Voltiana

"Back then, I realized only one thing: it takes a great deal of strength to be anything in this society."

Many years ago, inside of the Tryout Arena…

A giant creature burst through the floor of the arena, roaring loudly as everyone in the arena stared in horror. Morino sat up, taking in the full view of it: a massive monster with black and red skin, large beating wings, sharp claws and teeth, and glowing red eyes.

"OH SHI——!"

"ROAR!"

The creature shifted his head to look around at the crowd, and Morino backed away, terrified.

"What IS that?"

As the monstrous creature took a step forward, Kevin quickly dragged Morino off the ring before its claws could crush him.

"I think I've heard about these things before!" Kevin announced. "It's a legendary figure, the Alpha of the monsters! The DRAGON!"

"Dragon? What's that?" Morino asked.

They jumped back as the dragon walked forward again. Kevin tapped his face, trying to think.

"They're a powerful form of monsters! Fire-breathing freaks of nature who can fly faster than BULLETS!"

Just then, the dragon unleashed a beam of flames that sent every member of the crowd screaming and attempting to escape, but with one blast of fire, the entrance was destroyed, causing a rock slide to block the pathway.

"We're stuck!" Morino realized. "Damn it, damn it! Is this part of the Tryouts?"

"Why would they endanger their own people like this, though?" Kevin questioned.

Morino went to open his mouth, but he saw Kenshi Fujii draw a katana formed of ice, which was pointed directly at the dragon.

"Everyone put your heads down and stay together! Me and the Generals will handle this!"

Fujii prepared to attack, but the dragon turned and fired a powerful flame at him, forcing him to put up a wall of ice to defend himself. The other generals dropped next to him, weapons at the ready.

"Tsukina, you're with me! Let's frost this thing!" Fujii ordered.

Tsukina nodded, and they both branched off to flank the dragon, firing beams of ice at it. They began to cover the dragon in ice, but with a roar, a powerful wave of flame erupted from its mouth and melted the ice.

"Those flames will be a problem! Go for the mouth!"

It pivoted away from them, breathing flame across the entire arena. People screamed and dodged everywhere, and the competitors all debated what to do.

"Crap!" Prince Asahi exclaimed. "How did a dragon make it into the Tryouts? This is supposed to be the most well-guarded part of Shonora!"

Princess Arisa waved him off and pointed towards the ring. "Forget about that, look! Our sister is in trouble!"

The dragon slowly approached Princess Astari, who was fearfully retreating as it inched closer and closer, its mouth full of fire.

"Get back…!" she commanded. "I'll hurt you!"

Despite her pleas, the dragon raised its wings and roared, causing a massive ripple of wind to shoot out from it. Fujii and Tsukina shot more beams of ice at it, but the wind gust caused the ice to fly every which way and knocked Astari to the ground.

"Ahhh!"

Morino and Kevin watched, the dragon opening its mouth once more, ready to incinerate her with fire.

"Kevin, come on!" Morino insisted. "If this is part of the Tryouts, this is our chance to go and make our marks! Let's move!"

"But what if it's not?" Kevin pointed out. "What if it's just a random dragon that's here to tear us all limb from limb?"

Morino looked between the dragon to Astari. "Astari's in trouble! We can't just let her die!"

"Wait, Morino—-!"

Morino jumped up and grabbed an axe off of the shelf, not hesitating to run right toward the dragon. At the last moment, Astari reflexively put her hands up and activated her magic. And then…

…the dragon fired the blast.

BOOM.

"SISTER!" Asahi and Arisa cried.

Everyone watched on, horrified, but the smoke cleared, and they saw Morino holding her in his arms, her magic radiating off of him.

Astari looked up. "Morino?"

"Hey there! Does this mean I win? Or is there a part two I should know about?"

She stared at him for what seemed to be ages.

"Thank you…I…LOOK OUT!"

The dragon charged at them, and Morino pushed Astari out of the way before the dragon rammed into him, sending both of them crashing out of the arena.

"MORINO!" Kevin and Astari called out.

Once the two were gone, Astari scrambled to her feet. The Generals quickly swarmed her, leading her away.

"Come on, Princess," Fujii ordered. "We've got to evacuate you and the others!"

"Wait!" she pleaded. "What about Morino?"

Kevin ran up. "Yeah, someone help my brother! He'll die out there!"

Most of the Generals just glared at him, but Fujii sighed. "I'll go. Everyone, stay here!"

With that, he dashed after the wayward dragon.

In the District of Shonora…

"ROAR!"

Civilians ran away as the massive dragon rampaged throughout the district, breathing fire everywhere.

"RUN! IT'S A MONSTER! RUN!"

The dragon walked through buildings as if they were made of glass, and before it could crush a group of Voltian children, Morino threw a rock at it.

