Italy back in the small town of Atrani.
As Roru Chikara's grandfather sat on a chair on his balcony with his hand folded into a fist for his face to rest on and his elbow placed on the arm of the chair while potraying somewhat of a monotonous expression on his face. He heard a subtle noise from a distance, Footsteps? With the weight they carried it must be a male he thought. The footsteps would sound loud then quiet again, By this repetitive pattern the grandfather knew he was being toyed with and from that he knew exactly who the culprit was.
"Show yourself Maxwell", He said with a slightly less monotonous look on his face.
Immediately after, The doorknob of the bedroom that joined the house to the balcony the grandfather was on, Turned sideways, Opening it from the outside. The culprit then proceeded to enter the bedroom and sat on a couch placed adjacent to the bed that looked directly towards the glass sliding doors that opened to the balcony, The culprit then changed his sitting position to mimic that of the grandfather. The man, With long white hair, Well defined cheekbones and a strong muscular build proceeded to say "You know I always wanted to be just like you, My dear father".
The grandfather, Unfazed by the individuals sudden appearance from the beginning "My my Maxwell, What is the leader of the Chikara clan doing so far away from home?" The Male seated on the couch in the room behind the grandfather was none other than the commander of the Chikara clan himself, Army Chief, General Maxwell Luther Chikara. The five clans each follow different kinds of hierarchy and the military based hierarchy adopted by humans of the world was developed by none other than the Chikara clan which they have used for thousands if not millions of years.
"You ask that as if it is not obvious Father...I came here to retrieve one of our strongest assets of course...One of the three great heroes of "The thousand Hour War", Father to my beloved wife, Grandfather to my forcibly made prodigal son and if he himself shall accept, The new Brigadier General of our ever so powerful clan, The one, The only, Rudiger Chikara"
Rudiger couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he responded "I know my relations all to well Maxwell no need for you to remind me of who I am"
"I was merely reminding myself Father, Your reputation truly impresses me it is really worthy of my respect, why else do you think I let you leave The Region with my son and live with these insects"
"The reason you "let" me leave was because I told you I had an obligation I had to fulfill" said Rudiger
"Ah yes, the obligation that you were willing to fight me and killed for, One which you simply had to do for my son's biological father, The same father who's identity you refuse to reveal to the clan head himself, Truly an annoying matter" said Maxwell in an irritated tone.
"I know fully well that my strength is not what it used to be but if you had chosen to attempt to prevent to stop me, It would have been a battle that would not only result in collateral damage, but many deaths of our people as well, which I might add are valuable assets of the clan, So even though in a head on battle between you and I, I would have surely lost, That wouldn't change the fact that you stood to lose the most if such a scenario were to occur". Rudiger stood up as he was saying this, opened the sliding door and started walking to towards Maxwell while letting out his killer intent infused with Zeal
"Oh my, How frightening" Maxwell said sarcastically as he then proceeded to let out his own killer intent infused with Zeal.
As Rudiger went closer to Maxwell their Zeal infused killer intent clashed, this caused the glass sliding door behind Rudiger to shatter completely, walls to crack and the land beneath them to shake.
Rudiger, Noticing what his actions were doing to their surroundings stopped immediately which then caused Maxwell to stop as well. "I accept your offer Maxwell, It is about time that I stepped into the field again"
Maxwell, Delighted at Rudigers response, "Haha ha, I expected nothing less from my father"
Rudiger then said "Stop being so loud, Take me to The Region to see my daughter already, It has been years"
"As you wish father, Say when do I get to finally meet my son?" Maxwell asked Rudiger which then responded.
"You can see the boy anytime after he graduates from the Academy, And besides it is not as if you haven't been sneaking off and stalking him already"
"Haha I was talking about officially of course".
Ustilvia Academy.
Roru Chikara P.O.V
Three days have passed since my first history lesson in the Academy, Classes are now open and instructors have started teaching on a regular basis and I was on my way to my very first ever Zeal manipulation for Forging class. The Academy offers teachings in two areas, Zeal manipulation and History, Zeal Manipulation however is divided into two categories, Magnification and Forging.
