The battle ended with part of the forest left in ruins. After a few exchanges, or rather a one-sided beating, the fight moved deeper into the woods, leaving destruction behind.
Kazuki dropped to his knees, the eerie glow in his eyes fading as he slowly lost consciousness. Whatever that energy was, whatever the technique was, it completely drained every last bit of energy and stamina he had left in him after the brutal blows he suffered.
The brilliant glow vanished from his eyes, and in that instant, he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
..
Several hours had passed since the incident in the forest. Kazuki's eyes fluttered open slowly, and as his vision cleared, he found himself lying on a hospital bed, connected to an EKG machine.
"ARGH, my head..." His head throbbed painfully, like it had been used for drum practice. It came in bundles, the impact from crashing into the trees, he was finally starting to feel it in full.
"Yo... So you're finally awake?" A voice spoke from the side of the bed, calm but firm, Kazuki turned his head with a wince and spotted a man sitting on the windowsill. One leg hung over the edge while the other was pulled up to his chest.
He wore a black high-collared jacket that fit close to his body, with loose black pants and matching shoes. His hair was black, just like his eyes, and he had a chiseled jawline, with a pair of dark shades that covered his eyes.
"W-who are you? Are you the one that brought me to this hospital?" If there was one thing that was similar between his previous world and this world he lived in, it's the level of advancement in human civilization.
The room he was being treated in, was almost exactly the same as the one he died in.
Silence.
It was hard for Kazuki to tell what the man was thinking. The dark shades covered his eyes, and Kazuki knew all too well, the truth often hid in a person's eyes.
"You're that kid that couldn't awaken an Essen-Type aren't you? Kazuki Matasuragi was it?" The man finally spoke, climbing down from the window that was at least twenty feet from the ground below.
A faint smile curled at the corner of his lips as he stepped closer to the bed. Sliding his left hand into his pocket, he used the other to lift his shades, revealing a pair of sharp, scarlet eyes that gleamed with a quiet intensity.
"I am Jin Zhen, head of the intelligence unit in the Essen-Hunter's Association, and I have a few questions for you." He began.
"Not to make you feel any worse than you're already feeling, but you were unable to awaken any Essen-Type, that means you weren't involved in his murder."
"Whose murder?"
"Agent Ren Takeda, he is or was a member of the intelligence unit of the Essen-Hunter's Association, but he died in the same incident that put you in this bed. What happened out there?"
It all came back to him, the final moments of the battle between him and the agent before he passed out.
"I don't know, all I remember was he tried to kill, then I blacked out and the next thing I'm here in the hospital." His decision to hide the truth wasn't based on hiding his strength, he hid the truth because he couldn't explain what he saw, the shadow in the abyss, the dark energy that he harnessed.
"I see, I sincerely apologize for my surbordinates actions towards you. According to the doctor your injuries aren't that severe, a few days of rest and you'll be fine, you can leave when you've regained your strength. Take care of yourself kid." With his final words, he slipped his shades back on, turned without another glance, and walked out of the room, leaving behind only silence and questions.
Just outside the room where Kazuki was admitted, two of his subordinates stood tall and still, dressed in sleek black suits. Their expressions were unreadable, eyes fixed at the door as they silently waited for Jin's return.
"Is the kid awake? What did he say chief?" The moment he stepped out, they began throwing questions at him.
"I don't buy it one bit, Ren might have been an idiot but he's an A-rank Essen-Hunter, unless he was hunted down by an S-rank Essen-Hunter, killing him would be difficult."
"But chief, if the kid didn't do it, who did?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out, because if he's murderer isn't found before he returns to japan... He'll go after that kid." The hallway fell silent as Jin spoke. His voice was calm and in that moment, everyone understood just how much was at stake.
"I didn't know you cared that much about the kid chief, a relative of yours?"
"Don't be ridiculous, he's just someone who is in a bad place, I'm not about to let him die because Ren decided to make enemies."
Back in the room, Kazuki stared quietly at his palm, his thoughts drifting back to the moment he returned to the abyss for the second time. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the eerie feeling that gnawed at the edge of his mind, like something had followed him back.
"Those eyes... That voice... What was that?" Even though it disappeared, he could still feel it, the ominous and dark energy he felt within the abyss.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, a blue interface flickered to life in his field of vision.
[Restoring System Functions...]
[System Functions has been successfully restored!]
"What is this..." Now that his mind was clear, he realized it was the same sensation he felt back in Purgatory and again, right before he nearly died.
_______________Status_________________
[Name: Kazuki Matasuragi]
[Age: 17]
[Occupation: Essen-User]
[Level: 2]
[Experience: 3]
[Dexterity: 2]
[Stamina: 2]
[Agility: 2]
[Strength: 2]
[Intelligence: 5]
[Essen-Energy: 0/100]
[Essen-Type: Summoner's Essen-Type]
[Rank: X-Rank]
[Abilities:
• Passive skill: Summoning — Kuriyama]
[Skills: Raisen (Level 1)]
[Stats point: 2]
_____________________________________
"What is this..." He couldn't believe his eyes, the translucent screen hovering in his sights revealed to him that not only did he awaken an Essen-Type, but he awakened a rank that was unknown?