Kira: The Powerful Tamer, Nick Venom [distant reading .txt] 📗

jerked Kira up. His camp wasn’t too far from Nazifa. He also heard unfamiliar human voices coming from the sea of trees. He jumped up and dashed towards Nazifa with Jordan and Melody following behind him. He managed to make it to Nazifa within a few minutes, quickly understanding the situation as soon as he arrived. He found Nazifa and his two children on one side and three adventurers on the other side. The leading adventurer noticed Kira and motioned for him to leave. “What are you doing?” Kira asked Nazifa.

“They’ve impeded on my territory and dared to brandish weapons in the sight of my children!” Nazifa declared.

“Is that true?” Kira asked the adventurer. 

“That wasn’t our intention. We were returning from a quest and stumbled across this lair. We were protecting ourselves.”

“You dare imply I’m a threat?” Nazifa shouted. He was about to attack the adventurers, but Kira stopped him. He fired off Freeze Strike at the Dragon King, freezing him in place and not allowing him to move. The adventures stared at Kira, stunned to see the mighty and legendary Dragon King Nazifa contained by a human.

“That’s enough,” He then directed his glare at the adventurer. “You three can leave.”

The first adventurer---a male human with a slightly muscular figure wearing tattered clothes---spoke up. His red spiky hair distracted Kira for a second. “How can you control the Dragon King?” 

“Because we’re in a truce.”

“Aren’t you a human?”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Have you ever left this forest?” The only female of the trio asked. She wore a long and skinny hat---resembling a witch’s hat---and had straight and long pink hair that dipped to her waist. She wore a grey and black mixed tee shirt with matching jeans. 

“Don’t be rude, Dawn.” The last adventurer said. The adventurer had light green hair that went down to his shoulders. He wore a black tee-shirt and matching jeans and shoes. He resembled a mage, except for the lack of a wand.

“I haven’t. I’ve lived here for a long time, but I’ve never left the boundaries of the forest.” Kira told the adventurers.

“How about joining us? We can help you.” The first adventurer said.

“Even though I don’t like them, I do believe you should leave this forest. You haven’t seen anything past this forest. Stretch your wings and fly. Oh, and unfreeze me first, though” Nazifa told him.

“I… should?” He questioned, unfreezing him. He furrowed his brows as he thought about the offer.  Jordan and Melody snuggled up to him, confirming their answers to his question. Nazifa, now unfrozen, reconfirmed their answers.

“I’m Orion, leader of the Fizer party.” The first adventurer said.

“I’m Dawn.” The female adventurer said.

“I’m Keagan.” The last adventurer said.

“Well…” He started before a piece of paper flew through the air and perfectly landed in Kira’s hands. “Join them or die.” He read out loud. “Even she thinks I should go.” He then looked up at the adventurers. “I’m Kira, it’s nice to meet you.”

***

Kira followed the adventurers to the nearby town of Striktin, the closest town to the Astrial Forest. Orion led them into the town, passing by the marketplace and several other restaurants, inns, and stores on the way. Kira’s eyes couldn’t linger at the sights for long, but what he did notice was more than he had seen in the last fifty years. People of different races and infrastructure that wasn’t present in the forest. Elves, dark elves, dwarves, and beastkins were everywhere. Brick houses lined the roads, reminding Kira of his past life.

Has this been like this fifty years ago? I never once looked out of the forest’s boundaries… Wow! He thought to himself. I… I should’ve gone out long ago. I should… He stopped walking, his attention captivated by the sight of a beastkin being whipped for dropping a box. The burly man whipped the young beastkin male as harshly as he wanted to with barely any attention and fewer consequences. There’s still slavery here… It’s… suffocating.

“Are you okay?” Dawn asked, furrowing her brows.

Kira looked away from the sight, turning to face Dawn. “Uh… Y-Yeah, I am.”

Dawn looked worried, but she decided not to overthink his behavior and take him at his word. She motioned for him to keep up before turning away. They were now nearing the guild, standing some feet from it.

Kira stared at the large sign on the guild building that read “Striktin Guild” in large and bold letters. The building that the sign was attached to was a one-story brick building that had an intimidating aura. As he approached the front door, he felt the aura leaking out. He audible gulped as Orion opened the door, allowing the gallons of intimidation to rush out. He was nearly taken out by the wave that smacked into him.

“Let’s go, Kira,” Keagan said, standing behind him. Kira nodded, now realizing that he stopped walking as soon as the door was opened.

“Sorry,” He muttered to Keagan. Keagan simply nodded, pushing Kira forward. They entered the building after Orion and Dawn. The aura that Kira felt was coming from the adventurers tightly packed into the main room of the building where several circular wooden tables were set up. Three curved wooden benches were placed at every table.

At the tables, aside from the benches, were adventurers smoking makeshift cigarettes, playing card games, and drinking. Their attention, which was usually focused on their own activities, shifted to Orion and his party. Fortunately, however, their attention was shifted away by a single menacing glare from Orion. 

“Such rats,” Orion muttered under his breath. He turned his back on the adventurers, heading to the receptionist’s desk. The receptionist, a female human, looked up from a few stacks of paperwork to see Orion in front of her.

“Good afternoon, Orion.” She said.

“Afternoon, Clarisse.” He responded. 

Clarisse glanced at Kira. “You need to register him into your party?” She asked.

Orion nodded. “He… Uh… He hasn’t registered into the guild before. Can I get a guild card for him?” 

