Darkness within

'Mm? What's up Shuuta? Is it important?' Abbadon responded swiftly, even though Shuuta irritated him a bit, he would never turn his back on his son...never again.

'Is Anima a [Domain]?'

This question left Abbadon speechless, it was a very advanced question! Even though he was unknowledgeable about stuff like that, thanks to Kohana, an Anima specialist, he was able to learn quite a lot.

He groaned in remembrance.

'According to your mother, Anima is related to a Domain, but no. It's not the same skill, they are separate skills from different learnable Magic. I've heard your new Master tell you that the [Domain] skills are unique to her, she is wrong. Sure, you can't learn the skill at conventional ends, but you can definitely acquire it.'

Shuuta's concerns were true. 'So what you meant was that Mystics...no, anyone with the capability can obtain that skill.'

'Sharp aren't ya! No wonder you're my son.' Abbadon exclaimed and nodded proudly.

'How can someone obtain it? I'm a bit concerned, that skill sounds dangerous if picked by the wrong hands.'

Abbadon sighed inwardly, Shuuta has better things to be worried about, that skill is indeed dangerous but, someone acquiring [Domain] is close to impossible.

Plus, the process is tedious even for a Demon King like him, regardless, Abbadon reminded him of his main goal right now. Abbadon focused his voice, sounding a bit more serious.
'Shuuta, stop worrying about [Domain], you have something else to worry about. That girl Hanako should've arrived at that silenced city by now.'

Shuuta quietly crossed his arms. 'So it's about time?'

A sharp shiver crawled on his back, he had spent a year inside the space pocket feeling lonely for most of the time.

This made him clench his fists, glaring onwards with a furious light in his eyes.
'It's been so long without that lousy, snooty ghost...' Shuuta gnashed his teeth with an expression of ire.

Many images of Hanako flashed on his mind, making his quelled-up rage boil even more so.

'I was weak, I could not protect you...but this time-' Shuuta raised his arm and tapped his chest with determination. '-I will become stronger!'

Shuuta forced himself to calm down because he accidentally released some of his Mana.

"Calm down kid, remember the training that we did together..." After Kento finished talking, he sensed an odd aura surrounding Shuuta, it was as if he cast a skill.

"[Appraise!]" Kento glared at Shuuta thoroughly and almost passed out from shock.

"Y-you...It all makes sense now." Kento placed his hand on his face and sighed excitedly.
Shuuta remained quiet as he glanced at the man looking thrilled.

"I can't believe; you out of all Mystics have [Power of the Emotion] passive skill, that skill is incredibly rare! Only 0.1 percent of the Mystic society has that damn skill!"

"H-Huh? [Power of the Emotion]? What does it do?"

"Your Magical prowess scales with your emotions, let me give you an example." Kento pretended to adjust some teacher's glasses on his nose ridge.

Shuuta nodded as he listened carefully.

So apparently he had another broken passive skill!

"Imagine a weak little flame, close to its final breaths. Now, imagine the same flame suddenly creating a volcano! Then, hell itself erupts abruptly! The scorching flame becomes so hot and infuriated that the sheer temperature melts the whole place!"

Shuuta frowned deeply, he couldn't comprehend anything that Kento spat...he was way too excited to sound rational!

"In other words, the angrier you are, the stronger your attacks will be,"

At least he finished off with a helpful description!

"If that's the case...why did I train my calmness of the mind? Shouldn't it be better if I release all my anger?" As soon as he finished his sentence, a rapid palm came down to his head, smacking him.

"Idiot! That skill has horrible repercussions! You can end up harming your comrades!" Kento stated rather furious.

Shuuta turned to Kento and growled at him. "How am I supposed to know?! I've never seen that skill on my upgrade menu!"

"Well, now you know." Kento forced an awkward laugh.

"Bastard."

Shuuta opened the menu by focusing his eyes.

He checked and checked, he browsed through the skill shop and saw nothing, he scrolled through the reward section and still...nothing, he gave up finding absolutely nothing, not a single skill named [Power of the Emotion] was even mentioned.

It was probably another case of 'Dad has it, not me, but, I can still use it somehow.'

"In any case, I'm going to go for a while now, just go to Granny Iho." Kento did a swift motion with his hands. But before he could cast a portal, Shuuta stopped him with a sudden question.

"What? Where are you going?" Shuuta lowered his shoulders despondently.

