9 Ancient Prophecy Leads to... Where Exactly?

Over the two fragile bodies, a shadow of an elderly man with a bamboo hat blotted out the colorful sky. His silhouette blocked out many of the moons and stars that hung in the sky, but his beaming eyes replaced their shine.

"So this is the place, huh - it's as if a meteor fell here... What happened exactly? Why would the prophecy point to this place?!". A powerful voice similar to morning bells broke the silence that remained with the recent departure of Asura Ryuu's parents.

The old man trudged around with a cane in his hands until he reached the babies lying under the primitive wooden hut. Even though it was night, the old man saw them clearly as if it were daytime. But contrary to the expectations, his eyes beamed with joy even though he looked old as he approached the babies slowly but steadily. In the old man's heart, a feeling similar to the one called 'fate' arose as he felt the aura from the babies which caused his chaotic and uneven steps to speed up a bit.

"Little fellas, do you want this old man to take you with him?", the elderly man brimming with vitality asked as if expecting the answer from the infants who couldn't even talk. But the old man believed the kids would understand his meaning even if they couldn't speak - after all, the prophecy led him to them.

As expected, the two pairs of eyes sparkling with a bright luster which seemed to scream: "YES!" greeted his old but energetic eyes. The old man's appearance there was like the silver lining for the homeless and weak babies, and he didn't seem like a dangerous guy either.

Asura Ryuu extended his hand towards the elderly man as if beckoning him to come closer, but he was still far too weak to be able to freely move his hands. Many may overlook the fact that human babies didn't immediately begin cultivating from their birth, so there was not much difference between a normal human baby and the one in the world where Asura Ryuu was born in.

Some parents would inject their baby with Spiritual Energy even before it was born but it would still congregate into a spherical core which the baby would have to dissolve and absorb the energy from within when it grows up, but that was a rare occurrence since that happened usually with Demonic Beasts instead of humans.

After all, nobody knew which type of energy the baby will have an affinity with, so few had entered those dangerous and mysterious waters.

The old guy felt a bit of fear when he stared deep into the Asura Ryuu's eyes, but there was no way he'd admit it - especially when he was a Spirit Master, even though he looked old. However, when he saw the female's eyes, gentler than nature itself, his heart throbbed. What he felt wasn't love but awe, worship and various marvelous feelings as if thousands of flowers were blooming in his heart simultaneously.

An intense wish to protect her arose in the deepest part of the elderly man's heart as if he was seeing his grandchild, which led to him absent-mindedly striding towards her intending to take her into his arms. But...

Before the old guy could do what he wanted, the black claw gave off an intense reaction as it flew off the ground and came to a stop above the babies. The claw in one moment overlapped with the image of mysterious legendary being's claw that stood in front of the babies protecting them, just like how a dog would protect the house from intruders.

The claw seemed to be able to rend the space itself to shreds if triggered, but there was a seal on it which suppressed that energy. Truth be told, the old guy almost got a heart attack when the claw pointed at him. He felt as if billions of the sharpest spears fused into one and their combined might and momentum pressed upon his soul.

At that moment, a black chain shot out of the male baby's hand and wrapped around the claw, bringing it down close to him. This was out of Asura Ryuu's control - the chain acted of its own accord. As the claw came closer to Asura Ryuu's hand, a golden-black emblem materialized and swallowed the overbearing claw whole.

It scared the old man shitless when he saw that scene.

"This little guy... Is he a monster???", the old man thought.

"H-he... he absorbed that... thing?! No... how could that be possible! Unless...". When his thoughts reached this point, the old man's eyes glowed as if they could turn night into day wherever they gazed.

"These two children, they are truly wondrous fellas! If the prophecy is accurate, then they... will change the world!"

Old man quickly took the babies with him and flew off the ground as he landed on his staff in mid-air. The staff lit up with mystical symbols and runes and flew off like a shooting star into the endless night bringing them with it.

-----

Five years later, the same old man with a bamboo hat over his head sat in the simplistic rocking chair made of exquisite wood as his gaze wandered off between the fleeting clouds. As if led by the clouds, his thoughts wandered off to the past moment which happened five years ago - when he picked up the two children in the middle of nowhere.

His eyes appeared distant as various memories flashed through them, recounting the experiences that happened ever since. The strange thing was the babies showed nothing unusual while growing up, as if what happened when they first met was but a lie. The old man even thought he had gone senile, but each time he met eyes with the little boy, his heart would jump in fear for unknown reasons. That was the only thing which kept his conviction in check.

But even so, he didn't understand why nothing out of the ordinary happened with those two children. If one had to say what differed from other siblings, it would be that the girl was constantly clinging to the boy but that was normal to an extent - they were siblings at the end of the day.

The only strange thing was that the girl didn't seem scared, yet she was constantly being behind or around Asura Ryuu as if she could not be separated from him under any circumstances... even when they went to the toilet.

If the old man knew that Asura Ryuu and the little girl were actually lovers from long ago which longed for each other, then he would surely understand the reason behind that behavior but since he had no ability to peep into others' past, he naturally would be clueless about their situation.

Nevertheless, those two fellas definitely fit in with the environment pretty fast upon coming here, so fast it even left the old man speechless. It appeared as if they could be anywhere as long as they are together.