16 - The Eye of The Storm

As I stood still observing the now petrified demon, the feeling of nostalgic dread began to leave my body, and I returned to a calm state of mind. I had defeated an unusual, accomplishing my goal. My heart rate slowed back down to a normal level, and I exhaled deeply as my muscles relaxed. After this performance, I would almost surely pass the final evaluation.

However, I wanted more. The feeling of slaying a demon was thrilling, and I knew that if I was able to kill more than one, I would certainly place higher among the others in my class. I don't know what came over me, but I had a significant thirst for more of it...

I decided to sheath my sword and walk in the other direction, searching for another unusual. I had hoped the next one wouldn't be as threatening and tough as the first. It was an aberrant, the second tier on the threat level chart. Despite its significantly low rating, it was still quite troublesome. I wondered how the top ten were faring against the menace-level demons...

After walking around for a few more minutes without finding anything, I decided to return to the entrance of the forest to see if anybody had gathered there. I turned around and began my journey back. The size of the simulation was incredible, the forest seemed to span for miles...how on Earth could all of this fit into a singular room?

I started thinking to myself about the proportions of the rooms I had been in prior to this, and how I hadn't noticed any of them from the outside. It confused me as to how things like this magically "worked". After the conclusion of the exam, I would question Mr. Otsuka about this, as I wanted to learn more about Minervan technology.

"Hachiro, I'm proud of you for defeating your first unusual, but your job isn't over yet! I would recommend you carefully make your way back to the entrance, as I assume you're currently in the process of doing so," said Celeste. She was acknowledging my success, which gave me a large confidence boost.

"Thank you. Without your extra support, I don't think things would have gone so smoothly back there. We got lucky there was a tree behind me, or else he would have recovered from that missed swing much quicker, and might even still be on the hunt for me." I said.

"Indeed. This will serve as a valuable lesson in resourcefulness. Use your surroundings to your advantage every time you fight, Hachiro." said Celeste, before entering a period of slumber within my blade. After using her energy to infuse my sword, she was quite tuckered out and needed to recover.

"I will. Rest easy, I'll get us back to the entrance, and then we can celebrate my victory," I replied as my sword dimmed to its regular state. Celeste had drifted off to sleep. However, her exit from the realm of the awakened could not have come at a more inconvenient time~

"AHHHHH!"

Suddenly, I heard a loud shriek, followed soon thereafter by another, and then another. Three people all screamed in quick succession after one another...what had just happened? I turned in the direction of the screaming and decided to follow it. If someone was in trouble, I wanted to help them, and perhaps kill a second demon if I was able to. This was my chance to show my strength.

"HELP!"

The screaming grew louder as I approached it. Clearly, these people were in need of help. But what could cause three individuals to call out for help at once? Was it another aberrant? Perhaps more powerful than the one I had faced? I went into a prone position behind a bush, peeking through the shrubbery to see what was going on, and that's when things took a more unnerving turn.

*B A N G*

I saw a stream of red gas make its way through the sky. Somebody had fired their flare gun, meaning their life was in danger. Things were getting serious. I leaped out from the bush and ran in the direction of the flare to see what was going on. But that's when I heard a powerful voice from behind me.

"Stop, don't go any further. Let me handle this."

I turned around to see who it was. To my surprise, it was Itsuki himself. He was running towards me at full speed. He was responding to whoever shot the flare into the sky, but he didn't have any weapons on him. Did he forget? Surely someone of his caliber wouldn't just forget to bring a weapon with them.

"Stay there, don't follow me!" he said as he passed me.

He was incredibly fast, his movement quick like lightning, yet graceful like dolphins swimming in the sea. Despite his warning, I chose to follow behind him anyway. I entered his slipstream and began running behind him in a single-line formation. He turned his head and spoke once more, this time with anger in his voice.

"Didn't you hear me? I said don't follow me. Somebody is in danger!"

"I know, but I've already killed an aberrant, I want to see what the trouble is," I replied.

"Ugh, okay, but don't get involved," he said, leading me to where the flare has been shot. When we arrived, we saw a horrific scene... two individuals were on the ground, completely unconscious, and a third was being held in the air by an unusual with four arms and multiple eyes on their head. They were terrifying, and about just as big as the one I had fought.

"Oh no...that's not right at all...how did this happen!?" yelled Itsuki, alarmed.

"What's the issue? What the hell is that thing?" I asked.

