Chapter 9 - Akio and Kurayami

Kurayami and Akio take their battle stances. Before they began, they agreed to not use their weapons, so they'll rely on their magic and martial arts, something that the two know well. Their battle begins, with the two charging at each other.

Akio has had activated Burning Sense ever since he took his stance, so he thinks that he has the advantage, but he can't see Kurayami. She appears behind him, using her shadow magic to punch Akio in the back of his head, sending him to the ground.

The young man compliments Kurayami's skill, to which she once again blushes, but he says that it's not enough to beat him. He grabs her leg, pushing her down, as he gets on top of her. Akio realizes what this stance is reminiscent of, and he quickly gets off her, helping her up.

Kurayami looks away and blushes, calling Akio an idiot. Afterwards, she punches him in the face, sending him to the wall. Akio powers up further, using more of his fire magic. For a glimpse, though, Kurayami and the others saw something in him..

This does not distract Kurayami, however, who prepares to block Akio's next attack. Akio emerges from the crater made in the wall, missing no chance to charge at Kurayami. He punches her, but she blocks it with her hands. What was surprising for her, however, was the fact that it brought her to her limits.

With this in mind, she binds Akio with shadow magic, asking him to give up. Akio, however, says that he does not know what that means, and he breaks through her binds, punching her in the face. Aurora, Blaze, Eldric and Apollo are amazed at the fight of the two students.

"Unbelievable... it's one surprising thing after the other with those two.." Aurora noted, to which her teacher nodded. Now, on the battlefield, Kurayami has managed to stand her ground against Akio's punch, which is evidently stronger.

Akio walks closer, and before Kurayami could react, he punches her in the stomach, making her spit blood. He knees her in the face twice, sending her to the ground. Kurayami looks up at her opponent, who looks colder than before, with his eye having partially turned black.

She risks it all, appearing behind him when he has his guard down, slapping him. This, in turn, appeared to be what Akio needed to revert back to his normal state, as he looks at Kurayami. He holds her in his arms, trying to see how damaged she had become, and asks what had happened, to which the memories flood in.

"Damn it.." He notes. Like before, everyone senses something in Akio, but this time it's clearer. It's.. a Phoenix. Subconsciously, Akio uses magic on Kurayami and somehow heals her wounds, but in turn, he suddenly collapses.

Everyone falls onto the battlefield, trying to see what had happened to Akio, with Eldric and Aurora tending to Kurayami. Alex is especially interested, since this goes to show that Akio can subconsciously use Phoenix magic.

The battle is called off as a draw, and Akio is taken to the medical station, alongside Kurayami, in order to make sure that they both are fine. Kurayami's injuries were healed for the most part, but Alex and the others are trying to see why Akio had collapsed for no reason.

They tried to think of a plethora of causes, but only one stuck to them: He was not yet ready to fully use Phoenix magic. This meant that he had to get trained more, and so Alex decides his next course of action.

Soon, Akio wakes up, looking around him. At his left, he sees Kurayami on her bed, waving at him slightly. "Kurayami..? Why are you.. here?" He asks her, to which she replies that they won't let her leave until they're absolutely sure that she's fine, even though she insists that nothing's wrong with her.

She also takes this opportunity to compliment Akio's skill while he was out of it, and that he should try to work towards mastering that power, alongside this magic that he used in the end. Akio asks her what is she referring to, but he slightly remembers using something to heal her.

"Oh, that.." He said. "Yeah, I'll try to, but your power wasn't that bad either. Had I not lost control, you would've definitely beaten me, haha." He chuckled, as Kurayami slightly smiles, turning to the window.

"Hey, Akio. Do you have someone you cared for that you lost?" She asked. Akio reluctantly confirms it, and she also tells him that when she was young, her mother was murdered in front of her. She could remember the scene like it was yesterday.

"It was.. terrifying." As she reminisces on the past, she remembers the floor of her house, filled with blood, and her herself having been stained, as the lifeless corpses of her mother was laying there. "Mommy, please, wake up.. I feel.. alone." The young Kurayami tried to wake up her mother, but to no avail.

She cried.. a lot. The murders, who had just noticed Kurayami, tried to kill her, but she opens her eyes, and her irises now black, as were her hair. After that, she blacked out, so she didn't remember anything.

When Kurayami had opened her eyes, she was at a house, which was soon revealed to her that it was her new teacher's house. "You're finally awake, huh?" The young adult woman told Kurayami, who asked where her mother was.

The woman, who is known as Grace, told her that she had been killed by The Dark Wizard, and that the murderers, who were his soldiers, were found dead in the crime scene, alongside the corpses and Kurayami herself.

