"Kai, I know this may be a bit much and I know I'm pushing this on you but you have to learn how to do this, in the not too distant future, a grave calamity will befall our clan. I want to train you in hopes that you can survive."

Kai furrowed his brows as he heard his father's words. He had just received training for the first time and now he's going to undergo special training?

"I will apologize later, but once you figure out the reason, you'll thank me."

Kai waved his hand.

"There's no need for that, father. As long as you will it, I'll do it to the best of my abilities."

Juro was surprised. His son didn't seem like a seven year old at all. Akemi just smiled at Kai's words, she too, knew that this training was better if it was done early.

"I need to warn you this: I will not be lenient in this training and you may have times where you just want to give up and die."

Kai was really surprised. Why would you tell a seven year old this? Kai knew in his heart that if his father really said this without his past memories, he would have refused and threw a tantrum.

"I understand."

Juro's expression turned into a prideful smile.

"Son, you're very brave. I admire your resolve so remember to stay true to your words."

Akemi moved her chair near Kai as she hugged him.

"You just have to perservere with your father's attitude. I swear that once this training is over, I'll give him a good beating twice as much as he'll give you."

Juro laughed wryly at Akemi's words. It looked like he was pretty scared of his wife.

"When do we start?"

Kai asked without seeming tired.

"Right now."

"Eh?"

Juro's answer startled Kai. It was immediately, not tomorrow nor the day after.

Juro placed his hand in front of his mouth then raised his index and middle finger.

Murmuring something, a magic circle appeared around Juro. It was glowing ever brighter after each second that passed.

Kai closed his eyes as the room was illuminated. Only after a few moments did the light start to fade.

He slowly opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a forest.

"Eh? Where am I?"

"Kai, you're inside my illusion. This training is about learning how to survive on your own, you will be stuck here for a total of twenty four hours. The time in the real world would just have passed a total of four hours. The time ratio is one to six and so you'll be training your senses here. You can't train your physical and magic power but you can train your senses, mind, and soul power."

(A/N: Italicized text mean they are either telepathy or flashbacks, depends on when I want to use it... Most of the time, it's the former.)

Juro's voice calmly resounded but it faded immediately afterwards.

"Father?"

Kai looked around and tried to inquire but his father didn't answer anymore. Looks like he was on his own.

"He never really told me what I am trying do except survive. I wonder what he means by that."

"Kai, dodge!"

Reo's voice warned Kai in urgency. Kai heard Reo's voice and immediately turned around.

"Wha-?!"

He bent his knees and lowered his back to the dodge the incoming attack though he slipped while trying to do so.

(A/N: Imagine the matrix bullet dodge but he failed on the way.)

The tip of Kai's hair got cut as cold sweat dripped down his back. He almost died.

He looked at the direction where the blade-like darkness attack hit. It sliced a tree clean in half. No doubt, Kai would've died instantly the moment it hit him.

He then turned around and looked at the direction where it came from. Twigs were being cracked and bushes were being rustled, Kai was getting ready to fight.

"Wait! I don't have any moves fit for battle!"

"Ah."

Reo let out a voice of realization.

"So, he's teaching you how to use your wits to survive?"

"Most likely."

Kai turned around and fled at high speed.

"Can't you help me take care of that thing?"

"That would defeat the purpose of this training."

"I guess you've got a point."

Kai gave a heavy sigh. He was starting to regret agreeing now. His father had always been a bit eccentric but this was ridiculous.

A wolf-like creature popped out from the bush and began running after Kai who had fled.

Growls could be heard from the wolf-like creature as it approached Kai.

"That's a Wolfen! They're wolf-like creatures that absorb elements from their surroundings, it must have hidden in a cave or something because it has the dark element. But seeing as this is an illusion created by your father, everything here may possibly be of the dark element."

"How else does it attack?"

Kai tilted his head at Reo who was following him.

"It shoots beams from its mouth for long range attacks and then bites and claws at enemies empowered with their element."

"Wait, lasers?"

As Kai's word faded, the Wolfen opened its mouth and a ball made of darkness appeared inside its mouth.

"Please tell me you're joking..."

A bead of sweat dripped down Kai's forehead.

PYOOOOOOOO

A laser made of darkness traveled towards Kai.

Right as the laser released, Kai dodged to the side. Half a second later, a beam of dark light disintegrated the ground Kai was previously standing on.

Kai's back was drenched in cold sweat. He nearly got deleted. But wasn't this an illusion? What would happen to him if he died?

"Kai, I think I understand why your father asked if you were okay with dying. Your body may not die but your mind would suffer the experience of death. You would be experiencing death without dying. Sometimes, that is also a fate worse than death."

Kai would normally contemplate what Reo says but right now he's too focused on dodging. The Wolfen shot repeatedly and only paused every three shots.

"Ha!"

"Woah!"

"Waaa!"

Kai's voices rang out as he dodged.

With his inexperience, he looked like a newborn baby trying to dance.

Even if he was reincarnated, in his past life, he wasn't one for combat. He followed others and became a background character. He naturally knew the basics like punching or kicking but not to the point where he could use it for practical use. He was excited for training because that would be the very first time he experienced combat.

"Kai, you look stupid..."

