Chapter 3: Volume I. Chapter III. – Fateful Dusk

[March 29th, 863]

The church-like bell rings as the students of Hogo-sha Academy, dressed in their combat clothes, are aligned on the Academy’s training grounds.

Before us stands a man named Nolen Spriggan, commander of one of our top squads in the near vicinity, and today he is here to supervise our combat tests.

A man in a black, golden buttoned, military jacket. His short black hair covers nothing more than the tip of his ears. His eyes are blue, like the clear sky with a hint of rainfall, but one of them is tainted by a scar across. His muscle mass could be considered decent, I would guess him at around a hundred and eighty-three centimeters tall.

“Greetings, students of the Hogo-sha academy.”

The supervisor pronounces it with a deep voice. Now that I look around, It feels like everyone is standing on eggshells in his presence. But I don’t blame them, having a guy looking this intimidating supervise you isn’t exactly-

I catch a glimpse of Iris standing just a bit further to my right, staring needles at the commander with a rather aroused expression on her face….

Ah, she started drooling.

“My name is Nolen Spriggan and I will be your instructor for today's combat tests. Here we will determine what rank you are qualified to hold, but keep in mind that you have your fellow comrades on the field with you. Be aware of your surroundings to avoid harming anyone else. I'm looking forward to seeing some promising students this year. That is all from me, I wish you all the best of luck."

"Sir, yes sir!"

The ranks chant in unison as our supervisor swaps places with one of our tutors in charge of combat classes, holding what is most likely a list of tasks.

“Everyone listen closely. Firstly, we will have you go through a hand-to-hand combat course during which you will NOT be able to use your abilities. Permission to use abilities will be granted only after this course, which will be followed up by a stress test for your given powers. Once that is over, you will be given further instructions. Now then, I want everyone to make pairs of two and get into positions!”

A pair of two….I have given it some thought a few times and came to a conclusion. Choosing a weaker opponent would certainly make me look superior, but how much would I gain from it?

On the other hand, if I pair up with a stronger opponent and still perform well, I will have a better chance to score. Plus, I will learn more from them than from a weaker opponent. I’ve already chosen my opponent too.

As the lines of students fall apart and their contents spread across the grounds, I avert my eyes from the tutor and aim them at the target standing a few good meters from my rear, repeatedly clenching one of her fists before her.

A petite girl, shorter than me, at about a hundred and sixty-three centimeters. Her hair is engulfed by white which draws out her complexion, making it seem darker than it actually is - a hint of a tan. She’s kind to the people around her but strict with her younger brothers. She can be very serious when the situation calls for it and this is one of them alright.

Her name is Himari Sato and I’m about to get trashed.

I begin to make my way towards her as cold sweat slowly emerges on my skin.

“Hey there, Himari. You wanna pair up?”

For a second, the petite girl looks at me with surprise in her eyes, but that feeling changes to joy in a matter of seconds.

“Yeah, sure. But I will warn you, I won’t be holding back on you just because we are friends.”

Himari says with a smirk showing joy on her face.

“Oh please, don’t insult me.”

I reply with a confident smirk of my own despite slightly trembling with anxiety.

“Time’s up! Everybody begin!”

The tutor yells across the field. His shouting made me reflexively direct my sight at him and when I look back, Himari already has her serious face on with a piercing stare.

Oh, man….I might actually end up with a broken bone or two if I’m not careful enough. Alright Yuuna, this is no time to be scared. Show her what you are capable of!

And as I stare directly into Himari’s eyes, she suddenly vanishes. It takes me a moment to realize the speed this girl can achieve, but it’s just enough to evade her roundhouse kick from my rear. I lean to the side far enough to flip myself over as I use my arms to support myself in my leg’s stead and bounce back to my feet.

“Not bad, I’m impressed.”

She says….just you wait.

“Oh, there’s more where that came from!”

I yell back at her.

Himari launches towards me and launches a barrage of punches from every angle possible. I attempt to block most of them until she strikes a blow stronger than the previous ones. This one broke my guard and launched my arms back.

