AWAKENING

BOOOM!!

As I was laying face down in that crater, when I tried to move pain radiated throughout my whole body, especially on my back where that last attack landed

'shit something's definitely broken'

Struggling I got up on my feet, bleeding a little from my head and a couple of other places across my body.

Drip

Drip

A few drops fell to the floor when suddenly my senses picked something up akin to a sun in the middle of the night and unlike before when I could not sense him, now he seemed to be openly taunting me, by not trying to hide his ki at all but, something was odd about it, something familiar, something dreadful.

glancing at his location and as my eyes fell upon him or it, I froze, confusion and shock at what I was seeing washed over me like a tsunami, at the edge of the crater a few meters hovering about the ground stood something

With Long pearl white hair blowing in the wind, blood-red dragon eyes, a maniacal grin showcasing all his razor-sharp teeth, two menacing horns,

His whole body was covered in pitch-black scales and his face only had scales extending from the neck up to the sides of his face. and two massive wings at least twice his height a strong tail and a dark red glowing gem embedded on his chest pulsating with raw power.

"wh-Wha-what are you?!"

I questioned with a trembling voice, as I remembered the time when the whole village and my family were killed by that dragon, that feeling of helplessness that made me feel fear which I hadn't felt since that fateful day.

On the old man's part or whatever he is now didn't immediately answer but instead folded his wings which dropped him to the ground and cracked it a little and started walking towards me, one heavy step at a time.

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

.

.

When he got close to me we locked eyes as he bent down and using his claws held me by the neck and raised me to his face, I struggled to break free but to no avail as he brought me closer and whispered something in my ear.

"I think you already know the answer to that question"

Just as he said that he cocked his hand back with me still in his grip and threw me with such force that even sounds couldn't catch up to me as the surroundings blurred for a second before I crashed into a mountain but not stopping but drilled right through it and crashed into the second much bigger one which managed to stop my momentum but not without causing massing cracks to spread throughout the mountain

BOOOOM!!*CRACK*!!!

I could feel the pain intensifying with every passing second, my vision blurry and my body weak. As I lay there, struggling to regain my senses, I heard the old man's voice now sounding much deeper and more powerful.

"is that all you got? You're stronger than you think, Rise and fight back or are you gonna let your fear consume you and die by my hands"

As he said that he raised one of his hands in the air and started channeling his energy to make a dark red ki ball that keeps getting bigger and bigger by the second until it stopped after it reached the size of a small mountain, now looking like a literal second sun in the sky.

"Let's see if you have what it takes to live!"

He said as he threw the giant ki ball towards me. the pure pressure of it weighed on me like a mountain, if it hits me I'll definitely be killed and everything in my surroundings will be destroyed at the minimum. I forced myself to my feet, my body aching and bleeding all over but my will stronger than ever before.

The dragon was hovering in the sky, watching me with a mix of curiosity and amusement. I knew that I didn't stand a chance against him in my current state, but I refused to give up. I had to find a way to defeat him, channeling every ounce of my remaining ki to my injuries to rejoin the fight.

"I won't die here, I WILL SURVIVE!"

I muttered to myself. But my body was too weak and lost too much blood and That's when I felt it - a sudden surge of energy coursing through my body, like something in me awakening, starting from my chest and traveling down to my toes. My wounds started to heal, and my broken bones mended themselves. It was as if some unknown force was powering me up, giving me strength that I had never felt before.

I stood up, feeling the power within me. My eyes glowed crimson from their original black, and my aura radiated a blinding crimson light. I raised my hands and channeled that energy into a massive ball of light that grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of the incoming attack itself and threw it at each other.

As two attacks met one much darker than the other but similar in strength, it caused a gigantic explosion, lighting the world up in red.

BOOOOM!!

Narration pov:

As the light cleared two people can be seen hovering a dozen meters away from each other, one of them appears to be a dragon in human form a hybrid if you will, and the other is a human with jet-black hair radiating a red aura whose crimson eyes are fixated on the dragon.

For the first time since the beginning of this fight, Kuro remained calm, with no distractions and no other thoughts besides solely how to take down this opponent, channeling his energy as he prepared to face it. With a sudden burst of speed, he rushed towards the hybrid, his movements fluid and precise.

