Chapter 18: Kazzek
Tyka’s body went flying.
He tore through the air before slamming into a nearby tree with a thunderous crack. The trunk shuddered on impact as he dropped to the grass below, momentarily still.
Lilac flowers stirred around him, rising from the ground as violet light spread outward in a gentle pulse. The glow wrapped around his body, petals drifting in slow, spiraling arcs.
A moment later, the light faded. The flowers sank back into the earth.
Tyka groaned then pushed himself upright.
Without hesitation, he shot forward again, charging straight toward the professor.
Meliodas bent forward slightly, hands on his knees, breathing hard.
“I thought you said light exercise, Tyka,” he said between breaths. “This is not what I’d call light.”
Two glowing orbs hovered near Meliodas’ side, rotating steadily. One had been absorbed by the half-giant, already feeding power into Tyka’s movements.
Liora stood a short distance away, hands planted firmly on her hips, cheeks puffed in irritation, though her eyes betrayed a hint of awe.
“I did not sign up for this,” she said flatly. “This was supposed to be a walk.”
Tyka didn’t answer. He was grinningn as he shot to the professor.
“Now, now, children,” a low voice rumbled, as the professor finally spoke.
“There’s nothing better than sparring, is there, Tyka?”
Tyka growled in response.
With a flicker of Straum, a massive stone hammer formed in his hands. He swung without hesitation, the weapon tearing through the air toward the professor’s head.
Kazzek raised a single hand. The hammer stopped dead.
No recoil. No resistance. Just… stopped.
Kazzek yawned, covering his mouth with his free hand, mildly bored.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” he said calmly.
Then he moved. His other fist shot forward, Straum compressing around it as it aimed straight for Tyka’s chest.
Before it could connect—FWOOOM.
A wall of fire erupted between them.
The sudden heat and light startled Kazzek just enough for Tyka to react. He twisted mid-motion and sprang backward, feet skidding across the ground before he landed hard beside Meliodas.
The firewall crackled once… then vanished.
Meliodas lowered his hand slowly, breath steady but eyes sharp.
Kazzek’s gaze shifted to him.
“Interesting,” Professor Kazzek said, one clawed finger rising to his chin as he studied Meliodas more closely.
Kazzek was anything but normal.
He stood almost as tall as Tyka, broad and imposing, he wasn’t human. Meliodas had known that instantly the first time he’d seen him. Kazzek was a Terralen, but not one of the common landbound clans.
He was a Dragonoido.
A rare lineage descended from dragons themselves.
Professor Kazzek was anything but human.
His body was covered in thick, overlapping scales, layered like natural armor, giving him the shape of a massive reptile forced upright. A long, muscular tail extended behind him, heavy and deliberate, the kind that could shatter stone with a single careless sweep.
His head was unmistakably draconic. A long, angular snout lined with rows of sharp teeth, narrow reptilian eyes the color of aged amber, cold and ancient, watching everything without haste.
He wore no armor, no ceremonial robes. Only loose, sleeveless garments hung from his hips, practical and unadorned, leaving his scaled chest, arms, and tail exposed. Protection was unnecessary, when his scales alone were more than enough to protect him.
Kazzek shook his head and shifted his stance, fluid and precise, like a seasoned martial artist settling into motion. It was obvious he had seen countless battles. Several of his scales were cracked or missing entirely, and a long scar ran across one of his eyes, a mark left by something that had nearly killed him.
He didn’t say a word.
Instead, he lifted his leading hand and curled a single finger inward.
Tyka grinned.
Meliodas narrowed his eyes as another orb formed beside him. After a brief moment of thought, he nodded toward Tyka.
Tyka surged forward at once.
This time, he didn’t conjure his hammer. He used his fists,
Gray Straum surged around Tyka’s fists, but Meliodas frowned. The stone didn’t form evenly, some parts hardened into solid rock, others stayed soft, unfinished.
Too much power, Meliodas thought. Not enough control.
Stone and muscle met scale as Tyka launched himself into close combat. If it could even be called that. Kazzek barely reacted, his movements effortless as he slipped past Tyka’s strikes, each dodge minimal.
Then Kazzek countered, his fist snapped forward, aimed straight for Tyka’s chest.
A firewall erupted between them. Kazzek didn’t flinch this time.
His strike punched straight through the flames, heat rippling across his scales as his fist connected solidly. Tyka’s body was sent flying, hurled through the air once more.
Kazzek lowered his arm slowly.
“That won’t work again,” he said calmly.
Tyka crashed down near Meliodas, skidding across the ground before coming to a stop. Almost immediately, familiar lilac flowers burst from the grass around him, glowing softly as violet light wrapped around his body, healing him once more.
“I’m out,” Tyka groaned.
Liora dropped down beside him, sitting heavily on the ground. “I told you this was supposed to be light exercise.”
Meliodas ignored the comments, his eyes locked on Kazzek. His mind raced as he weighed their options. They were clearly outmatched. Raw power wouldn’t bridge the gap.
