The next morning, Agami is driven out of the city in Gearfried's car. A simple vehicle that wouldn't attract the attention of pedestrians or cautious cameras. In the driver's seat was the owner of the car himself. His eyes focused on the road, and wary of potential enemies. Imino sits on the passenger seat beside him, a sleeping Maria resting on her lap. Remaining quiet and vigilant throughout the whole ride, and only moving to change the radio when commercials aired. Victor, Olya, and Agami occupy the backseats. Vito is preoccupied with his portable gaming system while Olya seems to be typing messages on her phone, most likely messaging friends. Meanwhile, if Agami wasn't staring out the window, he was admiring the clothes Danzo loaned him. As his brother said, it was ‘to make him look less of a bum’.

  “Oh, right. This singer recently got shot.” Gearfried suddenly says as a new song comes on.

  “I told you to stop with the morbid jokes,” Imino responds. Surprised to hear his mother speak for the first time, Agami intently listens to the conversation.

  “I'm not joking. It was on the news last week.” Gearfried responds.

  They both go silent for a few moments before Imino speaks again, “Wait, you weren't joking?! Was it her uncle? Sora and I have a bet going.”

  “From the camera footage, it was the uncle.” He says, turning onto a gravel road.

  “That liar, he didn't tell me because he lost! When I see him…”

  “What was the bet?” Gearfried asks, his curiosity piqued.

  “We bet on chore duty for a week on how that story would end. I said ‘death by uncle’ and he said the ‘deal would fall through’,” She answers in a slight huff. As she explains the bet, the car begins slowing down.

  “Explains why he took the kids to the arcade last night.” Stepping out of the car after it has stopped.

  Opening the doors and stepping outside, Agami finds that they have stopped in the middle of nowhere, far outside the city. A few trees are spread out from one another, and the location is far enough to stray away from curious eyes. As he takes in his surroundings, Tenmei flies out of his arm and says, “Seems this is where we shall train.”

  After a few moments, Gearfried instructs them to group away from the car. Following his instructions, eventually Olya and Agami stand opposite Imino and Gearfried. Looking towards one of the nearby trees, he sees Vito still busy with his portable gaming console and Maria sleeping quietly under the shade. He returns his attention to the group.

  “Good. Before we begin training, it's important we do some stretching.” Agami looks over to Olya as she gives a small wave and smiles. He explains and shows a couple of dynamic stretches that are done in pairs. Although initially embarrassed, Agami manages to complete the ones explained by Gearfried. Afterward, he instructs the two to do a light jog to a distant tree and return. Having done so, he feels slightly tired but ready for action.

  “Alright, it seems we are ready.” Gearfried says, “Agami, I want you to take down Olya.”

  Surprised by the sudden task, he quickly looks at the girl beside him and back at his uncle, “Uhhhhh, okay?”

  Agami and Olya turn toward one another and take a fighting stance.

  “Stop,” Gearfried suddenly says.

  “Huh, what's wrong?” Agami asks confusedly.

  “You're wide open. Too many holes in your defense.” Gearfried bluntly replies. He quickly takes a stance, “Copy me. With this, the enemy will have a harder time hitting you, and your arms and legs will be quick to react.” Trying to mimic Gearfried, Agami tries to take the same stance multiple times but keeps stumbling or is slightly off. Gearfried, realising it's best to show him, quickly walks to Agami and moves his arms and legs in awkward positions. After Gearfried walks away, Agami stands in a pose that feels a little unnatural, but he should get used to it over time.

  “Sorry to say this, but you were an open book earlier,” Olya adds after. Unable to attend to her comment, Agami focuses on maintaining the stance his uncle put him in.

  “Good, now begin!” Gearfried shouts. Trying to maintain the stance, Agami runs forward but is immediately thrown to the floor by Olya.

  “A little too predictable,” She says with a slight smile.

  “Agami, don't just rush in! Plan your moves,” Gearfried shouts, “Now again!”

  “Damn it,” Agami curses under his breath, “This may be a bit tricky.”

  Adhering to his uncle's advice, he begins slowly circling Olya, trying to find an opportunity to strike, while recovering from having his world turned upside-down. Literally. Finally reaching behind her, he approaches but more cautiously. He tries to grab her shoulder with his right arm, but before he can reach her, she ducks and sweeps his legs, tripping him. Lying on the floor face up, Olya looks over and says, “Better, but still lacking follow-through.”

