16 Beauty and a Bodyguard

Teacher Takuma got Arata to stand up. She then took him over to the stage and got into a fighting stance. Arata caught on quickly and took up a stance as well. Although they were in pain and struggling with their tempering, Ryouma and Akari were able to open their eyes to see what was going on. Teacher Takuma spoke to Arata.

"The rod's won't do you any good right now, instead you must learn to condense and solidify your Energy."

Condense and solidify? Arata didn't know that you could do that? Teacher Takuma saw his confused look.

"Currently how would you describe your energy? What does it feel like?"

Arata searched within himself.

"It feels like it is an open house. My energy rushes through it like a breeze. Yet the energy is cramped, contained and has no more room to move and expand."

Teacher Takuma was surprised by this analogy. It showed how in tune he was with his energy and body, to describe it so well.

"Your Energy is currently at the First Level of Refinement: Dispersion."

Teacher Takuma chanted quickly and released her Lightning Energy. It surged around her. She looked terrifying before Arata, the lightning bursting around her. He could tell that this was a much higher grade Lightning Spell than the one Oishi had used. And he wasn't able to gauge what level her Mastery was.

"The Level of Dispersion is where all Magic users begin. Where you are trying to fill up your Elemental Reservoir and expand the Reservoir to fill it up again. But when you reach your capacity to grow and you have filled up the Reservoir, you reach a bottleneck and can no longer advance."

Arata's eyes lit up. This was precisely what he was feeling. He felt like his capacity hadn't grown for a while, so when his dad decided to finally let him join the Institute, he was excited at the possibility of expanding his capacity finally. Teacher Takuma began chanting again and the lightning on her body all rushed to her hand and created what looked like a single bolt on her palm. Although smaller, Arata felt an instant fear of this palm. He didn't know why, but his instincts told him that if she attacked him with that, he wouldn't be able to convert and contain it. Arata made a mental note to ease up on the arrogance in regards to Teacher Takoma.

Teacher Takuma saw the fear and realization in his eyes and grinned.

"So you can make that kind of face as well. This is the application of power after reaching the Second Level of Refinement: Concretion. Currently, your Energy is like air. It is scattered and takes up all of the space within your Elemental Reservoir. However, what would happen if you could condense your power?"

Arata quickly made the connection. If he could do what Teacher Takuma said, condense and solidify his Energy, not only would that solve the problem of him not having enough room for his Energy to grow, but by condensing his power, theoretically, it would become more potent and powerful. He could then continue to fill his Reservoir as it wouldn't take up as much room anymore. He stared at Teacher Takuma's Lightning palm. So all of that Energy was condensed and contained in her palm. Teacher Takuma saw him look at her palm and she smiled. He caught on quickly. He was a bright student after all.

"You must learn to center your Energy which first takes a precise level of control. So until the break, you will stand there and be my punching bag."

Arata stared in shock.

"Wait, what?"

Before he could even react, Teacher Takuma appeared in front of him and struck his chest with her palm. And now, just like the rest of the class, Arata screamed in pain.

After class, Arata was in so much pain. He was silently cursing his evil Teacher who, for 7 whole hours, had continued to strike him with those Lightning Palm's. When everyone went for lunch, she made him stay behind and continued to torture him. She would explain things to Arata or the class as she continued to put them all through this painful teaching method. To Akari and Ryouma's surprise, Arata walked out of the class in his own strength. Although they were also tortured by the rod's, they had all witnessed his brutal training with Teacher Takuma, yet he seemed to be just slightly annoyed. Having been cram taught by his father, and having a high intellect, Arata was able to comprehend everything that was taught. He knew that Teacher Takuma was pushing him so he could understand how to solidify his Energy, but he couldn't grasp it for some reason. He was just getting hurt and then getting back up to get hurt again. Arata knew that he would grow a lot under Teacher Takuma's teaching, but it was still too much effort for him to enjoy it. And the pain wasn't exactly pleasant.

But it was still nothing compared to his Father's training. A shiver went down Arata's spine as he thought about his brutally savage Father. He made Teacher Takuma look like a fluffy teddy bear. Thinking about fluffy teddy bears, Arata began thinking about how he just wanted to go back to his fluffy bed and sleep.

Akari decided to take Arata to the cafeteria to eat and then show him around. Ryouma continued to follow them. At the cafeteria, everyone stared at Arata. He was sitting in the middle of two of the top students in their year, and both of them seemed to be treating him exceptionally well. Ryouma turned to Arata.

"Are your really only on the level of Dispersion?"

Arata looked back and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Apparently. And only at the beginning or whatever."

Ryouma looked at Arata in awe.

"You're at the beginning of the Level of Dispersion yet you cut through us all like a hot knife through butter. Incredible. Master really is something else."

Akari nodded in agreement.

"It really is a unique path. To strengthen and stretch your meridians, expand your Elemental Reservoir perfectly and then start strengthening and solidifying your Energy. I feel like that is just backwards to how almost everyone else cultivates."

