An Assassin's Respite

Let the Training Begin

Kazuna wakes up and looks over at the clock beside his bed. It was 7:20 in the morning. He sighs as he rolls out of bed and makes his way towards the shower. Before he can get into the bathroom he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and is greeted by Micheal.

“Did you need something?” He asks.

“I’m here to take you to your training location,” Micheal replies.

“What’s with the noise?” Matt groans as he sits up.

About 20 minutes later Kazuna and Matt were in the lobby of the hotel with the rest of their classmates.

“Did we have to start so early? I was enjoying some good sleep.” Matt grumbles.

“Well, you did say that you didn’t care what kind of training there was as long as you could stay here.” Kazuna notes.

“Yeah, yeah.” He yawns.

“Hey, Kazuna, Hey Matt,” Kagura says as she approaches the pair along with Ria.

“Good morning,” Kazuna replies while Matt just groans.

The group chatted for a few minutes until everyone was finally gathered in the lobby.

“Alright, now that everyone is here I’ll explain what kind of training we’ll be doing.” Ms. Saugoma states.

“First, I’ll explain why it takes place on this island. You see, this island is special as it has the ability to increase the potency of your power.” She starts.

The statement stirred up the students a little.

“We’re not sure exactly what caused this anomaly on the island, but we understand that it boosts every aspect of an individual's power all the way to the molecular level.” She states.

The statement only increases the chattering among the students.

“Is there a way that I could get access to some data?” Akeno asks.

“No.” Ms. Saugoma replies with hesitation.

“Tch.” Akeno scoffs.

“Anyway, that’s the main reason that we have this training on this island. Also, due to the increase, it gives to a person’s power, having a secluded island is advantageous.” Ms. Saugoma continues.

“Is it really that noticeable of a boost?” Shiba asks.

“Well, why don’t you follow me and find out?” She says as she makes her way out the hotel.

The students follow her closely, intrigued by what she said. They walked for a few minutes before arriving at a mesa. 

“Here you can cut loose and really show what you’re made of.” Ms. Saugoma states with outspread arms.

“So, what do you want us to do?” Kagura asks.

“Kazuna,” she calls out.

Kazuna approaches her in response.

“Why don’t you summon some lightning,” she says.

Kauzna nods and holds out his hand, adhering to her command. Shortly after, a massive bolt of lightning crashes into the ground leaving behind a crater. 

“Okay, that’s kind of expected from Kazuna,” Matt says.

However, Kazuna was looking down at his hand in shock.

“If we were in Japan, that attack wouldn’t have created nearly as large a crater. What exactly is the story behind this island?” He thinks to himself.

“That’s a fair response, so why doesn’t someone else test out their power.” She suggests.

Shiba steps up albeit a little hesitant. 

“Okay, Shiba, why don’t you run to the jagged boulder over there.” She says while pointing to a rock about half a mile away.

Shiba nods and takes a deep breath. He bursts forward a split second after and smashes into the pillar of land. The students gasp in response to his speed.

“Does that alleviate your doubts?” She asks.

“It does, but what can training like this do for us? If our abilities are heightened on this island, then surely it will negatively affect us once we return to our normal capabilities.” Ayame's points out.

“It’s because our bodies will forcibly grow in order to adjust to the sudden increase in our powers' capabilities. This island basically forces the reverse of how we normally train since part of increasing your power is improving your body. Once this training is over, all of us will have progressed significantly since we arrived.” Akeno states.

“Precisely. Even those of you that have powers that improve upon your mental abilities will see improvements since your brain will be able to retain the information that you gain from these weeks.” Ms. Saugoma adds.

“That still doesn’t answer the question of what type of training we’ll be doing.” Yua points out.

“Don’t worry, we’ve prepared specialized training for all of you. But this first day will be you all getting a feel for how much your powers and bodies have been powered up.” She states.

The students nod and tentatively walk down onto the mesa. Kazuna heads over to Shiba and helps him up. Ms. Saugoma waits for the last student to head down before turning to the special agents that were lined up behind the students.

“Alright, since they’re all grouped up you all can take turns surveying the island and getting familiar with the landscape as well as patrolling it.” She states.

They nod as they create shifts for who watches the students and who patrols. Micheal was part of the first patrol and set out at once to survey the island. As he was flying around he could feel the island’s mysterious effects. He was able to fly faster and more easily. He returns to where the students were training after patrolling for a few minutes. 

He pans through the students until he finds the pair he was in charge of. As he watched, he couldn't help but be amazed at how much of a genius Kazuna was. While most students were struggling with not blowing themselves away, Kazuna seemed to have figured it out already. His control was still lacking quite a bit, but he at least was able to keep from hurting himself too much.

“It seems he had a reason to be confident in his skills,” Micheal notes to himself.

