Tack!
The sound of swords clashing echoed, sending a small whirlwind whistling around the training ground.
Two cadets gripped wooden swords, facing each other. Their expressions were calm, their gazes locked in high tension. Veins appeared on their hands, and both bounced away, retreating to keep a distance between one another.
When one of them took a deep breath, his body shot forward with the wooden sword swung horizontally. At the same time, the gray-haired boy stepped back, his black eyes shrank, and he observed the movement of his opponent's sword.
'I can see it!'
He began to move, rotating his wrist and with a small 'tack,' hitting the back of his opponent's sword, causing him to lose balance.
Without thinking twice, Cain immediately changed the trajectory of his sword, then swung his wooden sword diagonally before stopping right near his opponent's neck.
Silence struck; the wind blew, carrying the scent of wet soil, as the rustling of leaves lowered the tension in the field. Both of them stared for seconds.
"I lose."
The male senior, who stiffened, let out a small sigh as he felt mixed emotions scrambling in his head because he was defeated by a junior who had only joined them for months.
Cain raised his lips and straightened his posture. He bowed, reaching out a hand to help his senior.
"Thank you for your guidance."
As the two shook hands, he pulled the senior up and both smiled broadly. They glanced to the side, seeing Master Kenji standing straight with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You two did well, get some rest! Whoever wants to test your strength, come forward!"
The gray-haired boy bowed and parted with his senior. He stormed past the others and stood a little distance away from them. His eyes peeked at a blue panel floating in the corner of his vision.
[Null Sequence update is in progress!]
'I didn't think it would take a long time.'
On the night he returned from tasting real food. Alone in his room, Cain approved the system upgrade process. Yet it was still not finished until now.
Was it only the first time? Or will it be like this every time?
'I hope it was only once.'
Cain shook his head slowly, trying to shoo away the chill that crept up his spine.
It had been three days since the simulation training. Cain and the others had been given special instructions from General Dosh since that day. Even during their morning run, the five of them had different, harsher training segments.
Thanks to that, he also saw significant development in the group. Initially consisting of three, it now includes a drama boy and a shy girl who were experts in their respective fields.
However, even though they knew each other well enough, the five of them still maintained a certain distance, especially in their private lives. They never brought up each other's pasts, which, coincidentally, was very helpful for Cain, who had almost no childhood memories.
The air shifted, bringing along a cool breeze that grazed his wet cheek. Cain's ears twitched as he heard the sound of slow footsteps coming closer to the field, and it caused his eyes to widen.
"Senior Kurata?"
All eyes start to gather, following Cain's murmur that rang like a distant echo. Golden light from above shines toward the approaching figure, making the other disciples halt their doing.
"Good work, master and everyone. I've officially returned from the expedition."
"I didn't expect you to come earlier than scheduled. How about the others?"
Kurata raised his head, his lips widening to show a slight smile toward his master, who gave a curt response.
"We were lucky enough to finish quickly and the others are safe. They are exhausted and will come to training the next day."
"I see."
Master Kenji nodded, while the seniors and juniors who admired him stood rigid and simultaneously bent their bodies ninety degrees, shouting.
"Welcome back, Senior Kurata!"
"Ahaha, thanks everyone."
Looking at the fire in their shout, Kurata could only offer a wry smile while scratching his head. His long, black hair fluttered as he glanced towards Cain, who was standing alone and nodding slightly at him.
"Cain, can we talk for a moment?"
The gray-haired boy's brows raised, never expecting a sudden invitation. He turned to Master Kenji, who nodded, then replied.
"Alright, where should we talk?"
Without answering, Kurata stepped closer, every stride silencing the air, and the calmness radiating from his expression soothed the hearts of everyone around.
The man stood right in front of him, and from his black eyes, Cain could see his own reflection, calm but slightly wavering.
'So this is Senior Kurata!?'
Somehow, Kurata's gaze seemed to deepen. Suddenly, Cain's vision was distorted, and all the green in his eyes faded, replaced by black ink dipped into water. It spread, overflowing from Kurata's approaching shadow, before a blade appeared and quickly cut the reality he was seeing.
