The Long Road Up

As the saying went things changed and progressed whether you wanted them to or not.

Hiroshi couldn't say it was bad at all though; it wasn't perfect and never was going to be but he could honestly say for the most part he was happy. There were a lot of things to consider and potentially do. One of the things he wanted to at some point was travel to see new places besides just Japan. It be nice to see other parts of earth and elsewhere, and he hadn't ever paid Mitsuki a visit in New York to see how they were doing. Noreal was a obvious choice, he wasn't sure about Hyrule and Elysium was something at least once.

Not that he was going to do that just yet, he had to make sure his schedule was clear and nothing was coming up to make time for traveling. The more carefree days of not having much responsibility were kinda over.

Speaking of changes, Natomi had put her neck out there to get him a training master that both fit and help him reach his goals.  

He could still vividly remember the last conversation he had to them about it.

_______________


Hiroshi had done some thinking of what he was going to do now that Natomi was going to leave. The obvious was the Hunters, though upon Natomi going to leave she offered to bring someone else to train him. Someone that would make him far stronger then a normal member of his kind should be able to fully master everything. Of course it wasn't going to come free; the ninja was going have do some political work to get it done and pull some favors to get it done.

So Hiroshi decided on the second; plus it would give him more time to learn about Noreal without having to go there just yet.

"And it was a pain in the ass as I expected to be, but its done."

Natomi came into the holodeck to her soon to be former student; it was just them at this time. It wasn't really a training session so much as discussing a few things. "Tristian will be here some time soon to temporary stay until your training is complete. If not for princess Trienna and her circle that meeting would of gone definitely. Damned politicians.." She mumbled.

"The council being a headache?" Hiroshi guessed, knowing she complained about them before. "So with what can you tell me what are the terms? If its this much trouble to get this Tristian character to train me it couldn't have come with a few strings. I am surprised you managed to do it if its as big of a deal you're making."


"Yes, but me complaining about politicians is like saying the water is wet." The ninja said. "And to be fair this is one of those times they come off as reasonable. Basically, when/if are fully trained you can't teach anyone else without going through the proper channels first. You will also continue your training here, where the Unknown Heroes can keep tabs on you. If you ever come off as mentally not sound, the training will stop no ifs but that shouldn't be a issue."

"They'll also send people to talk to Tristian to see how things are going. But as to how.." Natomi shrugged a bit. "It helps my clan has a decent amount of clout and political pull. It's..kinda like the Elemental Nations. We might liive on the same planet but we have our own place to live and rules. As a benefit though, it means we're a power block in terms of polirics. Knowledge is power, and we have a decent amount of it. While the council was formed to unite Noreal over common interest, you have to remember all the places still value their independence. Closes thing is the United Nations for you to give you a idea."

She went over to the panel to begin setting something up. "Basically in short, I appealed to self interest or ego.  The rulers of Arcana were on board for their own reasons, but some weren't. I reminded them the style is one of Arcana's in the end so they should be allowed to do what they want if it doesn't hurt Noreal. Otherwise, it adds the risk of potentially giving up more independence of their places. So in that vein enough others got on board."

Hiroshi could see that; it was also rather tricky of them. "You're pretty devious when you want to be." He said with a grin though he had to ask. "So what's so big of a deal you had to go through all these hoops and red tape?"

His teacher didn't instantly respond, finishing her work. "I will' explain why its a big deal but I'm going to give you a bit of a short history lesson for context. Computer begin program."

The scenery changed. Hiroshi noticed a vast beautiful field along with a elegant castle just in front of them. It seemed they were in Noreal, at least a part of the holographic portion replica of it.

"Is this Arcana castle?" Hiroshi asked, impressed by the size. "It's really pretty."

"Yep. Hasn't changed much in the thousand plus years its been around, minus the upkeep and keeping things more modern." Natomi said as she began to walk inside. "You know how earth has their own legends and such of knights right?

"Yeah. Like the Knights of the round and such right?" Hiroshi guessed. He didn't know much about that stuff but it was a easy example.

"More or less. One our most famous examples are the  Arcardia Knights, which came from the county of Arcana. They learned to make Elemental armor that is way more durable then normal as well as a crazy strength increase. It's extremely difficult to learn.." Natomi continued further down the hallway to somewhere or another.

Hiroshi listened intently and quitely but there was something bugging him. "So what about Haruhi? Don't get me wrong I appreciate it all this but feels almost unfair for me to get all the vip treatment while they are left in the cold."

