Frank pushes himself into the building, with Seijuro following closely behind,
"I got a question." Seijuro asks abruptly causing Frank to whip his head around,
"Why not just stay in that form where you can walk?" From Franks perspective, this was a fair question and one that he had been asked before,
"Dark matter is a blessing as well as a curse, young Seijuro. Yes, it may give us strength, however dark matter is what holds us together, keeps our atoms in place. Exhausting yourself or using too much of it, results in your organs, cells, down to your atoms to stop holding together. You vaporise yourself. My matter amplification can only be used for a certain amount of time, I must "recharge" myself, so to say, as do all mages." Frank pushes his shades up and looks away from Seijuro, who nods his head, and continues down the hallway in front of him.
Seijuro is left dumbfounded as he observes classrooms filled with what looks to be teenagers in uniforms, lockers in the hallways, and teachers,
This really is a school. This is going to take longer than I thought.
Seijuros train of thought comes to an immediate halt upon hearing Franks voice,
"Your theory work will be taught by Captain Lisa, I will handle your combat training. Hopefully in a year, you'll become an effective dreamcatcher." Seijuro raises his eyebrow at this,
Dreamcatcher?
Before he can open his mouth to question this, Frank abruptly speaks,
"A dreamcatcher is the lowest rank. You have to challenge one of our Kuroi to reach it."
Seijuro sighs and his fists clench slightly, Frank senses his frustration, which causes him to stop and face Seijuro,
"No one said this will be easy or short, anger will only blind you, young Seijuro." In response to this, he sighs and nods.
Seijuro pulls out the sword from his back, gently caressing Rens toy on the edge of the grip, before looking back up at Frank with a wave of confidence flooding over him, his brown eyes glistening due to the tears forming,
"I'll do whatever it takes, Captain. I won't let you down." Frank smiles warmly and nods slightly to Seijuros declaration of determination.
6 months have passed, under Franks wing, Seijuros strength had gone in a single direction, upwards. Motivated by vengeance, he had excelled in his practical training as well as his work within a classroom, now being able to amplify himself with dark matter, and swing a sword effectively.
Despite his progress, he still found majority of this odd, it felt strange, learning mystical powers within a school. That part did not bother him as much… the normality of it did, however he did not let these thoughts dwell in his mind, only one thing did, revenge. He felt ready,
"Well done, little brother! You got an A in your matter test!" Lisa exclaims, showing more happiness than Seijuro is, however her joy makes him feel warmer and satisfied with himself,
"Thanks, Captain Lisa. Do you think I'm ready to handle my first mission now?"
"You're going to have to ask Frank-san about that little brother, but I think you got what it takes!" Lisa ruffles his hair and smiles sweetly at him, causing Seijuro to turn slightly pink,
"But, don't I need a Captains approval for that?"
"You need both of us to comply, Seijuro-san, then the master sets you up for your first mission!" Her face still glowing with contentment,
"Wait, Captain Kenji?" Seijuros eyebrows raise at this, but in response, Lisa shakes her head, adding to Seijuros confusion,
"Kenji-san isn't the Master, little brother! Sure, he's the strongest of us and his mind is one of a kind. The Master is someone we all follow… not because of his strength, but his wisdom." Lisa answers,
"So, I gotta go to Captain Frank now?" Lisa blinks in confusion, realising now that Seijuro hadn't really listened to a word she said, however maintaining her smile, she points towards the training grounds,
"He should be over at the training grounds, near the training ground little brother! Try not to stress Seijuro-san." Lisa smiles and pats his head.
In response to this, he smiles, he doesn't convey his emotions, but he truly appreciates Lisa as his teacher and sees her as his older sister.
In desperation, Seijuro walks away from Lisa to find Frank, who as she said, was in the training grounds, helping other students and is in his "matter amplified state,"
He really needs a name for that form,
Seijuro thinks to himself.
"Hey, Captain Frank! I gotta speak to you!" Seijuro runs over to Frank, who now has turned his attention to him,
"Young Seijuro. Is everything ok?"
"I need to ask something."
"I'm listening."
