I woke up with a splitting headache from too much alcohol consumption, and there was a pleasant warmth draped across my chest. Looking down, I saw a pale arm wrapped across my chest. Rubbing my pecs affectionately, following the arm up, I saw forest green eyes staring back at me. The woman lying next to me had fire-red hair that flowed over her shoulders like a flaming waterfall. "Morning, beautiful," I whispered while brushing a stray lock from her face. The memories of the last night began to return in a flood. I remember speaking with Aurora for about an hour before she had to leave. The night was still young, so I had decided to placate the burning desire in my loins. When I met Verity, she was a stunning woman. So with nothing better to do, I began flirting with her. One thing led to another, and we ended up booking into a hotel for the night. The rest was a blur of pleasure that brought a smile to my face just thinking about it.
"Why are you smiling?" She asked with a raised brow. She had an alluring voice with a hint of maturity mixed in.
"Oh, nothing. Just appreciating your beautiful face." I said with a grin.
"Quite the charmer, aren't you?" Her brow was raised before she giggled pleasantly.
"I try." Shrugging my shoulders as a response, before leaning in for a passionate kiss.
When the kiss ended, we leaned back into the soft bed, her fingers tracing the burn scar on my chest as I enjoyed the moment of quiet. The moment of peace was interrupted by a message from my phone. With a drawn-out sigh, I got out of bed to check my phone. Verity left the bed as well; her every movement was sensual as she bent down to pick up her clothes, giving me a good view of her shapely behind. She looked over her shoulder to catch me staring, flashing me a smile she began to get dressed. I mirrored her by putting my own clothes back on.
She gave me a final kiss before saying, "Call me." She formed a phone motion with her hand before leaving me alone in the room.
Now alone, I took out my phone and was shocked to see the sheer amount of messages from various feeds. Opening the first one, which led to a social media platform that I occasionally browsed through. My breath caught in my throat when I saw what the topic was about. It was the picture I took with Aurora last night, the title of the post stated. 'Is this the return of Ronin?' It went on to talk about my disappearance from the media seven odd years ago, and how there had been no record of me in public until now. My heart started racing as I continued to read. I, of course, expected something like this to happen. But what really shocked me was finding out that Aurora was one of the most popular singers in her genre. Not so simple after all, huh, that makes this more interesting.
It pained me to think back to that time in my life, but it was unavoidable. I was around 7 years old when my brother's abuse began. My gift had already awakened at this point, fueling my father's retraction of affection. He forbade me from picking up weapons and refused to teach me cultivation. The only light in my life back then was my love for music, which eventually turned to making my own songs. I quickly realised that I had a talent for it, and it brought me happiness to know that I was actually good at something. On a whim, when I turned 10, I posted my first finished song on the web. Only to wake up the next day to realize that I had blown up. The song reached the top ten most-streamed songs online, and from there, my life changed drastically. I made more songs that continued to gain traction and popularity. My fanbase was mostly teenage girls and young women who enjoyed my style.
I made the mistake of doing a face reveal when I reached 2 million subscribers, and things only went downhill from there. I was hired to perform concerts and live performances; my young mind was overjoyed at the opportunity. Elijah drove me to the various venues, but it was in that time that I started experiencing the dark side of fame. I never stated my real name online, so they only knew how I looked, but some of my more eccentric fans began following me around. At first, I was flattered by the attention, but it quickly turned serious when one of my stalkers kidnapped me. I was lucky because Elijah found me within two hours of it happening, but the experience shocked and scared me deeply. I had left for the bathroom, and on my way out, she grabbed me and put a drugged cloth over my nose and mouth. After that, I stopped posting music and no longer made any public appearances. Seven months later, my parents died, and Ronin became an afterthought in my mind.
But now that the past was coming back with a vengeance, I had to reevaluate my plans. To distract myself, I read through some of the comments. DongmanDanni - Nooo! Who is this man to dare lay his hands on my goddess?! I actually laughed when I read that. Valorie23 - Is this a dream? Is Ronin really back?. Based123 - Is this a hint at a Ronin feature on her next album? The rest of the comments were similar in nature to the first, so I only skimmed through a few of them before sighing. I had a lot left to accomplish, and time would not remain still just because I was reminiscing. I left the hotel and called Elijah to pick me up.
While waiting for him, I called Dean Alister. The phone did not ring for long before he picked up. "Good morning, Duke Whither. How may I be of assistance today?" His deep voice spoke over the phone.
"Good morning to you as well, Dean. I am calling to find out about your progress in regards to the Hunters Guild." My tone was calm and collected as I spoke.
"Ah, yes. I thought as much. The arrangements have already been made. You can drop by anytime, and the evaluation will begin."
"Thank you very much for the assistance, Dean. I will hold up my end of the bargain as well." With that, I hang up the phone, to see Elijah pulling up in the parking lot and opening the door for me to enter.
"Where to next, young master?" Elijah asked once he entered the sleek black car.
"To The Hunter's Guild headquarters, I have some business to attend to." Elijah nodded his head and began to drive. The trip was quick, as I was lost in thought the entire time. Opening the door and taking a step out of the car, I looked towards the Hunter's HQ. It looked like any other bureaucratic building with its tall walls and minimalist design. Except for the sheer size of the building, and the hunters dressed in metal and leather armor, who entered and exited the building. Taking a breath to center myself, I walked inside the HQ directly towards the front desk. A lanky man was typing away at his computer as I approached.
"What is the reason for your visit?" He asked without looking up.
"I'm here for my rank evaluation." My voice was calm and collected. Now that I was back in civilized society, I had to play my part.
"The line to sign up for the rank evaluation is to the left." He spoke in an almost bored tone of voice as he replied.
