Exodia 89: Your training

[On June 6th, on the remote Japanese Streia island of Altria, there were two major attacks. One, of which, was orchestrated by an Emperor. The first one was launched by Kyoka Sakai, the Student Council President of Altheria, who attacked the principal of Altheria, Weissmann Mori.

At first, she was taken into custody and she suffered many major injuries. Such injuries were a scarred eye, one arm sliced clean off and several scars on her torso, abdomen and arms, though, the latter seemed to be older scars. Kyoka Sakai was later released after a certain observation.

The second attack was done by the Pink Emperor. We received several eyewitness reports saying that she was attacking a male. Though, after, we also received that the male was beating the Pink Emperor and chopped off her hand.

People described this man as someone who was clad in black and manipulated shadows. So, as an educated guess, we assume that this person may be the Black Emperor. It is the only person who would make sense.

Anyway, in recent news, related to this topic, during the battle of Kyoka Sakai and Weissmann Mori, Weissmann Mori destroyed more than half of the school, resulting in around 150 deaths of both students and teachers. Of course, these are simply the confirmed casualties. Due to this event, Weissmann Mori is now on the run and wanted.

Well, that's it for...]

"Is this what you meant by a celebrity?"

I asked Astoria.

"Yup."

"I would be slightly happy if I wasn't seen in a negative light or if the news, as a whole, wasn't negative."

"So similar to Altair."

I feel like I'll be hearing that a lot.

Astoria reached for her suit pocket--her suit was on the back of her chair--and took out a small box. She sat back against her chair and crossed her legs.

She opened the box.

It was a box of cigarettes.

Astoria put one in her mouth and she put her arms on the arms of her chair. A blue flame lit her cigar.

"So,"

She took her cigar out of her mouth and exhaled.

"What will you do?"

"About what?"

"Okay, first off, let me say this. There'll be a new principal for Altheria. Weissmann is on the run. Do you still want to go live with your family like how you did before?"

"Of course. Why're you even asking?"

"I just wanted to know what you were. A man who's selfless or selfish. Though, I like both."

"What does it change?"

Astoria put the cigar back into her mouth.

"Your training."

Hm?

I looked at her, confused.

Training? Is that why they brought me?

"The seven Emperors here will train you for a month. Since I'm the first person you'll be training with, I wanted to know how you'd use your power, mainly."

"So, either for myself or for others."

Astoria nodded.

She exhaled as she stumped her cigar against her chair.

That was fast.

"Each Emperor will train you for 3-4 days. You should be leaving here by the 10th of July, or so."

"Training to defeat Weissmann, right?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"Why else would you take me in when Weissmann is acting up?"

I told her.

"Call him by his real name, Regulus."

She said, looking at her pocket watch.

I tilted my head slightly.

"Is it that important?"

"He was Weissmann before he revealed himself. Regulus is his given name and the name of the person that you'll be killing."

I shivered to hear the latter part of her sentence.

Killing. Something that I did not want to do, no matter what.

I wanted to decline but who knows?

Maybe they only wanted me to kill Weissmann. Though I do care about others, I need to worry about myself. Worry about Altair.

If they have no use for me, they may kill me.

"So, when will the training start?"

"Now."

"Huh?"

"What I'll be teaching you will be more theory than practical."

When I looked into her eyes, I felt something different. Something different in the look in her eyes. Before she looked scary but now Astoria looked... intimidating. I felt the need to look away as she stared deep into my soul.

"Tell me, how far is the distance from that wall to that one?"

She pointed at the walls at each end of the room. She was asking for the length of it.

All I can tell is that this room is bigger than my own.

If I were to say something then...

"I'd say around 30 metres?"

"No. 50 metres."

I felt slightly annoyed.

"What's the point of this?"

Astoria sighed.

"I'll be teaching you two skills that are more mental than physical. I'll be teaching you Advanced Depth Perception and Calm Mind."

"Calm Mind? Depth Perception?"

"With Advanced Depth Perception, you'll be able to determine how far things are away from each other accurately and, if you train it alongside Calm Mind, then you'll be able to determine things from a godly view. It would be possible to be able to view things from a bird's eye view depending on how much information you take in with your eyes."

"A bird's eye view? Isn't that realistically impossible?"

I doubt someone would be able to see from a bird's eye view without some sort of ability or special technique.

"You aren't actually looking from a bird's eye view. With all of the information you gain by observing the battlefield, you formulate a map of everything in your mind. Of course, if you do this too often and without the proper mind, then your body will collapse on itself. Which is why we'll start with Calm Mind."

From how she's talking, I'm guessing that this 'Calm Mind' is a technique anyone can learn with enough practice and training.

"We'll be starting right now, so get ready, since it will be hard and I won't be going easy on you."

"Well, isn't that natural? Don't even think about going easy."

Astoria looked at me, surprised.

A slight smirk perked up her face.

"Is that so? Don't regret it."

"I won't."