Drax & Senpai

A few hours after we infiltrated the Skyrip Kingdom — Egake and I were hiding inside some small cabin-type house, after Egake silenced the family of four brothers who lived here.

Doubts began to rise in my heart — if I was actually on the good side, like all main characters are. But Egake was right about something: if any eagle made even a little noise about us being here, our deathbeds would surely be prepared. Since all eagles are extremely loyal and brave, leaving any eagle alive could be very fatal for us.

“Sir, I suddenly smell something weird. It could be some type of poison — the eagles must have released it to keep snakes away, or maybe they have found out about us hiding here?” I informed Egake worriedly.

“Shut up, kid, I just farted.”

I was shocked to know that snakes could fart too.

“Sir, how long are we planning to stay here?” I asked Egake.

“We move from one cabin to another — one at a time — and kill every eagle present in the cabin until we reach the king.”

That was a reasonable plan, but it was definitely time-consuming and gruesome. Since we were aiming for the castle at the top, where the king lived, we only targeted the houses that stood in our way up the mountain.

We were going up and above every minute until I saw something that turned my world upside down — we saw two more humans! One with a sword, a little taller than me and must be around 14-15 years old. And next to him was none other than my beloved Miwa-senpai! I was right — she was also teleported to this world with me, looking visibly annoyed and sad because of the boy.

When we listened more carefully, we got to know that the name of the boy was Drax, who was trying to impress my senpai.

“Let’s go and kill that boy, sir,” maybe Egake’s influence was taking over me.

“No… let me listen carefully,” Egake ordered.

Egake’s hearing power was on a different level than mine. After listening to a few more conversations between senpai and Drax, Egake was shocked!

“What happened, sir?” I inquired.

“I thought they were finished… how can it be?” he murmured.

“Who were finished? Tell me — all the snakes? Some food? Are they dating? No way…”

“Shut up, you dumb kid!” he bellowed. “They were talking about magic fruits. I thought there weren’t any left in this world.” Egake was visibly shocked while talking about it.

“What is a magic fruit?” I asked.

“You see, this power of mine comes from a Magic Fruit I ate — one that the king gave to the snakes to establish peace between the snakes and the eagles. Since our king was very old and had no offspring, I was given the fruit because I was a loyal commander in his court,” Egake replied.

Egake was talking about his superpower, through which his skin suddenly turns bluish and becomes diamond-like, hard and sharp.

“And was there anything else they were talking about, sir?” I worriedly asked Egake. I was scared of losing Miwa-senpai more than my life.

“That boy (Drax) was saying that he finally has two magic fruits somehow, and is about to give one to the girl to express his love,” he replied.

“Wait, you mean if Miwa-senpai eats that magic fruit, she will also be able to turn into diamond like you?”

I was happy hearing that, because maybe then Miwa-senpai would be able to get out of here.

“No — it’s not a guarantee she will get the diamond skin power like me. She could get any random superpower, like super strength and reflexes just like the king, or maybe super speed or invisibility.”

That was the best thing I heard on this planet. It meant if I could somehow eat a magic fruit, I could also get a superpower — which kid doesn’t want superpowers!

Suddenly we saw Drax again. This time he was closer to us, so we could hear him clearly.

“Put one magic fruit in my room and the other in Miwa’s. Today’s the day when my dream will come true. I’ll eat the magic fruit after I take a bath in the Shil,” Drax ordered his eagle assistants. His villain-like happiness was clearly visible on his face.

“Sir, I want that magic fruit. Please help me get it,” I requested Egake.

“And what will I get in return then?” he asked.

“Anything you want, except my body to eat,” I replied.

“Fine then. You need to promise me you won’t run away with your superpowersshh & help me kill the king!”

“I promise.” I didn’t know why, but in this planet a promise meant everything. No eagle or snake would ever break their promise, even if they had to die — it was something related to their gods or something.

The moment Drax went to have a bath and his assistants left after keeping the fruit in his room, Egake and I secretly entered the room after Egake killed one of the guards and hid his body.

“There it is, kid — under the purple cloth on that plate.”

I removed the cloth and, to my surprise, the magic fruit was the same as the devil fruit I saw in a great anime. My excitement was at its peak — of course it was, I was about to get a superpower!

I bit off half the fruit in one go and spat it out! The taste was horrible, like I was eating straight sand.

“Whaat the heckkk are you doing, kid! You know — only one magic fruit grows once in a hundred years on any random tree in this whole planet! You know how rare it is to even see one,” Egake rumbled angrily.

“Sorry, sorry. The taste was way worse than I could imagine. It won’t happen again,” I said.

I swallowed the other half somehow and controlled my vomit. Then we hid in the bushes again. Nothing happened in my body; the only thing I felt was a weird pain in my stomach.

“Shall we move forward now?” I asked Egake.

“Of course, but before that — I have some gift for that brat (Drax).”

“So, which power will I get, sir?”

“You will find that out soon, eventually,” Egake replied.

We advanced a little further towards the king’s castle and were nearly halfway to the top of the Skyrip mountain, when we suddenly saw a group of 5-6 eagles coming towards us. We hid in a nearby cabin, but inside it was a female eagle worker. The moment she saw us, she shouted. Egake silenced her, but her half-second cry was enough to alert the eagles. The group started coming towards us.

“What do we do now, sir?” I asked, my heartbeat racing.

“Go hide somewhere, kid. I have no choice but to fight them all now,” Egake ordered.

I hid behind the curtain, hoping my feet would turn invisible under that short piece of cloth. Egake was ready — his whole body turned bluish-white, and he was about to take on half a dozen eagles alone. His fangs were out, Red eyes glowing, as he waited for them to enter the cabin.

But suddenly, we all heard a voice.

“What are you people doing here, huhh?”

His voice was sharp and heavy. Egake recognized it — his eyes widened.

“Nothing, sir — just patrolling,” one of the guards replied to the mysterious voice. “Go find Ruf and remind him about his duty of guarding Drax’s cabin. I don’t see him there.” The mysterious voice ordered the eagles, and they all flew off at once — the mysterious voice flew away too.

This was the first time I saw fear on Egake’s face. He was silent for a few moments, as if recalling something from the past.

“You alright, sir?” I asked him.

“No, I’m Egake, you dumb kid. Let’s go finish our work and leave as soon as possible.”

We both had realized that the closer we were getting to the king's palace, the more dangerous it was getting. But we couldn’t go back now. We cautiously stepped out of the cabin and, the moment we moved a step forward, we heard the mysterious voice again.

“Look who is here… none other than the strongest snake in the world — Sir Egake.”

We were both shocked, and Egake was terrified. When I looked up, I saw a nine-foot eagle sitting with his legs crossed on top of the cabin we were hiding in — just like a main character.

“Wait, is that a human? Where did you find him, Egake?” the eagle questioned about me, with a little disbelief.

His voice was as scary as Egake’s, but cool at the same time. His feathers were the brightest of all the eagles I had seen yet, and his beak was way longer and sharper than the first eagle who attacked me.

“So you still have a habit of hiding dead bodies under a bed, huh? Why are you here, Egake? Trying to kill the king again? Wasn’t last time enough to show you the huge gap of strength between him and you?”

“Tai….” This was all Egake could respond to the eagle’s long question.

“Don’t be scared, Egake. No other eagle is here to come between you and me today. Today’s the day I’ll avenge my father.”

Both their faces twisted with aggression as they leaped at each other, their eyes burning with murderous intent. Watching the two rivals flying towards each other with claws and fangs aimed to kill, was truly a cinematic masterpiece!