  Standing up and resuming the stance Gearfried showed him earlier, he focuses and the vent on his arm opens in preparation for a surprise attack. Before he can enact his plan, Gearfried loudly whistles and shouts, “FOUL!”

  “What?” Agami turns toward him as he stops.

  “You're doing this without the armament for now. You need to get used to the idea that it's not always going to be there.”

  “Yeah, but-” Agami is suddenly interrupted as Tenmei appears.

  “He is correct, Agami. You should not need to constantly rely on it.”

  Taking a deep sigh, Agami closes the vent on his arm and continues his training.

  After numerous unsuccessful attempts, Agami collapses to the floor, exhausted.

  “Okay. You're slowly getting there, but you still have a way to go. Take five,” Gearfried tells the exhausted man, as he walks toward the small picnic the twins have set up for everyone to rest at.

  Damn it! At this rate, I will only be a burden! I can't understand what I'm doing wrong. I need to get stronger, but how? As Agami sits in his lament, he hears footsteps behind him. Turning around, he finds Imino standing quietly behind him. He stares at her as she stands there silently. Is-...is she going to say-

  “Do you know how much a roof costs?” Imino suddenly asks, interrupting Agamis' train of thought.

  “Eh?” Agami can only muster, surprised by such an out-of-place question.

  “Nothing. It's on the house.”

  Agami just stared at her, confused at what she said out of the blue. Did she-...Did she just make a dad joke?

  Embarrassed by her joke, she quickly looks away. After a brief moment, she clears her throat and says, “You are thinking too linearly. You’re trying to vary a starting move that is already flawed. Think about what you want to do and work backwards from there. You’ll see more options.” Saying that quickly, she walks to join the others taking a break.

  What I want to do?

  Thinking deeply about Imino’s words, he enters a deep state of thought. This way of thinking feels strange, yet his mind is stirring.

  His mind is focused on different strategies, so much so that he didn’t notice the approaching Olya. “Heya. I was worried about you, so I brought some refreshments. Can’t train on an empty stomach.” She says, arriving with a bottle of water and a pack of peanuts.

  “Oh-...uhm, thanks,” Agami responds, awkwardly grabbing the refreshments from her.

  “You seemed to be thinking quite a bit there. Is something wrong?”

  “Hm? No, I was just thinking of ways to take you down.” He says as his mind constantly drifts to what Imino told him.

  “Really? Can’t wait.” She replies, slightly smiling.

  After a couple of minutes, everyone returns to their positions. “Alright, let's take it from where we stopped,” Gearfried instructs.

  Agami takes his stance, slightly more comfortable with it than previously. Alright, let's do this.

  Agami immediately dives in, taking a low stance. As he reaches her, he aims for a quick jab towards her head. Predicting it, she prepares to counter, but before his jab reaches her, he immediately plants his left foot and sweeps with his right leg. This sudden change caught Olya off guard, but unfortunately, Agami himself was also caught off guard with it. OH, CRA- Seemingly losing his balance due to the weight shift, he accidentally kicks his leg in the air as he falls back.

  Olya stands in stunned silence, while Gearfried looks on, stone-faced. After an awkward pause, Imino breaks it by saying, “Good try, Agami, but practice beforehand.”

  Gearfried glances at his sister and gives a slight smile, happy that she is helping. Returning to Agami, “She's right. A move is only as good as the person's familiarity and flexibility. Good work, but keep that in mind next time.” He says as he watches Olya help him up.

  “Again?” Olya asks Agami as he dusts himself off.

  “Yeah, let's keep at it,” He responds.

  As the training proceeds, Agami continues to practice the same move. While he does this, Olya does not actively counter it, allowing him to become accustomed to practicing his movements and making adjustments as needed.

  After a couple of tries, Agami completes the move, but before he can take Olya down, she notices his newfound proficiency and counters him, causing him to fall again instead.

  “Oh, come on,” Agami complains.

  She giggles and answers, “Didn't say I'd let you win.”

  Forgot she knows how to fight.

