𝑇𝐻𝐸𝑁 𝐴𝑆 𝐻𝐸𝐴𝐷𝑀𝐴𝑆𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟'𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑦𝑜.
Those words swirl around in Ryo's head tormenting him relentlessly. Two days have passed since losing to Kiyo not once but twice in the same day, Ryo chose to leave the school and returned home.
"FUCK HIM, FUCK HIM, FUUCCKK YOUU KIYOMARO!!!"
Ryo, standing in the center of the training arena with his head and back arched so far back you'd expect him to fall backwards is screaming out his frustration into the night. His breathing is heavy, the sweat pouring from his shirtless well toned body glistens in the moonlight, and torch light. His body shakes so much from rage and adrenaline he can barely hold the training rapier in his hand.
Three men and two women lay about the place. They're guards newly hired by the patriarch of the manor, from overseas. They had yet to meet Ryo until tonight.
"Get the fuck up!" Ryo shouts at them.
"Young Master, that's quite enough."
Ryo turns to the newcomer. "Fuck off Cosmo."
"Young Master, I must insist you stop. Your…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU SMELLY BRAINLESS MONKEY, AND GO BACK TO THE FUCKING JUNGLE WERE YOU BELONG!!!" Bellows Ryo as he turns his attention back to the five still lying on the ground.
Cosmo, a demi-human silverback gorilla, takes this racist remark personally. He takes a step forward with intent to beat some respect into the boy when a hand is placed on his back stopping him.
"I'll take care of it." A firm voice from behind informs him.
"Tch." Cosmo clicks his tongue in response.
As the man walks past Cosmo, he pulls out a round glass bottle with a flat bottom from the item bag at his hip, pops the cork, and drinks down the red contents. He then throws the bottle with all his might right at Ryo.
Ryo, who is too consumed by rage, doesn't detect it flying towards him until it smashes against the back of his head. Ryo whips around and is greeted by a left hook connecting with his jaw; breaking it upon impact, a stiff cross follows, dropping Ryo where he stood.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologize for the actions of my idjit grandson. However the next time he acts like a toddler throwing a tantrum, feel free to discipline him as you see fit. I only ask that you don't kill him."
"Are you sure, Lord Takashi?" Asked one of the men as all five of them stand up and brush themselves off like nothing happened.
"I Yoshi Takashi, lord of the manor, grant you permission to discipline my grandson as you see fit. Just don't kill him."
"Very well."
"Come let us discuss what you'll be doing here."
As all six of them make their way to the manor Yoshi stops before Cosmo. "Bring him to my study, after he's been healed. Let's say three hours from now."
"As you wish." Cosmo answers.
Now only Cosmo and Ryo remain. Cosmo walks over to where Ryo is lying, and sits down next to him. He lets out a heavy sigh as he closes his eyes.
(Character Bio)
Name: Yoshi Takashi, Age: 71, Species: Human, Gender: Male.
Job: Merchant, Class: Healer, Subclasses: Apothecary, Rank: C.
Description: Height: 140 cm, Weight: 64.8 kg, Pleasantly Plump.
Appearance: Thinning Grey Hair, Grey Imperial Mustache, White Skin.
Clothing: Light Blue Doublet Accented By Silver Buttons And Lace, Black Satin Breeches, Black Leather Shoes.
While Yoshi Takashi was enrolled in the Apothecary subclass, he discovered he was very good in this subject. So good in-fact he was deemed a genius in this field of study.
Taking what he learned he created a brand new product. This led to his massive wealth and success in the merchant's world. Going from commoner to wealthy overnight.
He created Strength Enhancement Potions (Red), Speed Boost Potions (Yellow), Stamina Recovery Potions (Orange), Mana Recovery Potions (Blue), Healing Potions (Green), Antidote (Violet).
Every potion recipe is patented and protected by the Merchants Guild.
****
𝐴 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦? 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.
"Shhh it's ok, it's ok shhh. Please be quiet, they'll hear you."
A boy, age seven, does his best to quell the wailing of his infant sister to no avail. She suffered a nasty burn to the left side of her face when the carriage they were riding in was struck by a barrage of fireball attacks.
"There you are, you little shit." A man says walking calmly towards the kids. "There's nowhere for you to go, and no one is coming to save you."
"S-stay a-away." Stamers the boy.
"Not gonna happen kid. You're our meal ticket." A voice comes from behind him.
