Max Tsukasa Soliloquy:
At the start, I cried, I cried because I was left by myself. Ever since my birth, the one thing I have known best is: loneliness.
Growing up in such a horrible environment caused me to throw away my qualities as a human being. I have no knowledge of how love is felt, I only copy it to at the very least get a similar feeling. Now that I think about it, it is the human unique ability that wanted that, nor the logic I have known all this time.
I was raised in the institution called: 'the Black Asylum.' The institution where children are treated as tools for wars, political gains and any more.
The most horrifying part about it is that: the man who created this environment is the man who I call father. Rushed Tsukasa, the man responsible for many tragedies.
Rial's parents, Kakashi's family, Eigi's father, Ai's mother. Everything bad that has happened always has something to do with him. And that makes me look exactly like him.
That man and I have many things in common but there is a significant difference between us. And that is the ability to extend your hands to the people in need, I have mastered that ability.
But in the end, I know one thing that can't be denied, I am a person born from trash and that is the undeniable truth.
~~~~~~~
The exam has officially begun:
The exam began at nine o'clock in the morning. But before that, the school took critical procedures to protect the student. The school took each of the known students names and decoded them. They took the first letter of your name and counted the letters that followed.
Like mine: Max. They took the M and added 2; which refers to the 'ax' at the end. This procedure was done by each student. Kakashi, Eigi, Rico, and Eiichiro all came up with nick names for all of us. Though, the school had given us decoded names, they all proceeded to call each other by their nick names.
Around eight fifty, I went out and joined the others at the meeting place. When I arrived there, only Eigi and Kakashi were there.
"Only you two are here?" I asked.
"Yeah, the others are coming but it will take about 5 minutes. Since, the meeting starts at nine."
I blinked, waiting for him to say it was a joke. Because, there was no way they would get here exactly at nine o'clock. I turned again, this time my eyes met Light.
He was crossing the road, while a large sized carriage came after him. The driver was asleep and the magic system that could deactivate the carriage was the same person.
"Hey, watch out!" Eigi screamed as he took off in his direction.
"Light!" I screamed.
Kakashi activated his star eyes and stared at the Light ready to teleport to him. Eigi did the same thing with his pure eyes Rial had given him earlier.
But, just as the carriage got near him, I sensed someone grabbing Light and throwing him crossed the road.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Light screamed out as his body hit the pavement.
Moving closer into the sun, the person's face became visible. It was Rico who jumped in at the last second to save him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Are you insane! You threw me out of the road and now you are asking me if I am okay... You know dam well that I am not!" In extreme anger he shouted out.
Watching him carefully, I noticed that he had ear-phones in his ears the whole time. And, that is why he didn't understand why he threw him off the road.
Walking calmly, Rico stretched out his arm and pointed at the now crushed carriage that was about to hit him. Looking at it, Light's face seems to freeze. He was shocked that someone had saved his life and a moment later he insulted him.
Both Kakashi and Eigi were shocked about how fast Rico had moved in that last moment. They both rushed to them, so did I.
"Are you both fine?" Eigi asked curiously.
"It is fine. Everything is fine thanks to um... What is your name?" He asked all of us, but his attention focused on me and Kakashi the most.
Ah! So all that was just part of the game huh!
"Sorry, but for safety reasons we must protect ourselves. But if you want call me: M 2." I said.
"And you can call me E 7." From Light's back, Eiichiro came, waving his hand at us.
Light looked puzzled but Kakashi continued. "The name is K 6, and this guy is E 3."
Wanting to know more but our decoded name, Light immediately started guessing the full meaning of each name.
"Oh! Now I see. The first letter is the beginning of your names and the rest are the numbers, right." He asked.
Not wanting to give him anymore information, Rico turned and announced that we were running late.
"Guys need to go, the master has been texting me unstop."
"Alright then. Late Light."
We all said and left the area.
~~~~~~~
Building a house for the homeless:
Eigi's perspective:
After we escaped. We hurriedly rushed to our assigned place, but it was nine thirty three o'clock in the morning. Usually, I would arrange everything on time, and as so, I was never late to anything.
But this was a special circumstance that the enemy created for us, luckily we all caught up on time.
In this exam, the school wants us to help the villages here with their personal problems, political problems, and social dynamics. These were the first tasks given to us, this exam will also last for 2 months, since all the fixing will take that amount of time.
The place was: area C 4. It was a very small part of the kingdom that is very poor. Their houses were bricks made, which were held together by sticks and concrete. Our first task was to help them get new places.
"What do you think we should do?" Asked Eiichiro.
