Blood and gore are everywhere I see, I stand up groggily only to see a group of people dressed in crimson surrounding me and setting up some sort of magic.

A voice not belonging to me starts to sound from my mouth ‘I won't ever forgive people from the Crimson Cult for what you have done today. Even if you kill me here tonight, I promise you this is not the end of my revenge and I will destroy your rotten organization no matter how many lifetimes it might take! For both the sake of this world's people and for her sake. And you better hope that when my successor is here, your messed up organization does not exist because I do not know what my inherited anger will lead them to do.” As “I” continued to speak, “I" raised the bloodied white-hilted dagger on my right hand while murmuring an apology for not being able to complete my revenge and as I stab it in my throat, I am suddenly awoken by my alarm clock.

I turn and turn off the alarm that reads 7 am and get prepared for my first day of school.

It has been three years since I started to get those dreams and each time the content differs, the only similarities being I fall in love with a red-haired girl and I died at the end of such dreams. Occasionally I also get dreams where I spend time normally with that said girl, although the girl each time is different, I always get the feeling that she is the same person each time, due to her kind and caring aura, along with her manner and pattern of speech.

Although I have been having many weird dreams, throughout the three years I was able to separate them into four storylines, which start sweet but end in a tragedy with either me or both of us dying in the end.

Another interesting thing that I remembered from my dreams is that in two of them I was male, while in the other I was female. But the thing that stayed unchanged was the feeling of my point of view character towards the red-haired maiden, no matter my gender.

I went through my normal routine while thinking about my dreams.

After getting finished with the preparations, I checked my emails and then went to school for the entrance ceremony.

As I walk near the school gate, I caught sight of a familiar yet foreign red-haired girl entering the school door. But I was not the only one who saw her entering the school, as there were many people looking at her and calling her the "Red Oni”.

After thinking for a few seconds, then I remembered that title belonged to a fighter from 23^rd Middle School in the East.

“If I am not wrong, she is called Yuuna Narukami”

That was what I was thinking when I heard someone speak it out from my left

As I turned to look who had said, I saw a black-haired girl with two blades on her hip.

She saw me look at her and got a bit embarrassed and apologetic

“Oops did I scare you, sorry”

“I am Nozomu Miyamoto from 24^th Middle School from the East. Nice to meet you”

As I took a better look at her, I realized instead of using both katana and wakizashi which is the norm for dual wielders, she was actually carrying two katanas.

As for her physical profile, while she was shorter than my 175cm build, she actually was really close to my height and I estimated might be around the 170 range which is relatively tall for an eastern woman.

She had a pair of very bright blue eyes which didn’t match with her long black ponytail

All in all, she was a very attractive girl

She noticed me look at her and poked me

‘Stop staring and introduce yourself as well”

I snapped out of my stupor and introduced myself

“I am Itsuki Tida from Eiko Academy”

I cringed as I said my school's name, in our country named schools, are generally seen as more inferior and usually only accept uncontrollable youths and inferior cadets. Although this doesn’t mean that cadets of named schools are always weaker than the Numbers

Numbers refer to the numbered schools of our principality, the numbers are not the power level of the school but instead is the order they were built-in

After she hears my name, her eyes widen

Oh shit, I thought in my mind

"That silver hair and that height, I should have known it was the Silver Yaksha”

I cringed as I heard that title

“Please don’t call me that, it's such an embarrassing title”

As I said sheepishly, this was an embarrassing title I gained when I participated in the last year's interschool tournament. Although, the event also helped my school secure funds so it wasn’t all bad.

“It was such a spectacle to see a named school beat up that many members from the numbered”

She exclaimed while smiling

I was confused by this person next to me since she is also one of the so-called ‘numbered’ schools.

"Were you also one of the participants last year?”

I questioned her, while I searched my memory if I remembered her from the event last year

“Ah, I was in block F, so we didn’t see each other. I just remembered watching your competition after I finished with my block”

After she said block F, information started clicking in my head

Black-haired

Two katanas

Family name Miyamoto

24^th Middle School

“Wait, are you the winner of Block F? The Twin Black Fang?”