"That's fair and thoughtful of you." Natomi said, opening a door to a room which displayed different suits of armor behind glass cases. "I haven't really. But part of the reason I did it how I did is I don't know how seriously she'll take it and two she seems to want to more be taught the basics and make her own style. I don't know if being a Arcadia Knight will  work for them but I'll still talk to them about it and see what they say. In fact, after you I'm going to set up a one on one meeting to see what they want to do. If they want a go at being a Arcadia Knight, or just get someone to further teach them basics and above so they develop their own style."

The older woman went two sets of armor. The one on the right was on the bigger and bulkier side, and the other one was more streamed line. The first one looked completely normal, the second one, however it still looked like a actual armor someone had crafted, seemed as if they had gotten imbued with fire elements.  It was true even with the swords nearby them, one was normal obviously and the other was similar property wise.

"The second one is what the end product of your training will be. It looks like actual armor doesn't it?" Natomi asked answering his silent question. "Us Farian's can do some bullshit things with our fire more traditional users can't, including making it solid and heavy as well as looking like that. It doesn't look it, but it weighs about four hundred pounds. And its because our fire doesn't completely function as normal fire due to our supernatural nature."

Hiroshi was quite for a bit, trying to think of something he missed. "It's cool, but I still don't see the big deal no offense."

"Think of this."  Natomi started. [color:894e=orange was]"You are carefully crafting it piece by piece purely on control alone until it looks like a legit piece of armor, then extending that to make it weigh heavier. That weight then goes to your base line strength. So imagine, for instance, someone who only weighs a hundred pounds for example sake They can lift ten times their weight. That's about a thousand pounds. At four hundred that weight? That person could lift two tons, and that's not factoring a tranformation that can temporary double it. So think about it like your old Darkness Armor where it increase your strength and durability and you could then boost it temporarily."

Hiroshi could start to see why it was starting to become a big deal. "Is it Farian exclusive? and  what is the drawback in the sense of weight increase to boost your strength? Otherwise not sure why people didn't push it further."

Natomi shook her head briefly. "No. Anyone with that amount of fine tuned element control can learn it. Far as Noreal is concerned though, only Nosferartu and Farian have that kind of control. Ralphlim and Draner don't; not that they need it. The technique becomes unstable and unworkable when you do it to much. Four hundred pounds is the most people have gotten, though there Have apparently been int he past people who can do six hundred. No one livning though or anyone who could verify if that's true or a tall tale. Add to that, that will also give a big increase to your control and strength of your energy.."

"it'll actually be easier to convince the council  about Haruhi if she wants this kind of training simply because she Directly works with the Unknown Heroes, as people like Jack already keep a eye on them. Tristian will have the final say though. I should give you a heads up, Trienna will wanna visit you"

That last comment caught Hiroshi off guard. "Uh, but why? I'm a complete nobody. Not talking down on myself, I just means in terms of politics for a leader or something."

Natomi thought that was a fair question. "You gotta understand something. Arcadia Knights with their strength are closes thing they have to super heroes in Noreal; there is literally only about less then double digits.  In addition Tristian is close with her and her family. She'll want to want to meet his student, or students in plural if Haruhi decides she wants in."

________________

It had been a extremely long meeting, but Hiroshi was both excited and nervous about it though he wasn't sure what Haruhi ultimately decided what she wanted to do. Tristian and his family were suppose to offically arrive today as he had only seen pictures of a old man of what they looked like in a distance. It wasn't yet to start but the time would soon be coming.

He had wondered if Christine was stressed being the go between more or less between the hero and Hunter faction. Hiroshi was tempted to ask if she thought about hiring someone who officially handled that to give her some much needed stress relief next he saw her. It seemed like a obvious solution but sometimes people missed it so it couldn't hurt.

When he was much younger and naive he wondered what it be like being a super hero. Now  a days he considered himself a optimistic realist and just wanted to make sure he and his got through for the day. He couldn't deny the inner child was more then happy about the idea of his old dream in a sense anyway. Hiroshi thought of some interesting alias he could go over once he got to the point of the full armor. If he was going to partly relive his dream may as well go all out. Mitsuki had a cool code name for her alter ego even if she wasn't exactly what you call a super hero.


Natomi had reminded Hiroshi that it was going to be a grind before he even Began to get to that point of cool stuff as it be mostly basics and physical conditioning until they became second nature. The idea was to properly train before going to other stuff, as without a good base the rest would fall flat. He was gonna have to learn to use a sword to as he couldn't afford to get flat footed like last time. If Mitsuki hadn't bailed his happy ass out he would have died against Lighting.

