1

"H-hey, what is the meaning of this?"

It was not an easy thing to digest. Just when he thought things couldn't get any crazier today, Kazuki was greeted by the presence of the mysterious transfer student, holding a katana in front of him.

He was not sure what his first reaction ought to be. After all, this was his first direct interaction with the transfer student.

"Where are you looking at?"

Thanks to the girl's stern voice, he realized that all this time, he had been spending the past few seconds flat on his butt and staring on the girl's shapely legs, made all the more prominent by the high socks she wore. 

"O-oh, sorry!" he apologized without a second thought while he fought the urge to admire the girl's features some more.

He had no plans to experience firsthand one of those many scenarios he had read about in his novels and watched in his anime.

A look up and he found himself once again facing the tip of the katana pointed at him.

A katana just like his shield, maybe? With that in mind, Kazuki gave another look at the shield that was attached to his left arm.

He felt tension fill the air as the two of them stared each other down, with the girl barely uttering any words.

"So you really were here, Arata," said Uehara nonchalantly. "I had a feeling."

For Kazuki, the tense air eased off a bit when his classmate finally spoke despite not having his question answered. His classmate's appearance here, on the contrary, sparked more questions on his mind, and he did not know where to start as he slowly got up.

"Uehara, right? Y-you know Amagi right? Miki Amagi, our classmate! Have you seen her?"

"Is she the victim this time around?"

Sayaka Uehara looked at the ceiling as if acting out some hints on where Amagi could be.

"I sensed two more people in the vicinity. She should be somewhere in this building."

"Then let's hurry!"

"The look on your face says that you have a lot more to ask," she paused and stared at the stairwell. "However, we do not have much time, and I'll tell you what you need to know as we go."

She began her walk to the stairwell, and before proceeding, looked back a bit.

"What are you waiting for, Arata?" asked her. "If you want to live, stick close to me and don't lag behind."

Seeing as this was his best choice for the moment, Kazuki followed her.

The two ascended the flight of stairs and eventually found their way to the second floor. With ruined rocks blocking the way to the third level, they were left with finding another way up.

An empty hallway stood in front of them, with several doors lining up the other side just like they did on the first floor. At the end of the long, L-shaped hallway was a room, and hopefully, another set of stairs headed up.

Kazuki looked at the long railing all the way to the end of the hallway, used to serve as a way to prevent falling off. Not that it mattered because the thing looked shabby and rusty right now.

The second floor felt just as eerily quiet as the previous one. The place was just as worn down as the previous level, and so should the next ones be, if the pattern sticks.

"This place is called a Fragment, a part of Mu, the dimension that co-exists with where we live in, and it is connected through those portals that only we can see. Did I get it right?" asked Kazuki, hoping to confirm the answers to what he just asked as the two of them made their way up.

He trailed his classmate who took the lead in navigating this floor.

"That's the basic gist of it, yes," replied Uehara while peeking into some of the abandoned rooms. "I think that's all you need to know."

Kazuki was left pondering the implications of that, but before he can think about it any further, his classmate followed up with another question.

"Say, what does your Armament do?"

"Armament, you say?"

"That thing on your arm," said the girl, pointing to the shield. "Those weapons assigned to us Awakeners. On the other hand, I do not think yours really counts as a weapon."

"Armament... Awakener... plus the ability to see interdimensional portals... so you mean something like those spirit weapons in anime and all that? And that somehow, I've become one of the main characters?" Kazuki contemplated the situation and tried his best to let it sink in. "Man, what is this? I know I loved shows with those things, but this is just insane..."

Sayaka Uehara looked at her classmate with raised eyebrows.

Kazuki was unsure what to make of her expression, but the girl eventually answered. "Whether you like it or not, it's the reality that you live in now, Arata."

The two carefully moved past the abandoned classrooms, even passing a supposed library along the way, when Uehara stopped.

"Back to the question. What can your Armament do?"

Kazuki looked at his shield and made a perplexed expression. "Blocking attacks? I mean, what else is a shield supposed to do? Well, I would say I also used it to bash those shadowy things around. Pretty effectively, if I must add."

