Blessing.

...

A day has passed since I woke up, and today I am discharged.

My parents are at the door and after an emotional meeting with them, I feel better than yesterday. (the family moment where feelings such as relief, concern and others are exchanged)

"Fu, I can finally get out of this room, I was already going crazy"

"*sigh*, that's inevitable, remember to be more careful next time"

"I'll keep that in mind" I get out of bed with my crutches.

If I try to step with my foot then I will be in terrible pain so I am very careful.

...

After leaving the hospital we returned home.

I will be resting for a week, my parents have already requested permission from the school.

'Well at least I have a week off from going to that boring school'

I say as I settle quietly on the couch.

'I'll be a bit bored though' So I start to wait for the food but then I hear someone ring the bell.

'Mn? visit?' I say as I look that we are still in the afternoon.

'I guess there's still time' I think as my father walks over to open the door.

After a few seconds, my father appears with a smile.

"Hiroki, you have a visitor"

"Mn?"

The moment he says that two people appear behind him.

He is a kind-looking gentleman and a young woman whom I recognize as my dear friend Ima.

"Hello, little Hiroki" The man is the first to speak.

Although he says it in a kind tone, I still inside think: 'I've grown up, I'm not a child.'

"Hello Hiroki, I see you've made a big problem" The young woman is the next to speak.

"So you finally decided to get out of your hole"

"Hears"

"Don't be rude Hiroki" My father says without changing his expression.

...

After a while, the two adult men go to talk elsewhere, leaving me alone with Ima.

"Hey Hiroki"

"Mn?"

"How exactly did you get that fracture?" He says with a curious expression.

"Do you know it's insensitive of you to ask so directly?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," She says acknowledging her mistake.

"Well, never mind" I say with a small smile.

"..." She is speechless seeing my reaction after saying those words.

"Don't you want me to tell you?" I say casually.

"No no, continue, I'm not stopping you from anything"

Then I start bragging about an incredible story where I heroically end up with a wounded foot.

...

"You want to see me with the stupid face? How do you expect me to believe all that surreal story?"

"Hehe, although I admit that not everything I said is true there is still a lot that is real"

"Aha, and you were able to magically break a log in half with the force of your feet, come on, how do you expect me to believe all that, it's physically impossible to break something that thick, especially if you have a male physique... "So at this point she grabs her mouth knowing she's loosened her tongue more than she should.

The men's treasury in this world tends to be a little more deficient compared to women's so Ima's words are not meaningless but he had to say them right in front of someone who likes him to be despised for being born with such a physique since he is someone strong because he trained his body from a very early age.

"Oh so I'm weaker than you so why don't you shake my hand, you didn't greet me nicely a while ago did you?" I say slowly extending my hand.

"No, no thanks, I prefer to be polite and greet avoiding physical contact like a good lady" she snorted with contempt at this answer.

Ima-'No way am I going to shake his hand, incredibly unlike other men I've met he has a supernatural strength member the day he almost broke my hand' He says while gently rubbing his hand as if I could still feel the pain.

"Hiroki, Ima, come eat!" We heard my father's call.

"Come on! Help me with this" I say as I try to stand up.

"Okay" She quickly moves to my side to help me up.

"Thank you"

"Hehe, it's my duty," she says with a smile.

...

And like that the days went by.

Without warning the week went by very quickly.

And then the day came when I finally got rid of the cast.

I look a little surprised at my foot which is completely healed.

I thought because it was solid like bone this was going to take weeks but to my surprise, it still seems to have healed the day before.

Not everything went well though as a scar shows up higher on my ankle.

"Well, it seems that you have recovered, come with me" Says my aunt as she quietly walks out the door.

"Can't we wait a few more days? He just recovered" says my mother.

"No, a week was more than enough" Says my aunt completely refusing.

"Oh well, what a pity" says my mother who seems to give up easily.

I roll my eyes at the 'almost effort' from her.

My father is strangely silent.

"Then let's go" says the aunt as she walks out the door.

Then the scene goes silent as I watch my parents and vice versa.

"..."

