Campus Sanctuary 1

Training and Touring

Seiya and Hyoga visit one of the Fuji 5 lakes to do skill simulations. However, they quickly lose interest and decide to go on a day trip. They peek at a deadly forest and enter one of the tourist-based wind caves.

Reminder: homework survey to do.

Today's weather is a heat wave.

This week begins the August chapter.

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[August 4, Saturday - week 1]

Two of the BBs are doing simulations outside the city at one of the lakes near Mount Fuji. They found the directions from the library yesterday and took the long bus ride this morning. Compared to the city experiencing today's heat wave, the air outdoors seems cooler.

Seiya seems to have been punching random trees for a while now but slumps to the ground. "This is so boring! Never in my life I felt so bored!" Seiya's wearing a red and white T-shirt with some blue jean shorts, white sneakers, and red wristbands. He lets out a visible sigh as he hears a shattering sound nearby. "Maybe he has better luck..."

He gets up and approaches the lake to see a giant iceberg, knowing that such a feat is done by Hyoga, kneeling in front of a shattered hole.

"That was awesome..." Seiya claps but stops. "What's wrong?"

"Something doesn't seem right..." His friend also slumps down. He's wearing long jeans, a tank top, and a pair of sneakers.

"Well, yeah. This isn't the real but better than nothing, right?" Seiya sweat drops.

Hyoga sighs. "You tell me..."

"We talked about doing simulations because of the whole fiasco at the dorm, but now that we're doing it for real, it sucks. I've been punching trees for two hours, and that's not enough!"

Seiya refers to the incident at the dorm at the start of the school year. Their attempt to train caused a scandal that prompted police arrival. Because of this, the pair suggests doing them outside the city to avoid collateral damage. However, the result is not what they expect.

"What should we do? We went through all this effort only to end up with nothing. Maybe we should leave..." Seiya gets a thought spark. "I get it! Hey, Hyoga! Let's tour around!" he calls out.

Hyoga looks at the waving Seiya. "I suppose touring around is better than complaining of boredom," he mutters. He leaps from his self-made iceberg to the lake's shore, where Seiya awaits. "Sure, we'll tour around."

"Great! Then grab your stuff and let's go hiking!" Seiya grins as he grabs his fanny pack and slings it across his chest.

Hyoga then wears the white hoodie again that he took off before training and the ponytail. He zips and then slings a long strapped bag across.

"Yeah, but before that..."

"I know, we should destroy the iceberg you made to avoid suspicion. Not a problem." Seiya uses his Meteor Punch to destroy the iceberg and shatter it to pieces. However, large chunks remain floating much to Seiya's disappointment. 

"Those chunks will melt, right?" he blankly asks.

"Yeah..." Hyoga says with the same expression.

The pair decides to hike around the lake for the sake of touring. They stroll a long mile until they stop by a sign that gets Hyoga's attention.

"Seiya, look at this." Hyoga points.

"It's a sign. What about it?"

"I would've ignored it if it was any generic sign, but look what it says."

"Okay, fine. I'll look at it." Seiya gets a closer look at the sign. "Is this for real? Why does it tell us to reconsider ending your life?"

Seiya and Hyoga look at each other.

Hyoga reads the sign. "It says 'Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Think about them and the rest of your family. Please consult before you decide to die'. That is very unsettling..."

"Wait a sec? People enter this forest to die?! That's insane! Why would they do such a thing?! Now that I think about it, look at how thick the trees are. I can't see the sunlight!"

"Even if we were to use our cosmo, finding us would be difficult."

"Think the student who took his life went inside?"

"You mean the student who suffered abuse from previous teachers? Given how his death happened off-school, it might be possible." Hyoga pauses. "Seiya, we should back off."

"Yeah, I get the feeling we could get sucked in if we're not careful."

They cautiously back off to continue their hike until they arrive at the stairs leading to the underground cave.

"Look, Hyoga! It's a cave and it's open to tourists!"

"Really? I suppose we can explore. But let's head back to the dorm once we're done."

"Sure, not a problem. Let's pay the fee first."

After paying their entrance fee, the pair enters one of the famed wind caves formed by a Mount Fuji eruption that happened thousands of years ago. Upon descending the stairs, they see thick pillars of ice around them.

"No way! Thick ice at the heat of summer!"

"First time seeing it?" Hyoga asks.

"I mean, yeah! Look at all this thick ice!" Seiya points. "Hey! How come you're not surprised?"

"Because there's ice all over year-round from where I come from. Summers are generally shorter, too. While it doesn't surprise me to see this level of ice, it does surprise me to see it underground. I never thought it would be possible. Seems it hasn't been tampered for a long time."

"Yeah, it's perfectly intact." Seiya agrees.

They continue their walk on the designated tourist line that loops the entire cave. The cave is colder than having the AC at full level.

"Have you ever had this dream where we fought Ikki inside a cave?" Seiya asks, wondering.

"Why is that?" Hyoga asks, confused. "We fought against Ikki outdoors."

"I don't know, but the fight inside the cave felt more real," he says with folded arms.

"Is that so? I think I had the same dream, too."

"Everything we did outdoors, we experience again in our dreams except this time, it took place in a cave such as this."

"Everything... as in including the Black Saints."

"Yes! Including them. We fought against them in our dreams... here in this cave, too. The whole thing took place at Mount Fuji!"

"We fought against Ikki and the Black Saints at Mount Fuji... in our dreams?"

"Yeah, completely opposite in the real world. I wonder why we have such dreams. Are we simulating events, repeating them?"

"Whatever they are, they're just dreams."

"You're right. I shouldn't fuss." Seiya nods.

The pair arrives at the start after looping.

"Let's go back," Hyoga says.

"Yeah, any later and it'll be dusk."

They return to ride the long bus back to the city.

To be continued...