???——
〈Ms. Reiss, do you want some more coffee?〉
〈You did amazing today. The others surely will be jealous.〉
〈Now go, and make sure you watch out for any dungeon creatures!〉
Rei's eyes opened, and she noticed Soren and the kids standing over her.
"Ah," Soren noted. "You're awake."
"Y—yeah…" she groaned. "Are we still on the island?"
"Indeed. You've passed your test, and thus I shall give you a sigil."
He handed her one, and she took it. "What does it do?"
"Though it won't move the needle much for you, it shall boost you by a thousand levels."
She crushed it in her hand.
〈Level-Up! +1,000 Levels.〉
"Thanks, Mr. Soren!"
"Now come. You may reunite with your team before we begin the second phase of your training."
He motioned for her to follow, and the children helped her up.
"Thanks for the help, Ms. Rei!" Sarina stated.
"No problem! Anytime!"
They followed Soren, who led her out of the pillar and took her back to the main dojo, where Zaria, Rika, and Han were waiting.
"Rei! You made it back!" Zaria greeted.
She waved. "Hi! Are the rest of you done?"
Zaria and Rika nodded, while Han gave a thumbs-up, distracted. As Rei sat down next to her friends, Sora pulled back the curtain.
"One second, one more is joining you."
Sōshin burst from the back, nearly crashing into the kids. "Hi, friends!"
Han, Rei, and Zaria stared, confused, while Rika gave him a warm wave. "Hey there, Sōshin!"
"Sōshin?" the others questioned.
Rika nodded. "Yep! This is Sōshin! He's a full human now. No more creepy phone stuff, just a regular old—-how old are you again, Sōshin?"
"Eleven!" he replied.
"A regular old eleven-year-old boy!" Rika finished. "What do you guys think? Should we let him join us?"
"He looks super cute!" Rei complimented.
"Is he strong?" Zaria asked.
"I don't care either way," Han remarked.
"He's got his same powers, but he's got two skills now that he's human. The first one you already saw, and the second one lets him turn anything into a moving object!"
"That's pretty cool," Zaria admitted. "Hey, Sōshin, do you think joining us would be an awesome idea?"
Sōshin nodded. "Yep!"
"Okay, but you gotta ask Mr. Nyugawa! Make sure you show him whatcha got, I'm sure he'll let you aboard!"
"Okay!"
"Take a seat, Sōshin," Sora ordered.
He did so, and she sat in front of them. "Dear, could you please check their levels?"
Soren waved his hand. "Jugen-Kōbisha: Hyōteki Sōsa."
〈*Zaria Takeno.* Level: 3,055〉
〈*Rika Amakawa.* Level: 4,051〉
〈*Han Jisoo.* Level: 3,053〉
〈*Rei Hayama.* Level: 48,000〉
〈*Sōshin Shikōki.* Level: 6,512〉
"You weren't kidding," Zaria told Rika. "His level clears all of us! Except Rei."
"Told ya! He…just needs a little experience, that's all."
Soren and Sora both stood up, talking with each other. Once they were done, Soren addressed them. "The rest of the day you can use for your personal bearings. Tomorrow, we shall see what you have learned, for you will work as a team."
"A team?" Zaria wondered. "I'm still the leader, right? Cause Mr. Nyugawa isn't here."
"It does not matter who you choose," Soren inquired. "For any role can take on a leadership position. Though, ideally Kōbisha users make great leaders."
"Pff? Han?"
Han shot a glance at her before closing his eyes.
"Meh. Doubt he can handle it."
"I think I'd be great at it," Rika volunteered.
"No, no, no. Mr. Nyugawa said I'm in charge, so I AM in charge."
Soren guided Sora to the back, but not before turning to Sōshin. "Son, guide them around the island. Have them back by 8 PM, for dinner, and to assign their rooms."
"Will do!" Sōshin agreed.
As they left, Sōshin hurried over to the other exit. "Come on, friends! I've got so much to show you!"
"Guess we've got nothing better to do," Zaria shrugged.
