Aether : Calraem

Chapter 58: Heroes(3)

The Mary Jane

"!"

- Hikari's eyes sprung open, instantly absorbing the light around him. The wooden ceiling, the neighbouring pirates snoring in their hammocks, his sword [Ameris] firmly placed in the corner with every other weapon - nothing was out of place.

It was just a dream.

"... Dream?" He muttered. "What... was the dream about?"

He tried to recall something of his dream, but the exact details faded away as he gained consciousness. Only the feeling behind it remained, numbing his senses. His reaction time felt slower and a strange sensation jostled about in his stomach.

Did I not get enough sleep? He thought. Then, a moment later, he shook his head. That's not it. It's like I'm feeling weirdly indifferent.

Today felt like a bad day, but he hoped that his feeling was just his imagination.

Trying to take his mind of the feeling, Hikari began with his morning routine: Clean his hammock, wash his face and get in some early morning training.

-

"Hya!" He cried, raising his sword toward the heavens. Then he did a vertical slash toward the ground. Then he did another. Then another. And another.

And another.

And another.

Hikari continued this until he reached a hundred-and-fifty before switching to diagonal, then to horizontal slashes. The intent of it was not only to increase his base states, but to make it so that [Ameris] would become a part of him - not just to become second nature, but to make his swordsmanship become like breathing to him; it takes place without him needing to think of it, and he can't live without it.

He needed to get stronger.

Three days have passed since the battle on Aries Island against Damon Roses. Damon was so powerful that he made it a game to destroy the island and pushed the two First Mates of [Sea Emperors] to their limits in battle. This was whilst they were assisted by an army of pirates to fight alongside them.

If that was the kind of enemies he was going to face going forward, then how much was he truly lacking right now? He was so weak that he can't even gauge how weak he was, let alone imagine how strong his opponents are.

"Hya!"

That strange feeling nagged at Hikari as he practiced, but he couldn't tell whether of not it was a good or bad feeling. His hands felt warm, his heart rate spiked and he couldn't shake the idea that something was going to happen soon.

What it was, he wasn't sure.

But he definitely knew something was going to happen to him.

-

"Morning, Hikari," Elaine said, smiling gently. "You're quite early today."

In the hospital room, Elaine sat upright on the bed, wearing her headphones and held a book in hand. Her fingers were still covered in bandages, but she didn't seem to have much problem paging as she read.

"I... had a lot of nervous energy," he said, laughing awkwardly.

Hikari noted that her tone was lighter today and that a fair amount of her complexion returned.

"'Nervous energy'?" She repeated as a question, an eyebrow raised. "Are you anticipating an event and you're uncertain of the outcome?"

"!"