A Slayer's Competence, a Fantasy fanfic

A Slayer’s Competence

Fifteen-year-old Sotaru was the top of his generation in the dragon slayer guild. He could prepare the traps more efficiently than any of the other apprentices, he knew the different species of dragons by their smell alone, and he was an excellent fighter. Some in the guild that wanted to go through the initiation early, but the guild master knew better. You see the initiation is a ceremony that graduates an apprentice to a mastery level. It consists of a slayer challenge in which the apprentice must slay a dragon on his (or her) own and bring back a selection of its bones in order to make their signature weapon. Every master slayer had their own unique weapon made from their first kill. Young Sotaru had finally reached the age of initiation.

“Father I will return with my bones! Do not fear I can take any dragon!” Sotaru was fighting his mother’s grasp.

“My son, I fear you do not take this seriously enough. The dragon they are sending you to slay is the ruler of all the dragons in this region. He has great magical and physical prowess.” Sotaru had just worked free from his mother’s worrisome grasp and was heading out the door.

“I shall return a master father! Do not fear.” Sotaru walked away waving over his heavy pack.

The boy traveled a great distance up the mountain to the split peak where Wind Cleaver the dragon resided. “All right this is an ideal spot for my trap!” Sotaru unpacked his pack and began to build the complex mechanism. After several hours the dragon scaled net was mounted to the trips and awaited it’s prey. “Now to lure him in!” The boy drew his sword and crept up the remainder of the rugged path. As he crouched just outside of the entrance of the split peak he heard several great groans and roars. He peaked around the rock he was hiding behind, and what he saw inside was… grotesque. There were bones everywhere, the stench was horrid, but the worst part was the female dragons lying about waiting to give themselves to their dragon ruler. After a few moments Sotaru absorbed what he saw, got a grip on himself, and shouted; “Great Wind Cleaver! I have come to slay you!” He then stood up and began to run back down the peak.

“Foolish mortal! I will enjoy picking your bones from my teeth!” The great dragon took flight from his perch in the center of the split peak. He gave chase to Sotaru, and as planned Sotaru led him right into the net. The dragon hit the ground with a thud and lay there a moment.

“Now you are mine!” Sotaru moved in for the kill, but just as he raised his blade to run it through the dragon’s head the beast let out a wicked laugh.

“You think such a pitiful trap could defeat me? You truly are a fool! Behold!” The dragon let out a burst of breath that melted away the net like it was nothing. The beast stood up and let out a vicious roar. “I will devour every last part of you! Then I shall shit out your bones over your village!” Until this the dragon’s ferocity had had Sotaru trembling in horror, but this last insult had caused something in him to snap.

“Beast I shall use your fang to make my blade!” Sotaru rushed the dragon, jumped onto its flailing claw, used the velocity to leap onto Wind Cleaver’s nose, and ran his short sword through the dragon’s forehead. Both he and the great dragon fell to the ground. He got up slowly checking himself for wounds. Afterwards Sotaru looked the beast over, and ran him through the heart to ensure that he was indeed dead. Once that was done he proceeded to remove the fang that most suited his purpose. With the fang in his possession Sotaru returned to the village. There the smithy turned his fang into a great halberd for it was too large to simply forge a sword. This victory proved Sotaru a true slayer, and no one in the village ever questioned his abilities again.

His new weapon proved difficult to use in slaying at first, but being a master he received many missions and thus much practice. Eventually this blade so huge in stature was almost as light as a common guard’s sword. Because of this Sotaru feared having an uneven body, and had heavily weighted gauntlets made from dragon bones for his legs and left arm (his right was his sword arm). This made him a truly formidable threat. This boy had become a man, and this Slayer had proved his competence.

This is Sotaru's first one-shot! He is a bad assed Dragon slayer who will eventually make an appearance in a story with Ryumaru! But first he still has one more one shot! Enjoy, and please review!