  Standing up again, Agami practises a variety of strategies and moves. Often being interrupted by either Imino, Gearfried, or Olya teaching him something new or correcting him.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  After numerous hours, Gearfried watches as Agami shows signs of exhaustion. Noting it, he announces, “Alright, everyone. I think that's enough for today. Let's do some light stretching and head home.”

  Following his instructions, Agami does some light stretches with Olya, and they both hop into the car afterwards. Making sure everyone is inside and they left nothing behind, Imino jumps in last. The drive back is a bit noisier as Vito's handheld gaming console died, and Maria was awake this time around. To keep themselves occupied, Vito kept speaking about some cartoon superhero he saw on TV to Agami while Maria listened to him drone on about it.

  Reaching the hotel, Agami is exhausted, but has a newfound appreciation for Cosmic Shine, the ultimate superhero. He promised his younger brother they could watch him after he showered.

  Refreshing himself after a long day of training, he eats dinner by the television with Vito, watching Cosmic Shine defeat the monster, the All-Consumer. Watching how the hero reacts to perilous situations with a smile and awesome poses weirdly clicks with him. The fight becomes more intense as Cosmic Shine’s Universal Burst Attack doesn't work, as the All-Consumer, well, consumes it. But in a brilliant twist, Cosmic takes advantage of it and unleashes his ultimate move, Infinity Burner. As he is about to activate it, he suddenly hears behind him, “THIS IS TRUE INFINITY!”

  Both turned around in surprise, it seems Sora had returned and gotten into the show, even pulling off a pose.

  Suddenly, an idea sparks forth in his mind, feeling inspired by the hero and his actions. Finishing his meals, he greets everyone and calls it an early night. Closing his door and sitting on his bed, he realised that for the whole day, Tenmei was barely present.

  “Uhh, Tenmei. You there?” He says, speaking to his hand.

  “Hi. Yes, I am. Is something wrong?” The spirit asks quietly as it floats out.

  “Not really. You were just quiet today, so I wanted to check up on you.”

  “I am alright. I was busy checking the armaments and their conditions. I suppose it took longer than I realised.”

  “Oh. Find anything?”

  “Well, I discovered that your arm is still underdeveloped without the other armaments. Each of them can only hold and generate a certain amount of soul power, so right now, we are working on the bare minimum.”

  “I see.” Agami pauses, looking outside toward the city before returning to the conversation, “Is it difficult to pass on the other armaments?”

  “Not really. The only challenge is preparing your body for it. If you are not ready, you could die from exhaustion or too much soul power flowing through your body. Looking at your progress, it could take a while.”

  “Oh, alright,” he answers lazily. Absorbing all this, Agami begins drifting off to sleep. But before he can lie down, Gearfried quickly opens the door, surprising both Agami and Tenmei.

  “Get out here. We have a guest.” He quickly says, leaving.

  Can't catch a break, can I?

  Walking towards the lounge, he finds everyone standing and looking towards the sofa, except for a waiting Gearfried. Feeling on alert, he cautiously approaches. Looking towards the couch, Agami is surprised to find the man he delivered the parcel to earlier.

  “The recipient from two days ago?” Tenmei says, surprised as Agami is.

  The man sitting on the couch was nervous. Looking at his posture, he was as uncomfortable as Agami was.

  “Hey, Agami. This guy says you know him. Is he telling the truth?” Danzo asks, remaining composed.

  “Yeah. I met him two days ago. I-” Suddenly remembering Byron and Senzo, he immediately put up his guard. “He was with Phenton!”

  Everyone else tenses up immediately, realising Agami’s sudden change in posture.

  “Knew it,” Gearfried says, as he immediately pulls out a gun and aims it at the man's head, immediately pulling the trigger. But the bullet fails to leave as Sora’s hands cover the barrel and the chamber, stifling both the bullet and its sound.

  Taking the gun away from Gearfried, tossing the bullet from his hand like trash, and unloading the gun. “Damn it, Gears. How many times do I have to say ask before you shoot?” Sora reprimands. As he argues, Agami glances at his father's hands, only finding the glove damaged, but no blood.

  “He could be with Baltro! His being here is a risk.” Gearfried argues.

  “Tell him I do not sense a link to him. There is no Benefactor imprint on him.” Tenmei says to Agami.

  “Tenmei says that he has no signs of imprints on him,” Agami adds, trying his best to remain calm and trust him. They stop arguing, and Gearfried steps back, gesturing at Sora to interrogate him.

