The moment they stepped through the door, they became engulfed with light as any feeling below their feet disappeared. Everything seemed to swirl and change, and Kuroki just barely caught onto a ledge and stopped himself from falling. Suddenly, he was atop a large skyscraper, or rather hanging off the side of one. From a brief glance, he appeared to be dangling several dozen stories above the ground level, and he just barely was able to hang on.
Furthermore, Akano and Juno were in a similar position as him, in all the various ways. The wind beat down on them, as if trying to get them to fall. They hurried and pulled themselves up onto the roof, although it was clearly a fictional roof. After all, no roof of a building this tall, or possibly just in general, that people could walk on would lack some sort of guard rail or barrier.
When they got up, they saw Riza and the Oracle as well. The Oracle was wearing the same clothes as always, while Riza was now wearing a fedora, a white shirt, brown pants, and for some reason he had a whip at his side. One could only fathom why Fake Riza was dressed like that now, and frankly Kuroki did not want to know.
"What the hell is with this? And why are we still together?"
"It appears the second trial is a bit shy...it's both started and not started. Well, it happens sometimes" The Oracle mentioned with a shrug. The Fake Riza meanwhile just looked rather amused.
Is he actually just a projection of Riza, or is Riza actually just pretending to be a projection?
Kuroki found his mannerisms to be quite different earlier, but now Kuroki wasn't so sure.
Incidentally, there didn't seem to be any door to go back through, so they couldn't go backwards, only forwards. It appeared they had been taken out of the school, but this was part of the second trial. Or a lead up to it.
"It's possible your trials might take place at different locations for this next part, and that's why you are here. Do any of you see anything of note? Any place that might be significant to you?"
Kuroki immediately looked from the top of the building, trying to find it. This was still their city, the place they grew up in, but due to it just being a reflection or a projection, it wasn't perfectly accurate either. However, Kuroki did notice something that was missing.
"My house isn't here".
"You are right. Given it has a dojo attached to it, it's pretty big and noticeable" Juno mentioned. "I guess that is the location of trial number three?"
"Of course it is...it's not like its a secret after all" Kuroki groaned, as he looked over the area. "However, I think I do see a place that might be significant. I just am not sure how it would be my personal demon. But perhaps this is just a teaser of what is to come".
"Not all trials involve internal turmoil, but some may just be an enemy that you will need to face and overcome. They are not meant to be cruel or difficult, but instead like a puzzle you must decode and solve".
Kuroki looked towards the mountain. While he could not find his house, he could find the mountain that was just ten minutes away by walking.
A place where he had been forced to go many times to train, after his father discovered his love of magic and girly things, and where his apprentices had at times made him wear a dress or do other things to torment and humiliate him.
"If its personal demons, then I think I know where I need to go as well" Juno mentioned, eyeing the shopping mall. "Assuming of course, that she is the one I must face".
"She?"
"...yeah. Unfortunately, in the city I first appeared in, she appeared as well. That detestable person I had hoped had been sent far far away. Kanoko Amiya".
Kuroki and Akano both scowled the moment they heard that name.
"Seriously? Are you okay?"
"Yes. For now, me and Reiji have avoided catching her attention, but it will only be a matter of time. The fact that she is in the adventurer's guild and is at least F-Rank means that she has some combat ability too. But given how twisted her personality was, her wishes might be seriously bad news for any of us. Honestly speaking, she concerns me the most out of everyone".
"She was an absolute menace. There were actual criminal charges pressed against her, I thought she was sent far away".
"Yeah, me too" Juno said with a nod. "But that was the place where I fought wits with her last...it was my victory, all of ours really, so without a doubt that is where I need to go".
Akano then looked out over the city for his own target. That said, its not like he had it as bad as Kuroki, nor did he get into as many conflicts as Juno. He knew the third trial would undoubtedly be at the dojo as well, if one considered that person as their mutual enemy. But there had to be another. A place where he would face his own demon.
Or perhaps...
"I see...I think I know where I need to go".
"Really?"
"Yeah. You two go on ahead, we will meet back up before the third trial" Akano said. Kuroki seemed to pick up on his strange behavior, however.
"Everything okay?"
