"Damn it!" Takumi exclaimed frantically, his voice filled with frustration.
He rushed through a dense forest, seemingly running away from something, his orange hair waving as he gripped his scythe tightly with both hands. Passing through several trees and bushes, Takumi glanced around, sweat dripping from his forehead as he checked his surroundings.
"Where is it, damn it?!" Takumi huffed, his breath heavy as he continued running.
Suddenly, a creature began leaping and galloping around the trees behind him with lightning speed, moving like a desperate predator. Takumi let go of his scythe with his left hand and grabbed a round object strapped to his belt, one of several bombs. Stretching his arm out to the side, he glanced behind at the creature chasing him.
"This thing's desperate!" Takumi yelled, huffing as he looked behind while running forward.
He bit off the pin of his bomb and slammed it to the ground as he continued to run, leaving it behind. As the creature closed in on the bomb, a small smirk flashed across Takumi's face. The bomb erupted into a large cloud of smoke, covering the forest area and even slightly reaching Takumi's nostrils. The creature's shadow was obscured by the thick smoke.
"Eat it, sucker!" Takumi teased, stopping abruptly and turning around, his left hand on the ground and his right hand stretched behind him holding his scythe, a smirk on his face.
However, as Takumi looked up towards the cloud of smoke, the creature revealed itself, leaping through and creating a hole in the cloud. Takumi's eyes widened slightly, recognizing the creature as a Yureigashira, or Phantom Head—a sleek, obsidian-black creature with electric blue streaks pulsing along its frame. Its oversized head glowed with eerie white eyes and a crackling mane.
These creatures, known as Akumo, are the malevolent beings that roam the world of Luminora, posing significant threats to adventurers and students alike. They vary widely in strength, from mildly troublesome to immensely powerful, with the strongest capable of threatening the world.
Takumi straightened up from his stopped position, gripping his scythe with both hands, ready to strike like a batter preparing to hit a baseball. As the bloodthirsty creature rushed and leaped towards him, Takumi smirked, bending backward and slashing the underside of the creature, narrowly dodging its sharp claws and spit-dripping teeth. The Yureigashira landed behind him in a small open space surrounded by trees. Takumi watched it before taking out a button from his pocket, spreading his arms, holding both his scythe and the button, presenting himself to the Akumo with a smirk as it growled and scratched its claws on the grassy ground.
"See ya later, sucker!" Takumi teasingly yelled before immediately pressing the button.
Devices strapped to the trees began shooting sky-blue beams toward the creature. Before it could react, the beams trapped it in a vortex, pulling the Akumo in place as it tried to break free, growling furiously with spit dripping from its mouth.
"What?" Takumi said sarcastically and teasingly, his hands next to his shoulders spread out to complement his words, "You got yourself into this when you went after me, buddy."
The creature became angrier by the moment, pulling itself against the beams that trapped it, electricity coursing through its body and even slightly pulling the trees that housed the devices. As Takumi expected, the Akumo broke free, its electricity helping intercept the beams, although draining the creature in the process and shutting down the devices. It immediately rushed and leaped toward Takumi with bloodthirsty intent, but he countered by catching its neck with the inner crescent of his scythe, propelling himself behind it. The creature went wild, trying to shake off Takumi by running around and ramming itself into trees.
"Ow! Stop moving, will ya!" Takumi yelled as the creature continued to try and shake him off.
With his scythe hooked around the creature's neck, Takumi used it to launch himself. He spread his arms and legs mid-air before performing his stellar skill, Heaven's Descent. Spinning his scythe to gain momentum, he plunged the blade into the creature's back, causing it to scream in pain and go berserk. The Yureigashira bucked wildly, eventually hurling Takumi and his scythe into a tree. He grinded down the trunk, landing on the grassy ground. Just as the creature lunged at him with claws and teeth bared, explosions erupted around its body one by one.
As Takumi slowly stood up, using his arms for support before resting his scythe on his shoulder with a confident smile, the creature fell to the ground, burnt like charcoal and barely alive. It shook slightly before succumbing to its death. Takumi pressed the top of his scythe onto the creature's head.
"Boop!" Takumi teased.
He rested his scythe on his shoulder once more before turning and walking away from the defeated creature. As he passed through the trees, he abruptly stopped and glanced at a nearby tree.
