In the quiet hospital room, a gentle breeze lifted the cotton-linen white curtains.
Hakuto's consciousness returned to his body, his eyes slowly opening. He lay still, making no movements.
His nose twitched lightly, catching faint floral and fresh-air scents mixed with the now-familiar antiseptic smell.
He could feel his physical condition and senses had improved significantly.
Minor wounds on his body had fully healed, and his fractured left leg was recovering rapidly.
"Right, a sci-fi doctor's cheat code, stacking 'my' attributes and powers, is standard protocol. But I didn't expect it to stack this much…"
Hakuto raised his arm to his forehead. Beneath it, something defied common sense.
A pure, crystal-clear gem was forming at his brow, slowly merging into his flesh.
His physical condition had improved to about 2.5 times that of a normal human—not enough to heal a comminuted fracture overnight.
That clear crystal was a "Pledging Stone."
Normally, the mysterious space couldn't grant Hakuto material-based lineage powers.
But Reverie was special—she wasn't a copy of his soul but a fragment of his core soul.
This allowed a one-time power stacking when she reintegrated, after which they were truly "one" in every conceptual sense, with no further overlap.
This was a one-time deal!
Thus, their powers and physicality could stack to the maximum extent allowed by the rules!
Sadly, not completely.
From this moment, Hakuto was no longer human, but not a full Edel Raid either.
His Pledging Stone was conceptually incomplete, lacking an "attribute."
Think Pokémon types: different Pledging Stone attributes yield different abilities and traits.
Edel Raids have 24 known attributes in Elemental Gelade, with 18 identified so far, the rest unknown.
Through the mysterious space's power, Hakuto gained Edel Raid traits but not Reverie's wind attribute.
In simpler terms, he'd acquired an optimized but unactivated Edel Raid lineage.
How to awaken his Pledging Stone's "attribute"? He had no clue yet.
And now wasn't the time to ponder it.
"Sis, could you call the doctor? I need to be discharged," Hakuto said with a smile to the caregiver at his bedside.
A fracture that should've taken over six months to heal had mended in a single night—shocking enough already.
If the hospital ran routine tests…
His next wake-up might not be in a hospital room.
A changed physique? Zero risk of discovery.
A non-human intelligent species, the only one in the world?
Slicing him up was out of the question—impossible in this lifetime. Any research harming him would be kept to a minimum.
Blood draws? A few drops at most, not vials.
The world's rarest species would take a backseat.
But the trade-off was obvious.
So… discharge!
Immediate discharge!
He absolutely couldn't let anyone know he'd become a non-human species!
Hakuto's sudden request stunned the caregiver, who quickly asked what was wrong.
"It's only been two weeks, and your leg's still like that. Why discharge now? Tell me what's up, and I'll help."
After two weeks together, the caregiver and Hakuto were close. His quiet, measured personality resonated with her, both hailing from rural roots.
If she could help, she was happy to.
"Sis, there's an urgent family matter. I have to go back," Hakuto said softly, though his expression was firm. "Don't worry, I'll follow up at a local hospital afterward."
Seeing his resolve, the caregiver fell silent and called the doctor as requested.
Director Yang, his face creased with concern, strode in. "Your left leg still needs surgery, and you're nowhere near recovery. How can you be discharged!?"
Doctors have a duty of care, and while the sincerity of that phrase in modern society is debatable, Director Yang, out of respect for Mai Takatsume, took his responsibility toward Hakuto seriously.
Hakuto didn't know who Mai was, nor did he care about their connection. Today, he was leaving this hospital, no matter what!
With a professional smile, Hakuto's words were calm but resolute.
Faced with his ironclad determination to be discharged, Director Yang was in a bind.
After a phone call with Mai, and for safety's sake, he had Hakuto sign a liability waiver.
The gist: Hakuto's leg injury was severe, yet he insisted on discharge. Any complications or disabilities resulting from delayed treatment were unrelated to Mai or the hospital.
Under the caregiver's helpless gaze, Hakuto signed the waiver decisively.
Once signed, Director Yang turned and left without another word.
With the caregiver's help, Hakuto followed a nurse to process his discharge.
