You deal with him, Kan," Rome said as he walked towards the roof hatch, "I have to make sure the princess and that devil are in a secure place."
Raijah dropped down and landed on the rooftop.
"Get him!" one guard shouted, causing the others to attack.
Raijah flicked his wrist and, red lightning soared at the guards, striking their bodies and knocking them out one by one.
The only guard left on the rooftop was Kan.
His body became coated with steel and, he looked towards Raijah, "bring it on," Kan said.
Raijah got into a low stance.
He placed his right foot in front of his left and stretched his right foot forward, leaving his right leg at a slope. He pointed his right hand forward and kept it parallel to his right leg. And he stretched his left hand back, behind his left foot.
Raijah was using the stance of the prestigious Doragonken.
"W-wait," Kan stammered, "is that..."
"Yes," Raijah affirmed as he began to think about the story Hashira told him about how the art came to be.
Thousands of years ago, humans were at the bottom of the food chain.
At the time, the food chain was dominated by many creatures such as minotaurs, chimeras, and amaroks.
Above all these creatures, the apex predators were dragons. Unlike the other creatures, dragons were peaceful. However, they were feared due to their unique style of fighting.
The location where the dragons lived was known as the Shi Mountains. The Shi Mountains were a system of mountains known for having an abundance of prey.
One of its habitants was a group of humans known as the Shi family. The Shi family was a group of humans who survived by utilizing strength in numbers. They were kind people who cared for one another and tried to keep to themselves.
One day, the head of the Shi family permitted his daughter Saku to go out and play with the son of a nearby tribe. The Shi family had known the tribe for years and considered them allies.
At the time, the daughter was only seven years old. On her way to the tribe, she encountered a creature who was stuck under a giant boulder.
Born into a family that took pride in their kindness, Saku decided to free the creature.
She spent her entire day trying to move the giant boulder. When she made it move and freed the creature, it was overjoyed and hugged her.
It was a blue four-legged creature that had scaly skin. It had large blue wings which spread and began to flap.
The creature did not speak but, it signaled for the girl to get on its back. It flew through the Shi mountains and, on the way to the creature's destination, they encountered a minotaur.
The minotaur jumped into the air and swung its wooden axe at them.
The creature avoided the attack and flew to the ground.
The minotaur walked toward them and attempted to slice Saku. But, the creature she had saved protected her and took a fighting stance.
The creature dashed at the minotaur with incredible speed, striking it in the stomach and sending it crashing into the ground.
As the minotaur landed, it looked up and, multiple creatures resembling the one it just fought appeared. They were much larger than the one he fought and seemed much fiercer. The minotaur picked up its axe and sprinted away, understanding that he had encountered the dragons of the Shi Mountains.
The dragon that protected the girl began to punch and kick the air, as if to communicate with its fellow dragons. After it finished, the other dragons surrounded the girl and threw her up in the air in celebration.
The girl led them back to her family's village and, her father, the family leader, was shocked to see dragons with his daughter.
Upon their arrival, the girl threw a punch at the air, mimicking what she had seen the dragon do to the minotaur. This influenced the dragon's decision to teach the Shi family their fighting style.
Before the dragons began to teach them, a boy walked into the village. It was Warui, the boy from the tribe Saku was going to meet.
He joined the Shi family in learning the dragon's fighting style, which the family leader named Doragonken. The art of the dragon fist.
Over the next few years, the Shi family mastered Doragonken, and so did Warui. He went back to his tribe and, he taught them the art.
Years later, on her eighteenth birthday, Saku went to spend time with her dragon friends.
Saku had grown into a mature woman. She was beautiful and had long black hair and black eyes like the members of her family.
She wore an entirely white gown with a triskele on the back for her birthday and, she cheerfully walked through the mountains.
As she walked into the cave where the dragons lived, she saw Warui and the rest of his tribe standing in the middle. They were surrounded by bodies of dragons, which had stained the ground with blood.
The members of his tribe had fists covered with blood but, Warui was the most obvious. From head to toe, he was covered with the blood of the dragons.
"W-why?" Saku said with teary eyes as she looked around at all the dead bodies.
"It was to test our strength," Warui replied with a grin, "contrary to what you believe, we have truly grown strong."
"You slaughtered the dragons to test your strength?" Saku shouted, "how could you be so heartless!"
"You will be next," Warui said, "If we defeat you, the most powerful Doragonken user, it will truly affirm that all our training has paid off."
"Attack!" Warui howled as he pointed at Saku.
Warui and his tribe dashed at Saku.
She wiped the tears from her eyes as she said, "I'll avenge you, Blue."
Blue was what she had named the blue dragon that saved her from the minotaur.
"My apologies, Warui."
On that day, using Doragonken, Saku singlehandedly wiped out Warui and his tribe.
Although she hated them, she could not bring herself to kill any of them due to the kindness her family had taught her.
"Leave," Saku said coldly, "I never want to see the face of you Korosu tribe members again."
Warui and the members of his tribe scrambled to leave the Shi mountains.
That day, when Saku returned home and relayed the news to her fellow Shi family members, the decision was made.
The Shi family decided to prohibit the teaching of Doragonken to anyone outside of the Shi family.
To this day, only one person outside of the Shi family has learned and mastered Doragonken.
It was a boy. A boy named Raijah.