Kazuma

It all started in a village named Hyakuren.

Kazuma Kaen was a skilled swordsman in Hyakuren. He had gone to war six years before, and, though he'd never admit it, was one of the key pieces to winning it.

He had gone and enlisted at age sixteen, so he was now aged twenty-two. He had long brown hair; spikey, in a way. He wore casual, black clothes, but always wore black combat boots. After all, that was how he spent his years maturing.

His eyes were a bright hazel, and his skin was slightly pale. As aforementioned, he was known for his combat prowess.

On a fine day, he had his hands in his pockets, strolling the city's streets. A few people he passed gave nods of greeting, which he returned with a kind wave and a warm smile.

Taking notice of a crowd around a small building, and becoming interested, he walked forward, listening to the small man.

-this is the chance to take up arms! We're going to be invaded soon- just you wait! And it won't be a rival nation- no! It will be the creatures of the night!

He seemed to have the people bought into it.

They were shouting now.

How can this be?!

Why us?!

How can we protect ourselves?!

The man grinned.

Do not worry! I have specially outfitted my shop for your needs- garlic, blessed water from the shrines in the mountains, even silver knives and swords! Buy your protection- and your family's! The night terrors will be upon us very-

That's bulls***.

Everyone in the crowd went silent, looking at the source of the voice: Kazuma. The man's eyes narrowed; this was inconvenient. If Kazuma was speaking bad about his wares, no one would buy them.

Ah, Kaen Kazuma! What a pleasure to have you standing before my shop! To what do I owe this visit?

Well, when I saw everyone gathered here, listening to your lies, I thought I may as well show them your deceit.

This man's lying to you. We've had the nightlings on the run for centuries. I'm aware there have been rumors spreading about attacks in other cities, but we have veterans from the war two years ago. We'll be fine.

He didn't give the shopkeeper enough time for a proper rebuttal, as he walked away. The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving a quite enraged shopkeeper.

Later that night, Kazuma became aware of his door clicking, his eyes popping open. Not a moment later, a blade came whistling through the air, down at his head. He rolled out of bed, barreling into the figure by his bed.

The figure stumbled back, and as Kazuma got up a half-second after rolling out of his bed, the figure charged. Kazuma scoffed, and threw his sheets over the figure as he still blindly rushed forward.

As he fumbled with the sheets, Kazuma deftly avoided his blind advance, drew the katana by his bedside, and slashed the man across the back, his war blade rending fabric, flesh, and bone. The figure shuddered, the rip in the fabric becoming saturated in crimson, and fell to the ground, still shuddering.

Kazuma readied his blade, tearing open the sheet to see the shopkeeper from earlier that day. He sighed, looking at the corpse in disgust.

What a drag...

-Several weeks later-

In the weeks that had passed since he murdered the shopkeeper, Kazuma had decided to help patrols around Hyakuren to look for threats.

He wore the black leather armor that he had been wearing to combat six years before, the armor itself scarred from the many times it had been struck. His katana lay across his back, lying in its sheath.

They were walking along an old forest path when they suddenly heard an agonized scream.
Alert, they ran through the brush, Kazuma himself leaping over bushes and roots.

Kazuma burst into a clearing, seeing a bloody body of a man, shadowed by a figure covered in fur. Before Kazuma could catch a good glimpse of it, it snarled, and blurred out of the clearing.

Oh, no you don't... Kazuma drew his blade just as the rest of the party caught up to him.

Before they could speak, he said, Look after the body. I'm going to chase the murderer.
He sped off into the brush after the killer, still hearing him ahead. Kazuma put all the energy he could into pumping his legs, running as fast as he could, until he burst into another clearing.
The cautious side of him wished he hadn't.
He had chanced upon a pack of wolves, but the wolves were monstrous. They stood around six feet tall just on all fours, and their bodies were thicker than any man Kazuma had seen. From what Kazuma was estimating, their claws seemed at least three inches long, and gouged the earth where they stood.
Their eyes were blood red, and shine in the moonlight. They all slowly turned their sanguine gaze onto Kazuma. He did a quick count, and numbered around nine. Bad odds.
The one towards his twelve 'o clock raised on its haunches, and gave a bloodthirsty howl into the night. It was disheartening, and Kazuma found himself gripping his long katana hard.
The pack raised up on their haunches, and started circling Kazuma. It was looking very bad.
They all lunged forward at once, trying to maul him apart in a single go. Kazuma pumped strength into his legs and leaped over the ambush below, lashing out with his blade and slicing off a wolf's ear. He heard a howl as he landed, but was instantly bowled off his feet.
The wolf on top of him lunged forward, attempting to rip out Kazuma's throat. In a single second, he stabbed the wolf through the throat in a reflex.
That was pure luck, he thought. I need to finish this soon.
To Kazuma's surprise, the massive wolf started shrinking, taking the form of a man. Kazuma pushed the body off, before quickly rolling out of the way of another rampaging wolf. It wheeled around and snapped at him, as Kazuma blocked with his sword, the blade slipping through its jaws and giving it a permanent smile.
Seven wolves ran at him in formation. He quickly pulled a scroll from his pocket, and unrolled it, tossing it in front of him.
Hi to Iō!
He suddenly raised his hand and slammed it into the ground. Swiftly, hundeds of thin spires of molten rock sprang up in front of him, howls loosed into the night. The spikes had caught the wolves and stopped them in their tracks.
Kazuma toppled over, desperate for breath. All his energy had vanished with the technique. He rolled over, seeing a mass of black fur on the other side of the spikes. It loosed a howl so melodic that it caused Kazuma to cover his ears. However, it just sat there, doing nothing else, and soon, Kazuma's group arrived.
What the hell is that thing?!
A werewolf, Kazuma coughed out. But not just any werewolf. This one has been around so long, it has ascended in the pack's chain of command to the rank of Alpha.
What? What does that mean?
Kazuma sighed. It means that he leads all of the other werewolves.
The group stared in shock for a moment, incredulous.
However, Kazuma continued wearily, Hi to Iō seems to have stopped him for the moment. To Kazuma's alarm, the werewolf backed slowly into the brush. We need to go. He's going to backtrack and go around.
They nodded, and picked him up, helping him out of the forest. As they were exiting, Kazuma heard hundreds of howls loosed into the night.
So they really are upon us... Kazumna muttered. He looked at the full moon above, illuminating the entire outlying area with its luminous glow.

