"So what do you think this meeting is about?" Pathro spoke as he stripped off the sweat soaked and dust caked attire he had worn during his brutal sparring session with Kiligaku. The fabric fell away, revealing the lean, corded muscle beneath.
"Probably the usual," another voice replied from across the room. "The graduation ceremony logistics and related stuff."
The room was spartan and functional, its walls constructed from solid blocks of granite that gave the space a cool, subterranean feel. A ceiling of the same rough stone hung overhead. Two simple beds served as the only furniture aside from a tall mirror and a set of lockers. The other occupant, a boy named Toshiro, sat perched on the edge of one of the beds, his feet planted firmly on the stone floor. His black hair was styled in a manner that was spiky yet meticulously neat, each strand appearing to be in its calculated place. His crimson eyes were narrowed in concentration, fixed intently on a book that rested open in his lap. His chin was propped up by his right hand, which in turn rested on his thigh. The posture, combined with the sharp focus of his gaze, made him look deeply professional and inherently calculating.
"Then why bother calling a meeting at all?" Pathro asked, now stripped down to his black boxers. He tossed his dirty training clothes into a locker with a casual flick of his wrist, his face betraying a clear sense of annoyance. "We already know what needs to be done for the ceremony. Don't they trust us to handle it?"
"Maybe," Toshiro replied without looking up. He turned a page of his book with a soft rustle. "Who knows. Or maybe they just want to make certain we know everything that needs to be done. It could even be that new tasks have been added to the docket."
Pathro sighed while pulling on a pair of decent, well pressed black trousers. "I guess the possible reasons are endless. Still annoying though. I got interrupted right when I was about to beat Kiligaku's ass into the ground."
A flicker of curiosity crossed Toshiro's otherwise stoic features. He turned his gaze away from the page and toward his roommate. "What planet were you training on? Was it the blue lava one they found recently?"
Pathro fastened his belt with a sharp click and replied, "I don't know about 'recently,' but yeah, that one. Instructor Kamir calls it Incinero." He smirked slightly. "Probably a name meant to highlight how well it can incinerate things."
Toshiro returned his attention to the book. The page he was studying featured an ancient style illustration of a being wreathed in flaming wings, its face obscured by divine fire. The title across the top of the page read: MYTHS OF THE FLAMING BEING.
"I mean, three months ago is relatively recent when you compare it to how long ago other habitable planets were explored," Toshiro countered, his voice even. "I hope you didn't wreck the place just because you're unlikely to train on it again."
Pathro began buttoning up his shirt, a garment of deep, dark crimson red. "Nah, we were careful this time. I mean it. We agreed beforehand to only use physical attacks, so we only managed to destroy a few mountains." He paused, a strange mix of fear and amusement coloring his tone as he recalled the memory of being berated by their instructor. "Besides, I didn't want that lioness to scold me like a little kid again."
"I see," Toshiro remarked simply.
Pathro finally took full notice of the book his friend was so engrossed in. "Hmm, curious about the Flaming Being, are we?"
Toshiro replied, his tone still largely nonchalant but laced with a subtle thread of scholarly enthusiasm. "Well, most details about this figure remain unknown. Consider just how many books claim to be historically accurate yet all tell wildly different stories about his origins or motives. Perhaps reading all of them, cross referencing the common threads, can help me get a clearer picture of what actually happened."
"But all of them do have one thing in common," Pathro said as he knelt to tie his neatly polished school shoes. "They agree that the Flaming Being gave humanity the chance to have superpowers. At least that part is comfortably true. And frankly, that is all I need to know."
"Nothing stays the same forever, Pathro," Toshiro replied, adjusting his posture. He was already dressed in a uniform similar to Pathro's, but unlike his roommate, Toshiro had meticulously tucked his shirt into his waistband, creating a crisp, disciplined silhouette. "At some point, the status quo will shift. Things will start to go differently, and when they do, only knowledge can properly guide the next course of action. Knowing exactly who the Flaming Being was could prove invaluable during those uncertain times."
