...
The sunlight hit Ryu's eyes. He groggily woke up, putting up his hands against the sunlight.
"Ugh..." He groaned and sat up.
He looked around, and he was inside a carriage, being pulled by a horse. He saw a man manning the horse and called out to him.
"Mister?"
He was confused.
The man looked behind him.
"Oh! How are you feeling young man?"
The man looked old and had white hair.
"I'm... Fine... Where am I?" Ryu worriedly asked.
"I was heading to Edo when I saw you lying down on the road, so I picked you up, of course," The old man smiled warmly at him.
Ryu nodded and smiled back.
"Thank you so much..."
The old man nodded and went back to guide the horse.
"No worries."
Ryu was happy that he was picked up, otherwise, he would've been lying on the road at night, completely defenseless.
Ryu asked again, "Wait, where did you say we're heading again?"
The old man responded, "Edo, young man."
"I see."
Ryu took his bag and opened it to check for anything missing. He noticed the knife missing. The knife that he used to kill one of the wolves last night.
"Ah... Shit..."
He looked at the old man again and asked, "Why are you heading to Edo, Mister?"
The old man responded in a sad tone, "My village was attacked by a Special-Stone User... I was traveling far away before that, so I hurriedly went to my village, and it was already destroyed... My family died too..."
The old man sobbed silently.
Ryu regretted asking that and looked down in sadness.
"I-I'm sorry to hear that..."
The old man was still sobbing quietly, not letting Ryu look at his face.
The old man looked over his shoulder behind him and asked, his voice shaky, "Why were you out at night anyway, young man?"
The old man forced a smile.
Ryu frowned at the sight and responded, "I was attacked by wolves last night and I passed out from fatigue."
The old man nodded and curiously asked, "Where were you heading anyway?"
Ryu really didn't know where he was really heading, but he responded anyway.
"E-Edo."
The old man nodded, "I see."
...
It was silent for a while until the old man spoke up.
"Did you hear the news lately?"
Ryu was confused, "W-what news?"
The old man looked worried, "The number of Stone Users keeps increasing these days... Who knows what those guys would do to us? My village was already attacked by one..."
Ryu looked concerned.
"W-wait, really?"
The old man nodded.
Ryu looked down with worry.
The old man then responded, "But hopefully it will be alright... The Stone Organization is keeping them in check."
Ryu looked at him and asked, "The Stone Organization?"
The old man nodded, "The organization is made by some good Stone-Users and others. It was founded by... I forgot, but he basically leads those who can fight to keep some Bad users in check."
Ryu nodded, "That's great!"
The old man's expression saddened again, "It is great but... They were too late to save my village..."
Ryu replied with sympathy, "I'm sorry, Mister..."
The old man nodded. They were silent for the rest of the ride.
...
They were finally nearing Edo.
The old man smiled, "We're almost there!"
Ryu's eyes widened and he went to the front and saw the outskirts. He smiled widely, unable to contain his excitement, it was his first time seeing a city, after all.
The area looked peaceful and the sky was bright. He looked around excitedly, taking in the breeze and the view.
He couldn't hold back his tears of joy.
...
After a while, they were getting closer to the city, Ryu asked the man,
"Can you drop me off here?"
The old man looked at him confused, "Are you sure, young man?"
Ryu nodded and replied, "I wanna walk there myself."
Though confused, the old man agreed and dropped him off. Ryu waved goodbye to the old man.
"I'll never forget you, mister..." Ryu said quietly and smiled.
He walked along the road, admiring the view of the plain fields and small houses. The birds soared in the azure skies. He finally made it out of the woods.
He continued walking slowly, feeling excited.
...
He entered the bustling city. Many people walk in their everyday lives. Loud calls from merchants to sell their goods, children running, old ladies gossiping, and other mundane things could be seen.
Ryu smiled widely, realizing that he was finally out into the real world. He gleefully weaved through the traffic of people in the streets. Then he accidentally bumps into a man. The man was tall and intimidating.