  “Okay.” Taking a deep breath, Sora faces the stranger, “Explain yourself.”

  The stranger looks around nervously, knowing that if he were to try anything, it would spell his immediate doom. After a few moments, he speaks, “My name is Ken. I used to work for Phenton and recently carried out the assassination of Markov Vordier.” Hearing that, Danzo and Sora’s eyes sharpen, while Agami suddenly feels his heart rate tighten. Did I help him kill someone?

  “Agami, I know what you are feeling right now, but close your heart to it.” Tenmei transmits to the man, calming him down.

  “Right now, without Phenton’s protection and the assassination, it is only a matter of time before Baltro comes after me. I was hoping to seek your help,” Ken continues, Gearfried suddenly walking over to his computers.

  “Why should we help you with Baltro? It sounds like you're already comfortable with benefactors, should be easy to find one to back you up.” Looking towards Imino, he says, “Imino, go get Vito and Maria out of here. Danzo, monitor the situation.” Sora commands before returning his focus to Ken, whereafter Imino and Danzo execute his tasks without delay.

  “Please, I need your help. I’m already sticking my neck out here by doing this. I can help you find him.” Ken says, sounding more desperate as Sora watches him.

  “I can’t see anything yet.” Danzo suddenly says.

  “Me neither.” Gearfried adds.

  “I-...I think we should trust him,” Agami weakly adds, trying to calm the situation.

  “Sorry, kid. But I have no way of knowing if he is telling the truth or not. Can’t take any risks that he is with Baltro.” Sora says, scratching his head and doing some light stretches.

  Agami walks over to Ken and whispers, “Come on, I want to help you. Is there anything you can do to convince them?”

  Ken looks at him in surprise and pauses. Ken goes quiet and appears to be in deep thought. Suddenly, the man's arms, legs, and eyes disappear, horrifying Agami. “The hell is this?!” Agami says, unable to comprehend the horrors before him.

  “Hmm, what’s wron- HOLY HELL, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” Sora shouts in surprise, noticing what happened to Ken.

  “I-I- DON’T KNOW, IT JUST HAPPENED!” Agami screams as well. The rest of the group notices their surprise and pause and remain silent, mostly in shock. Imino notices Ken’s face as she enters the room with the twins and quickly makes a U-turn, taking the sleepy twins back to their room.

  “Do not be alarmed, I sacrificed my limbs and eyes. If I am to tell a lie, they will be forever lost. This is the only way I can get you to believe me.” Ken says calmly, not moving from his spot, nor showing signs of pain.

  Sora looks around confusedly, Gearfried shrugging as he too was at a loss for words. Trying not to question the situation any further, he sighs and resumes his questioning. “Okay. Ummm, really got me in a bind here. So if you lie, you’re stuck like this?” Ken nods his head.

  “I-...I have the ability to give something up as long as I meet its conditions. After the bet, I can get everything back as long as I have held my end of the bargain. In this case, I gave up my arms and eyes to tell you the truth. Once the interrogation is over and I have earned your trust, they should return as long as I haven’t lied.” Ken adds.

  The room remains silent for a brief moment, everyone deciding whether to believe him or not. Given what happened to his body, he may not be lying. Agami watches in silence, unsure what to make of it. I wouldn’t have told him to do that if it had led to this.

  “You cannot blame yourself, Agami. No one would have been able to predict this…well, maybe Danzo could have,” Tenmei communicates to Agami. Hearing this, he quickly glances at his brother, who has not moved an inch since he was told to ‘Monitor’ the situation.

  “Okay, okay, okay.” Sora says to himself, pushing past recent events and resuming his questioning, “Are you working with Baltro?”

  “No.”

  “What is my name?” Gearfried suddenly asks.

  “What? Why are you asking that?” Sora says, surprised by Gearfried.

  “I am setting a baseline. We don’t know much about his ability or what he exactly promised, but if he is telling the truth about this deal he made, we still don’t know what conditions he gave. So we make him tell us something factual, and if he can’t answer it, we’ll know if he has been lying the entire time.”

  “Hm, makes sense.” Sora looks back at Ken, “Answer him.”