It may been premature to think of a alias and all the other cool stuff, but damn it he waited to long. If you didn't believe in yourself no one else was going to. Learning to make a semi semtient fire horse that was faster then he was did appeal to him to.

Well..this is harder then I thought..

As for himself at the moment? he was just messing with a junk car. As a personal challenge to himself he was cleaning up a old car in front of his home. Was there a true point? No. But he liked being busy and he liked learning new stuff so it was a personal project for him.

Taki wasn't having Any fun learning, or trying, to learn new spells from the Hunters. It seemed like her style of magic was incompatible with the spells they were trying to teach her and as such, they didn't seem to work very well.

She trudges home and flops down on the couch "I'm home..." she grumbles.

"Welcome home, Taki. How was school and training?" her dad asks. When her parents came back from their month long vacation, they were shocked to hear what Taki did and that Fumitsuki was alive again!

However, the young Saiyan was hurt and confused by Hiroshi's rejection, and decided that she needed to be away for a bit, to clear her head. So she decided to go traveling the world! And her mother decided to join her, leaving Taki and her dad all by themselves. But it wasn't like they didn't call or vid chat. They stayed in constant communication.

Taki looks over to her dad "School was fine, it was Training that was terrible." she says with a huff "I just can't seem to get the spells that they are teaching me to work." she says in frustration.

Her dad thinks for a bit "Well, there's a long time rumor that Nixa's power came from a far off place called Hyrule. Maybe magic from there will work?" he suggests "By the way, dinner is almost ready. Go get changed and wash up." he says.

Taki sighs and heads upstairs. She would need to talk to Gran-Gran about Hylian magics. Maybe she could find someone to teach her? Or maybe the Hunters could. It was worth asking.

"Mr. Johnson? Can I have a moment of your time?"

Hiroshi looked up from what he was doing to see a young woman who he knew from a picture Hiroshi had gotten from Natomi. She made him know the people he may talk to when things potentially took off. She was one of Trienna's bodyguards.

He felt slightly excited because that meant the news. "Cecil was it? Natomi mentioned you before. Nice to meet you. So that said, what can I do for you?"

The woman didn't answer, as if chewing on the words. "I regret to inform you that due to concerns raised by our allies, we will not have Tristian on earth soul. I am truly sorry it came to this, but we didn't want to over step our bounds as allies and ruin a good thing. I hope that you find something that fits you."

The young man felt his mood deflate like a baloon. Should have known. "Oh. It's fine, not your fault or anything. I just got my hopes up too high."


Well. that sucked.

Hiroshi was happy Taki could truly take care of herself now with being at full power and all, and Sarah had Purple to work with. He didn't entirely trust them, but he trusted them enough not to harm Sarah at least. It was kinda bittersweet they didn't need his help anymore far as fighting went. It was kinda silly to feel that way and he wasn't sure why.

Hiroshi wasn't going to lie, the fact he got denied  the chance to actually be useful if Taki  needed help with how she currently was did sting. It was odd being the weaker link now. If something big popped off he was just going to get in the way.

"However, if you desire it I can talk to them about sending someone else?" Cecil offered.

He didn't have many options, better then nothing. "Yeah that's fine I appreciate it. It's just I feel kind of frustrated ".

"Do you care to explain? Only if you're comfortable but I heard sometimes its easier to vent to strangers about things that are bothering you." The older woman said.

Hiroshi considered it a bit, he usually talked to Ra about these things as he was a good listener but he didn't like pestering them all the time. Sometimes it was easier with strangers so after some thought he decided. "Things have changed from how they used to be. I used be able to get away with my current level of skill and such helping Nixa but not anymore. Then it came to a head when they got full power and another friend got something that made them a lot stronger. The isn't a problem. The problem is I know them enough they aren't the type to sit back if something happens. Sooner or later something will come up that will give them trouble and I'll be here on the sidelines useless. I don't need or want to be top dog, I just need strong enough not to be cannon fodder."

He was talking a bit more then he realized, but it did come easy. "So a normal Farian won't cut it and neither will normal training. The problem is, my two options that would make me far stronger then a normal member of my kind have been denied to me. The first you know, the other there might be a chance but I don't know how the Hunters would take it along with other reasons. The Hunters are both my biggest help and hindrance, I know they're just doing their job but still. Yeah, maybe I'll get training but only 'just decent or good' which isn't enough anymore to where I feel I need to be.."

Cecil didn't respond right away as she listened first. "Believe it or not. I completely understand where you're coming from."

