Prologue cont.
Crunel hits Masakado on the head with a bat as hard as he can, knocking him out flat on the dock and causing his head to bleed.
"So, what are you going to do Masakado?" asked Bruce. Bruce is about six feet tall and has long black hair with a lightly scared face. He also wears a leather jacket, but he doesn't have any spikes.
I finally come to, and Bruce, Merle, Steamer and I are the last ones who are conscious on the deck. The other gang members who were attacking me are either face down in the sea or unconscious on the dock.
"Why are you guys doing this?" I asked.
"Because you are the only one who can save your mother Masakado. You, and you alone." Merle replied.
"But I'm scared. I'm not strong enough to go into the beast forest alone. No one is!" I replied.
"Trust me you're definitely a strong enough kid. Merle wouldn't lie to you." Says Steamer, a large rotund man with a grill covering his face and metal plates over his jacket and pants. I think to myself maybe he's right. I am strong enough.
"Tell me where the dragon is." I reply
"In the heart of the forest." Merle says.
"Fine, if there's a chance, I can save my mom I'll take it. But if you're lying to me... Whatever, just get out of my way." I walk away from the three men without saying what I fully want because I'm scared. Even as I walk by them, their eyes give me chills. Especially Merle with his disfigured mask-like face.
I reach the common villagers' side of the village with blood still on my face and clothing and the villagers I grew up with take notice immediately.
"Masakado, who did this to you!? And where are the other kids!?" Ask Mr. Rupert, the acting chief of the village.
"Masaka. What's wrong? Come here let me patch you up." Says Ms. Bumstead, the caring elder of the village, who tends to everyone whether they're a gang member or not.
She grabs my arm and starts to walk me over to her stand.
"No, it's okay Ms. Bumstead. I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me." I said as I gently tugged my arm away.
"Oh my god. You're just a baby, who on earth could've done such a thing to a precious child." Replies Ms. Bumstead
"That's enough I'm sick of those thugs. They've gone too far this time! Are you guys with me!" Rupert says to the other villagers.
"Come on, you need help. You can't do everything by yourself, okay? Everyone here cares about you. Don't be scared, okay." says Ms. Bumstead.
I start to tear up, but I wipe my eyes before the tears fall.
"It's my fault. I started a fight with the thugs, now my friends are gone." I said.
"What do you mean gone? Where's Hatsuhime?" Asked Nuriko, Hatsuhimes father and a village farmer.
"Sorry." I replied. I ran away before any other villagers could ask me any questions.
"Hey Masakado!" exclaimed Ms. Bumstead.
All I can think about is what the Hell gates told me. I can't feel sad now, I have a mission to do. I need to save my mother. I reach the city wall which keeps our village protected and slip through gaps of the large fence, coming face to face with the unknown. I take my first step on the soil of the forest, and I know there's no turning back from here.
[Masaka at 8 years old and injured has crossed a raging river on logs, climbed steep cliffs, dodged falling boulders with more force than a missile, and ran away from wild boar and other predators in the forest for two days and nights. The only thing keeping him going is the hope of finding a way to save his mother.]
I'll be back soon after I beat the green dragon and get your medicine mom. Just hang in there. Even though I can't feel my legs I'll keep on running. Even in this pouring rain.
But, in the distance I noticed a flame burning bright in the pouring rain deep into the night. I stop running toward it because this shouldn't be possible. Just as I stop to observe what is before me, I hear rustling in the trees.
"Who's there?" I ask.
I quickly turn around, purely off instinct and see a giant green reptile with the head of a dragon, the body of a snake, and many legs slithering through the trees around me. I have my eyes on it the whole time while it circles me from above. I try to run away, but the reptile grabs me by the shirt, and it luckily rips. When I land, I try to run away again but the creature whips its tail and smacks me, sending me flying through the trees, and leaving a large gash on my side that bleeds profusely. I scream out from the excruciating pain.
I gather all my strength to scurry off the floor, but it is too late. All I can see is the giant creatures gaping mouth quickly approaching me.
