The Magician of Sound

Kai and Ayaka finally came back to reality. They looked at each other and chuckled.

"Haha… that last one was tough. If only we had saved our energy a little bit more. We might have been able to kill so many more," Ayaka said while laughing. She was satisfied with their performance.

"Well, that was our first time challenging that world, so that result is good enough," Kai said.

S – 0

A – 0

B – 2

C – 32

D – 58

E – 191

F – 431

"Let me calculate it for a bit. We got 1,341 points this time. We're only 100 points short of our previous score. Not bad, I guess, since you didn't use 'that' technique. Well, you promised me about that. So it's my fault we failed to reach our previous score," Ayaka said.

Kai shook his head. "No one is at fault. We're a team, so if you say that you're at fault, then both of us are at fault as a team."

Ayaka only smiled in response as she relented, "Yeah. This is no one's fault."

"Let's go out," Kai said.

"Sure."

They opened the tube and saw that many people had come out. Katsuragi Takaki was already out too. He was glaring at them.

Kai only ignored him as he walked toward Shirotsuka Sanae together with Ayaka.

"Your score is 1,341 points… Wait, how did you guys get two B-rank beasts?" Sanae suddenly felt something wrong when she calculated their points.

"What do you mean, Teacher?" Ayaka asked.

"I mean, the world itself only has one B-rank magical beast… Oh wait, there's another one… Don't tell me, you also killed that huge centipede?" Sanae looked at them with a shocked expression that rarely appeared on her face.

"Yeah. That centipede was really tough... We almost died when we faced it," Ayaka nodded her head.

"You really did?" Sanae facepalmed.

"Teacher, is there something wrong with that centipede?" Kai asked.

Sanae then looked toward the others first before telling them. After all, she couldn't afford the others to hear their conversation. "This practice world contained two B-rank magical beasts as the strongest magical beasts. But the second magical beast is only supposed to appear in your final exam.

"We programmed it so that the centipede will appear at that time and not naturally appear…" She said as she didn't know how the centipede could appear at this time and only at their place.

"The centipede suddenly crawled out of the ground and attacked us. This centipede gave us more trouble than the A-rank Ape. Is there something special about this centipede, Teacher?" Ayaka asked. Ayaka and Kai already suspected that the centipede had already unlocked its intelligence, but they still wanted to confirm it with Sanae.

"Sigh… the centipede has unlocked its intelligence. So the final exam for the first years is to fight an intelligent magical beast. But I still can't understand why the centipede suddenly came out."

"…" All of them were in deep thoughts. But suddenly, Kai was shocked. "Ah!"

He realized something. Ayaka and Sanae looked at him. Kai scratched his cheek as he said embarrassedly, "It seems that I was the cause."

"What do you mean?" Ayaka asked.

"I mean, the centipede can't hear, but it can feel vibrations. And the two antennas will give the centipede the intensity and the direction of the sound. And I think the centipede didn't need more than that. Well, I think that's the most plausible reason as to why the centipede suddenly came out," Kai explained.

Ayaka opened her mouth in shock. She remembered Kai used his 'Special Melody' continuously so they could ambush the magical beasts one after another. And that gave the centipede their direction.

She remembered about the seismic concept that Kai explained. Kai could even locate the centipede with that vibration, and the centipede was a magical beast. It wasn't a normal centipede. In other words, the centipede had enough ability to locate Kai through that vibration.

Kai was also wondering whether he could use his new magic when he arrived out there. After all, it might even cause them problems. He was thinking about adjusting some concepts so it could only be picked up by him. And of course, without those kinds of vibrations.

He should be able to come up with something in a week since the skill was almost complete. As long as he adjusted it a little bit, the magic should be complete. It would be very handy if he had something like that in the outside world. Of course, he wouldn't rely on it completely. He would always double-check it with his actual hearing. The magic only simplified his hearing and allowed his teammates to see it.

"Well, it was a good fight. I don't regret fighting it," Ayaka shrugged.

Kai only smiled at her.

