TodoBaku - Dragon's Riches

20

Shinso only wanted one thing in his life. It wasn't money or power which was why he lived outside of the Land of Wealth and Power, always struggling outside the borders.

He had set himself in a small house on the outskirts of a poor village and rotted away under the glorious sun. Though he dreamed of becoming a Seeker, not for the riches but for the adventure, his quest turned unsatisfactory as his control on his own magic was nonexistent.

So he stayed home, selling herbs and hoping to one day master himself. He, technically, had two different magics. Controlling others with his words was natural since birth and, while he embraced it, others did not. That was part of the reason he left his home town and kept his identity unknown to many in this new town he was staying in.

His second was complicated. A spirit shaped as a man in his thirties with unkept black hair was the object of all his troubles. He was known as a Spirit Guide by the name of Aizawa, a terrifying man whose eyes could glare daggers into your soul.

Shinso doesn't know how he came about gaining this Spirit Guide, but he had always been around. The Spirit Guide had the ability to nullify others magic flow which, in turn, made them unable to fight with anything other than swords or their bare fists. An extremely helpful ability which Aizawa refused to share with Shinso.

But he needed it to get into the Land of Wealth and Power.

While the land seemed open and free, it was not. You needed a certain level of skill, strength, and magic to pass though which Shinso didn't have, even with Aizawa's help. So, he thought of the next best thing.

If he couldn't walk through, then he could break through.

Of course, this required Aizawa's help to break through the magic barrier to the other side, which the spirit was not willing to do, so Shinso was stuck.

Again.

"Shinso! Are you in?" shouted Kendo, banging the door to his home.

Shinso turned from his work bench, putting the map he had out under it into one of the many drawers right above his legs."Yes, you may enter!" Shinso shouted, moving to greet her at the door.

Kendo walked in, followed by Monoma who had a sleazy smile on his face. Shinso was not happy at the extra company.

"Wow, your home hasn't changed a bit," Monoma commented, looking around and rummaging through his things without even asking for permission to do so. To say he irritated Shinso would be an understatement.

"Why is he here?" Shinso asked Kendo, refusing to speak to Monoma.

"I couldn't trust him to stay back at the camp, so I had him come with." Kendo grabbed Monoma by the collar of his shirt, pulling him away from all the things he was messing around with."I'll make sure to keep him in line."

"Ha! If anything, you'll have to keep him in line," Monoma scoffed.

"Shut up."

"What? Still salty about what happened last time?" Monoma let out a mocking laugh, letting the hostility reach into his eyes.

"I said shut up, or I'll make you," Shinso growled, implying the use of his power which made Monoma bite back his laughter."What did you come here for, Kendo?"

"Ah, yes," Kendo said, moving to sit down in Shinso's kitchen. He took a chair across from her with Monoma on his right."It's about our plans to breach the barrier..."

Shinso had let them in on his plan to break into the Land of Wealth and Power because, once he found out they were in the same boat as his, he thought it only right to let them in on his plan. Well, he wasn't really fond of Monoma's involvement but that was a different story. But they've had to hold things off because of Aizawa's stubbornness.

"I've heard rumors of that kingdom we were planning on resting at, and they're not good." Kendo looked at Shinso, eyes glazed with worry."Have you heard anything about this from your contact in the castle?"

"No," Shinso said, letting himself sigh."I haven't gotten a letter from Ojiro for weeks now."

"Well thats to bad," Monoma said, twirling around the the bottles in the middle of the table."I mean, I had a good plan, but I guess we wont be going with that, haha!"

"That plan was absolute crap," Aizawa said, suddenly appearing from behind Shinso."So was the one to meet with Ojiro. We should just stay here and spend the rest of our days in peace."

"Aizawa..." Shinso mumbled in almost a growl.

"Huh? Did you say something? All a could hear was the mumblings of a weak little spirit," Monoma said, glaring at Aizawa with an odd smile on his face.

"Ungrateful brat," Aizawa said back, moving to sit in the empty chair on Shinso's left."So, what are you playing on doing?"

"Does this mean you'll help us get through the barrier?" Kendo asked, features holding false hope.

"Just curious."

"Well, I've already got a map of the way to the kingdom. We might as well go to see what's happening." Shinso rested his head on his hand with a sigh."If they don't want us, we can try and find some other place to go."

"What if it's an ambush?" Aizawa asked, sounding more like he was testing Shinso. He did this often, probing at Shinso's mind to find out what he was thinking.

"We'll send scouts beforehand to check around the kingdom to make sure its secure."

"Yeah, if we can even get that far," Monoma countered, loving to be the barer of bad news.

"We will," Kendo said without any hesitation, her eyes pure and strong.

There was a knock - more like a loud couple slams - on Shinso's door, pausing their current conversation.

"A customer?" Kendo asked as Shinso got up with confusion.

"Shouldn't be. Shops closed on Sundays."

Shinso's confusion only increased as he wondered who was outside. Another loud slam pulled him out of his daydreaming and he moved to open the door.

Standing in front of him, clad in typical peasant clothes, was Todoroki Shouto, prince of the Todoroki Kingdom and next in line to take the throne.

Shinso was so shocked he almost fainted.