Akira was freed from prison with the help of Shura, Yeru, and Hakku. Both Kazuya and Akira kneeled with regret and sincerity.
Costly as it was to escape from prison, Akira's damage from earlier lost him half of his lottery prize of ten million Gols. Akira now possessed the remaining five million Gols, but they had to go to waste due to his stupidity in unintentionally wrecking a soldier's vehicle.
Kazuya, on the other hand, was taken to his house and allowed to rest because of the tiredness he had experienced and the fact that he had committed a crime with a new record. It was discovered that his previous crime involved beating eight people to a pulp and then causing vandalism to the remaining property.
Akira was reminded of his warrior's license but surprisingly he said that he didn't have one. He saw one before and it was from Volts at that time. Now, Hakku and Shura immediately transported Akira to the PSD after Yeru took Kazuya home.
"A warrior without a license is like a swordsman without a blade. It should be noted that the first thing you should do after taking an exam is to go to the PSD. Without a license or any proper dress code, it's no surprise why they shoot you and didn't take you seriously." Hakku gave Akira a word of advice after having walked out of the police station.
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice. I'm not old here, so it's not like I knew much of the rules in the city. As a matter of fact, it's rare seeing a warrior being active, I couldn't care less about it though, but just where were the warriors?"
"Warriors have a duty not just in the city but the entire country. This is only the capital city, there are more cities around than you think, and not all generals as well stayed here. But as of now, we have to be vigilant because these trespassers are troublemakers that's why a lot of warriors you see are seemingly more active than before."
"That explains it. I fought alone and not a single warrior showed up on time... Ah! How wide is the city, anyway?" Even if Akira didn't know much about the city, as long as the warriors didn't take his credit, he didn't give a damn about them.
"5,703km²" Hakku answered with an expressionless face that wasn't shocking for him in contrast to Akira.
Hakku and even Shura found Celesta wide and vast, with nothing much to react to.
After a recent talk about the city and why warriors were more active than usual, they finally made it to the PSD building.
The building was twice as broad as a typical apartment and had a cubic shape.
The structure's walls were an extremely dark tint, and inside were some warriors. Having gone inside, Akira was fascinated with a curious cat expression. The technologies were more advanced than anything he had seen as if he was entering a new world.
With many warriors around, Akira had to queue in order for him to get his license.
39 minutes later, he finally got his chance to get his license at last. It took him 2 tests, and one was a writing test, which got scanned for his initial data.
The writing test was the only real difficulty. He learned a lot, yet he was unable to hold out hope of doing well on the test. Never would he have thought that even the unnecessary information he had picked up from his old master, Sora, would prove useful. Akira nevertheless smiled proudly at having finished the test in less than an hour.
Finally, Akira's data was revealed after an almost 40-minute delay.
This was his data chart...
__________________________
Physical strength: 89/100
Durability: 76/100
Intelligence: 62/100
Speed: 71/100
Magic mastery: 78/100
Mana: 30/100
Martial arts: None.
Sensory: 77/100
Healing: Immeasurable
Main ability: Error
Rank: Above average (B)
__________________________
Akira was finally able to deduce from his data charts that the only thing his rigorous training had improved was his physical attributes.
"Not too shabby, it shouldn't be a surprise for someone like you. And how come your intelligence is 62 out of 100? Furthermore, what's wrong with your main ability?" While reviewing Akira's data chart, Shura discovered an oddity.
"Long story." Akira laughed awkwardly. "And like I've told you—I'm not that kind of an idiot."
"But to my surprise," Akira muttered, eyes scanning the paper, "I thought my speed would be slightly lower. But it's almost eight hundred... That's not even on par with my strength and durability. Is that even normal?"
He turned to Shura, brow furrowed. "Do you think it's weird my speed is keeping up with the rest of my stats?"
Shura shrugged, unfazed and confused. "Totally normal, I guess. Speed stats vary a lot between warriors. It's all relative. The system's power is still mostly a mystery. No one's truly cracked how it works." He paused, then Hakku added, "If you're really curious, you should ask Sir Senku Leonardo. He's the only one I know who studies that kind of...unusual data."
"Yeah, I'll have to decline," Akira shook his head. "Not feeling the mood." Akira went frowned, feeling exhausted after the recent events.
As he and Shura turned to leave, they left Hakku standing behind, eyes fixed on Akira's stats.
"Immeasurable..." Hakku whispered, tilting his head as the screen glitched for a brief moment.
