Chapter 14 - Escalation

(1st Saga - Greater Magius, The Balance | Synoria Outlook Defense Arc)

It was difficult to say exactly how long the battle had lasted. 

All that really occupied my mind at the time was a mixture of relief and confusion, both of which stemmed from Setsuya’s decision to step in. After all, didn’t he hate me?

The average human would only perceive the fight as a rapid flurry of red and white, a whirlwind of disarray that dissipated almost as quickly as it began with only Setsuya remaining as the airborne energy faded from sight.

Even my own eyes struggled to discern each of their individual movements.

Worst of all, the display of power between the two of them forced me to realize that the captain’s corrupted state still held far more power than he ever used against me.

As the final stroke of the blade fell, I could barely make out the expression on his face. He appeared indifferent to the whole ordeal, yet something beyond his physical expression– perhaps it was the flow of his aura– gave off the faintest trace of reminiscence.

Despite her brash nature, Seika’s attentiveness to treatment and care was far beyond what I could’ve imagined.

After she finished her work on my wound, I barely could notice its presence aside from a dull ache.

Soon enough, we had begun our brief walk back to the inn.

While Setsuya maintained his usual silence, Seika made some attempts at conversation, almost all of which concerned my rapid development over the course of this morning.

“You really sure you’ve never trained with using your shard’s aether before?”

“I’m telling you, that was my first time properly using it in combat.”

“Is that so… then how’d you figure out how to circulate it through your body like that? And through your weapon too. That’s not just any basic technique a beginner could pick up within a few hours.”

“Oh, there was this one volunteer worker who came from the lumber team. He taught me how to wield my aether like that while we were fighting the first titan.”

“Hold on– you mean to say that one of them was able to wield their own aether themselves? As far as I know, none of them should be shardbearers– and beyond that, it took me, a shardbearer, nearly 7 years to learn how to draw from my own aether without consequences!”

“According to him, it’s apparently a more well known thing these days..? Supposedly, aether also goes by different names, those being ‘Spirit energy,’ ‘Divine energy,’ and ‘Ki.’”

“Huh, he must not be from around here then. Overseas maybe? The latter two I’ve heard of, but the term ‘Spirit energy’ is unfamiliar to me. Did you manage to catch his name?”

“Yeah. He said his name was Phasma.”

“Interesting… It’s not a name that’d come from Greater Magius, that’s for sure. Is he still in town?”

“I didn’t see. After the captain became corrupted, Phasma left to help evacuate people still within the southernmost buildings.”

“That’s a shame.”

In our spare time later, I managed to relay a rough description of Phasma’s appearance, although he mostly just looked like a generic lumberjack, only with a slimmer build.

Over the course of the next few days, Seika made sure to keep her eyes peeled for this individual who had caught her interest, but to no avail.

- Meanwhile

While the subject of Seika’s search briefly remained in Synoria Outlook, he took utmost care not to be seen by anyone. 

After all, of the people currently in town, Seika was the only other individual who posed the risk of seeing him.

Originally intending to help from the sidelines in the upcoming waves, he was surprised to find that not only could Kaito see him, but hear him as well.

Of course, the reason behind this became quickly apparent, with Kaito’s energy signatures clearly indicating him being the shardbearer whose appearance set World Zero’s Possibilities into motion.

These observations directly supported the information he was given before arriving in Synoria Outlook.

He ducked into a shaded alleyway along the street, nestled between two shops. It was unlikely that any normal passersby would see him, but it didn’t hurt to be a little cautious.

With casual familiarity, he swiped his index finger through the air, opening up a rather large system window littered with various boxes of text.

Within a few seconds, a circular icon in the upper left corner of the window lit up, prompting him to tap it as it opened up another window.

“So, how’d it go?”

The voice projected itself from the new window, yet only the ears of those designated could register it.

“I made contact with him as you asked. Took the liberty of helping him along a bit too.”

The voice sighed.

“I told you to be careful of what you say. Did you reveal anything beyond this world’s Possibility?”

“Relax. I just pushed him in the right direction of relying a bit on his own aether instead of just using the shard’s. Helped him a bit with the terminology too, since the other shardbearer in town seems a bit… how do I put this… inattentive to detail..?”

Before he could finish his sentence, a different voice jumped out at him with anxious restlessness.

“Exactly what terminology did you share?”

“Nothing much. Just the regional names frequently used to refer to aether to help him along as he’ll eventually meet other shardbearers. Y’know, ‘Ki,’ ‘Divine energy,’ ‘Spirit energy–’”

“SPIRIT ENERGY?!”

