Beyond Heaven: Beyond Heaven, #1

Copyright © 2024 by SkyTryke; Alexander L. Lee

All Rights Reserved.

Legal Notice:

The books, or contents within, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any way, shape, or form without the written permission from the author or publisher. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the author or publisher for any damages, misinformation, monetary loss, or indemnity due to the information contained within this book, either directly or indirectly.

Disclaimer Notice:

The following is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, events, or translations are the product of the author’s imagination and fallible to the author’s memory and knowledge. Any resemblance to any person, place, or incident is entirely coincidental or to help guide as a comparable reference or analogy. No content, context, or word definitions or translations from the work should be taken as accurate, correct, or factual. The fictitious work may contain graphic detail, imagery, and suggestive topics. Reader discretion is advised.

The following is also a work of satire. All topics and content in this novel may be subject to exaggeration, humor, irony, and criticism and should not be taken with merit, truth, or fact. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the author, as stated before, verbatim. All content like names, references, allegories, allusions, languages and language translations, religions, and any context from the book, shall not be deemed liable to the author or publisher in any means. Any resemblance to reality is meant to serve as an analogy, an informal fallacy, or to be satirical in nature.

Book cover design by SkyTryke; Alexander L. Lee

Self-published: First Edition, July 2024

Author's website: www.skytryke.com

skytryke1@gmail.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024912464

eBook ISBN: 979-8-9908041-0-4

Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9908041-1-1

Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9908041-2-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Hiakuma Hero ( 火悪魔 ヒーロー )

Ishi Ryu ( 石竜 )

Mizu Haru ( 水春 )

Yosei Tenshi ( 妖精天使 )

Eyra World Map

Prologue

Episode 0 - ​HALSIING

Episode 1 - ​AWAKENING

Episode 2 - ​CODE RED

Episode 3 - ​HEAVEN'S GATE

Episode 4 - ​SLAYERS

Episode 5 - ​DECREE

Episode 6 - ​BEYOND HEAVEN

Episode 7 - ​TRACES

Episode 8 - ​DYTON FOREST

Episode 9 - ​NEXUS

Episode 10 - ​A CLUE

Episode 11- ​THE MACHINE

Episode 12 - ​CHANGE

Episode 13 - ​INSIGHT

Episode 14 - ​MOUNTAIN

Episode 15 - ​DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Episode 16 - ​FAMILIAR FACES

Episode 17 - ​ENCROACHMENT OF THE HEAVENS

Episode 18 - ​JUDGMENT

Episode 19 - ​AFTERMATH

Episode 20 - ​NAOSU

Episode 21 - ​A FILLER

Episode 22 - ​A DAY OFF

Episode 23 - ​THE ONE THAT ROARS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hiakuma Hero ( 火悪魔 ヒーロー )

( /çiakɯma çiːɾo/ ) Fire Demon Hero

Ishi Ryu ( 石竜 ) ( /iɕi ɾjɯɯ/ )

Stone Dragon

Mizu Haru ( 水春 ) ( /mizɯ haɾɯ/ )

Water Spring

Yosei Tenshi ( 妖精天使 ) ( /joɯsei teɴɕi/ )

Fairy Angel

Eyra World Map

Prologue

​Let's cut to the chase… The novel contains a rather informal type of story writing. Oh, another thing. THERE WILL BE SUGGESTIVE THEMES! This is for people aged 18+! Maybe it should be higher? Or maybe children can take it better than the current sensitive and entitled generations… Ouch. That’s just a small taste of what might come. I would skip this prologue too if I were you. (This is actually for young adults, new adults, and adults. I hope you get the satire; we’re starting this off hot!)  Hey, future me here: SKIP to the story! There will be VIOLENCE, GORE, SATIRE, TOUCHY TOPICS, ETC. If you are highly triggered or sensitive to some subjects, um, drop what you're reading now? Like, right now. One more thing: there will be inconsistent capitalization, improper punctuation, improper tense, word repetition, incorrect word usage and grammar, and some online-translated Japanese. However, this Seinen-like, isekai, anime-inspired, light novel, again, contains a plethora of satire, so should you really be offended? Yes? No? I don’t know?