"Hey! Look this way!"

The dragon whipped its head around, eyes blazing.

"That was dumb," Morino acknowledged. "Okay. Well, shit."

The dragon fired a blast of flame at Morino, making him fall off the roof he was on, but when he hit the ground, he noticed that something was wrong.

"That…should have hurt worse."

He jumped up and flexed his arms, right before the dragon leaped over a line of houses to get to him.

Morino took a deep breath and began spinning his axe as fast as he could, and to his shock, his arm moved much faster than it ever had before. The dragon tried to make a move, but Morino flung the axe at it so hard it stumbled back.

"Awesome!" Morino cheered. "Also, WHAT THE HELL?"

Stunned civilians watched on as the dragon recovered from the blow. It smacked Morino, sending him flying backward and crashing into a lamppost.

"Ugh…"

The dragon growled and prepared to swallow Morino whole, opening its jaws. But before it could, it was frozen all the way up to its neck.

"Phew! Almost missed my shot!"

Fujii landed next to Morino and patted him on the head. "Nice job kid!"

"Kenshi Fujii?" Morino realized.

"The only. Now step aside, it's my turn."

The dragon managed to break free of the ice holding it, and Fujii closed his eyes, drawing his blade.

"Let's have you meet your maker. ICE DRAGON!"

A powerful dragon of ice formed from Fujii's blade, heading directly for the other dragon. The two dragons collided, causing the real one to slam into the ground.

"Now then, time to DESTROY."

In the blink of an eye, Fujii was at the neck of the dragon, and with a strike of his blade, he decapitated the beast. Its body writhed on the ground before going still.

"Kenshi: 1, Dragon: 0."

He turned his attention back to Morino. "Come with me, kid. The Generals will love this."

He guided Morino back to the Tryout Arena, where people were starting to recover from the dragon attack. After the mess had calmed down, Fujii took Morino to the middle of the arena, where Kevin rushed to hug him.

"Morino! You're alive!"

Morino grinned. "Yep. Mostly unharmed, too."

They fist-bumped, but then Fujii cleared his throat. "Generals, let us line up."

All seven Generals stood in front of Morino, and Fujii began with a speech. "Now I know the tryouts haven't finished yet, but this is a matter that cannot wait."

He looked directly at Morino. "It's Morino, right?"

Morino nodded. "Morino Masato."

"Well, Morino Masato. Usually, we'd wait till the end of the event to do this, but for hell's sake kid, you fought a dragon, risked your life, AND saved our Princess here!"

He gestured to Astari, who awkwardly looked away.

"So with that being said, you've definitely earned a spot within our ranks! How about it? Do you want to be a soldier?"

Morino's eyes widened. "WHAT? Really?"

The entire crowd gasped, almost in shock. Even Jukai didn't know what to say.

"Sir," Jukai remarked. "That IS a human you're taking on. A HUMAN!"

Fujii nodded. "Indeed it is, but no human ever pulled a stunt like that, so I think he gets a pass. How about it? Generals? Any takers?"

They remained quiet for a while, before the S-3 General raised his hand, stepping forward. "I'll take the kid."

The entire crowd was in disbelief. "WHAT?"

He walked in front of Morino: a hulking, gritty-looking Voltian with long black hair. He put a hand out. "My name is Ji. No last name to speak of."

He smirked. "I like the confidence. Come join my squad, Masato!"

Morino nearly fainted on the spot, and Kevin had to catch him. "Morino! You did it, man! You got in!"

All of the competitors had mixed looks on their faces: confusion, jealousy, and annoyance. The entire arena was as silent as a mouse, but each of the Generals started clapping.

"Morino! Morino! Morino!"

Ji gave him a slap on the back. "How bout you come watch the rest of the event from our seats? It'll give you a good view of who you're competing against."

Morino pumped his fist. "Hell yeah!"

He followed the Generals up to their seats, and with a wave, Fujii started the event again.

"Once the damage has been fixed, the Tryouts will resume! Prepare yourselves, everyone!"

Guards and workers quickly cleaned up and repaired the damage done, and the competitors resumed their matches as Morino watched.

"They're all so powerful…" Morino noted. "Do I really belong?"

Not long after, the finals went underway, where Astari and Asahi were battling for the crown.

"Get this win, Astari!" Morino cheered.

After a long duel, Astari managed to use her magic to push Asahi out of the ring, who grumbled and stood up.

"Pfff, lucky win, sister," he mocked. "I was only being nice since you almost died."

She looked away, but she smiled when Fujii and the other Generals jumped down.

"Congratulations! Princess Astari Asato is this year's Tryout Champion!" Jukai announced.

