The Magician of Sound

When many people in the world were talking about him, Kai also faced the difficulty where he needed to talk with many people. Most people who came here were either from the media or prominent families. They only wanted to find one thing, which was whether this Kai Carter was a real deal or a fabricated lie created by the government. 

Unfortunately, they couldn't find a single clue from him due to him putting a poker face all the time and answering them perfectly as if everything was scripted. Kai also understood that doubting him would be a natural thing to do as not only Nathan led that mission, but Ria Ross also participated in it. There were some rumors about Nathan instructing what to do, and Ria Ross killing the beast before letting Kai get the credit.

Kai had predicted this kind of response and decided to ignore them. Even Nathan and Ria wanted to use this suspicion for Kai's fame. After all, there was an idiom saying your enemies would know you the best. Although they weren't his enemies, they would still investigate him. Before long, they would know everything was true and spread the words. It would be more effective to convince the mass.

After dealing with these problems, he and his family were escorted to the hotel.

"Kai…" His father, James Carter, could only pat his shoulders and sighed. "You have truly grown up… No, you already are this whole time. I'm the one who didn't realize it until now. Anyway, don't think too much about your mother and father. Do whatever you want with your life."

Kai smiled, shook his head, and looked at them with a solemn face. "What are you saying? I did everything I wanted this whole time. Having a happy family and seeing you and mother happy was and will always be included in my selfishness." 

James smiled and closed his eyes. Hugging him once, he left the room. On the other hand, Tasha was taking care of their mother and informed her what kind of life they would go through after this. 

At some point, Tasha flared up when their mother talked about many families wanting to offer their daughters. Hence, she said there were already four people, including Yajima Haruko from United Asia, beside him, so he didn't need more. 

Kai loosened his shirt and sat on a couch, opening his device. There was a single message, and it was from Ayaka.

'Congratulations on your promotion. Father and Mother can't stop talking about you here, even though I tell them to stop.'

Kai shook his head helplessly, reminding her of the promise he made with his teacher. He typed it out. 'Let's go to Teacher's house two days from now. I have promised her to take you there since the medicine is ready.' 

Ayaka was startled upon seeing this message. Her body started getting hot as she blushed. 'Yes.' 

She could only type one word before her body started shaking. Luckily, she was in the hotel, specifically in her room alone, or people might notice. Her body was staggering, but she still reached upon the window.

The vision outside was fantastic, but she could see nothing. Her feet felt weak as she fell down on her knees. Remembering how terrible she was and becoming his burden in the past, she couldn't believe she had arrived at this step. 

'If I didn't meet him in the past, I might be married away with Katsuragi Takaki. Father would tell me that love and relationship could be built… No, I should also say it's true. But I built one with the one I truly love… I'm glad.' Ayaka couldn't help out but burst into tears. She recounted every memory about Kai and the pain to reach this step, including where she died so many times fighting Ria. "I'm glad… I'm glad I can stay until the end."

When she had her reminiscence, Kai had another message from yet another woman.

'Congratulations on your promotion. It's not even a year, and you have reached that stage. Unfortunately, I couldn't show how happy I was when I watched the news to not raise any suspicion. The Katsuragi Family will surely make a big movement in United Asia upon this matter, and I will try to get as much information I can get.'

Kai let out a long sigh, knowing he couldn't reply to any of her messages. He could only promise to bring her out there as soon as possible in his heart.

"Kai." Tasha walked toward him. "I'm sure there will be many people coming to you after this incident. So, we are going to school or move to another place with my Teleportation Magic in order to avoid them. And Sir Nathan has arranged some rank A magicians to protect our father and mother, so we shouldn't worry about them for the time being." 

"I understand." Kai paused for a moment and said. "Sister, I'm going to Teacher's house the day after tomorrow with Ayaka."

"Ah, that girl." Tasha sighed. "It's fine. Michelle and I can understand, and we have recognized her change and efforts, so I approve."

"Thanks."

"You should send a message to Michelle later."

"I'm planning to." Kai nodded. 

"That's good then." She walked away, leaving Kai alone.

After having alone time, he informed Michelle about what he had in mind. The latter approved his action, telling him she didn't mind. Although both her and Tasha were a bit sour, they still considered Kai's feelings and the current world's norm. 

He didn't forget to send a message to his teacher that he would arrive in two days. Ria only replied with 'OK.'