I couldn't recognize her at all because I never saw her face before, but she fits the majority of the features and criteria for the samurai

"Haha, you found out, but man you are slow”

I was going to ask more questions when I realized the school bell rang

Then I checked my watch, realizing we had been standing near the school gate and talking for such a long time

“Oops it seems we spent too much time talking. Let's rush to the school hall”

As we ran to the school hall, I realized the school was empty. Meaning everyone was already in the hall

We ran and burst through the hall doors, which also caused the people in the area to look at us weirdly

We sheepishly apologize and go to where the first-year students are standing

As we went to line up with the other students, I caught sight of the cute red-haired girl again

Wait

Did I just call her cute? That thought was so out of the blue, I stumbled when I lined up. Causing Nozomu to look at me in concern, while I waved off her concerns

After we were in position the principal started his speech. The principal was a male who looked like he was in his late forties and wore a standard uniform that showed his high ranking in the military.

With his booming voice, he introduced himself

"Good morning students of the academy, while there were some interruptions, I am glad that we were able to start this ceremony without much major trouble. I am the Chairperson of the Board and also the principal of this academy, Regulus Löwe”

After he said his name everyone in the academy had an audible gasp, which is completely expected because he is one of the 9^th Rankers in our country and he is rarely seen out in the public, so it was surprising to learn that he was such a large part of our academy.

"Haha it's also funny to see the student's reactions every year, I hope that you can help me keep this secret so that the students who will be enrolling after you guys can provide the same fun reactions”

I listened to our enigmatic principal continue to speak as I thought of my future aspirations in the academy

Should I focus adventuring or on my studies, and how much emphasis should I put on each side

While I was having these thoughts, the principal finished his speech

“I hope that you will all have a wondrous year and a fulfilling academic life”

As he walked off the stage, I saw a floating pitch-black magic wand with a red handle floating behind him

Since tomorrow was the day of the appraisal ceremony which determines your class and class rank, the students were allowed to go home after the ceremony to take a good rest. Although rest does not impact the appraisal ceremony, and I think the students were allowed to go home early just so they have mental preparation for tomorrow's ceremony

After I said goodbye to Nozomu I headed towards the practice gym to check out the facilities, and on my way there I saw a tall girl with gold hair standing on top of some trees. As soon as she saw me, she jumped off the tree and walked off as though nothing had happened

‘There are some interesting individuals in this place’

I thought to myself as I reached the practice area

The area was surprisingly spacious, just slightly smaller than the hall where we held our entrance ceremony. The practice weapon assortment was also already set up, with both lethal and non-lethal weapons being put side-by-side

As I went to pick up some weapons to try out, I heard someone calling out to me

“Hey, are you the Silver Yaksha Itsuki Tida?”

Once again, I cringe as I hear that title

“I am Schild Shinkai from the 22^nd Middle School, I remember seeing you in the school rumble last year and man you were impressive”

Schild of the Shinkai Family

One of the prominent Paladin families in the city

Their first child aptly named Schild is known as the “Bastion of the Blue Seas, due to his blue hair and his defensive prowess with the shield

He is also one of the block winners from the last school rumble, all in all, he is also a monster

“Ah, nice to meet you too, I have heard of you as well. And could you please not use my title to call me, I prefer you call me by my real name.”

“Ahaha, sorry sorry. Should I call you Itsuki if it's fine?”

“Yeah, it's fine, so why did you call it to me?”

“Oh, I was curious about what you were doing, and also wanted to see if you had some time to spar with me now”

“Sure, I don’t mind, since I always wanted to see how it would feel to fight against one of the strongest defense-based fighters in the school.?”

“That's more like it, but calling me the strongest defense-based fighter in the school might be an exaggeration.”

I wasn't flattering him at all, as far as my research goes in terms of defence, he is one of the strongest in this school and even outside the school he would at least be mid-tier. Which is abnormal, especially for a teenager who is only entering high school.