A jolt of chilling flash slices through his neck, lifting his vision off the ground. Cain choked and saw the reality around him crack like glass, before it shattered into a brilliant glint.
His body convulsed, feeling the gentle touch patting his left shoulder. The boy's stiff neck cracked to the side like an old machine without lubricant.
"You did a good job, Cain."
The gentle voice from Kurata's lips broke the sharp silence that was eroding the boy's consciousness. Cain's breathing was ragged, and cold sweat dripped from his temples.
"S-Senior?"
"Oi, Kurata, don't scare your junior, look, the training is disturbed because of it."
Kenji's voice reverberated across the field. It caught Cain and Kurata's attention. They saw all the disciples frozen stiff and pale; some had their legs weakened as they fell to the ground.
Kurata faced the fellow students, Kenji, then bowed his head to Cain.
"I apologize. I heard news that Junior Cain has received simulation training and I wanted to test him on how resolute he was. But, I think he is ready enough."
Cain, who heard everything, bit his lips. He wrinkled his eyebrows, stepped back, and glared at the man in front of him.
'Huff, that image!'
He grabbed his neck, feeling it was still attached, coupled with his pulsating pulse that refused to face death. The senior lifted his gaze; his black eyes radiated serenity.
"Once again, I sincerely apologize, Cain. But I'm impressed that you were strong enough to fight my intimidation."
"Intimidation?"
The grey-haired boy let out a heavy sigh, swallowing hard to wet his dry throat. Kurata straightened his posture and began to open his mouth while looking at Cain's face.
"That's just a small trick, a combination of an intent and an ether that I released from my body. Seeing you now, I'm sure you will be able to master it quickly."
'Ether, what's that?'
A faint whisper resonated in his brain, opening up a flickering image that was overshadowed by a void that gushed out and swallowed everything in his head.
Cain snapped out of his reverie. The concept spoken by the man in front of him seemed foreign to his ears, yet familiar. But he didn't want to prolong the conversation further, so he cleared his throat and spoke.
"By the way, senior. Do you have something to talk to me about?"
Kurata widened his eyes, his calm expression relaxing as he chuckled.
"That's right. This is still not official and only my speculation, but…"
The senior leaned over, his black pupils piercing through the dark cloud that enveloped the junior's heart. Kurata nodded.
"Not long from now, you might be given your first assignment to explore the outside world."
Cain froze, his lips quivering and refusing to utter the words that were stuck in his throat. His fingers curled into tight fists, taking a deep breath to discard all the pressure that was hitting him.
"What is the basis for your statement?"
Kurata smiled gently, then crossed his arms over his chest.
"I was also a junior cadet once, just like you."
The senior began to tell his story during the first training. The survival test was held in that building, passing the teleportation gate. He did everything and made it into the top five in that test.
"After that, the training got tougher and General Dosh suddenly took me for a simulation training..."
Cain looked down, putting together all the puzzles that had been given to him.
'So I see now.'
He raised his face and opened his mouth to interrupt the boy's conversation in front of him.
"So General Dosh already laid the groundwork and waited for the right time to send us outside. Wait a minute, I might be wrong but, your expedition purpose was?"
The corner of Kurata's lips lifted, proud to see his junior was quick-witted.
"Yes, the reason was to clear the surrounding area for your team."
A deafening silence descended upon them, coiling like twisted vortexes that wanted to swallow them both. Cain exhaled, his wide eyes staring at Kurata.
"Is it okay to reveal all this to me?"
"Don't worry. This is common among cadets like us. I believe other seniors too do the same."
Kurata raised a hand and gently patted Cain's shoulder a few times.
"Good luck out there."
He turned around and talked with Master Kenji before leaving the training field in silence.
Seeing Kurata's figure move away, Cain loosened the tension that was weighing on his body.
'Thank you, Senior.'
[Updating 74%...]