Chapter 12: Quiet night

Shoun stared in disbelief at the notification in front of his eyes. Slowly, tears began to fill his eyes, and his body finally gave out as he fell to his knees.

—I'm... I'm... free—he whispered, trying to wipe away the tears streaming down his face, but it was difficult because they wouldn't stop. His emotions were at their peak.

After a few seconds of Shoun crying, he heard something dragging. When he turned his gaze, he saw Kaze crawling toward him, using only one arm to pull himself closer.

—Kaze!—At that moment, Shoun grabbed Kaze's katana and limped over to him. He didn't let Kaze move any further and gently laid him on his own aching knees. Kaze's katana was sheathed and set aside by the masked man—How are you feeling?

—...I have no spiritual energy left in my core... I'm utterly exhausted... I won't speak while I recover my energy.

—Alright—Shoun tried to make his companion as comfortable as possible. After about ten minutes, Kaze sat up with Shoun's help.

—How did you end up so drained?

—I overused my abilities and my spiritual energy... Our bodies grow stronger when we ascend, but at the same time, they become more dependent on spiritual energy. That's why I could barely move.

—Oh, yeah, I think I heard something about that. It's like being dehydrated or starving. Little by little, the body starts to fail without water or food. Spiritual energy makes Codex users less dependent on those things, which is why we suffer without it, though lower-ranked users feel it less—After that pause, Shoun and Kaze fell into silence. It wasn't an awkward silence like when they first met. Shoun felt comfortable with him, and Kaze seemed to feel the same—This was... definitely an experience.

—You mean this fight?

—Not exactly. I mean coming to this place. Saying it was hard to survive would be an understatement, but I think I learned a lot too.

—I guess the description was right.

—Description?

—Well, my ability says this place is dangerous but equally rewarding.

—...Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way—At that moment, Shoun stood up and extended his hand to Kaze—Shall we go?

—Yes, that would be the right thing to do—Kaze replied, taking Shoun's hand to help himself up.

—By the way, what do we do with that thing?—Shoun asked, pointing at the remnant's corpse—I mean, it'd be a shame to just leave another one of those lying around.

—Didn't you say it'd be hard to explain where we got it?

—I stand by that, but what if we hide it? When I figure something out, we can sell it and split the profits.

—I guess that sounds fine.

From that moment on, Kaze and Shoun spent half an hour moving the corpse to a small ditch in the park, covering it with branches and leaves.

When they finished, Shoun finally took the time to check his status screen:

[Name: Shoun Foster»

«Age: 17»

«Rank: Seeker»

«Title:...»

«Ascension Points: 31/100»

«Abilities»

«Electric Flow: Your very essence has been touched by electricity since birth, to the point where you can control and use it to your advantage»

«Basic Electric Core: A part of your being, it exists and doesn't exist, both in your physical and spiritual body. It's where all your electricity is stored and generated, and it also allows the user to absorb electricity from other sources»

«Visa: Congratulations! You can now enter and exit the other world.]

—(What a simple description...)—Shoun thought, somewhat puzzled as he looked at the description of his new "ability," the key to his freedom—(In any case, I have 31 points now, and I only had one when I arrived... This is definitely a land of opportunities).

—Shall we go?—asked the masked man as he looked at Shoun. The latter closed his status window and nodded, so Kaze clasped his hands in front of his chest. A few seconds later, a screen appeared before Shoun's eyes.

[Interworld Travel activated. Accept?]

Without much thought, the excited Shoun agreed. A few seconds later, unlike his arrival in the mirror world, the world began to spin around both young men. White, black, and gray blended together, giving way to colors.

The trees regained their brown tones, the leaves and grass turned green again, and the sounds of cars going back and forth could be heard in the distance. The unnatural white light disappeared, replaced by the warm glow of the moon.

At first, Shoun felt a bit dizzy, but after a few seconds of feeling the breeze on his face, he managed to calm down.

—Ugh... I'm back—Just saying those words brought tears to Shoun's eyes, but this time he managed to hold them back.

—...I guess this settles our debt.

—Huh?... What do you mean?

—Well, I've fixed my mistake. I got you out of the mirror world and brought you back here. There's no reason for me to protect you anymore.

—I guess that's true...—At that moment, Shoun found himself at an internal crossroads. It was true that Kaze was only rectifying his mistake, but Shoun felt bad not thanking him. In the end, Kaze had taught him a lot. To Shoun, he was no longer just a stranger who had dragged him into an unknown world. He was something more—a companion, maybe even a friend? Still, Shoun hadn't forgotten that Kaze had put him in danger, but he decided to follow his instincts and made a proposal—I know you were just keeping your word, but... would you like to stay at my place? At least for tonight. I'd feel bad if you had to go sleep in that ugly room you call a "safe base."

—...Alright—Kaze agreed with the idea. After all, his body hadn't fully recovered yet. He planned to take a few days off from fighting anyway, and he didn't mind spending those days at Shoun's house.