But she’s not stopping here, I try to regain my guard as she continues but my efforts are close to being in vain. She’s not letting me block, so I try dodging instead and as a result, one of her fists grazes my cheek, causing a cut.

My blood is starting to boil as I block one punch after another, this is outright irritating! Think Yuuna, use your head! Your….head.

Oh man, I just got a bad idea.

Himari is happily punching away when suddenly I force a step forward and use my leg to launch myself towards her. The confident girl misses her punch by an inch and ends up getting head-butted.

I fall to the ground as I hold my head and tremble in great pain. Himari falls on her back as her soul leaves her body.

This year’s tests are a bust.

———

“Where….am I?”

As the room is filled with a golden kind of color coming through the windows and the medical bed creaks, Himari slowly sits up while regaining her consciousness.

You are reading story HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK at novel35.com

“We are in the academy’s infirmary.”

I answer her question with a smile as I sit in a neighboring bed while having my forehead wrapped in bandages. We both do.

“The…infirmary?”

Himari slightly leans her head downwards and rests it on one of her hands when suddenly, a realization strikes her.

“I remember now! You head-butted me!”

The injured girl yells out as she points her index finger in my direction. ‘If I’m going down, then I’m taking you down with me.’ - what a painful mindset I’ve picked up.

I can’t think of an excuse, so I giggle it off while scratching the back of my head.

*knock, knock*

Somebody starts knocking on the door, then slowly opens it. It’s Iris, she has come to visit us.

“Hey, you two, you are finally awake.”

She makes her way to my resting space, then sits down on my bed.

“Seems like you are doing fine.”

To which Himari answers with her evil-portraying gazes targeted at me.

“We could have been better off if one certain person used her head.”

I look back at her as confusion lingers on my face.

“But I did use my head.”

“Not literally!”

Himawi angwy.

We must look stupid with the bandages on our heads in this situation. I mean, it made Iris giggle to herself. Himari sighs before proceeding with a question.

“Where’s the rest of the group?

“Probably changing their clothes. They were here to visit right after our tests, a bit before you woke up. Now get out of bed, I want to go home.”

Says Iris as she gets up, but Himari doesn’t agree. Quite the opposite. She hides in the pure white blankets.

“I don’t wanna! The bed is comfy!”

“Now listen you….”

Iris proceeds to grab the blanket and pull it as Himari does her best to rebel. Meanwhile, while that’s going on in the background, I gaze out of the big and wide window placed right next to my bed. The sun is beginning to fall behind the horizon.

“We’ve been out cold for that long huh…”

I mumble to myself, but then catch a glimpse of a small bright shine making its way across the golden-painted sky.

“A shooting star?”

Himari overhears me and rushes out of her bed over to mine.

“A shooting star?! Where? I wanna see!”

My big sister joins us for the sight and we end up observing it for a few good seconds…until Iris brings up a fact we have failed to notice.

“Hey…doesn’t it seems like it’s getting bigger?”

And she was right…well, partially. In truth, the object isn’t getting bigger but…

“It’s getting closer…”

I voice the thoughts lingering in my preoccupied mind.

But it still isn’t big enough to cause massive damage…or so I thought and soon enough the object faded behind the near buildings, causing a huge bang moments after followed by a powerful tremor.

“Get down!”

Iris suddenly yells out with terror taking over her voice. She grabs the two of us and hides behind the bed we were sitting on just moments ago. Her quick thinking saves us from a shock wave blast that shatters all of the windows above us.

Covered in glass shards, we are panting heavily as we are left speechless on the cold floor. Just a second late and we could have been goners. Though, we are soon brought back to our senses once the alarm bell begins to resonate within the town.

The sound produced by the church bell is deep, deeper than I’ve ever heard a bell ring. An ominous sound that has the power to infect a person’s heart with fear.

The bell that rings on this unfortunate evening is the alarm bell of the highest threat.

You can find story with these keywords: HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK, Read HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK, HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK novel, HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK book, HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK story, HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK full, HELL’S DAWN x HEAVEN’S DUSK Latest Chapter