Hey! I'm the writer of this story! For once, you won't be seeing Henry's perspective or M- I mean Emma's! Instead, you'll be seeing MY perspective. That's right, I'll be the one narrating this chapter. Enjoy!
It was just a regular day in the mountains. A boy by the name of Adeno Zanshu walked through the forests. A boy with messy black hair, a kimono, a katana and a dream. But what was his dream? To travel the lands and become the strongest swordsman alive!
You may wonder how he navigates, and well, he goes wherever the winds bring him! No plan in mind, no fixed path, the only thing guiding him is nature and destiny. Though soon, destiny brought him to a place that would surely fulfill his potential as a swordsman, the city of Varion!
Through the bushes he slashed and thus his feet finally stepped onto the domain of Varion City. Any traveler coming from afar would be lost in such a huge city. But Adeno was the exception. Because like I said before, he followed the winds. By walking further, he arrived at a certain building.
It was no regular building, it was a school. This is the place destiny has brought him to. Adeno didn't know anything, he didn't know anyone here. All he knew was that he had to be there. So he walked in, seeing the strange faces pass by. But that's when he saw a boy with a headband get beaten up by two bullies.
"Get this! Nerd!"
"Hey Carl, don't go too hard on him!"
You already guessed it! The victim was none other than Henry Laress. And just like always, Henry was saved. The boy pulled out his katana with his left hand, winds spiraling across its blade and soon a gush of wind blasted the two bullies away from him. The two made eye contact with each other. But neither Henry or Adeno had any visible emotion on their faces. Adeno could see it in Henry's eyes, he wasn't just a victim.
"You! Who are you?!" Carl the bully asked while getting up.
"Adeno Zanshu," the swordsman said before walking towards the bully with his sword by his side.
"You'll pay for this!" the bullies yelled before running away.
But then, Adeno grabbed onto Carl's hair before he could run away. He placed his blade against Carl's throat. This made Carl shiver, who was this man? To wipe them out so easily.. He's far stronger than a captain, he may be on par with Gregory!
"Where are you running off to?"
"N-nowhere!"
"Where?"
"I-I swear, it's nowhere!"
"You're lying, I can hear it from your breath."
"Okay! I'm going to Emmanuel.."
"Who is Emmanuel?"
"My boss!"
"Bring me to him."
Whether it was due to altruistic motivations or through the desire to fight the strong, Adeno marched towards class 4-B, home to Emmanuel. Yes, this is the same Emmanuel who beat up Henry in the previous chapter.
"Oh, hey Carl. Who is that?-" Emmanuel asked but was interrupted by the boy pulling out his blade.
"Hey, what the hell is the meaning of this?!"
"Are you the king of this place?"
"What?! No?"
"Who is your king?"
"Me," a voice said coming from the door of the class, "I'm the king of the school."
Adeno turned around to the voice and saw a man with a black tracksuit on. He looked fairly athletic, his face was rather handsome. He had brown hair and gray eyes. Who was he? He was the one who stood at the top of the school, and was aiming for higher. He was the king, the leader.
He stood there, calmly putting his hands in his pockets and yawning. This was a man that was used to all kinds of scenarios, a man that exuded an aura of dominance with ease.
"I heard there are rumors about a certain boy with a sword walking into this school. As the king of the school, I feel like it's my responsibility to check that out," he said while stretching his arms, "So? Who are you?"
"I am Adeno Zanshu, traveler from the Village of the Winds."
"Doesn't sound like you're from Varion. What are you doing here?"
"I have come to find a worthy opponent. Therefore, I, Adeno Zanshu, challenge you to a duel!"
"What do I have to gain from it?"
"If you win, I shall become your subordinate."
"Great, I'll accept it."
The entire class moved away from the two of them, leaving them ready for a battle. Adeno assumed a battle stance while the king remained in his lax position. Adeno thought it was strange, how could someone look this calm before a battle?
"Aren't you attacking?" the king asked.
"What's your name?" Adeno asked.
"Gregory."
"Gregory, are you certain you're ready to fight?"
"Yeah, I'm fairly certain."
Adeno nodded and charged towards Gregory with his blade. But as soon as he closed the distance between the two, the king kicked onto the leg of a desk, obstructing Adeno's path. Responding quickly, Adeno jumped over the desk and slashed towards the king.
