1 A Demonic Whale Eats Two Warriors

Ko never thought that later this afternoon, he would be inside the stomach of a flesh-eating, demonic sea-creature. A Bakunawa!

It has the head of a dragon and a body of a serpent. It's preferred targets are large vessels that cross the sea. From the bottom of the sea, with no warning, it looms in on the ship unlucky enough to cross path with it and swallows them whole.

"Isn't this interesting." Ko grins as he looks around the interior of the Bakunawa.

It looks like a very long cave. The walls and ceiling are punctuated by a series of pinkish crescent shapes. Ankle deep, ice-cold seawater gush out towards the pitch-black horizon.

While walking, Ko spotted a corner, where the floor is elevated and left dry; he mounts the small boat he has been carrying. Shaking from the freezing waters, he stood on the bare spot. Beside him is a floating fireball that casts an orange light against the darkness but does little in warming him against the harsh, dead cold air.

Ko shouts, "Hello? Can anyone hear me? I'm here to help you!" his voice echoed throughout the sea monster, but there was no response.

Out of nowhere, another glint of orange light emerged from behind him; Ko swiftly turned his head. Years of training made it automatic for him to be prepared for self-defense, only to sigh and roll his eyes when he saw who it was.

"You scared me, Kana! I thought you were going to wait near the entrance of this fucking thing."

"Its uvula was secreting the smell of a dead goat, so I left."

Ko smiles, "Poor Kana."

"Also, you might need help."

Ko's smile fades and shakes his head. "You worry too much over me. Of course, I can handle this on my own. This is nothing."

Kana did not respond and only walked ahead of Ko.

"Hoy, wait up."

The two men started to walk in the same direction as the gushing water. A fireball was floating in front of them, leading the way, and alleviating the darkness.

Luna, without any movements or bodily gesture, conjured two more fireballs that materialized out of nowhere.

Ko started shouting again. Asking if anyone is here, yet still, there were no answers.

"Maybe they're all dead now," Ko said.

"Not good to make assumptions. We will have to wait and see to know how to properly assess the situation."

"It's always a party when you're around."

Kana did not respond.

Ko started to slightly shake. Kana immediately took off his cloak and handed it to Ko.

"I told you to bring a cloak. Here take mine." Kana insisted.

Ko flashed a smile at Kana and instantly wore the cloak without any protest. Luna made one of the fireballs float nearer to Ko, to warm him up.

Ko wanted to tease Kana, so he pinched his right cheek. "Such a good boy, Kana. Do you want a reward?" like he was electrocuted, Kana slapped his hand away, immediately.

Ko was stifling his laughter; the image of a six-foot adult man pouting was too funny in Ko's mind.

Unbeknownst to Ko, Kana was heating up. The place where Ko left his touch stings. And Kana looked away only to hide the blush blooming on his face.

Ko was about to tease Kana some more but was cut off by a shrill voice that tore the chilly air.

Both men bolted to the location of the scream, leading them to the edge of a chasm. Beneath them was a steep drop towards a pitch-black pool.

Many bones were floating on the surface water—torsos, skulls, fingers, toes, and rib cage pieces.

Shot right in the middle of the pool was a slowly disintegrating, sinking ship, the same ship that was swallowed a few minutes ago by the Bakunawa.

Ko and Kana deduced that the pool was mixed with acid. Hence, the remaining survivors, a total of four people, crowded at the deck of the sinking ship, waving their arms like cut off octopus tentacles.

A little boy among them buried his face to a woman's belly, who, in turn, gave the little boy gentle caresses.

Between sobs, the boy asked, "Mother, who are they? They might be bad people!."

"My son, they are Warriors, protectors of the Kingdom of Mai from evil creatures such as this demon that swallowed us. All is well now, my child, you'll see."

The child unearthed his face from his mother's belly, he looked above and saw two young men of polar opposites.

One was extremely tall and muscular. He had knives hooked on the sash around his waist, and a tip of a spear cloaked in a linen cloth peering behind his head

. He has a tattoo sleeve on both arms. His long raven hair is tied in a bun, clearly showing his chiseled, stone-cold face.

Despite all that, he was not intimidating. His almond-shaped hazel eyes soften his aura into gentleness.

