The bag continues to swing more and more as I bob and weave around it, landing successive light, yet quick strikes onto it. I really enjoy warming up with martial arts, since they were the first things I ever learned in regards to combat, and not one day has passed where I don’t practice them. Throughout the centuries of living, my body and mind have evolved to the point where they’re in perfect sync with one another, which enables me to visualize and train in my consciousness and have it affect me physically in the exact same way. I finish up my training, get out of my mind, and fall back asleep.
I wake up an hour before class starts to get ready. I take a warm shower, brush my teeth, slap on a new pair of pajamas, put on my running shoes, and head out the door.
As I’m heading to Room B, I take notice at the amount of students taking a gander at me. I’m not sure whether it’s because they know who I am or because of the way I’m dressed...either way though, it doesn’t really bother me. The walk isn’t too bad, it reminds me of a fairly barren college campus, with lots of grass and some pathways connecting the few buildings. It takes me around seven minutes to casually stroll from my room to Room B. The double doors into the classroom are kept open and I’m greeted by a few hundred students chattering on the wooden bleachers stacked up on both sides of the room. The entire Room B is separated into two parts, with the first area meant for theoretical and studying purposes, much like a regular college class, and the second area meant for practical and training purposes, much like a school gym. I stand at the doors looking up and down the bleachers, hoping to locate either Amelia or Hina.
“Yo Kai, what are you looking for?...Perhaps ME? Ahahaha.”
“Hi Kai.”
I turn around and see Hina grinning mockingly with Amelia smiling innocently beside her.
“Nope, just Amelia.”
“Ehhhhhhhhhh? W-w-why?” Amelia’s pale white cheeks quickly redden.
“Cause I figured the cutest girl would be the easiest to find.”
“O-oh…thanks...” She shyly whispers before looking down and playing with her fingers.
“HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?” Hina instantly pouts in front of my face and loudly asks.
“Despite being cocky and annoying most of the time…”
“...What the hell, finish your sentence!”
“That’s it.”
“!!! I hate you. Go die.”
“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN!!” A large man behind us in a black suit of plated armor yells while pointing his sword at us. He’s accompanied by another man with a gold suit of plated armor and a shorter man with padded leather armor.
“Who the hell are you guys!?” Hina angrily asks.
“...If you take that tone with me a second time, you won’t have a mouth to take that tone with anyone anymore.” The man in gold armor threatens as he releases a sinister killing intent. Besides myself, every single person on the bleachers, Hina, Amelia, the man in black armor, and the man in leather armor start buckling down onto their knees while shaking. Their bodies instinctively cowered in fear.
Indifferently, I point out, “If the girls behind me aren’t standing up by the count of three, you won’t be seeing tomorrow. One, tw-”
“Ahahaha, just because you can remain stand-”
“Three.”
I flex and tighten my left hand’s fingers to match a spear and take a quick step forward with my left foot, whipping my arm and hand in a semi-ovoid manner towards the man’s throat. He tries to react to it, but fell seconds short. Everyone’s released from the pressure and comes back to their regular state of minds, only to witness my hand impaled through the man’s armor and throat, blood dripping from the fingertips. His lifeless body hangs on my forearm through the newly-formed cavity. I lower my arm and the corpse slides out, crashing down onto the ground. Blood drains out of the punctured flesh, staining the golden armor blood orange.
“W-w-what have you done…? He was an honor student from the Orchid academy...we don’t have the power to offend anyone there, let alone someone of his status!” The man in the leather armor was clearly shaken about the entire situation, now fearing for the worst.
“You guys are so fuc-”
I rush towards the man in black armor as he’s standing up, grasp onto the armor surrounding his neck, and slam him back onto the ground. I grip a bit tighter, causing the armor to slowly crack under the pressure. Sharp edges of the metal dig into the man’s skin, evident by the blood leaking from the crevices.
“S-s-s-t-op.” He struggles to voice out his plea as his armor increasingly crushes down on his throat.
I finally let go seconds after.
“If you or anyone else from your dumbfuck academy have the gall to ever waltz back into this academy and threaten my people again, your teachers won’t have any students left to teach.”
He can only nod to me.
