Chương 12: Freedom at long last

Chapter 12

'I'll go first,' Yuto said while looking at Ikumi to see if she disagrees. Hearing him, Ikumi just shrugs and says, 'Fair enough'.

After that, Yuto goes to the middle of the cave and starts drawing a magic circle on the ground while teleporting some healing potion, suppresser, and other things to prepare for the magic (surgery). While that is happening, Ikumi stands beside the cave entrance on the lookout while occasionally looking at him, studying what he is doing.

About 5 minutes later, Yuto almost finishes preparing everything and takes off his rag that used to be clothes until his upper body is fully naked. 'Do I also have to strip?' Ikumi asks while sitting beside the cave entrance. Hearing her, Yuto turns to her and says with a small, teasing smile 'It is not nessecery, but if you want, you can; it's your personal preference.'.

Ikumi's eyes twitched in response to his teasing, but she said nothing, opting to keep her silence. Yuto, after that, says in a serious voice. 'Although I know you probably remember this, I will say it again. No matter what, do not enter the circle or come 5 steps near it.'

'I won't,' Ikumi says with an equally serious tone. Hearing her answer in such a serious tone reassures him a bit, and after that, Yuto turns his head back to what he is doing. He finishes the shield that surrounds the circle to prevent her from attacking him. Just as a precaution if she betrays him. He also planted some extremely strong explosives inside the cave with a blast radius of 100 meters, so if the worst came to pass, he could use them to intimate Ikumi or anyone who found them.

Just as he was about to start, he decided to look at his stats one last time.

(First person POV)

"Status"

[System of Perfection]

Name: Tsuki Yuto

Race: Human

Level: 6

0/400 to upgrade

Talent: 2.42

Skills:

Everyday Household Job, Level 1 (Advanced)

Mana Manipulation, Level 15 (Master)

Physical Enhancement, Level 15 (Master)

Hand to Hand Combat, Level 17 (Master)

Acting, Level 24 (Master)

Enchanted Senses, Level 3 (Master)

Presence: Level 12 (Master)

Swordsmanship, Level 3 (Master)

Marksmanship, Level 1 (Master)

Elemental Magic, Level 15 (Master)

Limit Breaker, Level 9 (Master)

Power Level: 46

High Class: 25→ 40

Ultimate Class: 50→ 75

Perfection Points: 634

Remark: Abomination among humans, who, without any sacred gear or something similar, through sheer training almost reached Ultimate class at the tender age of 12.

You might be wondering how I got this many points. Well, it's because I got a bit of fame going around. Enemies of my faction and surrounding organization learned of my age, power, and talent through an incident. Which I totally did not intentionally cause. Because of it, I got a bunch of points and also a bounty with my face on it on the black market. After my points reached 400, I thought of upgrading my talent, but I decided to save it for my escape plan.

You are probably thinking that is such a waste; why not just upgrade your talent? It's because I need a sudden power-up in my escape plan to be sure that I won't fail, as assurance. Also, I am not sure if the organization decides that I am too valuable to only be safeguarded with a single simple device if my talent upgrades again.

And in my opinion, the only reason I only have this device as a safety switch is because I was brainwashed from a young age and showed no sign of disloyalty. But if my strength reached ultimate class or I suddenly became more talented, they would probably plant other things in me or be under watch.

Originally, my escape plan was to get a few of my core skills to the cup of 15. So when about 4 or 5 is ready to be upgraded, I would wait until I go on a solo mission or on a mission where my teammates are weak. And take the chance and screw my teammate, or if they don't die, I would kill them. Then severe the device. But before I could do this, the war started.

If you are wondering why he did not escape sooner, it's because he was weak. So he will be hunted down by his organization, and although he doesn't want to admit it, they are an umbrella that protects him, and because they consider him a tool, a loyal tool, they won't be stingy with their resource. In summary, the organization is the best place he could grow until he steps into the ultimate rank. (If you are wondering)

So I changed my plans and used the cover that war provides to escape.

(Third person POV)

'Enough musing around,' Yuto thought as he lay down on the ground with his back facing the ceiling. He taps on a part of the magical circle that looks like a button with his finger glowing blue, and the magic circle's glow intensifies to the point a normal person can't see straight at it. After that, some sort of glowing golden sphere slowly materializes around his neck area. It didn't do anything for a few seconds, just glowing, but after that, in almost one tenth of a second, it suddenly separated that part of his neck.

