3 Kindness Is Not A Weakness

About 45 miles to the south of the city Brinket lay a battlefield, one that served as a planned meeting for any two opposing forces. A city named Hastaka used to be situated in the area, but after it fell into financial ruin and people began to migrate to other cities it was decided that it would serve as a sort of battleground that would handle small skirmishes and disputes held between rival clans and nations. Due to its continuous battling and carnage, it had been called 'The District of No Return' or shortened to the War District. Constantly plagued by war and bloodshed, hardly anyone ever to step foot in its borders anymore, let alone live in it, but yet it seemed that that's where Amanda was leading them as they began hiking south from the Westrolume.

"So," Juda said as he walked alongside the small Sympto, kicking rocks along the roadside. "Tell me a little bit about where you come from, if thats okay?"

"You sure?" She asked, her voice filled with obvious reluctance. "Its not exactly a happy story, nor does it have a happy ending." She stepped over a hunk of metal that had been thrown to the side of the road.

The path they were traversing in order to get to the intended destination was a rather unseemly one. While most roads that lead to the Westrolume were well maintained and looked appealing, it was just an appearance in order to attract shoppers. In actuality, if you walked a mile in any direction from the market, the signs of battle would become apparent almost immediately. This was because, although the fight was meant to be restricted to the city of Hastaka, it was pretty common for many to forget this rule. However, if the skirmish taking place was kept to minimum then the higher ups would normally let it slide. Battles between small figures that ranged from level 1 to 10 usually made up the armies of that fought these small scale disputes, although it wasnt because they lacked any, but rather that they were forbidden.

"So anyway, thats my story...what do you think?" Amanda asked as she concluded her story. She glanced over at him expectantly with her crimson colored eyes.

'Shit, I was lost in thought' He mentally shouted as he panicked inside whule fighting to keep his expression emotionless. 'Okay, just relax Juda, you can do this just take the words she said at the beginning and make something up'

"I'm sorry you had a rough childhood," He finally said, giving her a small frown and a small bow which greatly startled her.

She had actually thought that he hadn't listened to a word she said, because the whole time they had been walking and she was talking, Juda had been staring into the distance with a sort of reminiscent look on his face. It sort of pleased her that he had actually listened to her story and even sympathized with her.

"No, its okay Juda, I'm just glad you listened," She said softly, placing a hand over her chest, her face beginning to blush a darker shade of green.

"Well since you shared your past, do you wanna hear about mine Miss Amanda?" Juda asked with a slight hint of regret evident in his tone. He had actually wanted to hear about her childhood, but that ship had long sailed so all he could do now was maybe tell her a little about himself.

"Sure, if your willing to, I wouldn't mind hearing the story of my own personal savior. It'd make a great story for those back at my village." She smiled and gripped the sack of food tighter as she held it over her shoulder.

"Well, let me think. I guess my earliest memory was somewhere along the lines of 5 years old, but I'll try to explain everything I can." Juda smiled as he spoke, but it was a forced one, but it was one that he had long mastered so it looked genuine to most people.

When Juda was first born, he was almost immediately killed off. It wasnt the mother that wanted to kill him, but his father, and the reason was rather simple. It was because he was deemed as weak from the start due to his skin color being pale and white, letting everyone know that it was almost impossible for him to control an element. The mother stood up for him though and held him close refusing to let his father murder him in cold blood. Unsatisified with how his wife chose the baby over his own wishes, the father severed all ties and disappeared from their lives. From that moment on, Juda's mother raised the baby on her own, but without her husbands support, they quickly fell into poverty, getting to the point where his mother had sell her body in order to get by. It went this way for 2 years before she became sick and died, leaving a 4 year old Juda behind to fend for himself. It was around this time, around 2 weeks after his mothers death, that Juda met Sabira.

He had been wandering the woods looking for various fruits and nuts to feed his hunger, somehow surviving for this long period of 2 weeks in a dangerous forest merely by luck and chance. However, his luck didnt hold out for long as he soon ran into a B class danger beast. It was a lycorn, a beast measuring 3 meters tall and 4 meters long. It had two huge poisonous fangs and closely resembled a panther, except it was completely purple, had hooves instead of paws, and had one huge horn growing from it's forehead.

This was the first beast that Juda had meant, and unlike how one normally would react, he ran towards it and hugged one of its furry legs, rubbing face against it. If this was surprising to hear, the lycorn was even more surprised as it immediately took a step backwards and bared its fangs, uttering a deep growl. Juda simply stared at it, his golden eyes filled with a fascination that showed no traces of fear. The lycorn, unsure of what to make of the child, lowered its head, opened its mouth and intended to bite the child, but froze in the middle of it. Its eyes widened, its open jaw trembled and its entire body began to shake like a small tree hit with a fierce wind. It whimpered softly before tucking its tail between its legs and sprinting away as fast as his hooves allowed him.

