“Synchronicity Release!” I shouted.

My clothes turned into a black long-sleeved top with golden lines and black trousers. Anya’s sword form turned into a black wavy blade and I felt the pulses of the previous masters’ souls.

For now, I was borrowing Yoclesh’s power. I’ve talked with her over the past week and I learned some things about her. Her sword style was called Oni Rush, a one-handed sword style of the Oni race. Even though I never trained that style, my body knew how to make the proper stance.

“Mind’s Eye!” Temma shouted.

My opponent was Temma. I asked him if I could practice Synchronicity against him and he agreed. We’ve been sparring for almost a week. Even if I had Synchronicity, Temma would still be able to hold on against me. He really was a strong guy.

He pressed a stopwatch and then charged at me. We exchanged blows. As usual, Mind’s Eye was an annoying magic to deal with. Oni Rush was a sword style that involved using swift and accurate strikes. It relied more on speed instead of overpowering an opponent.

Temma’s Mind Eye allowed him to see where my strikes would be and prepare a counter for that. Yoclesh’s Oni Rush was still amazing though. People who used Mind’s Eye would often dodge or parry strikes. However, Temma would often have no choice but to block my attacks since they were almost impossible to dodge. It was a great improvement.

We exchanged strikes for a while. Things were going great until I felt my body becoming sluggish as the power drained from me. A migraine appeared on my mind and I crouched. I tried to catch my breath as I wobbly stood up.

Temma looked at the stopwatch and pressed a button, “2 minutes and 10 seconds. You lasted 7 seconds longer than yesterday.”

Our daily routine was training for an hour every morning. After attempting to practice my parallel processing, I would move on with training my Synchronicity. At first, I could only last around 40 seconds but it then improved as I trained. Also, I used to be able to do Synchronicity once a day but thanks to my training, I could enter Synchronicity after 6 hours. However, it would last shorter compared to the previous transformation.

“You’re getting the hang of it. I think it’s a good improvement from last week”, Temma said.

“But only lasting for 2 minutes is still short. I heard that Yoclesh could last as long as 10 minutes”, I replied.

“It’s sort of like cheating, isn’t it? Learning the skills of the previous masters is a bit unfair for the people who trained hard.”

“I can only use their skills when I’m in Synchronicity and it’s really hard to resonate with them while fighting.”

“How do you even resonate?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain... I could feel their souls in Anya and I would try to synchronize with them. Kind of like copying another person’s movements. For example, I could feel Yoclesh’s soul whenever I’m using Oni Rush. Most of the time, I just let my body do its thing without thinking too hard since I was using her skills. But sometimes, I would make a move that Yoclesh wouldn’t normally do and I would stop resonating with her.”

“I see. Your thoughts would sometimes get too strong that you would make a move that Yoclesh wouldn’t do and that would cause you to get out of Synchronicity.”

“Yes. It’s hard to just let my body do its thing whenever I am fighting. It’s probably because I’m still trying to get a hang of trusting whatever my instincts are telling me. Although Yoclesh told me that I should balance my own initiative and trusting my instincts.”

“Balancing your initiative?”

“You see... Yoclesh told me that I shouldn’t rely too much on the previous masters’ skills. I should learn how to mix my own skills as well. When I get enough proficiency in using Synchronicity, I should be able to use my style of Dark Magic while in that state.”

“I see. Oni Rush is already a formidable style. If you add your Dark Magic to it, you would be more powerful.”

“That’s right. It’s the reason why I have to get a hang of parallel processing as soon as I can. If I learn how to do it, using Dark Magic while maintaining Synchronicity would be possible.”

“Alright then. Let’s keep up this pace then. Wanna head to the showers?”

We then went to our barrack’s baths and took a shower. A cold shower always felt great after exercising. After that, I went to the captain’s office and sorted out some papers. I then noticed one important detail.

“Ummm... Captain Noel? Is this thing for real?” I asked as I showed her a piece of paper.

“Yes. The 13th unit’s dormitories would be renovated so the residents have to find an alternate living space. I’m going to put up an announcement later”, she answered.

I could agree that the dormitories need to be renovated. There were leaky roofs and termite-infested walls. Also, some of the showers in the bathroom were not working so it would always be crowded during rush hours.

“How long would the renovations last?” I asked.

“It should take around 3 months at least”, she replied.

This was tough. I think I could crash in with Temma.

###

“Sorry, Mikage. But I don’t think you could live with me. My parents’ house is sort of cramped and it’s too far away”, Temma said.

“Oh... It’s okay. I’ll just ask my other friends then”, I told him.

My job for the day was over and we were supposed to move next week. I should be able to find someone to help me out.

I walked around the streets of Westa and found the guy I was looking for.

“Hey, Oga”, I greeted him.

“Oh. Mikage. What’s up?” he asked.

I told him about my situation and he had a troubled look on his face.

“My house? I wouldn’t recommend it”, he said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I live in a small one-room apartment. It’s barely enough for me. Unless you want to share a cramped space with a guy, then I don’t think you would like it.”

This was bad. I was sort of relying on Oga since he was my closest friend. What should I do?

“How about asking your other friends? You have a contact in your Excellular, right?” he asked.

“I don’t really know. I was sort of counting on you”, I replied.

“Well. My house is open if you’re desperate. But it wouldn’t be comfy”, he patted me on the shoulder and left.

I sat down on a bench and started browsing through my contacts. There wasn’t anyone in my list that would probably want to live with me. Wait a minute... How in the world did my Excellular store Arurandeisu’s number?

Even if I had his number, I couldn’t possibly live with him. It was not good for my nerves.

Suisei’s number appeared on my screen and I hesitated. She was constantly on watch and it might cause a scandal to have a guy living with an idol. It was not worth the trouble.

Maybe I should look for cheap apartments. Could I afford one with my current savings? I never bought anything expensive so I had lots of money saved up. If I want to, I could coordinate with the other members of my unit. We could pool some money to afford an apartment.

“Oh? What’s wrong, Mikage?” a voice asked.

I looked up and saw Amelia grinning at me.

“Hey there, Amelia”, I greeted.

“Hello. I saw your fight in the Idol Fan Tournament. It’s amazing how you made Kiara self-destruct.”

“It’s pure luck. I just won because I outsmarted them or was just lucky.”

“True. But anyways, what’s wrong? You had a really troubled look. As your friend, I couldn’t possibly leave you alone.”

“You see...”

I told her about my current situation.

“The dormitories are going to be renovated and you don’t have a place to stay?”

“That’s right. Temma’s house is a no-go while Oga’s house is my last resort. I’m thinking of trying to find a cheap apartment to stay for a while.”

Amelia rubbed her chin and thought deeply.

“How about staying at my place?” she suggested.

.... Eh?