I Got Carried Away and Blew It Apart
As soon as I stepped inside, a man came out from the inner room. He was a stout bald guy, his head so clean it didn’t have a single stray hair on it.
"Are you a new recruit?"
"Yes."
"This way, please."
He led me into an empty training room, then pointed to the middle of the floor.
"Go stand over there. If you want a particular weapon, you can choose one."
"Okay."
I walked over to where the practice weapons were hung up, but there wasn’t a fan among them.
For the moment, I picked up a baton and took my place. The instructor asked again.
"Your class?"
"Kunoichi."
"Have you studied anything related to that before?"
"No."
"Really? That’s odd. Then let’s start simple and get you moving first. How about some basic punches and kicks?"
"Okay."
Thankfully, because I’d already moved around a bit at the badminton court yesterday, it wasn’t too awkward to loosen up my body.
The instructor watched silently for a while, then tilted his head.
"You said you had no martial arts experience, didn’t you?"
"Yes."
"And yet your movements are surprisingly clean."
"I guess it just works."
"..."
He looked bewildered, but what was I supposed to do when it really did work?
"Ahem. Then can you also channel your energy?"
"Yes."
"You can? Really?"
"Yes. It just works?"
"..."
The moment I could channel energy at all, that meant I’d already awakened.
"Then could you show me?"
"Yes."
I took a light breath and chose the skill I was most familiar with among my finishing moves.
"Hōenbu!"
It was embarrassing, but I shouted the name as I twisted my waist, and flame burst out in the shape of a tail-like sweep.
When I finished the demonstration and looked at the instructor, his mouth was hanging open as he stared back at me, speechless.
"Instructor?"
"Huh? Ah... yes. Sorry. I was just surprised."
"Was there a problem...?"
"Not at all. It’s just that you’ve only just awakened, and your energy control was so natural, and the shape so clear, that I was taken aback."
Hearing praise like that right in front of me made me feel a little self-conscious. The instructor quickly scribbled something on the tablet he was holding, then spoke again.
"At this point, I don’t think we need to verify anything else. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"If you go back upstairs to where you had your interview earlier, the process will be finished there."
After bowing to the instructor, I headed back up to the second floor. The staff member there greeted me as if they’d been waiting for me.
"Please have a seat and wait a moment. We’ll be done shortly."
"All right."
Just as the staff member said, the process was wrapped up soon afterward.
"This is your Awakened registration card. It can be used not only as identification, but also as a replacement for a bank card. Income earned through Awakened work will basically be deposited into this account. You’ll also need it to prove your identity when entering Gates, so if you ever lose it, please contact us immediately."
"Understood. I’ll keep that in mind."
"If you need starter equipment, you can use the equipment rental center on the first floor. We wish you every success in your future activities. Thank you."
"Thank you."
I went straight to the equipment rental center on the first floor.
"You’ve just registered, haven’t you? Welcome. Come this way and take a look at the beginner equipment."
It was called beginner equipment, but if I had to buy it with my own money, it would still cripple me. The gear was made from ore and byproducts pulled from Gates, crafted specifically to make energy channeling easier.
"Do you happen to have anything like a fan?"
"A fan? Hmm. For that kind of item, you’d probably have to request a custom order."
"I thought so."
"Since you’ve only just awakened, why not take a mining request? As long as you meet the assigned quota, you can use the rest to get your own gear fitted."
"Thanks for letting me know. I’ll try that."
For now, like in the training center downstairs, I chose a baton of a decent length. It was about the only piece of gear with a similar size and feel.
As soon as I left the Awakened Center, I called the PC cafe where I worked part-time.
"What? You awakened? Really?"
"Yeah."
"That’s totally out of nowhere. Anyway, congratulations. So what do you want to do about the part-time job? I guess you’ll have to quit, huh?"
"Yeah, probably. I’m going to have training soon, too. But I think I can still work until then."
If I quit right away, my finances would be in trouble. Once I started training, I’d get some support money as an initial stipend, but I still needed to earn as much as I could while I had the chance.
"Got it. Still, thanks for telling me in advance. See you later, then."
"Yes."
So I kept working for a few more days while they found someone else to replace me, until the day my training finally began.
The training would start with basic instruction on what an Awakened was supposed to do and what they weren’t supposed to do, then move on to the fundamentals of Gate exploration, and finally end with actual exploration of a Gate alongside veteran Awakened.
Today, I was dressed the same way I had been when I registered as an Awakened. I still couldn’t psychologically handle clothes that clung to my body, so I had no choice. This was about the limit of what I could wear while still being able to move freely and keep my figure from being too obvious.
With my long hair tied back and tucked out from behind a ball cap, wearing a black fashion mask and black training clothes, I showed up at the Awakened Center for training.
As soon as I stepped into the Basement Training Center, the eyes of the people who had already arrived and were waiting snapped toward me.
