Once I got out, everything felt so fresh. The academy was a little ways off, but everything around the clubhouse was so full of greenery. I didn't particularly like grass because there were always bugs hidden. But even so, I couldn't really hate this sight.

If only the sun wasn't so damn hot that I wanted to reunite with the Palm. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen any today.

And I didn't want to either.

There was a tree nearby though: probably pine. I went there and took my seat in the shade. I had my phone with me, which was definitely rare for me.

As much as I hated to carry it, I couldn't just afford to miss anything anymore.

There wasn't anybody around. The few that were in the distance, were trying their best to enter the overcrowded clubhouse.

Looks like I had a lot of competition on my hands.

'Did I overeat?'

I felt way too full. I might have eaten one too many celeries. For someone who hated the stuff, I sure didn't hold anything back when I ate it.

I leaned against the bark and with a sigh, just sat there: legs stretching out, hands behind my head. The wind was good and this wasn't so bad. Lately, all I saw were nothing but troubles and so even sitting like this felt oddly peaceful.

'Come to think of it, the first seal is still open right?'

I grabbed a dry twig. I did have something on my mind. Ever since I woke I felt like something was different within me. I didn't know what. But I was having contradictory thoughts every now and then. 'Is he trying to take over?'

The shadow did point out that he wanted to take over no matter what. So this wasn't something I should have been shocked about. But technically I still had two seals remaining.

'But then what was that black thing? And what is the third thing that's sealed?'

I couldn't be rash about this. 'I'll just have to have a detailed talk with mom.'

I didn't know why mom was avoiding this topic but I kind of had enough. I really had to know more. But the timing just wasn't good no matter when I wanted to have a talk.

The shadow had answered my questions truthfully and if he was right, then… I focused on the twig.

I tried to trace back the feeling I had that night when I fought that guy in the gym. That guy was strong and so was I. My veins had kind of popped out and my whole body felt hot that night. I didn't know how it happened but it was almost as though I was producing radiation inside my own body and absorbing the energy to use freely? That did explain the steam but, how? I'd tried that before. But the amount I could absorb was the same amount or a bit less than I could produce, meaning I didn't really have a reason to absorb my own radiation. So how did it work that time? I didn't really know.

I focused my consciousness some more. The twig rattled a little as just the bottom part of it, the part my hand was touching turned to dust. And it fell to the ground. 'I knew it.'

I could turn things to dust. The power became permanently mine, now that the shadow was kind of free.

'But who sealed them? Or was it that they sealed the powers and they got sealed as a consequence?'

Because no matter how I thought about it, the power to disintegrate seemed kind of scary: even to me.

But one thing was for sure. My powers were kind of weak right now. That night I could basically disintegrate even the ground if I wanted to but now I couldn't really even do much to the twig without focusing way too intently.

My other powers were working just fine, but, 'Is this power, the shadow's?' The possibility did seem to be there.

But I had enough of looming over my powers. If I didn't have a thorough talk with mom, coming up with random theories, wasn't going to get me anywhere.

So instead, I switched to something that was more important. Namely, the saber.

***

An ominous black stream emerged from the handle and became a scythe. When I first picked this thing up, I really wondered why it had such a long handle. The handle alone was half the size of my normal sword and it kind of changed shape in different modes.

The scythe was almost as tall as me. And it was fairly easy to swing. This thing was also fairly light. I still didn't know why my base was a scythe though.

I switched to the bow and aimed at a distant bark. It was already dead, so I didn't feel anything as I pulled the string. The string was made of thin glowing black plasma, and I had to use gloves. Actually, everybody was supposed to use gloves when they handled sabers, but I never really used any: and neither did most students. But now that I was touching plasma directly, I couldn't take risks.

A black arrow formed and when I released it, it flew fast, too fast. It pierced the wooden bark and made a crater behind the bark: I really hoped nobody saw the explosion. 'I think I'll just keep you hidden.'

Did I have a bow that could create craters with one shot? Nope. You got the wrong guy.

Next, I tried the sword. This was the trickiest. I really liked one-handed swords. But this was a two-handed one, not to mention the heaviest. I could still lift it and wield it- kind of, but I still wasn't comfortable swinging it freely.

'Oh my god, this is heavy!' Just keeping the damn thing above ground took most of my strength. But I couldn't be this frail. I had to master this, and I had to do it before this month.

Dick said it was okay to use anything that had a saber core now but the main tournament would only allow sabers. And though this thing technically was a saber, I was pretty sure they wouldn't have allowed a scythe and even if they did, a bow would have just been ridiculous.

So, without a doubt, I kept on swinging my sword. Left, right, up and down! It was hard and the damn thing was heavy. But I wasn't done. I had to do this!

As for the barrier, I didn't really know how to use it. I didn't know much about sword powers anyway. Of course, I never bothered to ask anyone who could either.

***

Time moved on and it eventually became afternoon. I got a notification on my phone about the venue. No word on my opponent though.

I didn't really care who I was up against. I'd crush them regardless.

The lightsaber courts were mostly occupied, so my battle would take place in the field. The last place I wanted to be right now.

And not to mention I never actually asked about Seline or even searched whether she'd got hurt or not.

I took a deep breath and headed for the field. Come to think of it, this place would have been pretty well suited for a match too, given that there wasn't anything here.

Even the gym would have been fine.

Maybe rooftops?

At this point, I just wanted to stay away from the field.

I still had to show up, albeit reluctantly.

***

As expected, there was a crowd. But strangely there were loads of small crowds and basically, they were all over the place.

I actually didn't know where my spot was, so I went for the biggest crowd.

But strangely, it wasn't for me.

I didn't venture deep within the crowd and even from the outside, I could tell it was Clyde and one of the transfer students fighting.

'Looks like I've got competition.'

The transfer student was the blonde who pissed me off more than necessary. I really wished he was my opponent though, cause I really, really wanted to break his legs.

'Where do I fight, and who am I even fighting?'

"There you are," A guy shouted from a distance.

I recognized the voice so I went for it. "Hey, Mike."

"Don't Hey Mike, me! I've been looking for you!"

"You do realize the message just said that I was supposed to show up in the field right? And what are you doing here, I thought you were supposed to be a prefect, and-"

"I'm both actually."

"Oh, lead the way."

"I'm surprised, you're not surprised."

"I don't really care all that much about these things."

Mike sighed. "Sometimes you're a pushover and other times you become a ruthless blunt asshole. Honestly, I don't know which one is even the real you."

'I don't either.' I really wanted to know, which of my personalities, was the real me? 'I think I'll go home today.'

"Hey, hey, don't go to wonderland! Let's go!" Mike grabbed my hand and just led the way.

I could see a lot of girls blushing when they saw us like this, but my expression was as dull as always. Frankly, I didn't care.