the monsters tutelage

Clang!

The sharp ring of steel-on-steel echoed through the underground training chamber, sparks flashing in the dim light. Raizen stumbled back three steps, his breath ragged, palms aching from the force of the blow. His grandfather hadn't held back in the slightest.

Zerus grinned, spinning his katana with the ease of a man who'd fought gods and survived. "Sloppy footwork. Again."

Raizen gritted his teeth. His knees screamed, his shoulders burned, and his fingers felt like they'd break if they gripped the hilt any tighter. But he stepped forward, raising his blade.

Again, they clashed.

Again, he lost.

And again.

And again.

Three hours later, Raizen lay flat on his back, sweat soaking his clothes, hair stuck to his forehead, chest heaving like a bellows. His katana rested beside him, its edge dulled from countless parries.

Zerus sat cross-legged nearby, drinking water from a flask this time instead of sake. "You're not bad," he said casually. "For someone who just awakened."

"That sounded dangerously close to a compliment," Raizen muttered.

Zerus chuckled. "Don't get cocky. I was barely using five percent."

Raizen turned his head, staring at the ceiling. "And if you'd used six?"

"I'd have taken your arm off."

Raizen smirked despite himself.

It wasn't kindness. It wasn't gentleness. But it was his way. And Raizen respected it.

Zerus tilted his head. "Why don't you ask me why I'm not going easy on you?"

"I already know."

"Oh?"

Raizen sat up slowly. "Because the world won't go easy on me. And because I can't afford to be weak. Not again."

Zerus' expression shifted—just a flicker—but Raizen caught it. There was more behind those sharp, wild eyes than insanity. There was regret. Maybe even sorrow.

"Good," Zerus said finally, standing. "Then rest for tonight. Tomorrow we start the real training."

"That wasn't real?"

Zerus just cackled on his way out.

Raizen's training over the following weeks was brutal.

His family estate was massive—beyond what any outsider could imagine. Underground training fields, spirit-forged dummies, pressure chambers, and even private pocket realms for high-speed time training.

And Raizen used them all.

Zerus oversaw his blade mastery and combat instincts. His grandmother Caldra drilled him in precision, control, and telekinetic finesse. Lucien sparred with him to build practical battle awareness, while Selene focused on movement, speed, and strategy. Even Liora would offer advice when he was too bruised to move, healing him with her calming touch and whispering old Ashborne lullabies from her childhood.

But it was his own obsession that pushed him hardest.

Raizen had lived a life already.

He had wasted time before.

Not again.

Every day, he expanded his reach—lifting heavier weights with his mind, manipulating multiple targets, practicing complex telekinetic constructs. By the second week, he could coat his katana in a sheath of psychic energy, increasing its sharpness and flexibility.

He didn't train in secret. His family watched, supported, corrected.

And word spread.

In the Empire, rumors began to stir.

"The Ashborne's youngest is training again."

"I heard his Awakening shook the entire estate."

"Zerus is personally training him?"

The noble families whispered. The royals listened.

Some scoffed. "He was born F-rank," they said. "A waste of the bloodline."

But others… others remembered the last time the world underestimated an Ashborne.

And what followed.

One evening, after a day of combat training and gate simulations, Raizen sat in the garden with his grandmother Caldra.

The night was quiet, a gentle breeze rustling the leaves.

Caldra poured two cups of herbal tea, her movements elegant. Her long silver hair was tied up in an intricate braid, her eyes as sharp as her grandson's katana.

"You're pushing yourself too hard," she said calmly.

Raizen didn't look away from the koi pond. "I don't have time to waste."

"You're sixteen. You have your whole life."

"I've lived a life already."

Her hand paused mid-lift.

"…I know."

Raizen blinked. "You do?"

Caldra smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Zerus suspected the moment he saw the look in your eyes. So did I. The pain, the burden… it doesn't belong to a sixteen-year-old."

He said nothing.

"We don't need the details," she continued. "But we believe in you. All of us."

Raizen clenched his fist. "Then you understand why I can't slow down."

She nodded. "Just don't burn yourself out before the real war begins."

"…There's a war coming?"

Caldra stood, looking to the stars.

"There always is."

A few days later, a letter arrived.

Sealed in gold, marked with the insignia of the Empire itself.

Raizen sat with Lucien and Selene at the dining hall when Liora entered with it in hand.

"The Headmaster of Arkanis Academy has confirmed your admission," she said with a soft smile. "Entrance exam waived. Direct placement through recommendation… and observation."

Raizen raised a brow. "Observation?"

Lucien whistled. "They must've had someone watching the Awakening. That's rare."

Selene grinned. "Top academy in the world. On an island, no less. Don't screw it up."

Raizen looked at the parchment. His name, beautifully inscribed. Raizen Ashborne — Class: Undetermined.

He'd make sure it read Rank 1 soon enough.

That night, he stood in the garden again, this time beneath the stars alone.

Training would continue until the day of departure. But already, he was stronger than most D-ranks.

His senses were sharper. His body faster. His blade an extension of his mind.

But most of all—he had clarity.

He was no longer walking the road of fate blindly.

He was carving it himself.

In a hidden chamber deep within the royal palace of the Empire, the Third Prince sat with a scroll in hand.

Behind him, the Headmaster of Arkanis Academy—an SSS- powerhouse in his own right—spoke softly.

"He's progressing faster than anticipated."

The prince smirked. "Good. The world needs strong players on the board."

"Even if they might one day oppose you?"

The prince leaned back. "Especially then. Let the game begin with monsters."

He tapped the Ashborne seal on the scroll with his finger.

"Let's see how far this one rises."