​Nonetheless, we follow the story and adventure of a woman named Yosei Tenshi. She is driven by good will and morals, but her selflessness plagues her with many dangers to come. She was of average height with a toned and slender figure and a pure, innocent, and pretty face. Her hair flowed in a natural black with twinkling hazel eyes. Her voice is soft and sincere, yet she is stressed and depressed.

​Currently, she lives on an earth-like planet with human-like people in the Mortal realm. Life in the Mortal realm requires satisfying mortal conditions such as thirst, hunger, and health for survival. Many mortal species had a knack for something known as survival of the fittest. As humans learned to live, thrive, and survive together, what brought them together also brought them apart. Ideals and systems soon made them fight against each other. In a world so reliant on money, power, beliefs, and entitlement to satisfy or better improve a quality of life, how could every single individual suffice to receive the same? Everyone was created differently, yet they were the same beings, some with similar ideals, some with differences, some in between, droughts or sparks of opportunity, diverse to the point of disagreement, no utopias.

​Yosei's life was on, let’s call it, Earth, figuring her life out. Her knowledge of the world was too much to accept. A life where she'd mostly need money in order to live and improve her own life and well-being. A life constrained by limited and coerced choices to work for the majority of her mortal capabilities, her time alive, and such servitude just to fulfill these mortal conditions. A life oppressed, a life casted with disadvantages, a life held with prejudice. It was difficult for her to accept, maintain, and endure. She would love to make a living doing what she is passionate about and be able to control her work and schedule. She would love for everyone to be treated equally. She would love to stop suffering from depression. This is simply not the case but dreams she wished to obtain.

​She lives among humans, suffering because humanity tends to revolve around the seven deadly sins. This continues to doubt her faith in humanity. Plagues, pandemics, war, poverty—you name it. Yosei sees those suffer, but the world continues relying on those in power or their systems. Even in crucial and unprecedented times, humans rely on their weak systems to help stabilize society. Moreover, humans continue to argue and fight against each other in times of great need and healing. They believe in law and order, but the inside web always has room for corruption. Many lack the ability to think for themselves, or even the ability to think before they speak or act. The woman has low self-esteem and finds no worth in the world or herself. She struggles to find her identity.

​However, this is not just one instance of Yosei’s life. This life was not as harsh as her other incarnations, yet the suffering and pain felt greater than those before them. This is the journey—the story of a mortal whose emotions and sufferings carried them to a whole new plane. A world not like the mortal world but not quite like the immortal realm. Perhaps a utopia? Yosei wishes for a free life, a fantasy, or an isekai.

​Sadly, she lives a life where the higher-class authorities continue to argue and debate while their planet is about to blow up… yeah… politics, amirite? It sounds similar to what happened to the planet of a certain beloved red-caped superhero. Only those foolish in the world would fight or bring about change against the people and systems placed, but only to be deemed a heretic, tyrant, insurrectionist, and an outcast for the outlandish. That, or they are doing this for money… Great lengths would need to be taken to cause change, but this in turn would make them be viewed as criminal. But how can one be exiled or excommunicated by telling people to put the current system to the side while they help save lives? Forget money, forget the system, and start doing and giving? Nah, they’re communists, or it’s socialism, or they’re radicals, liberals, the far-right or left, or terrorists, you name it.

​I would skip this portion of the prologue if I were you. You should’ve skipped the whole prologue in general. It is mainly needless fluff to generalize what the heck this novel might be about. Quote, might. It contains pretty relevant and irrelevant stuff, if you know what I mean. It has satire slapped right in your face, right off the bat. Oh, did I mention the writing has references and satire throughout? Once again, I, the author, pleads, SKIP THIS SECTION! Skip it, please. The real story begins after, I promise. What you’ll read after this is… satire… explanations… nonsense. Ahh, fine, well this section here. It gives you an idea of how to scale power levels in the novel, perhaps in which I explain it with satire dropped left and right.

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​*(Oh, hi there. This strange text will appear often. It helps provide satire context, potential spoilers, or the author’s explanation of the anomalies, so be warned to avoid asterisks in bold if you don’t care about this. Skipping over this bold blip will also continue the flow of the writing. Also, a double return or space may signal a lapse in time or a change in scene. Conversational dialogue will also be denoted in indented blocks and italics.