Three days later, Kazuma had every wall guarded at night with fire.
Samuel Roderick Deacon, a foreigner and captain of the guard, had asked, Why are we putting so many torches up on the walls, Kaen-san? Though a foreigner, he knew their customs.
Kazuma had answered, Will a rock throw itself at you? Will a stream jump out of the riverbed and drown you? Will wind rip you apart? They had been rhetorical questions, but Samuel shook his head in the negative, his eyes looking for the point to his queries.
Kazuma continued, With fire, it's not the case. Fire is alive, and wild. It feeds, and grows, and cares not what it destroys int eh process. Animals know this, and so do werewolves. Fire is nothing to be trifled with.
Kazuma was patrolling at the current moment, when suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. He whirled around, but found it only to be a fellow patrol.
Sorry for startling you, Kaen-san. I'm Ygg.

The man pronounced his name like Eeg.
Those wolves are faster than you think... Kazuma trailed off, noticing Ygg's eyes were a peculiar shade of gold. Ygg noticed Kazuma's lingering gaze, and smiled a toothy grin. ...you won't get far with this, no matter how many of you there are.
Oh? And what's going to stop us? An old war hero with a sword? That technique you used last night practically drained you.
Kazuma glared at him. What's your actual name?
Oh, I didn't lie about it. My name actually is Ygg Drasil.
How many of you are there in the village?
Do you mean alphas, or just lycans in general?
Kazuma blinked, before scowling. Both.
Well, let's see...three alphas other than myself, and sixteen betas. So, twenty overall, I suppose.
Kazuma stared in shock. Twenty?! How did they get in so easily? I'll stop all of you.
Ygg laughed, freeing a shortsword from its scabbard. Come and try, old man!
Kazuma darted forward, hacking at Ygg's neck in a wide arc. Ygg parried it with ease, sweeping his own sword back at Kazuma's torso. Kazuma brought his sword down, knocking the sword away, and then brought it back in an upward arc to his neck. Ygg managed to put his fingers in front of the blade, and as it sliced straight through them, Ygg howled in pain, jumping back as his muscles started bulging.
Silver?! he growled, his body distorting.
Kazuma smirked. Not quite... He then darted forward once more, taking advantage of Ygg's stalled transformation to stab him.
He almost did, too, before a large, black paw batted his sword away. Kazuma looked to see another alpha wolf guarding Ygg. Kazuma hopped back, before noticing something out of the corner of his eye, and leaping just in time to see two giant claws sweep the spot where he was just standing.
He landed, and immediately hacked into one of their legs, making one of them howl in pain. As he yanked his sword out, he saw another paw headed for him. He jumped again, but was unable to avoid it, and got launched through the air. He was able to stab it in the process, but felt a rib crack as he soared through the air.
He rolled when he connected with the ground, reducing the impact so he didn't break anything else. He quickly got to his feet and realized there were even more wolves. He was being overrun.

He sighed, stabbing his sword into the ground in front of him. He then clapped his hands together, concentrating.

As the wolves howled and snapped their jaws, they felt an energy spread over the area, oddly warm. The werewolves, with their amplified sense of smell, caught a whiff of piles of autumn leaves throughout the area.

What is he doing? Ygg thought.

---

Far off on the wall, Samuel Roderick Deacon was observing the conflict eagerly. When he smelled autumn leaves in the air, and saw what Kazuma was doing, he grinned.

His lieutenant looked at him nervously. Sir, should we not help him?

