After 20 kilometers of running, Tsukasa and Ikki stopped their morning workout.
Ikki looked at Tsukasa curiously since it was rare to see someone who did a morning workout like jogging in this academy. After all, most Blazers could strengthen themselves several times with just their magic, so no one would think to improve their physical ability by workout, and it was his first time to see someone running other than him in this school.
However, Ikki also could tell that Tsukasa might be a freshman, considering he hadn't seen him last year. After all, even though Tsukasa might wear a breathing mask, it might be his first time seeing someone as beautiful as him. Even if Tsukasa was a male, it made him blush somehow.
Tsukasa wasn't sure what Ikki was thinking, and he took off his breathing mask that emitted steam because of the hot temperature and the moisture that came out from his breathing that stuck into the mask throughout the workout session.
Tsukasa didn't talk with Ikki first and took a deep breath, trying to catch his breath. While his regenerative healing factor was nice and all, he could still die if he drowned.
His workout was tough, especially when he wore a breathing mask.
Ikki's physical ability wasn't worse than him, and Tsukasa didn't want to lose, so he forced himself slightly.
"Are you alright?" Ikki asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I just need a rest for a moment." Tsukasa sat on the bench, resting his body before drinking the special sports drink he had prepared. He was refreshed, and his dizziness also disappeared. He then looked up and observed Ikki for a moment before he said, "My name is Kugayama Tsukasa. I'm a freshman. Are you also a freshman?"
Hearing Tsukasa's introduction, Ikki smiled kindly and said, "Nice to meet you, Kugayama-kun. My name is Kurogane Ikki. While I might not be a freshman, I'm also in my first year."
"You're not a freshman, but you're a first-year?" Tsukasa asked with a confused expression. While he might know the cause, he still showed a confused expression.
"I should be in 2nd grade, but I have repeated my grade since I flunked," Ikki said with a kind smile.
"..."
Tsukasa looked at Ikki, and it became weird since there was no fluctuation on Ikki's face when Ikki told him that Ikki had flunked.
The way Ikki told him that he had flunked was as if he had just told him that he had gone to the convenience store. He said as if it was, was something normal, as if it was something that you would meet in everyday occurrence, but how could one not react awkwardly when someone told them that he had flunked?
Tsukasa observed Ikki's expression and thought that this young man must have gotten used to the pain so that everything became numb.
However, it had nothing to do with him since Tsukasa also had his own problem, and he wasn't a hero who would help everyone in need.
While Tsukasa might be a doctor, Ikki was healthy, and there was no need for him to treat him.
If Ikki could give up his path as a Blazer, Tsukasa was sure that Ikki wouldn't have trouble with his life and become a rich second generation, living a carefree life, but Ikki chose a thorny path where he was ridiculed every time because it was his dream.
Everyone was free to dream, but unlike dreaming while sleeping, when one had a dream, in reality, they needed to pay the price.
Tsukasa also had a dream, and he also knew that he needed to pay that price.
"...I'm not sure what to say." Tsukasa's expression was awkward, and he apologized. "Sorry."
"No, no, you don't need to. You don't need to think too much about it, Kugayama-kun," Ikki still said kindly with a gentle smile on his face. When he saw Tsukasa's awkward expression, he just couldn't handle it and quickly said those words.
While Tsukasa was, without a doubt, a man and a handsome one at that, his beauty was something that even a woman couldn't match. While he might be muscular, his muscles were slender, unlike those bodybuilders.
If Tsukasa were a woman's clothes, he might become the most beautiful woman on earth, and just his glance could make everybody that saw him fall in love.
Tsukasa wasn't sure whether his charm was part of his talent too, but since it had caused him many troubles, he hadn't included it in the previous chapter before.
"....."
Tsukasa was speechless by Ikki's good boy personality, but he ignored it and asked, "So what should I call you? Should I add "-senpai"?"
"No, it'll be awkward if you call me "-senpai" since we're in the same grade," Ikki said awkwardly.
"I'll call you Kurogane then. Is that alright?" Tsukasa asked. He knew how
"Okay." Ikki nodded with a smile
Frankly, Ikki didn't care whether Tsukasa added a suffix or not to him. Instead, it was better for Tsukasa not to add suffix since it felt closer that way, and he was happy when Tsukasa did so.
While Ikki might not realize it, he was lonely since almost all the students in this academy had avoided him after the incident last year. Even his friend from the same dorm last year also avoided him because this friend couldn't handle the pressure from the people who wanted him to stop becoming a mage-knight.
While Blazer is the name of one born with the ability to wield magic, a Mage-knight is a profession after a Blazer graduated from the Mage-Knight Academy and received a license from the League of Mage-Knights.
It might be hard to understand what kind of profession the mage-knight was.
However, if Tsukasa had to explain, then it was similar to a civil servant, but with higher income since the mage-knight used their lives to protect the life of everyone.
It was also the reason why many Blazers wanted to become the mage-knight since they could get a high-income profession as long as they graduated from the Mage-Knight Academy.
It might seem vulgar, but who could live without money?
"But Kurogane? It is quite a rare surname," Tsukasa asked curiously.
There were many surnames in this country, but Kurogane was quite a rare surname.
'Kugayama isn't much better, though.' Ikki thought inwardly, but his expression became awkward after Tsukasa mentioned his surname, but his personality had always been honest, so he nodded. "Yes, even though that family might not acknowledge me, I'm the descendant of the Great Hero, Kurogane Ryouma."
"...."
Tsukasa looked at Ikki speechless and thought that this guy was really awful at conversation.
"Er..."
Whenever Tsukasa asked something, he felt that he had landed on the landmine, but this was something natural since the setting of Kurogane Ikki was the weakest Blazer that would become the strongest.
