A Dragon's Training - Part IV

It had been a little while since Arion’s meeting with the Elder Katsu; one of the wisest members of the Dragon Clan, and the one who had taught Arion everything he knew since he was a child. Mind you, as much as Arion was obviously an adult; he could still be considered a child if one were to compare the two Namekians; one could only wonder how old Katsu was supposed to be. Namekians were known for having a quite impressive lifespan compared to other species in the universe-- and the way they aged was somewhat curious.

A Namekian at the age of three could already be considered a full-grown Namekian-- especially if one were part of the Warrior Clan, and then it’d take them a hundred or so of years for them to age. On the other hand, Dragon Clan were usually thinner and smaller compared to the clan of those who were proficient in combat. But, for some reason Arion had always been leaning more towards the Warrior Clan regarding physique-- he couldn’t certainly compete with some of those, but he had never been thin at all, rather he had a toned physique.

However, the Namekian had never given the matter much importance; what mattered to him were the fields he was naturally proficient at, which included the ones covered by the members of the Dragon Clan.

Speaking of the clan, he had been asked to read several scrolls not too long after catching up with Katsu who insisted that he’d have to learn them as soon as possible. And Arion didn’t waste time and immediately sat down, in a quiet room below his homestead and with a faint light produced by a torch, examined the curious scrolls that contained nothing other than one of the most complicated techniques for a Dragon Clan to learn; the Ultimate Barrier.

Such, while it didn’t sound like a big deal, was truly the most powerful defensive technique in the Universe and had no doubt that could probably stop any attack directed towards the user and his allies. Who knows, possibly even the attack of a Super Saiyan who had managed to break through the Super Saiyan wall like Atsuko did when she turned into that Super Saiyan form with those sparks surrounding her body.

However, the barrier was taxing to use by what he could read, and upon extreme use, it’d result in the loss of the user’s life; mind you, a technique used to protect others from a certain death that would then pay back the user with a tragic outcome.

“So, so… how are we doing with these?”

Arion snapped out of his thoughts, glancing over his shoulder as he acknowledged the presence of Elder Katsu who had apparently decided to pay him a visit. The Namekian lowered his head for a brief moment before welcoming the fellow Namekian with a smile. “Nicely enough, I’d say. I think I’m done apprehending it.”

“Ooh? Well, that’s quite pleasant. But I’ve come here for something else-- a little request.”

“A little request?...” - he repeated under his breath, tilting his head slightly before he stood up, facing the Elder. “How may I help you?”

“Well, you see… I’ve lost a branch inside a cave in the whereabouts of the Dragon Sanctuary. Would you mind to find it for me?”

“A… branch? Uhm, I wouldn’t mind but mind if I ask how I am supposed to recognize it?”

“Oh, don’t worry. You will recognize it as soon as you see it.”

Arion was somewhat confused, how could he recognize something he had never seen? Perhaps it had a particular scent or something like that; he couldn’t think of anything else to justify such answer. As such, he thought to just nod and accepted his request. By all he knew, it could be a trial or something like that; he was aware that Katsu liked to play such tricks after all.

“I understand. Then I’ll be on my way to this cave of sorts and retrieve the branch.” - He replied before he headed out of the building and took off, flying away at high speed. It wouldn’t certainly take more than five minutes or so for him to reach the Southern Continent, however on his way there, he met someone; his friend Helix.

Helix probably took note of him flying and took off to the skies himself, flying next to Arion.

“Heya! How did it go?” - he asked, his gaze set upon the fellow Namekian of the Dragon Clan.

“Just like you said, I managed to pass Elder Katsu’s test! And right now, I’m going to retrieve something for him.”

“Oh? What is it?” - asked the Namekian Warrior, a glint of curiosity visible in his eyes.

“It’s… a branch apparently.”

“...A branch? Sounds fishy to me, there’s probably more to it!”

Arion nodded his agreement, that was probably the case. Who would ever send someone out in a cave to find a branch after all?

“Ah well, do you want to come with me?”

“Sure thing!”

