Night lent the school a unique atmosphere.
During the day, it belonged to the youthful students, but a strange, isolated feeling surrounded it at night. Perhaps it was because people would involuntarily compare the school"s atmosphere at night to the day, or maybe invisible beings actually dwelled inside the building.
Invisible spirits… Seiji was unsure if they really existed in his previous world, but he was certain that they existed in Genhana High School.
It was just that he was still unable to see them.
Currently, he was standing on a completely empty track at Genhana High School, with Natsuya beside him.
"Let’s begin with running, Haruta-kun," said Natsuya.
Seiji nodded.
While under the effects of the [Body-strengthening Spell], he stepped forward and began running.
He felt his body turning lighter. With each bound, he covered twice the normal distance. His speed increased rapidly; after a few moments, he ran at thrice, then four times his normal speed…
"So quick!"
Seiji was inwardly astonished.
Although he didn’t know his exact speed, he was certain that he"d already surpa.s.sed the world record—for ordinary humans, that was!
It was like he had transformed into the wind.
Seiji coughed. "This sounds rather embarra.s.sing…"
But he truly felt like the embodiment of wind itself! His body was as light as a feather, and he was as swift as the wind. This floating feeling was like…
Seiji slipped and lost his balance. "d.a.m.n it!"
He flew forwards wildly. The momentum of the impact forced him to roll on the ground after he fell, and he covered a great distance before finally coming to a halt.
"Haruta-kun!" Natsuya shouted, "are you okay?"
"I… I’m fine!" Seiji stood back up and brushed the dirt off himself.
Due to the [Body-strengthening Spell] protecting him, he wasn"t injured.
If he fell over at that speed in his normal condition, he was one hundred percent certain that he’d be hospitalized.
"Control your pacing and strength," Natsuya shouted. "You need to become familiar with it slowly!"
Seiji nodded. "Got it!"
He then began running again.
This time, he no longer tried to take the biggest steps possible; instead, he attempted to find a pace that was right for him.
For Natsuya, who was watching all this, the tall boy’s running became increasingly faster and steadier. It could even be described as a beautiful scene.
There was no helping it as he was just too handsome.
Just watching a handsome boy run like this was a type of enjoyment for some girls, so it was only natural that they would think it a beautiful scene.
Natsuya watched and appreciated this scene in silence.
After running round the track several dozen times, Seiji finally slowed down and came to a complete stop in front of Natsuya.
"Running… I think that’s how it is now. What do you think?"
"Excellent." Natsuya nodded. "For normal movement and running, that’s enough, but as for more special types of movement…"
As she spoke, she cast the Body-strengthening Spell on herself and stepped forward.
*Whoos.h.!.+*
The president’s figure vanished right in front of Seiji’s eyes.
With another whoosh, her figure appeared 20 meters away. She stood there steadily.
Seiji blinked in surprise. "Is this… the technique that Hitaka used in the hallway?"
"This is known as ‘jumping steps,’ and long ago it was known as ‘tunneling into the ground.’ It’s actually just a type of jumping movement in conjunction with the Body-strengthening Spell."
So it really had been a type of ‘tunneling into the ground.’ He had gotten it right.
"To use this technique, you must first focus your energy on the foot that you’ll jump with. After you jump, focus all your energy on your other foot in order to stop where you want," Natsuya explained.
Seiji nodded in understanding and began attempting the technique.
He stepped out with his right foot, focused his energy, and jumped.
*Whoos.h.!.+* Everything pa.s.sed by him in a blur!
He focused his energy on his left foot and stopped.
He stepped onto the ground in an effort to stop, but he slipped and lost his balance again. Just like last time, he rolled a great distance on the ground before coming to a halt.
"Okay, I"ll try again."
*Boom!* Another trip and fall.
He tried for the third time.
*Boom!* He continued falling over.
He tried for a fourth time, then a fifth time…
Seiji felt like he was turning into a roller coaster… whoops, a tumbling expert.
Even though it didn’t really hurt, and he wasn’t injured, he felt embarra.s.sed about appearing so unsightly in front of a beauty like Natsuya.
"It’s always like this at first. When I first began practicing ‘jumping steps,’ I also fell over countless times, so you don’t need to mind these temporary failures." Natsuya seemed to perceive exactly what he was thinking and smiled lightly.
She was truly a gentle lady.
Seiji continued practicing in silence.
When he reached the point where he was almost ready to perform tricks while tumbling, he finally figured out part of the method and barely managed to stop and steady himself without falling over.
He reflexively recalled his childhood experience in his previous world when he"d learned how to ride a bike for the first time without falling over.
The key to it was to keep working hard!
After figuring out the crucial part, the rest became easier.
Seiji gradually practiced to the point where he wouldn’t fall over most of the time.
But there was still an obvious gap between him and the president’s well-practiced movements.
"Let’s temporarily stop practicing ‘jumping steps’," Natsuya said. "We"ll try ‘high-jumping’ now."
High-jumping referred to concentrating the energy in both feet and jumping as high as possible.
Seiji tried it out.
During his practice of ‘jumping steps,’ he"d grasped the basics of controlling his energy. Now he tried focusing his energy on both feet and… jumped up with full force!
*WHOOs.h.!.+*
Seiji felt as if he were flying, just like a bird.
Although this description also seemed rather embarra.s.sing, it was what he truly felt in this moment.
He recalled a distant memory of watching Dragonball: the scene where Son Goku and Krillin took off the heavy turtle sh.e.l.ls used for training and jumped with all their might for the first time.
At that moment, Son Goku and Krillin had jumped off the ground and flown to an incredible height.
Seiji still remembered that scene clearly even up till today. He had imagined back then what it would have been like to be one of those characters and even remembered the words they had said in that scene.
"We…"
"Jumped up by ourselves…"
"Amazing!"
And right now, right here.
This was no longer just an imaginary scene or a fictional character’s feelings.
‘I… jumped up by myself. I flew up here!’
"Wow!!" Seiji yelled delightedly in midair, a brilliant grin on his face.
He enjoyed this moment as much as he could. It was as if he were a child that hadn’t grown up yet.
When he reached the highest point of his jump, he took a deep breath.
He then began falling back down to the ground.
He continued to focus energy on both his feet, keeping himself balanced.
*Pound!!* He landed back where he had originally jumped from, sending dust flying everywhere.
He slowly straightened his body and smiled at Natsuya who wasn’t too far from him.
"Amazing!"
Being able to personally experience something so moving from an anime scene with his own strength was just too awesome.
Natsuya was stunned for a moment.
The handsome boy’s straightforwardness and slightly childish-seeming bright smile had suddenly made its way into her heart.
Once again, her heartbeat quickened.
She didn’t even hear what he said next. It took a while for her to suddenly return to her senses and smile again.
Their practice continued.
Natsuya accompanied Seiji and taught him patiently.
She watched him run, watched him jump, watched him fail disgracefully, and watched his excited, joyous, even childish, expressions.
There was an indescribable feeling in her heart.
A powerful force was slowly acc.u.mulating there.
The scion didn’t know—or perhaps it should be said that she intentionally ignored it.
But no matter what, a flower that grew in a hidden location would eventually bloom…