Pathro moved to stand before the room's only luxury: a mirror that stood two meters tall and a meter wide. He examined his reflection, taking in the sharp lines of his uniform and the crimson tips of his hair. "I suppose you are right." He clenched his fist slowly, a familiar smirk spreading across his face as he turned to face Toshiro. "Let's just hope the changes do happen soon so we can see what this world truly becomes. And if the worst is destined to emerge, we need to be strong enough to face it. I will be ready for that."
Toshiro rose from the bed in a fluid motion. He snapped his book shut and tossed it casually toward his pillow, where it landed with a soft thud. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a pair of glasses, sliding them onto his face. The frames instantly sharpened his already calculating appearance, making him look more like a seasoned strategist than a student.
"I guess you're finally done playing dress up," Toshiro said. "Let's get going."
"Right," Pathro grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, letting the light from the corridor spill into the granite room. "Let's get going then."
***
This was the Japanese Military Academy, situated on one of the nation's many islands, specifically Okinawa. The buildings across the campus were constructed primarily from stone, a choice that lent the entire compound an air of ancient permanence and solemnity. Yet the architectural design of these structures was anything but antiquated. Clean lines, reinforced archways, and modern defensive sensibilities were woven seamlessly into the classical masonry, creating a space that felt both timeless and battle ready.
At the very center of the Academy grounds stood a grey statue that reached a towering height of seven meters. Its form closely resembled the ancient drawing found in Toshiro's book. The figure's hands were stretched wide toward the heavens in a gesture that evoked both supplication and command, as if it were either praying for salvation or summoning the sky to bend to its will. The face of the statue was not defined by mortal features such as a nose or mouth; it was instead a swirling mass of carved stone flames, an eternal conflagration frozen in granite. Its wings were spread wide behind it, white stone that had been painstakingly chiseled to mimic the flickering tongues of fire licking at the edges of the feathers. At the base of this imposing monument, a name was carved deep into the stone in sharp Japanese Kanji: "THE FLAMING BEING."
Encircling this statue was a circular field of star grass, a lush and vibrant green that stood in stark contrast to the hard grey stone of the Academy walls. The diameter of this grassy circle measured exactly six meters. At its circumference, a border of yellow and greenish shrubs known as golden privet had been meticulously trimmed. The hedges were shaped to resemble undulating waves or a series of overlapping half semicircles, adding a touch of controlled nature to the otherwise severe landscape.
The statue faced a specific direction, its eyeless gaze of flame locked onto a distinct building located just twenty meters away. Unlike the granite structures that populated the rest of the campus, this building was crafted from pristine white marble. It rose three stories high and gleamed under the morning sun. Affixed to the door post was a label written in Japanese Kanji that read: "ADMINISTRATION."
It was approximately eleven in the morning when the opaque glass doors of the Administration building sensed movement. The automatic mechanism slid the doors open silently, revealing the faces of five figures as they stepped out into the daylight. Among them were Pathro, Kiligaku, and Toshiro. The other two individuals were young women, and they were dressed in a manner similar to the boys. Each wore a crimson long sleeve shirt and a pair of decent, well fitted black trousers that allowed for both mobility and a sharp military appearance.
One of the girls possessed wheat blonde hair that fell in soft curls just past her shoulders. Her eyes were a sharp yet wide shade of shiny blue, and they held a gaze that projected unwavering self confidence. Her name was Sumire. The other girl was slightly shorter in stature, but her build was more rigid and compact than Sumire's flowing frame. Her hair was a deep, vibrant crimson that matched the color of the shirt she wore. The length of it was striking; it extended all the way down to her hip joints even though she had gathered a portion of it into a partial tie near the crown of her head. Her eyes were the same shade of piercing crimson as her hair, and they gleamed with the focused intensity of a fierce predator scanning for prey. Her name was Kaile.
The group walked across a path paved with cement bricks that stretched three meters wide. Pathro, Kiligaku, and Kaile took the lead at the front of the formation, while Toshiro and Sumire walked just a step or two behind them. Their trajectory led them directly toward the statue of the Flaming Being. Flanking the cement path on both sides were more of the carefully trimmed golden privet hedges, their shapes echoing the wavelike patterns found around the central monument. The remainder of the ground was covered in a plush carpet of star grass interspersed with other low shrub plants. A couple of sprinklers operated in a steady rhythm, casting arcs of water that kept the surrounding vegetation lush and vibrant despite the island heat.
