The Academy

The year is now 1454 George is now 10 years old. He is enrolled at The Academy in the capital city of Alexia. On his first day George accidentally bumps into a young boy. With an emphatic shout, the young boy yells "Hey! Watch where you're going moron!" "Moron? Who are you calling a moron?" "You! You're the moron, running into people." Before George could reply, the first bell rang, both of them dashed towards the the great hall of students. After realizing they were heading in the same direction. they glanced at each other, & in a spirit of competition, they decided to race. They pushed, bumped, & even tried to trip each other. "Get out of my way idiot." "Idiot? Well it takes one to know one" George replies. With a loud thud, George & the young boy crash into a statue in the middle of the hallway. They start to argue with each other. "Now look at what you did" said George. "what I did? You ran into it." "yeah, but you broke it." "I didn't break anything. Only an idiot would run into a statue." "idiot who are you calling an idiot?" "well that would be you. Anyways I don't even know your name." "Im George Lydia, & im going to be a legendary hero." with a smirk on his face the young boy replies "Hero huh? well the names Kayn, Kayn Alabaster!" "Well Kayne are you here to become a hero too?" "Hero? Why would I want to become a hero? I want to become a powerful guardian, & restore my family name." "wait what's wrong with your name?" Before Kayn could utter a word. A tall brutish boy, interrupts. "you don't know?" George replies "know what?" "The Alabaster family is full of cowards, & murderers." With a fierce anger in his eyes Kayn barks at the boy "shut up Magnus Nevergrown!" "what? was it something I said? I guess the truth hurts, huh?" "You don't know anything!" "I know that your pathetic family, is full of cowards. I wouldn't be surprised if you are just like the rest of your cowardice family." Magnus, who is surrounded by his entourage, starts laughing. Clank! George punches Magnus in the face, knocking him down. "How? How dare you?!" "Who do you think you are, laughing at someones dreams?" With a shocked look on his face, Magnus utters "You, you hit me?" "Yeah, & i'd do it again. You can't judge someone, based on what someone else did. His future isn't set in stone. He has the power to shape his own destiny." "Destiny? Power to shape it? What utter nonsense. Rudy, Brutus, lets show these 1st year students, why you shouldn't mess with 2nd year student." Before anything could happen. A tall shadowy figure appears behind them. "Magnus Nevergrown, Rudy Rudison, & Brutus Brute, why aren't you in class? The three boys who are shaking in terror apologize to the shadowy figure & run off in the opposite direction. "Now you two boys better head in to the Great Hall. You don't want to be late on your first day of school, do you?" "no sir" both George, & Kayn reply. Without a moments hesitation they both head into the Great Hall. Once at the Great Hall George & Kayn sit down next to each other. "wow Kayn, look at all the kids here." Before Kayn could say a word. Five adults walk in the room, & stand in a straight line. The man to the far left says "Now that everyone is here let us begin. My name is Joseph Crane. I am one of the five instructors assigned to you. To my right Is Jinx Starwind, next to her is Ky Iron-heart, next we have Zorro Diego & the man standing next to him is my younger brother Log. Now, we will be splitting all twelve students, into groups of three. The three students will be assigned to one of us. we will be your instructors until you graduate. Miss Jinx if you may." Jinx Starwind steps forward. "when I call your name, I want you to stand up, & move towards your new team. first we have Flynn Nightwing, Claudius Zelretch, & Davina Petrova. your instructor will be Ky Iron-Heart. Next we have Elvira Renfiele, Freda Reid, & Faust Fangula. Your instructor will be me, Jospeh Crane. Next we have Jamil Nikolett, Judith Faustina, & Niko Dashkov. Your instructor will be Log Crane. Next is Onyx Lovell, Nora Silverstone, & Ren Kasukabe. I will be your instructor moving forward. Last, we have George Lydia, Kayn Alabaster, & Nana Ravenspear. Your new instructor will be Zorro Diego. Your instructor will now take you, to your designated training area. George, Kayn, & Nana follow Zorro to an open field. Zorro begins to stare at the three student intensely. George who has this nervous look on his face ask "Why are you staring at us like that sir?" "Well, I was just simply analyzing your auras." "analyzing our auras? What's an aura?" "You don't know what an aura is?" asked Nana, "well no, what is it?" With a smile on his face Zorro begins to explain what aura is. "Think of aura like, an energy field, that surrounds you. It binds each individuals life force. The spirit or energy that animates all living & non living things. This life force is sometimes called prāṇa or qì/chi. Basically everything in the Universe is made up of this energy, vibrating at different frequencies. As human