The boy turns around and finds two more men standing there.
"Now come with us or else I'll kill your sister like we killed your mommy and daddy." Said the first man.
"Now hold on, boss. This brats mom was a real looker. I say we sell the girl to some slave traders." Suggest the third man.
"Tch."
The three men look around for where the noise came from. A pair of hairy hands reaches down, grabs one of men by his head, and slowly press them together, until 𝑃𝑂𝑃! the man's head ruptures like a melon.
"It's in the tree's above you!!" Shouts the boss.
The other man dives to his left away from the figure that dropped down from above.
"Oh a monkey man, how cute. Leave now Mr. Monkey Man or we'll kill you where you stand." Threatens the boss of the group.
"Tch." Is the only answer the newcomer gives.
"Death it is. Boys!"
Seven more men step forward from the tree line.
"Hey boss, let me have the first crack at this one. I wanna add killing a demi-human monkey to my list of kills."
"That's a gorilla dumbass not a monkey." Jeers, one of the men.
"Gorilla, monkey, whatever. Can I kill it or not?"
"Fine by me." Answered the boss.
"Alright let's do this." The man draws a khopesh from his waistband behind his back. He slowly begins moving to his left, looking for an opening.
"You won't find an opening."
"It speaks." Said the khopesh wielder. "Might I have your name?"
"It's Cosmo. Might I have your name?"
"Casey."
"Let us begin." Cosmo raises his right hand revealing a small steel ball. He tilts his hand letting the ball drop, it swings like a pendulum on a wire. Cosmo begins twirling it at his side, then above his head.
"You think you can hit me? You made a fatal mistake by letting me see the length of your wire. Now all I need to do is get my timing down and you die."
Cosmo takes a step forward bringing his hand forward and down, then jerks his hand back towards himself, catching the blood covered ball. Casey stands there staring at Cosmo, a befuddled look on his face. Eventually he looks down at the massive hole in his chest before falling over dead.
"Neat trick." Comments the boss. "You intentionally showed off your weapon, leading Casey to believe he knew the range of said weapon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's an enchanted Monkey Paw. Is it not?"
"Yes, however I renamed this one Monkey Hammer."
"I see. You can change the size of the ball and length of the wire by channeling mana through it?"
"Yes." Cosmo replied.
𝐻𝑚𝑚, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛. Wonders the boss.
"But now we all know what it's capable of. Do you really think you can kill us all on your own?" Taunts one of the men.
"Who said he was alone?"
Three newcomers drop down from the trees. A beastkin spider woman, a demi-human panther, and a demi-human white tiger cub.
"You were buying time until your allies got here. You're a clever monkey man."
"What of the family?" Cosmo asked.
"Dead." Bluntly states the beastkin spider woman.
"Kill everyone here." Orders Cosmo.
"I call dibs on the boss." Proclaims the tiger cub.
****
(Character Bio)
Name: Cosmo, Age: ?, Species: Demi-Human Gorilla, Gender: Male.
Job: Head of Security, Class: Warrior, Rank: B.
Description: Height: 182 cm, Weight: 272 kg, Slender Body.
Appearance: Dark Brown Eyes Framed By A Black Ring Around The Iris, Brown Body Hair With A Reddish Forehead, Silver Hair Along The Back Reaching The Hips.
Gear: Brown Pouch Belt, Brown Canvas Short Trousers, Brown Belt.
Weapon: Enchanted Monkey Hammer.
"Cosmo." A young voice calls to him.
Cosmo opens his eyes to find a girl dressed in a light pink chemise, leaning sideways, her green eyes stare at him curiously, her long red hair swaying to and fro.
"Is Ryo going to be ok?"
"No need to worry Riho. Your brother will be fine." Cosmo reaches into his pouch and pulls out a small vial, with a green liquid. "Pour this into his mouth."
Riho does as she's told. It doesn't take long for the healing potion to work. Ryo has a coughing fit as he sits himself up. Massaging his jaw he looks first at Cosmo, then he looks at Riho.
"Welcome home sis."
"Thank you Ryo. It's good to be back."
"When did you return?"
"Just after dinner. I didn't know you had returned big brother, so I was about to turn in for the night when I heard you yelling. Why were you yelling?"
"How was your trip to the school?" Ryo asked, redirecting the subject back to his sister.