​First of all, if you think this is or will be very political or touchy, it’s not really that bad, honest! The first paragraph of the Prologue was just satire. The satire is the hook people use to reel an audience. The audience will become curious about what this book actually has that will make them offended, and they’ll disregard the disclaimer anyway! However, I’m honest, (coughs), it does contain some touchy topics that could trigger someone. Unfortunately, you should never believe me at face value or take me seriously, so it really depends on how deeply you read the book or how you depict the references. Lots of the satire pays homage to certain references, while others just gently raise awareness of suggestive topics. I remember dreading English and literature classes in school. I recalled how perfect our writing had to be, up to the punctuation, and this eluded us in the future regarding how we wrote and spoke. This book shows that I couldn't care less about the grammar and proof-reading rules! Well, just a bit, and are there really rules this day in age? Yes, but the Internet and social media dumbed me down, I guess. Anyway, this book also satirizes our lessons of critical thinking and analyzing the thoughts of the author. Hence, when you read this novel, try to remember the way you felt taking those literature exams. Remember symbols? Themes? What is the author trying to convey or talk about? Author’s purpose? Students will enjoy this novel then! (Inputs devious laughter.) Again, you can’t take me seriously, so the satire is simple. The answer is what your teacher expects.

​Despite the satire and topics, the novel actually does have a story. I think it does a good job of hiding the satire because there is an actual story. In addition, everything in this novel is fiction. Every explanation, translation, or reference is mere fiction, analogy, or satire. However, note that the entire novel was written in March–May 2020, and it included all these asterisk spoiler blips like this one! I have made a few minor additions since then, as of April 2024. All of the edits I’ve made throughout are just spell-checking, grammar fixing, and formatting. I know there can be improvements, additions, or details that I could make to this book, but being my first write-up, I felt publishing a book literally 80–90% in the raw seemed too good to pass up. It’s very human. It’s so convoluted from what I was taught. The satire for me here is that anyone can publish a novel, disregarding what they’ve learned. And to top it off, you know that it might not be well received or harshly criticized by readers or enthusiasts. Don’t even get me started on genres, like light novels. Even so, I’m sure some of you, like me, were taught in an almost strict, uptight manner about literature and publishing works. It’s like being disciplined by one of those exaggeratedly high-class, rich snobs with thick accents. The moment you do something out of the ordinary, then the cuffs are up! If it’s not X, then it’s inferior. Only Japanese Light Novels are superior, etc. Well, this book could care less. The book is what it is. I will write whatever pops into my head. I won’t bother too much with convention, sentence structures, or repetition. It could be monotonous, for all I know. It might not be considered satire, for all I care. He might not know what satire is, right? It might not conform to being a light novel. Blah, blah… I did mention that this was an informal, or I guess better to say, unorthodox, way to write a novel. So as such, I’ll publish Volume 1 as raw and unprotected as it comes, then continue working on the other three volumes with more thought, additions, and edits (you heard that right; I was working on Volume 2+ with storyboards and drafting after May 2020). I can’t believe I haven’t touched this thing in four years. This was added in April 2024.)

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​Okay, you’ve been warned. In this novel, imagine and treat almost everything that you know as though you are a certain caped baldy. You know that you are practically immortal. A sword or firearm would have no effect on damaging you. In fact, the opposite would occur, where the sword or bullet would be destroyed upon striking you. In Beyond Heaven, consider yourself—um, actually, consider being a weaker super hero instead of that immortal hero. You are classified as an energy-being. Only those who are energy-beings or higher could actually harm you. We can consider a periodic table to scale. That being said, let’s compare Earth’s iron, which is periodic element number 26, versus Heaven’s iron, which is their periodic element number 26. Heaven’s iron would be the same in appearance and structure, but it would be exponentially denser and stronger than Earth’s. Using a sword made of Heaven’s iron would damage you, but using a sword made of Earth’s iron would cause you no harm.

