Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

The entire site of the World Dragon Seventh Inst.i.tute, which was located in the southeast area of Asterisk, was covered with innumerable buildings connected by corridors. It was dotted with gardens and open s.p.a.ces, as the buildings were surrounded by them, which mimicked the traditional Chinese-style architecture. It"s entire architectual aspect, rather than being an academy, was probably more like a huge palace.

At one corner, there was a building called the Yellow Dragon Temple. At first glance, it was not that much different from other multistoried buildings of three-layer structure, and it had a roof of yellow-speckled lapis lazuli tiles in vermillion-lacquered pillars. In fact, any student enrolled in World Dragon knew well how special this place was.

––No, to be exact, what was special was not the place. But its Master.

It was the person, who inherited the nickname of .

It was the person, who reigned in World Dragon.

The name of the person, who had been placed in the seat three years ago, at just the age of six, was Fan XingLu.

“Master, it is soon time for the regular report meeting.” Zhao HuFeng announced after a short pause.

At the entrance of the hall Zhao HuFeng took the stance of Bao Qan[1] with the right fist in the left palm.

HuFeng was ranked #5 in World Dragon Seventh Inst.i.tute. Although he had a well-trained body, he was of short stature; and though he might be mistaken for a girl, due to his softly refined features and long hair, he was a full-fledged 17-year-old male student. Once highly hailed as a prodigy he had splendidly finished second in the previous Phoenix.

In fact, as HuFeng recalled himself at that time, he almost fainted in agony for he was like an ignorant frog in a well[2].

“Oh, it’s already that time, huh.”

The little girl, who was standing in the middle of the hall turned her face to that voice, and returned an innocent smile.

She was a lovely girl, who tied her long black hair round like b.u.t.terfly wings, and whom the World Dragon’s uniform, which had the appearance of an ancient custom, suited well. Her height reached to HuFeng’s chest.

It wasn’t exactly too far-fetched, but for those who knew nothing, they would likely find it hard to believe that this small girl was the Fan XingLu, rank #1 in World Dragon Seventh Inst.i.tute, which boasted of the largest scale of Asterisk.

“Then, we will leave it as that for now. Everyone, thank you for your hard work. I will accept a challenge again at any time.”

XingLu said so and looked around the hall. Dozens of students were lying on the floor gasping for breath.

They were all those who wished for apprentices.h.i.+p to XingLu.

Presently… XingLu’s personal pupils numbered about fifty. When considering the entirty of World Dragon, there were by no means many, because there were also World Dragon sects having several hundred disciples. However. All of those fifty people all had their names recorded in the Named Charts of World Dragon, and as for the Top Twelve, eleven among the twelve names were XingLu"s disciples.

In other words, one might say that most of the strong people in World Dragon were XingLu’s disciples.

“Was there not any successful applicants this time… Either?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.”

They left the hall and advanced along the corridor overlooking the courtyard.

In order to become a disciple of XingLu, one must just clear a very simple test. It was just to touch XingLu within a certain time. Just that.

However… HuFeng knew from experience how much ‘just that’ was difficult. Even when dozens of students, who had confidence in their abilities, joined forces, they were not able to lay a finger on her small body. Even though XingLu did nothing but merely dodge or ignore the attack and didn"t even ward off their hands.

“––By the way HuFeng. Did you see today’s match?”

“By today’s match, do you mean in the Phoenix?”

Of course, HuFeng was also checking the matches of his comrades. Nine pairs of World Dragon advanced to the main battle (final stage), and five pairs, which finished today’s fourth round, entered in the best 16; this was the most among the six academies. In addition to it, those pairs were eventually XingLu’s disciples, too.

“There was one interesting boy. You know, the rank #1 of Seidoukan –– if I’m not mistaken, it is called Amagiri Ayato. The puppets of Allekant were also quite good but, in terms of material, that boy is the number one. He’s really interesting.”

“Ah, you talk about the eleventh match, right?”

She was talking about the match where the pair of Seidoukan"s rank #1 and the pair of Le Wolfe"s rank #3 clashed. In the fight between Ogre Lux users, both of them were considerably skilled.

However…

“It seemed that his power is somehow restricted.”

