"Alright, that's it for today," John declared, snapping his shoulder back into place like he was cracking a finger, after absorbing Yuki's last attack.
"You're one hell of a monster. Just eighteen, and you can already fight me on the same ground," John commented with an approving grin.
"Said the man who shot from the front and somehow the bullet ended up in the back of my head. I will definitelay have you teach me that later," Yuki responded, dusting himself off and rolling his eyes.
"And, I get to fight almost all the high-level Rankers in the Guild for almost three years. You think I would get nothing from this?" Yuki commented back, doing a couple of stretches.
John watched Yuki for a moment, deciding how to even begin to describe the current Yuki. With two meters of height and lean, explosive muscles, Yuki embodied every martial artist's dream body.
Remembering how the kid, now a young man, passed the last years, John could only sigh at not only the physical change but also the growth in mindset he had undergone.
After getting back from the deep-sea trip, Yuki underwent physical, energy, and psychic examinations. Although the last one was excellent, due to a relatively stable mind, something every returning member had in common.
the first two were out of charts. His energy count and physical limits spiked beyond expectation, blowing the thermometers. Just his energy count put him head-to-head with some old monsters of the Council.
That caused a sensation, so under the Council's order, he was put under strict observation and a grueling training regimen.
The funny part: Yuki didn't even notice.
All he did was actually what he used to do, and if anything, he grew to love the training time some of the higher Rankers set for him. Not only could he fight in a variety of situations, but in some cases, he would have the chance to learn the original fighting styles or driving techniques.
Yeah, driving techniques. In most cases, every member of the higher ranks would take a liking to a vehicle and would start to use it in unusual ways, either driving or fighting (with high-tech upgrades).
Be it a car, a motorcycle, or even aircrafts. And that was the source of the insider's famous joke: "We are the Sky Guild because we can make anything fly." This came from the crazy and irregular mindset behind the wheel, not in real meaning.
Of course, all the members were hesitant at first to join the monitoring mission, despite the high-level order and reward. 'Who will humor a kid in a packed schedule life, despite his genius-level mind?' With this mindset, they humored Anna out of respect.
But after getting to know Yuki personally, the cute, lovable little kid image they had of him was gone, replaced by a monster in the making.
Most of the high-end level members and elites are there with pure experience, being from the first and second generation that lived through the appearance of Flora. This gave them a view of how the impossible could become possible. The way Yuki thinks, analyzes, trains, and pushes himself shoved the same feeling back into their guts.
So they started to see the monster grow. They realized he was one of a kind—one you can't keep from his goals. And with how scary the learning and advancement rate Yuki showed, they started to push themselves in training along with raising his hurdles, making perfection in his training a goal.
In the end, they found themselves profiting from it. First, it started with just some parts changes in their vehicles, only to end with Leo helping redesign everything up from the ground.
In the start, Yuki didn't know what to expect from all the personal ride things. But seeing what John truly meant, he got hooked. By the end of the first month, Yuki had already built his own bike, and by the end of the year, he had crafted an original bike exclusive for him, making John genuinely jealous. John started to think of ways to have him help upgrade his own piece.
And soon, as eyewitnesses saw, John was riding his bike and racing an air jet mid-air. Anyone who caught wind about all the things Ray and the Rankers did with vehicles laughed warmly, seeing Yuki turning a "humor quota" to reality.
thanks to that, he got more trade requests, even from the antisocial Rankers, to upgrade their vehicles.
With this, he got chance to test all types of fighting styles, weapons, and gear. and also propose to advance it.
This left the Council surprised and speechless; to think that a monitoring mission would help them strengthen the Guild.
On the contrary, Anna was gleeful, as she knew that Yuki was doing it on purpose. It may have started as an honest help for John, but it ended as a calculated move to help the Guild as a whole, thanks to what he knew about the after-effects of the last accident.
Three months after Maria's transgression accident, Yuki received a report of natural disasters in that zone, with a couple of sea storms and an underwater earthquake.
Later, Anna explained that every time a level of 'unique' energy came into play, the area around would experience a time frame of natural phenomena, depending on the duration the energy was activated. The old research linked it to nature trying to equalize the energy in the place, which translated into natural disasters. This was the main reason for all the restrictions on energy and supernatural ability use. Thankfully (Anna's words), the fight didn't last long, and it was on another level.
