The air inside the gym was a mixture of the smell of iron, sweat, and determination, as if the place itself breathed with the will of those who frequented it. Its high walls were lined with long mirrors, and its floor, covered with dark rubber, seemed to absorb the echoes of old blows.
Ryoko stood at the front, dragging his bag with one hand and motioning to Reichi with the other to follow him. With a cheerful tone and a confident smile, he said
"Welcome to the Upper Mana Gym. There is no place for the lazy here, and there is no escape from beautiful pain."
Ryuichi followed hesitantly, his eyes wandering around the place. A group of warriors were training on the equipment, others were running on treadmills with mana pulse tracking technology, and a third group was sparring in a shock-absorbing glass arena.
Ryoko pointed to the weightlifting area and said:
"Here, you strengthen your body not only to withstand blows, but to create your own."
Then he headed toward a closed room, which Ryoko entered enthusiastically, opening the door forcefully:
"And here is the isolation room... where you train to control mana under extreme conditions, from high mana pressure to complete sensory deprivation. If you succeed here, you will survive there."
Reiichi stood in front of the room for a moment. Then Ryoko continued walking, his smile never leaving his face:
"And now to the arena."
They arrived at the main training hall—a square dedicated to trial battles, surrounded by transparent energy barriers. In the middle of it, a huge man was doing stretching exercises, while those present kept their distance out of awe.
Ryoko approached him and whispered to Reichi:
"That's Seguro... He doesn't talk to anyone, but everyone fears him. They say his mana overwhelms his surroundings even when he's asleep."
At that moment, Seguro's hand seemed to stop moving, and he slowly raised his head, his piercing eyes looking directly at Reichi, as if they were piercing his soul.
"Reiichi..." Ora whispered softly into his glasses, "...be careful of this person... The aura surrounding him is not only terrifying... it is distorted... as if it were caused by an endless internal conflict."
Reiichi froze in place for a moment, his heart pounding. But Ryoko, as usual, put his hand on Reiichi's shoulder and said with a wry smile:
"Welcome to your first steps into a world that knows no mercy."
Reiichi entered the changing room feeling as if his heartbeat was echoing throughout his entire body. His hand gripped the hem of his sports shirt, but it trembled slightly. He knew that the confrontation was coming... and that he would not be able to escape.
He calmly took off his clothes and put on his black training uniform with pulsating blue lines, specially designed to track the flow of mana in the body. He stood in front of the mirror for a moment, looked at himself with eyes full of anxiety, then raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"Am I ready for this...?" he whispered to himself.
Suddenly... Aura's voice came through his glasses:
"Reiichi... Your heart rate is high, and the concentration of mana in your limbs is unstable."
"I know that, Aura... I just... don't want to break down in front of him."
"Seguro is no ordinary person, but you're not that hesitant child anymore. You've faced worse... and survived."
Reiichi took a deep breath, tightened his gloves, and left the locker room.
On the field, Seguro had risen from his seat. The training towel had been removed from his shoulders, revealing his slender body charged with frightening energy. He stood firmly, his hands clasped behind his back, his features calm, but his eyes betraying his inner conflict.
Everyone in the hall stopped training... their eyes turned toward the arena. It was clear that any confrontation with Seguro was a rare... even legendary event.
Reiichi entered the arena with heavy steps. When he stood in front of Seguro, he felt as if he were facing a mountain, motionless, not breathing, but alive in every sense of the word.
Ryoko, from behind the barrier, smiled slightly and whispered:
"Show me, Reichi... what you've learned so far."
The gym instructor gestured with his hand:
"Begin... when you're ready."
Reiichi raised his arms into a fighting stance, but his left hand was trembling slightly. He felt the air around him grow heavy... the mana emanating from Seguro permeated the entire space... filling him with terror.
Seguro finally said in his deep voice:
"Your mana is fragile... but you stood in front of me."
He took one step forward... just one step, but Reiichi felt as if his heart had contracted violently.
"I want to see... if you have the essence of a warrior, or just the ambition of a child."
And then... Ora breathed into his ear and said:
"Reiichi... don't think... just fight."
And the confrontation began... under the gaze of that reclining beast.
Reiichi suddenly lunged forward, fast enough to confuse a normal opponent.
But Seguro didn't move. He remained in place.
Suddenly, as Riichi approached, Seguro raised his palm and simply blocked the attack.
Boom!
There was a loud crash, causing the ground to shake beneath the feet of the trainees standing on the sidelines.
Reichi quickly retreated, clenching his fist.
"That... wasn't a normal attack."
