I frowned slightly as I took the first tentative steps onto the 'modified Turf' that the Director had apparently been working on over the past several weeks. The texture of the soil beneath felt…odd. Sturdy yet comfortable—almost as if I'm walking on a strangely durable cloud. The disconnect was causing a visceral discomfort to claw up my spine, but I did my best to push through it.
Kitahara smiled wryly as he stood at the center of the small patch of discolored Turf he'd prepared for today's training. "Feels weird, right?"
"It does." I admitted, grimacing as I tried to fight the urge to lunge away from this small bed of modified Turf. "What is even made of?"
"The corpses of Tazuna-san's enemies?" He jokingly suggested, and then yelped when I suddenly sent a kick his way. I deliberately let it miss, but the sheer force of my kick caused him to stagger back slightly, and the hairs on his arm stood up from the sudden heat that surrounded him.
But befitting of the Demon King, Kitahara only raised an eyebrow as he grinned. "What? I'm just making a suggestion!"
"It's a terrible one." I said simply, and Kitahara recoiled with exaggerated pain as he held his chest. "When did your personality get this bad?"
"Ever since Roppei-san left, probably?" He said, looking too proud over the fact.
I held back a sigh. No wonder Belno looked entirely unapologetic when she told me that she kicked Kitahara in the butt a few weeks back. If the man's personality had become like this, she could understand why Belno was unable to resist the urge to perform a Golshi™ on him.
"Speaking of," I shivered slightly as I gave the modified Turf a cursory kick. My mind was having a hard time categorizing the Turf I was standing on as something even remotely similar to soil and grass. "Where's Tazuna-san? I haven't seen her in a while."
Kitahara paused for a moment, before he frowned. "Good question." He hummed as he rubbed his chin. "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen her in the past week." He idly tapped his knuckle onto his forehead as he thought. "I think she mentioned something about meeting someone? Other than that, I don't know. You'll have to ask Akikawa-san about it."
I hummed. Curious.
That aside,
"So, what's with the setup?" I finally asked, frowning slightly as I forced myself to stop tapping my foot onto the modified Turf. "I thought we're not doing any training today."
"We're not." He agreed, his expression turning serious. "It's only been a day since you got out of the hospital. And I might be the Demon King, but I'm not crazy enough to force you to train so quickly." He smiled. "This time, it's Akikawa-san that's asking for help."
I blinked. "The Director?"
He nodded. "Yeah." He gave the Turf beneath him a quick kick. "So this modified Turf she's been workin' on? She wants you to test it. You're the last tester to see if we can use this Turf for the [Arima Kinen]."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why?" I asked. "What's wrong with the normal Turf? Is the weather going to be that bad?"
He shook his hand. "No, no. The weather's fine. Or it should be. The forecast hasn't been very accurate lately." He grinned. "She just wants to make sure the Turf can survive if, y'know, you go all Amaterasu."
I blinked, blinked again, and then realized what he was implying. "Oh, my Domain." I said, smiling wryly. "Yeah, I guess I did burn the Turf under me."
"And you changed the chemical composition of the soil." He added, his grin growing wider at my surprised look. "I dunno' how exactly it changed, but apparently you radiated so much heat that you caused the soil to become brittle. If anyone tried following you, they would've probably cracked the soil and tripped."
I grimaced. Yeah, that would've been terrible. Thankfully, the flames I left behind had seemingly served as a warning for others not to follow right behind me, so no one could experience that.
Still,
"You know I'm not going to use it, right?" I said. "It'll probably be a while until I can use my Domain without going supernova."
He winced at the thought, before he shook his head. "I guess the Director wants to be careful." He said.
"Right." I went silent for a moment, before I turned back to him. "So…how exactly are we doing this test? I've already told you I won't be bringing out my Domain—I'm not trying to cripple myself right before the [Arima Kinen]."
Kitahara froze. It seemed he hadn't even considered that.
