Where it all Began

"Where am I?" Souta found himself in a darkness. Out of no where a desert themed location appeared and in the sky was the moon, stars and northern light

Suddenly memories came flushing into his head and he remembered the last thing that happened before he lost consciousness.

"Oh yeah… I died" He took a good look at his hands for some minutes before his eyes began to bubble up and tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Souta, what's wrong?" He a masculine voice asked.

Souta immediately stopped crying, turned back and was greeted by a familiar face "Grandpa?" He was a bit shocked by the sudden appearance.   

"I'm sorry grandpa, I promised you that I would become the strongest adventurer in the world but here I am busy wallowing in my misery, I didn't even make it past Drank" He sobbed even louder.

His grandpa knelt pulling Souta into his arm, giving him a bit of comfort to calm Souta's broken spirit, a minute later Souta managed to get a grip of himself and stopped crying.

"Uhm… Grandpa, I know this isn't the right time but why did you leave" He gave his grandpa a sad expression hoping to get some answers.

"Did you think I would abandon my beloved grandson?" he had a loud sigh, "The incident happened a long time ago when we still lived in Dornwich" he replied.

*Flashback*

*Tomio was an old man who stayed all alone in Dornwich, his wife had passed away and he had no grandkids nor kids

One day he saw a man and a woman standing at his front porch with a basket and in the basket was a male child.

They both informed him of how both Souta's parents got involved in a terrible accident and didn't make it out alive. The least he thought he could do for them was to take care of Souta.

 At first, he didn't want to do it but he saw the potential Souta had in him with every passing day, all he needed was just someone to help him unlock it.

This was why he inspired Souta to become an adventurer, a few years passed, and before he could notice Souta was already five years old.*

"Hey grandpa, I'm back" Souta yelled, he set down the woods which he had cut down from the nearby forest.

"Yeah, welcome back Souta, did you get the ingredients?" Souta's Grandpa asked. He stood up on the couch heading over to Souta.

"Yes" he nodded his head positively, "they were all out of beef though, so I got pork instead".

"Doesn't matter, that should do just fine... Now go prepare breakfast and when you're done you start making the deliveries" He headed back to the couch to continue reading his newspaper.

*But it wasn't long before problem struck*

*5 years later*

Boom!!!   

A loud rumble came from the dungeon, before anyone could get a grip of what was happening the city alarm had already sounded.

*Notice all residents are advised to head to the save zone, there's been a dungeon breach. All adventurers should please head over to the octagon*

The octagon was the name of the dungeon in Dornwich. The alarm to echo throughout the kingdom, the sound of it alone drove the citizens to panic and enter a state of emergency.

"Grandpa, please don't go," Souta cried out to his grandpa, hugging him with his little hands.

He removed Souta's hand gently from his waistline, "I'm sorry Souta, I must in order to keep this town safe" he calmed down Souta patting his head slowly.

"Bu-" Souta muttered.

"No buts… you remember what I thought? Any good adventurer must be willing to put his/her life on the line and that's what I'm doing right now" he rose to his feet, "In the meantime hang on to this till I return" he handed a small dagger over to Souta with a smile on his face.

He then rushed out of the house and headed for the octagon, upon arriving there he saw a one-sided fight, the monsters of the dungeon were dominating almost every adventurer that crossed their path.

After seeing his comrades getting murdered and massacred, he knew exactly what he had gotten himself into, he quickly placed his hand on the ground using his earth magic to block the entrance of the dungeon.

"Guess I'll have to get a bit serious" he slowly ripped off his shirt, "Beast mimicry technique, Prancing tiger" he shouted, he immediately transformed into a half-man and half tiger figure and dashed through the horde of monsters in the blink of an eye, causing them to drop dead instantly.

An ominous being appeared out of nowhere, "Hoo, I see you took out my army all by yourself" He was tall and had long red hair, "What's your name?" the strange being asked.

"Tomio, Suzuki Tomio" he answered proudly, "And I have a question for you, are you the one that caused all this?" Tomio asked.

"And what if I--" Before the ominous being could finish his sentence, Tomio instantly appeared behind him and tried to kick the being but he was stopped on his track with nothing but a single finger.

Tomio was surprised but before he was able to even react he was kicked at light speed through three buildings and crashed into a wall.

"Hey! Don't tell me you're out of gas already, we've barely even just started" the ominous being mocked.

"Don't underestimate me you fool, I'm just a little rusty that's all" Tomio slowly began to rise to his feet, steam started to release from all parts of his body that eventually turned into a flame.

"Beasts mimicry technique: Ranging lion" his whole body was coated in flames and he instantly charged towards the being who tried to punch him but ended up hitting an after image, the original came landing a solid punch on the being, but fortunately for the being he was able to block it in time.

Tomio saw that the situation had changed and started moving so fast his body was practically invisible.

"What the hell, he's energy just skyrocketed. It's almost like it's infinite, if I keep taking damage I'll be at a disadvantage" the being thought to himself.

"First rule of a battle, never take your eyes off your opponent" Tomio appeared in front of the being, landing yet again another solid hit to the guts.

"You bastard!" the being screamed as he charged towards Tomio and they both began to exchange blows, the shockwaves from each blow were capable of destroying planets outside of earth all of a sudden Tomio's heart stopped for a few seconds.

His energy level started dropping rapidly at a very fast pace, "What's wrong Tomio can't keep up anymore" The being smirked, he pushed Tomio to the ground stumping him before giving him a hard kick to the guts that sent him flying.

"It's useless you are no match for a demon" he gave a sinister smirk.

Tomio, not wanting to lose the battle, slowly began to stand up to his feet, "I'm sorry Mr. Demon, I made a promise to a certain someone and I intend to keep it" He charged once again using the last of his strength to dash towards the Demon.

"Souta I'm sorry" he cried avoiding all the demons attack and lands punch on its stomach sending him high in the air

"Looks like I won't be able to return to you"

He slams his palm on the ground 

"Dance of the 7 dragons: Morning star" 7 dragons made of flame all sprouted out from the ground and charged towards the demon biting him from all angles

*BURN TO ASHES* Tomio shouted clenching his fist, suddenly a huge explosion of flames lit the sky burning the being. After the smoke cleared up there was nothing left of the demon other than Meer Ashes.

*Flashback Ends*

"Why why did it have to be you" he said as he hugged his grandpa crying

"It's a sacrifice we have to make for the ones we love and it looks like it's not yet you time" he said with a smile on his face. Souta quickly looked at his body and noticed that he was starting to fade

"I guess this is goodbye my brave grandson" His grandpa said with a sad smile on his face