Meeting with Akira, the Hero of the Sun

"Let's keep going, this hallway's monsters probably respawn every few minutes so that the next people who come have to fight it to prove themselves," Dan informed Leon after they completed the 'hallway challenge'.

"Monsters respawn, huh…"

"Didn't you follow in class? Oh, you were too busy sleeping, heh. Well, yeah, basic monsters do respawn in a short amount of time since they are expendable, and elites, mini-bosses and bosses as well, though it might take weeks if not months!"

"Huh," Leon nodded, "Then I guess we should be fast enough as to not allow the small monsters to come back?"

"Precisely!" Dan shook his bell and summoned his golden fox in front of him, "Now we need to be extra careful."

Leon and Dan proceeded cautiously down the hallway, Dan's golden fox leading the way. As they approached the corner, they could hear the faint sound of fighting.

And when they peeked around the corner…

"TAKE THIS, AND THIS! HAHAHA, THE SUN IS SHINING!" they could see Akira, swinging his [Sun Sword], which was emitting a ray of light more powerful than before, "I AM THE BEST!"

He easily deflected all the bullets of the [Ghost Gun Soldier], and slashed the [Demonic Spiders] and [Giant Scorpions] in one easy strike.

No denying it, his speed and strength were far greater than Leon's.

~DING~

"Level 11, huh?" Akira wiped his forehead with an excited look on his face as he eliminated all the monsters.

"Hey, Leon," Dan whispered and gestured for Leon to stop peeking before Akira noticed them, it seemed like he hadn't upgraded [Perception] at all otherwise he would have noticed for sure, "You should watch out, I shouldn't be saying this but…"

"…?"

Dan's expression darkened, and he bit his lips, "I saw Akira killing people…"

[Oh…] EGO seemed overjoyed.

"People? You mean…"

"Yeah… I saw him kill students, and then he mumbled something about them giving him much more experience than monsters," Dan gritted his teeth, his gaze full of hatred, "That bastard killed our friends…"

[OUR friends? I think he meant his friends, but oh well…]

Leon wasn't fond of these people, but even he wasn't sadistic; he knew that all these deaths were useless garbage and excuses by the nation to remove those that were 'weak'.

Plus, what about those that gained a healing class or support class?

But even then.

Dying by monsters because you didn't have the determination to awaken your powers was one thing.

But being betrayed by another human since it gives "more experience" was a whole different ordeal.

[Oh? You're getting angry?] EGO stopped smiling, observing Leon's face as he gritted his teeth in rage.

Akira had mocked him since their entrance in this 'program': pushing him around, making sure no one was talking to him, etc…

Leon was quite handsome too, so it wasn't that people didn't want to talk to him, it was just that Akira was like an impenetrable wall to most.

And now… he was sacrificing those very same people for the sake of leveling up.

"We should really be careful, if he is level 11 then we don't stand a chance against him…" Dan wanted to go away for now, but there was no other path, their only choice was to go back to the hallway with monsters and try again in half an hour.

[Do we not stand a chance?] EGO left Leon's shoulder and moved right in front of his eyes, [Do we?]

"…?"

"There, there, pal," Dan's fox also seemed to growl while looking in Akira's direction, seemingly ready to attack at any point, "Calm down-"

But before he could do anything…

~FWISH~

The golden fox began to rush toward Akira, while its owner didn't even order it to do that.

"HEY! FOXXY!"

[What a lame name.]

This was another flaw of this talent: he had just awakened it, meaning that if the fox was feeling great emotions, as it was connected to its master, then it would not listen to what Dan says.

~BITE~

Foxxy tried to bite Akira, but he immediately turned around and cut the golden beast with a simple strike of his sun sword, transforming it back into the portable golden bell

"Who's trying to attack me? Show yourself before I approach you," Akira began to walk toward the corner they were in.

"Ah shit… stay back," Dan sighed as he revealed himself to Akira, "My bad Akira, it doesn't listen to me sometimes and attacks anyone, happened once or twice already…"

"…" Akira's aura was overwhelming, and even Leon could sense his killing intent.

The heat from the sun sword was omnipresent, and they could both feel it, although Leon didn't even reveal himself: it was a passive of the talent, no wonder he was the [Hero of the Sun] after all, right?

[You have received the 'Heat' status effect, try not to stay in exposure of it otherwise your endurance will deplete!]

'Fucking hell…' meaning that the more time monsters or humans fought Akira, then the weaker they would get: that guy was way too overpowered.

~STEP, STEP~

Akira took a few steps toward Dan, who in response stepped back as well, "C-Come on man, it's just a beginner mistake…" Dan knew he couldn't fight that guy especially with all his strength, he was already the strongest of the school since he always trained his body, but now that he had awakened his powers, he became a powerhouse.

Surely, Akira would become an extremely powerful awakener that would make the nation and his family proud, he would become a leader.

Who could stop him in this trial? He was surely the strongest.

"If it was a mistake you wouldn't have hidden for this long while I was fighting," Akira grabbed Dan's by the necklace and threw him in the opposite direction, damaging him quite a bit as it actually broke his arm, the impact and force way too much for his low defense.

"…" Dan was sitting on the ground and checking his broken arm, it hurt like hell and some blood began to appear from the top of his head, yet Akira was still walking toward him.

[Hey, why don't you… devour him?] EGO smiled at Leon, who was observing everything from behind, Akira's back now facing him.