Magnification involves using Zeal to enhance one's Speed, Strength, Vision, and even durability.
Forging involves using Zeal in order to conjour up objects which the user can use to help them perform specific tasks.
We were told that the Academy only teaches basic Zeal Manipulation and if one wishes to learn further, which they will, they will have to go to their clan for such teachings or figure things out on their own, which is not impossible but having your clans guidance will give you accelerated growth in your quest of mastery.
The Academy had 300 students in attendance, with 30 classes designated for teaching, With all the space and resources this place had I was actually surprised that each student didn't have their own classroom and teacher. In each of the 30 classrooms there were 10 students, This made Theon, Lilith and I choose different classrooms from each other, Even though the three of us knew that we would have done so regardless of the arrangements of the Academy. My class was being held in room 46 of the academies Endo educational sector, This was the Sector where all of the academies teachings would be conducted.
When I finally arrived on the door of room 46 I opened the door only to find that not only were the other students already in the classroom, The teacher was also in the classroom as well. I walked in closed the door behind me then grabbed a seat in the middle row, The class had five rows in total surrounding the large square the the middle where the teacher would give out lessons just like my first history class with Slyvia three days ago
A few minutes after I had entered the room the instructor, A male with short grey hair, short height and a petite physic said "Welcome to your first ever forging lesson young ones, Today I will introduce you to the world of Zeal manipulation in the use of forging". The male had a light voice and spoke in a soft manner.
"Now I will begin this class by teaching you with the assumption that you lot know not of the world of Zeal and it's usage, Zeal is life essence, Only The Imitheos are able to interact with and manipulate Zeal in the way that they do, I will instruct you on how to use Zeal in order to forge materials out of seemingly thin air, This can be done by outputting Zeal to the part of the body which you wish for said object to be created and then manipulating it in a way that will allow you to form said object, There are a great many things that can be done with Zeal"
The instructor then paused in order to give us time to digest This information, before continuing.
"This process however isn't without it's flaws, For instance, If an individual poses low Zeal output, The object created will not be as durable as the object would be if it was simply just forged by normal means, meaning a sword crafted by an individual with low Zeal output will not be on the same level as a real sword, Therfore they should not even attempt to forge weapons for combat, A sword created by a Zeal user with a normal to even high amounts of Zeal output will only result in a sword that is of the same level as a sword forged by normal means this means that it is still better to just get yourself a normal sword"
Before I knew it, I raised my right hand to ask a question
"No need to raise your hand young one, Speak whenever you like, I do not want you to think of ours as a teacher and student relationship but as one of individuals who are simply exchanging ideas, Though of course my ideas come from a more educated point of view"
After hearing the instructor say that I dropped my hand and immediately asked.
"Does this mean that using Zeal for weapons of combat is not something one should pursue?"
"Of course it doesn't" The instructor responded loudly as if my question had given him energy to teach.
"There are individuals who have trained and honed their Zeal to a level that allows them to forge weapons and materials that far surpass anything that could be made by the physical process, What clan are you from?"
The instructor asked.
"Chikara"
"Oh the military minded Chikara ey?, That's a good one, Take the head of your clan for instance young man, Army Chief General, Sir Luther Maxwell, It is said he forged a blade whilst still on these Academy grounds and today it is considered one of the sharpest objects in the world."
The instructor then continued
"Also be aware that forging is easier in parts of the body that you see often so if one forges a suit of armor, their front will be easier to make and be stronger than their back, this is true no matter what Zeal output the user has, Because the familiarity factor simply cannot be overcome"
The instructor gave us more time to digest the information
"Well Children, That is all for today, You may leave, Until we meet again"
After the instructor said that we were allowed to leave I left the room and walked the halls of the Endo educational sector quietly as I was trying to piece together the information I had just been exposed to.
While in thought I clinched my fist, Jumped up and shouted "This world is amazing!!"
Chapter 5: End