The transport aircraft cut through the clouds like a blade.
Inside, the cabin was quiet unnaturally so.
Akira sat strapped into his seat, gazing down at Tokyo sprawling beneath them. The city looked calm from above. Peaceful.
The others were silent too.
Ren leaned back with his arms crossed, eyes half-closed but alert.
Kaito stared at a floating tablet, though the screen had long gone dark.
The Misoke twins sat perfectly still, hands resting on their knees like statues.
Ayla occupied the seat across from Akira, posture flawless, gaze fixed on the clouds beyond the window.
Akirawa stood near the cockpit door, arms folded, expression bored.
He spoke without looking back.
"Enjoy that victory while it lasts."
Several heads lifted.
Ren frowned. "Uh… what?"
Akirawa glanced over his shoulder, sharp eyes pinning them in place.
"That thing you fought. The autonomous destroyer."
He paused deliberately.
"It operated at one-tenth the output of a real Nightmare manifestation."
The silence that followed was heavy.
"One… tenth?" Kaito repeated quietly.
Akirawa nodded. "Real Nightmares don't cap regeneration. They don't pause to let you think. And they sure as hell don't follow physics just because it's convenient."
His gaze swept across them cold, measuring.
"If you charged a real one the way you did back there, you'd die. Quickly."
Even Ren had no comeback.
Akira felt something tighten in his chest not fear, but clarity.
Akirawa turned back toward the cockpit.
"So train. Break yourselves. Sharpen your instincts."
A beat.
"You've got potential. Don't waste it."
The aircraft began its descent.
Below them, a structure unlike any city block came into view massive, layered, reinforced with towering spires and armored domes.
IDHA TOKYO MAIN BASE.
The heart of humanity's resistance against dreams.
The interior of the base felt alive.
Corridors hummed with power. Transparent displays floated in the air, streaming mission data and live evacuation feeds. Senior agents moved with practiced urgency, every step purposeful.
They were led into a high-ceilinged chamber overlooking the city.
A man stood waiting.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. His dark hair was streaked faintly with gray, his posture straight but relaxed. The eyes that studied them were calm—too calm for someone who carried the weight of a megacity on his shoulders.
"I am Viran Varanasi," he said evenly.
"Head of IDHA's Tokyo Branch."
The room felt heavier just from his presence.
"You passed an abnormal entrance examination," Viran continued. "One overseen by an abnormal agent."
Akirawa snorted quietly.
Viran ignored him.
"That earns you one thing."
He gestured.
An attendant stepped forward, holding folded jackets.
Black, reinforced, lined with faint silver circuitry. The IDHA emblem was stitched over the heart.
"From today onward," Viren said, "you are provisional rookie agents of IDHA."
One by one, they received their jackets.
When Akira slipped his on, the fabric settled against him with unexpected weight.
This wasn't a costume.
This was responsibility.
Ren grinned openly. "Man… it actually fits."
Ayla studied the emblem on her sleeve, fingers brushing the stitching once before lowering her hand.
Viren's gaze sharpened.
He said.
"You are not heroes. You are not soldiers."
"You are liabilities being refined."
Silence.
"Prove me wrong."
Days passed.
The team was assigned temporary quarters within the base functional, minimal, efficient.
They learned the facility's layout.
Observed Senior agents returning from missions.
Listened to alarms echo through distant sectors.
On the fourth day, they were summoned.
The weapon development wing smelled of oil and heated steel.
Holographic blueprints rotated midair. Engineers moved with focused intensity, fingers dancing across transparent interfaces.
A tall man with silver-streaked hair and augmented lenses stepped forward, arms crossed with pride.
"Chief Engineer Raizen," he introduced himself.
"Every AM weapon forged here exists for one purpose."
His eyes locked onto the team.
"Ending nightmares."
He tapped a console.
"Design your weapons."
Ren stared. "Wait—seriously?"
"Seriously," Raizen replied. "Design whatever you want. I'll forge it."
The room ignited with energy.
The Misoke twins stepped forward first.
No words. No discussion.
They submitted identical schematics.
A colossal AM hammer.
Raizen studied it, then chuckled. "Crude… and terrifying."
The twins nodded once.
Kaito's design followed—sleek, modular, transforming between rifle and scanning unit.
"Control over chaos," he explained. "Information wins wars."
Raizen smiled. "A strategist's weapon."
Ren slammed his design onto the display.
A massive shield capable of unfolding into a reinforced knuckle weapon.
"They hit me," Ren grinned. "I hit back harder."
Raizen sighed. "Of course you do."
Ayla hesitated.
Her design appeared simple, refined.
Twin daggers.
Nothing excessive. Nothing ornamental.
Precision over power.
Raizen nodded slowly.
Then Akira stepped forward.
His schematic unfolded—a sword hilt connected not to a rigid blade, but to long, razor-thin, flexible multi steel strips.
Raizen's brows lifted.
"This is… unusual."
"An Urumi," Akira said. "It demands control. Mistakes are fatal to the wielder."
Silence followed.
Akirawa chuckled from the back. "Figures."
Raizen studied Akira for a long moment.
"…I like weapons that punish recklessness."
He shut down the holograms.
"Your AM weapons will be completed by tomorrow."
"Rest while you can."
The next morning, Akirawa waited for them in the training hall.
His grin was sharp.
"Looks like I'm stuck with training you for a year."
His eyes hardened.
"Your real education starts now."
And for the first time since arriving
Akira felt fear.