Chapter Seventy-One: S-4 Training

As Dachii walked the streets of Asuka, he noticed a candy store was open nearby, and he walked inside of it.

"Hello?"

There was an older man serving teenagers candy, and as soon as Dachii walked inside, they immediately stared at him.

"Oh, hi. I was wondering if I could—-"

"AHHH! It's that human!"

The teenagers immediately ran past Dachii and rushed out of the candy store, leaving Dachii alone with the owner, who sighed.

"What do you want, kid?"

Dachii looked at the candies on display and the menu. "Hmm, they all look good! How much would one of each cost?"

"2 million coins, kid."

"TWO MILLION?"

Dachii checked his pockets. "I don't even have ONE! You sure there's no…soldier discount or something?"

The man slapped his face. "Ugh, are you going to buy something or not? I got customers to take care of!"

Dachii examined the shop, but there wasn't a single customer besides him in sight. "Uh…"

As the man went to open his mouth again, two bags of coins were dropped on the counter. He stared at it in shock as the person who placed them waited. "Will these do?"

Dachii looked to his right and saw Oyakawa standing there with a smile on his face.

"You?" Dachii asked.

Oyakawa nodded. "Yep! Nakada sent me! She heard all the commotion coming from the S-5 Mansion and figured it had something to do with your arrival."

"Well, it wasn't me, actually," Dachii pointed out. "But thanks for the save."

The man tossed three large bags of candy on the counter. "Here. Now get out."

Dachii grabbed them, and Oyakawa held open the door. "Come, rookie! Nakada is waiting!"

Outside, Dachii saw a fancy light blue car, which was parked next to the candy store. Oyakawa got in, and Dachii did the same.

"Alright, off we go!"

He pulled off, heading down the street. He made a left turn and continued on his way down until a mansion with a light blue décor was spotted.

"We're here," Oyakawa said. "Let's not waste too much time."

They got out and walked up to the door, and Dachii began to stuff his face with candy.

The door opened, and Kai was behind it. "Oh, you! General Nakada, she's…expecting you in the back."

"Yes, show him where to go," Oyakawa remarked.

Dachii rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, another training room."

Kai shook his head. "Nope, dude. WAY cooler. Follow me."

Once he was inside, Dachii took notice of the light blue interior and the tidy environment. The living room was spotless and even seemed to be glowing. Everywhere in sight, soldiers were busy cleaning up.

Kai walked over to a door with a water symbol on it. "This is where she spends all her time, man!"

As Dachii got closer, the door opened, and he saw Nakada meditating in a room filled with waterfalls that led into a large pond. There was a small stone platform in the middle, where Nakada was sitting.

She looked up as the door opened. "There you are, Dachii! Good to see you again!"

Kai backed away. "Have fun, man."

When Dachii stepped into the room, Nakada noticed the candy in his hands. "Is that a bunch of junk? That's unhealthy, you know."

"Well," Dachii said. "My body does recover fast."

But he looked down and saw the candy was gone, now in Nakada's hands. "No candy. Now sit."

Dachii groaned and took his seat next to Nakada. "So will I be fighting you or doing any brutal training?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Fighting is nothing if you do not have the speed to put it to use."

"Well, most of the training I've done was just balance, combat, and strength…"

Nakada chuckled. "Now I want to see how fast you are. The quicker you can move, the quicker you can react."

"You want me to run on a treadmill or something?" Dachii asked.

Nakada stood up. "No. I want you to cross this room as fast as you can. Do nothing else but run at your maximum speed, then run back. I'll time you."

She tapped a button on her watch, and it pulled up a holographic speedometer. "Begin when you're ready."

Dachii got up, stretching. "As long as it doesn't push me to the brink of death, I guess it's fine."

Once he was ready, Nakada held her hand in the air. "Remember, I want maximum speed. Control and precision can come later."

Dachii got into a running stance. "Okay, cross the pond, hit the wall, repeat."

She waited for a moment, then she brought her hand down. "Go!"

WHOOSH.

Dachii activated his power and made his body as light as a feather, and in the blink of an eye, he went from wall to wall, then back, falling out of the door.

"WOAH!"

She went to help him up, as soldiers peeked from around the corner.

"How did I do?" Dachii asked, holding his back.

She held the watch up. "157,778 miles per hour! You're pretty fast, especially for a rookie!"

Dachii got up. "Wow, so how fast are you?"

Nakada smirked. "Faster."

Dachii rolled his eyes and they went back into the room. Nakada held up her watch again. "This time, I want you to try and control it. Move in a controlled manner."

Dachii got back into position, taking a deep breath. "Alright."

Once she waved her hand down, Dachii took off, attempting to keep himself steady.

"Balance, balance, go!"

Once he crossed the room and back, he landed on his feet and stopped. Nakada looked at her watch.

"111,452 miles per hour. Your controlled speed isn't too far off from your maximum. With a little bit of practice, we can increase that."

"Phew," Dachii said. "Now what do I do?"

Nakada set her watch down, keeping the speedometer up. "Now, I want to see how fast you attack."

She stood in front of Dachii, holding her palms up. "Hit my hands as fast as you can. Not too hard though."

"Really? Why do all you women make me attack you?"

"It's not attacking," Nakada pointed out, chucking. "It's training."

Dachii raised his fists, and Nakada nodded. "Go!"

He began rapidly punching her hands again and again, focusing on making his body lighter and lighter.

Nakada turned her head toward the speedometer. It kept reading speeds between 101,500 and 120,201 miles per hour.

After a few more punches, Nakada stepped back. "Okay, that's good enough. Your fighting speed is also impressive given your experience. That Elemental Ability has worked wonders for you."

