Fritz crouched triumphantly on top of the demon's limp body, flashing a smug grin. He adjusted his stance like he was modeling for a magazine cover.
Ethan rolled his eyes.
"What, you want me to take a picture or something?" He asked, his voice laced with annoyance.
Without a word, Fritz nodded, holding his pose proudly.
"Well, too bad" Ethan replied curtly, crossing his arms and eyeing Fritz with an obvious irritation. In one swift motion, he grabbed Fritz by the shoulders, dragging him toward the exit.
"You're no longer needed here, thief," he growled, the frustration over his "stolen victory" barely contained.
…
Ethan lifted Kai, who had been knocked out cold during the chaos and tried hoisting him over his shoulder. He groaned under the unexpected weight.
"WhY aRe YoU sO hEaVy?" he muttered, struggling under Kai's dead weight. Stumbling, he made his way to the car and loaded Kai into the backseat.
A few minutes into the drive, Kai started to wake, slowly coming to. He rubbed his forehead and glanced around, blurry-eyed. "What happened?" he asked.
"Did you kill it?"
Ethan shot him an incredulous look, taking a moment before pulling out his phone and snapping a quick selfie with Kai's groggy face in the background. With a smirk, he captioned it, "This loser really got KO'd #hahahaha" and sent it to Haydon.
"Shut up," Kai groaned, annoyed but too exhausted to argue
"I wasn't even talking," Ethan replied, feigning offence.
A second later, his phone dinged with a reply from Haydon, a photo of himself at The Agency, with the caption
"KO'd #hahahahahaha"
Back at the Agency, Kai sat across from Tatsuo in his office, going over a mission. Tatsuo's desk was neatly organised, the light casting a warm glow over the room, creating an odd contrast to the frustration Kai felt.
"How did the mission go?" Tatsuo asked, looking him over with a critical but compassionate gaze. "Did you manage to kill the demon?"
Kai looked down, his hands clenched. "I wasn't strong enough. Not even close," he admitted.
"Fritz had to help us."
He sighed, a frown pulling at his face. "I thought…with my new ability, I'd be able to handle something like this. I managed to beat demons in the simulation. It felt so much easier there."
Tatsuo studied him in silence for a moment as he leaned back, then spoke with a calm but piercing tone.
"Kai, power is only one part of the equation. Experience is the rest. You can learn skills, and develop techniques, but without knowing how to handle yourself in the chaos, those things are just in the wrong hands."
He placed a hand on Kai's shoulder, his gaze steady. "The simulation is designed to make you feel prepared, but it's a controlled environment with rules. Real battles don't follow rules… they challenge everything you think you know, everything you believe you're capable of. It's not a question of strength alone. It's about learning to adapt, to think, to survive."
Kai nodded, Tatsuo's words sinking in.
"Thanks. I'll… keep that in mind."
Tatsuo leaned forward, "You can go home now, Kai."
That night, Kai laid in bed, Tatsuo's words swirling in his mind. "Why am I so weak?" he whispered to himself, staring up at the ceiling. "I thought I was ready… Why can't I see what I did wrong?" Frustrated, he closed his eyes, his thoughts still racing as he finally drifted into a restless sleep.
The next morning, Kai arrived at the classroom, relieved to find Ethan and Willow already there. He approached them, looking around. "Where's Haydon and Ava?" he asked.
Ethan froze, looking guilty as he searched for an answer. "Uh, um…Haydon's ill?" he finally stammered, his tone unsure, as though he didn't quite believe it himself.
Kai looked momentarily worried, but his face softened. "Oh…again? I hope he gets well soon."
Kai then glanced around, frowning. "What about Ava?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
Ethan's eyes lit up mischievously as a plan to mess with Kai formed in his mind. "I don't know," he replied, voice dropping to an ominous tone. "She's probably dead."
Kai's eyes went wide and froze for a moment, processing Ethan's words. "Wait…what? Are you serious?" his voice wavered between panic and disbelief, as he looked at Ethan he realised that he was joking.
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!" Kai shouted
"Because she could genuinely be dead," Ethan responded, his tone wickedly playful.
Kai threw his hands up. "Alright enough games," he snapped.
Ethan looked mildly offended
"WHAT! But I got a good hand!" Ethan says with disappointment as he looks down at his cards.
From seemingly nowhere, Kai glanced down and found a set of cards in his own hand.
"HOW DID THESE CARDS EVEN GET IN MY HAND?" he demanded, utterly baffled. Off to the side, Willow rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with the antics.
…
A few moments before dawn, an ordinary fisherman stood at a harbour, his quiet morning interrupted by a chilling scene. Flames roared around him, consuming everything, and the rocks tumbled down as though the entire world was crashing down.
