Tring, Tring—


    "Ugh~"


    As the rm ring disrupted my peaceful sleep, I attempted to cover my head with the pillow to dampen the noise in my ears.


    However, the persistent ringing of the rm refused to subside. In the end, I reluctantly sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes.


    Upon checking the clock with my blurry vision, I found out it was only 4:50 AM right now.


    "Arghh…"


    It was early morning, and I groaned at the thought of facing the day ahead.


    Dragging myself out of bed, I shuffled to the bathroom and sshed cold water on my face, trying to wash away the remnants of sleep.


    As I brushed my teeth, I tried to motivate myself for the day ahead and reminded myself of the tasks I needed to aplish before the second arc of the story started.


    Eventually, I managed to shake off thest vestiges of drowsiness and began to get dressed for the academy after taking a refreshing yet short shower.


    After taking a shower I put on my first-year uniform and let out a deep sigh.


    Yesterday when I was at Silva City Yato had asked me toe training ground before 5:30, so that''s why I''m waking up this early in the morning.


    I don''t get what he wants from me. I have a few guesses but let''s them be guesses for now.


    Anyway, I was dressed up, After a few minutes, I stopped and got up to leave my apartment. Upon making sure that I had locked the door, I let out a deep breath and walked off.


    ***


    [Rank 1001, Lucas Darkheart, confirmed.]


    -Ding!


    -Swoosh!


    As I approached the circr building, I held my Ai bracket against the entrance, and a robotic voice confirmed my identity as Lucas Darkheart, Rank 1001. The door to the training ground opened.


    As I walked in I saw a rather handsome man with silver-white hair sitting cross-legged on the matted floor.


    He had his eyes closed as he appeared to be in a deep state of meditation.


    Should I disturb him? – I thought.


    But then I quickly remembered he was the one who called me here in the first ce.


    "Sir, can Ie in?" I asked, finally deciding not to disturb him.


    Yato opened his eyes and looked at me. "Yes, Lucas,e inside."


    Yato said she stood up from his meditation state. I also walked in to take a look around the training ground.


    You know, somehow I''m feeling nostalgia. I had gone to Silva City for five days and it feels like it''s been a month since I came here.


    After practical and theory sses were over I came here and practised till no one was inside the training ground.


    "You must know why I called you here, right?" Yato said breaking my chain of thoughts,


    I looked toward him and I found that he was gently touching a ring on his finger.


    Judging by all the runes engraved on the surface of that ring, I could only assume it to be a dimensional storage artefact.


    "I have few guesses and my guess is you want to spar with me?" I answered in a questioning tone.


    "Affirmative," Yato nodded his head.


    "Can I ask why? With all due respect, We only met yesterday and you want to spar with me?" I asked.


    "Well, You are wrong Lucas we have met before but I think you forgot me" Yato answered. "I think this will refresh your memory."


    Saying that Yato took something out of his dimensional storage artefact. I looked at his hand and found that it was a face mask.


    Yato put that face mask on his face his face began to change! Not only that but his body physics also changed.


    After everything was done, Standing in front of me was not Yato but someone else,  Someone who I know.


    "Y-You-"


    "Long time no see, Lucas, I''m Sam William it''s nice to see you again."


    The Mysterious ssmate of mine whom I had never seen in my ss, Sam William is Yato!


    But why did he turn himself into a teenage boy, I know that if wants to go somewhere he can go, and No one can stop him.


    A few momentster Yato takes off the mask and the effect of the the mask ends.


    "But why?" I could not help but ask.


    "Don''t worry about small details, I just do this kind of thing for fun," Yato said as he ced that mask back into his ring.


    "Tha answer your first question and as for the second question of yours, it''s simple you are worthy of my interest," Yato said with a small smirk on his face.


    ''Worthy'' of your interest? What are you, a God?!


    Suppressing such thoughts, I retorted.


    "That is not true." I said, "There are many other cadets who are much more talented than me. Take Adrian, Aric, Emma, or Evelyn  for example."


    Yato shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Emma''s skill with the bow is impressive, but sadly I haven''t ever done bow training myself because there was never a need for it. The same goes for Evelyn as well. Aric has his guild and many instructors waiting to train him and I don''t think there is even my need to do anything. Adrian on the other hand, is a true beast.


    His basic swordsmanship is so honed to the point where even I couldn''t teach him anything in that regard and also someone else is interested in him.."


    …Oh?


    So not only me but he had a record of all the main characters. That''s pretty impressive, I say.


    "If you know all that, then–"


    I started to interject, but Yato held up a hand to stop me.


    "But here''s the thing, the names of the cadets you mentioned don''t possess the same raw talent that you do. Sure, they can fight well, but the spark in their eyes is that of a protector, fighting to defend what they hold dear. You, on the other hand, look like you want to win at any cost.


    ".....?"


    Seeing the look of confusion and ridicule stered on my face, Yato let out another sigh.


    "If you don''t understand what I said, then just think of it as my instincts. My gut feeling a telling me that you will surprise me. So I want to spar with you."


    Suii—


    "Now," after saying what he had to say, Yato summoned a katana from the pocket space of his dimensional ring. "Ready your sword, Lucas...."