Pyro: Combat References, Stories & Token

Hey, fight me! Pyro was shouting another challenge across the Gathering Hub.

"Doesn't he ever get tired of this?" Echo took a sip of tea. "Why did you even take him in?"

Freya set down her snack, looking at Pyro with exasperation. "I just didn't want him wasting away out there."

Back then, Pyro was still a boy, trained in martial arts by his father since childhood, with a powerful build but little worldly sense. Once, he was framed by someone and got into a dispute, his monstrous strength about to erupt. Happening to be passing by, Freya witnessed the whole thing and decisively put a stop to the fiasco, taking Pyro away with her.

Before Pyro could even ask, Freya spoke first. "Want to test yourself against stronger monsters?"

Pyro nodded.

"Then come, and be an adventurer." Freya extended her hand to him, the great sword on her back glowing with intense heat. "The wilds out there are vast enough to keep you busy for a lifetime."

Pyro didn't answer—he simply gripped her hand firmly in return.

Pyro was born into a secluded family of martial artists on a mountain, cut off from the outside world. His father trained him using the harshest traditional way and warned him never to use his strength to fight others. But Pyro was fiercely competitive by nature, always wanting to measure himself against his father, yet never once managing to so much as budge him.

He could never understand—if his father possessed such immeasurable strength, why did he despise fighting? Surely only through constant sparring could one find the path to growing stronger. But among children his age, he'd long run out of rivals, so in his eagerness to catch up to his father's strength, he defied the rules and ran down to the village at the foot of the mountain, searching for anyone willing to spar with him.

Pyro never mentioned his family's name, only saying he was a martial arts disciple looking for a sparring partner. The older kids in the village, seeing he was still just a half-grown boy, found it laughable—but after a few exchanges, not one of them could match him. This pure, overwhelming strength, rather than provoking resentment, instead earned him the older kids' utter admiration. Through fighting, he made his first friends outside his family, and from then on, he came down the mountain into the village every day, becoming known among the boys as "the kid boss who doesn't even live in the village."

He'd worried his father might scold him for it, but no reprimand ever came—so it was probably fine, he figured.

One day, Pyro led his friends outside the village on a whim. The boys, rarely given the chance to leave, grew loud and boisterous once out in the wild, and Pyro's own excitement rose so high he forgot to keep watch around them. By the time he noticed the others' shouts had changed pitch, an Anjanath was already standing right behind him.

Facing a beast the size of a mountain, Pyro did not back down. Relying on his superior martial skill and the weapon he carried, he—still just a boy—clashed head-on with the Anjanath in a battle that shook the very earth.

But when the Anjanath was finally driven back by his reckless onslaught, he realized that his friends, even those not directly attacked by the monster, had been badly injured by the fallout of the battle.

When Pyro later brought his friends back to the village, his father was already waiting. His father settled the others, then unleashed the greatest fury Pyro had ever seen, and Pyro said nothing, silently following his father home.

Once home, Pyro shut himself away for a long time. He couldn't understand it either—he had strength, so why hadn't he been able to protect those behind him? Finding no answer, he left his hometown to wander, unable to rein in his fiery temper, repeatedly risking his life in the wilds—until Freya brought him into the guild.

Even after joining the guild, Pyro remained restless, but that competitive drive no longer aimed itself at people—it was now poured entirely into hunting. He'd come to know himself well: he was no tactician, nor did he favor cautious, steady defense. He was built to charge in first, using overwhelming force to break open a path for his teammates.

Now, Pyro has set himself a new goal: to become a truly powerful adventurer—strong enough to slay any monster he faces, and to protect those beside him, no matter what.

When that day comes, he'll return to that mountain, stand before his father with his head held high, and tell him that he has finally found the true meaning of martial arts.