Asahi and Trish were cuddling on a large bean bag chair in her living room, fresh out of the shower after an intense sex session. She was wearing pajamas while he wore shorts and a tank top.

He caressed her face. “I have some things to tell you, but first, I wanna give you… sort of a gift?”

She chuckled. “You’re not sure?”

He smiled, and lightly pinched her cheek.

Extending his hand, he made the blue cubic box appear, then opened it, revealing the stone sphere that was about to crumble.

She looked at it quizzically. “What is it?”

“There is only one use left, but if you drop a bit of your blood on it, it’ll give you immunity against mind-affecting effects.”

Her eyes widened. “You said that there is only one use left, does that mean you already told them everything?”

He nodded. “I did. I got enough points for the stone as I was about to enter my apartment, when I was coming back from our training.”

With a beaming smile, she hugged him, and kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy for you. Are they okay, how did they take it?”

He smiled. “They were a bit overwhelmed, but they internalized it fairly well.”

She gave him a light kiss. “That’s great, I’m really happy that it went well.” She then caressed his face and displayed a light blush. “Also, thank you for thinking of me when deciding what to do with the last charge.”

Her reaction reached deep inside him. Upon being offered something that otherwise would be priceless, her first instinct was to ask what it did for him, and how it affected his life. Even when thanking him, what she really cared about was that he was thinking of her.

He touched her forehead with his. “I think about you quite often.”

She rubbed the tip of her nose against his. “I think about you quite often too.”

He gave her a light kiss. “Let’s do the stone thing, because I have some things to tell you. Something happened yesterday.”

She furrowed her brow with concern, and nodded.

After she went through the refreshing sensation of acquiring Mind Fortress, making the stone crumble into nothing, Asahi showed her the same video that he showed to Mayumi and Fumiko, and during it, he told her about his new ability.

Upon finishing the video, she nodded. “You did the right thing, given your new passive. The parts where you combined it with the recording function were quite clever, and mentioning a very specific part of the old man’s past for validity was indeed effective. With that being said, I need you to know that within the TS, you wouldn’t be able to bluff your way out as easily as you did there.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I imagined so. What I have is a defective version of something that is a step above a company that deals with information. Unless I can use something like my Recording on other people’s lives, it’ll only serve as a bluff, or for preventive measures on a somewhat personal level.”

She caressed his thigh. “I’m glad you’re aware of that.”

He held her hand. “Speaking of becoming aware of things, would you mind coming back to my place with me? Mayumi and Fumiko have a few questions for you, and by a few, I mean a few billion.”

She laughed. “I can imagine. I’d be glad to, especially since I have yet to meet Fumiko.”

He kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

 

Less than an hour later, Asahi and Trish were entering his apartment.

He could hear the girls playing video games in the living room.

As they walked through the entrance hallway, the video game noises died down, and the girls were already standing, waiting for them.

Asahi gestured towards Trish. “Fumiko, this is Trish. Trish, this is Fumiko.”

Trish smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Fumiko looked at Trish, displaying a light blush. “Nice to meet you too.”

Mayumi chuckled, remembering when Fumiko told her that she was into tall and fit girls. “Hi Trish, been a while. I’m glad you agreed to come.”

“My pleasure. You guys know about the System, but that is not what worries you, that would be whatever else is out there, right?”

Mayumi and Fumiko nodded simultaneously.

The girls then sat down in the living room while Asahi prepared some snacks.

Trish smiled. “Alright, where do we start?”

Fumiko was the first to ask a question. “How many powered people are there?”

“A little over 30 million.”

Mayumi’s eyes widened.

Fumiko nodded. “Counting the Consortium?”

Trish shrugged. “It wouldn’t make a difference, since the consortium has less than 70,000 people.”

Mayumi looked at her quizzically. “Why so little in comparison?”

“Magic is not something that unlocks naturally. It’s already relatively well known that the only tool they have to unlock mana, can only do so around a thousand times a year.”

Fumiko pondered for a couple seconds. “What kind of tool is it?”

“No one outside of the Consortium knows, and even inside, only the very top brass knows. It’s probably the most secured object on earth. From what I heard, every organization that tried to steal it, ceased to exist the next day.”

Both girls nodded.

Fumiko tapped her fingers on her thigh. “This is just my assumption, but they can’t unlock mana on transcendents, nor can mages develop transcendent powers, right?”

Trish looked at her quizzically. “Why do you think so?”

“Well, Asahi told us that the consortium deals with money, hedge funds and such. If they could have access to two types of powers on top of virtually infinite resources, I feel like the power scale would tip heavily to their side, no? The TS wouldn’t like that and it would turn into a whole thing, making it much more difficult for you guys to hide in plain sight, like you have been doing so far.”

Trish chuckled. “You’re quite on point. Studies indicate that we can’t unlock the mana in our bodies naturally, due to the ambient mana on earth being absurdly low. Their artificial method of unlocking, does something to the body that renders the ki in it useless. Which is why, our favorite boy-toy here shouldn’t develop his magic willy-nilly.”