"It was excellent." Riho happly replies as she plops down opposite Ryo in a very unladylike manner. "I met a lot of really nice people there. I can't wait to start."
"Good. I'm happy for you sis."
"Hey Ryo, who's Kiyomaro?"
Ryo's face turns sour, he takes a deep breath to calm himself down. "He bested me in combat practice…twice."
"No way?! What rank is he?"
"The top rank, he's SS. Even the headmaster confirmed it."
"Did you ask him to help train you?" Riho asked.
"NO!" Ryo shouts impulsively, then lowers his voice after seeing his sister flinch. "No, I didn't. I don't need his help to reach SS rank. I can do it on my own."
"Dumbass."
"Huh" Ryo sits there; a perplexed look on his face. "Come again."
"You…are…a…dumb…ass." Riho reiterates each word slowly one by one.
"First of all I'm not a dumbass, and second you need to watch your language little sister."
"Hypocrite."
Both siblings turn and look at Cosmo, as he sits there staring back at them, his face expressionless. After a beat the kids burst out laughing. Once the laughter subsides, Ryo turns to face Cosmo, he gets onto his knees and bows, his head touching the ground. And with his voice muffled. "Cosmo I'm truly sorry for everything I said to you. If not for you and your friends, my sister and I would have died that night, or worse. Please forgive me."
"Tch. Next time, your grandfather won't stop me."
"Understood sir."
"Go get cleaned up."
Ryo sits back up and sees something hopping towards them. "Who is that?"
"Young Miss, what in the world do you think you're doing?" Asked the newcomer, hopping in place.
"I'm talking with my brother."
"Yes child I can see that much for myself. But why are you out here in your nightgown, no shoes on, in the middle of the night? This is by no means how a proper lady should act." Reprimanded the newcomer as she continues to hop in place.
"I think you made her mad sis."
"Don't you mean… hopping mad." Retorts Riho, a big ass grin on her face.
"That will be quite enough of that."
"Pardon me madam, but what is your name?" Asked Cosmo.
"My name? What about yours? A proper gentleman should make the first introduction, and it shall be done while standing; not sitting on one's rear."
"Well, when a proper gentleman shows up I'll be sure to let him know."
"You lot are quite insufferable. But I'll be the bigger hare and introduce myself. My name is Karen. What's yours?"
"Jo King." Lied Cosmo.
"And what do you do here, Mr. Jo King?"
"Security."
"Security." Karen repeats. "Well I'll be sure to inform your boss that I found you sitting around not doing your job."
"What exactly do you do Karen?" Cosmo asked, ignoring her complaint.
"I'm an Instructor." Replied Karen.
"Instructor of what?"
"I instruct young ladies in the ways of proper etiquette. From how one speaks, to one's table manners, walking, dancing, tea preparation, equestrianism, etc. This is drilled into them in preparation for their coming of age ceremony. "Now it's late and the young miss here needs proper rest. Come Young Miss, let us be off." Karen turns, and starts hopping away.
"Ugh fine." Riho answered, rolling her eyes.
"Stop rolling your eyes at me young lady." Shouts Karen over her shoulder.
****
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝐾𝑖𝑦𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠𝑘 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
Two months have passed since then. Every day Ryo gets up and reflects on those words his sister spoke before she left, and every time he repeats his response to her out loud. "I'll consider it."
Ryo makes his way over to the training arena to begin his morning workout.
The training arena is one hundred meters long by one hundred meters wide, and one meter tall. Four torch bowls stand at each corner of the arena waiting to be lit come nightfall. Two smaller torches stand on either side of the stairs leading up onto the arena itself.
Ryo walks up the stairs, and heads towards Tian, one of the five hired from overseas.
"Are you ready to begin Ryo?"
"Yes, let us begin."
Ryo and Tian bow to each other, take up a fighting stance, and their combat training begins. Normally they would train for three hours straight, no breaks, and no water. But not this time, not even twenty minutes have passed when Cosmo calls for them to stop.
"Young Master, I'm to take you to your grandfather's study at once."
"Can it not wait till I'm done training?"
"It's Riho. Something has..." Cosmo stops talking as Ryo bolts past him heading for the manor.
"Tian, gather everyone not on duty, and bring them back here at once."
"Understood sir."
****
"S-stop it p-please. N-no more."
"Stop? Why would I? It's your fault you stupid whore. If you had simply done what I asked of you, this wouldn't be happening."