"You do?" Hiroshi asked.

"You feel frustrated because you are used to being at least at the level where you're of use to those you care about. The gap has since widened considerably since then. You desire the strength , yet feel held back and that you don't have the time. Am I warm Mr. Johnson?" She said to his slightly surprised face.

"A little uncomfortably so. How'd you figure?"

"I had to get a basic idea of you from Natomi if Tristian was taking a potential student was such a big deal. And I  have something of a protector personality. I can relate well because I have been there.  As hard as it is, sometimes you have to let go at least for a time." Cecil said quietly from personal experience. "Your two friends you care so much about you're going have to trust in them until you climb over your own mountain. Or you can give up and stay on the sidelines. No shame in that, though I know that kills us protector types."

"Focus on what you can do now rather then what you can't. Earth has a interesting track record but I doubt you're going to need the kind of strength you seek right away with another crisis this soon. Use the training you do receive as a stepping stone and don't let it be the end. If the Hunters or no one else help you to push past normal Farian limits to be where you feel you need to be; then learn to break them on your own. Let young Nixa and others do their own part along with others. In the mean time, rest and learn. Even the best protectors need rest."

Hiroshi wouldn't pretend he wasn't still a bit frustrated, but he felt a bit better at the end tail end of the talk. "Thanks, I kind felt I needed to hear of that."

"Not a problem young man." Cecil handed him a card. "Trienna has expressed interest in meeting the person who Tristian was going to train still. She'll be here for a bit making her earth realm rounds so if you desire it you can meet them. Until then, have a good day."

Cecil paused briefly to say one more thing before she left:

"All our greatest heroes in Noreal had to start somewhere, others gave up before they reached their goal. Which are you Hiroshi?"

Hiroshi was quite before turning to go back inside, take a quick shower and perhaps see what Ra and company were doing at the moment.

Ra was the only one there. His wife and daughter were somewhere else. He jumps up when he sees Hiroshi "Well, today's the day, my friend." he says. It was the day he and his family moved out. All the paper work was finished and Ra actually had a fortune stashed away, so he bought a place to live in Cairo Egypt.

He walks over to Hiroshi "You have done more for me and my family than anyone on this planet ever has. I am grateful to you and would be honored to call you my brother." he says as he puts a hand on Hiroshi's shoulder "If you ever need anything, Anything at all, feel free to give me a call and I will do my very best to help." he says.

"However, I can see it in your face that you need some help now." he says, taking note of Hiroshi's general glumness "What's on your mind, brother?" he asks.

Hiroshi had somehow forgotten that. He was pretty saddened his friends were leaving and he be in the quite house by himself again. He understood Ra had his own life to live and could do what he wanted but he wished at least he was still in the same city. Still he and his family deserved it and be selfish of him to say otherwise.

After a moment, he of course did explain all what happened or rather a summary of it as not to be as long. "..That's the crux of it. I don't doubt can get normal training, but that by itself isn't good enough anymore. Don't get me wrong, I know you need a foundation first before any fancy tricks, but I'm not even given the option for what I feel I need to. It be different if it was just it was going to take a long time."

There was a very slightly pause. "So Tristian is out for the moment and I don't know how the Hunters would take it if went to Bow for training. Things are peaceful now but you know how earth can be. The next time something big comes, a normal Farian won't cut it. Much less anything threat to Taki as she is now and we both know she isn't one to do nothing if she can help. And I'm tired of being on the sidelines or having others have to fight my battles for me."

The young man realized he was venting and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "sorry for the rant. I know I made a personal promise be more glass half full I'm just a bit frustrated right now. I feel stuck."

Ra just smiles at him "Hiroshi, you know that if you were to ask Nixa and her friend, they would say that you are not on the sidelines at all." he says "No matter the odds, you've always been there to help her even when she didn't ask for it. She knows she can count on you to have her back no matter how strong you are."

He sighs, thinking for a bit "As for this Tristian fellow? He'll come into your circle, just not at this moment." he walks over to the table and gets a pen and paper and draws multiple circles with a dot in the middle.

"These circles are your current and future strength. This dot is your goal. To reach it, you must fulfill everything these other circles require." he explains as he taps the outer circle ""This outer most circle is your physical training: your hand-to-hand training, your strength training, your weapons training." he says as he looks to Hiroshi "You know where to get that. The Hunters. They represent this outer circle. Use them to get stronger, more skilled, able to use a sword, a bow, a gun..." he taps the next circle in "Those skills will help you with your discipline and mental focus so you can learn the basics of your heritage." he says.