Asahi’s voice came from the kitchen. “Hey, I take offense to that! It’s man-toy, thank you very much.”

The girls laughed.

They asked Trish many, many questions. About her powers, what kind of other powers there were, how fearful they should be for their families, etc.

Reality turned out to be much simpler than what they imagined.

There were severe laws and regulations within both the TS and the Consortium, that prevented them to mess with regular people just for the heck of it. The safety of their loved ones didn’t change nearly as much as they thought.

As for the type of powers that there were out there, nothing really dazzled them. Mainly because they knew about the System, which makes everything else seem cute at best in comparison. Another reason was because they had consumed a lot of content that had a myriad of crazy powers in it.

When it came down to it, it didn’t differ much from regular society, and the people in it were, well, people. Some were good, some were bad, and the rest were somewhere in between.

As for demonstrating her powers, there wasn’t all that much that Trish could do without wrecking the apartment or hurting herself, so she chose the most effective method at hand, which was to turn a steel bar into a coil with her bare hands. Obviously, the bar was provided by the Store.

Trish also stressed something quite important. “I know that you two are more than smart enough to have figured this out, but I’ll say it just to be sure. Don’t discuss any of this stuff, aside from the System, if you’re not with Asahi, just to be safe.”

Mayumi and Fumiko nodded.

When the conversation arrived at a conclusion, Trish said her goodbyes and left, because she had plans with her parents.

After closing the front door, Asahi brought both of the girls in for a hug, then kissed Mayumi’s cheek, and Fumiko’s forehead.

“I know that this is a lot, so if you guys ever need to talk about it, I’ll be here.”

They hugged him tightly.

After spending the rest of the day together, Fumiko slept over, but they didn’t go crazy in bed, since Mayumi and Asahi Had to wake up early.

 

University.

It was finally time.

There were all sorts of people walking around campus, about to start their scholastic year.

Asahi and Mayumi walked there, since they lived nearby, both wearing jeans, hoodies and backpacks.

He took a deep breath as they entered the campus. “It feels like the prologue is ending, or something like that.”

She chuckled, retying her hair from a bun to a ponytail. “Your heroic story is finally starting, MC-kun.”

He raised his right eyebrow. “Is this the part where I grab your hand, and say that it’s our story?”

She laughed. “Please don’t, I’ve had enough cheese for breakfast.”

They both walked to the building where their first class would take place.

The building itself was quite large, and one of the newest ones on campus. It was extremely high-end, showing how much the Game Development department was valued.

Their first class shared the name of the department, and their major, Game Development.

It was a different type of class, given that they would have it every first semester of the year, until they graduated.

The classroom was of the semi-circular auditorium type, divided in three sections, for up to sixty people total. It was only half-full, but there were still fifteen minutes left for the class to start.

They both grabbed seats beside each other at the front of the left section.

Unlike a regular freshman class, where people talked to each other before the start of the class, everyone had their laptops out and were working on something.

Asahi and Mayumi also took out their laptops.

Mayumi’s was top of the line two years prior, and still fulfilled all her needs. Asahi’s was one that he had bought recently, and wasn’t by any means the best, but it was good enough for what he would need it for.

It was tempting for him to buy the best one from the Store, since he could drown in them if he wanted, but he thought that it was too risky. He would replace parts of his computer using the Store without a problem if needed, but a laptop was something that he would use in public and carry with him.

If for some reason he had to prove how and from where he bought it, he would be screwed.

Asahi and Mayumi started going through some stuff that they did together, during those two months of cohabitation. They had coded and played with assets together several times, and discussed the many aspects of game development.

They made a few concept scenes in different art styles and genres, but it was mostly Mayumi helping him.

Suddenly, a soft voice came from Asahi’s left side. “There seems to be a small continuity error on the character’s rigging.”

Both of them looked at the individual.

A 1.7m-tall girl around their age, with bronze skin, braided hair, green eyes that looked like a pair of emeralds, and a slender build, stood there. She wore a jacket on top of a turtleneck, a skirt, and black tights. Her earrings had small emeralds that complimented her eyes.

Seeing them turn around, she immediately blushed. “I’m sorry, I swear that I wasn’t spying, it just looked interesting, and I saw a mistake.”

Mayumi smiled. “It’s fine. I’m Mayumi, and this is Asahi.”

Asahi smiled. “Hi.”

The girl replied as she sat down, slightly nervous. “I’m Amaya, it is nice to meet you.”

Mayumi looked quizzically at Amaya. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

Asahi chuckled. “I thought you had better pick-up lines.”

Mayumi slapped his shoulder. “It’s not a pick-up line.” She then looked at Amaya. “It’s not.”

Amaya chuckled at their antics. “I did see you before once, at a ramen restaurant. You were there with a scrawny boy. I only remember because a rude guy tried to hit on you, and you put him in his place.”

Mayumi blinked. “Oh, you were there with your family, weren’t you?”

Amaya nodded. “Yes.”

Mayumi smirked, pointing at Asahi. “This is the scrawny boy by the way.”

However, unlike Fumiko’s reaction, Amaya just looked at Asahi. “Oh, no wonder you two looked like a couple that day. I thought you were just pretending; I did not know you were actually dating.”