And with that, the two flew off to an abandoned region of the South, rather confused on their whereabouts and what the two were even supposed to do. That was until they caught sight of a Dragon’s head engraved into a rock; it looked a like Shenlong, and from the mouth, one could make his way up a dark tunnel. Arion and Helix looked at each other for a brief moment before the two approached the unique sculpture.

“Uhm, think we’d go in?”

“...I don’t see anything like a cave here, so I guess so.”

The two climbed their way up the tongue of the dragon before everything turned dark; and as they progressed inside the tunnel, it took more than a few minutes for them to see the faintest of lights on the other end. But, it was somewhat close, so that meant they had reached the end of the tunnel.

And as the two finally got out of the tunnel, they discovered a scenery they’d have never expected to see on Namek.

The two’s eyes were wide open, evidently shocked that such a place even existed on their planet. Especially Arion’s who had lived on Namek for a time longer than Helix; why didn’t Arion ever hear of the place from anyone? He’d probably expect the elders preferred to keep the population away from such a place, but how could nobody else know anything about it?

“H-hey Arion… do you have any idea where we are?”

“...Not really, no.” - he stated, eyes frowned as he glanced in the whereabouts; looking for any living being. “But I have a feeling that this is where I’ll find what I’ve come here for-- the branch must be here.”

Helix eyed him with a concerned look that screamed; are you insane?! That wasn’t even a cave in the first place! But, he couldn’t certainly back down and leave his friend alone; honestly, Helix was probably more curious than Arion about the uncomfortable place.

“I suppose there’s no other choice then.”

And from there, the two explored further inside the cave; finding nothing more than a few wild beasts and lava streaming down the mountains as if it were the waters of their village. The place itself wasn’t that huge, and for Arion that was probably the proof that they had gone either too far or had completely mistaken that busted place for their destination. Either way, there was no other reason for the two to stay there-- who would stay there anyways?!

After the two had agreed with each other on the decision, they were about to make their ways back to the huge dragon made out of rock, but!

“Oh? Are you two leaving already?”

An unknown voice immediately startled the two, as they turned around and raised their fists up in a defensive stance, leaving both of them astonished as they noticed that it was no one else but another Namekian. However, this one was rather unique; he had an unusually high power level and was dressed in a traditional Namek outfit-- something which was rather uncommon to see. No one had dressed like that for ages.

The Namekian was obviously green skinned, however… something was wrong. It was so dark, and while many elderly Namekians used to have darker skin than the one they had in their youth, this one’s tone was just off the charts. And his energy… it was so disturbing but at the same time familiar to the two's ears.

But, for a Namekian to have a skin like that and the seed of evil deep within his soul, it’d only mean one thing; he was part of the Mazoku. The Mazokus weren’t usually well known among the Namekians, rather because most of them were exiled out of the community to avoid conflicts between the pure-hearted Namekian and the evil ones. To sum it up; the Mazokus were the members of the Demon Clan Namekian, they were known to be the extremely dangerous and entirely different from the other Namekians; they were downright evil.

“You… who are you?!”

The Mazoku snorted, folding his arms over his chest as he shook his head slowly. “Good grief… Is that how you greet a parent? I guess I’ll have to teach you then.”

Both of them widened their eyes, staring at the Mazoku in awe. “P-parent?... What is he saying?” - Helix thought to himself, eyeing Arion for a brief moment; the Dragon Clan Namekian was confused-- clueless whether he’d take that phrase seriously or not.

“Hey! Did you hit your head or something--”

Helix's speech was forcedly interrupted as the Mazoku hit him in the face, sending him flying away. Arion glanced over his shoulder as he looked for Helix worriedly. “O-oi, Helix! Are you okay?!”

Arion’s attention was caught by several loud pops, shifting his gaze at the Mazoku who was cracking his knuckles. “Your brother got the first shot. Now, it’s your turn.”

A vein popped on Arion’s forehead as he clenched his teeth tightly-- a purple aura blazing around him as his power level skyrocketed; he was going to use his full power and beat that guy to a pulp. “Enough with this nonsense!” - he cried out as he rushed towards the Mazoku, fists flying between each other as each one of them tried to hit each other with flurries and whatnot while Helix slowly made his way back up.

