As the last kick landed, Shin felt his excitement grow. His eyes began to shimmer faintly, and a colorless aura seemed to flicker around them. He paused, noticing this strange sensation, but quickly shook it off to focus on the exercise.

The group continued the drills for twenty grueling minutes under the unrelenting heat. Finally, the teacher clapped his hands together, his booming voice echoing through the training hall.

"YOU CAN REST NOW! YOU HAVE 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES USE IT HOWEVER YOU WISH!"

Without another word, the teacher leaped high into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Shin stared after him, wide eyed. "Wow," he murmured, still in awe of the display.

Rayden flopped down onto the ground beside him, breathing heavily. "Hey, Shin, let's sit down for a bit."

"Ah, yeah," Shin replied, plopping down beside him. They both lay back on the stone floor, catching their breath.

"It's so hot today," Shin said, wiping the sweat off his brow as he stared at the sky.

"Yeah, it’s always like this here," Rayden replied, shifting to sit cross-legged. "The academy is a magical place. The weather changes every day it’s nothing like the kingdom."

"Magical place?" Shin thought, glancing around. It certainly didn’t look magical on the surface, but something about it felt... different. He wondered if the academy was intentionally separated from the rest of the world, as if hidden beyond the kingdom’s walls.

Rayden interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, Shin, if you’re feeling too hot, you could check out the academy bathhouse. I bet there aren’t many people there right now."

Shin turned his head. "Bathhouse? There’s a bathhouse here?"

"Yeah, we were late earlier, so we missed the chance to check it out," Rayden explained.

"Hm, then let’s go," Shin said, starting to get up.

Rayden stammered, blushing slightly. "W-what? Me?"

"Yeah, why not?" Shin asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I-I don’t need to!" Rayden quickly replied, averting his gaze.

Shin shrugged. "If you don’t want to, I’ll go alone." He started walking away but paused, realizing something important.

"Wait... I don’t know where it is."

Rayden sighed, still looking flustered. "It’s near the classroom. Just look for the sign with a bathhouse symbol on it."

"Okay, thanks!" Shin flashed a quick smile and headed off.

As Shin walked through the academy halls, he couldn’t help but think to himself. "If my clothes don’t smell bad, maybe the sweat didn’t soak into them much... but my body definitely feels disgusting."

Finally, he spotted a wooden sign near the classroom area with a simple symbol of steam rising from a tub.

"That must be it," he thought, quickening his pace.

The bathhouse was quiet and peaceful. Inside, Shin removed his clothes and grabbed a freshly washed towel from a nearby rack.

"Good thing I don’t smell bad. Wait..." He suddenly realized something and groaned inwardly. "Crap. I didn’t bring any extra clothes. Well, too late now."

Wrapping the towel around his waist, Shin made his way into the main bathing area. The warm, steamy air enveloped him, and he felt his muscles begin to relax even before stepping into the water.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

As he washed himself near the taps, an old thought resurfaced, bringing an uncomfortable weight to his mind.

"Hopefully, I won’t get bullied here... not for that again i hate those big rooster jokes..." he muttered under his breath, his face darkening slightly. Memories of the ridicule he faced in the kingdom the whispered comments, the mocking laughs flashed through his mind.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the negativity. "It’s fine. No one here cares about that... probably."

Finally, he stepped into the spring, the hot water instantly soothing his aching body. The soreness from the morning’s training seemed to melt away, and Shin let out a content sigh, leaning his head back against the edge of the bath.

"This feels... amazing," he thought, closing his eyes.

For the first time since arriving at the academy, Shin allowed himself a moment of peace. However, deep down, he knew moments like these wouldn’t last forever. The path ahead was still long, and the challenges far greater than today’s heat or grueling drills.

Shin rested in the soothing warmth of the bath, letting out a relaxed sigh.

"Ahh, this feels so good," he thought, sinking deeper into the water. "It’s like this bathhouse has some magical effect or something."

He glanced around the room. Thankfully, there weren’t too many people around, making it feel more private. However, a nagging thought crossed his mind, bringing a frown to his face.

"Wait... earlier, they were staring at me. Shit, are they also looking at the rooster?" His face darkened as the embarrassing memories of being teased flashed through his mind. He shook his head, trying to push the negativity away.

Five minutes passed, and just as Shin was beginning to fully relax, he heard someone call out.

"Hey, you’re Shin, right?"

Shin opened his eyes, startled, and froze. Standing in front of him were three students all naked, just like him. The one in the middle had long hair and a lean build. To his right stood a clean-cut student with a similarly lean frame, while on the left towered a muscular, tall figure with an imposing presence.

"Shit, this is so weird they’re all naked in front of me," Shin thought, giving an awkward, uncomfortable smile.

"Yeah, I’m Shin," he replied, trying to keep his composure.

"Nice to meet you! I’m George!" said the long-haired student with a wide grin, pointing to the student on his right.

