Cherreads

Chapter 34 - Retrieved Will (4)

2 days later…

Ashiro sits on the floor, practicing his circulation of different elements. "(Flame Formations are completed. All I need now is to focus on the Earth Formations.)"

A glow of a terra colored aura fills the room as Ashiro begins training within his mindscape, trying to learn more about the Earth Formations. "(Find the will to protect others and never fall. Stand strong like a mountain!)"

"ASHIRO!" Kohaku yells, trying to get his attention.

Ashiro's concentration doesn't break, as he opens his eyes and begins talking back towards Kohaku. "YEAH?!"

"Did you forget we must go to campus and introduce ourselves?" Kohaku asked, hoping her lover had not forgotten such a crucial detail.

Ashiro then stops the circulation process, standing up from his seated position. "I FORGOT!" He rushes through his closet, grabbing a school uniform and some sneakers.

He then runs into the bathroom, quickly showering and drying his hair within minutes.

Ashiro brushes his teeth while trying to put on his outfit in a very unprepared manner. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Fumiko and the others wait outside the dorm room A-127, waiting for Ashiro and Kohaku.

"What's taking them so long?" Akari muttered, wondering about them.

A loud crash then echoes from the halls.

Ashiro falls down a flight of stairs, landing right below Fumiko's shoes.

"Fuck, my back." Ashiro cursed in pain, rubbing his back.

Fumiko and the others chuckled. They then looked past Ashiro seeing Kohaku rush down the stairs to help him up. "You're still as clumsy as ever I see," Kohaku said giggling under her breath.

"Hey, you kids gonna come or what? The association will kick my ass if your all late!"

Ashiro and the others looked over and saw Kenzo standing at the opposite end of the sidewalk.

The group walks over towards Kenzo, immediately appearing in a classroom as they make contact with him.

"Welcome to Class A, the newest line of freshman students that will join and help this class!"

Ashiro looks around, seeing multiple students he didn't know. Except for one and that person was Midori, self-proclaimed strongest of the entire school.

"Now, if you have any questions just ask them, The boy standing in the middle is Ashiro Tensai, you'll probably know him for standing up to Ken's shenanigans." A little chuckle echoed across the room as Kenzo teased Ashiro by nudging his arm.

Kenzo then cleared his throat. " Ahem, and this beauty on the far left is Fumiko Haruka, you'll never miss her cause of the colorful hair and the whole ice queen act. But if you ask me she's just shy."

Fumiko shook her head as Kenzo poked at her. "Ha ha, very funny Kenzo."

"Oh, where are my manners. I forgot about the most lovable-" Kenzo said, before a loud voice interrupted him.

"Man, why do we need new students, Kenzo!?" Midori spoke out, interrupting Kenzo mid-speech. "I mean seriously the only ones that are useful with this bunch are this Tensai dude. Which I gotta say, your dad is very impressive."

Midori smirked as he looked over at Fumiko. "This Haruka chick is a sight for sore eyes, but she seems strong so I give her credit… I guess."

Fumiko's aura then flared up, making the air around them dense as multiple students fell to the floor.

"Watch your pitiful tongue, you fucking nobody." Fumiko's voice made cold sweat drip down Midori's forehead, but he didn't care.

"Midori! How many times do I have to say this, shut your damn mouth. Especially after that bullcrap you pulled yesterday morning!" Kenzo shouted, trying to de-escalate the messy situation. He then glances over at Ashiro's face, which was angry but he could tell Ashiro was trying to keep himself calm and composed. "(Ashiro, I'm sorry you have to go through this. Just don't break and make sure to stay level-headed.)"

Ashiro's eyes glanced at Midori and then back at the ground. "(Calm yourself remember what dad-! No… I'm not like him… I'M NOT MY FATHER!)"

[Warning: Your volatile emotions are messing with your mental state. Anymore loss in your sanity will provoke an activation of Element energy's Lightning Formations!]

Ashiro looks up from the floor and his eyes spark with electricity, locking onto Midori's smug face. "(I'll fucking gut him like the pig he is!)"

Two hands grab Ashiro, Kenzo's hand placed on his shoulder, trying to reassure that the current situation did not need violence or any hate directed towards Midori.

Ashiro felt calmer and then felt an arm wrapped around his, it was Kohaku's. She leaned into his ear and whispered. "Please, don't lose yourself. Surpass your hatred by showing the bonds you've made over the past couple of months."

