"You are the 4th ranked hero, Ayato Shoreniya!" Mizuki said with an expression of surprised and happy at the same time.
"Uh... Well, that was a while ago. Now I'm the 5th ranked hero." Ayato replied while chuckling and scratching his head.
"By the way, that book in your hand, what is that book?" Then suddenly his expression turned more serious, Mizuki's expression also changed when he saw the change in Ayato's expression.
"T-this book? A-ah... Actually I don't know what this book is either, I just picked it up when I passed through the narrow alleyway, and now I decided to throw it into the sea." Mizuki is still nervous when he looks at Ayato's expression, "I-i swear..."
"Let me borrow that book." Then when Ayato's hand had just touched the black book, suddenly the ground trembled, and there was a sound like the ground was about to crack.
Ayato was startled and looked under their feet, "What? An earthquake?" But without them expecting it, eight demons appeared from the ground, and now they were all standing around Mizuki and Ayato.
Mizuki was shocked and his body froze, as his body was traumatised by the old wound of the big claw on his back. "Demons... There are many demons..."
Ayato who saw Mizuki's limp began to try to calm him down while taking out his two Katanas. "Don't worry, young man. Don't you remember who's in front of you?" Ayato said while smiling proudly.
Mizuki who just realised that he might be safe because he was protected by the 5th rank Hero, started to calm down "Ah, yes, that's right. Sorry for forgetting you, mister Ayato!"
"Hmm, you don't need to apologise. Now, just stay there and watch, while I kill all these demons." Ayato said while holding his two katanas tightly. "Alright, I understand." Mizuki replied.
Then Ayato began to attack the demons, his movements were so fast that Mizuki's eyes could not keep up with Ayato's cutting speed. Even so he was still hit by several scratches, punches, or kicks from the demons.
But that didn't stop him, he continued to kill the demons mercilessly. However, unbeknownst to them, there was one demon that escaped Ayato's attack, and was now approaching Mizuki from behind silently.
Ayato and Mizuki did not realise because they were too focused on the fight that was going on. And when the demon was very close, Mizuki only realised it. He froze, like his life had been completely given up.
But Ayato who also saw the escaping demon, immediately ran as fast as he could and cut off the demon's head.
But because of that, the few remaining demons that were previously overwhelmed from being attacked continuously. Finally getting a pause in the attack from Ayato, they saw this pause as an opportunity.
The remaining demons immediately attacked Ayato who was caught off guard, and Ayato was thrown far into the sea. "Mister Ayato!" Mizuki was shocked to see Ayato who was thrown away, he was now panicking, because no one could help him now.
The demons began to approach Mizuki while laughing and speaking a language that humans could not understand, Mizuki could only walk backwards in fear, and finally he stopped because his back had touched the wall.
"No please! Stay away!" Mizuki could only shout, but he realised that if he could only be scared like this, it was the same as all the efforts he had made in vain.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming himself down, "I can do it, I can do it." Then Mizuki began to attack the demons with all the martial arts he had learnt before.
But, because he wasn't very good at martial arts, he ended up getting injured and thrown into another wall. He could now only lay limply on the ground, he started talking to himself.
"Haha, I'm... Really suck, huh? I guess it doesn't matter if I die here either..." He said that to himself as he stared at the demons that were getting closer and closer to him.
"No... Not yet, I have to attack these demons again, so that they are weaker for the other heroes to kill!" Then he started attacking again, some of his attacks managed to have an effect on the demons
But still, fighting three demons was fairly difficult for an ordinary human like him. He was lying on the ground again, blood flowing down his forehead and nose, but he was still clutching the mysterious book tightly.
He tried to pick up an iron rod that was lying nearby, and without realising it, the black book glowed slightly. Then, Mizuki threw the rod towards the head of one of the three demons.
And what happened surprised both races, the road was suddenly thrown very fast and surrounded by auras of darkness. The demon's head that was hit by the rod was immediately perforated, the demon died immediately.
"H-huh...? How did this happen?" Mizuki looked at the book in his hand and began to suspect that this book was doing something. The two surviving demons started to get angry.
They immediately ran towards Mizuki with speed and angry expressions, but suddenly the necks of the two demons were cut. Ayato appeared behind them.
"M-mister Ayato!? Thank goodness! I thought you drowned!" Mizuki sighed and was relieved that Ayato was still alive.