beings, we radiate a very low levels of electricity that's otherwise known as an electromagnetic field. This energy enters the body through the crown at the temple of the head. Which travels along channels, called nodes. There are approximately 72,000 nodes in the human body. These nodes meet at energy centers, or chakra points. think of it like intersections within a road. There are seven different types of chakras points. The crown, the eyes, the vocal cords, the heart, the sacral, the hands, & the root or the feet. Your aura is ultimately an extension of your being. Sometimes people will refer to the aura, as the outer body, because it covers our body like a net. It is an important shield to our physical body." "So its like a energy field around us?" asks George "Yes, everything on the planet has an emanation of this energy. One level of the energy has a reverberance that is a physical form. Another part that is not as dense or slow as the physical wavelength, yet still maintains a form. This is an aura." "Wow, so everything has an aura?" "yes, even things that appear to be solid, are oscillating at the molecular level." Kayn asks Zorro "So you were reading our aura sir?" "Yes, since the aura you omit, is an extension of your physical body. Its shape is a reflection, or a mirror of your emotions, thoughts, & temperament. The shape of you aura can provide insight into your emotional and spiritual well-being." "how come I can't see your aura?" asks George. "Because you have yet to learn the basics of aura conjuring, which is how to harness, visualization, manipulate, & solidify your aura. First I will teach you how to harness, or draw upon your aura. Then I will teach you how to visualize & see the aura. Next you'll learn to manipulate your aura. Finally you'll learn to solidify your aura & make it visible." "So how do we do it sensei?" "First you'll learn how to harness, or conjure your aura. But before we can start harnessing aura, we must train your physical bodies to be able to withstand the force of the energy." "So we cant just draw upon our auras?" asks Kayn "Since aura is so volatile, if you draw too much of it, It will destroy your body from the inside out. That's why, we will work on building your physical strength. By improving your bodies physical attributes, we can increase the amount of aura your bodies can handle. Starting today we will begin our daily training with a 300km run, 1000 push ups, 1000 pull ups, 1000 sit ups, 1 hour wall sits, an obstacle course to test dexterity, speed, & agility, & at the end we will have sparing matches. The three students begin their 300km run, George who was only able to run 20km, is laying on the ground completely paralyzed. With anger in his lungs, Zorro shouts "No laying down during training" "George who's exhausted replies "Leave me behind.. I.. ca..cant go on any longer. Sensei carry me on your back the rest of the way." "Its called training for a reason dumb ass, i'm not going to carry you. now get your lazy ass up!" George picks himself up, running as slow as a snail, falls back down to the ground, his stomach growling. "So.. hungry.. I cant go on any longer." Zorro sighs after placing his palm on his forehead "If you finish this run I will buy you food." "Romen.. & Yakitori?.." "All the Ramen you can eat!" With drool running down his lips George asks "with extra eggs?" "yes with extra eggs." Before Zorro could blink, George zoomed off into the distance. In disbelief Zorro sighs & thinks to himself "Food.. All it took was food." as he looked down on the ground Zorro noticed something "Interesting, there's a small craterous foot print on the ground, from where George took off. He's going to be an interesting student." After a month of rigorous train the students are finally ready to learn how to harness their auras. "You're all finally ready to Learn how to harness aura. There are many steps to the principle of harnessing. The first step is awareness. This is achieved through meditation or deep concentration. everyone has their own particular resonance level of aura, which we can tap into. Some of us tap into this energy force unconsciously. The goal is to learn how to tap into this universal energy with conscious awareness." The student sit down in the Lotus position trying to meditate, & to draw upon their aura. "why cant I get it?" asked George. Nana who got it on the first try tells him, "try to center your breathing." Zorro interjects "Exactly, clear and remove all distractions from your mind. Learn to focus, feeling the energy around you." after hours of training George finally got it down. "now we can begin the second part of the lesson, aura visualization. I want you to begin to visualize the force energy that surrounds an object. For today I will be the object you are going to focus on. Aura visualization is used by concentrating a larger than normal portion of your aura into one specific body part." Zorro begins to manifest aura around him. "I want you to concentrate deeply on generating a large pool of energy into