"No. But I suppose that is the point of this trial" Akano admitted honestly. "Its something I have to face myself, we will meet back up when we are all done and your house appears".
"Okay then...stay safe, and remember. No matter what, you are my friend, and I will always be there for you" Kuroki told him. "But uhh, how are we supposed to get down?"
"Oh, that is simple. Don't worry, the distance is shorter than it looks" The Oracle said, as suddenly various floating platforms appeared in the two directions the two needed to go.
"...please don't tell me..."
"Ahhh...is this..."
"Don't worry. This is the spirit world. Your jumping ability is magnified since gravity isn't fluid or fixed here. Have fun!"
"I knew it!"
The two groaned as they jumped forward, leaping several dozen meters in a single bound and landing on the first platforms. Meanwhile, Akano looked behind him...and saw an elevator door appear.
"Oh? You found it already?"
"Its the building we are standing on" Akano replied to the Fake Riza's questions. At those words, the wall behind them suddenly seemed to melt away, and instead an elevator appeared there, open and waiting for him. "Was that supposed to..."
"Probably, yes" The Oracle mentioned. "Now, are you truly ready for this trial?"
"No" Akano admitted. "But I don't think anyone is ever truly ready to face their regrets".
Akano entered the elevator alone, as he pressed the singular button on the panel. The doors closed, and the elevator descended. As much as his mood did, with each and every second that passed, he felt his worries increase and deepen. He had suspected this might happen in truth, but he had held out hope that this wouldn't happen.
The dread just increased until the elevator reached its intended floor, and the doors slowly slid open. He was now in the exterior passageway for a large amount of apartments, and he stepped forward off the elevator as he went up to a particular apartment. The door seemed old and worn, but at the same time it appeared to be decently maintained. A fancy lock was on it, but it wasn't locked, or even closed. It was left slightly open.
He pushed it open and stepped inside, and saw the sight that scarred him more than anything else. Something that still gripped him with fear to this day. Something he had encountered as a child long ago, but overcome with fear for his own safety, never spoke of. Something that then seemed to disappear, and by the time he thought he could, it was already too late. The evidence was gone.
Inside of it was the corpse of Kuroki's mother. Strangled to death, after the head was bashed in. Clearly there had been some kind of struggle, and the first part of the name of Kuroki's father written in her blood, by her own hand. It was dried into the floor itself, a crimson mark that could have determined who the killer was.
"I see...so you knew. You knew this whole time" the Fake Riza said, walking out from behind him. His tone was neither disappointed or judgmental, but instead empathetic.
"Yeah..."
"How long ago was this?" Fake Riza asked.
"Several years ago, when I was just eight years old. I got so scared I pissed my pants...because I knew who did this, and that if he could do this to Kuroki's mom, he could do this to me and my family as well".
"You were just a little kid. I...I am sure she forgives you".
Akano shook his head. "That is irrelevant. Its not like the dead can come back to life or reincarnate. But...I haven't told Kuroki yet. I was just so scared, and now I am so ashamed. How do I tell him? That I knew the whole time, and said nothing?! I betrayed him so badly...the next day, this was all gone and cleaned up, so I didn't even have any proof".
Of course, it was unreasonable to ask a child that young to have reacted properly, especially given everything. If anything, such reactions were normal. But to Akano, he considered this his greatest betrayal, and to his best friend of all people.
It was something that he couldn't reconcile, although it had fueled a healthy relationship with Kuroki as well, that likely would have happened anyways.
Riza couldn't help but keep staring at the body however.
"How did you find it?"
"Hmmm?"
Riza turned around to face him.
"Why were you the first one to find the body?"
"This is near where I live, and she asked me to meet her here in secret in a text. Worried about something or another..."
"...a text huh. And she was dead like this when you found her?"
"Yes...why?"
"Something about this isn't right. No one just asks a child to meet them, she should have asked your parents. Someone else lured you there...someone knew how you would react, someone who wanted to drive this conflict to divide you".
"What do you mean?"
Riza shook his head.
"She clearly died awhile ago, and was left dying. However, the blood was dried. Akano, there is a very good chance...she was already dead when you got that text".
"What..."
"Someone killed her, but then left her here? What was this place?"
