Windrider

I was naive, very naive.

Just my existence alone would change something in the novel's plot, so when I reincarnated, I didn't care about the plot, I did everything I could to ensure my survival.

I changed the way people saw me, I trained for a good while, but the consequences were too great.

Even by interfering directly, I thought that despite the changes, the world would still follow a certain path, but no.

The world is a mess.

There are so many different things, things that in theory shouldn't even have anything to do with me.

I tightened my grip on the sword I had chosen in class, feeling a growing anger within me. All the characters are acting as I remembered, but the circumstances are different.

"I can't trust my memories. The events may still be the same, but the details..."

I began to suspect that there was someone else like me, someone else who had reincarnated in this world. Or maybe it was just an excuse I created to ease my frustration.

"What the hell is Kian Valkenhorst doing in the Spiral!?" I ground my teeth, frustrated. "It can't have been my actions."

"This can't be right," I muttered to myself as I read the news on my tablet about the Mercer family's half-brother.

Something was wrong. Kian Valkenhorst was a mysterious character who only appeared in the third arc of the academy competition as the number one student of the Flame Forge. After that, he was only seen a few times in over 500 chapters.

"How is this possible?" I asked aloud, frowning in confusion. "What else did I miss?"

I decided I needed to go back and reread everything from the beginning, from the first chapter, to figure out how this character suddenly appeared. Maybe there were some clues I had missed, something that would explain this surprising turn of events.

But I knew it would take a lot of time and effort to find the answer, and I felt a little frustrated by it. I wanted to know the truth, but I also wanted to focus on other things.

"I'm being too pessimistic," I grumbled as I tossed the tablet onto the bed. Then, I unsheathed my sword. "I shouldn't have left you in the room. If I had you with me, Aldrich would never have gotten close to me."

The sword in question had a black blade, almost like solid darkness, which contrasted with three white stripes that elegantly and precisely ran the length of the blade. The handle, in turn, was made of a strange and mysterious material that seemed to reflect light in a distorted way, as if absorbing every shine for itself. The symbol engraved on the handle was a complex figure made of interwoven lines that seemed to form some kind of pattern or mandala. The sword's appearance was impressive and its weight denoted its quality. It was a weapon that was not easy to handle, but it was not impossible either, and whoever wielded it would know that they were holding something special and unique.

I was aware of this, which is why I risked my life to obtain it.

"Shadow of the Aurora," I murmured to myself, as I held the sword firmly. It was the name of the weapon I was wielding, originally belonging to one of the greatest villains in the work. I stole it, using my memories to gain access to it.

My energy was only 62% pure, which meant that my ancestral ability was not as strong as others'. But with the "Shadow of the Aurora" in my hands, everything would be different.

I left the dormitory in the early hours and began walking towards the holographic room. "In a way, this isn't so bad," I smiled thinking about my future plans. "If I can convince Kian to join me, I'll have an ally who rivals the protagonist."

I had too many problems, and I would need people by my side to help me, especially now that things are taking an unknown turn.

"But allies and friends are just that." I swallowed, thinking about the inevitable events that were to come. "In the end, we all depend on our own strength."

The holographic room was a room where you could fight holograms. It was one of the highest quality equipment in the Spiral.

The problem was that there were only 5 rooms in the entire academy, and because there were so few, it was almost impossible to use since everyone wanted it.

That's why I went in the early hours, there were students like me who were maniacs about training, but there were always one or two rooms empty at this time.

Spotting one of the rooms turned off, I walked towards it, putting one of my hands in my pocket and taking out some coins.

"Damn, this way my money won't last a month."

Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

Being from a small family, Lyron didn't have much money, but even so, his family was still a family of Awakened who were once highly respected.

Even by saving the allowance he received for three months, it was still not enough.

"Forget it, it's for a greater good." I murmured, putting the coins in the compartment that sucked them in immediately.

Suddenly, a hologram lit up above the compartment, used to this, I marked the maximum time my money gave and set the difficulty to two stars.

A bright blue line appeared on the white wall and began to expand until it formed a door that opened.

"Strength is my greatest security." I walked into the all-white room, unsheathing my sword. "The students will learn this soon, but thanks to my memories, I can take advantage of it earlier."

Closing my eyes, I maximized my concentration. As the holograms began to appear, I released my nexus energy that ran through the sword, causing its two white stripes to light up.

-Shing! -Shing!

With a moderate movement, I lifted my sword and made a cut in the hologram.

As soon as the sword struck and cut, I retracted it and went back into position.

"The skill must be used subtly or as a last resort. After all, the greatest resource of an Awakened is their energy," I murmured.

It had been three months since I reincarnated, and almost a month since I inherited the martial legacy of the Shadow Swordsman. In addition to obtaining the Shadow of Aurora, I also acquired a fencing style that was quite powerful but also quite complicated.

One of the movements of this fencing style was the energized strike, but the problem was that I couldn't do it, even after trying for almost a month.

"Damn, what am I doing wrong?" I scratched my head in confusion.

I was following all the steps, getting into an attacking position, covering the Shadow of Aurora with nexus energy, and striking horizontally, but it still wasn't working.

"Your breathing," a deep and tired voice spoke in the room. "It's chaotic. You need to calm down."

I didn't need to look to know who it was.

"It's hard to calm down when everything is going wrong," I grumbled still with my eyes closed.

"It's in these moments that calming down will really help you."

"I can't calm down."

"Then you won't be able to replicate my strike."

