Firelight

Chapter 1

Hajime could feel sweat drip as he repeated his reps over and over again. Punch uppercut! Punch punch hook! Punch punch dodge! Every so often he would throw in a kick or two. Hajime almost felt bad for his poor punching bag, but he could have no mercy for his opponents, especially for an inanimate object. Hajime had wanted to weapon train today, but he knew hand-to-hand combat was just as important. And Hajime would do anything to protect his kingdom.

Hajime lived in the kingdom of Kherura and was a member of the royal guard, which meant he was a guard of the castle. He was also one of the elite guards, or the rose guards, as people called it. There were eight guards hand-picked by king Rantaro himself, and these eight guards were the best of the best. They were the ones the king called upon if he needed help in battle or needed some kind of protection. Which meant Hajime was one of Rantaro's most trusted guards. These guards were awarded a rose badge to wear on their uniforms, and Hajime had one on his uniform jacket now, though he had cast it aside so it wasn't in his way while he was training.

"Hey, Hajime! Catch this!" Hajime heard someone call. Hajime didn't break focus as something was thrown at him. Hajime heard it whiz closer, and caught it with his mind with ease as he continued punching.

After a couple of minutes, Hajime finally stopped punching. He took a few steps back and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, letting out a breath of exhaustion. It was only then that he stopped to look at the object thrown at him. Hovering in the air before him was a decent-sized apple. Hajime grabbed it out of the air, his mind letting go of it so it wouldn't float anymore, and he gratefully took a bite out of it, enjoying the juicy flavor and the satisfying crunch.

Hajime was a telekinesis user or a Telky for short. That was just one of the many magical talents people could possess. No one knew exactly how people gained powers, but now it was just a common thing. Telkies, Waterweavers, Shadows, to name a few. Each person had one magic talent, and Hajime could move things with his mind.

"Man, how are you so good at that?" The same voice that threw him the apple called. Hajime looked up to see his two best friends, Kazuichi and Chiaki, heading his way. Kazuichi and Hajime had been friends for a long time now, and he was also one of the kings Techies, or technopaths. Technopaths were practically wizards when it come to mechanics and technology. As Kazuichi explained it, "The machines just speak to me!" Kazuichi has made a ton of useful inventions, including weapons.

"I've learned not to break focus on a fight," Hajime told his friends while eating his apple, "I can't let anything distract me. Which is why I caught the apple. I knew it was coming, so I didn't think about it, I just kinda... caught it," He tried to explain. Based on the confused stares his friends were giving him, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Well, you're a very talented Telky, that's for sure," Chiaki assured him, wearing her never-fading smile. Chiaki and Hajime were also lifelong friends, spanning all the way to early childhood. Chiaki was also an Empath, someone who could feel others' emotions.

"Thanks," Hajime chuckled as he finished his apple. He stretched his concentration to the apple core and lifted it up in the air with ease. Then he faced a trash can near the exit of the training room and chucked the apple core with his mind as hard as he could. The apple core soared through the air before it landed directly in the trash can. Hajime pumped his fist in the air in a mini celebration before starting to unwrap the athletic tape he had put around his hands so punching a bag of sand wouldn't hurt as much.

"How are you so good at everything?" Kazuichi whined as the group made their way to the bleachers where Hajime had dumped his stuff. The training room was and indoor space where guards would train sometimes. It was kind of like a giant indoor gym. It was always on the darker side because the lighting wasn't great, but Hajime loved training in here. Almost everyone used the training space outside, so no one came in here. Which meant Hajime could train on his own in peace.