"...While I want to say "wow," it is amazing since you're the descendant of the Great Hero, Kurogane Ryouma, but hearing the first words of your sentence, I'm not sure what to say again," Tsukasa said with a sigh.
"No, no, you don't need to feel so awkward with me," Ikki quickly said, but he also felt embarrassed since there was nothing that he could be proud of besides his heredity as the descendant of the Great Hero, Kurogane Ryouma.
While Ikki might be the descendant of Kurogane Ryouma, his Device ability was just to double physical ability, and his magic was just a tenth of the normal Blazer's.
If someone asked, who was the weakest Blazer in this academy, then one would say that it was Kurogane Ikki. He even received the epithet of the "Worse One" from everyone, considering how bad his status was.
Even Tsukasa must admit that the ability and the amount of magic of Ikki was the worst kind that one could get.
While Ikki's ability might seem powerful since it could double one's physical ability, with magic, one could strengthen one's physical ability by five or six times.
Even Tsukasa could strengthen his physical ability by ten times with his magic as long as he wanted to. However, his magic was just F-rank, but unlike Ikki's F-rank magic that only a tenth of normal people. His magic might be F-rank, but his magic was half that of a normal person, so his situation was much better, right?
This was also the reason why Ikki wasn't being acknowledged by his family.
The amount of magic had determined one's fate.
If one had a massive amount of magic, they would have a bright future.
On the other hand, if one had a small amount of magic, they wouldn't have a future as a Blazer.
Unlike Tsukasa, who didn't have a family, Ikki came from a famous family, and when everyone was born with talent, he was born without talent.
This was the reason why Ikki wasn't being acknowledged by his family. Even though his family had told him to give up, he didn't give up and continued to become a mage-knight. This was why his life was miserable since no one in his family wanted to see him become a mage-knight.
After all, the thought that Ikki, who was F-rank Blazer, would become a mage-knight would bring shame to the Kurogane family.
Once again, Tsukasa thought that if Ikki could give up, Ikki could live a leisure life of a second rich generation since the Kurogane family didn't lack money.
This family could easily pay Ikki's spending for a lifetime, even if he had a family in the future.
However, everyone had their own choices, and they also had their right to dream, so Tsukasa had nothing to say since neither of them was close enough to support each other dream.
"Thank you, Kurogane." Tsukasa nodded, then said, "By the way, you seem to have something to ask me?"
"Ah, may I ask, what is that?" Ikki asked as he pointed at Tsukasa's breathing mask since he had been curious for a while.
"Oh, this?" Tsukasa picked up his breathing mask and said, "This is a breathing mask. It is used to train lung capacity. It'll make it harder for you to breathe."
"...."
Ikki blinked his eyes then stared at Tsukasa speechlessly, but at the same time, his expression became serious. It was rare to see someone who could match his physical ability, but Tsukasa could match his physical ability while wearing this breathing mask, which meant, during their running before, Tsukasa had been wearing a handicap!
Somehow, Ikki felt slightly at a loss after knowing that fact, but at the same time, he asked, "Where did you buy it?" He felt that this breathing mask might be helpful in his training, too, since he also knew how vital lungs were for the body.
Lungs absorb oxygen from the air you breathe. Oxygen is a gas that your body needs to work properly. Your cells need oxygen to make energy.
If one's lungs can work harder, it can increase one's physical ability.
This was why there were many breathing methods in martial arts since the proper breathing method could give more power and energy.
"I made it by myself." Tsukasa looked at Ikki and said, "If you want, I can make it for you."
"Really?" Ikki was surprised and felt happy.
"Yeah, you only need this much," Tsukasa said and showed how much the breathing mask was. While Ikki might be the protagonist in this world, it had nothing to do with him. They also only met each other in just a short time. They weren't close friends either, so why should he give Ikki for free? It would be too weird.
Also, the price of the breathing mask wasn't high, and Tsukasa also gave a discount to Ikki.
While Tsukasa might not lack money, the experience that he had encountered in his 15 years made him realize how important money was, so he didn't have a hobby to waste his money.
"........"
Ikki was speechless, but he also felt that it was normal, and the price wasn't that high either.
However, there was one big problem!
Ikki didn't have money!
While Ikki might be someone from a Kurogane family, he didn't receive any money from his family because of his disobedience to his family. It was also the reason why he chose the Hagun Academy since it was free and he didn't need to pay for money. Even the foods were prepared by the academy, so he didn't need to worry about anything and wholeheartedly practiced himself to become stronger.
"Well, when we meet tomorrow, I'll give you one since it is rare to see someone who practices a physical ability like you. You don't need to pay right now. You can pay it when you have the money in the future," Tsukasa said since he felt that Ikki was worthy of his investment since, as a protagonist, Ikki's strength was without a doubt, and the investment was cheap since he only needed to give a breathing mask to him.
"Is that okay? I'm not sure when I can get money, though." Even though Ikki was happy, he still felt slightly lost since he didn't have money.
"It's okay." Tsukasa shook his head and said, "For you, that amount of money might be too much, but not for me. Also, I want to have a match with you, so if you can become stronger, it'll be even better."
"Thank you. I'll accept it then."
Ikki was grateful to Tsukasa, and his eyes were burning with fighting spirit since he also knew that Tsukasa was a powerful swordsman from the moment their eyes met each other, and as a swordsman, he wanted to test his skill on him.
Tsukasa could feel Ikki's fighting spirit, but suddenly his nose twitched lightly and noticed someone was standing behind the tree, observing him without looking away. His expression turned slightly awkward when he saw this person, but he quickly calmed down and stood up from the bench.
"Kurogane, I'll go back now. See you tomorrow." Tsukasa waved his hand and left, walking toward the direction of the person who peeked at him.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Ikki nodded with a gentle smile and thought that it was good that he had found a good friend in this academy.
Not sure what to say here.
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