I snorted. "Dumbass."
He laughed weakly as he scratched his cheek. "Yeah, I…didn't think of that." He sighed. "Guess we'll–"
"Hold your horses, mister." I said, smiling as I winked. "Just because I can't use my Domain doesn't mean this test's completely impossible."
"What do you mean?" He asked, and then in a quieter voice he whispered, "And what's a horse?"
I pointedly ignored that second question as I gently pushed him out of the small patch of modified Turf. He looked confused as I moved him, though he didn't resist. Once I felt like he was far enough that he'd be safe from whatever might happen next, I walked back onto the modified Turf, resisting the visceral discomfort I felt as I walked across it.
It was rather convenient that, just yesterday, I learnt that I was somehow able to create miniature suns without even actively thinking about it. Or at least that was what I thought at first.
But after some thinking, I realized that it wasn't as simple as that. Rather than the ability to create the sun, it was more akin to the ability to channel a sun's heat. That miniature sun I held wasn't an actual sun, but rather just a ball of plasma that was held together by some mystical force I didn't understand. And the true sun was instead caged within my chest, likely residing in that mysterious 'fifth compartment' in my heart.
But I could figure out more about my new ability at a later date. For now, I had a test to complete.
I soon reached the center of the patch, and I then took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. Slowly, I held out my hand, and I thought back to that pulsating heat I felt in my chest when I first created that miniature sun by accident. I recalled the awe I felt as I held the power of the sun in the palm of my hands, and the terror and panic that followed right after as the rest of my mind caught up.
And then, I felt it.
A blazing warmth coursed through my hands, and I felt the air itself vibrate, as if gravity itself had shifted its course. I cautiously opened my eyes, and a wide grin split my lips as I saw the miniature sun that floated just over my hand.
But I could also see the golden cracks that began propagating from the tips of my fingers.
I had to act fast.
I quickly went down to my knees as I placed my hand on the ground, letting the miniature sun float just inches above the modified Turf. I let the sun remain there for several seconds, and I could only stare in awe as the modified Turf endured. I mean, the discolored grass curled inwards from the heat, but aside from that, the Turf was completely intact. Nothing was catching fire.
"What is this thing…?" I whispered, now genuinely curious as to the makeup of this strange Turf I was standing on.
But they were questions to be pondered later.
Once I was sure that the modified Turf wouldn't suddenly burn, I stood up and quickly shook my hand to dispel the miniature sun. It broke apart into shreds of thin plasma, before it fully disappeared.
I took a quick breath as I quickly turned my hand. The golden cracks had spread all the way to the edge of my palm, but it was already beginning to fade away.
I smiled wryly. It seemed like it'd be a long time before I could wield this new power without–
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?"
Before I could finish my thought, I felt a hand grab onto my shoulder and spin me around. And I came face-to-face with a furious Kitahara, his teeth grit and eyes wide with panic as he quickly grabbed onto my hand. His breaths turned rapid as he saw the golden cracks on my fingers.
"Hey, hey. Calm down." I said, but he didn't respond. He just stared emptily at the golden cracks, his face ashen. "Kitahara!"
He gasped as he finally snapped out his thoughts. He slowly turned to me, and his eyes trembled. "You're…fine?"
"I am." I said, smiling calmly as I tapped a knuckle onto my chest. "Scout's honor."
He shakily laughed. "I d-don't think ya' ever became a scout." He whispered, before he swept me into a hug. "Don't-, don't do that again." He said, his breaths shaky. "O-Or at least tell me before you do that."
I paused for a moment before my expression softened with shame. "...yeah, sorry." I whispered as I returned the hug. "I'll make sure to mention it next time when I'm trying to blow something up."
He laughed weakly. "Yeah, yeah."
…
For a moment, right as I returned the hug, I could've sworn I felt something bony poking out of Kitahara's back.
But the feeling passed a fraction of a second later, so I was probably just imagining it.