Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Kyoryu was staring at Eya while sitting on the boulder. She was staring at him with a smile and now Akira was worried about the decision Kyoryu might take. But from the way Kyoryu was staring, it was sure he was still considering– no one had convinced him yet.

He had taken her to the lair where Kyoryu was waiting for them. He asked why she stopped in the middle of punching the code, She told him the whole story, then emphasized the end.

She told Kyoryu about her decision to take Akira to meet Hitori. Then he asked what Akira thinks– he said exactly what you would expect– 'I don't think I am ready for it.'

Then that put Kyoryu into a dilemma. He knew Eya's decision was necessary, but he did not want to force Akira and mess things up.

And he had to choose between two and present them with the best decision. Eya thought it would be easy for him, but when he said that, she realized he needs to talk first:

"Do not you think you should tell him about the bad things first? From what Akira has done, he has already created a bad image for himself. Do you think Hitori will be able to process things?"

Eya was worried and her smile had faded. "He should…" she muttered. "I mean… no, bad things first will leave him immobilized for days. And although things have calmed down, we can not tell when these scientists will unleash their revenge. We need him in times of danger."

He nodded, then he thought for a moment. Eya thought she had convinced him, but then he raised his head and said, "I will help you if things get out of hand. Leave him sealed in the lair and we all will fight whoever that scientist Onogee bastard is."

She was left speechless. To receive help from Kyoryu meant receiving help from a more 'serious' Atama-sensei. And if he wanted to, he could vanish the entire Onogi Empire in a moment.

But at what cost? Will Hitori like it? Will Reon be grateful? No. it is their fight, they should end it. So she rejected that idea.

"I will tell him about the bad things– I will– but I think he will break down after hearing everything about his parents."

"Of course, he will," Kyoryu said.

"So he will need someone to cheer up and get over this within two days at most. He does not have a lover, and he does not like Kakashi– they never get together– so I think a little brother will…" she paused, then continued, "it would be good to have a brother who shares the same feelings. Maybe they will bond like brothers."

"Oh, he will kick me out of the house even before I could talk to him," Akira said, and it hit her he was right. You should not try to cheer a grieving man, she knew it from the last time experience.

Kyoryu did not have to think anymore. "Alright, if you want to do that, go ahead. Make sure you solve the things, though, I don't want any mess created by this situation."

Eya was smiling again, this time with more pleasure and happiness. She turned to Akira and grabbed his hand. "Oh, Hitori-san is going to have a huge surprise this evening."

p Akira looked at her, surprised and not ready for it even now! "Wait, what, are we leaving right now?"

She pulled him off the boulder and ran to the cave's mouth. She raised her hand to wave at Kyoryu as she ran out. "Thank you, Kyo-san!" she shouted, then teleported to the barrier.

Akira had no choice– he was under Eya's rule now– either he will meet Hitori, or he will have to fight Eya and Kakashi.

She was too excited on the way, thinking that she would introduce him to Reon and then Hitori and thinking about his reaction, that she came out of the foggy area and was dashing towards the main gate.

But Akira was not pleased with the idea from the start, so he tugged her arm and stopped her. "Hey," he said, "I can not just come out this way!"

Eya came to a force stop, she could see a few adventurers in front of her– saved by a hundred meters. Her smile of excitement faded. "Right…" she said, looking at Akira, "what way do you use to get in and out anyway?"

"I teleport to Aniki's house, then teleport to the forest behind his house. Why do you think we built it right behind his house? But the problem is, the woods would not let me pass, so I take a detour– that is how I met you on the way– but now I think I should tell Kakashi aniki to let me pass through."

She was still embarrassed about that. So she diverted her eyes and said, "You go back and take that way, I will meet you…" she drifted, then came back, "I will meet you in front of the Vr-cade. Alright?"

He thought about it. "It is a long way," he said, "it will take me around half an hour. See if you can catch me on the way to the Vr-cade." He turned and the thought of running away came to his mind.

"Hey! Don't you dare run away!" she said– so he discarded the idea.

"No, no, I would not. Bye!" And he ran away.

Eya sighed and shook her head. She was still smiling on her way to the front gate. Since she was out of danger and was in no hurry, she walked to the front gate.

But unknown to her, Jiyara was waiting for her in the plaza. She groaned and tried to ignore him, but since she was in a good mood, she attended to him.

"What are you doing, Jiyara?" she asked, waiving at him.

He, without unfolding his arms, said, "Waiting for you, Eya."

