576 You don’t know what true strength is at all (2/2)

He appeared quite ordinary. There were no special traits about his appearance that would make him easy to remember in a crowd. Basically, he was just an average Joe. But, only his eyes had a sharp glint within them. Combined with his smile, it gave off a rather ominous feeling.

”You woke up slightly earlier than I expected. Quite nice. Your potential is even better than I thought.”

”Uuuu… ahhh…” Kazufuru viciously glared at him and wanted to shout in anger. But, his mouth was gagged.

”This is my research laboratory. You are currently my experimental subject. But, there's no need to worry, because this will actually be a good thing for you.” The gray-clothed man chuckled. ”Originally, I just wanted to analyze how it was that the test product disappeared from your body. But, after carefully inspecting your body, I discovered that you contain potential, which is why I decided to perform a little experiment on you. If this experiment succeeds, you'll instantly become a powerful individual!”

The gray-clothed man's eyes lit up with fervor.

”This power won't be some half-baked power obtained through that previous test product. You'll become an extraordinary existence with tremendous power! You'll be able to kill whoever you want, go anywhere you want, do whatever you want! You won't be under any constraints, and you'll receive true freedom! For instance, you could steal away the girl you like and toy with her all you want. You could even do so right in front of the person she loves as a way to utterly trample on them! Isn't it fun just to imagine it!? Rather than remaining as an ordinary person who doesn't stand out, a loser in love no matter how hard you work, wouldn't it be far greater to become someone powerful and free!!?”

Kazufuru was stunned by the man's words and the look in his eyes.

This man was without a doubt insane! But, precisely because of this, his conviction was incomparably firm, to the point where even the excellent student was shaken.

'An extraordinary existence… being able to do whatever I want…'

Kazufuru couldn't help but imagine what if he stole Natsuya away from Seiji… but instantly stopped himself!

'This isn't what I want.

'Even if I can obtain her through force, there's no meaning to it.

'That's because all I want is to win! Not anything else.

'I've already lost with regards to Natsuya Yoruhana.

'That person… Seigo Harano has tremendous power. But, not only is he not abusing his power, he even helps others. In fact, he even helped me when I held killing intent towards him.

'Someone like him is what true strength is! Natsuya has plenty of reasons to like him. I can't compare to him at all. Even if I obtain some strange power, I definitely wouldn't be able to win. I'd only humiliate myself.'

Kazufuru firmed his own will as he calmly observed the gray-clothed man.

The man noticed that Kazufuru's gaze seemed rather strange. It was both condescending and contained pity?

Out of curiosity, he tore off the duct tape gagging Kazufuru's mouth.

”What do you want to say?”

”…I want to tell you that you're an idiot,” Kazufuru told him in a condescending tone.

”Why's that?” The gray-clothed man widened his eyes in surprise.

”Because you don't know what true strength is at all,” Kazufuru stated coldly. ”Even if you're a Spiritual Ability user who's different from ordinary people, and you're capable of giving others fearsome powers… in the end, you're still nothing more than a crazed idiot.”

”Ha… then why don't you try telling me what true strength is?” The gray-clothed man didn't get angry. He even felt like this was an interesting topic.

Kazufuru fell silent for a moment.

His mind was filled with Seigo Harano's image, words, smile, and actions…

It was fine to tell him, but making a maniac like this man understand… was evidently impossible.

And so, Kazufuru decided to put it in his own words.

”Someone truly strong isn't someone who can easily be described by words. Only when you meet someone who's truly strong and observe his behavior and words will you understand.”

The gray-clothed man's gaze focused sharply upon hearing this.

”Even though you're just a high school student, that's quite an interesting way of thinking you have there.” The man rubbed his chin. ”Going by your words, you've evidently met someone who's 'truly strong' as you say before. I'm guessing that he's the person who helped to dispel the item I put within your body. Who is he?”

Kazufuru remained silent.

”I'm quite curious about the person who helped to dispel the item from you. But, I have no intentions of getting in that person's way, because I'm aware that I might not be able to deal with him.” The gray-clothed man chuckled. ”So, if you believe that person to be truly strong, in a way, you're not wrong, and I agree. But, if my experiment on your body succeeds, you'll become just like him, or perhaps even stronger… you're not moved by this at all?”