​It may sound redundant or needless to say, but it would explain fighting plot holes in anime or shows. Of course, my explanation of all of this is mainly for satire because the answer is merely fiction. Remember the many occurrences in anime or comics, where during a fight, a person would grab the opponent’s leg and thrash them back and forth? In another viewpoint, a certain angry green man rag doll smashes a certain trickster. Now, use that move on heroes immune to physical damage. What would that do to them? Nothing. If the force of a moving bullet does nothing to them, then the force of being slammed to the ground would absolutely do nothing to them. So, why would they use this move? Why would characters in anime or comics be hurt by a suplex to the ground, building, or mountain? Why grab someone’s head and bash or scrape it on a surface? Why would they bother to use these moves if it was known in the beginning that these characters are practically invincible, damage-immune, and that forces of friction or impact still leave them unfazed? If the force of a bullet, force from an atomic bomb, or force from a supernova does not hurt these characters, then the act of gravity or friction seems trivial. One can argue that the fighter performing the action exceeds the power scale. This may be true. Perhaps it is also eye candy for animation? People do like fight scenes and action. They totally forget these plot holes because they are deeply engaged in combat. Then you have people like me who realize that the fight seemed pointless. Again, in notes of satire, I will explain that this move actually hurts you because the ground is made of, you guessed it, the dimension-equivalent material that would hurt you. Plus, the being is on the same scale of power as you, so that also works two-in-two.

​This rant is pretty long; what kind of prologue is this? This is how I roll? But, seriously, this isn’t really part of a prologue. That was like the first six or so paragraphs. Again, this novel is written with satire in mind. Did I already mention that? It will either be as redundant, repetitive, or blatant as this, or it will be pretty subtle. And when I say subtle, you really, really have to think. There’s hidden context that requires stretching your knowledge about everything. There’s context in which you would have to know what the author is thinking. I hope you can find all the topics; it’s quite fun when you find them. I did say to skip this non-prologue. To recap, energy-beings and gods would be hurt by these moves because everything is scaled to their level of power. It isn’t an instance of Single Punch Guy where the fights do literally nothing to the main character. That anime is a satire after all, and it quite frankly explains our perception of the fights. I love that anime. It’s funnier than what I wrote, and all this nonsense, sigh. However, we love the fights even though the hero is unaffected. They can be thrown several miles through mountains and buildings or through the planet, for all we know, yet we know they’re fine. In Beyond Heaven, energy-beings going through the exact same fight would be fine in the Mortal realm, but if they were in the energy dimension, then they would more than likely die.

TLDR (too long, don’t read): characters in the book will be affected by weapons, spells, objects, physical force, etc.

​Let me take something out of the information archives that I’ve written in a separate document:

An energy body works a little differently than a mortal body. [M for mortal, E for energy-being]. Similarities: [M] Blood flow; [E] Energy flows within the respective body parts through blood; [M] Sleep; [E] Energy bodies need sleep to repair like mortal bodies; [M] Organs; [E] The functionality of organs is similar, but they are functioned by the soul, mimicking organ functions. (If that made sense.) In other words, there isn't really a Stomach, Brain, or Heart" but the soul can mimic their functions as though the energy body had one. Lastly are [M] point injuries; [E] Energy bodies can become bruised in specific areas like mortal bodies.)

Differences: [E] Energy bodies do not need to eat or breathe. [E] Upon grotesque injury, body parts technically do not sever as they are intact by energy. If it does, it is a soul that has a physical-energy body. This means an arm can become amputated. The physical arm will be severed, but the energy body arm is still intact (If that makes any sense). Picture it as your own body. If your arm was somehow amputated, then an ethereal or phantom arm would be shown instead. You are not able to touch this arm, as it isn’t physical. *This makes scenes like being cut in half or decapitation, unlikely but the typical anime scenes of those being sliced and blood spewing about by the attack are greatly plausible.

​More notes: the novel contains words that contain graphic, detailed imagery. For example, but may not actually be in the novel, ‘roasting someone alive. Blood pool, hack blood, sinew, half their body spews blood, split in half, crushing, nude, etc.’ Essentially, we treat all this graphic imagery as anime. For example, when it comes to fire, more than likely it’s burning the essence of someone's body. They don't literally and physically burn to a crisp. The physical body is what you would think would be cooked up, which would be correct. However, the fantasy or fiction of this all is to limit the gore. They may look scorched to a degree, but they look relatively fine. They don’t appear to be covered in x-degree burns, boils, or serrated bloody flesh. Picture it again as anime; the character being burned would more than likely just have a hue of purple on their skin.

