Training

Early in the morning, the day before the White Raven Academy's New Student Admission Ceremony, the prospective students had already filled the academy area.

They came accompanied by their parents or guardians. There were even some children of conglomerates, who relied on their servants to take care of all their needs.

Ryo was awakened by a commotion in the hallway of the dorm he was in, his vision was dim after being unconscious for almost a full day.

He groaned at the feeling of a very dry throat and took a glass of water from the faucet.

Ryo, curious of the noise, peeked a little through the gap in the door to find out the situation outside his room. Dozens of prospective new students had already filled the hallway and entered their respective rooms.

All rooms were for two students, only Ryo's room was not occupied by a second person.

He closed the door to his room and threw himself on the bed. The excruciating fatigue still made him reluctant to do anything.

When he was about to continue his sleep, the bedroom door was knocked several times and made Ryo reluctantly walk from his bed and open the door.

"Yeah, just wait a minute!" Ryo said hoarsely.

Ryo immediately frowned when he saw the man who had interrupted his rest time.

"Lucas?! What in the seven hells do you want right now?"

"I'm your roommate for now," Lucas grumbled. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Wait, what? How come?"

"That's because of your action the other day! If you just obey my words, it wouldn't become like this!" Lucas exclaimed and pointed frustratedly at Ryo's face.

Ryo was even more confused by Lucas' words. Then he remembered their little fight in the lounge hall.

"Don't tell me... Dorm Supervisors moved you to my room, because of our quarrel yesterday?"

"Yes indeed, Mr Anderson wants us to become roommates so he can watch us and to make sure others won't get hurt if we are after each other's throat next time," Lucas said. He scratched his blonde curls.

Of all the students, Ryo had to share a room with this aristocrat. He sighed and couldn't help but open the door and let Lucas in with a myriad of clothes and equipment.

"For god's sake, fine! Just get it over with."

Lucas snorted and walked in and summoned his familiar to aid him. With a flick of his hand, a small goblin-like creature appeared via a small portal.

"Modric, just put my stuff by the door, I'll take care of it later, you can come back."

"Okay, Young Master," Lucas' servant replied as he arranged Lucas' things and reentered the portal.

Ryo was a little surprised to see the ability of Lucas, Rifter with Summoner sub-class, they were relatively rare and tended to be underestimated because of their weak physique and could only summon low-level monsters.

Ryo crossed his arms as he looked at Lucas, who neatly arranged his clothes and equipment in his closet.

He also remembered the routine that must be done and then said to Lucas, "I will train at the Gymnasium, make sure you don't touch my things."

"Sorry not sorry, I ain't touching your trash that you fondly called clothes," Lucas said with a mocking smile.

Those words suddenly annoyed Ryo and made him want to twist the fat in Lucas's stocky hands.

He rolled his eyes and pointed his middle finger at Lucas then left the dormitory.

The morning air hit Ryo's cheeks and made his mood lighten up. The sunny weather made him want to run around the school area several times and so he decided to leave the area to get some new air.

Ryo realized that the scenery around the academy was much busier than the previous days, as the new school season was about to start. Various shops began to open their iron plate roll doors too.

When he g had enough, Ryo returned to the academy area when his bracelet showed his running distance, 15 KM.

[Not bad for a beginner] Kuryu said.

"Now what's next?" asked Ryo.

[Don't ask me, you know what to do] Kuryu replied.

As he heaved and walked unsteadily, Ryo entered the Gymnasium Center building.

The facilities inside were very complete, starting from a room containing various fitness equipment with the latest technology, a training arena for fighting, and replica weapons for training.

The main arena was illuminated by LED lights of various colors embedded under the floor and would light up according to usage needs.

Then the stands with a capacity of 5,000 spectators circled the main arena. In short, the Gymnasium Center was the most striking building among all buildings with a unique and futuristic design.

[Ease your breath first] Kuryu said when Ryo was already in the arena.

"Okay," said Ryo. He then caught his breath, and breathed in and out several times until his mind was clear.

[Feel better?]

"Not bad, but I still want to teach Lucas a lesson, I really want to hit that guy for once," Ryo said while he tightened the gloves he had prepared before.

[Don't mind him, he's nothing compared to you] Kuryu said.

"Well, you're right."

[Good, take out your sword from your virtual storage room]

Ryo took out his sword and swung it a few times, then he felt a difference.

"This sword feels lighter now than then. It was heavy when I swung it before."

[Of course, since you've grown stronger]

"I'm a little curious, why is this sword so blunt?"

[Since nothing on this Earth can sharpen it, this sword was made from the hardest metal in the universe. Even beyond adamantium.]

"Hmm? Then how can I slash the enemy at this rate?"

[Humans, only see what they want to see, now concentrate, flow fire energy into the sword]

"Aight,"

Ryo concentrated fully on pouring his fire energy into the sword, and slowly the fire energy enveloped the sword. The originally black blade started to smolder and emit heat radiation.

[Good, now control that energy, imagine your energy as the blade, imagine that your energy is the sharpest edge of the sword]

After understanding Kuryu's directive, he controlled the energy he channeled. The fire energy that was originally blazing erratically followed the shape of the blade of his sword.

[Still lacking, catch your breath and condense your energy in the blade, imagine even sharper!]

[Sharper!] Kuryu orders again.

Sweat the size of corn kernels dripped from Ryo's temples, but with great effort … he finally managed to condense the fire energy in the blade. The heat energy ignited on the blade and made the Hammon's pattern turn bright red.

[Good! You are indeed smart. Now try to use the Iai technique you have learned]

Ryo nodded firmly and took Iai's stance. He leaned forward and slightly bent his knees, his posture perfect. He concentrated energy on his legs and arms and balanced energy throughout his body.

Whoosh!

He drew his sword and flew very fast. A very swift and powerful blade slash tore through the air creating an explosion-like sound as Ryo re-sheathed his sword. The floor he stepped on turned black from the friction of the energy.

"S-success!!!"

Ryo shouted with joy as he looked back. He drew back the energy pinned in his sword. A light smoke billowed from his hand as well as his sword.

[Very good, boy.] Kuryu praised proudly when Ryo mastered the basic technique with just one try.

"What's next after this?" asked Ryo.

[In the meantime, practice your fire energy and Iai techniques until you really master them by heart. Only then can you open the fourth and fifth gates if you're lucky.]

"Okay, then," Ryo said as he returned to the corner of the arena.

Ryo was training so seriously that he didn't even notice someone was watching him in the stands.