Chapter 13 - The weakest

Hikari was down on one knee as the king greeted him, Elena was snickering in the background, and Hikari was very confused. Why was he being laughed at for proper etiquette? Did he mess up his posture, was it a mistake he made? Nothing made sense at that moment. Elena wipes a tear of laughter from her eye and stops snickering. She walks to Hikari's side and pulls him off his knee. The king rises from his throne once more and says, "I can guess you're very confused at why we laughed at you for doing something you were supposed to do. Am I correct?" Hikari hurridly stammers yes to the king's question out of pure nervousness. The king says, "It's because you're one of the prophesied heroes. By the law of this land, you don't need to kneel to me. While you aren't on my level of status, you are ranked higher than most nobles." It all clicks in Hikari's head and he goes red with embarrassment. Elena pats Hikari's back gently and says, "I contacted the king last night so we could play this prank on you. You should've seen your face! You looked like you were going to wet your pants out of fear, it was hilarious!" Hikari's face reddens even more while saying, "Ha-ha, real funny, you bullied a sixteen-year-old." The king dismisses Hikari's last comment with a flick of his wrist before telling Hikari he needs to meet the other heroes. "Elena, take him to the training grounds to meet the others. We need to get him up to par with the others." Elena bows her head to the king before escorting Hikari out of the throne room. When the doors close behind them, Hikari playfully punches Elena in the arm and Elena bursts into more laughter. "Sorry for embarrassing you kiddo. Just think of this as a good memory to tell the grandkids one day, ok?" Hikari sighs and smiles reluctantly before saying, "Yeah, got it loud and clear." while both of them walk away from the throne room. After going back the way they came Hikari notices something in the air. He could feel a trail of mana in the air and Hikari knew Elena could too. Elena casually faces the direction the mana trail was coming from saying, "Looks like they started their training." Elena points down the hallway to a large door that has a bright light peeking under it. When Hikari looked at the door, it was almost as if Hikari is drawn to it, he almost feels the same way he did in his dream. Like hypnotism in progress, his mind almost seems to drift away, but it is not the same. He slowly approaches the door, feeling like there is nothing to fear, but the closer he gets to the room, the harder it is to move forward. When both of them get to the door, Hikari snaps out of his trance. Elena opens the door and both are greeted with blistering heat. The inside of the room is like a dessert, the sun glares down on them, and the room is filled with sand. As Hikari's eyes adjust to the harsh light, Elena shoves Hikari inside with one arm. Hikari knows Elena is about to close the door on him and turns around to protest, but is distracted by the sword thrown at his head. Hikari catches the sword as Elena says good luck, and slams the door in his face. The door disappears right in front of his face leaving him seemingly stranded. Hikari starts groaning, sits in the sand, and holds the infinite azure over his shoulder as he tries to think of a way to get out. Just as he starts to get comfortable, a girl lets out a war cry, drawing Hikari's full attention in her direction. Hikari can feel the mana around him move towards her as raises her hand, her mana control almost flawless. She holds, what appears to be, a spear made of mana and readies her arm to throw it at him. Hikari prepares five fireballs behind him, ready to counter the spear in front of him. Before Hikari can begin to make conversation to deescalate the situation, the mystery girl throws the spear at Hikari forcing him to move. It had been a long time since Hikari was forced to move at full speed and was caught by force from the explosion the spear made as it made contact with the sand. Hikari was flung across the sands, rolling until he hit an invisible barrier knocking the wind out of his chest. Hikari tries to stand but he can't get up. His vision moves in and out as he tries to focus on breathing. He can see the girl walking up to him slowly but can't make out her face. Her voice is muffled and he can see a couple of people come over the dunes, Hikari slowly raises his hand and tries to make a fireball but he can feel his consciousness fading. With every ounce of his willpower, he starts to make a fireball, the lessons Magnus gave him coming back into mind. Hikari determined to not lose, feels a surge of heat around him. It is hot but it doesn't burn. This heat is different, it fills