The sun was rising, and the city lights were flickering on. In one of the houses, a man was studying technology but couldn't find anything that held his interest. Searching through his books, he came across one titled *Raw Material*. Curious, he took it with him and began to read, until something caught his eye: a weapon called the Wirhs.
Its instructions read: *Wear on the arm. It will grant you energy as great as the sun.*
Further down the page was a map leading to a forest not far from the city. He grabbed his backpack and tools and headed out.
Ten minutes later, he arrived and spotted a temple behind a tall tree. As he approached, an arrow shot toward him, and he dodged it at the last microsecond, his heart pounding. He swallowed hard and stepped inside. Deeper in, he saw a gleaming weapon, but when he looked down, he realized he had stepped on a pressure plate. Arrows came flying from every direction. His eyes went wide. He pulled out a wooden board and ran forward, the arrows thudding into it like a shield. At the end of the run, he snatched up the weapon and strapped it to his arm.
Intense energy gathered in the device, as if it were claiming him as its own. He flexed his arm, testing its agility, and found it comfortable. A thought crossed his mind.
*I'm going to find those "heroes." They'll make perfect test subjects for my new weapon.*
He walked out of the temple slowly, already calculating his moment.
Elsewhere, Kiro was in a café, sipping a cup of coffee. The days hadn't been too hard thanks to the support of the people, though they still didn't have enough money.
He took out his phone and dialed Worh, who picked up right away.
"What's up?" Worh asked.
"This country feels strange to me," Kiro said. "I don't know any of its cities, and I've never been here. That hospital took us really far from home."
"Same here, but we still don't know which sea route to take to get back without getting lost," Worh answered, his voice serious and tinged with nostalgia.
Kiro sighed and hung up. At that moment, the man with the weapon walked in, scanned the room, and stopped on Kiro. Without a second thought, he began charging a shot in his direction.
Kiro's eyes went wide. He grabbed the man by the shoulders and hauled him out of the café, carrying him to a remote spot and releasing him as soon as they arrived.
Kiro stepped back and cleared his throat.
"Why were you about to shoot me with that weird weapon?" Kiro asked, trying to sound stern but unable to hide his curiosity.
"I wanted to test it on you, since you're supposed to be tough," the man explained. "And to check how efficient it is, and to find the mysterious raw material the book talks about."
"And what's this 'raw material'?" Kiro asked.
"None of your business," the man snapped.
Without waiting for a reply, he fired. Kiro sidestepped, then noticed buildings nearby. He sprinted toward them at top speed and rushed inside, hustling the people out and away. The projectile slammed into the structures, and a huge cloud of dust billowed up. The buildings collapsed into nothing but rubble.
Kiro returned to the scene, only to take an energy blast from the weapon. His shirt shredded, leaving his torso bare and marked with reddish welts, not serious but painful.
*Seriously? I'm broke, and this jerk destroys my shirt on top of hurting me,* Kiro thought, mildly irritated.
Without wasting time, he began running circles around the man, leaving blurred silhouettes in his wake. The man fired in every direction, but Kiro's fist shattered one of the shots, and he lunged and grabbed the man by the throat. The man was no tougher than an ordinary human.
"Let go of me!" the man ordered, a hint of desperation in his voice.
Kiro released his throat but seized his arms, wrenched the weapon off, and flung it to the ground. Then he stomped it flat, the ground cracking slightly beneath his foot.
Without wasting a moment, he dragged the man to a prison, strode in, and dropped him on the floor, immobilized. Several officers approached, but before they could ask any questions, Kiro cut them off.
"Attempted murder, and possession of weapons that can harm people," Kiro said gravely.
He walked out without another word. The officers stood confused, but they followed through. They hauled the man up by his arms, and he thrashed violently.
One of the officers kicked him in the stomach, silencing him at once. They dragged him to a cell and opened the door.
"Say hello to your new home," one of them said mockingly.
The man was shoved inside, and the cell was locked behind him. The officers walked away slowly.
All he could do was curse under his breath. His plan had failed, and now he was stuck in a prison with other criminals.