He staggered backward, but a figure stood before him… a man who, at first glance, looked almost human. But the aura radiating from him was suffocating. It pushed the fisherman to the ground, his chest tightening painfully as he struggled for air.
"Would you like it if I ended your suffering?" the man asked, his voice resonant and icy.
The fisherman nodded frantically, his vision growing blurry. Without a moment's hesitation, a sharp pain pierced his chest, and everything faded to black.
The tall man with short wavy hair, and black roots bleeding into red tips, looked down at the body, then pocketed the fisherman's heart, blood splattering his hands and shirt. He smirked, glancing at the fiery wreckage around him, then disappeared into smoke.
…
Haydon who was alone in his room, idly scrolling through his phone when a message popped up from Kai
"Could you train me?"
Haydon's lips curled into a mischievous smile. He was all too familiar with Kai's eagerness to improve, and it sounded like Kai was ready for a real challenge this time. He typed back a quick "Meet me at the Agency, and don't hold back," and leaned back, already thinking of a few brutal exercises he could throw Kai's way.
The next morning Kai entered the Agency, brimming with energy. He approached the secretary 'Klein' who pointed him down a hallway, but before he could take a step, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to find Haydon grinning from behind him.
"Ready?" Haydon asked, his tone both challenging and casual.
Kai nodded, determined. "Lead the way."
As they made their way to the training rooms, Haydon glanced sideways at Kai. "You're decent in simulations, I'll give you that," he said. "But when it comes to real fights, you hesitate, and that'll get you killed. So let's make it simple."
Kai looks up with a confused look waiting for what his challenge could be.
"I want you to attack me. As hard as you can, with everything you've got."
Kai smirked, confidence in his voice. "This'll be easier than the simulation."
Haydon raised an eyebrow, amused. "You talk the talk, let's see if you can walk the walk."
Ten minutes later, Kai was breathing heavily, his forehead dotted with sweat and still hadn't managed to land a single hit on Haydon. Haydon moved with a fluidity that made him nearly impossible to pin down. He would dodge, sidestep, and occasionally counter with a quick jab that Kai barely had time to register. Each attempt Kai made only highlighted how much further he had to go.
Growing frustrated, Kai felt his fists clench tighter with every failed attempt. Sensing his frustration, Haydon smirked and grabbed his phone. After a few quick texts, Ethan appeared in the doorway moments later, clearly amused by Kai's struggle.
"Have you hit him yet?" Ethan asked feigning sympathy
"No," Haydon answered for Kai, as he dodged Kai's lunges with ease. "But I think he's due for a little encouragement."
Ethan studied Kai's moves, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. After observing a few more rounds, he spoke up, "Kai, you're hesitating too much. You're trying to land one big hit and pausing to see if it works, you are making it seem like practice, if you actually want to hit him don't treat this like practice."
"Don't think about it, just keep adjusting to his movements, keep your attacks fluid, make each hit flow into the next and change the pace of which you are attacking to hide the intentions of each attack."
Kai took a deep breath, nodding as he absorbed Ethan's advice. He felt a fresh surge of energy and readied himself to try again. This time he wouldn't fixate on landing just one attack.
He lunged forward, his movements quicker, more deliberate. Haydon dodged, but Kai was already shifting, slipping around Haydon and reappearing at his back, fist cocked and ready. With a sudden burst of strength, Kai swung, landing a solid hit to Haydon's jaw. Haydon barely had a moment to react before instinct kicked in, he twisted, countering with a forceful punch that sent Kai sprawling across the room.
Ethan's eyes widened. "Oh sh*t," he muttered, looking impressed as he stepped forward to help Kai up.
Kai staggered to his feet, one hand rubbing his face where Haydon had hit him, but he was grinning.
"I DID IT!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
At that moment, Tatsuo stepped into the training room, his gaze falling on Kai's face, now swelling and turning a deep shade of purple from Haydon's punch.
He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Dude, you've got a black eye!"
Haydon looked around, suddenly embarrassed. He took a step back, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to hide behind Ethan. "I didn't mean to! It was just a sparring match!"
Kai winced, his fingers prodding at the tender skin around his eye. "Yeah, a very… effective sparring match," he muttered, but he couldn't suppress his pride
Tatsuo put on a mocking yet serious expression, shaking his head at Haydon.
"Haydon! I didn't send Kai to you to get bruised up. I thought you were mentoring him, not giving him a crash course in how to get beat up."
Haydon shrugged, trying not to smile. "Hey, I was just showing him what a fight looks like."
"Looks like a one-sided fight to me," Tatsuo quipped, crossing his arms. "I mean, who knew 'mentoring' meant giving him a black eye?"
Ethan snorted. "What's next? A lesson on how to get punched in the face?"
"Actually, I think he's got that one down pretty well now," Tatsuo replied, smirking.