Reo commented on Kai's movements.

"Shut up! I'm trying to preserve my life over here!"

"Couldn't you do it more... normally?"

"I don't have a sliver of combat experience, how would I know this!?"

"But punching, kicking, and dodging are part of your natural instincts."

Kai couldn't comment and just glared at Reo. The Wolfen had to recover a bit of its stamina before shooting again. It had shot at least eight times before stopping.

The corner of the Wolfen's mouth was releasing smoke from firing the laser.

"Wait, why would darkness be hot?"

Reo looked at Kai as if he was looking at an idiot.

"Haven't you listened to the lessons given earlier? Not even six hours had passed..."

"But a lot of things have happened after that!"

"How could you forget the basics... I understand that you forgot about the advanced stuff with the previous illusion, but how could you forget the basics?"

Kai's face was pretty unsightly.

"Hey you-"

Before Kai could finish his words, he immediately felt a sense of danger along with a loud noise.

PYOOOOOOOOOOO

"!"

Kai immediately jumped to the side. He had been arguing this whole time with Reo that he forgot about making a plan.

"Okay, we can leave this argument for later! For now, let me focus on this!"

Reo didn't say a word implying that he understood.

"It can fire for about eight times with an interval of five seconds each. The time it needs to recharge is about half a minute."

Even under all that commotion, he managed to carefully assess the situation. He could possibly be a great strategist in the future, though it's only just a possibility, I think he'll try to solve it with brute force though.

Reo inwardly praised his observations.

"If I dodge this volley, I would-"

Kai's words were cut as another laser threatened to erase him.

"Woah, that was close. I need to think faster."

If I dodge this volley, I could go to those thickets and manage to ambush it.

Kai made a decision.

"Wait, Kai! Don't tell me you're planning to-!"

Kai didn't bother to listen to Reo as he ran towards the thicket.

PYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

A laser louder than the others before it had just shot out. Kai rolled inside the bushes.

"That should be the final shot."

Kai said as he gave a sigh of relief.

"Kai, listen to me!"

Kai continued to ignore Reo as he kept on waiting for the Wolfen to arrive.

Just when the Wolfen was about to reach the thicket, Reo had finally burst Kai's bubble.

"You don't have any offensive moves!"

"..."

The whole world seemed to turn silent as Kai had just realized that Reo had been telling him something important this whole time. He had no offensive moves whatsoever. He could try hitting it with his fist but he knows that would only serve to enrage it. Even if he wanted to change his plan, he had no time to think.

He could try strangling it but his arms were still a child's.

"I think you are still a ways off from being the strategist I thought you would be..."

Reo's words were just like dropping a block on Kai's back.

"...should I run?"

Reo nodded.

Kai madly sprinted away into the forest as the Wolfen had just arrived.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kai was yelling so loud because everything had just fallen into a mess.

The Wolfen saw Kai and immediately sprinted twice as fast as before. The laser was still on cooldown so Kai still had a chance to run but when the speed of the Wolfen boosted twice as much, Kai had lost all hope.

The Wolfen reached Kai and slashed down with his claw. Its claw was coated in darkness and slashed Kai's back from top to bottom, leaving behind a dark aura.

"Gah!"

The Wolfen pinned Kai down and opened its mouth.

"No, wait!"

Kai tried to plead to the wolf.

PYOOOOOO

The wolfen fired a laser into Kai's face, killing him.

==========

"Ha...ha..."

Kai was laughing while panting heavily. His whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

"That was pretty fast, did you get killed?"

Juro's voice alerted Kai.

"Was...it...that obv...ious?"

Juro sighed.

"Actually, after I sent you into the illusion your mother reminded me of something; you had never learned any offensive techniques nor defensive techniques. You only learned how to increase the power of your physical body."

Kai was still panting heavily but it was obvious that he was trying to calm himself down. His heart was beating so loud that he felt as if the whole room heard it.

"I might've rushed you a bit too much..."

As his words faded, veins appeared on Akemi's forehead and her eyes turned cold. She immediately smacked Juro in the back of the head causing him to hold his head in pain.

"Kai, are you alright?"

The bone-chilling coldness in her eyes faded into a warm gentleness as she approached Kai.

"Are you okay? Do you want food? Do you need to rest? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need me to help you..."

Akemi was flooding him with questions causing the already recovering Kai's mind to get tired.

"Mom... stop..."

Kai managed to meekly say two words.

"Oh, okay. It seems you're quite fine. You just need time to recover..."

Akemi inspected Kai's condition and deduced that.

"Yeah..."

Kai finally breathed a final sigh.

"My heart rate finally stabilized."

Reo appeared above Kai, invisible to his parents.

"I guess I should train him a bit. I do have quite some knowledge after all."

Reo flew to Kai's ear.

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to add this to your training regimen everyday, I will train you in some of the techniques I have learned in the past millenium."

Kai was shaken. A spirit with an age of over a thousand years is gonna teach him techniques. How could he not be excited?

Kai was shaking in joy, attracting gazes of wonder from his parents.

"What happened to him?"

Akemi faced Juro.

"Our son is quite strange."

You have no right to say that!

Akemi and Kai smiled at each other wryly.