Blending

"Fuu..."

I finally got accepted. I didn't think that they would accept me after seeing my white hair but hey, they did. Well, I was pretty sure it was the mask that saved me.

I took off the mask and stared at it.

It was a mask Lan gave me out of nowhere to hide my face. It had a slick design and some strange patterns were carved in the region near the left eye, and the bottom of the mask was open, maybe for eating purposes.

Lan said that this mask could not be taken off by anyone else other than the wearer, which proved to be quite useful. They tried their best to take it off, but all in vain, and when they asked me to take it off myself, all I had to do was fool them, which was easy for me.

Now all that was left was to erase every connection I had as Ken, and I had to make a new identity, which was not too much of a problem. The problem was... how to say... the name? I wanted to name myself, but I couldn't think of a name that came to my liking.

<Please don't.>

'"Why?"

<I saw your memory of naming a cat, and it was...>

That memory didn't come to my mind instantly. I took a moment to think and asked.

"It was? It must have been good, right?"

<...>

He was silent.

"Right?"

He didn't answer and completely went mute.

"Oi."

Anyway, a name popped up in my head. It was a good name. Not too big, simple-sounding, and easy to remember, and most of all, it was similar to the name I was given by my parents.

"Ren."

That will be my name, though the meaning completely contradicts my nature.

<What a horrible... what bullshit?>

Was my naming sense this bad that he cursed while being surprised?

<You... how did you think of such a nice name?>

He was genuinely surprised (I didn't know why though).

<You named that cat Grunt just because it was grunting... and now, you pulled off such a great name... unbelievable.>

Ah. Now I remembered. Was it really a bad name? I don't think so.

<It was a bad name.>

...

"Don't bother me. I've got work to do. And by the way, I have already been submitted in the high school by this name."

<What the hell? You did that behind my back?!>

"Yeah right."

I went off to hunt.

***

Tap tap tap.

Alvin was walking down the street with heavy steps, his face forming a frown. He seemed to be in deep thought.

'Demon... why are you doing this?'

He started making several speculations about the demon's purpose. But every time he tried to cook something up in his head, he drew a blank. After brainstorming for quite a bit, he recalled that he had a document on him containing the information about the demon.

He took it out from his handbag and flipped its page.

------------

Subject Name- Ken Raizer.

Details-

An orphan now. Was related to the Raizer family, one of the most influential families. Only Potential-less currently in the Tower. Must have been a subject of bully and abuse, both by his family and his schoolmates.

Cause of Action- Revenge (?)

------------

Alvin's face twitched a little at the word 'Potential-less'.

In this Tower of supernatural powers, being the only Potential-less, undoubtedly, justified his actions to a certain extent. But something was still strange. If he wanted to exact revenge on every Potential-bearers, he would've caused a ruckus everywhere he went. Did he want to hide from the chasers, assuming they were stronger than him? Or... was he planning something else...

"Agh!"

Alvin grunted and trotted away in irritation.

***

"Hmm..."

This seemed to pique my interest. Even though I was weaker than the Chasers, they would still lose an arm or two if they ever got into a fight with me.

<What's the matter?>

"That man..."

I pointed towards a black-suited man.

"Will I be able to defeat him?"

<Don't ever think about it. The way you are right now, that man is way above your league.>

"You could at least spare me the last part."

<Then don't ask stupid questions.>

What he was saying was true. It was a stupid question. I might not have been able to see it before, but now I could say this with my eyes closed- that man was strong. Very strong. If I were to fight with that man, I might even lose my life if things got serious. It was better for me to avoid any contact with the man.

***

Fwoosh!

"Hm?"

Alvin's eyes rolled towards the rooftop of a building, seemingly ordinary. His eyes stayed fixated in that spot for a while.

'Was that my imagination?'

Fwoosh!

Another wind blew past Alvin and he quickly reacted to the movement.

Turning around, he rolled his eyes in all directions, but to no avail. There was no one.

"Must have been my imagination."

He started walking again but he made one thing obvious while he was walking. A warning...

***

... to not approach him anymore.

Damn, I knew this guy was scary but looking at the mana he was releasing, I really should not approach him anymore.

<You got carried away.>

'Well, I had to test him.'

<Then do in moderation.>

'Yeah yeah.'

***

'What was that? I am 100% sure that was a person. Was that the Demon?'

Alvin was having doubts about the wind's identity...

'But if he was the Demon, he would have approached me even after releasing my mana. But he didn't.'

... which was soon thrown outside his head.

He trotted away.

***

I landed on the roof of a... was this a mansion or estate?

Anyway, this was the house of someone rich. Very rich. And I knew who that person was. She was the reason why I had to dirty my hands 3 years ago. That time, I couldn't kill her and she escaped, but now, I won't let her escape.

***

At the same time, Alvin stood in front of a huge mansion.

He reached out to the button stuck on the gate of the mansion and pressed it.

Bzz~Bzz~

[Who is it?]

A female voice rang out from the speaker.

Alvin brought his mouth closer to the speaker and spoke in a soft voice. It was clear that he was experienced.

"Hello, I am Alvin Crell from the Chaser Association."

[Ah, yes. We received the message that you would come. Please come inside.]

"Thank you."

The gate made a clanking noise, seemingly coming from the lock, and opened for Alvin to enter.

Something would happen here.

***