"I am home," Ichiro said after closing the door to his house.
"…" He didn't hear any noises coming from the house, 'Weird…' He thought and took his shoes off.
He started walking towards living room, and there he saw his parents sitting on the couch, looking at him.
'Great…' Ichiro scratched his neck and walked towards refrigerator.
He took the plastic bag filled with honey cookies and put it on the kitchen desk.
He took one of the cookies and started crunching.
*Crunch*
Azumi and Eiji were sitting on the couch, a few meters away from him.
Azumi finally opened her mouth, "Did you plan ever telling us?"
*Gulp*
Ichiro swallowed the cookie and said, "No."
"Why?!" Azumi shouted, her face was saddened that their son didn't seem to trust them.
"It wouldn't have changed anything. You guys were already having hard time; my problems were irrelevant." Ichiro said.
He wanted to say about his bullying many times last year, but his father got fired from his job and was very anxious about finding new employment.
Also, his mother's shop didn't earn much last year, but it has become better this year. Telling them about his bullying incident would have stressed them more.
Before Azumi and Eiji decided to talk more, Ichiro opened his mouth, "Besides, it's all in the past. My bullies got what they deserved and worse. You guys would probably need to prepare for the court since I literally crippled Damien, and I doubt his parents are happy." He didn't let them speak anymore and took the bag of cookies and sprinted to his room.
Azumi and Eiji stayed alone in the living room, alone with their thoughts.
"Whew." Ichiro took a deep breath after reaching his room.
[They care about you]
"I know." Ichiro was more than aware, his and Ayako's parents have always done everything in their power to give them a happy childhood.
He will repay them and much more. He will give them the life they deserve.
Ichiro sat down on his bed and started eating the cookies.
*Crunch*
"These are indeed delicious." Ichiro couldn't stop eating the cookies, and soon the bag was empty.
He put the plastic bag on the desk and took his phone from the pocket.
*Ding* *Ding*
Familiar dinging noises from the phone were heard.
He opened the WorldyTalk app.
[NightButterfly: Hey, busy?]
[KingOfGames: Yo, not anymore, sup]
[NightButterfly: Doing fine I guess, a little bit cold here, but otherwise fine, what about you?]
[KingOfGames: Fine, did a slight sparring match today, the only interesting thing that happened today]
[NightButterfly: With who?]
[KingOfGames: With a guy called Lucas, big muscular guy, slightly dumb]
Ichiro typed in the chat, not knowing the shock that it caused for Azura after he told the name of Lucas.
…
[KingOfGames: With a guy called Lucas, big muscular guy, slightly dumb]
Azura saw the message and widened her pretty eyes in shock.
She quickly exited the WorldyTalk app and went straight to Irio's website.
The website showed the picture of two Golden Child's and one of their name was Lucas.
"Is he really…" Azura murmured, but then she saw a new article appearing.
[SPARRING MATCH OF TWO GOLDEN CHILDS]
She clicked the article and saw a long line of texts, but instead of reading that, she clicked the video.
The video was slightly amateurish, recorded from the crowd, but it still showed the incredible battle.
After the video ended, Azura was sure that Ichiro was KingOfGames. She went back to the website and clicked Ichiro's handsome figure.
The picture of Ichiro was shown perfectly; his jet black hair with his black eyes gave him a charming feeling. His skin didn't have the same skin problems as some young men at his age could have; instead, it was untouched, smooth-like perfect skin. The picture was him in school uniform, but even the school uniform could hardly hide his athletic figure.
She pressed the download button, with a slight blush, she put his picture as wallpaper.
"It doesn't mean anything… Only curious… Yes, curious…"
…
Ichiro waited for message, but it didn't appear.
He shrugged and went to check other messages.
[Slych<3Emilia4Ever: I heard about the bullying incident, you alright?]
[KingOfGames: I am fine, it's in the past]
Ichiro wrote and went back to the chat with NightButterfly after a new message appeared.
[NightButterfly: I see, you must be busy, I will stop bothering you…]
Before Ichiro could reply, NightButterfly was already offline.
He scratched the back of his head, "She wasn't bothering, though."
[KingOfGames: You aren't bother, it was a nice talk, see you!]
After that, he closed the phone.
He lied down on the bed, staring at the ceiling in silence.