He said, feeling the resistance of the left hand that blocked him... It was like a wall of magnetic iron!
Seguro looked at him without changing his expression:
"An attack without intent... doesn't even cut through the air."
The second wave:
Ora said:
"Reichi... you have to change your angle, don't attack him directly, take advantage of the aura around him, don't face it."
Reichi took a deep breath and spun around Seguro's perimeter at high speed, moving in a circle with increasing speed.
Then he jumped up and released a burst of mana from his left foot to propel himself toward Seguro with renewed momentum, using the circular swoop technique he had learned from Ryoko.
But before he could get close, Seguro's image suddenly disappeared!
In a flash, he appeared behind him and whispered in a barely audible voice:
"Repeating other people's techniques... doesn't scare me."
A light mana slap hit Riichi's back and sent him rolling on the ground.
Reichi fell, moaning softly, but he was not defeated.
He slowly stood up, his hand on his side.
Ryuko, from behind the barrier, did not intervene... but muttered:
"Come on, bring out what you've learned from everyone who has passed through your life..."
The next stage: switching between speed and concentration
Reichi adjusted his breathing.
He began to calmly integrate his mana, focusing only on the nerves in his feet and hands, rather than distributing it throughout his entire body.
Ora said in surprise:
"Are you... performing the internal field distribution technique? That's a big step forward, Reichi!"
He lunged again, but this time it was different.
Quick, successive strikes with precise curves, as if his body were performing a stylized fighting dance.
Seguro blocked the first strike, dodged the second... but the third touched his arm.
Fssssss!
The mana exploded in the air, and with it, Siguro's head tilted slightly.
It was the first blow to hit him.
His eyes opened for the first time. He smiled faintly.
"Good... We're starting to speak the language of warriors."
He raised his hand, and a huge aura of black mana began to rise from his body... The entire hall shook.
Siguro was now... fighting seriously.
The light seeping in from the windows seemed dim in front of that aura, which formed a dark halo around him, almost resembling a cosmic envelope in its form.
Reichi felt something strange.
It was as if the pressure in the air had doubled. He could no longer breathe freely.
He took two steps back.
Ora whispered from inside the glasses:
"Be careful... This isn't just mana. This is... a rare type of advanced material called 'condensed shadow,' which can only be released by warriors who have undergone rigorous training in the shadow dimension."
"The shadow dimension?!"
Ryuichi said to himself, his heart beginning to beat violently.
Seguro took a new stance. His body was still, but his arms were behind his back, as if he didn't need them.
He said in a calm, emotionless voice:
"You are a good fighter... but you lack something more important than strength."
Then, in an instant, he disappeared.
The wind picked up!
He appeared behind Riichi without him noticing, and his black fist hit him in the shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall of the hall.
Boom!
Dust scattered, and sparks flew.
Riichi sat on the floor, coughing, blood on his mouth, but he didn't drop his glasses... he didn't lose his determination.
He wanted to get up, but an inner voice told him:
"This is not enough..."
At that moment...
The person who had been sitting with his back arched, his head bowed, covered with a gym towel... slowly raised his head.
His eyes, shining under the curtain, focused on Riichi.
His face was not fully visible, but his eyes... shone with an otherworldly mystery.
Seguro rushed forward again, at an even faster speed.
He began to execute a series of attacks mimicking the "break balance" technique, a series of precise attacks designed to immobilize the opponent by disrupting their center of gravity.
Reichi dodged the first attack and barely blocked the second, but the third hit him in the stomach.
He stumbled backward and was about to fall, but... Ora shouted in his ear:
"Focus! Follow the mana line coming from his left, keep it in your field of vision, then jump backward!"
He did so immediately and escaped a deadly attack.
An inner scream erupted from him:
"Enough! I will no longer be a spectator in my own life!"
He gathered what remained of his mana and summoned a new offensive technique inspired by Ryoko... but he added his own touch to it:
"Double Reflection Flash"
He jumped high, then spun his body rapidly, generating a burst of mana from both ends and causing a sudden rush of air and energy toward his opponent.
Seguro's eyes darted quickly...
and he felt a light blow pass close to his neck.
He stopped. For a moment, it looked like he was going to smile.
But suddenly... he disappeared again.
Before Reichi could react, Seguro's palm appeared on his chest, and with a single movement, knocked him to the ground.
Reichi was breathing heavily.
Ora was silent... for now.
Seguro stood over him and said:
> "Perseverance alone is not enough... Next time, let your will precede your movements."
However, there was something respectful in his eyes.
