The Mind World And The Outcast Hero

The Unknowns

SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY IN THE MIND WORLD SHROUDED IN DARKNESS...

 A lonely castle stood shrouded in the thickness of darkness. Inside, the flames of small candles flickered and the doors creaked from the ominous wind that teased them. The air was chilling cold and a strong sense of danger was lurking around every corner.

Hollowed footsteps dared to march down a lonely hallway that led to a throne. On this throne sat an anonymous figure as its ruler. His bitter brown eyes radiated with so much evil intent that even the darkness chose to avoid his gaze.

Promptly, the footsteps then came to a halt. Before the throne now stood a teenage girl with a dark-blue katana strapped by her side complemented by a red dragon tattoo located underneath her left eye. Quickly, she then kneeled before the throne with respect drawn from fear.

"Aria," calmly began the figure on the throne with a voice as smooth as butter. "...what news do you bring?"

"Lord JS!" She answered quickly. "The Cliques have sent a report! They have reported that every member of one of their supporting organizations called the Scorpions have been annihilated by the Assassin's Agency!"

"And how does that concern me? My concern lies only with the Cliques. Their sole purpose is to draw attention to themselves so that I may keep Drakon hidden from the public. I do not care what happens to those who support them."

"The issue does not lie within the destruction of the Scorpions, my lord. It lies with those who were responsible. Two Triple Art Users by the names of Nathan Styles and Isabella Ross were the ones responsible!"

Lord JS's eyes then widened with anticipation. This news was of great importance to him.

"Nathan, you say? How amusing... It's been a while since I've seen his rebellious face..!" Muttered Lord JS to himself. "Aria, instruct the Cliques to capture both of them alive! It seems that the time has come much sooner than I had anticipated."

Presently, back at AA...

Alondo was still present in Nathan's room nibbling away at a bar of chocolate. He had just finished explaining Isabella's past to Nathan. However, this was not the reason that he had come to Nathan in the first place.

"So, why did you come here? I know it wasn't to tell me about Isabella's past..." Asked Nathan.

"Well, that is true. Actually, I came here to discuss your battle strength."

Nathan frowned. He had just finished hearing Isabella's depressing backstory but now he was about to be reminded of how pathetic he was. He wasn't very enthusiastic about the new topic.

"I don't need a reminder that I'm weak, Alondo. I already know that I am..."

"Nathan, you're only weak if you allow yourself to remain weak. You can get stronger! Compared to most people, you've come a far way in the space of just a month. You're a fast learner."

"But I need to be stronger! With the way I am now, I couldn't hope to save a single life!"

Alondo then sighed as he took another bite of his chocolate.

"I know you want to grow stronger very quickly. However, things take time. You can't attain power overnight. Even with the best tutors here at AA, it would still take you up to two or three years to reach Isabella's level of strength."

"I can't wait that long! The longer I take to gain more power the longer people will suffer! The Real World could even be destroyed by then!"

"I have a proposal then. I've been thinking of it ever since you got to the Mind World. There's someone that could train you better than anyone else in AA. Even better than Instructor Brady and Isabella combined."

"Wait, who?!"

"He's one of the three great Pillars of the Mind World. His name is Rikugan. He's the Pillar of Dark Arts."

"Wait, the Three Pillars?"

"They're special teachers that teach the three main forms of Spirit Energy. One teaches the Natural Arts, another the Light Arts, and the last the Dark Arts. On top of that, they're all Triple Art Users. They're regarded as the strongest Art Users in the Mind World."

Nathan then quickly jumped from his bed upon hearing this. A strong rush of excitement had come over him. If he were to train under one of the Pillars then there was no doubt that he could become stronger very quickly.

"This is what I've been waiting for! Finally, I can attain the power I need to fix everything and return home with Sindy and Andrew..!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm happy to see that you're excited but Master Rikugan doesn't train just any student. From what I've heard, he's only had a total of five students in his time as a Pillar. On top of that, the journey to reach him is quite formidable."

Nathan then clenched his fists as a determined look came across his face. He didn't care how hard it would be. He was determined to do whatever it took to get stronger.

"I don't care how hard it is..! If I have to walk through hell to get to him then I'll do it. If I have to run around the entire Mind World a thousand times to become his student then I'll do it! People are suffering and families are being broken apart..! It all needs to end, Alondo! The pain I'll go through is nothing compared to the pain that the people of the Mind World face every day!"

Alondo was very pleased to see how determined Nathan was. He was certain that Rikugan would accept him as a student if he continued with his current drive to become stronger.

"I'll allow you to find Master Rikugan then. But before that, there's something else I need to talk to you about."

"Huh? What is it..?"

"Back on the mission, you told me that Scorpio mentioned something to you about a plan, right?"

"Yeah, he said that they were sneaking Demon Beasts into safe zones to get more attention from the government..."

Alondo hissed underneath his breath. It was as he had feared. The Clique's plan would certainly lead to the destruction of the Real World if nothing was done.

"What is it, Alondo..?" Asked Nathan in concern.

"As you should already know, the Cliques are the Mind and Real World's biggest threat. They're the lead organization that's rebelling for the Real World's destruction. At first, no one could tell what their goal was but thanks to you, we do now. Everything now adds up..."

"What do you mean..?"

"This entire time, they've been using Demon Beasts to attack innocent people. It seemed quite random at first but now I understand that they're trying to shift the blame for their actions to the Demon Beasts. Their end goal is to make themselves look like the heroes while the government and hero agencies become the villains."

Nathan immediately understood what Alondo was trying to say. Not only would the Cliques have the Real World destroyed but they would also end up looking like heroes in the eyes of the people. Since hero agencies were also known for protecting the Real World, it would make them look like the bad guys when peace was attained through the destruction of the Real World. The public would view hero agencies as the protector of their source of pain.

"But how would they even go about destroying the Real World?" Queried Nathan. "It's not like anyone can even enter the Real World from the Mind World!" 

"Nathan, remember that humans aren't the only ones who live in the Mind World. There are also beings such as myself called Minds. Each Mind is responsible for one human being. So what do you think would happen if the government tells all Minds to disconnect from their assigned human in the Real World?"

"No way... I-I never thought about that..." Muttered Nathan in realization.

"Yup, the humans of the Real World would all become brainless zombies. If they can't think, then they can't operate. They would all eventually die of stupidity as weird as that sounds."

Nathan clenched his teeth in frustration. He now understood just how dire the situation was for the Real World. Once the Real World was destroyed, Demon Beasts would no longer be a problem but many innocent people would still die. Nathan didn't know what to do. However, he was not about to be blessed with time to think it over.

 Suddenly, an assassin came rushing into his room, breathing as if he had just finished running a marathon. He then looked up at Alondo with urgency in his eyes before speaking.

"Alondo, sir! We have an SS-Classed emergency!! Conscience City is under attack by the Cliques!!"