25. Return to Academy and Civil War [1] – part 2

「Yoshi, everyone go pick a spirit sword each from the preparation room!」Leia-sensei said, and suddenly blew the whistle hanging around her neck.

Felt like deja vu.

「Allen, let’s go!」

「This way.」

「Aa, yeap.」

Ria and Rose pulled me by both hands towards the preparation room.

Spirit sword – A sword made out of rare material called spirit ore.

I’ve heard that this is mainly used in soul-dress classes.

It is said that the wielder’s『soul』which lies dormant in the deepest part of their hearts is brought up to the surface, or so.

「This is a… spirit sword!」

「…Beautiful.」

Both of them quickly pulled out one each from a large number of lined up spirit swords. I also followed their lead and picked up one.

(Oh… it’s unexpectedly heavy)

It looked like a transparent blue glass, but… it was much heavier than an ordinary sword because it was made out of mineral.

As many classmates were still waiting for their turn, we got out of the preparation room, holding a spirit sword each.

At that time, a good idea came to mind.

(…I got it! If I swing this, it will be good training!)

If I swing with this weight, the effect will surely be doubled or tripled. The effects will be incredible on – the trunk and shoulder, the abdominal muscles and dorsal muscles.

And as I swing it a couple times as warm up,

「Just to let you know, spirit swords are stupid expensive. Each is around 1million gold, so treat it as carefully as possible.」sensei said in a loud voice so that all the students could hear.

「O-One million gold…!?」

The amount almost made my eyeballs pop out – and I immediately stopped swinging.

(A single sword is a million gold…!?)

I held the spirit sword with both hands firmly and looked around.

Just from counting at a glance… there were more than thirty swords. In other words, all in all, there were at least 30million gold here. With that amount, you could spend 10 years of your life just playing around without working.

(As expected of one of the Five Academy, Thousand Blade Academy…)

The quality of the equipment here was jaw-dropping.

While my face was turning pale, everyone around me was handling the spirit sword without any concern… maybe everyone was quite rich.

Well, it’s only natural I suppose. Everyone here is a super elite who has graduated from a famous academy of swordsmanship, and no one was from the countryside like me.

And then,

「Nn…」

「Ah…」

Ria and Rose, who held the spirit sword, let out strange fidgety voices from just now.

「Fuu, are you both alright…?」

「S-Sorry, Allen! For making strange noises…」

「F-For some reason, my body is feeling strange…」

Saying that, they dropped their gaze on the spirit sword a little shakily.

(…『Strange feeling』?)

I have no idea what kind of strange feeling it is, but… Looking at them closely, both their cheeks were bright red. Perhaps they have a fever.

(Wouldn’t it be better to go to the infirmary…?)

When I was thinking that, 『FWEEET!』the whistle sounded once again.

「Now then, does everyone have a spirit sword?」sensei asked, looking around at everyone.

In response, we nodded.

「As you may already know, the spirit sword is a special sword that is used only to learn soul dress. Just by holding it, you feel something strange, right?」

The students around me nodded all at once towards sensei’s question.

(A strange feeling huh… yeah… I don’t feel anything.)

It seems that I’m the only one here who doesn’t feel a thing.

「Talented students like you – swordsman who have a high degree of spiritual response, should feel throbbing in the inner part of your body. This is the proof that the『Spirit Core』lying dormant within you is being stimulated. There is a great individual difference in how much throbbing you feel… Well, it is generally said that women are more sensitive than men.」

Apparently, the throbbing depended on talent.

(Talent, huh…)

There’s no other convincing explanation…

「From now on, I’m going to have you all talk with the『Spirit Core』that resides within your soul. After that, you might have to discuss, or fight, or negotiate – whichever it might be, find a way to share its power. The power you get from the spirit core – a part of the spirit core that is made into a concrete form – that is『Soul Dress』!」

…I see.

This sensation of finally having all my previous knowledge of soul dress systemized and organized. I felt like the dots were finally connected, and it felt very good.

「Well, let me give you one piece of advice – don’t get swallowed up, ok?」sensei lowered her voice and warned clearly.

「The spirit core is fundamentally something which protects you. You can almost think of it as your ally. But in very rare cases, it tries to take over your body – those which have strong egos. As you all know, Allen’s spirit core is one such example.」

Everyone’s gaze focused on me.

「That said, Allen’s is special, and it’s an anomaly – a rare case even among rare cases. Normally, this rarely happens, so you don’t have to worry too much about it.」

…In other words, there is a lot to worry about me taking this class.

Somehow, I got really nervous…

「And in the unlikely event that you guys get swallowed up by your spirit core, you don’t have to worry at all. I’ll suppress you with force.」sensei said, cracking her fingers.

(…How reassuring)

She was unreliable when it came to normal work and duties, but the one thing that we can safely count on was her strength.

「Well, then I’ll get into the explanation right away. How to use the spirit sword is simple and clear! First, close your eyes and focus your mind. Then, slowly, go deeper and deeper into your own consciousness – sink into your soul. And by the time you realise, your spirit core would be in front of you.」

Deeper and deeper… huh.

It was a very abstract and sensuous explanation.

「Well, seeing is believing. For now, just give it a try.」

Sensei then clapped her hands together and declared「start」.

After that, everyone quietly closed their eyes and began to focus their minds.

(I’ll… give it a try too.)

Honestly, it was a little scary.

Moreover, I felt anxious at the thought of my body being taken over by that guy and going on a rampage again.

(But this time, Leia-sensei said『I will suppress you with force』)

If it’s her, she can surely subdue me somehow even if I went on a rampage.

「Fuu…」

I exhaled a deep breath and went deeper and deeper into my consciousness – I sank towards my soul.

One minute… two minute… three minute… time slowly passed.

And when I came to realise… there he was.

「Yo-yo… it’s been a while, hasn’t it?」

Long white hair that emerged lightly.

A black pattern that emerged on the face

A ferocious look that could kill.

And above all – his face was the spitting image of my own.

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