Ryoko approached from afar, clapping lightly.
He said in a cheerful tone:
> "Nice... You lasted longer than I expected, but it seems that this gym likes to break bones before building champions."
Reiichi, completely exhausted, could barely stand on his feet.
His face was covered in bruises, his breathing was ragged, and every muscle in his body screamed in pain... but his eyes did not dim.
Seguro didn't stop.
He didn't warn him. He showed no mercy.
On the contrary... his features grew harsher, as if his opponent wasn't human, but a test that had to be crushed.
Ryuko, on the other hand, shouted sharply:
> "Stop, Seguro! This isn't a fight to the death!"
But Seguro didn't turn around, instead muttering to himself:
"The weak don't climb... they just shout from afar."
And he lunged again...
---
Ora, from inside Reichi's glasses, analyzed every step, every blink, every breath his opponent took.
> "Reichi, a three-stage composite attack is coming, impossible to dodge at your current speed! Jump to the right! Then duck down! No — change course!!"
But... his body did not respond.
A terrible heaviness seemed to bind him.
He was struck again.
Then once more... and a third time.
Blood began to splatter on the floor of the hall, and the sound of cracking bones echoed throughout the room.
Reichi's shirt was torn, his hands trembled, and he could see nothing but shadows before his eyes.
Ora screamed:
"Stop! Stop, you madman, you're going to kill him!"
At that moment...
Seguro rose into the air, and a dense black ball of mana formed in his right hand, vibrating as if it contained a world of hell inside it.
He said in a low voice, as cold as a moonless night:
> "Disappear."
And he unleashed the technique.
A black flash rushed toward Reichi's exhausted body...
Everyone in the hall froze.
Ryoko opened his eyes wide.
But before the blow reached Reichi's body...
It collided with a single human palm that suddenly appeared in front of him...
Boom!!!
The sound of the collision echoed through the hall, and dust rose as if a storm had broken the wall between life and death.
When the dust cleared, everyone saw...
The person who had been sitting the whole time, his head covered with a towel, was now standing.
His hand, which had blocked the attack, was stretched forward.
He stood silently, his body leaning slightly, his features still unseen... But he had destroyed Seguro's technique with just one hand.
Seguro took a step back, looked at him, and said slowly:
> "You... What...?"
But the man did not answer.
Instead, he turned to Riichi, who was lying on the ground, and said in a very low voice:
> "Don't die... Not yet."
Then he turned his gaze back to Seguro and said in a tone filled with authority:
"That's not how you test someone with unstable mana... If I hadn't intervened, you would have broken him forever."
The hall fell completely silent.
Then he turned to Riichi, who was kneeling on the floor, and smiled as if they had known each other for a long time:
> "You there! Yes, you! Tell me quickly!"
Silence.
Reiichi, shocked, couldn't respond.
But Kaiga Shin approached him with heavy steps, leaned toward him, raised his left eyebrow dramatically, and shouted:
> "What kind of ending is ideal in your favorite novel?!"
Reiichi blinked... blinked...
He stammered, confused, then said in a low voice:
"I-I think... the ideal ending is for the hero to sacrifice himself to save the world...?"
Silence for two seconds...
Then—
Kaiga Shin burst into loud tears... Tears streamed down his contorted face as his lips trembled and his voice quivered:
> "What a great ending... It touches the heart...! What depth, my friend!!"
Everyone in the hall turned to look at the surreal scene... a mixture of surprise and confusion.
Ryoko whispered coldly:
> "Oh, no... He's hooked."
As for Riichi, he stared at Kaiga, wondering to himself:
> "What... did I get myself into?!"
Kaiga Shin raised his finger, pointing at Riichi's chest, and said enthusiastically:
> "From this moment on... you are the one I will chase in every training session! The battles will be fun with you! You who carry the heart of a true hero!"
Then he laughed loudly and extended his hand to help Riichi up.
> "But before I acknowledge you as my favorite future opponent... what's your name?!"
Ryuichi, still surprised, hesitates for a moment, then stands up slowly, catches his breath, and says:
> "Ryuichi... My name is Ryuichi."
Kaiga Shin repeats the name as if savoring it:
> "Ryu...ichi! Oh, what a beautiful name... It has a heroic ring to it... I like it!"
Then he puts his hand on his chest and pounds it with his fist, smiling as he says:
> "I am Kaiga Shin! In the world of mana, they call me 'the hammer of laughter'!"
He raised his eyebrows and added loudly:
"And the hammer has chosen to follow you, Ryuichi!"
