22 [Request]

A familiar ceiling. Wait… that's not how the cliché works.

A flood of system messages was in the corner of my sight, but I opted to ignore them in favor of taking in my surroundings.

I was on my own couch, but my living room was fixed to the state before I messed it up for the sake of training. My right hand was tightly gripping Divergence, as I apparently didn't let go of it even now.

There was a bit of noise in the other room, so someone was here with me. Laying my sword down, I slump in my cushions.

I think I'm gonna check out whatever the system is trying to tell me instead of dealing with whoever that is.

[Wakizashi Proficiency (Novice) has been upgraded to Wakizashi Proficiency (Apprentice)]

[Shield Proficiency (Novice) has been upgraded to Shield Proficiency (Apprentice)]

[Technique Discovered: Touki – Focus]

<By focusing a large portion of Ki into a specific body part, that part becomes stronger. Can also be used on sensory organs to observe Ki with the five senses.>

[Touki Manipulation (Apprentice) has reached the threshold for upgrading to Adept. Please learn a new Apprentice level technique to cross the threshold]

Oh shit, I'm that close to upgrading to Adept level?

A technique, huh? Well, Cain told me about the last one so maybe he can teach me another one later on.

And truth be told, I didn't actually learn the flash step like I wanted to. He explained that at a high enough level, I could flash step off of air, which would counter the flight of other species. For a pure ki user, it was a pretty good idea.

But I'd never managed it to that level before. Before the fight started, I was only able to flash step on the ground. And even then, he said I was doing it amateurishly, leaving dust clouds behind when I could've been moving silently and without a fuss.

Yet during that fight, when I felt excessive pride, my focus was on another level. My perception of things sharpened to such a fine point that I was improving as I fought.

I was consciously adjusting each minuscule movement to be better and better. To be perfect. And with enough time, it was possible.

Cain did say that the symbiote was hyper-intelligent. Is that how it feels all the time? If so, I can see why it's so arrogant.

The ability to analyze and 'fix' mistakes of almost every single action with pinpoint accuracy while simultaneously coming up with hundreds of lines to express my superiority is an intoxicating feeling.

The fact that it instantly upgraded some of my skills is a testament to its power.

Granted, those skills were already pretty close to upgrading given all my training, but still. It did about 5% of my entire training in one fight. I hope it was 5%, at least. Anything more will be discouraging.

My thoughts are interrupted when the door to the bathroom opens and a certain blonde walks out of it holding a sword.

Kiba stops walking after seeing I'm awake, gripping his sword tighter, but makes no movement otherwise. His face is a nasty scowl that he doesn't even try to hide.

"Yo," I raise my hand as a greeting.

He doesn't respond, choosing to just stare at me. I don't know if I'm supposed to be feeling tension or something but this is just awkward.

Is this what it feels like to be in those weird anime pauses where they just stare at each other and narrow their eyes?

I don't like it.

Thankfully, it ends as he raises a hand to his ear. A red magic circle appears on his hand as he speaks.

"He's awake," is all he says before taking his sword and walking straight out of my house. A flash of red light comes from outside as he teleports while out of sight.

...Weirdo.

A few moments later, another magic circle flares to life in the middle of the room, Sona appearing from it.

Man, I wish I had that spell.

She looks at me apprehensively for a moment, before seeing that I'm not doing anything and sits down in a couch chair across from me.

"Sorry about just waltzing in here, but we need to talk," She says as she straightens up in her seat, resting her arm under her breasts while her other arm adjusts her glasses.

"...Aw man, are you kicking me out of town already? Fiiiiine, I'll get packing," I reply, getting out of my seat and sheathing Divergence.

Her demeanor shatters as she raises up her hands to stop me, "No, no! I just want to ask a few clarifying questions, that's all," She calms down a bit, "And I have a request."

I raise an eyebrow, before slowly sitting back down and deciding to play her game. I can't think of a single thing she would want from me so this sounds pretty interesting.

"Go on," I say, locking my fingers together and leaning forward in interest.

"Right. For starters, what is that exactly?" She says, pointing at the weapon leaning on the couch.

I look at where she's pointing, before looking back at her with a blank face. "It's a sword," I answer simply.

I know what she means by that. During the fight, she definitely saw it cut through Saji without actually doing anything. And she probably wants to know where I got it. But I don't want to answer that question.

"I see," She comments, smart enough to understand that she's not going to get a direct answer out of me.

She looks a bit more nervous for this next question, "In that same vein, what exactly was that last attack you were going to do? I thought you didn't know any magic."

Oh, that.

"I taught myself," I say, not explaining what the attack was.

She gives me a bewildered look, her nervousness vanishing. "You... taught yourself? How, exactly?" The disbelief in her voice was abundant.

I look up in thought, coming up with a lie that isn't really a lie. A half-truth, if you will.

"Well, remember that exorcist that tried to kill me?" She nods, "He had a few magical weapons on him. I took them apart and found a few magic circles embedded into the inside.

After that, I figured out how to activate the circle with my mana, then figured out how to make the circle with just my mana alone, and the rest is history." I explain, nodding to mostly myself.

She narrows her eyes at my story and for a second I think she's onto me before she relents and just nods, putting on a thinking pose.

"That makes sense. But I think I need to address the elephant in the room. What... what was that? Your behavior, manner of speaking, everything was different."

"Ah. That, uh, that was my Sacred Gear. It's the reason why it has a history of, as you put it, 'upfront and merciless serial killers'. To make a long story short, it periodically causes fits of delusional thinking. That was the result."

She gains a look of understanding before a glint shows up in her eyes for a split second. It causes me to twitch, but that look disappears from her face as fast as it came. She's up to something.

"Do you know if you can control it? If not, I might actually have to ask you to leave." She asks, a little nervous again.

"I have no idea. I think I suppressed it in the beginning but it flared up again so I just gave in after the fight started."

She leans back in her chair, "Is that so? You know, that sounds like a certain group of people I know about. Youkai, I believe they were called."

Cain, analysis. What the fuck is a Youkai, exactly?

'A race of people that usually have animal features and are known for their Ki expertise. They, too, are creatures of darkness.' He swiftly says, almost like he's reciting the information from somewhere.

"Youkai, eh? Do you think they can help me out?"

"Maybe, but I doubt they'd do it for free." She comments listlessly, but that glint that appears in her eye convinces me she's very alert.

Ah, I see what she's trying to do. She probably was going to request I talk to the Youkai's for something since I'm technically a neutral party. Now, she's trying to get me to go of my own volition.

But why the Youkai?

"...Nah. I think I'll just leave town and deal with it myself. A few years meditating in the mountains should do the trick." I say, getting up to signify the end of the conversation.

"W-wait, are you sure? I could probably get you an in without a fuss if you wan-"

"That's okay, you don't have to do that for me." I cut her off with a smile, "Unless... there's something you want from them?"

She sighs, adjusting her glasses, "Fine, you called my bluff."

Suddenly my hand is grabbed and it catches me off guard, "Naoki, I need your help. I don't want to get my sister involved so please, help me save Saji."

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->A/N: Ngl, I wasn't going to post today. The only reason I did was because I said I'd post every day this week. Writing this story doesn't feel as fun anymore, tbh.

Fun fact. Grammarly says this is my best chapter. Ever. I doubt it, but it was a nice thing to see nonetheless.