Watching this play out, Shizuku Kurogane felt a deep sense of frustration.
From the beginning, she had unilaterally declared Haruki Aizawa her rival, hoping to defeat him and prove her brother's high opinion of him wrong. But her loss in the training hall had left her with a crushing sense of defeat. That fleeting duel hadn't just failed to prove her point; it had solidified the fact that Haruki's abilities far surpassed hers, Ikki's, and likely most other students at Hagun Academy.
Shizuku couldn't accept it. In her heart, she believed her brother, Ikki Kurogane, was the strongest. She refused to let this Haruki continue to overshadow him. Yet, when she tried to think of a way to stop him, she was at a loss.
She spent hours watching him, trying to decipher the secret of his strength. But to her eyes, Haruki was just sitting there with his eyes closed, immersed in a state she couldn't understand. Eventually, she gave up on trying to decode his methods and simply accepted the annoying reality that she had to share a room with him.
"Haruki, Shizuku hasn't been giving you too much trouble, has she?"
The next day after class, Ikki Kurogane approached Haruki. His first instinct wasn't to worry about his sister's safety, but rather to worry that Shizuku's aggressive personality was causing Haruki a headache.
"No trouble at all," Haruki replied with a small smile.
To an ordinary person, Shizuku's constant challenges and cold glares would be a nuisance. But for Haruki, her presence was actually beneficial for his Wave training. Because Shizuku's Mana Control rank was so high, fighting her allowed him to refine his own grasp of resonance by observing how she molded her energy.
It was a shame she had refused to help him train voluntarily. But Haruki wasn't the type to force things. Whether it was swordsmanship or social connections, he preferred to let things happen naturally.
Once the boring lectures ended, Haruki headed straight back to the training grounds. The duel with Shizuku had given him a lot to think about. Watching her manipulate water had shown him that he might be able to use the Wave branch for similar environmental control.
However, manipulating raw Mana and manipulating physical elements were two different things. He could hijack the mana-water Shizuku created, but manifesting "water" out of thin air in a neutral environment was still beyond his current reach.
"I really need someone to help me understand the concept of elements..." Haruki muttered.
Of the Blazers he knew at Hagun, only two were elemental specialists: Stella and Shizuku. Stella was Fire, Shizuku was Water. Between the two, Haruki preferred Shizuku's help. Stella didn't really "control" her mana so much as she threw it around like a massive, blunt explosive. Shizuku was surgical.
But given their current "ice-cold" relationship, he'd have to find another way to win her over.
Snap.
Haruki closed his eyes, letting his Wave Perception ripple outward like a tsunami. As his mastery grew, his range expanded. He could now "see" the entire Hagun campus without opening his eyes, tracking every movement and vibration.
Just as he was about to begin his physical practice, his Student Handbook began to vibrate in his pocket.
"A call?"
He checked the screen. It was Ikki. Confused as to why the boy would call him during club hours, Haruki picked up.
"Haruki? Thank god you picked up!" Ikki's voice was frantic.
"What's wrong?"
"Shizuku and I were at the mall for some shopping, and we were hit by a terrorist attack! It's the group 'Rebellion'! Shizuku is caught in the crossfire—the attackers have taken a massive number of hostages in the central plaza. I'm trying to move in, but it's a hostage situation. I need your help!"
Haruki didn't waste a second. He asked for the exact location, cut his training short, and bolted from the Hagun grounds.
Haruki wasn't a self-proclaimed hero of justice, but he wasn't the type to ignore a crime committed right in front of him. Strength existed to be used. If one had power and chose to do nothing in the face of evil, that power was hollow.
He didn't care for ego-driven duels like the one Stella had demanded over room assignments, but against terrorists? That was a different story.
The essence of the sword was to follow one's own heart. If a swordsman's heart isn't clear, their blade will eventually rust. To Haruki, this wasn't just a rescue mission—it was a way to keep his blade sharp.
The shopping mall's central plaza was a scene of chaos.
Men in black tactical gear and gas masks swarmed the building, their heavy boots thudding against the polished floors. They moved with military precision, quickly corralling hundreds of terrified civilians.
The shoppers looked on in horror as they realized who their captors were. They were members of Rebellion (The Liberators), a globally notorious criminal organization.
Rebellion's ideology was simple and cruel: Blazers were "Higher Humans" chosen by God, while those without Devices were "Lower Humans." They believed Blazers should rule over society, free from the constraints of laws intended to protect the weak. In reality, they were just high-powered thugs who used their magic to terrorize the innocent.
Ikki and Shizuku had been shopping together when the attack began. In the initial panic, they had been separated. Ikki had used his agility to slip into the vents, circling the area and looking for a way to dismantle the threat without triggering a massacre.
Shizuku, however, wasn't so lucky. Her physical stamina was low, and she had been caught in the crowd when the terrorists sealed the exits. She knew that if she drew her Device, she would be swarmed by dozens of armed men, likely getting the nearby hostages killed. She decided to hide her identity as a Blazer and wait for an opening.
But the Rebellion members had no discipline. They weren't just there for a political statement; they were there to loot. One of the terrorists, bored and arrogant, began harassing a young woman holding her daughter.
The mother begged for mercy, but the man only laughed, his hand reaching out to grab her. The little girl, crying, threw her ice cream cone at the man's tactical vest.
"Don't hurt my mommy!" she screamed.
The ice cream did no damage, but it wounded the terrorist's fragile ego.
"You little brat!" he roared, raising a heavy boot to kick the child.
The mother lunged forward to shield her daughter, only to be met with a rain of kicks and punches. The other Rebellion members watched with amusement, though one finally spoke up. "Hey, knock it off. We're here to make a point, not play around. Don't kill the hostages yet."
"Shut up! There are plenty of hostages! Who cares if one or two die?!"
The enraged terrorist pushed his comrade away and leveled his submachine gun at the mother and child.
Watching this, Shizuku Kurogane could no longer stay silent. Her heart pounded against her ribs. She saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger.
"Noble Art—Water Prison Bullets!"
A sphere of water slammed into the terrorist, sent him flying backward before he could fire. Shizuku stood up, her short sword Yoishigure manifesting in her hand.
"A Blazer hiding in the crowd?!"
The Rebellion members immediately shifted their focus, dozens of gun barrels swiveling toward her. Shizuku's face went pale. She was a B-Rank, but she wasn't bulletproof. Her Mana Shield could stop a few rounds, but not a sustained volley from a dozen automatic weapons—especially with civilians trapped right behind her.
Just as the tension reached a breaking point, a man with a tattoo snaking up his neck stepped through the line of terrorists. He was followed by ten heavily armed, elite-looking soldiers.
"Well, well... what a big fish we've caught," the man said, a cruel smirk on his face. "I recognize you. The rising star of the Kurogane family, the daughter of the Iron-Blooded Knight himself. To think we'd find Shizuku Kurogane in a dump like this. Hehehe."