"Shouldn't we just ask them for permission to break their current home and build a new one for them." Rico offered.
"Or, we can just offer them good advice on how to build the village before getting to business." Kakshi said.
"And you Eigi?" Max asked.
"I am thinking, shouldn't we just split the job into two groups. You know, two are making the building, while the others are solving the villagers personal problems." Without a moment of thought, I offered this.
"Nope." Immediately they all voted against me.
"While we need to work insanely fast, that doesn't mean we should just rush and start. We should think and analyse everything carefully." Max offered his piece of advice.
"So, we should just ask the villager if they want a new home, and if they say yes then we destroy the current one and build a new one." Kakashi narrated.
We made our way to the villagers, who looked extremely tired and exhausted. We went to their head and requested if we could do some reconstructions for them.
"We will be delighted, if you do that for us." As the news got the head of the tribe, it could be said that" 'he was the happiest man alive.'
All the other members who were troubled and sad a moment ago, all stood and gave us a bow of respect. The village had been ignored by the government for a very long time. The state of the village even says so, and that was why the villagers were so happy when they heard they would be getting a new reconstruction.
"So, what do you think we should do first." Max asked all of us.
"Shouldn't we just build new houses for them." Eiichiro said lazily.
"I think we should ask for their opinions on how they want their new homes to look like." Rico offered.
"That would be a good idea Rico, but remember, we only have a small plot to build on. So, I think we should plot three housing apartments." I offered.
"I think I will go with Eigi's idea." Said Kakashi.
"Yeah, Eigi idea is the best but we will ask the villagers how they want it built."
"No. Don't worry, I had already prepared the necessary information from the villagers themselves." Rico handed a report of the information.
Max read the information carefully and chose a design. Two tall buildings, with metal nets around every balcony, to prevent any accident. Around them would be many stores that surround the place. This will also increase workers in the village.
It was twelve o'clock when the discussions were finished, but we decided to eat first then we would get to work.
Around twelve forty two o'clock, we were finished with our break I was getting to work. We walked out every villager in the village and after making them grab every important thing to them, Max and Rico used earth magic to drag down everything.
The ground was very very messy, there was dust in the air. Using wind magic Eiichiro dealt away the dust that covered the area.
"Let's get to work." Max said.
Using earth astral arts, I plotted the two main buildings foundation. Immediately two large rectangular shaped plots appeared. Max combined earth and water to concrete which he filled into the foundation.
Since, the villagers couldn't sleep outside, we needed to work as fast as we could. So, that meant we all should use our abilities to the fullest. It was also getting closer to four o'clock.
"Air magic." Rico said as he dried off the concrete Max created to build the layers of the building.
Rico and Kakshi used earth magic to properly structurized the layers, the foundation and most importantly to strengthen the building. Max and Rico then used earth magic to use metal for the roof. They finished the roof in about forty five minutes, since they had cut and shaped them. Finally the buildings were ready for people to live in but still needed some finishing touches, but that would be done tomorrow.
"The work is not even considered done yet, this is only five percent. Remember, we have to catch that person. He has been dancing for way too long." Max reminded us of the true intentions of this exam.
~~~~~~~
Rial's training with Alphia and Sera:
Rial's perspective:
Ever since my fight with Uzuma, Sera and Alphia. People whom I have naturally gotten closer to asked me to train them. For Alphia, it was understandable that she wanted to train herself so as to not put the people dear to her in danger.
But, when it comes to Sera, I honestly have no idea what goes on in her mind. I walked to them and started training with them. The thing about our deal is that: they train me on my charkra and mana control. While I teach how to use a sword, fight with position and how special eyes work.
Unwavering Spear Upgrade:
"Master Rial. Focus your charkra on the palm of your hand." Sera said as she gave me instructions on how to increase the size of my unwavering spear.
Infusing charkra to my palm, I felt a deep burn pain. My body began to shake violently. Using light astral art and the space within the outer part of our solar system, I managed to change the form of my unwavering spear.
By using light astral art and solar energy, I have been able to create a new form of unwavering spear.
"I gotta say, being a Karasuki is incredible. Your learning ability and your natural talent are top-notch." Said Alphia.
"Why did you say?" I asked her.
"Well. We began working on this last week and we have managed to finish it off in a week, isn't that insane Sera?"
"It sure is. But what did you expect from the descendent of Makiry Karasuki." Sera said.
"I am jealous. I really wish I was as talented as you master Rial." Alphia pouted, waiting for me to show her affection.
"You are great in your own way Alphia. You are dependable, trust-worthy and very kind." I said.
