Gray Gate.

~Ding Ding

Waking up, brushing the teeth, eating, dressing, going to school. This is the routine.

Ralph was already getting used to it and starting to feel comfortable in this world, everything seemed exciting.

Still, he wanted to go back to his world, and he dreamed about it overnight.

With the headphones on, he walked towards the bus stop.

The street was quite busy, and many students were waiting at the bus stop.

Ralph just stood and waited for the bus.

After a few minutes, the bus stopped right in front of him and he got on.

The ride was smooth and Ralph got off the bus after several minutes.

The school was full of students coming and going. I was excited as always.

After arriving at the classroom, Ralph frowned when he realized that someone had taken his place ... again.

He didn't want to move again and went to the person.

"Excuse me, this is my place." Ralph spoke as he looked at the boy who was sitting. He was tall and looked strong, he also had an intimidating expression but Ralph was not at all intimidated.

The boy looked at Ralph for a moment and ignored him.

Ralph smiled and activated his illusion, without hesitating he went after the boy.

The boy couldn't react to the punch and fell off his chair.

"Who do you Think You Are?" Ralph looked at the boy with cold eyes.

"Do you dare to hit me?" The boy got up and tried to punch Ralph.

Ralph dodged the young man's blow and landed a blow to the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.

-The classes of Sergeant Jorge and Lieutenant Marcos were really useful.

Ralph smiled and thought about the self defense classes he took.

Nobody noticed the fight because of Ralph's illusion, Ralph then put the boy in another place with his things, and went back to his place.

Making sure no one was paying attention, he undid the illusion.

When the boy woke up, he would probably go after Ralph, who would pretend not to know anything.

The boy would probably be suspended for some time for trying to attack Ralph, who would just be defending himself. Of course, that in the view of others.

After a while, Ralph saw Aoi enter the room, their eyes met and they nodded to each other as a form of greeting.

Ralph spent time watching the classes he thought were important, or trying to feel his own Aura in classes he considered useless.

To Ralph's surprise, the young man who fought with him didn't immediately look for trouble and just looked at Ralph angrily.

Because he has to maintain an illusion that he is paying attention, and also because of the noise, he is unable to concentrate properly.

-In a way, latent energy is Aura's fuel ... But it has similarities to Aura.

Energy can be controlled, it can be used in different ways, and it also has a possible origin in life.

He is not sure why he felt his latent energy instead of the Aura, maybe it has to do with his [irregular] stat.

When lunchtime came, he went to the canteen and bought something to eat as usual.

He sat in the far corner and started eating while thinking about Aura.

After finishing, he looked to the side. Aoi had sat next to him while he ate.

He looked at her for a brief moment and asked with a smile:

"Do you need anything? Aoi-san."

Aoi stopped eating and looked at Ralph strangely.

"It doesn't hurt to greet someone, Ralph-san."

Ralph thought for a moment and shook his head as he said:

"It costs time, and it is limited."

Aoi's eyelids twitched as well as the corners of her mouth.

"Haha, you don't have to take this seriously." Ralph waved a hand and laughed.

"You have a strange sense of humor." Aoi said and went back to eating.

Ralph sighed and waited for her to finish.

When Aoi finally wiped her mouth with a napkin, she said:

"Remember the favor you said you owed me? I want you to do something for me."

Ralph's eyes narrowed.

Aoi took a paper from somewhere and handed it to Ralph.

"Go to this place according to what is written, and maintain a high discretion, if you know what I mean." After saying this, she prepared to get up but was stopped by Ralph.

"Wait, I have a question." Ralph coughed and said.

Aoi looked at Ralph indifferently and nodded, as if for Ralph to ask the question.

"... Do you have any tips on how to feel the Aura? Beyond normal means."

Aoi looked at Ralph in surprise and said:

"There are no normal and non-normal means, the ones you know are already enough, you just need the precipitation of time ... If that can help you, know that it took me a whole month to feel my Aura."

Upon hearing Ralph's explanation, Ralph let out a sigh of relief, it looked like he was getting unnecessarily anxious.

"Thanks for explaining." Ralph thanked Aoi.

Aoi nodded with a slight smile and went back to the classroom after throwing away the lunch trash.

"Precipitation of time ..." Ralph murmured, he needed to be more patient.

After attending the rest of the classes, Ralph went to the club council. He would join a club, since that day was the limit set by the school.

After considering the alliance with Aoi, he decided to join the math club, but something unexpected happened, Aoi seemed to be waiting for him at the council door.

The two stared at each other for a moment and Aoi asked:

"What club are you going to join?"

"The math one." Ralph responded casually.

Aoi looked reluctant, which made Ralph frown.

After taking a deep breath, Aoi said:

"I wanted to wait a little longer to test you, but since today is the last day, I don't think I have a choice."

Aoi then held out his hand to Ralph and said with a serious expression:

"Join my club."

Ralph blinked a few times and laughed without meaning to.

Aoi frowned when he saw Ralph's laughter and said:

"I may not seem like the times, but I don't like jokes out of place."

