Garden Of The Abyss

Now standing in the center of the colossal, magical seal, the sage smiled with her calm, ancient eyes, "Kazuya Aibana."

"Who?"

In unison, every present Outlander asked the same question—having not a single clue who that name belonged to.

"You wouldn't know of him. His name has only become famous in recent times on Earth. However—he is undoubtedly an anomaly. A high school delinquent, he is famous across Japan for never losing a single fight—even against entire mobs of gangsters, earning him the epithet, "King of Brawlers". Or, otherwise known as, "Invincible Kazu"—that's who he is."

Though it was a long-winded explanation, it seemed to meet the ears of those curious.

"A highschool brat, huh?"

Fai scratched his head as he raised a single eyebrow at this news..

"Don't know how I feel about that."

Removing the straw from between his lips, Tristan joined in with Fai's doubts. However, despite this, Beatrice seemed only to smile at these comments before pointing her finger at Brahmi, then at Noah.

"You two; when Kazuya is summoned, I'd like you both to fight him. One-on-one, of course."

"Hah?"

"Wait, wait. One-on-one isn't the issue! You want us to fight some kid who just got brought here?"

Brahmi contested this with a swipe of her hand, while the blonde-haired, tattooed giant sounded as if he wasn't even listening prior to his name being mentioned.

"If you're worried he can't handle it, rest assured—he can."

"What makes ya' so damn sure?"

"You'll see."

It was unnatural to see such a confident aura from Beatrice, but it was enough to silence any further questioning as she raised her hand, standing at the edge of the enormous seal.

"Step back; I'll begin the summoning ritual now."

If her words weren't enough to make them give space, the pressure emanating from the awoken seals was.

It didn't take long for the cold temperature in the chamber to fill with a sudden heat at the gathering of vast magical energy. A pillar of iridescent mana rose from the boundaries of the seal on the floor, reaching up to the ceiling seal; in all regards, it was an overwhelming presence to witness.

"…Outside the boundaries of this existence, you exist. An endless span of space, diverse, and ancient—yet, we are intertwined. Part and open, Gate of Quandary!"

With her commanding call, the two shining seals painted on each side of the wall awakened with a rumble—connecting their magical masses to the center pillar.

"By my blood, by my authority—I, Beatrice of the Sages, usher you into this world, Kazuya Aibana!"

Swirling and growing chaotic, the fluctuating energy spiraled and contorted, unleashing a deafening hum that caused the spectators to cover their ears.

"Damn, feels like my ears are gonna burst…!"

Gritting his teeth as he begrudgingly covered his ears, Noah's hair flowed in the magically conjured winds.

Not just that, it's hard to breathe with such dense magic hanging in the air, Donatien thought.

Though a fantastical spectacle, the natural disaster that came with it made it nearly impossible to view its full beauty.

With a final wave of her hand, Beatrice focused and concentrated the otherwise chaotic swirl of energy—coalescing it into the center of the seal etched onto the metallic flooring.

"Amazing; this is something an Argonaut could never truly appreciate...the arrival of one from the other world."

Strife commented in awe at this sight, smiling to himself slightly as his silver locks moved in the formed winds.

"Here he comes."

Fai muttered as his ponytail flailed in the abrasive winds, squinting at the bright, burning light in the center.

"…For better or worse."

Watching closely, Brahmi kept her posture strong against the pressure of the summoning spell.

A grand release set off stratifications of wind, propelling forth as it was clear a new entity existed in the room—hidden by the radiance in the center mass.

"Welcome, Kazuya Aibana."

Greeting the newly summoned figure, Beatrice faced towards him with a smile as the residual mana finally began to clear.

Standing in the center of the colossal seal, a young man stood; a sable, blazer from a school uniform hung from his shoulders like a cape with the flared collar sticking out.

Accented with golden designs, text was inscribed on the back of the coat in the same, gilded material: "Commander of Shibuya Majin", and just below it: "King of Brawlers"—clear and bold.

Under his loosely hanging blazer, he wore only a plain white tee and loose, black pants along with his sable boots.

"Seriously? The hell is all of this?"

With his hands tucked into his pockets, the mysterious young man commented with boredom coating his words.

