Inside a place filled with darkness, A small place was dimly lit. A silver-haired boy could be seen joining his hands together and concentrating. Time passed by, but there was no response.
Soon, a tiny particle appeared on his hand, releasing a faint purple glow. It was so small that it would not have been visible if it were not glowing. The boy's lips curled up as he looked at it.
He closed his eyes for a moment and used his spirituality to sense it and make a clear picture while it was so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye. Its structure was very complex. It took him five days to create just one.
Even when he failed many times, he didn't give up, always trying different ways and hoping one of them would work out. Step by step, he refined its structure before it succeeded.
"Now that I have succeeded in creating it, let's replicate it." A purple glow appeared on his eyes, and shadow energy was released from his hand. After a minute, a new shadow flare was created.
He kept replicating them, and with time, his speed increased before he could create one in five seconds. After creating fifty, he stopped and said, "Let's start testing them."
Using his ability to control shadow elements, he controlled one of them floating around him and moved it around. He then moved it far from him and activated it. It glowed brighter before exploding into a small black cloud.
"Is that all? He couldn't believe his five-day research would have such a result: " Even five-year-old crackers used to make a louder sound than it. He was not mad but disappointed.
He looked at the other flares around him that glowed like tiny fireflies. A smile appeared on his face. At least they can be used as decoration; I should do other things. I will fix this problem later when I start with a fresh mind."
***
Two weeks had passed since he started working on the Shadow Flares. Today, he appeared to be more serious. Sweatbeady slipped from his face and fell gently to the ground.
His eyes stared at the bamboo pole before him, standing three meters from him. His fingers curled tightly around the handle of his sword. He took a deep breath before bringing his sword before him.
Countless tiny purple fireflies moved around him before some of them gathered on the blade of his sword. The cold blade of his sword disappeared after some time. His sword appeared to be a shiny, glowing purple object.
He looked at his blade; the pores on his hand opened, and a small cloud of black smoke was released. It devoured his sword, and when it disappeared the next moment, the blade appeared to be similar to its original form.
The boy moved his hand and checked it from all sides to ensure each Shadow Flare was concealed. He then started slashing in the direction, not using any skill or force.
Just as a simple sword slashed, the slight gusts of wind released from his sword scattered toward the target for a while before becoming normal. His sword kept whistling till he stopped all of a sudden.
Not caring about the sword, his eyes stared at the bamboo pole that appeared without a scratch. His heartbeat rose, and the sweat increased. He slowly raised his left hand.
Keeping his eyes focused on the bamboo pole, his fingers gently moved and closed into a fist. Nothing happened to the bamboo pole this time either, but the boy released a sigh.
His lips curled into a smile, and the sword disappeared from his right hand as he clapped for himself. His hand moved in the air, and a chair appeared behind him. He sat on it, looking at the bamboo pole as if it were a piece of Art.
"Is it necessary to destroy it?" He said in a conflicted tone. After a while, he shook his head and said, "I need to test it to determine whether it's a success or a failure."
His right hand slowly moved, the tip of his thumb touching his middle finger. "Alight, let's do it in style."
"3"
"2"
'Snap'
'Boom!' A large explosion occurred, and black smoke hid the pole. Only the lower part of the pole was visible when the dust and smoke moved away. It was also covered in black pigment that acted like poison and kept destroying it.
"Haa haaa," he laughed in joy. "I knew it."
"What a piece of art; my hands are itching to try it again," he said as he pointed his hand at the large boulder beside the destroyed bamboo pole.
He pointed his right hand at the boulder; the next moment, the remaining Shadow Flares moved on his command and started encircling the boulder. He used the new technique, which he named 'Free Pass' for now. The black smoke released from his and devoured the Shadow Flares.
"Why do I feel like the name doesn't do justice to this technique? If only there was someone with better naming sense to help me?" He sighed as he looked at the boulder.
It disappeared again, but the Shadow Flares have not disappeared; they are still glowing. The only change was that the glow was dim. They then encircled the boulder before their number started decreasing.
When looking at them carefully, one may notice that they were entering the boulders one by one. After a few seconds, all the purple fireflies had disappeared. He raised his left hand again, with confidence this time.
A light was released from the boulder after two seconds, but it disappeared the next moment, making one question their eyes.
A smile surfaced in his mouth. "Easy. I thought with three as many Shadow Flares, it might not work. Why do I even question myself?" he said, facepalming himself. His eyes shifted to the boulder and the calmness around it.
He raised his right hand again and excused himself for snapping again. He had just applied pressure to his thumb and finger when he stopped. "Why do I feel like I am missing something?"
He thought for a while but could not think what he was thinking. "Forget it; why am I doubting myself? I should be more confident."
"Maybe I am missing Swag." His left hand approached his face, holding air; it released smoke that turned into sunglasses. After wearing them, a smile appeared on his face. He forgot about other things and raised his right hand again.
He was about to snap when he again felt like something was missing. "What's now?" He thought about it again before coming to a sudden realization.
"Maybe I should try a different style to make it cooler? He thought for a moment before coming to the sudden realization, "Only two names come to mind when I think about the word explosion: first, Miss M and Mr. D."
"Since the style of Master D is cooler, let's try it." He stood up and brought his right hand closer to his chin, with his index and middle fingers standing and touching each other, while his remaining two fingers were pointing at the ground.
It was as if he were creating a pistol from his hand; his left palm moved simultaneously and pointed at the boulder. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Katsu."
A silence descended on the place for a moment; nothing like what he had expected happened.
He looked at the boulder but found out that nothing happened. A confused expression appeared on his face. "What? No explosion? Man, what about my dialogue then?"
"What went wrong?" A confused expression appeared on his face, and he took a few steps. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a bright purple light released from the boulder: 'Boom!' A deafening sound was released. Its noise shook the entire valley. The Shadow Creatures released terrified screams and cries.
Rishi, who was busy thinking about the cause of the error, was taken by surprise. He was caught in the range of the explosion and shot back like a cannonball. His back hit the other boulder near him.
"Shit," he said as he looked at the large piece of rock coming at him. He raised his hand and defended against it; loose rocks on the ceiling started falling. It looked like rocks were raining for a moment.
"A small price for Art," he said, looking at the crater that had appeared at the place of the boulder. Pieces of Rocks appeared scattered around it.
Rishi slowly stood up, the minor bruises around him healing. Instead of expression, he appeared to be full of joy.
"I knew it! How can I be wrong? He said, his hand setting his hair as he continued, "Art is indeed an explosion. The better the Art, the bigger the explosion. He laughed, not caring about the discomfort and Rukus he had caused.
It was then that his laughter stopped. "Thinking about it, I wish I could learn advanced hand signs to assist me. I only know five basic ones."
He sighed at the next moment. "It's impossible for me to learn them. They are one of the secret Arts guarded by the government of Japan. I don't believe they will let an outsider learn it."
"Each country has its own cards to give its rankers an advantage over others. My country's most famous secret Art is called Astras. Too bad it's pretty hard to learn, and only archers are able to make the best use of it."
"Still, it would be fun to learn how to use one. Too bad only rankers are qualified to learn them, and that too only top rankers in the country. One day I will surely be one of them."
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