He shrugged. "But nothing too special. It can emit an aura to block attacks, but it cannot transform or do a lot of crazy magic by responding to my anger or anything like that. It's nothing compared to those being used in things I've watched and played."

"Understandable," replied Uehara, her lips curled into a look of slight disappointment. "It can't be helped."

"Wait, so you mean this thing can do all those overpowered moves and attacks?"

The black-haired girl leading the way took her sweet time before answering. "Supposedly. All Armaments come with an ability when they get created from the depths of your soul. You just have to wait until you unlock yours. I cannot help you with that, unfortunately."

"What do I have to do, then?"

"An Armament responds to the desire of its Awakener's soul. That is why I cannot help you with that. Think hard of your deepest desires when you first manifested that shield is all I can advise you to do."

During the duo's walk, they reached a point where a large door stood in their way.

"How about you? What does your sword do?"

Sayaka Uehara did not respond to that query. Instead, she raised her sword. Raising her hand, she swung the sword downward, and the dilapidated door crumbled with a crashing sound that came with dust clouds flying everywhere.

"That is not important for now. I can handle myself without that power."

Realizing that it's probably not wise to press on, Kazuki relented.

The dust from the crumbled door cleared up, and a large, empty room awaited the two of them.

"We're getting close. Can you sense it?"

Kazuki was not so sure what she meant. Upon focusing like he did a while ago, it clicked. He could sense it.

Two presences above them. They felt a lot closer than before.

"Consider that another nifty ability for Awakeners. You will become better at it with experience."

Kazuki took a look at the surroundings just as he took his first step into this room. It was a large and spacious room, and a door stood at the end of it. While he could not tell what this room was supposed to represent, the smoother than usual flooring and benches at the side seemed to give him some clues.

This was either an indoor gymnasium or an auditorium.

Quickening her pace, Uehara moved on ahead, and once she reached the center of the room, the unpleasant growls of the Nullities echoed throughout the room.

It was as if she tripped a trap or something similar, and from the walls and the ground, those same beings that had been the bane of Kazuki's existence slowly emerged.

With his shield at the ready, he hurried to the side of his classmate.

"Speaking of, I forgot to ask something, Uehara," Kazuki raised his shield while eyeing the shadowy figures that emerged from the ground. "What are those things?"

"They are called Nullities. Unfortunately, I do not think that we have time to chit-chat about them," she replied as she went into a battle stance. "Get ready!"

Having spawned by the dozens, the Nullities let out a collective growling sound as they charged the two of them.

2

Breathing heavily and running out of breath, Amagi pressed herself against the corner of a classroom. A passing growl registered in her ear, and she whimpered, anxiously waiting for the growling sound to pass.

She put her hands over her mouth in an attempt to keep herself as quiet as possible. This action also served another purpose. She also had to cover her nose in order to prevent the appalling smell of the air from invading her sensitive nostrils.

Ever since she woke up, she felt a gloomy and depreciating atmosphere surround this place. She had also felt something pounding away at her heart. She felt that she always had an affinity for the supernatural, but this was a completely new experience.

Eventually, the growling noise passed her, but she stayed in place in an attempt to be completely sure that the coast will be clear when she does emerge from hiding.

She tried her best to make sense of what just happened. After that encounter with the blonde man, she had lost consciousness and found herself inside a high floor of this school building.

Just moments ago, she had looked down against the visible railing, and she had estimated that she was on the fourth floor of the building at least.

Despite finding herself in unfamiliar territory, she had remembered that blonde person who approached her. He looked completely broken and in panic before succumbing to his emotions.

Alas, her search could not be continued. This was largely due to the fact that she was not alone here. Not long after calling out for the blonde youth who was also likely to be here, she drew the attention of shadowy monsters.

She recalled that they had humanoid shapes and had come at her with those scary-looking arms and nerve-wracking growls almost immediately.

Still hiding inside a classroom, the brunette eventually began regaining composure. She figured out that the shadow monsters appeared only in certain areas, and while they were sensitive to motion and sound, they did not seem to have a penchant for being thorough in searching for people.

Evil spirits? I sensed a powerful aura of malice from every one of them. Some of them even had killing intent, too.