Kurayami asks her what is she (Grace) going to do to her now, but Grace tells her not to worry. "I'll raise you from now on." She said, smiling, as she walks up to Kurayami and pats her. She kneels to get to the young girl's height and tells her that she'll protect her no matter what.

After uttering that, she started tearing up. Kurayami states that everything else after that is irrelevant, and that she owes her life to her teacher. Akio replies that he had someone like that too, though his parents weren't dead.

"I too had a teacher. His name.. was Leonidas." Akio started saying his story. He recalls the first time he met the young soldier, who shook hands with the then 5-year-old Akio. At first, Theos and Hisako were against him training at such a young age, but he was too persistent, so they couldn't do anything.

Leonidas was ecstatic to have the chance to train his very master's son, and so he did. He taught Akio everything that he knew, and they had formed a really strong bond. In actuality, Akio revealed that Leonidas told him that there was one lesson that he wouldn't teach him for a while.

Then, however, the time where Akio saw his teacher for the last time, never to cross paths with him again. He recalls it vividly. They had fist bumped, and Leonidas was heading for a mission with his crew to find information about the Dark Wizard.

A few months later, however, they got confirmation that everyone was dead. Akio was deeply saddened by this, since he lost the person he relied on and respected the most. After that, Theos took over teaching Akio, but he wanted to train him mostly to regain the time they had lost due to the former being very busy during Akio's childhood.

That very joy, however, didn't last long either. A few months ago, during the attack on the city, Akio was about to get killed by a soldier, but Theos got in front of him, sacrificing himself for his son. Akio had held his father's dead but warm body in his hands, crying and shouting.

Moments later, he charged at the murderer of his father, killing him, and burning his whole body down. He doesn't remember anything after that, as he was in a coma for a bit. Kurayami, after hearing Akio's story, is touched, and notes that it appears they have quite a few things in common.

Akio laughs, agreeing. "In any case, it should be time for us to get out of here." He told Kurayami, who nods in agreement. They get up and Akio leaves the station to allow Kurayami to change. As he closes the door, Kurayami lowers her head, blushing, and she smiles.

"You idiot."

A few minutes later, they both go back to the training area, where the others await. Alex and Grace welcome them with other hands, as the other four students get up, having been bored this whole time. This time, Chase will announce what kind of everyone will be doing.

According to him, they'll start off with some physical training, in order to strengthen their bodies further, increase their stamina and allow them to use stronger magic. When he said the last part, though, he looked at Akio.

This was due to Chase knowing quite well that Akio will need the training the most out of everyone, just so he can unlock this Phoenix magic of his. To Chase and the others, it's really important, since it'll mean that Akio will truly awaken his nature.

Shortly after, the six students are forced to run 20km for their first stamina test (without magic being allowed), with Akio coming out as the victor, and the second being Eldric, the third Kurayami and the others came in later.

Everyone managed to get an idea of where they stand physically, but then, it was time for the actual training to begin. There will be a combination of physical exercises alongside with using magic to expand the muscle tissue.

For beginners, they start with normal exercises, such as push-ups and squats. A few hours later, the magic training begins. Akio volunteers to be the first one to try, with Kurayami being seemingly worried about him.

Alex gives him instructions on how to do it, and Akio understands. He spreads his fire magic throughout his muscles, expanding the tissue, and further expanding his muscles themselves. This is quite a painful process, though, as he feels like his body will be torn apart if he goes on further.

He is told by Hunter and Grace to not give up and continue, and so he does. He expands his body until he finally kneels, retracting all of his magic and reverting back to his normal form. The six adults congratulate him on succeeding the first part, as Eldric goes next.

He begins expanding his own muscles, and Akio laughs, telling the boy to have fun. Eldric stares daggers at him, while continuing to expand his body. A few minutes later, Eldric finally stops, not because he was in pain, but because it would cause permanent damage to his body if he were to go further.

With this, he shut Akio up, who sat silently. Apollo took the stage next, appearing to have some trouble expanding his own muscles, while not as much as Akio. After him came Kurayami, who could barely even do it.

Blaze tried as well, and it burned his body, so he didn't do it much. After that, Aurora stepped up, having done it perfectly, even better than Eldric. Her teacher, Valeria, laughed, saying that she trained Aurora for this ever since they began.

Now, with everyone having completed their first phase of training, Alex announces that they'll take a small break and tomorrow they'll begin magic training, though for now, they're free to do whatever they want.

Akio stays on the training area in order to exercise, in an attempt to shock his muscles, so that he can make his body more durable and become more muscular. For maximized efficiency, he also expands his body slowly while training, so that he gets slowly used to it.

Kurayami is also training for the same goal alongside him, though she doesn't like the fact that she may become muscular. After hearing that, Akio tells her that muscles are one of the best things to ever exist, to which she digresses.

And with that, their training for the next few years.. begins!