Even though Kazuna had already proved his genius to him, he couldn’t help but take notice of something.

“He said he could control both fire and wind, so why is he not using them? Sure he might be able to figure out how much his powers have been increased by only using his lightning, but there’s no harm in testing his other powers.” He questions.

“It looks like you already have pretty good control of your power,” Kagura notes.

“Not really. I still haven’t figured out how much energy I need for attacks.” He states.

“It’s still impressive. Anytime I try to produce a little breeze it turns into more of a small twister.” She says.

“When you’re using your power, what do you use as a reference for how much power to use?” He asks.

“I guess, I just think about what I normally do.” She replies.

“Then that’s your problem. You need to ignore what you normally do and rely on your instincts.” He states.

“I mean, that makes sense, but how am I supposed to rely on my instincts?” She asks.

“Empty your mind and let your body do the thinking. Feel the flow of your power. How fast can you release it? How does its strength feel? Once you figure that out you’ll have better control over your power.” He elaborates.

“I’ll try.” She says a little unsure.

She closes her eyes and empties her mind. 

“Breath. Don’t think about anything and let my body take over.” She thinks to herself.

She exhales and releases much more than a simple gust of wind. The force of her winds was enough to push everyone in the surrounding area back. She exhales, opens her eyes, and looks around.

“Maybe I didn’t explain it well enough,” Kazuna says as he brushes dust off his clothes.

“No you explained it just fine, I just let everything out. But I understand what you’re saying now. I’ll do it right this time.” She says.

Everyone backs up a few feet in response causing Kagura to blush a little out of embarrassment. She closes her eyes once again, takes a deep breath, and lets her power out. The results this time were much tamer although it was still equivalent to an F2 tornado.

“I, I did it!” Kagura cheers as she jumps in joy.

“Well done,” Kazuna says.

“Mhmm.” She mumbles while blushing.

“Well, you heard the man. Let’s do this.” Shiba says with a smile.

Thanks to his advice and Kagura’s demonstration of sorts, the students started to make fantastic progress on controlling their powers. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Akeno had gotten a migraine from the increase in her brain’s processing capabilities, Matt’s body was sore and stiff from him growing significantly larger than ever, and Shiba had bruises all over his body from crashing into the terrain.

After a couple of hours, Ms. Saugoma rounds up the students.

“Now that you all have had some time to get used to the environment, how are you feeling?” She asks.

She only got groans in response causing her to smile.

“Good. I can tell that you all really gave it your all. And I'm sure that once we’re done with this training that you all will be completely different than when you arrived.” She says with a smile.

The statement riled the students up a bit but they quickly calmed down from exhaustion.

“Well I won’t keep you all here any longer so why don’t you all head back to the hotel and shower up.” She says.

This got some cheers as they happily headed for their rooms. Kazuna got out of the shower and saw Matt lying on the bed seemingly lifeless. 

“I wanna die,” Matt grumbles with his face buried in his pillow.

“That just shows that you were putting in a good effort.” Kazuna states.

“Uhhhhhh.” Matt groans as he rolls over.

“At this rate, I won’t be able to enjoy the island.” He whines.

“I'm sure the days to come won’t be as strenuous,” Kazuna assures him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He grumbles.

They were silent for a second before Matt’s stomach grumbled. 

“I guess we should get some food,” Kazuna says.

“I like the sound of that,” Matt says as he jumps from his bed with newfound energy.

They wandered around the hotel until they finally found the cafeteria. The cafeteria was just as large as theirs at GA, but it was much fancier. There were chandeliers spread throughout and the tables looked like they belonged at a high-end party. At the back, there was the kitchen. There was a counter in front of the kitchen where you could order food.

“Uhh, finally. I thought we’d never find it.” Matt groans.

“It wouldn’t have taken so long if you had stopped and asked for directions.” Kazuna points out.

“Hey, I was on a mission. I didn’t have time to stop and ask for directions.” Matt states.

“That, that doesn’t make any sense,” Kazuna says with a quizzical expression.

“Whatever, I’m hungry so let's get some food,” Matt says ignoring Kazuna’s point.

They walked to a lady that was standing at the front counter.

“Hey, how can I help you?” She asks.

“What type of food do you have”? Matt asks.

“Everything.” She says with a smile.

“You’re going to have to be more specific than that,” Matt says.

“Well, it’s the truth. We have every type of food from every part of the world.” She elaborates.

“Huh?” Matt chokes with a shocked expression.

“Why don’t I explain. You see, we have someone here whose power allows them to create food from any organic material thus allowing us to have everything in our kitchen.” She explains.

“Oh. My. God. That’s amazing! So can I order anything?!” He exclaims.

“Precisely.” She answers with a smile.

