As the sun began its slow descent behind Fuyu's mountain, Ryoshi and Toruri found themselves restored to full strength. Toruri, exhausted from the day's events, had succumbed to sleep, leaving Ryoshi alone with his questions.
"Thanks, Fuyu, but now... WHO WERE THOSE PEOPLE?" Ryoshi's voice was filled with urgency, his curiosity burning brightly.
"Do you want to learn how to do healing ice magic first?" Fuyu countered, his demeanor calm and collected.
"No, I want to know now," Ryoshi insisted, his determination unyielding.
"Ok, if you say so!" Fuyu acquiesced, his tone tinged with amusement.
"Tell me," Ryoshi urged, his impatience palpable.
"SHUT UP ALREADY!!! And listen to the stooooryyyyy," Fuyu interjected, his voice rising in exasperation.
"Yessir," Ryoshi replied sheepishly, realizing he had pushed too hard.
"Around 2000 years ago, a cult was formed to revive, possibly the strongest being to ever exist," Fuyu began, his voice carrying the weight of history. "Well, actually they aren't really reviving him, they're just retrieving his lost power. But to do that, each main member needs something called a Kagho eye, which is given to division leaders by the big man himself."
"What is a Kagho eye?" Ryoshi inquired, his curiosity piqued.
"They are large chunks of the leader's scattered power, put into physical form, that can be used to collect his powers," Fuyu explained. "They are placed in the eye because the eye is the only part of a human body that can support it. Kagho eyes come with powers and abilities that can bend and mess with space, time, and reality; I myself have the Burusakurifaisu Kagho."
"Wait, doesn't that mean you were a part of that cult?" Ryoshi's eyes widened in realization.
"Yeah, I was, but I left the group after killing a few members," Fuyu admitted, his voice tinged with regret.
"Did they deserve to die?" Ryoshi pressed, his gaze steady.
"They totally did. Ryoshi, you need to watch out for yourself. They might be after you, and some things around here might start to change," Fuyu warned, his tone grave.
"Yessir, I will keep an eye out for them," Ryoshi vowed, his determination unwavering.
"GOOD... Now, time to teach you about healing ice magic," Fuyu declared, his demeanor shifting back to his usual jovial self.
"Yuh?" Ryoshi responded, his confusion evident.
"Healing ice magic is the weakest form of ice magic but is one of the best healing magics for medical reasons," Fuyu explained.
"Yeah... So how do I learn it?" Ryoshi inquired, eager to master this new skill.
"Very easy! You being guided into being an ice magic user makes your potential for learning ice magic way higher than others. Dig deep into your Ice mana and find healing ice. Healing is the only available version of ice magic that normal non-ice magic users can get; you have to inherit some sort of other ice magic to use the other versions," Fuyu elaborated.
"Dig deep into my Ice mana? What do you mean by dig deep?" Ryoshi questioned, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"Focus all of your mana and try to unleash a little bit of your healing ice magic, so it would spread and become a part of your main mana," Fuyu instructed.
"K got it," Ryoshi responded, closing his eyes and focusing his energy. After nine seconds of silence, he opened his eyes, revealing a small spark of green in his left eye, a sign of his newfound connection to healing ice magic.
"Healing Ice magic! Healing- I don't know any spells," Ryoshi exclaimed, his excitement tinged with uncertainty.
"Healing Ice doesn't really use many spells. It's mostly used raw, so use it raw," Fuyu advised, his tone reassuring.
"Ok, I got it!" Ryoshi nodded eagerly, his determination renewed.
Ryoshi focused his energy, channeling his newfound healing ice magic into his hand. With a surge of power, his hand became encased in shimmering ice, a testament to his burgeoning abilities.
"Woah!" Ryoshi exclaimed, marveling at his own creation.
"Not the best, but still can be useful. Anyways, you should get some sleep. The day is almost over, and you need rest for the battles that will be going on tomorrow," Fuyu suggested, his voice gentle but firm.
"Oh yeah... OH YEAH," Ryoshi replied, the weight of impending battles settling upon his shoulders.
"We're going to fight the summer season and his students first," Fuyu continued, his tone matter-of-fact.
"Wait, are WE going to fight the summer season?!" Ryoshi's eyes widened in alarm.
"No, the seasons just watch the fights," Fuyu clarified, his expression amused.
"Oh good!" Ryoshi's relief was palpable.
"Well, I'll leave you to sleep. Toruri can stay there. But I'll wake you up when we need to go," Fuyu informed him, his voice fading into the night.
"Ok," Ryoshi nodded, already feeling the tug of sleep pulling at his consciousness.
"Now... go to sleep!" Fuyu's final command echoed in Ryoshi's mind.
"Eh- ok," Ryoshi replied with a yawn, settling back down onto the forest floor.
As the shadows lengthened and the sounds of the forest lulled him into a peaceful slumber, Ryoshi drifted off into dreams of battles yet to come, his heart filled with determination and hope for the challenges that awaited him.