Exiting the fleet of stairs, Haruto found himself in a long hallway. He couldn't really see to the end of the hallway. It was dimly lit by just two blue torches unlike the yellow ones below.
The blue torches barely lit the hallway—their faint glow wasn't enough to even reach halfway through.
Gulping hard, Haruto started to walk down. Remembering what the young girl had told him, he counted the rooms as he did so.
'...five….six….seven….'
He soon got frustrated. Perhaps, because he couldn't see anything. But, the damn hallway seemed endless!.
Haruto continued to walk, all the while, he didn't dare to hasten up his movements for fear of missing a room and entering a wrong one. What's more? With how conspicuous and wild abilities could be, who knew what kind of vicious creatures anyone here could control? He'd really be done for.
'... seventeen, eighteen…nineteen…tw…enty'
Haruto paused. He had reached a dead end. Then, something sparked in him. He remembered a few moments ago, his encounter with the weird little girl.
'Damn it!'
He had forgotten! He clearly remembered the young girl telling him to go directly to the last room on the right. Why was he counting in the first place?! Suddenly, He felt both stupid and annoyed.
He sighed, turning to the last door on the right. Counting wasn't just a mistake anyway—it was a distraction.
The door wasn't anything out of the ordinary, it was made of wood? He couldn't really tell at the moment. Sighing again to relieve his pent up nerves, he knocked softly. The moment he touched it, he confirmed his doubt. It was wood after all.
'Is this really the Captain's office? Or I came to the wrong room'
Haruto grimaced at the thought, a chill running down his spine. After his encounter outside, as long as he remained as weak as he was currently, he was weary of the darkness.
After a while, a voice called in from inside, a rather calm one:
"Come in"
Nervously, Haruto pulled the door knob, took in a few deep breaths, and went in.
'Phew'
The interior of the so-called Captain's office was so…. mundane — So Haruto thought. In the middle of the rather spacious place, there was a table and a chair, made of wood. Behind, was a rather big bookshelf. To the left was a fire hearth that burned with few lick sounds. And lastly on the right was a rather big fur bed. What's more? The room was barely lit too. Just like every other place. The yellow torches in the corner here were so dimly lit. Though, the fire hearth did little as to illuminate the left side of the room and stretched at least almost to the center.
Haruto turned around and closed the door behind, then, he took a few steps forward.
'I knew it!'
The captain of the Tokyo Secret Combat Force was Sato Kentaro after all!. But, currently, the man sat with his chair situated in front of the table and facing the fire hearth. He just stared blankly at the fire. His gaze was…empty?
After a while of looming silence disturbed by the continuous sound of licking wood. He finally spoke in a rather deep, hoarse voice.
"Any longer and your obituary would have been announced"
Haruto trembled slightly. His voice was imposing, as if it contained some kind of strange…aura?.
'That feeling'
He clearly remembered the beastly feeling he got from the man at the restaurant. It was milder this time but it still managed to squeeze some sweat off his forehead.
What's more? He wasn't predicting Haruto's death—he was stating a near fact. He would have already died!. There was no "any longer", he had survived by sheer luck. He knew he was dead if whatever was in the darkness got to him. He shivered immediately when he thought of it. He said nothing.
Haruto heard a long sigh, then a ragged sound of sole scratching against the floor. The captain stood up. He was wearing just what a TSCF personnel would wear, only he had casual slippers on instead of the usual sneakers. Haruto could understand that as he wasn't going out or on a mission of any sort. But, unlike everyone else, which as Haruto had noticed far, had a strange badge on their left chest. This man…he had 3 stars etched into his right chest also. 3 stars? What did that imply?.
The captain approached a small wooden table just beside the book shelf, and retrieved a wooden box. Without wasting much time, he walked over and handed it to Haruto.
"Here's what you'll need as a Sentinel"
"A Sentinel?" repeated Haruto.
The man turned around and went back to his former position, staring at the fire.
"Yes, that's what we are. I just gave you something you could believe to save your life. Of all the things that kill humans, curiosity might just top the list."
Haruto was forced to agree with the man, if he told him whatever this organization was, perhaps he would have doubted. But since he gave him something he could relate with, a security organization. He saw a reason to comply. But, he was all the more confused now. What was their organization called then? And If not protecting civilians, what was their job?.
Grimacing, He posed his question rather curiously:
"So then what are we then and what is our goal?"
He had used "we" because he seemingly was already accepted. Almost immediately, he heard a soft chuckle, then a reply:
"The Astral Sentinel Corps"
The man paused, withdrew a rather long pipe from his drawer, and continued.
"And our duty…of course, is to protect not just the citizens of Tokyo, but…"
The man paused again, he withdrew a gold lighter from his drawer, lit his pipe, and drew from it. He let the smoke dissipate from his mouth before he continued.
"...the world"
Haruto grimaced. How the heck are a few people from a random organization in Tokyo going to protect the world? And from what? There were over 14 continents in the world! Each had at least a hundred countries of which the population was unheard of. He had no answers to these questions.
However, before he could even ask another question, the man continued.
"...Just like I have said, there are many things you don't understand. But, I'll spill a few. The rest … you'll probably figure out yourself"
Dropping the pipe and standing up, he casually strolled towards the hearth and bent down. Under Haruto's watch, the small fire slowly increased in intensity. It burned so that it threatened to leave the hearth and consume anything in it's way. The damn fire had become a conflagration!. And in just how many minutes? A split second!.
