"you've met Umbra? And he didn't kill you right away?" Akira asked Kami with a shivering voice, visibly scared and confused.
"Yes, I've met him twice actually. The first time he tried to kill me and the second time he kidnapped my sister, that dirty bastard"
"But why the hell didn't he just kill you? Why did he let you go?"
Kami began to remember his first encounter with Umbra and how he told Kami that it wouldn't be fun if Kami didn't know what was going on.
"So the fact that the Entity did not tell you about what's going on actually saved you from Umbra. Talk about a blessing in disguise"
"I will help you Kami, together we will find and rescue your sister" Kami heard a soft voice from behind him. It was Inu.
"Oh right, Akira. I wanted to ask you about the System, and the whole Buddy thing. Do you really know nothing about it?"
"No, boy. Sadly not. What we do know is that everyone has their own system which constantly shows them their own ability and its rank. But the Companion feature is something nearly nobody has ever heard of before you two told us"
Kami shook his head and kept an eye on his phone, which not only showed his ability and rank but also that of Inu and a "Kill Count" besides his and Inu's names. His showing a 0 in the same glowing gold as everything else, while that of Inu showed 4, with the words "non-humans" behind it.
"So when did the first one get their ability and what is the meaning of the Numbers, like 3 for me or Asuka's 666?"
Without answering any of Kami's questions Akira turned around and walked towards a closed wooden door.
"I don't have the answers you need or want. If you wanna know all these things then go and find out for yourself. Inu there knows just as much about everything as I do so you're good to go with her by your side. Feel free to return to the Pocket whenever you like. I wish you the best of luck with trying to find your sister"
After that he opened the door and vanished behind it. The other people in the room stopped staring at Kami and continue to do what they were doing before the conversation started.
"Inu, why is Akira so dismissive since I've mentioned Umbra? Did something happen between them?"
"oh um, I don't think so, aside from them being brothers and Umbra killing their parents"
Kami stopped walking in the middle of the village in shock. He was not sure if he had heard correctly.
"What? How could you drop this information so casually?" "They're brothers? And Umbra killed their parents?"
"Yeah, that's what I just said, isn't it?"
They kept walking towards the small alley, they came from as all of a sudden a kid came walking towards them.
"Hey mister, I um…" the kid stuttered, "did you say something about Umbra?"
"Hey kiddo, yeah I did, do you know him?"
The shadow of the kid suddenly grew bigger towards Kami, and a deep voice echoed out of his shadow.
"You don't wanna do this Kami, if you keep looking for me, you will learn to regret it"
Inu turned around immediately, running towards Kami and the Kid.
"Kami, run away, he's coming through"
Umbra's hand rose from the kid's shadow and tried to grab Kami's leg.
"Not this time Bastard" Kami lifted his foot and stomped on Umbra's hand, making it 2-D which made it impossible for Umbra to remove his hand from the ground.
"Nice one Kami" Inu shouted
"Yeah nice one. Nice try maybe" They heard Umbra's voice, triggering this hammering headache again.
Umbra's hand then turned from a 2-D image back to a shadowy cloud and vanishes back into the kid's shadow. Umbra didn't just reach through the shadow this time he stepped out of it entirely, his massive frame looming over Kami as he seized his throat and lifted him up. His glowing purple eyes staring deep into Kami's soul.
"I told you, kid, don't mess with me or you will regret it"