Chapter 26: Morning

Alex groggily opened his eyes as he looked at around the unfamiliar ceiling. He looked around, and his eyes stopped at the sleeping Emi next to him, with a sleeping Alice between them.

He sat up and looked at them for a few moments before he smiled and caressed Alice's hair.

After a few moments he stood up and put on black sweater, he likes to sleep without any shirt on mind you, while Emi actually likes to sleep without any pants and just on her panties.

After that, he went to the kitchen to give himself a cup of hot coffee. After that, he went to the terrace to enjoy the sunrise.

He sat down on the chair and looked at the sea which is visible from he was at, the morning fog did nothing to obstruct his vision.

"Care for a cup of coffee?" Alex smiled and asked, even though there's no one nearby.

"No thanks." A reply was heard as Alex turned his head to look at the other chair beside him where Amane can be seen.

She was wearing a black jacket over a gray shirt and a black jogging pants.

She grinned at Alex, "That was one dangerous monster you brought here."

He shrugs and took a sip of his coffee, "Not really. It will just stay down there and rest, just treat it as if it was a sunken ship."

She rolled her eyes, "That thing is literally brimming with energy, I'm pretty sure the Hexagram will notice it sooner or later and will send some people to investigate it."

He remained silent, he was looking at the sea with a smile before he suddenly asked, "....What separates you from an ordinary Ascended? Even Emi said that she wasn't confident on beating you, and that woman is prideful."

Amane blinks, looking at Alex in shock, "Wait, wait, wait! You're telling me your wife is already an Ascended?! That's impossible, If she was I would've been able to sense her power! But I don't, she's just stronger but definitely not an Ascended."

Alex put down his coffee and said, "Well, the process of her Ascension is quite....complicated. It wasn't complete, as I'm sure you already noticed, she isn't tied down by a certain aspect."

Amane frowned and thought about it before nodding, "Yeah, that's also one of the reason why I find it hard to believe that she has ascended."

"Yes, so I just wanted to ask just what separates you from her, I'm pretty sure you haven't reached the level of Sephira yet."

Amane looked at him for a moment before shrugging, "Well, I guess one of the reason is because I can use a conceptual attack."

"Conceptual Attack, huh." Alex frowned. Well, his generals has only been an Ascended being for a few months, they don't have any conceptual attacks but just pure raw power.

"Yep, that's the first step if you want to ascend to being a Sephira. Just so you know, a Sephira usually has several tricks up their sleeves. Its actually what makes them so strong, because only a conceptual defense can defend against a conceptual attack. And it usually ends up in a battle of which concept is stronger."

Alex frowned, 'So Sephira can use Conceptual Attacks. And not only that, they seem to be capable of using it at will. While I can only Materialize a Concept and give it a form, which sounds good, but if I lose that, like a sword with the concept of erase for example, then I wouldn't be able to use that concept. So in this case, the Sephira are much better in Conceptual Attacks than me, I guess I should also develop my own conceptual attacks.'

Amane smiled and added, "Oh, if you plan to help your wife learn how to use a conceptual attack, it would be hard even for you. See, if someone Ascended, they will be tied down by a certain aspect, and their conceptual attacks will be related to that aspect, so for your wife who wasn't tied by an aspect, learning it is almost, if not impossible."

"I see," He furrowed his brows before he looked up to Amane and smiled, "Sooo~ Can you tell me what kind of conceptual attack can you use?"

Amane raised an eyebrow before answering, "Well, its not like I'm keeping it a secret. Mine is something similar to Probability or Fate Interference."

Alex almost choked on his coffee, 'Holy shit...That's a ridiculous power, though I guess its nothing that OP since it couldn't control fate but just interfere with it. Hmm, so something like causing unlikely things to happen, and likely things to not happen....or something similar?'

"Well, anyway, I better get going. I actually just came here to tell you to not let that monster near the beach, it might ruin the perfect balance we have going on here." With a wink, she immediately disappeared as if she wasn't there to begin with.

Alex looked at the where she disappeared for a few moments before shaking his head and looked at the sea.

'Conceptual attacks, huh.' He smirked, 'I wasn't actually planning on doing "that" thing, but with this information, I might as well. Though I'm confident that I wouldn't be defeated by a mere Sephira, it doesn't hurt to be more cautious and prepared.'

He raised an eyebrow when he saw a familiar silhouette practicing a sword on the shore.

'Sagiri huh?' he smiled, 'Well, there's nothing better to do.'