"Hey, you there, were you here the whole time I fought off that crap?" Takumi asked.
"Well, it seemed like you knew what you were doing, so who am I to stop you?" a female voice replied, shrugging and brushing off his question.
A blue-haired girl appeared upside down, hanging from a tree branch with a teasing smile. Takumi responded with a frustrated blank look, interpreting her claim as an excuse to avoid effort. She dropped from the tree, did a one-handed handstand, then sat on the ground, keeping eye contact with Takumi.
"Really now?" Takumi responded sarcastically.
Takumi looked at the girl in front of him as she scratched the leaves from her hair while sitting on the ground, recalling how they met.
After separating from Claire and Rose and being counseled by Ann for his tardiness, Takumi exited her office with a bored look on his face. Navigating through the academy hallways, he passed by students who ridiculed him for being late and for puking on the airship, referring to him as "Puke Boy." He brushed off their comments before taking his baggage from the conveyor belt like the other students, letting out a deep sigh.
"That took way too long," Takumi muttered, his face filled with boredom.
He read his dorm number and took the keys given by the school staff. Standing straight with the keys in his hand, he watched as the staff member walked away to hand out other keys. Looking at his keys with a bored expression, his eyes slowly widened in excitement at finally having his own dorm.
"Yes! Finally!" Takumi yelled in excitement.
He immediately went to look for his dorm, and since it was on the same floor, he didn't need to take the elevator or stairs like the other students. He counted the numbers above the dorm doors as he passed by, carrying two bags, a backpack, and his scythe, which was transformed into a rectangular object strapped to his waist.
Takumi is very outgoing and energetic, often finding himself in trouble, but he enjoys creating, tinkering, and fixing devices and weapons. He wears a customized uniform: a long-sleeved, unbuttoned white and blue coat, along with brown pants and shoes. The students around him wore their own customized academy uniforms, maintaining the academy colors of blue, white, and yellow, and the academy emblem on their shoulders. Some even formed groups with matching customized uniforms.
Occupied with finding his dorm, Takumi ignored the students around him, including those who ridiculed him. After walking for several minutes, finally, he arrived at his dorm.
"Is this it?" Takumi checked the number above the dorm door multiple times, comparing it with the paper containing his dorm assignment. "Well, I guess it is..."
He reached into his pocket for his keys, dropping his bags as he navigated through a pocket full of screws, locks, and other small accessories and parts used for his devices. Takumi loved inventing and tinkering, creating contraptions for everyday use and combat, like his bombs and his scythe, which he had configured and tinkered with himself.
"Where are those damn keys?!" Takumi said, frantically searching.
As Takumi managed to grab his keys from his pocket, a slight thud sounded from inside the dorm before the doorknob twisted and the door opened, revealing the room given to each student at the academy, filled with questionable objects like several half-open bags and scattered books on the cabinet.
"Oh, what the hell..." Takumi muttered, glancing around the room.
"What? What's wrong?" a female voice asked from inside the room, presumably his roommate.
At the top of the bunk bed, a sky-blue-haired girl hung upside down by her legs, holding a long string tied to the doorknob that had opened the door. Takumi scratched his head, untying the string and the blade tied to it before tossing it to the girl, who caught it effortlessly. He closed the door behind him and sighed.
"Just what the hell did I get myself into..." Takumi expressed in disappointment and confusion.
He put down his bags and watched the girl fall from the top bunk, mirroring the present where she had fallen from the tree, shaking pillow quills from her blue hair. She looked at Takumi with confusion, her left cheek slightly inflated.
"What's wrong, boy? Something weird going on or what?" the blue-haired girl asked.
"Uh, it's nothing really..." Takumi brushed off her question as he picked up his bags to set them aside. "Anyway, nice meeting you, roommate or whatever, but I got my stuff to do, so you do you, I guess..."
In the present, Takumi looked at the same girl, now his teammate in all academy events and activities, including their current mission in the academy battlegrounds.
"What did I get myself into..." Takumi sighed to himself, frustrated.
He looked at the girl with both frustration and resignation, knowing he had to deal with the situation. Scratching his head, he stretched his arms, and his scythe transformed into a smaller rectangular object. The girl watched in awe, gently clapping.
"Whoa, how'd you do that?" she asked curiously.
"Uh, innovation, I guess..." Takumi responded, not intending to disclose any specifics.
