A Will to Grow

"My name's Ganji," the Goblin boy said with a bashful chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "I'm from the 505 Branch of the Black-Men. Also… a mentee of Sir Freed. Hehe."

My eyes widened. "Wait—he's your master?!"

Freed snorted. "Not exactly. He may look young, but believe it or not, he's way older than me," he said, slinging an arm over Ganji's shoulder with casual familiarity.

"I don't even know if I should be relieved, scared, or just plain annoyed," Shizu muttered, arms crossed and eyebrows twitching in frustration.

Freed's expression shifted. His usual lighthearted demeanor faded, replaced by something colder, sterner. "You shouldn't be worried," he said grimly, his eyes boring into us. "You should be scared. You're in a whole lot of trouble."

Both Shizu and I clicked our tongues in unison. "Tsk."

Freed waved a hand dismissively, as if shooing away a group of misbehaving children. "Now go on. I need to have a word with Ganji. Alone."

We hesitated, unsure how to actually leave the space we were trapped in—this odd, fragmented realm that didn't feel part of the real world. Shizu cleared her throat awkwardly. "Umm… Freed? How do we… leave this place?"

"Oh. Right." Ganji clapped his hands. The space around us fractured like glass, sharp cracks spreading through the air before the entire area crumbled away, collapsing into shards of light. In an instant, we were back in the damp, graffiti-laced back alley where it had all begun.

"We're back?" I blinked, glancing around. Everything felt normal again. I fished out my phone, tapping the screen. "It's working."

"Only five minutes passed," Shizu said in disbelief, staring at her screen.

"Only five?" I echoed, exhaling. "It felt like an hour in that place."

We stood there in silence as Freed and Ganji conferred a few meters away, likely about the mission—though we weren't privy to the details. We both turned to our phones, pretending to be preoccupied, but the tension between us hadn't dissipated. Freed may have saved us, but the friction from earlier still lingered like smoke after a fire.

Later, at the Izana Café

"You nearly got yourselves killed—for what?" Diana snapped, arms crossed and eyes blazing. "Some half-baked investigation mission? Really?"

We knelt before her, receiving her wrath like misbehaving schoolchildren. Shizu looked more irritated than apologetic, but I was too embarrassed to meet Diana's gaze.

"I expected this sort of recklessness from Shizu," she continued, her tone like ice. "But Deluke? I didn't think you'd be so careless."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, the weight of my guilt heavy in my chest.

Diana's tone softened momentarily as she looked at me. "I know it's not all your fault, Deluke." Her warmth vanished the moment she turned to Shizu. "But it's definitely hers."

"I… I just wanted to grind for value points," Shizu mumbled defensively. "How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

"Sorry to interrupt," Freed said, raising a hand. "But why am I being lumped into this punishment?"

Diana's glare shifted to him. "Because you're the one who let Shizu get her hands on that mission. You knew the Black-Men were responsible for it, and you still left it unchecked, knowing full well that Shizu was snooping around for missions to hijack."

Shizu and I turned toward Freed, startled by the revelation. He'd set her up—or at least, failed to stop her.

"I was a victim!" Shizu insisted.

"Shut up," Diana snapped. "Honestly, I'd rather punish both of you. But since Freed is technically responsible, he will bear the brunt of it."

"That's not fair! I—" Freed started to protest.

"Freed." Diana's voice dropped an octave, her presence growing like a storm cloud.

Freed turned to Roger in desperation. "Help me out here, man."

Roger just sipped his coffee. "Sorry. You're not getting out of this one."

Diana finally let us go, leaving Freed behind to receive the full extent of her verbal lashing. I slumped into a chair, exhausted by the chaos of the day. My heart was still racing—not from Diana's wrath, but from the lingering memory of that encounter in the spatial rift.

That being—whoever or whatever he was—had toyed with us like a lion pawing at mice. It wasn't just power; it was overwhelming, paralyzing dominance.

"I wonder," I murmured, staring at my trembling hands, "just how powerful he was to create a space like that."

Freed, now free of Diana's nagging and looking drained, dropped into the seat next to me. "That, my friend, was a Legendary Rank Awaken."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"Yep," he continued, "someone at that level can pull off crazy feats like spatial isolation. And just so you know—he wasn't even using ten percent of his strength. Maybe two, tops. Any more, and you two would've lost your minds in there."

"The good thing is you survived," Diana added, returning with her usual calm. "I even heard you managed to land a hit."

"Hehe, that was all me," Shizu bragged, puffing her chest. "I saved the genius boy over there." She pointed at me with mock pride.

"Coming from the one who passed out," I replied dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"Nothing. All I know is, I never want to feel that helpless again."

"So, you want to get stronger?" Roger asked, setting a hot cup of coffee in front of me.

"Yes," I said, the answer leaving my lips before I could second-guess it.

"You? With what determination?" Shizu teased, smirking.

"I don't need any," I replied calmly.

"He's right," Freed nodded.

"One doesn't need determination alone to grow," Diana chimed in. "Don't you know? Lazy protagonists are all the rage now. Growing strong without effort—it's practically a trope."

"That's manga logic!" Shizu groaned. "This is why I hate geniuses. But fine—I'm not letting you surpass me. I'll grow even faster. You'll see!"

"Yeah, good luck with that," I muttered, sipping my coffee.

"Don't you dare ignore me like that!" she shouted.

Diana, watching the back-and-forth with a quirked brow, leaned toward Freed. "What happened to them?"

Freed shrugged. "No idea. But I like it."

Roger smiled faintly. "They've developed something rare—a genuine will to grow. Maybe your risky gamble wasn't such a bad idea after all."

Freed looked surprised for a moment. Then he grinned. "Haha, you caught me."

"Don't act cool, dimwit," Diana said, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of strength… I think it's time for Deluke to begin training in a Secret Art."

"I've been thinking the same," Freed agreed. "But the problem is… we don't have many manuals that suit his potential. It's going to be a challenge."