And the part that separated almost simultaneously explodes in a blue, intense explosion inside the circle. The magic circle he is on dims a bit, and the golden sphere that is containing the explosion cracks as if the explosion is going to break free, but in the end no explosion leaks out. While this is happening, Yuto just clenches his teeth while being still as a stone statue. After the explosion completely stops, the circle's color changes from yellow and white to green and white. And his wounds began healing. After a second or two, the high-grade healing potion that is right beside him starts floating, and half of it evaporates into fog, and it rushes towards his wound. When the fog touched him, you could notice that healing got significantly faster and that it became visible to the naked eye.

He lay there on the ground, unmoving for a few minutes, until he completely healed. After that, he slowly got up while rubbing his neck. Which fully healed with no sign that indicates that just a few minutes ago, that part of his neck was separated like an ice cream scoop.

After he got up, he stood there in silence, eyes closed and gaze turned toward the ceiling. His breath came in quick bursts, each inhale trembling with anticipation. His body shook slightly, a mixture of adrenaline and newfound hope. With a barely audible whisper, he breathed, "At last." In that moment, the weight of an invisible chain finally dissappears, and he felt the sweet taste of freedom begin to fill his soul.

then He took a few steps towards the barrier in the direction of Ikumi, slowly extending his hand and touching the barrier. When he touches the barrier, that part of the barrier that he touched slowly fades until a hole the size of a human opens, and he walks out with a soft glowing smile. Seeing him come out with a satisfied smile while touching his neck, Ikumi asks with her eyes glowing in anticipation, 'So no problem, I presume.' She says while she walks towards him, her steps hurried and her breathing rapid.

In response, Yuto just points towards the barrier and says, 'You can try it out' with a radiant smile. She looks at him with a slight smile and looks towards the magic circle with anticipation. And slowly walk towards it. What she did not notice is that, after she bypassed him, he stopped smiling and looked towards her back with a flicker of light in his eyes.

(After 5 minutes)

Yuto and Ikumi could now be seen standing in front of the cave with satisfied smiles on their faces. Ikumi asks Yuto, 'What are you going to do now that we are free?'

Yuto turned towards her and said with a perfect smile, radiating warmth and confidence. 'Probably escape from here to somewhere unknown, where no one will find me. And grow stronger until I could kill them and come back for revenge. What about you?'

Ikumi, as if she did not hear that, will come back for revenge, just shrugs and says. 'I am coming back to my home, towards my father and grandfather. If you want, you can come to Kyoto with me. My grandfather is a clan elder, so he should be capable of protecting you. Plus, with your talent, I doubt the matriarch or any clan elder will refuse you.'

Yuto, hearing it, thought for a few seconds and said it with his radiant smile softening. 'Tempting offer; I will keep it in mind.'

'All right, I will be going now. If you decide to join, just contact me through this, Ikumi said as she handed over some sort of paper with a magic circle with her blood in the middle. And then she turns around slowly and walks towards the wood. After walking for about 10 seconds, when she was about to reach the wood, she disappeared like the wind.

Yuto, seeing her going, thought to himself. 'I hope letting her live was the correct decision.' Then he turns towards the mountain castle, where fight is still going strong with no sign of ending, and slowly, with a smile that seemed to split his face whole with tips of his mouth reddening, he in a soft voice that contrasts to his face and says,. 'A little bit of payback won't hurt.' He looks at his status again as he upgrades his Elemental Magic, Mana Manipulation, and Physical Enhancement to master level 16.

Mana Manipulation, Level 15 (Master) => Mana Manipulation, Level 16 (Master)

Physical Enhancement, Level 15 (Master) => Physical Enhancement, Level 16 (Master)

Elemental Magic, Level 15 (Master) => Elemental Magic, Level 16 (Master)

Perfection Points: 634-600

Perfection Points: 34

Instantly, when he put points in them, he could feel knowledge coming to him as he learned a few new spells, with all of his previously learned spells becoming more in-depth, his body strengthening a bit, and he becoming more skilled in physical enhancement. And his mana is increasing by about 10% as it also becomes easier to manipulate mana.