"An abandoned apartment near where I lived".
"Right, so she came here to hide, someone tracked her down, killed her, and then what? Left her body there for hours, only to then clean it up the moment you ran away in a panic? Who probably watched to see if you would call the police...and likely would have killed you if you had".
"No, no you can't be saying..."
Akano realized what Riza was getting at, but he didn't want to believe it.
"All of this was done by Hokoro Kyoudo. He did this....just to torment you, and maybe even tried to drive you away from Kuroki to isolate him more. Although, obviously that second part failed miserably".
Riza paled. That meant that bastard, he had been watching. He knew this whole time, and he would have known every time they saw each other. All the times he mentioned her in front of him, it wasn't just to torment Kuroki about his mom's disappearance, but also Akano as well.
"He wanted to isolate Kuroki to make it easier to manipulate him into what he wanted Kuroki to be. I suspect the only reason he never went any further was because he was failing so terribly at that goal".
Akano looked at the corpse, and clenched his fists.
"This guy...why? Why would he do this?"
"Because he hates anything and anyone who interferes with his hopes and dreams" Riza responded. "To him, he was getting too old to achieve his own dreams himself. He was just about to enter his fourties right? It wasn't just Kuroki's growth, or lack of physical growth, and his desires that antagonized him. It was time itself, and he was helpless against it. So he decided to force Kuroki to become his proxy, and by doing so, achieve his dreams by burdening it on his son. But the more Kuroki deviated from his ideals, the worse it got. To the point he used anything as an excuse to hit him at this point. And this developed into other obsessions, as his mind panicked from age. Thus resulting in his hatred of all things magic".
"That...how do you know all this?"
"A combination of your memories, Riza's experiences, and Kuroki's emotions. Remember, I am just a projection created in the Spirit World".
Really? I mean, it did create an entire city from our memories, but this thing feels more...sentient and independent then just some projected reflection.
While thinking that, Akano looked at the corpse.
"So, in short...he made us feel small..."
"Because he is a bully, an aging bully who can no longer achieve his dreams on his own, so he feels the need to make everyone who goes against him or helps them feel small, while making his friends feel good and big and better than everyone else since that helps him feel the same about himself".
"So its vanity".
"Indeed. This was a murder due to his vanity. He couldn't stand his wife was leaving him also, it felt it would humiliate him. He was only getting progressively worse after all, and it declined faster after she died. Not sure the specifics on why or how regarding that though".
The projection knew things that Riza shouldn't know, but it shouldn't have had magical knowledge of the crime scene either. This place was a reflection of their minds and memories after all. So why was it seemingly able to see so much more than them? Did it have access to their world?
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
All of these things went through Akano's mind, as he began to work through things in his head.
----------------------------------------
At the same time, Kuroki made it to his own trial, although he wasn't entirely happy with how he had to get there. He came rushing into the mountain inside of a minecart that had tracks that stretched into the sky. Clearly, the spirit world had decided to take some...liberties...when it came to these recreations, or perhaps they were just recreating that one terrifying ride from the amusement part he went too once.
Now that Kuroki thought of it, it was identical to that, so it almost assuredly was.
That said, what was also strange was that it was raining upon the mountain. It had been sunny on approach, but the moment if foot touched the ground, a downpour began like one could not believe. It was raining heavy and hard, and thunder roared in the distance. Lightning flashed down upon a tree nearby, as Kuroki quickly took cover.
"I see. So that is what they want me to relive huh?"
And yet, Kuroki's expectations were shattered when a few goblins emerged from the mud. Kuroki wasn't sure why they were there, but they came after him with a rather tenacious look in their eyes. Kuroki quickly adopted his Water Puppetry Technique, using it to quickly adapt to the situation and go on both offense and defense, switching between the two flawlessly and sometimes doing both at the same time.
He blocked the clubs with a stream, freezing it solid with the goblin's weapons still inside of it, before launching it as a projectile right back at them to take them all down at once. One of the goblins managed to dodge, but Kuroki was already right next to him, using a spear of ice to pierce through it. He then froze the corpses of the goblins, just to be on the safe side.
"Goblins...why are there Goblins in my trial?"