This revelation caused Yuki's mindset to shift. From being fully reliant on his superpower, he began to see it as a trump card. In the past three years, he didn't use it only in training, even taking the sealing and ability categorization to another level, indexing and tracing their use worldwide. Late last year, they tried to index the known supernatural abilities.
Naturally, one attribute wasn't enough, so they got indexed under four types: ETA, BETA, OMEGA, and ALPHA based on attribute and energy count.
ETA: Manipulating existing material, attributes, or elements.(Controlling fire, shifting a water source, minor telekinesis.)
BETA;: ETA capabilities PLUS the ability to integrate their avatar into their body or into other material. (Enhancing strength by merging with a body avatar, or transferring consciousness/power into a weapon.)
OMEGA: BETA/ETA capabilities PLUS the ability to materialize their avatar outside as a solid entity. (Summoning a physical, tangible creature or construct that can fight independently.)
ALPHA (Unique): Unrestricted use that encompasses all other types, PLUS control over natural creatures or phenomen. (Full command over element, massive energy output, ability to cause natural disasters (as linked to energy stabilization). ( ex : Yuki & Anna)
Of course, the type wasn't fixed, as it was more in relation to how it was used. As the energy count increased, the extent of its user could change, and so did the type.
"Well, I will leave you to your own business, Seventh," John waved, leaving the training ground with a smirk.
"I told you, don't call me that!" Yuki yelled from behind.
Fun fact, or not: Alpha type is the synonym for a walking disaster. This world only had seven, with Yuki and Anna being two of them.
"Ruri, is there anything important today?" Yuki inquired, picking up his gear with a sigh and heading to his room.
A small ball the size of a golf ball with feather-like wings floating beside him let a small light construct a small little girl sitting on top of it.
[Nothing, but Boss Lady said if you had nothing important to do, clear your whole schedule and meet her at the hangar after cleaning up,] the little girl said, with a small tablet and glasses appearing out of nowhere.
"The hangar? I guess so," Yuki responded, not even bothering to figure out why, as he knew his mother's fickle mind. "By the way, how do you like the new computer?"
[Amazing!!] Ruri flapped her hands excitedly. [I can fly, dive, and race you and keep up with most of the known vehicles. Best ride ever!]
"Good, you love it," Yuki said with a wary smile. The thing was actually the smallest ever known and a sophisticated supercomputer. Seeing that Yuki liked to drive around, she asked if she could try something like that.
In the end, he created a small quantum supercomputer, geared it with an imperturbable shell and flexible wings. Coming to the software part, he created an original program to host her core code and have it simulate the physical effects that happen to the rider inside her virtual cockpits.
It wasn't easy, but fun to make nonetheless—something Yuki said, but it caused some scientists to faint.
In Office
"Are you sure you want to do it? You know he has everything under control," Wanda stated in a resigned manner.
"Yeah, I know," Anna confirmed, looking at her with a determined face. "It's not for control or anything like that. I know for sure he has his ability $100\%$ under control."
"Then why?" Wanda asked, confused yet irritated. "Last time I checked, we don't force kids into bloodshed."
"Did you forget what we saw in there?" Anna countered, freezing Wanda. "I wish it was easy; he's my son after all. But…"
"I get it, sigh." Wanda sighed, knowing what Anna hinted at: the bloody hell they had to go through before entering Flora.
Knowing Yuki's later movements and his actions, they knew for sure he would try to get to Flora, and he had to pass through that hell. As parents, they wanted to spare him from doing so at this age, so all they could do was stall for time and train him for what was coming, while making sure he lived his teen years normally. A hope that sadly would come to crash on them in a couple of months.
"In this regard, I don't want to be the parent of a very active kid like that," Wanda joked, trying to lift the heavy mood. "Look at my sweet girl, she's one hell of a calm girl."
"Oh yeah? Let's see you saying that after you really watch one of her matches," Anna challenged with a smirk.
"What's the point of paying to see my girl beating someone?" Wanda replied, waving her hand lazily. "And that's only inside the ring."
Laughing at each other, they headed to the hangar.
_______________
a quik time skip!!