Blaze Of Shadows [A World In Embers]

The Ring Of Tetsujin

It seemed that Ryu had just fallen asleep when the chirping of his phone awoke him. " Ryu Tanaka" came his curt reply. " Ryu, we have some information on the artifact Hikari might be looking for, so we need you to get down here" it was Hayato's voice.

" Fine I'm on my way" Ryu said, his voice clipped from a hint of anger at being disturbed until he checked his watch. " Seven hours." He mumbled. It had felt like seven minutes, the reason behind his exhaustion was that he had engaged in a training bout with Kasumi and had found it mentally fatiguing.

In the aftermath, he was sent on an operation to apprehend some criminals who had escaped from prison and promptly set off abducting wealthy individuals and then see demanding for outrageous sum of money for their release.

Ryu ran a hand through his black hair which was all over the place as usual, sometimes he remembered the time when he'd once took a picture of his mother and his as a child then wonder what if anything his mother had contributed to his DNA.

Ryu shrugged and walked into the base's tactical room where Kenshi, Hanzo, Hayato and Kasumi were already seated. " So what have we got " Ryu asked. " Well, the fact that the artifact is indeed some sort of ring" Hanzo started.

" A ring?" Kenshi asked and got echoed later by Ryu, Hanzo had discussed this with Hayato and Kasumi earlier so only they didn't have a blank stare. " Yes a ring" Hanzo clarified. " Apparently a couple of thousands of years ago, a ring is thought to be forged by Tetsujin, which is the god of iron.

" This was probably during an era that gods walked upon the earth" said Hanzo. Kenshi narrowed his eyes and voiced out the obvious question. " So why will Hikari be after this ring?"

" He isn't after the ring but rather after the benefits" Kasumi pointed out. " It is rumoured to amplifies the abilities of it's wearer beyond imaginable reach.". " And Hikari believes in this ring?" Ryu asked doubtfully.

" Yes he does, personally I think he has given us repeated occasions where we'll have to respect his wit" Hayato chimed in. " So where is the location of this ring?" Kenshi asked. " That is what we are still trying to find out." Said Hanzo.

" What about Hikari's background?" Ryu said bringing up one of their earlier issues. " Um yeah... Right here..." Hanzo said as he struggled to retrieve a file in his laptop. " His name remains Hikari Hamasaki, son of Kenji and..."

" What!" Kenshi breathed and attracted four pairs of eyes towards him. " Do you know him" Hayato began carefully.

" I once knew his father..." Kenshi said, his eyes wistful then it struck Ryu for the first time how old his uncle suddenly looked when he was like that. " Master we might need to know the details of your encounter with his father so as to determine his motivations" Kasumi said.

" It all started a long time ago..." Kenshi began.

***

Hikari was looked in a tense training from some taped Taekwondo classes he practised each swerve and transferred his weight with each precise kick. He had sent out some discreet spies to find him the ring and he had got back a lot of information for his perusal.

He paused after a lethal roundhouse which he delivered with a practised sweeping arc, while his mind spun at a hundred times per minute. " I might need to contact Aiko" he said, voicing out his thoughts.

He had become increasingly relaxed with her, besides it was bound to make his powers grow faster, he needed it if he was going to reform the world... And kill Kenshi !!