As we went to pick up our weapons, Schild suddenly spoke up

“I remember you had an Armament, do you want to use it instead of the training weapons here?”

An Armament is a personal weapon tied to a person and will always stay with the original owner unless they die or is passed on to the next generation through Soul Inheritance. A person is born with the Armament, but it is unknown why this phenomenon happens, and it is proven that one's armament is directly related to the class that will be given

Another thing about Armaments is that they are much stronger than the average weapon in this world

“Are you sure about that? It might be too unfair for you?”

“It's fine, since after we graduate or even during our students here, I will probably be facing other armament users as well”

He is right about that

Despite being such a mythical sounding item, it is surprisingly quite common when compared to the amount of 8^th rankers we have in our country, although the power level varies it is still stronger than the common weapon you can buy in weapon stores

“Alright then I won't hold back”

“It is fine, I have also brought my personal gear for this”

“Give me the power to protect, PRIDWEN”

As I uttered the name of my armament, my left arm started to glow white and blue. As the light started to move wildly, it slowly formed into a large blue shield with a cross in the middle and in each end of the cross there was a white orb

“Hooo, so this is the legendary shield of the Silver Yaksha”

He was holding his personal weapons, a shield with a wave design and a silver sword with a blue hilt and pommel that looked like it holds the wrath of the ocean

“I told you not to call me that”

I said as I picked up a silver sword from the rack and rushed towards him

He immediately brought up his shield to block my first strike, and I jumped back and surveyed him again. Since his shield was large enough to cover more than half of his 190 cm body, he did not have to move it much to block my attack. Coupled with his strong kinetic vision he can easily see and block me if I attack him straight up. But I wanted to try and see if I could overpower him, so I went in again and attack him a few more times.

Clank, clank, ting

And as expected he blocked all of it, the worst part is he wasn’t even out of breath since he was just on the defensive and didn’t have to move much

Since it is impossible to break through his defence, I will just have to attack him from the back. I immediately started to run towards and jump over him to give him a stab in the back.

Clang

To my surprise, he was able to able to turn in time and block the strike, although we had a short contest of strength I had to jump back and poised myself again

"That was a good plan but you are not the only one to have tried this. If it was that easy to break through my defense, I would not have been labeled one of the best defensive rookies in this school”

"Tch, you are right and although it pains me to not fight like a traditional paladin, I guess I will have to do this to win against you”

As I said that, I shrunk Pridwen into a smaller size and now it seemed more like a buckler

After that, I rushed straight towards him and stopped just a few steps before I reached him and started to run circles around him to try and catch him off guard. Although speed was not one of my greatest fortes, I think I could attack his blind spot before he has time to adjust and block

After running around him for about five laps, even I was started to feel exhausted and then at that moment I also saw him lose his focus, then I immediately took this chance to stop run and instantly when to attack his blind spot

Clank

To my surprise, he was still able to block me albeit with his sword this time

“Phew, that was too close for comfort”

I grinned as I started to speak

“You are such a monster you know that? A normal person would not have time to adjust and block that strike you know that right?”

He also starts grinning and said

“Aren't you the same? Who is insane enough to run around at such a high speed to just try and find one small chance to strike? Normally, a person would be exhausted before they even find the chance to strike.”

We were still locking swords during this moment, and since I had both my hand on my sword along with gravity on my side, I currently was slowly overpowering him

Just when I thought I was overpowering him, he suddenly loosened his hand on his sword to drop and instead quickly turned and used his shield to push me back

Urghhh

"You are slowly turning more insane during this battle, do you know that?”

As I said that, I used both my hands to push myself off his shield and landed a few steps in front of him. After jumping back, I realized that I was able to touch the wall of the gym

“That was too close for comfort”

Heh, I slyly repeated the sentence he said a while ago

“I will pretend I didn’t hear that. But I don’t want to hear that from someone with such monstrous strength and stamina.”

