Old Rivals, New challenge

“Ok, here is the deal, Auron ran away to fight his weird family, he is already hurt and clearly can’t win by himself. I probably will be fired, but I have to go find him now. You should stay, I can’t make you lose more classes.”

Kazen was crouching in the hallway, talking with Fulgor and Lapis.

“There is no way we are not helping.” Said Lapis determined as always.

“We can’t let that idiot get hurt again.”

Kazen looked at Fulgor trying to decipher the boy.

“I thought he was your rival.”

“Yeah, Auron is an idiot that thinks too highly of himself and always gets me angry, but he is also my friend.”

Kazen standed up, opening his cellphone to check the coordinates.

“Listen kids, you saw my power. I can do this myself.”

The pair would not step back, they knew what they had to do.

“Ok, but afterwards you have to vouch for me so I don’t lose my job.”

They agreed and went to the school’s entrance. Kazen held the two by their shirts, which confused them.

“Fulgor, you know how it is. Lapis, try not to scream a lot.”

He used the third release and flew with the crimson wings and using flames as propulsion. Fulgor remembered the last time and could not prevent his scream, but Lapis was having fun, she opened her arms and felt like she was flying herself.

During the flight, Kazen asked the pair to look at the coordinates since his arms were being used, after adjusting their routes sometimes they went straight ahead.

They passed over big cities and small towns, crop fields and forests. Lapis enjoyed the whole trip, like it was a radical sport, while Fulgor faked it so Lapis would not think less of him, even if the height and speed were too much for the boy.

They arrived at a small coastal town, the architecture was old, even if the buildings were well kept. The beach was smaller and did not appear to have too many tourists in it. A lot of lush green surrounded the town giving it an isolated look, even if it had a road to enter and leave in normal ways.

They landed close to the beach, Kazen immediately returned to his regular form, and his arms were sore.

“I’m not carrying you again, you are too heavy!”

“How can you stay in this form for so long? I couldn’t maintain my first release for five minutes.”

Kazen was in a hurry to make sure Auron was not hurt, however he needed a minute to recover and answered Fulgor.

“You get used to it. Just like you will not need to be struck by lightning every time to enter the first release. It is all training and repeating the techniques until your body knows how to do it automatically.”

“And what about the second release? When will you teach us that?” Asked Lapis hoping he was too distracted and let something slip up.

He just stared at the pair, tired of the questions. He showed his open palm and, like magic, a red sai appeared. The weapon had a long point e two lateral guards, also pointed. The weirdest thing about the weapon was the vibrant red the metal was made of.

“Before you can do the second release you must learn how to do this, how to connect with your familiar and I will not give any more tips. Now the temple is a little outside town, so we should ask around to find the location.”

The pair did not care about the temple, they wanted more explanations about the next power up. Before they could ask them, they heard a man’s voice.

“Kazen?”

They all turned and saw a man the same age as Kazen. He wore baggy clothes and his blond hair was almost all shaved. He approached Kazen, that made a defensive posture.

“Ferrum! What are you doing here?”

The old rival of Kazen opened a big smile and hugged him with strength, making the other very confused.

“Dude, it has been so long, how are you?”

None of them were more uncomfortable than Kazen himself. Ferrum seemed so calm and friendly, nothing like Kazen’s description of him.

“Oh, I see, you are here to steal my adventure, again! I will defeat the Venti Clan alone, ok?”

“What? I found a job here. I’m making art. Are you still after bad guys?”

Kazend calmed down, but the kids could clearly notice that he was not comfortable while Ferrum was completly relaxed.

“Art? Since when have you done art?”

“Since always, dude. Even when I fought, I was trying to make art.”

“What do you mean ‘fought’. You still fight, no?”

Ferrum touched the palm of his hands in a prayer gesture.

“No, dude. I’m a pacifist now. I just use my power to talk to my familiar these days. And this town is so chill, no big villains attack here.”

All the explanations only served to made Kazen more bewildered. It was like he entered a parallel dimension where everything was inverted. Fulgor and Lapis thought this was an opportunity to learn more about familiar, but once again they were grappled by the shirt.

“I need to save a student, he went to the Venti Temple, do you know where it is?” Asked Kazen serious.

“Just beyond that cliff. A shame that you are going already. Take my number so we can catch up with one another.”

Ignoring Ferrum, Kazen ran holding the two students. This time he did not used any release and was very fast either way. Soon they were on a small earthly pathway outside the town.

“Maybe the Venti brainwashed him.” Said Kazen when he stopped and dropped the kids on the ground.

“Or maybe people change. You know that is normal, right?” Asked Fulgor, but Kazen was not convinced.

“Definitely brainwashed. After I defeat the Venti he will return to be the same and we can spar again. He is the only one close to my power, beside Salazar.”

“Sala-who?” Asked Lapis.

“No one important, just my biggest enemy. Now we have to prepare for the Venti, a bunch of wind elementals as it seems. Beyond here is their territory, so there might be traps and dangers, I need you both to watch very carefully where we step.”

The young pair looked up and felt an ominous energy coming from the dark woods, like an enemy assassin could be in any bush or any tree shadow. Even so, Kazen began to walk.