He taps the next one "Once you master the basics, move onto the more advanced skills. Never settle for 'Just good enough', always keep pushing yourself to be better, getting stronger and stronger until finally..." he taps the circle nearest the center dot "That's when this Tristian guy will come into your circle and help you reach your goal." he taps the center "But, this All starts here..." he taps the outer circle "At the beginning, with the Hunters. They are the key to all of this. Keep them informed of everything. Make it seem like it's their idea and they will jump on board to make sure you get everything you need to reach the center of your circle." he says as he puts the pen down "I know things didn't work out how you envisioned them, but don't look at this as a loss, look at it as a new opportunity to do things on Your terms, how You want them to be done and to move at Your pase." he pats Hiroshi's shoulder "You are in charge of your own destiny now, brother."

It was that reason among others Hiroshi was going to miss having them around so much. Though in a sense, he supposed always having them around to help maybe hindered his growth in some ways. It didn't change the fact he miss them a lot.

"Yeah. Makes sense." Hiroshi agreed. "Do you have suggestions for making it seem like a good idea to them? Though if I do this, I think I'd have to join the Hunters full time. I doubt they agree with it otherwise. Only other issue I'm not 18 yet but close."

Ra thinks for a moment "Start with someone who understand about having lofty expectations thrust upon them." he says "Go straight to Belmont. Out of most of the Hunters, he will understand. Tell him that you plan on joining the Hunters in the future, but you feel you're not as ready as you should be and request serious training, as much as they can safely give you." he says "Be the best you, that you can be. Show them that the end result will be worth it. Always request most training, but remember, as hard as you will be working, don't burn yourself out. Do this at a pase you feel comfortable with." he says.

That all made sense to the young man, it would take a long time but if he was going to protect his loved ones it was something he needed to do. No shortcuts to strength I suppose.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind when I try to talk to them tomorrow.." He smiled a bit. "I'm really going to miss you guys a lot though. It's going to be hard adjusting to being in a quite house again."

Ra shakes his head "It's not like we will be leaving and never coming back." he says "Because of my extensive knowledge of the past and many different types of paranormal entities, the Hunters have commissioned me as a consultant, so I will be back here quite often." he says, patting Hiroshi on the back.

"True." Hiroshi conceded a bit. He still wasn't going to like being in the empty house but Ra was right he'd see them well and often enough. "Just curious, you still have your darkness armor? Kinda silly but that was actually the cheery on top of what made me decide besides the more important stuff. I thought it was cool and was wondering if maybe it looked different now that you're whole again."

Ra nods "Of course I still have it. It is now a part of me and..." he takes a small container holds his hand over it and then closes it. There was a small shadowy ball inside "It can be apart of you again as well." he says, handing the container to Hiroshi.

"That, is a shadow seed. Give it plenty of darkness while it frows into a shadow fruit. Once there, you may eat it to obtain your shadow powers back. Only this time, they will be tailored to you." he explains "But be cautious, as with when the Obliterator was with you, you will also find yourself with an entity fighting for control." he warns "However, they may be defeated by good deeds as well." he says.

Ra holds out his hand "You have a very exciting future in store, my young brother. But I know you'll be just fine, no matter how you choose to live your life." he says with enough confidence for the both of them.

Hiroshi appreciated the gesture, he would keep a open mind and keep it just in case. However he didn't have any intention using it as he wanted to prove to himself, if no one else he could do it completely under his own power. That said it be kind of silly just to throw it away wholesale; besides even if he never used it perhaps someone else would one day. But he only use either to save someone's life(assuming its healing properties stayed) or a person he trusted enough. If and when it came to that anyway. Besides he wanted to keep his fire and he wasn't sure if he was ready for a live in guest again or wanted one.

Hiroshi took the container and went to a cabinet to lock it away in the dark and out of sight. He shook his hand when offered. "You too brother. I think I'm good for now but if I do take it I'll end up losing my fire powers again right?"

Ra shrugs "I honestly can't say. The Obliterator blocked your fire because the light that comes off of it hurt it." he says "But this thing will grow and adapt to you, it most likely won't block your fire this time around."

Hiroshi supposed he keep it around in his back pocket as a just in case, if nothing else if it still had the incredible healing powers from before he could use it to save someone's life in a emergency where normal healing wouldn't cut it. If his goal was to be able fight uber beings one day to protect his loved ones, he needed to keep a open mind; not just work harder but smarter.

It be a long road regardless which way he went.