'Curses'
Haruto's skin was burning. The heat was practically unbearable and he knew without a single doubt that he'd be charred if he was burned by that thing even a little.
But, the captain, he was completely unfazed as he stood in front of the fire. Realization hit Haruto.
'That's his attribute! Fire!'
Soon, the intensity of the fire reduced and Haruto felt a little better. But, if not afraid as he knew the man would burn him for absolutely no reason, not yet — he thought, Weary.
"Grades,"
He started.
"There are four main grades of ability. Each requiring a corresponding elixir order to activate"
"Elixir?" Haruto asked, almost unconsciously.
"Most humans have cores in them, it's a dormant one. As a dormant human, you have to consume the Astral Elixir of the First Order. That's how you become a Grade 3 Sentinel which is the first and foremost grade"
The captain approached his chair and took his seat. He resumed staring at the hearth.
"... consuming the Astral Elixir of the Second Order would make you a…"
'Grade 2 Sentinel' thought Haruto, unconsciously.
"... consuming the Astral Elixir of the Third Order makes you a Grade 1 Sentinel"
"... consuming the Astral Elixir of the Special Order makes you a Special Grade Sentinel"
"...and lastly, consuming the Astral Elixir of the Forbidden Order makes you a Forbidden Grade Sentinel"
The man sighed and kept quiet, he had clearly left a space for whatever questions he had. Haruto asked away instantly.
"Why not consume the Elixir of the Second Order straight away?"
The man hesitated a little, then he spoke.
"Trying to consume a higher order when your core is not yet saturated?" the captain scoffed.
"In the worst cases, death. If you're lucky, your body part would be split into different sections with a tendency to reincarnate, bones, fingers, whichever way the enchantment dims the division fit. That's to say if someone doesn't find it and absorb it, you're as good as dead. And if you're very very lucky,"
He hesitated a little, as if contemplating.
"You'll run mad"
Haruto shivered slightly.
'Cruelty! It's cruel! Your body parts would be split?! That's really Cruel!'
At least he learnt something new also, turns out the powers they had were referred to as an enchantment.
The captain let out a long relieving sigh and rested his back on his chair.
"Our mission?..."
The man blinked a few times before he continued.
"...On the major, we have just two. First, We currently have a terrorist group in Tokyo. They are the ones who attacked the train you almost died on".
Haruto's expression darkened. But, he composed himself.
"Their goal is currently unknown. But whatever it is, they need a lot of sacrifices to achieve it"
'That explains the accident!' Haruto exclaimed mentally.
If they needed a lot, doesn't that mean they would still need more? One at a scale as large as last time?.
Merely thinking of it made a cold shiver run through his spine. Just how many people would die this time?.
"... secondly and most importantly, beasts from unknown worlds usually attack our earth once every year. That's the main job of the sentinels, we enter there and stop the beasts before they invade the earth"
The man paused, as if to let the words sink in, then, he continued.
"Every one of them are terrible beings with auras of death looming over them. They're terrible creatures we tag as horrors. You don't want to get into a feud with one as a dormant human"
Haruto grimaced.
'Horrors? He wanted to bet they would look as ugly as an underworld creature he saw at the cinema a long time ago'
It sounded really scary. Not that he had any choice, he couldn't afford to go back home. Even with the system, only death awaited him. He was just — weak. He needed to grow stronger.
"And the next one, the next attack, it's in 20 days. Prepare yourself"
'20 days?! Damn it! Who the hell joins a secret organization and saves the world in just twenty days?!'
Sighing, the captain explained the rest of what he needed to know rather solemnly, he got to know that his salary, if he managed to become a Grade 1 Sentinel, was a whooping 5 million yen!. He could get a big apartment in the heart of Tokyo with 3 month's salary. He was literally rich already!. And it steadily increased as one's power level increased.
At first he wondered how wide the pocket of the government was to be able to disburse that kind of amount. There's no telling the amount of sentinels currently in Tokyo. Then the captain explained to him that it wasn't only Tokyo that was involved. After all, if horrors got out, everyone was as good as dead. The Astral Sentinels were funded by all continents in the world.
The captain had also specifically told him that going on that mission was a nightmare. 70% of the people who go every year never come back alive — so he said. It made Haruto really scared but again, he had no choice. Above all, he had to go through all these if he wanted to see Lily again. He had missed her – a lot.
Lastly, he had two things to do in the morning. The first was the most joyful and beautiful one, it easily overshadowed his fears, albeit, slightly. He almost teared up when he heard it. It was to go to the young girl, she was to lead him to where he'd collect 3 month's worth of salary up front!. The Captain's reason was rather simple — There was no telling if he was coming back alive from the expenditure, so he had to enjoy life to its fullest before he left. Secondly, he had to visit an old man in the basement and get the Astral Elixir of the First Order and evolve his core.
Then, the captain had stood up finally and folded all his fingers except his middle finger and the one near his thumb. Then, he crossed his chest palming it as he stood Attis. Haruto repeated it, that was their salute. Then, he carried his wobbly legs out of the office.
Of all, there was a secret. A secret in the empty eyes of the captain. It was a tragic one. He had finally discovered what the secret was!.