Chapter 1:

Being hunted during an initial awakening.

Valor: Promise of a Primal.


Sprinting through the wet and muddy street side made Yuri's shoe almost slip right off. The once white shoe that he obnoxiously cleaned every day now looked spray painted with dirt, but he couldn't care about it right now. The raucous screams and warnings from behind made him not want to look back or even think about stopping.

"Stop! Kid, you're not just gonna hurt others. We won't warn anymore.”

His legs felt as if they would soon stop carrying him, he wouldn't have been surprised if he lost his balance and landed headfirst on the ground before reaching the city intersection. The torrential downpour of rain didn't make it any better. His thick black hair was now soaked and on his forehead, covering most of his left eye.

Though it felt forever, he finally dashed into the busy roads of the city. Hopefully, for Yuri, this made it more difficult for the soldiers to move through the alarmed stream of the crowd.

Get away from the soldiers. No other thought crossed his otherwise usual busy mind. The sun was now completely dead, the lamps and shop lights lit up the city which was bathed in the heavy rain.

Left. Pelgus street.

On the eastern edge of Adelta city, lies the one street that felt like it didn't belong in the flashy capital city of Adelta - Pelgus. Yuri set on his next destination. He anticipated fewer armed forces and exposure in the outskirts.  

He cut through the chattering and excited crowd that was heading to celebrate the annual Delax festival.

“Watch it kid!” one of the voices in the crowd remarked in a dismissive tone, as Yuri rushed past him.

The annual Delax festival. It just occurred to him. Of all the days.  

As he left the busy crowd, he was met with a violent clash. Bam! He fell to the wet tiled footpath.

Tastes like metal? 

It took him a few seconds to snap back. He tried to get up to continue his race to Pelgus, but his left arm was not sharing the same sentiment.

He turned his head to find that his arm was under a colossal chunk of metal with a large head sticking out.

A Sizaxian.

“Are you okay?” The sizaxian got up to his feet, towering over Yuri. His chest piece revealed his battle-worn insignia, a yellow circle with the digits “048” painted in black.

The rain started to ease off, instead, the intense wind partook with it. Leaves and dust began to blow off on the footpath. The drains were burbling with the rain that was flowing into them. The uncommon but charming play of nature in the intersection was intercepted by the static buzzing of speakers.

“CITIZENS OF ADELTA. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THIS INTERRUPTION. ANYONE CURRENTLY TRAVELLING ALONG INTERSECTION 12 TO INTERSECTION 15 MUST CLEAR THE WAY. I REPEAT. ANYONE CURRENTLY TRAVELLING ALONG INTERSECTION 12 TO INTERSECTION 15 MUST CLEAR THE WAY. THANK YOU AND PLEASE GO BACK TO ENJOYING OUR ANNUAL DELAX FESTIVAL.”

To top off his despair, Yuri could hear the steady marching of footsteps from behind. He stood up and glanced at the Sizaxian before running off. It was easier this time. People were clearing the path and heading to their homes. This also meant that he could no longer rely on the cover of the moving crowd.

“There he is!” one of the voices in the crowd yelled out. 

Yuri had no other choice than to hide. A detour wouldn't hurt.  

He decided it best to find cover in the back of one of the buildings, but his plan was cut short. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Every cell in his body was yelling out one thing. Run.

The sound of the dying rain was now accompanied by an earsplitting thruster noise. It almost sounded like a clap of thunder. Yuri instinctively took a few steps back. He looked up to find it. A mechanical titan drifting in the sky, slowly losing altitude to land on the ground. If things were bad for Yuri right now, It just got worse. A lot worse. He knew what it was and what it meant.

It was the Extrataur.

The Exterminator landed on the ground, splashing the rainwater on everything around it. The ten-foot-tall exterminator's menacing red eyes glared at Yuri. It raised its right arm and pointed it towards him.

“DARO YURI. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. SURRENDER OR YOU WILL BE FORCED TO DO SO.”

Every child in Cassian grew up hearing about the legends of extrataurs. He was taught about how it was introduced in the previous domination war and how it played a pivotal role in turning the tide for Cassian. Its popular plasma rays and auto-detecting mini-inbuilt missiles sold a lot of toys that were popular even to this day. He was proud to say that he bought the exterminator figure before it went down in the market, even though it was a ripoff of the discontinued original. He was proud nevertheless.

The extrataur’s voice was more coarse and mechanical than he expected. He knew full well that he was not going to stand a chance. "I... I surrender" Yuri said shakily. He placed his arms around his head and kneeled. 

For a few seconds, everything became soundless. It was as if time was slowing down for Yuri. In this case, it was. His instincts advised him to spread his arm toward the exterminator.  

"HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD." exclaimed the exterminator. The sky now painted a bright white light, a bolt of violent lightning zapping across the night, on its course to hit the exterminator.

Using his extended right arm, Yuri deflected the approaching lightning within a fraction of a second. It landed on one of the fire hydrants by the road. The rushing water was shot at the glossy armor of the exterminator, who was left confused.

“Yo- You did that!” one of the soldiers behind him readied his gun.

No.

Yuri leaped from the ground and dashed off into a nearby alley without looking back. He could hear gunshots flying past him.

