~ Ayano's Pov ~
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I knew I've thought of it before... But, Chisaki truly looked beautiful. I don't know if it was just the mood at the moment, but the way the sunset had wrapped around her was leaving me in complete shambles... Though, it's not like I loved her or anything, it's just that... I can get to admire beauty like her freely.
...At least, that's what I told myself.
The way the golden light caught in her hair, tracing the soft edges of her silhouette—it didn't seem real. Like she was part of the ocean breeze itself, molded into form just to stand there, not quite saying anything, not quite needing to. And for a second, I forgot about everything else. The deal. Her mother. My power. All of it.
She stepped inside, gently sliding the door shut behind her. Still quiet.
I scratched my cheek and looked away, hoping the weird heat crawling up my neck wasn't too obvious. "…So," I started, awkwardly. "You, uh… heard about the deal then?"
Chisaki nodded. She took a few steps forward but didn't sit down yet.
"Yeah," she said softly. "She, told me everything."
I didn't really know what to say to that. I guess a part of me expected her to be angry, or a little annoyed, or maybe even distant like before. But she just stood there, looking at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"It wasn't about pity..." I blurted out before I could stop myself. "I didn't agree to help because I thought you were weak, or because I felt sorry for you."
She blinked at that, likely a little startled by my sudden insistence.
I rubbed the back of my neck for a bit, trying to force down the tension in my chest. "I just thought… if there's something I can do, even a little, to make things easier for you—then maybe I should. That's all. Plus, I'm a guy, I don't need all that much."
Her gaze softened, and she finally moved to sit beside me, close but not too close. I could feel the warmth of her presence, though, more than I expected.
"I know..." she said quietly. "I just want to know what's the plan after all this? Because, truth be told. I'm still not used to everything just yet, or even you..."
Her words weren't sharp—they weren't meant to be—but they still landed with a quiet weight. Honest, unfiltered. That was the thing about Chisaki—she didn't bother hiding behind layers when it counted.
I let the silence hang for a second, breathing in the sea salt faint on the air. The wind had grown softer now, like the day itself was trying to listen in.
"…Yeah," I murmured, my eyes on the horizon outside the window. "I'm not sure either. I mean, I've been thrown into all this just like you. Maybe not in the exact same way, but… we're pretty much both standing in a place we didn't really ask to be in."
I looked over at her then. She didn't look away...
"But~ I'm not planning on bailing," I said. "Whatever, this ends up becoming… All I can really do is take it step by step. Even if I'm not entirely used to it either. Even if I don't fully know what I'm doing just yet." She was still a child, having doubts at a time like this won't make her feel any better than she does now.
There was a small pause between us.
I continued. "And as for me? If you're not used to me yet… then get used to me slowly. There's no real rush in it. It's not like I'm going anywhere for potentially the next few years... Or, you don't have to do anything."
She glanced down at her hands for a moment, fingers lightly tracing the hem of her sleeve, like she was sorting through her thoughts before answering.
"…You're, kind..." she said, almost under her breath. "Too kind, maybe. For someone like me."
There wasn't any bitterness in it—just honesty, the kind that only comes when someone's dropped their guard enough to let you see their doubt underneath. I didn't know what kind of weight she was carrying exactly, or how long she'd been made to feel like her choices weren't hers… \
but I could definitely hear it in her voice.
I leaned back a little, resting my elbows behind me on the bench. "Maybe," I said, "but I'd much rather be that than cold. Especially to someone who's gone through as much as you."
Another pause. The wind picked up, brushing through her hair. She didn't flinch away from it this time.
"…I'll, try." she finally responded. "To get used to you..."
But of course, before I could even respond to it...
"Ayano, I'm done," Renji's voice called out from the distance, "Bathroom's free."
"I'll be there!" I said back. I turned back to Chisaki.
I quickly handed her my phone, "It's probably best if you place your number in so we can keep close in contact, just in case if anything happens, or if you wanna chat. I'll be free any time."
She took my phone and looked at the screen for a moment, before entering her number carefully, her brow furrowing slightly in concentration... Why? I don't know.
When she finished, she handed it back to me, her gaze meeting mine with an unexpected steadiness...
"Thanks." she said quietly, her voice holding something that almost sounded like appreciation—or maybe it was relief. It was hard to tell. "I guess... it's a good idea to have a way to reach each other. Just in case."
I nodded, taking the phone back and slipping it into my pocket, feeling the weight of her words lingering in the air between us. There was something about that small exchange...
'Alright, don't think too much of it man...' Reminding myself.
I turned to head toward the bathroom, but then I paused, glancing back at her. "I'll text you when I get home... Oh, you can take your time, okay?"
She gave a small nod, then her lips curving up slightly in a small smile. "I will."
I waved her off... "See you."
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"The trip was fun, right?" Sekai said.
I leaned back slightly, looking up at the sky, the stars beginning to dot the darkening canvas above us. "Yeah," I said, my voice a little more thoughtful than I intended it to be. "It was... nice."
Sekai seemed to notice the change in my tone, but she didn't press. Instead, she gave a small laugh, nudging me lightly with her elbow. "Nice, huh? That's a pretty tame way of putting it. You seemed like you were having a blast when you weren't off on your own little adventures."
I shot her a quick glance, smiling faintly. "Well, I did enjoy myself."
"It was a blast... Wish we could've spent some more time there..." Renji said.
I turned to Renji, who had joined the conversation, his expression a mix of nostalgia and a hint of longing. "Yeah," I agreed, "it really did feel like it went by too fast."
Sekai sighed, leaning back slightly. "I know, right? We barely scratched the surface of what this place had to offer. But hey, we still got some good memories out of it."