"..."

This is getting a little awkward.

"If you're really tired then you could refuse and I could talk to your aunt more seriously" Says my mother.

'Mom, that was before'

"No thanks, I feel fine now"

I say with a confident smile.

Then I say goodbye to them and go out the door to go with the aunt.

...

The aunt takes me in her car while I think in a perplexed way.

'Why is the aunt in such a hurry?'

I know I missed a week of training but I don't think that's enough of a cause to get me going fast.

I think and think but can't find anything reasonable so he put the subject aside.

...

After a while, we arrive at the aunt's house but unlike other times the aunt doesn't stop and she keeps driving.

"Hey aunt, haven't we gone over the street?"

Azumi who was in the rearview mirror adjusts some dark glasses which she didn't know when she put on.

"No, we still have a long way to go to reach our destination"

She says it calmly without any change of expression.

"Mn? so where are we going?"

"To Grandpa's House"

She immediately froze me.

"What? But if that's several hours from here, we'll get there after dark"

"That's why we left early" she says without changing her tone.

'...'

"Why in such a hurry to go?" I ask seriously.

"You must receive your blessing"

"Blessing?"

"Yes, I told you at the beginning of your training, remember?"

Then memories come to me of the time I came to train with my aunt.

"Yes"

"Well, then it's time for you to go receive it"

I frown puzzled at the situation.

"Is such a hurry necessary? Is it that I am reaching my limit to receive it?"

"Something like that" I want to ask something but I feel like I'm not going to get any more answers.

...

Then the hours pass in silence inside the car.

Boredom is such that I decided to try to sleep.

After a while I get it.

....zzzz...

...

Then at some point, I woke up to my aunt's voice.

"We are already here"

I open my eyes and the door is already open with the sun already hidden.

"Mnnmn-" I get out of the car and stretch my legs and back a bit.

I look at the night sky.

'Yes, this place is very far'

I think as I follow the aunt who seems to be heading into the trees ahead.

The first time I came here I was surprised to learn that Grandpa lived inside the forest.

I thought how absurd it is for someone to be able to live in such conditions.

I walk alongside the aunt to avoid being left behind in the dark.

I've seen Grandpa a couple of times.

The impression he gives me is like that of a steep mountain that doesn't flinch at all.

Something that can be suffocating if you think that grandfather was once someone who practiced the fighting methods that I was taught.

For him to continue to have that momentum to this day, then he must have been someone very strong in his youth.

After walking in the dark for a while we spotlight up ahead.

We approach her and in front of us appears a huge house that has a very old architectural style, older than that of the aunt's house.

Then we enter through the door that has two streetlights on the sides.

Aunt without even bothering to ring the doorbell opens the door directly.

We enter a large room and the aunt continues walking through the front door.

And we walk a couple more corridors and enter what is the patio garden of the house.

The patio of the house has well-kept grass on it, flowers, and even some trees.

In the center of the garden, there is a water fountain.

And it is precisely here that I can see the back of a person.

I recognize that it is the grandfather because of his classic white suit mixed with his short white hair.

Then the aunt comes a little closer and the old man speaks.

"I see that you've become more cheeky, you don't even knock on the door to warn the time you're coming or at least prevent your visit" Says the old man without turning around with a very indifferent voice.

"Is that necessary?" she asks, apparently perplexed about something.

"Hmph, with each passing generation their manners get lost with them," Says the man who slowly turns around.

He is an old man but strangely his face does not have as many wrinkles as you would expect from an old man of such age.

His face seems to be quite taken care of as he expresses a certain resemblance to Hiroki's face.

His eyes show subtle indifference but it seems that he doesn't try to hide it.

Although his body is slim, it still retains his vitality so it's hard to notice the wrinkles on his skin.

His gaze focuses on us and I feel a certain pressure in my chest.

His gaze passes over the aunt and when he stops at me I feel the invisible pressure release.

"I see you've gotten stronger since the last time you visited Hiroki"

"Just improve my aim a little" I say with a humble smile, before Grandpa I have always behaved like a humble boy who listens to his elders and is obedient.