"Dumbass, have you forgotten who I am? I am the numero uno of the Heavenly Commanders! Duty calls, plus, I'm going to try my best to buy you some time. Himitsu probably arrived already." Kento paused as he pondered something, he decided to boost his pupil's confidence by doing something for him.

"Don't worry Shuuta, I'll go make sure they don't cleanse your Familiar, you can leave it to me." With that being said, he materialized a portal, looking back at Shuuta, he left off with a smirk.

"Man, what a Master I have..." Shuuta sighed and faintly smiled as he saw his teacher leave.
Shuuta noticed that the rift was still up, frowning, he got near it. "Did Master forget to turn it off?"

This reminded him of the rift he left unchecked. 'I should probably do something about that rift in the sky...' Abbadon came to mind, maybe he can help him master that skill, he can probably teleport just like Kento did...so cool!

Suddenly! A light-hearted voice echoed from within the blue fissure.

"Shuuta!"

"Huh?" This left Shuuta in a tizzy.

Bam!*

A slim and tender youth came out from the blue circle slamming her body against Shuuta's. Both dropped to the floor.

"Gaah! What the-" Shuuta widened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected occurrence.
The person who suddenly slammed against him was an orange-haired cutie who wore an expression of cheerfulness. She was currently wearing a red midriff-sports shirt with grey yoga pants.

Leaving Shuuta wholly mesmerized by this view, she has currently mounted on top of him by accident.

Gulp!*

Her smile grew even sultrier after witnessing the bashfulness that concurred on Shuuta's face. The light in her eyes showed how strong her love was towards him.

'What kind of smile is that?! It's way too seductive!' Shuuta gulped gallons.

"Hey, hey! Guess what Shuuta!" The light, the sun, and her smile, all shone on Shuuta's flushed face.

"W-what?" Shuuta was receiving a lot of mental damage, even more so than the damage he received against the Sage Iho.

Yuri finally let the bashful boy rest his naughty thoughts, helping him stand up, she giggled as she excitedly showed off her new ability.

The air shuddered, it coiled and wrapped around her petite body, with a sudden bang, the air spread all around the area. She yelled, "[Awareness!]"

Her beautiful gem-like eyes gleamed like the sun, although, it was a green color. A small aura appeared on her head like a crown, displaying the new status that she'd received.

"Whoa...what is it?" Shuuta stared at the girl who was proudly laughing.

"Punch me and you'll see~" Yuri grinned and squinted her eyes at him, in a mocking way.

'Oh man...she's going to beat my ass again...I can tell.' Shuuta had dark eyes, a certain memory of his brought concern on himself...he got absolutely demolished by her in middle school.

"Come on, come one. Just try to hit me~"

Even though she spoke in a light-syrupy way, Shuuta sensed a black aura of death surrounding her.

'I'm going to beat him for dying! Humph.' While her smile didn't change, her entire aura had transformed completely. She seemed terrifying, like a monster!

"N-no, I'm okay..."

"Come on, come on. Don't chicken out Shuuta~"

Shuuta suddenly saw someone else come out of the portal, and it was ready to strike at Yuri.

"Uhh...Yuri-"

Bam!*

"Waah!"

Yuri was struck in the head by Noara who had just come out of the portal.

'Eh? I thought she would at least dodge that attack...was she so distracted that [Awareness] didn't work?' Shuuta frowned at her.

Where did all that bravado go?

"Yuri, please leave Shuuta alone. He needs to focus on training or else...-" The nurse slowly turned to look in Shuuta's direction. A red light appeared in both her eyes.

"-he won't be resurrected again."

Gulp!*

Shuuta's cheeks twitched from all the confusion and fear...after that, Kentaro, Hikaru, Kakoyo, Noara, and Yuri had teleported inside of Granny Iho's [Domain].

...

"Sorry for the intrusion, Great Sage of Deities. My brother Kento informed us of Shuuta's location... As his principal and superior, I had a feeling of concern for this boy, if you don't mind, can we also train here, for his sake." Kentaro was very polite, he was the head of the Ogawa clan, so he needed to show how well educated his clan is.

This threw off Shuuta, he saw a bulky man acting so rough and angry with his brother a while back. And now he's acting like a true leader from a big clan...oh, right.
He actually is one.

"Amazing...I only saw him as a principal before. He truly is a clan leader." Shuuta saw Kentaro in a new light.

