Fighting Lunar Shadows while handicapped by a sixteen-year-old body and 99.8% of his power sealed away was like trying to perform surgery with oven mitts on.
It sucked.
Kazuki ducked under a claw swipe that would have taken his head off, his sealed blade flickering with pathetic wisps of moonlight as he carved a shallow cut across the creature's flank. In his past life, that same technique would have split mountains. Now it barely scratched shadow-flesh.
"This is humiliating," he muttered, rolling away from another attack.
The Lunar Shadow writhed above him—a mass of writhing darkness with too many teeth and eyes that burned like dying stars. It had once been human, he realized with a jolt. The academy's security system had been compromised from within.
Someone let them in on purpose.
"Less talking, more stabbing!" Luna shouted from across the hall, silver fire erupting from her hands to incinerate three shadows at once. Her power blazed like a miniature sun, and Kazuki felt an unexpected surge of pride.
Good. She's grown strong.
The shadow above him lunged, and Kazuki activated [Moonlight Severance] at its weakest setting. His blade extended with ethereal light, just long enough to pierce the creature's core. It dissolved with a shriek that sounded almost grateful.
[System Notification]Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Security Guard (Lunar Shadow - Rank F)Experience Gained: 75 XPProgress toward seal break: 2/1000 enemies defeated
A corrupted guard. Definitely an inside job.
Around the hall, chaos reigned. Students huddled behind overturned tables while teachers tried to maintain defensive barriers. Professor Chen had shed his mild-mannered facade entirely, wielding space-time magic with the precision of someone who'd done this before. A lot.
"Evacuation protocols are in effect!" Chen's voice boomed across the hall. "All non-combatants to the emergency shelters! System bearers, form defensive positions!"
Most of the newly awakened students looked terrified, their fresh Systems flickering uncertainly. But a few—the ones with combat-oriented awakenings—were already moving to help.
Jin Watanabe, the Epic-tier Storm Caller, summoned crackling lightning that danced between his fingers. Sarah Martinez, the Rare-tier Healer, was already tending to a student with claw marks across his chest.
They're adapting fast, Kazuki noted with approval. This generation might actually survive what's coming.
A scream drew his attention. Takeshi was backed against a wall, three Lunar Shadows circling him like vultures. His Void Touch flickered weakly—the technique Kazuki had helped him perfect earlier barely forming wisps of shadow.
"Takeshi!" Without thinking, Kazuki sprinted across the hall, his sealed agility still enough to blur his movement. He arrived just as the first shadow lunged.
[Eternal Blade Mastery] guided his strike, muscle memory ten thousand years in the making. Even sealed, the technique was flawless—a perfect diagonal cut that severed the shadow's connection to the lunar realm. It vanished with a wail of frustration.
"Holy shit, Kazuki!" Takeshi gasped. "How are you moving like that? Your System awakening was only five minutes ago!"
Because I've been doing this since before your great-grandmother was born, Kazuki thought but didn't say. Instead, he grabbed Takeshi's wrist and adjusted his stance.
"Channel the void through your third and seventh energy pathways," he said quickly, parrying a claw strike from the second shadow. "Don't try to force it—let it flow naturally."
"I don't know what those are!"
"Trust me." Kazuki's blade flickered with moonlight as he drove it through the second shadow's core. "Feel for the empty spaces between your ribs. The void lives in the gaps between things."
Takeshi's eyes widened in understanding. His Void Touch solidified, becoming sharp enough to cut through the third shadow like paper. "I... how did you know that?"
Before Kazuki could answer, Luna's voice rang out across the hall: "Incoming! Big one!"
The crystal ceiling exploded inward as something massive crashed through. This wasn't a converted human—it was a true Lunar Shadow, a creature born in the space between Earth and Moon. It stood three meters tall, its form constantly shifting between solid matter and writhing darkness. Where it touched the ground, reality became... flexible.
[System Alert]High-Threat Entity Detected: Lunar Shadow Alpha (Rank C)Recommended Action: RetreatSurvival Probability with Current Power Level: 12%
Well, shit.
The Alpha's attention swept across the hall before locking onto Kazuki. Its voice was like grinding stone mixed with the screams of the dying: "BLADE SAINT. THE DEVOURER REMEMBERS YOUR TASTE."
Every conversation in the hall died. Students and teachers alike turned to stare at Kazuki, who suddenly felt very much like a sixteen-year-old pretending to be something he wasn't.
"Kazuki," Luna said slowly, silver fire still wreathing her hands, "what the hell is it talking about?"
Great. Cover blown on day one. New record.
The Alpha lunged, moving faster than anything that size had a right to. Kazuki pushed Takeshi aside and raised his blade, knowing it wouldn't be enough. At 0.2% power, he might scratch the thing, but—
A barrier of crystallized moonlight intercepted the creature's claws. Luna stood beside him, her power blazing brighter than he'd ever seen it. "Explanations later," she said grimly. "Survival now."
"Agreed." Kazuki felt his lips curve in a smile that had nothing to do with his teenage body. "Think you can hold it for ten seconds?"
"I can give you five."
"That'll do."
Luna's barrier flared, and Kazuki closed his eyes, reaching deep into his sealed memories. Most of his techniques were locked away, but there was one—a desperate gambit he'd used in his final battle. It had killed him then, but maybe, with careful control...
[Reality Perception] activated, showing him the flow of space-time around the Alpha. Even sealed, the skill revealed the creature's weak points—the places where its connection to the lunar realm was strongest.
There. Third vertebra equivalent. Cut the tether.