"I cannot die here. I have to save my mother!" I think to myself
I turn around to come face to face with the dragon and drive my fingers into the ground, and this incredible serge of energy runs through my body. I pull a massive chunk of earth from the ground beneath me and throw it at the Dragon knocking it down. I let out a weak breath of relief, but I faded in and out of consciousness from blood loss and fatigue. Right as I begin to fade the beast rises before me again, then I hear a large bang. I passed out.
I can hear a voice, but I can't tell who's talking to me.
"Hey kid you want some?" Asked the mysterious man.
I wake up with bandages around my wounds and before me is a man who looks to be in his forties with a draping jacket with a phoenix covered by a large red x on it. He points a kebab at me.
"I, I don't take food from strangers." I reply.
"Hahahaha, right, right my apologies. So, what are you here for?" Says the old man.
My stomach growls. But that's to be expected since I haven't eaten in nearly two day. The old man points the Kebab at me with a smile on his face and I snatch it and eat it very quickly.
"I'm here to find the green dragon and get medicine so I can heal my mom. My mom is sick, and they told me that I need to run into the forest and kill a giant green dragon to get medicine to heal my mom." I said.
The old man has a concerned look on his face and shakes his head.
"Look over there." He says while pointing at the slayed beast. "Whoever sent you here didn't have your best interest in mind. That beast has no healing properties in its blood, it's actually quite the opposite. If your mother would've dank this she'd drop dead immediately." Marx says with a scary serious look on his face.
"But they, they said this was.." I begin to sniffle and my eyes well with tears. I begin to ball crying and Marx is visibly uncomfortable.
"You have guts kid. I saw the whole thing. And you're very strong, who's your mom?" The man Asked
"My parents? I'm not telling you anything, that's too personal!" I exclaimed while wiping the tears from my eyes.
"It looks like someone in your family was blessed with great power some time ago. Who knows, maybe you're related to a legendary hero. Hahahaha." The old man says.
"Maybe. My mom says at this moment my dad is on a great adventure. She had to leave to take care of me. But I'll get strong and go on my own adventure as an Outlier so she doesn't have to watch over me anymore, and she can see my father again. She really loves him." I said.
"Oh, goals at your age. And an Outlier you say. You must have an intelligent mother." The old man says with a smile on his face. "So he knows about Outliers too, who this kid?" Marx thinks to himself.
"Yeah, she's really, really smart. She taught me everything I know! But now, she's..." I get emotional and my throat starts to swell up and my eyes start to tear up and I start to cry.
"Wait kid, don't cry." Says the old man while panicking.
"I can't just sit around, my mom's dying! There's no one around to help! I don't know what to do anymore!" I exclaimed.
"You don't have any friends?" The old man asked.
"Yeah, but something happened, and we got separated."
"My name is Marx, but most people call me bullseye. Let's be friends' kid." Says the old man, Marx.
"Okay." I reply joyfully.
"Now look, I'm only doing this because we are friends, and friends help each other when they're in need." Says Marx.
Marx shows me a cool looking bottle.
"Take it, this is a medicine called angel's breath. It heals any disease, but it's very powerful so put only one drop of it in your mother's food a day and she'll be better in no time. It's from my home country." Says Marx
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah." Replied Marx.
I hesitantly take the bottle Marx hands me.
"Thanks Marx... I mean, no I'm not taking this, it could be poison!" I said.
"Hahaha! Kid, trust me I'm not that type of person, if I was you would be dead right now." Marx replies. "Ah just take it kid, I'm sure your mom's waiting for you."
Marx put the bottle in My pocket.
"Remember to never let anyone see this medicine, and don't let people lie to you and push you around anymore. You're a strong kid, fight for what you believe." Marx says. He stands up and looks off into the distance.
The sound of horses and chariots rings through the forest as they draw closer to Marx and me.
"Seems, like my ride's here." Says Marx
"You're leaving?" I asked.
