I find myself moving through the scenery of my old neighborhood..

In my hometown where I grew up in..

"Jun"

I see a little girl with a hat calling out to me..

"Jun, come on, hurry up!"

But strangely I don't remember who she is..

"Mou, you're always so slow when running"

I can't help it you know..

Wait, how does she know I'm slow..

Does she know me?

"Well, it can't be helped then, here.."

She slowly grabs my hand with hers..

I look at it closely and find that it's so small and fragile..

Like it will break when I just touch it..

But the funny thing is..

It doesn't..

Because I also know that I have the same little hand..

Grabbing on tight to hers like I never want to let go..

"Hehe, hold on tight Jun, let's go!"

I might not know this girl..

But I know for sure that I enjoy being with her..

*CRASH*

*CRACKLE*

What?

What the heck happened?

One minute I'm in the sidewalks in the residential area..

And now, where am I?

"It's dark"

I say in a carefree manner..

"Just like you, 10 years ago.."

Strange, I don't remember thinking anyone would answer my small comment..

"Who are you?"

I shout to the strange voice..

"Does it really matter who I am?"

"What do you want from me then?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know if you've forgotten what you did is all.."

"What I did?"

"Oh, it seems I was right on the money.."

"Stop playing games, what do you wanna say?"

"You really don't remember, huh?"

"Remember who?"

I get a bad feeling like I might just regret what I said..

"Kirishima Mizuki"

"What, I don't know what you're talking about.."

But that name sounds vaguely familiar..

"Still playing dumb, huh? Well, it's fine.. let me help you refresh your memory then, consider it as an overdue present.."

After the mysterious voice says that, I hear a snapping of two fingers reverberating throughout the space..

And what happened next..

*UGH*

Memories..

Painful memories..

From years ago..

I was bombarded with it..

How could I forget..

This curse shook away the only friend I had..

The only one who didn't push me away..

The one who liked me for what I am..

The one who understood my pain of loneliness..

And saved me with her words..

{"It's okay, If people treated you like that, It might have been a good thing.."

"Huh? Why is that a good thing?"

"Because if they didn't.."

"?"

"I would have never met you.."}

And that smile was the single most thing that kept me going through those years..

"But you threw it all away didn't you?"

The voice speaks again, but this time, in a condescending tone..

"No, you're wrong!"

I try to voice my opinion but to no avail..

"Save it, you abandoned her when she needed you!"

"..."

I can't refute that argument because I know it was true..

"You make me sick.."

"I didn't mean for that to happen, I just-"

"Oops, I'll hear your excuses next time, I still see you haven't changed.. Well, enjoy yourself now because it's not going to last very long.."

"Wait, You didn't tell me your name!"

"See ya.. Jun.."

The darkness disappears like magic..

..

......

...........

I open my eyes..

Only to be blinded by the bright light coming from the window..

"(sigh)"

I let out a great sigh to no one in particular since I'm in my own room..

I've been having that dream more often than I should..

But I can't seem to remember the whole thing when I wake up..

The one thing I clearly recall is that voice..

The voice that calls me over-familiarly..

And the one who calls me Jun..

"Oi, you awake, Orion!"

The door slams open without warning and an imposing figure is standing in the middle of the doorway..

"Don't be so loud in the mornings old man!"

Naturally, that old man I was referring to was my teacher and master, Arc-shishou.. but I'm never going to admit nor tell him that to his face..

"(sigh) Didn't I always remind you to call me Master? It's like this every morning now.."

"I never once nor will I ever want to call you that, stupid old man.."

I say it in an irritated-just-woke-me-up-for-work-on-a-Monday voice..

Wait, it is Monday..

"Anyway, I made breakfast so wash up and lets get ready for a new day!"

Ignored? Staying positive? Dense as a brick?

He's always over-hyped everyday, where the heck does he get all his energy from..

Well, I can think of one thing..

But that's a story for another time..

But his breakfasts are always so good..

Albeit frustrating, I think today's going to be a great day..

But after every breakfast..

"Fine, it's just gonna be another day of hellish training am I right?"

Yes, everyday for me is hell since I started training under him..

No, I'm not lazy..

Well, not as lazy as people promising to stay fit and healthy and always putting it off tomorrow till it never ends..

But I pride myself in surviving that ordeal day after day..

Ever since I started training 12 years ago, I've been through just about every torture method possible..

It was grueling..

