Two years. Two long years since Dart made the choice that he knew would go onto define his adolescence. His classes were coming up soon, and sitting on the school's outskirts, he had some time to reflect—a nice distraction from the stress of officially enrolling as a meister. In the shade of an oak tree, he reminisced what got him here.

"They really put me through hell." He said that with a strange fondness, as though he could still feel the aches of days long gone.


The sky was a clear blue. The sun was laughing cheerfully, emitting rays of intense heat. No clouds were in view, providing an unobstructed view of the horizon. And Dart was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down nervously, with Sid standing just behind him, expecting him to dive off to the bottom.

"J-jump? Mister Barrett, you're joking!" A twelve-year old Dart turned to face his mentor, his face turning pale. Sid merely shook his head, crossing his arms.

"Nope." He replied calmly. "You want to be an academy student, don't you?" He asked sternly, tilting his head and awaiting a response. Dart stood frozen in fear, sucking in his gut as he continued to stare down at the long drop. "It'll be harmless. Just jump."

"No no, it's alright." Sid said, faking sincerity. "Of course, I understand. After all, there's no shame in being chicken." His words hit Dart like a bullet. He didn't come this far just to be labeled as a coward. Dart spun around, thoroughly annoyed at his mentor.

"Hey! Excuse you sir, I'm not scared!" Dart stomped his foot, causing the ground beneath him to crumble, although he was too flustered to notice. "If you want me to jump so badly, I will! Heck, I'll do it right now-" Dart yelped as he fell backwards off the cliff. His hair whipped around in all directions in the wind, muddling his vision as he desperately flailed around, hoping to miraculously grab onto some branch or rock. Directly above him, Dart could faintly make out Sid standing at the edge of the cliff looking down at him, before turning and walking away.

"M-Mister Barett! Don't go! I'm sooooory!" He helplessly cried as he shut his eyes and braced himself for impact. What would come first, the crackthat would come from his back as his spine broke in two? Or would he taste the thick, crimson red blood spilling from his mouth? Perhaps both?

As it turned out, neither. Dart blinked several times, before realizing he was suspended in midair by… Something. Dart tried to move his arm, but it's movement felt limited for whatever reason. The same applied to his other arm, and his legs. After a few seconds, it became apparent to Dart that his body was being held up by thin, near-invisible strings. Classic Sid. Dart thought, unable to keep himself from smiling. Within the blink of an eye, Sid crashed to the ground, leaving a crater where he stood.

"Congratulations," Began Sid. "you passed." He said, crossing his arms. By the looks of it, he was quite satisfied with his little trick, closely examining the near-invisible threads with a grin.

"Yeah! I passed! Wait, what did I do?" Dart's excitement faded into confusion, because, for all intents and purposes, he didn't do anything but fall off the cliff.

"I gave you my word, you believed me. Trust is the foundation of any kind of friendship."

"Heh, yeah, guess I did." Dart said, he felt a little strange inside accepting his 'reward' for what was actually a fluke, but he embraced it nonetheless.

"Uh… Mr. Barett?" Dart asked, his face turning as red as a ripe tomato. "I'm kinda stuck." He attempted to struggle his way out of the thin, yet somehow incredibly durable string.

"You'll find a way out." Sid said with a brush of the hand, walking away from the scene.

"Wait!" Dart cried, but to no avail. His stomach growled. "Aw man, now I'm hungry."


In the three months after that day, little has changed. Same crafty Sid, same gullible Dart. Over time, Dart began to get used to Sid's mind games. Sort of. When they come, he's caught off guard, but he always has the sneaking suspicion beforehand that something's coming.

Dart stood, stretching his legs out in a vacant lot in Death City that was going to be demolished soon. It was a straight, open street that went on for at least half of a mile. "Get from here to the end of the street. I'll be timing you." Sid said, pointing straight ahead.

"No tricks? You mean, no crocodiles, pies, or boulders? Nothing?" Dart asked, baffled. It wasn't normal for Sid to plan an assignment without some gimmick.

"Nope. No tricks. Get to the end. We'll see how far your training has gotten you." Sid said, in his usual stern voice.

Dart wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That's a relief. Anytime you're ready, Mr. Barett." Dart said, with a wide, toothy grin. He put his two index fingers on the ground and limbered up, stretching out on the pavement.

"Three… Two… One…." Sid, placed his thumb on top of a stopwatch. "GO!" Sid cried. With that, Dart bolted. The only thing he could hear was his summer sandals clomping on the ground as he sprinted.