The intelligence agency of the academy had already collected a fair amount of information. According to it, it seemed that, he was able to maintain his full power state for only an extremely limited time. Even though it was still conjecture.

In addition, there was also the rumor, which said that once he pulled out that power, a certain interval was necessary in order to use it once again. In fact though, since the leak source of this rumor seemed to be Le Wolfe, it was questionable how far it was credible.

“It"s probably the ability of a Strega or Dante. Hmm, isn’t that also interesting?”

“If I"m not mistaken, their next opponent will be Song and Luo...”

Song and Luo were disciples junior to HuFeng and veterans… Who had their names recorded in the Named Charts.

“Yes. I look forward to see how they will attack.”

If one thought normally… A rank #1 was nothing more than a formidable opponent. Apparently. Their ability was the real deal.

But, the time limit was a weakness, which could be called definite. One could attack as much as he wanted, and fully conquer.

a.s.suming that the rumor of the ‘interval’ was also true, given the strength of Song and Luo, one might say that it was improbable that they would lose. Though the other member of the pair, the Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch, rank #5 of Seidoukan, was also quite skilled, once drawn into close range combat, in a situation of two-to-one, she would be overpowered.

“Well, anyway, I took a liking to Amagiri Ayato. His groundings are good, and he seems to have backbone as such, too. I want him; I really want him as disciple, by all means. If it’s him, with five years –– no, even with three years of training, he will become a good playmate[3] to entertain me.”

“…Are you dissatisfied with only us?” HuFeng said slightly sullenly.

As XingLu cacklingly laughed.

“It isn’t the case. But… Such a thing is like a meal. And it’s better to enjoy various tastes, isn’t it?”

“Hah…”

“For example. The captain of the Star Hunter Guards was delicious. Despite being blessed with an ability, it’s impressive how he admirably reached up to that level just with a study of only a few decades. I would like to have another bout with him, but I have apparently been disliked by him in any way.”

As XingLu was thinking about the past… She wistfully talked with a distant look.

“If I am to personally train Amagiri Ayato, he will be able to reach that level, too. Hah, it’s really regrettable. Why didn’t he come to World Dragon…? HuFeng, can’t you somehow do something about it now?”

“Even if you say so…”

The students of the six academies, once they enrolled an academy, were generally not permitted to transfer to another.

“…Huh? No, please wait a moment.”

HuFeng suddenly noticed there.

“Wasn’t Master in the middle of looking after the entering applicants when that match was broadcast …?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“So what…?”

To XingLu, who plainly said, HuFeng held his forehead.

“Don’t tell me –– you were watching it? While taking care of them?”

“It was just the right handicap, wasn’t it?”

XingLu took out her portable terminal and chuckled.

“Hah… Please think a little about their feelings. After all, it would have normally shattered their confidence.”

“There might be also people, who roused themselves, right? You’re too serious.”

To XingLu ignoring his remonstrance without any hesitation, HuFeng responded with a sigh.

“…Excuse me, but it is not that I am too serious, it is just that Master’s desire to play is too much. Please restrain yourself a little.”

“It is an advice I cannot consider. I am merely here to enjoy myself. No one can stop it. For what do you think that t.i.tle of is?”

It was a nonsensical excuse, yet at the same time it was also an undeniable fact.

was an absolute name, which surpa.s.sed any authority in World Dragon. Even the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, which was a partner, was not an exception.

Though it felt like they walked some distance since they left the hall, the corridor seemed to continue forever without end. Even judging from the number of rooms lined up on both sides, it was obviously not on the scale that would be realized within Yellow Dragon Temple. Considering the size of the Yellow Dragon Temple as seen from the outside. The inside was surely wider and bigger.

On earth with whatever kind of technology this had been made ── no, in the first place, how many rooms there were in the Yellow Dragon Temple, what kind of structure it became, No one beside XingLu knew it. After all, even HuFeng, who was acknowledged to be XingLu’s disciple number three, could not get into the rooms without XingLu’s permission.

It’s said that it was the first generation was who constructed this multistoried building, and at that, in only one night. Just by herself.

Only the one, who could open the door of this Yellow Dragon Temple, would take over the nickname of .

