"Almost there, Yuki. Come on, two more to go."
On the shore of what looked like Artifact Island, a man with a massive frame—almost two and a half meters tall, covered in scars—gave testimony of his ex-military experience as he oversaw training. Not far from him stood a boy around fifteen or sixteen: Yuki Alexander. To anyone who didn't know him personally, his physique alone made him look like he was in his twenties.
It had been a couple of years since Yuki arrived at this base, training under the infamous and sadistic instructor, John Ironhead.
Why sadistic? The first two years of Yuki's rehabilitation were fairly normal. But once he regained the ability to live normally, the real suffering began: extreme physical training, martial arts, swordplay, marksmanship, piloting… the man was multi-talented, and he expected Yuki to match him.
Today was no different. Yuki was pushing through the last set of a hundred push-ups, muscles trembling, arms burning, lungs ragged.
John nodded. "Good. Ten-minute break before we start your weapons sparring."
Yuki looked at him like he was staring at a monster. "I just did almost two thousand reps from standard training, and you still want me to fight with weapons? Where are my human rights?"
John scoffed. "Old enough to talk back, old enough to get a beating. And we're not humans."
Yuki sighed. "That's… different, you know?"
John smirked. "Oh, is that you asking for another push-up rep?"
"No, sir!" Yuki growled.
"Good," John replied, satisfied. "Eight minutes left."
Yuki sat down, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. Despite focusing on physical training, he never neglected other areas: energy manipulation, musical instruments, medicine, technology… thanks to his photographic memory and high-compression learning ability, he absorbed knowledge like a sponge.
To him, he was "a jack of all trades, master of none." To everyone else, he had already achieved the level of prodigy, capable of embarrassing scientists and inventors alike.
Over time, he had developed his own research under his mother's guidance—but only for relatively safe projects. Now, he was known both as "the good son of the boss" and "the prodigy of his time."
And who wouldn't think so? Yuki had already created a fully functioning Awakening System, allowing anyone in the organization to awaken their abilities, along with other innovations.
A wooden practice sword and a unique gun were tossed at him. "Time's up!" John barked, forcing Yuki to spring into action.
What followed was close-quarters combat: dodging, sword strikes, and gunfire. Every move was designed to neutralize or kill, forged in battle, honed over countless death matches.
There was no wasted motion, no predictable pattern—Yuki fought purely on instinct, his body and mind operating in perfect synergy.
The spectators were shocked. Few had ever seen such precision, instinct, and control in someone so young. Even the elite struggled to match his skill.
After only two years of training, few could approach mastery of John's instinct-based style.
The fight escalated. John, increasing speed, fired three bullets directly into Yuki's chest.
He growled in pain—but stood firm, as if nothing had happened. The spectators were dumbfounded; typically, someone hit like that would writhe for a while.
John grinned wildly. "So, warm-up's over." He slammed his hand onto the ground, and a flaring aura engulfed him. Red subtitles formed around him as a four-meter-high red armor emerged, shoulder-mounted cannons gleaming.
Yuki exhaled, flaring his aura as silver wings sprouted from his back, lifting him into the air. Spectators gasped—supernatural essence had rarely been used for combat in public before.
Soon, a group of people dashed from the city center, leading a woman in a black fox mask. One of her escorts raised a hand to stop the fight.
"Hold," she said. "Something's off. Give it a second."
The group hesitated, observing Yuki. He wasn't fighting back—only dodging. His movements were strange: he allowed cannon blasts to nearly graze him before avoiding them at the last possible moment.
The fox-masked woman sighed. "He's testing his ability… this is intriguing."
Suddenly, Yuki dropped toward the ground. As the fight continued, a metallic aura enveloped him, causing John to halt mid-attack. Deactivating his armor, John approached Yuki cautiously.
Yuki's aura dissipated. He looked at his teacher and mother, sighing, before taking a step back. "What's wrong?"
John's glare sharpened. "I didn't help you with your little experiment to leave me hanging."
Yuki smirked, raising his hand. It transformed into sharp, claw-like fingers, and his body expanded in height and muscle mass.
John squinted. "Metal mole… a mole that lives through mining and eats metal?"
Yuki nodded. "Your true essence is metal. It probably got corrupted when you awakened."
He turned to the fox-masked woman. "And what brings the boss lady here?"
She glanced at him, then at her son. "I was worried he might lose control, but everything seems fine. Clean up and meet me in the office—I have something for you."
Nodding, Yuki accepted her instruction. She patted his head before departing with her guards, smirking at a conversation she had earlier with the council.
Flashback—Sky Guild Council Meeting
In a high-tech conference room, seven people—including Anna—sat around a holographic table displaying global energy readings.
Anna confirmed the readings and sighed. "Five high-energy sources around the globe… we only know they originate from deep underground. At least send reconnaissance before calling a full meeting."
She had been called for an emergency meeting while spending time with Yuki, slightly annoyed at the assembly for their lack of preparation.