“I guess we are just a bunch of monsters trying to pretend to be human”

“Sorry to say I still think I am a human, just not while fighting you”

“That's enough chit chat”

We both grin as we dash toward each other

Clink clank clang

As we exchange our attacks blow for blow, we started to look less like noble paladins but more like bloodthirsty berserkers who are living for the thrill of combat. Pushing aside all rational thoughts and just thinking of destroying the opponent in front of us

Doing our exchange, I heard someone calling out to me and my opponent. But I was not sure due to the sound of our attacks and also the adrenaline pumping

While we are about to go for another blow, we suddenly felt something flying towards us and we immediately jumped backwards

Thunk

We saw a red lance implanted in the wall where we were fighting

I turned and looked at our assailant. I saw a pink-haired girl with tan skin and average height staring at us angrily, she was carrying an open and empty backpack. I suspected that she took out her lance from the backpack to throw it towards us and get our attention.

“Schild, I was wondering why you took so long to come and here I see you sparring without a care for the word? Did you forget that we have to meet you parents tonight at 7?”

She said angrily while looking at our opponent

“Oh oops, would you look at the time? Lemme wipe myself quickly then we can stop my apartment so that I can shower before we go.”

While I was confused and thinking about their relationship, Schild called out to me

“Pass me the weapon and I will go put it back in the weapon rack. Oh, and do you have something to wipe your sweat, if not I have this spare towel you can use.”

I did not even have time to respond and I just tossed him the weapon at the same time he passed me his towel

While I was wiping myself, I also sneaked some glances at the girl who was packing her lance back into her bag while still pondering about their relationship

She saw me sneaking glances and probably knew what I wanted to ask

“I am Aika Gozen, also a first year like you and I am also that guy's fiancée.”

I was about to ask when she responded at the same time

“Arrange marriage, although we are childhood friends so it is not really a stranger marrying stranger type of arranged marriage” She then blushes and quietly said, “I am really happy about this, though I can't tell if he feels the same way.”

"Hmm....” I looked at her blushing and looked at Schild putting away the weapons. Then I grinned at her and said “Good luck with that.”

She blushed and quickly packed everything. She yelled for Schild to hurry up and we both went outside the gym to wait for him to come out.

While we were waiting for him, I fiddle around with my personal device and wondered if tomorrow's appraisal ceremony will go well

"Sorry for the wait and let's go now” And we started to walk towards the entrance when I remembered the towel he lent me

“Oh yeah, about this towel. Let me give to you after I clean it and thanks again for the match and the towel.”

"No problem, and yeah just give it back to me whenever you are free.” He was about to turn and continue walking when he suddenly stopped to turn back around

“I nearly forgot to exchange contacts with you, you brought your personal device, right?” He said as he brought out a blue Personal Device to exchange contacts, after getting his contact I also exchanged contacts with Aika (she insisted on me calling her that way, citing that she doesn't like being tied to her family name)

After we reach the school gate, we went our separate ways after saying our goodbyes

"Seeya Itsuki, it was nice fighting you and your Armament. Seeing you Armament makes me so jealous, I wish I had one as well. Although, I am pretty sure you did not fully utilize it today, did you?"

I wonder how would he react if he finds out I have more than one Armament, but he will find tomorrow so let me keep it as a surprise. And he was also right about me not fully utilizing it, but it was not that I was holding back, but it was more that I was not able to fulfil the condition to utilize its full capabilities.

“Yeah, same to you, hopefully we can do more practice matches and I can also introduce you to another fighter I met today at school. And the next time we spar I will show you what more Pridwen can do so be ready for it.”

“I will be ready to spar any time and will be ready for whatever you throw at me, and another fighter huh? I wonder who it is?”

“I think you will recognize her when I introduce her to you tomorrow. I think I took up plenty of your time today, seeya tomorrow and take care.”

After saying my goodbyes, I left for my apartment

1^st April of 51^st Year of the Empirical Calendar would be the first time that the future leader of [Colors] met the future member of [Colors], a group that would save the country and even the world countless times.

End of Chapter