As they stepped out of the Flower Fence, a sudden gust of wind rushed past them.
Leaves skittered across the ground.
The wind grew stronger.
Everyone instinctively turned around.
The land behind them was gone.
The flower fence… the house… the gravestones…
Everything had vanished.
Only empty land remained, stretching quietly beneath the moving air.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Yamato stared at the space where the house once stood.
Then a slow smile spread across his face.
So that's why my mapping of this school is never accurate.
He walked over to Lumei and casually threw his left arm over his shoulder.
"He just pushed the whole thing into his Realm," Yamato said.
Lumei blinked in disbelief and looked back again at the empty land.
"Your master is terrifying…"
Yamato leaned closer to him.
"You know… your master reminds me of mine."
Lumei turned his head.
"Master? You had a master?"
Yamato sighed softly as they continued walking.
"Yeah."
He looked ahead at the forest path.
"We had training sessions and one day, I went for training… and then he wasn't there, he disappeared."
Lumei frowned slightly.
"Disappeared?"
"Just like that," Yamato said with a shrug. "And till today… I haven't seen him again."
Lumei stayed quiet after that.
Before the moment could linger too long, Chella spoke up from behind them.
"Sir," she called out to Ozaki, "how did you become the world's strongest?"
Ozaki glanced back.
Ichiha spoke next.
"Yeah… who supported you?"
Sora, walking with her hands behind her head, added,
"And where did you train?"
Ozaki exhaled slowly.
"I didn't have a special place to train."
The students listened closely.
"But I had a friend."
He paused.
"Regns."
They walked for a few seconds before he continued.
"Then to decide the strongest, i fought someone named Mr Black."
The name caught Yamato's attention immediately.
"He was absurdly strong," Ozaki continued. "The kind of strength that makes you question your own limits."
Ozaki glanced at the sky briefly.
"That was ten years ago. I'm certain he's even stronger now."
Yamato's eyes lit up.
"I'd like to cross fists with this Mr Black."
Sora laughed.
"You say that like it's a casual afternoon activity."
Chella folded her arms.
"You haven't even met him yet."
Lumei shook his head slightly.
"You really enjoy challenging monsters."
Ozaki tapped Yamato lightly on the head.
"Well… if you quadruple your training for the next five years, you might survive sparring with him."
Yamato smirked.
"You think of me less."
He stretched his arms behind his head.
"I appreciate that."
Sora snorted.
"Confidence or stupidity… still deciding."
Even Ichiha allowed the corner of his mouth to lift slightly.
The group continued walking through the forest, teasing and arguing along the way.
The mood stayed light.
For hours they talked, joked, and laughed.
---
By the time the sun began sinking behind the trees, long shadows stretched across the forest floor.
The group arrived at a quiet clearing.
Ozaki stopped walking and turned to them.
"We'll camp here tonight."
Everyone immediately dropped to the ground.
Lumei flopped into the grass with a loud groan.
"My legs feel like they've aged fifty years."
Sora smirked at him.
Ozaki simply walked into the forest.
"I'll be back."
The others began preparing the campsite.
Sora gathered dry twigs and crouched beside a small pile of sticks.
"Alright," she said confidently. "Watch carefully."
She struck two stones together.
Tiny sparks jumped between them.
She leaned forward and blew gently.
A faint glow appeared.
Chella quickly added thin sticks around it.
The glow turned into a flicker.
Then a flame.
The fire slowly grew stronger.
Sora grinned proudly.
"See?"
Chella added thicker branches as the flames crackled.
Nearby, Yamato sat beside Lumei, leaning back on his hands while staring up at the darkening sky.
The first stars had begun to appear.
The forest felt calm.
Peaceful.
Footsteps rustled through the trees.
Ozaki emerged from the forest.
A goat hung over his shoulder.
Its head was gone.
Yamato raised an eyebrow.
"One throw with your blade right?"
Ozaki dropped the animal beside the fire.
"Let's eat."
They got to work quickly.