In fact, even including XingLu, there were only three people who bore that nickname.

The first generation appeared in the early days of Asterisk, and it was a person named as the World Dragon’s founder, who brought the mana-induction capability generalization technique called Star Senjutsu. She was a great figure who alone built the Yellow Dragon Temple, brought up the teaching masters of the Star Senjutsu, and established the foundation of World Dragon; On the other hand, it was said that, she concluded various personal secret agreements with the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. Just before leaving World Dragon, she nominated “the person who will be able to open the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple” as her successor. Afterward, It is said that ,many students had challenged to open the door. None among them accomplished it.

It was then several years later that the second generation appeared. It was a person, who opened the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple, which only responded to a specific prana, and achieved the first Grand Cross in Asterisk’s history. Even after graduation, she strived to nurture the next generation as a teacher, and she was called the ancestor of World Dragon revival. Similarly just before leaving World Dragon, she left the same words as the first generation (founder).

And it was three years ago that the third generation , XingLu, appeared in this academy. About ten years after the second generation disappeared, when she, who was very young, easily opened the door of the Yellow Dragon Temple, which no one was able to open until then, she was immediately established as its Master as if it was a matter of fact.

Although there were various rumors even within World Dragon regarding the behavior and knowledge suitable for her age and her conduct to the fact that she was familiar with every corner of the Yellow Dragon Temple, XingLu herself did not mention it, and HuFeng also did not care about it nowadays.

A Master is to the bitter end a Master. And that’s enough.

“––So you were here, Master. We were looking for you.”

“Oh, even brother[4] Zhao is there. Please excuse me for the long silence.”

A pair, boy and girl, who were walking from the opposite side of the corridor, respectfully took the stance of Bao Qan before the two people.

HuFeng’s eyebrows slightly dropped, but XingLu stopped with her unchanged innocent smile.

“Oh, it’s you two, huh. Do you want something from me?”

As XingLu asked so, the two people also pleasantly squinted.

“No, it’s not so much, but”

“We have come to report today’s victory.”

The young girl took over the young boy’s words so as to follow.

It was as if they were speaking like one person, as if it was not unnatural at all. On the contrary, they were in a perfect harmony to the extent that it was uncanny (creepy).

The young boy’s name was Li ShenYun, and the young girl’s was Li ShenHua. As the name showed, they were twin brother and sister, and they were respectively ranked #9 and #10, thus having their name entered in the Top Twelve of World Dragon.

As might be expected from twins, their figures were also similar; except that ShenHua had gathered her hair in a chignon[5], they were almost indistinguishable.

“Yeah, I watched it. It was quite a stunning victory.”

“No, no, after all we”

“Still need to train much more.”

Even while saying so, pride, which could not be concealed in the two people’s words, was oozing.

It also looked like there was some kind of arrogance there, and an overwhelming confidence could be felt.

“Hmm. Never mind. Just get to the main point.”

“Hahaha. We are no match for you, Master. Well, then…”

As ShenYun cut his words once there, he revealed a fearless smile.

“Since it looks like at this rate we will clash with the pair of Brother Song in the sixth round”

“We have thought that we should carry out word of it to Master, just in case.”

To these words, XingLu wonderingly looked puzzled.

“It is not rare for students of a same academy to fight in the Festa. So there is no reason for me to be against it.”

“Well, it is true, but… How should I put it, there are many points where, we are unable to get along well with the members of the Wood faction.”

“There were also quite a few troubles, After all…”

To the twins, who revealed a nasty smirk, the wrinkles between HuFeng’s eyebrows deepened.

The disciples of XingLu were greatly cla.s.sified in two great factions. One was the Wood faction, a group of people, who mainly trained on Taijutsu, and the other was the Water faction, a group of people, who mainly focused on Star Senjutsu. For various reasons, among the Taoists (Taos.h.i.+) belonging to the Water faction, there were people, who looked down on the fist warriors of the Wood faction; One could say that their relation was hardly good.

The twins were the typical example of such Taos.h.i.+.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about. How about speaking clearly?”

Prompted by XingLu, the twins exchanged meaningful glances.

