Morning drills at Hunter School were brutal.
The cracked courtyard buzzed with students sparring, activating abilities, showing off shards earned from real kills.
Narukaze stood at the edge of the field.
Watching.
"Alright," the instructor shouted. "Team drills. You're assigned your usual groups. Combat simulation first. Carry your own weight."
The words stung.
Narukaze adjusted the heavy supply pack on his back — medical kits, spare blades, stamina potions.
He wasn't a fighter.
He was the carrier.
Team Formation
Hakari stood confidently at the center of their group, already giving light instructions.
"Frontline pressure," she said calmly. "Riku, you take left flank. Sora, right. Narukaze—"
She paused.
"…support. Stay behind us."
Not cruel.
Not kind.
Just practical.
Riku smirked. "Try not to slow us down again."
Narukaze forced a grin. "I won't."
But deep down, he knew.
He always did.
Training Simulation
The school released low-tier monsters inside a controlled barrier — creatures that gave experience, but no shards.
Weak monsters.
Safe monsters.
Still dangerous enough to expose weakness.
"Move!" Hakari shouted.
Riku dashed forward, slicing one down cleanly.
Sora froze another mid-lunge.
Hakari struck with precision — clean kill.
Narukaze tried to engage one that slipped past.
He swung too slow.
The monster knocked him back.
Riku finished it before Narukaze could recover.
"Zero again," Riku muttered.
The instructor marked kills on a floating display.
Narukaze: 0
Later That Evening
The team trained endurance drills near the inner wall — the same wall that had recently been breached.
People still whispered about it.
Monsters inside the city.
Deaths.
Fear.
Narukaze stared at the wall quietly.
Behind it… was destruction.
Beyond it… monsters with shards spawned.
And somewhere far beyond…
His brother Kaelen was fighting things he couldn't even imagine.
Getting stronger.
Infinitely stronger.
Narukaze clenched his fists.
"I hate this," he muttered.
Hakari approached, soft expression.
"You don't need to fight like them," she said. "Everyone has their role."
He smiled.
But inside?
That answer burned.
He didn't want a role.
He wanted power.
Final Scene
Late at night.
Training field empty.
Narukaze stood alone.
He threw punches into the air until his arms shook.
Ran laps until his lungs burned.
Swung his dull blade again and again until his palms bled.
No shard.
No kills.
No recognition.
But something in his eyes had changed.
Not despair.
Not yet.
Determination.
He didn't know about the prophecy.
He didn't know he could level infinitely.
He didn't know gods wanted him dead.
He only knew one thing.
He refused to stay weak.