1 A Day to Remember

Inside a locker room within the Grandos Colosseum stood a man of wonder. He was tall, reaching over 193 centimeters in height, and had a toned body that would catch anyone's attention. His brown skin was riddled with marks from combat and a massive scar hung vertically down his left eye. Despite this, he was still quite attractive thanks to the rest of his features like his curly hair and honey-brown eyes.

When including the man's outfit which was a combat suit clad in blackened sylvite ore he looked to be a battle-hardened warrior. Few could even handle the aura of power and death that radiated around him, which was probably why he was sitting alone.

What was he doing here? Why exactly was his locker room empty? Where did he get the scars from? All very good questions, but the most important question still has yet to be answered. Who is he?

For starters, his name was Impiro Fushima and he was born in Japan to Sara Fushima and Elijah Simmons. Sara was a florist who ran her own shop in Tokyo while Elijah was an American soldier on deployment in the city. The two fell in love during the summer of 2010 and ended up having Impiro the very next year.

That was a very long time ago however…and to this point, Impiro was still figuring out the answer to our question: who is he? Or in his case, who am I?

...

While Impiro sat in his locker room thinking to himself the rumblings of a crowd could be heard throughout the colosseum. He stood up from the bench he was sitting on and walked over to the mirror hanging on a nearby wall.

Impiro stared at himself for a solid minute before gently running his fingers over a ring on his right index finger. Obviously this ring was important and meant the world to him, otherwise he wouldn't have sat there for another minute touching it.

"Attention finalists! Please make your way to the entrance bay and prepare for the final round of the tournament."

A female voice came over the intercom in Impiro's locker room, grabbing his attention away from the ring on his hand. The voice repeated their message once again, but Impiro was already walking out of the locker room and heading down the hall.

The entrance bay was a large platform below the stadium that was roughly five by ten meters in size and functioned as an elevator. It stood in the back of a large concrete room that had nothing else in it aside from the platform and its control panel which erected out of the center of it.

Impiro walked onto the platform before pressing a button on the control panel. After pressing the button gears could be heard turning as the platform began to rise up into the air while still being attached to the back wall.

The ascent took around 45 seconds and came to an abrupt stop that left Impiro in a pitch-black room. Shouting came from outside the room and Impiro could tell he was on the ground level of Grandos Colosseum now.

"Dear guests of the Grandos Imperium, allow me to introduce our finalists!"

Once again the intercoms went off, but this time a deep male voice was heard on them. On cue with the intercom was a TV that suddenly lit up above Impiro's head, allowing him to view the arena within the colosseum which currently had a lean old man sitting in the center of it.

"Fighting out of the southern gate is none other than the heir to the Grandos Imperium, the brightest mind of his generation, the master of fire, Prince William Duke!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as the person known as Prince William Duke began walking out of the southern gate of the arena. He had a grandeur to him that lit up his surroundings and displayed a noble image. Everything about him was perfect. Whether you looked at his hair, skin, clothes, or walk, they were all without fault. He carried himself in such a way that one knew he was royal without even needing to hear his name or his story.

As Prince William walked out of his gate he waved back at the crowd and smiled to earn their favor. Someone like him knew the importance of a public image and wanted to set the best example. He walked all the way out of the gate and into the center of the arena where he stood staring at the gate opposite of him.

The arena itself was twice the size of a professional soccer field, so his walk to the center was by no means short. Nonetheless, people continued cheering for him until the announcer came back onto the speakers.

"Now, fighting out of the northern gate is Prince William's opponent, a man of equal prestige, who has fought countless battles, brought new knowledge of monsters to our budding world, and set himself apart from his peers by surprising everyone time after time again. Impiro Fushima!"

William's face twitched ever so slightly when the announcer said Impiro was "a man of equal prestige" to him. It was clear he had a bone to pick with Impiro, a bone that could only be dealt with through blood.

After being called upon one wall from Impiro's black room slid up, causing rays of sunshine to fly into the room and light it up. Impiro was unphased by the sudden light and walked out of the room coldly, his eyes locked on William across from him.

The crowd was just as loud welcoming Impiro into the arena as they were when welcoming William, which annoyed William without a doubt.

The cheers for Impiro continued until he came face to face with William, causing the entire colosseum to go silent. Impiro locked eyes with William, making the prince flinch in fear. A drop of sweat appeared on his forehead and rolled down his left cheek as if he cried a single tear.

"Today I'm going to make a statement to your father. He'll pay with his life soon enough, but first he has to suffer. He took someone very dear to me, now I plan to do the same to him."

Impiro spoke coldly and with a bloody look in his eyes that horrified Prince William. If the whole world wasn't watching this event then William probably would've run out of the arena right then and there, but for the sake of his father, his nation, and his pride, he could do no such thing.

���Heh, not like it matters. With the strength you've shown thus far you won't be able to beat me. You're only digging a deeper hole for yourself. No wonder the bitch had to die...what was her name again?"

William returned Impiro's attitude back at him, sounding even more bloodthirsty than the latter.

At William's mention of a girl Impiro clenched his fists in anger. He knew exactly who the piece of garbage in front of him was talking about and didn't want him to tarnish her name by speaking it out of his mouth.

"She deserved so much more, they all did. Since things have come this far it's time that I deal with you and your whole family. None of them will be left alive, including that little psycho you call a brother. Oh, and yourself included."

Impiro had no intention of letting William win the tournament, let alone leave the arena alive.

The announcer who was a meter away from Impiro and William had seen and heard everything. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape, but he recovered himself and got back to the fight after Impiro mentioned death.

