Chapter 2 - Assault

Akio rushes to help her, and he sees that Hanami is not breathing. In a state of panic, he rushes to find something to heal her with, neglecting his own injuries, as he sees the one who attacked her. It was a soldier, apparently, who was also preparing to kill Akio.

He rushes towards the soldier, with the intent to punch him, but the soldier blocks the attack and attempts to stab the young boy, who simply jumps out of the way, creating an energy blade around his hand and cutting the soldier's arm off.

With no way to attack using his sword now, and not having noticed the fact that Akio's left eye has been blinded, the soldier charges up magic energy in his left hand, aiming to blow Akio and himself up. Akio takes notice of this and grabs his arm, pushing him down and breaking it.

Wanting to keep the soldier alive for later interrogation, he simply closes the wound and cuts off the soldier's left hand and tying it up, so the bleeding is kept to a minimum. As for Hanami, he neglected this feeling earlier, but he can feel her magic energy, so she's alive.

Quickly, he rushes to the healing department's office and grabs a healing injection, swiftly heading to Hanami's side again and injecting the fluid onto her. A few seconds later, she is somewhat healed successfully, as she wakes up and thanks Akio for helping her.

The young man asks Hanami what was that all about, but she doesn't know, as Akio says that they can ask him. Hanami looks behind Akio, only to see the soldier, who appears to be in deep pain. She asks him if he did it, and he nods.

They knock him out and heal his limbs for the most part, now tying him to a chair. Before they move any further, however, Hanami finally notices the fact that Akio is injured also.

"Akio, what happened!?"

"It was nothing, don't worry."

"Your eye..."

"Yeah. It's okay, though."

"Damn it... It's too far gone. If only your treatment had begun a little bit sooner, I could've restored it."

"Please, Hanami, don't feel bad. After all, I kind of like it, since it reminds me of my first 'real' fight."

"I see. In that case, take a healing injection. Your other injuries need to get closed quickly, so the possibility of them getting infected is minimal."

"Alright, but let's begin interrogating this one. It looks like he's awake."

Akio goes to grab a healing injection, which heals (most) wounds, as Hanami takes the lead of the interrogation, demanding that the soldier reveals everything that he knows. His mission, who sent him and what are they planning to do.

The soldier reveals that he had been sent here to eliminate Hanami and whoever he could, so as to make their future job easier. He refuses to say anything further, and Akio, growing impatient, is milliseconds away from killing him (having been given approval by Hanami), as he gives him one last chance: tell them everything or die an dishonorable death.

Once again refusing, the soldier is swiftly killed by Akio, who cannot help but wonder what the soldier meant. He heads back home, only to see Hisako there, who's making lunch. The two greet each other and Akio heads to the library in search of a certain book.

A few minutes later, after accidentally falling off a ladder, Akio finds the book that he wants, and sits down on the office, skipping straight to the category he's here about: Magic fusion.. His excitement is immeasurable, but it quickly turns to disappointment when he learns that there is no known way to fuse magic, however, he decides to read the next chapter: Magic Evolution.

Skimming through it, he understands that through rigorous training and effort, one can evolve their magic further, turning it into a new attribute. Akio doesn't pay much attention to the rest of the chapter and leaves the book as-is, deciding that today will be the day where he finally does it.

He heads over to the Generals' headquarters again, but directs himself to the training room, where he sets the difficulty to the maximum, saying that this'll be fun. The training robots appear out of the walls in swarms, as they rush towards Akio.

He is quickly overwhelmed, but he starts to fight back, though he knows that this will not be enough. He raises his power to the maximum, and a few hours later, he's on his limit, but the robots continue to attack him. With this, Akio extends out both of his arms and closes his eyes.

"Come to me.. Durandal!"

Within three seconds, two swords appear in his hands, and he takes care of the rest of the robots with ease, being amazed at his power.

"This is it.. This is.. Durandal!"

Akio is happy, planting his two swords on the ground, apparently using them to stand on his two feet. He starts spitting blood, noting how these injuries have finally caught up to him, but a man appears from the door of the training chamber, throwing a healing injection at him, which the teen grabs.

That man is none other than the Earth General, Griffin.

