The Beginning

Koda felt quite pleased, which was only natural considering he just ate a very tasty meal cooked by a beauty who just happened to be his partner. Sitting on the ground with a full stomach after a sparring match was, in his opinion, as close to perfection as one could get. It didnt get much better than this, but even if he wanted to enjoy the feeling for a bit longer, there was things that couldn't be put off.

Pushing himself onto his feet, Koda brushed the dirt off the bottom of his pants before looking towards Julia. "Its time to head out my dear Juju. You think you could heal me and Kuu real quick?"

Julia gave a small smile before standing up as well, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. "Its no problem darling, but only because we're in a rush. Next time I'm going to make you and Kuu take a proper bath."

Julia raised her hand as Kuu ran over and jumped up onto Koda's head. A blue glow ran along her arm and began building in the palm of her hand as the young lady closed her eyes. Water erupted from the light in her palm and began to surround both Koda and Kuu until they were completely encased in a watery shell. They stayed that way for around a minute before the light from Julia's hand vanished and the sphere of water hit the ground with a splash.

"There, you're all healed up and squeaky clean," Julia said with a gentle smile as she walked towards the two of them. "Cant have my husband smelling bad in front of others. That would ruin your already terrible reputation." She stifled a laugh as she watched them both shake the water off themselves like dogs.

Koda sighed and shook his head, readjusting his pants and daggers. "You accidentally wreck a few houses ONE time and suddenly everyone gets all uppity. Its not like it was a big deal...nobles have more then enough money to buy hundreds of those houses. They were just being difficult because I live in the slums."

Julia also shook her head as she used more water magic to put out the fire used to cook the Demonic bear meat. "You should also recall that its BECAUSE you live in the slums that they didn't take too much action against you. Since they consider you trash and so far beneath them, they just banned you from entering the Lana Realm ever again. To them you're just nuisance."

Koda smiled as he recalled the memory, an incident roughly 3 years ago. It was a rainy day and because of this, Koda had postponed him and Kuu's daily training for the next day and a half. The Demonic Fox known as Kuu didn't particularly like this and decided to be difficult, assuming his combat form and attacking Koda while they were visiting the Lana Realm, the realm belonging to nobility and royalty. Around a whole block of the Kingdom was destroyed in the ensuing battle and even the Flame Guardians had been deployed to stop them.

It was only due to Koda's quick thinking and Julia's Water magic that the three of them managed to escape into the Rasa realm, also known as the slums. The three of them laid low after that and eventually the nobles let them off with a slap on the wrist, banning him from going back to the Lana realm. It had been a huge pain to deal with especially since no one in the Kingdom of Argio knew of Kuu's existence. Even with the numerous eyewitness reports, the idea that any demonic beast could get past the Kingdoms barrier was laughable and was eventually dismissed after observing the records concerning the barrier. As nothing had gone in or out, the incident was looked at as a fight between a special magic wielder with a shifting ability and a fool who provoked him.

"Nuisance or not, we're headed back to the Lana realm today," Koda said before looking towards Kuu. "Hey buddy, its time to ride!! You ready to go all out?"

The demon gave a low growl as he bared his teeth which had changed back into fangs. The silvery gray claws shot out as Kuu began to grow in size, his body growing and stretching until he was the size a large horse. An aura of power could be felt emanating from him as his paws dug into the hard ground, his eyes brimming with pride and confidence.

Koda laughed and slapped Kuu playfully on the side. "Thats right buddy, its time to unleash your power. Show me that speed your proud of!!" He pulled himself up onto the fox's back before offering a hand to Julia who was watching from the side. "Lets get going Juju. We gotta get to the Gate before it closes."

Julia reached out and grabbed Koda's hand, allowing him to help her up. She positioned herself behind him and wrapped her arms around his bare waist. "By the way darling.....do you by any chance have any plans to put a shirt on before we get to the Ceremony? Not saying that you don't look good....but you do realize that it'll cause problems for those with inferiority complexes? We should try to not make enemies on the first day."

Koda smiled as he placed one of his hands over one of Julia's. "Yeah, I'll put a shirt on before we get there. I only came out here without one because I didn't need it. We have a little time to stop by home if Kuu runs at his top speed. You hear that buddy, let go home first. Show me speed that'll make even the wind jealous!!"

Kuu let out a loud growl followed by a low howl before pushing off the ground and darting forward, going all out from the start. Koda and Julia had to grab on for dear life in order to keep from flying off, but after steadying themselves, the two of them began to enjoy the feeling of the wind in their hair and the scenery which rushed by them at a near blur. They could almost feel the miles that were being stripped off as Kuu travelled at an unimaginable speed, steering gracefully around trees and jumping over ditches with ease.

The place the three of them had travelled to in order to train was located in the Demonic forest, a place exactly as it sounded, where numerous demonic beasts would appear. The forest was located beyond the Rasa realm, to a place that was known as the Rift realm which spanned thousands of miles in all directions of the Kingdom.

Divided into four separate parts, the Kingdom of Argio made sure that every person had a place. Lana realm for royals and nobles, Kata realm for commonfolk, Rasa realm for the poor and downtrodden masses, and the Rift realm for the demonic beasts that roamed the outside world. Rules were established for each realm that almost everyone had to follow, with the exception being the Rift realm where hardly anyone dared to venture into.

