Chapter 3

    Class went on as usual with the juniors. Brutal training day in and day out. Mornings started out inside the school building in a large lecture halls. Equally important to fighting skills, tactics and strategy were taught in those rooms.

 

From there they would make their way through various gyms, dojos, and other training places to learn from various masters. All the students would dedicate themselves to learning from these masters and would train tirelessly. They would have everything from archery and throwing knife practice, to swordplay and hand to hand combat. The strongest students looked impressive enough, but everyone knew that they held back. People like Kazuto found it unnecessary to push himself around others so weak

 

Hiro was a different case. It always appeared that he didn’t put any effort into training. Sure he would sweat and do the drills like everyone else, but it was written in his eyes and movements that he did not try. Simply put, he did not care about the classes, and his combat proficiency scores reflected it.

 

However, there were some who managed to give everything they had. A few students had a fire in them that pushed them to 110% of everything they did. One of these students was a girl, the weakest in her class. Despite that, the girl had such a strong fire in her that she trained like her life depended on it. Determined not to be feeble, not to be a failure, not to have to endure the ridicule of her classmates, she trained. She would be strong. She would learn all she could about combat. she was Lisanna, and her efforts did not go unnoticed by the others. No matter how useless her classmates told her that it was, she went on pushing.

 

While her classmates may have seen the outward determination of this girl, there was one brown haired slacker who saw something more in her. She improved every day not just out of her bodily training, but because of the reason deep inside that was pushing her forward. She had heart, and because of that, her efforts would not be in vain.

 

However, at the end of each day, a rather disheartening training awaited her. Awakening matches. Sparring to the extreme for the sake of unleashing the dormant powers in the individuals participating. These duels would incorporate everything they had learned, and allow the students to apply it in combat. While deadly weapons like swords and arrows were replaced with training ones, the fights could still seriously maim the competitors. Through these high stress matches, with pain and severe injury on the line, students would draw on everything in them to win. These all or nothing battles served to awaken their powers. Once their powers became available to them, these sparring sessions became training to hone them down to an art form. For those who awoke early on in the schooling process, they possessed a significant advantage over those who did not. However, the school made use of these exemplary students and matched them against those with dormant powers. Against a much stronger opponent, those would dormant powers had no choice but to awaken. If they did not, they had a long and painful recovery ahead of them after the  match. Through this process all but two students in the junior class had managed to awaken.

 

Today the junior class had been gathered outside the fighting rings for their sparring sessions. Most were gathered in waiting while the teacher assigned matches and observed the ones in progress. A wall of had drawn the border to the west and north. Not far inside of the tree line, the first combat ring started. The school had four biomes that served as the rings for the students to fight in and test their abilities under different natural settings. A desert, a jungle, a frozen wasteland, and a rocky hillside made up the choices of battle zones. None of the biomes were particularly large. They needed to be big enough for dynamic fights, but also small enough for just two competitors. With this in mind, each ring had been made to be about an eighth of a mile in diameter.

 

            Samakina exclaimed. “NEXT! Hiro vs. Lisanna!”

 

            Lisanna whined. “What?! Why do I have to fight him?!”

 

            A sneer could almost be heard on Ares’s voice when she spoke from the waiting area. “The rest of us can’t waste our precious training time fighting the two of you. We all have our powers already, and need to test our strength and improve by fighting WORTHY opponents. That doesn’t include you guys. Don’t you think losers should just train with other losers? You wouldn’t want to hinder people like me by making me fight someone worthless now would you?”

 

            Lisanna’s eyebrows furrowed and she took on a blank face and pointed to Hiro. Her voice was monotone. “You shouldn’t compare me to that.”

 

            If the brown haired boy was bothered by the insults he was receiving, his stoic face betrayed nothing. Hiro’s voice and actions betrayed even less. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. “Meh.”

 

            The blonde threw her hands to her side as she leaned forward as if trying to throw her words. “You see what I mean! He doesn’t even care about the fight! He doesn’t apply himself at all!”

 

            The katana wielding girl just looked down on her and replied. “And as hard as you try, you’re hardly better than that slacker. Trash is what you are.” She directed her attention over to the silver haired class prodigy who had been caught staring at Lisanna. “Isn’t that right Kazuto?” I hate it when he looks at her. She is so weak. He should direct his attention to someone more suitable to be his partner. Like me.

