The day had finally arrived for the middle child of the Umitasora family's exams. The entire week had been filled with shock and upheaval that so quickly changed her view of so many things, yet despite it all, Hikari was still beset with determination. The beginning of the exams was not quite what one would expect. The event that would bring together almost the entirety of the city began with the more boring but still entirely necessary portion, written tests and academic knowledge. Kaika Temple had been almost entirely cleared out, each building temporarily fitted to serve as a testing room for the written exams. Schedules hung from all over the walls directing students to their respective buildings and testing sites. It was a portion of the exams that took grueling effort and organization due to the fact that all of the exam results needed to be graded and processed as fast as possible in order to relay the information to the citizens who followed along during the festival.
While the five day testing phase went on for the students and teachers below in Kaika Temple, the Capital City of Do'Kobu above would be immersed in celebration. Almost the entirety of the entertainment and hospitality district had been turned into an enormous street fair that was overflowing with food, music, drink and most importantly the gambling that would take place over which students would score higher on their written tests. For the most part, gambling was not a large part of Sentoki culture, but once a year during the exams, citizens from all over would come to place bets and take a chance at winning big with a bet on whichever student they rooted for. It was all part of the idea that the gap between the citizens and the Snetoki should be as small as possible. The fan clubs, the competition, the celebration, it was all a way of keeping the ones who did not have access to a Mesukiro or were not trained as Sentoki in touch with those who were.
To avoid distraction and unwanted commotion, there were strict rules about only those working or testing being allowed within the Temple during the exams, and so Hikari along with Gado, Taiyo, Eiji, and Kyuen all stood outside of the Umitasora home, ready to see her off as she began. "Good luck sweetheart," Gado said as he embraced his daughter and handed her the lunch he had prepared for her long day ahead. "I'm sure you'll do better on the written exams that I did," Taiyo chimed in with a laugh as he patted her on the back. "Good luck Hikari," Eiji said next, his voice coming off somewhat distracted. Hikari placed both her hands on Eiji's shoulders to get his full attention and looked him in the eyes. "Good luck to you too," She said with a reassuring smile before pulling him in for a hug. It was only the night before that Hiro had filled them all in on Eiji's bizarre situation. It was so much to process that Hikari had almost pushed it out of mind after dinner, but she knew Eiji must have been feeling just as much pressure as she was in his own way. For a moment she almost felt shadowed by the events that had unfolded for Eiji, but as she did the image of Harrow flashed through her mind and her ambitions towards her own goals were quickly rectified.
Before she headed off towards the Temple Hikari turned to her aunt Kyuen, who in the last few days had given her even more to aspire towards as she moved closer to her goals. "You'll do just as well as you try to do, and no better," Kyuen said somewhat playfully as she wrapped her arms around her niece and pulled her in closely. "I already know you're going to make us proud Hikari…" Kyuen whispered, "This is your moment to show everyone how far you've come," She added before pulling away and turning Hikari around, jokingly pushing her forward onto the path ahead. Hikari just smiled as she looked back over her shoulder at the family that had always given her nothing but support her entire life. She felt both a feeling of immeasurable gratitude as well as a feeling of longing. Her eyes were unable to ignore the empty space that stood next to her father. "Wish me luck mom…" Hikari said to herself as she turned away and headed onward towards Kaika Temple.
As she arrived, the temple seemed to be even busier than usual despite the efforts to keep things calm and organized for the sake of the students. Teachers hurried from building to building making sure everything was in order as students rushed around from poster to poster trying to find their schedule and get themselves to their testing sites. "This can't be the best way to go about this," Hikari thought to herself as she wandered the streets in search of her own name listed somewhere on one of the many schedules that had been plastered to the walls. There wasn't much chatter or liveliness amongst the students as they all searched for and found their places. The majority of them understood that the placement exams were a serious matter, and even further more, the written portion of the exams were a chance for some of the less physically talented and those lacking talent with Ki had a chance to still showcase their worth as a Sentoki. "Oh, Syra!" Hikari shouted as she noticed her friend standing in front of one of the posters and reading it with an intense stare.
