In the vast blue sky over the small island of Onokoro, about a dozen airships drift above the main plaza, broadcasting the same message every hour.
[To all candidates: if you encounter any problem, please don't hesitate to speak with the agents dressed in yellow. You can order waiting droids via the KM app. Good luck to you.]
A gigantic line, bordered by tiny androids barely knee-high, snakes its way toward a medieval-style building in the north of the island. Around this endless queue for the examination hall, shops and restaurants are packed with candidates who have ordered a waiting droid.
Others are having fun a bit farther away in the amusement park, forming a colorful, noisy ring alongside the shops. Some stroll around the inner ring of hotels facing the sea.
But a few stubbornly remain in the line, convinced it will increase their chances.
A chubby young man, squeezed into a short-sleeved shirt far too small for him and baggy green shorts hanging off his tiny hips, walks slowly along the row. Suddenly, he whistles. A few seconds later, someone waves.
"I'm here! Mike! Miky! Miki Mike!"
Mike walks over, frowning.
"No need to yell that much, I heard you the first time already…"
A tiny waiting droid behind him taps his small butt.
"Hey! Stop grabbing me, Davis!"
Davis bursts out laughing and points at the droid.
"Gnahaha!"
Mike turns around while grabbing the droid's arm.
"Sir, you have overtaken me by mistake. Please return to the back of the line."
Mike bristles.
"I was here first."
"You are not allowed to cut the line," says the android.
"But I was here before you!"
"No, you are not telling me anything, I must warn"
Mike loses his temper and starts shaking the little robot.
"Aaaa… stop. Security officer!"
Davis is in hysterics, while Mike tries to smother the droid's voice. Despite his efforts, a purple siren pops out from the top of its head and starts blaring. Davis is doubled over on the ground, laughing with his mouth wide open.
"Stop laughing! Help me!"
Mike shouts in a panic.
An agent approaches them.
"Hey, you over there, let go of that droid."
Mike quickly releases it, giving it a shove. The waiting droid barely avoids falling, points at him, then turns toward the agent.
"He cut in front of me!"
Davis tries to defend his friend but can hardly string two words together because of his laughter.
Mike, for his part, stammers in front of the agent. The agent comes closer to Mike, then gestures for him to step aside.
Fortunately, a boy in a red baseball jacket, standing behind the small droid, steps in. He explains the situation simply to the security guard.
It turns out that while Mike was away, the person behind him ordered a waiting droid. When the chubby man came back, the droid thought it was being cut in front of.
The agent stares at his wrist for several long seconds, where a small touch screen is strapped, then walks up to the droid.
"The man in the green shorts really was here before you."
The droid switches off its siren and apologizes to Mike with a small bow. Mike gives its metal head a light smack.
"Well then, young people, have a nice day and good luck."
The three of them bow to the agent as he returns to his post.
Mike turns toward the one who helped him to thank him. The boy answers with a simple wave and a smile.
Still giggling, Davis turns as well.
"By the way, do you know where the lockers are to drop our bags? He actually left to look for them, but he's too stupid."
Davis points at Mike; his finger brushes Mike's cheek. Mike smacks his hand away with a sharp push.
"I'm not stupid, it's just that there are too many people here, it's easy to get lost."
"How can you get lost? There are literally drones marking every sector."
Mike lifts his head: thousands of silent drones grouped together form floating signboards.
"Gnahahaha, I didn't see them… okay, I'll go again."
"Good idea,"
says Davis, landing a slap on his head.
"He's… gnahahahha, so useless. Anyway, what's your name?"
"They call me B-8 T01110000…"
Davis gives the droid a light slap on the head, then nods toward the man standing behind the waiting droid. The man in the red jacket comes closer without stepping in front of the droid.
"Kenshin. And you?"
"Davis, and my buddy's name is Mike."
Kenshin nods slowly, then asks:
"So, why do you want to join the Sacred Brigade?"
Davis leans his elbows on the droid's head.
"Hey! My head."
The droid tries to push his arm away, but can't.
"Aren't they called the Kogane?"
"They changed recently."
"Anyway, my goal is to become a famous actor."
