[97/100]...
[98/100]...
[99/100]...
[100/100]!
Zen quickly stood up from the ground
100 sit-ups [100/100]
100 pushups [100/100]
Run for 10 kilometers[10/10]
Eat 1kg worth of food] [0/1]
Drink a gallon of water [0/1]
Practice swing [100/100]
Practice thrust/stab [100/100]
Reward:5 exp, 1 stat point
Zen looked at the daily quest and realized he was going to fail. It couldn't be helped, there was no way for him to complete the last two requirements.
Zen picked up his dagger and was about to go get the rest of his stuff when the second door at the other end of the room suddenly opened, and out of it came a girl.
They both locked eyes at the same time, and for some reason,they both went quiet and simply stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.
Zen examined the girl. She looked like she had just finished exercising despite the fact that she wasn't sweating at all, and in her hands were two pairs of boxing gloves.
Zen only thought for a few seconds before asking
"Do you need a sparring partner?"
**********
Zen and the girl stood across from each other,a few feet of distance between them as they both readied themselves to spar .
Zen had honestly been caught off guard. Freya had told him that there were multiple rooms in the training area and each room served a different purpose. He had closed the door to the outside so he wouldn't be disturbed but it seems he had forgotten about the deeper rooms.
He took a moment to examine the girl who had adopted a fighting stance in front of him
She was the same height as him, she was in a white track suit,her skin was smooth and soft without a single blemish, her eyes were a shocking white color, or perhaps a silver or grey, however the feature which had actually stunned Zen for a second was her hair. She had long smooth hair that reached her back, what had surprised Zen about it was that from the middle of her head,her hair was actually separated into two colors,white, and black, quite similar to what how Zen had looked after using bloodline burst, however back then it had only been a small patch of his hair and not half.
After they had both determined
After a few seconds of staring at each other, they both seemed to have decided to begin at the same time as the girl suddenly dashed towards Zen,her fist aiming for his head.
Zen hurriedly crossed his arms, blocking her strike, and as he did, the girl's eyes widened as she realized her opponents physical strength was nearly,or even completely equal to her's, having believed that in regards to brute force, such should be impossible, and although Zen's face didn't show it,he was thinking the exact same thing . They could both immediately tell that the other wasn't ordinary
The girl suddenly started throwing a barrage of rapid punches, trying to break through Zen's defense as she managed to keep him pinned. Zen couldn't help but think that this must have been how Crowley felt during their battle.
Zen felt the girl's fist retract. He lowered his arms and the first thing he saw was the girl's leg about to slam into the side of his head. Without much time to think, Zen raised his hand to block the kick, and the next second, delivered one of his own, straight at her side.
"Hmph" the girl snorted
She suddenly took her only remaining leg off the ground, risking falling as she planted her foot squarely on Zen's chest, forcing him to release her just in time for her to dodge.
They both retreated a reasonable distance from each other and began to stare at each other, and with more curiosity than animosity, almost like they were surprised at the other's strength.
"She.... she kinda reminds me of Azrael" Freya mused, watching from Zen's perspective.
The two seemed to have had enough waiting as they both suddenly charged at each other at the same time,fists flying
************
Zen was currently on his way back to his room. The outcome of the battle had actually been undecided but Zen's mind wasn't on any of that, he was thinking of something much more important, and it seemed the system agreed with him.
[New quest received]
[Shhhhh!]
[Objective: One of your classmates has obtained information you'd prefer to keep secret. Find a way to get her to keep your secret]
[Reward: instant level up]
Zen, looking at the quest, sighed. He had been careless.
He had taken off his gloves during his exercise and hadn't put them back on when the girl entered. He was already a hundred percent sure she had seen the symbol on his hand, but now the system was confirming it.
"So what are you going to do?" Freya asked
"Dead men,or in this case, dead women, don't tell secrets"
Freya went quiet. She wasn't against the idea but she felt like there could be another way. She was honestly a little excited when the girl saw Zen's hand.
She knew him more than anyone, and knew that the only way he would ever make a friend or even an ally was in a situation where he was at the disadvantage, an example of this was with Maximilian, she also knew that such a situation was almost completely impossible due to how cautious he was.
In the end she only sighed as she realized that killing the poor girl was most likely the only option, unless she wasn't as simple as they thought.
Zen eventually made it to his dorm and as he expected,all three of his roommates were there chatting.
Zen didn't bother to greet them as he sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. In his mind appeared the shockingly beautiful girl whom he had just sparred with. Her looks weren't his concern however as he mentally recreated each and every single one of her movements during the battle.
While doing so, he remembered Freya's strange comment on how the girl reminded her of "Azrael" and suddenly felt like he could agree with this. Their movements were similar, almost completely identical actually, that was probably the reason why throughout the entire battle,only one solid hit had gone through, and that was the one she had planted on his chest.
"Yo, Zen. What are you doing?" Maximilian asked from his bed.
"Planning to kill someone" Zen replied honestly without opening his eyes
Maximilian's expression became strange upon hearing this. Xavier on the other hand burst into laughter, finding it funny
"Ha ha ha! Are you getting into a fight or something? If so,count me in!" Xavier said,smiling as he brimmed with enthusiasm.