"Masaka breaks through the walls. This world is unforgiving, and it will throw everything it has at you to stop you from achieving your goals. I believe in your dream, but it's up to you to make it a reality. I hope we meet again when you break through those walls." Marx says as he gets whisked up by the horses and a lengthy line of men and horses follow behind running at full speed and Masaka is in awe.
"So cool!!" I exclaim as I watch him ride off into the darkness of the forest.
[Masaka arrived home the following evening after surviving a treacherous journey back through the dense forest under the cover of the night, only to return to a terrifying site.]
There's no way. The village is on fire, and I can hear the screams of the villagers and the sound of gunshots. I run to the wall as fast as I can, and I am absolutely seething with rage. All I can think about is the safety of my mother.
[Merle Brice and Steamer and a large group of his me are outside of Masaka's house. Merle is staring at the door intently. He approaches and feels an extremely strong blood lust coming from it and it stops him from walking. The gang can feel Kaen's presence and see her form even though she is laying lifeless in her bed.
"Incredible, Lady Kaen. Even though you are dying, you still have this much power." Says steamer.
Merle puts his hand up.
"This is why you and your son need to die."
Merle puts his hand down. And gives his men an order.
"Fire!"]
I run towards the house as fast as I can, and the first thing I see is Merle and the Hell Gates. I then see Merle point at my house and then a group of his men proceed to shoot multiple rounds into my house, riddling it with thousands of bullet holes.
I feel empty upon viewing what I just did. I hear the bandits laugh in the distance as they ride away on their horses. I sped down the hills as fast as I could and burst through the front door of my house. My mother lays in her bed unresponsive, with blood spilling all over her bed.
"Mom, wake up I'm here now, everything's going to be fine now. Mom!" I cry.
I remember the bottle of medicine I received and showed it to his mother.
"Look I got what I was looking for all this time. You see. Here, open wide." I say to my mother with my shaky childish voice.
I open my mother's mouth and feed her one drop of the medicine like Marx Instructed.
"Ah please mom wake up. You can't leave me, I finally found medicine." I say while wearing the false expression of a smile, hoping it'll get my mother to respond. I put my head down in utter disbelief at what was occurring. Reality sets in and my face begins to twist with anger. But suddenly I feel a light pressure on my arm.
"Mom?" I say in my distraught state.
"Oh Masaka, you're all beat up. Why do you look so sad? Let me see your smile." My mother says to me.
Kaen wipes the tears off my face, and I force a smile for her.
"I'm fine mom. We just need to fix you up now alright?" I reply.
"I wish I could've been there for you more Masakado. but even if I'm gone, you'll still be able to live on your own. I'm so sorry you had to go through so much because of me. I wish I could've been a better parent to you, my lovely little boy. Please promise me to never lose your smile?" My mother says.
She kisses me on the forehead and tears roll down my cheeks even though I'm smiling. Tears fall down my mother's face as well, but her smile is real and sincere.
"Mom no! Please. You can't leave me." I said while hugging my mom and crying on her shoulder.
"Masaka, Forgive me. I'm not long for this world." My mother's voice fades as she says this.
Her hand falls from my face and I am totally distraught. Tears are no longer falling from my eyes. The emotions I feel right now are indescribable. My Mind is blank.
"Mom. Mom. Mom." Are the only words I can say as flashbacks of all the people who got in my way and hurt me, and my family begin to flood my mind.
Is this feeling what I think it is? Mother is this what hate is?" I lift my head and look at my lifeless mother and rage consumes me completely and I scream in anger.
I stand up and stumble while holding my face screaming at the top of my lungs while thrashing around.
"I'm gonna kill them!" I exclaim.
I grab my mother's blade and my energy begins to flow through them once they are unsheathed. I open the front door to my house and run faster than I ever have before. Ms. Bumstead is backed up by a thug and I cut him down along with all the others I came across. Every thug I pass falls to my blades. I torpedo through the village painting the streets with the blood of my enemies.
Merle and his gang are on a boat looking at the chaos when they see a trail of smoke.
"What is that?" Bruce asked.
