"You're an Invader?"
Ark switched back to his regular clothes, looking over at Rikka Flowers.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Rikka didn't know what to say. He wasn't even attacking her despite knowing his secret. Rikka was still wary, however, keeping her weapon gripped. She pointed her weapon towards him, its reflective blade shining in the sun.
"So, what do you intend to do now?"
Rikka Flowers spoke in a tone she felt could be intimidating enough to instill some sense of control, but not too demanding, so she didn't sound like she had been declaring a fight.
"Hmmmm. I'm looking for someone."
"You're looking for someone? Who?"
"Well, not someone specific, more so someone who is an expert on Magi-Bands."
He revealed the black ring he had been wearing this whole time. A shiny black ring with a yellow line around it.
"And why would you need that?"
"...personal reasons."
Rikka was still not trusting of him, and she could try to strike him now since he was currently unarmed and unarmored, a flawless opening, but she wanted to see exactly what he was about before making such a decision.
"Fine."
Rikka reverted to her normal uniform, a little awkward, but still hoping she could get a grip on the situation.
"By the way, can you, like, not report this? I don't want any trouble for now."
Rikka knew this would be against policy, making her contemplate the current situation.
According to the policy, I am required to report everything I see and do related to a mission. However, if I earn his trust, it could be beneficial to the force and even me. I really hate taking large risks, but this is an opportunity too big to pass up. I'm already average enough as it is. If I can bring him into the force, I can make a big contribution to our efforts.
"Fine, I won't tell anyone."
Rikka Flowers threw her axe to the side, causing it to fade away into particles.
"Thanks. For now, can you show me around? I've only been here for about two days."
Ark walked over to her calmly, not showing any sign he would injure her in any way; in fact, he walked over to her like a child even.
"Sure. If you want, I can bring you to a restaurant street at night. They usually sell their best foods during that time."
"Sounds nice." Ark drooled at the thought of this world's foods; meanwhile, Rikka was on her phone, her face as nonchalant as ever, looking up different meals she could give to Ark.
If I want to earn his trust, I should buy him something he might like.
"Ark, are there any foods you might like? Have you ever eaten any food from your world?"
"Nope, not at all." He had replied immediately.
"I see. This is going to be hard. Let's leave for now. Other mages will be arriving soon."
"Alright then."
Deciding to leave the disaster scene at the park, they entered the city again, meeting the same crowded sight as before.
"For now, how about we play some games?"
"Games?"
"I can't really explain them. I'll just bring you to an arcade, how does that sound?"
"..."
"Right."
This will definitely be difficult. If I have to explain everything to him all the time, I may mess up and cause a problem.
While the duo had made their way to an arcade, a team of three had appeared on the scene.
The first man seemed like a laid-back man with muscles, slicked-back black hair held by purple headphones, wearing a purple jacket with a hood and short sleeves, baggy black pants, and white boots, holding a mace-like weapon with a pole and a cubical head covered in spikes.
The second man had light brown hair at shoulder-length with green eyes, being a little short, wearing the same attire but with long sleeves.
The last woman however was a stunning light melanin beauty with short black hair with two bangs that framed her face, curving forward, purple eyes, and a C-Cup with a pear body shape, having curved thighs, thicker thighs, and a nice ass to follow with it, such assets showed off from wearing a full-body tight suit underneath that has yellow fingers and accents and soles and a cropped brown jacket.
"So, who do you think did this?" The muscular man questioned, chuckling at the disaster that was in front of him. It amused him for what he saw, having never seen such destruction before, even for someone of his caliber.
"From what was recorded, only the Rank B Mage, Rikka Flowers, was present here, and...what the...?" The light brown said in a serious tone.
"What's up?" The melanin woman questioned, turning her head to her ally.
"It seems there were two signals related to an invader, but based on how they moved, they had attacked each other after Rikka temporarily fought."
"Weird, so then would that mean...?"
"Yes. We might have an abnormal disguising among us again."
"Again." He stopped chuckling, looking over at the woman.
"Seems so."
Rikka Flowers and Ark were inside an arcade, and Ark was commonly mistaken for a kid, something they used to their advantage to get free coins.
He played one of the hardest shooting games, doing incredibly well with the highest score in the game currently and still going. He was like a master, a sharpshooter who had practiced for years.
"Wow. It's his first time playing, and he's already so good. He surpassed the high score already." Everyone, kids and teenagers, surrounded Ark, watching as he absolutely destroyed a game that they all thought was impossible to beat due to its sheer difficulty and overwhelming enemies near the end.
He seems very good at shooting. He instantly reacts to every monster that shows up and effectively kills them each time. Did he get training in his world? If he did, it would explain why he's so good.
Ark had completed the long game that had lasted an entire hour, obtaining a score that no one would ever reach.
"Damn, that was fun. I wish I could have played games on Eden."
"Eden?"
"That's the name of the planet."
