Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer - CH 88

Chapter 88.

Tenji had just finished another hour of careful warm-up exercise, along with Fuyuki helping him stretch.

He received support for his back and sometimes leaned on it, and they did stretches facing each other with legs apart. Tenji didn’t want to get injured during the quest, so he did it seriously.

From the side, if someone were to look at them, they looked like real brothers.

“Well, I’m going then.”

“Do your best. I can’t do anything, but I’ll be cheering you on. Fight!”

Fuyuki puts his hand on Tenji’s shoulder and smiles gently as if to share his strength with Tenji.

Tenji nodded emphatically, “Thank you,” and slowly opened the Hell Quest page of ‘Book of Enma.’

There was a sound of rustling paper being flipped through, and it stopped abruptly on a page filled with silver letters.

[Start Hell Quest]

Gently, Tenji touched the silver letters with his finger.

Fuyuki could not see the strange scene with his eyes, but he somehow knew by his actions that Tenji was operating something.

Fuyuki became accustomed to Tenji’s actions over the past week, so he thought it was just like usual.

And in a blink of an eye.

Tenji’s body was sucked into the ‘Book of Enma.’

“Wow …… is this what Tenji-Kun was talking about, being sucked in?”

Fuyuki stared at the scene, unconsciously opening his mouth in surprise.

To him, it looked like a completely different scene from that of Tenji.

Tenji was doing something while touching an empty space – the ‘Book of Enma’ – and instantly.

Tenji’s body disappeared before his eyes in a flash.

If an unfamiliar ordinary person were to see it, they would likely think that Tenji had suddenly disappeared somewhere. It would seem like a god’s disappearance.

But in reality, he has just transferred to the hell realm, so Tenji’s calling is distorted. It’s the same whether seen through his own eyes or through other people’s eyes. He disappeared.

“As expected, you’re interesting, Tenji-Kun.”

Fuyuki, looking tired from surprise, sat down on a white swing while staring at the empty space.

He gazed at the deep blue sky, cloudless on a perfect summer day.

The sun was baking his skin; he could feel sweat flowing from his whole body just by sitting.

Even so, it has been a little over two years since he came to this city, and even this too-hot climate feels like home to Fuyuki. Mallorca had already become a second home to Fuyuki.

“But, I never would have imagined that a student from Japan would come to Mallorca… a year ago, I never even thought it was possible.”

Mallorca Escuela has only 225 admission quotas in the world.

Nearly 200 of these seats are said to be held by individuals. The other 25 seats are held by major powers, one seat each of the so-called most powerful countries of the period.

Fuyuki is also studying here in Mallorca Escuela using a quota (slot, seats) held by that state. A quota was given to the best students in the Japan Explorer High School.

Unfortunately, not a single Japanese person held an individual quota (seats) in Mallorca Escuela. It was a shame.

So Fuyuki had never thought that another Japanese person would study with him at Mallorca.

“Chigo-chan became a teacher with the recommendation of president Limey and obtained an individual seat… And I never thought that Tenji-Kun would get a seat. Fact is indeed stranger than fiction.”

If any Japanese person had obtained one of the few seats as an individual, Fuyuki would have thought that the person who holds the second seat in Japan Explorers High School would be sent here.

It is a natural process for other nations to send their best and brightest from their own Explorers’ high schools and universities to study abroad.

However, the actual student who came to study abroad was a young man, not so very best, a first-year high school student, Tenji Amagi, who is also an unknown and obscure person.

Fuyuki heard only rumors, and to his surprise, even the fact that he was a “swordsman” with a fifth-grade calling was surprising.

“Well, I’m glad I’ve known Tenji-kun since elementary school, but …… I really didn’t expect that. I really …… I don’t know what fate has in store for him.”

Before Tenji came here, Fuyuki was often ridiculed by his peers, who would ask, “Is Japan stupid? Why send a swordsman to study abroad?”

He had been ridiculed many times.

In fact, there was a time when Fuyuki thought, “Why a swordsman? If they were going to send someone like that to study abroad, there must have been more talent that should have been sent to study abroad.”

However, the rumors turned out to be false.

The “swordsman” who actually came here was a genuine genius who denied rumors like they were nothing.

This was clear from Fuyuki’s experience. Tenji, a student who could be considered the best in the world in terms of potential alone, could not be just a swordsman.

“I never thought that the Swordsman was not just a swordsman, but a special-grade calling of [Hell Beast Summoning] … I thought it was a joke. It brings back memories. I can never forget the chill I felt when I first met him…”

Indeed, the measurement results always showed only “swordsman.”

Even so, Fuyuki, who has been in the dungeon many times with Tenji, now knows many things about him.

Following orders and eliminating monsters with just one dagger, he calls a Goblin. He fights like the world’s most famous hero explorer, summoning weapons out of thin air. He can also summon healing items called “Demon Lantern” and use them on others.