 

            “Such a waste.”

 

            Ares was slightly surprised, and her face showed it. “S-see? Even Kazuto agrees with me!”

 

            Kazuto directed a blunt retort to Ares. “Idiot.”

 

            The phoenix cried out. “Ehhh?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

 

            However, Kazuto just waved as he walked away.

 

            Samakina, who was now upon the group, coughed to gain their attention. “If you are done wasting time here Lisanna, would you mind getting in the ring with Hiro?”

 

            Said girl looked over at what was really more of an environment than a ring. The one Hiro was currently in the middle of was the desert biome.

 

            Lisanna screamed as she grabbed her face. “AGHHHH!!! Why did he have to pick that biome?”

 

            “Perhaps if you had not been distracted with talking, you could have picked one first!” Samakina exclaimed.

 

            She wallowed in pity with mock tears running down her face, and she started muttering to herself. “The sand is going to get under my cloths, and the heat will dry out my skin. Honestly, this is the worst ring!” And then she perked up and held her fist in the air. A fire was lit in her eyes as she yelled out in anger to Hiro. “I’m going to come kick you’re a*s for this! I won’t hold back in the slightest!!!”

 

            She walked across the peaks and valleys of sand dunes on her way to Hiro. A few desert shrubberies broke up the otherwise bare landscape. An unnatural dry heat baked the ground and everything on it. The school could not alter the sun for just one biome, but they could alter nature itself in each of the rings.

 

            Although, none of the students knew who made the rings, or how they were maintained with such extreme differences. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, it did not matter, the biomes stayed the same.

 

            Lisanna closed the remained of the distance between Hiro and herself.  At least he chose a flat spot in the middle. The girl prepared herself mentally, and then Samakina gave the order to start.

 

            The fight lasted all of one minute. He charged her and threw a slow punch, which she then grabbed, flipped him over her head, and sent a pile driver of an elbow into his stomach. The furious girl grabbed his legs and pulled them behind his back in a wrestling hold.

 

“Give up?!”

 

“Meh.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Do you give up or not?!” she pulled harder

 

“Meh!”

 

“FINE THEN, JUST SAY MEH IF YOU GIVE UP!” She pulled as hard as she could.

 

“Meh! Meh!! Mehhh!!!”

 

And that was that.

 

Samakina’s irritated voice reached out to them as he rubbed his temples. “Lisanna, since that fight turned out so… pathetically… I’m going to need you to go up against someone else. Any volunteers?”

 

Normally not one person would want to burden themselves with something as boring as a fight with Lisanna, but there was one covetous swordswoman who had an evil smile on as she raised her hand.

 

Samakina voice boomed. “Ares it is! Go ahead out there! And Hiro, get your a*s out of my ring!!”

 

Wordlessly Hiro got up, walked away from Lisanna, and passed the scarlet haired girl who was giving off a deadly aura. She was literally on fire.

 

Ares had a strange fire ability. The flames around her body were actually a form of heatless energy that danced like fire. However, the flames were solid and could be molded to cover her, or anything in contact with her.

 

As she made her way to the blonde, all her fire concentrated on her blade. Anything they covered would move at superhuman speed. Although shrouding the katana in fire made it more of an agile club, it was perfect for a match where killing wasn't permitted. And if somehow Lisanna could hurt her, it was easy enough to mold the fire into unbreakable armor to cover a limb or two. Of course, Lisanna hadn't awakened yet, but that didn't stop Ares from taking the fight seriously.

 

When she got about ten yards from Lisanna, the ground beneath her became a blur. Dust flew as she picked up pace. Five yards, three yards, one yard, she was on the girl in a flash.

 

A blindingly fast swing went low. Sand swirled behind in the vacuum created by the blade. If not for having seen Ares fight before, Lisanna would not have been able to stop the club of a sword from smashing her left leg. Memory alone caused her to preemptively block there. Ares always went for the legs first. An immobile opponent is just a victim. She was lucky to have guessed the correct side. However, rather then receiving respite, or having a chance to counter, Ares’s flames enhanced sword was above her head faster then she move.

 

No choice! She was going to take a crack on the head. Abandoning any defensive maneuvers, Lisanna surged forward with an elbow as the sword hit her, but Lisanna’s strike continued and made contact with Ares’s chest.