"I wasn't this lazy in my previous life… I should be training." Ichiro stood up and quickly took the school uniform off.
He took the familiar black t-shirt and white sweatpants. He exited his room and sprinted towards the door.
He took the shoes and shouted, "I am going to train, I won't be back before night!" After those words, he opened the door and started jogging.
A wind instantly blew his hair.
His hair flows gently in the air.
"My hair seems to get longer…" Ichiro murmured while his bangs were annoyingly covering his vision.
He didn't start running on his regular route; instead, he left the streets and ran towards the nearby forest.
*Whew*
Ichiro ran for another half an hour until his stamina was finally spent; he was catching his breath while sitting on a tree trunk in the middle of the forest.
The area around him was quite spacious, a perfect place for training.
Ichiro nodded, "This will do." He opened his Inventory and took a pair of swords.
He swung the swords gently, not too fast, but not too slow either. His speed gradually started getting faster and faster until the blades moved like they were blurs.
He slashed the swords towards the nearby trees and cut them in half effortlessly.
"Nice." Ichiro smiled.
The swords are his secret weapon. Since he can summon the swords from his inventory, it could be a perfect hidden weapon.
He is planning to learn the swords properly before going against Underworld.
[Ironic Edge – Sword Mayhem]
Ichiro started moving the swords like they were possessed, but the swords moved in perfect rhythm. He wasn't aimlessly swinging; instead, every swing had meaning.
He rarely has used Iron Style techniques with weapons, but it doesn't mean he doesn't know how.
[Ironic Edge – Sword Fatality]
Next, the sword strikes became gentle, like they were flowing in water. Swords moved slowly, but if you were fighting against him, you would see that he had no weak spots.
Ichiro stopped swinging the swords and nodded, "Rusty, but we will get there."
"Wait…" Ichiro had a sudden thought, "Since I am using a weapon and not my body… I should be able to use a few of my Iron Style techniques in theory?"
Ichiro decided to try, he cracked his neck. This could either work or end up painfully.
He put his left sword forward and his right sword above his head.
[Iron Dragon – Sword Breath]
Ichiro moved his two swords in perfect synchrony. A burst of wind left the swords, which traveled straight towards the trees, blasting them to pieces!
The attack didn't stop after a few trees. Instead, it kept traveling and increasing in speed!
Until finally, the attack hit a mountain, but even the mountain started cracking apart.
"ARGHH!" Ichiro cried out painfully and dropped his swords.
He fell on his knees and held his hands painfully.
"Bad fucking idea!" Ichiro gritted his teeth.
[49/115 HP]
He put his other hand forward and pressed the Inventory, and took a healing potion.
He swallowed the healing potion without hesitation.
[99/115 HP]
He fell down on his back; he had sweat drops trickling down his cheek with slight pain left in the arms.
Ichiro rubbed his painful arms, but at least most of the pain was gone.
"It doesn't make sense… Swords aren't part of my body; it should have worked." Ichiro feels like he missed something.
But it didn't come to his mind at the moment, "I need to research better. There is something wrong with my Iron Style."
Ichiro came to a conclusion; he stood up and grabbed the swords.
He was about to put them back to the Inventory, but then he heard a sound not far from him.
*Crack*
He turned his head in panic and pointed his swords towards the forest.
"Come out!" He shouted.
"Nice senses." He heard a woman's voice.
From the forest, a mature-looking beautiful woman with long jet black hair and violet eyes walked. She had a charming face, with perfect smooth-looking skin. Her delicate eyes and curved nose gave her a feeling of elegancy and beauty.
Ichiro was still pointing his swords at her, "Who are you?"
'System, did he see me using the healing potion?'
[No one can see the items of System, except you]
Ichiro was relieved.
The woman looked hurt, "You don't remember me?"
Ichiro raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "I am still a virgin, so don't even expect me to believe that you are pregnant with my child."
The woman chuckled, her laughter was the perfect melody.
She shook her hand, "No, I was Commentator Ramu. My name is Quella."
Ichiro now remember her. He saw her once, and she looked very familiar. The memories came back to him.
He stopped pointing the swords at her and asked, "What do you want Miss Quella?"
Quella smiled beautifully, "I want to train you!"
"Eh?"