​Likewise, from the previous note, decapitation and severing gore might be omitted. You’ll get the scene of a slash, then blood coming from that attack from someone’s body, but their physical body never separates, unless it’s like an anime known for horror themes or visual gore. If their body does become burned or severed, then it’s usually not too gory and is quick. If someone does become decapitated, then the physical head will be severed, but you’ll see their energy head replacing it. (If that makes any sense.) If anything, their physical body disappears, which leaves the energy body. The physical body protects and helps hold and disperse energy with its energy body. Without it, their energy body is exposed, and it can become subject to injury and leakage. The more energy leaving the body, the worse the stability within the soul. The soul needs energy to function, and the energy body is a good indication of stability. Without a healthy energy body, the body begins to shed energy or become corpse-like. Imagine blue petals of light shedding off of someone. That is what it is like to see one instance of death in the novel. So what [ ] did was burn someone alive, yes, but not in the way a mortal would think. The energy of their body is being burned as it becomes incinerated, leaving their soul. When enough energy becomes burnt or gone, then the soul expels the dying energy body. That sounds more PG-13, awesome! I don’t know why that matters since this novel is for qualified mature individuals, but hey, this is one convoluted satire, and if you didn’t notice that this is also a subtle satire of how age-restricted ratings have changed over time, then I’m sorry I spoiled this. Remember when something that was rated PG was very mature back in the day? It would be considered PG-13 for today’s standards. Even PG-13 movies in the past wouldn’t pass the ratings today, being rated R or MA more than likely. Remember the boom and the popularity of YA novels? Remember the not-recognized category of NA? (Young adult and new adult). I wanted to make this a YA originally, but the satire and mature themes put me in a pickle. My audience is for those in their college years and older, but people say NA is just YA + sex. I don’t know man; I digress and apologize. I won’t help explaining hidden or stretched satire for you guys anymore!

​In summary, energy-beings consist of a soul that filters raw energy. The filtered byproducts are raw energy and soul energy. After enough soul energy is stored, a soul awakens to become an energy-being. It creates an energy body in which the soul can use the stored soul energy to allow the body to function. A physical body is the final layer that helps protect the energy body, like a vessel, and support it with energy or blood flow.

​Another uncommon body is a hybrid body, an energy and physical body combined. More than likely, if a soul has an energy body, then it has a hybrid outer layer. This keeps the body appearing physical and able to change from being physical to energy. This also allows bodies to shape-shift easily or change from various sizes.

​Another note, the novel contains battles where people get choked. Choking, in a sense, wouldn't make sense. Breathing is not a thing, so choking shouldn't affect energy beings, right? YES! However, choking prevents the blood from flowing to the head region. This prevents the soul from being able to provide the blood/energy flow to the head, which gives it the ability to function as eyes, ears, smell, etc. In addition, the choker is also trying to crush the victim’s neck."

TLDR: an energy-being is a soul that has awakened and created an energy body of its own. Then, it encases their sensitive body in a vessel—a physical body.

​To an extent, you could see that I was trying to keep the novel from being too intense with gore. Ironic right? Censoring gore but unloading satire and allusion galore! BUT! Hear me out! If this novel were to be animated, then how could I prevent someone from being split in half or decapitated? In the sensitive, cancel-culture censorship of a world we live in, how could I possibly show that!? Ahh… censorship. Oh! I know the answer. People are not mortal. They are energy-beings or gods, so they should have a different body, right? My solution was to have two bodies. An actual physical body and a void-like energy body. An energy-being consists of the Soul, which develops an energy body which is encased in a physical body. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan that is clearly not plot hole proof… The answer to this dilemma is clearly: it’s anime or fiction.

