"Wow!"
Jun truly couldn't hold back his honest reaction. His eyes sparkled, while Maw—still perched there innocently—wobbled slightly as if proud of being praised. The scene felt a little unbalanced: one grown human staring in amazement, one cute slime that had just reflected a deadly attack without any visible effort.
Jun let out a breath, then tapped his own forehead.
"All right… system," he said in a tone half resigned, half curious. "Please tell me I'm just overreacting. Can you analyze this?"
The response came almost instantly, with the same flat tone that showed absolutely no concern for its owner's inner turmoil.
[Analysis initiated.]
[Based on the user's current Tower Rank, accessible information is limited but sufficient.]
[Entity designated 'Maw' has been identified as part of the power system: Sacred Gear.]
[Classification: Avatar Independent.]
[This Sacred Gear is positioned in the lower tier of the initial hierarchy.]
[Registered original name: Reversal Refresh.]
[Primary ability: Reverse.]
The system's tone remained flat, yet every word that appeared felt increasingly absurd.
[Evolution trigger: large-scale energy surge within a short time frame.]
[Effect: reconstruction of the entity's physical and non-physical body.]
Jun looked at Maw again. The slime looked… exactly the same. Small, squishy, and making cute sounds. It was hard to believe that "non-physical reconstruction" had just occurred within such an adorable creature.
[The Reverse ability functions by inverting the flow, properties, and even concepts of received energy or phenomena.]
[Low-level conceptual example: masculine object → feminine.]
[Advanced example: cause → effect, attack → sender.]
Jun froze.
"…Concepts?" he murmured.
[Conceptual-level usage consumes an extremely large amount of magical energy.]
[Risk: total exhaustion of both the entity and the user.]
[Conclusion: This Sacred Gear is classified as a dangerous entity.]
Silence followed.
Then—Jun laughed.
Not a satisfied laugh, nor a relieved one. It was more like the laugh of someone who had just realized he was accidentally raising a conceptual bomb in the form of a slime.
"Ahahaha…" he covered his face with one hand. "Seriously…?"
Maw made a small sound.
"Maw~"
Jun lowered his hand, staring at his little partner with an expression mixed with awe, dread, and resignation.
"So you're saying…" he muttered softly, more to the empty air, "…that compared to popular Sacred Gears like Boosted Gear or Divine Dividing…"
He let out a long sigh.
"…those actually look tame, huh?"
Maw wobbled again, as if agreeing.
Jun could only shake his head with a crooked smile. In his mind, the images of the red and white dragons so often mentioned in Sacred Gear legends suddenly felt… not all that terrifying.
"All right," he finally said, his voice calm again even though his eyes remained sharp. "Looks like I'll have to be far more careful from now on."
He looked at Maw, then patted the ground beside him and sat down.
"And you," he continued, pointing at the slime, "we're going to need some very controlled training."
Maw replied with a cheerful sound, completely unaware of how absurd and dangerous its own existence truly was.
"Maw~"
...
Because I was too absorbed experimenting with Maw, I only realized something extremely crucial—my phone clock was already showing a very unfriendly time.
"Ah…" I stared at the screen, eyes widening. "Damn it."
My promise with Akeno today wasn't just any promise. We had agreed to meet at the station at noon, then head out together from there. I had given my word, and for some reason, I didn't feel good about making her wait too long.
I hurried to clean myself up, left Maw at home as usual, and changed clothes. Not training gear, not worn-out clothes. I chose the best casual outfit I had—a simple shirt, a light jacket, neat pants. Nothing flashy, but at least presentable.
Hope I don't look weird… or too casual, I thought as I let out a breath.
The trip to the station felt faster than usual, probably because I was half-running. When I finally arrived at the subway station, it was fairly crowded. People moving back and forth, announcement voices—and then I saw her immediately.
Akeno Himejima stood beneath the large clock pillar, her long black hair neatly arranged, her expression calm as always.
However… something was off.
Several men were standing too close to her. Laughing among themselves, their bodies leaning in her direction, clearly crossing the line of propriety.
"Ah…" I clenched my teeth. "Damn it, I'm late and this is messy."
I didn't think twice. My legs moved first.
"Hey," I said in a flat but firm tone when I was beside Akeno. "Sorry for the wait."
I stood between her and the men, my positioning clear—blocking them without touching. My gaze wasn't sharp or threatening, just cold and unwelcoming.
The men fell silent for a moment.
"Huh? Who the hell are you?" one of them asked, clearly annoyed.
"Me?" I gave a thin smile. "Her friend."
I didn't raise my voice. There was no strange aura, no supernatural pressure. Just clear body language: this ends here.
Maybe they didn't get the reaction they wanted, or maybe Akeno herself looked increasingly uncomfortable. Either way, they finally clicked their tongues softly and backed off, muttering under their breath.
Once they were gone, I let out a quiet sigh.
"…Sorry," I said as I turned to Akeno. "I'm late."
Akeno looked at me for a few seconds, then smiled gently as usual. "It's fine, Jun-kun. I just arrived too."
I knew it was a small lie, but still—I appreciated it.
We walked away from the clock pillar, blending into the flow of people moving without a shared destination. Footsteps, train announcements, and faint conversations became a calming backdrop. I deliberately didn't bring up what had just happened. Not because I wanted to forget it, but because I didn't want to draw attention to things she wasn't ready to ask about. I wasn't ready to open that side of the world either—a world that, honestly, still felt unfamiliar even to me.
As we walked, I glanced at her briefly.
"You… okay?" I asked lightly, as if it were just casual small talk.
"Mm," Akeno nodded softly. "Thank you for coming, Jun-kun."
A small smile formed on my lips.
Since it was my fault for making her wait, I wanted to make up for it somehow. My gaze unconsciously drifted to her hair. The same hair tie—simple, neat, and something I'd seen her wear ever since we first met.
If I remember right… she almost always wears that one, I thought.
It might be something small, but… why not?
Our outing that day flowed naturally, without much planning. The first place we went was a small market near the station. A sweet, warm aroma greeted us immediately. I bought two skewers of dango and handed one to her.
"For the trip," I said briefly.
"Ara~ thank you," she replied with a smile, gently biting the tip of the dango.
The second place was a flower shop. I took my time choosing, until I finally settled on simple flowers—not flashy, but fresh. Akeno didn't say much, only watching me from the side with a calm expression.
And finally… we arrived at the third place.
The cemetery.
Akeno's steps slowed. The atmosphere here was completely different—quiet, the air felt heavier, and the wind blew softly among the stone gravemarkers. I followed behind her, not asking, not interrupting.
She stopped in front of one gravestone.
The name engraved there was simple, yet felt heavy.
Shuri Himejima
I stood a few steps behind her, giving enough space. No words were needed. No explanations either. From the way she stood, from how her hand gripped the flowers, I understood.
'…So this is the reason,' I thought.
I lowered my head slightly, honoring the silence, letting Akeno be with her memories—with someone who was clearly very important to her.
//--//
If you need more, please visit my Patr3on via the link below:
https://www.patr*eon.com/cw/Mr_Wan
Remove the quotation marks and there are around 20+ chapters available.