Though the king simply took a step back, dodging the attack and grabbed onto two chalkboard erasers. Then, he clapped them, causing a cloud of dust to hinder Adeno's vision. But Adeno didn't need to see in order to attack. Feeling the movements of the wind, Adeno could still find where Gregory was.
But the king caught on quickly by dodging his attacks. Despite the cloud of dust, Adeno's movements were still as sharp as ever. Every time Gregory was about to dodge a slice from Adeno, the slice was redirected. He slowed down his movements when dodging and moved quicker when the slash was redirected. Both Adeno and Gregory weren't going all out yet, they were testing each other. But soon, wind spiraled around Adeno's blade. Gregory felt this and jumped back.
"You're swift, Gregory."
"Thanks, it's a real compliment. Let me guess, you're capable of controlling the wind?"
"You caught on."
"Yeah, you're reading my movements with aerodynamics and you're controlling the wind around your blade. But there's a limit to the wind you can control, otherwise you'd also control my breath."
"You truly are a worthy opponent."
"You're not bad yourself. But it'll take more than that to beat me."
Gregory grabbed onto a pen and threw it at Adeno at such high speeds it seemed like it was a bullet. Adeno slashed through it, but was still surprised at the sheer speed of it.
"Since you're using a weapon, I'll also use one," Gregory said.
He put on his brass knuckles on his left hand and got into an actual fighting stance. Adeno smiled, he was finally taken seriously. Quickly, Gregory slid over the desks, grabbing onto a pair of scissors with his right hand. Adeno was about to send a gush of wind, the same attack which blew away those two bullies. But as soon as he released the gush of wind, Gregory dove mid air. This caused him to become more aerodynamic, which meant the attack had barely any effect.
Then, Gregory flipped in the air and sent the pair of scissors flying into Adeno's left shoulder. This momentarily caused Adeno to be restricted, so he had to pull out the scissors first. Using this opportunity, the king ran to Adeno's left side and despite being right handed, sent a left hook into Adeno's ribs. Then, he followed it up by sweeping the swordfighter, making him fall onto the ground.
Instantly, Gregory grabbed onto a pen and was about to stab Adeno's throat with it. But instead of stabbing Adeno with it, he simply tapped Adeno. He didn't want to kill him, he had potential.
"I lost.."
"You're now my subordinate."
He held out his hand for Adeno to grab and get back up again. The swordfighter sheathed his sword again and kneeled before his new master. Nonchalantly, Gregory placed his hands in his pockets again.
"To become the strongest, one must learn from the strongest. Therefore, I, Adeno Zanshu, shall be under your command."
"Great," Gregory said while walking away, "Emmanuel, teach Adeno stuff about the school. I'll be off again, see you."
"Yes, Gregory," Emmanuel obediently replied.
But then, Gregory turned around to Emmanuel and said with a grin, "Don't forget the money by the end of the month."
"R-right!" Emmanuel yelled with fear.
And soon enough, Adeno became an integral part of their ranks. Following orders straight from Gregory, Adeno has become one of the Terrors. Although it goes against his moral code, the swordsman had to accept his role as a subordinate to the strongest person there.
Months passed..
Gregory waved off his friends after school and placed his hands in his pockets again after putting on a pair of earbuds. What was he going to do? Simple, he was planning to make a fun walk through the park. Not everything has to surround fighting or business.
But then, right behind him, someone tapped on his shoulder. They were out of breath. The king pulled out his earbud and turned around. To his surprise, it was none other than the captain he installed for the 4th year, Emmanuel.
"What's up? You don't seem good."
"Please.. Gregory, help me!"
"What? Why would I do that?"
"A guy by the name of Nello.. He beat me up!"
"Okay, so? Can't you handle him by yourself? It's not like you have to fight alone."
"His eyes were red! One punch and I was done !"
"Is he interfering with the business?"
"Yes!"
For a second, Gregory was silent, thinking about what to do. But he turned away from Emmanuel and walked off. He put up his hand in a peace sign and said, "I'll send Adeno."
The following day, Henry couldn't go to school due to his injuries. Instead, he stayed home and played games. But Nello still went to school. When he arrived at the gates, people greeted him with a smile!
"Hey Nello!"
"Hey Nello!"
"Nello the beast!"
