Prologue

PYRO'S POV

In a world where there is predator and prey, what would you choose to be? A predator who lives by killing others or a prey who hides in its cave to survive and protect itself?

People encounter different degrees of suffering, it depends on how you deal with it, but in my world, there is no other choice, except to fight. Be a warrior on your own. If not… you will face death.

"Faster!" Hali was dodging Colden's attack. He had a smirk on his lips while Colden was trembling in every strike he did.

"Faster, strengthen your hit! You are so weak! How would you be a king if you were shaking!" Hali used his index finger, pointing at Colden while moving it into 'come here' gesture.

I was just sitting on the above-level tree while watching them. Those are my brothers, taking their training for today.

"Pyro!" Hali put down his arnis, stomped on the soil heavily while moving closer to my location. He looked up. "Get down! I do not want to take training with Colden! It was no thrill at all! I didn't even sweat!"

I prepared myself to jump into the height. When I was in mid-air, I twisted my body so that I could fall straight on my feet, without any injury.

I stared at Hali with my cold eyes. "What fight do you want? An excessive sweat training or a bloody one?"

A smirk formed on his lips. "A bloody one."

I did not respond to his words, I grabbed the arnis instead, stuck my feet on the ground while moving it into a slightly angled side. The knees were facing the same direction as my feet. The feet and knees alignment is one of the powerful defenses, it can lessen the leakage of force and ensure a comfortable attacking position.

When my head moved aside, I viewed Colden, looking down. When his head went up, he was a spark of disappointment. "I'm sorry, Pyro."

I kept my mouth shut. When I gazed at Hali, he did an expected attack, the arnis were flying in a straight direction. It was about to hit my head, but I moved in my side, resulting in it falling into the soil. Without me hurting.

"A cheater." The voice of mine was soft, emotion did not change.

"A cheater always wins, Pyro. If you are kind in terms of the battle. They might betray you without you knowing." After his lines, he immediately ran towards me, hitting me with his arnis into a left slant movement.

I jumped three times backward. He continued to strike me with his arnis, but for me, it was a weak defense. He was doing the same rhythm of hitting. Left and right. Left and right. It was repeating all over, the opponent might memorize his tactic.

He hit me again on my right, I held his arnis. He was forcing it to pull back, but I was just holding it slightly, with no effort, no applying strength at all. He was having difficulty.

In an instant, I threw my arnis in the side and gave him a strong punch on his stomach. He groaned as the result of my strike.

"A cheater can be cheated by others, too." I watched him twisting his body.

It was not allowed to use the punch, kick, and other physical defenses during arnis rehearsal. It was like I felt more comfortable using my bare hands than the arnis. Hence, not all the time, I have a tool to use when there is a fight. I rather use the portion of my body to protect myself.

I turned my back at Hali, walking towards Colden when I heard his shout.

"You think we are done!"

When I turned around to face him again, I got a hit on my chest, resulting in me stepping backward. I touched my chest while looking at the grinning Hali.

"Good job. I am enjoying the fight." Raiden was standing beside the tree, leaning his shoulder on it while having a big smile. "Continue. Don't stare at me, Brothers."

Suddenly, Hali used his arnis again, striking me into my shoulder. I dodged immediately, jumped to move, going to his back. He did not notice my moves. In an instant, I was located on his back. I slowly stepped forward. Then, when he was about to look at me, I cornered his neck with my arms.

"Ugh!" He was gritting his teeth while pulling himself out of my arms. "You are so annoying, Fire!"

"Same as you, Water," I whispered in his ears.

"1, 2, 3…" Zephyrus was counting, raising his finger.

I never let go of Hali when Zephyrus was still counting. Hali was giving all his strength to fight back, but he could not ruin my attack that made him drown in my arms. Cornered.

"The winner is… Pyro!" Zephyrus' laugh echoed in the whole area. "Another day lost for Hali." He was shaking his head when he tapped Hali's shoulder. "Use your brain sometimes for strategies, fighting is not always attacking, it uses head. That is why we can think." He passed us by.

I pulled out my arms on Hali and threw him into the soil. "Practice to teach Colden how to fight, not how to belittle himself."

We heard the loud sound of a clap. We looked in the direction where it came from. It was our father, King Oswald with our mothers on his side. The various five ladies came from different elemental packs of werewolves.

A broad smile grew into King Oswald's lips. "I am glad to see that you, my five sons, are helping each other to be strong."

"They are not. They just love to tease each other about their weaknesses." Raiden spoke while staring at the tree where I was sitting before. "The tree is estimated to be about 63 meters." Raiden hit my abdomen with his backhand. "You are a great jumper."

I just looked at him. I did not respond to his words. It might consume my saliva with nonsense conversation.

"I want to see how my sons fight with each other." King Oswald commanded.

We had no choice, but to get our exclusive arnis. It had a trademark of Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, and Wind.