Full-time Raid

CHAPTER 18.

Early in the morning, Gojin washed up in his private bathroom inside his room. The room was large enough to be called a meeting room if not larger at this point. He came out with a white towel draped around his waist...

The room had a modern style with a luxurious look - plush grey carpeting, floor - to - ceiling windows, and a black sleek wooden desk. A king sized bed with storage with a tufted headboard. The luxurious touches included automated closet organisers and a marble nightstand. The layout was repeated in the others room.

Thinking about what to do next since he always planned on the whole day movement before heading outside of his room. Gojin picked up his phone on the desk, aiming to check the current time before changing into his cloth and heading to the cafeteria then class next..It's not like anyone was going to complain or lecture him about time management.

"8:16, so it's food first then."

.....He got dressed in the academy's uniform, checked himself in the five meters wide mirror then out he went.  Minutes later, he arrived at the cafeteria. With a calm walk in while putting on his blindfold, a spoon flew towards him. The barrier halted it from touching him, but that didn't stop what he was going to do next.

The spoon backfired and flew back to who had thrown it - Sakura, but she had managed to swiftly dodge it. It struck the wall, few meters behind her and caused a cleff on it.

"You could have killed me! You broken brat!" Sakura shouted with her hands raised high in anger. Gojin shunned her.

"Where's Denji-sensei?..." Gojin asked, scanning the empty cafeteria with only the three of them in. He walked to where the other two were seated, and sat behind Kenji.

The cafeteria was dimly lit, with soft morning sunlight filtering through the large windows. The spacious hall was quiet, except for the gentle hum of refrigerators and the occasional clinking of utensils. Only two students, Kenji and Sakura, occupied the tables.

They sat at a corner table near the window, enjoying their breakfast. Before them lay steaming plates of delicacies: Kenji had a hearty Tonkatsu bowl, while Sakura savored a delicate Salmon Sushi roll. A bowl of steaming Miso soup accompanied their meals. Gojin instantly stole the Miso soup from Sakura and two Salmon Sushi roll from Kenji.

"Hey! That's mine!" Sakura opposed, staring furiously at Gojin, who didn't mind her and instead digged in like a ferocious cat.

The young chef, dressed in a crisp white apron, stood behind the counter, intently focused on phone. He had prepared the breakfast spread, but allowed students to serve themselves. Currently, he was engrossed in an intense online gaming session with Denji, who sat beside him, their eyes fixed on the screens as they engaged in a fierce one-versus-one battle.

***

Tons of minutes later, the three cleared their bowls and walked over to where the young chef and Denji was - still in a gaming session.

"Aren't we going to learn some few things today...? Lessons or training?" Sakura furrowed her brows with her arms crossed. Denji jolted up from his seat, startled along with the chef. They were too engrossed, and didn't notice the three.

And that's how he finally got off his gaming session, and lead them to class with this "I need to buy a new character....Levi seems to have gotten weak or is the game that's making him lag?" Only about his gaming life.

***

The three of them were now in class, seated with Denji at the front, preparing to start an explanation. He grinned and slammed his hands onto the black board behind him - what was that for?

"Now let's talk about the one thing you guys never knew - am hundred percent sure of that... Have you heard of a full-time Raid?"

The three of them exchanged glances, clearly they had never heard of it even Gojin that loved reading couldn't bring up the meaning. They turned their gaze back to Denji, who was still smiling.

"I can see you know nothing about it. A full-time raid refers to a mission whereby you venture into a realm known as Lamentia, believed to be the source of wandering souls...."

The three of them listened effectively without making an attempt to diverse from the lecture.

He continued, "Despite their strength, even the most powerful exorcists— Grand Exorcists—must prepare for this journey through a rigorous four-week training period. This preparation involves completing various quests to vanquish souls, allowing them to gather essential experience and skills. For over 200 years, a law has mandated that all exorcists undergo this preparation, though the reasons behind this requirement remain shrouded in mystery till now. Any questions?"

Sakura was the first to raise her hands. "So are we required to also undergo this?"

Gojin turned to her before Denji could even reply, "Yes! Didn't you listen to what he just said?... And by the way, we would begin this so called preparation as of now." He turned around to Denji. "How many open sites do you have in hand, Sensei? We will begin starting now..."

Denji smiled once again then brought out his phone and went through a list of open sites that he keeps on the note app. He was very happy to hand over all of it to them cause he would also have tons of free time to slack off while they complete the quests. 

Denji quickly shared the list to Sakura's phone, which contained about 60 open sites in sixty different neighbourhoods inside Shibuya - Harajuku, their current location. Daikanyama, Ebisu, Nakemeguro, Kogoshima, Shoto, Aoyama. If they were to clear two sites per day, it would take them 30 days....

....However, this was what Gojin had decided on; they would be clearing two sites per day.  Hurriedly, they confirmed the sites while Denji marked it as 'Taken' so as to notify other exorcists in the organisation that the following sites is now active to a set of exorcists.

...

On their way out to the first site of the day - the two were in Aoyama. Sakura asked Kenji if he had a tool since she didn't notice him with any tool nor did he seem to possess Ki, she was quite quick witted to had noticed this.

"No, I use my fists...." Kenji replied, demonstrating by throwing punches in the air and following it up with multiple spinning kicks which showed that he was good in martial arts. She didn't ask or do anything after his demonstration.

Gojin wasn't ready to go on feet to the first site so he placed his hands on the both of them shoulders and vanished along with them.

...Instantly, they appeared inside a partially constructed building on the fifth floor.

Gojin realised that he couldn't sense the aura of any lingering souls. A tiny swirling portal appeared in front of Sakura, normally called a shadow vault and only shadow technique users could open this. They could store literally anything inside this vault.

'A dead body included...'

Sakura brought out a short dagger and handed it over to Kenji. "Make sure this doesn't get lost cause it belongs to my hero, someone dear to me..."  Kenji and Gojin stared at the dagger for a while. Suddenly, a realization hit the both of them.

"Isn't this the Shadowfang? How the heck did you get it on your hands?" Gojin asked, bewildered also keeping a silenced gaze at it.

The dagger had a sleek, curved blade made from a rare, obsidian - like material that shimmered with an ethereal glow. Its edge was serrated, allowing it to slice through practically anything, threatening to even tear the human body into two, depending on the wielder's strength. The hilt was wrapped in dark leather. The gaurd was shaped like a pair of outstretched wings.

Embedded within the pommel was a small, blue and irrelevant stone. When gripped tightly, the Shadowfang grants the user heightened agility and reflexes, allowing them to move swiftly and strike with deadly precision.

This dagger once belonged to Kaito Shadokai, the first clan head of the clan - more than 300 years ago. Kaito protected his people during a tumultuous period in the ancient times, when rival clans sought to dominate the land. They were actually more than seven clans in the past, but most of them had died off cause they unable to.. (Suspense, will be explained another time)

However, during a fierce battle against a rival clan, Kaito was gravely injured..later killed off. The Shadowfang had been long lost after his death. So how the hell did she get the dagger....utterly ridiculous no matter what explanation she was about to give.

....

"That's a long story...and uhmm..." Suddenly, a wailing cry came from behind them. A grown man wearing a hard hat and a high-visibility vest.  The three of them turned around as soon as they heard the cries. The man was covered in blood.

"Please...help me.." He muttered in a slurred voice. In an instant, his head exploded, red liquid spout out from the neck area - His carotid arteries and jugular viens. The decapitated body fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

The trio eyes widened in utter bewilderment as they stared at the body....