The Earth After Rebirth

They had no concept of bad, just good. Kiro had to teach them from scratch, he hated breaking their innocent spirits but this needed to be done. Not just for the mission they have, but also for their safety.

If someone, who wasn\'t Kiro had run into them, someone who wasn\'t as kind and understanding. They would\'ve surely been incinerated. This will teach them that, beings come in good and bad. They were learning how to differentiate between the two.

Kiro made sure they would tell, even if someone was subtle. It wasn\'t just what a person said, it was also their demeanor, the aura they let out into the world.

It was difficult communicating all this without speaking, but it was doable, albeit slow.

Kiro didn\'t really want to teach them to fight, but they insisted. Seeing him command Kaos, seeing him command the direction in which the wind blew bewitched them. They wanted more than anything to be able to do, the \'magic tricks\' he was capable of. That\'s what they refer them to as.

Kiro didn\'t mind, although they wouldn\'t be able to control Kaos, they still had their camouflage skill that was useful. They could also use their entire bodies to move the direction of wind if they pleased.

Since they were spirits, that floated. They were capable of causing havoc if they were fast enough.

For their graduation task, Kiro had set up paint traps all over the forest, and sent them to collect information on certain monsters within the forest. If one comes back with paint as its colour, it wasn\'t quite ready for real world experience.

Kiro felt strange, like they would all come back painted. They were kids after all. So he stayed behind to train some more, in case they fail, he\'d have to be the one to go into enemy territory. He was definitely less conspicuous than Hubris.

He hoped the two days he spent with them was enough. Not just for this mission, but for also the future. They had to break their naive spirits and mature a little if they wanted to survive in the Underworld.

As much as Hubris was busy planning a revolt in the city, coming up with strategies that will make the beings within the city walls angry enough to cause the greatest chaos imaginable. He took a break on the last day.

He was looking at his target straight in the eye. It had been a while since they looked at each other like this, like the other was the enemy.

But this time it was just a friendly bout. Neither wanted to kill, but they were sparring seriously. They had to dig deeper into their secret base so that nobody would notice.

Kiro had put down Ryu thinking it would be an unfair fight.

He attacked with lightning bolts, but Hubris was faster, as he disappeared from where he stood, appearing right in front of Kiro, he swiped with his claws, missing completely, as Kiro blinked from where he was, appearing ontop of Hubris, he gently nudged him with bending kick, but that sent him crashing a couple of meters away.

"You\'re still just a pup to me." Kiro proclaimed confidently.

"But you have to admit, I\'m closer than I was compared to back then."

He wasn\'t wrong, he had evolved but he needed a bit of time to get used to his skills and be comfortable with using all of them effectively.

The chatter ended, when Hubris sent a couple of fire balls Kiro\'s way. He managed to dodge all but one. He was hit right in the chest, but something amazing happened, he was not pushed back like they thought he would.

Instead, his chest had a glint of gold, glowing but faintly. There were scales that replaced his flesh. He was a dragon descendant after all, even he was surprised by the abrupt skill gain as he had never used it before.

"That\'s cheating!" Hubris cried.

"Well, I\'m stronger than you now, but maybe in the future..." he trailed off, seeing Hubris was a bit hurt that his attack didn\'t connect. "Don\'t be so impatient!" He advised.

"I do have to fight my uncle, of course I\'m restless."

"That\'s understandable, but you can\'t afford making mistakes. Be as cunning as he is, be calculative, bide your time."

"That\'s actually sound advice." He said, mellowing from his bitter mood.

"Well of course it is!"

They continued to spar, it went on for hours. Neither wanted to admit that they were tired. The master was as stubborn as his mount. By the time they were out, they couldn\'t even stand.

Kiro laid there thinking of home, Hubris being home and fighting for his made him miss his. The fact that he was fighting to regain his home, made Kiro not regret any of his prior decisions that messed his academy life.

He chuckled at the thought that, a game made him learn to stand for his convictions. With an unwavering heart, he could achieve anything. That\'s what he thought as he absorbed the Kaos energy.

"Hubris, are you able to absorb magic in this place?"

"I tried, but I can\'t."

"Stupid pup, why didn\'t you say so?" He asked while taking out a mountain of them, they were useless to him.

Hubris had to take about 10 magic potions for his magic to be full again. Kiro couldn\'t believe how much of a black hole he was, but at the same time, he understood. The fact that he hadn\'t run out of magic until now spoke a lot about how big his tank was.

Now he was not sure if he can contend with him, on stamina.

"So what did you decide to do, how are you going to create a riot within the city walls?"

"I\'m going to reveal myself."

"Hubris, are you sure about that? I mean, that will no doubt work, but the element of surprise."

"I\'ll make it a rumour, I\'ll reveal myself to certain individuals, who will absolutely gossip about this to others and eventually it\'ll create a chain, that will hopefully give people hope."

"You\'ve thought this through huh, it\'s not a bad plan." He said getting up.

They walked out of their training hole. To find that the spectres had returned, all but one had paint all over it. Kiro could tell that, it was the one that chased him first, when they first met.

The others were impressive though, they had gathered all the information Kiro would need. He knew this because he had encountered these monsters before when he was exploring the forest and their information gathering was spot on.

"Except for him, all of you spread throughout the kingdom, gather information about the current King. In a few hours, there\'ll be chaos within that city over there. Ensure you are able to assess how they will be dealing with everything."

Kiro looked at each of them, "Make sure you aren\'t seen!"

After that, they dispersed, except for the one. There were many of them, so being at every place at once wouldn\'t really be a problem.

"Do you think they\'ll be able to do it, Master?"

"We shall see. Shouldn\'t you be going to the city then?"

"Not yet, I wouldn\'t be let in if it was just me. I need those hounds who are already known at the gate."

They hadn\'t even finished their dinner when the city\'s entourage arrived at the door with the secret knock. Kiro decided to go with them, if anything went wrong he would at least be there to help Hubris.

It took them mere seconds to reach the other side, when they opened the door the hounds were already bowing down, burying their heads in the dirt.

"Subjects greet the rightful heir and his master!" They shouted as if rehearsed.

Kiro wasn\'t used to the treatment, all he could do was chuckle, smiling with great amusement.

"Let\'s go." Hubris commanded.

They didn\'t waste any time and followed behind. They weren\'t as fast the two, so the two had to slow down a bit. Even then, the others were running after them just to not be left behind.

Arriving at the gate, there was a long line to enter the city.

"This city is quite popular then." Kiro commented, he thought the city was just a rundown one.

"We managed to get word out that something was going to happen although we didn\'t mention what. We are curious beings, they\'ve walked to see what is so great."

Kiro nodded. He didn\'t take Belial as a hound that could think, but he was proven wrong.