Kenshin, surprised, widens his eyes for a brief second before returning to a neutral expression.
"Yeah, that might surprise you," Davis goes on,
"But becoming a Hagane is the fastest way to reach my goal."
Kenshin tilts his head to the side and looks up at the sky, trying to find the logic in that.
He gets ready to speak and explain why it's not exactly the best plan, but he feels like he has too much to say, so he stays quiet instead.
Davis sits down on the ground and gestures for Kenshin to do the same, then moves the little android so he's directly facing Kenshin.
"Hey! Don't touch me."
Davis clasps his hands, presses his index fingers against his lips, then starts talking.
"Three years ago, I was going from audition to audition. I did more than fifteen a month, but none of them worked out. By keeping at it, I eventually got a role in a stage play, but even with that stroke of luck, I realized I couldn't go any further. So when I heard the announcement about recruiting new Hagane, one thought crossed my mind that erased all my doubts.
The Kogane are, in a way, celebrities. They can do whatever they want, no one tells them no. How many times have great directors asked them to act in their movies?"
Kenshin nods, then adds:
"That's true, many times, but they all refused, since they can't reveal their identities, and mostly because they don't have the time."
Davis nods back, then wags his index finger at Kenshin.
"Gnahahah, exactly, but…"
A loud whistle cuts through the surrounding noise and, along with it, through Davis's sentence. He quickly gets to his feet, pulls up his beltless suit pants, and waves.
"Hey! Mike! Miky! Miki Mike! Mimi Kiki!"
Mike walks up to them. Davis sits down again. Mike smacks him on the head as he plops down on the ground with them.
"No need to shout my name that much, you're embarrassing me," Mike grumbles.
Davis scratches his head like a chimpanzee.
"Right, where was I… Ah, yeah, that's it, gnahaha! Once I become a Hagane, I'll make sure to reveal my secret identity by accident. Someone, also by accident, will take a picture of me, then, by accident, post it on social media. And unfortunately I'll be forced to quit my role as a Hagane."
"I don't think that would stop you from doing your job…" Kenshin says quietly.
"Yes, it will. I'll become the face of the Kogane or the Sacred Brigade, whatever they're called. Then my main duty will get pushed aside, like an agreement with the group."
"Gnahahhahaha, the face of the Kogane!" Mike exclaims.
Davis takes offense.
"Don't make fun of me, it doesn't look like it, but I have a photogenic face."
"Photogenic?" the little droid repeats.
"Don't you mock me too."
Davis slaps the droid, and Mike immediately slaps Davis.
"Let him make fun of you," Mike retorts.
"Never!"
Then the two of them start slapping each other on the head while also landing a few hits on the droid, which tries to shield itself.
Kenshin watches the scene, skeptical. He stands up, sticks his fingers in his mouth, and lets out a powerful whistle that instantly stops the crazy fight between the two friends.
Davis freezes for a few seconds, then pretends nothing happened.
"So, what do you think of my plan?"
Kenshin scratches his neck.
"If it's done well, it could work, but you first have to do the hardest part: be chosen as a Hagane."
Mike adds:
"Yeah, true, from what I've heard, the exam is pretty tough."
Kenshin nods.
"And you, Mike, why do you want to become a Hagane?"
"Gnahahha, I'm just coming along with him, that's all."
"What?!" Kenshin blurts out.
"You did all the required procedures just to accompany him?"
"Yeah, it's important to support your buddies. Gnahha!"
Davis pats him on the shoulder.
"You're a real friend, you know."
Mike turns his head toward Davis.
"I know."
Then he turns toward Kenshin, who is still standing.
"Why do you want to be a Kogane?"
Kenshin smiles and tries to move closer to them, but the waiting droid pushes him back.
"Don't go past me."
So he stays where he is. He takes a deep breath, lifts his head toward the blue sky, and looks at the sign showing the estimated waiting time. It reads:
[4 h 30]
Then he starts telling his story.
"My story begins long before the recruitment announcement…"
"We can't hear you!" Davis yells.
"Yeah, lower your head," adds Mike, squinting because of the sun.