“B-brother?... Just who the hell is this guy?” - he muttered under his breath.

As the Dragon Clan and the Mazoku continued to fight, it was evident to see that the dark-skinned Namekian had an advantage over Arion; it was somewhat difficult for him even to hit him. And before he noticed, the Mazoku kicked him right in the stomach and sent him flying to the ground. However, Arion managed to recover his balance and land as if nothing had happened. Shortly after, Helix levitated right next to his friend once more, standing by his aside as he looked at him.

“This guy is ridiculously powerful... but I think I could manage to break through his guard if you can keep him distracted for a while.”

“Huh? What do you intend to do?”

“I’ll use a technique, if I have enough time to focus, it’d surely suffice to pierce through him.”

Arion stared at him for a brief moment before he nodded in approval. “Very well then, I’ll do my best!” - exclaimed the Namekian before launching himself at the Mazoku once more while the Warrior-type Namekian drew his arm back and started charging a purple Ki blast in his hand.

As the two Namekians clashed, though, the Mazoku caught a glimpse of the other Namekian, quickly guessing what his plan could be-- as such, once more he struck through Arion’s defenses so that he could get rid of the decoy.

“Do you think you could play a trick like that on me?! I’ll destroy you both!” - exclaimed the Mazoku, lifting up both hands as he charged a dark purple sphere-- made of enormous ki. On the contrary, the two brothers struggled to keep their composure-- and while Helix was about to launch himself at the Mazoku, Arion held his arm in front of him, signaling him to continue charging.

“O-oi, Arion, we can’t let him!--”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

The Mazoku grinned before he bent his back and lowered his hands down as he launched the sphere made out of negative energy at them. “I’ve given birth to you two, and today I’ll kill you!”

The Dragon Clan Namekian closed his palms together as a green lit up from them, his Ki building up as his whole persona began to glow with a white aura and the moment the Mazoku’s attack was about to hit them, a radiant green barrier forced it to stop. Helix widened his eyes, cracking a smirk as he continued to charge his technique. “Great job, Arion!”

Arion nodded, continuing to focus his energy into the barrier-- it was tiring, but the Namekian was still capable of using enough energy to keep the sphere away from the two Namekians, until the attack ran out of power and faded away, and so did the barrier.

“Y-you damn bastard!” - exclaimed the Mazoku in a burst of anger, rushing towards the two Namekians but before he could even lay a finger on them, Helix was done charging his technique using all of his power, launching his arm forward as he threw the purple blast at the Mazoku. "TAKE THIS!!"

“D-damn it… damn it to hell!” - cried out the Mazoku as the blast exploded, leaving behind only a huge cloud of smoke, and as it cleared, the two Namekians could only see a branch left on the ground.

Arion blinked slowly, taking deep breaths as he was evidently still tired from the usage of the barrier. “S-so… that’s the branch.”

Helix let out a sharp exhale, falling to his knees as he tried to catch his breath-- he was drained after putting all of his power in that technique. “It… It seems so! Let's go back to the Elder, yeah?”

Arion nodded, kneeling down to retrieve the branch before the two made their way home. And as the two flew far away from the Southern Continent, no one dared to say a word to the other, awkwardly confused from what had just happened.

An hour or so later, the two were once more in Elder Katsu’s homestead who looked quite pleased to see Arion holding that branch but at the same time saddened by what had happened.

“I see… so this is what happened.”

“Heh, I admit I’m still kind of shocked from that illusion…”

Elder Katsu frowned, shaking his head slowly. “That wasn’t an illusion-- or well, it was, but what you've learned from the spirit you was true.”

Arion blinked, staring at the Elder confusedly. “...The spirit?”

“Well, you see… several spirits wander in the Dragon Cave-- and the majority of them take the form of the most secret memories of your persona so that they can try to win over you psychologically and physically.”

Both Arion and Helix broke a sweat at that point; they couldn’t help it-- despite the Elder told them that the Namekian was merely a fake, it seemed that he brought legit information to the two; that they were brothers?!