Ralph shook his head and said:

"Now I understand the reason for the manual ... Well, I think that might be interesting."

Ralph reached out, too, and shook Aoi's hand with a serious expression.

"I hope we can get along, Aoi-san ... Or maybe, Danchou?"

(Danchou means 'leader of a group' in Japanese.)

Aoi narrowed her eyes and smiled as she said:

"You don't have to call me Danchou, as our club has no definite leader."

"I understand, Danchou." Ralph nodded seriously and said.

Aoi sighed and said as he opened the door to the council:

"Come on, the others are waiting."

Ralph was surprised and entered with Aoi, inside the room, there were several people, all students of the school. Some were boys, some girls.

Three were sitting beside the table at the back of the room, two girls and a boy.

Those standing were counting eight people, four men including Ralph, and four women counting Aoi.

-But what a coincidence.

Ralph thought.

"Everybody is here?" The girl who was in the middle between the three asked.

Aoi nodded and said:

"We are all here."

The girl who had asked nodded and signed a paper with the other three.

"We need you to sign that paper." The same girl who spoke earlier said.

Ralph looked at Aoi for a moment and went ahead.

After everyone signed, the girl said:

"With that, your club was officially created, with the representative being Aoki Aoi, and the supporter being the Deputy Director Aoki Sai of Niji High School."

Ralph was surprised to hear this and looked at Aoi in shock.

-Is he her father? Or some kind of relative?

Ralph wondered.

"Your headquarters will be room 04-A, which is empty and recently renovated. The room is located in the auxiliary building." The sitting boy started to speak.

"The group's activities should be reported weekly. Good luck 'Gray Gate', Tokyo's first meta-physics club." The other girl who was seated spoke up and smiled at Aoi.

-Wait a little ... Meta-physics?

Ralph's eyes widened in surprise.

But pausing to think, this is probably the most appropriate name for extracurricular activity.

Ralph smiled slightly.

Room 04-A was abandoned a long time ago, nobody knows for sure what it was used for, but recently it was renovated and it seemed to be in excellent condition.

The auxiliary building was a dozen meters from the main building, and had a wide view of the school.

There were several trees circling the building, giving it an air of mystery.

The auxiliary building is where the club headquarters are, with the exception of the club council, which is in the main building.

Upon reaching the room, the club members began to introduce themselves.

"My name is Karman Ralph." Falph introduced himself to one of the girls, who smiled and introduced himself:

"My name is Mirai Touka, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Touka had brown hair, and green eyes similar to Ralph's. She had sharp facial features and a lovingly oval face.

But Ralph could feel it, she was strong. She gave off a pressure that made Ralph agitated, and her eyes were like knives.

Despite this, Ralph was not intimidated, and in fact made him excited. It is good to know that his companions were strong.

He exchanged greetings with the other members, everyone had the same pressure as Touka.

What he didn't know is that the others also felt a bit of pressure from him.

It was different from the pressure that they emanated, it was not something caused by the Aura that they possessed and restricted. It came from Ralph's physical expressions, something almost imperceptible, experience.

Ralph exuded the same air of warriors who have been through difficult situations of life and death, but they only realized this because they had seen warriors before.

His every action showed that he never let his guard down completely, even beside his companions. He never turned his back on anyone completely, always looked directly in the eyes of whoever he was talking to, he always watched the expressions of others and he was always in shape to react to an attack, with his center of gravity always stable.

This gained a certain admiration from everyone, as they thought Ralph was a difficult person to deceive or attack by surprise.

Ralph, of course, thought he was acting naturally.

He was always the vigilant type, and he always thought that it is normal. His experiences in the army only sharpened his behavior. It's like something engraved on his body.

An ordinary person would look at Ralph and judge him as ordinary, but not them. Being Aura masters, even though they are still growing, they are very sensitive to the behavior of others.

Even Aoi was surprised by Ralph's behavior, which she hadn't paid as much attention to before, but she thought it conformed to what she thought about him.

Meanwhile, Ralph actually sighed internally, he knew he was way behind the other Aura masters at the same age as him.

From the pressure he receives from others, he is sure that he would only have a small chance of winning in combat if he depended on stealth and a surprise attack.

Even attacking by surprise would be difficult if he fails to suppress his Aura...

Of all, it seemed that Aoi was the youngest and most inexperienced Aura master. This is no wonder, since the rest of the club consisted of second-year students.

Ralph was sure he wouldn't be able to follow any of the others without being detected.

After introducing themselves, Aoi told everyone to listen:

"Guys, since our club has finally been established, I think it's time to show you the club's calendar of activities!"

Aoi then took a paper out of the backpack and taped it to the wall.

"To mark the creation of the club with a golden key and right foot, this week we will focus on just one thing ... Create content!"

She then pointed to the bookshelves in the corner of the room, there were several books in them.

"My father donated these books to us, and it is our goal to take advantage of their knowledge ... They can not only be useful for your practice, they also served as a basis for our future growth as a club!"