The hybrid swung his tail at kuro, but he dodged it with ease, his body moving with grace and agility. He retaliated with a swift kick to the hybrid's side, but the blow only glanced off the dragon's tough scales.

With a fierce roar, the hybrid unleashed a torrent of ki flames from his jaws, engulfing kuro in a searing inferno. But he stood firm, channeling his ki to protect himself from the intense heat.

As the flames died down, Kuro emerged unscathed, his eyes flashing with determination. He lunged towards the hybrid, his body surrounded by a powerful aura of ki energy.

The hybrid met him head-on, his claws slashing through the air as he tried to land a blow on his nimble opponent. But kuro was too quick, dodging and weaving around the hybrid's attacks with ease.

With a sudden burst of speed, Kuro launched himself into the air, his body surrounded by powerful ki energy. He landed a series of powerful blows on the hybrid, sending the dragon-human staggering backward.

But the hybrid was not defeated yet. He unleashed another torrent of flames from his jaws and numerous ki blasts, but this time, Kuro was ready. He focused his ki energy into a powerful shield, blocking the flames and blasts that are difficult to evade and protecting himself from the intense heat they produced.

The two opponents continued to clash, each one determined to emerge victorious. Kuro's movements were fluid and precise, his ki energy giving him the strength and speed he needed to keep up with the hybrid's raw power.

But the hybrid was a formidable foe, his dragon strength, and agility making him a difficult opponent to defeat. As the battle wore on, both combatants began to show signs of fatigue, their movements slowing and their breathing becoming labored.

Finally, with a fierce roar that shook the very earth, the hybrid lunged towards kuro, his claws extended and his jaws opened wide showing his razor-sharp teeth. But he anticipated it and was ready. With a sudden burst of speed, he dodged the hybrid's attack and landed a powerful blow to the dragon's chest, flooding its body with his violent ki causing it to wreak havoc in the dragon's internals, the hybrid spitting a mouthful of blood stumbled backward, his body trembling with pain and exhaustion, finally causing the dragon to fall to the ground like a broken kite and crashed.

Boom!

When the dust cleared kuro stood over him, his body surrounded by a powerful aura of ki which slowly retreated into his body. while also channeling some ki to his hand which crackled with small red lightning as he bent down to the dragon's chest and forcefully pried out the gem on its chest.

As he pried it out the scales on the dragon's body quickly retreated, leaving a bleeding frail old man, taking labored breaths.

"haah, haa, That was fun, huh, who knew that this is where it all ends" -the old man said

"Don't play coy with me you wanted it to end like this, you held back didn't you?"

kuro said as he glanced at the gem in his hand.

"Maybe but who can say, really"

"...why?why me? and why like this?"

"Heh, to be honest, I don't remember why, it's been so long that it all seems blurry now, but that day when your village was under attack, I was honestly tired of this world, I used to seek out the strong ones to fight, to conquer, to glory, but alas, after I reached the pinnacle, what awaited me was not satisfaction or glory but emptiness, so I flew, traveling the world searching for something to fight to fill that void in my core, and when I almost lost all hope, you happened, I saw something in you that day something greater than my own so I saved you and now, it went better than I ever could have imagined"

"so this was your plan all along, to die?"

"Well, kinda, I have walked this world for a long time, and I was reaching the end anyway, plus I didn't want to leave ur training incomplete so I just combined the two, like two birds with one ston-" cough!-cough!?

After he stopped coughing up blood he continued

"haaa, well anyways, you have won and I have nothing left to teach you, so from now on be free to see the world have a family, and most important of all be happy, it has been fun since I met you till now there was not a second where I felt bored, so... thank you for that"

The old man says with a smile on his face as gradually starts to weaken with every breath.

"master you have still yet to tell me your name?" kuro asks while looking straight at the old man

"oh, haha I almost forgot about that, my..name...is....MAXIMILIAN."

The world seemed to tremble at the mention of his name, as he took his last and final breath.

"Thank you ...for everything, Master" kuro said as he bowed one last time...