A bit embarrassed, Kenshin obeys and leans down quickly before continuing.
"My story begins long before the recruitment announcement."
Kenshin clears his throat and speaks in a deeper voice.
"Every day after school, a middle-school boy, with a bottomless sadness, climbs onto the roof of his building before going home. He stays there as long as he can. He spends his time looking at the sky when he's in a good mood, and looking at the ground from the top of the building when he's in a bad mood.
One day, he's in a bad mood and, instead of going to school, he spends the whole day sitting on the edge of the roof, staring at the narrow street below. The rain that starts to fall turns the moment magical, almost spellbinding. After a few hours spent contemplating the abyss beneath him, someone approaches the boy from the sky.
He raises his head and sees a woman, or more precisely, a Hikari. She sits on the edge of the roof right next to him and looks down at the street with him, without saying anything. Then the boy lies back on the wet roof to look at the sky, and she does the same. After an hour, she asks him his name. The boy answers, and from there they start talking for hours. Until nightfall.
The small boy stands up and starts crying, but not tears of sadness tears of joy. The Hikari wraps him in her arms for several minutes, kisses him on the forehead, and brings him back to his parents, who punish him severely.
But it doesn't matter, because that day the boy fell in love. After some research, he learns that she was one of the Kogane of the Amethyst Nation, more precisely the purple Hikari called Medusa.
He begins devoting his time to creating a fan group he calls Goddess-Medusa (G.M). Through social media, he quickly gathers hundreds of people, all worshipping the Hikari. They collect every bit of information they can find about Medusa and post it on his blog.
A virtual shrine is created, where his followers can come to pay their respects. Weekly in-person meetings are held. With his close collaborators, he hosts a podcast twice a week. Over time, the G.M fan club grows bigger, so they expand their topics to include the other Kogane as well, while keeping Medusa as the central subject of the group.
The boy starts making a lot of money, but that's not what drives him his parents take all the earnings anyway. What matters to him is having new friends and a passion that fills him with joy.
Until the fateful day when the news announces the disappearance of all the Kogane the forty Hikari and Hagane vanished overnight, without a trace. The young teenager is devastated. In spite of that, he stays strong and gives hope back to the members of his group and his followers. And he does so for three long years.
It pays off, because one day the tech company Mirai announces that a Kogane has supposedly appeared alive again and not just any Kogane: the purple Hikari, Medusa.
On top of that, Mirai's president declares that in two years they'll recruit new Hagane, but only people of Amethyst nationality can apply.
All the stars light up inside the hardcore fan's brain. He sees his future taking shape at Medusa's side. He decides to become a Hagane to comfort a Hikari who must be in great distress.
He shares his plan with his two best friends, who are also Kogane fans. Together, they decide to devote the next two years to intense training. But after one week, his friends drop him without even telling him.
Even so, that doesn't discourage the young man, quite the opposite he's even more motivated, despite the warning signals his body sends him with every move. After five weeks, despite all his effort, nothing has changed: he's just as fat as before, maybe even more, and his cardio is only a tiny bit better.
That still won't stop him. The next day, he starts again, beginning with a thirty-minute run in the morning. Once he's finished, he goes to buy fruit and vegetables and, as usual, gives some to the old homeless man who hangs around the large park that acts as the city center.
Normally, the old man thanks him and gives him a few workout tips, his mouth full of fruit. But this day, for some unknown reason, he grabs the young man's arm firmly just as he's about to hand him the food. The old man stares straight into his eyes in silence for long seconds.
Then he asks, with utmost seriousness, why the boy is training so hard every day. The big Medusa fan explains at length his reasons and shows an immeasurable determination to reach his goal. The homeless man, still holding his arm, bursts into loud laughter. When he's done, he lets go of the boy's arm, stands up, and dusts off the top of his old torn pants.
And in a hoarse, firm voice, he declares that he will be his new trainer. But to pursue his training, the young man must abandon his current lifestyle. With eyes full of passion, he accepts the old man's proposal.
He goes to tell his parents about it. Of course, they don't agree, but they can't do anything against his determination.
Thinking back on it, it's true that he could have been a madman or a serial killer, but fortune favors the bold. The next day, he meets the old man for his first training session.
