Effects of Monthly Training

Akira takes a deep breath while Kaen explains the strategy. 

Gamble can't wait to see the progress of his students. The fight begins, and Kaen thrusts his sword using 

"First Technique of New Flames: Flammable Meadow,"

causing numerous flowers to sprout from the ground. Akira leaps away, but Elarina sneaks up behind him using the basic spell 

"Spark."

Akira uses earth magic to shield himself from the attack. He jumps away from the wall he just created, but now Natsuki attacks him. 

"As a messenger of your ideals, I wish to trap my target. Cage of the Wooden Dragon."

Akira is shocked upon hearing these words, just like Gamble, who says, 

"This is an ancient spell... how does she know it?" to which Kaede, with a smile, responds, 

"She comes from a family that carries the blood of the spell's creator. She was born with it." Gamble is in shock, and Akira dodges the wooden dragon.

When he reaches the flaming flowers of Kaen,

Akira stands firm and creates a flame in his hand that shapes into a sword. It is 

"Fourth Technique of New Flames: Lucifer's Sword." Akira parries the dragon, destroying it, and the sword takes on a hellish form. However, Akira lets go of the sword, deactivating the technique. Akira runs to an open field where there are no flowers, but Kaido blocks him, her hand armored with earth. Akira barely manages to shield his face. Landing on his hands just before the flower field, Akira tries to jump, but Kaen jumps at him and strikes the air, creating a wind shockwave that knocks Akira into the flowers. Akira quickly gets up and this time runs towards Kaen's sword. Preparing mana in his hand, he is ready to shoot a mana projectile, but Hana jumps out from the ground, blocking him. Akira easily avoids her but misses. 

"Let the sunlight grant me my Solar Arrow," Elarina fires an arrow at Akira, but he dodges. 

"Still jumping around, they'll roast me," thinks Akira before disappearing. He reappears behind Elarina, trying to knock her out, but Kaido stops him. Akira notices a flash in Kaido's eyes. He dodges as Natsuki appears behind him, but Akira spins and slams her into the ground. He then jumps at Elarina and sends her flying. Spinning and surrounding himself with flames, Akira leaps at her again using 

"Fifth Technique of Forbidden Flames: Spiral," driving her into the ground. Gamble and the rest are shocked by Akira's ruthlessness. 

"I'll finish this!" shouts Hana, trying to hit Akira with his technique 

"Flaming Fist," but Akira disappears and strikes Hana in the back with 

"Explosive Fist," driving her into the ground with the impact alone. He then strikes behind him where Kaen tried to sneak up, but Kaen is hit directly in the chest by the explosion. Kaido charges at Akira, trying to confuse him with left and right movements, but Akira claps his hands, creating lightning, and directs it forward, striking Kaido.

After the fight, Akira waves at Gamble to heal them. Gamble heals everyone, and Kaen laughs, saying, 

"A month of hard training, and I couldn't even scratch you." 

Akira smiles and says, 

"You have the potential to become a Hero of the Katana." 

Curious, Kaen asks, 

"What's a Hero of the Katana?" 

Akira responds, 

"A student of the Sword Hero, who is practically as strong as their master." Fascinated, Kaen grabs his katana and points it at Akira. 

"I accept the challenge," Akira smiles and points his fist at Kaen, saying, 

"I await." After the fight, everyone returns home to start packing for the move. They spread the packing over two days and spent the evening talking while packing for the move the next day. It took them a total of 6 hours. As the sun began to set, Akira, packing the last crate onto the cart, noticed the approaching guards and informed Gamble, asking, 

"Did you order protection?" Gamble shook his head and, getting off the cart, waited to see if the guards would approach or change direction. The guards approached the heroes, and a person in a litter said, 

"I'm looking for a woman named Aki Sunfire?" At that moment, a box was knocked over. 

"So, you are here after all? Like a proper bitch," said a boy similar to Aki, emerging from another litter. Gamble noticed that Akira was already angry and said to the boy, 

"Listen, go home before daddy starts worrying about where his little boy is." Another boy emerged, saying, 

"At least he cares about us, unlike our worthless sister Aki." Akira approached the boy and, putting a hand on his shoulder, said, 

"We've known each other for two minutes, and I already want to beat you up." The boy, looking down at Akira, said, 

"Take your hands off me, pleb," pushing Akira away with his aura, adding, 

"Know your place, vermin. I'm talking to that slut," pointing at Aki. He continued, 

"We came to inform you that Father doesn't want to see you at Princess Sonia's birthday party," then they left. Brushing himself off, Akira said to Aki in a serious tone, 

"You're coming with us to that party." Gamble wanted to object but relented, knowing that Akira would get his way. When everything was ready to go, Gamble said to Aki, 

"Maybe you can tell us something about yourself?" 

Aki, frightened, replied, 

"N-no, I don't want to talk about it now." Gamble laughed and went to Giene, giving the address of the new house. "And where will we stay for the night?" Akira asked, to which Gamble replied, 

"Giene, Lady Kaede, and Ben will go to the new house, and we'll reach the capital before dark." Everyone was surprised, and Akira responded, 

"It's a five-hour journey," to which Gamble smiled and said, 

"I found ruins nearby with a teleportation circle." Everyone was impressed, and Kaido asked, 

"Where does it teleport to?" Gamble pulled out a scroll from his shield and said, 

"If I recite the spell and think of a location, it will take us there." Giene left, and Gamble, Akira, Aki, Kaido, Kaen, Elarina, and Hana with Natsuki went to the ruins found by Gamble. As they walked through the forest, Kaen heard a woman's voice. Instantly, he found himself in the same place as always when speaking with the woman. The rest only saw Kaen standing still with three small flames circling around him. 