your eyes, to see my force energy. I want you to tell me the color of my aura." The student calm their breathing, focus their thought, & regulate their emotions. Then focus their aura to their eyes. All the students reply at the same time "purple." "Good! Now, there are seven types of auras, each tied to their own element and chakras. The first is the Root Chakra, Muladhara, which is symbolized by the lotus, & is the element of earth. the second is the Sacral Chakra, Swadhisthana, which is tied to the element of water. The third is Anahata or the Heart Chakra. It is associated with balance, calmness, and serenity, & is tied to the element of air. The fourth is the vocal cord chakra, Vishuddha. Which is tied to the element of space, & is one of the rarest elements. There are only a handful of humans, who have this spacial attribute. The fifth is Manipura. Which is tied to the element fire. The sixth is The Ajna chakra or the eyes, which is associated with light and illumination. The seventh is Sahasrara the Crown Chakra, which is associated with the cosmic or dark light element." "So there are seven elements?' asked George. "yes, there are seven total element, but each elements has is own sub elements. There are also two spirit elements, called yin and yang. everyone is born with an affinity for one element, which determines what kinds of techniques you can master. However some people bear a strong genetic component, which allows them to master multiple elements, outside of their base nature. This rare occurrences is called Kekkei Tōta." "Wow, I get it now." says George. "Good, now that you've learned aura harnessing, & aura visualization. I am going to teach you how to manipulate your aura. This allows you to shape and manipulate aura in various ways. However, this power deals with the strength of your spiritual essence instead of the entire universe. Since aura is the energy formed from one's achievement of spiritual power through extreme mental focus and strong emotions. Manipulating aura can allow us to increase our natural abilities, repel other peoples aura, & to even project our own aura." "so how do we do it sensei?" "Im glad you asked George. Here follow me." The students follow Zorro to a field littered with gigantic boulders. There they find all the other first year student exhausted. Zorro walks up to a boulder & says "Aura manipulation is defined as one's ability to create aura then channel it through their body. This allows you to transform your aura into a technique. In this training method you will be placing your palm on to the middle point of a boulder and then directing all of your aura into that focal point. You will then control & channel your aura into your hands and mould it into a sharp sword-like shape to slice through the rock." He then places his palm on the boulder. Within second the boulder split in half. the students stare in disbelief "now your turn." George walks up to one of the boulders confidently "That'll be easy watch & learn." He places his palm on the boulder, concentrating all his aura, with all his might. "I think it's working!" After a few minutes he manages to put a tiny dent into the boulder. The other student burst into laughter. Nana walks up to the boulder places both her hands on it. It takes her a few minutes, but she's able to crack the boulder. The other student look in amazement. They all rush to try to slice through the boulders. Flynn Nightwing, Nora Silverstone, & Ren Kasukabe are the only three student who managed to cut through the boulders on their first try. After a few hours every student except George, manages to pass the training. Zorro walks up to George & tells him "Alright George that's enough for today. We can pick it back up tomorrow." All the student except Nana, Kayn, & Freda start to laugh, & mock George, who is still trying to slice through the boulder. "what a loser" "This guys helpless" "He might as well just give up completely" "id hate to be his sensei." George shouts back at other students "Laugh all you want. Just watch I'll slice through every boulder." "Yeah, whatever" replies Flynn as he turns around & begins to walk away. The other students follow. Kayn walks up to George, placing his hand on his shoulder & says "Come on George you'll get it tomorrow." "No, i'll get it tonight. I refuse to give up." "Look around dummy, everyone's gone home. You & I are the only ones left." "I don't care! Im going to become a legendary hero one day. I refuse to give up." "Well then I'll see you tomorrow." The next day Zorro, Nana, & Kayn go to the boulder field looking for George who didn't show up to the running site for training. When they arrived they found George laying on the ground unconscious. To their amazement, they found every boulder, except one sliced in half. Zorro tells Nana, & Kayn to go home, & that todays class will be canceled. He then picks George up & carries him home. The next day the students return to the original training site. Zorro looks over at George & smiles. Then he tells his students "Alright, from