The Beastly Highlands was a vast landmass that covered an empire's worth of land. Agni Igris, the head honcho of the entire region, didn't want to waste his time managing all the beasts, issues, and environmental responsibilities that came with being the emperor.
His father, the previous dragon king, didn't even deign to interact with other beasts, leading him to rule like a tyrant who didn't care about anything but his own strength.
When Agni Igris eventually took the throne, he created a kingdom, where beasts were united with him as the grand ruler over them all!
He did this because, during the beginning of his rule, the human kingdom was hunting beasts for sport and almost wiped out all of the dragons that were alive at the time!
Seeing the way the humans hunted in groups and covered for their weaknesses using their intelligence and adaptability, Agni Igris decided to create a kingdom with strong leaders.
There are 10 beast kings, The White Tiger, The Phoenix, The Basilisk, The Minotaur, The Nine-tailed Fox, The Griffin, The Pegasus, The Lynx, The Stag, and the Gorilla.
Those were the species of the 10 current beast kings! Countless species reside in the Beastly-Highlands, however, these are the current strongest in their regions!
Together, the beasts rained disaster against the human kingdom until they were eventually forced into a non-aggression treaty within the beastly highlands.
Any beast that wondered or was born into the human territory was fair game, however, humans were henceforth not allowed to hunt in Beast territory anymore.
Currently, Agni igris has just left the kids he had just picked up to settle an issue within the Pegasus' territory!
He was currently flying above the territory in his full dragon form, his massive body spanning several hundred meters!
As if that wasn't enough stage presence, he let some of his Aura slip from his form, causing the ground around him to shake and the wind to rush everywhere!
Any nearby beast that felt his overwhelming aura instantly bowed their heads as they recognized their lord's presence!
Agni Igris suddenly stopped flying with a powerful flap of his wings as he slowly transformed into his human form and descended to the ground. There, the pegasus was waiting for him with her head bowed in respect.
Agni Igris frowned as he looked at the pegasus, "What is your reason for calling me here, Astra?"
The pure, white pegasus lifted her head and replied with a respectful yet grave tone, " My lord, there has been another sighting"
Hearing this, Agni Igris' annoyed frown turned into a serious one.
"Show me" He ordered as the pegasus started leading him deeper into her territory.
Eventually, they arrived at a clearing where there were no trees. Agni Igris' frown deepened as he saw the black pentagram carving in the ground.
They had been showing up everywhere on the continent for the past year.
None of the rulers of the other kingdoms had the slightest idea what they meant and it made Agni Igris feel perplexed.
Studying it, Agni Igris' eyes started glowing a bit as he commented, "The Ki signature seems to be the same as the others I've found"
Astra nodded in agreement. The Ki felt sinister like it wanted to cause chaos and destruction. It was a misty black color and it smelled like blood.
Agni Igris stared at the pentagram for some time before he eventually ordered, "Seal off this area for now, I need to figure out what is happening in my town"
He then spent the next 6 months investigating this ominous phenomenon throughout his kingdom as the children followed their training and education regimes with determination and vigor!
*****
(Agni Igris' Castle, 6 Months Later)
"Haa" Iris exhaled sharply as she raised her katana.
*TwIing*
The arc of the blade impacted directly in the middle of the training dummy's nose, leaving a sliced indent in the malleable metal!
After 6 months of training and increasing her power, she finally learned the entirety of the 6 basic strikes for a sword user!
Although not as powerful as Mira's strike, her blade held a flow, a grace, that Mira couldn't quite understand.
Not skipping a beat, she drew the katana into her chest with the hilt being held tight in front of her core. She squatted a bit and with a spring in her tightened muscles, she drew forward!
*Tiing*
Her blade stabbed straight into the neck of the dummy, as Iris executed a perfectly straight and powerful forward thrust!
Stepping back elegantly, she got back into her stance and dashed back into a vertical slash that cut a smooth line across the dummy's body, from its shoulder to waist.
Suddenly, the dummy moved as a sword manifested into its hand! It swung the blade into an overhead chop at her head.
Iris tightened her grip on the blade and narrowed her eyes as she steadied herself.
She swung her katana up and met the overhead strike with a block of her own!
The dummy used its entire strength to push the blade deeper, however, as sparks flew from their clash, Iris planted her legs and tightened her core.
She glared defiantly at the dummy as if to say, you won't bend me!
Letting some pressure fall on her, in one graceful motion, she jumped back out of the dummy's range.
As the pressure from the dummy's sword continued, the sword cut deep into the ground, leading a small cloud of smoke to form.
Unleashing his sword from the ground, the dummy ran at Iris once more and swung the sword vertically at her!
*Swishh*
Iris ducked under it and countered with her strike at the dummy's neck!
The dummy stepped backward out of her range and swung again.
Iris' eyes widened as she thought, 'Now!'
Iris gently swung her blade at the full-powered strike from the dummy at an awkward angle!
Putting strength into her base, she redirected the dummy's sword into the ground!
With her blade above the dummy and its guard down, she finished it with a swift crescent slash to the dummy's throat!
As the dummy stopped moving, Iris stood straight with her sword gripped tight!
"Haa, Haa" She panted lightly as she rubbed the sweat falling from her forehead.
Mira came over and congratulated her, "You're a talented kid alright. It takes most a couple of years to learn the six basic sword moves to the proficiency that you have"
She truly meant that as well. It took her 2 years just to get to the same level of skill with the blade as Iris. Iris was very talented with the sword and Mira was always astonished by Iris' graceful movements.
Overhead chop, thrust, slash, block, parry, dodge! The 6 basic movements of the sword! Master these and any form of a blade becomes familiar.
Iris' eyes beamed in satisfaction at the compliment as she had been beaten black and blue by that dummy for the last 6 months!
Finally winning against it and completing her basic training felt amazing! She walked away from the training ground beaming with happiness despite her weary and tired body!
"She's growing nicely" Suddenly, a voice filled with pride entered Mira's ears as she saw Agni Igri's form appear in the training ground, "Her talent with the sword is almost monstrous"
She bowed lightly as she greeted him and responded, "I agree, I don't think I've ever trained someone as fluid as her"
Hearing this, Agni Igris smiled as he said, "I would've expected nothing less from them"
Mira nodded as well because while Iris was talented, all of the kids were monstrous!
Agni Igris hid his presence and went to check in on the other two as well.
Thor was playing chess with Albert! He was also very talented, however, it was not the blade where his strength lay.
It was his mind, his comprehension, strategical thinking, and analysis, all of them were things that Thor exhibited in spaces.
He was a regular boy genius!
Agni Igris came into the study where they were playing chess without being detected and saw Thor and Albert discussing war strategies using the chess pieces as figures for a real war.
Thor's eyes lit up as he jumped from his seat and yelled, "Finally"
Albert saw his reaction and humbly smiled. Although Thor was a genius, he was 20 years too young to beat Albert in strategy yet.
However, Albert had been guiding him in a specific direction that made it possible for Thor to win if he learned what that path was.
This was just one example of Thor's intellect as he began to truly shine in his own way.
'He would make an exceptional commander or strategist someday' Agni Igris nodded to himself.
Thor hadn't been slacking on his physical training either as he also mastered the basic proficiency of his war hammer!
That, along with his physical strength and intelligence, made him a fearsome opponent in the making!
*****
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