"These two warriors have completely obliterated the competition in this year's tournament which has left everyone stunned. The contestants this year were stronger than any previous contestants which makes it even more of a feat. Now, as they are the last two remaining, they shall battle it out to see who this year's champion is!"

The announcer was walking backward as he spoke in an effort to distance himself from the upcoming battle. He knew just how intense things were about to get and wanted to make sure his own ass was safe before anything else.

Once he was far enough away the announcer let out a sigh of relief and regained his vigor.

"Fighters, proceed to your respective gates and summon your first monsters! Remember that killing monsters is allowed, but you are not allowed to kill your opponent directly. Doing so will result in immediate disqualification. The first person to eliminate three of the opponent's monsters will be crowned the winner."

Impiro spat on the ground as he turned and walked back to the gate, causing not only William but the entire crowd to gasp. Impiro was acting so impolite towards the Prince? The heir of the Grandos Imperium? Was he insane?

William's emotions quickly incited a response to Impiro's gesture as he turned around aggressively and practically ran back to his gate to get ready.

When both fighters were at their gates they began summoning their monsters.

On William's side he summoned his monster incredibly fast in a fit of rage.

"You think you stand a chance against me!? The Prince of the Grandos Imperium? A mere peasant is what you are, I was born to be a king! You were born to be crushed like an insignificant bug!"

William yelled at Impiro but no one heard it as the crowd was too far away. Only a few powerful figures heard what he said thanks to their enhanced senses.

William summoned his first monster by pointing toward Impiro and closing his eyes. A split second later the space in front of him began to break as a tear in space was created. Inside that tear one could see a very hot environment, most likely a volcano. Lava and fire covered everything and there was no sun in the sky which made it even scarier.

Out from the tear emerged a volcanic beast the size of a bus. It had bluish-black scales and a lizard-like body with large veiny wings on its back. Down its spine were spikes filled with flowing magma that gave off intense heat. Its head was low and resembled a dragon thanks to the flat horns on its skull and a third horn that stuck up from its nose.

Impiro looked at the emerging monster without any emotion. In his mind he was evaluating his opponent using a special ability only he had, at least to his knowledge. Data eyes.

With his unique eyes Impiro could learn everything he needed to know about a monster with a simple glance. It gave him information about their strengths, weaknesses, grade, tier, and more.

Using his data eyes Impiro could tell that the name of this monster was a Lava Dragonite. It was a subspecies of dragon classified as a dragonite or lesser dragon. Anything related to dragons would obviously be powerful, but to Impiro this Lava Dragonite was nothing.

Although the crowd was ecstatic to see William's third strongest monster, they were quickly quieted by a howl from Impiro's side of the arena.

While everyone was busy marveling at William's monster, Impiro had begun his summoning, only his didn't cause a spatial tear. Instead, a circular portal appeared that was full of mint green light.

When the portal was fully opened a deep, ominous howl sounded out that sent chills down the spines of everyone present. Green mist slowly leaked from the portal and out stepped a wolf bigger than an elephant. Unlike other wolves though, this one had a green energy body with glowing fur. As if that wasn't enough, the wolf had two straight horns on its head, gripped a giant sword in its mouth, and was wrapped in chains from nose to tail.

"What...is...that…?" William was frozen in place with the hairs on his neck standing at attention. Whatever the monster in front of him was, it wasn't good. The eerie feeling it gave off was one of fear, as if it had killed countless enemies and their souls lingered within its aura to warn any possible opponents.

The crowd in Grandos Colosseum was equally scared of the monster Impiro summoned. Up to this point he had only used one of his monsters to sweep the competition, thus no one knew what the other two monsters he would be using in the tournament were. And now, they knew half of the answer.

Unlike Impiro's previous monster, this one seemed...evil. Its howl wasn't meant as a deterrent or to intimidate. No, it was meant to warn everything present that blood was soon to be spilled.

"Meet my main monster, the Soulbound Wolf. Although he does have a name, you aren't worthy of knowing it."

Impiro used magical energy to project his voice, allowing William to hear it as well as everyone in the crowd.

Soulbound Wolf. The name of this monster would forever be instilled in the hearts and minds of those present.

"I-" William coughed as he failed to get any words out. He cleared his system and tried regaining his composure before saying with magical energy, "it's just a dog. I'll teach it to sit today."

With the end of his sentence came a dragon roar that once again shocked everyone present, pulling their attention to the Lava Dragonite which was now charging at the Soulbound Wolf.

"Resistance. It's futile. Kill the Lava Dragonite, but leave William alive." Impiro said with a scowl on his face.

The Lava Dragonite was around 150 meters away from the Soulbound Wolf when it suddenly stopped in its tracks, falling onto the ground with a heavy thud. Another 50 meters behind the Lava Dragonite was William who fell onto the ground coughing blood after the Lava Dragonite collapsed.

What happened? Why did the Lava Dragonite suddenly fall over? The spectators were completely unaware of what was happening, but William was in the known. His Lava Dragonite was hit with a soul-type attack, instantly killing it by shattering its soul.

Thoughts of surrendering and fleeing began running rampant in William's mind. The Lava Dragonite was his third strongest monster and a representation of his power, but it had been killed so easily. Sure he had two stronger monsters, but they were obviously no match for this Soulbound Wolf that was capable of killing a tyrant tier monster in one hit.

"Don't sit there pondering your defeat, summon your next monster or I'll kill you where you stand." Impiro's thirst for blood was off the charts and he could no longer hold back. He used magical energy to project his voice around the entire arena, making everyone fear him.

This day would live on forever in the memories of those present as the day a new monster appeared. Not a monster that came through a spatial rift seeking food, or a monster that had wings, but a human monster. One that was born from the sorrows of his past.

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