Itsuki stared at the letter in his hands, reading Sensei Yoshio's words one more time before he folded the parchment. He placed it on the small desk beside his Academy uniform.
He laid back on his bed and released a long sigh. The sun had just begun to rise, its light creeping through the window. He needed to get some rest; the journey had left his body aching, his head started to get dizzy.
Closing his eyes, he waited for the familiar motion to drag him into some infinite white void. But this time, there was none and for the first time in ages, Itsuki slept peacefully.
Two hours later, his eyes opened. He sat up and stretched. His body felt lighter somehow, as though a weight had been lifted from his chest. Was it because of the vision?
He rubbed his face, thinking back to that moment. The overwhelming surge of power coursing through him.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood. Takumi and Kairo hadn't come back yet. Most likely, they were still eating in the cafeteria but for Two Hours?!
Those bastards have probably gone off exploring, I guess I should do the same… He walked over to his bag and carefully pulled out his katana. After securing it at his side, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
The hallways were almost deserted. Only a few students were roaming about, looking at him with surprise. He understood the reason quickly enough. He wasn't wearing their uniform: the red high-collared top with black pants that marked them as official students of Zenkai Academy, He couldn't wear it until tomorrow. He kept walking, ignoring their stares.
After getting lost twice in the winding corridors, he finally arrived behind the boys' dormitory. In front of him, there was a big training yard covered with grass and surrounded by the trees and stone paths. It was very quiet here.
Itsuki loosened his collar and stretched his arms over his head. His heart pounded as he closed his eyes and tried to remember the sensation from the vision.
He concentrated, drawing in as much Honshitsu as possible, attempting to channel it the way others did naturally.
Come on…! He concentrated harder.
However, nothing happened.
He opened his eyes and stared down at his hands. They looked the same as always.
Just an ordinary dream huh? He sighed, releasing the tension on his arms.
Maybe it was foolish to hope, thinking he would ever awaken his abilities. There were few cases in the kingdom of some warriors never awakening their birthright ability. They had two options, either they give up and develop interest in another form of work or they train till they are able to master any of the basic elements.
Since he didn't have an ability, the dojo training he received was different from the other kids. His teacher was a prodigy who had mastered both fire and lightning elements of Honshitsu.
When Itsuki was young, his teacher brought him manuals of all four elements to check which one he had affinity for. They trained in each element, one by one. To their surprise, Itsuki showed affinity in all of them.
The results stunned his teacher. There were only eight other people in the entire kingdom who could use all four elements alongside their birthright ability. All of them were high-tier beyonders.
His teacher assured him that even without awakening an ability, he could still become an exceptional warrior.
Itsuki had kept that thought in mind ever since, but a part of him still wanted to awaken. A part of him still believed.
He unsheathed his katana and began his morning routine. Right swing, left swing, step forward, pivot, strike. The blade cut through the air with sharp precision. He counted with each swing he made.
1, 2, 3, 4…
45,46,47…
1034.1035,1036…
129,424, 129,425, 129,426…
309,284, 309,285…
Behind some shrubs about twenty feet away, a senior student watched him with wide eyes, observing him with amazement. She had been doing her own training in a secluded place when she heard the sound of the blade being swung against the air in a rhythmic manner.
After watching for a bit, she'd gone back to her own training. But every hour or so, she found herself returning to check on him. Each time, he was still there. Still swinging.
Is he a monster? She had never seen anyone with that kind of determination and stamina before.
399,996, 399,997…
At the 400,000th swing, something changed.
A strong gust of wind swept through the yard, carrying with it a single leaf. It drifted toward Itsuki, spinning lazily in the air towards his blade.
Without thinking, Itsuki's eyes tracked it.
He raised his blade to slice it, but before he could swing, the leaf split in two. Both halves drifted down, landing on either side of his motionless blade.
Itsuki stopped for a while trying to process what happened.
What was that? I didn't swing yet, how did the leaf cut?
Itsuki tried to repeat what had happened. He walked to the front of a tree and swung slightly at it, using wind pressure to force out some leaves. They began to fall.
As they drifted down, Itsuki entered immense concentration and swung. The same thing happened. Before the blade completed its arc, the leaf was already split, and his arms were positioned below it.
It was like he was canceling the distance!
He jumped up, unable to contain himself. I did it. I actually did it! His heart raced with excitement. This is real. I have an ability!
But just to be extra sure of what was happening, he set up a dummy made of leaves in the form of a man and placed it about ten feet in front of him.
He entered his stance to strike. Blinking once, he closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he found himself in the void space, but when he looked down, he was still in his stance and the dummy was still there. It seemed the void only covered the sky. Everything else around him had frozen. Even the falling leaves were suspended in the air. Only he could move.
It seemed he had entered this space while trying to use the power he just discovered.
Then he looked far beyond the dummy. Twenty feet from where he stood. Ten feet past the dummy itself. There, a version of him stood in something like a trance, in the same stance he was in when he was about to strike. This was another version of him, but this one had white hair.
Is that... where I'll end up after the strike?.
He entered his stance again and closed his eyes. This time when he opened them, he was back in the real world. He noticed he was now in the position where the white-haired version had been standing in the void.
He looked behind and saw the dummy scattered to pieces.
Itsuki didn't fully understand what was happening. He looked up and saw it was already night.
Ah sh*t, I lost track of time… He quickly put his coat back on, sheathed his sword, and hurried back.
Everyone had already gone into their dorms. But just as he was about to step into the building, a guard stopped him and questioned who he was. Itsuki tried to explain himself, but the guard was having none of it. Apparently, he'd been given instructions that only students were allowed.
Just then, the senior student who had been watching him even till evening came out from the bushes.
Itsuki turned to look at the short, white-haired girl. She wore the Academy uniform and had three stars on her badge, indicating her to be Tier-Three.
"Don't worry, Guard Tengen. He's a student, a new one," she said with a small smirk on her face.
"A new recruit? Ah, true! Some came in today. I must have been on high alert to not think of that. Hahaha!" The guard laughed with the senior as he opened the door for Itsuki.
I've been trying to explain that to you! Ahhh! Itsuki thought angrily to himself.
He then turned to the female student and bowed. "Thank you for helping this careless junior."
Hmm, hardworking and humble. Interesting. She smiled. "It's no big deal. Scurry off now."
Itsuki quickly stepped into the male dorm and paused as he turned back.
"Sorry, Senior. May I ask your name?"
She smiled as the guard closed the door. "It's Nieves. Anaxagoras Nieves."