"Well, since we haven't exchanged names, I guess now's a good time. Better late than never! I'm Liene." The blue-haired girl introduced herself, extending her arm for a handshake.
"Takumi." He responded
He accepted her handshake briefly before strapping his transformed scythe to his waist and walking forward. Liene immediately followed, skipping behind him as they navigated the forest part of the academy battlegrounds.
"I wonder what Claire and Rose are up to... They're probably having fun..." Takumi thought to himself as he walked.
Meanwhile, on the plains side of the academy battlegrounds, far from where Takumi and Liene were, the grass gently swayed in the wind. The autumn season seemed absent, replaced by the scent of blooming flowers and the warmth of the sun. Desperate footsteps crunched on the grassy plains, hinting at a frantic escape.
"Geez, come on! This is not fun anymore, capisce!?" Claire yelled, her eyes closed tightly, focusing solely on running.
She glanced behind her to see a charging Kurutor, resembling a minotaur. Although a less intimidating and weaker version, the Kurutor's bull-like head, muscular build, short brown fur, small curved horns, and raging brown eyes still struck terror in Claire. She turned forward, continuing her desperate run.
After failing to perform her stellar art with her sword, Luminous Heart, she struggled to shake off the bloodthirsty creature.
"Darn it, darn it, I'm supposed to have a teammate!" Claire complained, yelling into the open air, frustrated by her isolation.
Earlier, a few hours before the current situation, exactly 8:57 AM, Claire and Rose stood among several first-year students, standing beside each other in a line after they were instructed to be at the academy battlegrounds or face immediate expulsion. This ultimatum terrified all the freshmen students into standing quietly and straight. Ann walked around them, back and forth, observing the present students, making sure no one was late.
Claire's gaze remained fixated on the academy battlegrounds that lay in front of her and the other students. It was more than she had expected, not just a flat field but a large area filled with different biomes: forest, plains, grasslands, tundra, savanna, and more she couldn't discern due to the vast size of the place. The area was only used for training, unlike other academies with blank rooms. The autumn cold seemed non-existent as the sun above them provided warmth, a product of the combination of magic and technology. The warm glow provided an ideal space for students to hone their skills and engage in combat with one another or the Akumos roaming around, which provided a difficult challenge for the students but wasn't impossible to defeat.
Claire and Rose watched from an elevated hill, their eyes in awe and fixated on the vast terrain below them. The elevated hill provided a strategic view of the battleground. They stood quietly, anticipation building, but Claire couldn't help feeling impatient.
"I wonder when this is gonna start..." Claire thought, her eyes scanning the terrain below, her impatience growing.
"I know... It's been minutes. I know we are supposed to be waiting for this one student to come, but really, come on..." Rose whispered to Claire, her impatience mirroring Claire's.
"Let me guess... It's Takumi, isn't it?" Claire muttered to Rose.
"Yeah..." Rose sighed.
Rose sighed as she watched Takumi rushing up the hill towards the group. He tripped once but quickly regained his footing, narrowly avoiding being late and expelled. As he stood beside his roommate, Liene, he made eye contact with Ann. Her death glare sent chills down his spine, causing him to nearly stumble again.
"Oh, it's you..." Takumi said disappointedly.
"My my, almost late? Got yourself lucky, boy..." Liene said teasingly, her voice soft.
"Just shut up, I don't wanna talk about it..." Takumi responded, contradicting her claims.
"Oh, you don't wanna talk about how you almost got yourself late after you did the thing you had to do?" Liene teasingly pointed out.
"Damn it, shut up..." Takumi exclaimed.
Just then, Ann caught a glimpse of them, locking eyes on both with her death glare, sending chills down their spines. Even Liene, who is usually calm, felt intimidated, causing some of the students to chuckle since it was Takumi's second time being scolded by Ann.
"Ahem, unless you wanna join this fellow in my office for a session with me and me alone, I suggest you be quiet!" Ann scolded both Liene and Takumi aggressively.
"Eep, she is scary..." Liene pointed out softly.
"Yeah, we can agree on something after all..." Takumi agreed. "Now shut up or we'll receive another one of her scoldings."
A group of students couldn't help but chuckle, making fun of Takumi being scolded by Ann, but soon regretted their decision as Ann walked towards them, her death glare locked onto them, silencing them immediately.