today on you will be focusing only on combat training." Nana asks "wait what about solidifying our aura sensei?" you've already done it." George who's confused asks "Already done it? When? When did we do it sensei?" "The other day during the rock training. When you transformed your aura into a sharp sword, there was a split moment where you solidified you aura. Solidification's simply just solidifying, or give solid like properties to your aura, with the level of solidity going from loose jelly to metal like hardness, or beyond. Essentially you are condensing your aura into a tangible form. Since you already know how to do it. We will focus on getting you guys ready for the Harvest games." "harvest games? whats that? Is it like a carnival?" asks George. "Not quite, Every two years one of the seven major countries will hold an examination festival. Unlike a regular festival, the harvest games is used to determine your readiness." "My readiness?" "Yes, if you survive the harvest games, you will graduate the academy, & possibly move on to join one of the eight Guardian houses." "Eight guardian houses?" ask George. Nana says "Ive heard of the guardian houses. There's the Order of the Sword, Shield, Claw, Shadows, Rose, Stone, Wings, & Law." Zorro smiles "Exactly, Each of the Guardian houses have a role to play in protecting our nation." Kayne shouts, "ohh yeah I remember now. First there's the The Order of the sword, sometimes called The House Of The Sword, which is led by Captain William Marshal." Zorro interjects "yes this is the branch of the military, that receives special missions from the the Royal Council. They perform jobs like asset protection, Information protection, insurgency, & more." Kayn begins speaking again "then there's The Order Of The Claw, led by Captain Theo BlackQueen. This Branch of the military deals with war." Zorro interjects "This branch also has close ties with the major merchant families. " Kayn continues "Then there's The Order Of The Stone, led by Captain Issac Moriah." Zorro interjects again "This branch of the military deals with research into weapons, magic, & history." Kayn then continue "Then there's The Order Of The Rose, led by Captain Joan Orléans, its the Defense unit." Zorro interjects again "Their main job is to protect the citizens of Larrisia from any threat." Kayn continues "Then There is The Order Of The Law, It is led by Captain Apollo Griffith." Zorro Interjects again "They are the police force. dealing more in civil disputes, & are our first line of defense. They keep the peace between citizens, & capture criminals." Kayn continues speaking "Then there is The Order Of The Shadows, they're led by Captain Bishop Gunn" Zorro interjects again "They are the black ops unit, dealing in interrogations, & assassinations." Kayn Continues speaking "Then theres The Order Of the shield, led by Captain Aaron Knight." Zorro again interjects "Its the branch of the military that is in trusted with the protection of the royal family." Again Kayn continues "the last order is The Order Of The Wings, led by Captain Rook Starwind. " "Wait! Starwind, why does that name sound familiar?" asked George. Nana replies "Because you've already met his younger sister Jinx Starwind. She's one of the instructors." "wow, her brothers a Captain?" "Larrisan society is largely a hereditary society. Many of the captains, & prominent figures come from nobel families, except a few outliers" replies Zorro. "So what do they do?" asks George. Zorro replies "It's the most active branch of the military. They deal more in political surveillance & diplomacy. Now that you know what the houses are. You need to decide if you wish to participate in the Harvest Games. This year it'll take place here in Larrisa. First there will be a power exhibition. You will get to showcase your aura control. Then there's an obstacle course. Then You'll have to survive one week in the Forrest of Golems. If you survive the Forrest of Golems, you will then participate in one on one battles, to determine who the strongest participants are. Before you decide, just know that this is a trial. There's a strong possibility you could get hurt or even killed. I want you to wait until the day before the harvest games, before giving me your answer. Go home think about it and be ready to train tomorrow." A few weeks before the harvest games George, Nana, & Kayn find themselves following a group of men who looked suspicious. They discovered the men had kidnapped a group of young kids, & were taking them to an abandoned warehouse. As they approach the warehouse, George begins to rush to the door. Nana grabs him & pins him down to the ground. "Nana let go of me!" "Shut up you idiot or they'll know that where here" "We can't just sit around and do nothing." "Of course not, but we need a plan." "Plan? No we need to go find an adult" says Kayn. "There's no time" George replies. "What can three kids do, against kidnappers?" Says Kayn. "I don't know, but we have to do something." "Like what, George?" "Well, I have an