"This is horrible…" Aster said as he, Hikari and three of his friends walked towards the cafeteria.
"What is?" The girl with blonde hair asked him.
"A B-Rank was found dead in the forest to the west of the city this morning. Isn't that close to where you live, Amelia?" Aster asked as he looked at the blonde, now known as Amelia.
"You live near the west forest?" It was Hikari's turn to speak up, intrigued as to why someone would live so far from the city.
"Mhm, my family doesn't really like the rustle and bustle here in the city." Amelia said as she moved closer to Hikari. "How long was the B-Ranker dead for?" Amelia asked.
Aster read the article more and saw that based on the autopsy, the B-Ranker had been dead for 4 days now. "That was the same time that wolf-humanoid was sighted…" Hikari thought. Little did he know, he was right on the money with that line of thought.
Hikari continued to ponder this as they walked, trying to reason if that really is the cause. Along the way, he asked Aster for the link so that he could read the article. When he looked at the photo of the corpse, he saw that the Drifter died due to a hole on his chest. Sadly for him, the camera used was an ordinary electric camera so he can't really sense the Celest. Yes, that's possible for all of them.
He did note, however, that the wound was too small to be inflicted by the humanoid. That means one thing. It wasn't a humanoid that did it. Rather, it was a human that did it. That was… concerning to say the least.
"You okay?" Amelia asked, her voice soft and sweet.
"Mhm, just investigating this case."
"Wow, since when were you a Prüfer?" Amelia said as she giggled. Hikari couldn't quite put it into words, but he felt at ease whenever she spoke. As if it was a far away pleasant memory.
"Pfft- No, I'm just intrigued."
There. It was that simple action that caught his companions off guard. Hikari laughing? Preposterous! Hikari didn't really feel like this should be a shocking event however. Even he giggles from time to time. He and his random personality that is.
When their shock subsided, they all went and found a seat to eat at. While the others went to get food, Hikari and Amelia stayed behind so that they could guard their table. It was then that Amelia broached the topic that had been bugging her since earlier.
"Why's Miss Idol stalking you?"
"Haah… she's really bad at it too huh?"
Hikari didn't look at Leia, using only his senses to observe her. And she was really bad at stalking him. Her glares were plainly obvious to those who had a shred of skill in observing. The young man just waved Amelia's question off, saying that it's best to not give her the time of day. This would go on for a long time after all, better get used to it now.
When the other's returned with their food, it was Hikari and Amelia's turn to buy theirs. Some of the people began whispering, seeing them walking together again. This became a common occurrence when they started to do this. Why? It was because Amelia was the "official" Third Strongest of the Nation. Official since the homunculi and Leia are actually a secret in power scaling.
Hikari sure is a magnet for strong people.
One such person walked towards them, her short dark blue hair quickly noticeable from the crowd.
"We need to talk." Viola stated.
"Don't move the plot yet, I want to eat." Hikari(?) replied, his voice overlapping with many.
"Huh?" Viola was caught off guard by that, but strangely enough, Amelia wasn't.
"Nevermind, what is it?"
Viola didn't answer him immediately, only pulling out her phone. There, she quickly typed out what she wanted to say and showed it to him. [It's about the wolf-humanoid.]
Hikari's eyes narrowed at that. Seems like the wolf-humanoid is making a move earlier than he thought. So now he has two problems. A wolf-humanoid Rift Beast and an unknown human threat that's killing Drifters. The latter only killed one, but who's to say they won't kill more.
The young man told Amelia to go on without him and tell the others he had something to do before going out of the cafeteria with Viola.
-x-X-x-
"Why are you escorting me home again?" Amelia asked Hikari nervously as they sat side by side on the bus headed to the west forest.
"Per request by myself." Hikari curtly replied, his eyes narrowing afterwards. "There's something I need to investigate there as well."
Amelia didn't pry further, already having a vague idea of what he wanted. Around half an hour passed before both of them arrived at the bus stop near the Leonhart Manor. Now, why would Amelia take a bus if they're rich? Well, that's because Amelia's parents didn't want her to grow spoiled. Which she didn't. In their opinion, she grew up to be a fine lady.
"Nice house." Was all Hikari said as he looked at the manor. Truth be told, he still didn't have a grasp on monetary value. Especially since everything will eventually return to the Void.
"Thanks, do you want to come in?" Amelia asked. Strangely enough, she felt like she was expecting him to say yes.
"Maybe later once I'm done with my thing. For now…" Hikari trailed off, taking his phone out. Seeing the device, Amelia immediately knew what he wanted. Taking the phone from his hand, Amelia typed down her number on his phone, seeing three familiar and shocking names on his phone. Mona Marigold, Viola Belrose, and Leia Starfall. The latter two were kind of to be expected, but the first one was completely out of nowhere. The official strongest…
"Who are you really…?" Amelia asked, the tiniest hint of fear lacing her voice.
"I… don't know. I don't even feel like I should exist."
With that, Hikari left. Amelia just looked at his figure as he grew distant, a faint feeling in heart.
"This is the first time I met you…"
Hikari walked away, wondering why that hint of fear hurt him inside.
"I shouldn't know you…"
And for the briefest of seconds, their eyes glowed. Hikari's was a magnificent crimson and Amelia's was a mesmerizing emerald.
"...But I feel like you're important to me."
-x-X-x-
It's been half an hour since that happened and now Hikari was still wandering the forest. His senses pushed to his minimum limits with restrictions, he tried looking for the wolf. Nothing, only the trees… that is until he felt the slightest movement on his neck hairs.
Quickly turning around, Hikari delivered a roundhouse kick on the humanoid wolf. The wolf staggered a bit, but quickly recovered, lunging back towards Hikari.
Seeing that this wouldn't be easy, Hikari summoned both of his [Armaments]. Ignis and Tempest manifested on his hands as he immediately pointed them towards the wolf. A paralyzing shot came out of Tempest, hitting the wolf's incoming claw. Then, it was followed up by a cremating shot from Ignis. The wolf was engulfed in blue flames in an instant.
Not wanting to get too complacent, Hikari jumped back, analyzing the situation more.
"Presence Concealment, quick to recover…" Hikari trailed off as he dodged a kick from the burning wolf. "High endurance…" He backed away, only for the wolf to disappear and reappear behind him. He saw all of this of course. Sidestepping, he dodged the incoming claw. The claw hit the ground, leaving five large cuts. "And finally incredible speed and strength."
Realizing his guns won't really do much, he uttered a command. "[Armament Shift: Shortsword." Both Tempest and Ignis morphed, the gun barrel shortening as the blades became longer. The handles of both guns straightened until Hikari could hold them in the proper angle.
The wolf howled, the fire extinguished. Its burnt skin and fur regenerated and even appeared to get more fortified. It was adapting to him. This was the biggest reason why Hikari needed to kill mutated Rift Beasts as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"I could just use "that" to kill you…" Hikari's eyes glowed a dangerous crimson. "But I'll have to analyze you first to see what your type is weak to. Y'know, for reference."
And with no warning, he was gone.