"Ogawa Kentaro. You don't have to be so formal with yours truly, I'm too old for such antiques. Just be yourself...unless that act is your actual personality."

"N-no, that's not how I behave around others...Ahem In any case, can we train here?" Kentaro decided to ask her straight up.

"Hahahaha... There you go, just act how you normally act. Hmph." Granny Iho chuckled as she nodded sagely.

"Err...Is that a yes?" Kentaro scratched the side of his cheek nervously.

'Why am I having trouble with her of all Mystics? Her whole aura is unsettling...' Kentaro coughed once more, getting Granny Iho's attention.

"Why, yes. Friends of Shuuta, are friends of mine too. Hahaha." Granny Iho chuckled again.

"I see, we'll try not to bother your training with Shuuta." Kentaro bowed respectfully, even though Sage Iho said not to be so polite, it was in Kentaro's nature to be polite. Regardless of what people told him, his mother raised him how it was meant to be.

Granny Iho just sighed and shooed them all away, he needed to get serious with Shuuta, because time is running low. Kento had explained everything to Granny Iho, Shuuta's death, his Familiars kidnapping, and his level one issue.

Now that he resolved his leveling issue, he needed to be stronger, for him to even have a slim chance to save his Familiar.

Hiroyama was full of capable Mystics, he can even find his demise again if not careful. If he encounters a Heavenly Commander he's done for...not to mention a Shogun, if Shuuta finds himself face to face with a Shogun, not even Kento can save him...both might even die.

A Shogun is a force to be reckoned with, he's the boss of the Heavenly Commanders and the right hand of the Grand Mystic Elder. All Shoguns possessed a power that is equal to a Demon General, in other words, there is a high chance of dying, higher than meeting a Heavenly Commander.

"Shuuta-boy, now, let's focus on your training. But first, let me give you some words before you realize what you have stepped into..."

Shuuta saw the face that Granny Iho made as she spoke those words, he was uneasy, she had the most serious face he'd ever seen, he felt daggers pressing upon his stomach, a dread feeling of terror and weakness washed his face, and body...he couldn't even move.

'W-what's this...power? She didn't display this...my body won't budge...'

Granny Iho released all his Mana pressure, because what she was about to say really matters to him and his survival, so she needed Shuuta's full attention.

"Shuuta-boy, stepping inside Hiroyama is suicidal, you might not survive at all, no. You have no chance to even get close to your Familiar." Granny Iho stated with a cold glare.

"You don't have the strength to beat a Heavenly Commander, and if you find a Shogun...you are dead without even knowing." Her aura kept pouring out, leaving Shuuta completely motionless. His muscles gave up, his strength zapped out from him, and even his determination died out like a flame in the winter storm.

"With this in mind, will you give up your life in battle, knowing that you might not even rescue your Familiar. will you still go, knowing that failure is imminent? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a single life? What is your goal in all of this? Are you going to only save a life? or are you going to get revenge? Will you be satisfied if you indeed save your Familiar?" Granny Iho was giving questions, they were not rhetorical, he indeed had to answer for her to see what Shuuta is truly, just another Mystic with power or...a Mystic with heart...or a Shigeo.

Shuuta listened, yet he couldn't think straight, his mind was a swirl of emotions right now, he indeed comprehend some questions and their meaning, but his mind couldn't come up with an answer, his mouth could not open to speak, only his face showed the answer, and it was a face of rage, a face of anger at himself, anger for not being strong enough, anger for not protecting his Familiar, anger for not surviving...and most of all, anger for not being true to himself.

He glanced back at Granny Iho, only to show that face of fury, to show her what emotions dwelled within him, and for her to see what he wanted to do.

She in fact saw the answer in his eyes, it was bloodshed, death spread across the grassy lands, and corpses all in conjecture with torment, laid with blooming flowers, he was truly the reincarnation of Shigeo, Granny Iho had confirmed it with her own eyes.

'This is why Shigeo died...because even though he had a noble heart, darkness always resided within...even for me, I know I have darkness inside me...the things I wish to destroy, people I wish to erase...bonds I wish to sever...even now, I have hatred, even though I'm supposed to be a Sage, a teacher, and a proud Mystic...there is still some evil in my soul.' Granny Iho gnashed her fists, Shuuta truly resembled Shigeo...her curse, her life, her future...
Granny Iho closed her eyes in remembrance of Shigeo...in his last breaths.