Kaku, Follow the Wind...
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Sota: Finally! I'm exhausted.
Akari: How? Legs are made to walk!
Sota: Yeah but why don't you guys have cars like in the grasslands?
Akari: I'd say it because we are only a small tribe... The terrain is too bumpy and I don't think we have any mechanics or engineers anyways.
Sota: You should look for someone
Akari: No, my legs work fine.
Sota: *Confused*
Akari: Where are you going to?
Sota: I haven't moved.
Akari: Exactly! Follow me! Animal.
Sota: Oh, ok.
...
Sota: Where are we going through?
Akari: Shut up and follow me.
...
Sota: Rude.
Akari: Did you say something shorty?
Sota: I'm not even that short! You're just huge.
Akari: Anyone shorter than me is a shorty.
Kaku: I hope that you will not call me shorty too.
Akari: Ayy shorty! Did you come to see me? Shouldn't you be in your sandcastle by now?
Kaku: As energetic as ever I see.
Sota: Who is this shorty?
Kaku: WE ARE BASICALLY THE SAME HEIGHT! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TALKING TO?
Akari: *Laughing* Sota don't mind him! He gets annoyed for being shorter than everyone
Kaku: You better watch your back.
Sota: *Thinking* Shorty is scary
...
Kaku: Come and have a drink with me at the palace. We can talk better there.
Akari: Alright.
...
Kaku: What business do you have with the desert lands?
Akari: I just came to see an old friend. Is that an issue?
Kaku: That's rare. What do you really want?
Akari: I have a request to make... And I also have an offer for you.
Kaku: What is the request?
Akari: I want you to let him use the rank machine.
Kaku: You don't have to ask for that. Kin!
Kin: Yes master?
Kaku: Take this young man to the rank testing machine.
Kin: Sure. Come with me.
Sota: Okay.
Kin: What is your name?
Sota: I'm Sota.
Kin: Okay... Now put your hand on top of this and just focus for a while until we get results.
...
Kin: It's done.
Sota: Let me see!
Kin: A-rank (7.3/10) You look pretty young... How old are you?
Sota: Fifteen
Kin: Fifteen? A-RANK? AT FIFTEEN?
Sota: I guess... But what is this? It says SS. Is it just saying what the max is?
Kin: No, no. That SS means that you're predicted rank in the future is SS. That is also pretty amazing.
Sota: OHHHH Cool! Can I just ask you another thing?
Kin: Go ahead.
Sota: What does this ranking take into account?
Kin: That's a good question. It reads everything except your mental ability. For example, if you have a strong power that is well trained, you will have a higher score. Your physical strength is also measured but that doesn't count as much as your power. But if you are a very tactical person and very intelligent you wouldn't get scored on that which is a shame, but most people find it isn't important...
Sota: I see, thanks.
...
Kaku: Then Akari... What is your offer? I am quite interested to hear what you have to say.
Akari: I propose that we attack the grasslands.
Kaku: For no reason?
Akari: It's not for no reason. They have been attacking the mountains nonstop and I am getting tired of it. I just wanted some company... I wouldn't like to attack them on my own.
Kaku: Can we win.
Akari: Just one of us is enough.
Kaku: Are you sure we can just go there and wipe them out?
Akari: Certain.
Kaku: Isn't Shin around though?
Akari: What can he do anyway?
Kaku: I heard he is very strong.
Akari: I never seen him fight, he is probably all talk.
Kaku: If I feel like something will go wrong, I will withdraw immediately.
Akari: Sure.
Kaku: And one more condition.
Akari: Yes?
Kaku: My nation cannot know that I am fighting.
Akari: Got it.
...
Sota: I'm back.
Akari: How was it?
Sota: I got an A-rank(7.3/10)
Akari: Who cares. I'm talking about your potential! You're very young so that's all that matters now.
Sota: It was SS I think.
Kin: Exactly. Very impressing score overall.
Akari: That's what I expected to be honest. But nice.
Kaku: Ho? How old are you?
Sota: Fifteen.
Kaku: Wow. I have never seen anyone so young be an A-Rank. Even myself I was only a C-Rank at sixteen.
Akari: But you suddenly got very strong. Why don't you tell him our story?
Kaku: Sure. We are both orphans that grew up together with an old man that took us in.
Sota: Are you brothers?
Kaku: Honestly I'm not sure... but we don't look that similar... Anyways it doesn't matter... Our "Father" started training us since I was about twelve...
Akari: I was also fifteen at the time.
Sota: Okay.
Kaku: He had a coal element which was often made fun of but it was super deadly. He worked smart not hard... When he noticed that his opponents were stronger than him he would often try to use carbon monoxide poisoning to kill them without anyone noticing... Sneaky and something which some may consider cowardly, but the fact is that he never lost a battle.
Sota: Wow.
Kaku: I improved a lot from when I was sixteen to when I was seventeen... I'm still not sure why but I went from C-rank to S-rank in less than a year.
Sota: Is that possible?
Akari: If it happened it is.
Kaku: That is why I started ruling at such a young age...
Sota: What age? I don't think you said.
Kaku: Seventeen. Five years ago.
Sota: Yeah that is quite young... What about you Akari?
Akari: I started ruling five years ago when I was twenty... We started our own countries along with some other people and then it's continuously growing.
Sota: But if your country is so young why have you been at war with the grasslands for so long?
*Akari quickly looks at Kaku*