—Perfect! Follow me. We're not too far, but we need to be quick. I don't want anyone seeing me shirtless—He added that last part with some embarrassment. After the battle with the Hydra, Shoun's poor shirt, which had endured three fights, finally gave out and was reduced to threads, leaving Shoun's torso exposed. His toned body revealed his athletic and sporty nature.

Kaze simply nodded without saying a word and followed Shoun on a quick walk through the empty streets. There weren't many people near the park at night, though neither of them could tell exactly what time it was.

Soon, they arrived at a residential area with many houses, some two-story but mostly single-story. All had a small backyard and a garage. The street in general looked clean and well-kept.

The two young men stopped in front of one of the few two-story houses. Shoun approached a specific rock in the garden and pulled out a key from a hidden crevice, then calmly opened his door. The young man still remembered with frustration the things he'd lost when entering the mirror world. Luckily, he hadn't been carrying his wallet that night.

—(Now that I think about it, what about my skateboard?)—He briefly wondered before dismissing the thought. It wasn't that important, and considering his current situation, it was the least of his worries—Take off your shoes before coming in—Shoun said as he removed his own. His shoes were dirty and slightly torn, but they had held up surprisingly well during the excursion.

—Why?

—It's a custom. Plus, it means I don't have to clean whatever you bring in on your shoes—Kaze found that explanation reasonable and removed his shoes, revealing his bare feet. For some reason, the masked man didn't wear socks.

Shoun just saw it as another one of Kaze's quirks and didn't pay it much mind. He turned on the light, and the living room of his home came into view. The decor was simple: several bookshelves filled with books, a TV mounted on the wall, a couch and a small coffee table in front of it. What stood out the most was a giant championship boxing belt displayed on the table beneath the TV. Kaze pointed at the belt and asked:

—What's that?

—It's a trophy my dad won. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but he was a boxer—a really good one, too. Thanks to his achievements, we were able to buy this nice house—Shoun replied with a hint of melancholy in his voice—I'm going to change. Do you need a change of clothes?

—I'm fine. This outfit repairs itself.

—Huh?—It was at that moment that Shoun took a closer look at Kaze's clothes. Among his companion's oddities, this was the most normal, but upon closer inspection, after multiple battles, they looked as good as new—Is it from an Alpha?

—I don't know. It just appeared when I became a Seeker—Kaze replied with a shrug. Shoun, on the other hand, simply suppressed his envy and went upstairs to his room.

His room was quite tidy. It didn't have much besides a desk, his bed, and a closet, but it was filled with posters of various bands, especially his favorite, The Red Phoenix.

As Shoun changed into a fresh set of clothes, he began to consider the whole topic of special clothing. These special outfits, also known as "Bearer Uniforms," were one of the possible byproducts that could be created from an Alpha's body.

They could interact with the spiritual energy in the air, naturally absorbing it. This effect was minimal, and as far as Shoun understood, it was difficult to exploit for anything too ambitious. However, this minimal effect worked perfectly for clothing that allowed a Codex bearer to fight safely.

In the end, it was primarily made of fabric. It was durable but not as much as armor. Still, many bearers preferred it for its comfort and because their own bodies were already highly resilient, making heavy, uncomfortable armor unnecessary.

When he finished changing, he found Kaze sitting on the couch, staring into nothingness. Shoun took his seat and turned on the TV, switching to the news channel to check the date and time.

—Phew, only four days. If it had been one more, I'd have had trouble coming back—Shoun was referring to the fact that he had to return to school tomorrow. A few weeks ago, a loose remnant had damaged some infrastructure, and they'd been given those weeks off while repairs were made. Meanwhile, Kaze watched the TV before asking Shoun:

—What's that?

—...You mean what's on the TV?

—If you mean what's on that square thing, then yes.

—...It's similar to a Codex screen, but instead of tests and information, this is something created by humans mainly for entertainment. This, for example, is a news channel. This one shows movies, this one is for sports...—Shoun spent a while explaining how the TV worked until he got hungry and went to prepare something in the kitchen—Do you want something to eat?

—Yes—Kaze replied, his eyes still fixed on the TV, remote in hand.

Shoun didn't pay it much mind and quickly made something for both of them. After a while, they were sitting at the table, each with a plate of pancakes in front of them.

—What's this?

—It's food—This time, Shoun didn't even bother trying to explain it to Kaze. He simply started eating, waiting for the masked man to follow his lead.

And he did. Kaze slightly lifted the lower part of his mask. What lay beneath remained invisible to Shoun's eyes, but he could see Kaze taking portions of food and placing them under his mask, then removing them and repeating the process.

Both ate until they were full. Kaze didn't say much, but by the way he ate, it seemed he enjoyed the taste of the pancakes.

—...Kaze, I'd like to talk to you about something.