Sorano stared, her breath catching in her throat. A boy was standing in the air outside her cell. Instinct, honed by months of survival, kept her silent. Making noise meant attracting the jailers. Noise meant the whip.
The boy's eyes met hers, and he flew closer until he was hovering just outside the iron-barred window.
"Step back a bit," he said, his voice calm.
Sorano nodded mutely and shuffled back, her movements wary. Her composure was a testament to the harshness of her life.
With a casual flick of his hand, Shun sent a small, precise shockwave against the window. The iron bars shattered with a loud CRACK, the noise echoing through the corridor. He didn't seem concerned about the sound. He floated inside.
The cell was small, holding five malnourished children around six or seven years old. Besides Sorano, there were four boys. One had spiky black hair and an effeminate look. Another had tanned skin, spiky red hair, and held a small purple snake. A third had a buzz cut, a pointy eyebrow, and a remarkably long nose. The last had red hair, a bowl cut, and thick lips.
"Hello. My name is Shun. What's yours?" he asked, his attention on Sorano.
She hesitated. "…Sorano," she whispered. It felt strange to speak.
'Sorano,' Shun thought. 'And that means… these are the future Oracion Seis.' His eyes scanned the boys. 'Midnight, Cobra, Racer, Hoteye.' He knew their codenames, not their real ones. The purple snake was Cubellios. 'That little snake is a future guildmate, huh.'
"Who are you?" Sorano finally found her voice, a thread of urgency in it. "You shouldn't be here. The guards will come. You should run, since you can fly…"
"I'm a mage from Fairy Tail," Shun explained. "I'm here on a mission about the attacked villages. One thing led to another, and now I'm here." He let that sink in before continuing. "I'm going to destroy this place and get all the prisoners to safety."
Before their doubt could turn into questions, a distant explosion rocked the tower, followed by screams.
'Erza's rebellion has already started. I'm a bit late,' Shun realized.
Ding!
A sound only he could hear echoed in his mind. A system screen materialized.
[Anomaly detected. Mission parameters altered.] [Mission Difficulty raised to S+] [New Objective: Defeat Brain and prevent him from recruiting the future Oracion Seis members.] [Rewards: Observation Haki - Basic (Manifests as a sensory magic with identical properties). Devil Fruit Proficiency: A-.]
'So meeting them triggered this,' Shun thought. 'In five years of training, I could never awaken Haki. I guess cross-world techniques really are system-exclusive.'
"Alright, I accept the quest," he murmured.
His internal calculations were swift. Defeating Brain's primary persona was feasible, if difficult. Facing his other self, Zero, was currently suicide. The S+ rating was because taking down Brain would inevitably draw out Zero.
Just then, the crisp sound of footsteps approached—Click-clack. Click-clack.
A middle-aged man with slicked-back silver hair appeared. He wore the white coat of the Magic Council and carried a bag of books. This was Brain, before the face tattoos, before the cane. A respected member of the Bureau of Magical Development, here to collect his "investments."
Brain stopped, his eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar face. "Who are you, brat?"
"I'm Shun, a mage from—"
POP!
Shun didn't bother with formalities. He moved in a blur, the air cracking as he launched three compressed paw-bubbles aimed at Brain's temples and legs.
Brain managed to throw up a magical shield around his head at the last second, but his legs were unprotected. The bubbles connected with a sickening KRUNCH. A choked scream was torn from his throat as his legs gave way beneath him.
"We were TALKING!" Brain roared, his face contorted in pain and fury. "You evil brat with no honor!"
"Hah, can't believe what I'm hearing from a slaver," Shun retorted, already moving to finish the fight. He spread his arms, compressing air between his palms. He didn't have time for a full-power Ursus Shock, but a weakened version would suffice.
Seeing the gathering power, Brain, despite his agony, raised a hand. "Dark Capriccio!" A beam of pure darkness lanced toward Shun.
Shun released his attack. The paw-shaped blast met the dark beam and shattered it effortlessly, continuing its path toward the immobilized Brain. Desperate, Brain conjured a solid magical barrier around himself.
VWUUUUUMMM—CRACKKKK!
The compressed air detonated against the shield. The sound was deafening. When the dust cleared, Brain was slumped against the wall, unconscious but alive.
Shun quickly checked his pockets and the fallen bag. His eyes lit up. Inside were magic books and a Dragon Slayer Lacrima. "Hahaha, Jackpot!" He stashed everything into his ring.
"You guys, come on. Let's join the others and get out of here," he called to the children.
But as he spoke, an overwhelming, malevolent magic power erupted from Brain's body. The man's eyes snapped open, glowing with a cold, alien light.
"Foolish Brain… You are not the ultimate evil." The voice was different, dripping with arrogant power. "I am Zero… Nothingness itself. The one who will reduce the world to zero."
'Here he is,' Shun thought, his body tensing. 'The real challenge.'
Ding!
[Mission Completed. Rewards issued.]
Suddenly, a new sense bloomed within him—Observation Haki. He could feel the world around him in perfect detail: the children trembling, the very air particles, and Zero's next intended movement. "I can… feel them. It's like… I can see without my eyes."
Ding!
[Devil Fruit Proficiency: A-]
His control over his power sharpened instantly. He knew his next Ursus Shock would be twice as powerful.
"Even though Brain is a weakling, you are quite talented to beat him at that age," Zero said, standing as if his legs had never been injured. "Dark Rondo!" A far more potent version of Brain's darkness magic shot forth.
Shun didn't dodge. He simply raised a palm and met the attack. To Zero's astonishment, the dark magic was repelled, shooting back at him at double the speed. Zero merely punched, dispersing it with contemptuous ease.
FWOOSH-!
Zero lunged, a physical blur. If magic could be repelled, he would crush the boy with pure force. His fist flew toward Shun's head, but Shun, having already sensed the move, met it with his palm.
POP!
Zero was flung backward, crashing through a wall hundreds of meters away. He emerged, grinning maniacally. "Hahaha, that's a cheat-like magic you got, brat!"
The pattern repeated—lunge, attack, get repelled. Zero was a true all-rounder: a tank, a caster, a brawler. But Shun's new sensory magic and improved control made him untouchable.
After being hurled into a wall once more, Zero's grin widened. 'That paw is the key… It must touch to repel. So, I'll use something too big for his little paw to cover.'
'He figured it out faster than I thought,' Shun realized. 'I wanted more practice, but it's time to end this.'
He spread his arms, beginning the motions for his ultimate attack.
Zero saw his chance. "Genesis Zer—" he began, gathering a sphere of annihilating energy so vast it threatened to vaporize the entire tower.
But Shun suddenly dispersed his own gathering energy. With his newly enhanced speed—not yet light-speed, but vastly superior—he repelled the air and vanished, reappearing directly in front of a wide-eyed Zero. Only Zero's eyes could track the movement.
Shun's hand was raised, not in a fist, but open, as if for a slap.
"If you were to go on a trip," Shun asked, his voice eerily calm, "where would you like to go?"
Zero's grin returned. "Hahaha, you think you ca—"
POP-!
Like a bubble bursting, Zero vanished without a trace. The corridor fell into a stunned, profound silence.