She managed to keep up her smile as the cameras and crowd cheered for her, and once again the Generals lined up. Competitors took their spots as the Generals sized them up.

"Now, Astari," Fujii announced. "Since you won, I will give you the honor of being able to join Squad S-1!"

The crowd cheered.

He held out his hand for her to join him, but she looked at the ground, hesitant.

"Actually…I wanted to join Squad S-3."

The entire crowd gasped.

"S-3?" Fujii wondered. "But why?"

She picked her head up. "Since Morino saved me, I thought it would only be right to join his side and use my magic to help him!"

Fujii looked at Morino's body, which still had a peculiar glow to it.

"Magical residue inside of a human?" Fujii wondered. "But how?"

She gave him a hopeful look. "I hope you're not mad, Sir! I would love to join your squad, it's just—-"

Fujii held a hand to stop her. "No apologies needed! Loyalty is an honorable trait. Well, Ji? Will you take her?"

"Hell yeah, I'm taking her!" Ji replied. "Talent like this doesn't come often. Plus, she'll pair well with the human."

He had a devious grin on his face, and Tsukina rolled her eyes. "Look at this, Kenshi. You've enabled him."

Fujii shrugged.

Astari took her place by Morino's side, and she whispered to him. "Hey, I need you to meet me in the back of the arena when this is all done, okay?"

"The back? Why?"

"Please don't be late. I'll be waiting."

Before Morino could question further, Kevin began cheering wildly, causing a scene.

"Yeah, Morino! Guess what this means! No more slum life for us! We've got it easy for the rest of our lives! Good job, bro—-!"

Tsukina glared at him. "Ahem. You were eliminated in the first round. Who said anything about YOU making it?"

"Where my brother goes, I go! So go ahead and pick me up lady, I know you want to!"

Morino sighed. "He said it."

Tsukina groaned. "Humans."

Once everyone besides Kevin was picked up, Morino made his way to the back of the arena, where he skeptically looked around.

"Astari? You here?"

She seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Yep! Right here!"

"Gaaaah!"

Morino nearly fell over, but she kept him from falling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"What did you call me back here for?" he asked.

She gave him a big hug. "Thank you for saving me! Those flames were so hot, if you weren't there, I don't know what I would have done!"

"Probably die—-I mean, no problem! But is that all you wanted?"

She gestured to an object wrapped in cloth on the ground. "Actually, I also wanted to give you a gift. I told you my magic was Purge Magic, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. It can purge any obstacles or illnesses."

She laughed. "That's not all it can do! When I touched you, it purged ALL weakness from your human body! Now, you're like a SUPERHUMAN!"

"Superhuman?"

"Yeah!" she stated. "Though the effects are more permanent than I'd ever thought. Your body is still glowing, even now."

Morino looked at his hands. "So I can use magic?"

She shook her head. "Nope. But my magic is working its magic! Kiss that frail human body goodbye! And for good measure…"

She touched him once more, and this time he felt a rush of strength enter his limbs. Once she let go, she picked up the wrapped object.

"This is a legendary weapon that's been in my family for centuries. They're said to be enchanted with the power of a million flames, and forged in the depths of Jukakoni, the deepest of all the Hells."

She removed the covering, to reveal a pair of glowing axes, tied together at the ends by chains, with markings inscribed on the blades.

"WOAH, what are THOSE?" Morino asked.

"The Chain-Axes of Fury!" she eagerly answered. "You should have them! After all, if you're going to be a soldier, you've got to have a solid weapon!"

She placed them in his hands.

"Thanks, Astari," Morino said. "I'll use them well!"

"I know."

As soon as he touched them, a blazing wave of fire shot out of the chains, nearly burning Morino. "Ahhh!"

"Be careful!" Astari exclaimed.

Ji appeared right behind them, making both of them jump. "Hey! The hell are you kids doing? We're about to go!"

He jabbed a finger at Morino. "You might be the first human on to become a Voltian soldier but that does not mean you can frolic with the Princess whenever you want! Get your asses to this car!"

They both blushed in embarrassment. "Yes sir!"

Morino watched as Kevin started running up to them. "What about my brother?"

"Throw him in the car," Ji ordered. "He'll make for a perfect punching bag."

"I hope you don't mean that."

Astari put a hand on Morino's shoulder. "He does. Come on, let's go meet our squad, partner!"

Present Day, inside the S-1 Mansion….

Hikari and Akari rushed downstairs to find Luca on the ground, covered in burns.

"Luca!" Hikari cried. "What happened?"

She and Akari quickly got on either side of him, supporting his weight. He coughed and opened his eyes.

"Luca, who did this to you?" Akari demanded.

"Dachii…" he weakly moaned. "They're coming for him. We've got to hurry…or it will be too late."

—-