"Where am I?" He asked himself as he looked around to see he was a small clearing around a large snowy pine tree Then his mind began to rush with his new memories giving him a huge headache. Suddenly he heard a nearby bush move.
When he heard someone moving through the bushes behind him and as a reaction from his old life he search for a weapon. He found a knife attached to his hip.
A elder man with a long grey beard walked through bushes to find himself with a knife to his throat and he said. "Zander it's just me calm down." "Sorry Sensei. You surprised me." Zander says as he puts the knife away. "Well no that you are 8 years old. You can begin your training." The man says as he pats Zander's head then they head deeper into the woods.
They finally reached a large field with a single very large tree in the center. "We will start with the basics of hand to hand combat. No powers." Sensei says as he walks to the open space. Sensei was the only person besides Zander's parents who knew of his powers
As they began to spar Zander surpassed Sensei's expectation of his fighting capabilities. "Zander where did you learn to fight like this?" He asks as he is barely able to stop his strikes.
"I don't know it all seems like muscle memory." Zander says as he didn't remember his past life or his encounter with the keeper. "Maybe you have gained all of your father's skills and abilities." Sensei adds then suddenly there was a large fire in the direction they came from. "The village is on fire." Zander says as he began to run towards it.
When he breached the wall of trees that surround the village he came to find his home was up in flames. "If you do not pay taxes this is what will happen!" A large man wearing armor said surrounding by soliders. He stood next to a cage on the back of a wagon it had a a woman it. Zander recognized the woman. It was his mother.
Zander began to lose control. His aura became darker and darker by the second then suddenly Tatsumi comes running over. "Bro why is our house on fire? Why is mommy leaving with those men?" He asked as Zander had calmed down seeing him. "Its ok the fire was started in a accident and the men are going to help mom pay for a new house." Zander lied as the wagon began to leave. Tatsumi was only 3 years old so wouldn't understand what was happening.
-xXx-
Late that night the soldiers had reached a small clearing off the main road and decided camp to wait till morning to finish their journey back to the capital.
Zander stood on a branch of a tall tree with the moonlight lining his body. He scanned the area below using his king eyes ability, then he found his mother. She was being held in a large tent in the center of the camp.
There were twenty soliders in the camp nor including the leader. With five of them guarding the perimeter and another five sitting around a large fire then the rest sleeping in their tents.
Zander jumped to the ground then began to dispatch each of the guards using his knife to slit their throats as he moved with his demon speed. Once all of the guards had be dealt with he began to work his way through the camp killing every last one of the soldiers.
After a few seconds all soldiers layed on the ground in a pool of their own blood. Zander searches the camp for the leader, but failed to find him, so he began to move closer to the tent where his mother hand been held. "Its sad that I was also ordered to kill or I would keep your as my personal whore." Said the captain of the now dead soliders from inside the tent.
Zander pulled away the fabric door of the tent to see his mother had been raped my the man and now he had stabbed her straight through her chest. He began to will with rage and the tent begins to catch fire from the huge amount of heat coming off him.
The captain turned to see Zander's eyes pure red at the door of the tent then suddenly right infront of him holding a knife into his gut. Before the man could say anything Zander chopped his body to bits sending blood splattering all of his face and clothes.
As the remains of the captain fell to the ground, Zander turned to see his mother holding her wound and a towel gaging her. He pulled the towel off of her. "Mom its going to be alright. We are going home and building a new house." Zander says as he wrapped his mother in a towel. "It's ok Zander. You don't have to sugarcoat it. Just promise me that you will always protect Tatsumi as his older brother." She says with a smile as she wipes the blood from his face and cried as she looked into his eyes. "You are so much like your father. He is where you get your power from, but you don't have to become him, find your own path as a man. I love you." She kissed his head before closing her eyes. Zander felt her life slip from her body and he hugged her hard as parts of the burning tent fell to the ground around him.
-xXx-
A few days had passed and a small imperial scouting unit traveled down the road. Their mission was to locate the missing group of soldiers.
