Chapter 16: Training Begins

It's Saturday, morning.

6:37 am.

Roy is walking down a street. Wearing his school gym uniform. Heading to school. To see a bunch of big men in suits. Surrounding an ice cream parlor

'Seems like someone important is in there.', Roy thought.

Roy decides to move aside. But decides to look who's in there that's so important. Through the window, of course.

Roy looks into it and saw a foreigner eating ice cream. He's actually the only one there. Nobody else can be seen eating ice cream in that place. He feels familiar seeing this blonde, with blue eyes like the ocean, and a hint of holiness in their aura. Then it hits him.

'It's Prince Graysen. Weird, I remembered him having an overwhelming holy power.', Roy thought.

After finishing that thought, the prince sees him. Then Roy starts walking away upon knowing they locked eyes with each other. But he hears many footsteps behind him. He looks behind. To see many buff bodyguards approaching him.

"Hold on. The prince would like to speak with you.", one of them said.

Roy stops and sees the prince walking towards him. Now the both of them are within talking distance. Roy bows to the prince. Showing respect to him. Then asks him.

"What is it, Prince Graysen?", Roy asked.

"Well nothing, I just wanted to give you a thumbs up for taking my advice.", the prince said.

"Advice?", Roy was confused by this.

"Didn't the principal told you?", Prince Graysen tries to remind Roy.

An old man wearing a proper suit comes and interrupts their talks.

"Sire, your second batch of ice cream is already there.", the old man said.

"Well, well it seems like I need to hurry up and eat that sweet sweet vanilla ice cream before it melts.", the prince replied.

Then Prince Graysen leans into Roy's left ear.

"Don't worry, mate. Your ninja secret is safe with me.", the prince whispered.

This causes Roy to be shocked. The prince pulls his head back. Smiles, and walks back to eat their ice cream.

Roy stands there, frozen, for a good minute. Then remembers what the principal told him the other night.

"A word from the wise, you shouldn't conceal your aura completely. It will make you stand out even more. Especially if someone can sense both magic and energy as you do."

That last sentence scares Roy the most.

"Especially if someone can sense both magic and energy as you do."

Roy looks at the prince again. He was blissfully eating his ice cream. Then Roy turns around. And continues walking. Remembering that he got some people to train. But he won't forget this anytime soon.

________________________________________________________________

Roy then starts walking towards the entrance. And he saw everyone there. It seems like Roy is the last. All of them are wearing their gym uniforms.

They all head towards him. Yua and Alvin especially. Grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah yeah. You don't have to boast about how early you got.", Roy said first before letting them speak.

This causes them to stay quiet for a second. Roy walks past them. They then turn around and is about to say something.

"Yeah, congratulations. You got here before me. You won nothing.", Roy said after.

Again. They're both silents. They then walk beside Roy and starts asking eagerly.

"So are we gonna do backflips today.", Yua asked.

"Or are you gonna teach us how to fight against bad guys?", Alvin asked as well.

"Or are we gonna be learning how to do some ninja techniques?", Yua added.

"Oooh! Are you going to teach us how to make clones of ourselves? And maybe I could gender-bend myself.", Alvin weirdly questioned.

Roy then stops and turns around. Looking at them with serious eyes.

"Yes. I'll teach you all of them soon. Except for that gender-bend one.", Roy answered.

The 2 of them scream proudly. Hugging each other, jumping up and down, chanting "We're going to be ninjas!". Varari then coughs and interrupted the mood.

"Being a ninja isn't that easy as you think. And it may be not that fun as well.", Varari tried to bring them back down to earth.

But their heads are still up in the clouds. Sara is also there. She has this look on her face saying, "I'm prepared for whatever you throw at me!". Feeling determined to do this.

Roy then leads them to a part of a forest. Far away from society. The same place where they fought Vansu and his army. Varari shows a little bit of discomfort at the sight of this place.

"Woah! What happened here?", Yua questioned the area.

Varari then stands in front of them.

"You see, this battlefield is the result of the fight between 50 plus ninjas against the 2 of us.", Varari explained.

"50 plu- That's a lot!", Alvin was surprised by this.

"Actually, I did most of the work! Roy was there for emotional support.", Varari lied naturally as she breathed.

Roy gives her a look an angry look. Giving her an angry look, signaling to tell the truth. Varari chuckles at this.

"No, I was just joking. Roy did most of it. He could have even finished the job even if I weren't there.", Varari said truthfully.

They then turn to look at Roy with such amazement. Even Sara. Roy nods in response. Varari continues.

"Yeah, he was awesome that time. His strength is something that I can't even imagine. He's as fast as lightning. He even saved me once. A heroic ninja if you ask me.", Varari commented.

