Hi, if anyone could help me with linking the previous chapter and next chapter that would be greatly appreciated (Since I have absolutely no idea how to do it myself). Thanks!
(Edit: Changed the ages, because I found a pretty major problem in the plot)
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In Pingyuan City, a young boy at the age of twelve jerked awake into a sitting position, sweating profusely.
A few meters beside him on an identical bed to his, a youth of the same age with light gray hair looked at the sweating boy, his face contorting into concerned expression.
“Did you have another nightmare?” His soft voice reverberated in the room.
The other one nodded his head, his black hair bouncing slightly, and put his face, painted with his sweat, between his hands and wiped his face.
“It was a girl this time. Someone called Nozomi. Slightly above average looks, ended with her letting out a defiant roar, the whole thing ended in white.” A slight pause, then, “She was shy.”
The other boy just looked at him silently; he knew just how much these nightmares affected his friend. The first time this happened Zetsubo woke up screaming in tears, ranting about someone called Kurushimi, that he had to go save him from his agony and pain, from the torture he was subjected to. Another time he woke up shouting utter nonsense, his eyes only showing white and scratching his face raw, trying to claw out his eyes.
In the last six months such dreams occurred a total of six times, each one showing different people. Over time Zetsubo had become accustomed to these dreams, and his reactions waking up to these horrific nightmares lessened. This time was the mildest yet.
Zetsubo stood up, moving towards a little corner in the room that had a drainage pipe and a small bucket filled with water. He dipped his hands into the water, letting them rest there for a second before cupping them and washing his face clean of his perspiration. He repeated this action multiple times before taking off his shirt and continuing with his full body.
In his mind he was listing the people the dreams had introduced him to. Kurushimi, Minori, Hakyou, Mekura, Girai, and now Nozomi. All of these dreams had something in common: he would meet a person, be imprinted in the soul by each of these individuals, then promptly suffer an attack by shadows. Sometimes they greedily devoured him instantly. Other times they would attack him mentally, and one time they even tortured him for hours in the most petrifying and terrifying manners imaginable.
Zetsubo calmed his racing heart, dried himself off and sat at the edge of his bed- before letting himself fall back in complete exhaustion, mental and physical. Yet dawn was just around the corner, and it would be impossible for him to fall asleep anyway. So he and Kashoku both began to prepare themselves for the impending training session they would complete.
The two assumed some tight black pants as well as an old black shirt, the cheapest attire for exercise. The two boys exited the room and began to walk past multiple buildings that were arranged in a clear and orderly fashion; at one end of this line of buildings were small huts, they weren’t even qualified to be called rooms, which led to run down houses consisting of a single room, then slightly superior houses, continuing all the way to multiple villas at the other end of this street.
Next to the small huts was a stone wall that climbed five meters into the sky, and on close inspection it was obvious that this wall curved inwards into a circle, meaning one would be on the inside of this circle. Zetsubo and Kashoku had come out of such a dilapidated house near the wall, and began walking towards the middle of the huge circle created by the wall, passing by the villas.
This street belonged to a huge complex called the Pingyuan Institute of Education, more commonly known as “The Pie”. This establishment was one of the most famous academies in all of the Central Continent. Within the Ouranos Kingdom it was only competing with two other academies for supremacy, and the only other Kingdom in the Central Continent, the Valhall Kingdom, merely had one academy to rival these three.
This showed the Ouranos Kingdoms dominance within the continent; not only did it have more resources and a better overall education, it also had slightly more than three times as much land as the Valhall Kingdom. The only thing protecting the Valhall Kingdom was its natural border of mountains separating the two kingdoms and its heavy militaristic tradition. This tradition was not to be underestimated; the Valhall Kingdoms famous Valhall Academy was the undisputed leader at martial training. This is where geniuses are born and bred, where the limits of humanity are reached.
The only academy in the Ouranos Kingdom that could even be considered remotely near the level of the Valhall Academy in military training was The Pie. The Pie only accepted students with martial talent, immediately turning away requests from the incompetent. Even nobles had to at least have an above average talent to be accepted. Peasants had to possess great natural talent to be accepted, and in most cases when they were finally approved they would be treated like scum by the nobles in possession of the villas.
Precisely this street of buildings that the two boys walked along was one of the seven dorm streets this academy included, one for each year. From twelve to eighteen years would a student live in these streets, receiving instruction at the institution.