Ryu bowed down and looked at him directly, "I'm sorry, mister, I wasn't-"
The man slapped Ryu's face.
"Brats like you should just stay inside your homes."
Ryu's eyebrows furrowed. That greatly angered him.
"Well? Go home, kid, don't make any trouble here."
The man laughed and walked, bumping Ryu's shoulder in the process. Ryu lost his balance and fell to the ground. The man looked at him and laughed.
"Haha! What a weak brat."
The man walked away.
Ryu stood up and his hands turned into fists. He charged at the man and punched him in the back of his head.
The man was only pushed away, though hurt.
"OW!"
The man briefly lost his balance, though maintained standing anyway. He looked at Ryu with mad eyes.
"You've done it, you fucking brat."
The man raised a fist at Ryu. Ryu flinched for a moment and out of instinct, he threw a punch aimed at the man's body.
Though it wasn't intentional, the symbols on his palms glowed, and Ryu noticed it, but it was too late to pull back his punch. His aura activated.
When Ryu's fist connected with the man's torso, he was thrown away with explosive force. The man's body was flung into the crowd, hitting people and vendor's stalls. The unaffected spectators gasp at the sight
"Ah, shit."
Ryu sprinted away from the scene for his dear life, but an authority already spotted him and chased him down.
Ryu noticed the officer chasing him down, and he weaved past the crowds and buildings. He ran and ran.
As he was running through the street, he looked back at the officer chasing him, and when he faced back to the front, he spotted a child standing cluelessly.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, unable to slow down.
He maneuvered his feet to avoid the child, though he lost his balance and fell to the ground. The quick officer finally caught him.
He was being detained inside a cell.
Then he was called out to be interrogated.
He sat down at the chair, his arms tied by chains behind him. Across him at the table was a middle-aged man dressed in uniform.
"So tell me, did you really assault a man in public?"
Ryu avoided his gaze and played it off.
"I don't know anything about that, boss." (:P)
The officer sighed.
"Be serious here."
Ryu sighed as well and gave up. He nodded and replied, "Yeah..."
The officer took notes.
The officer was about to ask another question, when...
"So, you're gonna be charged with-"
His words were cut when the door slammed open, and a man with a rotund body entered and yelled.
"Where is the man who assaulted a citizen?!"
The officer sighed, as he realized that the big man was his superior.
"Sir-"
The big man looked at Ryu and exclaimed again, "Is it you?!"
Ryu looked down and nervously nodded.
The man looked furious for a moment, then-
"Boy, you did me a favor! That bastard was such a pain in the ass anyway! It's a good thing that bastard got his ass handed to him!"
The man laughed and patted Ryu's back. Ryu looked at him confused, "W-what..?"
The man looked at the officer, "You, you can go out now, I'll interrogate this brat myself."
The officer nodded and went out, closing the door behind him.
The man sat down and looked at Ryu.
"Well, even if you did me a great thing, you still assaulted someone, that's still punishable by law."
Ryu nodded shamefully.
But the man...
"But... Say, you wanna make a deal?" The man grinned.
Ryu tilted his head in confusion, "Huh?"
"You see, there's this Stone User in the woods just past the outskirts of the city, and... He's been terrorizing the caravans approaching here lately, and it's recently become a problem here..." The man explained with a serious tone, a contrast from his earlier voice.
Ryu was confused and asked, "What's this supposed to mean for me?"
The man smiled, "I heard you can use Aura, can you?"
Ryu nodded and asked, "Yes, why?"
The man nodded and said, "Our best soldiers are busy with... The reason doesn't matter, anyway, if you get rid of that guy, I'll pardon you from your sentence, easy, right?"
Ryu's eyes lit up, "R-really?!"
The man nodded.
"So, where can I find this User?"
The man smiled, "I'll have someone take you just at the entrance of the woods, and you're gonna have to enter the forest itself."
Ryu nodded, "That's no problem! When will I do that though...?"
The man wondered for a moment.
...
...
"How about... Right now? "