"Because the path to gaining a True Arcanium would never be so simple and easy" The Oracle said, appearing behind him. "Still, they usually hold some level of significance. Perhaps...its because even if they aren't actually people, Goblins are humanoids and they are the first humanoid things you killed? Or perhaps because they were used by one of your greater enemies, like Chiathias".
He just barely nodded to the Oracle, as he was clearly displeased by this current situation for a variety of reasons.
"This weather is a bigger menace then the Goblins though..."
Kuroki's feet moved through the sloshy mud, sinking partly into it as the mud got in-between his toes and made it difficult to walk. His clothes were quickly getting drenched which was incredibly uncomfortable, which combined with the sloshy mud that seemed to be attempting to cover his feet now, was incredibly unpleasant.
"You could always strip~"
"As much as that probably would be less unpleasant physically, no thanks. I have zero desire to do battle in the nude if I can help it".
"Fair enough. That is considered highly embarrassing, even in our world".
The Oracle seemed to almost teleport, as Kuroki never witnessed him walk and there were no footprints made by him in the mud. But it only ever happened while Kuroki wasn't looking at him, and he would always appear again in a place Kuroki wasn't looking either. Not that he wanted to look around a lot, and risk slipping in the process. The mud seemed intent on getting into every nook and cranny possible in his feet alone, feeling unnerving and unpleasant. He wished he had rain boots or at least shoes, but nothing was there, and socks would be a terrible idea since not only would they do nothing at all to stop the mud, he would actually lose friction and fall down into the mud way more.
Still, he continued to climb upwards and forward. He remembered this trail a lot, and there was a sort of small clearing where some people camped occasionally. It wasn't an actual proper campground, but it was more like a local, unmarked place that people in the area used for a variety of reasons. There were quite a few of them, but this was the one closest to his house.
By the time he reached it, Kuroki was half covered in mud. He had ended up falling three times after all, and there was mud in places that he would rather not talk about. Also, a snake somehow ended up inside of his underwear. Why a snake even appeared in the spirit world was anyone's guess, but it made for an extremely unpleasant reaction from Kuroki. Still, he did finally made it...only to see a rather unpleasant sight. There were photographs everywhere, posted on the trees. Some of him in girls clothes, some of him naked, some of him in diapers, but all of him from the past few years.
"So, it was you after all" Kuroki muttered, as the Captain of the Elite Class came out. Obito Wakina. He was a high schooler, an abnormally tall and well built one at that. He looked half handsome youth, half rough thug. He was going to graduate this year, his wild black hair unkept and his body mass, which was mainly muscle Kuroki felt like, being well over twice as much as Kuroki, who was short and thin. He was at least two meters tall, making him taller then even Reiji, but no one messed with him due to the intimidating aura he gave out.
"Oh look, the infantile brat is back" the projection said in a threatening tone. "I am looking forward to finding you in reality, and making you suffer an even greater series of embarrassments".
"Yeah yeah, because my father taught you and so on, yada yada" Kuroki said, displaying a mixture of contempt and disinterest. "Oracle, just to be clear, I can just blow him up right?"
The Oracle shrugged. "I am just an observer and a guide, I don't know what the trials want of you. But I will say, he has a face that looks like it would love a giant hailstone smashing into it".
"Yes yes, I have to agree with that" Kuroki replied.
"Why you..."
Almost instantly, the moment Obito took a step forward, giant ice spikes shot out of the ground and headed right for him. He quickly dodged them, and even shattered a few with his fists by striking from the side, but the sheer amount of them had surprised him. After all, there had been over a dozen there.
At the same time however, Goblins began to emerge from the mud, as well as a few Orcs as well, and even some Sylvs.
Kuroki took position however, lifting up one foot and driving it into the mud as he gained a more solid footing position. He had already been chanting a spell.
"Frozen Guardians!"
Several ice sculptures emerged from the ice, all in the image of the Elven Mechanical soldiers from the ruin. Obviously they were not nearly as powerful, but the sight of a dozen of them emerging from below was quite the sight, as they established a protective line around Kuroki.
"Learned recently the important and dangers of numbers".
