Chapter
1: The Beginning
In a distance era, there was
a sacred village on a mountain called Black Dragon Mountain. For hundreds of
years after the Great War that rewrote the entire surface of the Earth, the
people had live there to avoid the chaotic and unforgiving world below.
Geographically, the mountain is almost impossible to climb. It is too high that
you can clearly see the cloud under you when you are on the top and too steep
for any army to effectively invade. Additionally, the mountain itself does not
have any political or economic value.
During this time, the Earth
was controlled by 4 great empires and hundreds of smaller city state covering
the great landmass and sea. Wars and battles were occasionally happened between
city states but rarely among the empire. Despite that, the world is at peace
most of the time, mostly due to power balance between the empires and peace
loving warriors. That is until the black cloud of turmoil beginning to rise
from the far west, unnoticed and uncontrolled.
Back to the Black Dragon
Mountain, the elders begin having unrest and uneasy feeling day by day, and
believed that it was an omen or warning for them. About 15 years ago, a boy was
found in the rain in front of the shrine. Hungry and cold, the shrine keeper brought
him inside and after a fair debate with other elders, they allows him to stay
there. They learned that his name is Hyoujin Tansen, or Jin for short and he
had been living there since then. The village chief sense that he was not a
normal person and secretly teaches him all skills he knows until he has become
strong. One thing that bothers everyone is how did he ended up on the mountain.
Despite his foggy origin, his
fighting skills are exceptional and consider as the best among the students of
the shrine. Although his skills are completely beyond others, he rarely shows
them. Until one day, the village chief and other elders summoned all the
village people to gather at the grand hall. In wake of the recent omen, the
village elders had chosen one of his students to wield the legendary black
sword and travel to investigate the source of the ill feeling. It’s all going
great but one thing is missing, it was Jin.
“Kazuma, go find him and
drag him here if you must. He must be sleeping on the tree at the small forest
north of here. And take this banana with you.” The village chief asks his
student to find him and hand him a banana. Just as the chief had predicted, Jin
is peacefully sound asleep on the tree. “Hey Jin, wake up! The chief is calling
everyone to the hall!” He call for him but Jin is still asleep in which he
proceed to yelled, scream and lastly focusing his voice and turn it into
shockwave attack. Since all attempts failed miserably, he pulls out his secret
weapon, the banana from his pocket and throws it right at Jin head.
The banana flew perfectly
and in mere seconds, hit him square on the face and with a loud ‘dush’, Jin
lands hard on the ground, head first. It was not the banana the actually forced
him down, it was actually the rock tied up to the banana. He rubs his head and
look angrily at his dear friend, Kazuma. “Why did you do that? It was uncalled
for.” He said as he bend down and picks up the banana Kazuma used to wake him
up. But Kazuma just ignore him and drag him by the collar to the hall. “We’re
late!” That the only explanation he gives.
Meanwhile, the hall is in
uproar now that the crowd is nervous since they have been waiting for Jin for
almost an hour now. Suddenly, the hall’s doors opened, and all eyes are on Jin
and Kazuma, well mostly Jin for he was eating a rather large banana. “Good. Now
that he is here, let’s begin this gathering.” Tamaki, one of the top students impatiently
told his master.
“Hear me, my young
warriors, we, the elders have discussed and agreed upon chosen one of you to wield
the legendary black sword and sent out on a journey. We all agree that he is
the strongest of you, the most pure hearted although quit a joke sometimes.” He
stops for brief moment of silent and examining all of the students. “Jin, you
are the perfect one to do the honor.” The village chief announced rather
plainly.
Jin, who is eating a banana
suddenly spurt it out, almost hit Kazuma’s face but miss and hit the person
next to him. “A joke, I told you so.” The chief exclaims to the other elders.
But Tamaki isn’t happy with the decision. “But sensei, he is not even from
around here! He might be strong but I don’t think he is enough to wield the
sword! I am one of the strongest here and I think I am strong enough to inherit
the power of the sword!”