"Ahem!" Ann scolded aggressively.
The academy battleground is named Starfield to symbolize limitless potential and opportunities for student growth. It's a field of stars, where each student shines like a star, displaying their unique abilities and strategy in battle. The students, aside from Claire and Rose, didn't seem to notice Ann beginning to lose her temper. Claire and Rose began to imagine Ann's wrath in an exaggerated way. Claire imagined her as a dragon breathing fire and reigning among them, while Rose imagined her as a witch casting a spell to tie their mouths shut, leaving them both quaking in fear. As they anticipated, Miss Ann made an old-looking stick appear in her hand before pointing it towards a large boulder. She spun her wand and telekinetically sent it flying effortlessly above the line of students and into the academy battleground, catching their attention in terror as Ann set an example for them.
"Remember!" Ann yelled, grabbing the students' attention. "This is not a battle to defeat one another. It is a battle against your own limitations, a chance to surpass what you believed possible. It is a test of strategy and teamwork, using your abilities strategically and working together if necessary."
The students immediately faced forward in shock and terror, nodding in understanding. Some nodded out of obligation, while others were genuinely attentive. Among them, a division seemed to form, with some choosing to heed Ann's advice and others reluctant to do so. Claire began to notice the stark contrast between Ms. Ann's harsh, commanding behavior and Mr. Isaac's calm, silent, and polite demeanor. It seemed like Mr. Isaac was the good cop in the situation, while Ann was the polar opposite, playing the bad cop.
"Well, ahem, to explain the mechanics of this activity, magic that has fatal properties, or to be exact, powerful magic towards your fellow students, is in fact, strictly prohibited!" Ann explained. Her once calm tone transitioned into a yell, terrifying the students once more. "Remember, we will be monitoring your every move with drones all around the Starfield."
Fatal magic spells require a large amount of power and can potentially fatally wound or, in the worst-case scenario, kill an opponent. This was made clear to the students as being prohibited due to their immense power. Fortunately, such incidents were rare but not unheard of in previous batches of students.
"Moreover, the use of stellar skills and magic with the intent to fatally wound or kill will result in immediate disqualification, yet it won't end in expulsion," Ann continued, her tone shifting to calm once more. "Moving on, you are not prohibited from attacking each other, not to the point of fatality, but enough to knock someone out. However, you have permission to use any means to defeat the Akumo that roam around the Starfield."
Ann's once terrifying eyes turned calm again. Claire sensed that despite her strict nature, Ann still cared for her students. This was evident when she purposefully missed hitting Takumi with the chair at the assembly and recently avoided hitting the students with the boulder. With that realization, Claire's fear began to fade, and she actually started listening without the fear of being hit by a boulder.
Yet, to show her authority, Ann's eyes began to glare at the students once more, which terrified Claire again despite her recent realization. Ann began to spin her wand in her hand.
"Now!" Ann's voice pierced through the students. "Regarding the terrain you'll be battling in, since everyone here was too focused on other things, improvisation will be your utmost skill. Information-wise, you won't get much from your idle talk..."
The students glanced around in confusion, their eyes widened, mouths agape. Many regretted their earlier idle conversations, while others felt Ann's decision to withhold information was extremely unreasonable. Claire and Rose stood quietly, realizing the challenge ahead and anticipating it might be fun.
"All you need to know is that whoever you're dorming with will be your teammate for this activity and future activities. You are to work together, and your performance will be graded accordingly," Ann explained. "This will determine your ability to work with your teammate, which is one of the most important aspects of being an adventurer."
Claire immediately stood in terror, her eyes widening at the realization that she would have to work with her roommate, Kazuki. Given his unwillingness to engage in conversation with her, she couldn't even spot him in the long line of students beside her.
"No, no, no... Why?! I can't team up with him. He won't even talk to me. Heck, he barely even acknowledges me!" Claire's thoughts echoed in her head. "Darn it, darn it, darn it, this really won't end well."
Rose was just as shocked, considering she didn't even have a roommate. Her mind panicked, but physically, she chose to remain standing as complaints wouldn't help her situation. Behind Ann, Isaac smiled as he glanced back towards the line of students. He immediately closed his book and walked forward, standing beside Ann.