And what can Fuyuki say? Even though it had only been a short time since Tenji had found his calling, he possessed the physical ability equivalent to a professional third-grade explorer. This fact was the most unusual.

[Swordsman? What a joke. He will be a human who will be called a monster or a Demon Hero in the near future… definitely] Fuyuki thought in his head.

What Fuyuki has seen of him over the past week and a half or so has been a mass of potential.

Even from Fuyuki’s perspective, who is rumored to be a future zero-grade explorer, he could not measure Tenji’s potential.

“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… He has only shown 2% of his potential so far.”

Yes, despite having this level of ability, he is still only level 2 out of 100.

He has passed the stage where the future is something to look forward to and now only feels fear for the future.

Tenji is keeping all of these things hidden on the orders of Leon, and those around him who are swayed by his ‘swordsman’ personality will certainly have a painful experience in the future.

“I’m still a work in progress too. Chigo, Mr. Leon …… I still can’t compete with them. That’s all, it’s not enough. I have to work harder and …… harder. I can still grow.”

At first, Fuyuki was also among those who experienced the ‘really!!?’ consequences.

Honestly, before seeing Tenji’s power, he had the same feelings as the foreign students who would mock him.

Once, Fuyuki took such impulsive action that he sent a direct complaint letter to the Japan Explorers Association. However, the response from the association was a dull one, stating that “because it is a case that a zero-grade explorer is involved, we cannot take action.”

Fuyuki has grown up while being expected to have a great future since long ago

Even as an elementary school student, he was fast on his feet and “an athlete of the future,” When he was in junior high school, he participated in a national soccer tournament.

In high school, he was influenced by his father and entered the Japan Explorer’s High School. He joined the Yokohama Dungeon for the first time with his father. Before he knew it, he completed the calling quest and manifested the zero-grade calling “King of Phantom Beasts.”

[TLN: Phantom beasts = mythical beasts, I used phantom beasts in earlier chapters, so to be consistent, I will be using this only.]

Shortly after that, he received a proposal to study in Mallorca Escuela.

At that time, it just so happened that the upper-echelon management of Japan was considering who would fill that role. Fuyuki, a genius, was convenient for them.

— A future zero-grade explorer would not be subject to public criticism.

Knowing the association’s intentions, Fuyuki willingly agreed to study in Mallorca Escuela.

Soon after, he moved to his study-abroad location and began his student life with the government’s support.

Mallorca was a country full of stimulation, but Fuyuki was not satisfied with any of it.

He had never understood why until now.

He was steadily developing his calling and steadily accumulating his skills and knowledge as an explorer. As a future zero-level explorer, he had high expectations from all over the world. He had no intention of lacking in effort.

He was aware that he was now in the best environment, so much so that Dean Limey was concerned about him somehow.

Even though he should have been satisfied… he continued an unfulfilling life as an international student.

Then one day —

For the first time, Fuyuki knew defeat.

In front of him appeared a young, cute woman with white hair who was only two years older.

She was a fellow Japanese…

Fuyuki faced a young woman around the average height for Japanese women at 150 cm and had a slim body with no visible muscles. She had the perfect amount of fat in all the desirable places and had a body shape that was sure to catch the attention of men. Her name was Chigo.

While other women might have envied her, as an explorer, Fuyuki saw that her body shape was not suitable for battle. Despite this, he found himself training against her in a sparring match.

Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, Fuyuki lost the match. It was his first experience of defeat in his life. Despite putting in his all, he was easily beaten, and when he came to, he was lying on his back looking up at the sky.

That day, it seemed like a void in Fuyuki’s heart had been filled.

This woman, Chigo Shiroushi, would be the one to fill the hole in his heart.

He didn’t know what that meant yet. But he felt that if he could keep up with Chisato and become a person who could reach her level, he would understand what it was.

The two years older Chigo taught Fuyuki that he was still small and insignificant as a human.

Above all, there is someone even higher.

Even though he was currently riding the waves of success, having someone defeat him made him happy in some way deep in his heart.

He realized that two years older, Chigo was someone who could fill all of his emptiness.

Talent is like this, you see.

Chigo taught him that. Just having someone close to him bring him down made Fuyuki want to work hard alongside them.

“So I — I’m going to try my hardest to keep up with you guys. I’m never going to lose. This is who I am.”

In the yard of a house on the outskirts of an empty town, Fuyuki powerfully exhaled his determination into the blue sky.

It was at that moment —

The white goddess appeared, peeking out from the other side of the white wooden fence, looking into the garden.

Her white hair fluttered in the wind, and Chigo quickly held down her hair with one hand.

“Fuyuki-Kun?”

“Chigo, defeat me today.”

“Ha ha ha, you’re talking nonsense again. I’ll let you kiss the ground as many times as you want.”