"Mhm. That was a good lesson to learn. Even an X-Ranked adventurer could be overwhelmed if outnumbered by strong foes".
The Oracle nodded along with the lesson, as the fight commenced. The enemy tried to rush immediately with its superior numbers, but Kuroki's ice creations were not just for show. They had a solid defense and decent offense, and even moreso, they were able of limited cooperation with each other. It was not to the point that the actual Elven mechanized soldiers had been, not even half the skill they had. But for a beginner like Kuroki, it was a major achievement.
And yet, the Oracle's eyes widened when he realized something.
I see...so that is the point of this trial. But will Kuroki figure it out in time, is the question. I suppose I will just have to wait and see...story of my life.
While the Oracle came to a revelation, Kuroki's battle continued against one of his nemeses as the rain continued to pour.
----------------------------------------
Juno meanwhile arrived at the mall, entering the large entrance room that led to so many different stores and services. It was exactly how he remembered the shopping mall from their city, which probably indicated just how much he had been there. Or perhaps it was because he remembered it like this that it was like this. The spirit world was truly strange.
"So, why don't you come out already?"
Juno called out to the presence he could just vaguely sense. Even with his alertness, it was mostly hidden. He could only vaguely make out that it was there. Still, he drew a bow. The bow was not there before, but he was able to call it out somehow. He had been practicing archery for eight years now, so this was something he was used to so much that in the spirit world, it was as easy for him as breathing. He didn't even know he could do it, it just happened instinctively.
"Ah, busted am I?"
A boy's voice was said, as someone Juno did not expect entered into his line of sight. The boy had bright red hair and ruby red eyes, and smiled peacefully as he entered into Juno's line of sight. Juno was left speechless the moment he saw the boy.
"No, that's impossible...what are you doing here?"
The boy just smiled and shook his head.
"You already know the answer to that, Juno. Who else did you think would appear here? Any unresolved issues are up for grabs after all, and you must face them all the same. Conquering them...well, that might be more optional. But you must at least face them".
"What sick joke is this, why would you use his face and voice here" Juno growled.
"Its not the Spirit World who is doing this" the boy said, shaking his head. "The one who manifested me was you...and the Starfall".
Juno held his breath for a moment.
"...my wishes..."
"Naturally, the Starfall cannot grant all wishes one has. Besides, its for the best. Your regret right now fuels your determination to stand up for whats right. Maybe you get a bit more zealous then you should, but you always try to be clever about it when you can. I am glad that you are so inspired by me. I am proud of who you have become...and that you were my friend".
"It's not fair! It's not fair at all!"
"Hey now, its not like I was murdered or anything. Unless you consider cancer my murderer".
"...its not that simple is it?"
"I made that choice, not you" the nine-year-old stated. He took another step forward, coming more clearly into view. He was wearing a black jacket over a red hoodie, and black shorts. His overgrown bangs were held out of his hair by a hairclip that looked like a purple lightning bolt. "You just gave me one great final day".
Juno had always been a crusader. But something like that, sometimes it takes something as fuel.
"That said, you didn't have to scold them all so much".
"It wasn't right that everyone made fun of you just because you were sick".
"Hey, at least in the spirit world, I have this luscious head of hair right now. I was bald thanks to all the chemo".
"Maybe you could have lived though, they could have found a way..."
"There was no way to save me in that world. Not even the Starfall could just bring me back. Everything has its limits".
"Then we just have to push past them!" Juno called out.
"Hey now, there we go. Now you are sounding like a true fifteen-year-old protagonist".
Juno shook his head. "Please, I haven't done anything near enough to be called a protagonist. Not like Kuroki".
Riki just walked up to his friend and gave him a slap in the face.
"And here I thought you said you wouldn't let your inferiority complex rule you".
"Its the truth".
"Juno, you are just as capable of anything Kuroki is. You need to believe in yourself more" Riki scolded him, when there was a large crashing sound on the other side of the mall. "Looks like our talk is over now".
As Riki said that, several large wolves suddenly began to come out from behind various corners.
"What is this? I thought for sure it would be her..."
"Oh make no mistake, you figured out who you would face. But its not all that simple. The ones you are facing, they are alive in the real world. And the spirit world is a fickle thing. Furthermore, this isn't a pure spirit world. Its also the inside of your very soul. It won't be so straightforward".
