I've been studying here for 3 days, but haven't practiced how to fight Astral Being. Herman-sensei only taught the students about how the AAT Squad system worked.
There are 2 ways of attacking against Astral Being.
The first, by attacking directly, or called the melee type. This type uses weapons such as swords, spears, greatswords, and the like that. This type would attack Astral Being in the vanguard, perhaps like a brave knight. This type is preferred for students who like close combat and can move quickly in playing with their weapons.
And the second, by attacking at a distance, or called the ranged type. This type uses weapons such as pistols, snipers, guns, bows, and the like that. This type will attack Astral Being in the back. Usually, this type has better eyes than the melee type, can shoot from a distance, and cover the melee type. This type is very popular with the students of the Rookie Class because it does not face Astral Being direct.
Of the two types of attack, most of the students prefer to play it safe, namely by choosing the ranged type. Even though melee-type weapons looked beautiful and modern, they were already afraid to face off against Astral Being.
Did they go to school here determinedly or not? Why go to school if their willpower is weak like that? It doesn't make sense at all.
And one thing I know thanks to listening to Herman-sensei's explanation yesterday, which is about humans who have Spiritual Energy in their bodies. They are called Huoltaja (Guardian).
Huoltaja possessed profound strength to match the S-Rank Astral. They have the power of Spiritual Energy that can use magic.
It is said that the angel who guarded the earth against the appearance of demons in the earth was defeated. The demons forced them way out of the earth's core and the angels prevented them from escaping from the earth's core, and the result was a great battle between angels and demons.
The devil won the battle and managed to get out of the earth's core. But when they succeed, they become a being called Astral. The power of the demons was removed and turned into a monster that looked scary when it came out. But by eating human souls, their power slowly returned. They seemed to have evolved from 0, by eating human souls, their powers would return to how they used to be.
The surviving angels sent their powers for the humans not to be annihilated. They sent their power of Spiritual Energy and made humans as Huoltaja to fight the demons. They also planted the seed of their power into a crystal to help non-Huoltaja survive those Astral Beings.
So it's no wonder why non-Huoltaja, like Shiva and Karin, can fight Astral Being using their weapons, because their weapons are made of materials made of Hyogon Crystal.
But until now, Huoltaja's presence had been minimal. Because before the future Huoltaja knew of its power, Astral Being first killed them. The Spiritual Energy of the Huoltaja candidate could not be properly controlled yet, thus emitting scattered energy and causing Astral Being to spring up.
And until now, Huoltaja's identity was hidden by the government, so Astral Being wouldn't seek them out to kill them. After all, Astral Being can disguise himself as a human. Whoever it was, it was very difficult to tell which one was Astral Being and which one was a real human. So in anticipation, the government hid Huoltaja's identity which they already knew.
I threw Fujita's clothes aside.
"Your clothes, get them right!"
"Sorry." Fujita caught it and put it in the cupboard.
The two of us were in room 303, tidying up some clothes that were still messy after school.
This dormitory is not far from the school, we only have to travel 300 meters from the school. This dorm is divided into two, girls dorm and boys dorm, and has a different building. There are so many rooms here, even each floor is estimated to have 50 people per floor. The dormitory floors were quite numerous, even as far as the 10th floor, and had a basement just in case Astral Being appeared.
Each room has the same design, even though there are VIPs. The design of this room consists of a bedroom with two mattresses, a bathroom, a toilet, a dining room and a kitchen, a lounge room that can be used as a living room, and an empty room that is a place to hide and escape to the basement. The furniture for this room has been provided by the government, so we don't need to buy it again.
Although not too big, this room is comfortable enough for me, because I like the atmosphere, calm and relaxed. In front of the veranda of my room, there is a garden, so my room feels cool, even though Fujita has asked several times to turn on the air conditioner.
"I'm furious. How about if the AC is turned on?"
I quickly opened the window.
"Not hot already?"
"Ah~. It's cool..."
Fujita is quite helpful in many ways. He is good at cooking, drying clothes, shopping, and more like a housewife, so it doesn't make me difficult to survive in this room.