Sora and Yamato held the goat steady while Chella cut the meat into pieces.
Lumei gathered long sticks and sharpened their ends with a knife.
Soon chunks of meat were skewered and held over the flames.
The smell spread quickly through the clearing.
Fat dripped into the fire with soft hissing sounds.
Chella carefully rotated a piece of meat—
—but it slipped.
The meat fell straight into the flames.
Plup.
Sora burst into laughter.
"Be careful, Chella!"
Chella glared at her.
"You try cooking while five people stare at you."
Yamato leaned closer to the fire.
"Well… that piece belongs to the forest spirits now."
Lumei chuckled quietly.
"A sacrifice."
Chella scoffed but continued cooking.
Soon everyone began eating.
Sora grabbed a piece too quickly.
"Ah—!"
She blew on the meat frantically.
"Too hot!"
Chella smirked.
"You rushed it."
Even Ozaki allowed a faint smile as he ate quietly.
By the time they finished, everyone was full.
They wrapped the remaining meat in large leaves and set it aside for the next day.
The fire continued to crackle gently.
Night settled over the forest.
For a while, the group sat in silence.
Then Ozaki spoke.
"You've all trained hard."
The firelight reflected in his eyes.
"But why do you train?"
"What are your goals?"
The question lingered in the air.
Yamato sat up first.
"I want to be strong."
Smoke drifted toward him.
He coughed slightly.
"Strong enough to get jobs that pay extremely high."
He looked down at the ground.
"So I can give my mom anything she needs."
His hand slowly clenched.
"Her betterment is my goal."
"I owe her everything."
Lumei smiled softly.
"That's a good goal."
He sat back and looked up at the stars.
"Mine is different."
"I want to learn everything about this world."
"Gods… their stories… their types."
His eyes shone with curiosity.
"Everything."
Sora stretched as she leaned back on the grass.
"I just want to be the best."
She grinned.
"Doesn't matter what it is."
"I want to win."
Chella crossed her arms, staring into the flames.
"I want to be the strongest."
Her voice was firm.
"I never want to feel powerless again."
"I want to protect the people I care about."
Then everyone turned toward Ichiha.
He had been sitting slightly away from the group.
Quiet.
Watching the fire.
"I want to defeat my uncle."
His voice was calm.
The fire crackled.
Yamato frowned slightly.
"Defeat your uncle?"
"Why?"
Ichiha didn't lift his eyes from the flames.
"Because he killed our family."
The clearing fell silent.
"All of them."
A faint breeze stirred the fire.
"I was four years old."
No one moved.
"He killed my parents… right in front of me."
The flames flickered across his face.
"After that… he took me in."
Ichiha's hands tightened slightly.
"But not out of kindness."
"He trained me like I wasn't human."
"I collapsed from the things he put me through."
His voice stayed steady.
"He didn't care."
"All he wanted… was someone fit to become his perfect experiment."
Chella's eyes hardened.
Sora stared quietly.
Lumei lowered his gaze.
Ichiha slowly raised his head.
"He forced me to become a Vessel."
"Even though I didn't meet the proper qualifications."
He rubbed his cheek.
"That's why…"
His fingers paused there.
"…tears run down my face whenever I use the god's power."
"It's the drawback."
A small breath escaped him.
"And it reminds me… of everything."
The fire popped softly.
No one spoke.
For the first time, they understood the weight Ichiha carried.
After a moment, Ichiha turned his gaze toward Yamato.
"By the way… during our fight."
"Your healing didn't work, right?"
Yamato nodded.
"Yeah."
"I noticed that."
"You did something, right?"
Ichiha shook his head.
"Yeah."
He looked directly into Yamato's eyes.
"It's because of the damage you had already taken."
Yamato blinked, surprised by the answer.
But he didn't press further.
The fire burned steadily beneath the night sky.
The forest remained quiet around them.
And without realizing it—
The distance between them had grown smaller.
Not just as casual friends.
But as people who finally understood each other.