"You two…" Sanae could only shake her head. She sighed and her face reverted to her uninterested expression. "All right, since both of you have finished, you two can leave. I need to score the other students."

"…" Kai and Ayaka looked at each other and smiled. This teacher was truly unique. Well, they didn't have anything to do here, so they finally went back to their respective homes.

When Kai arrived at his home, Tasha suddenly walked up to him.

"Let's talk outside," She whispered to his ears.

Kai nodded his head and came outside.

"The result of my investigation this week is only one word. They didn't leave any traces behind," she told.

"What did you find?" Kai asked.

"North."

Kai contemplated a bit before he suddenly frowned.

"Does 'north' ring a bell to you?"

Kai pondered a bit more. He then said, "I don't know whether they're related or not, but a few weeks ago, there was this transfer student. His name is Katsuragi Takaki."

"Katsuragi… Don't tell me… is he that 'Katsuragi? The Katsuragi family that rules over the north, that big family?" She looked at Kai in shock.

Kai only said, "Well, I can only think of that. After all, he should be from the north, and with his family's circumstances, he would have no need to come to this place and enroll at Genesis Magical Academy. He claimed to be Ayaka's fiance, too."

She frowned. "This is suspicious. Considering how big the Katsuragi family is, he wouldn't need to go all the way here since there are also a few schools at the level of Genesis Magical Academy there.

"And that fiance part is also a bit suspicious to me. I know that Kudo Group's background was huge. But I don't think that they stretched their hand to the north. I wonder how this fiance thing suddenly came to be. Hmm… I smell a conspiracy."

Kai was also troubled about this. After all, the timing was just perfect.

"How about we go to the north to investigate?" Tasha asked.

"We? You mean I'll go too?"

"Of course," Tasha replied shortly.

"…" Kai was surprised that she invited him.

"I mean… I'd be glad if you could join me. I'm happy to have you by my side. Of course, that's my personal feeling. But I also want to borrow your hearing ability, since it might be more useful than my space ability for this," Tasha said honestly.

"Hmm… okay then," Kai nodded. He also thought that it was also like what she said. His hearing might be even more useful to hear what's outside or when they infiltrated their base, so he accepted her invitation.

"Yes!" Tasha was really happy to see that Kai accepted her invitation. Of course, other than the investigation, she also wanted to spend some time together with him.

"But… how about school?" Kai asked.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," She replied hurriedly. Tasha seemed strangely a bit more energetic than usual.

Kai only shook his head and sighed. He then went inside while Tasha finished her own thing.

The next day, Tasha immediately finished asking for leave from the school. She even managed to convince their parents with bullsh*t just for this. She came to Kai and gave him an airplane ticket.

Although it might be more convenient to teleport, it was a bit far. Teleporting to faraway places would be tiring for Tasha, so they decided to go by plane. Of course, under the guise that they were a couple.

The plane was unlike the usual passenger planes before humanity was overturned. Although the design was similar, the plane was already reinforced with magic, so they could arrive faster. And each flight usually had a soldier to make sure that there would be no problem inside and outside.

After all, there might be a flying magical beast outside or a magician inside. The soldier's job was to protect every passenger in case something happens.

The next Monday.

School started once again, and the students went into the class. Surprisingly, Ayaka didn't find Kai. Even when the teacher came, Kai didn't come to school.

Katsuragi Takaki tried to take this opportunity to sit beside Ayaka. Unfortunately, she rejected him.

He even sat on Kai's seat forcefully, which made Ayaka move to whichever seat was available. She somehow had this repulsive feeling against him and wanted to avoid him.

"All right, we'll start our class," Sanae said.

Ayaka suddenly raised her hand, "Teacher, where's Kai… Carter?"

"Ah, no need to mind him. It seems that he has a family trip. He's in…"

…

Sapporo Okadama Airport.

Tasha wore a green shirt with a long white skirt. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses while holding Kai's hand. Kai wore a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of long white pants. He was carrying their baggage on his other hand. They were like a couple that was on vacation.

"Welcome to Sapporo Okadama Airport. We hope you'll enjoy your stay."