Takeshi picked up his sword and approached the Sakura tree.

Then, standing at the foot of that tree, he started talking:

"The exam… Well, it's simple, you just have to smash it, like that…" he said and with a swing of the sword smashed at the tree trunk. A loud noise, just like after an explosion, occurred. Pink leaves started falling from the tree. Takeshi stretched his sword into the air and started moving it, just like a painter drawing with an oversized brush upon an invisible canvas. I was trying to follow his movements, but soon I felt my head hurt. The wooden sword appeared to me to be both quick and slow at the same time.

"You should catch them… Like that," said Takeshi, and when the last pink leaf fell to the ground, he lowered his sword for all of us to see.

"Wow…"

"Holy…"

Surprised gasps sounded in the crowd.

There were ten pink leaves lying on the wooden sword in a straight line.

Takeshi caught them while they were falling down.

He twisted his sword, and all of them fell to the ground. Then, he approached me and extended his sword for me to take.

"Here, you can use it," he said and smiled.

Immediately all the onlookers — there were a lot of them after the appearance of Siro and his group, people were attracted to the commotion, and almost thirty pupils gathered before the stand — all of them looked at me.

I was in a cold sweat.

And tense.

Okay… Now that was scary.

Maybe I should try going for the other mission? However, won't I be forced to leave the club were I to give up now? Seems like I had no choice but to pass that damn exam.

Takeshi was smiling and holding his sword for me to take. I accepted it. The sword felt smooth, heavy, and warm with his touch. Seems like I was looking funny just turning it over in my hands because several smirks soon appeared in the crowd.

Siro chuckled. His friends laughed at me aloud.

"No, it's not… Right," suddenly said Takeshi. He tried to show me the right way to hold the sword, but then as if recalling that he had only one hand to work with he made a wry smile. It has taken him a great deal of time to show me the right way to hold the sword. My grasp became a bit less comfortable, yet more steady.

"You don't have to catch ten leaves. Five will be enough."

Takeshi said while looking at the tree.

Five… Okay.

That made it a little bit easier…

I sighed.

People around were looking at me attentively. Some with interest, others with smiles on their faces. However, soon I wasn't paying attention to the crowd at all. I could only see the tree in front of me.

The trunk of it was thin, and the crow of the Sakura resembled many black bolts of lightning stretching toward the heavens.

Suddenly, for no reason at all, I felt hungry.

I should try getting some food after all that stuff I thought, and then I smashed the tree with all my might.

A loud noise followed. Some of the girls in the crowd screamed. The tree trunk vibrated and my hands also vibrated. When I managed to get ahold of myself, pink dots were falling all around me.

I tried catching them — to no success.

The sword in my hands felt slow as if I was moving it inside a barrel of oil. It was also as slippery as that. With great effort, I managed to catch one leaf. There was one more falling nearby. I tried to catch it as well but ended up only losing the first one.

It fell to the ground.

The sword in my hands soon followed after.

Zero out of five.

…

"That's it?"

"Ha-ha-ha!"

The crowd was surprised, at first, but then everyone started laughing. Siro was making a bright smile. Takeshi approached me and started speaking in a very awkward voice:

"You have… To do it slowly, gradually. Don't give up… Try to imagine the wind blowing around the edge of the sword."

The wind? Sure. I nodded as if I knew what the hell he was talking about.

Then, I raised the sword. The tip of it was dirty, probably because I smashed it so hard against the ground. I felt awkward.

I switched my attention toward the tree and was about to once again swing the sword when suddenly… A thought occurred to me. No, all of it was useless. I could feel that no matter how hard I will try, I won't be able to accomplish that task. And that wooden stick in my hands was nothing more than a source of annoyance to me.

Exactly how much time did I have? Very doubtful that I could just stand there and smash the tree well into the night. What's more, I will get tired after several more attempts like that. I bit my lip and suddenly, I thought about the magazine. Maybe in the shop, I could find something that will help me…

I lowered the sword and said:

"I will be back soon," and then I passed the sword to Takeshi. He was surprised at first, but then a sad looked appeared in his eyes. Sad and lonely. Everyone in the crowd was snickering. All these people were sure that I was simply running away after the very first try.

"That's it?"

"Ha, who could expect it. Gaijin could never be a swordsman."

"Let's go. I doubt he will be coming back."

People started walking away. Siro made a proud smile. It was very annoying. I turned away from him and silently walked toward the school.

Soon I started running toward the building. I ran into the hallway and then turned to the right. I walked through the door depicting a blue person.

WC.

It smelled of cleaning agents in the toilet. I entered the very last cabin, closed the door behind me, and took out the magazine.

I will never be able to catch all these leaves with my own strength. But maybe I could buy something that will help me? I opened the magazine on the page with the Shop. However, soon I felt disappointed. I didn't have enough points to buy anything of use… I was feeling worried, when suddenly…

"Hey, boy. Have you forgotten your reward already?"

A high-pitched voice asked me.

Reward?

Right, I was rewarded with something for joining the club.

Yuji was standing on the page with the mission bar. He smiled and said:

"Here it is! The beginner's package!"

A red box appeared beside him.

The clown smiled and smashed it with his bat. Two words written in capital letters appeared on the page.

'Great Talent!'

"Here's your reward. Every SpoCon hero must be talented, right?"

At first, I felt a bit confused. But then I remembered that the so-called talent also was selling in the shop, and it was quite expensive. According to the description of that item, it will make me talented in any exercise of my choice.

I scrolled the magazine to the page with my profile.

[Main Character:

Name: Kyle (Kiryu) Reed

Age: 15

Str: E

End: E-

Int: B+

Special abilities: None]

I had yet to acquire any special abilities.

Now I needed one.

"I want… A swordsmen talent."

"And your wish shall be granted, dear sir," the clown said and suddenly black ink started gathering in my 'Special abilities' tab…