By the way, each student is given 50,000 ruty by the government every month. It helps us to shop for necessities of life as well as in other ways. The government here is good at protecting the people, so I don't have to think about how to get money to live. Even so, I still want to work, to increase my money.
Yeah, to add to my money.
But... it turns out that the government does not allow students who study here to work outside the military field. Anyone who works, whether it's from the Nakano family or not, the government will punish them and cut off the month's money they give to that person.
Since it's a rule, I can't break it. I had to cancel my intention to work out there and rethink ways to save my money.
But still, when I wanted to save my money, Fujita always asked me out.
"Akio-san, how about we go to karaoke?"
"I refuse!"
"Akio-san, how about we eat at a 5-star restaurant?"
"I refuse!"
"Akio-san, how about we go to the night amusement park?"
"Oi! Do not want!"
"We have a lot of money, why don't you want to go out?"
"Look, Fujitora."
"Fujita, desu."
"We need to save money. We don't know what our current needs are. We can't be careless in using money so that we look at the future in a better way."
"What does that have to do with the future?"
"Nothing. Most importantly, what we spend today, will determine our future. Remember that well, Fujitora."
"Fujita, desu. In that case, my future wants to have hundreds of women, then I have to spend these women with this money. Okay..."
Before Fujita ran towards the exit, I danced his collar.
"What's okay? Don't be silly, Fujitora. Your money is for you, not for women. So, just use it for your purposes."
"But that's what I need."
"Is that so?" I slowly removed my hand from the collar of his uniform.
"Yes." Fujita turned to me. "As you said earlier, what we spend today will determine our future. So, I need to spend the women of this world so that my future is bright."
There was nothing wrong with his words because I did tell him that. But somehow, something seems to be wrong.
"Umm… If I spend my money on cigarettes, that means my future will be bright, right?" I asked.
"Can cigarettes make your future bright? Doesn't that make you sickly?"
"Um..."
I was confused by my own words. Even though I said it, but I was confused about how to react to it. It's quite strange.
"I want to spend my money on the women of this world."
Fujita ran towards the door, but I pulled at the collar again.
"Why?"
"Then I'll come out too. But before that, let's take a shower and change first."
"Okay."
We're still wearing school uniforms and haven't cleaned our bodies after school, so we have to get ready before going. And again, it seems today I'm just trying to eat out.
***
Wearing black levis shorts and a black t-shirt, I walked through the bustling city with Fujita. The sun is starting to set, office hours have also passed, but the hustle and bustle of this city make me have to hold my breath a few times because I am too dizzy to see humans.
"Huff..."
"Why?" Fujita asked, walking beside me.
"It's so crowded here, my head is a little dizzy."
"You're not used to crowds?"
"That's how it is."
"Where did you live before?"
I haven't explained to him about myself yet. Since there is no conversation between me and Fujita about me, then I don't explain that I come from Takjaya Village, a village that has been destroyed by the Astral Beings.
"I'm from Takjaya Village."
"Eh?"
As expected, he would be surprised by that.
"Y-You are from that village?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"T-Then you are the survivor it was reported on?"
"Yes, I am a survivor."
"Extraordinary." Fujita looked at me with a beaming gaze.
"What's so great, huh?!"
"You're cool. You can survive those Astral Beings. I was really surprised to know that. You are crazy. Great. terrible. I want to be like you, to be a survivor."
"Ah, you're so bad, Fujitora." I walked away from him. "Let's just find something to eat, you are crazy to think I'm cool."
"But you're right, you're cool." Fujita followed me walking.
"That's not cool, it's just a disaster that happened to me."
"I know. But before that, I'm in awe of what happened to you there. You were able to about to live despite being hit by the calamity of that being. I think you're cool, Akio-san. That's why I think you're cool for staying strong through all of this."
Even though his words comforted me a little, I just slapped him.
"Ow."
"Come on, let's go find something to eat, I'm already hungry."
"Okay."
He understands my condition. He thinks I'm cool because I can still be strong even though something bad happened to me. He indirectly made me happy with his words, so I didn't imagine the incident again when he told me where I came from.
"Yare, yare, Fujitora."
"Fujita, desu."