Kenji sat cross-legged atop the ruin of a skyscraper, an amused grin playing on his lips as he watched the chaos below. From this vantage point, he looked every bit the amused god, overseeing the terrifying trial he'd unleashed upon his wife and daughters.
Ren sat happily on his father's shoulder, occasionally patting his father's head and cheering at the distant figures as if watching a particularly exciting sport.
Below, the three had gotten together in a barely coordinated teamwork that was painfully visible. Ayaka screamed as she waved a bat she had gotten her hands on, as she twisted around and ran, trying to avoid the zombies that were following her.
Aoi followed close behind, panting heavily, her eyes still glaring daggers at her older sister. She seemed to be trying to glare holes into her sister, blaming her for this..
"Remind me," Aoi gasped, dodging a lurching corpse with an awkward sidestep, her chest heaving, "whose idea was it to tell Dad to throw everything at us?"
Ayaka didn't answer, her legs burning and her lungs aching, too busy sidestepping a lunging corpse and doing her best to try and kill them with her bat. Her earlier bravado was now a sickening knot of regret in her stomach. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut when her father was talking earlier.
Kenji chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. Ayaka was the one who had said, "Throw everything at us, old man." And so, he had.
This wasn't just about combat training, he wanted it to be a necessary lesson. He wanted them to understand how terrifyingly powerless someone could feel when faced with a threat like the supernatural, someone who was normal, it was better to know this to move forward.
He wanted them to feel the desperation of fighting a battle where the odds are insurmountable, a feeling that had nearly consumed Ayaka the previous night when she lay bleeding. If you've felt this feeling before, then it won't easily catch you off guard out there in the world.
After nearly half an hour of frantic running and desperate evasion, the family had managed to kill a handful of the undead before they ran out of steam. They looked utterly exhausted, covered in dust and sweat.
Even Anastasia, who had gotten a good start thanks to her golves, had started to slow down after a few kills.
Stamina, they needed that. Well, work on that.
When the horde finally surrounded them, Kenji decided they'd had enough.
He raised a hand. "Alright, that's enough fun for now," he said lightly.
A faint purple shield of energy shimmered into existence around his family, forming a bubble with them all inside, the zombies all being stopped by it from reaching them as they groaned and clawed at the bubble. The undead clawed desperately at the barrier but could not break through.
Aoi stood panting inside the protection, turning her enraged gaze on her sister. 'I want to reach out and strangle her, ' she thought, the adrenaline-fueled anger overpowering the immediate relief. 'She should have accepted when Dad said he wanted to explain and let us take things slow at first, but no, she wanted to just jump in like that.'
Just then, Aoi watched as her father seemed to float down gracefully, slowly descending from the sky like a deity. He landed a few feet away and, with a casual movement, a single finger moved, pointing it skyward.
Suddenly, the ground began to quake violently, the sound a deep, grinding roar of tearing stone.
Aoi watched, wide-eyed, as the very earth was ripped open. An entire city block, ruined skyscrapers, cracked roads, buildings falling apart, and all, rose high into the air, spinning slowly as it just kept ascending into the sky. It seemed to pass even the clouds before, Kenji dropped his finger, and the colossal chunk of earth raced back down.
The sound was a single, shattering BOOM, a pure, concussive wave of sound and force that wiped the slate clean, obliterating the surrounding landscape. The shockwave would have no doubt sent the family flying if it hadn't been for the shield that was protecting them all.
The entire area around them vanished, leaving behind a scarred, smoking crater, reminiscent of a massive meteor strike.
Aoi just stood there, eyes wide, her entire worldview collapsing. The force, the sheer scale of the destruction, was incomprehensible. Was this really the same man she had grown up avoiding most of her life?
The man who had just one day changed into a loving father and now, just months later, had the power to rearrange the planet with less effort than it took to pour a glass of water?
She could see that she wasn't the only one whose jaw had dropped, her mother and sister were in a similar state of paralyzed awe, while Ren was laughing and clapping happily from his father's shoulder, delighted by the "magic trick."
Kenji smirked, crossing his arms. "Now," he said, his voice light but firm, "do you all want to actually listen to what I have to say, or do you still want to 'fight bad guys and become strong'?" He gave Ayaka a teasing smile, clearly referencing her earlier outburst.
Ayaka flushed deep red, looked down, and mumbled, "...We'll listen."
Anastasia and Aoi nodded wordlessly.
"Good," he nodded, satisfied.
"How did you do that?" Aoi couldn't help but ask, her curiosity overriding her terror and awe. The part of her brain dedicated to science was currently screaming in protest. How was that possible. How did he just do that?
"Gravity," Kenji answered simply.
"Gravity?" she repeated, her mother and sister listening intently.
"One of my abilities is the complete control of it. Gravity Manipulation," he said, the statement sounding entirely too casual for its insane implications.
Ayaka's eyes sparkled. "So cool! You have gravity magic!"
"Not magic, manipulation," Kenji corrected patiently.
"Is there a difference?" Ayaka asked, confused, tapping her foot impatiently. To her, weren't they the same thing?
"There is a fundamental difference," he confirmed, sensing the need for a stronger analogy. "Magic is different from the pure manipulation of a natural force. Think of it this way, Magic is like knowing how to drive a car. You can steer, accelerate, and bend the car's movement to your will. But you are still limited by the road, the engine, and the car's mechanics. Someone could learn gravity magic, but they aren't controlling gravity itself, they can only direct and bend the force already present."
