The week after the entrance ceremony, on the first weekend, I found myself facing Renji-san in the training hall of the Shimotsuki family estate.
"How's school going, Itsuki-kun?" Renji-san asked with a friendly smile.
"We're studying hiragana right now."
"Is it fun?"
"Yeah! It's a lot of fun!"
"That's good to hear. It's important to enjoy what you're doing, no matter what it is," Renji-san said, his smile broadening. The vertical scar running down his face became more pronounced as he did, a stark reminder of the many battles he'd fought. Despite his tough appearance, he was one of the kindest and most encouraging people I knew.
It was easy to forget how intimidating he could look, especially since, without the scar, he could easily pass as a young college student.
By the way, Aya-chan wasn't around today. She had gone shopping with Momoka-san to pick up some last-minute supplies for school.
"So, let's start with the basics of barrier techniques," Renji-san continued. "Although, I think you might've seen this before."
"You mean the one my dad used, right?"
A few months ago, when we fought the Fifth Rank monster in the forest, my dad had used a barrier to locate the bear-like monster it had summoned.
"That's right. Back then, we couldn't locate the hidden presence, but generally, Fifth Rank monsters are rare. So, there's no need to be overly cautious. The key is to use the barrier to detect enemies. Let's try it out, shall we?"
Renji-san then wrapped himself in a cocoon-like structure of silveit. The moment he completed the process, the silveit became transparent.
"This is a basic barrier. It's an extension of the Sixth Sense training you've been doing," Renji-san explained.
"What kind of magic is it?" I asked, intrigued.
"The barrier reacts automatically to any incoming attacks the moment they enter it. Your body will respond instinctively."
Wait, isn't that what my dad mentioned? When I first started training my Sixth Sense, he said that with enough practice, I'd be able to instinctively react to attacks.
What would that even feel like? My curiosity was piqued, and I couldn't help but wonder.
"Wanna see how it works?" Renji-san asked, noticing my growing interest.
"...Yeah, I'd like that."
"Alright then, let's give it a shot," he said, laughing lightly, as if we were about to play a game rather than engage in a serious training session. I admired his calm and relaxed demeanor. That was the kind of maturity I aspired to have someday.
"You can attack from any direction you want."
"Renji-san, you can throw it now."
"Got it. Here I go," he said, his footsteps suddenly vanishing as he moved.
His presence seemed to disappear into thin air. I had learned a similar technique during my training in the Yato-style swordsmanship, but I couldn't match Renji-san's precision. It was moments like these that reminded me of how far I still had to go. I needed to become stronger, faster—just like him.
Before I could dwell on it further, my body moved on its own. I was suddenly yanked to the side, just in time to see a cushion whiz past where I had been standing. The sudden movement nearly knocked me off balance, but the silveit strands wrapped around me prevented me from falling.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the pink cushion lying harmlessly on the ground in front of me.
Just as I was about to turn around and celebrate my success, my body was pulled backward, narrowly avoiding another cushion that flew past, missing me by a hair's breadth.
Ah, the classic Exorcist lesson—never let your guard down.
Taking that lesson to heart, I waited a moment to ensure there were no more attacks before turning to Renji-san.
"Renji-san! I did it!"
"...Yeah, you sure did," Renji-san replied, his expression a mix of surprise and approval.
I looked down at the silveit wrapped around my body. The strands extended in all directions, creating a network that allowed me to react automatically to any incoming threats.
This was the potential of silveit that my father had hinted at in the forest. He had once used a detection spell that worked like a magnet for magic power to locate hidden monsters. At the time, I thought it was an impossible spell, but now I realized that it wasn't the spell that was unreasonable—it was my own creativity that had been limited.
The old magicians in fairy tales could turn pumpkins into carriages, make mirrors talk, and transform a mermaid's tail into legs. Compared to those fantastical feats, creating a spell that allows my body to automatically dodge attacks by pulling me with silveit seemed almost mundane.
Of course, the information processing required for Attribute Change spells does consume a lot of magic power, but that's something I can manage.
"It's all thanks to you, Renji-san. Thank you!" I said, bowing my head deeply.
But just as I did, Renji-san's phone rang with a tone I'd never heard before. His expression immediately turned serious as he answered the call.
"...Yes? Understood. I'll head there right away," he said, swiftly pocketing his phone before turning to me.
"A job just came in. It's a Third Rank monster."
"So, does that mean today's training is over...?" I asked, a bit disappointed.
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One of the challenging aspects of being an Exorcist is that even on days off, you can be called in at a moment's notice. Skilled Exorcists are always in high demand. I had expected that this meant our training session was done for the day, but Renji-san surprised me with a gentle smile as he said,
"Itsuki-kun, why don't you come along too?"
With that, he extended an invitation that was both thrilling and daunting. It was an opportunity to see real combat, but also a reminder of the serious responsibilities that came with the path I was on. This was the world I was preparing for—the world of Exorcists, where even training days could turn into life-or-death missions.