Ryuji was engrossed in reading a book when suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind, "Ahhh! I want to come out!"
Ryuji looked around, startled.
But the voice continued, "Hey! Don't look around; just say my name."
Ryuji asked, "Whose name?"
The voice replied, "Oh, have you forgotten? I'm your Zuek, Kaya."
Ryuji exclaimed, "You! But where are you speaking from?"
Kaya shouted, "Say my name first."
Ryuji agreed, "Alright, Kaya."
Immediately, a glowing white figure of a girl emerged from within Ryuji. Unlike Syria or Kira, she wasn't large. Her body was that of an ordinary girl.
As soon as Kaya came out, she shouted at Ryuji, "Why did you keep me locked inside for so long?"
Confused, Ryuji replied, "Because I didn't know how to let you out?"
Ryuji was surprised to see that Kaya looked like a young girl, whereas Syria and Kira resembled women. He wondered if it was because Kaya had just come into existence.
Kaya said, "Anyway, I'm not going back inside now."
She quickly sprawled out on Ryuji's bed. Ryuji, who had never seen a Zuek up close, was fascinated to observe that Kaya looked almost like a spirit, with a tail-like structure connected to her back instead of legs.
Ryuji asked, "By the way, where do you stay inside me?"
Kaya answered lazily, "Near your soul."
Ryuji further asked, "Are all Zueks female?"
Kaya responded in an uninterested tone, "We don't have a gender. We just appear as female."
Before Ryuji could ask more, Kaya interrupted, "I'm sleepy. Let me sleep."
Ryuji asked, "Zueks can sleep?"
Annoyed, Kaya replied, "Why, do only humans get to enjoy sleep?"
With that, Kaya turned away and went to sleep, but Ryuji had so many questions about her, especially why her behavior was so peculiar.
He thought perhaps Zueks were like humans in some ways, as Kaya acted like a young girl around thirteen or fourteen, which might explain her crankiness, while Kira and Syria, who resembled adult women, behaved more maturely.
With these thoughts, Ryuji had to be content since Kaya wasn't willing to answer any more questions.
Elsewhere, Akari waited in a room for Masaki. Suddenly, Masaki appeared in the room.
Seeing him, Akari immediately approached and said, "Masaki, they're planning to perform a ritual on Ryuji again. If they do, they might uncover his hidden powers."
For a moment, tension appeared on Masaki's face, but he still responded in a calm tone, "Have they realized we erased their memories?"
Akari shook her head, "No, but they're suspicious. Masaki, we have to stop this ritual by any means."
Masaki asked, "When is this ritual supposed to happen?"
Akari replied, "I'm not sure. The headmaster hasn't approved it yet, but they're pressuring him. He might give approval soon."
Masaki instructed, "I want you to convince the headmaster that Ryuji is capable. He's already bonded with a Zuek. If he becomes a Sleek Hunter, they won't be able to perform the ritual on him."
Akari asked, "And if that doesn't work?"
Masaki replied, "Then I'll handle it my way."
Saying this, Masaki disappeared.
Just then, Kira's voice echoed in Akari's mind, "Akari, why do you want to stop the ritual? What will happen if they discover Ryuji's hidden power?"
Akari replied, "If they find out, who knows what they'll do to him? They might experiment on him to unlock his powers, or worse, they could kill him. If word spreads about his powers, it won't be good for him."
Meanwhile, unaware of all this, Ryuji was struggling to reach his room door. Something was preventing him from moving forward – it was Kaya, who clung tightly to Ryuji's bed.
Ryuji tried to pull himself free, saying, "Let me go! Masaki is back; I need to meet him."
But Kaya held onto the bed tightly, replying, "No, I'm not going anywhere."
Ryuji insisted, "No matter what, I'm going!"
Kaya retorted, "And I'm not going, no matter what."
Both started pulling against each other until Ryuji pulled hard enough to bring the bed closer to him, causing Kaya to lose her grip and bump into Ryuji, who then collided with the room door.
Happy to have freed himself, Ryuji got up to open the door, but Kaya grabbed his ear, pulling it and saying, "I told you, I'm not going anywhere!"
Ryuji winced in pain and, trying to free his ear, asked, "What kind of Zuek are you? Instead of helping me, you're bothering me. You seem more like a spoiled spirit than a supportive one!"