Unlike the man beside him, he was tiny, only reaching his towering partner's shoulders. Scrawny and carries no weapons

. And, his face is always wearing a smile brimming with narcissism and mischief.

Underneath the chasm, on the deck, the man standing beside the mother and son suddenly proclaimed, "Not only are they Warriors, but the tall one is Kana!"

"Shut up!" said the mother, ecstatically.

"Is it really" beams the other man.

All the panic a while ago was replaced by ecstatic curiosity over Kana, which dampens Ko's mood.

The little boy did not like the small man very much. And shiver racked his entire body when the small guy leaped from above, propelling towards the ship's deck.

Without a thud, he landed so lightly on the tip of the deck, and only the chimes of his ear piercings made any sound.

"Come on, kid. I don't have all day." With tiny steps, the child slowly approached him, still hesitant, despite his mother's encouragement.

"Got you," Ko said as he tucked the child under his right arm. "Kana, you better not screw up."

Kana only replied with a subtle nod.

Ko thought: this guy is so serious. Some things never change.

Everyone on board assumed that Ko was going to carrying them back to the chasm. All that presumption shattered, when Ko hurled the small boy towards Kana, at the top of the gap.

All their faces darkened. Like an animal being tortured, a sharp shrill came out from the little boy, soaring over the deep acidic water.

Kana caught him with only one arm. He gently placed him down and smiled at the little boy. "You were so brave. Good work," he said.

Ko then turns to the rest of the crowd, "Who's next?"

The mother protested, "why throw us like objects when you can carry us that way we will be more secured."

Ko's brows knitted, "no way that's too exhausting and will take longer. I have somewhere to be."

The people could not believe what they were hearing. He was supposed to be a warrior. A public servant to the civilians of Mai. A warrior for peace.

Ko continues, "if no one volunteers, I'll leave all of you behind."

The people came back to their senses and listened to Ko's instruction. No one dared to test if he was lying or not.

Ko threw them one at the time. In a perky mood, he was whistling as he hurled them over to Kana.

While they were zooming across the acidic waters, they were cursing Ko. However, this only seemed to brighten his mood, as he whistled even louder.

Kana caught them all, effortlessly, like they weighed nothing more than a feather.

Once everyone was safely back on top, they ran back to where they left the small boat. Ko swiftly picked it up with ease, and he led the way towards the uvula of the Bakunawa.

Its mouth is sealed shut, but soon, it will break the surface water to draw a breath.

They were all pressed against the wall, holding on to it for support. Ko placed down the small boat that looked like it was only built a while ago. You can see some of the nails were not hammered well, and some of the plywood was loose.

Once again, the three adults were cursing their luck, getting Ko as their savior.

Kana read their mind and interjected, "Do not worry. I will make sure nothing ill happens to you."

All the fear and anxiety the three adults felt vanished.

For a moment, all of them got lost, staring at his chiseled face, completely forgetting that they were still at the back of a flesh-eating monster's throat.

Ko rolled his eyes and shouted, "Climb on board now!"

Snapped from a trance, they all climbed aboard.

"Remember, if you let go, you die," Ko warned. Seeing their faces turn green and seeing the small boy on the verge of tears, Ko wanted to play around.

"If you let go and fall to the ocean, the waves will pull you farther to the sea, far away from us, all alone, floating above, a constellation of

flesh infested sea—"

Without warning, a coughing fit halted Ko's momentum. He shot Kana an angry look. "Kana! You did it again!" he barked.

Smoke was coming out of Ko's mouth with each hacking cough. Kana responded calmly, "Ko, your ego was showing again. So I had to intervene."

"That hurt!" Ko yelled.

"No, it did not. It was only a small fire." He went quiet for a while and whispered, "I will never harm you."

"Small fire! It was inside my mouth. I told you countless times to stop doing that!"

"Rein in your nasty attitude, and I will stop inflicting it."

Ko was about to protest some more, but waves of tremors from the Bakunawa caught his attention.

"Kana, get ready!" Ko said as he sat on the front of the boat. Kana was still standing, holding the boat in place.

When the mouth opened wide, crowning the starry night sky, Kana simultaneously jumped onboard and fired a massive explosion from the back of the boat. They zipped through the mouth and crashed into the open sea.

From the moment of impact, the boat smashed into pieces. Everyone fell to the deep, cold waters.