The girls got up, and Han sighed before doing the same. Sōshin led them back into the main streets, where the positions of all the buildings had shifted.
"Is it just me, or did all these structures just move?" Rika questioned.
"They do!" Sōshin confirmed. "They reset and swap places every three hours!"
"So like, does your house move too?" Zaria wondered.
"That place we stepped out of is my house! And nope! It stays solid no matter what!"
"Is there any fun stuff to do?" Rei begged. "I want fun!"
"There's shops around!"
Rika immediately perked up. "Wait, shops? I wanna shop!"
Zaria slapped her forehead. "You just spoke her language."
"Take me to them, little brother! Please!"
"Sure!"
He grabbed her arm, leading her down the streets. Zaria and Rei stared, confused, while Han simply muttered to himself, looking around.
"Are they related?" Rei inquired.
"No, they are not," Zaria answered. "I don't know what happened between those two, and I don't know if I wanna. Let's just follow."
"Sure, sounds good!"
They both hurried to catch up, and by the time Han noticed, the rest of his friends were gone. "Eh? The hell? Did they ditch me?"
He bumped into a cleaning lady, who was busy wiping down the sidewalk. "Hey. Did you see three girls and a little boy around here?"
She stood up. "Oh, you're one of those new travelers! I believe they followed Sōshin down the streets and took a left."
"Cool. Thanks."
Han paced down the streets, just as a voice rang inside his head.
〈Han…I need your help…Han…〉
Han grabbed his head. "No, I'm not on your side…! I don't know you! I'm with Shinkaidan, not whatever organization you're a part of!"
〈Oh…silly…silly boy. I saved your puny life, and you won't do me one tiny favor?〉
"I don't do favors for you. Only for my Master and my friends."
〈I see. You'll come to regret that decision. Then you'll come crawling back to me…my little wayward boy.〉
Han shuddered as the voice suddenly disappeared. "What does she want? What even is she? Is she like that woman who stole the statue?"
He shook it off. "Doesn't matter. As long as she can't manifest and cause harm, everything should be fine…just gotta find a way to get rid of her."
He noticed a large outlet to his left, and he caught up with Zaria, Rika, and Rei, who were being dragged by Sōshin.
"Han, over here!" Rika waved. "Look! They sell sigils!"
Han walked over, where a bona fide sigil shop was being run by a mini female goblin.
"Greetings, humans!" the goblin greeted. "Willing to buy some of my loot?"
"Sure! Do we need sigils for this, though?"
"But of course! What would a sigil shop be without its sigils? And look, we even sell Tier 1 Sigil Armor here!"
"Well," Zaria noted. "It's not exactly Tier three like those Naraku jerks got, but I'll bite. How much?"
"700 Sigils!"
"700? For just ONE set?"
"Yep. Sigil Armor isn't cheap, you know."
"Argh, team, huddle up!"
Zaria dragged them into a huddle. "Even though we're in training, we kinda need this stuff. But I don't know why these sigil shops always drive hard prices!"
"Maybe we can call Mr. Omariro?" Rei proposed. "He likes us, I'm sure he'll help!"
"No, we probs shouldn't bother him," Zaria shot down. "He's already done a lot for us already. Plus we gotta get stronger on our own at some point."
"Then what's the gameplan?" Rika stated.
"She takes commissions!" Sōshin interrupted. "You guys can do some of those, like when you first met me!"
"Good idea, Sōshin! See, that's why we bring you along."
Rika ruffled his hair, as Zaria nodded and walked over to the goblin lady.
"Hey, uh, you got any jobs we can do to earn Sigils?"
"But of course! You can slay a level 85,000 Kraken for 2,000!"
"Uh…we'll pass," Rika shot down.
"What? That's 2,000 right there!" Zaria protested.
"None of us are even level 60,000. How are we gonna defeat a boss that high without Mr. Nyugawa, Zaria?"
"Fine. Your stupid argument wins. Anything else, lady?"
"Contain a level 76,100 Hydro-Shark for 1,400?"