"I see."
She quickly wrote down this information in a handbook to have for later, just in case. They had spent a long time in the arcade, Ark playing every single game he could get his hands on, and Rikka paying for it each time. When it came to high scores, he had the highest score on every single one of them, and with competitive ones, he only lost a few times, but won most of them.
It was now night, and Rikka was very tired after spending such a long time in a dark place for so long. She felt like she would faint from tiredness if she didn't get something to energize herself soon. The darkness creeping in on her, trying to hug her to sleep.
"You good?" Ark asked.
"No, I'm tired, but I promised to buy you something."
"Nice of you to keep your promise."
Walking through near-empty streets, the insides of the restaurants lighting up the dark streets, it was quite an ominous path to walk.
"So, which one are we going to?" They stopped outside a restaurant at the corner.
"Wait here, I'm going to check inside."
"Alright."
Ark was left outside to wait in the dark, cold, shivering a little, feeling his hands get cold.
Five guys were walking down the street, a couple of unassuming thug looking guys that looked like they robbed people for petty cash and pretended to be big on the streets.
The man in a red sweater "tripped" over Ark's leg, landing on the ground in a totally realistic way that sure as hell didn't involve literally catching himself to prevent himself from hitting the ground too hard.
"Ahhh! Ssssssssssss! God damn bro, I think it's broken."
Ark looked at him, absolutely confused as to what he was looking at. Fragility was the only thing on his mind.
Surely humans aren't that weak, right? No, they aren't. Rikka was able to tank an attack against the Bio-Weapon.
Looking at his leg, he noticed that he wasn't actually injured. Ark was fairly unimpressed, thinking he actually did injure him for a second.
"I need at least one hundred to get this fixed. Cough it up." He sounded completely fine despite claiming to be injured. No voice crack, no grabbing at his leg, he immediately dropped the act. Ark was disappointed, having thought he would at least try to entertain the idea a little longer.
"Well, I do have that amount."
"Then there should be no problem, right?"
"Well, first..."
Ark grabbed the man's leg, giving it a tight grasp. The man had felt how strong his grip was, actually a little nervous about how strong his grip was. Sweat dripped from his face as he felt it getting tighter and tighter.
"Wai–"
The sounds of bones cracking interrupted his train of speech, replaced with his screams of agony and cries of pain.
"AHHHHHHH!"
"Here you go."
Ark threw one hundred one-dollar bills at the man, giving him an innocent smile.
"You bastard!"
Another thug tried to step on him like a bug, seeing no problem in trying to attack him with his foot.
"Wai."
"Understood."
WAI had released its tendril from within Ark's hoodie sleeve, grabbing the man's leg and tripping him. The thug had hit the back of his head on the pavement, rattling his brain.
The other thugs immediately understood not to try and fight, actually using their brains for the first time in their lives, grabbing their comrades and dragging them away.
"..."
"I'm back. The food here should be to your liking, hopefully."
"Alright."
Rikka and Ark had spent the rest of their time at the restaurant, eating good meals and getting tired after such meals. Ark ordered quite a lot of food, tasting many dishes he could get his hands on. He had thrown out his cash on the table, revealing how rich he actually was, unintentionally.
It was the next morning, and Rikka Flowers was in her dorm room, recalling yesterday's events while writing in her book, wearing a strapless white and strawberry pink shirt with a blue shirt. Sitting at her desk, she began to use [Type.Form], creating daggers, the same large ax, and a couple of terrible shields.
"I need to get better at copying weapons..."
Rikka looked over to the two daggers on the dresser, both with brown handles, but one with a white blade and the other with a black one.
...
She looked away, unkind memories coming back to her, before recalling yesterday's events to drown out the terrible memories.
...a friendly invader. This is so weird. Not to mention, he's extremely powerful. I wouldn't be able to beat him even if I wanted to. I just need to gain his trust, then ask him to join the Mage Force.
KNOCK
KNOCK
Two knocks came from her door. "Can you help me make breakfast?" A young girl's voice could be heard on the other side.
Rikka lifted herself up, opening the door to be met by Ballora. A petite girl with white hair tied into low tails with black ribbons and light skin, wearing a calm cyan dress with a blue and white striped shirt under a cyan and white caplet, with light, calm cyan socks and brown shoes.
"Sure, I can help you."
Ballora, fourteen years old, currently an apprentice, rank C.
"By the way, someone had requested you."
Rikka found herself confused by such a claim, usually never requested, ever, knowing her worth, or what little of it.
"...?? Who?"
"He told me his name was Ark."
Rikka and Ballora came downstairs, Ark seated at the kitchen table with an empty plate before him.
"So, you came here for breakfast."
"Yeah. I want to taste your cooking."
"...uh huh. It's not like I have a choice in the matter. Ballora, get the eggs and bacon."
"Yes, ma'am."
