Another few days after the burial ceremony, the entire team was in lord Fugaku's office. The team comprised of Kito, Baroka, Rem, White, Lydia, Racheal, Gwen, Yuki, Marallda, Regina, Volt, Mio, Yuji and Kazuma. Fugaku scanned the room, his head resting on his fists, he took a sigh and then sat straight "Alright kids, as you all know, there's been a war going on for the longest time between the city of Kagahara and the Knight Country. I don't need to explain all that to you because you kids have been dragged into war missions against the the Knight Country.", he rested his back on his chair "You all have been soliders and assassins for a while now, about eight months have passed since you started this journey. Kids your age have died along the way. Some due to injuries, some due to mental problems, some because they were to weak to handle the situation. But you all, not a single one of you have died.". Fugaku continued "Somw of you have survived injuries that should have put you all in your early graves, but you all still pulled through.", he took a deep breath in and out "Well, besides all the commentary, I'm here to tell you all that you are now permitted to engage in your three years of training.", everyone blinked in confusion "Three years of training?", Yuji muttered. Kazuma blinked, looking more confused than the rest of his friends "What?", he muttered. Fugaku explained "As the name entails, the three years of training includes you kids training on your abilities for three years. You have three years to improve your skill sets and achieve new skills sets. And as a result, you'd be going on missions once every month to test your training process.", Rem raised her hand "Sorry to interrupt you, Lord Fugaku. But why do we need three years?", she asked. Fugaku replied the girl "Well, one year of training is too short. Two years of training is better, but it isn't hitting the bench mark. By three years, you should have at least gotten the basics of everything.", Kito thought to himself with a stern but funny look "So he's saying that's how the system operates without trying to tell us that straight forward. What a pain.", Baroka muttered while almost laughing "Kito's so confused.", Kazuma sighed with a face of relief while thinking to himself "I'm even more confused.". Fugaku then explained again "Some of you standing infront of me aren't from the city of Kagahara. About two young soldier here aren't from this city.", Mio paused for a moment "That's right. I'm from the demon country, I'm only here because Ranpo wanted to take me under his wing due to how talented I was.", she thought for a moment "And the other person who's not from Kagahara is....", she jolted and looked at Kazuma "Kazuma?.". Kazuma stood in place, hands In his pockets without saying a word, until it clicked "Oh, yeah. I'm not from Kagahara.", he muttered silently. Kito, Volt, White, Baroka and Yuji looked at Kazuma "That's true. He's not from here.", they all thought. Fugaku then said to them "Please, I'm begging you two...", this caught all the kids off guard "Huh?!". Fugaku seemed to be humbling pleading "Mio Misaki from the demon country. Kazuma Starion from the outskirts of Kagahara. Please, I know you two have been in horrible situations since you started this journey. But please, Kagahara needs you both. Not only are you promising young talents, you're also good people. You've made a lot of friends here, and you've made a good impact on everyone around you. So please, even when you leave for your training, please come back to Kagahara as allies.". Mio and Kazuma stood confused for a moment before Kazuma scoffed with a smile, along with Mio who smiled softly with a head tilt "Don't worry. We'll come back.", Mio said. Kazuma added "Yeah. After all, everyone would be waiting for us.", the group of friends all looked at Kazuma and Mio with smirks and soft smiles on their faces. Mio then smugly added, her hands mildly spread apart "And plus, If we don't come back, who's gonna be Regina's best friend? Not just that, I want to keep annoying Yuji for as long as I want. If I nor Kazuma don't come back, who's gonna do that?". Yuji looked at Mio, almost annoyed "Do you just enjoy seeing me suffer?", he asked. Fugaku smiled and clapped his hands "Alright, that's enough. You all are dismissed.", the entire team walked out of the lords office. A few hours later, Yuji, Kazuma and