Amagi knew full well that the reason why she has survived this long is because she quickly learned to take advantage of those things' short attention spans. That, and being an athlete, she was in tip-top shape to outrun those monsters. Just a mere sensation of even the slightest killing intent was enough to warn her to get a head start.

"Where could he be now?" she said to herself while finally standing up and leaning against the doorway.

Peering from the edge of the classroom doorway, her eyes found no monsters. She remembered that in her frantic run away from the monsters, she took a couple of stairs, and she now stood at possibly the last floor right before the rooftop.

"Up or down? Up or down?" she whispered to herself while carefully treading the corridor, making as little noise as possible.

It was a no-brainer. She had barely escaped from the monsters on the previous floor, so the only way is probably up.

By all means, there should be even more monsters up there, but at least she might be closer to find a way out on the top floor. Besides, if that blonde guy was here, he would probably head to the top as well.

That is, if he survived.

The sound of things being thrown around entered her ears, and she knew that those came from the floor beneath. Low growls mixed with frantic ones, and it was the sound of chaos she heard from a level beneath hers.

It was as if fate itself heard her concerns. The only way now is up should those monsters really be gathered on that floor.

Walking past the last set of classrooms, she found herself in front of the last flight of stairs.

It was quite a long climb, much longer than the floors before, but she eventually reached the top of the stairs and faced a door.

She peered through the hole on the door, and she stopped at what she saw.

Past the door was a huge rooftop area, and at the distance, a familiar-looking figure.

Finally seeing the blonde person that she had been looking for, excitement came upon Amagi as she slammed the door open. "Heeeey!"

Looks like the strange person ended up fine after all.

She ran as fast as she can straight at the blonde person who was with her before they got transported into this world.

She remembered how worried she was about the same person not so long ago. He had come out of nowhere with a look of tense desperation and chanced upon her.

Despite not knowing much about context, Amagi felt that she had to help this poor person, but he seemingly passed out before she can inquire further. Then, she got transported to this world.

Hearing her, the blonde guy quickly looked back.

It was then that she saw a distant face that looked much paler than before. Trembling, the blonde guy seemed to be stuck in place, wildly moving his arms around.

He mouthed something, yet no voice escaped his mouth.

"I've been looking all over for you!" shouted Amagi, waving her arms in response.

While approaching the person, Amagi now looked at the surroundings and saw a thick layer of fog enveloping the borders of the rooftop. It was not enough to cloud the view here, but the place felt even less safe than the rest of the school building.

Once she regroups with this person, perhaps they can find a way back together.

Amagi, at this point, had run several meters away from the door to the rooftop. Yet, something now felt wrong.

Perhaps she was expecting this person to be just like anyone in this situation and rejoice upon meeting human life in this world. However, his pale face and expression told a completely different story.

Amagi finally figured out what he had been shouting for the past few seconds.

Get out!

Amagi planted her feet firmly on the ground, screeching to an awkward halt as the blonde person now frantically ran towards her.

"Get out of here!"

His trembling voice drew suspicion from the girl, and she felt herself standing in place, much like a deer caught in the headlights.

"P-please, hurry! Ge- Argh!"

Amagi was not sure what happened, but the next thing that registered in her mind was the sight of the blonde person being thrown aside. He got launched in the opposite direction of his run, crashing and rolling several meters away.

"Ehh?"

The brown-haired girl looked around. Her eyes saw no sign of the force that violently tossed the blonde person aside.

All he heard was a loud scream from the helpless person and some crunching noises as something struck him hard in the stomach.

She heard the splatter of blood and the impact of a heavy object being tossed aside.

Inside her head, she heard another "Hurry up!" before a force struck her on the chest, taking all the wind out of her and sending her flying several meters away.

"Kyaaa!"

She had barely seen what happened, but the next thing, she was soaring through the air and landing on the concrete floor with a loud thud. She felt pain radiate all over her back on the moment of impact as she struggled to make sense of what happened.

She knew she was struck by an invisible force. Her eyes narrowed toward the direction where she got struck as she struggled back to her feet.

"This can't be..." said her with her mouth ajar.