After being tested with physical exercises all day long, the young man understands this won't be a walk in the park, but he also knows he won't give up. In the evening, the coach explains how they're going to proceed so that in just two years he'll be able to aim for a place among the Kogane.
The first stage is to awaken his Perception. The second is to bring his body up to standard. The third is to learn a fighting style that suits him. The fourth is to master the fundamentals of Perception. And the last is to train in real situations."
"Wait, what's Perception?" Davis asks.
Kenshin looks surprised by the question.
"You don't know what Perception is?"
Mike and Davis glance at each other, then shake their heads.
Kenshin continues:
"It's true that at that time, I also didn't know about Perception…"
Mike cuts him off.
"Wait."
"What now?"
"You're that little boy?"
"Of course it's me, who else would it be?"
Davis shrugs slightly.
"To be fair, it wasn't that clear."
Kenshin looks taken aback, and Mike nods before continuing:
"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?"
Davis doesn't give Kenshin time to answer.
"Yeah, and why are you speaking in the present tense? We don't know if your story is happening now or in the past."
Kenshin spreads his arms.
"It's to immerse you, it's like… like when someone reads you a tale."
Mike waves his hand for him to stop.
"Then please stop immersing us."
"Yeah, gnahahah!" Davis chimes in.
Kenshin lowers his head, as if taking the hit.
"Alright… I'll talk normally."
Kenshin sits down, shifting the android slightly so he's facing his audience.
"Hey, stop moving me all the time."
Davis gives the little android another slap on the head.
Kenshin takes off his red baseball jacket and ties it around his waist, revealing a solid build and several scars on his arms.
"I'll start again. Two years ago, just like you, I had never heard of Perception. My coach explained that only eight percent of the population uses it. Its origin goes back eight decades. A form of mystical energy flooded the body of every living being on this planet. We think it's a kind of harmless spiritual parasite that embedded itself in each of our souls.
In just a few months, some people managed to make it hatch. The hatching appears as a luminous halo surrounding the soul. Once awakened, you can activate it, boosting your sensory abilities. This activation is visible in the user's pupils, which display a myriad of dancing colors."
Kenshin closes his eyes for a second, then opens them and leans his head toward Davis and Mike, who stare at him, stunned.
His pupils now have a pearly effect, like the iridescence on a soap bubble. Mike is so impressed that he doesn't blink, afraid to miss anything.
"Woah! I've never seen that before, real powers," Davis exclaims.
"So… so how do you see us right now?" Mike asks, slowly waving his hand in front of Kenshin's face.
Kenshin checks the remaining time:
[4 h 00]
Then he places his index fingers on Mike's and Davis's foreheads.
He takes a deep breath, then shouts:
"JEK-SON!"
Kenshin's irises turn purple, while the others' black pupils gradually change color. Mike tries to stand up, but Kenshin presses down lightly with his finger to tell him not to.
"You mustn't break contact with me."
Mike feels like a bowling ball has been placed on top of his skull; he carefully sits back down.
In an instant, his environment changes. The joyful cries, the sound of cooking food, the whirring of droids everything is suddenly amplified beyond his control.
Mike clamps his hands over his ears, but his eyes begin to go haywire too. The light is so intense he's almost blinded; he squints as hard as he can.
The same goes for smells rushing in from all sides, the good ones (cotton candy, hamburgers, perfume, flowers…) and the bad ones (Davis's sweat, his own, the fumes from people opening the bathroom doors…).
He's almost ready to throw up. His head spins and burns. On top of that, he suddenly feels every vibration created by the rides and people walking, plus the faint breeze gives him the sensation that every part of his body is wrapped in countless threads of air.
But the worst are his clothes, which cause itching on every part of his body that's touching fabric.
He's panicking more and more, even though he's trying to hide it. Then he hears the sound of his own blood flowing, and he can no longer contain his panic.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Mike looks at Davis. His friend's eyes are closed, his breathing slow and deep. Suddenly, Kenshin increases the pressure of his finger on Mike's forehead. Mike looks at him, and just like Davis, Kenshin is in a meditative state.