"I gotcha. I'll keep that in mind." Hiroshi said, then grinned. "Time really flies by though huh? With how we met and then now. Pretty soon one day years from now I'll have you as my best man to my wedding and asking about kid or marriage advice."

Ra nods "It's been almost a year and a half since you got the Obliterator and yet, it feel like yesterday." he says with a smile "When that day comes, I would be honored to be your best man and give any advice that I can." he says as he pats Hiroshi's shoulder "Until next we meet, my brother." he says, before he heads on out.

Hiroshi checked the time after he left, it was in the evening time but not super late. He was going to head to visit Taki and her father and maybe spend the night if it was all right. Hiroshi didn't feel like being back there just after Ra and his family left.

Once he got there, he knocked. Sure he had the key but during the later times of the evening he thought it more polite. He had no idea what they may of been doing or they had plans after all.

It was Kyosuki who answered the door "Ah, Hiroshi. Come on in." he says as he moves to the side "You kniw you're welcome over here any time you want, right?" he asks "We're just about to start dinner, would you like a plate?" he asks.

Taki comes wandering and pauses when she sees Hiroshi "Oh, uh, hi there, Hiroshi." she says in a slightly hesitant voice. She's been like that ever since that night, always hesitating around him when she sees him.

Hiroshi wasn't sure how to make Taki feel less awkward. He still liked them but seeing as they weren't ready for anything, he simply continued on as normal no use dwelling on it. He wasn't really sure what was going on through her head though.

The problem was, she had been fine until recently before Suki had left even after their night together so it had to be something else? Or it just took time for her to settle on something.

Emotions were complicated.

"Evening Taki, Kyousuki." He greeted. "Sure. I could get a bite to eat. I wanted to pay you two a visit." He figure out what was bothering her, but he was also cautious of pressing her about it.

The best way to find out what was wrong with Taki, was to ask Lara, her American friend. She would always tell it like it was.

Kyosuki nods "Alright. Go wash your hands and I'll set things up." he says as he heads back into the kitchen. Taki follows her dad to see if she could help.

Hiroshi might just do that, he didn't like things being awkward between them. Once he had come back into the thick of things, he and Taki had been stuck to the hip so he'd hate to let whatever it was fester until they weren't close anymore.

He went to wash his hands, debating more on just eating dinner for the night instead of staying. Hiroshi needed to solve whatever it was that was bothering them. If she had been acting like this from the start after they were intimate, it be a open and shut case but since it wasn't it wasn't as clear.

Since Taki kinda had been acting a bit odd since they had gotten intimate, it was clear why she might be acting odd around Hiroshi, but the question was, Why?

Kyosuki and Taki had the table all set up "So, how has being a 'Freelancer' been treating you, Hiroshi?" he asks as he serves up dinner. Kyosuki was just a normal man having married into all this weirdness.

Hiroshi shrugged slightly going at his food. "Slow." He admitted. "Free lancers are usually picked for having a special skills to be useful, like with Taki or really strong and skilled and able to deal with things they traditionally can't like contacting a Umbra Witch or something. I don't have any of those anymore so I don't have a niche. The main reason they probably did was because of the Obliterator to keep a eye on me to. I'll figure it out though."

When he turned eighteen he was going have to see about things but he still had to talk to Julius tomorrow. Fact remained before he could join he didn't have much of anything to stand out. Why send someone with no special niche that wasn't fully trained when they had plenty of those back at HQ?

Taki blinks in surprise at Hiroshi "Wait, a What witch?" she asks. She had never heard of an Umbra Witch before.

Kyosuki shakes his head "Nonsense. I'm sure there were other reasons they let you on as a Freelancer." he says "Otherwise they would have terminated your contract once you returned to normal." he points out.

"Maybe so." But the only thing Hiroshi could think of that made sense was maybe a better way to keep tabs on Taki. Maybe it be something to ask tomorrow when he made his rounds with stuff.

Taki was slightly surprised she hadn't heard of them before, but then he supposed he himself only knew about them recently. Part of him was reluctant but he wasn't sure why.[i] Stop being a worry wort. It's not like Taki is going to take a interest and try to become one when older.[/i]

He decided to tell them, besides Taki would do research anyway if she really wanted to. "A clan of witches that make contract with extremely powerful demons that in turn make them incredibly powerful. The catch is when you die, you get dragged to hell so it has a heavy cost. They have a counter part called the Lumen Sages. They do something similar but with angels. Not sure what price they pay for it but probably not pleasant either. The angels they interact with aren't the nicest bunch."


"But, its nothing for us to worry about." Hopefully.