"Hey guys!" Nello replied.
"You were awesome yesterday, Nello!"
He was cheered on from all sides. For the first time, someone stood up against Emmanuel and defeated him. However, taking down the very kingdom of this school was not as easy. When Nello stepped foot into the hallway, he was met with delinquents of the 4th year and the 3rd year standing by the walls.
In front of him stood a girl with a cigarette in her hand and next to her stood Emmanuel with his arms crossed. Nello had never seen this girl before, but he instinctively knew she was up to no good. The entire hallway was cleared right as he entered. Something was going to happen, so he placed his backpack on the ground.
"Is this him?" the girl asked.
"Yeah, this is the runt."
"He doesn't seem like much, how'd he beat you?"
"Some demonic crap."
"Ah, and he's in my year, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then, after this is done, I'll take care of him."
"Excuse me, who are you?! And what's going on here?!" Nello yelled.
"Psh, shut up runt, this is payback for what you did to me!"
Suddenly, everyone was rushing towards him. Big large men and scrawny men alike came at him with fists and kicks. Nello put up his guard, but there were too many people storming him at once.
"He's not transforming into that demon thing?" the girl asked.
"Psh, looks like I didn't have to ask for help after all."
"The boss won't be happy about that."
But immediately as they spoke, the people crowding the boy were flung away. And in the middle emerged the demon, he who defeated a captain in one hit. His eyes were red, his fists were balled and his stance spoke a million words of hatred.
"I will not allow you to terrorize this place any longer! I, Nello Mortirior, will take down all of you!"
But as he said those words, a man walked through the hallway towards him.
"He's here," Emmanuel said.
He oozed aura, holding a stoic expression on his face and approaching the scene with calmth. He didn't like what he had to do, but he had to do it. He was a subordinate to the king of the school, he who holds the title of the strongest. Upon sight, Nello bared his teeth, which were slowly turning into fangs.
Contrasting their auras, it was like a clash between cold and heat. The boy who had just arrived pulled out a katana from his sheath. But the demon boy wasn't scared and got his fists ready for battle. The samurai boy responded by getting into a stance too.
The two of them locked eyes, the katana boy had a calm demeanor while the demon boy's eyes widened with anger. Soon enough, Nello charged at Adeno with a quick and swift punch while yelling but Adeno blocked it with his katana. Though, it took him by surprise that someone was daring enough to punch a sword.
"AAAAAA!!!!"
Using the wind, Adeno prevented being knocked back. And using the wind, he tried to predict Nello's next moves. But Nello wouldn't let it happen, he continued to swing his fists towards Adeno with nothing but pure aggression. For Adeno, blocking this was no hard task.
He realized something, Nello couldn't fight. All he could do was swing his fists and was heavily relying on the strength of his body. Adeno jumped back and charged wind around his blade and himself.
As predicted, like a wild animal, Nello ran after him.
"AAAAAAAAA!!!!"
But as soon as the distance between them got smaller, Adeno dashed next to Nello using the wind that was around his torso to repulse himself and slashed him in his side. This caused Nello to grunt even louder and turned around to attack Adeno with his hands acting like claws. But Adeno anticipated this and unleashed a gush of wind on Nello, which threw him towards the wall of the hallway.
"AAAA-"
Without leaving Nello even a bit of time to react, Adeno unleashed the wind around his legs to blast himself into the demon boy. This would have been lethal, but instead of stabbing Nello, Adeno used his hilt to knock out Nello instead.
"You did it!" Emmanuel said with a smile.
He grabbed Nello by the hair and looked at his face, which was no longer awake. While laughing, he slammed Nello's face into the ground over and over again. Everyone surrounded him and laughed too.
"Hah! Not so strong now!"
He got up and began kicking onto Nello's head.
"You shouldn't!
He stomped on Nello's arm, "have!"
He stomped on Nello's stomach, "messed!"
"With us!" he said before attempting to stomp on Nello's throat.
But Adeno grabbed onto his leg and pulled him away from Nello. His face remained cold, but deep down, he didn't like what he was seeing. It wasn't honorable. A fighter like Nello shouldn't be disrespected like this.
"What?! You did your job, go now!"
"Can you stop? He's already defeated, he's already wounded enough. No need to cross the line."