"I think you misunderstand. I have an appointment for my rank evaluation." I clarified.
Only now did the man look up from his computer to regard me directly. "Name and surname," he asked.
"Zeon Li Whither." He typed something on his keyboard before answering me.
"Ah, here you are. Yes, my apologies, mr Whither. Just wait there in the lounge area, someone will come fetch you when it is ready." This time, he spoke more cordially, which I appreciated.
I left to go take a seat on a comfy brown sofa in the lounge area as I waited. Scrolling on social media made the time fly by quickly, and without even realising it, half an hour had flown by before someone tried to get my attention by clearing their throat. Imagine my surprise when I see none other than Verity standing in front of me, wearing a formal jacket with a white blouse and long skirt. She held a clipboard in her arms as she regarded me.
"If I did not know any better, I'd think you were stalking me," I spoke as a smile broke out on my lips when she rolled her eyes at me.
"Mr Whither, we are ready to see you." Her formal tone made it clear that my flirting was better left for later, so I mirrored her approach and spoke formally in return.
"I see, then lead the way," I said while getting up from my seat and following her as she led me further into the building. My eyes drifted lower for a second before I caught myself and took a breath to relax. Memories of the previous night were still fresh in my head.
She led me to a room with a few computers lined up near a protective glass window displaying a white room with various training dummies and practice weaponry. As well as some strange magi-tech machines that I had no idea what they could do. There were two other Hunter's Guild officials within the small viewing room.
Verity turned to look at me again. "Before we begin, I would like to ask some questions in regards to your gift and experience." She paused as if waiting for my confirmation to begin, so I simply nodded for her to continue. "I would like to start it off by asking what your current rank is?"
"I reached E-rank not too long ago," I answered calmly.
She looked surprised at my reply, but it was not too hard to understand why. I was only 18, so it was quite an accomplishment.
"Impressive," she cleared her throat before going on to the next question. "I would like a basic description of your gift. As well as both of your abilities."
"Hmnnn, so my gift is called Asura's Wrath. My first ability was called Avatar, which allowed me to shape my soul, turning it tangible so that I could use it as a weapon. The second ability is called Wrath's Judgement, and it allows me to summon a strange black and blue fire. I am not too aware of its properties, as I only received it recently." It was a good way to refresh my memory, as well as a good opportunity to test out my fire a bit more.
"Ok, thank you, mr Whither, for your patience. We will proceed with the practical section of the evaluation now. Please go into the room next door and await further instructions." She scrunched her nose in an adorable way as she spoke.
"Yes, ma'am." It was quite hot to see Verity in her element. Being all authoritative was a definite turn on, but I controlled myself as I went into the other room.
Verity pressed a button so her voice was projected by the speakers in the corners of the room. "For the first section of the practical, we would like to test your avatar's ability. Please move towards the dummies and await further instructions."
My eyes traced the room before stopping on a metal dummy with small runes situated across its metal body. "Please strike the dummy with a few of your strongest attacks. If possible, refrain from strengthening your body with mana. So that we can get the most accurate reading possible."
Getting into a fighting stance, I drew in a breath to center myself before summoning twelve spectral spears that surrounded the dummy. With a single command, they shot forward and impaled the dummy like a pincushion. A more accurate description would have been to say it was similar to an iron maiden, as the twelve spears embedded themselves deep into the metal dummy. After I dissipated the spears, I was surprised to see the dummy begin to regenerate in front of my eyes. I looked towards the glass viewing booth, noticing that the three analysts present were having a discussion while their eyes followed my every movement. They did say to give it my best attacks, so I closed my eyes for maximum concentration. I formed an image of a hand surrounding the dummy, opening my eyes, I held out my own hand like Vader's choking hand before closing it into a fist. The spectral hand surrounding the dummy acted like a vice that started crushing the dummy into an uneven ball.
Just as I released the spectral hand, the ball began to straighten and smooth itself, until the pristine dummy was standing in front of me once again. "Can you explain a bit what you have been doing? From our perspective, it looks like one second the dummy is fine and in the next it has been damaged." Verity's voice spoke over the speakers.
"That is because my ability works with soul mana; unless you have a gift related to it, you will be incapable of seeing it. For the first attack, I formed twelve spears that impaled the dummy. As for the second, I created a hand that crushed it. Is that enough for the demonstration, or do you require more?"
"No, I think that is sufficient for the test. Let us move on to Wrath's Judgement. Please show us its capabilities."
I paused to think for a second before replying. "That may be a bit problematic." I began, but before I could elaborate, Verity spoke again.
"Do not worry, mr Whither, the room has been crafted exclusively with rift materials. So it is unlikely that your fire would harm anything within." Her assumption could not have been further from the truth.
"I am not worried about damaging the room; it is more the fact that my ability is not normal fire. It is neither hot nor cold; it feeds off of life force, so it will not work against inanimate objects." I elaborated by pointing towards the metal dummy and summoning my black and blue flame. Before dousing the dummy in the ethereal fire, once it dissipated, everyone could see the lack of damage.
"You would not happen to be related to a Malach Whither by any chance?" An elderly male voice spoke over the intercom.
"He was my older brother," Anger flashed in my mind for a second before I quenched my bloodlust before anyone noticed. Even here, I am still in his shadow, my eyes traveled to the spectre at the edge of my vision before returning to the viewing room. The three analysts were in a heated discussion.
They seemed to have come to an agreement when Verity spoke once again. "Head analyst Verdan has vouched for the capabilities of your fire. As we do not currently have the ability to test it, we will give it the same score as we did your brother." The comparison brought a sour taste to my mouth; it took all my strength not to sneer at the comment.