"Huh? Of course I'm alive, how could I be 5th rank if I died just because of that?" Ayato replied with a slightly arrogant and playful tone.
Mizuki nodded and still smiled in relief, then Ayato realised that there was one demon corpse that died with a hole in its head, and also he didn't feel like killing that demon.
"That demon..." His gaze moved from Mizuki to the demon, and finally he became suspicious of Mizuki, "Damn, young man. Did you kill that demon?"
Mizuki was surprised and as a result nodded, not daring to lie in front of one of the strongest heroes, "Y-yes, I killed that demon."
Ayato was surprised and did not expect that Mizuki could kill a demon, "Huh? How did you...?" And because of that his suspicion moved to the book, "Oh... That book, huh?"
Mizuki's gaze immediately shifted to the mysterious book in his hands. "T-this book? Yeah, it seems this book is what made me able to killed that demon." Ayato nodded with a serious expression. "Yeah, it seems so."
Then Ayato looked up at the sky and thought for a moment. "Hey, young man. You shouldn't throw that book away just yet, i mean for now."
Mizuki is shocked and confused, torn between his father's orders or his life saver. But, he decided to follow what Ayato, the one who saved her life, said.
"Alright, I'll do as you say, mister Ayato. But, where should I keep it? If my father finds this book hasn't been thrown away, he'll be furious..." Mizuki said with a worried tone.
Then Ayato fell silent, thinking for a moment, then he spoke again. "Alright, I'll go to your house now, I'll convince your father."
Mizuki was surprised, he didn't expect such an answer from Ayato, "What!? You want to go to my house!? Why!?"
Ayato chuckled and replied, "Don't worry, I won't destroy the house or anything like that. I just want to have a one-on-one chat with your father, so that I can convince him. So, let's show you the way to your house, I'll hop on your bicycle."
Mizuki was getting nervous while Ayato just smiled casually, "O-okay..." Then Mizuki started riding Ayato on his bicycle, he rode it carefully and nervously. Ayato who realised that, could only laugh and calm Mizuki down.
Then a few minutes later, they arrived in front of Mizuki and his family's house. As they entered, Mizuki's father, Minato, was shocked and couldn't believe what he saw.
It was a normal reaction for an ordinary person to see his own son bringing a hero home, and not just any hero, this hero was one of the strongest heroes in the world.
"Y-you're Ayato!? That Shoreniya Ayato!? Wh-why are you here? Did my son just commit a crime?" Minato started to get nervous and panicked.
While Ayato just answered him with a chuckle and a casual tone, "No, of course not, this young man is fine. I'm here to discuss with you, about this book." He placed the mysterious book on the table in front of Minato.
Minato was surprised to still be looking at the book, "This book! Mizuki, why are you-" Then Ayato cut off Minato's words, "Hey, wait a minute father, calm down."
Then Minato managed to calm down, Ayato was also now sitting in front of Minato, while Kazuo stood nervously behind Ayato. "First of all, I'm 90% sure. That this book contains black magic, dark magic, or something like that."
Minato and Mizuki were surprised because it turned out that the book Mizuki had been carrying around, was a black magic book. Ayato continued his words, "So, it's better for this youngster to keep it and take good care of it."
The two of them were more surprised and confused by Ayato's decision, they wanted to speak, but were quickly cut off again by Ayato.
"Okay, calm down. You guys must be confused, right? So, the reason I said that." Ayato suddenly pointed towards Mizuki.
"That youngster, has a match with black magic. So, rather than throwing this book away and endangering the environment or the person who finds it. It's better that I train this youngster." Ayato said with a smirk.
Mizuki and his father were even more surprised, especially Mizuki, "What!? You're going to train me!? You, the 5th rank hero yourself!?"
Ayato smiled, feeling amused by the situation, "Haha, yes, of course. I myself will be your master. So, starting tomorrow, call me master."
Mizuki couldn't believe what was happening, he thought it was a dream, but the slight pain of the pinch from his finger was felt. "Y-yes, of course. Please be of assistance, master!"
Minato stood up and said, "If that's true. Please take good care of my son, mister Ayato!" Minato said while bowing respectfully.
Ayato chuckled and nodded casually, "Heheh, of course. I will make him... No, force him to become the strongest hero in the world."
To be continued...