He received the remaining hospitalization funds prepaid by Mai—several hundred thousand yen.
Pretending to be a patient with a fractured leg, Hakuto sat in a wheelchair as the caregiver wheeled him to his small rented apartment.
On the way, Hakuto searched online for information about Elemental Gelade and Edel Raids, especially details about the latter.
While Reverie's world might not be identical to Elemental Gelade, the similarity was at least 99%, making the information highly reliable!
The caregiver kindly tidied his apartment, gave him a long list of precautions, prepared dinner, and confirmed multiple times that a friend would check on him before leaving, half-worried, half-happy.
Worried for Hakuto's condition, happy to have earned months' worth of wages for just over two weeks' work.
Pity, kindness, and joy at personal gain—that's an ordinary person.
"Ordinary people, huh."
Watching her fading figure, Hakuto let out a wistful chuckle, then casually stood from the wheelchair. His plaster-cast left foot hit the tile floor with a crisp sound.
Looking down, he raised his hand, clenched a fist, and swung. The plaster shattered.
Along with it, the mental constraints and shackles that had weighed him down broke apart, leaving a liberating sense of rebirth, almost surreal.
But the sensations from his other body, linked by their shared soul, confirmed this was reality.
Hakuto took a deep breath, suppressing his myriad emotions, and closed his eyes.
The mysterious space's core conduit manifested in reality as Hakuto's body.
In simple terms, the space around his body was the exit of a higher-dimensional passage.
A gold coin appeared in his palm from thin air. Then, in a dimension visible to human eyes, a slender, graceful girl stepped out of Hakuto's body.
In the real world, she was just as dreamlike—lips as lovely as cherry blossoms, skin as flawless as fine porcelain.
Her star-dusted sky-blue hair fell over her shoulders, just brushing her delicate waist.
A black butterfly hairpiece adorned her petite ears, complementing her radiant fairness.
A deep navy skirt swayed, her hands tucked into light, billowy sleeves.
No makeup, completely bare-faced, yet her beauty was a dimensional strike against the world.
Hakuto's tension faded, replaced by rising excitement. His heart raced, his blood surged.
No one could resist a breathtaking beauty, but what captivated Hakuto more was the power that shouldn't exist in this world.
In perfect sync, Hakuto and Reverie raised their hands, fingers intertwining. A holy emerald wind surged upward.
Gentle, serene green breezes swirled around them.
Reverie's form dissolved into a soft gust, wrapping around Hakuto, her soul's silhouette appearing behind him before merging into his body.
In the neon-lit night sky, heavy clouds churned and rolled.
Earth bore the clouds' weight, the heavens lifted their rise.
Traffic halted on the bustling streets. Even hurried salarymen paused, looking up at the sudden, strange phenomenon.
Hakuto fell silent, then murmured, "Is this the true power of the Shichikouhouju?"
Tokyo, Japan's megacity, a global hub of economy, finance, and trade, with over 20 million residents.
Yet the power coursing through the Blade of Verdant Wind was so immense that, with some effort, Hakuto could erase this city!
Fresh breezes filled his lungs, winds dancing around him, but his heart pounded like an emperor's engine.
Hakuto took several deep breaths, calming his surging emotions.
After a long pause, he glanced at the city's vibrant neon, then at the starless black sky.
With a light tap of his toes, he carefully controlled the power. Green winds enveloped him, lifting him slowly into the air.
Humanity's ultimate dream—flight!
Flight achieved not with tools, but by his own power!
Looking down, his apartment building was a speck, the entire neighborhood visible.
Spinning in place, Tokyo's sleepless brilliance unveiled a new perspective.
Steadying himself, Hakuto stretched his stiff limbs, then—his speed surged!
The extreme acceleration pressed his heart. He let out a wild cry, soaring into the boundless sky.
A free spirit, riding the world's rhythm, wielding the winds of change, roaming the infinite.
Excitement overwhelmed him, making him heedless of being caught on camera.
Why? Setting aside the possibility of a hidden world, if you gained superhuman power and were the only one in the world…
Would you choose to be a "Superman," fighting for justice?