It was around evening when the training finally ended. Ayaka and Aoi lay sprawled on their backs on the cracked ground, panting heavily as the dust of battle settled around them.
Their father had truly put them through the wringer. The zombies had kept coming, wave after wave, and they'd been forced to keep fighting until their legs trembled and their arms ached, muscles screaming in protest with every attempt to rise.
Worse, some of those things had knight zombies and mage zombies, those were harder to deal with.
At first, they'd done exactly what beginners did, flailing wildly, screaming, and throwing magic everywhere like fireworks at a festival. Kenji had patiently, then sternly, told them to manage their mana.
He instructed them to focus on a principle of efficiency, letting go of as little mana as they could while maintaining a certain level of destructive force to affect the zombies. They were essentially learning to calculate the minimum required output for a magic effect, mana control. But of course, they hadn't listened.
The consequences were swift and painful. Magic exhaustion felt like a sudden, sickening emptiness, like they didn't have life left in their bodies, like dry leaves and then physical collapse that left them unable to move, or even stand.
Their mana reserves, completely depleted, demanded they rest and recover. It wasn't until after the third such instance that they finally started listening.
Aoi was the first to catch on. Her natural patience and analytical mind paid dividends as she began to carefully regulate her mana flow. She approached the problem like she normally did, to things that catch her interest, to see how it works.
She focused on the movement of the mana first, finding the points of release and maintaining a steady stream rather than just pushing as much as she could all at once.
The result was immediate, her ice spells started forming cleaner and stronger, with less waste in her mana, becoming sharp icicles instead of clumsy shards. Honestly, the girl had talent in magic, Kenji, too, could be said to have talent, but if anyone saw how he stared and how his girl was, it would be clear who had the greater magic talent.
Ayaka, on the other hand, had continued to spam fireballs like a maniac until she collapsed, only to stand up again after recovering slightly and restart the barrage. Kenji had to get involved, pulling her away from the fray to sternly warn her.
"Ayaka, stop," he commanded, his voice sharp enough to cut through her battle haze. "You are not hitting the zombies, and if you continue like this, you could damage your mana core." He explained that consistently draining her core past its limit, or forcing too much uncontrolled energy through her body from her newly awakened mana core, could create permanent fissures in her foundation, severely stunting her future growth and destroying her chances of learning more magic in the future.
That warning finally got through to her. She went from chaotic enthusiasm to grudging, focused effort, and it took a while, but she, too, began to grasp how to properly measure and release her power.
Anastasia was another story entirely, and a terrifying one at that. The children could only watch as their mother charged headlong into the horde like a berserker.
Her movements started off a little clumsy, clearly marked by a visible hesitation to kill, despite the undead nature of her opponents. She was a normal person, not even a few days ago, it would have been odd if she hadn't hesitated even against a zombified human.
But as time passed, the hesitation vanished, replaced by a ruthless show of skill for someone who mostly spent her days behind a desk.
She simply started smashing the skulls of the zombies, showing an innate, almost shocking comfort with the brutality of close-quarters fighting.
After seeing how well she had been doing, Kenji moved to teach her magic reinforcement, empowering one's body with mana to increase overall ability.
It was something that was both simple and difficult at the same time.
Too little, and the strengthening was ineffective, too much, and it could tear the body apart. His wife, Anastasia was not someone to look pass, she was smart in how she went about learning the skill, she started carefully, checking the subtle changes in her physical resilience as she continued her fight against the zombies, putting just a little mana, and increasing it with each zombie she punch, eventually it reached th point were zombies dies from a single hit due to the strength difference.
Her instincts as a fighter were sharp, allowing her to rapidly adjust the amount of mana in her application of the skill, while maintaining the mana in her body, not letting it slip away.
She was good.
That wasn't what truly caught Kenji's attention, though.
There was something on Kenji's mind about his wife that just kept bothering him. He hadn't noticed it at first, but when he had first awakened her mana, she had the lowest mana capacity of the group, below even Ayaka, who was lower than Aoi. That made her the one with the lowest baseline mana in the family.
But as she fought, her mana grew. Exponentially.
By the time the few short hours had passed, she had gone from barely above human baseline to having the mana reserves of a mid-low-class, surpassing both her children.
'How was that possible?' he thought, the question hammering against his mind. He knew he could achieve this kind of growth, but he was a cheat, a Gamer. His entire existence was based on a System designed to break the rules of reality. But her...
He narrowed his eyes on his wife. He used Observation to double-check. It showed her stats, her level, and her simple class, and nothing showed anything unusual. But something was telling him otherwise.
'Something is off. I just know it'. Going from base to mid-low-class power in a single afternoon was protagonist-level growth, the kind of growth reserved for heroes blessed by fate, like Issei Hyoudou.
She wasn't an inherent anomaly like him, nor did she have a Sacred Gear. Yet, she was growing faster than any normal supernatural being should. He frowned, a deep furrow appearing in his brow. This wasn't natural.. He didn't know what it was, but he decided he'd just keep an eye on her. If it really was something that was not normal, he'd find out now or later, it didn't matter..
Kenji clapped his hands together, the sound echoing through to everyone.
"Let's call it a day. I'm sure you're all done for today anyway," he said, moving to his wife, who looked like she was seconds away from passing out where she was standing.
