Shiki P.o.v
"Not coming? Then allow ME!"
I rushed at Kim Suho before braking a few inches away from him and throwing a left hook at his body.
*Clang* Suho blocked it with the flat side of his blades. I slide forward, twist my shoulder and hip pushing him back a small distance.
'He's fast. But it's not his fastest. I can keep up with this.' Kim Suho, though, remembered the event that happened yesterday.
I want to limit myself in this spar, not using my magecraft. Only kept a small Reinforcement and Acceleration enough not to get badly injured. Bruises and cuts will heal and strengthen my body. Or else, my stats will stagnate, and I don't need that to happen.
I lower my posture, expecting an attack. But nothing happened.
'Doesn't look like he would ever attack first. So he's aiming for a counter-strike. I'll give him an opening.'
'Here he comes.' Suho inhales and tightens his grip on his sword horizontally, one thumb pressed on the flat side.
I slowly move toward him, finding another chance to strike. The moment I stepped into his attacking range.
*Whoosh* Kim Suho flicked his hand making a fast cut.
I pulled my hand back, yet the blade still managed to catch me.
"Good decision. I would have done the same if I were you." I commented, showing my respect for him.
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you," Suho replied.
"But do not think it would work twice." I smile at him.
"Of course, I wouldn't count on that." He answered with his own smile.
I change to the Philly shell stance, dropping my left forearm, creating a right angle with the upper arm, keeping the other near the face to cover my flank.
I dashed toward Kim Suho and slowed down like our first exchange, tricking him into the same block.
Suho, falling for the trap, holds out his sword, anticipating the hook again. This time he would try to do a counter.
Yet the hook never came as I raised my left elbow and straightened my arm to throw a whip-like attack to his face. A flicker jab.
Not expecting the switch in target, Kim Suho's head was slightly knocked back.
"Arghh."
Though the flicker jab is not a powerful attack, it did its job as a disorienting tool. I saw the opening and started closing our gap; furthermore, while throwing, cutting his escape.
Suho reacted in time and started dodging. Unfortunately, he could not retaliate or step away as any attempt to do so would result in a fist in his face. For now, he can only dodge, hoping for an opening.
As we go around with this game of cat and mouse. My hands start to redden as Kim Suho would occasionally use his sword to block instead of retreating.
When suddenly. *Creakkk.* I slipped.
"Shit."
'A chance.' Kim Suho jams the pommel at my forehead and gives me a downward slash.
"Urgh, damn it." I took the blunt head on, immediately put on a cross-guard, and tanked the incoming sword.
A *Crack* creaked out as the sword hit my forearm and came to a halt. I grab the blade with my non-blocking hand, pull myself in before kicking Kim Suho's ankle.
*Thud* Kim Suho widened his eyes before feeling a sharp pain in his leg.
"Arghh." He screams out.
I let go of his sword allowing him to fall. Suho gets down to his knee, still holding on to his weapons.
But before he could even move his hand. A fist has appeared in front of him. Kim Suho closed his eyes, bracing for the incoming pain.
...
"Good fight. You fight well, Kim Suho."
Suho opened his eyes and saw an open hand reach out to him. He was stunned.
"Are you ok?" I asked him.
"No, I'm ok. Good fight to you as well." Suho accepted my hand and pulled himself up.
"You've got a great foundation. Did you learn swordmanship before?" I asked.
"Yes, you can say that. But I can't seem to catch up with you. If you didn't go easy on me, I wouldn't be able to touch you at all."
"That's ok. You're strong. You'll get better in no time."
"I would definitely hope so. Thank you, Shiki."
"You're welcome."
I can see how this guy is considered a potential Heroic Spirit. Great strength, a cool heart, and soft kindness in his heart. No wonder.
"Wanna take a break?"
"Yeah. My leg is a little sting right now. Thank."
"Ok, we should go talk to our classmates."
I point my thumb toward a crowd of cadetsWewe had attracted their attention.
"You go ahead. I'll catch up later."
"Ok, take it easy. Suho."
"Yeah."
I walked to the crowd, leaving Suho behind. The cadet has a lot of energy, introducing themself while bombarding me with questions non-stop. Besides the one I knew beforehand, two cadets stand out.
Yi Yeonghan, a tall fighter who also happened to be Suho's best friend, asked me for advice on his fighting form. We spared for a few minutes, and like Suho, he couldn't keep up and was forced to defend.
The other was a special case.
"Shiki-san, Shiki-san. Are you also Japanese?"
