Meeting Old Enemies

"Quiet, please!", shouted an official of the Agency.

Mr. Nakamura and Ayano were attending an official Agency meeting, while Dave was still training the [Enhancement Bubble] skill.

Slowly the crowd turned silent. Everyone stopped their conversations and looked to the middle of the big auditorium they were sitting in. Seats rose in a semicircle around an enormous table in the middle of the room.

At least 200 people were attending the meeting.

Ayano and Mr. Nakamura were sitting in a central postion looking with serious expressions at the people behind the table.

The main seat had the President of the Agency, August Beckmann his silvery hair styled as neat as always. To his right sat, of course, the second-highest authority called Sealer.

Accompanied were these two by Maria Bachmann, who was responsible for the new agency trainees and Marco Filoni, who led the search for the hero.

One more guy was sitting at the table. He was from the Pioneer Division and his name was John Tracker. The Pioneer Division was a division consisting of forerunners, who led the conquering of the mainland.

Ayano looked from the side at her father. He noticed the seriousness in his daughter's eyes and nodded.

Ayano gritted her teeth and mumbled in her father's direction, "Did you know that John Tracker would attend this meeting?"

"If I had known then I wouldn't be here right now.", answered he, with a frown on his face.

August Beckmann stood up.

"Since everyone is here right now let us start the conference. Maria, it is your turn.", said the president friendly pointing with his hand in Maria Bachmann's direction.

"Hello everyone, as all of you know, we are heading to the mainland in a few days. Right now 50 of the trainees managed to achieve their rank up.7 of these have broken one limit and 2 managed to break even through 2 limits." She summarized the situation around the trainees shortly.

The people started murmuring hearing this.

One man around 40 years of age stood up and asked, "Who are the two, who broke 2 limits? Normally that happens only once every ten years."

The room turned silent again and another man around 50 years of age stood up with a jubilant expression.

"One of them was my son Rick. I gave him a single Limit Breaking Mushroom, I got as a reward for extra ordinary achievements during my service at the mainland. I put it away for the time my son would need it."

Murmuring broke out again."I understand that Senior Agent Sullivan's son made it, but what about the other person?", asked someone from the crowd.

Maria Bachmann coughed once.

"His name is Sky. His surname is unknown. He is an orphan we recruited from a place you all know. It is called underworld."

Hearing these words angry voices became loud.

"Since when do we mix with these criminals. Our famous houses have enough kids to recruit from.", was one of the sentences someone shouted.

Maria Bachmann darted a desperate look in the president's direction, who immediately understood and stood up.

"It was my decision to recruit from them. Our houses have many children with strong abilities without question but not enough to cover our needs this time and in the future. We need the best for this mission. Never before was our mission as dangerous. So dangerous that Sealer will join the force traveling to the mainland."

Now everyone turned silent. If even sealer went to the mainland it was clear how big the danger was. Sealer was unargueable the second strongest ability user of the agency. Only once did Sealer leave before and that time he came back with one arm less than he left with.

"Okay we understand President but how can someone from the Underworld get his hands on a second Limit Breaking Mushroom? Even our own children rarely get this chance.", said someone else from the crowd.

"That as well was my doing. I wanted to make a clear statement that we will tolerate the people from the lower social classes. To strengthen their position in the future I decided beforehand that the strongest one from them gets an extra mushroom."

The people hearing this shook their heads in displeasure. They couldn't understand how their president could have made this decision. Every time someone broke through 2 limits it was bound for that person to later rise to a top position within the agency.

Of course, this was as well the reason the president handed an extra mushroom to Sky. He knew how important it was for someone from the lower social classes to have a good position in the agency. They needed someone to represent them.

It would make things in the future much easier when they kept recruiting from them. Sky would turn into a role model representing the big future they could expect when they too joined the agency.

Annoyed by the people, who still kept nagging Sealer stood up and shouted once, "Silence, NOW!"

Like a miracle, everyone turned silent at the same moment.

Ayano squinted her eyes. She knew what Sealer had done just now. He used his power to seal everyone's voices. If you looked around yourself, you could see many stunned people opening and closing their mouths without a single noise coming out.

Seeing this presentation of his powers Ayano instinctively knew that he was even stronger than last time she saw him use it. Thinking about the last time and feeling his powers reopened old wounds in Ayano's heart. No, she couldn't allow herself to think about that right now, not now!

"Misses Bachmann please continue. You didn't tell us yet, why there are only 9 people, who broke a limit, ready for the mainland. I know that we handed this time Limit Breaking Mushrooms out to the 10 best-ranked people at the entrance exam. Please explain to me why there is still someone missing."

August Beckmann was really a genius controlling his people. He knew exactly that switching the topic like this would shift the people's attention away from the matter around Sky.

Maria Bachmann smiled understanding the president's plan. She worked long enough under him to understand his way of thinking.

"That is a good question President. As far as I am informed he is currently a guest of the Nakamura household and they are helping him with his training. Maybe Mr. Nakamura or Ayano can explain to us the reason for his delay."

Ayano looked at her father and stood up. She had a hard time controlling herself knowing John Tracker and Sealer were with her in a single room.

Taking a deep breath Ayano said, "Of course I can answer that question, Maria."

Ayano felt like prey being looked at by two people she would like to see dead. Unfortunately, she herself didn't have the power to accomplish that. Thinking about her plan, a plan she made a few months ago, Dave, she managed to force a smile on her face.

"The answer is pretty simple. As all of you are aware of breaking a limit is for all of us different. Dave needs to make ample preparations before he can do..."

"Wait, you want to tell me he didn't even break through a limit yet. The ship to the mainland departs in a few days and he has to break a limit and rank up? Are you sure he will manage all of that until then?", asked Misses Bachmann confused.

She knew how strong the boy was during the entrance exam. He was second place and should have maxed his powers already quite some time ago. She understood that Ayano deliberately kept information back.

"I can promise you he will be ready before the ship departs. You really don't have to worry about him.", said Ayano reassuringly.

She looked to the right of Maria. Her eyes met John Tracker's for a short moment. His eyes were piercing hers. She couldn't refrain from letting the hate she felt for him appear for a short moment on her face.

She hastily collected herself and sat down.

"Okay since we have Miss Nakamura's confirmation that our 10th limit breaker will be ready in time, we can continue with our next topic.", said August Beckmann.

"Mr. Filoni, what can you tell us about your search for the hero? Did you make any progress?"