Kazuki's blade began to glow, not with moonlight this time, but with something deeper. Starlight. The fundamental force that had once made him the greatest swordsman in existence.
"Whatever you're doing," Luna gasped, her barrier beginning to crack, "do it faster!"
The Alpha's claws pierced through the crystallized moonlight, reaching for Kazuki's throat. He stepped forward to meet it, his blade moving in a perfect arc that his sealed body shouldn't have been able to execute.
[Moonlight Severance - Starlight Variant]
The technique was supposed to be impossible at his current power level. The System's warnings flashed across his vision like angry red text. His muscles screamed in protest as forces beyond his body's ability to handle flowed through him.
But the blade found its mark.
The cut wasn't deep—barely a scratch across the Alpha's hide. But it severed the creature's connection to its home dimension with surgical precision. The massive shadow froze mid-swipe, its form beginning to unravel.
"IMPOSSIBLE," it hissed. "YOU ARE SEALED. BROKEN. HOW—"
"Skill," Kazuki said simply, then collapsed as the backlash hit him.
[System Alert]Critical Error: Power usage exceeded safe parametersTemporary debuff applied: [Spiritual Exhaustion]All stats reduced by 50% for 24 hoursWarning: Repeated overuse may cause permanent damage
The Alpha dissolved into wisps of shadow, its death cry echoing across dimensions. Around the hall, the remaining Lunar Shadows fled back through the reality tear, which sealed itself with a sound like breaking glass.
Silence fell over the Awakening Hall, broken only by the soft crackle of emergency lighting and the distant wail of sirens.
"Kazuki!" Takeshi rushed to his side, along with several other students. "Are you okay? That was incredible! How did you—"
"I'm fine," Kazuki lied, struggling to sit up. The spiritual exhaustion felt like someone had replaced his blood with molten lead, but he'd experienced worse. "Just... overdid it a little."
Luna knelt beside him, her starfire eyes studying his face intently. "That wasn't a beginner's technique," she said quietly. "That was master-level reality manipulation. Who are you really?"
Before Kazuki could answer, Professor Chen approached, his mild expression completely gone. The man who stood before them now radiated the kind of quiet authority that came from decades of command.
"Miss Crescentia raises an interesting point," Chen said, his voice carrying undertones of power that made the air itself seem heavier. "Mister Hayashi, I think you and I need to have a conversation. Privately."
Busted.
Kazuki met the professor's gaze steadily. Up close, he could see the truth in Chen's eyes—ancient knowledge, old pain, and the weight of secrets that spanned millennia.
"I suppose we do," Kazuki agreed.
"Excellent." Chen's smile was sharp as a blade. "My office. Now. Miss Crescentia, you're welcome to join us. Something tells me you have questions of your own."
Luna helped Kazuki to his feet, her touch warm despite the chill of moonlight that seemed to follow her everywhere. "This is about the Sealed Records, isn't it?" she said. "The classified files about the Moonfall event."
"Among other things." Chen gestured toward the hall's exit, where emergency crews were already beginning cleanup. "I think it's time we had an honest discussion about what's really happening to our world."
As they walked, Kazuki caught Takeshi's worried expression. "Don't worry," he told his roommate. "I'll explain everything later."
Or at least, everything I can without causing mass panic.
The truth was, even Kazuki didn't know everything. His memories of the final battle were fragmented, damaged by the technique that had killed him. He remembered the Devourer's hunger, the Moon being pulled from its orbit, and the desperate sacrifice that had somehow delayed the apocalypse.
But the details... those were locked away with the rest of his power, waiting for the seals to break.
[System Notification]Quest Update: [Survive the Academy Crisis]Status: COMPLETEDReward: Minor seal release on [Moonlight Severance]Bonus Objective: Protect Luna Crescentia - COMPLETEDBonus Reward: [Stellar Affinity] - Passive skill unlocked
New Quest Available: [Uncover the Truth]Objective: Learn why the Lunar Shadows attacked the academyReward: Access to Sealed RecordsWarning: Some truths are dangerous to know
As they reached Chen's office, Luna glanced at him sideways. "For what it's worth," she said quietly, "I don't think you're a threat. Dangerous, yes. But not a threat."
"What's the difference?"
Her smile was sad and knowing. "A threat destroys everything around it. Dangerous people protect what matters, no matter the cost to themselves."
Kazuki felt something warm bloom in his chest—not power, but something rarer. Hope.
Maybe this time, he really could save everyone.
Maybe this time, he wouldn't have to do it alone.
Professor Chen's office door swung open, revealing a room that was definitely bigger on the inside than the outside. The walls were lined with books that seemed to shimmer with their own light, and floating in the center of the room was a three-dimensional map of the solar system.
The Moon's position was marked with a pulsing red dot, and thin lines connected it to dozens of other points throughout the galaxy.
"Welcome," Chen said, settling behind his desk with the air of someone who'd been waiting for this moment for a very long time, "to the real Academy curriculum."
[End of Chapter 2]
[System Notifications]Total Experience Gained: 125 XPProgress toward next level: 125/1000 XPSeal break progress: 2/1000 enemies defeated
New Skill Unlocked: [Stellar Affinity]Effect: Resistance to lunar corruption, enhanced starlight techniques
Character Relationship Update:Luna Crescentia: Suspicious → IntriguedTakeshi Yamamoto: Friendly → CuriousProfessor Chen: Unknown → Ally (?)
Next Chapter Preview:The Sealed Records reveal truths that some would kill to keep hidden...