Soon, a faint blue glow enveloped all the students. They reacted in different ways, astonished, scanning their bodies and looking around as the glow gradually intensified. One by one, they were consumed by the light as Isaac watched calmly beside Ann. In unison, a teleportation spell was cast, transporting each of them to random places across the Starfield.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Claire yelled in astonishment, confused.
The radiant blue light enveloped Rose as they both reached out for each other. The light intensified, piercing Claire's vision. She caught a quick glimpse of Kazuki in the distance. As she expected, he stood unfazed and emotionless, standing straight and facing forward in contrast to the confused students around him. Her startled exclamation showed a mixture of surprise and awe as she was soon transported to a random location along with the other students, leaving the elevated hill empty. Ann and Isaac remained.
"Do you have to be this aggressive with the students?" Isaac asked calmly.
"I have my reasons, sir," Ann responded, her rage seeming nonexistent.
Presently, Claire continued to shake off the Akumo, the Kurutor, that was chasing her and slowly closing in. Her teammate, Kazuki, seemed to have abandoned her or was simply nonexistent, causing Claire to panic as she tried to escape the creature.
"Darn it! Where is my teammate?" Claire exclaimed.
Thinking quickly, she sheathed her blade and swiftly drew her bow from behind, taking aim at the creature's hand gripping an axe. With a practiced motion, she released an arrow from her quiver, striking the axe and knocking it back. The weight of the weapon caused the creature to stagger and fall momentarily, sending grass flying up around it. This allowed Claire to increase the distance between herself and the creature as she continued to run forward.
"Serves you right, capisce!" Claire yelled.
The creature sat up, shook the grass off its head, and immediately stood up to chase Claire once more, now without its axe. Unfortunately, being in the plains part of the Starfield, Claire couldn't use the terrain to her advantage. Her only option was to keep running and try to strategize her next move.
As the Akumo closed in on her again, Claire pointed her bow, fitted with two arrows, and performed her stellar skill, Twin Peaks, aiming for a specific vulnerable spot. She approached a dead end—a flat plateau with minimal chance of escape—and released her arrows. They struck the creature's feet, temporarily immobilizing it. Claire halted at the cul-de-sac, the flat plateau.
Claire's eyes widened as the Akumo wrenched its feet from the ground, pulling out the arrows with its hands. Roaring in immense pain, it threw the arrows aside and charged towards her, its horn aimed directly at her. Claire closed her eyes and covered herself with her arms, recalling a familiar moment. Just then, she noticed a figure above the flat plateau. At first, the figure was not clearly visible due to the sun's bright rays shining into her eyes. Everything seemed slow for a moment before the figure drew its sword from its scabbard mid-air and stabbed it into the creature's head, stopping it from charging at Claire. This reminded her of a familiar moment when a familiar figure had saved her from approaching danger.
The creature went berserk with the sword stuck in its head. Claire watched as she lowered her arms, realizing that the figure was Kazuki, whom she had thought abandoned her. He immediately pulled his sword from the creature's head and propelled himself behind it, quickly leaping in a triangular pattern, weaving between small rocks, and executing his stellar skill on the Kurutor. Claire watched in awe and shock as Kazuki, showing no emotion, swung his blade four times effortlessly in a relentless combo: the first two strikes formed an X, the third targeted the center, and with a final leap, he slashed its neck from behind. The creature collapsed to the ground before slowly fading away.
"Whoa..." Claire said in a low voice.
She watched as Kazuki landed on the grassy ground, his head turned towards her and his body tilted away, his face completely emotionless. He sheathed his sword back in his scabbard and walked forward quietly. Claire quaked before slowly following behind him at a distance, still in shock both at the fact that he executed an attack that took down the Akumo and that he hadn't abandoned her as she had previously thought. She walked behind him, her hand holding her bow shaking.
"What really is the deal with you?" Claire wondered in her thoughts about the person in front of her.
Meanwhile, the surveillance drones captured every move of all the students at the Starfield, the calmness in Isaac's expression evident as he watched from a transparent screen showing multiple views of students throughout the Starfield. Some fought monsters and each other, while others chose to hide. Isaac enlarged a screen with the intent to watch Kazuki's every move, using a rectangular device to monitor him closely. He observed with understanding and perhaps expectation, recognizing Kazuki's abilities on the battlefield.
"The Phantom Swordsman strikes again..." Isaac murmured to himself, a smile peaking on his face.