Ren's X-Factor

✧ ✦ ✧

“Just place your hand on the orb, and you should feel a warmth enveloping your palm.”

“Like this?”

I did as Shion instructed, and placed my hand upon the Orb of Discovery. It was a large crystal ball in the center of Headmaster Argo’s desk, with a metal stand shaped like a dragon’s claw holding it in place. Like Shion mentioned, it did feel strangely warm to the touch, but it also made my hand begin to go numb.

“Out of curiosity, is my arm supposed to tingle?”

“Many have described that very feeling, so you should be fine.” Shion assured me. “Probably.”

“Probably!?”

Headmaster Argo’s office was spacious and the stone ceiling went up quite a distance, giving the room an intimidating feel. The massive window behind his chair made up the face of the clock that could be seen from the city below.

“Typically this process would be done during the entrance ceremony in front of the incoming student body and faculty, but since we’re operating under some rather unusual circumstances...”

“That’s one way to put it, I guess.” I scoffed. “So how long does this usually take anyway?”

“Only a few moments, and the orb will not only give a detailed estimate of your potential, but remove a sort of magical ceiling that all otherworlders have when they arrive.” Shion explained. “Think of it as a sort of autoimmune response from the world to protect itself from foreign contaminants.”

“I’m guessing the foreign contaminant in this scenario is us otherworlders?”

“Essentially. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

In a way, it was probably for the best, the planet treating us like bacteria in a wound. I tried to put myself in the shoes of the regular people that lived in this world. Watching a bunch of overpowered strangers with unknown intentions descend into your neighborhoods, without any clue as to your culture and values, it seemed a terrifying thought.

“Ugh—!“ The tingling grew ever more intense, to the point of pain, and the orb began to swirl with white and black smoke, each taking up roughly half the sphere. “Uhh, Shion, what’s going on??”

“Oooooh.” Shion looked intrigued, ignoring me. “It appears that you boast not one but two elements. Just as expected.”

“And that… means?” I clenched my teeth as the pain droned on.

“Most sentient beings with the capacity to learn and use magic have an affinity with one of the core elements. Fire, water, earth, wind, darkness, and light.” She grinned. “Yet you have an affinity for darkness and light, a rare combination but I’ll explain more of that later. So far so good, in any case, next up is your ability set…”

“That’s great and all, but can we hurry this up in any way? I’m not sure… how much longer—”

“Don’t be a wuss!” Shion chastised my impatient self, though if she felt what I was feeling she might share the same sentiment. “Ahem—Now I’ll just need to place the parchment as so…”

Shion laid a sheet of yellow paper over the top of my wrist, and I was astonished as characters in the same language that was shown in her Akashic Records began to fill in the page at random intervals. It was the only other time I had seen the characters, but the script was distinct enough to remember with a lot of round edges similar to Korean.

After around twenty more seconds the sheet glowed a bright white, and the pain finally subsided from my hand.

“All done!” Shion snatched up the sheet of paper as I pulled my hand away instinctively, inspecting it for good measure.

I’m glad that’s over.

“Just as I thought…” The woman beside me muttered to herself as she glanced over the parchment. “In nearly all respects, you are identical to Ren I, and your skills assessment is no exception.”

“Oh?” I was suddenly curious. “So, what kind of abilities have I got? Super strength, speed? Flying might be kind of cool, I guess.”

“A passive healing factor!”

“Eh?”

“Just as I said, you heal exceptionally quickly by human standards.” Shion maintained her enthusiasm, but she could tell I was still taken aback. “You’ve had it all this time, though your healing occurred at a rate that wouldn't immediately have you think that it was an ability. Not in any obvious way.”

“I guess that’s why everyone went on thinking I didn’t have one at all, including myself….”

Though, considering my penchant for fighting and my lack of nutrition, it might be the very reason I was able to survive the last several months with constant injuries and next to nothing to eat.

“Now with the magic ceiling gone, your healing factor will only grow in potency. While I understand it’s not an active ability like many others possess, it’s something.” Shion stated. “Though I gather… you’re not as excited?”

“That’s not it, it’s just…”

It’s certainly something I can use, so I’m not exactly complaining, but she seemed so determined for me to get my hands on this ability before we go after some interdimensional horror.

“Will it really be enough?” I asked.

“Ah, Ren-kun, you worry about the silliest things.” Shion shook her head. “What you’re supposed to say in this situation is: “Thank you so so much for your help, Shion-sama! I’ll follow you to the ends of reality until we save it from evil!“ Oh, and: ”You’re also the smartest and most beautiful—“”

“—not happening.”

“Boo.” Shion puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms. “Have I ever steered you wrong before?”

“We just met earlier.”

“Fufufu, actually, this is my tenth time meeting you for the first time, Ren-kun.” Shion stated matter-of-factly. “At least, if we’re only counting this world.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense….” I sighed deeply, rubbing my temples. “Well, I did say earlier that I’d trust that you know what the hell you’re doing. I’ll just assume this is one of those times, and play along.”

“That’s more like it!” She smirked. “Though your enthusiasm could still use work.”

“Very sorry, Shion-sama.”

“Hmm, I wonder if you are?”

If I remembered correctly, she said my participation was needed to avert tomorrow’s catastrophic events. In any case, I just had to do my best like usual. For a hand-to-hand brawler, passive healing was actually a major cheat code if incorporated effectively into my fighting style.

“Oh, and by the way, you mentioned my skills assessment was almost exactly like Ren I, but you didn’t mention why.“ I noted. “What’s the main difference?”

“Good question.” Shion narrowed her gaze as she glanced over the paper. “Ren I shared your elemental affinities and passive healing ability, but you seem to have space for another skill of some kind here, though the letters are blurred out, making them rather hard for me to read.”

