𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘔𝘗

Zai's body collapsed from the clutches of the demons. The other rest of the pursuing demons stared in disappointment, the body of the demon who took the life of Zai began to pulsate uncontrollably, once subsided the bright red eyes turned even brighter than normal and a wide smirk on its face.

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔 the demon exploded causing a sharp blast and blood splattering everywhere.

The demons turned around in response to see what looked to be a middle-aged man, With platinum white hair and eyes, multiple scars on his face and covered in blood. They stare in awe but wasting no time one they all charge him.

"Oh this doesn't seem fair, you're out skilled" He mocks the demons, within a matter of seconds the man's mana crushed each of the demons in an instant, each of them exploding. Covering the entire cave in blood.

"𝘚𝘐𝘎𝘏 Sometimes I wish you'd save me the time and just run in fear but of course that never happens," he says while walking up to Zai's corpse.

"Let's just see what happens…" He raised out his hand over Zai's chest, as he did a wave of mana began to emit from his hand in a circular shape...

𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴

In the vast mountains, there was a moderately large wooden cabin on a mountainscape. Inside the cabin, Zai was laying on a bed unconscious. He started to slowly squirm in the bed and gently opened his eyes staring up at the wooden ceiling.

𝘎𝘈𝘚𝘗 he jolted up and began feeling his chest, but it was healed, with no scars visible. His face was filled with temporary relief, but then he came to realize his surroundings and started to question, and as a result, his anxiety began to grow.

𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘮 𝘐? 𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 he thought to himself 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵- as he was starting to plan his escape from this unknown place, the man who saved him came into his room with some food in a basket, Fruits, vegetables, bread and more.

"Oh, you're awake huh kiddo," Said the man, he placed the basket of fruits next to him and brought up a chair to sit on

Zai simply stared at the man, he was readying himself if he tried anything fishy, but he was also in awe. Within his presence, he felt as if he was obligated to do as he says, but instead, he replied in silence.

"I know, I'd be pretty on edge if some strange man took me to his cabin in the mountainscape too, but don't worry I'm not into that. More importantly, you were pretty beat up, you ok?" he reassured Zai

Still uncomfortable, but Zai decided that the best way to understand his situation was to follow along with the man. "I'm fine now, thank you. what happened? I thought..."

"You thought you slept permanently? Well, proof that you're here now means you didn't so that's a good thing. I used some healing magic to seal up that wound, you got, looks good as new huh?"

Zai nodded his head "wait, Wheres my town!?"

"Sorry kid, that place is a wasteland now, and with that, I'm assuming you're parents couldn't make it?" He inquired

"No... They couldn't make it, they gave up themselves for me" he grimaced when he recalled that he was alone now

"I have to go to North Voua" exclaimed Zai recalling the orders he got from his father

"What are you going to do there?" asked the man

"I-I don't know, but it was the last thing my dad told me to do, umm, ill probably go find somewhere to stay there" Zai was unsure of what he planned to do, he didn't have any desires or aspirations at such a young age.

"Do you think you'd be able to make it all the way to North Voua from here? u cant even defend yourself, let alone keeping demons at bay all alone."

The truth hit a bit hard for Zai but it was a truth, he was far too weak, he slumped at the man's words.

"Then help me get there! if you were able to protect me from those demons you must be in the Demon forces, right? you should be able to protect me" exclaimed Zai

"No"

"What! Why not?" Zai frustratedly said

"Do I look like a babysitter? Figure everything out yourself" The man bluntly replied

"what can 𝘐 even do? I'm 7"

"That sounds like something 𝘺𝘰𝘶 should figure out" The man cold-heartedly replied

Zai was frustrated at the man's responses, he could only question what was his purpose for saving him if he was only going to abandon him later on

"Then what was the point in even saving me?" inquired Zai

The man was taken aback by the question and decided to doge it by complying

"...𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 Fine, you're a stubborn little one aren't you? I'll help you get to North Voua, but not in the way you think"

"What do you mean?" Zai was confused at the man's remark

"Listen up alright? For starters, you're way too young to do anything on your own, and that's assuming you even make it to North Voua in one piece. along the road, there will be stray demons, and animals not to mention the rough terrain. So, ill train you for a bit, for at least until you can confidently protect yourself." The man hesitantly offered

"Wait, really?" Zai's eyes lit up

"Yes really, but just to let you know, I'm NOT taking care of you, ill only help u in fending for yourself understand?"

"Yes sir!" Zai excitedly responded

"Fine then, eat up those fruits and vegetables, I'm going to go out for more food, make yourself at home, starting tomorrow. By the way, what's you're name?" The man asked before leaving the room

"My name is Zai, what about you?"

