Fractured Moon

Chapter 6: Stray Wolf

The sound of wooden swords clashing echoes across the area. Mitsuki and Rinnosuke were sparring, they frequently spar and train together ever since they met. Mitsuki has grown even stronger and has learned to channel elemental magic into his mana reinforcement. Although Mitsuki can’t beat Rinnosuke yet, he's gotten stronger since then as well. Before he knew it, Mitsuki's sword was knocked from his hand.

“Gah-”

“Tch- it's your win.”

Rinnosuke smiled at him.

“Hehe, as always. You're getting pretty strong.”

“Thanks, you’re still far stronger than me.”

Rinnosuke patted Mitsuki on the head.

“Don’t worry, with how fast you’re improving, you’ll get stronger than me in no time.”

Hearing that made Mitsuki smile. He turns away and walks to get some space. He steadies his breathing and begins to concentrate. He begins to reinforce his mana, then sparks begin to appear around his body and hair as he adds lighting to his mana. Adding different elements to mana reinforcement has different effects on your physical and magical abilities. Lighting makes him much faster than the other elements, and since it's the magic he’s the strongest in, it has the most increase in his abilities. Time passes as he starts growing weaker. He collapses to his knees in exhaustion.

“Ohh, 3 minutes. Not bad. If you removed the lighting you could do it for longer too.”

“Huff- Huff- yeah, thanks. Wanna take a break from training for now.”

“Alright, let's head into town.”

The two walk into town, stopping at many of the places. Mitsuki got some money from his mom and bought something for them to eat. After they eat they get back up and walk around some more. They see a boy getting picked on by some kids. He’s putting his hands over his head while they hit him.

“Please… stop!”

Mitsuki and Rinnosuke rush over to the boy but before they do, the boy gets struck one more time in his head and blood trickles down his face. The air changes and tension thickens. The boy glares at his attacker, his eyes filled with bloodlust.

“I.. said.. STOP!”

He swings his arm and launches his attacker far away from him, knocking him into a wall.He laid there on the ground in a pool of blood. The other 3 looked over then looked back at the boy. They’re filled with fear, you can see it blatantly on their faces. They try to attack out of desperation, but by that time Mitsuki and Rinnosuke were already there. They easily beat the kids who were bullying the boy. They ran away, picking up their friend and taking him with them. Afterward, the boy began to calm down, and they made sure he was okay. They didn't notice until now, but he had wolf ears. He seemed to be a beastman. When he wasn't in a rage, he was a timid boy.

“Hey, what's your name?”

“M-my name is Seth. Thank you for helping me.”

Rinnosuke grins at him.

“Dont worry about it, We’ll help you anytime. Looks like you can handle yourself fine though. I'm Rinnosuke and he's Mitsuki. Nice to meet you.”

They’ve added a new member to their party. Seth seemed like a good kid with his heart in the right place. He always seemed to care for his friends, making sure they weren't hurt too badly after their training, but they always just laughed it off. It wasn’t long before Seth learned to fight too. He was naturally good at it, and he progressed fast too. They taught him how to use and control mana as well. He seemed pretty talented. Maybe it's because he's a beastman. If he ever learned how to control that monstrous power of his, he'd be an insane threat to anyone fighting him. Those 3 became close friends as time went on, and they always look out for each other. And nothing can come between them.