"Do you think I'm ready for my first mission? I've mastered the dragon stance, aced all my exams, and Captain Lisa even said I'm prepared for it!" Seijuro requests sounding slightly enthusiastic about it.
Frank takes off his shades and thinks, scanning Seijuro up and down, before placing a hand on his chin and opening his mouth to speak,
"You still have yet to show me this self-proclaimed "mastery" of your dragon stance, though I will give you credit, you've advanced quickly in your theory, Lisa only mentioned it 56 times." Frank continues to caress his chin. Pushing his shades onto his face, he sighs,
"Very well, but you have to show me what you can do."
"What do I have to do?"
"Follow me." Frank begins walking with Seijuro following closely behind him.
They walk back into the main building of the Fear Foundation, and walk into the gym. Seijuro begins to inspect the area, his eyes dancing around, but suddenly stop when they meet what looks to be a dummy,
"Let's see you in action, young Seijuro." Upon stating this, Franks hand begins to glow a dark purple, he walks over to the dummy and touches it, the dark matter now passing into the it, as it's eyes now glow a dark purple as well,
"I have passed some of my dark matter into this training dummy, called Kuroi. It has roughly the same strength as a boogeyman. If you best this, then you are ready for your first mission as a dreamcatcher." Seijuro nods and unsheathes his sword.
Frank moves out the way and leans against the wall to observe. Just arriving was Lisa, she gives Seijuro a thumbs up and a supportive smile, which Seijuro nods and returns the kind gesture by forming a smile of his own.
In an instant, the Kuroi charges at Seijuro, aiming a kick directly at his abdomen. He quickly dodges to his right, attempting to slice the dummy's leg off, which he successfully does in a swift motion.
The dummy begins to regenerate his leg and charges once again at Seijuro, this time opening his mouth to blast a beam of dark matter towards him, Seijuro swings his sword to deflect the blast, meanwhile the dummy dodges the diverted attack and both of them clash, causing a shockwave.
Seijuros aggression overwhelms the Kuroi, knocking him back and making him stumble. Using this to his advantage, Seijuro swings his sword, exclaiming his technique,
"Ryu's Breath!"
In response to this, the dummy moves back, narrowly escaping the swing.
Damn it! So close!
Seijuro begins to get frustrated, and he charges in again, this time with more anger in his strike. The Kuroi and Seijuro begin trading blows and the ground begins to crack, and the room begins to shake violently.
Meanwhile, Frank watches with a stern, and calm look, and Lisa maintains her supportive smile,
There's no way I'm losing to this piece of plastic!
Each swing was becoming more forceful than the last. Neither of them have landed a severe blow, the hits Seijuro had dealt were effortlessly regenerated by Kuroi. He wasn't giving up or backing down, in his mind, Seijuro has to prove himself now. Despite feeling exhausted, Seijuro couldn't let himself or Ren down. Not again.
Seijuro thrusts towards the fears chest to try and disperse it, however the Kuroi managed to block it and grab a hold of his sword. It kicks Seijuro in the abdomen, sending him to the floor and disarming him. The kuroi throws his sword to the side and charges at him again, which causes Seijuro to panic a little.
He quickly rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding his tackle. He glances at his sword and runs to it, picking it up and turning back around. However, the kuroi had managed to land a clean blow on his side causing Seijuro to fall onto one knee, and another lands across his face, resulting in him dropping his sword and falling to the ground.
Instantaneously, the dark purple glow in the dummy's eyes fade and it stops moving, meaning one thing, he failed. Both Frank and Lisa approach Seijuro, who remains on the floor.
"Young Seijuro..." Frank looks down at him, now sitting back in his wheelchair.
"Little brother… are you ok?" Lisa asks with a sympathetic look on her face.
Breathing heavy, his ego bruised and anger boiling within him, Seijuro sheathes his sword, and barges past them, slamming the gym doors as he storms away.
Frank and Lisa exchange looks,
"He isn't focused… his anger is still a problem. He's too eager to prove himself." Frank states sounding slightly disappointed.
Lisa slams her staff into the floor and the damage of the gym begins to slowly fix itself,
"I'll try to speak with him." Lisa puts a reassuring hand on Franks shoulder, before leaving to find Seijuro.