"There are probably some little concerns that have been on my mind. Even though I know you're immortal, I'm a little astonished that it stated an error." He smirked faintly, but his expression was strained—discomfort flickering behind the mask of calm. His hand twitched slightly.
"Ngh... Using this body itches."
The grin widened, more twisted now. "Celesta's been waking up more and more alert lately. So despite my best efforts to approach you, I can hardly even put one foot here unnoticed."
He let out a low chuckle.
"Well... I suppose I can't complain." His eyes glinted darkly. "We meet again, Akira~"
In that moment, it became clear—
That wasn't Hakku at all.
It was Savanth.
Finally stepping out of the PSD building, Akira took a deep breath. The air felt lighter. Beside him, Shura gave a grin and stretched.
"Hungry?" Shura asked. "There's a ramen shop nearby I used to hit after missions. Thought you might want to join."
Akira smiled faintly. "Yeah… sounds good."
Minutes later, the two were seated side by side at a narrow counter in a cozy, half-lit ramen shop. The scent of broth and garlic filled the air, making the fatigue from earlier feel like a distant memory.
As they waited for their bowls, they settled into conversation.
"So," Shura leaned back slightly, arms folded. "What've you been up to all this time?"
Akira exhaled through his nose, a tired laugh escaping. "Me? Well… a lot of nonsense, to be honest. Met a few decent people, ran into more than a few riddles, and—oh, right—got tangled up with some fanatic religious sect that thinks 'freedom' means burning cities and justifying mass murder. Yeah. Pretty much like that."
Shura blinked. "That's… a lot."
Akira gave a tired smirk. "You asked."
Then he tilted his head toward Shura. "What about you? I want to know what you've been up to since we parted."
Shura leaned back, arms crossed as the steam from his ramen rose in curls.
"A lot's happened on my end too," he said simply. "Most of it's classified. Let's just say… I didn't exactly choose to be a member of the Thousand Blades Squad. Got picked for a mission and dropped into the mess."
Akira raised a brow. "That bad, huh?"
He stirred his bowl absentmindedly, then let out a dry chuckle. "I've been pestering the king about letting me go solo more often. But no—he tossed a one-sided quest my way, said it was non-negotiable. Guess I couldn't complain too much in the end. I got real experience out of it. Watching the generals fight up close…" He trailed off for a second, eyes distant. "It was humbling. Reminded me how far I still have to go."
Akira conceded to the fact. Despite having immortality, he might still be overpowered by getting unconscious. To put it another way, Akira still lacked.
"By the way, how about Volts? Kazoru contacted me about him with so little there is of his information. From what he described, an emo with murder vibes."
Akira let out a low laugh. "That's… not too far off."
The ominous vibe that pervaded the area was intolerable to him. Before they spoke, he had a certain amount of pessimism.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter. "I get it—he's been through hell. I don't blame him for it. I just wish he'd find some way to cope that didn't involve staring daggers at everyone and nearly killing a guy over a minor insult."
Shura raised an eyebrow.
Akira shrugged. "Yeah. Had to stop him from blowing someone's brains out. And after I pulled him back? No thank you. No explanation. Just more self-loathing. Same dead stare."
He sighed and gestured at the stack of empty bowls beside him.
"Thirteen bowls in, and I still can't digest that memory."
Speaking of Volts, Akira had previously been interested in Kazoru's training and was now rather nosy about Volts...
.
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About Rozori
Favorite foods: "Oh, me? I'm not a picky eater type of person. I eat everything edible, including vegetables, of course. Remember what our mother always says, always eat your vegetables."
Disliked foods: "I disliked bread. I know I'm not a picky eater, but I always find bread somewhat dreadful when combined with other ingredients such as meat, vegetables, and sauces, which include other bread too. I eat them sometimes, but I don't like how they taste. It's my personal opinion, don't take it personally."
Hobbies: "I quite enjoy playing tennis once with my brother. He always beats me for sure, and he's very good at it. We had a spar once, a game of tennis using our magic, it was a catastrophe after that, and I lost. Just because he has amazing overpowered magic doesn't mean I'll give up that easily!"
Likes: "Sometimes, it's nice spending time with her. Although most of my workdays, I find myself rather busy dealing with multitasking. Me? A love slave? Speaking of that, Sazoru did give me the word that I'm a love slave. Well, I suppose that's true... Heh... What am I doing with my life?"
Dislikes: "Eek, ever heard of trypophobia? It's a type of phobia in which you feared small holes. I don't quite understand how in the world phobias existed. It always gives me the itchiness just right when I saw that thing. Note to all, never ever, search deeply on the internet, or else disturbance upon your life will happen."