"No, no, no!" Rika declined.
Zaria slapped her forehead. "Something manageable for low levels like us."
"Hey!" Rei argued. "I'm not low-level!"
"This Island holds regular races," the goblin explained. "If you wish, you can partake in one. 1st place earns 1,000 sigils, 2nd earns 800, and 3rd earns 600."
"That's not even enough for us to all nab a set of armor," Zaria groaned.
"Well, it is our best option!" Rika pointed out. "Right, Han?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Racing. How fun."
"See? Han agrees! What about you, Sōshin?"
"I love racing! Racing's fun!"
"That's two votes for racing! Do you wanna race, Rei?"
"Sure, sounds like a blast!"
Zaria sighed. "Ugh. Fine. We'll race. Miss Goblin, where do we go?"
"Head to the dock by the third pillar. You'll need a boat. They aren't provided for you."
"The hell—-what race doesn't provide the vehicles?"
"These races. Good luck!"
A UI appeared on the sign of her stall.
〈Commission Accepted: *Win a Shikōki Race.* Tier: 3.〉
"Tier 3? Damn, gotta mean those racers have spine to 'em," Zaria mused. "Whatever. To the dock we go."
Rika put a finger up. "One sec, gotta update Mr. Nyugawa!"
"Good idea, maybe he can give us some pointers!"
Meanwhile—-
In the Shinkaidan Mansion, Omariro was busy sipping on coffee and eating shrimp when Nonoka stepped out, in fresh clothes. "Hey, Mister, where's all your students? I don't see any one of them, not even that loud-mouthed girl."
"Kids training."
"Not with you? Why? Aren't you the best mentor they could have?"
"Want to add to skills. Went to secure place."
Nonoka tied her hair back. "I see. Can I get one more lesson from you tonight, please? I've got something I want to show you."
She took her bag off, pulling out the sigil armor. "My dad calls it the Hishō suru Washi no Yoroi. Be right back, I'm gonna put it on!"
Omariro continued eating his shrimp, not even paying attention to her as she hurried back into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she was back, hands on her hips.
"How do I look? Does it look good?"
"Seen hundreds."
Her face turned red. "Y—you have?"
"Yes. What does girl seek?"
"Kinda wanted to test it out, and I was wondering if you could help me."
Omariro snapped his fingers, and they were suddenly in the dojo, with his plate of food still on his lap. "Girl has few minutes."
"Okay! Uhhh…I'm new to this, so can I try out a few attacks?"
Omariro tapped his staff, and a bunch of training dummies appeared.
"Oh," Nonoka thought. "He still sees me as not worth his time. Well, I'll prove him otherwise!"
As she got into a fighting stance, a UI appeared on her armor's gauntlet.
〈Sigil Armor Buffs: ATK ↑ 25%, DEF ↑ 25%, SPD ↑ 35%〉
〈Sigil Armor Ability: *Wings of the Soaring Eagle.* Wearer can use Eagle's Reckoning every *45s.*〉
Nonoka cracked her neck. "Sounds good. So do these training dummies of yours move, or…?"
Omariro snapped his fingers. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Tenjō no Ōgon Bunshin."
The training dummies all turned into clones. Nonoka got ready. "This again? I'm ready for this!"
She touched her neck. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Noroi no Sukiru Kyōka!"
〈Buff Applied. 200% Buff to Current Party Member.〉
The clones lunged at her, and wind wings appeared on Nonoka's back.
"Let's try this out. Eagle's Reckoning!"
A large gust of wind rang through the dojo, knocking the clones back. Another clone grabbed her from behind, but she drove her leg into its knee.
The clone staggered back, and Nonoka managed to avoid her attack.
〈Ability: Ready.〉
"Eagle's Reckoning!"
Another gust of wind surged, sending the clones flying into the walls. Omariro watched, a hit of recognition in his eye.
"Girl fighting style…familiar…"
As she continued, Omariro slowly began to envision her as someone else…
A boy with black hair reaching all the way down to his waist.
———