Dachii stretched his arms. "Thanks. What now?"

Nakada sat down on the platform, patting the ground next to her. "You can sit with me."

Dachii slotted next to her, watching her closely. "Okay, what's up?"

She closed her eyes. "Have the other Generals managed to draw out your power? Your other power, I mean."

Dachii shook his head. "Naito taught me how to balance, Toru beat me up, and Shinjii made me lift cars until Akari and Arata started fighting."

Nakada sat in silence for a moment. "I see. Their personalities can be a bit…unorthodox. Especially for training."

"I guess," Dachii replied. "Shinjii doesn't seem too bad, and Naito's pretty quiet. Toru, though, he's scary."

Nakada barely managed to hide a laugh. "Toru can be harsh. It's part of his character."

Dachii looked her up and down. "You two both are super serious, but you don't seem to be as strict as him."

Nakada opened her eyes. "Well, Sir Morino would be VERY upset, and…I have my reasons."

"What reasons?" Dachii asked, curious.

An unreadable look passed over Nakada's face, and Dachii feared that he had pried too far.

"My mother…she's not well, and she would never tolerate me being a killjoy," Nakada replied.

"What, she's got a cold?"

Nakada looked down on the ground for a while, before looking around to make sure no one was looking.

"Here, I'll show you."

She gently grabbed Dachii's arm and began to glow white. Immediately, they began to sink through the platform, and Dachii could see what looked like a dark hospital room below.

They landed on the floor, and Dachii could see an older Voltian woman with long black hair and white eyes lying in a hospital bed. She had her eyes and mouth open, but she didn't react when Dachii and Nakada approached.

"Is she…?" Dachii began to ask.

"Not exactly," Nakada answered. "She's…like a vegetable. Severe brain damage from a monster has left her like this. Able to breathe and wake up, but unable to do much of anything else."

"Oh," Dachii said. "Sorry."

Nakada ran her hand over her mother's forehead. "It's okay. Sir Morino has offered to find any ways he can to fix her."

"Well, that's just like Grandfather. Lend a helping hand."

Nakada nodded.

"Why are you showing me this anyway?" Dachii questioned. "I don't think this is part of the training."

Nakada put a hand on his shoulder. "Because you're his grandson. And your actions in Umego have shown you've got the potential to be a great warrior.

"Oh, I wouldn't say all that…"

Nakada lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Fighting Vapron, Prismar, and Alterna doesn't count?"

Dachii scratched his head. "Well, when you put it like that…"

She motioned for him to get on her back. "Come. I'll take you back upstairs."

Later that day, Dachii and Nakada continued their training until eventually night hit.

"Dachii, I think it's about time you get some food," Nakada stated. "Head to the living room. I'll be there shortly. I just have to take a minute to feed my mother."

As he walked to the living room, he saw Yuri, Obara, and Kai arguing.

"Dude, I did way more than you in that fight against Rank 18!" Kai exclaimed.

Obara got in his face. "Lies! I came up with the plan that held him off until the Director and Vice-Generals helped out!"

"And how well did that work, dude?"

"All you did was stand and be the bait, doofus!"

Yuri laughed at them. "You fools fought the weakest one there, and also the one with the least willpower, and still almost lost. I actually fought two powerful ones."

Obara rounded on her. "What the hell do you mean? Everyone there actually helped fight but YOU! Even those humans!"

"Yeah!" Kai agreed.

 Yuri clenched her fists. "Well, at least I don't need objects to fight! You two are useless without anything to grab!"

"You want to test that theory?" Obara asked, taking a step forward.

Before it could escalate further, Oyakawa zoomed up right next to them. "Guys, guys! Squadmates shouldn't fight. You all played your roles against the Zharians. You should all be proud!"

He looked over and saw Dachii standing close to the hallway. "Dachii! Finished your training for the day?"

"Yeah," Dachii responded. "Nakada told me to come here for food."

Yuri stormed over to Dachii. "Dachii! Tell these idiots I played a big role in taking down those two Zharians!"

Dachii nervously laughed. "Yeah, Yuri. You did your thing."

"See?" Yuri stated, crushing Dachii in a one-armed hug. "My trusted friend Dachii here says that I helped out a lot!"

"Ow…ow…ow…"

Obara and Kai groaned. Oyakawa walked into the kitchen, pulling out a large bowl of salad. "Here you go, Dachii! The rest of us have already eaten."

"Salad? What is she, a health guru?"

Oyakawa used a fork and put some salad in his mouth. "Yeah, she's very serious about taking care of our bodies."

Dachii slapped his forehead. "Trust me, I see."

He took a bowl of salad and ate it. Eventually, Nakada led him into a guest room to sleep.

"Goodnight, Dachii. Meet me at the same spot in the morning."

The next day, she continued to train Dachii, making him run along walls and in repeated succession. After a few more days of training, she guided him to the front door, where Xar was waiting.

"Well, Dachii," she said. "Your speed is great. It's time for you to visit Morino now. Tell him I say hi."

"Alright," Dachii replied. "I will."

Before she closed the door, she handed him a bag. "Here, do you want this?"

He peeked inside. "Is this candy?"

"Even better!"

Inside the bag was a bundle of salad and fruits. Dachii stepped back. "Nope! I'm good! Very good!"

Nakada smiled. "Suit yourself. Take care."

Dachii walked up to Xar's car, and Xar rolled down the window.

"What happened at General Shinjii's mansion?" Xar asked.

"I..don't even know," Dachii said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Come, your Grandfather is next in line."

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