"What?!" Alice was shocked hearing the vision Rei wanted her to imagine while using her ability on the 3rd pen.
"Relax. We won't use it even if you succeed, though I doubt it will work even," Rei said with a dry smile. "We can know the details after turning the pen into a card. We won't use it and destroy the card, okay?"
"It's scary, but alright." Alice nodded and took a deep breath before activating her ability.
The pen transformed once again, but this time….
It was entirely black. Eerily black.
Harrowing black!
"Black Oblivion," Alice muttered the pen's name, but her vision also turned faint, and her body started swaying.
~Spoof~
Rei quickly grabbed the card before it fell and also held Alice. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"This intense fatigue… I can't exert any strength."
Alice spoke softly and slowly while Rei put her on the couch.
"Take some rest. It should be due to using your ability," Rei said with a wry smile.
His last request was indeed a bit too much.
Looking at the card in his hand, Rei read its details.
——
Name: Black Oblivion
-> One-time use.
-> Power: Produces a nail-sized black hole for 0.2 milliseconds.
-> Requirement: Gravity Command
——
'0.2 milliseconds?'
'It looks like her ability's ceiling is very high, but her potential has yet to bloom to that level. Also, what's with that requirement?'
Rei was surprised. He didn't know what it talked about, but the excitement was already bubbling in him. 'Gravity Command.... Sounds like some magical and supernatural thing.'
Rei then tore the card as it turned into motes and vanished. There was no use thinking about things far out of his reach. But, he knew that he would see a new horizon after leaving this planet, or rather, the solar system.
Even if he could use that pen, a nail-sized black hole that appeared for just 0.2 milliseconds was useless as it wouldn't do significant damage in that amount of time and size.
'Eh, it might disrupt the gravitation field and electromagnetic waves a bit. But it wouldn't be in a clearly noticeable way I guess.'
…
Since Alice was sleeping, Rei had nothing to do in the city anymore. As such, he decided to show his face in the academy.
"Gotta set up the stage for death," Rei said, his lips curling up into a roguish smile.
Rei went into his room to change.
He wore his usual casual outfit consisting of comfy but tech-like pants and a thin white t-shirt with an open slim leather jacket over it.
Last but not least, a pair of sporty boots and a scarf around his neck.
"Lock the door, double side. And inform me when Alice wakes up."
"Yes, Master Rei."
The mansion's AI spoke. It could detect human movement and had registered Alice in the database. So, if its camera detected Alice waking up and moving in the hall, the AI would send a message to Rei.
Rei opened the garage and took out his bike, a high-tech version of the old ninja: same size, more excellent design, and better specs.
Moreover, it was a black and blue color.
After revving his bike a bit, Rei took off.
~Vrooooooooom!~
Entering the city's central zone, Rei parked his bike and started walking. But the academy was still five kilometers far.
While walking, Rei was looking at pedestrians on the road and using his ability to check their abilities.
'Hen Nest?' Rei saw a middle-aged man's ability and was speechless. 'What can it do? Produce eggs?'
But the ability's name was in gray, which meant that the ability was not awakened in that man.
'Ice Rings.'
'Wind Shuriken? Interesting.'
'Ground Hog of Torrental Earth… Seems like a transformation-type ability.'
Rei was surprised. Transformation-type abilities were a bit rare.
Moreover, if that…ahem, woman, transformed into a Ground Hog, the result wouldn't be the creature people are familiar with, but a way more powerful and upgraded version of it, with some supernatural aspects to it.
Like some magical beast.
But what he was looking for was different, so he continued walking and inspecting others.
'Snow Cup.'
'Master of Dance.'
'Rose Garden.'
Time passed, and Rei continued walking while reading abilities.
But after half an hour, he paused. He was walking over a bridge that was above a city-circulated open river. The bridge was short in length but a hundred meters wide, making it a popular place for people to relax and enjoy.
Some people were in boats, while others were on the bridge with their families, taking a breeze or just getting together while watching the beautiful and clean river.
Food stalls and people also provided minor entertainment for whatever money people gave them.
But Rei's gaze swept past a woman who was with her family. She seemed to be a mom with two little kids and her husband.
'Fatal Shot, dormant. Tsk, but I wouldn't be able to recruit her.'
Rei was a bit disappointed.
For the final piece of his plan, he wanted someone with a potent and fatal ability consisting of pure offense.
'Sweat Bullets.'
'Flower Blast, eh? But I can't. It's a little kid.'
Rei continued while internally shaking his head.
The atmosphere was fresh but also high-tech. Milky Way Alliance has helped Earth in many ways, including restoring the planet's ecosystem.
So, even though technological advance was high, pollution was less due to everything running on electricity, solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal rather than fossil fuels.
'Potato Expanse… weird.'
' Armadillo Whisperer… Maybe if there were large cosmic Armadillos, this ability could be useful, haha.'
'Be In Pieces… Oh, an ability name similar to mine,' Rei paused out of curiosity and saw that the ability was not dormant but awakened.
It was awakened by an old man walking with his dog.
Rei continued walking leisurely as an hour passed and he neared the academy. He could see the gates.
'Last one,' Rey glanced at a young student who had left the academy. 'New admission in non-awakened below sixteen, eh? Let's see.'
Rei checked his ability, and his eyes turned wide.
'Damn, how useless.'
The poor kid's ability was… Butter Control, which allows him to control butter.
'…' Rei shook his head and entered the academy. He knew this kid would have to leave the main academy once he awakened his ability.
But he seemed fifteen or sixteen, so if he failed to awaken before his 17th birthday, he would be transferred to a non-awakened program.
…
Rei entered the academy after showing his ID card and messaged Leo.
[ Rei: Where are you in the academy? ]
[ Leo: Fixing an error in the academy's latest learning software. ]
Rei chuckled. The academy assigned Leo these types of work since he was very efficient because of his skills and his ability, Electric Pulse.
Leo could produce his unique electric pulse, which worked like scanners and invaders to any digital device.
[ Rei: I am at the academy since Alice needs some rest. Anyway, I'll check the Combat Zone and see how it's going. ]
[ Leo: Uhh, don't kick up some trouble. ]
[ Rei: I am here to plant the foundation. Brief me about your death plan. ]
[ Leo: We'll travel to Tidecall City, get on a private boat, and go missing. My parents will file a missing report, and we will be labeled dead after a fruitless search in the ocean that only got them our tattered boat and pieces of our clothes with our real blood stained. ]
[ Rei: Alright. I'll inform a few acquaintances about you and me traveling there soon without being obvious about it. ]
[ Leo: That's a good idea. Go for it. ]
Rei wanted to ask something else but refrained and cut the call.
'Leo was adopted just four years ago, so he doesn't have that much attachment to his parents, I guess….'
Rei knew they adopted Leo for his academic smartness and ability.
Same reason why no one adopted Rei. He was unbothered to excel at the top in academic studies and lived a 'my pace' type of life.
Anyway, studying and place to live were free until one turned twenty-one years of age. A plus point in the current Earth.