"What do you want this time?" Kaen asked, to which the woman replied, 

"Enter the room to the left... there you'll find the answer to who I am." Kaen returned. 

"Again... that woman again," Kaen said, exhausted, to which Akira replied, 

"Communication consumes a lot of mana in such a way. How far are we from the ruins?" Akira asked, and Gamble pointed to a destroyed house. Upon entering, Hana noticed that all the rooms were on the right side except for one. Kaen silently entered it, finding a book inside. Kaen carefully took it and returned to the others, who were preparing the teleportation circle. After an hour of preparations, Gamble signaled that they could enter. Standing on the circle, Gamble recited, 

"Let the goddess, our life's lady, send us from this place to the location chosen by Garrett Gamble," and they teleported through the kingdom of Drascels. Gamble grabbed Kaido and Natsuki under his arms and jumped over the wall. Akira took Hana and Elarina, while Aki took Kaen and Natsuki. As the group looked around the beautiful city, Gamble said, 

"We might still have time to explore the city." After fifteen minutes of walking, they reached a hotel where Gamble booked a cottage for two days. He took the key, and they went to the back of the large building where there were four houses. 

"This is our home for two days," Gamble said, pulling out a small pouch. 

"What about a change of underwear?" he said, taking out backpacks with clothes and other items from the pouch. After settling into the cottage, Akira asked, 

"Who wants to go to the city?" Kaido and Hana eagerly went out, but Natsuki declined out of exhaustion. Elarina wanted to take a shower. 

"So, it's me, Gamble, Kaido, Hana... And you, Aki?" Akira asked, and Aki replied, 

"I'll stay. I don't feel like doing anything today." Akira shrugged and looked at Kaen with a questioning look, and Kaen showed him the book, to which Akira gave a thumbs up and left. Natsuki fell asleep, and Elarina took a shower. Aki and Kaen read books. Kaen read a book titled 

"Foxes and Humans," saying after reading the title, 

"It might be interesting," then went for snacks. Meanwhile, Aki also fell asleep. Kaen sat at the table and started reading. 

"Many years before the unification of gods, angels, demons, and humans, people lived normal lives. Spells were not as common as they are today, and only a small number of people could cast magic. People created kingdoms, states, and religions. In the kingdom of Drascels, two religions emerged: the belief in dragons of creation and destruction, and the belief in foxes. Every myth, religion, or fairy tale has some truth in it. Dragons existed, as did the fox who lived on the mountain. Mount Enarowa, named after the fox Enara, meant 'Divine Fox' in the ancient language. Living alone there, the fox finally decided to descend to the people, taking on human form. However, she couldn't hide her tail, ears, and whiskers. Unaware of what this might cause, Enara found a man named Han. Han lived alone in a small house by the lake. The fox and Han quickly became friends and then fell in love. After their marriage, the fox gave birth to three children.

Hiho was the eldest daughter. Hajim was the younger brother, and Hiko was the youngest. Thus, the era of the half-foxes began. Enara, as a goddess, possessed powers that her children inherited. Hiho had the flames of darkness—blue flames that were the hottest in the dark. Hajim had the power of illusions, and Hiko had golden flames called 'fox flames.' Unfortunately, Enara was killed by the inhabitants of a nearby village, who mistook her for a monster. There is a legend about the reincarnation of the fox's children. The reincarnations resemble them and possess their abilities. It is said that these spirits want to depart but are held back by a curse on their souls."

Kaen, after finishing his reading, began to think, 

"What if I am the reincarnation of one of the children?" Meanwhile, Elarina emerged from the bath, going out to kaen and asked in surprise, "Are you studying or what?" Blushing, Kaen replied, 

"Maybe you should put something on instead of just covering yourself with a towel."

At the same time, Akira, Gamble, Hana, and Kaido were wandering around the city, having fun and wasting time on silly things like visiting mask stalls and other shops. "Hey Kaido, can I check something?" Hana asked, pointing at her face. Kaido agreed, and Hana touched the spot where human ears should be. 

"Just as I thought. Fur."

"Really? Show me," Akira joined in. 

Gamble laughed and said, 

"You should have paid attention in class. We had detailed anatomy of half-humans." The group continued strolling through the city until they stopped at a tavern. 

"Go sit down, we'll order the food," Akira told the girls and went to place the order at the counter. 

"We'd like a dragon... dragon feast set, and two quola's, and two beers, 2%," Gamble said, then glanced at the board and added, "Oh, and two packs of cards, please."

After placing the order, they sat down, and Gamble unpacked the cards, asking, "Have you ever played blackjack?" The girls shook their heads no, and after explaining the rules, they played for about eight minutes. Some shady men have entered the bar and started intimidating everyone. Akira put down the cards and said to Hana and Kaido, 

"New test. Kick them out of here." With confidence, Hana and Kaido stood up and, without a word, began to fight and throw the troublemakers out of the bar. Gamble and Akira continued playing.

When they returned, everyone except Kaen was already asleep. 

"Oh, you're back," Kaen said, putting down his book. 

"Yeah, yeah, good night," Akira replied, not even undressing before going straight to sleep, followed by the others. Kaen smiled to himself, turned off the lamp, and changed into his pajamas. He noticed that Elarina had snuck into his bed. Not wanting to wake her, he lay down beside her and fell asleep, dreaming of...