1 Chapter 1: Battle in Nagano (Part 1)

Episode 1

(Leaving Shirakawa)

Whoosh~

It's lightly snowing outside the mountain range of Shirakawa village.

"Kiyoshi~ Hurry up and come down to the dining table. Your breakfast is getting cold."

A woman's loud voice can be heard from the Tatsuyoshi household.

"Yes, Mother."

Screaming out his reply, a boy hurriedly got down to the first floor and sat at the dining table. His black hair was neck long and half up in a ponytail. He was wearing a blue jacket that reached his waist and a pair of white loose trousers.

"Thank you for the food."

The boy said loudly while putting his hands together and then started gobbling the steamed rice and miso soup that was already prepared on the table.

"Don't gobble your food like that you brat."

"Yesh… Nom* Nom* Pops."

The boy said while eating a mouthful of his breakfast.

"Tch! Don't talk while eating. You will choke yourself."

"Cough* Cough*"

"Aghh! What did I just say!"

Saying that the middle-aged man handed over a glass of water to the 16 years old boy who was coughing. 

Gulp* Gulp*

The boy hurriedly drank the water.

"Haa~ Hehe* Thanks so much pops."

The boy said with a grin.

"Sigh~ Whatever."

The man heaved a sigh of loss.

"Kiyoshi, eat your food slowly. No one is going to steal it from you."

"But mother, the food is so good."

"Haa~ Yes."

The woman gave up. His son was like that from the very beginning. It's not like that was going to change in a day. 

Well, she was still grateful to see her son enjoying his food like that.

Anyways, it was yet another peaceful day in the Tatsuyoshi household. 

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"I am done with breakfast."

"Oh… Yes…"

"Come on, Mother. Don't be sad."

"Sob* But this is the last time you will have breakfast with us."

Ah… That's right… Today I am finally going out of my hometown in Kamikochi. 

Ah. That's right. I forgot to introduce myself.

My name is Kiyoshi Tatsuyoshi. And I am 16 this year. 

And my dream is to join 'Hiryuu', the strongest Phantom Hunters Association. Hiryuu means flying dragon. Man~ Even their name is the coolest!

Even though they haven't recruited any new members for more than 5 years, unlike the other associations. They are still the top Hunter Association in Japan.

Oh, and for your information, phantoms are magical monsters that hunt down humans. There are different kinds of them. 

Sharp teeth, Sharp Claws, Huge bodies of different shapes…

Hahahaha~ Yes. They are just monsters. Although some of them have high-level intelligence. Of course, they are S class phantoms.

Anyways the reason they are called Phantoms is that they appear out of nowhere. Literally nowhere. Some say the phantoms can use teleportation magic. But that's just an assumption after all.

Anyways today is the best day of my life. Because I am going to give the exams to join Hiryuu!

Hohoho~ Yes. Hiryuu announced that they are going to recruit new members this year.

Am I not lucky or what?

"Don't you worry, mother. I will join the best Phantom Hunters and make you feel proud of me."

I said with a smile.

"Sniff* I am sure you will."

And after a while, it was finally time for me to leave my village. 

"Sniff* Take care, son."

"Don't forget to eat well, Kiyoshi."

"Sniff* Yes, I will."

Oh… Now I feel sad… I don't want to leave my parents…

"I know you will become a great Hunter."

My mother who was sad a moment ago sad with a bright smile. 

Mother…

"Yes."

I said enthusiastically. I will make her proud of me.

After that, I finally left my house with a backpack and said goodbye to my parents.

"Sob* Oh. My little boy."

Kiyoshi's mother sobbed while looking at the way Kiyoshi was walking away. She tried her best to not cry and bade her son farewell with a smile. She wanted to give him courage.

"Oh, honey. Sob* Don't cry. We can't hide him forever."

"I know… But I still didn't want him to do such a dangerous job."

"He is a big kid now. He knows what he is doing. So believe in him. He will be fine."

"Yes. Sob* I hope so too."

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The test to join Hiryuu will be divided into Preliminary and Finals. 

In Preliminary, Magicians will fight against each other in a battle. And the last 10 standing in each arena will be then chosen for the Finals. 

And for the tests, four arenas were selected in Hokkaido, Iwate, Fukushima and Nagano Prefecture. As Nagano is the closest to my hometown, I chose to go there. 

So right now, I am riding a train from Gifu to Nagano. And it has already been two hours. The train stops and probably will continue to stop at different stations from time to time. Hmm… It will probably take 5 hours for me to reach Nagano City…

Woosh~

A chilly wind entered the compartment.

Uwaa~ So cold!

Slide~

I hurriedly closed the train window.

"Phew~ It's better now."

I looked outside for a moment. 

It's snowing… The snow flurries are covering the vast green land. The train is literally running between an empty plain land.

It's not as beautiful as my village. But I guess it's better than some dry and barren lands…

All of these are because hundreds of years ago when the Phantoms first appeared… they caused huge destruction to the entire world along with Japan. Although after the hard work of humanity, all of those places are habitable zones now. All thanks to the Phantom Hunters!

More importantly, the Finale will be in Tokyo~ Which is the only place in Japan filled with buildings. 

Well,  Some other cities do have big or small buildings but Tokyo has the tallest buildings of all. 

Anyways now Japan is like what they called the Medieval era hundreds of years ago. Although I think this is much better. Because we have the necessary things like TV, Trains, Smart Phones and many more. And some of them are run by magic now. And the buildings are three or four storeys with sloping roofs and chimneys. Although not Tokyo, hahaha~.

When will I go there? But before that, I have a test in Nagano.

Aghh! I want to battle with others right now! I had never stepped outside of Shirakawa. So I had never fought with anyone in an actual fight. The people of my village are peace-loving. And the kids there are not as strong as me.

But more than that never ever did any Phantom Monster appear in Shirakawa… At least, not when I was there…

I saw Phantom Monsters only on TV or in books. I can't wait to fight with a real one.

"Aghh! I can't wait anymore!"

"Hahaha~ You must be excited about something."

An elder who was sitting next to me said with a smile. He was wearing a long white robe and a red scarf was tied around his waist. His hair was tied up.

Aghh! I forgot I was on the train!

"I apologize for screaming like that so suddenly."

I scratched my head and said while bowing.

"Hahaha. It's okay, kiddo."

"Thank you so much, gramps."

"Hoho~ No need for that. Anyways, what are you so excited about, kiddo?"

"Oh! Tokyo!"

"Huh? Tokyo? Do you want to go there?"

"I mean, I am going to give the test to join the 'Hiryuu' association today!"

"Hiryuu, you say…"

"Huh?"

Did the gramps just smirk?

"Oh my!"

The Elder exclaimed with a worried tone.

'Ahh… I guess it was just my imagination.'