Syra looked over her shoulder, her expression unchanging as she waved Hikari to come closer. "Did you find out where you're gonna be testing? Hopefully we're in the same building or at least nearby each other so we can meet-" Hikari said as she approached, although she was abruptly cut off by Syra who didn't speak, but just raised her finger and pointed to the poster that was ahead of her. "Look." Was all Syra said as Hikari's eyes scanned the large piece of poster full of names and building numbers. Hikari's eyes widened and her jaw quickly clenched as she found the spot where her name had been printed. "Building 17b Northwestern District, Days 1-5, seat 12" read the line, and right below it, printed in neat little lettering was Harrow's name. In the same building, the same days, and seated directly next to her.
"No way that's just a coincidence," Syra said from behind her muttering friend who stood there with her fists clenched. "You think it was your uncle?" She added, only for Hikari to quickly turn around and shout, "Of course it was! Are you kidding me!" She huffed before storming off in the other direction without another word. "Whats her problem?" said the voice of Arielle as she walked behind Syra just in time to see Hikari's outburst. Once again Syra pointed at the poster where Hikari & Harrow's names were printed, letting Arielle figure it out for herself. "Oh… well, this should be interesting…" She said with a sigh.
A few short miles away from the temple and the city, Gado, Hiro, Taiyo and Kyuen had all accompanied Eiji to his first day of training with Okun. As they ascended up the path of a plateau, Eiji couldn't help but think to himself how quickly everything had unfolded. It was only just a few days ago that he was lying in bed wondering if he would ever be able to obtain his Mesukiro and become a Sentoki like the rest of his family. "Oh that's right… Hiro said…" Eiji's mind flashed back to the day before and the moment when Hiro had actually announced him as an official Sentoki. The moment was far too overshadowed by Okun and his arrival to even be really noticed at the time, but as Eiji made his way up alongside his family and the strange man who claimed to be a Kami, he couldn't help but feel a moment of reverence for his situation, as bizarre as it was.
"Ironically, this spot is perfect for the two of you to train," Hiro said as he crested the plateau and the sight of the ruin entrance came into view. The ruins had been sealed off to anybody after the events of Eiji's awakening, but as he himself rounded the corner of the path that led him to the top and took sight of the sealed entrance, his body shuddered with the memory of what he had gone through. "We're plenty far enough from the city and temple that nobody will bother us out here, and there have already been patrols established in the area since Eiji's incident so the place is well guarded," Hiro added as he shot a glance over at Okun. "Point taken, Headmaster," Okun said with a bit of an annoyed expression as he turned to face Eiji.
The rest of the family that had come gathered around, leaving Eiji and Okun space to do whatever it is that Okun had planned. Okun looked around, his face making an almost curious expression or at least as much as it could. "We're not just going to fight, is that what you all assumed?" Okun said to them, disarming the group a bit as they all looked at each other. A moment later another individual had appeared from the path that led to the top of the plateau. Sumiko Harabani had joined the Umitasora family and Okun. "Hello again Mrs. Harabani," Okun said as he bowed his head slightly. "Hiro, I must actually thank you for subjecting me to Mrs. Harabani's scrutiny, she's been quite pleasant to converse with," he added, evoking a small scoff that seemed to come from Kyuen, and for a brief second Sumiko seemed to give her a scolding glare.
"Eiji," Sumiko said, quickly changing her attention to the young man they had all come here for. "If I am to understand what Okun has explained to me correctly, then the purpose of your training right now is simple. If you can learn to control and maintain your Ki in the state it's in right now, then you'll be extremely well equipped to handle your Ki once it has been restricted down to normal levels," Sumiko said astutely to the rest of them. "In layman's terms, this is a kind of 'shortcut' to raising your skills, especially for a shishogan user. "Hold on!" Hiro interjected, "I thought you were going to restrict his Ki before you began training him! What about the side effects??" He said in an uproar, "Doing things this way is like him juicing on Ki!" he continued on. Meanwhile, next to Hiro, Gado's face had begun to sour as well as he thought back to the end of the night before when Hiro had pulled him aside from dinner and explained the more drastic implications of Eiji's predicament.
