Chapter 28: The Only A-Rank

Chapter 28: The Only A-Rank

Back at the rocky area, where Kurt defeated Smog.

A pile of boulders and rocks begins to shake. The top of the pile pushes to the sides, Smog emerging from it. His body is covered in significant injuries all over, most scales missing or dented, and bloody wounds all over his skin. He rapidly turns his head in different directions. “Where is that human!? I will kill him for this!”

A woman’s voice sounds from his left. “You need not worry about him because now you really are about to die.”

“Huh?” Smog utters as he looks to his left, spotting the woman named Udana.

“Who the hell are you?” Smog asks with irritation.

“I am Udana and my master, Kogen, has ordered me to come out and finish any scraps of demons that may have survived. That means you.”

“You want to fight me, human? It’s your death wish.”

“Fight? No, I will kill you in seconds.”

Smog jumps down from the pile of boulders and charges at Udana. “I’ll teach you what it means to face a demon!”

Completely unfazed, Udana unsheathes her sword, slashing him eight times in a few seconds. As she sheathes her sword, Smog’s body falls to the ground sliced into pieces.

Looking at Smog’s remains with contempt, she says, “You were a demon, but you were also very weak. Now, in death, you will realize that.”

With her job finished, she walks away, not looking back for even a second.

***

The heroes are on their way back to Flagron.

“It’s crazy…” Zeth says out of the blue.

Sasha turns her head curiously toward Zeth. “Zeth?”

“It’s crazy that we’re really being asked to help the Light Goddess stop the demons of Hell. We’re even being asked to meet with the Light Goddess herself. Imagine saying that to anyone. They would think we were crazy.” Zeth says joyously.

“True, but who cares if they would think we’re crazy,” Emily replies with excitement. “We’re actually going to get to meet the Light Goddess! Us! We five out of billions in the world!”

“You’re very enthusiastic about this, aren’t you?” Joe says with a laugh.

“Hell yeah, I am!” Emily confirms with excitement.

“I have to admit that I’m nervous,” Kurt says, on the verge of freaking out. “We’re going to meet the Light Goddess so maybe we should act formally? But what if we are too formal? Would that be bad? I have no experience meeting a literal goddess!”

Sasha and Emily giggle at Kurt’s freak out.

“Calm down,” Zeth urges. “None of us have any experience meeting a goddess. When we meet her, we will just be like our normal selves. This is a meeting to find out our purpose in this conflict, not a job interview.”

Kurt takes a deep breath and exhales. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Sasha smiles. “I’m going to go from being kicked out of the house by my parents to being a demon fighter. I never thought my life would become interesting like this.”

As they continue to walk and talk, the silhouette of a woman is spying on them from some trees in the background.

Talking to herself, the woman says, “To think you would end up in a group like this. It’s not time for it yet, but we will one day meet face to face… Sasha. Once you have released the darkness in your heart, I will seek you out. I’m looking forward to it.”

***

Later, back in Flagron town.

The heroes meet with RAG in the middle of town.

RAG lowers his eyes, feeling regret. “I see. It’s unfortunate that anyone else who could stop this was away from town. If only I hadn’t left, we could have stopped this faster.”

“Don’t worry about it. We were happy to help,” Zeth replies.

Joe adds, “And I don’t know how believable it would be to say that demons have poisoned the water.”

“Knowing about the Great Chaos, it should be pretty believable,” RAG counters. “But you’re right that many people wouldn’t believe it as the Great Chaos happened outside of current day peoples’ lifetime.”

“Anyway, we need to get going soon,” Zeth mentions. “We have some personal goals that we need to accomplish.”

RAG grins and pats Zeth on the back. “Sure thing. I won’t stop you from leaving so if you got things you need to do, go do them.”

He turns his head to see people nearby gathering to see someone. “It looks like Goma has returned.”

“Who is Goma?” Emily asks.

“He is the only person in the entire country that is an A-Rank in magic power,” RAG says with admiration.

“Seriously?” Joe asks, surprised.

RAG nods. “Yes, and therefore is the only person in the A-Rank magic club so he is not in town as much as he could be. He pretty much uses the club as a personal base for himself until someone else ever makes it to A-Rank. Because of his rank, he is very popular in this town.”