“You be on your way now. Safe trip home.” I say while kindly smiling.
“T-this is so bad, they’re definitely going to come back.” The man in leather armor continues to be a nervous wreck.
“Who are you and why were you with them anyway?”
“My name’s Elnoir and I teach today’s class, I-I had to escort the Orchid academy guests around, as they wanted to sponsor us...but I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
“Calm down, I told him not to come back. And if they do, well...let the Orchid academy rain blood.”
“And who are you?”
“Kai.”
“The student who slayed the demon during testing?”
A lot of the students were surprised as well.
“He was the one?”
“I thought people were exaggerating.”
“Merciless…”
“I’m glad he’s on our side.”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Well fine, at the very least, I hope you’ll be okay. Students from the Orchid academy are pretty vengeful, so just watch your back.”
“Thanks for worrying.”
“Hey Kai, thanks for watching out for me and Amelia...we heard you standing up for us, so that was pretty damn sweet.” She leans over and plants a kiss on my cheek. During that moment, I close in on her ear and whisper to her.
“You’re gorgeous yourself. There’s the rest of the sentence.”
“You!!” She blushes and smiles before turning away.
“Heh, you’re a lot kinder than you let on, Kai.” Amelia gently adds on, giving me a kiss as well. It was the first time I’ve seen her be so confident without holding a weapon.
Once again, a metal orb appears above the deceased body and gives it a quick scan. A few seconds later, everything faded into nothingness, armor included.
Elnoir seems to have calmed down a bit by now and walks into the middle of the class, seeming to start teaching like it’s a regular day.
“Hey Kai, would you be interested in teaching this class? There’s no doubt you’re more capable than me, let alone the rest of this class.”
“I think I’m alright, teaching isn’t really my forte...I’ve done it before but…” A few unpleasant memories fill my head.
“Yes?”
I quickly snap back to reality. “I just don’t think I’d be a good fit, sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I just wanted to check, so don’t worry about it.
Stolen story; please report.
“You alright Kai?” Amelia worriedly asks.
“Yeah, just blanked out for a second, nothing worth mentioning.”
“In that case, will you three be sitting in for today’s class or not?”
“Yeah, we’ll get seated, thanks.”
“Yup!”
“Yes please.”
We walk up the bleachers and find three empty seats at the top. All but one student moved to other seats after we sat down. He got up and sat down beside me.
“Hey, name’s Ammon, it’s nice to meet you, Kai. I’m going to be straightforward with you. I’ve kept an eye on you since the testing and after today’s incident, I can’t help but want to get myself acquainted to you.”
“Is that so? And what makes you worthwhile for me to be acquainted to you?”
“I’m one of the strongest reincarnates in Esteria. I, too, could withstand that man’s killing intent without a problem. That should automatically place me above those two girls by your side, no?”
“How come you didn’t respond to his intent then?”
“Aha...I’m still pretty new, so I don’t think I could beat him, but I can prove to you that I’m of considerable skill if you’ll let me. We could just head over to Room S after this.”
“So you’re telling me you’re an elite student?”
“Only looking at one of the best, heh.”
“Yet you couldn’t fight against an honor student?”
“Err...no...our academy’s in a pretty bad shape right now. Despite being fairly new to this world, I’m already considered an elite here. The ranking system usually goes like this: regular students, honor students, theoretical teachers, elite students, combat teachers, the principal, and the king. Unfortunately, the power level of Draco academy is far inferior compared to other academies’, placing our combat teachers similar level to their honor students. The only people not inferior in Draco are the principal and the king.”
“Didn’t expect Celeste to actually be competent...Also, who’s the king?”
“A man named Alek. I’ve only seen him once, watching me and the other elites in Room S. He had an indomitable aura about him that I wasn’t willing to test.”
“Interesting.”
“So how about it, we gonna partner up?”
“I’ll decide once I see you in action. You two wanna tag along?”
“Mmm, sure! I have nothing else better to do, why not check out the so-called elites?” Hina is clearly excited.
“I’ll go wherever you two go…” Shy and cute as always.
