(Theme: The Weight of Unwritten Histories)
800 KILOGRAMS.
The number seared Kaito's vision as he charged uphill through the Obsidian Wastes. Jagged black cliffs tore at the blood-red sky. Each step THUD-CRUNCHED volcanic gravel, the gravity suit's servos screaming like tortured beasts. Sweat rivered down the lightning scar on his spine. No shortcuts. No mercy. Just... survive.
BZZZT---KRRRK!
The suit flickered crimson—failed.
Kaito face-planted—CRACK!—vomit spraying from clenched teeth. Gravel bit through skin. "Why... won't... it... stop crushing me?"
Akari's boot THUMPED his shattered ribs. Crimson horns cast prison-bar shadows across his face. "You call this training? Newborn dragons die prettier."
"The suit... it's—"
"Not weight." Her heel ground his knuckles. CRUNCH. "Force. Your pathetic meat-sack just folds."
MEMORY TORE OPEN:
—Child Akari strapped to cold steel— Needles plunging liquid fire into her neck— Scientists' goggles reflecting her silent scream—
"Survive this, and you'll be strong."
Present claws dug into Kaito's collar. Akari dragged him toward a volcanic fissure where heat shimmered like a mirage. A mountain moved—obsidian scales grinding, molten veins pulsing beneath.
"Twenty-four metric tons." Her voice froze the sweat on his neck. "Scales shatter diamonds. Kill it—" She hurled him forward. "—or fertilize its nest."
Kaito lunged. Dragonsteel dagger SCREEEEECHED! across armored hide.
"The gap—half a centimeter! NOW!"
The tail came like a collapsing star.
WHAM!
Basalt pillar vaporized. Kaito's ribs SNAPPED like dry twigs. Blood painted the wasteland crimson.
"Pathetic." Akari watched arterial spray mist the air. "Missed by a breath."
Midnight. Camp library.
Kaito hunched over mold-speckled pages—"Planetary Physics & Anomalies". Lantern light bled across equations. Soldiers' impossible leaps. Rations falling like feathers. Gravity's seductive lie.
He dropped a metal cube. TICK-TICK-TICK... Pocketwatch counted. Pendulum swung.
*g = 6.5 m/s²*
Two-thirds Earth's pull. The suit doesn't add weight—it multiplies force!
His pencil snapped. "The suit's a force amplifier..."
Shadow stirred at the tent flap. Akari's fingers brushed a vial in her pocket—frost-healing salve.
...Too fragile. But he must live.
Dawn. A whetstone CRACKED against Kaito's sternum.
"Sharpen to ten microns." Akari turned away, horns blazing crimson. "Maybe then you'll scratch its shit-crusted claws."
Kaito spat blood on obsidian. "I'll carve its still-beating heart."
When he limped away—she placed the salve by his notes. Folded paper:
For burns. Don't die.
Her care wore cruelty's armor.
21 DAYS OF BLOOD:
Day 7: Three strikes. Vomited black sludge that ate through stone.
Day 14: Blade edge—12 microns. Obsidian SCREECHED surrender.
Day 21: Strike force—16,500 Newtons. Stone EXPLODED.
Sparks FLEW like dying stars as Kaito welded a 20cm grip extension. "Torque = distance × force." The dagger hummed with kinetic hunger. "Amplify. Adapt. Destroy."
SHINK!
A single fluid motion split the obsidian monolith. Clean. Precise. Murderous.
Akari's grunt held fractured respect. "Hmph. Not entirely useless."
Beyond the treeline—purple eyes ignited. Watching. Ravenous.
ORION'S Comment: "Oho~! Someone's very interested in our lab rat. Is it admiration... or lunch-break anticipation?"
THE SKY BLEED.
Aurora ripped open. Wings blotted stars—the Blood Dragon Emperor's silhouette dwarfing mountains. GRROOOOWWL... The roar liquefied marrow.
Akari tossed a dragon core. Cold. Thrumming. Deadly. "Half a year." Her eyes held blizzards. "Next target: Infernal Dragon." She vanished into swirling ash. "Pray your physics beats hellfire."
Kaito gripped the core. Energy SCORCHED his palm. In its obsidian reflection—one human eye. One pupil slit vertical and burning gold. No more resets. No more luck. Kill or be unmade.
He pocketed her salve. A ghost-smile touched his lips—first in a lifetime.
The shadowy figure leaned forward—purple eyes narrowing to daggers.
ORION'S NOTE: "Science vs. scales—Round 2 begins! Will our lamb bite back? Stay hungry, readers!"