Roy coughs. This brings Varari back to reality.

"Oh yeah, anyway. Ahem, we texted last night to discuss what we would be training the 3 of you for.", Varari said in response.

"And?", Yua and Alvin asked in unison.

"And we decided to train your physical aspect first.", Roy answered.

"Yay! Wait what?", Yua was confused by this.

"By train our physical aspect, you mean?", Alvin asked.

"Yes, we're gonna break you like a twig and make your bones regrow even stronger this time. And repeat this process.", Varari said in a scary manner while smiling.

Both Yua and Alvin hug each other because of this, but Sara stepped up and said.

"I'm mentally prepared for this. Please teach me how to become strong.", Sara said as she bowed.

Roy sees fires in her eyes. Weight on her words. She has a strange desire to get strong. But, Roy will do his best to train her. To train all of them.

Roy places his hand on Sara's shoulder, who was still bowing. She looks up. Then he nods. She stands upright again upon seeing his affirmation.

"Alright, from now on you'll be calling us master. Except when we're in public. You can call us by our name in that situation.", Roy explained.

"Yes, Master!", Sara said with heart and bowed again.

Yua and Alvin do the same thing.

"Alright, Master Roy.", Alvin said.

"Teach us, Master!", Yua replied.

And then their training has begun...

They start by stretching. Warming up their joints. Preparing their muscles. Especially on their thighs.

"Now, run 5km over that away.", Roy ordered.

"What???", Yua exclaimed.

Roy orders them to do a 5 km run. Of course, Roy and Varari would also be doing it as well to be an example. And to monitor them as well.

At the first kilometer, they're all ok, but Yua and Alvin somehow burn through some of their stamina because they're both racings.

2 km, they stop running and start jogging. Yua and Alvin finally stop racing each other.

3 km, they start talking to each other to pass the time.

"Hey, Master Roy?", Yua asked.

"Yes?", Roy responded.

"Are we there yet?", Yua asked a stupid question.

"No.", Roy said.

"Dang it...", Yua said under her breath.

"Master Kage-senpai!", Alvin calls Varari.

"Yes, Johnson?", Varari responded.

"How long will it take for us to become ninjas.", Alvin asked.

"Well, it would take exactly 2-4 weeks of training to be as good as an amateur one.", Varari answered.

Alvin opens his mouth in surprise. Then he groans at the thought of it. Varari chuckles at his pain.

4 km, Sara and Alvin start slowing down while Yua is maintaining her speed.

Roy and Varari were sweating as well. Due to the heat of the sun.

"Master Roy!", Yua called Roy again.

"Hm?", Roy responded again.

"Are we there yet?", Yua asked the same stupid question once more.

"I'll tell you once where there so stop it.", Roy said.

"Ok...", Yua responded.

"Master Kage-senpai! Hey.", Alvin called.

Varari slows down a bit.

"What is it?", Varari asked.

"What are the keys or important factors of being a ninja?", Alvin asked.

"Well, remember the 5 S: Speed, Strength, Stamina, Skills, and Stealth. Remember that!", Varari answered.

"Thank you, Master Kage-senpai!", Alvin thanks her.

5 km, they reach their goal. The 3 of them are feeling exhausted and relieved, but their peace is short-lived.

"Alright, after this break we're going back.", Roy said.

"WAAIT WHAT??!!!", Yua screamed in confusion.

"There's no shortcut in going back. So we're giving you time to rest. Varari, give me the water bottles.", Roy said.

"Here.", Varari responded.

Varari pulls out 5 water bottles in her backpack and gives them to Roy.

Roy then puts it all on the ground. He squats down and hovers both of his hands above the bottles.

Snow comes out of his hand onto the bottled waters. His hands then release a cooling air to make it all cold. The 3 of them see this in amazement. They then come near Roy.

"Cool! Is that snow?", Alvin asked as he touches it.

"Yes, it is.", Roy answered.

"How do you do that?", Yua asked.

"Through the power of ki, of course.", Roy replied.

"Ki? What is ki?", Alvin questioned.

"It is also known as the energy that our body produces. It flows through all living things.", Roy explained.

"But I thought ninja uses magic only.", Yua assumed.

"We also use that.", Roy replied.

"What is it? Magic, I mean? Is there a difference between ki and magic?", Alvin asked again.

"Magic is the power within your Life Force.", Roy answered.

"Life Force?", Alvin asked.

"It's another word for soul. In which case if you have a soul you have magic.", Roy said in response.

"Ohhh...so what does it do?", Yua asked again.

"It depends on how strong is your Life Force. Essentially, you can manipulate the molecules surrounding you like air to turn it into something else.