Each Realm was at least hundreds of miles long and would normally take days by wagon to reach which was where Gates came in to play. Gates were established at various places in every realm (excluding the Rift) in order to make travel much more easier. It was also possible to travel to other kingdoms, both major and minor, using the Gates. The Gates were truly a blessing, but were closely monitored by the Kingdoms protectors, the Guardians. Not just anyone could enter.

Kuu, Koda, and Julia, had travelled roughly over 300 miles in the early morning to a secluded spot in the Demonic forest to get some training in before heading to the Lana realm. Of course this meant that in order to be on time for the Acceptance Ceremony, they would have to run PAST the Gate to head to their home and pick up a shirt and then head all the way BACK to the Gate. Then they would have to distract the two Guardians blocking the Gate in order to slip into the Lana Realm. It was cutting it pretty close but they would have just barely enough time if they hurried.

Luckily Kuu's main strength was his speed which enabled him to cover vast distances in a short amount of time. It only took the three tailed fox demon around twenty minutes to reach the Rasa Realm, slipping past the barrier without it even detecting the fox or his two passengers. Kuu then stealthily bolted over twenty miles to Koda's house, stopped long enough for the young man to put on a black tshirt and for Julia to change into an white shirt and an aqua colored skirt, before making their way back towards the Gate.

"Okay, lets stop here for now," Koda said softly as Kuu slowed down to a stop behind a rather run-down looking building. "Kuu, you know the plan right? Distract them for just a few seconds and nothing more and then follow us in."

Going head first wasn't an option as Guardians were on a whole different level compared to regular mages. Even the weakest Guardian could beat an A rank Demonic beast belonging to the Tiger Class which was something that one could be proud of. Even ten Koda's wasn't a match for the weakest Guardian let alone a normal one, so the only choice was to rely on intellect rather then brute force. To charge in without a plan was akin to suicide.

Kuu nodded as he slowly changed back into his small form and let out few yips as he dashed out from their hiding place and towards the Guardians. He ran up to them with pure speed, ran through their legs while slapping their ankles with his tails before darting away down an alley. The two Guardians, confused and irritated, immediately gave chase, almost matching the speed in which Kuu had taken off.

Not missing the chance, Koda and Julia sprinted towards the Gate as fast as they could, looking around themselves just in case. It was good thing they looked because after traversing a few feet Koda barely managed to dodge a rock the size of his head that had been thrown with pinpoint accuracy.

"F*ck, we were so close," Koda muttered as he and Julia retreated a few steps as a guy dressed in a black cloak with flames lining the edges stepped from behind a building. "To think they had a third one hiding in the shadows. How clever."

"I could say the same for you my dear lad," The Guardian said as he stepped in between Koda and the Gate. "To think that you'd be able to control a Demonic beast to this extent, its quite remarkable. You even managed to lure away the other Guardians by using the demon as bait...quite clever."

The Guardian looked from Koda to Julia with interested eyes. "You two are quite interesting to say the least so I'll tell you this. I heard that there's an Acceptance Ceremony going on today at a Combat School named Costa Academy. I want the two of you along with your pet to follow me there. Enroll in the school and I'll let you off the hook for trying to violate Rasa Law #4. Seems like a good deal to me."

"And if we refuse your request, Flame Guardian?" Koda asked as he took a step sideways to put his body in front of Julia's.

"Oh please, you seem like the intelligent type so why don't you tell me?" The Guardian said with a smile. "Also the name Is Raquet, Raquet Flamma, feel free to use it. Another thing, I have no interest in your elf girlfriend so there's no need to block her from me. Not that you could do anything if I tried anything. Its admirable though."

"Law #4 states that anyone wishing to leave Rasa must have permission from someone Kata or Lana or have good reason for doing so. If found to violate the rule, the perpetrator will face life imprisonment or 10 years of slavery." Koda frowned as he looked Raquet in his eyes which possessed a mix of cold intelligence and curiosity. "I wasn't planning on refusing either way. I was just seeing what kinda person you were. Your reply and body language told me more then enough."

"Oh? And what exactly did you get from me? Im quite curious as to what you could possibly gain from the few words we've exchanged so far." Raquet seemed genuinely intrigued as he waited for Koda's answer.

"Cold and calculative and doing stuff only for personal gain. You probably plan to use us to some sort of end, but thats obvious otherwise you wouldn't even talk to us." Koda relaxed his stance and stood up straight. "You aren't easy to anger and you have a twisted sense of humor to go along with your twisted sense of morals and ideals. You believe that strength is everything and lust for a battle with extremely strong oppenents."

Raquet had a weird expression on his face before a small smile formed on his face. The smile slowly turned into a chuckle which then morphed into a full on laugh with echoed throughout their surroundings. It took a few minutes for him to stop laughing and when he did, he began clapping his hands together.

"Bravo, that was truly marvelous," Raquet said. "I must know...how did you do that?"

"I've met plenty of people just like you, it wasn't anything special." Koda said with a hint of disdain. "Now, are we gonna go or not? I accept your request."

Raquet nodded with a small smirk. "Of course, I knew you would. Now if you please follow me, I'll lead you to the Ceremony!!"