A New Form

A week had gone by, every day extremely repetitive. Wake up, eat, go to class, eat, sleep, repeat. He still hasn't broken through to the Yellow Core, and the tournament is only a few days away now. 

However, his Sparring Class was about to start, so himself and just about every student was incredibly excited, ready to go.

Walking into the sparring grounds, Instructor Vael was waiting, just standing in the middle. 

"You guys can begin, nothing for me to teach." He said, walking off to the side to observe. 

Kai was feeling incredibly curious for zero reason, so he approached the Instructor.

"Excuse me, sir. I was wondering if you would spar with me? Maybe show me a few things?"

Everyone looked at Kai as if he was the biggest idiot in the world, however, surprisingly, Vael agreed. 

Walking into the middle, most students stopped what they were doing, wanting to watch this match.

Kai started the fight by activating his ability, he was unable to create that red beam from the other week, however, he was able to direct his ability properly, stealing some incredibly high quality Rin from Vael. Kai began glowing a shallow-silver, feeling stronger than ever.

He used Jin and forced some of this Rin onto his staff, charging at Vael, who stood there, unphased. Kai slammed the staff downwards, trying to knockout the instructor in one clean, powerful attack.

Vael raised his katana, still in its sheath, and blocked the attack effortlessly. He then pushed back, sending Kai flying across the arena.

"You are still weak, Kai. It's not an insult, though. All of you are. You have potential, but you are so far below me, that fighting you is like crushing an insect."

Vael said, frustrating Kai. Kai charged in again, however, this time Vael went on the offensive, slamming the sheath of his katana into Kai's stomach, causing him to spit blood and roll across the arena.

Kai recovered as quickly as he could, however, Vael was nowhere to be seen.

"This is the difference between a White Core…And everyone else." He stated, Kai turning around and creating a barrier of Jin, jumping back and making some distance. However, Vael disappeared and appeared in front of Kai.

Kai was unable to tell if this was his ability, or legitimately just how fast Instructor Vael was. However, he created a Twin Edge Wall and sent it towards Vael.

Vael finally unsheathed his blade, a silver aura flowing throughout it, cutting cleanly through the attack.

'I need to focus. He is far stronger than me, but I want to at least land one attack! How would he do it…?' 

Kai focused, channeling more effort into using his ability. A faint red beam appeared, not as vibrant as it did the other week, but still visible. It attached to Vael and took even more Rin, the aura around Kai growing larger.

"Well done. That really is a handy ability you have. It will prove incredibly useful on your journey as a Breaker, Kai."

Kai dashed towards Vael with speed he had never been able to muster before, swinging the staff with ridiculous strength. However, Vael simply raised his katana, blocking the attack as easily as breathing.

A large shockwave was formed, showcasing just how strong the attack was, but it still did nothing to the monster in front of him. 

"That is, assuming you survive the next few years."

Vael then shot forward with blinding speed. Kai felt a cold steel press against his neck.

"You did well, Kai. You really do have serious potential. But until you become a Red Core, you really don't stand a chance against me." 

Kai nodded, accepting his clear defeat and walking off the arena, receiving a few pats on his back while doing so. 

"Nice try, buddy!" Daigo said, smiling and giving him a thumbs up. 

"Hell yeah Kai!" Feeling a powerful smack on his back and recognizing the voice, "Thanks, Haruto…" 

—-—-—-—-

With the sparring class coming to an end and Kai's Jin Application class beginning, Kai found himself lost deep in thought, sitting down and waiting for Otsumo to show up. 

"Hey Kai!" Turning around, Fukoro was standing a few feet behind him.

"Hey Fukoro, how are you doing?" Kai asked as this was Fukoro's first class back since the expedition.

"Not bad, I'm not so sore anymore so that's good. I'm just excited to get back into it." Fukoro said, excited to start class again.

Before Kai could reply, he felt an arm wrap around his neck and noticed pink hair drooping down beside him. 

"Hellooooo!" Sava said, releasing Kai and taking a seat. Ryumi sat down beside her, giving Kai a friendly nod. 

"We heard about your spar with Instructor Vael hahaha! Didn't turn out so well, did it?" Sava continued, smiling at Kai. 

"Well-I mean…no…" "Hey, don't look so sad hahaha! He's a White Core, the strongest there is! You're still just a Green Core. It's to be expected." Sava said, still cheery. 

Otsumo suddenly walked into the room, interrupting their discussion.

"Alright, alright, shut up everyone. With the tournament happening in three days, I want to show you all some stronger uses of Jin. Kai, you may struggle with these ones, you likely won't be able to do them very well till your breakthrough to Yellow, but it's still useful for you to learn them."

Kai nodded, a little upset about the news, but still ready to learn. 