In short, you can transform nothing into something. You could even control your own molecules.", Roy explained

"Like what?", Sara asked.

"Teleportation.", Roy blurted out.

"Wait! Ninjas can do that?", Both Yua and Alvin asked in unison.

"If their Life Force is strong enough and has good control on their output then yes. Yes, they can.", Roy answered.

"Well can you do that?", Varari asked eagerly.

"No, and I'm not interested in learning it.", Roy replied.

"Why?", Varari questions.

"Bad experience...", Roy answered.

Roy then looks at Sara. After that, he immediately looks away. Sara is confused by this.

"I...won't push this subject any further.", Varari said.

"Good because I wasn't going to answer.", Roy said that quickly after Varari finished her sentence.

Roy then stops cooling their drinks. He then touches it. Then he throws one bottle each to them. Then they all start drinking his bottled water. After finishing his own, Roy stands back up.

"We're running back now.", Roy declared.

"Alright, let's do this!", Yua is more pump up than before.

"I'm ready!", Sara said with a fierce look.

"Hold on. Let me finish this, first.", Alvin said as he drinks his water bottle.

It took him less than a minute to drink it all.

"Ahhh... Ok, time to run!", Alvin said as he started going back.

Everybody then followed him.

After a 10 km run, they start doing 25 pushups, 25 sit-ups, 25 pullups, 25 jumping jacks, 25x heavy lifting, and they had to crawl 10 meters while having someone on their back 2x.

Yua is doing better than average. She has a stamina of a horse. Endurance of a professional athlete. And have what it takes to become a ninja. Roy has seen many amateur ninjas in his life to know all of this. And she's only a beginner.

Sara is not so physical. She gets more tired than the rest. She even looks like she's going to faint. But the fire in her eye is what keeps her going. Roy is curious about this. On why she's so determined to be powerful. Roy also senses potential from her. Her ki and magic are abnormally high. Higher than Yua. And Yua tops Alvin.

Alvin, despite having an average ki and magic, he's doing quite well. Roy also notices that Alvin is buff. He couldn't notice this before since their school uniform is covering it.

'He must have to go to the gym now and then.', Roy theorized.

Then they take a break. When I say break, I mean it's lunchtime.

Roy and Varari take care of the food while Yua, Sara, and Alvin sit down at a table that was in the middle of a forest. They then notice.

"Was this table always here?", Yua asked.

"No, it wasn't. I made that table while all of you were busy.", said Roy who was carrying wood for the fire.

"Wait you did this? How did you do it?", Alvin asked.

"I found 2 thick trees. Cut it all down. Made 2 flat wood. I then attached those 2 planks of wood with vines acting as ropes. Made 4 pillars. Cut some holes for the vines. After that, I tied all of them together. Then I use the remaining log as sits and firewood.", Roy said as he's feeding the fire.

"That's...amazing.", Sara complimented Roy.

Roy nods in response. Then Yua notices a sword that is on his back.

"Wow! Is that a ninja sword?", Yua pointed at it.

This caught the attention of Alvin and Sara. Roy looks down to remember that it's there.

"Oh...yeah... It is.", Roy said weakly.

Yua sees and hears the tone of Roy's voice and ceases herself from wanting to see the sword. Of course, she doesn't need to because Alvin is about to do it herself.

"Can I see it, bro?", Alvin eagerly asked.

"Sure.", Roy said as he tossed it to him.

Alvin catches it. Everyone gets close to him. They're all curious about it. He slowly reveals the sword. The light from the sun reflects from it. It shows a unique-looking katana. All of them are surprised by it.

"Does it have a name?", Alvin wondered.

Everyone looks at him in anticipation. Roy looks away and sighs.

"Demonic Saber...", Roy said the name of it.

Sara, upon hearing this, reacts weirdly. Her smile turns to fright. Like she knows something about this. Roy mentally notes this.

"That's such a badass name!", Alvin was amazed by this.

Alvin then holds it with one hand. Then he realizes it's much heavier than he thought. Alvin holds it with 2 hands this time. Stabilizing the heaviness of this very real sword that he is holding.

"So, this is what it feels like holding a katana.", Alvin commented.

Alvin then stands up. Get some space, and started swinging it. Alvin starts enjoying it and starts slashing the air quickly. Then he accidentally lets it go. Luckily, he didn't hurt anyone.

"Ok, that's enough swinging for me.", Alvin said as he sheaths the sword and gave it to Roy.

Alvin then sits down and took a deep breath because of what happened earlier.

"Man, using that sword is awesome. You must have killed a lot of people using that sword, right?", Alvin asked without regard.

Yua and Sara are visibly uncomfortable with this question.

"Oh yeah! You only kill bad people, right?", Yua tried to lighten the mood.