"Hi, I’m Jack!" the clean-cut student waved cheerfully.

"And I’m Lloyd. Nice to meet you," said the tall, muscular one, extending a massive hand toward Shin.

Shin hesitated for a moment before shaking Lloyd’s hand. "Holy shit, his hands are huge," Shin thought as their hands clasped.

After the introductions, the three students sat down beside Shin in the cramped bath.

"Why is it so tight in here all of a sudden?" Shin thought, shifting uncomfortably.

"So, you’re new here, right?" George asked.

"Yeah, I am," Shin replied.

"How’s the martial arts training? You were pretty late to enroll, so I imagine it might be hard to catch up," George said.

"I don’t think so. Earlier, I saw him adapting really quickly," Lloyd chimed in.

"Well, what can I say? I’m a quick learner," Shin said with a smirk, flexing his arm slightly.

"Fuck, that was so cringe," Shin thought immediately, regretting it.

"WHOA, THAT’S AWESOME!" the three students yelled in unison, their excitement echoing through the bathhouse.

After a while of chatting, the four of them exited the bathhouse, steam still rising from their freshly cleaned bodies.

"So, what’s next on the schedule?" Shin asked as he adjusted his towel.

"It’s weapon practice," Jack replied casually.

"Weapon practice? So, are they going to teach us directly?" Shin asked curiously.

George shook his head. "No, the academy lets us choose and practice with any weapon we want. Teacher Kaizer, though, will guide us on the basics and teach us about the Four Main Systems to master a weapon properly."

"Four Main Systems?" Shin echoed, intrigued.

George nodded. "Yeah, the systems are: footwork, breathing techniques, weapon style, and, lastly, the mana core of the user or willpower, if they don’t have mana."

"I see," Shin said thoughtfully. "Thanks for the info." He smiled at the group as they walked toward the training area.

When the time for rest ended, Shin, George, Jack, and Lloyd regrouped with Rayden outside the weapon hall.

Rayden glanced at the group, then leaned toward Shin with a teasing smile. "Wow, you made a lot of friends in the bathhouse."

Shin frowned slightly and whispered back, "Shh! I know. Don’t think of anything weird."

Rayden chuckled and nodded as they stepped into the weapon hall, the vast array of weapons glinting under the light, promising a new chapter in their training.

After they arrived, Shin immediately noticed a lot of students practicing with their weapons. Scanning the area, he spotted a variety of weapons on the left side longswords, shortswords, greatswords, war hammers, iron gloves, cutlasses, spears, bo staffs, sabers, and many more. Everyone walked over to select their main weapon.

George quickly grabbed a pair of iron gloves and slipped them onto his hands. Lloyd picked up a giant war hammer, gave it a swing, and grinned. "Same as always." Jack grabbed his dual sabers, while Rayden chose a pair of daggers.

“Hey, Shin,” George said, pointing to the side, “if you look over there, you’ll see some dummies you can use for sparring. Don’t worry about breaking them they can repair themselves.”

The group moved to the sparring area, and Lloyd went first. Holding his war hammer with both hands, he swung it behind him, bending his knees slightly before slamming it down. The dummy shattered instantly. Lloyd followed up with a faster horizontal swing, cutting through another dummy with such precision that half of its body remained intact while the other half was obliterated.

“Wow! I thought Lloyd relied purely on raw strength, but his technique combines power with speed and accuracy. Amazing!” Shin thought, genuinely impressed.

Next, Shin turned his attention to George, who was practicing the academy’s martial arts. His punches were so fast that the dummy’s parts seemed to vanish where they were struck. George followed up with a powerful kick to the dummy’s head. At first, only the head was destroyed, but then the entire body disintegrated.

“Holy shit!” Shin thought, his jaw practically dropping at George's sheer power and precision.

Jack was up next. Kneeling slightly, he stretched out both arms, gripping his dual sabers tightly. In an instant, he slashed the dummy clean in half.

“S-so fast!” Shin thought, his heart racing. After executing the move, Jack’s body began to emit steam.

“An effect of his technique... or something else?” Shin wondered curiously.

Finally, Shin observed Rayden, who wielded his dual daggers with lightning speed. In just a second, he delivered eight rapid slashes to the side of the dummy, leaving it in pieces.

“H-holy shit! No wonder his build is so lean he relies entirely on speed,” Shin thought, awestruck.

Rayden noticed Shin staring at him and blushed. “Wh-why is he looking at me? Is he judging me? No, no, I should just focus on improving,” Rayden thought, his mind spiraling into self-doubt.

At last, it was Shin’s turn. Gathering his courage, he stepped forward. “I don’t know any sword styles or formal techniques,” he thought to himself, gripping his sword tightly with both hands. “But I used to watch the Hero of the Sword on TV, showcasing different styles.”

As Shin too

k a deep breath, his body began to release a colorless aura. A grin spread across his face.

“It’s my turn!” he declared confidently, stepping into the sparring area.