"Glad that meeting is over," Pathro remarked, his voice carrying a note of exhaustion. His eyes were narrower than usual, a sign of his thinning patience. "It felt like we were trapped in there for hours."
"And most of the things they discussed were just a repetition of what we already knew," Kiligaku added. He had his hands resting casually behind his head as he stared up at the towering statue. "They should have just skipped to the new information and saved us the time."
Kaile let out a sigh that was thick with both annoyance and a simmering fury. "You two always find something to complain about. Forgive the instructors for trying to make sure you actually remembered everything you were supposed to learn."
Pathro shifted his gaze toward Kaile, his hands buried deep in his pockets. His tone was laced with sarcasm. "Remember what, exactly? That we need to go buy supplies for our own graduation? Or that we need to perform a damage assessment at the hostel?" The question was clearly rhetorical and designed to needle her.
Kaile frowned, her annoyance deepening. "The only reason you are even standing here right now is because Instructor Kamir had to personally pull your reckless asses off that planet. You would have kept sparring until you completely lost track of time and missed the meeting entirely."
"Toshiro had to go and tell Instructor Kamir exactly where you went just in case you were needed," Sumire spoke up from the back of the group. Her hands were crossed over her chest, and a knowing smile played on her lips as Kiligaku and Pathro both turned to stare at her. "He anticipated that you would lose track of time. He gave them a heads up. Just in case."
Pathro's glare swiveled toward Toshiro, his eyes narrowing with a warning. "So he snitched on us, huh?"
Toshiro, however, seemed utterly oblivious to the glare. His attention was completely fixated on the stack of documents he held in his hands, his eyes scanning the printed lines of text with clinical precision. If he noticed Pathro's irritation, he gave no indication that he cared enough to react.
"If I had known where you were, I would have snitched the very second you left," Kaile interjected sharply, her words clearly intended to deflect any negative attention away from Toshiro.
Pathro replied bluntly, his voice flat. "Of course you would. As if that's supposed to shock me." He slapped his right palm against his face in exasperation before redirecting his attention toward the looming statue of the Flaming Being. "Anyway, the news about the final test was interesting. Looks like this year is going to be different with that whole 'repeating' clause they introduced."
"I wonder why they added it, though," Kaile mused aloud, her hand moving to grab her chin thoughtfully. "If failing the test means we have to repeat the entire year, then Japan will be producing fewer soldiers than normal on an annual basis."
Sumire replied quickly, her voice carrying the weight of hearsay. "I heard rumors that it's because too many soldiers are dying from situations they normally should have survived. The higher ups think it's better to have a smaller number of truly capable soldiers rather than a large army of soldiers who die like flies the moment things get difficult."
"But this news is going to hit the rest of the guys pretty hard," Kiligaku remarked, his expression sobering. "Most of the other cadets have been training half heartedly, coasting on the assumption that they'd graduate and become soldiers regardless of their performance. Knowing that they'll have to repeat the entire class if they fail... well, that changes everything."
"Things are changing," Toshiro finally spoke up, breaking his silence. He adjusted his glasses with one hand while keeping the stack of documents secure in the other. "The Zunans are becoming more tactical. More predatory. They aren't just the usual berserk, heart eating monsters anymore. They're learning. Adapting." He glanced briefly at the others, his crimson eyes sharp behind the lenses. "According to these reports, a significant number of soldiers have been sustaining heavy injuries or dying in the field. We can no longer afford to relax."
Toshiro often talks about how the world is changing, Pathro thought to himself, momentarily glancing at his calculating friend before turning his gaze back to the Flaming Being statue. Most of the time he sounds paranoid, but logically, he is correct. Knowing more about the Zunans and the Flaming Being could very well help us fight more effectively.
He studied the stone flames that obscured the statue's face. Part of me doubts that the Flaming Being is as merciful as the history books try to make him out to be. But at the same time, I don't necessarily think he is evil either. There has to be a reason why he wanted humanity to have powers. A reason that extends beyond just fighting Zunans.