Roy doesn't say anything. He looks down. Then he walks away. He left everyone there in silence. Roy decides to go check on Varari, who's spearfishing.

When Roy comes to the fishing spot, he sees a wet Varari on the river with her signature spear in her hands. Besides him, is a basket filled with fish.

'Seems like she didn't need my help.', Roy thought to himself.

Varari sees him standing. She waves at Roy. Roy waves back. Then she starts walking towards him. With some fishes on her spear.

Now keep in mind, rivers don't have flat ground. And also, the water is pushing you in a certain direction. So Varari has some "struggles" on her way to Roy. Let's just say her shirt keeps moving in all different directions. Combining that with Varari doing most of the struggling intentionally. Roy catches up to it and decides to ignore all of this by looking away.

'Is she even wearing a bra?', Roy wondered.

Then Varari steps on dry land. Roy hands her a dry towel. Varari takes it and starts wiping herself seductively. Even posing sexily. However, Roy won't fall for it. His mind was trained to resist this kind of stuff. Also, one of the reasons he doesn't pull any punches when fighting a female ninja. Roy believes in Gender Equality. Varari then realizes this and stops. She then gives her the now wet towel.

"Good job on collecting these fishes, but I think this would be enough for all of us.", Roy commented.

"Hm...yeah I think so as well.", Varari agreed.

Roy then carries the basket on his back. He faces Varari, waiting for her to come with him. Varari has to do something first though.

"Hold on. Let me wear my bra first.", Varari said.

"Why did you remove it?", Roy asked.

"Because it's freeing and relieving at the same time. Don't look. Hehehehe~", Varari said seductively.

Varari teases Roy. Roy just sighs and looks away. He can hear Varari's playful moan. Another trap...that Roy didn't fall for again. Roy then hears Varari's giggles. Then he hears footsteps behind him. Roy turns around.

"All done.", Varari responded.

Roy nodded then they started walking back to where their pupils are. Dreading the following outcome.

Roy sees them chatting to each other energetically, but as soon as they see Roy, they become quiet. Varari finds this weird.

"What's all the sudden silence?", Varari asked.

None of them says anything for a moment. Then Alvin speaks.

"Well, I asked him if he kills people. And Yua here adds another question asking that he only slay bad guys. He didn't say anything and just walks towards you.", Alvin explained.

"So that's the problem... He does kill people as well. Whether they're good or not. But from what I'm guessing knowing Roy, I know why he did that.", Varari replied.

Everyone but Roy looks at Varari. Roy's busy putting sticks inside all of the fish they caught, but he is listening.

"It's because he's protecting his people. His allies, friends, families; his loved ones. He's fighting and killing for them.", Varari explained.

They then look at Roy. Still, Roy is ignoring them. Not until...

"Is that true?", Yua asked.

Roy stands up and faces them seriously. This made everyone scared a bit.

"This might be easy to wield for you Alvin, but to me, it's hard.

Every time I hold it, I am reminded of the blood of my enemies and innocents on, my, hands.

Every time I take it out, I always see the horrified faces of the ones who I've murdered from its shining surface.

Every time I swing, it gets heavier. Because I am always reminded that I took the lives of so many people.

But...but...

But for the people, I care about, I'll still fight. I'll still kill.

They're the reason why I'm still living.

The reason why I still keep on walking this path is called life.

It might seem like I'm not struggling with it.

But it's just because I'm that good at hiding if I choose to.", Roy explained with honesty.

Everyone is surprised by this. They never knew Roy was carrying such a burden before. Roy then adds something.

"Of course, since I'm no longer where I was. I'm trying to not kill anyone else.

But if it's necessary, I will. If you don't want to be my friend anymore, then that's ok. I understand.", Roy added.

"Well, that's good to know... It's good to know that at the very least you're trying your best to change for the good.", Yua said in relief.

Roy is surprised by this. Seeing how Yua quickly forgets about this. She then smiled at Roy. Roy can't help but smile a little.

"Well, I guess everyone deserves a second chance.", Sara responded.

"Don't worry, bro. No matter what! You're still my friend.", Alvin proudly said.

Roy chuckles. Then he smacked Alvin on the head.

"Ow! What was that for?", Alvin was shocked.

"Call me master when we're training.", Roy reminded him.

"Whoops! I forgot! Sorry, master!", Alvin said.

Everyone laughs at this. Roy including. Then Sara smells something.

"Is something burning?", Sara commented.

Then Roy realizes some of the fishes that they're cooking are burning. Maybe he shouldn't have boosted the fire. Roy quickly sorts out the situation. Everyone giggles at this sight. But Roy didn't mind. He smiles at the atmosphere he's in, and he's glad for it.