The night passed, and dawn came signaling the sun would soon rise from the eastern horizon. The cool, cold air of early spring crept into Mike's room and made him shiver a little.
Mike suddenly opened his eyes. He used to wake up early in the morning, just as the sun had just risen.
"It's already morning. I forgot to use this warm blanket. Comfy bed and warm blanket, huh... Maybe this is the most relaxing day of my life lately." Mike heaved a subtle sigh, but he smiled a little.
"Never mind." Mike shook his head to put his thoughts aside. He jumped off the bed and did a little stretching. "Uaah! Hum, while it's still early, let's get up and do some morning exercises. First, I can do a little trial. After that, I can help, um... Maybe help Kirishima-san to prepare breakfast?"
Convinced of his decision, Mike checked his clothes briefly and glanced at the cube clock on the nightstand. "Half-past three? All right." After saying that, Mike came out of his room.
In the corridor, he couldn't see anyone but himself. So, he was the first to wake up? Thinking nothing more, Mike went out of the mansion to go to a relatively spacious place among the gardens, right next to the mansion.
Mike checked his surroundings for a moment and nodded when he felt the environment was perfect for his little practice. "Okay, I guess it's enough here. Brr... It's quite cold indeed. As expected from early spring. Let's do a little warm-up."
'Sturdy stance, smooth swing, water flow, keep balance, sea wave, center of strength--'
Mike began to move using a warm-up technique he secretly imitated from seniors in his former sect, but with slight modifications to suit himself.
He was completely unaware that a long black-haired girl had noticed that he was out there practicing. She just smiled faintly and turned around to do something.
A few moments later, Mike had enough with the warm-up. He stopped, and he no longer felt the cold. The only thing he felt was excitement and enthusiasm because his spirit power seemed quite enthusiastic when he used it a little.
'So, this is how highly talented people will feel when they are training? No wonder they got so excited during training or even fighting. Their spirit power pushes them to it. But, I have to limit myself, so I don't suffer backlash or something.' Mike looked at his palms, then clenched them into fists.
'Alright, let's try my newly acquired skill.' Mike focused his spirit power into his eyes to use Elemental Sight.
Everything Mike could see suddenly lost its color, leaving only black and white no matter how far he looked. But, one thing caught his attention at once.
He could see a bluish flow in the air, not far from him. It was thin enough that he thought it was a blue thread floating in the air.
'Wait, what is this?' Mike walked over and tried to touch the blue thread, but his hand just brushed past it as if that mysterious blue thread wasn't real at all.
Feeling strange, Mike deactivated his Elemental Sight. The mysterious blue thread disappeared from his sight as the color returned to his vision.
"Huh? What was that? This is a little unnatural..." Mike patted his chin in thought, but he chose to try activating his Elemental Sight one more time.
The mysterious blue thread reappeared in the exact same place, but the shape of the flow was different this time. Mike looked at the two ends of the floating blue thread as if he was looking for any clue.
At that very moment, another mysterious blue thread caught his attention. It was about five meters to the left of the one in front of him.
'What is that? But, there is no blue thread on the right side. Is there something there that will await me if I follow this blue thread phenomenon?' Mike weighed his decision with some considerations.
'But, this is Kisaragi-san, err, Kisaragi Mansion. I can't act arbitrarily without permission if I don't want to be punished. But, wait, what if this is the work of an evil spirit who wants to bully me?' Mike glanced at the mansion. It was still quiet there, and no one seemed to have woken up.
'Hmm... Okay, I'll just see where this blue thread will lead me. If it leads to an unnatural or dangerous place, then I just need to go back.' Mike made up his mind and walked to the left. He followed the direction where the mysterious blue thread-like flow appeared in his vision.
Meanwhile, a girl with long black hair dressed as a maid went to a room on the south side.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The long black-haired maid knocked on the door and waited for three seconds. Instantly, the door opened, and Kisa came out of the room in a maid outfit that slightly resembled the one she was wearing.
"Good morning, Asako-chan. Do you need my help with something in the kitchen?" Kisa gave a good morning greeting.
"Good morning to you too, Kisa-san. No, I didn't come to ask for help with the kitchen. A while ago, I woke up and saw Mike-sama practicing outside the mansion." Asako returned the greeting with a smile.
"Oh, Mike-san has woken up so early in the morning like this? He must be practicing a lot every day. Too bad his former sect wasted his time and dumped him. Those old geezers have already lost their ability to see hidden treasures." Kisa glanced at the window and sneered to insult whoever she had in mind.
"En, and that's why ojou-sama met him. Isn't that great? Each and every one of us has a bit of a somewhat similar story, right? Fufu..." Asako covered her mouth gracefully.
Kisa closed her eyes and shook her head. Then she looked at Asako. "Alright, let's see what Mike-san is doing without disturbing him."
"Yes, that's the reason I came to you, fufu. Let's go." Asako walked away, and Kisa walked right beside her. The two of them went out of the mansion toward the west. They only intended to watch from afar.
Yet, Kisa couldn't find Mike in the direction Asako pointed. Even Asako herself was a bit flustered by that.
"Hm, Mike-san was there before, but not anymore... So, where did he go? He didn't run away, did he?" Kisa patted her cheek and tilted her head slightly.
Right at that moment, a shadow of a young man flashed into her vision at a glance. Thus, she immediately squinted her eyes to see with more focus.
Sure enough, she could find Mike sauntering with a particular pattern as if he was following something. Or, maybe he was sneaking away?
"Asako-chan, I found Mike-san over there. Let's come closer and find out the truth." Kisa pointed at Mike's shadow and walked ahead. She was a little worried about losing track if Mike had walked far enough and out of sight.
Asako just nodded and followed right after.