TWO MONTHS PASSED
He stands in front of his house door once more.
The air is dead inside, not disturbed. He steps inside and closes the door behind him, releasing a long sigh as he examines his image in the mirror veiled with dust.
His figure has filled out, his shoulders broader, his hair a bit longer, framing his face. The eyes containing a steely resolve. Dropping the magic stones he had collected beside the door, he sits onto the ratty, armchair in the corner.
Akira opens his status window, scanning the numbers.
Status Window:
[Name: Akira Shoto ]
[Level: 42]
[Attributes: White Lighting]
[Strength: 66]
[Stamina: 66]
[Agility: 66]
[Endurance: 66]
[Intelligence: 66]
[Quest: The Path of Vengeance: A Legacy of Blood and Fire]
Purpose: Seek out those who have hurt you and marshal the will to exact vengeance. On this path, will and strength are forced upon you perhaps against your will, through trials that shape your fate.
Reward: Increased power with clarity of purpose.
[Soul Infusion]
[Description: Temporarily infuse the body with residual energy of the soul, greatly increasing physical strength and speed, as well as magical energies.
It will also provide stamina and fast regeneration while active.]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
[Cooldown: 30 minutes]
[Passive Skills:]
[Rapid Growth]
[Description: Your growth rate is higher compared to the other STARS and enables you to gain experience from combat and challenges more quickly.
[Effect]: Gain 200% more experience rate from all the combat and challenges you face.
[Perfected Symmetry]
This passive skill balances your stats as you grow to make sure no stat has grown too weak. As the growth of your overall power, this skill spreads experience more evenly across all attributes so you have no drastic weaknesses.]
"It's really great"
[Effect]: Passive equalization of all attribute points so that no stat is considerably behind-assuring well-rounded growth and avoiding any critical deficiency in battle.
[This skill is dormant and will only awaken under the right circumstances. The nature of this ability, as well as its full potential, is a mystery for now, but in time, it will reveal itself to give new abilities or enhancements.]
[Skill Name:????]
[Condition: Locked]
"My growth rate really fell" - He says to himself, scratching his chin,
"Guess that's what I get for sticking with the D-rank dungeons, all because that fake ID capped me."
"I'm going to need to get around that somehow if I want to really want to grow more."
He closes the window, rolling his shoulders and stretching out the knots from countless battles.
He'd gathered a good amount of magic stones in the last two months-enough that Hiroshi should be able to get him a decent payout.
Akira - "Right."
"First, I got to send these to Hiroshi, then get some of this type of clothes too… And maybe a haircut."
He chuckles, running his hand through his hair, which for the most part now falls messily around his face.
"Can't be showing up looking like some kind of wild beast."
His grandmother flashes into his mind then, and the smile is gone.
"She must be worried sick… that i just disappeared like that."
"I have to see her," he growls low, his face setting into a determined hardness.
For two months, I've gotten used to this lifestyle—fighting, leveling, honing my abilities. No one's been there to see it, to measure my growth, but I can feel it. There's a difference in my stance, in the way I feel. I'm stronger. Way way more stronger than I was before. The D-Rank Dungeons aren't even a challenge anymore. But I still haven't tested myself against another awakened in a real fight. That'll come soon enough.
Later, having send the magical stones to Hiroshi, Akira pockets his money and disappears along the quiet alleys, casing town for a decent tailor. He comes upon a humble shop; the smell of fresh fabric greets him as he enters.
Picking out a sleek black sports costume—a lightweight hoodie-style shirt paired with comfortable, flexible sports pants, both designed for agility and durability—he threw them over his shoulder. Then he made his way to a barber's shop next.
He watched himself in the mirror as the barber worked shears through the long strands, literally and figuratively feeling the weight of the past two months fall away with every lock.
He steps out onto the street, feeling refreshed yet somehow not changed, his new clothes comfortably fitting on him as he began making his way to his grandmother's town.
He arrived with a taxi at Seoul village in Bukchon.
Every step on this stone-paved street of Bukchon stored echoes of memories Akira had kept away. Soft hums of the village filled his ears until one voice pierced his thoughts.
"Akira?"
He freezes, his head snaps toward the voice.
There stands Hiro a few feet away, his high school friend he hadn't seen in a long time.
Hiro is 19 year old , with a lean build and striking yellow eyes behind simple rectangular glasses. His black, slightly messy hair frames a calm, thoughtful face, and he tends to dress in dark, fitted clothes.
Hiro's eyes are wide, treading into a mixture of shock, disbelief, with a touch of color from relief upon his face.
"Is… is that really you?"
Hiro's voice breaks as he edges forward cautiously, as if he half-expects Akira to disappear if he gets too close.
"I thought you were… I thought you were dead!"
Akira gives Hiro a hard stare and slow nod of his head.
"It's really me, Hiro,"
He says in that low, even voice of his.
Hiro approach, Akira's face studying it as if he's trying to map the changes.
"Everyone thought you were gone, Akira."
"Your grandmother… she…"
His voice finally just trails off, and he swallows, trying to steady himself.
"She..."
Akira panicked shouted at Hiro
"What tell me what happened."
Hiro voice finally out
"She was devastated."
"Someone officer came… they told her you had died."
"She even held a funeral."
The words strike Akira with the weight of a handful of stones, each heavier than the last.
"I'm sorry, Hiro,"
He murmurs out, his voice barely audible.
"There's so much you don't know."
"I was trapped, cut off."
'I couldn't reach anyone."
He stops here, unable to say any more, unable to explain the half-life he has existed in.
Hiro nods, his features soft, though his eyes still reflect some of the pain
"You really don't need to explain it all."
"Just...come with me."
"She needs to see you."
He motions toward the path that takes them back toward Akira's grandmother's house, and they walk onward in silence.
As they strolled, the streets they had roamed as kids unraveled before them everything was just so familiar that Akira felt the pang of bittersweet emotion.
The tree where they used to carve their initials, the corner shop where they'd buy candy… he felt like peeling back the layers of time, each memory tinged with the realization of all he'd left behind and the path he has choosen or let's say this path choose him.
They start walking on the narrow path uphill toward her small little house, nestled between the cherry blossom trees, with faded chipped wall paint.
As they come up to the house, Hiro turns to him,
"She never stopped believing you would come back, you know,"
He says softly,
"Even after they told her… she held onto hope."
"But as time went on…"
He falters.
"You were the only one she had left, Akira."
Akira fisted his hands at his sides, fighting the scratching guilt.
They reached the front steps, where Hiro gave an encouraging nod.
"Lets go"
Hiro gives a light knock at the front door as their hearts race in waiting.