Sora Yatagami was a completely average human, and possessed a strong-willed, kind-hearted, humble and generous personality. However, when one of his classmates betrayed him, he fell into the abyss, where his journey to become the strongest began.
Dawn. The glimmer of the moon was fading rapidly, its light being siphoned by the sun rising to the east. Sora, Aishia, Hajime, Yue, and Shea were already ready to depart. The three of them were standing outside the Water Sprite Inn, their packs filled with riceballs for the road. Despite the extremely early hour, Foss had prepared breakfast for them without complaint.
Sora(mind): Truly a first-rate inn.
Always one to give credit where credit was due, Sora thanked Foss profusely for the riceballs and the service. They quickly left for the north gate, the morning mist still clinging to the ground. The path beyond the gate stretched on toward the mountains. The foot of the mountains was a hard day's ride on horseback, so on their Motor Cycle it would take them only a few hours.
Shea: Sora, Hajime... Is it really necessary for us to be up this early to be searching for someone.
Today would mark the fifth day since Will Cudeta's party disappeared in the mountains. Chances were they were long dead. Hajime doubted he'd find anyone alive, but there was always the possibility they'd survived against all odds. If he did bring them back alive, that make Ilwa like Sora and Hajime all the more, so he wanted to start looking as fast as possible. Fortunately, the weather was fair. The perfect day for a search.
Hajime: The sooner we get done, the better.
Sora: It also increases his survival rate.
The sounds of a town waking up could be heard as they headed down the main street. After a few minutes, they reached the north gate. As they approached, Sora sensed a few people standing by the exit and narrowed his eye. They weren't moving. As the morning mist cleared... he saw Aiko, Yuka, and the other six students.
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Sora: I think I can guess what you're here for, but I'll ask just in case.
A few feet away the students were stroking their horses and talking about something. They noticed Sora and the others and walked over to Aiko.
Aiko: We're coming with you. You're looking for a missing person, right? It's better to have more people looking, then.
Hajime: No thanks. If you want to come, you're welcome to, but we're not going together.
Aiko: Wh-Why not?
Hajime: Because of the difference in our speed. I'm not going to match your slow place, Sensei.
Hajime stared pointedly at the horses standing behind Yuka. From the looks of them he doubted they could even handle having people ride them, but he didn't say anything. Even if they'd been the fastest horses in the realm, they couldn't hope to match a motorcycle's speed. At Hajime's words, Yuka looked around, then tilted her head in confusion. As far as she could see, there wasn't any other means of transportation in sight.
Yuka: You're saying we're too slow, but... hey, Nagumo. You're not going to say something crazy like you can run faster than these horses or anything, right? Just because you don't care about us anymore doesn't give you the right to lie to us, you know? And if you really can run faster that's even worse... Honestly, that crazy pressure you released yesterday was like that too, it's like you've stopped being human.
