The sun beamed brightly over the Academy training grounds. The atmosphere buzzed with energy, and in the center of it all stood Alex, eyes sharp with focus as he concentrated a large amount of energy into his palm.
Standing a few feet away with arms crossed, Ranpo observed with a stern expression.
"Keep your focus while concentrating the energy. If you lose focus, it would be harder for you to perform the technique" Ranpo instructed, his tone calm but firm.
Alex gritted his teeth, sweat forming on his brow. His energy in which he gathered on his palm began to burst wildly before he sighed in defeat and dropped to the ground, laying flat on his back. "I'm tired..." he muttered.
Ranpo raised a brow. "Tired? It's barely been an hour."
"This so-called Blade of Death technique is really hard!" Alex whined with annoyance. "You make it look easy, but it's not!"
Ranpo let out a sigh, unimpressed. "You won't master it if you keep complaining. Get up. You should have know it was gonna be hard from the start."
Alex groaned but slowly rose to his feet again. Ranpo looked at him with a more serious expression.
"I'll only demonstrate this once. Watch carefully."
As he raised his hand, a surge of high-density energy gathered, crackling with immense pressure. The energy formed a blade-like structure, humming violently in the air.
Alex's eyes widened. "That's… even stronger than the last time!"
Ranpo nodded. "The Blade of Death requires intense training and precise control. Not just anyone can master this. Most give up(That's a lie, most people dont even know the technique)". He took a look at alex and explained "Consciously allowing your energy to take shape is something extremely hard. You have to develop an image in your head. And not just that, your energy won't listen too you when you're Consciously trying to manipulate it. Thus, it takes alot of energy from the body. Energy manipulation really is hard in terms of giving it shape."
Alex's determination reignited. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Your yapping some how gave me the ability to get up and train again." Ranpo exclaimed with slight annoyance "Oi! Mind your mouth"
He began gathering energy to his own hand, focusing hard. The pressure started to grow rapidly.
"Not too much energy!" Rambo warned. "If it becomes unstable—"
"I know!" Alex shouted back, straining. But his energy surged even higher In an unstable manner, it was going berserk "Shit! Too much energy. If this keeps up!". The energy started to become higher and higher
"I don't think I can hold it!" Alex yelled just before a loud explosion ripped through the air.
Smoke filled the training grounds. As it cleared, a massive crater was left behind—Alex lay at its center, looking scorched and defeated.
Ranpo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's got power… but still can't perfect anything."
Groaning, Alex stood up, dirt smudged across his face. "I'm going again."
"You need to rest for today," Ranpo said.
"I haven't perfected it yet," Alex insisted.
"You'll just pass out at this rate. The Blade of Death isn't something you learn in a day. Even the creator of the technique took three whole months." Ranpo explained to his grandson with his arms crossed.
Alex blinked. "Three months? They must've had a rough time."
Ranpo nodded. "It demands energy… and a body strong enough to handle it. And plus, it was something he developed slowly over time." Ranpo looked up into the air and said to himself "Mio, unconsciously perfected it by constantly applying energy unto her fists. Then, she slowly started giving it shape. At some point, she had perfected the technique."
"I have both a high amount of energy. Not just that, ive gotten quite durable over time. Stamina aint a problem either. Its just a matter of time before i get it." Alex said with a confident smirk.
Ranpo smacked him lightly on the head. "Then why haven't you mastered it yet? If you have all that, then why not perfect it!" Alex replied while holding his head "God damn it, you just said the original creator used 3 months to perfect it." Ranpo replied while dragging his check "Don't make excuses."
Alex grumbled as he let free from ranpo pinching his cheek. "I'll get it in two weeks, just wait."
Rambo chuckled. "I'm counting on you. Although, with the stupid things you get yourself into, you'd probably be forced to learn it."
Ranpo turned away, the wind stirring around him. "I won't be around for a while. I have an important mission."
Alex raised a brow. "It's not dangerous, right?"
"I'm meeting Kojin… out by the city's edge," Ranpo replied.
Alex sighed. "Oh, well you both are old friends and you are some great warrior. So... its understandable"
Ranpo gave him one last nod. "Behave yourself alex. Youre a good kid, but you aren't a pushover. So i don't expect anything to insane and anything to pleasant from you". Alex said to himself "Its almost like as if he can't decide on if he want me to be a good asset to society, or a problem to society."
I the blink of an eye, ranpo vanished.
Alex dusted himself off. "Guess I'll eat something. Training really is hard."
Meanwhile, across town, Kinto was lounging in his room, playing video games when his father, Kito, walked in.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Kito asked.
Kinto paused his game and looked over. "Sure dad. What's up?"
Kito sat beside him. "How have your missions been lately? Heard some news about previous missions being deadly"
"Not too dangerous. At least I'm still alive," Kinto replied with a smirk.
"I heard about the Battle of Domains," Kito said quietly. "Three C-rank assassins huh? Must have been rough…"
Kinto exhaled. "It got a little crazy, yeah. But we handled it. It was abit hard for us, they divided our numbers and made our fire power reduce. If myself, Baraka, and alex didn't have enough stamina, we'd have been in trouble. Don't worry too much tho."
"I just want to make sure," Kito said. Then he asked, "How's Alex doing?"
Kinto laughed. "That idiot? He's been doing well. Getting stronger. He's stupid sometimes, but… he's determined. He'll fight till his last breath if it means reaching his goal. Although, he's gotten stronger than i thought tho."
Kito just smiled "Is that so? Cool." He stood up and waved to kinto "I'll see you later, just wanted to check on you. I've been busy myself too. Later kid."
Back at the training grounds, the evening sky had darkened. It was 7 p.m., and Alex was still practicing, visibly worn.
He finally gave up for the day, walking home slowly, muttering to himself. "What am I getting wrong…? I already promised gramps id get this blade of death thing in two weeks. I need to put in more effort. Although, i feel my power rising even if im not getting proper results."
The next morning, Alex awoke to find Kinto sitting beside his bed.
"You're finally awake," Kinto smirked.
"Huh? What's going on?" Alex asked, confused.
"We've been called to the academy. Let's go." Kinto explained.
At the Academy, Tomoa gathered the students.
"I have an announcement," he declared. "The C-rank Assassination Exams will take place very soon."
Alex blinked. "UHHH. Huh? Assasi--- exam?"
Kazuki mumbled "I'm just as confused as you too."
Tomoa explained with a grin, "A tournament where fighters from this city—and others—clash to earn promotion. Win, and you rise to the next rank."
Alex's eyes lit up.
END OF EPISODE