The next morning, Ray woke up early. He sat up and looked to his right. He saw Yuki curled up and sleeping next to his pillow. He petted her and got up. He freshened up, got ready for the academy, and came down.
As he entered the kitchen, he saw Ms. Karim making breakfast in her office wear. He greeted Ms. Karim good morning and opened the door of the fridge. Ms. Karim said, "You're up early again? Wait a moment, I'll ready your breakfast."
Ray took out a milk bottle and thanked her as he went towards the coffee maker. He took his cup full of coffee and sat at the dining table. Ms. Karim readied four plates of toast and omelettes and wrapped two of them with wrapping polythene. She then put one before Ray and sat down in another chair with the other. Ray took a bite of the food and praised Ms. Karim's cooking. Ms. Karim thanked him and said, "So, you're leaving for the academy this early again? It's only 6:00 in the morning."
Ray said, "I kind of like the empty academy in the early morning. It helps me concentrate on my training."
Ms. Karim said, "Why don't you take Rohan with you? A little training won't hurt him."
"Rohan's a marksman type, while I'm more focused on strength training. So, I don't think our training routines match."
By then Ray's breakfast was finished. He took his empty plate and cup and went towards the sink. He washed his dishes even after Ms. Karim told him to leave them. He then bid Ms. Karim goodbye and left for the academy.
He entered the academy grounds and went straight to his classroom. He put down his bag there and went to the changing room. He changed into training clothes and got to the running track.
He took position and started running. Just as he started running, he felt something different. He felt light. He felt that his running speed had increased. As he reached the obstacle course, he jumped before the first obstacle. But to his surprise, he jumped around 17–18 feet up in the air. He got scared that he's going to fall and get hurt. But again to his surprise, he landed on his feet but didn't get hurt, even though he stumbled a little bit. He didn't stop and continued running.
While running, he thought about what's happening. He figured out that these might be the powers he got by making a contract with Yuki. He gets happy that he has finally got his powers. He decided to test how much his abilities had increased. So he started running at full speed and got shocked and fascinated as he completed a 200-meter lap in just 2 seconds.
He then tested his jumping abilities. He jumped with all his abilities and jumped high in the air. He stopped after getting almost 50 feet in the air. But as he was getting ready to fall, he felt the powers go away, and he fell face-first on the field. He sat up and rubbed his face.
At that moment, three students approached him. The one in front had medium dark-brown hair. He was tall and bulky. He said, "Yo, spiritless sage. Again training early in the morning?"
Ray got annoyed as he realised that they had come to taunt him. He said, "Yeah, wanna join, Coda?"
The girl to his left had long blonde hair and a sharp face. She said, "No thanks. We don't want to train with worthless junk."
Ray retaliated, "Shut up, Aditi."
The boy turned back and said, "Let's go, Aditi, Avni. Let's not waste our time here."
They turned back and started heading back. Avni came to Ray and said, "Sorry about my sister and Coda. Don't mind them."
She ran and joined them. As they were leaving, they saw Yuki run past them while yelling, "Ray? How dare you go off to train alone? Why did you leave me, your spirit behind?"
Ray got up and said, "Well, you were sleeping so peacefully. I thought it'd be better to let you sleep."
She bit Ray's hand and said, "Idiot."
Coda, Aditi, and Avni come back and stand before Ray. Coda says, "Oh, so you have a spirit now? I bet the spirit's as lame as you."
Ray finally snapped and challenged Coda, "Wanna try out my spirit powers?"
Coda took off his jacket and handed it to Aditi and said, "Sure."
Yuki got on Ray's shoulder and said through telepathy, "You sure you wanna fight now? We just formed the contract last night. Who knows if you can control your powers or not?"
Ray replied, "It's OK. Just watch me."
Coda called his spirit a bear. The bear ran into the training ground and stood behind Coda.
Coda said, "Be ready to be crushed by sheer power."
Ray just gave a small smile.
Coda lunged at him at full speed. As he got close to Ray, he readied a punch. Just before he could hit Ray, he swiftly moved out of the way, and Coda fell face-first to the ground. Ray smiled.
Coda got back up, grinding his teeth. He screamed and lunged back at Ray. This time Ray dodged the punch but grabbed onto Coda's punching hand. He got behind Coda and twisted Coda's arm. He let go of Coda and kicked him in the hips. Coda stumbled forward.
As a final blow, Ray jumped in the air and got back down at Coda while making a fist forward. The punch landed at Coda's face. As they both stood back up, Ray saw Coda bleeding from his nose. Coda came to him and said, "You….."
Before Coda could continue, Ray said, "I think you should let your injuries be checked first before coming at me. Avni, take care of my friend, will you?"
Avni smiled and said, "Sure."
Ray picked up his jacket and left the training area.