As he ran, Dart began to feel the need to spice things up. Running in place just didn't excite him, and Sid didn't say he couldn't do anything else. Once he had hit his peak running speed, he began to take small hops, then jumps, continuously jumping higher and higher until he was practically bouncing on a trampoline. On the final jump, Dart had bounded high enough to land on the rooftops of the two-story apartments, taking the high road. Nailed it! Dart thought to himself, fueling his ego.


"Hook, line, and sinker." Sid smirked to himself as he looked at Dart through a pair of binoculars. From his pocket, he pulled a remote with a single button on it. "The kind of man I am isn't one to do this to kids. Good thing he turned thirteen." Nonchalantly, Sid pressed the button, watching, wondering how his pupil would handle his little surprise.


In an instant, everything turned bright. Dart could no longer feel his feet on the roof as he shot up, propelled by an intense force. While airborne, Dart could see one of the vacant test buildings just behind him up in flames. The intent was clear. Sid had rigged the area with explosives.

"He said no tricks!" Dart muttered to himself. His body tumbled through the air a few more times before finally touching the hard cement on the street, thankfully landing on his feet. Of course Sid would try to throw him off. Nevertheless, Dart kicked back up to a running pace, determined to get to the end.

More explosions leveled the area, coming from practically everywhere. The road, the buildings, and even the lampposts had some kind of incendiary element to them. The flames scorched Dart's clothes and singed his skin, but he shut his eyes tight, and ran through the smoke and flames, coughing and wheezing all the way through. Just… Keep… Running! He thought. It had to be almost over! He could see the end within view when-

Chunks of debris went flying everywhere onto the street, blocking the way ahead. Dart immediately turned behind him. Fire was everywhere. Turning back wasn't an option. Then it struck him. Maybe he could find a slim path through the wreckage? It was worth a shot. Dart let out a desperate cry as he ran towards the remains of the building in front of him.

In the moment, his right hand began to illuminate with some sort of faint electricity. "What the…" While running, Dart took a moment to look at his hand. It was only his lucky guess on what it could do, but luck was what he needed right now. With his right palm withdrawn, Dart was only a few feet away from the debris. The cackling electricity still surrounded his hand. Skidding to a halt, he shut his eyes as tight as he could, and slammed his palm against the ruins of the building.

Once more, Dart heard a loud, echoing noise, but this time, it didn't come from an explosion. Whatever he had just done, it had scattered the debris, giving him barely enough room for him to run through the debris. It had felt as if a burst of air had come from his palm, and dispersed immediately afterwards. The static from his hand had left as quickly as it came.

"There it is!" Dart could see the end of the street at last. His legs began to run so fast that it almost felt like he was gliding on the ground. "YES!" Dart's sprint devolved into a slow jog as neared the end. Sid, in all his ninja-like glory, had found a way to beat Dart to the end of the street, much to the child's shock.

"Seventy one seconds." Sid informed, reading straight from the stopwatch. Sid took a brief look at Dart covered in ash and soot. "Looks like it went pretty well."

"Yeah, except for the part where you, uh..."

"Yeah, that. No hard feelings." At this point, Sid began to question if he used a smidge too much force. His eyes fell to the sidewalk, gritting his teeth in hard thought.

"Good." Dart smiled half-heartedly. The two of them fiddled around for a few seconds before Dart broke the ice with a question. "Wait, Sid-I mean Mister Barrett, can I ask you something?"

"Eh?"

"Do you believe in the supernatural?" Dart asked, unsure of how to segway into his real question.

"Where are you going with this?"

"W-Well, y'see, back when I ran through the debris, my hand...It...It glowed. I shoved my hand against the debris like this." Dart gave his mentor a visual, forcing his palm forward against the air. "...And the rubble just...Cleared up." Sid nodded to clarify that he understood.

Sid scratched his head, and put his fist below his chin, looking as if he was searching for the right words. "Stein's more knowledgeable about this stuff anyway." He began. "Sounds to me what you just described was Soul Force, powered by the user's soul, and directly attacks the victim's soul. It's considered a dangerous weapon by many due to the sheer unpredictability behind it. A weak-looking person could have a killer soul, and vice versa."

"I could only really shuffle around some scrap. Does that mean I have a weak soul?" Dart wondered aloud, looking up at Sid.

Sid froze, immediately changing the subject. "...We can discuss more later. Let's grab some lunch."

AN: So, this details what kind of 'training' Dart went through before the timeskip. I'm glad to answer any questions, so don't hesitate to ask. Also, I'm always striving to improve my writing style, so if you have any criticisms or comments, I'm listening.