Okun let out a long sigh of exasperation as he turned towards Hiro, "I'm not proud of this process… but the Ki prys were a product of war… If I don't train with Eiji first then I won't be able to properly gauge what level of Ki is natural for him, and I could end up restricting far more than need be," Okun said with a heavy expression. "As for the side effects, It's not something that can take place in such a short amount of time, so you need not worry," He said before turning back towards Eiji. from over her shoulder Sumiko turned her head and addressed Hiro, "You're not wrong to have your reservations headmaster, but if I may offer my profession opinion… we should trust what Okun has to say," She said with a soft smile before turning back to Eiji. "Tell me what you know about the Shishogan Eiji," she asked, seeming to take charge of the lesson as Okun stood beside her.
"Well umm… admittedly I don't know as much about it as I do the other two forms of Mesukiro but… I know that the Shishogan is the only form that manipulates Ki directly… And I know its four major properties. Ki Control, Illusion, Healing and Empath." He said in response, his words becoming more confident the more he spoke. "Good," Sumiko replied, "Now explain what you know about each of the major properties," She added, continuing on with her assessment of his knowledge regarding his own powers. Much of what Eiji had read in the days following his incident, when he was still subjected to bedrest, came flooding back into his mind. He had always been particularly skilled with being able to recall information, and like a human encyclopedia he began rattling off information as though he was reading it directly from a book.
"Ki Control stands as the defining distinction between the Shishogan and the other forms of the Mesukiro. This unique ability allows one to directly manipulate Ki both inside and outside of the body. Wielding it with precision for both offensive and defensive purposes. Through Ki control, this energy transcends its role as a mere source of power, becoming a versatile and formidable skill, a true extension of the wielder's will." Eiji said like he was reciting a school report, and without even catching his breath he flowed into his next answer. "Illusion, while illusion is an extension of ki control, it is revered as a unique skill in its own right. Through their mastery over the direct manipulation of ki, Shishogan users can craft illusions and deceptions so lifelike that they become nearly indistinguishable from reality. These creations not only mirror the appearance of the real world with uncanny accuracy but also possess substance and can produce sound and even radiating Ki that mimics the essence of living beings and the natural world itself, the more skilled a shishogan user is, the more realistic their illusions become." He said, carrying on with his impressive dissertation.
"Ki healing grants a Shishogan user the ability to channel the Ki of the natural world into their own or another's Ki network to initiate the healing process. This power, however, is bound by time. The longer an injury persists, the more difficult it becomes to mend, and once an injury has fully healed, it cannot be reversed. Additionally, healing others demands significantly greater effort than healing oneself. Beyond mending wounds, shishogan users can also utilize their own Ki to detect and pinpoint hidden injuries or ailments, uncovering conditions that would otherwise remain invisible,"
"And lastly, Empath," Eiji said as he glanced past Sumiko and Okun and at his father for a brief second, his mind drawn to the thought of the strange experience he had at the dojo with his father after his awakening. "Shishogan users possess a natural ability known as "Empath." through direct physical touch, they can perceive the emotions and feelings of another individual with remarkable clarity. This gift, however, is both a blessing and a curse, offering profound insight while exposing them to the full spectrum of another's emotional experiences. The strength of this ability grows with the bond between the Shishogan user and the individual, deepening as trust and understanding between them flourish regardless of the user's skill, except for when two individuals who both possess the shishogan connect, in this instance communication of emotions can be incredibly clear regardless of their affiliation or bond with each other," Eiji finished saying, only to quickly realize he had talked himself out of breath during his long-winded answer.
"I'm impressed," Okun said with a sense of surprise in his voice as he leaned forward a bit and spoke more quietly, "as much as I'm ashamed of having to do things this way… it's always exciting to train someone with potential," He said before standing back up straight with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Meanwhile off to the side, Gado, Hiro and Taiyo had all proudly acknowledged Eiji's in-depth answer as well, as though they were somehow responsible.
Just like he had done in Hiro's office the day before, Okun began to walk a circle around Eiji as he spoke next. "Eiji, I'm sure you expected to be doing some sparring or learning how to fight with your Shishogan, but during your training we will strictly be focusing on controlling and maintaining your output of Ki as well as your overall Ki Control," Okun said as he came back around the the place where he had started in front of Eiji. Suddenly, a thin sheen of what looked like iridescent glass came up from the ground where Okun had walked, encasing Eiji and the Kami in a strange bubble-like structure. "Hey! What-" Hiro began to object, but he was swiftly stifled by a wave of Sumiko's hand. "Eiji, I'd like you to begin with a simple release of your Ki," he said bluntly, as though the idea wasn't at all daunting. Eiji had only done so three times before since he had opened his eyes, once at the dojo, and once when Okun had arrived in Hiro's office and once when he greeted his older brother.