“In other words –– in case we were to clash with the members of the Wood faction”

“And it happens that we somewhat overdo it; Something like that.”

“Wha–…!”

Even HuFeng, who was restraining himself because he was in front of his Master, as expected, changed his complexion somewhat.

In other words, they were saying that personal grudges would be settled under the pretext of a match. From a certain viewpoint, to summarize the Wood faction, they could not remain silent.

“Hohoho. You should have said so from the beginning. Honestly. How sluggish you are.”

––But, XingLu held back such HuFeng with one hand and calmly nodded.

“You may do as you like. Since it was for that unspecified purpose, that I granted you power, I have no interest in dictating you the path to take.”

“Master…!”

Ignoring HuFeng, who unintentionally raised his voice, the twins contentedly bowed.

“As expected, Master is broad-minded.”

“We are impressed.”

Saying so, they opened the way just after finis.h.i.+ng their business.

Though it was a thought that made HuFeng grinding his teeth, he could not help but abide if XingLu, who was the master, said so.

However, while pa.s.sing in front of the twins, who opened the way, XingLu teasingly said.

“––But, I wonder if it will really go just as you expect.”

The twins’ eyebrows twitchily moved.

“Meaning… that we will fall behind Brother Song and Luo?”

“No. I am just saying that it is still too early to label your opponents.”

XingLu, who looked at the twins’ faces, which seemed to be doubtful, and stopped, pleasantly rumbled her throat.

“Kukuku, we do not know yet whether Song and Luo will win through this, right?”

“––Oh… I see. No. But”

“Even if it is Song and Luo, I do not think they may lose to an opponent who revealed a weakness as openly as that.”

“It is to say that, to that extent, we value the ability of our brothers.”

Though, their manner of speaking was extremely haughty, HuFeng also agreed to what they said.

There wasn"t much data on Amagiri Ayato, but as far as they saw, in some of the videos which appeared on the market, there was quite a great difference of power between when he was at full strength and when he was not. They could not imagine that Song and Luo would be defeated by him in the state where his power was restricted; and once Amagiri Ayato would be defeated, there was no way they would lose in a two-to-one fight against the other member of the pair. The Gruene RosePetalblaze Witch.

“Fufufu, well, it’s fine. More importantly. You should first be thinking about the fifth round… Too. There is no telling what may happen in a match.”

“Hahaha, we appreciate your concern, but”

“By luck of Combination… Our next opponents are the girls of Queen Veil who had been missing. You do not need to worry.”

To the twins, who casually ignored XingLu’s advice, HuFeng’s face became steep again.

“Oops, it’s already such time, huh.”

“Well then, excuse us.”

HuFeng saw off the twins, who said so and left, with a sigh.

“Honesty. When it comes to those twins…”

“Hohoho. I see that you do not like them.”

“They are really very arrogant and they also neglect respect and modesty. There is no way that I can get along with them.”

While following behind XingLu, who had once again begun to walk, HuFeng complained.

It was a fact that the Taos.h.i.+ of the Water faction tended to look down on the fist Warriors of the Wood faction, but naturally every single one of them was not like those twins. For example, HuFeng’s elder sister disciple, who established the Water faction, though a little daring, was a respectable person.

In the end, that much wickedness, was nothing but the problem of the persons themselves.

“But, they have talent.”

“That… I won’t deny it.”

In fact, as the twins said, in case their pair was to clash with the pair of Song and Luo, It was almost certain that the former would win.

HuFeng did not also feel like losing if he were to take on either one, but when it came to face those twins at the same time, even if he did not lose, he could not deny that he would have a hard time.

If only focusing on the perspective of combination there was n.o.body among XingLu’s disciples who was better than those twins.

“By the way, does Master think that Song and Luo will lose against the Seidoukan pair?”

“Hohoho. I wonder how it will be.”

To HuFeng’s question, XingLu returned a meaningful laughter.

“If tomorrow –– it was not Song and Luo, but those twins, who were to fight them in the fifth round, I think that Amagiri Ayato and his partner would have lost.”

“Then… Even if the pair of Seidoukan was to take down Song and Luo tomorrow, do you say that they would lose to those twins in the sixth round ── the quarterfinal?”