Rikka and Ballora began to cook up a delectable breakfast, adding just the right spices, the right heat level, the correct stirs, everything was near perfect. Ballora did most of the work, with Rikka doing the cutting only. Ballora worked her stuff like a master chef, lifting the pan.
After a few minutes of cooking, Ballora replaced Ark's empty plate with a perfect dish of scrambled eggs and bacon mixed together with a side of orange juice.
"I hope you enjoy it." Ballora smiled innocently, someone as young as her already learning how to cook so well.
Ark grabbed his fork and took a bite of the eggs and bacon mix, savoring its taste. He had never eaten something so good for breakfast. He never even knew food could taste so good in the morning, like you were starving after a week of no food.
"It's good. You two really know how to cook well."
"Thank you. I'm still a trainee, so I usually have to occupy myself with other things, so I decided to cook for everyone here."
"That so? What are you training on?"
Ark said, his mouth full of food.
"To be a Striker or Supporter."
"...what is that supposed to mean?"
Ballora was confused by what he meant, assuming he already knew. Rikka quickly noticed this, butting in to lower suspicion.
"He comes from a secluded village outside Empire City, so he isn't aware of what we are."
"Oh, that makes sense. Do you want to become a mage too?"
"...how about you explain how it works for you guys? Like your magic, maybe then, I'll think about it."
The idea of teaching someone else had Ballora's eyes glimmering, allowing her to share knowledge without sounding like a nerd or annoying talker.
She threw off her apron, taking a seat next to Ark.
"So basically, the Mage Force consists of people who want to fight off those invaders who come through the rifts, dealing with them as fast as possible. This is because we possess something called a Sage Suit. This sage suit is made up of nanites, each fueled by mana and connected to our Mana Gland, which is inside the Magi-Band, something everyone has in this city, but the suits are only inside the ones owned by the Mage Force. And if you don't know, the Mana Gland is an invisible organ all living things possess, located right behind the heart, producing mana every day and releasing unused mana. It's apparently why we age. I heard one of the higher-ups is over one hundred, still appearing very young."
Ark nodded along with the major info dump he was getting. He already knew most of this stuff, but he needed to keep the identity of being from a secluded village going. Although hearing that mana was the cause of aging was something he didn't know. He knew that mana left your body if any mana exceeded mana was unused, which was the reason people always use their magic a lot, at least everyone from his world, it severely slows down or outright stops aging.
"From what I learned yesterday, the Mana Value is apparently measured by how much mana the mana gland pumps out consistently. Mine pumps it out much faster than average, so I have an above-average value. It's one of the main factors that determines your rank."
Ranks are what caught Ark's attention. Ranks were something he knew all too well, a general display of your power, one that made you either beloved or feared.
"What are the ranks?"
"Well, there's me, a C-Rank, called either a trainee or apprentice. There's B-Rank, people who become official mages or have been for a while already. There's A-Rank, people with exceptional talent and power, they're super strong, but even they are nothing compared...to the S-Ranks!"
Ark was already starting to see himself in that category, aware of his own power. He smirked arrogantly as she spoke. Daydreaming of being fonded over.
"The S-Ranks are considered far beyond the world, anomalies that will create a new era, mages who transcend the power structure." She spoke so highly of S-Rank, praising it through the roof with how excited she sounded just speaking about them.
Hmph, I'm definitely a part of the level.
"So what do you think?"
Ark knew that all of it sounded very interesting, and it would help him in his quest for what he wanted, an expert on Magi-Bands. Everyone else had them on their wrist, but his was the ring he wore. He looked towards it for a moment, before coming to a decision...
"I need some time to think about the pros and cons before joining."
"That's fine, take as long as you need."
This is perfect. He's thinking about joining. Maybe if he fights another invader, he may decide to join. The operator just needs to find one.
And as if the universe obeyed her will, Rikka Flowers got a signal on her Magi-Band.
She had quickly tapped it, hearing a female voice on the other end.
"Oi! College District, District thirteen, two rifts, weak signals. Jin said to bring Ballora with you, her final test to become B-Rank."
Ballora immediately turned to the wristband upon hearing those words. Her eyes glimmered in joy, and she grabbed Rikka's wristband.
"Really!?"
"Yes, hurry up."
Hanging up the call, Rikka Flowers tapped her Magi-Band, transforming into her white dress attire again.
"I always think your Sage Suit is beautiful. I hate my bodysuit." Ballora Heartdoll tapped her Magi-Band, her attire replaced with a tight black full-body suit.
"You can watch us if you want. It may help you decide." Rikka calmly spoke, not trying to sound pushy or adamant.
"Sure."
"Watch me! I'll cut it up good."
Running out the door, Rikka carried Ark on her back while Ballora kept up from behind. They rushed to the scene with their own goals in mind. Ballora to finally be an official mage, and for Rikka to convince Ark to join, whether either one should achieve their goal, only time could tell.