With that, he finished his coffee and stood up, walking towards the beach.

In the shore, Sagiri can be seen practicing her kenjutsu, wearing a white martial arts gi while holding her black katana gifted to her by the one she hold dear.

With a wave of her hand, she summoned several leaves and threw it upwards. Then, a sharp sound of air splitting combined with short breaths.

With each sound, a black line cut through the air, splitting the morning fog. The black sword moved naturally through the air like flowing water.

The sword wielder's movements were extremely refined, and when combined with her flowing purple hair in a side ponytail, resembled a dance dedicated to the gods.

The black sword and purple hair moved near the path of a falling leaf, arcing in a circular pattern.

The leaf fell within the sword's path and was immediately dispersed, beads of sweat scattering into the mist.

For how many hours did she dance with the earth? The sand was carved with her footprints, and there were an immeasurable number of destroyed leaves at her feet—it will disappear later.

However, her blurred form moved tirelessly, fighting against her own exhaustion.

Her form was innocent, yet beautiful to behold, each strike with the sword performed in earnest.

"—hah."

Sagiri's eternal blade dance suddenly met disorder. Her sword missed the leaf by a quarter of an inch. The centrifugal force of her spin caused her to lose her balance.

Sagiri barely managed to avoid tumbling. With a bitter face, she put the black sword to her side.

"Haa, haa," Stabbing the sword to the sand, she stood up straight and slapped her cheeks, causing a loud "pak" sound to be heard.

"Clear your head with all those distractive thoughts, Sagiri Ameno!"

Taking a deep breath, she remembered to put her mind at peace and to calm her heart. It was an exercise she had learned many years ago when she was still training to be a Chuuma Ninja. Sagiri's troubled heart regained its tranquility quickly.

However, the figure of a boy emerged from that calmness…

"Nuaaa!!!"

While gallantly shouting in an unlady-like manner, she swung her black sword as if to beat away at the image in her mind.

"Not that one! Damn it! Damn it!"

She crouched down and held her head, letting out a frustrated face. For days and days, after she realized her feelings for a certain man, she just can't seem to get her mind off of him.

In school, in her dreams, even while she was training, that man just keep on appearing in her head.

Even now, when she tried to train to at least forget about him for a moment so that she can focus, but that boy just kept rising to the surface of her mind, causing her to suffer the mental anguish.

She wanted to forget about him for just a moment, just so she could focus on her training!

No, it is better to say that she wanted to train so that she can calm down and prepare herself because she plan to confess to a man who already have someone else.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to tell herself, "I am calm, I am cool. I am calm, I am cool."

Picking up her sword, Sagiri continued to swing the sword recklessly, trying to bring back the peace and remove her nervousness.

To shake off her fear of being rejected, and at least focus on training. But, after a few minutes, with fatigue setting in, Sagiri's feelings finally started to regain their original stillness. 

"Fuaaa!"

She slowly expels a breath. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the peaceful morning, sweat dripping down her pail skin, an eloquent sight to the morning. 

With her body wet, hair sticking to her cheeks, hot breath coming from her lips, it can only be described as incredibly sexy.

As Sagiri indulged in the lingering calmness, a voice spoke up.

"Well, you certainly aren't calm."

"Ahh!?"

Sagiri's heart jumped through her throat at the sound of a familiar voice. The tone disturbed her peace. Sagiri glanced back at the voice with turbulent thoughts in her mind.

"Alex, its just you." She smiled, trying to calm herself. "Care to join me? Its good for the health to exercise every morning."

Aelx shook his head, and gave a smile, "Nah, I just came here to see you."

"Wha—!?" She blushed, "y-you c-c-came to see m-me!?"

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, wandering why reacted like that. But when he thought about his words, he couldn't help but smile wryly.

Yeah, she will definitely react like that.

"You seem distracted," he said, trying to change the subject, "Care to tell me why?"

She looked away with a flustered look, she really couldn't tell that she was distracted because she wanted to confess to him.

"N-No! There's nothing worry about, I'm perfectly fine!"

Alex looked at her, he knew or at least he has some idea as to why she was like that, but he didn't say anything.

He took out a towel and gave it to her as he smiled, "Alice might be waking up soon, so I'll be going now. But Sagiri, remember, if you wanted to talk, just come to me, I'll always be there to listen."

After saying those words, he left.

Leaving Sagiri there, just watching his back with a smile and a longing look.