And that ruined it for her. She thought her excitement had just vanished– if not– then he was going to make her feel miserable soon.

"For what?" She stopped in front of him. He first looked into her eyes for a minute before saying anything.

"What monsters did you kill?"

"What, why? I prefer not to answer."

"Of course, you will say that, cause you have not killed a single monster."

"What do you want, seriously? Why are you doing this?"

"Because it is my job." He sighed. "Forget it. Where is your card? Show me that at least, so I can check you out and let you go…"

"Of course!" She turned to her skirt to hand him the card when a hard realization struck her. Maybe because she was too excited, she had forgotten her adventurer's card in the forest. "Damn, damn, damn, damn!" she muttered under her breath.

She heard him sigh again, this time like a father who was sighing at his hopeless kid. "Don't worry, I can track your card's movement, and do you want to know that your card is still moving? Either a monster swallowed it, or you did something."

She gulped. Only if she could find a way to answer him… but she could fucking not. She wanted to stab him in the eye with her wand and run away.

"Alright, look, Eya, I do not know what you do every day in the forest right near the border that connects the fog and the safe side. But I want you to tell me whatever you are doing will not bring any kind of trouble to our Ministry. Can you tell me that?"

She looked at him wide-eyed. He was letting her off the hook so easy, she wanted to kiss him– on the cheek– but she fucking could not. She nodded, only if s he could come up with a good excuse like a teenager smoking weed, she would have fooled him. But no, now he was going to keep a watch on her every time she goes in.

"I will get your card back, just promise me you are not doing something illegal, or I will ban your membership right now. Tell me if you understand."

Eya nodded. "T-Thanks."

"Don't thank me. Just be careful." He unfolded his arms and turned around at the same time. Then she watched him going back to his office.

She could not process what just happened and how she could make such a mistake, she could not imagine what Kakashi would say when she tells him this. Maybe it will turn bad, or maybe it will not.

But one thing was for sure– he had left her feeling miserable– and she knew she would feel miserable for the rest of the day.

After the confrontation with the bully and the nerd, Hitori tried to teleport out of the courtyard, but as he had expected, he could not teleport. He saw Mono closing on him, and Hitori wanted to avoid the confrontation with him at any cost.

So he kept his wand back into the loop and dashed towards the courtyard's door. Mono was caught off guard. He changed the tracks and chased Hitori to the door. But Hitori had a headstart.

He pulled the door and jumped into the cafeteria. His actions caught the attention of the students sitting by the door. He ignored them cause he looked over his shoulder and saw Mono before the door closed.

He knew the door would open any instant, so he got up, and raced out of the cafeteria. He heard someone shout, "Oi! Don't run in the hallway!", but Hitori continued running.

He pushed a few students on the way, he dodged the girls and the teachers though, some of them even shouted at him for being in a hurry– but what did they know about his situation?

When he was out of the building, he took a portal that led him to the exit gate. He saw the big gate and he thought about jumping through it if he had to. The wizard guards on the two towers on each side of the gate noticed him along with the guards on the ground.

They first raised their hands to ask Hitori to slow down. Hitori glanced over his shoulder, he saw no one chasing him, but by the time he decided to slow down, he was already facing the gate.

The guards at the gate tried to force stop him, but he dodged every single spell. They had pressed the button and the gate was opening,

Hitori continued running, he was either going to smash into the gate or pass through it using teleportation. But the guards would not let him do either of the two things– they would freeze him before he collides with the gate.

The door could not open any faster than its normal speed, and Hitori was closing in. He saw the rock and wood the gate was made of– the gate he would smash his head into– so he closed his eyes while running.

The guards shouted and told him to stop or they will have to use force– they would use it anyway– and just when he was about to collide with the gate, a wizard swung his wand, followed by his mates, all aiming at Hitori.

With his eyes closed, he saw her. In his attempt to run away from the situation, he had forgotten the reason he had come to the academy– to meet Akemi.

Hitori applied breaks, the soles of his shoes scrapped, and he felt stringing muscle pain in his calves and thighs. The pain was unbearable, but he had to bear it. Hitori opened his eyes and felt his nose touch the cold gate.

"Petrify!"

"Neru!"

"Freeze=Dry!"

He heard the spells directed at him, he turned and saw the beams coming his way. He gulped and ducked as he dived forward. He hit his chin on the stone pavement, but then rolled into the grass on the side.

He used the momentum to jump to his feet, give the confused guards a glance– they were confused by his speed, only to realize he had teleported– then be on his way to the dormitory.