"General sir, a traveler spoke about a camp dew west that was burned to the ground. It maybe the camp of the missing squad." A soldier as he stopped behind a man standing on the balcony of the imperial outpost. "Ok then Bulat gather some men and go investigate." The general says as a tall muscular man with long black messy hair steps out of the shadows in the room. "Yes sir." Bulat says as he turns and leaves the room.
As Bulat and some soldiers neared the location of the rumored imperial camp, he sensed a strange remince of power hanging in the air.
They made their way through the tree line to find the whole area scorched. The only evidence of there being a camp was the horses that the soldiers had formerly been ridden, drinking from a stream. As soldier moved closer, the heat coming from the ground began to melt his armor.
"Fuck! How the fuck is it still that hot?" A soldier yells as he rips off his armor then Bulat takes the partially melted sword and tossed it onto the scorched ground. Within a couple of seconds the handle bursts into flames and the blade melts into a puddle of red hot steel.
"Get the horses from the riverbank. Avoid the scorched areas!" Bulat said as he turned and head back to the road. 'Only a S-class danger beast can create that carnage. What mission was that squad on?' He thought to himself as he got on his horse.
When they arrived at the outpost, the general asked for a report. "They are all dead. Their camp was burned to the ground and the ground itself is still hot enough to melt a sword in seconds. If I can know, what mission was that unit on?" Bulat says as he stands infront of the general's desk.
The general sighed then began to speak. "Thats unfortunate to hear of their deaths. I'll tell you, because you are such a loyal soldier, but do not speak of this to anyone. Have you hear of the demon king?" "Yes, but I thought it was an fairytale." "I very much wish it was. The demon king was a humanoid X-class danger beast that all other danger beasts submitted to and the only one every found with that ability. The imperial arms were secretly created to kill him, but right before his death nine years ago. He said that his son would bring the down fall of the empire. Recently we were given information about the king's apparent lover. She was said to be living in a country side village, so the soldiers were sent to capture her and bring her back to the capital all while keeping it under the radar." The general says as he opens a drawer of his desk and takes out a cigar then lights it. "So you thing the son of the demon king that destroyed the camp?" "I believe it is." "What are we going to do now?" "Nothing we will have to a mass all of the imperial arms to kill him if he was control of his full power and that information is unknown." The general answers as he looks out the window.
-xXx-
13 years had passed since Zander and Tatsumi's mother had died. Soon after Sensei took them in and continued to train Zander to control his powers. The empire has begun taxing all of the commoners into poverty.
On this morning Zander stood at the same tree Sensei had found his years ago. His messy red hair blew in the wind as a cold breeze blew past. He had gotten a lot bigger over the course of his training and aging, he was now 6'4 with a athletic frame at the age of 21.
"Big bro! There you are." Yelled Tatsumi as he walked through the trees. "What is it Tatsumi?" "Sensei wishes to speak with you before we leave. He is at the training field." "Ok thank you." Zander says as he pats his head then walks to the field.
Sensei sat under the old tree of the training field. "You asked to see me?" Zander said as he leaned against the tree next to Sensei. "I see you have finally been able to sneak pass me."The old man says with a smile. "I have something to give you." He reaches inside a large hole in the tree to pull out a large jacket and a black katana with red accents that went up the blade.
"This is your father's sword Akumano and his jacket." Sensei says handing them to Zander. He took the jacket pulling it on. The fabric of the jacket was made from S-class danger beast skin and the metal accents were from an S-class. It was long so it came to just above the bottom of his thigh. He then took the sword, when he did he felt his powers being drawn into the blade.
"Thank you Sensei." Zander said as he bowed. "Now let me send you and the others off." Sensei says as they walk to the front of the village to see Tatsumi, Sayo and Ieyasu.
"Goodbye Sensei! We will send money back to the village once we join the Imperial army!" Tatsumi says waving back as him and the others begin to leave.
"Zander you must protect them especially Tatsumi, he is very naive. You are the only one of them that knows the imperial armys true brutality." Sensei says. "I will Sensei. Thank you for everything you have done for us." Zander says then shakes Sensei's hand before he heads off to catch up with the others.
'Olivia hopefully your son will chose the right path in life and use his powers for good.' The man thought as he watch the group begin their journey to the capital.