The crowd around Goma begins to disperse, giving the heroes a chance to see what Goma looks like. His black hair is short overall, with black tufts of hair that spike out to the sides in all directions, but not straight up. His blue irises seem almost radiant. He wears a gray button-up shirt and blue jeans and stands 6 feet, 2 inches tall. He looks like he is in his early 40s.

The heroes and RAG all walk up to Goma.

The Only A-Rank Person in Harmone – Goma

RAG holds out his hand. “Hey Goma, it’s been a while.”

Goma holds out his hand, engaging in a firm handshake. “It has my friend. Who are these five with you?”

“Last night, some demons poisoned the water in the river and these five put a stop to it,” RAG replies with a tone similar to a proud father.

Goma focuses his attention on the heroes. “Then you have my thanks.”

“So, you’re an A-Rank?” Zeth asks. “Can you show us the power of an A-Rank?”

“Well, you did save the town’s drinking water so I guess I can do that,” Goma replies with a warm smile.

“Stand back,” he says as he takes several steps back himself.

He clenches his fists as he bends his knees and arms, charging up his magic. An intense magic aura surrounds his body. Further charging leads to little pieces of rubble lifting off the street. Even the whole area shakes a bit.

Seeing the effects of his power, the heroes watch in awe.

“Wow, incredible!” Zeth shouts, almost overwhelmed by Goma’s display of power.

Goma’s display has grabbed the attention of all the nearby townsfolk as well, all staring in awe.

With an intense aura surrounding him, Goma smiles. “If you want to see one of my actual attacks, bring me an object to use an attack on.”

RAG lets out a loud singular laugh before saying, “Sure thing! We have some boulders lying around from the nearby rocky area.”

He walks over to a boulder that is about 4 feet in diameter and picks it up, setting in on the ground near where Goma stands.

Goma focuses his eyes on the boulder. “Everyone, stand back. I will show you my Burst Magic. I just don’t want any pieces of this boulder to hit anyone.”

Heeding his words, everyone keeps their distance from the boulder.

“What is he going to do to it?” Emily wonders.

“Based on the name of his magic, I’m going to assume he is going to make it burst,” Joe says with confidence.

Sasha rubs her chin. “The real question is, in what way will he make it burst?”

“Now, behold!” Goma declares as he points his index finger at the boulder. After a moment, glowing lines start shooting out from various parts of the boulder before it bursts into many tiny pieces. The small pieces that fly out from the burst don’t hit anyone.

“Wow! That’s awesome!” Zeth shouts in awe.

With his demonstration finished, Goma powers down, his intense aura fading away. “This magic is highly lethal so no one who becomes a threat will last long against me. Anyway, that’s the end of this demonstration.”

“How exactly does Burst Magic work?” Kurt asks. “Obviously, you pointed at the boulder and it burst, but what is happening with the boulder to make that happen?”

Goma chuckles. “It’s tough to explain and maybe one day you will all find out. But I also don’t generally reveal that information. I can’t let any threats try to figure out any possible weakness.”

Zeth grins. “Thanks for showing though! That was pretty damn cool!”

Zeth holds out his fist, trying to fist bump Goma.

Goma smiles and then fist bumps him as he says, “I’m glad you liked it.”

Goma turns around and walks away as he says, “I will be heading back to the A-Rank magic club now. See you later.”

Emily scratches the back of her head, narrowing her eyes as she focuses on Goma. “I wonder who he even considers to be threats? He’s the only A-Rank there is in the entire country. No one can challenge him.”

“Maybe he is part of some organization and fights demons at night, like what we just did?” Zeth suggests.

Joe shrugs. “Eh, does it matter? He’s a strong-ass guy. We don’t need to worry about him being taken down.”

“I guess you’re right,” Zeth replies. “Anyway, we should get going.”

He turns toward RAG. “See ya, RAG. Hopefully, we will see you again one day.”

RAG grins as he lets out a loud singular laugh before saying, “Yes, of course!”

With everything wrapped up, the heroes head for the town’s exit. As they leave, RAG looks out toward them and waves. “Bye! And don’t be strangers! You can come on by any time you want!”

The five heroes wave back briefly before they turn their attention forward again. Zeth looks on ahead with confidence. “I don’t know what the future has in store, but I’m going to face it head-on!”

The only person to be an A-rank in the country has appeared! The heroes leave Flagron on their way to Zeth’s home city.

Chapter 28 END

To be Continued in Chapter 29: Messenger of the Dark Goddess

END OF ARC