I'd always had the habit of waking up earlier than everyone else—but this time, Kenta beat me to it. Figures. That jerk just couldn't let anyone sleep in peace. I hadn't known him long, but I already had the feeling he was going to stick around whether we liked it or not.
"Okay, rise and shine! Morning already—are you excited?" Kenta's voice filled the dorm, way too cheerful for this hour.
I squinted at him from my bed.
"It's four a.m. What the hell does this loser want now?"
Of course, the stupid grin plastered across his face told me everything.
I nudged Sosuke.
"Hey, Sosuke. Wake up. Kenta's here."
"Huh? Already?" He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"I don't think it matters," I muttered. "The fact that he's here means it's time for training."
Sosuke groaned, dragging himself upright. "Fine, I'm up. Sheesh."
"Good. Get ready and meet me at the training grounds," Kenta said. That's when I noticed something that made me freeze.
"Uh… why are you shirtless?"
He flashed that infuriating smile.
"Oh, right—almost forgot. Just wear the shorts I prepared for you guys. Nothing else."
My stomach sank. Yeah, he definitely wants to kill us.
We finished getting ready and made our way to the training grounds. The air was sharp, biting. Of course it was—it was four in the morning, on a hidden academy that had somehow existed atop Mount Takao for who knows how long. And there he was.
Kenta stood in the middle of the open grounds, completely unfazed by the cold. Not even a shiver. Just standing there like it was nothing.
Look at him… I couldn't help thinking. This guy is different. His body was carved, every muscle defined. We were the same height, but compared to him I was a lightweight. He looked like a joke when fully dressed—laid back, grinning, harmless. But once he stripped down, the joke disappeared.
"Zayne," he said, his tone calm, almost too casual. "Don't worry. This body isn't so hard to get. All it takes… is a lot of pain."
He glanced at Sosuke, then at me. "Basil's been working out. He's got more mass than you. So… what do you even do with your free time, kid?"
"Tch. Taunt me all you want—I'm not interested."
Sosuke crossed his arms, shivering. "Why are we even out here? In the cold? Shirtless?"
Kenta grinned. "Because it looks cooler that way." Then, stretching his shoulders, he said it without a hint of hesitation: "Anyway, I feel like beating both of you up today. Pick whatever fighting style you're good at."
"Boxing!" Basil shouted, his eyes lighting up.
"Wait—hold on!" I barked. "I never agreed to—"
"Too late," Kenta cut me off, his stance shifting. "We're already here. You're already ready. And we've got all the time in the world."
His smile sharpened. His whole presence shifted.
"Lesson number one…"
One second he was standing in front of me.
The next—he was gone.
And then—CRACK!
A heavy blow smashed into my face, faster than I could even process. My body lifted off the ground, sent flying through the cold morning air.
"—Never let your guard down."
I opened my eyes to sunlight slashing across my face. I swiped at it. My skull felt hollow, like someone had rattled a tin can inside my head. How long had I been out?
Kenta sat not ten feet away, cross-legged, like he'd been waiting for breakfast. Sosuke lay a little farther off, face down, unmoving.
"Good morning—again." Kenta's voice was flat, deliberately pleasant. He tilted his head, studying me. "Your incompetence. Can you feel it yet?"
Sosuke rolled over and lunged, throwing a halfhearted punch. He lasted five seconds before Kenta flicked his wrist and pinned him in place like a careless teacher correcting a student. Sosuke hit the dirt and cursed, breath fogging in the cold.
Kenta didn't raise his voice. He listed it off, slow and clinical. "Your senses are dull. Your reactions are sluggish. Your body is fragile. You'd be killed by even the weakest Hyoitai."
The words landed like stones.
Silence stretched. The wind moved through the trees. My hands ached where bone met earth. My throat tasted of copper.
Sosuke pushed himself up, eyes blazing. "That's why we're here, right? To change that. Right, Zayne?"
Something in me uncoiled. Anger first—sharp and stupid and immediate. The thought that burned hotter than anything else: punch Kenta in the face.