We stop talking and start listening to the teacher. He goes into topics that I, personally, already know a lot about so I’m starting to debate whether it’s worth going to majority of the classes. He mentions different fighting styles, weapons, and even certain types of armor. The information he gives out is actually very beneficial for people unfamiliar with combat, but once again, it’s mostly for beginners who aren’t sure of where to start. I guess most of the experienced fighters either don’t attend class or have already moved onto better academies. After an hour and a half of teaching, Elnoir takes off and a bulkier man walks straight into the second room. All the students get off the bleachers to do the same.
The second room is a huge arena designed for heavy combat training. There are smaller stacks of bleachers on the sides and a door connecting to the portal room on the center left wall, in between the bleachers. Many small fighting rings are placed on one half of the room, while many training dummies occupy the other half. As students start populating the entirety of the room, the two girls, Ammon, and I grab a seat on the bleachers. I’m currently more interested in observing more than anything else, it’d be worth my time if I’m able to identify someone with high potential. The gorilla of a teacher is also observing all around him as he stands near the center of the room.
“We honestly don’t have much going for us in terms of our facilities. Academies receive resources based on their ranking, and as you already know, we’re dead last.”
“That’s fine, I wasn’t planning to train in class anyway. Fighting living beings would allow us to gain levels and have real combat experience, which is a lot more effective than static training.”
“There are machines that can simulate whatever you imagine, but we can’t afford those in the regular rooms yet. Even Room S has just one of those, so we have to take turns using it.
“Shouldn’t be a problem winning the next academy battle with me here.”
“You’re real confident in your own abilities, eh?”
“No doubt.”
“Are you two morons done talking? I’m bored. Can we just leave if we’re not going to be training?” Hina annoyingly questions.
“Yeah fine, I don’t think anyone of potential would be training here anyway. Let’s just go to Room S now so I can see whether Ammon’s all talk or not.”
As we’re walking down, I notice a girl, in my peripheral vision, striking a target dummy with her bare hands and feet. She’s the only one who isn’t using a weapon within the room. I approach her from the side.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“Huh, me?”
“You are the one I’m looking at.”
“Oh. My name’s Mimi...aren’t you Kai?”
“Glad you’ve heard of me already.”
“Why’d you ask for my name?”
“I respect your way of training and wanted to ask if you’d like to become friends.”
“...Friends? I don’t know...I barely know who you are. Seems a little questionable.”
“How about acquaintances for now? We don’t need to rush.”
“Hmm...okay! In that case, nice to meet you, Kai.”
“Same to you.”
“Well, my student identifier is Mimi#523, so add me and we can stay in touch.”
“How do I add you? Still kind of new to everything.”
“Did no one tell you how communication works between students? You can simply think ‘contacts’, much like how your status page works, and say who you want to add. All your approved contacts will show on the page, which allows you to message or call whoever is there.”
“Oh add me too, my identifier is Ammon#152.”
I think “contacts” and a virtual blank list appears. The top left of the page has an “add” button. I tap it and say “Mimi#523” and “Ammon#152”, which the system has no problem requesting. I assume Mimi and Ammon accepted my request since the pending status was no longer visible.
“In that case, everyone add Hina#812.”
“...and Amelia#793 please.”
After a few moments, everyone else seems to have finished adding each other.
“Cool, thanks for letting me know. Since I have you added, we’re going to take off now, hope to talk to you soon.”
“Okay! It was nice to meet everyone, see all of you soon.”
“Bye Mimi!” We say simultaneously.
It doesn’t take long before we reach Room S. The doors automatically slide open for us and we walk into a fairly empty arena. There are two individuals sparring near the middle and two others watching from the side.
As he’s mid-air, he instantly conjures an ice spear within his grip, throwing it straight towards the girl’s electric shield. It collides with it, dissipating the electricity, and continuing its path towards her. The spear pierces through her abdomen, flash freezing the blood that gushes out. A few seconds later, all wounds and spells digitize and cease to exist from reality, with both fighters uninjured.
“Great fight, Vivien.”
“Never gonna let me take a win, huh?”
“Not a chance ahaha.”
“Yo Vivien, Garett!”
“Heyo Ammom!”
“Yo!”
“Hey guys, I want you to meet Amelia, Hina, and the infamous Kai. That’s Vivien, Garett, Alma, and Selene.