Kenji paused, letting the silence emphasize the next point. "Manipulation is different. It's not driving the car; it's being the engine, the mechanic, and the road builder all at once. I can command and control gravity in any way I want, increase it, decrease it, or reverse it completely. I don't coax the laws of nature, I rewrite the canvas. That is the difference."
Ayaka still looked like she didn't fully grasp the distinction, seeing it only as 'cooler magic,' but Aoi was in complete shock. Her father had total, absolute domain over a fundamental force of reality.
That wasn't just magic, that was an obscene level of power that bordered on godhood, and the realization made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Were humans even supposed to have that kind of power. She just couldn't believe it.
"Is it really that great?" Ayaka asked, seeing her sister's face practically frozen in horror.
"It's not just great," Aoi said flatly. "It's crazy." Couldn't her sister understand just how absurd that was.
Kenji stepped forward, deciding to move past the immediate shock and get to the core of the training.
First, he mentally commanded his System to add them to his party. He watched them, expecting maybe a sign that they had gotten something from the system, but it seemed they hadn't. 'Did it work? ' he thought as he checked to see if they had been added, and yep, they had, but still nothing happened. 'That was Good. The System is keeping silent,' he thought with relief.
It was better like this, he was ready for them to ask some questions if they had gotten some access to the system, but it was okay like this.
He checked his interface and could see their stats, all of them were at Tier-10(Human level), the average human level for their ages. Anastasia was Level 8, Ayaka Level 5, Aoi Level 4, and Ren Level 2.
"Okay, first off, since I didn't get to explain before," he said, gesturing around them. "This is a subspace of a sort. It's where I train, and where I'll train you all." He waved his hand, and the cracked wasteland shifted, nearby rocks gathering to form crude, functional stone chairs. He motioned for them to sit.
"First off, you're all at base human levels, and we have to work on that. But we also need to know what you want to focus on and if you have the talent for that, so we can properly train. Accelerated growth happens when you lean into your natural affinity. Tell me what you want to train in, and we'll see what we can do."
Ayaka immediately shot her hand up. She stood up excitedly. "I want magic! Water magic! Oh, ice magic! Oh, oh, oh, fire magic!"
"Slow your roll," he said, smiling to calm her down. "Pick one for now. How about you, Aoi?"
"Magic too," she said, more sheepishly than her sister, but her eyes held the same level of excitement. Who didn't want to learn magic after all.
Then he turned to Anastasia. She hesitated, looking down at the enchanted gloves she was wearing. The gloves, though simple, felt like an extension of her own will. It just felt right to move and punch.
"I… I think I'd like to focus on a more physical combat approach," she said finally. She wanted the direct, visceral feeling of being strong enough to stand her ground.
That was surprising to Kenji since he knew she had also been interested in magic from the things she had gotten in Kyoto.
"Okay," he nodded, impressed that she had decided to take the close approach. Her choice was a good one, her natural attributes leaned slightly toward strength and agility already.
"And for little Ren?" He reached up to lift the little one, who giggled as Kenji tickled him. "We'll teach you a bit of magic later and exercise slowly now to get you up to higher levels. We'll take your training slow, son," no matter what anyone thinks. He was not going to start making his 10 year old fight zombies and suffer injuries.
He opened their stat pages. All of them had free stat points, though only a single point per level-up, unlike his gains. He allocated the points, Intelligence and wisdom for the magic users, and Strength and Agility for Anastasia.
With a snap of his fingers, two skill books, one red and the other blue, appeared before the girls.
"Magic grimoires," he explained. "Fire Magic and Ice Magic. I have already learnt these, so you can take them and use it."
The moment each girl touched a book, a golden light enveloped their hands, and a screen popped up in Kenji's interface: "Would you like for user to learn. Yes or No."
He didn't know that it could work like that for others, too.
He clicked Yes, and the books disintegrated into swirling sparks that vanished into their chests.
"What… what the hell just happened?!" Ayaka shouted, rubbing her hands together in disbelief.
"I swear that wasn't me!" Aoi quickly added.
Kenji ignored their shock. "Okay, now focus on the magic you just received. Try to feel the new knowledge integrating into your mind."
"Wait. We have magic now?" Ayaka asked, "Just like that".
Ayaka quickly closed her eyes and focused. She could feel a faint warmth beneath her skin, a sudden warm feeling, and she reached for it and grabbed it. She focused on that and pulled, and BAM! Fire exploded out of her hands, sending her tumbling to the ground in a comical fashion.
"Ayaka, are you okay?" Kenji rushed over.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, shaking off the dizziness and looking at the faint flames dancing in her palms. She had made fire. "Yes!" she shouted, grinning wildly. "I have magic, actual magic!"
He turned to see Aoi, who was much more careful. She focused until small, delicate ice snowflakes began to float over her hands, shimmering with faint, crystalline light. Her face split into a wide grin of quiet success, a stark contrast to her sister's chaotic joy.
Kenji looked at Anastasia, who watched with a proud, soft smile. "Don't worry, love. Since you chose the physical path, I'll craft something that will help you with your strength and speed. We'll get you some specialized gauntlets with Strength Enhancement Runes and maybe boots with speed runes."
He clapped once more, his expression sharpening. "Now, let's get started. You'll be fighting more zombies, monsters, and whatever else I decide to throw at you. From now on, just fight. I'm more of an action type of teacher, so I'll be helping and correcting as you grow."
He gave them a sharp, challenging grin. "Now, let's begin."
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