Renji grinned, though there was a certain bittersweetness in his eyes. "True. The best part was definitely the trip itself—just being together, you know? I'll never forget that."
I nodded, feeling the weight of his statement... The trip had been more than just sightseeing or getting away from daily life. It had been about reconnecting, about finding moments of peace amidst the crap that goes on around us...
"We'll have more trips like this." I said quietly, mostly to myself, but loud enough for them to hear. "Yeah... I'll make sure of it."
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'Home sweet home.' I kicked my shoes to the left, and closed my door.
'It's still as empty as ever...' I dropped my bag off to the side.
PING!!
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ALL QUESTS: Explore the area, save Chisaki, defend yourself and learn about the body. (Complete)
REWARD: +3 Bronze Keys, +1 Silver Key and +2 Golden Keys
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I saw all the keys materialized in front of myself...
"I guess it's best to just use them all up now."
On that thought, I walked up to my room, opening my drawer and taking out all the keys I haven't used yet, plus the other rewards I hadn't really bothered looking at sicne the, incident.
I had four golden keys, nine bronze keys and a single silver key. I opted to use all the golden keys first. After a while, I got my four new skills, being; Booster, Stamp of approval, Blind spot strike and finally, Stun smash.
Booster increased my overall agility by an unknown amount, but it was at the cost of not being able to use other skills in conjunction with it, coupled with a three minute cooldown period.
Stamp of approval which makes me share one of my passive skills with someone else. That could potentially be a life saving skill...
Blind spot strike sounded a bit nifty, apparently I can pretty much strike my enemy's blind spots with greater speed. Not that bad to be honest.
And lastly was, Stun smash, this one also seemed decently interesting too. It can make me slam down on a foe harder than normal..? But, if my enemy is actively falling, it gets stronger and becomes Stun slam.
Next up was the silver key... After using it, it flashed a bunch of other cards I've never seen before, like it usually has... Eventually landing on a card. I picked it up from the air, reading it...
'Hmm? Training Mastery?' I instantly read its description.
'Grants the player the instinctive ability to effectively train himself with peak efficiency...' When I looked below, seeing it's conditions, my eyes widened.
"The ability only works with physical strength, and technique aquisition.'
If... If this thing was true. Then, won't my training effectively become perfect...? But, what the heck does it mean by technique aquisition? What even counts as a technique, by the system?
Never mind, I can figure that all out eventually. Now it's time for the bronze keys... This time, I used five of them on my health, and four of them on my maximum energy.
'I guess that's it for my keys...' The blood key was just something to use when I'm absolutely desperate, no point in counting it. Which pretty much leaves this thing. The mysterious book.
I never actually paid attention to it before all this, especially since I was pretty much caught up with my life, but... isn't this thing super ominous looking? Just the texture of it felt nearly ancient. I flipped it around to read it's cover, but that didn't really help me much either...
All the cover read was, "The method to Perfection..." It didn't even have an author either, just the cover page and that was it. Of course, I'd be lying my ass off if I said I'm not even a little curious about this thing.
I tried to open it... But, it didn't even budge an inch.
"What the? Why is this thing not moving!?"
PING!!!
'The system?'
Before I knew it, a screen flashed in front of my eyes...
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WARNING: 𝔗𝖔 𝖚𝔰𝖊 𝖙𝔥𝖎𝔰 𝔦𝖙𝔢𝖒, 𝔱𝖍𝔢 𝔭𝖑𝔞𝖞𝔢𝖗 𝖒𝔲𝖘𝔱 𝔯𝖊𝔞𝖈𝔥 𝔱𝖍𝔢 𝔪𝖆𝔵𝖎𝔪𝖚𝔪 𝔭𝖔𝔰𝖘𝔦𝖇𝔩𝖊 𝖎𝔫 𝔞𝖑𝔩 𝔞𝖙𝔱𝖗𝔦𝖇𝔲𝖙𝔢𝖘...
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Okay then... I remembered it using a strange font when talking about that anomaly. But this was slightly different too, and a little spooky, not gonna lie, but having 1000 in all my attributes? Which means that I needed to be maxed out completely then...
I shook my head. 'Status...'
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___________________
Name: Ayano Keiji
Class: The Little Chosen One
Height: 177 cm | 5'10"
Age: 17
Health: 21000 / 21000 [50000 / 50000]
Energy: 7400 / 7400 [10000 / 10000]
Strength: 511 / 1000
Defense: 511 / 1000
Agility: 511 / 1000
Spirit: 511 / 1000
Passive Skills;
-Martial-Arts-Mastery
-Recovery
-Critical Hit
-Energy Manipulation
-Circulation of Light
-Weapon mastery
-Training Mastery
Skills;
-Charge Shot - Cost: 200 / 2 = 100 Energy
-Multi-Strike Destruction - Cost: 200 / 2 = 100 Energy
-Booster - Cost: 300 / 2 = 150 Energy
-Stamp of approval - Cost: 500 / 2 = 250 Energy
-Blind spot strike - Cost: 20 / 2 = 10 Energy
-Stun Smash - Cost: 90 / 2 = 45 Energy
Martial Arts Learned;
-Judo [Mastered]
-Brazilian Jiu-jitsu [Mastered]
-Muay-Thai [Mastered]
-Boxing [Mastered]
-Taekkyeon [Mastered]
-Capoeira [Mastered]
-Aikido [Mastered]
-Jeet Kune Do [Mastered]
-Kung Fu [Mastered]
-Taekwondo [Mastered]
-Ssireum [Mastered]
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The panel changed up again. It looked slightly better I guess... But, I'm only half way towards being at a thousand per attribute. Which means I'm a good chunk away from being able to use this book.
I tossed it to the drawer for now. 'I'll leave that part up to the future me... For now, I'll just get some well need sleep.'
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END