Power Level: 46=> Power Level: 52

Ultimate Class: 50→ 75

remark: True abomination among humans, who through only his talent reached Ultimate class. In history, few ever reached Ultimate Class through only hard work and talent among humans. And you did it when you were 12 years old, no less.

Then he ran towards the battlefield quietly while keeping track of his magic signature. In just a minute, he came to the battlefield and noticed that it became even more intense. With defenders making one last stand against the attackers, even the ultimate classy old man who is fighting in the sky above is on his last legs. With him madly rushing at the golem like a mad dog, to go down with him. But you could notice that, despite the old man's desperate attempts, it isn't doing much with the golem playing it safe with him keeping his distance, only attacking when the chance shows itself, slowly wearing him out, waiting for him to die.

Seeing this, Yuto changed his mind. At first, he wanted to observe them fight and wait for his opportunity to intervene to deal with deadly injuries to him or even kill. But if the old man dies, he won't have any chance.

This isn't an anime word where characters with decades and centuries of experience let's their guard down when they kill their enemy while on the battlefield. No, they would not let their guard down; they will keep it up until they are sure of their safety. There might be an extremely small chance that they do, but it is negligible compared to the chance of him faking it or not lowering.

So Yuto prepared some spells, enhanced himself, and bolted straight to him through his blind spot.

A golem-like bald man who is fighting against an ultimate-class battle mage named Ray suddenly felt a being rapidly approaching him. It was swift and deadly, likely in the ultimate class or in peak high class, considering its speed, the mana signature it gives off, and for it to dare approach him.

It was too fast for him to take a proper stance against him. He only had enough time to cast a few shields and brace his body for the impact. He felt that unknown being pierce through all his shield and strike him right in the lower back. He felt his muscles tearing and his bones rattling, but because the fist had to go through his barriers first, a considerable amount of power was wasted. Using the momentum the punch gave him, Golem, like a man, distances himself rapidly, getting away from both the mage and the unknown being who attacked him.

After getting considerable distance, he looks down, only to be met with a familiar face staring back at him. Upon seeing him, fury surged through him like wildfire. He stepped forward, fists clenched at his sides, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING B7? Are you rebelling?' ?" he bellows. Only to be met with a soft, warm smile that makes one think of the rising sun that greets you in the morning. 'I am not defecting; I am just fighting for my freedom.' Yuto answers in a calm voice.

After the first outburst when he yelled, the golem-like man calms down considerably; he still does not know if B7 is truly rebelling or if he is mind-controlled and decides to activate the backup plan. A device that forces the magical energy in the body to explode. When he tried to explode and incapacitate him just enough for him to survive, he noticed that it was not working. No, it is not the correct word; the proper word would be, there is no device in him.

While the golem-like man was trying to activate the device and failing, Yuto, on the other hand, silently created a mental link with the old man. The old man, sensing that he was creating a mental link to connect them, accepts it. Considering that plotting against him won't affect him much, either way, he will die.

'So are the famous (Arcane Anomaly) rebelling?' The old man said in the mental link while keeping his expression tense and wary on the outside.

Hearing that nickname that he received, Yuto's brown unconsciously twitched, finding that nickname untasteful. 'No, I wouldn't call it rebelling; as I said already, I am fighting for my freedom.'

'Whatever you say, kid, are you really, 12? Also, did your strength reach Ultimate class?'' The old man asks for confirmation from Yuto, despite mostly being sure, that he already reached Ultimate class.

'Yes, I am 12 years old; my strength reached Ultimate Class.' Hearing him confirm it still shocks him, as in the 225 years that he lived, he never saw or heard a human without sacred gear reaching Ultimate class at the mere age of 12. Suppressing the shock that threatens to consume him, he continues, masking his shock.

'Damn, you are one hell of a monster, aren't you? Hey, did you know I have a cute little great-great-granddaughter, and she is just a bit older than you, around 20, and she is a huge fan of yours and would do anything to get to know you? PS (don't worry, she is a virgin if you are Wonderi....)' The old man continues to ramble as if he is in the market selling vegetables named granddaughter to customer Yuto.

Hearing him ramble, despite his serious injuries, causes Yuto to start doubting if coming back for a little payback was the correct choice.

Any suggestion for a cover photo for the novel ?