"Hah, Akio, it appears as though you've finally summoned your weapon. How about we spar a little?"

"Sure, but beware. I'm out of magic energy, so I won't be able to stand up to you all that well. Also, the lost eye may handicap me a bit."

Griffin tells him not to worry, since he should be able to see somewhat normally, and the healing injection also restores one's magic energy. Akio, wondering if what Griffin says is the truth, injects himself, and surely enough, he has fully recovered, as he subsequently agrees to Griffin's offer.

The two take their battle stances and begin their fight. Griffin, for a handicap, does not use his own weapon yet, as Akio gives it everything he has. At best, he only manages to slightly cut Griffin's hands, going no more than three inches deep.

In response, Griffin punches Akio in the face, sending him back, though he regains his stance by sticking Durandal to the floor. Before he even gets the chance to recover from the attack, Griffin appears in front of him, kicking him in the back of the head, sending him straight to the ground.

This, however, causes Akio to grab Griffin's leg and get back up again, gaining the ability to attack the latter in the back. This does not go unnoticed by Griffin, though. Akio takes the opportunity and as he is about to swing Durandal, cutting Griffin's back, the General grabs the two swords effortlessly.

With this, and knowing very well that Akio will not progress if the fight continues as is, Griffin decides to end it here and now, throwing Akio's Durandal away and equipping his own weapon, the infamous war hammer named Supernova.

Griffin raises it up to the sky, calling out for its power.

"Quake, Supernova!"

Subconsciously, after feeling Griffin's tremendous power, Akio also calls out the power of Durandal.

"Destroy, Durandal!"

The two go beyond their limits and use their maximum power, and they are about to connect their weapons, but someone grabs them effortlessly. That someone was none other than Theos, who told them that they shouldn't destroy the training room. Both Griffin and Akio return to their senses, understanding that they would have just done, though Akio notes that even with the power of Durandal, defeating Griffin would be a task that'd be next to impossible.

Behind Theos is Hanami, who tells them that if they want to go all-out, they'll need to wait a few days. She's been already working on an upgrade, and when completed, they can use as much power as they'd like and even further beyond.

After this, Akio checks the time and decides that he should go home for the day, since he lost the school day, waving the three Generals goodbye. When he goes out of earshot, Griffin notes that the young one has immense strength and potential hidden within, clenching his stomach, as he starts to kneel, much to the surprise of Theos and Hanami.

Tomorrow, going to school, Akio calls Jack, knowing that he should be on his way too. Jack scolds him for not having come yesterday, but Akio says that he'll explain everything when he gets there, and that he will be arriving shortly.

Ten minutes later, he arrives at the outside door of the school, where one of his classmates, Alexa, awaits. She reminds Akio that he still has his battle suit equipped, and that he shan't gain permission to enter if he doesn't change to his school uniform. Sighing, Akio opens his watch and presses a button, changing into his school uniform, as he is escorted inside by Alexa.

She asks him what he had been up to yesterday, also asking him why he did not come, and Akio reveals everything, surprising her. Alexa, being the curious woman that she is, takes one of the swords and tries to check it out, though it shocks her hands.

Akio extends his left hand out, as the sword that Alexa had pulled returns to him. "Sorry. As you can probably understand now, Durandal will only allow me to wield it." After listening to Akio's elaboration, she sighs, though understanding.

The young teen then goes on to reveal that he actually also fought against Griffin, surprising Alexa even further. It is quite rare for a successor to fight a General, due to the simple difference in power. Even Alexa, who is also a successor, would never dare to fight one of the current Generals.

This makes Akio lightly chuckle, saying that he was a bit too reckless, since he had just summoned Durandal and all. Finally, they reach their classroom, since the period had already started. Alexa sits next to Harumi, another successor and classmate, as Akio sits next to Jack, who did come a bit earlier than him.

The friends (and successors) decide not to question Akio for now, since they prioritize the lesson, though Jack and Harumi appear to be a bit more curious. After the first period, everyone, including Aoi, another successor. Akio tells them everything that he had told Alexa, but Harumi asks for more details about his fight with Griffin, since he is her father, and Akio says that he'll tell her later.

For now, he focuses his attention on an ominous energy outside of the school..