I forced a breath, forced the answer out. "Yeah." It came short. Hard. "Yeah, you're right."
"Just words won't get you anywhere," Kenta said, his voice cutting through the cold air. "You two might've been born with high Ruh essence, but that doesn't make you Ruhbinders. Being a Ruhbinder is harder than you think. It's not about flashy techniques or speed or strength. Your mind is on the line, too. The things I've seen out there—the monsters we fight—they'll shatter you if you're not ready. Every Hyoitai has abilities we can't predict. You go in blind. If you're not mentally prepared to adapt, you'll die. End of story."
He looked at both of us, the grin gone from his face. "Right now, neither of you is mentally or physically ready. I can train you. I can break your bodies and rebuild them. But the choice to accept this life—that's yours."
I clenched my fists. "By the way… how did you even determine we have high Ruh essence?"
Kenta didn't even blink. "Instinct."
"That's horseshit and you know it. You can't just look at someone and decide something like that."
Kenta leaned forward, eyes sharp. "Would I waste my time training you here if I were lying? Do I look like I've got time to play with kids?"
Sosuke's voice cracked the silence. "I've always been worthless in my parents' eyes. Nine months wasted—that's what I've always felt like. They're too busy with their business to care." He looked at the ground, then up at Kenta, and for the first time there was fire in his eyes. "But hearing you say I've got something rare… something worth training? That's enough for me to trust you. At least here I'm worth something."
The air felt heavier after he spoke. Even the trees seemed to lean closer, as if the mountain itself was listening.
Sosuke's words hung in the air, raw and jagged. For a moment, nobody moved.
Kenta finally exhaled, slow and heavy. His usual grin softened, just slightly, the kind of shift you'd miss if you blinked.
"…Good," he said at last. "That's the first thing you've said that wasn't useless." He stood, stretching like the weight of the moment hadn't touched him. "Hold onto that feeling, Sosuke. It'll be the only thing keeping you alive when everything else wants you dead."
Then, just like that, the grin returned. He clapped his hands together, the sound echoing across the empty training ground. "Alright! Break's over. Get back on your feet, both of you. If you're serious about this, I'll make you stronger—even if it kills you first."
"Remember what I told you about Djinn Energy and Ruh Essence?" Kenta asked, pacing across the frost-covered ground.
"We can train your bodies. Run, bleed, rebuild muscle a hundred times. But even then, you'll still crumble against a Hyōitai. Why? Because Djinn Energy tips the scales."
He reached into the small pack resting by the training post, pulled out an apple, and rolled it casually in his hand.
"Djinn Energy boosts your stats—strength, speed, reflexes. But there's a ceiling. If the both of us channel it, I'll still be better than you cause before I was still faster and stronger. It boosts your physical capabilities it doesn't give you new ones. So if you were never fast to begin with even if you channel the energy you won't be fast.
The apple gleamed red in the morning light. Then Kenta's hand glowed faintly. In seconds, the fruit blackened, shriveled, and collapsed into ash that scattered on the wind.
"That," he said, wiping his fingers clean, "is what happens to your body if you push Djinn Energy raw."
Sosuke swallowed hard. I couldn't even look away.
"But… then how do we use it?" I asked.
Kenta's gaze sharpened. "Ruh Essence. It's the shield. You focus it, coat the part of you channeling Djinn Energy. Without it, your own power eats you alive.
"Let me demonstrate how this works." Kenta clenched his fist, "I'm going to channel Djinn Energy into my arm… watch closely."
He strode toward a thick cedar at the edge of the training grounds. For a second, the air seemed to ripple around his body. Then—boom! His fist connected, and the entire trunk split apart, splinters flying as the tree collapsed like paper.
"That," Kenta said, shaking the dust from his hand, "is the difference Djinn Energy makes. With it, you're abilities are not human anymore." His eyes narrowed. "But don't get cocky. Raw power is useless if you don't understand your own foundation."