Ashiro smiled and looked up with confidence, introducing himself to the class. "My name is Ashiro Tensai. Shoot me a question if you have any."

The students look at Ashiro, and a few seconds of silence fill the room before multiple hands are raised and voices overlap one another.

Ashiro could barely make them out, even if he was someone on the student council in the past at some other schools this was out of his league.

Kenzo glanced over and quickly noticed Ashiro's nervous face. "QUIET!" He yelled at the classroom, demanding they be quiet so Ashiro could pick.

A brunette boy around the age of 16 years old raised his hand, and Ashiro pointed towards him. "Yes, what's your question?"

The boy stood up from his desk, ready to answer the question. "Is it true that your father was the dark messenger?"

Ashiro looked at him, confused. "Explain." He replied quickly, wanting to know what his father had done.

"Well, in Kyoto he would go to multiple popular cities and would take out criminals and even stop entire organizations. I was surprised you didn't notice, it was all over the news a month ago."

Ashiro frowned a bit but decided to forget about the topic being centered on his father. "Thank you. Now does anyone else have a question?"

The brunette boy sat down and an abundance of hands flew into the air. Ashiro glances around the room, picking a green-haired girl with glasses. Prompting her to stand up with a face of enthusiasm. "What is your innate technique, Ashiro?" The girl took out a notebook, holding it close to her as

"Element Energy. By creating multiple revenant cores that take the form of the 5 basic elements, fire, earth, water, wind, and lightning. I can use those to my best, however, I only have access to 3 of the 5 elements. Probably cause my avatar has something to do with it."

"Can you combine them and use them at the same time separately?" The girl asked even more intrigued by Ashiro's simple, yet complex abilities.

"Hmm, I never really tried it but I just want to make sure I properly master my abilities first. Even the slightest mistake in the usage of my elements could be the difference between life and death."

The green-haired girl nodded and sat back down. Ashiro exhaled through his nose, slightly fed up with questions. "Yes, what is your question?"

He pointed towards a boy with tangerine hair, prompting him to stand and answer Ashiro.

"What happened in Nagano?"

Ashiro's hand twitched from the question, slightly angering him. "Respectfully, that's none of your concern." Ashiro glared at the boy, making him slump back down to his desk. Ashiro then faced the rest of the students in the classroom. "Does anyone else have a question regarding my father, cause I am not answering those." Ashiro's voice wasn't aggressive or bloodlusted, but just annoyed with the questions regarding his father.

"Kenzo, I'm done with the questions." Ashiro said, while walking over to a desk next to the green-haired girl who wore glasses from earlier.

Kenzo then directed his attention to the class. "Now does anyone have questions for Akari, Kohaku, Masaki, or Fumiko?"

The classroom of students stayed quiet, not wanting to know any more information due to Fumiko's anger from earlier.

Nagano, Japan 2:30 PM…

Satsujin walked through the empty and destroyed streets of Nagano, accompanied by Azar and Ryoko. "Why are you two following me…"

Azar smirked at him and answered in a confident tone. "Isn't it obvious, you and Jashi are bonded with one another, so that means we are your killers!"

Satsujin shook his head in denial at Azar's statement. "No… I.. Don't need your help to kill…" Satsujin fell to the ground, holding his head as the words "Betrayal, Death, Traitor, and Revenge" filled Satsujin's mind. "(I CAN'T TAKE A LIFE, I AM NOT A MURDERER!)"

Satsujin then opens his eyes, finding himself in the dark and cold mindscape. He looked around himself until his eyes met with Jashi's."You are a murderer, you harmed countless others connected to your son and Kodak. You even fought him in a head-on brawl, even if he was holding himself back from harming the man who became a second father to him."

Jashi was then grabbed by Satsujin, his demeanor and aura showed nothing but pure animosity. "SHUT… UP." Satsujin's voice was angry, aggressive, tainted, and even murderous. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TELLING ME WHAT I DID. I KNOW WHAT I DID!"

Jashi then smiled upon hearing those words. "Good, so you know what you did."

[Skill: Glitching Chant Activated]

Jashi's hand pats Satsujin's back, trying to reassure him. "You know why you did it, so why don't you take your revenge and properly finish off Kodak, once and for all?" The moment the words from Jashi's lips left him. Satsujin released him and stood up with a twisted look of anger and mental insanity.