Clarisse furrowed her brows. “A teenager hasn’t been registered here yet? Where did you find him?”

“Can you register him or not?’

Clarisse nodded. “I need his personal information.” She told him. Orion nodded, calling Kira over. Orion informed him of what was happening and Kira divulged some of his information while keeping details of Nazifa, Visa, and his other life a secret. 

“Good…” Clarisse started. “Kira Wood, 16-year-old. A human with the class of… tamer?” Kira nodded. “Okay, you have two tamed monsters and they appear to be…” She looked over the counter at Melody and Kira’s shoulder for Jordan. “... a Golden Fox and an Astrial Hawk. Is this information correct?”

“Y-Yes, it is.”

“Okay…” She handed the paper to a machine under her that moved the information from the paper to a blank guild card. Once everything was transferred over, a small ‘ding’ sound alerted Clarisse that it was ready. She took the card that the machine, which resembled a mini ATM and handed it to Kira. “You’re all set up. You begin at rank F and you can climb up to rank S. You can rank up by doing a set amount of quests, but anything rank C or above requires a test. If you pass, you rank up. If you fail, you have to wait a year before retrying. As for what kind of quests you can take, as an F ranker, you can only take rank F or E quests. Is that clear?”

Kira nodded. “Yes.”

“Good,” She smiled. “Welcome to the Striktin Guild.”

Kira smiled before thanking her. Clarisse nodded her head in response. She then turned to Orion, asking him to enter a back room. He nodded, taking Keagan with him. They left Kira and Dawn to wait for them in the main room of the guild. 

“Let’s sit down. Orion and Keagan are talking with the guild master right now.” Dawn said, leading the way. She found a half-empty table, sitting down. Kira sat down next to her, glancing at the adventurers in front of him. One of them was dressed in a red and white flannel shirt and leather pants. The other was in a leather vest and black trousers. 

“U-Uh,” Kira started. “What kind of man is the guild master?”

“The guild master? He’s a… a very brilliant and brave man. He’s also very kind and understanding. If you have a problem related to the guild, I’m sure he’ll find a way, even if he has to disgrace himself, to fix it.” 

Kira nodded, looking away. He would even disgrace himself over adventurers? Woah. He thought to himself. “I kind of want to-” Kira turned to face Dawn, finding that the man in the flannel had gotten up and was walking around the table. He wrapped his hand around Dawn’s shoulder, leaning in.

“Good afternoon, miss. How have you been today.” He said. To Kira, it was obvious that the man was intoxicated. “You are such a beauty… why are you wasting your time with a child?” He asked.

Dawn froze, feeling the man’s hot breath on her left ear. She looked away, looking uncomfortable. “U-Uh… Excuse me… s-sir?”

“What ‘ya want beauty?” He asked, swaying a bit.

Kira scowled at the man before shooting up from his seat. He approached the man, grabbing his arm. “E-Excuse me, sir. Leave her alone. She’s very uncomfortable.” He told the man. He was used to working with alcoholics who grew very bold while intoxicated. 

The man furrowed his brows, backing away from Dawn as if he was going to leave. Kira figured that the man was retreating, but he was wrong. The man pulled back a closed hand and allowed it to run amok freely. 

Kira avoided the punch, taking a few steps backward. Nearby adventurers saw the first punch, now chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” They were provoking the man and lighting a fire under him. He grinned, believing that he had the support of everybody around him, and threw a second punch. However, Kira dodged that one as well. 

Before he could throw a third one, Kira shouted “Freeze Strike!” At the man. The man, who had a third punch being prepared, stopped moving suddenly. He was frozen in place - his muscles refusing to move.

“W-What the hell?” The man’s friend shouted. He jumped out of his seat and rushed to the flannel man’s side. He tried to get the man moving, but it wasn’t working. “What kind of magic did you use? Let him move now!”

“Yeah! Unfreeze him!”

“No honor!”

“Greenhorn afraid to fight!”

Man people pitched their voices, arguing that Kira was afraid to fight and used Freeze Strike to avoid it. The adventurers in the room wanted to see a fight and even blood being sprayed everywhere, but Kira stopped it. The excitement, which was growing, had disintegrated anti-climatically. They were now angry, many of them shouting for a fair fight and the restriction of magic. Some even stood up to fight Kira, escalating the situation.

“Don’t you dare fight in here! All of you idiots, sit down!” A man exclaimed. It was the guild master, an elderly bald man dressed in a Japanese-styled robe. His eyebrows were slanted downward and he wore a nasty glare “You!” He pointed at Kira. “Unfreeze that man and get in here!” 

Kira nodded, flinching at the man’s words. He unfroze the flannel man, glancing at Dawn. He motioned for her to follow him, which she did so without hesitation. Kira and Dawn followed the guild master into his personal room. 

Waiting for them were Orion and Keagan, both of who wore worried and confused looks. “What happened?” He asked Kira and Dawn.”

“A fight nearly broke out between all of those adventurers and this boy. You know him, Orion?”

“I was the one who brought him here. I’ll take all responsibility for his actions.” Orion informed the guild master.

“No!” Dawn shouted. “It was my fault that the fight nearly broke out like that.”

The guild master motioned for Kira and Dawn to sit down before sitting down himself. He intertwined his fingers before looking up at Kira and Dawn. “What happened?”

“A man was… harassing me. Kira