Chapter 7 - Goodbye, for now

As Akio enters the training chamber, he goes to the middle. He sits down, closing his eyes, as if meditating. Out of the walls, though, exit thousands of training robots, all programmed to do one thing: kill Akio.

Of course, one would think that this is outrageous, but Akio took this risk upon himself, knowing what he was getting himself into by pushing the chamber to its limits. Meanwhile, the robots close in on Akio swiftly, but Akio simply smiles, having felt them approaching.

Before long, he stands up, and he opens his eye, revealing that he had already activated Burning Sense. Akio looks around, as he has activated this technique that he discovered during the joint mission with Aoi, which he has named 'Fragmented Time'.

He gave it that name because his perception of time is altered, as the objects around him move at a fragment of the real time, and it allows him to react to their actions. Of course, Akio opts not to use it continuously, since it heavily increases the energy drain of Burning Sense as a whole, thus weighing him down.

For a second, Akio studies all of the robots' movements, as he deactivates Fragmented Time. In a swift move, he raises both of his hands, extending them outwards, as he rapidly fires fireballs, destroying a good part of the robots.

The swarm, however, seemed endless. No matter what Akio did, they would continue to come, doubling, even. At the end, Akio was forced to stop using his Burning Sense, as eventually, the robots overwhelmed Akio.

Akio, though, was not about to give up. At that moment, he used a healing injection on himself, using his Burning Sense again. This time, he also gets some sort of strength boost by using the technique, as Akio imbues his fists with magic, causing explosions to happen as soon as he punches the robots.

This helps Akio control the wave of immeasurable robots, as he jumps up, blasting at all of them. The robots, though, use some sort of protection against Akio's blast, surprising him, but he does not give up.

He swims through the swarm, destroying more and more robots, knowing well that in order to finish this training session, he'll have to destroy all of them at once. Akio starts to feel his magic energy fading, however, so he tries something drastic.

This could either kill him or work, but Akio decides to take the risk. Taking a deep breath, he closes his eye, as he allows the power of Burning Sense to flow through his body. Indeed, the power is incredible, but it also makes Akio's muscles bulge, in a negative way.

Swiftly, Akio begins plowing through the swarms of the robots, having discovered this new power, but he quickly gives in to the fatigue that came with it. Before he completely drops out of it, however, Akio charges up a final blast, one powerful enough that would destroy all of the robots.

As he continues getting injured by the robots, Akio's blast finally charges up, as he shoots it, and to his relief, it succeeds. Seeing that his training has succeeded, Akio loses his consciousness, having expended far too much magic energy and stamina.

A few hours later, Akio wakes up, as he uses a healing injection on himself once again, making sure that he's at full power. Now, he feels a bit empowered, but it's not as great as the power that he discovered a few hours prior. 

Akio steps out of the training chamber, and to his surprise, Hanami was right outside, preparing to open the door.

"Oh, Akio! I was about to come to get you. Did your training go well?"

"I guess."

"I see. Well, we have no time to talk. Come with me. Aoi is also waiting on you."

"Alright."

Afterwards, Akio follows Hanami to her office, where Aoi awaits, greeting Akio. Akio returns the greeting, as he sits down, and the two sign the official document about the mission's report. Hanami, afterwards, thanks them, and she now says that they're allowed to leave.

"That quickly?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Aoi and Akio leave, as they also go back home, waving each other goodbye. Akio greets Hisako and Ichika, the latter of which having stayed home, due to it being Saturday. Akio goes to his room, as he sits on his bed, contemplating a very important decision that will change his life for the foreseeable future.

Akio thinks about Hisako, Ichika, Ruby, his friends...

No. This is for the greater good, and Akio is sure that everyone can handle themselves. After all, they're all brilliant people, and for the fifteen years that Akio has lived, they've always gone beyond his expectations, no matter what.

Now having made up his mind, Akio slowly re-equips his tattered battle suit, as he calls both of his swords back. Akio then continues to wear his watch again, as he puts his phone in his pocket, and he looks of a picture of Theos, Hisako, him and Ichika, when he and his sister were younger.

He feels a bit nostalgic and sad, seeing as his family has changed quite a bit over the course of a few days. Akio goes down the stairs, and as soon as he and Hisako make eye contact, Hisako tears up, somewhat understanding what Akio is about to do.

Hisako hugs her son tightly, as Ichika runs towards them, asking what happening. Akio, though, without saying anything, takes her into the hug. After a few minutes of embracing his mother and sister for the final time, until he returns from his new mission, Akio waves them goodbye, promising that he'll return.

Afterwards, he passes by the headquarters, informing Hanami of this, and reluctantly, she wishes Akio the best of luck. Akio then sends messages to all of his friends, being unable to meet them in person, and finally, he passes by the orphanage, where he will see Ruby one last time before he goes.

Understandably, Ruby is quite saddened to hear that Akio is going to train, and due to her young age, she is unable to understand that this is for the greater good. Akio kisses her forehead, telling her that he will return before she even knows it.

"Alright.. daddy."

Akio smiles, as it had been the first time that Ruby referred to him as 'daddy', as if seeing him as her father figure. Due to this, Akio arranges it so as soon as he returns back from this journey, he will legally adopt Ruby under the Phoenix family.

The caretaker at the orphanage greets Akio farewell, wishing him the best of luck in his travels, as Akio leaves the capital, following the rumors of the Generals. It is said that one of the comrades of Theos I, going by the name of Alex, is still alive to this day, and that he is lurking about, preparing for when the time is ripe, to kill The Dark Wizard and take revenge for himself and his fallen comrades.

After a few months of searching and going around the country, doing low-income jobs to get by, Akio, making use of his battle suit's cloak, stops a certain man on the road. The man was unnaturally large and tall, just as the rumors described him to be. As he turned around, his silver eyes laid eyes on Akio's orange eyes, full of determination.

"So, you have come, descendant of Theos."

"Yes. You are Alex, one of the first Shining Generals, correct?"

"Indeed, I am. I take it that you have come to me, seeking power?"

"Exactly."

At that moment, Alex's attitude becomes a bit more laid back.

"Perfect! Come to my house. We shall begin your training immediately!"

"Really? Wouldn't you want to gauge my power first?"

"Oh, yeah, that's what we're going to do. After all, things can't go forward if I don't know how strong you are. Anyways, we can talk on the road. Let's go!"

"Alright."

Akio follows Alex to the latter's house, which smells like metal, but Akio doesn't question it, remembering that Alex used to also be a blacksmith back in the day. Alex welcomes Akio, telling him that based on his body's shape, he had been searching for months.

"Look at you. Your muscles are barely visible, and you look like you've been worn out completely."

"Yeah. The truth is, it was kind of hard to get by while trying to keep a low profile."

"I know."

"Well, I think that this should be one of the times that I would need to use a healing injection."

"A what?"

Swiftly, Akio pulls out a healing injection, using it on himself, and immediately, his body mostly returns to normal, with his muscles having bulged significantly. Alex is amazed, but Akio asks him if he hadn't been around at the time of their invention.

"No, to tell you the truth. We were told long ago that this could be possible, but I never knew that I'd get to see it with my own two eyes."

"Well, you just did, Mr. Alex."

"Call me Alex."

"Alright."

"Now, let's get you something to eat, and afterwards, we can start our first sparring match."

"Yeah!"