idea." "Really what is it?" "We sneak in an clobber em'." "Your such an idiot. There at least 6 of them. There's only three of us." "So then what do we do." Nana who lets George go says "I think I have an idea." "Ok, whats your plan nana?" "Kayn will use his new shadow mimicry technique to disguise himself as a child who was left behind in the wagon. You'll then have them lead you to where they're keeping the children, & get a layout of how many people are inside. You'll also use the aura push technique to push open the door. Afterwards we will sneak inside, & free the children." Kayn focuses & envelopes himself in a purple aura, using his new shadow mimicry technique he's able to trick the kidnappers into believing he's one of the kidnapped children. He then uses aura push to slightly push the doors open without the kidnappers realizing it. Before the door fully closes George rushes over propping it open with his foot. George & nana then proceed to sneak inside where the find two kidnappers walking into a long corridor. Nana sneaks up behind them & knocks them unconscious. They then follow a thin string made from Kayns shadow to a large room in the basement of the warehouse. There they find a giant cell being used to hold Kayn & the young children. Using her incredible strength Nana rips open the cell doors. George & Kayn slightly glance at each, while gulping, terrified at Nanas monster strength. "What a freak" whispers George, with a quiet, irritated, & thunderous voice, Nana asks "what.. was that?" With an absolutely terrified look on their faces George, Kayn, & the rescued children simultaneously say "n.. noth.. nothing" "good, now let's get out of here before someone spots us." As they are sneaking out they notices a group of kidnappers sitting at a table playing cards. In order to sneak past them, Kayn uses his multi shadow apparition technique to produce shadow images of himself & the kids, In order to trick the kidnappers into chasing the clones in the opposite direction." As they are sneaking out Kayn collapses to the ground. George shouts "Kayn! Are you ok?" "Yeah, but I think I'm out of aura." George helps him up "here I'll help carry you." As they are making their way out of the warehouse. One of the kidnappers notices them. "Hey!" The children begin to run, as they head into the woods, that surrounds the old abandoned warehouse. The two kidnappers pursue the children. Nana, George, & Kayn argue about what they should do. "George you & I will hold these guys back. While Kayn you should lead the children to safety, & find help." "I can't just leave you guys here." "Yes you can, you're in no shape to fight. If you stayed you'll just get in the way." George looks at Kayn & smiles, "we'll be right behind you." "Alright but you guys better not die." ""Hmph, die? A hero never dies!" "Now go, they're about to catch up." Kayn nods & begins to lead the children through the Forrest. "George are you ready?" "Yeah! I'm ready." "Finally, we've caught you stupid kids." The second kidnapper says "your in a world of hurt now." George looks over at Nana who's cracking her knuckles, he then looks back at the 4 kidnappers & begins to pray. "Hahaha saying your last right huh?" "I would too, if I messed with the Whooping Coffin." As the kidnappers continue laugh. Nana takes off punching the first kidnapper so hard, he goes flying through multiple trees. The remains 3 kidnappers are in disbelief. Nana, once again cracks her knuckles "what was that again? Who's in a world of hurt?" Though hesitant, the kidnappers pull out knives. "Let's teach these dumb kids, why you don't mess with the Whooping Coffin" "yeah, the boss wouldn't be happy if we failed to beat up some dumb kids." One of the kidnappers swipes at George, who barely is able to dodge. George falls to the ground, as the second kidnapper runs towards him. Nana, kicks him so hard he goes flying into the air, never to be seen again. George is able to quickly get up, & attack the kidnapper with a flurry of punches, as he was distracted by Nana's kick. The last remaining kidnapper, who is completely scared ask "Hhh. How? Your just a bunch of.. kids" he then turns tail, & runs back to the warehouse. George then high fives Nana saying "great job, now we can catch up with Kayn." They both then start heading in the direction of Kayn & the kids. After some time, George & Nana stop running. "George wait, do you hear that?" "Yeah, sounds like thunder, or an explosion." "It's getting closer, & closer." As they look back in the direction of the warehouse, they see a small figure hovering above the entrance of the forest. "What is that? Who is that?" "I'm not sure but it doesn't look good." "George we have to get out of here. I'm getting a really bad feeling." Before they have a chance to run, they're hit by an explosive shockwave from a ways away, that send them flying a few feet away. After standing back up, George & nana look at each other, & begin to run for their lives. As the hovering figure gets closer, so does the loud thunderous sound shockwave. As