Hazuki, a green twin-tailed sword-user, came from Japan. Her question came out of nowhere making me freeze for a second.
"Huh? Are you asking because of my name?"
"Yeah! There are hardly any Japanese here in Korea. It's felt kinda awkward meeting people who don't speak my language. So, are you also Japanese?"
How am I supposed to answer this? No, I'm actually from outer space.
*Sigh* 'This is fine. I can speak Japanese anyway, thank you Akasha. I might as well go along with her.'
"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, Hazuki-san."
"Yes, it's nice to meet you too, Shiki-san. It's good to have someone you can speak freely to."
"Yes, it is."
"Shiki-san, are you free today?"
"If there's no emergency, then yes, I am free."
"Great, let's grab lunch together. There are a lot of things I want to talk about."
"Ok, I'll see you then."
"Great, I'll see you later."
She reminds me a bit of Void Shiki, only more outgoing and naive. It has been a while since I last had a company.
Training slowly came to an end as I did not fight anyone else. I dismissed Shin Jonghak with the pretext that neither of us was in peak condition.
I had lunch with Hazuki while listening to her talk about her family and friends back in her hometown. After that, we went our way, but not before she put her smartwatch near mine, registering my ID in her contact list.
Since we're not allowed to fight outside of training, I head to the gym to work out. This world's gym facility is the same as mine, same machine, same dumbbells. The only difference is that the weight limit is higher for cadets to train themselves. I stay there for a while before returning to my dorm.
.
.
.
"I'm home," I called out to the emptiness that is my dorm.
My dorm is a temporary room given to me as I have yet to receive a rank. It was a small space with just two rooms, one bathroom, and a living room with no decorations.
I immediately left my food on the study and took a shower. I wiped myself and settled down in front of my desk.
My dinner was simple, fried chicken served with rice and stir-fried vegetables. I always get my protein with bones as those would help me later.
I finished my meal, separating the bone with my utensils before washing them and leaving them to dry. I then get back to my desk with a few items.
'This should be enough for one.' I thought to myself.
This is one of the many projects I wanted to do ever since I came into this world, but I haven't had a chance to yet.
Making a Mystic Code.
I didn't have any spare time or ingredients to make one. My given identity came with a check and admission to Cube. Yet there was no Visa or passports. So I was stuck in Japan for a while.
The check only covers my necessities for two months, given my admission, which made buying an already-made item to use as a mold impossible.
Without further ado, I get to work. With Alchemy and my blood as a conduit, I began my production with my few items.
.
.
.
"Phew, that should be it for the day."
I wiped my sweat as I looked down on the two Mystic Codes I made, a paring knife, and a pack of sticky notes.
"Since magecraft is a foreign term here, I should just call them mystic knife and mystic spellbook."
The mystic knife was made by superheating the metal before mixing my blood with it, which allows mana to be stored inside. It is also enchanted with Displacement on the handle so that I can call it back anytime.
The spellbook is just sticky notes inscribed with Runes. It was made with convenience in mind. Just find the spell you need, rip it out, and stick it on the surface. Anyone can use it as long as they inject the note with mana.
"It's late now, I should go to bed." I yawned, fell headfirst onto the mattress, calling it a night.
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.
.
The next morning.
Cube had various clubs as they encouraged cadets to enjoy their hobbies for mental health.
I joined the Traveling Club.
At first, I was against joining a club since most of them would place a burden on my downtime. But then I saw that most of the top cadets also joined, so I immediately signed up. A group of Cube's elite cadets traveling around the world would invite a lot of trouble. I wouldn't want to miss out on that.
After spending the rest of the week working out and training, it became Saturday before I noticed.
[Traveling Club's Announcement]
[There will be a short trip on Sunday to serve as a freshman orientation.]
The traveling club's orientation was today. The meeting place was 'Cube Portal Station', which connected Cube to Seoul.
I walked to the meeting place. Many of the familiar characters, namely Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan, Chae Nayun, and Yoo Yeonha were already present.
A lot of people have been glancing at me recently. Though they avoid eye contact.
'Wasn't the video of me hunting the Spriggan publicly viewable by all the cadets. And also defeating Kim Suho and Yi Yonghan in single combat. Could it be that people are afraid of me?'
'Forget about it. Let's just focus on today.'
"We'll have a theme for each trip. Since today's meant to be an orientation, we'll just have a free trip without anything complicated. But instead of traveling alone, we'll split into groups of two."
"Then we'll start by drawing lots."
"I'll go first." I put my hand in the box, drew out a slip with a name written inside.
"Kim Hajin."
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