​I hope, after reading all of this, you guys don’t know if you can take me seriously. That was what I hoped for, so if you got this far, then you should be good to go. Without taking anything too seriously, I’m sure the story speaks for itself,

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​*(Oh, hi there. Once again, this is like a disclaimer, I guess. You should read the disclaimer or copyright page. I’m not liable for anything that goes on in this fiction and satire work. I’m not trying to offend people, really. I’m just having fun, and being light on some topics is all. If you’re offended by the Japanese, then realize that it’s also satire. I’m making fun of myself for knowing some words and phrases in Japanese as well as using online translations on some words I absolutely don’t know, and overall, just me being a big weeabo. Also, I’m exaggerating the typical words and dictations of how anime does it. No one talks like this, haha, but let’s see if people notice the satire. Unless… you didn’t skip these excerpts, and I just spoiled a satire for you… Haiyah… I’m truthfully and deeply inspired by the language and culture of Japan. It’s the reason why this novel has a strong anime vibe and influence. It’s truly nothing but respect, but just me making fun of how much of a weeb I can be. You’ll also note, if you pay attention, that there are deep references and cultures that are integral to Japan. There’s nothing but respect and paying homage to the culture and creators that gifted us incredible works like manga and anime. Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. That being said, do not, and I mean do not, believe that all the translations in this novel are factual or correct. Remember, it is fiction. It is through my own imagination, knowledge, and memory. It is satire, and any relatable reality is an analogy to make it easier for you to understand the stuff in the novel. Do not be misinformed. And again, don’t take anything in this work seriously except for the Copyright Page. Satire becomes really difficult as some things pertain to the author (me), so it might not be understood clearly. I apologize for that. That will be true for a lot of the satire in this novel. As for this prologue, I’m just going to summarize this nonsense after reading it as of April 2024. You’re welcome, maybe…)

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​I know I basically wrote some nonsense after the first six paragraphs of this prologue, but it helps you understand what you are getting yourself into. TLDR: Yosei Tenshi is the protagonist or main character who currently lives on Earth. She doesn’t like her life and the path that it’s leading to, and she can’t help but feel terrible seeing her and others suffer the same human life cycle. She finds defeat in knowing her purpose other than contributing to humanity. She feels worthless. She can only find the little good things in life. However, to constantly see suffering, havoc, chaos, disagreements, news, and politics took more of a toll on her depression. She wants to find purpose. She wants to find an identity. She wants happiness. Thus, she continues struggling but holding on to find her place on Earth.

​Once again, the overindulgent prologue might help you understand the world a little better in the novel. And again, many things are written with salts of satire sprinkled here and there, so they may be smaller than what’s on the surface. Just don’t take anything personally, seriously, or to heart, is what I would say. I’m firing on all cylinders, okay? It’s like those critics hating on Don’t Look Up. I liked the movie and how bold its satire was. It was a simple, to-the-point, and right-in-your-face type of satire. You would think having a critic score of around 40–50 tomatoes but an audience score of over 70 would say something about how dumb we see things, right? 55/78 at this time of writing. I’m glad I’m with the 78% who enjoyed it. I think people really hate the truth, really hate the negatives, really hate breaking news, or how satire like that is so blunt and in your face. They get the point already! Like the critics say, smug. Just like my prologue, right? Satires… go figure. I think I’ve mentioned this like seven or eight times at this point… In fact, if you could find all the notes of satire, parodies, or allegories within this novel, I would be greatly impressed. If you find all the subtle and hidden satire, then I should congratulate you on the most obscured scavenger hunt one could ever have. Thank you for taking the time to read this! I would have honestly skipped this whole section entirely and got on with the actual content. I told you to skip this… For whomever reads this, thank you and enjoy.

Episode 0

HALSIING

H

alsiing. The lush city is enormous, with the coveted Academy school branching throughout the metropolis. Locals chatter and rush about. The streets are hectic and busy. It is deafening as animals, factories, vehicles, and civilians block out all hopes of silence. Besides the mayhem, the prestigious and rising sun shines on the horizon, the weather is nice, serene, and clear, and the scene seems almost picturesque and idyllic. Hiakuma wakes up abruptly and shouts, I'M GOING TO BE LATE! He rushes to grab his school bag, and he quickly cleans and dresses himself. With a toast in his mouth, he promptly says bye to his mom and dad before soaring to the sky. Flying through the atmosphere as carefree as ever, the little boy traverses through the scenery like any movie or anime would do.