A blanket of smoke was coming out from the Bakunawa's mouth. It thrashed it's head side to side, violently, and plunged underwater.

Kana shouted, "Ko, saved them. I will take care of the Bakunawa!"

Kana was about to dive underwater but was yanked back from his robe neckline.

Ko objected, "Why do you get to kill it! You save them; I'll kill it!"

"You are faster than I, that is why!"

"Not my problem!" Ko faster than greased lightning, dived underwater before Kana can even utter a word of protest.

With no choice, Kana swiftly swims towards the four victims.

Underwater, Ko swims deeper until he sees a large shadow in fast-braced speed heading straight at him.

He draws a fist, and recoils his right arm and hammers it straightforward—a blast of water pressure slams to the Bakunawa, so strong that it reshapes its face.

Blood was sipping out from the Bakunawa, tainting the black water red, as it slowly submerged into the bottom of the sea.

Observed that it's dead, Ko swims away from clouds of red. He breaks the water surface and spots the shoreline; Kana and the rest of the survivors were already there.

Kana saw him; he immediately dived back to the ocean and swam towards Ko.

Once Kana reached him, he immediately asked, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Please, that was nothing, kinda boring."

Kana smiled. "You were great."

"So were you!" Ko beamed at him, "but another useless mission when will I ever encounter a God level threat."

"It is not useless. We saved lives."

Ko waved his hand dismissing it.

Once they reached the shallow part, they walked towards the sand. The survivors were attended by shamans—medical healers from the palace. The shamans were checking if they have any broken bones, asking them simple questions, such as, "what is your name" and "what is your age?" to see if they are in a state of trauma.

The little boy, clutching at the hem of his mother's robe, came running towards Ko and Kana, his eye beaming at them. He was about to speak but got distracted by the light, suddenly emitting from Ko and Kana's bracelet.

"What is that?" the boy asked.

" The assessor bracelet. How come you don't know?" Ko accused.

"I'm six," the boy countered.

"Please, when I was six, I was already training to become a warrior, and I definitely knew about assessor watches."

The bracelet is braided in gold; in the middle is a circular, flat jaded stone, the size of a pebble.

The stone lights up whenever a mission is completed. Records the event and sends it to the Warrior archives called the Warrior Ranking System, located inside the royal palace of Mai.

The Warrior Ranking System evaluates each license warrior public contribution if they qualify to join the Elites.

Ko explained this to the little boy, but the boy looked confused, tilting his head to the side while knitting his brows together.

"Forget about it, kid" Ko was about to leave when the little boy tugged on his red sash.

"I want to become a warrior someday." the little boy jumped as he said it.

A flash of sadness appeared on Kana's face but swiftly disappeared, replaced by a welcoming smile.

"You will be much happier if you aim for something else in life, little one," Kana said.

Ko intervened, "Only the powerful get to become warriors. A crybaby like you can't be one."

"Hoy!" Kana objected, but Ko ignored him, "You were crying the whole time, clinging to your mommy."

The little boy's face grew flustered, "I-I-I was not scared. I was…"

"Is that tears I see." Ko teased.

Tears refuse to fall, clog up his wide eyes, his tiny lips quiver, his cheeks stained with blemish red, the little boy is about to lose it. Despite knowing this, Ko still wanted to continue teasing, but when he opened his mouth, only smoke came out, accompanied by a coughing fit.

Ko shot Kana a look, but Kana did not even look back; he only bent down and wiped the tears off the child's eyes.

"He was only teasing. Do not mind him. You can become strong if you choose to be. You always have a choice. Also, power is not everything. Make sure to remember that."

The little boy wiped off his tears, hanging on his eyes, and nodded hard.

When Ko's coughing fit was over, he was about to protest Kana's assertions, but Kana cut him off, "We should go and patrol at Mt. Apo village."

Ko rolled his eyes, "I'm pretty sure it's another false rumor that it's a God level threat, just like this one."

"We still ought to go."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Ko turned and walked away from them.

Kana patted the little boy's head, "Take good care of yourself and your mother." He said and followed Ko.

The little boy was stuck, standing still, mesmerized by the two strangers and their display of power.

As he watched them walk away, a quiet flame sparked inside of him, a desire to enter and belong to their world.