"Galactic Engagement"

"My future king, I have brought you a direct message from Lala-sama's father, the King of Deviluke," Zastin said.

"L-Lala's dad?!" Rito asked, bewildered by the news.

"Yes, he's a great person who united the war-torn universe and stood at its zenith," Zastin explained. Then he said, "Well then, listen carefully."

Zastin brought out a strange device with a bone-like structure, with a skull-looking carving in the middle of it, and a voice came out.

"Hey, Rito Yuuki," a scary-sounding voice emerged and continued, "I've heard Zastin's story, and therefore I shall approve of you as one of Lala's fiancés," after a short pause. "I heard Earthlings are rather puny, but then again, you're the first guy Lara has ever favored."

It seems that Lala's father has spoken, and Rito has found himself in a lot of trouble. The King of Deviluke wants to see his capabilities, and the entire galaxy is aware of him. It seems the other fiancé candidates will try to take Lala away, and Rito needs to protect her and complete the "Marriage Ceremony" at the time decided by Lala's father, the King of Deviluke, to become the successor of King Deviluke.

"When you fail to fulfill my expectations," the voice said, then paused for a moment.

"When that happens, I'll smash your life along with that small planet! Remember it well," the voice of Lala's father, the King of Deviluke, warned Rito.

And the message was finished. Then I heard Zastin explaining that His Highness is very serious. Then I heard a voice close to me, "Yuu-nii?" "Yuu-nii." That is Mikan trying to tell me something.

"Oh, Mi-chan, sorry, I was lost in thought. What's the matter?" I replied to Mikan.

"Sigh, Lala said she wants to go to Rito's school. What do you think, Yuu-nii?" Mikan asked.

"Oh, I see. I think it's a great idea. She'll be close to Rito and get accustomed to Earth at the same time," I replied.

Mikan nodded, and she muttered to herself, "But how to get in?"

"You don't have to worry about that. If she talks to the principal, I'm sure he'll let Lala transfer right away. That guy's a pervert," I said.

"Really? Awesome!" Lala said enthusiastically, while Mikan was thinking about the last part.

"Anyway, there's somewhere I have to go," I said, excusing myself while the two were chatting about school.

****

I jumped onto the wall surrounding our house. Standing atop it, I had a better view of Rito's room window. Soon after, I saw Zastin emerging from it, and when he noticed me looking in his direction, he sensed that I wanted to talk to him. He jumped up beside me, asking, "What's the matter, Yuu-dono?"

"Can you come with me for a bit?" I asked Zastin.

"Ah, yes, I have time, Yuu-dono," Zastin replied.

Hearing his agreement, I jumped down and headed to the gate, then outside. Walking on the road with Zastin beside me, he asked, "Where are we going, Yuu-dono?"

"To where I'll be training from now on," I answered.

"Training?" Zastin seemed confused.

"I heard what you talked about with Rito and the King of Deviluke," I said casually.

"What? How? I made sure no one was eavesdropping on us," Zastin said, trying to figure out how it was possible.

"You'll know soon enough," I said, acting all cool. 'I always wanted to say something like that,' I thought. Satisfied with what I did, we continued our walk while chatting about Rito's engagement here and there.

**** 

We were now standing beside a tall tree in the park, surrounded by lush greenery. Touching the tall tree beside me, I said, "This will be enough."

"Yuu-dono?" Zastin said, confused.

I ignored him and faced the tree, positioning my body ready to punch it. I concentrated and focused to strengthen my right arm, readying my fist. Leaning slightly, when it was ready, I launched my fist.

A loud sound echoed throughout the surroundings as my fist made impact with the tree, shaking it from the shock. "Boom!"

Retracting my fist while examining it, I thought, 'Sure enough, that ability can enhance my strength too.' Looking back at the tree, I noticed a wide dent in it. Satisfied with the result of my punch, I turned to face Zastin, who was examining the dent with a slight shock on his face.

"As you can see, I have a unique ability that can enhance my body's capabilities," I said, pausing to observe Zastin's reaction.

Zastin redirected his gaze to me, facing him while holding my right wrist with my left hand in front of my chest. "For example, my hearing, and on top of that, my regeneration ability," I continued, gesturing towards the wounds on my right hand caused by the impact of my punch, which were slowly recovering and fading. "As you can see, my body is still not strong enough to handle my ability to its fullest, which is why I'm training," I explained.

Looking at Zastin, who seemed deep in thought, I asked, "Any questions, Zastin-san?"

"I have no recollection of humans possessing such abilities, unless they are half-Earthlings, Yuu-do-" I cut him off.

"No, I'm not part alien, and neither is my family. We're totally human," I clarified.

"Oh, I see. Then why tell me, Yuu-dono?" Zastin asked.

"You see, at first, I thought there was no point in becoming too strong on Earth because, as the King of Deviluke said, Earthlings are weak," I explained.

"Hmm, yes indeed. With just your abilities, no Earthling can compare to you," Zastin agreed.

"Right? But when I saw what happened that night when you and your crew got sucked in by a giant octopus-like creature and how it messed up the park, that power... I knew I had to rethink about getting stronger," I said.