Hikari with strength. Hikari's sight sharpens back into focus, and a jet of blue flames erupts from his fingers, barely missing the girl in front of him. She jumps away from him and makes two more of the mana spears from earlier. She shouts at Hikari, "So this is the power you were hiding from me!" Hikari, full of confidence retorts, "Well, I didn't even know I had this type of power, guess you can call it a surprise for us both!". Hikari unsheathes the Infinite Azure and readies his stance. It is as light as a feather in his hands and radiates power. The girl jumps high into the air and throws two mana spears at Hikari, but this time Hikari evades them and the explosion with ease. He runs past the mana spears and closes the distance between both of them. The girl was in his territory now, his comfort zone. That, however, doesn't mean she wasn't prepared. The girl summons a mana sword and blocks his first attack. The power behind his strike is tremendous, the girl grunts with effort as she barely pushes Hikari back. Using her free left hand, she sends Hikari flying backward with a burst of wind magic, but this time, he lands on his feet. Hikari's blue flames start to creep up his blade when a loud voice comes from the sky. The voice says, "I've seen enough. Tiki, you can quit now." suddenly, the girl named Tiki disappears in a flash of light. The room around Hikari begins to shift, the sand seems to melt away, leaving only an arena about the size of a football field. Hikari looks up and sees a man peering down at him. The man has long hair dark hair that he keeps in a ponytail that goes to the bottom of his shoulder blades. He looked to be around twenty-six and wore rectangle-shaped glasses. Something peculiar about the mystery man Hikari noticed is that he has a scar in the exact place his father has his, over his left eye. The man takes off his glasses, jumps over the railing, and floats down from the platform. When he reaches the ground, he is a little shorter than Hikari, five-foot-ten inches to be exact. He looks Hikari in the eyes and fear, unlike anything before washed over him. The warmth disappeared from his body, and his eyes went back to normal. Hikari's instincts were screaming for him to run but his feet wouldn't move, or more accurately, they couldn't move. Hikari looked down and saw that his feet were stuck in place by ice-like crystals, whoever this man was, he was dangerous in ways he could not comprehend. The man slowly walks around him, examining him from head to toe. When they both come face to face again Hikari can move again and stumbles backward. The man offers his right hand for a handshake and says, "Hello young Hikari. My name is Ryke Vasteos and I will be acting as your master while you train to become a true hero of legend." Hikari takes his hand and firmly shakes it as all men should. Ryke guides Hikari over to a bench on the wall and they both sit down. They both sit in awkward silence for a few seconds before levels with Hikari. "So Hikari, from what I could see, you have a basic understanding of magic and your body is in good shape. You also have tons of untapped potential that barely made an appearance today." Hikari smirked at the praise but was immediately shut down by one of Ryke's side-eye glares. "Still, You are by far the weakest hero among us. Your magic is so basic and unrefined, not to mention your body is far too weak. If I sent you on a mission or to the battlefield with the others you'd surely die. Without question." Hikari looks at Ryke and is lost for words, he had never known what it was like to be called weak, let alone be weak. He wasn't always the most powerful but for someone to say he was so weak that the battlefield wasn't even an option, it hurt Hikari's pride. Hikari whispers, "What do I have to do to get stronger." Ryke looks at Hikari and notices his tone is getting darker. "I need more power if I'm going to avenge my father and right now, weakness isn't an option. I'll do whatever it takes, just make me stronger." When Hikari says this, a different aura is being given off. The heat is similar to when he activates his eye of the sun, the wavelength is also similar, but the energy was much darker and more intimidating. One can almost call it evil. Hikari's iris starts to take on the dark red color of blood until Ryke slaps the back of his head. This snaps Hikari out of his trance and he holds his head. Ryke puts his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Ryke knows the feeling of loss and even though he just met Hikari he wants to comfort his best friend's son. "Hikari, you still need to meet the others, people who are blessed with the heroes mark. They will be your peers in training, the ones you will strive to surpass." Ryke