Mike imitates him without asking questions. Each inhalation stretches out, each exhalation softens, plunging him into a near-immediate serenity. Sounds gradually become more distinct instead of chaotic. The smells become less overwhelming. The vibrations fade to the point where Mike can choose which sound and which smell he wants to focus on.
Then he slowly opens his eyes. The world around him seems to be moving in slow motion, whether it's the zeppelins in the sky or the passersby walking in the distance.
But that's not all: he can see, from far away, a nest of exotic birds hidden in a dense tree about a hundred meters in front of him.
Amused by this sharpened vision, Mike narrows his focus and scans his surroundings. He notices a flickering light. He taps Davis's knee quickly while pointing at Kenshin's chest.
Davis stares at the chest for a few seconds, then sees a strange glow appear, like an aurora borealis, emanating from Kenshin's torso.
With each heartbeat, a light bursts out, taking the shape of a halo. Davis gives Mike a thumbs-up.
Kenshin slowly stands, keeping his index fingers pressed to their foreheads. Mike and Davis stand as well.
As the line moves forward, Davis, like Mike, steps back, one foot at a time. With every step, he feels a vibration running through his body. It makes him tremble and tickles him, but he holds back his laughter.
Thanks to these vibrations, Davis can sense the moving droids within a certain radius; it feels like he can see behind him.
Kenshin stops, and the two friends stop as well. He opens his eyes, removes his fingers from their foreheads, and the three young men's eyes lose their colors and luminous gleam.
Davis freezes and starts panicking.
"Nooo, not back to the mortal world, why did you take it away from us?"
Mike agrees and adds:
"Yeah, you can't just take it away, please, give it back?"
he pleads, putting his hands together. Davis does the same.
Kenshin looks at their puppy-dog eyes, then starts laughing.
"Haha, what you just experienced was just a synchronization. Basically, I let you glimpse a part of my power. But you'll need to train for a while to develop your own Halo."
"How long?"
Mike asks.
"I don't know, it depends on your base level. Personally, it took me about two years, and I had to"
Davis interrupts him.
"Please, make us your disciples!"
Kenshin rubs the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.
"We beg you,"
adds Mike.
"Sorry, but I'm here to become a Hagane. And you have to choose your students carefully before teaching them Perception…"
Davis is outraged.
"What? You think we're not worthy?!"
Kenshin shakes his hands.
"No, that's not what I said…"
Mike cuts in.
"Sorry, Master, but it's the first time we've ever felt something like that, it's a little hard to get over it."
Davis nods, lowering his head in shame, then mutters softly:
"You think we have a chance of finding someone else willing to teach us?"
Kenshin thinks for a moment, then rummages in the inner pocket of the jacket tied around his waist. He pulls out a business card and hands it to Davis, who immediately raises his head.
"On the back of the card, there's the address of a bar. Tell him you're coming on Kenshin's behalf. But it's still his decision whether he wants to initiate you or not."
Davis and Mike bow and thank him several times. Davis's face lights up as if struck by a revelation.
"We don't even need to take part in the recruitment anymore?"
Surprised, Kenshin asks him why.
"The recruitment seems way too selective, and being a Hagane means tons of constraints. But if we go to this bar, we might come out of it with powers. Sure, I won't be a Kogane, but with what I'll get, everyone will want to hire me."
"No matter how good my acting is," he whispers quickly.
Kenshin struggles to find his words.
"But… no… uh, that's not how"
He doesn't even have time to finish his sentence before Mike and Davis are already running off into the distance.
"Yaaaooou, I'll be the greatest actor in the world!"
Kenshin buries his face in his hands.
"What have I done now?"
His stomach growls. He sees he has [3 h 30] left. So he orders a waiting droid via his smartphone, then goes to buy a hot dog at the food truck closest to the line.
Kenshin wanders down the aisle of tightly packed stands while he finishes his snack. There are so many people that he nearly forgets they're all here to take the exam.
He finishes his food and starts looking for a trash can.
As he turns right to take another alley, he spots, about fifty meters away, a rather muscular man wearing a blue cap and a fighter pilot jumpsuit, staring straight at him.