"Ah, yes, there are indeed a lot of creatures in the galaxy that possess great power, Yuu-dono," Zastin confirmed what I said.

"That's why I want to have a sparring session with you from time to time to further improve my strength and combat abilities. But, as you know, my body is still not ready for it. So for now, I want to ask something of you instead, if you agree. What do you think?" I asked him.

"I won't have any problem with the sparring proposal, Yuu-dono," Zastin said.

"Then?" I urged him to continue.

"But first, can you let me see what you're capable of, Yuu-dono?" Zastin said as he brought out his sword, which looked like a lightsaber with its blade glowing green and a bone-like handle.

"I don't have a problem with that, but you won't let me fight you unarmed, will you?" I said.

"Ah, yes, sorry, here," Zastin replied as he threw an object at me that looked just like the handle of his sword.

As I caught the object and held it properly, the blade light came out of it. I swung it down to feel the sword, thinking, 'Interesting,' as a smile formed on my face, and I looked at Zastin.

"Whenever you're ready, Yuu-dono," Zastin declared.

Taking that as a signal to start, I quickly enhanced all of my senses to some extent so my body would be able to hold on for a while. I kicked the ground, dashing in front of Jastin, leaning slightly downward from the right, I slashed the sword in my right hand upward, aiming for his shoulder. Zastin parried.

As the swords made contact, I used Zastin's strength from his sword to knock me back a bit. When I landed, I quickly dashed to his right, positioning the sword from my right hand to my left side, then slashed upward, targeting his other shoulder. I continued to try to land a slash on him from every possible angle—his right, left, rear, and above—but he always managed to parry my sword. Seeing it as pointless, I distanced myself from him and said, "That's no fun. Why don't you go and attack me now, Zastin-san," urging him to attack back.

"As you wish, Yuu-dono. On guard!" After he said that, Zastin disappeared.

'So fast!' At the last second, I felt my instincts warn me, then I saw it. 'From the right!' Holding the handle of the sword with two hands, I parried, keeping my ground and fighting against Zastin's strength. As our swords clashed, Zastin said, "Oh ho, you're quite skilled and experienced with the sword, Yuu-dono."

"Oh, why thank you. I used to take Arnis lessons way back," I replied.

"Arnis? Anyway, your instincts are good too, but you lack speed and strength!" Zastin claimed as he put more strength through the sword, knocking me back quite far. Soon after I landed, my instincts kicked in again. 'Above!' I parried but got knocked back again. That continued for another three strikes, and when the last strike was coming, I felt my eyes hurt a bit, and I saw Zastin's movements. I tried to confront it with all my strength, but I only managed to stop him for a minute before he sent me flying straight into a tree, hitting my back first.

"That'll be enough, Yuu-dono. And for earlier, I accept," Zastin said.

"Haha, that's good. But can you let me stay seated as we talk?" I chuckled, replying to him while seated in front of the tree I crashed into, facing my back. 'My whole body is screaming with pain right now,' I thought as I smiled awkwardly, enduring the pain.

"Yes, Yuu-dono," Zastin said as he took a seat not far from me.

"You're quite ruthless, Zastin-san. Anyway, about the thing I want to ask, can you give me a device to contact you? So when I think I'm ready for a spar, I can contact you, and for future spars too," I asked. Then I realized something and added, "Oh, by the way, can I keep the sword?"

"Yes, you can keep it, Yuu-dono. And here." He tossed me a device with the same size as my flip phone, but it had a bone-like structure with a skull carving in the middle and a button just below it.

"Just press the button, and it will connect to our ship. It has a function to send a signal of its location to our ship, and you can talk to me through it too," Zastin explained.

"Oh, and if it's not too imposing of me, do you perhaps have a device that can store things?" I asked, then lifting the two objects I received from him, I said, "I want to hide this from my family," I said seriously.

"Why is that, Yuu-dono?" Zastin asked.

"I want to hide my abilities from them. I want to live normally with them and at the same time protect them from the shadow. Can you help me, Zastin-san?" I asked.

"Here, Yuu-dono," Zastin said, handing me a ring. It was a plain silver ring.

Taking it, Zastin explained, "It's called a Dimensional Storage Space Ring. Just think of what you want to store and bring out. Only non-living things can be stored, and the size is as big as one family house."

"Thanks, and know this, I won't spoil them. I want them to be strong too, so unless it's a life-threatening situation, I won't step in," I declared.

"I think that's for the best too, Yuu-dono," Zastin replied.

Seeing the sun slowly setting, I stood up and stretched my body a bit. "Ughh. I can move again! It's time to go back, Zastin-san. I'll be going now," I bid goodbye to Zastin and started to walk away.

"Ah yes, Yuu-dono. Me as well," Zastin said as he disappeared and seemed to warp back to his ship.

*************************************************

Narrator here!

Let me clarify something.

"I'll only be Updating Chapters when I'm Free, Thanks!"

"Arnis" A Filipino martial art that focuses on stick-fighting, knife-fighting, and hand-to-hand combat. It's also known as Eskrima or Kali, depending on the region and specific style. Arnis practitioners often use sticks, knives, and improvised weapons for self-defense and combat training.