The Story of Airsan, Part Two (8)

After taking Lotus up on his offer to become a Knight, Airsan became a resident of Royal City, with Lotus being his mentor. Starting out as a Delta, Airsan found the missions tedious. Deltas were basically trainees, and they didn't get paid for their work. Even so, Airsan worked hard at it, and soon got promoted to Gamma. He'd do most of his missions helping the Police Force. His paralyzing effect from his lightning once again proved useful. Low ranked criminals were easily stunned by a quick shock of lightning, just enough to get them arrested. As a Gamma, Airsan started to get paid for his work, about 5,000 C per mission (The monetary system in this world is based on Credits. 100 Credits would equal roughly 1 US Dollar for comparison. Credits are used to keep up with the coin system. Emerald Coins/EC, Ruby Coins/RC, Diamond Coins/DC. 1 EC = 100 Credits, 1 RC = 10,000 Credits, 1 DC = 1,000,000 Credits. Therefore, 100 EC = 1 RC, 100 RC = 1 DC). After going on missions during the day, Airsan would get trained by Lotus at night. He would be trained in different styles of martial arts and techniques. Every few weeks Airsan would go back to Ofri Village to drop off water, food, and supplies he bought with his own money. In just two years, Airsan, age fourteen, would become the new youngest Knight ever to be promoted to the Beta Squadron.

A few weeks after becoming a Beta, Airsan was sent on a group mission with four other Betas (Kim (girl), Mika (girl), Yuna (girl), and Lester (guy)) to investigate a mass killing to the south. Airsan was looked down on by his squad mates. He was seen as someone who wasn't supposed to be there. The other four all believed them to be much more superior to Airsan. Yuna asked him, "Where you from?" "Ofri Village." he said. The girls let out a laugh. "Seriously? Ofri? You're from that garbage dump?" Yuna said as she laughed. "You must've been let into the First Order out of pity huh?" Kim added. Lester wouldn't even bother speaking to Airsan. "If we run into anyone, just stay out of my way." was the only thing that left his lips. Airsan didn't bother retaliating. They were his superiors, and have been on many more missions than he has. He still believed in his own strength nonetheless. The town Airsan's squad was going to was called Juniper. It was supposed to be a relatively peaceful town. It was a pretty normal town, as the southern-most portion of Zedan was cool, and there was no desert there. In Juniper, most of the buildings had a lavender shade to them. It felt relaxing to look at. "Get to the back of the line" Lester told Airsan. He obeyed. As they neared the town square, there were wide streaks of blood everywhere. More and more corpses showed up. All of them had their innards torn to shreds. A bloodcurdling scream then echoed through the town. "This way!" Lester commanded. The rest followed him. In the middle of the town square, a slim black haired man stood with his back facing them holding a dead woman by her neck. Like the corpses, her gut was torn up with what looked like claw marks. The man dropped the body. There was a splat. Airsan was starting to freak out. He was getting dizzy, he'd never seen so much blood before. Then the voice of Lester made him come to.

"Kebisu."