Eiji swallowed a bit, bracing himself for what might come next. It was strange being so familiar with something so unknown to him, the sensation of activating his Mesukiro and letting his Ki come forth was instinctual. It was as easy as closing or opening one's fist, and the rush of warmth that flooded his body in the following seconds felt somehow both unnerving and completely natural all at once. Eiji's eyes shot open and the bright green color of his Mesukiro filled his Irises. Bright green Ki, the color of fresh spring leaves, flooded forth and filled the small dome that enclosed him and Okun, crashing against its walls and rippling around the two of them. Much like the last time he had released his Ki, Eiji was filled with the sensation of awareness. As His Ki filled the space he became conscious of every little detail that surrounded him. The rocks beneath his feet, the number of blades of grass that shot up from the ground, the insects that had been caught inside the space along with them, Eiji could sense them all.
He looked down at his hands to see the aura that had spilled out of him began receding to a thin green line that clung tightly to his body. It was like a blanket of his own mind extended across every inch of his body. He could feel the strain in his left knee that came from favoring it during training. He became aware of the slight difference in hearing between one ear and the other. He could even feel his own heartbeat more profoundly as the Ki brought forth a stream of knowledge and information like he had never experienced. Although he had released his Ki in such a manner before, it wasn't until now that Eiji felt a true connection to his Shishogan. The well of information that he could perceive felt almost euphoric as his aura shaped around him.
"Well… I'm impressed once again…" Okun said as he stepped forward toward Eiji who was still looking himself over. "Eiji… are you aware of what you're doing right now?" Okun asked curiously. "Aware of what?" Eiji replied with confusion, still distracted by the Ki that surrounded him. "Well… I had planned to spend the majority of the day teaching you how to refine your Ki to just around your body… but it seems as though you know how to do so naturally," Okun added as he waved his hand in the air, causing the bubble that he had formed to dissipate. "Oh umm, yeah…" Eiji stammered. "I figured that out just before I surprised-" Eiji cut himself off from speaking, only now realizing that his actions when he had surprised his older brother with his Mesukiro were in direct violation of Hiro's orders not to use his Mesukiro unsupervised. "When I surprised myself at the Dojo!, the first time I had used my Mesukio," Eiji added, fibbing a bit in order to keep himself from getting in any trouble. "Well then… in that case, it seems as though we can move on to the next step…"Okun said as he summoned an aura of ki around himself that was remarkably similar to Eiji's in its color.
"He can be such a bastard sometimes!" Hikari muttered to herself as she trudged across the campus of Kaika temple and towards the building she had been assigned to take her Exams in. "Some Headmaster he is! Setting me up right next to her like this… and He's not even here for it! He's off training with Eiji, Tch!" Hikari thought to herself as she pushed her way through the doors of the small wooden doors of the building that was normally used to teach first year students. Her frustration boiled over even more when Hikari stepped inside and saw that she had already lost the first proverbial battle to her opponent. She had intended to arrive first, it was the reason she had stormed away from Syra in the first place, but it seemed as though Harrow had already had the exact same idea. Her long black hair swung to the side as she turned around in the desk she was seated at, her face twisted into a sadistic smile that made it obvious she was thinking the same thing as Hikari. "Well, well… It's like a prediction! Me in First and you in Second," Harrow chimed with a fake and shallow expression. "What do they call that in literature? Foreshadowing?" She added as she turned back around and waited patiently for Hikari's rebuttal.
Hikari took a deep breath and tried to calm her frustration. She knew It was no good to let Harrow get under her skin this early on. She took her assigned seat at the desk directly next to Harrow's, the only person in the room aside from the two of them was the silently busy teacher who shuffled around at the front of the class sorting papers and organizing herself. "You must read some pretty simple books if that's how they go," Hikari whispered as she sat down, keeping her eyes focused on the wall ahead. Even without their Ki being involved, the tension between the two young women was palpable, making the teacher lift her head and glance at them briefly even though she couldn't hear their words.