"Looks like you two lost your bets." Says Merle
I reach the docks and slice through all the men on it quickly while screaming and crying.
"Merle!" I exclaimed
I try to run toward the ship, and the men keep on getting in my way trying to stop me, but I cut through them all."
Bones is on the ship laughing with the others.
"That kid is really something else. Why don't we add him to our forces?" Ask Bruce.
"Yea, that's a great idea." Says steamer but Merle shuts that idea down immediately
"No way. He'll be way too much trouble for us to handle when he gets older. It's better to just kill him now. Men raise Gustav." Says Merle
"What." The gang asked in shock
"Are you making me repeat myself?" Merle Exclaimed
The men run and turn wheels and the center of the ship opens and a giant cannon rises. But I will not be deterred.
I finally get through the wall of men and make a clear path to the ship. I see the canon, but due to my rage I continue to move forward.
"Fire." Merle says
The cannon turns red and compresses. Then it charges up and I put my blades up preparing to slice the ship in half.
"This entire village will be turned to ash." Says Merle
The cannon fires and it is the size of a small house. It comes close to me and destroys everything in its path on the way. Time slows and my heart starts to beat out of my chest from fear, but I keep my stance. Something awoke in Me, and my Reiki (The highest form of life energy, given to us by the universe) flows through me like never before. My blades clashed with the bomb, and I managed to keep it in place. The people on the ship were extremely surprised.
"This is absurd. Why was I the one who had to take care of this? Oh well, no complaining about it now." Says Merle
I'm starting to push the bomb back, but my feet are being pushed deep into the ground. Merle pulls out his gun and smiles at his men.
"Fire. Make sure that boy dies!" Merle yells.
The bullets hit the cannon and it explodes, leveling a large area of the village and creating massive waves that carried the large ship far out to sea. I also get blown away by the blast, but luckily my fall is broken by a large haystack on a farm, but the impact makes me cough up blood and I black out. Suddenly my mind takes me to a time in my past.
Me and all my friends are sitting outside around my mother Kaen.
"The end." Kaen says
"Woah, that story was great! I want to be the great conqueror." I exclaimed
"It's Probably just a fairy tale." Hatsuhime says.
"Hey, you don't know that! Shut up and be quiet if you don't know what you're talking about Hatsuhime!" Replies Jackie
"Hey, don't cry, it's okay." Hatsuhime says in a Mocking tone
"Stop babying him, he's too old to be crying like that Hatsu." Says Tona
"Tona she's making fun of him, not babying him. And stop bothering my brother Hatsuhime! Francis yells.
"Hey, I knew that I was just joking!" Tona exclaimed.
"Hey everyone, stop fighting. It'll ruin our smiles. I know what we're going to do after we get strong." I spoke.
"What is it?" my friends asked
"We're gonna go on the greatest adventure ever. And I'm going to become the king of all, and we'll change the world together." I replied emphatically and all the others looked at me with admiration.
"That's so cool Masaka, I'm in." Says Hatsu
All of us smiled and put our hands together.
"Let's explore the world together!" We shouted
"Mom, what is the most dangerous city in the world called?" I asked
"It's called Gyokuro city. Why?" My mother Kaen asked skeptically.
"Have you been there before?" I replied
"Of course, I have." My mother says.
"Ohhh kay! Guys, we're gonna start our journey in the capital of the kingdom, the most dangerous city in the world! And I know mom's friends are gonna help us when we get there so we'll be fine!" I exclaim.
"Yeah, we're gonna conquer it from the inside out!" Francis says.
"Yeah!" We all shout, and everyone is smiling and happy. And Kaen is irritated.
"Oh no you're not!" My mother yells, she gets up and chases us and we run off smiling.
[10 days later I stand before the beast forest once again]
"I need to get stronger." I say as I look into the beast forest.
Now in the present day, as a young 17-year-old boy with a sad face and scarred body, I sit on top of the village hills alone and stare off into the swirling sea.
"It's time, Gyokuro."
Fin~