Mayumi chuckled. “We were pretending to be a couple, but not pretending to be into each other.”

Amaya displayed a light blush. “Oh, I see.”

Suddenly, Asahi’s face tensed. It was extremely subtle, but Mayumi noticed it.

He sensed something.

‘Seriously? Not only the girl beside me most likely has powers, but I’m sensing psychokinetic matrixes around a guy entering the classroom. Fantastic.’

Mayumi poked his arm, speaking with a cryptic tone. “Is everything alright?”

He nodded. “Yup, more of a me problem, really. I’ll tell you later.”

She caressed his thigh. “Okay.”

Amaya pulled out a laptop from her bag. “Did any of you two make a complete game before? I’m asking because the little scenario I saw looked quite well done.”

Mayumi smiled. “I did, but what you saw was mostly the scrawny boy here, I only helped a bit.”

Asahi shook his head. “The scrawny boy disagrees, you helped quite a lot.”

Amaya chuckled. “Have you released it?”

As that conversation was happening, the person that Asahi sensed was sitting on the seat behind him.

A 1.67m-tall androgynous guy, with an incredibly pretty face and a lithe body, wearing jeans and a hoodie, with the hood up.

He was accompanied by a 1.76m tall girl with sharp features, a voluptuous but fit body, wearing a skirt that went up to the middle of her thick thighs, right before her thigh high socks began. She was also wearing a sexy blouse with a killer cleavage, and the cold didn’t seem to bother her at all. Her hair was shoulder-length, of a darker shade of pink and it had an undercut on her right side.

Asahi felt that they both arrived holding hands, so most likely a couple.

Mayumi’s reply to Amaya’s question snapped him back to their conversation.

“I did, it’s called Poof-Poof Grove.”

As usual, when talking about her game, she displayed a light blush.

Amaya tilted her head slightly. “I have not seen it yet, but I will check it out when I get home.”

“What about you, have you made one?” Mayumi asked.

Like Mayumi, Amaya blushed. “I did, but I really suck at music and art direction. It is called Icosahedron of Memories. I released it a year ago.”

Asahi raised his right eyebrow. “The puzzle game with the talking die? Those were some killer puzzles; I think I gave it a 9/10.”

Amaya looked at her laptop, slightly embarrassed. “Thank you.”

Mayumi chuckled. “Oh no, run Amaya, he’s using his ultimate move on you. He preemptively plays the girl’s game in order to flatter her and get into her panties.”

Asahi nodded. “It’s true. I play every game in existence just in case I meet a girl who took part in its development. A completely reasonable strategy, with no flaws whatsoever.”

As he said that, a very well-known person entered the classroom.

A 1.68m-tall black woman that seemed to be in her early thirties, with purple curly hair tied in a bun, wearing jeans, and a windbreaker with video game art. She had two piercings on her left eyebrow and a few on each ear.

The class that was already full, slowly stopped what they were doing one by one upon her entrance, going completely silent. There wasn’t a single person in the world, that wanted to be a game dev and didn’t know the name Isla “Thistle Knight” Kimathi.

She founded and helmed the legendary studio Parameter Breakers for fifteen years, who caused what was considered a revolution in the gaming world. With only fourteen people, apart from hired voice actors, they made games that put AAA studios to shame, both in quality and scope.

Their absurdly pro consumer practices completely broke the greedy -Games as a Service- practices of the huge companies, by making the consumers speak with their wallets, paving the way for smaller studios to shine.

Three years had passed since she retired and the studio disbanded. Seven new studios came out of it, and all former members were still close friends.

She had retired for two reasons. Mainly because she had a daughter, and wanted to dedicate most of her time to her, but also because she wanted to help shape the next generations of developers in a more direct manner.

That second reason however, wasn’t known to the public, until they saw her entering the class.

The students knew that the former professor had retired due to an illness, and the university was in the process of finding a new one. They were expecting a temporary professor, until the university found a permanent one.

Isla sat on the professor’s desk, looked at the classroom, then laughed. “It was so worth it to keep this a secret, look at your faces. You’re not seeing things, I’m the permanent professor for this class. Come on, get it out of your system.”

Suddenly, the class erupted with a “Holy shit!” kind of atmosphere.

Most of them looked star-struck, but there were some people that were different, including Mayumi, Asahi, and the three individuals near them. They had a look of hunger, wanting to absorb every single piece of knowledge and wisdom that Isla had to offer.

Isla made a lot of mental notes as she observed the class’ behavior.

As the commotion died down, Isla spoke again. “Okay, and now we’re done with that. As much as my bloated ego enjoyed your dumbfounded expressions, I’m not here as Thistle Knight, neither am I here to brag about Parameter Breakers, or our games. I’m here as Professor Kimathi, to do my utmost best to guide you. As long as you’re my student, don’t talk to me as a fan, ever. And after you graduate, my hope is for you to not want to ask for an autograph, but have it as your goal to surpass the names Thistle Knight and Parameter Breakers. Now, let’s properly start the class.”