One by one over the next half hour students trickled in until the room eventually filled with around fifty or so individuals. Hikari and Harrow had remained silent after their small exchange, every once a while another student would glance over in their direction when they felt the angst coming from between them. As the first of many tests began, the teacher seemed to be drawn towards handing Harrow and Hikari the first papers, despite them sitting towards the back of the room. The two of them both snatched the papers from the teachers hands and grabbed their pencil, readying themselves for the moment the test would begin.
As the teacher made the announcement, The two of them leaned in over their desks and began writing furiously, both of them having already answered the first page of questions in their minds while they had waited. Before most of the other students had completed their first question, Hikari and Harrow had already flipped to the next page and continued aggressively filling in their answers. The two of them were embroiled in a soundless race to finish first. Even if there were no consequences for who finished first or last, it was paramount to each of the women that they out matched their opponent in every way possible.
It was only a fraction of a second earlier, but as the testing period passed the fifteen minute mark, both Hikari's & Harrow's hands shot up into the air to signify that they had finished. The two of them panted slightly, as a small smile pulled at the corner of Hikari's lips, meanwhile Harrow's face was fully soured. The both of them knew Hikari's hand had been the first to reach into the air holding her test, even if to everyone else in the room it seemed simultaneous. There was a full hour allotted for the test, leaving them almost forty five minutes to sit next to each other in brooding silence.
The rest of the day carried on in the same fashion, for 8 hours of testing, the two young women quietly battled it out in a challenge of both speed and intelligence that only the two of them were privy to. As they went on the rest of the students began to murmur between tests, glancing over their shoulders at each of the young women from time to time as they continued to finish each exam with ample time to spare, and by the time the day had finished, both Hikari and Harrow had each finished the same amount of tests ahead of each other, tied with four and four. When the test had finally ended and the group had finally been dismissed, the two of them got up without a word and walked out of the building, neither one of them satisfied with the fact they had been so evenly matched.
Back at the top of the plateau where Eiji, Okun, Sumiko and the rest of the family were finishing watching Eiji train for the day, Gado helped lift Eiji to his feet as the young man panted with exhaustion. Eiji's eyes were wide as his father supported him. His body was filled with a kind of exhaustion that left him wondering if being a Sentoki was something he was actually cut out for. Every inch of himself felt as though it had been drained of all life and vitality. If it weren't for the sight of his own body, Eiji would have believed that he had become nothing more than a frail husk of a man.
Eiji clutched at his chest as he gasped for breath, his lips dry and his eyes bloodshot. "Try to breathe…" Gado said to his son as he kept Eiji from dropping to his knees. "That's the feeling of Ki exhaustion…" Sumiko added. "It's vital that you avoid bringing yourself to this state while on a mission or in a battle. Sentoki who succumb to Ki exhaustion in the field are at an extreme risk of death, luckily for you…" Sukmiko said as he stepped forward and held her hands out over his back, letting her golden hued Ki flow out and enveloped his body. Within seconds Eiji could feel the vigor being restored to his lifeless limbs, his breathing became more easy and a bit of the color returned to his face. "Pay attention to what she's doing Eiji…" Said Okun as Sumiko continued to restore him from his fatigued state.
It was as if Eiji's own body could read the movement of Sumiko's Ki. Unlike the other times she had affected him with her Ki, now his eyes had already been opened and he possessed the Shishogan, he could feel precisely that process that was going on within himself. "Woah…" Eiji whispered as he began to support his own weight and lean away from his father. Eiji could see the wisps of naturally formed Ki that Sumiko was pulling from the air and ground around them, feeding it into Eiji's body and restoring his vitality. "But how… how do you channel the natural Ki," Eiji turned and asked Sumiko as she continued the process. "Oh my Eiji you're full of surprises today, aren't you?" Replied Sumiko, "So you can see the natural Ki already? That usually takes a few days of training for beginners," She added as she smiled at him. "You'll get the hang of it soon enough-" Sumiko started to say, but was cut off by the sensation of feeling Eiji's Ki mimicking her own and beginning to gather the natural Ki from the surrounding air. "Eiji… You really are impressive…" Sumiko said in amazement as his own ki began to retract and she let him take over the process of restoring it on his own.
