The Legendary F Rank

Speculations of what had taken place during the fight between Kazuo and Haru spread around the city of Tokyo as many people didn't understand what had taken place.

They had clearly seen that he entered the ring with Kazuo, but after the mysterious blanket of fire died down, he had vanished, and no one knew where he had ended up. After the fight, the interviewers were quick to ask Kazuo for a statement, but he was too caught up with the fact that he would become a father, and he refused to answer any questions, which only added to the confusion.

The clip of Haru entering the ring quickly went viral as everyone wanted to find out his identity, but with his subtle appearance change during his time in China, it would be hard for anyone to recognise him, and therefore, no one came out to identify him.

Haru awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He had initially turned it off to avoid his mothers and fathers phone calls, but he figured that he would need to have it turned on if he was waiting for the army to contact him, so it was easier to block their numbers instead. 

"What is it now?" Haru asked as he looked around the empty hotel room for a few minutes before reaching over to the nightstand and picking up his phone. He saw that the number wasn't saved in his contacts and reluctantly answered, thinking that his parents had gotten a new phone to call him but as he replied he was surprised to hear the voice of General Ainsworth.

"Haru? I know that I said that it would take a few days for us to contact you, but the video of you at the Izu arena has raised some concerns for the recruiting centre. Would you mind answering a few questions?" He asked, but after hearing him talk, Haru sighed.

'Why would they wake me up so early in the morning for something like this?' Haru asked himself before realising that it was the military, and they always woke up at six in the morning to do exercise. He shouldn't have expected any better from them.

"Sure, what is it?" Haru asked before rolling back onto his side. If he was going to rack his brain answering questions, he figured that it would be better to do so while he was comfortable.

"Well, first of all. What is your relation to Kazuo Satou? I know it's a stupid question, but I have to ask it." General Ainsworth said, knowing full well how they knew each other.

"It's fine. I get it. They won't accept it if someone speaks on my behalf. Well, I know him from school. I just went up there to talk with him about something." Haru sighed once again. Even if the military had changed, it wasn't enough to get rid of the ridiculousness of interrogating people.

"Okay, thank you. Now, What did you two talk about while in the ring?" General Ainsworth asked another question while the sound of him tapping a pen against his desk made their way through the phone. 

"I don't think that's appropriate for me to talk about. If you want to know, then you should ask Kazuo its kind of personal." Haru explained as politely as he could that it wasn't the military's business what they talked about so that they wouldn't hold a grudge against him for not telling them.

"That's understandable. All information about Kazuo Satou is sensitive and shouldn't be shared with people. I will report that it is related to him, and if they really want an explanation, then they can send someone to ask him. Then I guess my final question is about the fire that blocked the cameras from looking into the ring. 

We get an extensive report on Kazuo's abilities every month, so we know for a fact that it wasn't related to him. So being the son of an S rank fire mage, we can assume that it was your doing. What was it?" General Ainsworth asked, this time sounding more interested than when he asked the other questions. 

"Is that so? Well, I guess that was my doing, but it's not what you think. When I told you that I could only use amplification magic, I was serious. That fire came from an artefact my mother crafted for me when I was young. It's called a soul fire. I can't really use it to fight, but I can create a distraction if I need to." Haru tried to sound as convincing as possible as he came up with an explanation to hide Kun's flames away from them.

"A soul fire? I have never heard of one. It must be uncommon, but magic artefacts come in all shapes and sizes, so that's a reasonable explanation. I will make sure to report everything to the recruitment officers as soon as I can. 

But I think since you have a connection with Kazuo Satou, your application will be pushed through faster than it usually would. I will let you know what happens later tonight so make sure that you keep your phone switched on." General Ainsworth instructed before running off to file Haru's report. 

"Well, that was an annoying start to the morning. I just hope that I don't get any more interruptions. I have had enough of needless  distractions for a lifetime." Haru complained as he lay back and closed his eyes. 

It had been a while since he entered his soul ocean. He was scared of going back there alone. He thought that it would feel empty and cold, but now that he had time to himself, he figured that he should try to enter to see what was going on with Kun and the mansion.

As soon as his eyes closed, his mind drifted off to his soul ocean. Blinding light flooded in from all around him as he was now looking through the eyes of his soul. The layer of water that was continually growing in height had now grown to a point where the mansion no longer looked as though it was floating in the air. It now looked like a mound of land in the ocean. 

Upon entry to his soul ocean, he looked up in the air to try to catch a glimpse of Kun, but no matter where he looked, there was no sign of him. Haru's soul ocean was relatively large and stretched out for thousands of miles, so he didn't think anything of Kun not being nearby, but he felt a little sad.

He wanted to check in on him. Although Kun wasn't entirely his own being, he still had a consciousness, and that was something Haru had looked over in the past. He had never tried to make friends with him as he thought of him as part of his body since he was a bloodline spirit. 

But he had regretted it the whole time, and the last thing he wanted was for Kun to resent him for using his power all the time and not gaining anything in return. 

'Seems about right. Why would he come and greet me if I have never treated him with respect?' Haru thought to himself as he looked around the sky. 

"I will leave something for you here. Hopefully, you enjoy it." Haru said to himself quietly before reaching into his storage ring and pulling out one of the divine phoenix fruits he had eaten the first time he had met Li Jun and then placed it on the ground as an offering to Kun.

"Well, I guess I should probably tell that puppet guy what happened. I remember hearing his voice when Suyin died, but I don't know what we talked about. In fact, I barely remember anything." Haru thought it was strange that he didn't recall anything from after the point he had watched Suyin die in his arms. 

But he wanted to put it in the past. He knew that Suyin wouldn't hold it against him and would like him to carry on with life without her, so he continued on towards the floating mansion.

He floated up to the top of the mound of land and then stood beside the large wooden gate. The thunder and lightning that was previously overhead seemed to calm down upon his arrival to the mansion, and he thought it was strange how the gate opened as soon as he stepped foot upon the ground, but he figured that was a sign that the mansion recognised him.

Haru walked out into the courtyard to see the pond with a small island in the middle before calling out to see if anyone was home. 

"Ralph!? Are you there?" Haru shouted to announce that he had arrived within the mansion, but after a few seconds, there was no reply. Just as he was about to call again, he heard a whisper directly into his ear.

"The Steward is currently praying right now. Li Jun's soul has been carried away from this world by the breeze of fate. So he is praying that he finds safe passage and finds his way back to his original self." The whisper sent chills down Haru's spine as it spoke. It was both silent and familiar but obviously not human. 

Haru turned his head to see an exact copy of himself. It was as though he was looking in the mirror. There was no sign of the difference between both Haru and the copy, but the copy gave out an aura of death that seemed to bewitch the air around him, making it hard for Qi to pass through the atmosphere surrounding him.