Youu are right about that, but for you, it must have been quite significant"

My smile freezes for a moment.

"Hehe, it's not something worth mentioning" I say still smiling humbly although inside I want to say that I have improved a lot compared to the past.

"Well, we'll see about that later" Grandpa says without explaining anything.

Then he starts walking in the direction of another part of the house.

...

After following Grandpa for a while we came to a large empty room.

I look in amazement at the height of the ceiling.

Why is the ceiling unnecessarily big?'

"Here it will work" I turn my head forward and see that Grandpa has already sat down in the middle of the room.

"Sit here" he says pointing to the space in front of him.

I obediently don't ask and sit cross-legged.

Then from my position,n I realize that I have to lower my head a little to see Grandpa's face.

From here I realize that the grandfather is smaller than he looks.

That makes me a little strange because whenever I see him standing I have the feeling that he is quite big, even bigger than me (although the aunt is bigger of course).

"What's with that look?" Grandpa tells me with a slightly penetrating look.

"Nothing, nothing, I was just thinking unimportant things" I say while scratching the back of my head a bit with an awkward smile.

"Brat, you are 100 years away from hiding your thoughts from me" He says with a still indifferent face, it seems he is not moved by anything.

"Then let's start with your blessing"

"My blessing? Here?" I look surprised at the grandfather's face and then at the aunt who nods me slightly.

Somehow in my mind, I thought that my blessing would be something- more ceremonial? I don't know, maybe I was going to put on some special outfit while I am in a place where it is well decorated; what now feels very raw and rushed.

I am sitting in the middle of an empty room that barely has lighting in front of my grandfather.

Why did they turn off the lights?

"You'll understand later, now let's start" Grandpa ignores my puzzled expression, and then he looks me in the eye.

"I guess you already passed Azumi's test so this will be easier"

"Proof?" He looked puzzled and turned to see the aunt.

"The trunk" Hearing that I immediately understand what Grandpa said.

'So that was a test, rather the 'preparation' that the aunt had told me about earlier'

"Then look closely into my eyes"

Grandpa says in a tone that to a stranger would sound like a charlatan about to perform a 'magic trick'.

Even though he is confused by what he told me, I still listen to him.

I look him straight in the eye.

"..."

At some point, my eyes are looking directly at his irises that have a dark color.

An uncomfortable feeling spreads through the air.

The scene is strangely silent.

I feel the need to avert my eyes but when I have such a thought I realize that I am strangely unable to even close my eyes let alone my head.

Despite this situation, I am unable to think about it anymore or maybe feel some fear from the scene as without realizing it Grandpa's eyes have strangely turned into very deep darkness.

I have a feeling that I am getting closer to that darkness since his dark pupil is touching a lot of fields in my vision.

So at some point those pupils constrict a little bit and...

Suddenly I feel that my heart stops for a small moment with a small pain on top.

But then often after I feel pressure in my chest which makes me gasp for air because it gives me a choking feeling.

I breathe heavily and can perceptibly feel a drop falling strangely in a situation that feels cold from my skin, maybe it's that the drop of sweat is pressing my skin that feels strangely cold against my flesh.

But I don't have time to think about those details as my attention is focused on my vision.

As if waking up from a trance my eyes try to focus forward but I can only see everything blurry.

In an attempt to find something to lean on, my hands reach forward to support me with the floor where I remembered my grandfather sitting before.

But that doesn't matter to me since the next second I feel like a stabbing pain goes through my head.

I don't have time to feel anything else as the next second my world turns black.

...

Then I feel my consciousness wake up but at the moment I am unable to think of anything as I start to hear a lot of voices in my head.

A stabbing pain runs through me.

I faint again hearing a bunch of words I don't understand.

"#%$"#$%#&#$%#%&&"%!"%" ""%"%#&"&#&%&"#%%!%!%!"

"$%!%"

"%"5"%%"%%-5%$&%%$#$#$%"

*explosion in background*

"%"%$%"##"%"%2*-5252%"%"%"!#%!-"

I lose consciousness again.