[Insanity Level: 0]

Satsujin then looks at Jashi and smiles. "You're right, I'm not the one at fault. It's their fault!"

Nexus Academy 4:30 PM…

Ashiro walks into a gymnasium, seeing a black floor covering the massive room from top to bottom. "(Whoa, this material is stronger than it looks.)" He then taps the ground, seeing it react to his knuckles.

"It's a highly adaptive material that absorbs and destroys energy, making it the strongest material on earth."

Ashiro looks behind him, seeing a skinny man dressed in a lab coat and jeans. His hair was long and messy. Dark eyebags right below his eyes were visible to Ashiro. "And who are you?" Ashiro replied, not knowing this strange figure.

"Apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Akira Arashi, and I build and make new materials for the association using my technique: Atomic Mass. I can create imaginary mass equal to my strength, thus creating materials that are on par with most S-Ranks nowadays. It was tough but Kenzo was the one to train me to use my power for the betterment of this facility."

Ashiro nods his head up and down, impressed by the work Akira had done. "Name's Ashiro."

"And what can you do, Ashiro?"

Ashiro smirks and his body glows with revenant. "I have 5 revenant cores, each one being used for an element that I use as an energy source that takes the form of an element. I called Element Energy."

Akira's then glows a light blue, observing the revenant cores within Ashiro's body. "Hmm, your cores are trying to mix into one another. Is that on purpose?"

"No, I haven't had a chance to unravel them yet," Ashiro replied, confused. "But I will soon."

Akira shook his head. "The pathways between the others are twisted and contorted. If I act quickly you might not suffer that much backlash." Akira places his hand on Ashiro's back, revenant courses through them both as Akira falls to the ground."KEUGH!!!"

"(THIS JUST ONE OF HIS CORES!? WHAT MONSTER OF AN AVATAR PUTS SOMEONE THROUGH THIS!?)"

Akira's body twitches a little bit, trying to help control the multiple types of energy swelling within Ashiro's body. "Listen, Ashiro."

"Yeah?"

"I need you to start the unravelling process on your own. Feel the pathways of your channels that twisted and subdue them, if you cannot do this at the very least then you are gonna damage your channels beyond repair!"

Ashiro nodded, sitting on the black floor immediately. "(Focus, find your tangled pathways and channels, subdue them. CONTROL THEM!)"

The entire gym then shakes as the others look over at Ashiro, watching in awe.

"Who's that?!"

"That's Ashiro, he got here 2 days ago. He's on the verge of becoming an S-Rank."

"That's impressive."

"What's even crazier is he's only been a revenant user for 2 months!"

"2 Months!? What kind of monster made him that strong?!"

The student's conversation was then interrupted by Ken. "If you have time to glaze your lower classmen then you have time to train. Right?"

They looked behind, seeing Ken's frustrated face. "Oh shit, it's Ken!" The students then get back into position, sparring once more.

Ken then feels a surge of energy gathering from Ashiro suddenly.

Akira looks in awe at the amount of revenant emanating from Ashiro's body. Akira falls down as he feels tired from the intense unravelling process. "Damn... who would've thought just basic unravelling & circulation would boost your pool and output of revenant by this much."

Akira then stood up and began leaning against a wall to rest for a little bit. "(Looks like someone wants to fight, I saw the same look in that boy from Nagano.)" Akira thought back, remembering seeing Kodak fight off roughly about 20 students by himself just to prove a point. "(That boy from a couple months back probably grew up to be a real monster.)"

Ashiro tightened his closed hand and released it multiple times, feeling all the same details within his body.

[You have become an S-Rank, Subclass for Element Energy has been discovered!]

Ashiro's eyes widened at the message, seeing multiple options pop up.

[Elemental Mage, Martial Elementalist, ???]

[You can only pick a single Subclass, choose wisely!]

Ashiro thought for a moment, thinking about what he wanted, versus what he needed.

"(The first two options are a single usage option, Martial Elementalist probably is the usage of martial formations and close-range aura techniques. Plus other reinforcement options. While Elemental Mage seems more suited for mid-range to long-range techniques like extending your aura and manipulating it. But what intrigued me was the third option.)"

[??? was selected!]

[Subclass: Elemental Monarch was Chosen!]

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