Kimura Kazuki blankly stared at the sky until sunset, and only when the moon rose and the stars dazzled did he finally come to his senses.
It was already seven in the evening, and he had been standing there for a good two hours.
His right hand was clinging to the Sun and Moon Sword. A feeling of emptiness filled his heart. He was lost and distracted.
The reiki did not recuperate as expected.
The abnormal phenomena did not appear.
The daytime which should have lasted for ten days, lasted only for a few hours, defeated by darkness.
Kazuki felt his stomach and sighed. He was hungry.
Life went on, even though the recuperation of reiki did not occur.
Sensing his bad mood, the Sun and Moon Sword let out a low moan as if it was trying to comfort its master.
Holding the Sun and Moon Sword, he became calm even though deep down, he was still a little disappointed.
When reiki had recuperated, an ordinary man like him could create his cultivation path. Thus, he could survive in this everyday world — an era where reiki could not recuperate.
Moreover, there was still reiki in the air even though the amount was small. Hence, Kazuki could rely on the specialty of the sword's spirit to embark on his cultivation path.
Perhaps, he could be a legend in modern society as he was able to cultivate in an era where reiki was still recuperating?
Having this thought to comfort himself, Kazuki quickly cleaned up the activity room and went downstairs.
This abandoned stone building seemed gloomy. From time to time, creepy sounds could be heard coming from the hallway, but Kazuki was not stirred by it. According to others, this double-story building was built between the 80s and 90s by some old folks for educational purposes.
Not far away, there was a small cemetery. The old folks wished to witness the growth of their descendants. Thus, they were buried here after they had passed away.
Decades had passed, and the place had long been deserted; and it was abandoned entirely when Sakura Kyu Academy was renovated in the new century.
Over time, some students spun stories, cooking up a variety of terrifying myths.
Insects or rats caused the noises, making it terrifying at night.
The main reason he established the activity room here was that people rarely visited. He could rouse the sword's spirit with his willpower in peace. Even if the abnormal phenomena appeared, nobody would have noticed it.
The other members of the Sword Believers' Club would not visit either.
The "Sword Believers' Club" was simply a random name coined by him. Members of the Club used to be rebellious teenagers, but after listening to Kazuki, they turned over a new leaf, becoming obedient and hardworking students.
Those rebellious freshmans he met that noon would soon accept the rehabilitation by the Sword Believers' Club and dedicate themselves into studies.
Their space is the classrooms, which were in the academic building, not here.
This would be more like his personal space.
"Help… Somebody help!?"
As soon as Kazuki heard the sobbing voice, he halted with a strange expression on his face.
Why was there was someone here?
Or… was it some non-human creature?
Spirits, ghosts, and other spiritual beings were souls who had an intense obsession with heaven and earth. After death, they refused to reincarnate, staying behind for many reasons.
In his past life, plenty of scientists had proved that spirits and other similar beings existed even before the recuperation of reiki.
Plenty of bizarre and unexplainable things that had happened before were caused by them. However, the country refuted such rumors to maintain the stability of society.
After prolonged exposure to reiki, the physique of an ordinary human with no skill in cultivating could be improved, as their bodies had absorbed a sufficient amount of it. Ultimately, they would be clear-sighted and able to see spiritual beings.
This was why spiritual beings appeared in large quantity after the recuperation of reiki.
Simply put, the entire human population acquired Yin and Yang eyes due to the existence of reiki.
The first appearance of spiritual beings had caused chaos in the society.
However, then people came to discover that spiritual beings, like human beings, have kind and also evil spiritual beings. The only exception was that spiritual beings had no mortal body.
Besides, ordinary spirits couldn't hurt human beings. Eventually, everyone accepted the existence of ghosts.
Much later, some cultivated King of Ghosts even joined national organs to serve the country.
When Kazuki heard such creepy sobbing voice asking for help, he felt that it was not human.
After all, this place was rarely visited by anyone, and there was a cemetery next to it, making it unsurprising to have spiritual beings around.
However, he had been here for a year and had not encountered once until now.