Juno notched two arrows and released, taking out two wolves at once.
"Oh, you have gotten better. Your eyesight is a lot better too".
"Someone had to pick up the slack. Those other guys weren't doing enough" Juno mentioned.
Riki then drew his own bow, and notched his own arrow.
"How are my parents?"
"...its hard to visit them, since I remind them of you".
"I see. Sorry, that was a dumb question".
"Its only fair to want to know what happened to those you care about after you die" Juno said as he put another arrow into a wolf. In the spirit world, it appeared he had unlimited arrows as he and Riki pulled them out of nowhere.
"But you know, the role of an archer is more then just ranged combat" Riki said, as suddenly blades appeared on the tips of his bow, and he used nimble footwork to navigate around a bunch of charging wolves. In an instant, several of them were stabbed in various vital points, and fell to the ground as corpses.
Juno nodded, as he backstepped as a wolf lunged at him, then pivoted strong as he lifted his other leg, delivering a powerful kick right into its jaw. It went flying to the side, letting out a death rattle in the process.
"Sending lackeys to do your dirty work! You never change, Kanoko Amiya!"
"Seriously, who did you piss off after I died!"
"A bully who liked to torment people! She went too far, and we tricked her into exposing herself and getting herself arrested" Juno admitted. "Thats just how bad she is".
"Wait hold on, the same Kanoko Amiya who stole our chocolate in the first grade, and put a snake inside your underwear in the boys locker room during our swim class?"
"Yes, her!"
"So your saying she never mellowed out? Thats...wow".
"She picked on Kuroki a bunch...right, I met him after you died, so you never met him".
"Mhm. I would like to ask you about him, but I doubt ill have the time" he said, as he then noticed an attack. "Dodge!"
A large signboard suddenly came flying at them, and they just barely moved out of the way in time. However, once they did, she arrived.
"You smell like old fish!" Riki shouted.
"...Riki, that insult really has very low effect outside of elementary school".
"What?! No way! Its a really good one!"
"Shut up, both of you!" she shouted, as she tossed a trash can at the two of them from an upper level, glaring at them. "There are no cops to save you!"
"Oh, that is your mistake" Juno said, instantly firing two arrows. She just barely blocked them in time, but their targets had been obvious. One aimed at her heart, another at her head. "You are just a projection after all, and there is no rules or laws protecting you here".
Riki looked a bit alarmed. "Juno, even so, that was...really fast".
"I really despise her that much" Juno replied. "So this can act as therapy for me. Every time I see her, Compliance acts up and gives me some massive murderous urges. That said, it also appears to be stopping me as well a bit, aside from Reiji, and the rules and laws".
"Juno..."
"She just continues to spread misery and mayhem in her wake, getting her kicks off of making people suffer. A psychopath and a narcasist through and through".
"Juno, don't let this bully corrupt you!" Riki said, headbutting Juno with a jumping rush headbutt.
"Ow! What the hell!"
"Juno, she isn't worth throwing your life away!"
"Wha..."
"You are far more important and special then she will ever be!"
"Hey now..."
"Juno, show her what a true hero is! Together!"
Riki held out his hand.
"Riki...I don't..."
"Shut it! Stop putting yourself and your efforts down all the time! What would Reiji say!"
"Reiji takes on too much of the burden though..."
"Uhg, you are both the same!"
Riki used psychokinesis to create a barrier that stopped Kanoko's next attack.
"Shut up you two! This is my show! Not yours!"
"No, you shut up you minor, two-bit tertiary antagonist!"
Juno wanted to comment that Riki was making very odd insults again. Unfortunately, his friend always had a habbit of using very mild or old seeming insults, or very irregular ones. His ability to insult people was...unique, to say the least.
Riki meanwhile summoned several shards of glass to go after the interrupter. His bare feet slid across the ground, creating a line of magic. In the next instant, crimson energy emerged from the line and began to shoot out various beams that chased her around, while he looked back at Juno and offered his hand again.
"Juno, you need to stand on your own two feet, but more then that, you need to become the person you want to be then let people like that pull you down! Don't let Compliance influence you!"