Kai then rose from his seat and spent time with his family, since it was better not to go out at the moment due to his sudden rise in popularity. 

…

The day after tomorrow,

In Ria's house stood two people facing a single woman who was writing something so focused as if she didn't realize the two in front of her. 

It was only after fifteen minutes that her train of thought finally cut off and looked up. "Oh. You both have come!"

"Yes." Kai nodded.

"I have the medicine ready to use, but I want to talk something with you first." She looked at Kai before glancing at Ayaka.

"I will wait outside." Ayaka realized this was a secret, so she excused herself.

"Thank you." Kai nodded before staring at his teacher. "Is there any problem with my promotion?" 

"I can say it's not related, but it's also related." She sighed. "I have bad news and good news. Which one do you want to hear first?" 

"Bad news," Kai answered without hesitation.

"Trouble will come soon… from EU Base on top of that."

"What?" Kai widened his eyes. "Are they coming to kill me?"

"No. They aren't going to kill you, but to rope you in."

"Rope me in?" Tilting his head, Kai began thinking. "I know that the ceremony is that big, but I don't think they will move this fast."

"It's because we have a partnership with them, allowing them to move this fast. Do you know the strength of each base?"

"I only know about United Asia. Each family has a different type of magic practice, so there are so many magics that I can use as a reference. That's where I have the idea to utilize my hearing to create magic with a different concept, and that's why the Government is useless there." 

"That's right. What do you think about US Base?"

Kai pondered for a moment and said. "Zodiacs?"

"You are correct. US Base strength is Zodiacs and how generic our military is. The Government wants to use my experiment to create twelve supreme fighters called Zodiacs, where each of them can lead an army. If I remember correctly, it's called Super Soldier Plan. 

"You have seen Evan and Isabelle. Both of them were nothing back then, even though they came from famous families. However, it changed after becoming Zodiacs. There is also another person called Taurus. At that time, they want to use these twelve people to create large families and slowly create lesser zodiacs from them. In other words, they are planning to repopulate while increasing people's basic abilities.

"However, EU Base came to their radar a few years ago. They decided to have a transaction between Zodiac and EU Base's current strength. What do you think their strength is?"

"I don't know. Maybe Elemental Manipulation?" Kai tilted his head in confusion. 

"Nope. It's Exoskeleton." 

"Exoskeleton?" Kai imagined what kind it was, but could only think about robots.

"It's not a robot." Ria once again read his mind. "But it's close to it. The Exoskeleton is more like a robot's frame. They are using this to increase people's combat ability. In other words, someone might have the same strength as you despite having a weak and thin body."

"You said transaction earlier, are they…"

"Yeah. It's an exchange between Zodiac and Exoskeleton. Their representative this time is the first Zodiac born from this exchange, Gemini. Her ability is to mimic someone and even transform into that person perfectly. However, your ears should be able to detect whether the people in front of you are fake or not, so I want to warn you first. If they want to meet a representative or a guard, I'm sure they will choose you and let her do the rest."

"I understand. I will be careful… And when does this person come?"

"It's still three months from now. They informed us about the change of personnel yesterday, and the Government immediately informed me. I am sure they won't like to lose you to EU Base." She smirked. 

"Don't worry. As long as I have enough preparation, their representative wouldn't be able to take advantage of me." Kai nodded. "Thank you for informing me."

"It's good then." Ria took out two vials of medicine and handed it to him. "Here is the medicine. Before you go, I will tell you the good news..."

Kai glanced at the medicine and looked back at her. "What is the good news?"

"The good news is I can protect you more openly this time as in destroying a family if they make trouble. Of course, I need to present some proof before acting, but it's easy enough to get proof. The Government also has spread this to the big families, so they know they will pay dearly if they anger me."

"Still, we need to care about the mass's opinions." Kai thought for a moment and said. 

"It's fine. The Government will help me in suppressing the news as long as I present enough proof. They won't be able to make a move this early because of this anyway, so as long as you can reach General Rank before they move, you can stop them without even doing anything." 

"I will try my best."

"Let see... I want you to reach it before graduation. I and Nathan will help you by giving missions. Will that be alright?" 

"Yes." Kai nodded.

"Now, you have only one job. Don't make the girl wait and make her yours. I, your teacher, approve of her." She smirked.

Kai smiled and bowed to her before leaving the room.