He turned back to us, his voice sharp. "First, you'll learn to command your Ruh Essence—the core energy that flows inside you. Until you master that, you're not even ready to touch Djinn Energy."
The ground where the tree had stood still smoked. If that had been me instead of the trunk, I'd already be dead.
"Now, mastering your Ruh essence comes down to one thing—concentration. And the best way to sharpen concentration is through discomfort. Come with me. There's a waterfall nearby."
"You mean Biwa-taki?" I asked.
"Yeah." Kenta grinned. "And don't worry about convincing anyone to let us use it. Everything around Mount Takao is under the organization's control. You think we're running this academy on our own? No—we're just the soldiers. The main families in Japan handle everything tied to the Ruhbinders. They fund us, they cover for us, and they make sure we stay invisible. Some areas are completely restricted, and there are cloaking techniques that hide this academy from the outside world. To normal society, we don't even exist."
He laughed like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Sosuke scratched his head. "So basically… the world's been living in a lie, and we're just finding out now. Great. Totally not terrifying at all."
The path from the academy to the waterfall felt like stepping out of one world and into another. The stone steps wound down through a dense stretch of forest, sunlight breaking through the canopy in scattered beams. The sound of rushing water grew louder with every step, mixing with the chorus of cicadas and the crunch of gravel underfoot.
Kenta led the way, hands in his pockets, humming like this was just a casual stroll. Meanwhile, Sosuke kept muttering about how early it was, dragging his feet with every step.
"Why do I feel like this is just another excuse for you to torture us?" he groaned.
Kenta glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "Because it is."
"Great. Fantastic. Can't wait."
I stayed quiet, but inside, I couldn't shake the mix of nerves and anticipation.
If this was training, it wasn't going to be anything ordinary.
We reached a clearing, and the air changed—the forest opened up to the sight of Biwa-taki. A thin veil of mist hung in the air as the waterfall crashed down from above, pounding against the rocks before spilling into a pool of crystal-clear water. The roar of it drowned out everything else, a constant reminder of its force.
"There it is," Kenta said, finally stopping. "Your new training ground. Don't get too comfortable".
For a moment, even Sosuke stopped complaining. The three of us just stood there, staring.
"Your training is simple," Kenta said, his tone razor-sharp. "Stand under the waterfall and endure. Don't fight the water, don't even think about it. Forget the cold crushing your body. Forget the weight hammering your shoulders. Instead—focus inward. Feel your Ruh essence. Trace its flow. Feel how it fuels every nerve, every breath, every heartbeat."
He turned away, already walking back toward the trees. "I'll check on how Kamilah is handling Aoi. Get to it. Start now."
The roar of the waterfall grew louder with every step. Mist clung to our skin, icy before we even reached the base.
"Under it," Kenta ordered, his arms folded. "Don't resist the water, don't whine about the cold. Focus inward. Find your Ruh essence or get crushed trying." With that, he turned and walked off, leaving us to the torrent.
Sosuke shot me a look—half nerves, half fire. "Guess we're doing this."
We stepped forward together.
The instant the water slammed onto me, I thought my spine had snapped.
My knees buckled, my teeth rattled, and I couldn't even breathe without choking on the spray. The cold wasn't just cold—it was knives stabbing every inch of my body. My skin burned, my muscles locked up, and the weight of the water crushed my chest.
"D-damn it—!" Sosuke's shout was ripped away by the roar. He tried to square his stance, but the force slammed him to his knees.
I wasn't much better. Every second under that waterfall stretched into eternity. Concentrate? On Ruh essence? I couldn't even feel my arms. My body screamed at me to get out, to run, to quit.
And for the first time since training began, I understood what Kenta meant. This wasn't training. This was breaking us.
My body finally gave in. The roar of the waterfall vanished into a dull, suffocating silence as I collapsed forward, swallowed by the torrent. For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was still breathing or already drowning.
The last thing I saw before the dark closed in was Sosuke's hand reaching for me, shaking, desperate—then both of us were buried under the crushing weight.
If this was training… we were already dying.