Inosi stood before the Principal’s desk, head bowed. "It’s my fault. I’m the one who let Masura in so easily. I never even suspected him."
The Principal didn’t dwell on it. "Get back to your duties. All of you. And not a word of this outside this room."
High on a mountain peak, Masura sat with the stolen book open across his knees, hat and coat still on despite the cold. Years of waiting, and it wasn’t wasted after all.
He turned another page. Nothing stops me now. Time to put it to use.
He rubbed a strange powder along the length of his sword, closed his eyes, and raised one hand to the sky. The wind picked up. Clouds thickened overhead, and lightning arced down, gathering along the blade.
Then he turned the next page and his brow creased. Two pages in the middle had been torn out.
The flash of lightning was visible even through the Academy window. The Principal stood watching it in silence.
Yamin glanced at him. "Sir. Should we try to stop him?"
"We can’t just stand here and let this happen," Habi Ma’am added.
The Principal let out a long breath. "There’s no point trying to stop him now. He wouldn’t fail against it." A pause. "And... I honestly don’t know if I could stop him myself anymore."
"He has the Catalyst in his hands now. It won’t be long before he reaches whatever he’s after and when he does, Dragoland burns for it."
He tied a note to the eagle’s leg and sent it off. Habi Ma’am pressed a hand to her cheek. "Then how do we stop him?"
"Yamin. Habi. Have the Warriors prepare. Tighten security and lock down every checkpoint across Dragoland."
The two of them answered together. "Roger!"
Rain began to fall as night gave way to morning. It didn’t slow the Warriors’ training in the slightest.
Hina gave her shoulders a shake, and the water beaded off her sleeves in a single motion, scattering across the ground.
Her group-mate Akib stared. "Whoa your uniform doesn’t hold water at all?"
"Nope. It resists it shakes it right off." Beside them, another trainee was still wrestling furiously with his own sword, unable to draw it. "I’ve been practicing in the rain for hours and I still can’t get it out," he grumbled.
Hina pressed a hand to her sky-blue blade and turned toward the woman sitting cross-legged in the middle of the downpour. "Karu Ma’am how do we find out our sword’s name?"
Karu sat in meditation, water sheeting down from her hair over her chest, though none of it seemed to actually touch her skin a faint yellow glow wrapped around her entire body, turning every drop aside before it landed.
Akib, a stray cat curled against his neck, called out. "Ma’am! What’s the deal with that light around you?"
Without opening her eyes, Karu answered. "It comes from within. From feeling."
Sunny dropped down from the tree above. "Feeling? What’s it called? How do we do it?"
Hina’s eyes went wide. "Wait I remember now. My grandfather used to talk about this. It’s called... it’s called..."
Karu opened her eyes. "Zhoa energy."
Sunny brightened. "Zhoa energy! Okay, give us some tips how do we get it going?"
"There are no tips. Zhoa energy flows however the tide of your own heart carries it."
Akib pressed further. "And drawing the sword itself?"
She looked up at the sky. "Once you truly know your own heart, you’ll understand the blade answers on its own."
All three of them tilted their heads at that, thoroughly unsatisfied with the answer.
Elsewhere, Hasib gripped his sword with both eyes shut, trying to force his own Zhoa energy into being.
Up in a tree, Itoshi sat eating a lollipop. "Rocky’s getting close. Might just take him one more day."
Rocky had sunk into deep concentration, a faint white glow beginning to bleed out from his skin.
"Whoa, Rocky! My cru I mean, you’re already doing it!"
Hasib’s fist clenched at the sight, jaw tight. Not before I get there first. I need to get a grip on this Zhoa energy, right now.
Rocky’s eyes snapped open. Sara called over to him. "You’re doing so well, Rocky! You’ll probably get it before any of us."
He walked straight over to Itoshi. "Teach me how to find the name. Please."
"Hah! I already told you that’s something you have to find yourself."
Without warning, Rocky remembered Yasa’s trembling hand reaching toward him.
R-O-C-K-Y.
Something ignited behind his eyes.
His Zhoa surged.
Itoshi’s head snapped toward him. "What two days, and already ? That’s the Liago bloodline talking."
A gust of wind tore through the clearing. Sara’s jaw dropped. "Roooockyyy!!"
CLANG!
Leaves scattered from every tree around them.