"Thanks. For a projection, you are pretty good".
"Like I said, I am not a projection. I am the aftereffects of a failed wish...a fleeting existence if you will".
"Are you sure? You don't feel so fleeting to me".
"No, I am sure of that much. Just a ghost, an echo, never actually accepted by the wish. So lets have one last round together".
"Very well..." Juno mentioned, as he grabbed Riki's hand and pulled himself up. The moment he did, power surged between them. A sort of green energy that felt almost vaguely familiar to Juno coursed between them. In the next moment, Juno's bow began to glow red...along with Riki. "What the...what is..."
"I have no idea!"
Suddenly, a bright light occurred between them, blinding all as the power surged forth.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, outside of the spirit world, Aira watched Juno who was in a meditative trance, or at least Juno's physical body, as he was engaging in a ritual spell. The young necromancer watched both Juno and Reiji.
"Alright, lets see if the information I got from Zak works the way we hope. At the very least, I can sense my ritual was a success. The rest is up to Juno and Riki now" Aira said, nodding.
Aira looked back at the letter he received, written by Zak. It was all strange and spoke in riddles, but Aira was able to decode it. This let him know to suggest to Juno to attempt a Soulbound weapon ritual, using his bow at the base. It had been Zak, acting through Aira, which prompted this turn of events.
Of course, how Zak knew of Aira would be a mystery to both Kuroki and Juno should they discover this. At least for now.
I nearly gave it away back there, letting slip Necromancers work with detectives. Juno is a bit too hotheaded, but if he told Reiji, he would absolutely figure it out I am sure. But this is necessary to bring about a better future. Juno needs more then just Reiji if he wants to grow. Well, mentally at least.
Aira had made the whole point of making contact just to make sure that he could casually mention the ritual to them. It had been a risky move, but he got unexpected gains. Zak hadn't mentioned Cherry Road would attack them that very night after all.
Either things are changing, or it just shows Zak's information network is still in development. Maybe both.
Aira then focused on his ritual.
"The rest is up to you all..."
"...so you were up to something" Reiji mentioned from behind Aira. Aira looked behind him with a look of shock.
"Oh come on! You can't be that far away from Juno! What if something happens!"
"I realized someone, likely you, helped to clear the forest ahead of time".
"...damnit".
As Aira expected, Reiji was way too capable.
"So, what are your plans for Juno. What are you hiding from us?"
"Sorry, but I can't tell you that. Literally, it would only cause problems for all of us".
"You really think that line would work on me?" Reiji asked.
"...eh, I mean its the truth, but no I didn't think it would be that easy. You know better then to just blindly believe people you barely know, even if I know plenty about you, Starfallen".
"...how much do you know?"
"Your parent's given names are Shizuku and Yuki. And both are still well and alive".
"What..."
Aira shook his head. "Sorry, thats all the preview I can give you".
"You think that will be enough?"
"I was sworn to secrecy. But know this, my ritual is of great benefit to Juno".
"How so?"
"He will finally be able to resolve things with Riki...depending on his own efforts, of course".
"You sure do know a lot of names".
Aira looked away, back towards the field.
"Aside from the Devils, another power is at work, going after Starfallen. Somehow, they are able to recognize Starfallen...and has been killing them. The victims are scattered in terms of age range, gender, and so on. Iv examined several corpses so far as a local necromancer, and I was able to realize something by talking to their spirits. Each and every single one is a Starfallen. Whoever is doing it is strong as well, its unclear that even if you and Juno work together, you would survive an encounter with him. But he is in the area, and he is killing Starfallen. Its gone unnoticed so far because Starfallen don't really have friends and family in this world at the start, so when they disappear or die, no one kicks up a fuss about it. That is also why you need to power up just as much as Juno does. They will need you, Reiji. And we don't have time to be at each other's throats".
"But why do you care?" Reiji asked the most important question.
"Sorry, but we aren't close enough yet for me to tell you that. Now then, you don't need to stand around here right now, do you?"
Reiji thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Fair enough. In that case, I just have one more thing I need to ask".
Aira smiled.
"Fair enough".
And so, the night continued as events in the Spirit World advanced forward.