Prologue

April 6, Monday. Two days after Ren's fight with the man without pupils. He had started training in the Art of the External Energy with Rui tutoring him. Everything was strange and novel, so he had not acquired relevant knowledge.

He had to start with the basics.

"Uhh," murmured Ren.

He was on a commercial street near his house. However, he could see almost nothing because it was night, and most illumination poles were not working correctly. They flashed their lights in variable intervals, which resulted in an eerie scene fitting a low-budget horror movie.

"But what a disregard for the town people."

Ren did not live in an elite neighborhood, so perhaps the city's prefecture did not want to spend any public money to fix the light poles.

Unsatisfied, Ren wandered through the park, observing his surroundings with reluctance. Was he scared? Usually, darkness was not what frightened people but the idea of not being alone in such a situation. Though connecting darkness strictly with the supernatural was an erroneous conception, it was more likely to be assaulted by a person than by a spirit or another supernatural creature.

Ren could consider himself lucky to find only stray cats.

Anyway, why was he here?

"Rui-san suggested a walk in the night, the aberrational time. Immerse in the spiritual activity? But what does that mean, and what am I supposed to do? I should've asked for a better explanation."

The wind blew strongly. Why was everything in the dark scarier? The tree branches looked like enormous monsters, and Ren unconsciously walked away before his hallucinations grew more potent.

"I've been wandering around for a long time. I guess I'll head back to Rui."

*****

Climbing up the stairs in the dark was, in truth, quite a challenge. Ren lost count of how many times he nearly tripped and fell over. It would be funny if he went to the hospital because of that—how foolishly dangerous.

But he eventually made it to the top. Rui and Haiji were already there. They must have heard the movement and come to investigate.

"How are you, Ren-dono?" Haiji asked as soon as Ren arrived.

"Honestly, I'm confused," Ren immediately responded. "Why did Rui-san suggest me a walk in the middle of the night? It was a frightening experience."

"Oh, were you worried that a ghost might come and attack you? Haha!"

"On the contrary, I was fearful someone might appear from the shadows and rob me. Not that I have anything worth stealing," Ren said ironically.

Rui may have misinterpreted Ren's tone because she frowned.

"Hey, hey, boy. Are you questioning your professor?"

"Hm? No, no. If you told me to wander around at night, you must have a reason, right?"

"Hmph," Rui snorted, seemingly satisfied with Ren's justification. "I assume you didn't understand my explanation. It'd be too much of a bother to explain it again, so I'll be direct. Did you feel any supernatural presence when you were walking?"

Ren thought a bit, then nodded.

"Frankly, it was all just a test drive, Rui admitted with a sigh. "Let's say your real training starts now. First things first, I'll teach the most basic technique."

"Wait, I have a question."

"What?"

"You can't use the Art, So how will you teach me?"

"I can't do it, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to do it."

"Ohhh. I see."

Ren made the ground a seat, sitting opposite from Rui. For some reason, the guardian spirit moved her legs and came closer. She had passed the imaginary line, which made it possible for Ren to look at her bulk at a much better angle if he lifted his head slightly. He suppressed his human impulses so as not to make the situation awkward.

It was already quite the scene. Ren could not complain.

"It's called Spiritual Sight."

"Um?"

"The Art's most basic ability. It makes it possible for your vision to see any spirit, not just those like I or Haiji."

"Spiritual Sight... Sounds cool."

Rui nodded but did not continue talking. She placed her index finger on her chin, likely thinking about how to explain. A few seconds passed, and she slightly hit her fist against her palm.

Did that mean she finally thought about what to say?

"I have no idea how to explain this," Rui stated without a sign of concern. "Though, I have a general concept. Hm, the standard; concentrate, close your eyes if it helps, breathe slowly, and try to feel the magical power around you. I guess that's it? It's hard to explain something I can't do. I've only seen other people doing so."

"That wasn't that much of a help..." Ren scratched his head with a silly face.

"I'm trying my hardest here. C'mon, you've already established your connection to the spiritual world. Just try it. Fill your body with magical power. Adapt your vision."

"Okay, I'll see it... Concentrate; breathe in; feel the magic."

He closed his eyes and did as Rui said. However, he felt nothing different. It just looked like a weird meditation from a suspicious yoga teacher.

"Do you feel something? The magical power entering your body, bathing your muscles, filling your veins?!"

"Uhh... No."

"Awn."

Apparently, Rui had high expectations about this. Ren had not raised his hopes, so he was not crushed when nothing happened.

"I think just two days is too little to learn something," Rui said.

"Yeah."

It appeared it would require more time if Ren wanted to learn something. After that, he went home and checked to see if the grimoire had something to say about that. No results. Practicing without Rui would be meaningless, so he went to bed and slept.