One council member coughed. "Four of the sources have been investigated, but the last one is problematic."
He zoomed the hologram into the deepest part of the ocean: the Mariana Trench. Anna nodded knowingly.
Though they were one of the strongest forces in the world, the submarine department had its limitations.
"Ruri, you there?" Anna addressed a young girl on the hologram with red hair.
"Yes, my lady. How can I help?"
Anna nodded. "Do you know if Yuki has any plans to upgrade the submarines? And can you check for any organizations near the energy signal?"
Some council members were surprised. "Who is she?"
"Right," Anna said massaging her eyebrow. "Some of you don't know yet. This is Ruri, an A.I. created by Yuki. She now protects our organization from cyberattacks."
"Master does indeed have submarine upgrade plans. And as for the organization, there's an underwater research facility nearby." Ruri nodded.
Anna examined the report: names, images, and details of the organization. A few names were familiar. "Ah, as expected," she murmured, smirking. The council collectively sighed, anticipating something big.
"Thank you, Ruri. That's all for now," Anna said, turning her attention to the council. "I want to use this mission to…"
--------------
As Ruri despaired, Anna looked at the present people. "I want to use this mission to..."
Back to Present
After asking Yuki to come to her office, Wanda and Anna were waiting there. Looking back at her friend, with a sigh Wanda asked, "Are you sure he's ready?"
Scoffing at her question, Anna said, "No one is ready until he jumps off the cliff."
Shrugging her shoulders at her friend, Wanda said, "Just like you."
As if on cue, the door knocked before Yuki entered the room. After looking around for a second and greeting them, he asked, "So, what do you got for me?"
Anna smirked as she passed him a file. "Your first mission."
Taking it and starting to read, he sighed and said, "Sure, but… why? I mean, it pains me to just do a normal land search, let alone deep undersea. And even if we find the source of the energy, it's not guaranteed we could use it."
Looking at him with a smile, she handed him another file. After reading it, his eyes changed color. "Fascinating… it's moving!"
Standing in front of the table, he said, "A.I., bring the state of the sea and natural phenomena in this zone. Try to project them with the movement of this energy signal."
[Affirmative.]
After reading the data and doing some calculations, he found it weird, as if it was trapped in place. "It's weird. A.I., see if there is any movement or anything out of the norm."
As he got the info, his eyes widened and he could only smile, uttering one word: "The Magé!?"
Turning to his mother, he blinked at their looks. "What's with the look?"
Shaking their heads, Anna said, "Nothing, just surprised at what you did. So, what did you find?"
Not minding their eyes, he answered, "Ah… that's probably something below the thermic fog. I don't know why we only noticed the signal now, but that thing was probably there since the dawn of discovery."
Looking at him, Anna and Wanda were confused for a second. Picking up on their confusion, he sighed and said, "You know that the deepest point known is the Mariana Trench, right?"
Getting nods from them, he continued, "Well, that's technically wrong. What we define as the sea floor is actually only a unique fog that separates another deeper sea."
Anna nodded. "I know that, but it's just a theory. I know for sure they're still researching."
Smirking at her, he said, "It was a theory, but not anymore." Pointing at the hologram, he continued, "Look here. If you trace the movement of the energy and sync it with the species, along with the natural properties of that place, I found that only two have these conditions in this zone of the sea—and one can't survive at that depth."
Taking a breath, he explained, "The energy followed the movement change of the Earth's magnetic field until these points here, here, and here, as if blocked." He pointed at the spots where the energy trail made a 180-degree change. "Then, if you take the Mariana Trench, which laterally has nothing to block whatever that thing is, add the fact that you have no visuals from the drones you sent… it probably lies below."
Looking at him for a second, the two ladies smiled wryly. Wanda sighed. "Talking about spoilers… my friend spent more than ten years of her life trying to discover if that theory was real or not, and you just spoiled it for me. Thank you very much."
Confused, he asked, "You're welcome? And can I know now what my mission is?"
"Ah, right. Your mission is to create a submarine that can survive there with no problem and lead an exploring team."
Surprised at what he heard, he said, "Excuse me? What now?"
Smiling at him, Anna said, "The mission was approved by the council. You have full support. Wanda here will be your sub-captain."
Although he was happy to explore—and especially since he knew the chance he got himself in the plot of a movie he loved—it was still his first mission, so all the trust and responsibility still felt confusing.
Snorting as if catching his thoughts, Wanda said, "If it wasn't for the old snails on the council, you'd be creating your own division by now. Sadly, you're young and, under the pretext of 'inexperience,' they refused the idea."
Anna continued, "So I'm using this chance to have you show your worth, and after that, we'll see if anyone there is willing to speak up." At the end, she gave a sweet smile, causing Yuki to shudder.
Even though their care made him smile at them, he gave a challenging smirk before cracking his fingers. "I guess I have some old snails to shut up. Where is my workshop?"
Wanda and Anna laughed and said in unison, "That's what we want."