"Don't you get it? He humiliated me in front of everyone! Do you think that's fun? This guy is just getting what he deserves!"
"That is no reason to inflict harm to this degree."
"Psh, you've got your own job, I've got mine. You chose to work for Gregory, so you have no place to complain!"
"I'm merely following the rule of strength."
"Whatever, you still can't tell me what I'm supposed to do."
"Hey! Can you stop?!" a singular girl said, standing at the scene.
"Huh?" Emmanuel said while turning to her.
"Let the people pass through! And-," she saw what happened to Nello and put her hand on her mouth before rushing over to him, "What did you do to him?!"
"Crap, that's Emma Valentina.." People whispered.
"Eh?! You really think you can command us huh?" the girl with the cigarette said while approaching her.
"I don't, but you've already done enou-"
"Oh shut up!" she said before grabbing onto her arm.
But then, like a guardian angel, Sakura came and tackled her.
"Let go of my Ems!"
As the both of them fell, the girl lost her cigarette. The two of them got up and the girl was pissed.
"You bi-!" she yelled before swinging a punch at Sakura, but before it landed, the punch was caught.
"Let's end it here," a man with black hair and brown eyes said with the girl's fist caught in his hand.
"Who are you?!"
"Oh, just a newcomer. This is supposed to be my first day in this school, but this doesn't really look like a good welcome!" he said with a smile, "Let's end it here, okay?"
"Ugh! Whatever."
The girl walked away, Emmanuel looked at them and also followed. However, Adeno stayed to watch.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Y-yeah!" Sakura responded.
"Good, you're too gorgeous to get hit."
"W-what's your name?"
"Me? Kuro."
"O-oh! Nice to meet you Kuro! Thank you so much for saving me!"
"Nello, lay still!" Emma said while Nello was slowly waking up.
"I-I can't-"
"Don't worry! They're gone! You don't have to fight!"
"They're going to continue bullying people! I can't let that happen-" Nello said while trying to get up, but he was too weak.
[Nello, do you know what makes a hero cool?"]
["W-what?"]
["It's that they never give up. And I'll be an example of that."]
"A hero never gives up, I will not stop here!" Nello yelled.
"Hm, that's no good, we have to get you to the infirmary," Kuro said.
"No! I need to beat them up-"
"You want to be a hero right? A hero should get strong first before helping others. How can you save other people when you're in that state?"
"I-I-"
"Just rest, you can always try again, okay?" Kuro said with a smile while patting Nello.
With a sigh, Nello complied. His entire body was in shambles, he couldn't fight any longer. No matter how strong his will was, it couldn't overcome his physical strength. In the end, Nello was transported to the infirmary.
He laid in the same bed Henry laid just a day earlier and looked at the ceiling. So this was the road to becoming the greatest hero huh? To keep going through all this pain, to get beaten up constantly. But in the end, if that's what it takes to make the world at least a bit better, then he'll do what it takes. He needed strength.
But then, someone walked into the room.
"Y-you!" Nello yelled while sitting upwards.
"Greetings."
"You're the swordsman that did this to me! Why are you here?!"
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?-"
"I came here to apologize, but I'll be leaving now."
"Wait!"
"Hm?"
"Why?"
"What, why?"
"Why are you with Emmanuel?!"
"It's not my choice."
"What do you mean, it's not your choice?! You're far stronger than him! You could easily defeat-"
"It's not Emmanuel."
"What?"
"The king of the school, it is not Emmanuel. I follow the king, not a servant."
"Why?!"
"To become strong, one must learn from the strongest."
"I see.."
"What's your name?" Adeno asked.
"Nello, Nello Mortirior."
"Nello Mortirior, we will see each other again someday."
That was the last thing Adeno said before walking away. Instinctively, Nello knew Adeno wasn't really a bad guy. He came to apologize to him and made it clear he's just following the king of the school.
As soon as Adeno went away, Nello stared at the ceiling again. Now both he and Henry were out of commision. He probably wouldn't be able to fight for a while, at least until his injuries were healed. He reached with his one hand towards the ceiling.
"I'll gain strength."
He clenched his fist.
"But I won't gain it by following a tyrant, I will gain strength my own way. Strength to protect the people I care about, strength to take down the bad guys, strength to help everyone.."
His eyes turned red.
"The strength of a hero!"