“I see.” I rubbed my chin. “Is that unusual?”

“It’s happened before to others with a second ability, but it’s somewhat uncommon. The easiest explanation is that it's an ability that has a high personal cost of use, and you haven’t yet reached the qualifications to use it.”

“Qualifications, huh?” I repeated. “Like what, exactly?”

“I have no idea what pre-requisites you’ll need to meet, to be frank.” Shion shrugged. “It could ultimately fall on you to figure it out as you grow in experience. That will take time, of course, and patience.”

“I guess I can manage that, but it would be nice to use it now.” I sighed. “Whatever it is.”

“If you’re worried about how you’ll fare with only your healing, one key detail that you tend to forget is that I never once said that I’d make you fight alone.” Shion raised a finger. “And speaking of, I’ve kept one of my associates waiting too long. We should go and meet him now before he gets too drunk to stand. Zero’s been pestering me for an introduction for some time.”

Zero? What an odd name.

“Where to?”

“An establishment you’re familiar with, as it turns out.”

9.2

As we approached Old Red’s Inn on the first floor of the Adventurer's Guild hall, I could tell there was some sort of raucous coming from inside, although such a thing was certainly not uncommon for the place. Redrook was an adventurer’s town through and through, and featured all sorts of rowdy characters.

The weird part was that it was still midday, and the height of activity usually occurred when the sun started to go down and people got drinks in their bellies. As we stepped inside, however, we saw two burly men facing each other, their faces determined and focused. They each held a drink in their hand with dozens of empty wooden tankards sitting on the bar counter behind them.

They were engaged in what appeared to be a serious drink-off, red-faced and getting caught up in the cheers of the sizable crowd that had gathered around them in a semi-circle. I happened to recognize one of the men instantly.

“It’s coffee milk guy!” I snapped my fingers, exclaiming.

“Huh?” Shion tilted her head, confused. ”What was that, Ren-kun?”

Oops, I guess I haven’t technically met him yet in the timeline.

“Sorry, nevermind.”

There was no doubt about it, he was the same guy who had left me a bottle of coffee milk at the bathhouse. I recognized his blue hair, and striking red irises. The guy he was battling was a whole head taller than him, and wore all sorts of leather straps with no shirt, but in terms of who was winning the battle…

“I toldja Zhero, nobody beats–*hicc*—the Iron Gut in a drinkin’ battle, that—*hicc*—tab is as good as yoursh…”

“Give ‘em hell, Iron Gut!” A member of the crowd shouted.

“Heh! That’s where you’re wrong, my friend!” Coffee milk guy didn’t back down. “You wanna know why they call me Zero? Cause that’s the number of drinking battles I’ve lost in this tavern!”

“That’s right, Zero, have at it!” Someone else yelled.

Wait, coffee milk guy is Zero!?

“Zero, what on Earth are you doing??”

While I was lost in surprise, Shion had already stomped into the tavern, hands on her hips. She stood just outside the semi-circle, scowling at Zero, her associate as he swiftly took down the tankard in his hand and slammed it down on the counter.

“Oh, hey Shion!” He gave her a goofy grin as I walked up to stand beside her. “Yo barkeep, another one, please!”

The blonde barkeep who had once given me juice for free slid Zero another beer, and he scooped it up with finesse twirling the container on one finger like a basketball. I was dumbfounded and strangely impressed, but I could feel Shion’s silent fury beside me as a bead of sweat formed on my brow.

“Zero…”

Just as Shion looked like she might blow up at any second, the fellow known as Iron Gut’s face suddenly went pale as he stood up, stumbling a bit. It appeared he had reached the upper limit of his alcohol tolerance as he took one last look at Zero, and then to the ceiling…

“Your win…”

…before falling face first onto his stomach.

The crowd went crazy.

“I assume this means we’re square?” Zero asked the barkeep as he stretched, both his arms above his head.

“We’ll… add it to his tab.” The barkeep smiled, a bit exasperated. “When he wakes up, that is.”

“Righto!” Zero hopped off the bar stool, and walked right up to us, seemingly unaffected by the sheer amount of booze he had just consumed.

He locked eyes with me suddenly, and his whole face lit up.

“I’m sorry, partner, I didn’t see you there until just now!” He exclaimed. “You gonna introduce this fella with you, or not, Shion-tan?“

“Listen, Zero, that’s exactly what I came here to do… And if you call me that again, you’re getting a boot to the knee.” Shion sighed, shaking her head. “This is the young man I told you about, Itsuka Ren-kun. He’s the otherworlder we’ve been waiting all this time for, remember?”

“Oh, I see, the otherworlder we’ve been… WAIT, it’s him!? In the flesh, are you super duper sure!?”

Shion nodded once.

“Humu humu, then I guess things are about to get complicated again, eh?” Zero smiled like he had been expecting this turn of events. “But I don’t hate being in the action. In that case…”

Before I could say anything, Zero reached out and grabbed my hand, shaking it wildly. I was too stunned to speak as he closed the distance between us in an instant.

“Salutations, partner! My name on Earth was Zachary Crowley, but folks around here call me Zero. But you? You can call me anything you like!” He grinned widely. “Either way, I look forward to fighting beside ya.”

“Uh huh…” I finally muttered. I could tell this guy was going to be difficult to handle with a personality so different from my own, but he didn’t seem a bad sort overall. I shook away the surprise. “You too, nice to meet you, Zero.”

“Yep yep! So… When’s this strategy meeting getting started Shion-tan? I’m starving here.”

“I thought I told you…”

Uh oh.

“YOUCH!”

“…not to call me that!”

A small but firm foot met Zero’s knee as he hopped around on one leg, clearly in pain for such a solidly built guy.

“Geez.” Meanwhile Shion pouted, and a chorus of laughter from the rowdy crowd was enough to make even me chuckle.