Mio were sitted together on a hill. Mio said "By tomorrow, I'll be heading back to the demon country for my training. What of you guys?", she asked. Yuji sighed and explained "As for me, Lord Fugaku has decided to train me. Ranpo sensei's most likely going to keep an eye on me for the time being. What of you, Kazuma?", Kazuma smirked "As for me, I'll just do the usual training at home. I'll do more than I normally do, train with my abilities more and more everyday and have countless sparring matches with my sister. And after that....", he looked forward "We'll come back together as a team.". Mio smiled at him "Sure thing.", Yuji smiled softly "You got it.". As for Kito, he was standing beside Reggie who was fixing his satellite in his lab "So your three years of training is starting, huh?", Kito replied "Yep. In a few days, we'll all start our training.". Reggie asked "Why a few days?", Kito used his arms as pillow for his head "Because I want to take a break. Surviving countless mission's tiring, especially afer myself and everyone else almost got killed last week. I want to have a few days to myself before starting my training with you, sensei.". Reggie smiled and scoffed "Kito, you've already made it this far. And to be honest, I'm proud of you.". Kito looked at his teacher with a smile "I know right-", Reggie interrupted "But! From now on, I don't see you as a student anymore.". Kito paused "What?", Reggie turned to Kito with his full attention "Kito, you've survived eight months of going on dangerous missions. You're not just skilled, you're impressive.". Reggie had a dark smile on his face as he looked at Kito "It would be disrespectful to look at you as just a mere kid. From now on, you especially, I look at you as my equal.". Kito shrugged in fear before jumping backwards "NO! NO! NO! NO! I CANT BE YOUR EQUAL, REGGIE! YOU'RE WAY TOO STRONG! I MEAN I LITERALLY SAW YOU OBLITERATE THE ENTIRE SKY ONCE. NO WAY IM MATCHING THAT!". Reggie placed his hand on Kito's head "Don't look down on yourself so easily. You're strong, you're smart, you have skill and you're crazy. That's what has brought you this far.". He placed his hand off Kito's head "I'll give you some intense training while we're at this three years. And I'm not going to allow you slack off. You, Rem and Baroka. I'll make you three the most lethal team Kagahara has ever know.". Kito paused for a moment and smirked "Yes sir!", Laria yelled from upstairs "REGGIE! DONT YOU DARE TURN THOSE KIDS INTO ONE OF YOUR MINDLESS KILLING MACHINES! YOU HEAR ME?! ESPECIALLY REM AND BAROKA!", Reggie sighed with relief "Yeah, yeah.", he walked back to the device he was working on "Use today till Friday for rest. On Saturday, we begin training.", Kito paused for a moment before smiling softly "Yes sir.". A few day later, as Kazuma was on his way to the gate of Kagahara, he was looking around, reminiscing about the moments he and all his friends had shared. Kazuma thought "Mio left yesterday morning. She and I spoke before she left, we even kissed.", he remembered how Mio dragged him towards her and kissed him, her arms around his neck before she ran off with an escorts from the demon country "BYE KAZUMA! GET STRONGER! OKAY?". Kazuma finished reminiscing "Yuji and I spoke this morning before I packed my bags and left.", Kazuma remembered himself and Yuji doing a fist bump in their rooms "Train hard. Okay?", Yuji said to him. Not just that, but Kazuma remembered how the rest of his friends were all waiting for him outside his hostel to greet him good bye "BYE!", "TAKE CARE!", "SEE YA LATER.", "DONT GET YOURSELF KILLED BY ACCIDENT!", Kito, White, Volt and Baroka teased, the girls also greeted him good bye "SEE YOU LATER!", "DONT OVER DO IT!", "TRAIN HARD!", "BE CAREFUL!", "DONT TELEPORT YOURSELF TO SPACE BY ACCIDENT!", Rem, Regina, Gwen, Marallda, Lydia, Yuki and even Racheal said that to him as a send off. Kazuma smirked "Hm!". At the gate, he met Ranpo waiting for him with a smirk "I see you've packed all your things with you. Ready to go?", Kazuma smirked "Yeah, I am. Let's go.". As Kazuma and Ranpo set off, Kazuma looked back at the city, a smirk appeared on his face. Kazuma scoffed "I'll make sure I come back. I'll get stronger, so strong that no one would compare. And when I do....", Ranpo called out to him "Kazuma, let's go.". Kazuma smirked "Coming.", and picked up the pace.
END OF VOLUME.