Then, XingLu looked back, teasingly smiled and shook her head.

“No. If they were to get over tomorrow’s match, it would be hard to say who would win. I look forward to it.”

“Hah…”

To XingLu’s words, which did not quite get to the point, HuFeng slightly perplexed tilted his head to the side.

To begin with, since XingLu was also the student council president of World Dragon, she should not originally expect the students of her academy to lose.

HuFeng was at a loss for an instant of whether or not he should complain about it, but he gave it up after seeing XingLu, who happily shook her shoulder.

In any case, there was no way that she would listen.

---

––Phoenix, the 11th day.

“Geez, it spread out so far in just one day.”

As she entered the waiting room of the Sirius Dome, which she got completely used to, the stunned Julis welcomed Ayato with a herd of s.p.a.ce windows of various sizes.

“Good morning, Julis.”

“Good morning, Ayato. How do you feel now that your weakness has been exposed to the whole world?”

Instead of answering, Ayato, lightly throwing out his shoulders, sat down in front of Julis across the table.

“As you can see, the information has not yet gone beyond the level of an uncertain guess, but… More detailed data, which the secret intelligence service of each academy investigated, would probably be pa.s.sed to players.”

“…How long do you think it will take until it is disclosed?”

Though any Phoenix-related articles, that seemed to be projected in the s.p.a.ce window accessed news, all the headings were just things related to Ayato. Nonetheless, with “A major weakness confirmed for a top favorite!?” or “ Seidoukan Supernova with time limit!?” and so on, the conclusion was barely avoided in the news.

But, certainly the secret intelligence service of each academy was not so sweet.

“I wonder… Well. It would be better to a.s.sume that they get as much information as Claudia everywhere.”

Except Julis, those, to whom Ayato spoke about his seal, were only Saya, Kirin and Lester.

He spoke about it to Claudia when she came after the match yesterday, but at that point, Claudia knew about the seal to some extent.

『"I am sorry. But, it is also my job after all."』

Claudia said, durng an earlier s.p.a.ce window call, and apologetically bowed her head. But, since she did not say more than that, Ayato did not know since when and how she got to know it. But, still, he had a rough guess.

It was probably due to the work of the aforementioned intelligence agency ── . And if so, like Julis said, it would be no wonder even if the intelligence agency of other academies held as much information.

––Of course, since the was comprised of students from the same academy, they definitely had an advantage from it over other academies.

“For the time being, it would be better to a.s.sume that the rough time limit was exposed. They will take the match with Irene Urzaiz as a basis for it.”

“Well… I guess.”

That point was already unavoidable. They had no choice, but to give up.

“The problem now is that the backlash you experience, from the breaking of your seal, was also exposed.”

Said Julis. Who expanded a nearby s.p.a.ce window and examined the news displayed.

Articles about the person concerned, saying “There are rumors saying that once he released his power, he could not apparently move his body for a while due to a backlash. They say that when this happens, to go all out once again, a certain interval (amount of time) is necessary…” could be found there.

“According to Claudia, it seems that the source of this rumor was Le Wolfe.”

“Le Wolfe, huh…”

It was not like he was unaware of it.

It seemed that the student council president of Le Wolfe knew Ayato’s big sister. If so, then it would not be strange if he also knew about his sister’s ability –– the binding chains of imprisonment, which sealed Ayato’s power.

“That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, it would have been fine if he kept what he knew as a secret, but to purposefully leak it as though to propagate it, he did quite the hara.s.sment.”

When Julis said so with a sigh, she closed all the s.p.a.ce windows and looked at Ayato.

“––So, how is your current body condition?”

“Not bad, I guess. Well, it still hurts a little though.”

Ayato showed it by moving his arms while saying so.

In the first place, it was not some kind of damage in the flesh, which caused the backlash of breaking the seal, but rather the overreaction of prana due to the reactivation of the seal. That was why it calmed down only after a certain period of time.

“For now, I think that I will recover at least to the extent that there will be almost no problem by the match. To the extent of fighting normally, that is.”

“Is it, after all, impossible for you to fight with all your might?”