George & Nana look back, they can see the forest slowly disappearing. "George we have to run faster, the explosion are really close." As George looks back, he notices the hovering figure had disappeared. "It's gone, who ever that was isn't there any.." before he could even finish. He & Nana stop dead in their tracks. They find themselves surrounded by a congress of crows. The crows then swarm in a circle like a tornado. Where a handsome young man, with long dark hair, eyes the color of an abyss, & tattoos all over his body, emerges. "Who.. who.. who.. are you?" Asks George. With a warm smile on his face, the man tells him "I am Murder Crow, but my friends call me Crow. Now tell me are you the ones who freed the insects?" Nana replies "we freed the children you kidnapped." "Kidnapped? Do you kidnap stray dogs when you take them home? Do you kidnap healthy birds, when you place them in cages? You children stole my property, & for that I must receive payment." With a confused anger George says "Payment? Insects? Property?" "Huh? Are you saying something child?" "I'm going to kick your ass!" "Such arrogance from a child." Crow then unleashes an immense amount of murderous aura, so powerful it causes Nana & George to fall to the ground. Nana is laying on the ground breathing heavily, unable to stand up. George is barely able to stand. "Huh, you're able to stand even with the crushing force of my aura? Tell me, what is your name?" With difficulty George replies "George Lydia." "Tell me, why did you free the insects?" "Because it's the right thing to do, heroes fight for justice, & protect those who are unable to protect themselves." "Hero? There is no such thing as a hero. There are only the strong, & the powerless." "Hero's exists." "Tell me, what makes one a hero? Is it power, is it prestige, is it strength?" "What makes someone a hero, is doing the right thing." "The right thing? If I put down a sick dog, does that make me a hero? What if I kill a murderer?" "Every life is precious, a hero protects, everyone who is unable to protect themselves." "One final question, if a heroes exist, & they protects the weak, who will protect you?" In an instant, Crow kicks George in the sternum, knocking the wind out of him. George is on the ground grasping for air. Crow lifts him up by the hair. Then punches him multiple time, knocking him back down to the ground. "Tell me George, where is the hero that will protect your friend?" Crow slowly begins to walk towards Nana, who's nearly unconscious. As he's about to pick her up by the hair. George sprints towards Crow trying to land a punch. Crow easily dodges, landing a devastating counter punch. Crow lifts Nana up by the hair. "Hmm maybe I should make her into a slave." Le..le.. leave.. leave her alone!" "Or what? A hero will stop me? Hahaha." Tears start to fall down Georges face, who is feeling completely helpless. In that moment steam began to disperse from George's body. "Huh? What's this? Steam?" George slowly rises to his feet, then disappears. "Huh? Where did he go?" Crow turns around, George is behind him holding Nana. Crow who is slightly shocked remarks "it can't be, this is the power of the Seers. I'll take him with me, Master will know what to do with him." George rushes over to punch Crow, who dodges, & connects with a heavy right, then a strong left, & finally finishing it array of attacks with a devastating blow to the solar plexus. Just as when all hope seemed lost. A yellow streak of light, zips passed George, crashing into Crow, dragging him through the forest ramming him into multiple trees. As Crow is slammed into the ground, his body disappears, turning into 6 crows. Murder Crow re-emerges from the group of crows. He looks up & sees, a fairly tall, lean-built 28 year old man with peach skin and short, unkempt, light blond hair, dark blue eyes, & a short well shaven beard. Crow begins to laugh hysterically. "Who are you?" "I am the Captain of the House of the swords, William Marshal." "A captain? Hahaha, a captain!" William who has a dead serious look on his face, unsheathes his sword. "Light speed technique, ultimate God Flash." William jabs the air with his sword. A beam of light, flashes towards Crow, piercing him in the chest. His body disperses once into a group crows, which emerges from his body, as he disappears. He then re-emerges behind Captain William. "Such power, that was too close for comfort." William thinks to himself "He was able to dodge my god flash?" William jabs at the air once again, shooting another beam of light at Crow, hitting him in the face, removing half of his skull. As crows body falls to the ground a group of crows emerge from it. He then re-emerges in the same spot. "Hahahahahahaha, such power. If you were fighting anyone else, they'd be dead before they could even blink." "Light speed technique, Ultimate God Flash, Blitz." William blitz's Crow with a barrage of light beams. In the after math of the attack. Captain William finds himself surrounded by a 100 crows. One of the crows fly at high speeds