“Wait, does that mean that guy was our father?!”

Elder Katsu nodded silently before he had a massive but short coughing fit. “Yes. You see-- time ago a Mazoku lived in this same city, however, because of his evil nature they exiled him for the greater good. You two might understand that it’d have been too dangerous to let him live among us, but he was not willing to leave. As such, he performed a fission; separating his evil side leaving behind only the goodness deep down within his heart. Some time later he’d disappear-- for reasons, none of us are aware of, but before he did he laid two eggs. I’m not way too sure of where he’s supposed to be right now, but I doubt he’s planning to come back.”

The explanation left both Arion and Helix shocked, looking at each other every now and then silently for a few moments before Arion spoke up.

“Why is that?”

“If he were, I’m sure he’d have come back already.”

“...Fair enough.” - Helix agreed, folding his arms over his chest.

“Well… now that aside. I think there’s nothing left for you to learn, Arion. Nor do I have much time left.”

“...Much time left? Elder Katsu, don’t you mean…”

Elder Katsu nodded. “Yes, I’ll die soon.”

Arion widened his eyes in evident concern for the elder Namekian. “Y-you must kidding, right?”

Helix frowned, lowering his head as he shook his head slowly. It was easy to tell that the Namekian’s life was about to come to an end, one just had to sense out his ki that was slowly dropping-- and probably Arion himself had noticed but refused to admit it.

“I would never joke about something like this, no. I’ve been alive and seen enough… but I leave with peace as I know there’ll be someone worthy to replace me. You, Arion have accomplished results that I would have never imagined possible for someone of your age. I realized it the moment the Elders selected you to fulfill the spot of Kami on Earth that you were meant to be my successor. And I was right…” - the old Namekian said, the faintest of smiles cracking on his face as he glanced at Arion-- who on the other hand seemed more saddened by the incoming death of the fellow Namekian.

“I-I’m honored but…”

“No buts. However, there’s one last thing you must do.”

“W-...What is it, Elder Katsu?”

“You must create a staff out of that branch. With your knowledge of the Dragon Clan techniques, and since I’m well aware that you’ve created the Dragon Balls on Earth, I’m sure it won’t be much of an issue to you.”

Arion stared at the branch he held in his fist blankly, so he had to make a staff out of it? That seemed easy enough, even if he didn’t quite understand why what he had noticed in his time spent with Elder Katsu is that he always carried a staff with him. So, he guessed it was some requirement or something like that. As such, the Dragon Clan Namekian didn’t waste a moment as the branch suddenly lit up with a golden light before extending further its length and expanding its thickness, revealing a wooden staff which was similar to the one Korin-sama had.

“Good job, Arion. You’ll carry that staff with you for the rest of your life, as a sign of the experience you’ve had in the cave and as a means to demonstrate your title; as the Dragon Clan Master.”

Arion bowed his head deeply, showing great respect to the old Namekian.

“Thank you, Elder Katsu.”

In the meanwhile, Helix watched with the most sincere of smiles before he placed a hand on Arion’s shoulder. “Congratulations, man.”

Arion’s head rose once more, turning to Helix as he nodded in appreciation. “Thank you, Helix.”

Elder Katsu's smile faded as burst into another coughing fit, to which Arion and Helix reacted at immediately as they hurried to his side. “H-hey Elder Katsu! Are you okay?!”

“Y-yeah, don’t worry… Now, Arion-- there’s no other reason for you to stay here.”

“Uh? What do you mean?”

“Didn’t the Elders send you on Earth?... You’ve managed to pass through the trials of the Dragon Clan, and as much as Namek could use your knowledge, I can tell that your place is on Earth… and you feel the same, don’t you?”

Arion hesitated for a moment, before nodding with a faint smile on his face. “Yes, you’re right, Elder Katsu. Then I shall depart shortly.”

“Very well then. I wish you the best of luck, to both of you. Dismissed.” - stated the Elder as both the young Namekians once more bowed before walking out of his homestead.