Stolen novel; please report.
Zetsubo and Kashoku continued walking until they came to a large clearing with dummies and various other equipment suited for training. This was the training grounds. The two quickly entered a shed and then stepped into the clearing holding wooden swords in their hands.
“Ready for a sparring session?” Kashoku asked.
“We have a few hours until instruction begins,” was Zetsubo’s answer.
With that the two entered their stances, Kashoku adopting a rather straightforward stance with his feet shoulder width apart, his right foot slightly in front of his left. Zetsubo seemed to take no stance and just stood there as if he were a spectator instead. Both of the boys held their wooden sticks down, neither taking the initiative.
Suddenly Kashoku jumped forward with a loud, “Hah!” He brought his stick in a diagonal upwards slash, immediately followed up with a backhanded horizontal cut. Zetsubo seemed to sway, fading and then suddenly appearing half a step to the right, dodging Kashoku’s first slash.
“Reckless,” Zetsubo muttered, perfectly describing Kashoku's attempt.
He then used his wooden sword to block the horizontal cut, moving his sword in a circular motion to guide Kashoku’s strength toward the ground and turned ninety degrees so that he was staring at Kashoku’s side.
There he quickly thrust the end of his stick towards the side of Kashoku’s stomach, but Kashoku anticipated this move. Kashoku violently twisted his hip, barely avoiding the lunge while bringing his previously grounded out slash into another backhanded slice. This cut of his was truly violent, without accuracy as he pulled this move off while twisting, yet it had the strength of his whole body. Like a spring released from a coiled position, he swiftly rotated.
While this attack was strong, at the same time it was an act of desperation; he had barely avoided being beaten and tried to attack his opponent at the most unlikely time, but if he failed he would be hopelessly unbalanced and vulnerable to any strike his opposition threw at him.
Zetsubo’s answer to this wild act was to, simply put, vanish. That’s what it looked like in Kashoku’s eyes, and any spectator would say the same. He dropped his body to the floor in an instant, lying flat on the ground and letting the slash pass harmlessly above him. Then with an explosion of strength in his legs, he sprung forward like a cannon shot, jumping onto Kashoku’s off balance body and crashing to the floor on top of him.
The entire process of standing, falling and bursting towards Kashoku was completed before Kashoku finished his rotation from dodging Zetsubo’s initial thrust. While Zetsubo did not have Kashoku’s strength, he had extraordinary agility and reflexes, allowing him to adapt to any situation. This was his strength.
“You win,” Kashoku spoke from beneath Zetsubo, obviously frustrated, yet he spoke with laughter resounding in his voice. Within three moves he had been apprehended by his friend, and while this was discouraging it also meant that the next few hours would not be in vain.
While it seemed like Zetsubo completely destroyed Kashoku, he had in fact been pushed to his limits in dodging the attacks. Kashoku's specialty lay in his overwhelming strength, as well as his normally orthodox and cautious approach. He had just challenged Zetsubo to a battle of the reflexes, so of course Zetsubo would be at an advantage.
If both students fought to their strengths they would be stand at a stalemate, where Zetsubo eventually would have a slight advantage. In such cases he would win an estimated six out of ten times.
Zetsubo’s skill had not gone unnoticed. At the edge of the clearing there was a man sitting on the field with his eyes closed, meditating.
“Ho? He has some talent,” the man muttered, and formed a devious smile.
The two continued for another two hours before finally ceasing their training session, and by this time there were multiple other bodies moving quickly within the clearing. Turning towards the street with their dorm room, they began to return in order to refresh their bodies from the sweat they accumulated in the past hours.
While walking past the first of the villas, a voice could be heard, ringing in the morning air.
“Look at the pigs. Even in the morning they are covered in dirt and sweat, it is as if they are made for the slums.”
“Indeed, big brother, they are the scum of this academy, truly only useful for being stepped on and making bridges over puddles.”
Zetsubo and Kashoku’s eyes flashed with contempt, but continued looking forward and did not stop. This was a common occurrence within the academy; the only way a peasant could free themselves from this hierarchy was by showing complete dominance and strength and be recognized by all as one of the elites.
They were not one of the elites, so naturally they were tormented by the antics of the nobles.
Just as the two were about to leave the area littered with villas, a deep, strong voice resonated within their minds.
“You two sacks of shit, come help this brother.”