Juda just stared after the lycorn, before eventually turning around to continue his search for food. He bumped into something furry however and fell backwards, hitting the ground hard and scraping the back of his leg which began bleeding. Juda didnt cry though as he stared up at the 5 meter tall beast standing in front of him. It was an intimidating sight, one that could strike fear into the hearts of even the strong, yet Juda didnt fear it as he stared into its eyes. This was the fully grown S class danger beast the Wolf Dragon the one known for its violence and its cunning.

"Juda, are you sure your not exaggerating just a tad bit?" Amanda asked, interrupting him in the middle of his story. "If it could strike fear into the strong then how come you weren't afraid? Your basically calling yourself a legend."

"Not a legend but rather I didnt know what fear was at the time." Juda answered as he looked up at Sabira soaring leisurely through the skies above their heads. "I was a kid and though I grew up poor and without a father, my mother always took good care of me. However, she's also the one that, from the beginning, encouraged me to be strong. She also told me to be kind and while this may seem like a contradiction because of the times we live in, it actually isn't."

Juda looked over at the green haired girl with a small smile. "She told me that one should strive to be the strongest they can while retaining kindness. Kindness doesn't necessarily mean that I refuse to fight, because honestly I enjoy fighting. Kindness means showing people warmth and generosity, care and consideration." Juda shoved his hands into his pocket and leaped over a hunk of charred metal.

"It may seem like all of this is bad, but its not. One can be strong AND kind depending on how their raised. However since most of the ones who are lifted up based on race, gender, and skin color are strong then people naturally assumed that the strong got where they are based soley on how merciless and cruel they were in getting there, but thats a load of bullshit." He shook his head and tapped the spot above his heart. "In order to become strong all someone needs is heart. Whether they're wicked or kind normally depends on their personality and how they were raised. They think that kindness is nothing but a weakness, but I believe in what my mom always said."

"And what would that be exactly?" asked Amanda as she walked faster in order to keep up with Juda's long strides.

"Kindness is not a weakness, its the greatest strength that one could ever hope to have." He reached over and rub his hand over the head of the short green haired Sympto, causing her to blush. "My mother believed that the ones who are kind, have heart, and never give up are the ones who will truly become strong. So this is the philosophy I've decided to live by, to be a kind and strong and live the way that my mom would be proud of." He put his fingers into his mouth and gave a soundless whistle.

Sabira howled in the air and landed next to them, his claws digging into the ground in order to stop himself from sliding when he landed.

"Alright buddy, I was wondering if you have enough strength to fly us the rest of the way to this Amanda's village, since we're still about 2/3rd of the way away from it?" Juda rubbed the wolf's light gray fur and Sabira gave a low satisfied growl before giving a light flap of its wings.

Sabira's shape slowly began grow larger, its wings extended wider, elongating to the point where each wing from base to tip was about 4 meters in diameter. His height reached the 3 meter mark before finally stopping, his body having undergone a drastic change.

"Holy shit," Amanda spat out as she fell back a step, her eyes scanning over its massive form. "Juda, what the hell just happened? Explain!"

"Whats wrong?" Juda asked as he used the wings as a staircase and climbed onto Sabira's back. "Surely you knew that every S class beast could transform to whatever shape they want, which is why they're considered to be extremely dangerous and tricky. Sabira however is a step above the rest as he can even transform into humanoid shape AND talk like one after that."

Sabira gave a low growl and stretched his giant body out proudly, clearly pleased with himself, causing Amanda to laugh a little as she walked up the wings and took a seat behind Juda. "Actually Id prefer for you to sit up front so I can hold onto you. Its your first time flying on Sabira and he tends to be a bit of a showoff when we have guests."

Sabira shook his body in protest, seemingly as if he was trying to throw off his companion, making Juda laugh. "Relax buddy, I was just joking, you know I think your a great flyer." He rubbed reached over and scratched behond his ears before standing up and gesturing for Amanda, who had blushed a very deep shade of green, to sit down.

"Oh, yeah sure." Amanda said as she sat down, clenching her thighs against Sabiras furry body. Her breathing turned irregular as she felt rather strong hands wrap around her waist and pull her against Juda's chest. She could feel his heart beating evenly which was a shapr contrast conpared to her own rapidly beating heart.

"Okay Sabira, we're ready for takeoff whenever you are." Juda said, squeezing his arms tighter around her waist and giving a slight nod. "Try not fall of midflight by the way or the fall will definitely suck."

Sabira bent his knees, howled, flapped his wings once, and then pushed off the ground, the wind rushing around them as they raced into the air at an astounding speed. "By the way, Sabira is capable of flight up to Mach 5 when he gets super serious, so honestly we should reach your village in about 2 minutes on Sabira's back." Juda had to place his lips practically up to her ear in order for her to hear him due to the wind, which caused her to heart to race almost as fast as the speed at which Sabira was flying.