"That's an unusual who shouldn't be here. I have no idea how they snuck in, but they're in the wrong room...that's a menace level threat!"

My heart sunk. This room was only meant for anomalies and aberrants. If a menace had managed to sneak into this simulation, that meant they were also intelligent. This demon, much like the other one, was muscular. But this one had four arms instead of two, and at least 20 eyes on its head, meaning they could see in all directions.

"You, please stay back, you can't beat this thing. I'll eliminate it," said Itsuki.

"But you don't have any weapons on you. How do you plan on taking it down??" I asked.

"You think I don't know that? I don't need weapons, I'm Itsuki Nagata!" he said confidently. Despite his egotistical mannerisms, I had complete faith and ultimate confidence in him. He knew what he was doing.

Itsuki approached the demon carefully, in hopes of negotiating with it. The demon immediately took notice of him and threw the individual it was holding to the ground, knocking them unconscious as well. Three extraordinary individuals, most likely as powerful as me, were all completely knocked out. I began to wonder what would have happened to me if I encountered this demon alone.

"Yet another individual approaches, do you too have a wish of eternal slumber?" asked the demon in an eldritch voice. Itsuki was completely unfazed though, responding immediately.

"I do not. Though it appears you're not where you should be," he said. His words seemed to frighten the demon, as all 20 of his eyes began to widen. It seemed like the demon could sense Itsuki's strength, and was unnerved.

I looked around the area, gazing at the three bodies on the ground. There were also a bunch of empty flare canisters scattered about, and two flare guns that had been completely destroyed. Clearly there was a massive struggle and numerous failed flare attempts. One individual was bleeding severely, I ran over to them to tend to their wounds.

"Do you wish to die? I'll seal you a fate worse than these three," said the demon before balling all four of his fists. Itsuki balled his fist as well, and immediately I noticed an aura begin to form around it. It was a golden aura, and it was emanating incredible amounts of power.

When I arrived at the bleeding individual's body, they looked me in the eyes. They were still conscious... they muttered a few words to me, albeit silently. They were just audible enough for me to hear them.

"...Stomach...Gash...bleeding." They said, pointing to their torso. There was a massive gash on their side, and they were bleeding profusely. I decided that the only way to help them would be to remove my shirt and tie it around them, cutting off the bleeding. I had plenty of clothes back at my place, and if I could save this person's life, then I would do so.

I removed my shirt, wrapped it around them, and tied it off. It was enough to stop the bleeding, and the individual smiled at me. They were a boy with dark red hair, or maybe their hair was blood-stained, I wasn't too sure. I turned to look back at Itsuki, who was slowly approaching the demon.

"If you believe that you can do so, then please, be my guest," he said, engaging with the demon. He looked back at me and gave me a thumbs-up, acknowledging my life-saving actions.

After this declaration of battle, the demon began to run towards Itsuki. I watched in horror as it clenched its fist firmly and took aim at Itsuki, who took aim right back at the demon. Were they going to punch each other? When they were within close-combat range of each other, Itsuki muttered a few words aloud.

"When you're as powerful as me, weapons become useless and only hinder your performance. Once you learn how to tap into the deepest recesses of your body, only then will you attain true strength."

Itsuki took a deep breath, and his entire body tensed up. The demon took a swing at him, and he counter-attacked, taking a swing of his own right back at it. Their fists collided, and Itsuki let out a sharp exhale, pushing his fist further through. The sound produced when their fists collided was colossal...

*BOOM ! !*

Instantly, the demon began developing cracks all over its body. All of its eyes popped out of its skull, and soon afterward, its entire body exploded, sending its ligaments and organs flying throughout the area. There was no sign of the core either, meaning it had been completely obliterated on impact. With a singular punch, Itsuki had absolutely annihilated this demon.

"Oh my god... Itsuki is a maniac..." I said, stunned. Shards of stone began to rain from the sky, landing throughout the area. An eyeball landed right in front of me. I stared into it and was overcome with a feeling of terror. Itsuki ran over to me to make sure that I was okay.

"Are you alright? How's this boy doing, have you stopped the bleeding?" he asked. I was too horrified to answer.

"Listen, I eliminated the threat, everything is okay now...let's just focus on bringing the injured back to the entrance. I'm going to call off the evaluation early due to this incident. Here, follow me."

I came to my feet and helped the injured individual up as well. Itsuki and I gathered the other two who were still unconscious, and we made our way back to the entrance of the simulation...