"*The* Kebisu?" Mika asked, "But isn't he an A-rank criminal? This isn't in our range." "It doesn't matter, stay on guard, Airsan remember what I said." Lester said flatly. Kebisu turned his head around in a creepy manner. His face was ghostly pale, he had blood all over him, and his left eye wasn't normal. It looked like it belonged to a beast. "More children to play with? I love the children..." Kebisu sounded like he was mentally insane just from his voice. It cracked and stretched, and sometimes it shook ever so slightly. "Children have dreams. They put up more of a fight." A skinny, wide toothed grin came over his face. "And their screams are just. Won...der...ful." Airsan was now fully creeped out. He didn't even want to move. "Let's GO!!!" Lester exclaimed. Him, Mika, Kim, and Yuno charged Kebisu all at the same time. "He has the Tiger's Eye! His reflexes aren't normal, wind type user too!" Lester yelled. "Right!" The other three said. Lester's arms became covered in rocks. He was an earth type, so he had power. Mika was a water type, and Yuno used a sword. Kebisu's smile only got wider as they charged him. Airsan could only watch as Kebisu danced around them. They couldn't hit him no matter what. He took on all four of them at once, landing quick, hard jabs that were difficult to keep up with. *swoosh, fwoom, poom-poom.* It was just a constant flurry of attacks and dodging. "You think you're real tough huh? Fight me for real!" This was Yuno as she charged in with her sword. "Very well." Kebisu said slyly. He waved his arm with a quick, snake-like sweeping motion. Yuno stopped suddenly. "Yuno?" Mika asked. Yuno's head then came clean off. Her body flopped to the ground. Mika froze in shock. Two seconds later, there was another attack, and Mika's head slid right off her neck. *splat.* Airsan looked on as Kebisu performed a dance of death. He was killing them one by one with wind attacks. Lester toughened up. He covered himself in rock armor. "WOAHHHH!!!" He exclaimed as he charged in with a boulder sized fist. Kebisu effortlessly jumped on top Lester, then went for Kim. She was scared. "H-help...HELP MEEE...." were her last words. *splat.* Airsan had to decide what to do. He could run and get help, but he likely couldn't outrun Kebisu. He had no choice but to fight. But he needed something that could hit him. Physical attacks wouldn't hurt Kebisu, his reflexes were way too sharp, and getting too complacent meant death. He had to think of something. Fast. Kebisu was tearing away at Lester's armor with quick wind attacks that left claw marks each time. "HUURRRRGH!!!" Lester yelled out again. "I'M GONNA KILL YO..." His voice trailed off. A spear made of wind was impaled through Lester's mouth out the back of his head. "Don't you know that talking too much is annoying in battle." Kebisu said as Lester fell to the ground. *flump.* He turned to Airsan. "You're next kiddo." Airsan charged himself up. He was scared to his core, but it was time to prove himself. He couldn't die here, not like this! Kebisu dashed in, "DISCHARGE!!!" Airsan screamed. A boom of lightning spread everywhere, shocking Kebisu. "Argh...how annoying..." Kebisu said under his breath. Airsan jumped onto a rooftop. He rained down small, short blasts of lightning energy from above, with Kebisu easily dodging each one. He jumped onto the roof with him. He got in close. Airsan had nearly no time to react. *woosh.* Just barely missed. Lightning reflexes come in handy. Airsan jumped back. Kebisu closed the gap, they exchanged blows back and forth. Airsan had learned a lot of close combat skills from Lotus. As long as he could watch out for the wind cuts, he could manage. "DISCHARGE!!!" Another shockwave of energy hit Kebisu, knocking him off the rooftop. He was hurt. But Airsan was too. He had shallow claw marks all over his body from barely missing Kebisu's attacks. He jumped to the ground. It was time. Kebisu began dashing in once again, "You little brat! Come here!" Airsan charged up a mass of lightning in his hands. He prayed that it would remain stable. As soon as Kebisu was close enough,

*woosh.*

"Lightning Storm!!!" Airsan released the round mass of lightning in his hands. The shockwave was enough to blow away Kebisu's wind cut, landing a direct hit into his chest. He coughed up blood as he was blown into the side of a wall. He immediately was knocked unconscious. It was over. Airsan had won. Though his hands were burned from his last attack, and using two discharges back to back took a lot of his energy. Airsan limped away to find a telephone to call the Knights Headquarters and report what went down. Airsan was found and hospitalized, and Kebisu was jailed for life. He never was seen again. After waking up in his hospital room, the nurse asked Airsan if he was alright to walk. He said yes. She escorted him out of the room, down the stairs, and outside where a crowd of people were cheering for him. Airsan was surprised. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve this. Lotus came to him with a red badge that rested on a blue pillow. "You've been promoted." he said. "But...I let them...die." Airsan said regrettably. He didn't feel accomplished at all. Even though his squad mates were mean towards him, he still didn't want to see them die like that. "It couldn't be helped. You were up against an A-rank criminal. Those guys are rarely caught these days. All you can do is look forward and accept the promotion now." Lotus said. Airsan nodded. He reluctantly took the badge. "Thank you." Few days later after being discharged from the hospital, a boy his age nicknamed Flame congratulated him. "You must've been really cool out there, to take down Kebisu all by yourself!" "It wasn't a great experience, trust me. I wish I hadn't gone." Airsan was still down about his mission. Flame put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You did something great. You're only 14. I'm 16 and still trying to make it out Beta. This is the world we live in. You have to move on. Even if it costs a small part of you." Airsan nodded. "You're right. Thanks." Soon from that point forward, Flame would become Airsan's best friend.