Otsumo raised his finger, forcing Rin towards the tip of his pointer finger. It began to glow a bright red as a small orb appeared in front of it, about the size of a marble. A loud humming noise could be heard, sounding as if a machine was being run.

"This is called a Jin Bullet. It may appear small-" Otsumo released it, the bullet flying at incredible speeds and hitting a small dummy, however, upon hitting the dummy, it tore a large hole straight through it, dealing significant damage. 

"-it does a lot of damage. Don't underestimate an attack based on its size. Some of the most unassuming attacks can be the most dangerous ones. In order to use this attack, you must force Rin to the very tip of your finger, it will feel as if your skin may be falling off, but it isn't, then force it past the skin, creating a small orb. You can force more Rin into it to create a larger and more powerful bullet, however, I find making it smaller and faster causes more real damage." 

This use of Jin mesmerized Kai, not having an ability that's really useful for actual brute combat, he needs to rely on Jin, and this was his first proper attack. 

"This one only works for those of you that use weapons like swords, staffs, even just your fists, that sort of thing. Melee weapons. If you don't use one of those, then start working on your Jin Bullet."

Otsumo pulled out a small knife. He then forced Rin to coat his arm, which then slid down like a wave and coated his blade, an aura moving around it. This was different from what Kai had been doing, his staff having some crystals inside it, acting as a catalyst.

This was different in multiple ways, rather than going in the staff, this would be an aura of sorts that is outside the staff, and it is also cleaner, the crystals losing a lot of the Rin he forces into it. 

The aura around Otsumo's blade then shrunk, only having a couple inches of visible aura.

Otsumo walked towards a dummy, "This is called a Jin Fang. Every attack you make with this Jin application will deal much, much more damage. Whether it be much sharper, or have more crushing damage, I can assure you that learning this will be useful. Even Red Core and White Core Breakers still use this. This one is simple, all you are doing is coating your weapon, rather than forcing Rin into it. This will take some getting used to, it takes much more control to coat your weapon in it than it does to just force Rin into it."

Kai smiled brightly, this was it, something that could help him grow much stronger. He immediately took the chance and began practicing, starting with the Jin bullet. 

'Focus Kai, focus. You can do this. Just because it will be harder for me, doesn't mean it will be impossible, I just need to focus!'

Kai thought back to Instructor Hinata's class, and took some deep breaths. Looking inside himself, he felt the Rin leave his Core, slither up his chest, to his shoulder, then down his arm into his fingertips. He could feel the pain that Otsumo was talking about, then pushed past it.

Opening his eyes, he saw a very, very small Jin bullet, however, it was still a success. He launched it at a dummy, causing a very small burn on its chest, but no serious damage. 

"Damnit…" Feeling a little dejected, he tried again, with very similar results. 

"I told you it would be harder for you, Kai. You have the quantity of Rin to do this, in fact you have way more than enough, holding more Rin than most Yellow Cores. However, you lack the quality, which is simply due to the fact that you are still a Green Core. Once you make your breakthrough, I can assure you, Jin will become much, much easier to you."

Otsumo said, surprising Kai. This was the nicest thing he had ever told him. 

"Thank you, sir." Otsumo patted Kai on the back, then began walking away, "Actually, sir, I have an idea. May I try something?" Kai asked, hoping his plan would work.

Otsumo nodded, allowing Kai to do whatever he thought up.

Kai closed his eyes and activated his ability, stealing some Rin from Otsumo, however, it was without the red beam, frustratingly he still could not bring that out whenever he wanted.

"This should do." He said, running through the steps of the Jin Bullet once more.

This time, a bullet similar to the size of Otsumo's appeared, firing off towards the dummy, causing a hole to go straight through the dummy's chest, and burning a bit around the hole. Not as much damage as Otsumo, however, still much better, giving him the framework to continue. 

"Awesome!" He said cheerfully, Otsumo deciding that that was when he'd leave, going to help the others.

'Now that I know I can use the quality of others Rin for my Jin attacks, I should start learning higher quality uses of Jin…Actually, that may not be the best idea. I can't practice them without an instructor around, so it's useless to me anyways. Let's try that other move…'

Kai pulled out his staff, holding it in front of him. He again focused deeply, trying to feel the shape of his staff. 

'Coat it, don't force it in. Got it.'

Kai began pushing Rin down his arm and outwards toward his staff. This one shockingly came easily to Kai, much simpler than the bullet. His staff now had a glowing green aura around it, and Kai could feel the power of it.

Walking towards a dummy, he took a swing, crashing right through the dummy, splitting it into two. 

"Well done, Kai." Ryumi said, also succeeding. His blade now had a bright aura, rather than the metal itself glowing. Kai could tell that his blade was much deadlier than it was, and was of higher quality than his staff. 

"You too, looking great!" Kai said, still excited about his own win.