I wanted to believe I was just being self-conscious. But seriously, what else was I supposed to call the sensation of every single person in the training center locking onto me at once?
The air-conditioning was blasting cold air, yet I was breaking out in a sweat, and it only made me feel colder. At this rate, could I really work as an Awakened in any proper sense?
"I’ll take attendance for a moment. Those who have been confirmed, please move to the lecture hall this way."
As I moved forward to get checked in, one person’s gaze stood out in particular. The others only dared to glance at me from the corners of their eyes, probably because of my overall aura, but one man seemed to be scanning me up and down without even trying to hide it.
Now that I’d awakened, I could feel other people’s stares much more sharply, which was a pain.
After finishing identity verification and heading into the lecture hall, I felt a hand sliding toward my butt.
It looked like he was trying to make it seem like an accidental brush of hands while passing by, but unfortunately for him, my senses were too sharp for that.
I had no intention of causing trouble on the very first day of training, so I slipped forward like water and moved out of reach.
I’d hoped he’d take the hint, realize there was a gap in ability, and back off, but a bastard with blood boiling straight to his lower body wasn’t going to do that.
The morning was mostly general education about Awakened matters, and the afternoon was set aside for practical training.
During the morning session, I’d gone to the side where the women were, and he hadn’t been able to approach any further. But once the afternoon came, he started inching closer again.
He must’ve decided I was an introvert. No, even if I weren’t, this would still be disgusting. I was a guy, for crying out loud!
"If you don’t have a sparring partner yet, would you like to train with me?"
I was about to say no, but then it suddenly hit me that if I just kept backing away like this, I’d get nowhere.
"Sure."
"Oh, thank you."
Maybe he thought my face had worked on me. As if expecting that response all along, he took up a position in front of me.
His intentions were obvious, but I pretended not to notice and started the spar.
He immediately reached out as if to grab me by the collar. It didn’t look like he’d learned any real martial arts—just the kind of brawling you pick up from street fights.
Of course, there was no reason for me to let him do that.
With a sharp crack, his movement stopped dead. Then, still carrying the momentum from his charge, his body slid back and toppled over.
When I looked, he was lying there unconscious with the same stupid grin still on his face. He’d taken a kick from below straight to the jaw, so I doubted he even realized what had hit him.
"Whoa."
"That’s incredible."
I already stood out, and now I’d ended up in a match with a guy who looked like a textbook thug, so naturally all the attention doubled. Then, with a single clean kick the moment the spar started, I put my opponent out cold, and the onlookers all let out cries of admiration at once.
Apparently having predicted this outcome, the bald instructor who had been standing off to the side with his arms crossed looked over at me and said, "Would it be all right if I practiced on my own? Since my partner ended up like this."
"Please do."
The bald man gave a silent nod and then ordered the assistants on duty to carry the unconscious guy to the infirmary.
I stood in front of one of the sandbags set up off to the side.
I’d already been told these were made for Awakened use, so they weren’t supposed to break easily.
I stood before the bag and slowly began practicing the basics one by one.
Each time I struck, the sandbag shuddered with a dull thud.
At first I started with simple movements, but later I launched into a series of rather difficult combinations. A normal sandbag would have been shredded by then, but since this one was made from monster byproducts, it didn’t budge even as harsh impacts rang out again and again.
Once I started moving, I began to feel exhilarated.
I’d never been especially athletic before, but that wasn’t true anymore. I hadn’t realized how much fun it could be when my body moved exactly the way I wanted it to, exactly the way I pictured it.
And once that excitement kicked in, I ended up doing something the old me would have never dared to attempt.
"Hōenbu!"
When I’d demonstrated it in front of the instructor earlier, I’d been too embarrassed to shout the skill name properly. This time, though, I used it with a sharp cry, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As I snapped my waist and spun once, a blaze formed that looked almost like the tail of a giant fox, and it slammed straight into the sandbag.
Compared with simply pounding it with my arms and legs, this was on an entirely different level. With a booming crack, the sandbag burst apart.
"..."
Oh, no.
I realized only belatedly what I’d just done, but it was already too late to regret it.
What do I do now? It looked expensive. They weren’t going to make me pay for it, were they?
Breaking into a cold sweat, I carefully looked around. The other trainees who’d been sparring were all staring at me with their eyes wide. As for that thug from earlier, he’d only just come back to his senses from the infirmary and was rubbing the back of his neck as he came out, and his expression was a sight to behold.
Then again, it made sense. He’d watched some guy he’d been mocking without even knowing what he was doing literally blow apart a sandbag made from monster material right in front of his face.
I couldn’t very well just stand there, so I quickly apologized to the instructor.
"I’m sorry. I did it without thinking."
"It’s fine. They’re consumables, after all. I didn’t expect one to burst just a day after being replaced, though."
"..."