 

“You b***h!” The infuriated phoenix swung her katana up into the jaw of the collapsing blonde, and the blow sent her flying back with sickening thud.

 

Anyone would have been out cold from the two-strike combo. Except, the girl never hit the ground. Instead she steadied her legs beneath her, and the sand gave way as she slid to a stop.

 

Memory of Ares attack patterns kicked in again, and she spun around while her fist carved its way through the air. In an instant a katana missed Lisanna’s twirling body by a hair, and then the fist connected to the back of Ares’s head.

 

That was as far as Lisanna could force herself, half unconscious from the two sword strikes she had already taken, she started to black out.

 

Her legs trembled, and her body fell forward. Black swirls filled her vision, and her knees felt the gritty sand beneath her. She would have completely collapsed if not for a sensation around her neck. Ares’s hand gripped her throat.

 

“I can’t let you fall that easy! Not after the humiliation of you having hit me!” She tightened her grip on Lisanna’s neck. “I’m going to mess that pretty face up so much that Kazuto won’t ever look at you again.”

 

The sand gave way as the flaming sword plunged its way deep into the ground beside Ares. After relinquishing the sword, the flames vanished. However, a flaming fist quickly replaced them. Ares threw a punch fast enough to cause a concussive wave in its wake. The helpless girl could only turn her head to absorb the blow. As quick as the strike had come, it was withdrawn and ready to be thrown again. This time, however, scarlet flames met yellow light. The wind kicked up from the impact blew red and silver hair.

 

The silver haired boy’s glowing fist stopped Ares’s own just inches in front of the intended target.

 

Kazuto’s face was etched with annoyance. “Enough already Ares.”

 

“K-Kazuto? What are you doing?”

 

“I can’t have you messing up my girl’s face. This fight is over.”

 

Both women cried in unison. “What do you mean your girl?”

 

Kazuto pulled back his fist and looked at Lisanna. “Tch. What a waste.” Then we walked away, leaving behind two flustered and confused girls.

 

Hiro was hidden behind a sand dune nearby. Having not had to act, he began to withdraw when he noticed Samakina not far from the fight. The ground around the teacher settled back down. Hiro left the ring knowing things were settled.

 

When he neared the front door of his dorm, he took a sudden turn east and continued on through the open field before him. Reaching the forest at the edge of the school grounds, he paused and examined a nearby tree. Confirming something, he continued into the foliage. The trees blocked out most of the daylight, and only a few golden beams shown through holes in their canopy. After a few minutes of walking, he reached a particularly large tree with a slash in it. He turned again and continued walking. Next he arrived at a large boulder that was cracked in half, and he turned again. Sounds of flowing water could be heard before he reached the source. Hiro entered a long narrow clearing with a river that was flowing next to an impressively tall mountain. The side of the rock of the mountain was glowing a soft gold. Shadows from the trees stretched longer than their actual height, and nearly touched the river. Hiro made to approach the river, but stopped shy of the waters edge. Instead, he moved to a small rounded boulder no wider than three feet. He moved it aside. Beams of light shown down the now revealed manhole. He climbed down the rope ladder attached to the side.

 

            It was dark out when Hiro returned to his dorm. However, everyone was still outside, and they were headed to the front of the school. Hiro followed the crowd until they came to their destination.

 

            The voice of a boy he did not recognize called to him. “Hiro, where have you been? You almost missed the seniors heading out.”

 

            He just looked at the unfamiliar boy and sighed. “Meh.”

 

            The head teacher for the senior class was down the path a ways with his class behind him. He was a short man with even shorter orange hair. His shirt was his skin. His baggy pants went down to his ankles where they hugged them tightly. A pair of wooden sandals made up his footgear. He would be the one to lead the class in their field training.

 

            Just as the unknown student had told Hiro, all the seniors who did not roll back were leaving with bags packed. They would spend the rest of the time until the exams training outside the school with their new teams.

 

            A depressed female voice reached Hiro’s ears. “Ugh…”

 

            Hiro looked to where the sound came from, and found Lisanna with a longing look in her eyes as she sighed. Todo, the best of the senior class, and his team had just passed them by. A light blush was evident on her face.

 

            The brown haired boy turned and headed back to his dorm.