Third, and last day of training with Raymond before classes start.
Shinka had finally arrived home after spending the whole day at the church. Exhaustive training from Raymond had pushed him to his limit.
The dark night made his home colder. Now, only this night of rest remained.
The vacation hadn't felt at all like a moment to assimilate the acquired knowledge and enjoy time with family.
But even so, the boy didn't limit himself.
He had passed hard days.
The least he could do was put on his comfort anime one last time before classes consumed all his time again.
"I mean, that would be a big problem because... I feel like you're my first friend." L pronounced to Light Yagami.
Shinka's eyes were focused on the television.
He had seen this scene countless times. It didn't evoke too powerful a feeling in him, but it always made several questions flow into his mind.
The most common: What would have happened if Light Yagami had never found that notebook?
What would have happened, if the power to kill had never touched the world of Death Note?
Would Light become a high-ranking investigator in the Japanese police force just like his father?
Was his life destined to be long?
Would he have inevitably met L?
Would Misa Amane have committed suicide after no one judged the criminal who killed her parents?
All this changed because of a notebook.
A power that didn't belong to that world.
A divine gift for a mundane being like a human.
It was inevitable not to fall into comparisons.
Shinka opened his system out of the corner of his eye, changing the logic of the questions to, What change will the existence of this thing bring to my story?
Was I destined to remain outside of this world?
Would I have inevitably entered it?
He couldn't help but remember Soichiro Yagami's words.
'Anyone who has the power to kill can only be cursed.'
Then he could only think of Ryuk's words.
'Those who obtain the notebook can only expect a life full of misfortune.'
'Although my power is not the Death Note...'
Memories came to his mind in the form of a flood.
The times he almost died, the times he got excited about his power only to be humiliated, the times he has had to expose himself to danger, the painful training he has been doing.
Even beyond.
How his perspective on family has changed. The things he wasn't destined to know, nor meddle in. The things he had seen, grotesque creatures, power capable of annihilating the entire small city of Takido.
'This world, it's wrong...'
He could see it clearly.
The hierarchy of this world was already there, established. His existence was innocuous. That day, when he met Raymond, if he hadn't been snooping, nothing would have happened.
For them, their routine would never have changed.
'Is this ability really a blessing?' He couldn't help but wonder.
'Since I obtained this system, I haven't felt cursed, but... Everything I've lived since obtaining it is undoubtedly not a blessing.'
Bzzzt!
His phone vibrated once more.
[Akatsuki (Members: Hiro Mado, Tomo Arayoshi, Shinka Kusaka.) +20 Unread Messages.]
[Hiro: Are you still in Kuoh? Call when you're back! Tomo managed to steal some sake from his dad!!!]
He allowed a slight smile, and closed his eyes for a moment.
'Is it really okay?'
'Should I respond?'
As if his head were shouting the answers, images of the danger that now surrounded him flooded him once more.
A slight headache settled in.
"Damn it...! Hypermnesia seemed great at first but..." He just sighed a bit and took a pill from a jar.
"The headache has become constant, and the influx of things I'm not interested in remembering too." He said, slightly annoyed.
He was just noticing the side effects of everything he had learned thanks to the system.
The skills that made him go beyond human had a certain price for his developing body. But he knew well that many of those things were temporary effects.
In time, he would find a pertinent solution, and besides, his body would eventually adapt to contain the power.
At the end of the day, the system was based on continuous repetition to achieve the perfection of a skill, but he was still a mere human with a certain biological ceiling. It wasn't the "Adaptation System."
Raymond explained it well.
The human biological ceiling exists.
'But it's not about breaking a limit, but about expanding horizons little by little.'
If the exorcists' bodies were continuously improved through training, special drugs, and learning, Shinka's body couldn't be less promising thanks to the system.
But rapid development could cause his organism to collapse, so he had to take things calmly.
In the daily training he has been doing with Raymond, he has obtained significant advances, but he reached the limit.
He had already felt it just after having that fight with the Namikawa family in that forest. His body resented having pushed to the limit the fencing skills he learned without a moment of rest.
Now he was in a similar position.
His body moved between the sheets.
These lit up slightly in light blue.
His entire body was enveloped in several circles, healing his muscles.
This was the second time he had reached such a state. Now he had to have a decent rest, to allow himself to rest and adapt to his new strengths.
Anyone would think now was the moment to develop other mental skills.
But Shinka was slightly reluctant.
The Mental World was a great burden on mental energy. Using it made him sleepy, no matter how useful it was. Hypermnesia had been giving him migraines and brought to mind memories without distinction of kind.
'I have to relax the pace a bit. I've been overdoing it in a short period of time.'
At this point, the only thing Shinka wanted was to rest.
Bzzzt!
His phone vibrated once more.
He could only turn it off to avoid overthinking.
'If I approach them as usual, I would be exposing them to danger... Not just them. By living with my aunt and uncle, I also expose them... I should find a solution.' His expression became slightly sad.
After much reflection, it was clear why his sister had gone to Kuoh.
The hidden world of his reality was extremely dangerous for ordinary people!
Even with his ailments and everything that entailed, Shinka knew there was no turning back.
From the moment he used the system for the first time, he had gotten involved. He just had to move forward, become stronger, and reach Kuoh. A place he had learned was a nest of the supernatural.
Surrounding himself with entities belonging to that circle would make his life easier socially speaking.
Finally, sleep took over his mind, which hadn't rested completely since the creation of the Mind Palace.