stands up and snaps his fingers. Two people walk in the door that he came in a few minutes ago. The last person to enter is the girl named Tiki. They were all wearing the same uniform and walked with a militant order in each step. Ryke steps forward and introduces each of the heroes by name. "Hikari, this Agnimitra and Tiki. I'll leave you to get acquainted with each other." Ryke leaves the room, and as soon as he does the two girls begin to act like normal teenagers. Tiki stretches, smiling at Hikari, and gives her his hand to shake. " It's nice to finally get to meet you Hikari, without fighting." Tiki seems like a happy-go-lucky type of girl to Hikari, he takes a mental note of this and smiles back. He says, "It's nice to meet you as well Tiki, although you did a real number on me a few minutes ago. My ribs still ache a little." They both share a laugh and Hikari turns his attention to Agnimitra, who quietly watches Hikari before smirking arrogantly. Her dark skin and braided creamy-blonde hair make her look weird for a human. Most humans' hair and skin tones stay within a certain spectrum unless you are in Hikari's family tree, specifically on the father's side. White hair was their family trait, but dark skin and blonde hair, that was peculiar. "So this is the new runt of the litter? I thought you already had that covered Tiki." Agnimitra crosses her arms and looks down on Hikari. Before Hikari can speak, Tiki defends Hikari by saying, "Agnimitra, you just met Hikari and you're already comparing your power levels. That's incredibly rude y'know!" Agnimitra scoffs at Tiki's words, her disrespect clear to see. Before Hikari had a chance to speak to her, he knew the type of person Agnimitra was. "That boy could barely stand up to you, and you weren't even going all out. Hell, he can't even use a mana cloak it seems." Agnimitra leans into Hikari's face, the arrogance plastered on her face while she mocks him. Hikari closes his eyes to drown out her incoming insults and focuses on his loved ones. He almost succeeds in drowning her out when one phrase cuts through his attempted meditation. "You were so weak, you couldn't even save your father. Aren't you supposed to be a hero?" Tiki steps back, appalled by what Agnimitra said. Hikari's eyes fly open with rage as he throws a punch straight at her jaw. Agnimitra catches Hikari's punch with ease. Agnimitra brutally and suddenly twists his wrist, making him crumple to the ground. Tiki shouts, "What the hell Agnimitra! How dare you speak ill of master Alduin!" but Agnimitra shuts her up with a single glare. Anger radiates off of Hikari as he glares up at Agnimitra, all the pain that Magnus helped move on from surging back to him. A tear falls from his eye as he says, "You fucking bitch! How dare you speak of a dead man this way, let alone my deceased father! I'll have your fucking tongue!" Agnimitra laughs a heavy laugh, her hubris, and pride made very clear. "Is that a challenge little weakling?" Hikari spits in her face before saying, "What do you think, bitch?" For the first time in a long time, Agnimitra losses her cool as she knocks Hikari out cold with a single punch. Hikari slumps to the ground, and Agnimitra wipes the spit off her face. Tiki avoids Agnimitra's eyes as she walks to the door, cowering before Agnimitra because she fears being hurt, and Agnimitra knew it. Before Agnimitra leaves the room she says, "Tell that filthy son of a bitch I said one month, one month before I embarrass him in front of the whole kingdom." and after saying that she slams the door. Hikari wakes up thirty minutes later with a pounding headache in a very vibrantly decorated room. He sees his swords leaning against a chair as he scans the room. Hikari leans back on the comfy pillows before Tiki comes through the door. Seeing him awake, Tiki rushes to Hikari's side and hugs him. Taken aback by the sudden gesture, Hikari pushes her back a little bit. Tiki gets the message and lets go of him. "Is this room your room Tiki?" Tiki blushes a bit before nodding her head. She says, "I've practically lived in this room my whole life," before whispering, "I've never had a boy in here before." as she blushes. Hikari rubs his temple as he tries to remember what caused his headache. Just as he starts to remember, Tiki says, "So I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Agnimitra got grounded for a week because of what she said and did to you. The bad news is," Tiki hesitates before finishing her sentence, "you have to fight Agnimitra in one month. Our strongest member." Most men would cower or try to back out, but what Hikari does puts a little fear into her heart. Hikari smiles before saying, "I can't wait." but as he says that, he falls back to sleep.