​He arrives at the elementary Academy, and the cute, six-year-old demon boy scurries to his class as he bumps into other students rushing to their classes. A wave of courteous apologies from all students as they shuffle through each other echoes through the halls, "「すみません」 Sumi… sumi… sumimasen [Excuse me]. Soon, the Westminster Chime plays. Hiakuma gently opens the door of his class. Late again, 「ヒーロー」 Hiro… his teacher scolds. 「ごめんなさい」 Gomen-nasai [I’m sorry], senpai!" Hiakuma apologizes. A group of boys begin to scoff and laugh at Hiakuma as he takes his seat.

​Not before long, the period is over, and Hiakuma scampers off to attend his next class. The group of boys stalks the demon boy, and suddenly they bolt after him. They push him and shove him, and they make him trip on the floor. Hiakuma yells, I'm warning you guys! Stop it! One of the bullies teases, "Oh, boo hoo! What is poor little 「クマ」 Kuma [bear] going to do? Are you going to ram me with those dainty horns? They begin to laugh maniacally. My name's 「火悪魔」 Hiakuma! Not Kuma!" Hiakuma angrily shouts. The leader of the bullies begins to tease and poke Hiakuma. In vexation, Hiakuma suddenly blasts the bully with a potent fire explosion. The bully is knocked unconscious, and the others inform the nearby teachers. Hiakuma was immediately sent to the principal's office.

​Hello, Hiakuma. I'm glad and not glad to see you again this week, the principal said calmly. It wasn't my fault, sir! They were bullying me! Hiakuma retorts. The principal looks in dismay and says, Hiro, I know. It doesn't take much to find out what goes on around here in the youth Academy. Ha ha, you don't know how many times I had to deal with youthful troublemakers. You do know I still have to call your parents about this, though? We do not encourage or allow the use of energy in the school outside of supervision, only during the training period in the training halls. Hiakuma puffs up and pouts as the principal dials for his parents.

Hiakuma's parents arrive to see the principal and their tiny, irate demon sitting outside the office. Shortly, Hiakuma begins to stare into space and blanks out. He daydreams of fighting and adventures and the joy and fun it would be outside of school. The day still looks bright and promising as he continues to wait as the conference finishes.

​On the other side of Halsiing, Ishi and Mizu attend their class in their junior-aged district. Ishi is a second-year student in class A (2-A), while Mizu is a first-year student in class B (1-B). They both wear tidy and proper uniforms, representing the pride of the Academy school and, of course, as the school’s dress code. Ishi has a stern, austere, and stone-cold appearance, with a slight scaling near his upper arm. His hair is short and brown, with jade green dominating the front. He has stubby dragon horns barely growing from his dome, and he has gazing emerald eyes. He has a slightly more muscular build for his age when compared to others, as he is a Dragon Celestial and has turned fourteen recently.

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​*(Oh, hi there. Time here is not the same as time on Earth. A year here is much longer than a year on Earth. Also, age in the energy realm becomes almost irrelevant as they always look like adults even if they are hundreds, thousands, millions, or more Earth years old. They cannot be elderly or senior in appearance. The exception to appearance is ONLY if someone decides to change their physical body’s appearance, though their energy body will remain the same, original adult appearance. In terms of aging, energy-beings age very slowly, showing maturity or adulthood many years later. Ishi is currently 14, but he looks like he’s 7–10 years old in human years. This also means he is possibly more than 28–30+ human Earth years old.)

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​Mizu chatters with him, twirling her navy hair and blinking her intimidating sky blue eyes. She is a Celestial soul and is thirteen, being a freshman in junior high school. She bubbles with brightness and positivity as she flirts with her boyfriend.

​(石竜)Ishi Ryū: What are we still doing here, Mizu? We don’t belong here. We’re better than all these kids!

​(水春)Mizu Haru: Oh, come on, Ishi! Imagine! One day we will be in the big leagues! The Army… oooh! I wonder what our ranks will be.

​Ishi: Bah! It's nothing more than a label! I'd rather be an Elementalist than one of those dead-eyed foot soldiers.

​Mizu: But you would have to be the strongest earth mage on Eyra (/'eɪɾa/ エーラ). You need to beat the current Earth Elementalist.