I furrowed my brow, opening my eyes and facing the owner of the voice. It was an old man who looked to be in his 70s, with scars on his arms and a large one passing through his eyes. He wore a black tunic that ended at his waist, as from there down, he had nothing.

One of the things I didn't know if it really existed in the novel or if it came to exist because of me was the existence of this old man.

Since inheriting the martial legacy of the Shadow Swordsman, he began to haunt me like a ghost.

The problem was that he kept repeating that I was worthless and had no talent for fencing, so I should pass on his legacy to someone else.

But despite being irritating, I just ignored him.

"What made you start giving me advice, old man?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Obviously, you're not going to listen to me and pass on my inheritance to someone more competent. So I'm stuck with you, and if I reject you, I'll be floating in that space forever." The ghost looked at the white walls of the room with some curiosity, he put his hands behind his back like an elder and sighed. "At least with you using me, I can come into the world for some time before the law of death sucks me back in -"

"That still doesn't explain anything."

"Shut up, kid, let me finish!" He roared, swinging his arm to hit my head, only to miss and make me grin.

Seeing my smile, he coughed and continued speaking: "The more you progress, the stronger I'll become, and I'll be able to resist the law of death longer. That way, I can stay in this reality for longer and see how the world has evolved."

I nodded, understanding what he meant.

"So you don't care anymore if your legacy falls into the hands of a talentless guy like me?" I asked, repeating the nickname he called me the first time we met.

"Kid, I was the greatest swordsman of my time." He floated closer. "Even the most worthless of the Awakened can become a gem under my guidance."

Seeing his confidence, I couldn't help but smile. I was struggling to execute one of his basic fencing moves, let alone the others.

Having a teacher was what I needed.

"Okay, I'm looking forward to learning from you," I said, agreeing with his statement.

The old man laughed loudly.

"No, no. If you want to learn from me, we have to do it right." He crossed his arms. "You have to become my disciple."

My smile disappeared.

This old man was a pain in the neck, but I was aware of my priorities, and if this was necessary for me to become stronger, so be it.

"Okay," I muttered, kneeling in front of the ghost. "Master."

And then bowing three times. Luckily, the protagonist also had a master on his journey who liked this kind of old-fashioned thing.

"Oh!?" He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm surprised you know the ceremony."

The old man lowered the height he was floating at, he raised his hand as the Shadow of the Dawn flew from my hand to his.

He drew a Japanese symbol on it and ordered me to stand up.

"Let's go, my disciple, let's get stronger."

*****

A few hours had passed and my time in the holographic room was running out. I felt my clothes soaked with sweat and my throat burning with thirst. The old man's training was extremely rigorous, I had never pushed myself so hard in my entire life. However, I had made significant progress.

"I don't remember ever being this exhausted before," I said gasping for breath as I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

"That's part of real training," observed the old man as he looked at me critically.

"I should have brought water with me," I added as I struggled to breathe. I took my hands off my knees and stood up, starting to walk out of the room while placing one of my hands over my chest.

My heart was beating faster than ever. The last time I had felt this acceleration was when I trained this body for the first time.

"Damn, Lyron was a complete sedentary!" I thought to myself.

"Look on the bright side," said my master, pointing to the scanner on my arm. It was extremely difficult to increase the size of a star, and I was stuck with only two, no matter how much I practiced my energy technique or my control.

But now, on the scanner screen, there were two and a half stars shining.

"Two and a half stars? I've never seen that before," said my master, impressed.

I felt a sense of accomplishment and smiled at my master as I walked out of the holographic room, which was beginning to shut down.

"These are the fruits of your labor, boy," replied the old man as he walked through the wall.

"Hehe, I know," I said, putting my hands behind my head in rest. "Anyway, thank you-"

"Who are you talking to, crazy person!?" a voice interrupted me, taking me out of my happiness. I felt my sweat turn cold and swallowed hard.

The old man had been transported out of this reality an hour ago and had returned just before my time in the holographic room ended. He wouldn't be transported again, and I didn't know if people could see him.

"With myself," I replied, turning quickly to the owner of the voice.

Beside the holographic room compartment, I saw a boy of the same age, with his arms crossed. I recognized him quickly, although he hadn't appeared much in the work, Kian had many fans.

It was impressive how much he looked like the fanarts that portrayed him.

He had dark skin, with short, curly, white hair that seemed to stand out even more against his skin. His gray eyes were piercing and seemed to examine every detail around him. It was as if he carried an aura of mystery and confidence, making him seem even more intriguing and interesting.

"Do you thank yourself?" He asked, with a noticeable tone of doubt in his voice.

Instead of answering, I just smiled, avoiding saying too much and risking revealing a lie.

Then I noticed him squinting in suspicion, as if trying to see something that wasn't evident at first glance.

"Lyron!" I advanced towards him, reaching out to greet him, hoping to change the subject.

"Kian." He replied, shaking my hand and smiling. "You put on quite a show yesterday." Then he pointed to my sword. "Why didn't you use that thing?"

"I forgot it in the dormitory." I let out a weak laugh, looking at the darkness of the early morning that surrounded us. "It's surprising to see someone else awake at this hour besides me."

"I could say the same." He tossed a considerable amount of Esperan into the compartment and increased the difficulty of the holograms. "See you around, Lyron."

"Sure." I smiled, watching him enter the holographic room. "Looking forward to it."

I turned around, heading back to my dormitory.

One of the benefits of having a dormitory all to myself was that I didn't have to worry about noise or curfew.

"Well.. it looks like one of my plans will be easier than I thought."