"Just call me Vas" The man left

𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳

In the past couple of days ever since Zai and Vas met, there was a routine established. Zai would wake up early for breakfast, consisting of some new animal meat that he would catch every day, rabbit, goat, sheep and more to prepare for the rest of the day.

...Outside, Zai was being taught how to cook soup with various mushrooms, plants, and ingredients found in the wilderness.

𝘉𝘓𝘈𝘈𝘙𝘎𝘏 Vas puked the instant he attempted to digest the soup Zai made

"This is DISGUSTING! did you piss in it or something?" Vas shouted

"I'm still new to this, cut me some slack!" Zai threw the makeshift at Vas

𝘉𝘖𝘕𝘒

"Ow! You little-"

Zai ran away as soon as he could, however, his stubby legs couldn't get him far being caught in less than an instant and consequently being beat with the spoon relentlessly as punishment...

The mornings were then followed by some physical training, in the afternoons, Vas took it upon himself to teach Zai a little bit more about the world and the history of demons and mana.

...𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯

in the middle of doing some pushups, Zai inquired about Vas's power.

"Hey, you say that demons can only be killed if their heart is pierced or destroyed, but then how is it that you're able to kill demons without even needing to touch them?"

"Oh that's simple, its because once I enter the room, all the weak demons explode on demand due to my overall awesomeness" Vas sarcastically replied

"That makes no sense what so ever" Zai unamusedly replied

"That's because no one will be able to do what I'm able to do, that's all I can tell you, Now hurry up and finish that set or you're going without food all day tomorrow" Vas annoyingly Threatened Zai

"Yes sir!" He groaned and picked up the pace...

The evenings would consist of Vas teaching Zai about various weaponry and how to make them, and how to use them.

𝘖𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴

The sounds of wood could be heard clashing against each other, in the open fields, Vas was teaching Zai how to properly wield a blade. Zai's movements still being unbalanced and often running out of breath Vas was swiftly clocking each of his attacks with little to no effort.

"𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵, shouldn't you give yourself a handicap? 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵" Zai said barely able to keep his breathing in check

"Demons or people won't give you that luxury, so why should I?" he said while knocking back Zai with a stab at his chest knocking him back

"argh, man I should have just left when u gave me the chance," He says in pain

Nights wouldn't be as peaceful however, Zai losing his parents caused him to force himself to sleep alone. Nights would be restless constantly having nightmares but Vas's presence slowly began to fill in the fatherly role despite him not wanting to.

6 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴

At the front of the cabin, Zai and Vas were sitting staring at the mountains

"Hey kid, I think it's about time," Vas told Zai

"Time for me to leave?" Zai reluctantly asked

"Yea what else would it be, I taught u the basics for you to fend off for yourself, and you're 13 now, you're at an age where you can at least get a job and start taking care of yourself, you can probably work as a farmer somewhere, or perhaps a shopkeep assistant-"

"Demon Forces..." Zai interjected

"The fuck?" Said Vas, completely baffled

"I'm going to join, the Demon Forces" Zai insisted that after he left he would join the demon forces

"Over the years I felt pain, I want to join the Demon Forces so no one has to go through what I did. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will" Zai explained

"I lost my family, but you were able to partially fill in that void. You told me that story about The Platinum Bolt, the hero who stopped the first Catastrophe, and how he swore to kill all demons. I'll fill that role"

Vas was shocked at his answer "Kid you have to be 18 to be in the Demon Forces, and I can tell you right now, with everything I taught you, you're nowhere near Demon Forces level, not even E Rank. You only know the basics of weaponry, novice mana manipulation, and not to mention you're pathetically weak in comparison. It's better to just live a quiet life, Platinum Bolt quit because he realized his statement was impossible-"

"And that's why Platinum Bolt isn't a real hero!" Zai stood up and interjected

"..." the phrase silenced Vas

"I told you, I'd fill that role" Zai claimed

There was a moment of silence, painful silence, but Vas broke that silence with an unexpected answer to Zai's claims

"You're gonna work me to the grave huh...? cut this old guy some slack" Vas stood up and stared Zai in his golden yellow eyes

"Did you know you had dark brown eyes before the incident?" Vasko told Zai "I guess that wasn't the only thing that changed. Very well then you're embarrassingly weak to consider being in the Demon forces, so how about I train you even further?"

Zai's eyes lit up, Hearing the countless stories of Vas when he was in the Demon Forces, he couldn't help but feel excited.

"YES SIR!" Shouted Zai,

Vas stared turned around and began walking away towards the mountains with his platinum hair blowing in the wind "Tomorrow, you're going to start going through hell, so prepare yourself."

"Yes sir! See you're not that old" He jokingly said

"You know I'm 71 right?" he turned back to say

"WHAAAT YOU DONT LOOK PAST 40!" he said following after him

"Mana strengthening can do wonders..."