Samuel held up his hand. No.

The lieutenant's expression changed from nervousness to shock. Why not?!

Samuel kept his grin. We're about to see why his name is Kazuma Kaen.

The lieutenant, dissatisfied with his captain's inability to give him a straight answer, sighed, and just watched the scene about to unfold.

---

Kazuma still sat there, silently meditating. Ygg began to grow impatient.

This has gone on long enough, he decided. However, before he could give the command, Kazuma opened his eyes. The blue orbs they housed were now glowing orangeish-red.

Ygg Drasil, there is a reason my family name is Kaen. And you, just like the enemy platoons in the war, are about to find out why.

Ygg widened his eyes. But he lost that ability a long time ago! he thought. How could he-- attack!

The pack responded, letting bloodthirsty howls out into the night, and rushing forward.

You're too late! Kai! As soon as the word left his lips, drops of blood ran in one line down each of his cheeks, as his red eyes swallowed their pupils. His eyes, save the whites, were now completely red. As this happened, the blade of his sword became blood red, and his body temperature started rising dramatically.

The werewolves sensed all of these changes, but still charged forward. One werewolf ran ahead and lashed out at Kazuma, but then burst into flames, launched back as Kazuma punched it in the jaw. His fist was ignited, but not harming him, in a golden flame.

The werewolves noticed this, and scattered formation.

No! Ygg thought in protest. Stay in formation!

Some wolves obeyed, but not many. One began coming at Kazuma from behind. However, Kazuma noticed, and turned around, kicking the back of his blade. The force of the kick sent the blade whirling into the werewolf's forehead, stabbing into its skull a few inches above the wolf's left eye socket. An instant later, it's entire body burst into golden flames.

Wolves started prancing away from him, but he wasn't going to let them escape. He darted forward.

Fool, Ygg thought. He can't catch us turned.

However, Ygg was again proven wrong. Kazuma caught up quickly, already brandishing his blood red sword, the blood on it smoking. He slashed two wolves in the flanks while they were running, causing them to snap their forelegs and break into a roll, injuring even more bones.

As they had begun to roll in front of him, he jumped, soaring many feet into the air. As he reached the zenith of his ascent, the wolves gathered below, and he slashed his sword, launching a slash of fire down at them below, followed by another. The slashes ignited them all in a blaze, sending many tortured howls into the night.

As the wolves burned below, Kazuma rained down from the sky, his cloak of flames growing to a massive size. Then, as Kazuma hit the ground, a large explosion of flames happened, incinerating everything near him.

The night sky lit up from the intensity of the inferno.

---

The lieutenant gaped in shock at the scene before him. He's...a monster...

Samuel shrugged. Without Kazuma, we wouldn't have won the Devil's War. But, that technique of his does have a limit.

The lieutenant looked at him in shock. ...what kind of limit?

Samuel coughed. The fire isn't what's making him so fast and strong. Tell you the truth, he's not all that good at magic. And being a spellsword, sapping his strength is bad. That's why he's really only good at destruction and chaos magic. He turns his own essence into fire, which heats up his blood. The blood particles then shrink, releasing water into his bloodstream. The water, due to being thinner than blood, courses faster through his body, allowing more output from his muscles.

The liutenant blinked. Wow...but what does that have to do with a limit?

Samuel looked at him. Were you not listening? His heart is beating much faster than it should. A heart isn't meant to beat so fast. It shortens his lifespan considerably.

The lieutenant's eyes widened at the implications that had just been explained to him. ...then why aren't we helping him?!

Samuel shrugged. I wanted to see it in action.

The lieutenant looked at him in disbelief, biting back a response and rushing to the archers.

Archers! Prepare to fire upon the wolves!

As the lieutenant prepared with the archers, retrieving a bow himself, Samuel smiled.

---

Kazuma stood in the blaze as it died down, the remaining blaze being absorbed into his body. His hair turned golden, and began glowing. Only Ygg and another alpha remained. As flaming arrows rained from the sky, Ygg and the alpha turned and ran.

Kazuma looked at himself. ...what is this?

Then, everything went black.

Kazuma looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. He heard muffled voices off in the distance, and tried walking towards them, but then heard a closer voice in another direction.

...st...

It was hard to hear, so he drew closer to it.

You are destined...

Kazuma furrowed his bow in thought, drawing even closer to the voice.

You are destined... Suddenly, the infinite darkness opened up, and Kazuma was surrounded by flames, in the middle of a blood soaked battlefield. He looked behind him, seeing a figure in armor whose details couldn't be made out due to the flames around him. To be my vessel! The figure had blood red eyes glowing through the visor of his helmet.

Kazuma backed away, picking up a sword from the ground, ready to defend himself.

We're losing him!

The armored man's eyes brightened with amusement, raising up and retrieving his sword from the ground.

We can't lose him!

It was likely to happen anyways.

Kazuma and the man charged at each other.

Do it quickly!

Kazuma and the man's blades met.