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Before he could fully form a plan—Owen manifested.
The familiar appeared instantly, settling on Meliodas’ shoulder, a small armored form buzzing with energy. His forge-core flickered, the black flame inside steady and alert.
Liora’s eyes widened as she turned toward Owen, confusion flashing across her face.
“What… what is that, Meliodas?” she asked.
“A familiar?” Kazzek said before Meliodas could answer. For the first time, genuine interest crept into the professor’s voice. “Impressive.”
Owen reacted at once.
He shot upward, climbing high into the air as the space around him warped. A vortex formed around his body, invisible pressure bending the atmosphere as ambient Straum rushed toward the black flame within his chest.
The iron door creaked open, the pull intensified.
After a brief moment, three currents started splitting off from the vortex, clean and refined.
One flowed into Meliodas.
One wrapped around Liora.
The last surged into Tyka.
Warmth spread through them instantly, steady and controlled.
Meliodas felt his core stabilize and reserves replenishing, Liora gasped softly as the strain faded from her body.
Tyka sucked in a breath, eyes snapping open.
“…Oh,” Tyka said slowly. “This is the stuff.”
“Amazing,” Liora murmured under her breath.
Kazzek looked between the three of them, then let out a low, approving hum. A smile formed across his scaled face.
“That is one impressive familiar you’ve got there, student.”
No one answered.
Tyka rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck, fists clenching as stone crept faintly along his skin. He was already preparing for another round.
Owen drifted down and hovered directly in front of him, then shot away in a blur, moving with surprising speed. In an instant, he reappeared beside Meliodas.
The familiar hovered there, waving his tiny armored hands animatedly, gesturing in sharp, deliberate motions, as if explaining something urgent.
Meliodas frowned at first, then froze.
His focus snapped to their connection, his core responded, as he started to understand what Owen was trying to communicate.
Meliodas’ eyes flew open.
“…Really?” he whispered. “Can we do that?”
Owen nodded firmly. Meliodas exhaled, a slow grin spreading across his face.
“Well… I suppose it won’t hurt to try.” He turned sharply.
“Tyka!” Meliodas called out. “Can you go again?”
Tyka grinned wide, planting his feet. “Of course I can.”
Liora stepped closer to Meliodas, uncertainty creeping into her expression.
“What are you planning?” she asked, glancing between him and Owen.
Before Meliodas could answer, Owen floated toward her.
He gently took her hand. Lifted it, and placed a small, formal kiss on her knuckles before bowing deeply.
Liora blinked, then laughed softly.
“Oh,” she said, clearly amused. “This one has manners.”
Owen straightened, bowed again, then zipped back to Meliodas’ side, hovering attentively.
Meliodas inhaled.
“O—kay,” he said slowly. “Here goes nothing.”
Meliodas sat down abruptly and closed his eyes, focusing.
“Uh… brother?” Tyka asked, “Everything alright?”
Even Kazzek tilted his head, confusion flickering across his scarred features.
Meliodas’ ignited, blazing a vivid orange as his aura surged outward. Heat rippled through the air. The orbs circling him began to tremble, then collapsed inward, merging seamlessly with his rising flame.
The orb anchored within Tyka tore free, slipping from his body and joining the swirling aura around Meliodas.
“Hey, bro…” Tyka said uneasily.
Meliodas’ eyes snapped open.
“Tyka,” he shouted, voice echoing across the clearing.
“Brace yourself.”
Tyka glanced at Kazzek.
The professor’s confusion vanished instantly, replaced by raw amazement. He understood what Tyka did not.
Meliodas thrusted one hand forward.
A torrent of fire-Straum erupted from his palm, roaring through the air before crashing into Owen’s back. The familiar flared brilliantly, his armor glowing red-black as the black flame in his chest surged.
Then Owen raised his tiny armored hand.
A second stream burst forth. Gray, it was dense and heavy.
The Straum current slammed into Tyka before he could react.
For a heartbeat, he thought he was about to be crushed.
Then his aura exploded.
Stone surged across his body as power flooded him. His skin glowed dull gray, veins of energy coursing beneath the surface.
“This is—” Tyka breathed, eyes wide. “This is amazing!”
Then the current cut off.
Meliodas collapsed forward, hitting the ground hard. Owen dropped beside him, his glow fading rapidly. Meliodas gasped for breath, chest heaving.
“I’m… out,” he gasped. “Tyka—last chance.”
Tyka grinned.
Liora rushed to Meliodas’ side at once, kneeling and reaching for him, her hands already glowing with soft violet light.
Meanwhile, Tyka’s arms began to change.
Stone flowed like liquid over his fists, wrapping them completely. The layer thickened, crawling up his forearms, then his shoulders. Jagged spikes erupted outward from his shoulders as the transformation completed, massive stone gauntlets formed around his arms.
Tyka cracked his neck slowly.
“Alright,” he said, eyes locking onto Kazzek.