A few minutes later, Zen's eyes slowly opened. He had decided to take a break for now, not because he was tired, but because he realized that, first, actually managing to kill a student in what was essentially a military stronghold without being caught would be difficult,especially since he didn't know much about the academy and this girl probably did. Secondly, the chance that the girl had already reported what she saw definitely wasn't low.
Speaking of which,why hadn't she ran out to inform the academy the moment she saw his hand? In fact there was no need. Zen was a hundred percent sure that the girl was capable of subduing him. Their physical strength was about the same, that plus the fact that she had an ability meant that she could have attempted to subdue him right there, but she didn't.
The only explanation Zen could think of was that she was being cautious. She probably thought he had some tricks up his sleeve and although he really didn't, Zen could understand her worry.
Zen laid on the bed and looked at his right hand and started thinking. Just under some leather was something which could cause widespread panic and devastation. This mark would cause parents to abandon their children and run in terror,it would cause all the world's powers to unite under one banner out of sheer hatred and terror, it had already done so multiple times. On no corner of the universe would someone see this mark and not recognize it as something vile, that was the extent of the atrocities of the arcade as well as its players. To the outside world, this organization and its followers were evil incarnate.
Zen sighed and dropped his hand. He couldn't care less about any of these. Most of it just seemed exhausting to him now.
"Just don't think about it too much" Freya attempted to comfort him.
"So what about you,Zen?" Xavier directed a question to him.
Zen thought for a bit. Although he was paying attention to something else, he actually did still listen to what the three were chatting about.
The three had been talking about themselves and getting to know each other. Neo had told the others about the circumstances surrounding his life. His parents had mysteriously disappeared, leaving him at a young age to care for him and his little sister up until now.
Ironically, Maximilian and Xavier didn't really have much to say. They were both home schooled, however, afraid that he wouldn't be able to learn social skills and would become awkward, Xavier's parents had allowed him to go to regular school until he was five years old. They both trained since birth using the unique methods of their families, and were both awakened autonomously
Zen suddenly realized that since Neo mentioned that he also autonomously awakened, they were all autonomously awakened.
"Well don't keep us waiting. What's your story? You can start with the name thing if you'd like. And what are you doing there by yourself? Get over here "
Zen saw that Xavier had left his bunk and gone to lie down next to Maximilian on his, and was pointing at Neo's bunk while gesturing for him to come over.
Zen didn't see a reason to say no so he simply walked over to the bunk bed and climbed up to Neo's bed using the ladder
Neo welcomed him with a smile, having gotten somewhat use to his silent demeanor and facial expression. As Zen finally arrived and laid on the bed,Neo suddenly looked confused about something. It almost felt like the air around him got a little cooler for some reason.
"So? Tell us about yourself" Xavier pressed
Everyone's focus shifted to Zen as they waited for his answer
"....I was abandoned as a child. For whatever reason, my birth parents decided not to keep me, after that I was... taken in by two women. As it turns out,i wasn't their first rescue. They had taken in another homeless child,a silly girl who i grew up with, and came to think of as my little sister. Both of my..... parental units were caring,loving....protective. They were skilled and powerful,they taught me a lot, and cared for me a lot too,or at least they tried"
Looking at them, Zen noticed that all his roommates had unexplainable expressions on their face.
"Bro, no offence..... but what the fuck was that! Who starts a story with ' i was abandoned ' !" Xavier exclaimed with a hint of sadness.
"What do you mean by saying at least they tried? Neo asked, his gaze not leaving Zen, and his tone notably softer.
"They weren't around much. They worked for a strict organization"
Zen's roommates all went quiet. They didn't know how to react,at least not all of them.
"Your folks sound nice, I'd like to meet them some time" Xavier said without thinking much.
"That won't be possible"
Zen suddenly stood up from the bed and slowly climbed down before heading for his own bed .
Maximilian suddenly picked up a pillow and threw it at Xavier
"What was that for?" He asked
"What do you mean what was that for? Do you mean you never noticed him using past tense when he was talking about his family?"
Xavier's eyes widened as he realized what that implied.
"Sigh, don't worry about it. I made a similar mistake while back as well ".
Zen's back landed on the bed as he lay down on the bed. He knew what his roommates were thinking, but he himself felt nothing from it,so he saw no reason for them to.
"Zen" Freya called out.
"Zen..... you know I'm not....dead, right?
"You are dead" he replied telepathically
"....."
"But that doesn't matter. Freya is Freya"
If Freya could smile, she'd have the biggest smile ever. It might have been nothing but just stating facts to Zen, in fact he might not even register the fact that it made her happy,but that's exactly what made it precious.
"Thank you, Freya.
"Hmm? What for?"
"The fight with the scorpions"
"You don't need to -"
"Yes I do. It's hard to explain but when the soul equip was active,i felt like I could actually feel your presence inside me"
Freya suddenly went quiet.
"We both know that I shouldn't have won that fight, especially with YOUR ability. We both know i wouldn't have been able to handle it alone. Thank you"