The man hesitated a bit, contemplating the weight of those words, before responding.

“Ok, so I maaaybe let something not of this world slip. But what’s the big deal? It’s just an arbitrary term, and it’s not like he’s gonna reach something crazy like the nature of the universe from it–”

The second voice began shouting in frustration before a third seemingly dragged it away.

“You dumbass. Let me phrase it simply for you. Spirit energy now places significance on the concept of ‘spirit,’ the very same placeholder term we’ve decided to apply to his attribute. On the off chance he figures out some more significant connection to his attribute from that? Well, that’s now on us to sort out.”

“Man, you lot are no fun. What’s wrong with a little bit of foreshadowing?”

The first voice now returned, exasperated as if it had wrestled the other two away just to get the chance to speak.

“Right now, all that’s important is that he can grow into a ‘normal’ life in World Zero. We don’t want all those connections popping up yet. So, with that in mind, do you think it’ll all turn out okay?”

“Yeah. Anyways, I’m sure it’ll fade to the back of his mind as time passes. Now, what’s my next directive?”

“We’ll be calling you back shortly, but before that, just out of curiosity– I’m assuming you two went through introductions, right? What name did you give him? Surely you didn’t use your true name.”

“Well… I told him I went by ‘Phasma.’”

The three voices dropped dead silent and he could almost feel their eyes burning a hole into his head with stares that could transcend dimensions.

“Really. That’s the best you could come up with? Hah! Sounds like a nickname some 9 year old kid would come up with to try to sound cool around his friends!”

He shook his head at the air.

“Ok. Not my greatest moment of creativity. Now can we please get a move on?”

Amidst the cackling laughter echoing from the window, the second voice replied in a more serious tone.

“Yeah, just give me a moment.”

[ Establishing Manaflow System link… ]

[ Calculating fastest route to designated summoning location… ]

[ Confirming user clearance… ]

[ Manaflow System user, Theseus, has been identified. Preparing transport… ]

“By the way, you might wanna brace for impact in about 10 seconds.”

“Huh? What for?! Where the hell are you taking me?!”

 [ Transporting < One > target to < Realm of Possibility >, < World Zero > ]

Kaito’s POV

The first sound that greeted my ears as we walked through the inn’s doors was Yukiko’s groaning voice.

The sight that accompanied this was her, slouched over the counter with her head in her arms, repeatedly slamming an empty glass against the table.

“What the hell– DID YOU GIVE HER ALCOHOL?!”

Setsuya dashed over and grabbed the man behind the counter by the collar, lifting him several inches off the ground, his hands slightly trembling as he did so.

Meanwhile, Yukiko watched as Seika and I passed through the doorway, motioning for us to sit down beside her.

Paying no attention to Setsuya's aggression, the man instead turned and addressed me.

Although we exchanged glances in the morning, we had never actually talked before.

“You must be Kaito. The name’s Taric. Nice to properly meet you after hearing so much from Yukiko.”

 Another name that definitely wasn’t local. However, it also didn’t seem to be of a similar dialect to Phasma’s name.

Noticing the lost-in-thought expression on my face, he chimed in, “It’s a more Southern name. I left just before the old government fell and ended up settling here in Synoria.”

“Ah, I see. Well, it’s nice to officially meet you as well.”

Noticing Taric’s deliberate ignorance, Setsuya shook him around a bit more, causing Yukiko to speak up on his behalf.

“Relax, nothing like that happened, so you can stop shaking him now. There’s other guests in here too, you know.”

Glancing around, there definitely were a few people in the room with their eyes on us, which Setsuya promptly noticed as well.

He quickly put Taric down and casually patted down his coat as if nothing had happened.

“So… why exactly are you like that then?” he asked.

“I’m just tired,” she replied, her voice muffled through the fabric of her sleeves.

“From complaining about you, I might add,” interjected Taric uninvitedly, prompting Yukiko to quickly look up at him with a scowl.

With a slightly displeased twitch of his eyebrow, Setsuya turned away from the conversation and addressed me instead.

“Come with me for a moment. There’s a few topics I’d like to discuss.”

He made a beckoning motion with his hand and began walking towards the back of the inn. 

As I passed by Yukiko, she whispered in my ear while flashing a thumbs up, “Don’t mess up. I managed to convince him to give you a chance.”

So that’s what this was about. I originally found it odd that Setsuya out of nowhere suddenly trusted me with the responsibility of defending the town again after vehemently despising me that very same morning.

Now, it was confirmed that Yukiko was behind that unexpected shift in demeanor.

I had to remember to thank her later, but for now, there was only one task at hand that I could focus on.