Furious, Kaya shouted, "You're the spoiled one!"
With that, she started tugging at his eyes, ears, nose, lips, and hair. A chaotic battle broke out between Ryuji and Kaya, leaving his room in a complete mess.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Hearing it, Kaya quickly disappeared back into Ryuji, and Ryuji sensed from the aura that it was Akari.
Ryuji opened the door, and as soon as it was open, Akari asked, "Ryuji, you need to hurry..."
Then, noticing the state of his room, she asked, surprised, "What were you doing?"
Ryuji quickly thought up an excuse, "Nothing, I was practicing my Soheigai, but this room turned out to be too small for it."
Akari stared at Ryuji for a few seconds, then said, "Anyway, leave this and come with me. I need to introduce you to someone."
Ryuji asked, "Who?"
Akari replied, "Someone who'll be very pleased to meet you."
Saying this, Akari took Ryuji with her and teleported straight to Master Ned's office. Akari moved so fast that even with his golden eyes, Ryuji couldn't keep up.
Ryuji asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
Just then, Ryuji sensed a powerful aura. Turning around, he saw it emanated from Master Ned, who was seated on a chair.
Seeing his aura, Ryuji thought, "He's incredibly powerful. Akari and Masaki would seem like children compared to him."
Master Ned stood up and asked, "So, is this the boy?"
Akari smiled and said, "Yes, this is Ryuji. And Ryuji, this is Master Ned, the second master of this base."
Ryuji thought, "So this is the power of a level 4 Sleek Hunter."
Gathering himself, Ryuji said, "It's an honor to meet you, Master Ned."
Master Ned looked at Ryuji with great interest. He could see that Ryuji's aura was far stronger than any other Sleek Hunter of his level.
Master Ned remarked to Akari, "Amazing, this boy's aura is equal to that of a junior."
Akari added, "Not only his aura, but he himself is powerful. He defeated a level 1 Sleek with a single attack, and he didn't even have a Zuek at the time."
Master Ned, intrigued, said, "Really? Then I'd like to see his strength."
With that, Master Ned disappeared.
Akari turned to Ryuji, "Ryuji, you'll need to prove yourself to him."
Ryuji asked, "Prove myself..? But why..?"
Akari explained, "He's a master. If he sees potential in you, he might help approve your application."
Ryuji's eyes sparkled as he said, "So that means I'll become a Sleek Hunter?"
Akari nodded, "Yes, exactly."
With newfound determination, Ryuji said, "Then I'll give it my all."
Akari gave him an encouraging nod and transported him to a field where Master Ned was already waiting.
Upon seeing Ryuji, Master Ned instructed, "Ryuji, the best way to gauge someone's strength is to let them go all out. I want you to attack me with your full power."
Ryuji, a bit hesitant, held out a rod that transformed into a sword at his touch, and said, "Soheigai!"
He charged at Master Ned with incredible speed, which surprised the master. However, just as Ryuji reached him, Master Ned moved slightly aside.
Ryuji was astonished because, even with his golden eyes, he hadn't seen Master Ned move.
Undeterred, Ryuji attacked again, but every time, Master Ned avoided his strikes effortlessly, as if it were a child's game. Soon, Ryuji grew tired, and his speed returned to normal.
Observing this, Master Ned thought, "His Soheigai is very fast, but he can't maintain it for long."
Panting, Ryuji activated his speed again, "Sohengai!"
Master Ned noted, "He reactivated his Sohengai so quickly."
Once more, Ryuji attacked, but as before, he couldn't even touch Master Ned, and his Sohengai wore off.
But Ryuji once again says "Sohengai" and returns to his speed.
Seeing this, Master Ned thinks, "He has activated his Sohengai without stopping for the third time. But how?"
Then he remembers that even after two months of intense training, Ryuji still hadn't learned to control his spiritual energy.
Recalling this, Master Ned thinks, "Now I understand. The training he did for two months wasn't in vain. It's the reason he can use Sohengai repeatedly without stopping. But unfortunately, Sohengai is all he has."
Meanwhile, Ryuji was thinking, "Master Ned's speed is too high. He doesn't even have to put in any effort to dodge my attacks. At this rate, I won't be able to touch him. I'll have to think of something else."