UZOMO
Thunder Blade of Destruction
Sara didn’t blink, didn’t move, eyes locked wide open. "Uzomo Thunder Blade Rocky, that’s so cool!" She pressed both hands to her cheeks, practically vibrating on the spot.
Itoshi was at Rocky’s side in an instant. Rocky swayed, gripping his arm. "My head’s spinning "
Itoshi pressed a lollipop into his mouth. "Eat this."
"What happened to you, Rocky?" Sara said, beaming. "You actually did it! Congratulations!"
Hasib’s sword slipped straight out of his hand and hit the ground.
He scratched at his head, scowling. Great. Now I’ll never hear the end of it. How did the monk pull that off so fast no, forget it, I need to learn this too. It’s a matter of pride now.
He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing everything he had at it. Come on. Where are you. Zhoa energy come out, come out, come ON.
He kept at it, half-frantic, trying everything he could think of, with nothing to show for it.
Noon came and went. The others settled in to rest.
Hasib’s System flickered on.
The morning’s task list had changed.
[1. STRETCHING]
[2. CONTROL AND BALANCE]
[3. REFLEX AND SKILL]
For the second task, he found himself sprinting down a steep, thirty-degree slope, spiked balls rolling down after him from above. He weaved between them, catching himself against the guard rail on either side more than once.
[5 SECONDS]
A danger signal flared and the railing vanished entirely. The ground dropped out from under him and he fell.
"AAAAH "
[TIME’S UP]
He caught himself hard against his own chest, breath knocked out of him.
[CONGRATULATIONS — 2ND TASK COMPLETE]
He staggered out of it covered in fresh cuts, bleeding, though none of that was really on his mind. Still nothing. How the hell do I even get this thing going.
[3RD TASK — OPENING]
[NOTICE: 2-MINUTE GUIDANCE PERIOD]
A metal training dummy stepped forward and demonstrated a technique with its own blade. Hasib copied the motion.
[GREAT!]
A second dummy appeared, and he struck it down without much trouble.
[NICE]
Then two more. Then five. His arms had started to ache with the repetition. Seriously my whole arm’s going numb from this.
A fourth wave. Then the last one clearly faster than the rest. Let’s try pushing the Zhoa energy out here.He actually managed to draw something out this time, just barely and in that same instant, the final dummy closed the distance and struck him square in the chest.
Huh? I didn’t even feel that.
A dark sheen had spread across his skin, cushioning the impact entirely. He pushed the same energy down into his sword without thinking and it wrapped the blade in the same dark coating before he swung it into the dummy in front of him.
His eyes went wide.
...What just happened?
One slash was all it took.
The moment the blade struck, the training dummy split apart and vanished.
Hasib stared at it in disbelief.
So this is the impact of an attack infused with Zhoa energy...
[CONGRATULATIONS — YOU LEARNED A NEW SKILL]
[PLEASE NAME THE SKILL: ______ ]
Name... What should I call it?
He thought for a moment.
Dark Slash!
[GREAT — SKILL 1: DARK SLASH]
A small grin appeared on Hasib’s face.
I don’t know why, but... I’m kind of happy.
But I’m still not done yet.
[TASK 3 COMPLETE]
[YOU OBTAINED A SILVER BOX]
Open.
[ARMOR ABSORPTION UPDATE]
[SPEED +0.25%]
[STRENGTH +0.25%]
[DAMAGE +5%]
"Wow!"
Hasib’s eyes widened.
So this skill really does improve my damage. Then maybe I won’t have to keep falling behind anymore.
The next moment, his eyes opened.
"Alright. Time to get back to training."
Sara watched as Hasib immediately got up and headed off to practice.
"Is that really Hasib...?"
Rocky was still sitting with his eyes closed, completely focused on his own training.
Sara moved a little closer, watching him from the front.
Suddenly, Rocky’s hand came up and stopped right against her forehead.
Sara’s eyes snapped open.
"What the...? Rocky!"
Rocky immediately pulled his hand back and moved his head away from her.
"Huh?! You... are you crazy?" he blurted out. "Don’t just come right up in front of me like that without warning!"
Sara’s cheeks turned red. She looked away, embarrassed.
"S-Sorry..."
Without waiting for a response, she quickly turned around and walked away.
Rocky watched her leave for a moment before slowly closing his eyes again.