towards William, who's able to easily dodge it. As the crow misses, it crashes into the ground creating a large explosion. William thinks to himself "I should be very careful, these crows are highly concentrated aura bombs." "How do you like my Crow bomb technique? It packs a punch, doesn't it? Hahahahahahahah." One by one the crows fly towards William. With every miss, with every explosion, a new group of crows appear. Almost as if they are multiplying themselves. In order to destroy them, William fires off a volley of light beams hitting every one of the crows. Crow laughs hysterically. William asks "what's so funny? I've turned all your crows to ash." "Have you?" In an instant thousands of crows flock, surrounding William. The crows rush William, who slashes, dodges, & evades them. He's even able to dodge the explosions. "A thousand crow bombs isn't enough to defeat, someone who can move at light speed. I'll have to up the amount of crow bombs." Crow is able to manifest 100 million crow bombs. "Let's see how you fair against my crow bombs." This time William is barely able to evade & dodge the crow bombs. Crow manifests himself in front of William. He tells him "I'm going to tell you a secret. It's true that you are fast & powerful. But you'll never be able to defeat me. My true ability is called Mind Field Paralysis. You see even before the fight, you were caught in an aura field that covers 150 square miles. Once a person enters my this zone of aura. They are trapped in a pocket reality within their own mind, which I can freely control. Any damage you take in here you take out there." Suddenly a cut across the face of William appears. "My technique not only allows me to harm you in your mind world, but in reality as well. So while I am speaking to you here. Out there I can easily take your life." William smiles & says "let's see if you can do it again." With a smile on his face, Crow in the real world, tries to stab Captain William. Who is able to stop the sword with his bare hands. "How? How are you able to move? No one is able to move their body, once caught in my technique." Captain William smiles, "If you were fighting anyone else, they'd be dead. Unfortunately for you, you are facing the Captain of the Order Of The Sword! Crow burst into an uncontrollable laughter "how wonderful, let's see if you can fight me in both your mind, & in reality." The two then begin to fight dodging, countering, & parrying each other. Captain William is fighting Crow, both in his mind, & in the real world. "Incredible! I expected nothing less from a Captain. You are truly a cut above the rest. But let's see if you can defend against my crow bombs in the real world & in your mind." William is barely able to destroy the crow bombs by using his God flash to shoot them all down. He then try's to counter with his strongest attack "Phantasm of light" but before he could finish off his attack, a dark mist engulfs the battle field. He thinks to himself "what's going on? I sense a new aura." Out of the mist appears a shadowy figure standing next to crow. He whispers something into his ear, before vanishing into thin air. Crow looks over at William & smiles. "Unfortunately, I have to postpone our fight. Until next time Captain William." Crows begin to appear from his body & fly away. "Damn it! He's gone, I wonder who that was, that appeared from the black mist. Id better report this to the Royal Council, & inform the other captains. He then proceeds to rescue both Nana & George, who are unconscious, & taking them to the hospital. After a few days of being admitted in the hospital, George & Nana are discharged. George, Nana, & Kayn meet up at their usually training spot. As the three discuss what had happened. George begins to laugh. Nana ask him, why he's laughing. He replies, "because heroes are real." Zoro walks up behind them. "Indeed they are, & I personally know a couple of knuckle-headed heroes. Who saved, the lives of countless children." In unison the three yell out "professor!" "You all must have been very afraid." George replies "really afraid. I thought he was going kill us." "It's a good thing Kayn was able to find help in time. I want you three to remember that feeling of fear, hold on to it. Use this experience to prepare yourselves for the harvest games." Nana replies "we have three days left, before it starts, right professor?" "Yes, & as I said before, this will not be easy. So I want you to think deeply on. why It is that you want to participate in this trial? Survival isn't just about physical strength, or power, but will. What is your why?" George with tears falling down his cheek, looks up at the clear blue sky. "I want to become a hero, like in the stories grandpa used to tell me. I want to become like Captain William, who saved us." He then uses a knife to cut his palm. He balls, his hand in a fist, upwards towards the sky. Blood dripping down his hand. "I vow, to never give up again. To become a captain, to protect those who can't protect themselves. I will become a legendary hero."