Chase sighed, rubbing his stomach. "I can't put into words how much I'm starting to hate these damn bars. They taste like a sock after a long hike!"
"Woah, I didn't know you were a connoisseur in sock tasting," Stella mocked with a grin.
Chase laughed sarcastically, "Bite me."
Isaac, with a huge smile that contrasted Chase's annoyed face, said, "C’mon, let’s go redeem my prize."
“You guys go first,” Stella interrupted.
"Really? Well, see you later. You coming, Chase?" Isaac asked.
“I'm going to sleep."
"C’mon, don’t be so grumpy. I might even let you have a taste of my snack," Isaac said teasingly
"Don’t make me tell you where you can shove your snack," Chase shot back, annoyed, as he walked away alongside Isaac.
Stella waited patiently for Executioner Leywin to come out of the gymnasium.
Inside the gymnasium, Executioner Leywin walked to a control panel, and after pressing some buttons, an otherworldly sound resonated through the gymnasium as all the systems and protocols turned off.
She took out her phone and called someone.
The ringtone sounded a couple of times before the other end picked up.
"Yes, Executioner Leywin," the voice said.
"Cypher, can you come to Sunrise City?"
"I’m currently on a mission, I could get there in a couple of days. If it’s urgent, I can get there by the end of the day."
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Come to Sunrise City once your mission is finished. Try not to attract attention."
"Understood. May I ask what’s the reason?"
"Things might go south during this tournament; I have a bad feeling."
"Very well, I will report to you when I get to Sunrise City."
Executioner Leywin hung up and walked out of the gymnasium. As she stepped out, she noticed Stella standing beside the door in the hallway.
"Oh, Stella, what’s the matter?" she asked as she turned around and placed her hand on the door, locking up the gymnasium.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions?"
"Go ahead," she said as she started walking through the hallway.
"There’s something that confused me a little. During Isaac’s spar against Delta, when he shot him with his energy beam, Delta didn’t dodge and he couldn’t activate his ability, so how did he block that attack?" Stella asked, walking beside Executioner Leywin. "I noticed a kind of dark red glow in front of Delta’s hand just before the beam hit him, but I don’t know what it was."
Executioner Leywin extended her hand toward Stella, and the same dark red glow manifested on top of it.
"This is what you saw, the manifestation of pure dark energy. It is an incredibly difficult technique to learn, but if mastered, it can exponentially increase your adaptability," Executioner Leywin explained as the dark energy extended in front of her palm in the form of a shield before solidifying in a glass-like texture. "This is what Delta used to block Isaac’s attack."
Stella watched in awe at the dark red shield. She had immediately understood the significance of being able to use such a technique. For a non-esper, it would be the equivalent of trying to mold and compact the air around them until it was solid with just their bare hands.
It wasn’t a common thing for espers to project energy from their bodies. However, those who tried soon realized two things. First, it was incredibly difficult to get the dark energy to leave one’s body. Second, once it left, it would scatter in the air as an invisible gas, with no effect whatsoever.
It was truly a technique worthy of someone with the title of Executioner.
In the Black Guard, there were only three operators who had mastered the manifestation of pure dark energy to a level where they were able to use it in combat: Executioner Leywin, Delta, and Executioner Ryker. The first one, due to the nature of her ability, the second one, as a way to stand out from the rest of espers while he climbed through the ranks, and the third one just because he could.
After a few seconds, the dark energy shield reabsorbed into Executioner Leywin's hand.
"Any other questions?" she asked Stella.
Stella, who had been almost hypnotized by the shield, finally woke up from the trance.
"Just one more question. I was wondering when we would be able to train using the entirety of our energy reserves. I thought that the restriction to one-fourth of energy reserves was only used at the academy level, so I was surprised that we would be training with the same restriction."
"I understand your concern, but since you are still cadets, you are effectively espers at the academy level. Don’t make the mistake of overestimating your own power."
"Yes, Executioner Leywin," Stella nodded apologetically.
"Don’t worry; the time will come when you can fight without restrictions. Though, if I were you, I wouldn’t look forward to it," Executioner Leywin said in a darker tone.
"Why isn’t the same restriction applied to the participants during the tournament?"
"The answer is simple. They are not in training anymore. The energy restriction is to make you learn to use your energy efficiently. That way when you have access to the entirety of your energy reserves you’ll be able to fight higher step espers without running out of energy. On the other hand, those in the tournament are showing their training results and the full extent of their abilities, aiming to catch the eye of the HSA or even win a spot in the Black Guard. To select the best, we need to see their true potential, so we allow them to fight without restrictions."