Strength

The school bell rings, and the classroom is filled with cheers as the students prepare to pack in all their things. I yawn, having done my best not to fall asleep for the past hour or so. I stuff my notebook into my backpack, and I give my arms a quick stretch. I turn to the table on my left as I do.

The girl who usually sits next to me didn't come today. I stare at it for a moment to let my eyes work, and I grimace as a jumble of information pierces through my head.

Kiryuu Aika. That's her name. Not quite an acquaintance, but not quite a stranger either. Just someone who sits next to me.

There's something…odd about her. I can't quite put it into words, but there almost seems to be an invisible tie between me and her. 'Kiryuu Aika and Hyoudou Issei are destined together', is the sort of feeling I have. It's not anything romantic or anything, just that she and I will often find one another, whether we want to or not.

Now that I think about it, that's probably the weird pull I also feel from my parents and my big sister. Hmm.

I wonder where she actually is. The teacher didn't mention where she was. Is she sick or something? I would've used my eyes more, but staring at her desk can only give me so much. Aika hasn't touched her desk today. My eyes can't actually tell me something it can't directly grasp.

It's the one limitation my eyes have. The Eyes of God can tell me a lot about Aika, but since Aika hasn't touched her desk today, the desk hasn't 'interacted' with her, and so the desk can tell me nothing about how she's doing today.

I frown. I hope she's alright.

I sling my backpack onto my back and leave the classroom. Kuoh Elementary's a pretty small school. It's pretty new as well, built just a few years before. It's honestly better this way. I've always hated large schools. They're too loud, and being in a popular school doesn't really help you learn better. I'll be happy if Kuoh remains the quaint little town it is today.

(Years later, I'll look back on this and strangle myself.)

I pull out my shoes from my locker and slip them on. And as I did the day before, I begin making my way to the forest instead of heading home. I've again told my mother that I'll be coming home later than usual. She agreed, thankfully, but I can tell she's becoming slightly suspicious.

I'll have to stop doing this for a while, or find some other way.

I suppose that just means I'll have to make the most of today.

Honestly, I wish I stuck around in the forest a little longer yesterday. I could've absorbed more Primal Energy or something. But I was unused to the pain, and by the time the excitement wore off all the adrenaline had faded. I'd gone straight home, and I fell asleep the moment my head touched my pillow.

It'll be different this time. It'll still hurt, but at least I'll know that it hurts.

Soon I find myself back in that forest, standing right next to the tree I nearly sapped dry the day before. It looks fine, physically at least. But I can see that it still hasn't quite regenerated all the Primal Energy I took from it. It'll take weeks before the tree fully replenishes itself.

I turn to the tree just left of it, and with my dulled butter knife I begin chipping. It doesn't take me as long to carve a hole this time. Not because of the butter knife, but because both my strength and endurance had shot up. Each strike chips into the wood without fail, and the aches and cramps I felt yesterday are nowhere to be felt.

In minutes, the 'wound' is made, and I grit my teeth as I slap a palm onto the bark.

Again, that searing pain returns as the flood of Primal Energy surges into my body. A tide of power moves into my veins, and it feels like the blood inside me has turned to lava. But I endure, grimacing as I keep a careful eye on the tree.

And once the tree's Primal Energy has fallen below a tenth of its original, I quickly pull my hand back. I reach into my bag, and I seal the 'wound' with a strip of duct tape I'd preemptively torn off. The Primal Energy stops leaking, and I take a breath in relief.

I turn to another tree, and in seconds I'm chipping into it with my butter knife. It's a little awkward trying to carve into the bark with only one hand, but I make do. It's easier this time. The well of power in my chest has grown once more, and I can only be amazed at just how much my strength has changed.

Hmm. I really should get some weights or something. Just to see how much my strength changes with every tree.

Soon the 'wound' is opened, and I press my palm onto it. The pain comes back, burning through my insides like hot coal. I suck in a pained breath as I begin to lean onto the tree. The pain's even worse this time. I should've used my other hand, but it's too late now. I just have to bear the pain.

Once the tree's energy falls below a tenth of itself, I quickly pull back and slap the hole with another strip of duct tape. The leak stops immediately, and I manage two steps back before I fall onto my back.

Everything hurts. I thought I could handle the pain. I thought knowing that it'll be painful will help me.

I'm wrong. I don't know if the pain's compounding or whatever, but I feel like I might die any second. The pain is excruciating; it feels like my fingers might fall off if I do anything.

But I won't stop. I can't. Not when something terrible lurks in the shadows around this town.

So I stand back up. I heave my breaths as I walk to another tree, and using the butter knife that's nearly gone flat, I begin chipping. It's even easier this time. Every stab tears off a chunk of the bark, and it takes only seconds before Primal Energy begins to leak. I manage a weak smile before I press my unused hand onto the 'wound'.

My insides explode in pain. That heat begins burning through my other hand, and I'm fine with that. But the rest of my body feels like it's seconds away from exploding. But I don't pull back. I grit my teeth together as tears pool in my eyes.

It hurts.

It hurts a lot.

But I don't pull back. Because I know this will only help in the long run. It's better to experience this pain now than to have it bite me back later. Suffering must always come before the end, lest I be dragged to hell.

I know that. It's something I learnt the hard way.

Time seems to slow to a crawl, but eventually the tree's Primal Energy falls below its critical level. I gasp as I wrench my hand away, and with what little energy I have left I pull another strip of duct tape and slap it onto the tree's 'wound'. The leak halts, the natural flow returns, and I sigh.

I take a step back. Then two. And I manage another two seconds before my legs lose their strength. I collapse onto my back, writhing and gasping as pain burns through my body.

My eyes tell me I'll be fine.

The knowledge doesn't make me feel any better.

There's some sort of cracking I can hear inside my chest. It almost sounds like bubbles are exploding in my ribcage. But I don't know what it is, and I don't have enough energy to turn my head to look. I remain there, lying on the dirt as the heat slowly and painstakingly goes away.

Eventually, the pain begins to dull, and I wince as I slowly push myself back up. My hands are shaking all over, and my skin looks pale. It almost looks like I'm sick. I'm not, though. I'm just tired. And in pain.

I turn my eyes down to my chest, curious as to what that cracking sound was.

Information floods into my brain, and it takes me a second to go through what I just learnt. But when I do, my eyes go wide.

As a living being grows, their 'storage' of Primal Energy naturally increases. And to accommodate that, the body must change. Cells will die and be recreated better; recreated to hold more Primal Energy. Organs become stronger, more efficient. The synchrony of their body grows.

Being able to take in Primal Energy into myself isn't something the human body can naturally do. I've exceeded this young body's natural capacity for Primal Energy, and so it changed.

That popping sound? That was my body's cells literally exploding; destroyed and recycled to make stronger cells. It isn't anything too major, but my body is now stronger on a fundamental level. My bones are slightly thicker. My muscles are tougher. My organs are stronger.

I might still be eight years old, but my body certainly isn't anymore.

I sigh. Should've expected something like this to happen.

Oh well. That's another note to jot down in my notebook.

I give myself another minute before I stand up. Everything in my body aches, and I'd love nothing more than to lie down right now. But I can't, not without making my mother worried. So I quickly dust off some of the dirt on my pants, and sucking in a pained breath, I begin making my way home.