I walked closely to her, then I stretched out my hand to grab her face. At first, she looked very happy but after turning to see me, her face immediately changed to a deep shade of red. She was embarrassed to the point of heading me in the head.
"Ouch!" I yelled out.
"So, that was why you rejected Uzume!" With a cunning smile, Sera narrated.
"Huh...?" We both immediately split up.
"You like my sister Alphia, master Rial?" She asked.
"No, that was her punishment for making jokes while we were learning." I said.
She turned to Alphia, formed a sign and smacked her in the head.
"Ouch!" She yelled out.
"That is for disturbing class." Sera said.
I looked on my phone to see the time. "Eight twenty two."
"Guys, grab a sword, we are about to learn the 'Karasuki sword style.' today."
~~~~~~~
Sera's arc:
I swung my sword to the left, which Sera and Alphia also did. Then, I swung it sideways, in mid-motion, I let go of the sword and grabbed it back with my right hand. Alphia and Sera also followed my movement but a little sluggish
I followed up with, absorbing my mana into my practice sword and later releasing the energy for impact.
"Boom."
The impact caused a loud energy burst, but didn't put anyone in any sort of trouble.
Alphia also absorbed her mana into her sword, she released the energy a moment later, which caused the same raw output as mine.
I raised my hand up and gave her a high five.
Sera also did the same process but her raw output was as low as a pregnant turtle. It wasn't loud nor powerful. Any monster would survive such a weak attack.
Now that I see it, Sera has a really low mana pull. She also seems stressed but she acts like a cool headed sister. I also heard from Alma that she has a big brother that is very special in the village. I have never met him though.
"Wow! Sera, that was amazing, I have been trying to master that attack for a while now." I said trying to comfort her.
"Huh! But it is so weak." She said as her face displayed a deep sign of frustration.
"That attack alone could kill a dozen monsters. What it does is, it blocks someone mana pull to weaken their magic so much that the person can't move until five hours." I lied to her but it will come in handy one day.
Sera forced a smile and excused herself. Knowing that the trouble is coming Alphia looked at me.
"I will fix this, don't worry about it."
It was about seven o'clock when I went out again. I had been watching Sera for the whole day, waiting for her to come out alone but she didn't, until now.
I slowly approached her while she stood at the balcony. Tears dropping down her face. She looked very stressed, like someone has been punching her the whole time.
"How are you doing," I asked.
Immediately, she began to clean her face but forgot that I had already seen everything.
"You don't have to worry about that will me." I said.
"Huh... What do you mean?" She asked.
"I wonder?" I replied. "You can't hide in the shadows forever, you know. One day you would have to open the windows for the light to pass through."
She kept quiet, her knees began to shake.
"I can't do this any more." She muttered silently.
"I know that."
I knelt down beside her and hugged her. For a moment she hesitated by as time passed she accepted it. Tears still flowed down her face but this time more emotions were felt.
In all honesty, Sera's pain was completely different from Alphia's pain. Sera never had a difficult life, only a comparison one. From birth, she had been constantly compared to her older brother, who was considered a genius. From personal life and public life, her brother seems to have overpowered her.
But the night-mare was gone, when she was offered to live with me. Back then we both didn't know each other as much. But we made it work by helping each other and getting to know each other.
Her inability to perform better was also shown when I learned the new technique that fast. Even Alphia managed to recreate the technique I taught both of them. She has been stressing on how to catch up with us but all she needed was a little push.
"Like I said, the technique you messed up. It did really create a new attack that closes someone's mana pull." I said to her.
"Huh..."
I created an ice wall filled with a little bit of mana.
"Now use the same technique you used before."
Sera closed her eyes, focused on her charkra, then converted it into mana. She absorbed the mana and filled it into the sword. Then she released the energy with a slicing style.
The ice wall immediately broke into pieces.
"Wow!" She yelled out.
"See, I was right."
Beaming with happiness, Sera leaped into the air and hugged me closely, thanking me.
Even though, I hadn't done anything special, she was still thankful.
The person using the death ball again tried to use Sera emotions to uncover my name or at least my emotions.
Since, I showed no emotions, and Sera also didn't reveal my name. He completely failed.
Just three days ago, Sera was fine with her own strength, but after a day went by, she somehow wanted to train. This would work, if the master mind somehow convinced Sera to train and finally surpass her older brother. The person also knew how weak and emotional she was. Then, the person planted all the seeds to reveal my identity.
Luckily, I figured out some of the details in time, then she connected the dots with me.
Throw everything you have at me, I'm ready.