POV: Arthur Kojiro
I was the only child of the strongest swordsman in the world.
My childhood wasn't a difficult one to say the least as my father's status brought along an absurd amount of wealth to my family, making the transition between my childhood up until my adolescent years an easy one as I received everything that I could ever dream of, but despite being blessed with seemingly everything, I felt empty.
As I grew up, I began to lack motivation for anything as I would often fall into a slumber of depression from boredom alone.
With her motherly instincts, my mother was the first to notice my change as before I truly fell into a slump, my mother would begin to spar with me around the age of seven and within the same year, my Aspect had manifested during a sparring session, surprising everyone present as I was blessed with a Unique-Type Aspect.
Of course, those who possess a Unique-Type Aspect usually struggle to find out the true ability of their Aspect as it took me a few years to realize that I was able to delay the impact of an attack.
As time passed, I eventually became one of the strongest within my generation because of my unnatural instincts as well as my father's blood coursing through my veins and yet, despite my gifted potential, I was unable to fill the emptiness within my heart as everyone I fought was weak until my father requested to spar with me.
I rarely spent time with my father since he was always busy with the Hero Association and attending other matters, but despite his lack of presence within our family, I was still proud to have him as my father since the achievements he gained throughout his life were nothing short of amazing.
As an infamous delinquent, I was known to only use my fist as I never bothered to use a weapon due to lack of interest, but my father suggested that I pick out any weapon from our armory as he wanted me to spar with him using a weapon instead.
With the exception of Joseph, my father was known to be the strongest hero within Jiyu, but regardless of his standing, I was young and arrogant at the time as I had won every fight with relative ease, so when my father told me that he was only going to use one finger during our spar, I felt provoked for the first time in my life.
Many students tried to anger me through verbal provocations, but none of them affected me as I knew they wanted nothing more than attention, but although my father's provocation was also a verbal one, I was unable to maintain my composure.
The tone he used was laced with absolute confidence in his own ability as amidst his words provoking my pride, I allowed my instincts to take reign as for some reason, I chose to wield two katanas for my spar against him.
In less than a minute, my father defeated me effortlessly as it only took a single flick of a finger to render me useless.
For the first time in my life, I had lost.
It was a weird sensation that I couldn't seem to understand at the time.
Although I seemed to not care, my heart said otherwise as it seethed with anger at the fact that I was utterly powerless against him.
Sparking a sense of purpose within me, I inherited my mother's swords and made a vow to become the strongest.
Not the strongest swordsman like my father, but the strongest in the world.
With my newfound ambition, I made my name known across the continent as I challenged the strongest students within Jiyu, defeating most of them as my innate talent for swordsmanship carved a path for me, but despite gaining a purpose, I was still alone with no one by my side.
I didn't care for romance nor did I care about being popular.
I just wanted to have a friend, a genuine one that didn't take advantage of my looks or my power for their own personal gain.
My previous record of being a delinquent didn't help my case at all as I made far too many enemies along the way.
Throughout my school life, I never really had the chance to make a real friend, which I eventually accepted as karma for my abuse of power when I used to be a delinquent who did as he pleased.
With my parents eventually becoming more and more busy with the passing of time, I was forced to train alone for years as being alone with only my mind to comfort me was exhausting, but I continued to endure as one day, a few months after enrolling into this academy, the Headmaster informed me that I was going to have a roommate.
At first, I didn't pay any mind to his words as any roommate I had left the next day out of disdain or fear, but everything chance once I met Rai, who I could tell at first glance was different than everyone else as his eyes seemed to be elsewhere, gazing into a distant future that I was unable to imagine as witnessing his ambitious gaze sparked my interest.
For someone who claimed to be so weak, his gaze never faltered, refusing to show fear towards anyone, despite the apparent difference in the level of their strength and after experiencing his true power today, I was thrilled to know that there was someone my age who was just like me.
I assumed that Avery was the last major obstacle left in my path of becoming the strongest, but I couldn't have been more wrong as there's now someone else whose potential may even surpass the likes of Avery himself.
Although this may be a selfish request, Rai…
"I wasn't sure if you were actually serious about this, but I believe I owe you this much at least." Rai said upon my arrival inside the evaluation facility, which was a massive dome, encased in several layers of armored steel as it bore a large waterfall that separated the mountainous forest in half with a glassy river that reflected the shimmering moonlight shining through the tempered glass ceiling of the dome.
I need to take you down for the sake of my dream.
"Of course. I would never give up an opportunity to defeat an opponent such as yourself." I replied in a rather arrogant manner, rousing a smile from Rai as he continued to gaze at the stellar night sky above until he let out a sigh, picking himself up from the grassy cushion of the ground as he placed his hands inside of his pockets and walked off the cliff of a steep hill, allowing gravity to carry him through his descent before he landed.
Matching me, Rai then began approaching me with a poised stride until we stood no further than a few meters across from each other.
"Your sword. Are you sure you won't need it?" Rai asked with concern as the confidence laced in his tone reminded me of my father's, bringing forth a bothersome memory within my mind as I felt a grin creeping onto my face.
"Believe it or not, but I used to only use my hands to fight before I became a swordsman." I answered amidst stretching my legs out.
"We nearly lost our lives today and yet, you have the urge to fight me. You're a strange one, you know that?" Rai remarked as he cracked his neck with his hand.
"While it may be true that I'm strange, you're even more strange for accepting my request." I replied as Rai let out a sigh of defeat with a smile.
"So your goal is to become the strongest?" Rai asked, his demeanor shifting into a more serious one as the tension within the air began to thicken.
"What of it?" I answered with a grin, planting my foot forward as I positioned myself into a fighting stance while Rai's stance remained open.
"I'll be waiting for you." Rai uttered solemnly as I was unable to understand his vague response, prompting me to sharpen my focus as a draft of wind drifted throughout the facility.