From thin air, it slowly materialized – the form of the enemy that struck her and was responsible for the unconscious blonde person a distance away.

Amagi stole a glance at the blonde, who appeared to have his midsection crushed by something and was spitting blood as a result.

Her thoughts of concern were then interrupted when she heard a hissing sound, and a form began materializing from the bottom up. First, the bottom of the legs came into view, then pincers spawned out of mid-air.

Soon, the full body of the monster came into view, and Amagi felt an audible gasp leave her lips.

It was a shadow monster far bigger than the ones she encountered. When looked at from a distance, it fully resembled a grown scorpion that stood twice or even thrice as tall as a regular person.

It did not have eyes, but its pincers snapped maliciously. Letting out another hiss, it reared up and motioned to grab Amagi.

Amagi felt her legs acting on their own right as the scorpion struck. After finding herself a few inches away, she was glad that they did, as it was thanks to them that she avoided disaster at the last second.

The sound of the floor's tiles being wrecked with a crunch caused her to wince. With this enemy in front of her, she now turned her attention to the door.

The door to the rooftop that she just came from will lead her to a more narrow passage. If she can make it there, there would be no space for the scorpion to chase her down. She would be safe, but...

She stole a glance at the still-downed blonde person. The bleeding from the mouth seemed to have lessened, but he looked no better than he did mere seconds ago.

She would be leaving him behind to his death. There is just no way for him to survive an encounter with this monster at his state.

Amagi felt a strong aura emanating from the scorpion. 

Likewise, she felt strong energy building up in her fingertips and inside. 

It was much more than her determination and will to live.

However, another hissing sound from the scorpion followed, and that was enough for whatever was building up inside her to fold. 

Her determination gave way to instincts, and that caused the girl to make up her mind. There's no way to fight this monster, but if she can stall it enough for the blonde to wake up before getting out with her...

It felt that the scorpion monster can hear her thoughts, as it inexplicably leapt several meters high, landing in front of the door with a thud and a thunderous tremor that shook the whole area. It then bared its mandibles and pincers menacingly.

Amagi was still in the process of figuring out her next move when the monster skittered across the rooftop at high speed. Each of its steps carried energy that caused tremors, and the girl found it difficult to move as well as she did a while ago.

Whether it due to sheer dumb luck or what, she managed to escape the first two strikes from the pincers as well as the impaling attack from the tail. However, rest was nowhere in sight for Amagi.

As quickly as the scorpion took a break from missing that many attacks, it was back on the prowl once again, resuming the chase just as quickly as it ended.

Amagi did not realize how long the chase took. It felt like an eternity, but given the pace, she was sure that it has only been a few minutes ever since this monster revealed itself.

Finally running out of steam, the brunette slipped and fell face first onto the pavement. Desperately crawling forward, she looked on at the unconscious blonde sprawled in front of her.

She did not know what she was feeling right now. It was an emotion that even she cannot explain.

Regret. Sadness. Desperation.

She felt her heart about to burst from all those emotions as she stared at the prospect of a quick death.

Maybe this is all just a dream, and a quick strike should crush her and put an end to this with her waking up at the Arata residence.

But what if it isn't?

Amagi felt tears on her eyes as a large shadow loomed over her. She did not want to go yet. She still had a lot to do. She still had her friends, her family, and...

She clenched her outstretched hand before finally giving in to the inevitable.

"Leave Amagi alone!"

Hearing a voice that sounded like music to her ears, Amagi turned her head around. Right on cue, a smacking sound can be heard, and standing between her and the giant predator was a figure that she didn't think she'd see here.

"A-a-arata?"

It was him alright. There was no way she could mistake that figure, that hair, and especially that voice. However, on his left hand was attached a large shield, and the girl could imagine that he used it to bash the scorpion away just a few seconds ago.

With his back turned, he spoke.

"Rest easy now, Amagi. That thing will not lay a finger on you, I swear!"

Feeling all the pent-up emotions within herself about to blow up, Amagi smiled. She was about to call out to her childhood friend, but her last remaining ounces energy gave in, and not a sound came from her. The form of her savior gradually faded, as did the rest of her senses.