We all greet and introduce each other. They seemed pretty chill, despite knowing who I am.
“So what brings you in with Ammon? It’s not everyday that non elites show up in here.” Alma questions.
“I promised Kai that I’d prove my strength to him. He’s a tough cookie to befriend.”
“You? Prove your strength? Not many people don’t know how powerful you can, especially considering you’re lower level than the rest of us.”
“I appreciate the compliment, but I don’t think that’s an acceptable form of proof. You also have to remember this man slayed a demon commander...and he just killed and humiliated two students from Orchid.”
“WHAT!?” They all exclaim together.
“Yo man, that academy’s hella vengeful. They’re definitely going to start major shit with us. Why’d you do that dude?” Alma seems fairly worried and annoyed.
“I agree with Alma, seems pretty stupid to pull a stunt like that. Whatever he did, you should have let it go, it’s not worth risking the safety of the rest of us.” Garett adds onto Alma’s frustration.
“Whoa, chill guys, you guys weren’t there, it was fucking awesome how Kai didn’t take any of their shit. Besides, he said he’ll take responsibility if shit went down, just calm down.”
“...” I remained silent to allow them to cool off a bit. No point for me to escalate things after Ammon responded already.
“Well, let’s get started then? Come on over, Kai.” He walks towards the middle of the arena.
“You’re proving your strength to me using me?”
“Would that not be the best way? You can see and feel for yourself.”
“Aha, alright, what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t think it’d be much of a fight if you went all-out...so you could just try defending and countering me. I think that’d give you an estimate of my powers.”
“Sounds good.”
Everyone else stands to the side.
“I still don’t get what he was thinking...thinking about it gets me worked up.” Alma just couldn’t let it go.
“Shut up. You guys don’t understand the extent of Kai’s strength...I’m almost certain his threat of wiping out the Orchid academy wasn’t empty. I believe he could do it.” Hina isn’t one to not stand up for her friends. She knew Kai did what he did because of her and Amelia.
“Ahaha, you haven’t even walked outside this campus yet. There are powerhouses you can’t even comprehend.”
“I still don’t doubt Kai to be stronger.”
“Well, we’ll see.”
Ammon is equipped with just basic cloth clothing and two azure-colored daggers sheathed on each side of his waist. He draws his daggers and slowly walks towards me. He starts shifting left and right at a rapid speed, leaving afterimages right before he disappears in sight. I quickly shift into a self-made stance, based off of jeet kune do, and resume looking forward, relying on my other senses to react accordingly. Thinking I wouldn’t notice, Ammon appears in front, above, and behind me simultaneously. The one in front quickly channels a blinding spell with one hand while slashing with the other; the one above is diving straight down with both his daggers; and the one behind attempts to hold me in place for the other two. I pivot ninety degrees to the right, close my left eye, and using my left hand, grab front Ammon’s wrist to prevent his slash. I swiftly step back, exert ki force from my right palm to knock back the rear Ammon, while dodging the above Ammon, and pulling the front Ammon with me. The above and rear clones instantly disappear once they hit the ground with excessive force. With the real Ammon still locked in my grip, I throw a right hook to his chin with my right hand. He reacts to it by transforming his locked arm into a shadow and jumping back. He doesn’t miss a beat to step back in and thrust a dagger towards my head and abdomen. Before his daggers reach me, I lean back to launch a heavy push kick onto his stomach, resulting in him flying several meters back and coughing up blood.
“I surrender.” After saying so, his blood digitizes away and he seems to be left uninjured.
“So you’re an assassin...that was pretty good. Reminds me a bit of Hina, she did something similar during testing.”
“You didn’t seem fazed at all during the entire thing. Granted, I didn’t go all out, but I definitely put in the effort to severely injure you.”
“Holy shit, that was insane, Kai!” Vivien exclaims.
“Gotta admit, that was pretty badass.” Garett joins in.
“Eh, still doesn’t showcase how strong he can really be…” Alma’s still unconvinced.
“Considering that I’m planning to make everyone here part of my team, how could I make you trust me?” I calmly ask Alma.
Before he could answer, another person steps into the room, and an announcement is made.
“The King has entered Room S.”