And no, not that kind of torture, you sick-minded perverts..

I mean training regimens that strain my body to its limits..

I was just spared between the border of life and death every single day..

But amazingly enough, I recover faster the next day every time I do it..

So I can't blame him for his methods..

Because I am now, unfortunately used to it..

But it isn't gonna stop me from being mad about how he treats me when it begins..

He might look like a friendly, caring old man now but..

When training commences, He changes, just like that..

When he taught me the "proper" way of holding a sword and his "Purgatory Style" swordsmanship..

Let,s just say I couldn't even lift my spoon the next day..

When he released his summoned beasts or as he calls them "Hellflame Familiars"..

Can't say I disagree with that name..

But he made them chase and try to kill me for half a day..

And naturally, I run away while trying to hit them with various attacks like [Aura Sphere] about a million times already and still it doesn't put a dent in them..

So it further supports the idea of running while thinking of a way to at least hold on until the time limit...

But when it was over, you know what he always said to me?

"Let's Spar!"

No mercy..

Was it wrong for me to expect a friendly smile whilst carrying a towel and a bottle of water saying to me while patting my shoulder, "Good Job", Huh? Is it too much to ask? Is there no compassion in his body?

I mean he puts the "Spar" in "Spartan" cause he is gonna be the death of me someday..

That's what I thought back then but I'm still alive aren't I?

..

...

.....

No scratch that, I still do think that until today..

And he also didn't get surprised by me having aura magic by not giving a fuss about it..

Not only that, he taught me how to use it to create various weapons and different magic..

He did it by showing me images and the processing of magic power into the surroundings converging to one point by using what he called his "Dragonic Mana".. It was actually pretty easy to understand..

Except he didn't expect me to get it on my first try though..

I think I heard his muffled sobs and sighs in the middle of the night, but I'm taking that to the grave..

Now because of that, I can make swords skillfully without any materials for the cost of just a small amount of magic power.. No, don't call me a cheater just yet..

Because I also learned how to enhance my limbs and muscles with aura..

Yes, I have muscles of course..

I'm now 15 years of age in this world after all..

The same age as that of the other world..

Wait a minute, does that mean I'm a thirty-year-old-man?!?!

Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good, Not good....

(sigh)

I got sidetracked there..

No, get it out of your head..

I'm still a young man..

I'm not an ossan just yet..

It's just that this is different..

That is that and this is this..

Right..

Yosh, Believe in yourself, Me!

Phew, now that I'm done encouraging myself I can get back to what I was saying..

Huh? Self-suggestion? Hypnotism? Delusional Middle-aged Man?

No, no, who are you talking to? I know nothing of the sort..

And who is that guy who keeps breaking my spirit?

I'll cry you know?

Anyway, I can strengthen my legs so I can move at a speed of a bullet train at maximum..

Pretty cheat-like right?

But I can also enhance my muscles to be as hard as steel so ordinary weapons couldn't even hurt me, I think..

Well, that's what the old man told me anyway..

And I can regenerate small wounds willingly now or unconsciously when I'm asleep..

How else could I survive hell each day?

Did you think I was God?

No, I think Melquista is enjoying watching me struggle everyday..

Someday, I'll knock his smug face in..

So I decided to call this skill [Regenerative Aura]

Pretty cool name for someone like me..

The chuunibyou is strong with this one..

But enough about that..

I suddenly notice the air has become colder..

Then I realize that this old man, no Arc-shishou is not in his usual demeanor today..

I stare into his eyes like they had the fires of determination looking straight at mine..

Burning away my tiredness and pushing idle thoughts far away..

And triggering my survival instinct in a matter of seconds..

He's serious today..

I wait for his next words in bated breath..

"Orion, Training ends today.. It's finally time.."

I didn't hear the voice of an old man living in the woods..

I heard the regal voice of a ruler filled to the brim with pride and dignity..

"Time for what?"

"Your final trial"

"What ..is it?"

I had a lump in my throat but I still forced the words out..

And his next words put something in me that struck fear but at the same time, excitement..

"A death match"

*Gulp*

I guess today wasn't gonna be a great day, huh?

Just my luck..

Hello, Slashcrit here..

Just wanted to say sorry for all the late updates.. since it's class time, didn't have time since I'm in the field of medicine so it's not that easy to make time..

Not making excuses, just might update this story if I have free time..

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to rate, review and suggest anything you got on your mind!

Till next time~