“My turn.”
Tyka lunged forward. His speed had spiked, noticeably. Kazzek didn’t hesitate.
A spear materialized in front of him in a blink, its shaft humming with dense Straum. Tyka’s stone-wrapped fist met metal head-on.
Kazzek grinned.
“Now this,” he said, eyes locking with Tyka’s, “is something.”
Behind them, Meliodas felt warmth coil around his body as flowers wrapped gently along his limbs. His breathing steadied. His Straum, dangerously depleted, began to stabilize as the flowers helped.
His focus shifted to his core space.
His core responded, slowly, painfully, stretching sore from overuse. Tiny fractures in its structure smoothed out, space forming where none had existed before. It wasn’t the explosive growth he’d felt when he’d nearly killed himself saving Tyka… but it was growth nonetheless.
Progress.
After a few moments, Meliodas opened his eyes and pushed himself upright, sitting back against the ground.
“Thanks, Liora,” he said quietly.
“No worries,” she replied, still staring ahead. “That was… amazing.”
She hadn’t looked at him once.
Meliodas flinched as a loud sound moved through the air, nearly losing his balance as the impact thundered through the clearing. He snapped his gaze forward.
Tyka and Professor Kazzek were fully engaged, now locked in close-quarters combat, as stone met fire.
But the fire wasn’t like Meliodas’ fire.
He narrowed his eyes, analyzing it. The flames coiling around Kazzek’s spear weren’t orange, but a deep red, dark and heavy almost violent, meliodas thought. They clung to the weapon rather than flaring outward, compressed and controlled, as if the fire itself had weight.
Tyka slammed his hands together, catching the spear’s blade between his palms.
He grinned.
“Not yet, student,” Kazzek said calmly.
He pushed down.
The two locked into a contest of strength. Tyka roared, his aura surging as power pulsed through his frame, stone thickening along his arms and shoulders. The ground beneath his feet cracked.
Kazzek pushed harder.
Slowly, inevitably, Tyka began to lose ground.
Kazzek’s grin widened.
“You still have much to learn about controlling your power effectively,” he said. “But this… this was a welcome surprise.”
Then he vanished.
Tyka stumbled forward, the sudden loss of resistance nearly sending him face-first into the ground. He barely had time to register the shift in the air…
Impact.
Kazzek’s tail slammed into his stomach with devastating force. Tyka’s breath left him in a violent gasp as he was driven to his knees, stone shattering from his body.
He never even had time to look up.
Tyka collapsed, unconscious, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Liora rushed forward immediately, dropping to her knees beside his limp body. She ignored the professor entirely, hands already moving as she examined Tyka with practiced precision.
Behind her, Kazzek began walking toward Meliodas, the blade of his spear scraping softly against the ground with each step.
Meliodas raised both hands instinctively.
“You win, Professor,” he said, breathless. “I’m completely out.”
Kazzek stopped.
He lifted the spear and rested it against his shoulder as the dark red flames dissipated into nothing. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
“That was a good surprise, student,” he said. “Your Familiar is… unique.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Though that was to be expected, considering the circumstances under which you acquired it. Foolish… and filled with luck.”
Meliodas blinked.
“You know how I acquired Owen?” he asked.
“Yes,” Kazzek replied calmly. “Every professor does. Aurelius told us.”
A faint snort escaped him. “He was quite outraged, actually. You nearly gave the man a heart attack.”
Meliodas didn’t respond. Kazzek gestured toward Tyka.
“He’s only knocked out,” he said. “I could have broken a few ribs, but Morvack would scold me endlessly. Especially with the first day of classes tomorrow.”
Liora exhaled in relief but didn’t look up.
Kazzek paused, studying Meliodas more closely now.
“If I may say so,” he continued, “you two complement each other perfectly. One lacks raw power, but possesses excellent control.”
His eyes flicked briefly toward Tyka.
“The other has tremendous power… and very little control.”
A small grin crossed his face. “I hope you learn from each other.”
He glanced up at the lowering sun and spoke calmly.
“It’s getting late. I’ll take my leave. He should wake up in a couple of minutes.”
Kazzek looked back at Meliodas one last time, then turned away. He raised a clawed hand and in the next instant, he was gone.
Meliodas let out a slow sigh as he looked to the sky.
“Damn,” he murmured. “That was a beating and a half…”
Later that night, Meliodas lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling as his thoughts drifted over everything that had happened since arriving at the academy. Tyka was already snoring softly in the nearby bed, completely knocked out. Owen, too, was deep asleep within his core, recovering from the strain.
I made some good friends, sis, he thought quietly. You were right about me coming here.
He stretched one hand into the air, fingers curling slowly.
I think Dad would be proud, a faint grin tugged at his lips. Mom would probably scold me for being reckless, he added. The smile lingered, softer now.
I hope these happy times can last a little longer.
Meliodas let his arm fall back to his side. His breathing steadied as he fell asleep.