Kenshin glances behind him, then looks back at the man, who starts walking toward him with long strides and clenched fists. Kenshin stuffs the paper in his pocket, wipes his mouth, then clenches his own fists.
His expression hardens as he walks toward him.
In an instant, his pupils shift from black to multicolored. The man in the cap does the same.
They're now only thirty meters apart.
Kenshin notices that the man looks old. He estimates him to be around sixty. Burn marks are visible on his neck.
Twenty meters separate them.
'He looks confident. Is he an instructor? Or someone who wants to hurt me…?'
Several questions pop into his head, but he quickly brings his thoughts under control until he reaches a state of perfect calm. Only what he observes matters.
Ten meters.
Kenshin quickens his pace, his irises turning purple. The capped man keeps the same gait.
Five meters.
Kenshin externalizes his power. A luminous halo appears behind his back. That Halo splits into eight glowing petals.
Four meters.
One of them shoots toward a dozen people, suddenly pulling them toward Kenshin. They have no idea what's happening.
Three.
'Normally he shouldn't be able to see me anymore. I just have to go around.'
Kenshin thinks as he deactivates his power and runs at full speed yet lightly behind the stands to his left.
He slips behind the stalls to end up behind the old man.
The man in the cap keeps walking, seemingly neither worried nor lost in thought. He looks calm, even though he's just lost sight of the young man.
Once he's behind him, Kenshin reactivates his power.
He opens his hand for a knife-hand strike, aiming precisely at the neck to cause a temporary paralysis.
One of his petals slides under his feet and propels him forward at full speed.
One.
But at the last second, the old man turns around. Kenshin's eyes go wide. He's at his mercy.
Zero.
The man in the cap suddenly grabs Kenshin's hand, stopping him dead in his tracks. Despite the impact's force, he hasn't moved an inch. Kenshin gets ready to deliver a second blow, but his opponent raises his hand to tell him to stop, then lets go.
Kenshin rubs his hand as he stares, bewildered, at the man he thought was his enemy.
Around them, the crowd hasn't noticed their brief clash.
The old man adjusts his cap, scratches his beard, then, with a wide grin, says:
"I'm proud to tell you that I rank you sixth place."
Kenshin looks at him, confused, with a slight smile.
"I… I passed the exam or…?"
The man in the cap squints and furrows his brow.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Kenshin's face shows his surprise.
"What? Then what are you talking about? Aren't you an instructor?"
The man laughs, and Kenshin finds him stranger and stranger.
"No. I mean my personal ranking. I fight people to gauge their abilities. You're the fourteenth," he adds, pointing at him.
Kenshin hesitates between walking away like nothing happened or yelling at him for the emotional roller coaster this stranger just put him through.
"So you go around attacking random people for fun? And if things go badly, what do you do then?"
The old man laughs again.
"I'm the strongest. Don't worry, nothing can happen to Wonderful Beast."
He declares this while laying a hand on Kenshin's shoulder, which only irritates him more. But he can't deny his power.
"Your name sounds familiar," Kenshin mutters.
Beaming, Beast leans in even closer.
"Of course it does, everyone remembers the strongest, even if it's a bit fuzzy."
Kenshin tries to calm himself down.
"So, Mister Wonderful, why do you want to take this exam at such an advanced age?" he asks, emphasizing "advanced."
"Old, huh? Don't you see how powerful I am?" the old man snaps. Kenshin feels satisfied to have gotten under his skin.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Anyway, who are the five people you ranked above me?" Kenshin asks, curious despite his annoyance.
Beast smiles.
"You want to know which people are stronger than you one-on-one?"
Kenshin sees what he's trying to do but ignores it.
"More or less."
Mr. Wonderful looks around.
"You know what, kid. Let's get some altitude and keep talking."
Together, they leap from rooftop to rooftop until they reach a large tree overlooking the whole island and its facilities. They sit on one of the tree's broad branches.
Kenshin takes off his jacket and ties it around his waist again. He notices, at the same time, a rolled-up sleeping bag leaning against the trunk. Beast gazes into the distance.
"You sleep here?"