Something was wrong. Throughout the year, Kazuki was communicating with the sword's spirit at all times, but it was not considered as cultivation. Until today, only when he successfully roused the sword's spirit did he embark on his cultivation pathway.
Feeling the energetic flow of reiki in his body, perhaps, this was why he could feel the presence of spiritual beings.
He did not slow down even though he was pondering. Instead, he followed the voice calling for help. Soon, he was approaching the sound.
"Who is there?"
Having sensed something approaching, the caller nervously uttered the question with a shrill and frightened voice.
When Kazuki had crossed the low shrubs and stared at the source of the voice, he was slightly disappointed.
It was human.
He examined the girl in front of him from head to toe. Her school uniform was covered with dirt and leaves, and her shoulder-length hair was a little messy. There was also a subtle trace of tears on her face.
Sitting on the ground, Furuhashi Natsui held her breath, surprised by Kazuki's sudden appearance. She looked at him, not daring to move. Moonlight passed through the trees, casting light on Kazuki.
She barely managed to make out the appearance of the incoming person.
He was wearing the sophomore uniform of Sakura Kyu Academy; appearing slender and tall, neat and clean with a distinct temperament. However, the wooden samurai sword in hand seems out-of-place.
When she looked into Kazuki's cold eyes, she began to calm down. Her fear started to fade away.
"Can you stand up?"
As she heard the boy's clear and calm voice, Natsui relaxed a little. She nodded and said in a delicate voice, "I can, but I can't walk fast. I sprained my ankle and lost one of my shoes."
Natsui could not believe that she would talk to a guy in such coquettish manner.
She attributed it to her survival instincts.
It would be terrifying if he left her alone. She did not want to spend a night in the woods.
Many insects were crawling in this place, especially during springtime, the mosquitoes were beyond numbers.
Kazuki started to look around for her shoe. The darkness didn't affect his vision. Soon, he managed to find her shoe, not too far away.
He picked it up and handed it to Natsui.
At this moment, he got to see Natsui's face. "It's you?", he said as his eyes froze.
"Huh? You know me?" said Natsui shockingly. She carefully studied Kazuki's face again, but she was sure that this was her first time meeting him.
Curiosity began to fill Natsui's eyes as if she had forgotten about the incident in the cafeteria during lunch break. Thinking about this, Kazuki shook his head and said, "Never mind, can you walk now?"
Natsui gasped as she accidentally touched the bruise on her sprained ankle when she was putting on her shoes. Then she looked at the dirty stockings, and reluctant as she was, she still put them on and stood up.
After getting up, Natsui lifted her head. She slightly turned her head as she found Kazuki was looking at her. "Thanks...", said Natsui softly.
Kazuki nodded. Then, he passed the Sun and Moon Sword to Natsui, "Use this as a crutch since your leg is injured," said Kazuki. The Sun and Moon Sword was important to him, but he let Natsui use it as a crutch to test something out.
Before Natsui could speak, Kazuki felt the annoyance of the Sun and Moon Sword. He did not feel it for long as Natsui soon took the sword.
Natsui looked at the wooden samurai sword, which was about a meter long. She grasped the sword hilt wanting to pull it out of its sheath. However, then she found out that she could not do so.
Thus, she realized it was just a wooden handmade sword.
Seeing this, Kazuki nodded silently. After the activation of the Sun and Moon Sword, others could not use it. No matter how much force was used by Natsui, she would not be able to pull the sword out. The sword was exclusively his.
He urged Natsui as he was thinking. Then, they slowly reached the road.
The night was silent. There was only the sound of rustling and them walking. If Kazuki did not accompany her, she definitely would not dare to walk around in this creepy woods.
"Are you going to ask me why I'm here?" asked Natsui as she could no longer stand the awkward silence. She was annoyed by Kazuki as he did not start the conversation.
"Why are you here at night?" asked Kazuki after he kept quiet for a moment.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," said Natsui. After getting out from the state of insecurity, her temper was coming.
Kazuki remained silent throughout the journey.