​Ishi: It beats being a dumbed-down soldier. What rank would even matter?

​Mizu: Hmm, I would like to be a top medical operator. I can help and heal others. Oooh, and the cool and secret missions! Think of the stories!

​Ishi: Don't let the Academy fill you with sad lies, Mizu! Their made-up stories are nothing but fairy tales. If they were true, then how is that any better for you in your life? Do you think you'd like the idea of being at war?

​Mizu: No… but I would like to save people…

​Ishi sighs, and his look clearly defines his desire to not be present at school. Mizu continues to try to comfort him. They look at the clock, and they start to head toward their next lecture. Their next class is training, and students of years one and two attend it together, while the third year’s are separated. In the gymnasium, the trainer looks at the class and then sternly assigns the semester’s testing and evaluation for the period. The test will evaluate the students' physical and energy fitness and finesse. There will be energy trials, endurance and stamina tests, and brief sparring. Ishi goes up and shows grandiosity with his earth energy. He cleared through the endurance and stamina tests with ease, and his energy test seemed flawless, being able to break the quick-moving targets without difficulty. To show off, he purposely created a small, bullet-sized rock and flicked it at a target. The target shattered as the class clapped with awe.

​When it was Mizu's turn, she felt anxious and nervous. She performed adequately, if anything, on par. However, her water abilities were no discernible joke. She really shined in the endurance and stamina tests, showing her prowess in healing and fine water arts. After her test was over, Mizu sighed and looked discouraged. The Celestial didn't believe she did very well.

​As the sparring took place, many students fought with pride and ego, being more intense than necessary. One of Ishi's adversaries tried to provoke Ishi's limits. Ishi was baffled and angrily demanded why he was fighting so seriously. He ignored Ishi and continued to blast him with deadly energy blasts. Ishi looked at the teacher, who simply signaled the Drake to continue to fight. Ishi smirked, Ahh, whatever, it's not like anyone does anything around here, right? Hey! You! You need to have better blasts than that to get through my stone!

​Suddenly, Ishi notices small cracks in his stone defenses. Ishi pitifully scoffs, then shatters his defenses. Going on the offensive, he charges at his nemesis and strikes him with a rock slam. He knocks out his sparring opponent, who hurdles down to the floor. The gym teacher quickly casts an energy barrier and whistles loudly. He signals that the spar is over and scolds Ishi. "What the hell are you doing, 「医師」 Ishi!? This is sparring! Don't kill the guy! Ishi clenches his fist, ready to attack the trainer, but hesitates. Ishi exhales, My name is Ishi! Stop calling me a doctor intentionally!"

(Ishi [石] means stone. Ishi [医師] means doctor/physician. Ishi [意思] means intention/will/purpose.)

​Ishi proceeds to ignore the trainer, knowing how pathetic the teacher is as a person. Mizu rushes toward the unconscious student and heals him until he is able to wake up. Mizu smiles at the teacher and asks, I don't have to spar, right? The teacher replies, Ha ha, thank you for the assistance, Haru, but it is still part of your test. Go ahead and spar with Shimi over there.

​Shimi stands up and steps into the sparring field. Mizu sighs and follows suit. Shimi starts casting waves of flames and fire, attempting to engulf Mizu in them. Mizu washes them away with quick water showers and waves of her own. The two spar in delightful scenes of water and fire. Minutes pass, and the whole arena is bombarded with smoke and mist from the constant stalemate of water and fire. Shimi starts to channel something, and a fire wave beam spews toward Mizu. The Celestial waterwoman quickly jets out the flames with her own aqua beam. The fire soon becomes squelched in the water. Shimi is barraged with the force of the water. The coach whistles to signal the spar to be over. Mizu offers her hand to Shimi, who ignores it. Mizu looks sad and sighs. After gym, Ishi runs to Mizu.

​Ishi: What an ass! Every class, that guy, that teacher, the class… every damn time, we have to deal with them.

​Mizu: Ugh! I didn't want to spar… Look at my clothes.

(Mizu points at the places of charred clothing.)

​Ishi: That teacher has a lot of nerve. He doesn't stop him from bombarding me with lethal blasts, but he stops me from doing one