Arata didn't seem to be listening to the two students idle chatter. Instead he was looking around at all the eyes that were piercing him. Ryouma seemed to be treating him with honor and respect, reacting to his every move. He was known throughout the school as an extremely powerful student, and naturally he had many fans and admirers. So it was rare to see him treating someone with so much reverence. And then there was Akari who was treating him like a close friend. She was one of the school beauty's, so naturally he received a lot of dirty looks from admirers.

Arata disliked this situation greatly and did his best to just ignore them both, which made things worse and the other students began to dislike him more. How dare he ignore the two beside him? He quickly finished eating and left the cafeteria. Akari followed him out.

"So where do you want to go now?"

Arata looked at Akari annoyed.

"Somewhere quiet. I'd very much like to be alone."

Ryouma followed up.

"I can find you a quiet place, Master!"

Arata looked at Ryouma irritated.

"Are you going to stop it with the Master stuff? I'm not your Master. And shouldn't you be consulting your family over these things? Do you know what me being your Master would entail?"

Ryouma gave Arata a solemn look.

"That's not an issue. I don't have a family."

Arata stopped walking and turned to Ryouma. Although Ryouma said it like it was nothing and smiled at Arata, he could see something in his eyes that shook him. Akari noticed it too and she was stunned too. She didn't know anything about Ryouma's background so this was news to her as well. Arata thought over the possibility and stared at Ryouma. Ryouma started feeling uncomfortable having Arata stare at him like this.

"Uh Master? Are you OK?"

Arata paused for a moment.

"Are you certain about this?"

Ryouma saw how serious Arata was and nodded resolutely.

"I wish to serve you wholeheartedly."

Arata thought for a second. This was probably a stupid idea, but he could tell that he wouldn't be able to get rid of Ryouma easily. He moved toward Ryouma and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Do you mind?"

Ryouma didn't know what he was doing but nodded, he trusted Arata. Arata closed his eyes and sent his energy through Ryouma. He scanned through Ryouma. He then was shocked when he searched a certain meridian within his body. He felt an oppressive aura coming from it.

Arata opened his eyes and grinned. He might have accidentally stumbled on to a treasure trove. He gestured for them to follow. He led them to The South Dorm. Both Akari and Ryouma were shocked.

"You're staying here? But you're from the Sato Clan! Shouldn't you be staying in the North Wing?"

Arata grumbled.

"I'm guessing that's where all the nobles stay. No, my Father wanted me to stay here. As a way to train myself. But honestly it's just a pain."

Akari made a noise of realization.

"That's right. Sir Azrail trained at the South Dorm when he attended the Royal Institute. I forgot about that."

Ryouma's eyes lit up.

"If this is where Master Azrail trained, I should see if I can live here too."

Arata shook his head and chuckled.

"Trust me, it isn't that great of a place."

He walked over to his room with Akari and Ryouma following closely behind. They were looking around and seeing all the burns and the damage on the floor, ceiling and walls. Outside of Arata's room, Oishi was standing there leaning on the wall. He smiled and waved as Arata approached.

"So the rumors were true, you have a beauty and a bodyguard on your first day. Not bad, new kid."

Arata chuckled inside. He enjoyed Oishi's playfulness. But he still was donning the arrogant demeanour as he casually glanced at Oishi.

"Follow me."

They entered the room and Arata closed the door. Akari and Ryouma looked around the room curiously while Oishi casually walked over to the bed and sat down. A huge smile appeared on Arata's face as he laughed at this point.

"Still treating this room as your own, are you?"

Oishi laughed in reply.

"Of course. You said that we were friends, so I'm treating your place as mine. Plus this was my room so I'm still rather attached to it."

"I'm beginning to forget whose room this is, ya know?"

The two boys laughed and Ryouma looked at Arata. He hadn't seen this side of Arata before. His arrogant demeanour was gone and he was laughing with a friend. Now he just looked like a regular eleven year old. Akari walked over and hit Arata.

"Hey! You can't just change so drastically! You're gonna scare and confuse Ryouma if you do that."

Arata looked over to Ryouma whose face was filled with confusion. Arata laughed.

"Sorry man. It's hard to explain, ya know? You'll understand eventually."

Then he turned to a bag in the corner. He opened it up and started looking for something. Akari shook her head.

"Really? You haven't even unpacked your things yet?"

Arata chuckled in response.

"Well I'm not planning on staying here long."

Ryouma and Akari looked at him confused; only Oishi knew what he meant as his eyes lit up. Before he could comment on it, Arata pulled out a scroll.

"Found it. Alright, everyone this way please."

He moved and gestured for them all to sit down on the floor. He placed the scroll in the middle of them all. As he opened the scroll, there was a strange picture with runes and symbols on it. Arata put on a weird voice.

"Hello to our passengers today, this is your pilot speaking. Please keep your hands and feet inside the portal at all times. Do not touch the energy around you as that may result in the loss of limbs. Do not try to stand up until we have come to a complete stop. We will not be held responsible for any injuries and/or death that may occur during travel. You are travelling with Sato Teleportation. Please enjoy your trip with us."

The others were completely confused by his random speech. He talked so fast that they didn't fully understand him. Pilot? Portal? Teleport? Injuries and death? Huh?

Arata giggled to himself as he sent energy into the scroll. Dark energy burst out of the scroll, surrounding the group of young students before swallowing them and vanishing.

Instantly the room was empty.