“HOLD YOUR FIRES.” he heard the exterminator ordering. He reckoned that this made the soldiers stop firing at him.

But why?

Even Yuri himself couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He was certain that all he did was deflect the lightning, not summoned it. 

An alley gate leading into Pelgus was just ahead. He leaped over it without thinking twice. Yuri kept running without looking back, he didn’t need to, he could sense that the military was not chasing him anymore. He released a sigh of relief.

But to his unluckiness, his body started emitting an odd blue glow.

No.... not again.

He sensed a presence to his left, a presence that was more intimidating and significant than he had ever felt before, a presence that was filled with bloodlust and intent to kill.

He looked up at the abandoned weary tower next to him. Like a reaper in the night sky, a hooded figure wearing a torn-up robe, holding a flashy metal scythe with glowing purple eyes flew towards him. Yuri could only make out a silhouette of the man that was pressed against the moon. 

The reaper extended his scythe with a long chain and shot it towards Yuri’s head.He barely dodged the incoming attack, without taking a clear look at the attacker. Recollecting his previous experience with his power, Yuri involuntarily used his fist to make a blue thunder-like covering and punched him, even though the reaper was still a few feet away. But the blue energy from his fist projected forward and almost hit the reaper. He didn’t even have a moment to think of what was happening. He questionably looked at his hand which was burning with blue energy.

In the flash of a second, the reaper summoned back the scythe and used its head to deflect the thunder attack. It bounced back to Yuri and hit his chest.

Shit!

He cried. He flew a few feet back and hit the road multiple times before landing next to a tree. It didn’t hurt as much as he had expected. He didn’t know if he should have been worried about that.

The reaper lunged forward and spun his scythe with all his might. Yuri used his fist to tear off the tree and threw it at him. The scythe split the tree into two halves and when the reaper landed on the ground, Yuri had already disappeared. Yuri's hope had already vanished. He didn't find the safeness nor the cover he planned to find in Pelgus.

This is truly a curse.

He was hiding behind one of the building walls next to him.

“Escape, while he's distracted.” a voice whispered from above. Yuri looked up to find a round, one-eyed head sticking out of the building's edge.

That's the sizaxian I ran across in the intersection. The one with the insignia.

“Now!” The sizaxian yelled.It was too late. Yuri could already feel the dreadful presence approaching him.

“There you are!” He heard the reaper cackling.

Two thick purple whiplashed broke the building wall clean and grabbed Yuri by the neck. He rose to the sky. He could feel the life draining out. Even with his blurry vision, he could make out that the whiplashes were coming out of the reaper's body.  

He saw him holding the chain of the scythe in his arm and gently stroking it with his other. It slowly turned into a metal handle. He tightened it and threw it with all his might at Yuri.

This is it. I was supposed to be with Yazuki right now.

He closed his eyes, accepting his fate. He heard the scythe piercing the cold air and encountering something glassy before finishing its course.

The charging scythe was shot down with an orb. Yuri opened his eyes to find the back of a man standing between him and the reaper. He summoned a single orb and broke it with both of his hands. He rubbed his palms with the fluid that was released by it. His hands were now glowing with pink energy. The man confidently placed his arms on the reaper’s whiplashes and applied force to help Yuri escape from the Deathbound. The whiplashes detached themselves from Yuri’s body.

He fell to the ground, not softly like the man before.

“Proximian. State your business. Are you trying to spark another domination war?”. He heard the man asking.

“I will not reduce myself talking to scum like you” snapped the reaper.

Yuri was at his limit, he couldn't even think about running.

“We have to go now.” Yuri saw a three-fingered palm gripping his shoulder. He turned back to find the sizaxian holding an orb emitting dim white light.

“Wh-Who are you?” Yuri finally asked.

“I am 048. That right there is a valor. He is buying us time. You can ask your questions later.”

“A valor? Here?”

“Stand still” ordered 048. Yuri didn't feel like arguing. Some part of him was happy that this was over. The sizaxian knelt to the ground, and slowly rolled the orb towards Yuri's feet.

The dim light was now getting brighter. It was warm and inviting. Yuri couldn't help but stare at it. His legs were starting to weaken down, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

***

Yuri woke up a few hours later in a wooden ladderback chair. His chest was tied with a long and thick metal belt, and his arms were locked into the armrest with what seemed like military handcuffs.

“Do not worry. You're safe here.” his soothing voice did not startle Yuri. He looked at the man that was standing before him. Tall, lean, and messy-haired.

“You're the one that-”

“Yes. I saved you. I was also the one who called off the exterminator.”

Yuri observed the rest of the room. It was worn down, filled with ancient artifacts, books, and yellow writings and posters pasted to the wall. The room was lit with a fireplace that was burning blazing green.

“We have a lot of talking to do.” He sat on one of the tables next to him.

“I-I don't know, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time..” “I do not think that's the case.” “What?”

“Daro Yuri. How about you start telling me everything about your day? Let's start from the nightmare you had yesterday.”

“My nightmare?” Yuri asked confusedly.

“Yes. Most initial awakenings start with a dream. Unfortunately for you, you had a nightmare.”