Eiji looked down at his hands. The amount of times he had done so in the past few days set in on him as concentrated on the sensation that he had copied. "It's like… It's like trying to get water from a stream…" Eiji said as the glow of his aura grew stronger around his body. "That's a good way to put it… but right now with the way your Ki is working… It's more like you're standing in the middle of the stream at the moment," Okun said. "Right now, your Ki is intertwined with the natural flow of Ki that's all around us, making it much easier for you to progress… although still… I'm surprised you've gotten the hang of so much in just one day…" Okun added. Eiji surged with pride, he was both amazed and astounded that everything had come to him so naturally.
He had spent the entirety of the afternoon doing an exercise where his goal was to constantly match Okun's output of Ki as he changed it back and forth from a barely noticeable release to an overwhelming surge of power. For hours he had tried to keep with the fluctuating Ki of the Kami as his family watched attentively. Continuously draining out his aura until he was left in the exhausted state he had just recovered himself from. Eiji looked at his new mentor who stood before him unphased from the hours of Ki expenditure they had both gone through. "Just how big are his Ki reserves??" Eiji wondered as he finished the process of restoring his Ki levels back to where they were earlier in the day. "As a Kami, My Ki reserves are far beyond what you could conceptualize, that is what you were wondering yes?" Okun said confidently as he looked at his new pupil. "My Ki reserves, much like yours right now, are intertwined with the natural flow of Ki all around us… The Ki Prys were designed to mimic the way us Kami interact with Ki, but as a human you can only stay in such a state for a short amount of time…" He added.
Eiji lifted his head and looked at Okun, over the course of the last two days he had made mention of the side effect and the consequences that could come from the strange way Eiji had opened his eyes, but Eiji could feel something was being left out in the explanation he had been given. "And what happens… if a human does stay in that state?" Eiji asked, curious if Okun would reveal any more details to him. "Like I said before, If your Ki system remains connected to the natural flow of Ki… it will eventually push your body past its ability to handle it…," Okun said, repeating what he had said the day before in Hiro's office. Eiji paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next that might help shed some light on what he felt was being hidden from him. "And… that would kill me?" Eiji asked, trying to pose a question that would reveal whether Okun chose to answer it or not.
Suddenly Eiji felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see his uncle Hiro had stepped in behind him, his face held tight with an odd sort of expression. "You don't have to worry about that Eiji its-" "Irrelevant, I know…" Eiji interrupted his uncle dismissively and shrugged his hand off of his shoulder, but just before Hiro's hand left its perch, Eiji felt a rush of broken and abject information flow into his mind. It was like an involuntary reaction, his body tensed up and he spun around on his heel, staring at his uncle with his mouth slightly agape. It was only for a second but during that brief moment of time, Eiji's empath ability had connected him with the mind of his uncles. Images of Ki and Okun came into his mind, along with the broken half of a word… "Ryu…" Eiji whispered, making his uncle's face turn to a look of shock as he did.
Hiro stepped back, looking at his hand and scolding himself for being so careless around Eiji's new abilities. "That's enough for today!" Hiro said sternly as he turned around and began to walk away. Eiji couldn't make sense of the information he had involuntarily pulled from his uncle, it was all fragmented and almost nonsensical, but one thing was clear. Hiro and Okun were certainly keeping something hidden from him.
Before the rest of them could take their leave, Gado took off behind his brother, stumbling down the path to catch up to him. "Hiro! What just happened?!" Gado called out to him. "Be careful Gado…" Hiro said without turning around as Gado walked up beside him. "Eiji empath ability is dangerous if you're not on your guard… and it's easy to let your guard down around family… he almost learned the truth behind his side effects back there…" Hiro said forebodingly as looked down at his hand once more. Gado's face turned grave as he realized what his brother had meant. "I already know… It doesn't feel great knowing that I have to protect myself everytime I hug my son…" Gado replied. "You just have to make sure you don't give him any information he shouldn't know… but… the Empath ability works both ways… And I have to say I'm worried about the level of determination I felt coming from him… Knowing Eiji… we may not be able to keep him from learning the truth…" Hiro finished saying as the rest of the group appeared behind them on the path. Hiro looked over his shoulder at his nephew who walked behind them, his face beset with an expression that made him almost unrecognizable to the headmaster and uncle who had known him his entire life. "I don't like how this is starting out…" Hiro thought to himself as turned forward once more and continued on.