“Cool! Then can I get a cheeseburger with fries?” He asks

“Of course! And for you?” She asks while turning towards Kazuna.

“May I have a steak, with a side of steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes.” He answers.

“Understood. We’ll have your food ready in about 15 minutes.” She states.

The pair head to an open table at the far side of the room.

“You ordered something fancy, not that I didn’t expect that,” Matt notes.

“And you ordered something simple despite being able to order anything.” Kazuna retorts.

“There’s nothing wrong with the simplicity of burgers and fries,” Matt says in defense.

Kazuna chuckles a little in response.

“It’s not an insult, just a homage to your personality.” Kazuna states.

“That somehow sounds worse,” Matt replies.

As he says this, the rest of class 1-a walks into the cafeteria.

“Oh, there you two are,” Kagura says as she approaches them.

“Were you looking for us?” Kazuna asks.

“Yes. I was gathering the class so I could take them here. But it seems you two beat me to the punch.” She answers.

“Yeah, Matt was in a rush to get here.” He notes.

“It was your idea,” Matt says in defense.

“I’m still right about you being in a rush.” Kazuna points out.

“I’m still right about you being in a rush,” Matt says in a mocking tone causing Kagura to laugh.

“You two are such an unlikely pair of friends.” She states.

“Well, I think we’re a perfect pair. My shining personality matches perfectly with his cool brooding one.” Matt retorts.

“I must admit that it does make for quite the interesting dynamic,” Akeno adds as she joins them.

“More than that, we’re pure entertainment,” Matt says while puffing out his chest.

“The only thing entertaining about you is watching you get torn a new one by Ms. Saugoma,” Haruna states, garnering laughs from everyone.

“Anyway, what type of food do they have?” Kagura asks.

“Oh, that’s the best part about this place, they have everything,” Matt says.

“Huh?” Kagura chokes.

“Normally you have to take everything he says with a grain of salt, but this time he’s not exaggerating,” Kazuna says.

“Are you serious?” Shiba exclaims.

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go see for yourselves,” Kazuna suggests.

Kagura and the rest of class 1-A follow his suggestion and walk to the lady at the counter.

“Uhmm, what type of food is on your menu?” Kagura asks.

“Everything.” She says with a smile as she goes on to explain how they have everything.

“That’s amazing!” Emiko exclaims as she orders what she wants.

Everyone follows suit, each order different than the last.

“I can’t believe they actually have everything,” Kagura says while she takes a seat across from Kazuna.

“I couldn’t either.” Kazuna agrees.

“I wonder how the taste will be,” Akeno says.

“That is a good question. Do they base the taste off something like a restaurant's menu or their own recipes?” Kazuna questions.

The group chats until their food comes out.

“Well, it looks good,” Kagura notes.

Kazuna nods in agreement before trying some of his steak.

“Wow. This is incredible.” He notes.

The sentiment is shared by everyone else as they are blown away by the taste.

“Everything is mixed well and the seasoning is perfect.” Ria states.

“The meat is perfectly cooked and the fries are the perfect crispness,” Matt says with a mouthful of food.

“You have no manners.” Ria scoffs.

“And you are no fun,” Matt says, his mouth was still full of food.

“This island is something special,” Chiyo notes.

“You could say that again. I’ve never been able to run so fast in my life.” Shiba agrees.

“Even now I can feel the island’s effect,” Kagura states while looking at her hand.

“You think we’ll be jarred awake from Kagura blasting a hole in the hotel?” Yua jokes.

“That was a one-time thing!” She exclaims while blushing.

“Anyway, I wonder what the secret behind it is?” She questions.

“Whatever it is, it could lead to the secret behind powers, where they came from, and how they work.” Akeno guesses.

“You think so?” Kagura asked.

“It’s a possibility.” Akeno answers.

“If that’s the case, then maybe we can learn something from improving our powers?” Kagura notes.

“It’s worth a shot,” Chiyo says.

“If we actually figure something out we could become famous!” Emiko exclaims.

“I could see it now. Matt, the genius that uncovered all the secrets behind powers.” Matt says with stars in his eyes.

“Yeah, the genius. With ketchup on his face.” Yua mocks.

Matt quickly wipes the ketchup from his face and slumps in his seat. The group chats and laugh until they finish their food and separate and head to their rooms.

“I change my mind, I can deal with the training in order to stay here,” Matt says as they walk into their room.

“Knowing you you’ll change your mind again,” Kauzna predicts.

“I will not.” Matt groans.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kazuna says while taking a seat on his bed.

He grabs his phone and sees that Kari sent him a text.

“How’s training going?” It read.

He responds with a thumbs up. He turns to Matt to say something, but he was already asleep. The day must have finally caught up to him. He smiles to himself before turning off the light and heading to bed himself.