“Yes sensei, I think that
he is right. Despite my current strength, I might not be able to wield the
sword, let alone control it.” Jin humbly says no to his master’s request,
trying to avoid any rivalry between the students. The chief in response ignore
him and stare coldly at Tamaki with an angry look in his eyes. “We elders have
taken this into account when we discuss this. The way we see it is there is
only one way to settle this. Jin and Tamaki will have a duel.”
And just like that, the
fight was on. The so self proclaimed best student attack with everything he got
but none of them hit Jin. Every ounce of energy was wasted on wind as he misses
on almost all attacks. Eager to finish the duel, Jin attacks with a technique
called Roaring Dragon Kick which
clocked at 50 000 hp and deadly accuracy. Surprisingly, that single kick defeat
the ‘best student’ and knocked him out cold. All of the other students and the
elders have seen the true power of Jin. Nobody dare to challenge him anymore.
“Well done Jin, now take
this sword and this gem. You must go on a journey and find the other 6 dragon
gem.” The village chief speaks as he show him 7 holes in line at the middle of
the sword. Only one of them is filled with a shiny black gem. On the other
hand, he was not really explaining what he should do rather too simple and with
the least eye candy words. “After you have successfully found them, you will
have the power to control the dragon.”
“But sensei, I don’t want
the power. I just want to stay here and live a long happy life. And also I want
to eat….” before Jin could finish, his master told him something shocking. “It
is your destiny, you must pack tomorrow. Remember, you have our blessing.” Then
again, he was really not making this easy on poor plain Jin, with simple
explanation and very little details. In hesitation, Jin nods and all the students
return to their home.
“Wait Jin, I need to speak
to you.” The village chief gives a signal to follow him. Jin follows him to the
garden. “Jin when you first come here, it is clear to us that it is your
destiny to inherit the sword, especially with the gem in your grasp. We have
prophecy here that we hold on for nearly five centuries. We always believe that
the Ancient Warriors will return to destroy the plague in which they fought
hundreds of years ago. You will meet many friends and face strong enemies, but
never use the sword until you have got the entire gem!”
Jin is very confused. “What
happen if I use it without its entire gem?” “Jin, with your power now, you
cannot control the dragon sealed inside the blade yet.” “What do you mean
sensei?” Jin looks at his master. The chief answers without even looking at
him. “You will lose your soul to the dragon and you might die.” Jin is quite
shock but he still look calm.
“Oh yeah, Jin. You better
put your sword into a box.” “Is it to control the power of the sword, sensei?”
“Not exactly. You see, when you bring the sword out, you will attract many
attention. Oh, one more thing. Can you please control your appetite?” Jin can
only laugh before he answered, “I will follow all your advice, sensei. Well
accept the appetite thingy.”
The next day,
Jin is packing his stuff
which is mostly food. He also put the sword into a box that he found earlier or
to be more accurate, it was an old wooden carrot box. He also bring a wakazashi
(a sword that looks like a katana only shorter), a bunch of bananas, two
pineapples, a sack of rice, and six hard boiled eggs, all straps to the box.
“Jin, you really should control your appetite.” His friend Kazuma advice as he
finishes all the eggs even before the journey starts. Jin laughs as he
remembers the same advice from his master yesterday.
After some simple farewell
ceremony, Jin starts off his journey, to the john a few times and then he starts
off his real journey. After climbing down the steep mountain, Jin walks to a nearby
village to stop for resting. Years of living on the mountain has completely
changed his view of the world. There are not many friendly people; all people
in the village are either arrogant or selfish or in some cases, abnormal.
From there, he continue his
journey, stopping only when needed and since he was completely broke, he relied
on nature for resting and food. He continues his journey from city to city,
town to town, searching for information until he arrives at Altrez Kingdom, the
kingdom of warriors. There is our next chapter continue.