Ryuichi, still stunned by this person's strange behavior, whispered secretly to Aura in his mind:
"Is this... normal?"
Aura replied lightly and analytically:
> "His energy... is not normal at all. His mana level is... astonishing. But his mind? Completely unstable."
Kaiga turned and began walking beside Reiichi as if they had been companions for years, then suddenly asked him:
> "Tell me, Reichi... Are you the type who prefers random fights... or formal duels that end with an explosion?"
Ryuichi:
> "...I still don't know what kind of battles I'm fighting."
Kaiga, laughing heartily:
> "Excellent! That means we have a lot to discover together! I won't leave you until I know all your answers, hero of the heroic ending!"
Reiichi is still stunned by Kaiga Shin's actions, trying to comprehend what is happening... until Kaiga suddenly says, turning his body to the side as if preparing for something important:
> "Ah, right... I forgot that I haven't finished the blow yet."
Reiichi raises his eyebrows, apprehensive:
"What blow...?"
Kaiga smiles broadly, looks around, and then shouts in his usual loud voice, waving his hand as if calling out to an old friend from the neighborhood:
"Hey! Seguroooooo!!!"
At that moment, the atmosphere freezes for a moment, and then...
Without warning, Kaiga grabbed the air with his hand, then swung his arm down with great force, striking only the air...
But the air was not normal. The place suddenly shook, and a wave of compressed energy, invisible to all but those who could sense mana, burst out of his fist and exploded violently toward Seguro!
Seguro, who was about to leave, felt the aura coming towards him, turned quickly, wrapping his arms around his body like a shield, and then took the full force of the attack... The energy exploded on him like a concentrated bombardment, and the ground shook beneath everyone's feet!
Light dust, silence, astonishment.
Then Seguro appeared, standing, breathing heavily, the ground cracked beneath his feet... but he did not fall.
Kaiga, with one hand on his waist and the other on his chest, laughed:
"Ho! You didn't let me down, Seguro. Just as I expected!"
Reichi, still panting from what had happened, said in a broken voice:
"Who... who are you, for heaven's sake? And what was that blow... I didn't see you hit anything!"
"This... is my special ability: Echo Crush."
There was a moment of silence. Reichi blinked twice, then said:
"Compression... what?!"
Kaiga pointed to his bulging muscles and said proudly:
"All you need to know is that every blow I receive... is not wasted. It is stored here, then released when it's time to have fun. For example?"
He raised his hand and clapped slowly, then let out a loud laugh:
> "The blow I just landed on Seguro wasn't new... it was just a little souvenir from previous fights."
Reiichi swallowed hard, looking at Seguro, who was still motionless, then back at Kaiga:
> "...You're not normal."
Kaiga gave a sarcastic military salute:
> "I took that as a compliment!"
Ora whispered in Riichi's mind:
> "I'm starting to feel more worried about the person who saved you... than the one who almost killed you."
After a few moments of laughter and strange tears that surprised everyone, Kaiga suddenly calmed down, wiped his face with his broad arm, and returned to stand upright.
He took a step toward Riichi, looked at him with eyes full of interest, and then said in a strangely calm voice compared to his usual tone:
"Ryuichi... Do you really want to become stronger? I mean, truly strong?"
Ryuichi, still trying to comprehend what had happened, said hesitantly:
"Yes... But I don't know how to start..."
Kaiga smiled confidently, then clasped his hands behind his head and said:
"I will train you."
Reiichi was shocked, his eyebrows rising in surprise, while Ryoko looked at Kaiga for a long time, then said with a sigh, placing her hand on her hip:
"Are you serious, Kaiga? No one can stand your methods."
Kaiga replied cheerfully and loudly:
"Did I ask for your opinion, Ryoko?! He and I will train together... under your watchful eye, strict teacher."
Then he turned back to Riichi and extended his hand:
"You have an interesting mana, but it's unstable. I'll teach you how to make it flow the way you want... even if it hurts."
Reiichi looked at him, then at Kaiga's outstretched hand, then at Ryoko, who showed no objection, only silence and observation.
Reiichi slowly stepped forward and reached out his hand, and before he touched Kaiga's hand, Ora whispered in his mind:
> "Are you sure? Training with this madman might kill you before it makes you stronger."
But he ignored his fear... and smiled. Then he shook Kaiga's hand firmly.
"I'm ready."
At that moment, the faint sound of drums echoed throughout the hall... that subtle hum from Mana Kaiga as he began his "melody"...
And that was the beginning of a new chapter in Reichi's journey... toward mastering Mana.