  “Your name is Gearfried Daragoneir. One of the grey twins.” Ken replies, his voice full of anxiety. After saying his name, Ken seemed to relax.

  “Okay. Now that that's out of the way, let’s continue. Can you really help us find Baltro?”

  “Yes. I am an excellent tracker… And, I have connections.” He responds, making sure not to slip up.

  “How did you find us?”

  “I was initially looking for clues on the man behind you, “Sora quickly glances behind him to see Agami standing there, then quickly looks back. “When I was looking for him, Baltro’s people had already found him, so I followed them. I saw Gearfried attack those people and bring Agami here. After, I did some digging in the hotel's database and found you.” After he finishes, Sora shoots a sharp look at Gearfried, who in response makes a slight gesture as if to apologise.

  “We need to be more careful.” Agami hears Olya say under her breath.

  “Why did you kill Markov if you knew Baltro was going to come after you?” Sora asks.

  “It wasn’t my choice. I was only following Phenton's orders.”

  “Why then?” Sora continues asking.

  “Because I was in debt with The Maximus.”

  Hearing that, Sora quickly looks over to Danzo and Gearfried in surprise before returning to Ken. “The Maximus? Why would you get into debt with someone like him?”

  “It wasn’t my choice. My father sold me to him to cover his debts. He is a horrible man, selling anyone and anything as long as he doesn’t face the consequences. I was just collateral to him.” Ken answers, a hint of resentment evident in his voice.

  Easing up on him, Sora asks his final questions, “Why do you want our help?”

  “Phenton wanted Markov dead because he was embarrassed by him. So much so that he lost nearly all his followers. I was loaned to him so that I could send a message to Baltro. I didn’t expect Phenton to be killable and thought he would cover me.” Ken pauses, a slight smirk on his face, “Heh, but even if he were alive, he would have sold me out immediately. There was no way I was going to live.” Ken seemed to have drifted off and was speaking to himself. Getting him back on track, Sora snaps his fingers in front of his face to get his attention. “Oh, sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.” The smirk fades from his face as he continues, “I-...I want to live. I need to make sure that my father pays. And to achieve my goal, I need to live. Because if I don’t stop him, who will?”

  After Ken finishes, Sora stands in silence, taking in his words.

  “You think we can trust him?” Gearfried asks, unsure what to make of it himself.

  Sora looks over to his eldest son, “Danzo?”

  “I don’t see anything still. So he should be fine.”

  Taking a deep sigh and pausing to recollect his thoughts, Sora makes his decision and speaks, “Alright. I acknowledge your words.”

  Suddenly, Ken’s arms and eyes reappear. It seems he wasn’t lying. Agami’s worries turn into relief as he sees the man return to his normal form. Ken quickly checks his body and says, “Thank you,” as he stands up. Looking over to Agami, he smiles and says, “Don’t worry about what you’ve done. You have helped me more than you realise.”

  Hearing Ken’s words, a weight feels as if it has been lifted from Agami’s shoulders. Sora and Ken walk outside together, discussing something. Looking at Danzo, he asks, “Who was Markov Vordier?”

  Rubbing his eyes, Danzo walks over to Agami and answers, “He was one of Baltro’s lieutenants. Don’t know much about him, but there was evidence to suggest he was involved with some human trafficking. Even cutting deals with some dangerous people, like The Ashes.”

  “The Ashes?” Agami asks.

  Danzo wipes his glasses as he answers him, “Yep. Don’t get involved with them and don’t worry about them. They are none of our concern.”

  Suddenly feeling his exhaustion return, Agami prepares to return to his room. Before he can reach it, he’s stopped by Sora shouting for him to come over. What now?

  He walks over to find Sora, Olya, and Ken waiting for him. Grabbing his shoulder, Sora announces to Ken, “Olya and Agami here will be your first point of contact!”

  Agami looks to Sora in surprise, then to Ken, and back to Sora. Agami can only respond, “I’m too tired for this. Tenmei, you take over…Tenmei?” Looking at his arm, Tenmei remains silent. Glancing at the hotel room, he finds Tenmei chatting with Imino and Gearfried, although he may be speaking to Gearfried via proxy.

  “Nice try, but looks like you’re stuck with us,” Olya says with an optimistic smile.

  Both Agami and Ken look at each other with awkwardness, unsure of what to say about the situation or the assignment.