find Ms Sputtermill watching the news of the humans. I immediately stood in front of the TV and glared at her expecting her to know what I was thinking as if there's one thing I know, it's that this lady understands my mind almost perfectly. "So, I assume you found out what really makes this trial a trial didn't you", "I just don't get it, how is taking away my powers meant to help me get stronger?". This trial is definitely different from all the others, before the trials have always been either beating an opponent or learning a new technique, not taking away the thing that makes me strong, "You should know that your powers have not been taken, just made dormant, waiting for you to achieve them again". All this did was make me even more confused, "How am I meant to achieve my powers if I can't even activate a small flame?", "I'm afraid I couldn't tell you, I'm no expert in fighting and training, you'll just have to figure it out on your own".

Well since I didn't have much better to do and no other real options, I may as well begin training to try and regain my powers. So from that day I've spent a week training to try and recover my flames. Every morning before school I would do simple body exercises to stay in good shape. Every lunch at school I would go to my spot of solitude and do Solarion meditation practices that allowed you to improve your flame power and efficiency to try and tap into my flames. Then every evening after school I would spend hours tensing my body and trying to exert my flames by force, but I still wasn't getting any closer than when I started.

So here I am, a week later, sitting in class and all I can think is that this is going to be my life now. I'm going to be stuck here as a weak ass human able to do nothing because my dick of a father took away my powers for some reason! Suddenly the bell brings me out of my daydream and off I go for another disappointing day of trying to go and regain my flames that may never return to me. As I'm walking home, I noticed something in the corner of my eye, it was two guys being dragged behind the school by the 4 dimwits I destroyed on my first day. Seeing as how I've got nothing better to do, I decided to follow them and see what's going on and to my not surprise they start beating up the two guys, punching them to the ground. "So I heard you two thought that it was cool when that dumbass, so called 'Sun Prince' beat us up when our guards were down like the coward he is", that dick! "We didn't mean it like that, we just meant the moves he pulled were pretty cool, he seemed like some expert martial artist". "Well then how about we show you how cool we are by beating the shit out of you guys and then maybe you'll change your opinions of that cocky prick", "Leave them alone Billy!" so I guess that guy's called Billy then but either way it seems someone came from the other side of the school. It seems it was some girl who I think I remember being in my class, must say though she's pretty brave to make herself known, she doesn't seem all that strong so if she is trying to stop them, she should've tried a sneak attack. "Surely you have better things to do than bully these two for being self-conscious about getting you asses kicked", pfft brave girl to out them like that, "How about you go home already and stop being such an asshole".

"Ooooh so you think you can just boss us around, well how about I tell ya I ain't afraid to hit a girl so either beat it or you can join your ass on the ground with these two los-". Oh damn, she just slapped him square in the face, I would've gone with a kick to the balls but that works to I guess, "Now I suggest you get out of here and leave these guys alone". "That's it, I gave you an out but now you're gonna pay for that one!", I could've left them alone to deal with things but that girl was brave and earned my respect so I should help her out. I caught billy's arm before he could punch this girl and twisted it so it was in the perfect position for me to break it. "Alright billy that's enough, either take your dimwit crew and walk away with some pride or I break your arm and leave you in tears, pick one", and sadly he picked the boring option and pulled away his arm and ran away with his buddies.

"Thank you for helping me out, I can talk a good game but I'm not exactly any skilled fighter like you", I turn to see this girl doing a slight bow to me, I guess that's how they thank people here, "My name is Salia by the way, you are Sol Starflame I think you said, the new kid in my class". "That's right, I'm surprised you can remember my name considering we don't talk at all", "well it's not hard to remember your name, plus when you introduce yourself as a prince of the sun, it's hard not to forget that person". I understand that I saved this girl from a beating and all, but I don't get why she is being so friendly to me, "well I'm going to get going now, try to stay out of any fights", I was starting to walk away but I felt her grab my wrist. "Wait, would you mind helping me take these two to the nurse, they're injuries may not be that bad, but they clearly are struggling to stand and I can't carry them both". I really didn't want to have to help these weak humans more than I should but it's not like I've got much else to do, "ok sure".

We took them to the nurse's office and they got some ice packs to put over their bruises and then then after 10 minutes of sitting they got picked up by their parents. So now here I am, standing here, with this girl who clearly wants to say something to me but doesn't seem to be able to find the words. "If you want to say something you can just say it", she got shocked by the fact I noticed, not that it was hard to, and finally spoke up "Well I was just wondering, you say you are a sun prince and so I'm just curious if it's because you are a strong fighter and so you use it as an ego booster or something?". Figures that's what she was going to ask, I mean I won't deny that I use my title as an intimidation tactic at times but still, calling it an ego booster is a bit of a stretch, "I call myself the Sun Prince because that's what I am, whether you believe me or not I don't really care as long as you don't disrespect me like those dimwits". "Well I mean, the way you act so casual as you say it, plus your fighting abilities, makes me want to believe you but the sun should be uninhabitable and it defies all logic so I can't believe it". "It may seem unbelievable to you humans but that's because you created this fantasy genre to make all the supernatural things nothing more than fictional".

As we continued our little conversation I started to feel on edge. Normally I only ever feel like this when I think I'm in danger but who the heck could be a danger to me when all these humas are so weak. I started to look around whilst this Salia girl continued to keep talking and that's when I saw something coming from the sky, it was hard to tell what it was, but it had a shine to it, so it was something bright. That was when I realised that it was coming down right to where we were standing and it was coming at very fast speeds. I quickly grabbed Salia and dived out of the way as the object fell right onto the ground causing a gust of wind from the force that sent us flying into the school through the front doors. I checked to make sure Salia was ok, for some reason, and then I ran back out to see what the hell that was and that's when nothing but shock hit me as the object that came crashing down was a human.

"Finally I arrived, god that took me longer than I thought, guess I need to work on my speed after this". I stood there confused looking at this guy as I didn't understand how a human could achieve such a feat but when he started exerting some flames from his hands, I realised this was no human, this was another solarion. "Good evening my prince, I bow to you", the attitude this guy had when he did that was clearly not one of actual respect, so he definitely isn't here to help me or anything. "Who are you and what do you want?", "My, my straight to the point I see, well then, my name is Firetrag and to put it simply, I'm here to kill you". That last line was all I needed to hear for my body to tense up and realise that this trial of mine is going to be a lot harder than I will ever know.