"Yeah, I avoid their hotels."
"Why?" Kenshin asks, intrigued.
Mr. Wonderful drapes an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer. Kenshin tries to push him away, to no avail. The old man puts on a wary expression.
As he speaks, he points at the amusement park and the thousands of people wandering around as if on vacation.
"Don't you think all this is a bit too light for a national selection?"
Kenshin starts to answer, but Wonderful picks up again.
"To be honest, I really doubt this contest is legit. As soon as I arrived, I scouted the whole island. There's only one way in: the port where the boat drops us off. When we arrive, they take away our D4 Visions and give us old smartphones in exchange. They check our data. There's no real security, at least they let us go wherever we want."
Kenshin starts to get bored and fiddles with a piece of bark.
"That gave me time to sneak into the castle to learn more about the exam."
Kenshin's interest returns.
"I only saw people writing in big halls. I didn't go any farther so I wouldn't spoil the surprise."
Frustrated by the lack of information, Kenshin goes back to playing with the bit of bark.
"None of the guards seem to be Perceptors. There's no media covering the event. Plus, for a national contest, there are a lot of foreigners. And there are a ton of droids."
He wants to keep monologuing, but the young man loses his patience.
"You want my opinion?" Kenshin cuts in, half-aggressive.
The old man nods. Kenshin uses the opportunity to try to shake off his arm, but fails. He stares ahead with a serious expression.
"To me, this confirms the rumor that the Crimisi plan to steal the artifacts."
Wonderful strokes his chin.
"You think so?"
Kenshin finally manages to slip out from under his arm and rubs his neck.
"When they revived the theory that the star artifacts are the source of the Kogane's power one month before the contest, it intrigued everyone so much that there are over 86,000 participants instead of the 13,000 originally expected. Especially for one of the most prestigious and demanding roles in the world."
Kenshin's phone vibrates to warn him that his turn is coming soon. He stands up and stretches.
"Some say it's a ruse to test that theory's validity," Beast adds.
Kenshin replies:
"And everything suggests that's true, given Mirai's response with this isolated contest on an island. At the same time, you don't want to take risks with the most powerful criminal organization out there."
The two of them quietly gaze into the distance for a moment, then the old man speaks again, in a wise tone.
"They're really numerous. At the same time, if they tell you that carrying an object is enough to become one of the most powerful beings on Telluva, who wouldn't jump at the chance?"
Kenshin massages his arms where his scars are. Wonderful glances at him and stands up, whistling.
"That makes a lot of competitors if we also have to deal with the Crimisi," he says excitedly.
Kenshin snaps out of it and suddenly remembers why he's here.
"Ah! Right, you still have to tell me about the strangers you attacked. And I have to go."
Wonderful pouts briefly, then puts his usual cheerful look back on.
"Come on, put your hand on my back and watch who reacts."
Kenshin lays his hand on Wonderful's right shoulder blade. Both of them face the island.
A luminous Halo appears behind Wonderful, taking the shape of a single giant petal that stretches along the tree, reaching one person, then another, and so on, until every person on the island is crossed by the same massive petal.
Kenshin is impressed but keeps it to himself.
"JEK-SON!" Wonderful Beast shouts theatrically.
Suddenly, a massive firework explodes in the blue sky. The young man can't help but gape at the magnificent spectacle, just like the thousands of other participants. The entire island pauses for a moment to admire it.
Wonderful has just forced all Perceptors to externalize their powers the so-called solar Halo to break the forced illusion, which is perceived as an attack. Kenshin counts about fifteen people activating it.
"Hahaha, some of them didn't fall for it!" Beast exclaims.
Kenshin spends a few seconds absorbed by the magical sight, then turns to the old man.
"So those are our true rivals?"
He asks this innocently, because for a brief moment he feels protected by Wonderful Beast's power.
The latter smiles and opens his arms wide in front of him.
"We're all in competition. But we'll have to be more wary of them than of the others and of me, of course."
Kenshin understands the message and gazes at the horizon with a thoughtful look.
'I won't be allowed a single mistake.'
O curious souls,
do you know the story of…
Hikari to Hagane