Though his graphite-colored hair was long, he kept his bangs held back with a clip; his messy locks stopped just short of his shoulders. It was hard to see it at first, but the young man had a two-block hairstyle; though most of his hair exhibited a shade of gray, the sides of his head were charcoal black.

Despite his thug-like status, he held a fair face that none would deny was handsome—somehow free of scars despite his lifestyle.

"He really is just a kid…"

Seeing the sight of the gray-haired delinquent who looked to be no taller than a middle schooler, Brahmi let out a sigh.

"Huh? Who said that?"

Stepping forward at this comment, the newly summoned Outlander scanned the room with his silver and black irises.

"Was it you?"

Standing just in front of the brunette, muscular woman who made the comment towards him, Kazuya looked right up at her—leaving hardly any space between them."

"And if I was?"

"I don't like the way you're looking down at me."

Within moments, tension manifested between the two—heavily emanating from the poker-faced delinquent.

How troublesome, indeed, Donatien thought.

He's got balls, I'll give him that, Fai thought.

"I'm not interested in the quarrels of savages. I'll start preparing dinner."

With a sigh, Natalia flipped her magnificent, well-kempt locks before exiting the chamber--though nobody was focused on her words in this tense moment.

"Watch it, kid—"

Before another syllable could part from Brahmi's lips, a high, swift kick launched right against her temple.

Huh? I wasn't exactly on guard…but that was fast, she thought.

"You're tough."

With his foot pressed against her head, Kazuya commented as the kick didn't budge the woman hailing from India in the slightest.

Of course; someone without any knowledge of reinforcement has no chance against somebody who does—especially her of all people, Tristan thought.

"That's it! I'm gonna' teach ya' some manners, pipsqueak!"

As a vein pressed against her forehead, she threw her fist back, enveloping it in magical energy before throwing it towards the abdomen of the delinquent.

"Careful! You'll kill him!"

Charlotte yelled out in worry at the sight of the attack. As the punch landed cleanly, the young man was sent flying back before landing harshly onto the ground.

"…Remember, ya' asked for this, Beatrice."

In response to Brahmi's serious words, the sage simply smiled--causing all eyes to fall on the who holding the title--"King of Brawlers"--as he miraculously stood himself up, his hands still tucked into the pockets of his loose pants.

"Not bad."

Spitting out a swab of blood from his mouth, he set his stone-cold eyes onto Brahmi--who was left agasp at the sight.

"Woah, woah, woah! You shouldn't even be able to get up after that!"

Fai called out in disbelief as if witnessing a ghost right in front of his eyes. It was the obvious reaction to such a sight--though, Kazuya handled it unbelievably well.

"By all means, he should be out cold from a hit like that, considering he lacks any knowledge of magecraft…"

Keeping his hand on his chin, Donatien tried to make sense of the situation before him--but logic didn't seem to apply to the gray-haired delinquent.

What'd that sage say his nickname was? "Invincible Kazu"...looks like he lives up to it, Tristan thought.

Sliding his bandage-wrapped hands out of the holds of his pockets, Kazuya Aibana's eyes seemed to spiral with a sense of violence.

"Guess it's my turn then."

Being on the receiving end of such a cold, yet overwhelming gaze, Brahmi froze for a moment--finding the short of stature brawler now directly in front of her within a moment's passing.

This speed...where did it come from?! She thought.

Raising her guard at the last moment, a swift thrust of his fist landed against her raised guard--slamming into her forearms with a brutal impact.

It's nothing like his first kick! This power...did he...learn how to use reinforcement after being hit with it a single time?! Brahmi thought.

Pushing his fist forward even further, he sent the experienced fighter back a few meters--causing her soles to slide across the ground as the room fell silent for a moment after. It had only been mere moments since he was suddenly brought into the new, mysterious world of Gaia, yet--he was naturally acclimated.

"I think I've got the gist of it--this is "magic", right?"

Looking back at the sage, Kazuya pointed his words at her as he raised the fist he used to attack Brahmi as if it was an example of magecraft. Confirming this, Beatrice simply nodded with a smile, clearly happy with the status of this new Outlander.