She had been pushing herself, since she started, and even going so far as to be trying to maintain the mana reinforcement around her, 'maybe I should teach her nen, maybe chakra, or would aura be better.' he felt aura from RWBY would be better for Anastasia.
Thoughts for later.
He moved to scoop her up, holding her in a bridal style.
"How about you take a break, hmm?" he whispered to her, leaning in. "You've all earned it," he said, kissing her forehead.
Ana's cheeks flushed crimson as she melted into his chest and nodded, exhausted but satisfied.
"Ewwww!" he heard Ayaka exclaim immediately.
Aoi made dramatic gagging noises.
Kenji grinned and looked at them over his shoulder. "Oh? It seems like you two still have plenty of energy left. Do you want to continue?"
The threat worked instantly. Their faces went pale as they shook their heads rapidly.
"No, sir!" they groaned out in unison, their bodies aching too much to entertain the thought.
Anastasia laughed softly, watching them, before looking around and noticing someone missing. "Where is Ren?" she asked.
Kenji nodded toward a corner. They seemed to be a simple bed right there in the middle of the empty, ruined streets. Ren was sleeping peacefully on top of it, protected by a soft, shimmering purple barrier.
"He got tired after a little bit of exercise, so I gave him something to eat and then put him to bed," Kenji said, adjusting his wife in his arms.
"How the hell did he fall asleep in a place like this?" Ayaka said as she got up and looked at her little brother.
Kenji couldn't help but chuckle at that. She had a point. The shield was protecting him, but Kenji doubted that as a kid, he could close his eyes when he knew zombies were surrounding him.
Sleep? Ha! he wouldn't have even blinked. It seemed his boy didn't give a damn, completely trusting his father to protect him. 'Now, that's trust, ' Kenji thought, smiling warmly.
"He's just fearless, I guess," he replied to Ayaka as he moved to pick up Ren and place him on his back, holding both his boy and his wife.
"Now, how about we go back home," he said and snapped his fingers.
Immediately, the surrounding world shattered like glass. The zombie-filled city dissolved, returning them to the real world. It was noticeably different from the zombie world, noisier and more lively.
They returned home quietly. Ren was immediately tucked into his bed, his girls rushed off to shower and collapse, and Kenji went to prepare a simple, hearty dinner for the family.
When the family sat around the table later, the exhaustion had faded into comfortable laughter. Ayaka was animatedly retelling her "epic battle," exaggerating her success while Aoi rolled her eyes and corrected the details. Kenji and Ana smiled warmly, enjoying the peaceful chaos.
The conversation eventually drifted, touching on magic control and future training goals, before somehow landing on school.
"Oh, that's right!" Aoi said suddenly, slapping her forehead. "Mum, Dad, I almost forgot! Open house is on Monday!"
Kenji and Anastasia both froze mid-bite, looking at each other in confusion.
"Sorry, I forgot to mention it yesterday," Aoi apologized quickly. "I wanted to tell you, but you rushed out, and everything just slipped my mind."
Kenji sighed inwardly. He did some quick mental math. Monday. That was the day after tomorrow. And wasn't that the same day the leaders of the Three Factions were scheduled to hold their major, top-secret peace meeting at Kuoh Academy?
'Of course it is,' he thought bitterly. 'The world just can't allow me to have a quiet life.' He knew the supernatural powers would try to find a way to drag him and his family into their orbit, especially after the Kokabiel incident.
Still, he made sure not to show his irritation, forcing a calm expression. "I see. Okay, that's fine," he said. "We'll be there." He glanced at Ana, who nodded in agreement.
They finished dinner peacefully. Later, after the kids went up to their rooms, Kenji and Ana settled in the living room. She curled up beside him on the couch, her head resting against his shoulder. She had been silent for a while now, and Kenji knew it wasn't just exhaustion.
"What's wrong, love?" he asked softly. "You've been quiet since dinner."
Ana lifted her head, looking like she was struggling to find the right way to say what was on her mind, before she took a deep breath and just said it. "My family is coming over."
Kenji froze, his entire body going rigid.
"…Your family?" he repeated, the words sounding flat. His in-laws?
"Yes," she said, rubbing her arm nervously. "They called through the company line to inform me about the visit, and my assistant just told me. It's been years, Kenji, but they insisted on stopping by."
Years is an understatement.
The news hit Kenji like a physical blow. Her parents, his in-laws, were people who hated him with a passion he couldn't even begin to describe. This wasn't merely due to 'his' past behavior as the "scum" he had been, but their dislike had predated his moral collapse, since the very first day 'he' met them, they made it quite clear that they hated Kenji, and he was surprised that he wasn't assassinated just by the amount of influence they had around.
This… was bad. Very bad.
First, the inevitable interference from the Faction meeting near his home, and now this, a surprise invasion from his judgmental in-laws. Could things get worse?
That seemed to be a bad thing to have thought, as his System seemed to take that very moment to send him a ding. He looked at the window that opened before his eyes. It was a new Mission. The moment he read the context of the mission, he froze, his strained, forced smile collapsing into pure dread.
"…Crap," he muttered, staring at the glowing text.
———————————————————
If you want to read ahead and access 30 advanced chapters, check the patreon. $4 Dollars
Link:patreon/Phantomking785