“Yeah… It’s a little tough. I guess.”

Ayato checked the time with a glance on the side. It was within the time one could say that it was still the early morning, and even the first game had not yet begun. Since Ayato and Julis’ match was the third of the day, there was still about a half day time. Ayato would probably considerably recover if he rested until then, but it would be impossible to break the seal a second time.

After all, let alone the three minutes he had as a standard, he fought yesterday with all his might, pretty much going beyond five minutes, which was the red line. The backlash was also prolonged by just that much.

“I understand. Then, let’s come up with a strategy taking that into consideration.”

Julis took a deep breath and once again opened a s.p.a.ce window. However, what was projected there this time was not the site of the news system, but two fearless young men.

“It’s a review, but our next opponent is the pair of the rank #20 and #23 of World Dragon. We also clashed with a pair of World Dragon in the third round, but it won’t be an exaggeration to say that the opponent this time is special. After all, they are the direct disciples of that .”

“The student council president of World Dragon. Right? I have heard that she is only a 9-year-old.”

Though it was not conceivable as common sense. It seemed like she was the strongest student at World Dragon.

The match videos of her also hardly existed, and even if there were some, most were matches that ended in an instant, and they were not of use as reference. Even though knowing that they were strong, they could not measure how much strong they were.

“I don’t know that much about . Since there is also the fact that World Dragon has many students, it’s an academy, where information is relatively leaked and easy to access, but it’s only in that area that their guard is firm. I know at least that it’s the nickname, which had been beared by the person, who once accomplished a legendary feat in World Dragon.”

As Julis cut off, at that point, she looked straight in Ayato’s eyes.

“Well. It’s fine. Anyway, it means that the next opponents are those against whom we must not let our guard down… That said, if you were in a perfect condition, we would not have any difficulty in winning. At least, they are not of Irene Urzaiz’s level after all.”

“It will be a ha.s.sle if they are also on edge like Irene.”

He recalled yesterday’s match. Although they somehow won… One wrong step and the outcome would have been reversed. Or worse.

“But still, with your current power, it’s a slightly burdensome opponent.”

“Ugh…”

She was absolutely right.

Ayato in his sealed state did not have enough power to be able to fight an up-and-coming student.

“Although I would not fall behind in case of a one-on-one, it would be quite tough if I was to deal with the two. Especially since both of them are players specialized in close range combat. I somewhat also intend to level up my skill in close range combat, but it’s mere pretension[6] after all. Leaving aside the lower ranked opponents, with this much skill, I will be at disadvantage if they stepped into my range.”

“––Do you have some plan?”

Though it was not unskillful to think of a strategy for which Ayato could use his individual power, including Julis –– in other words, when thinking about a strategy in pair, Julis was much better.

Then, Julis raised two fingers with a difficult face.

“Before that, there are two things I want to confirm. The first thing is; Something I have thought about since the time of training but, only just that, your defense is quite something even in sealed state. What does that mean? You also fairly endured my a.s.saults the first time, when you and I fought, right?”

Julis was probably talking about the duel with her in the first day of his transfer.

“Ah, yeah. If it is just dodging or defending, I can somehow manage with experience and prediction. Though I say that, since my body won’t follow, I think that it’ll gradually become reduced to a poor situation as the opponent is a higher ranker, but…”

If they had continued (the duel) like that at that time, Ayato would have definitely been roast to well-done by Julis’ flame.

Also during the practice match against Lester and Saya, he was not able to deal with the strength of Lester’s physical attacks even if he understood it.

As expected, if he was considerably inferior in basic specs, it would mean that there was a limitation to what followed with techniques.

When thinking, of somehow going about it there, suitable tactics were necessary.

“Hmm… I understand. The second thing then; Can that technique of releasing your power be used only for a moment even in your current state?”

“Well, honestly, it’s hard now, but…I think that I have recovered enough to be able to do it only once during the match.”

“I see…”

Since he could not a.s.sert, it had become a vague way of talking, but when Julis, who heard it, looked down with a serious expression, she put a finger on her chin and was brooding over something.

She was just like that, for a while.

“––All right, then what do you say about this plan?”

Julis, who eventually looked up, said so while grinning.