124 Him?

…

Meanwhile, 

In a room inside a high-end apartment, a teenage boy was angrily hitting a punching bag that, despite still having a price-tag on, was covered in bloodstains. The entire room, which had been turned into a gym, with rubber gym mats covering the floor and gym equipment neatly placed at different corners, had been filled within punching and grunting noises for a couple of hours now. 

Sshh…

Tiny grains of sand were slowly falling out from the punching bag with each and every punch. 

"Taka…" Mika mumbled as she looked on worriedly. When she arrived home from the restaurant the other night, she found her brother in a very bad state; not just physically but also mentally. 

They had a call with their father on the same night, and the old man had scolded Taka for his inability to capture Juin and that he had allowed an inexperienced kid to not only defeat him but also escape from under him. When Mika tried to speak up for Taka, that it was the old man's fault, all she got was a cold glare from the man, which rendered her mute from fear. 

It was then that she knew the fact that Juin had a Soul Beast, and how recruiting him had become exceedingly urgent. She had never seen a Soul Beast before, but when she saw how Taka's expression changed when he was talking about it with their father, she knew that it was something to be enviable. 

And Taka, who had always been playful around her, was in a constant serious mood since then. Previously, they were only thinking about creating more and more spirit beasts… But now, Taka had a new goal. He wanted to get a Soul Beast of his own.

All-day long, all he cared about was practice and practice. He did not even bother to go to school in the last few days, spending all his waking hours strengthening either his body or his soul power, trying to increase his soul power reserve through brute force. 

Even though Mika knew that he was upset about losing the Thunderbird, a spirit beast that had been with him ever since he was a kid, she felt that at this rate, he might start losing himself to his desire for revenge.

"It's enough, Taka…" Mika called out, hoping to stop him from destroying the new punching bag. 

However, it was as if Taka could not hear her; he just kept going, one punch after another, completely oblivious of the blood that was seeping out of his badly bruised knuckles. 

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

Each of his punches was packed with explosive power that sent the heavy punching bag flying up into a horizontal position before falling again. 

"Juin…" Taka growled as he took a step back before landing a tornado roundhouse kick at the punching bag.

BAM!!!

His kick was so powerful that he kicked a hole into the side of the punching bag.

Taka snapped as he continued to hit the punching bag until it was completely deflated. Panting heavily, he finally stopped then and held onto the deflated punching bag as he tried to catch his breath.

Mika looked on worriedly as her brother unhooked the broken punching bag and threw it aside. "Taka… Lei's gone…" 

"Shut up!" Taka roared as he turned around. When he saw his younger sister's scared expression, he immediately clenched his fists and calmed himself down slightly by taking in deep breaths. 

After a while, he looked at his bracelet, which now had three special beads again, albeit one that was obviously less worn out, and said, in a much softer tone, "Dad just sent me another spirit beast… I'll definitely revenge Lei with it."

Hearing that, Mika could not help but feel slightly jealous as she looked at the bracelet on her brother's wrist. Just because he deemed her fate sealed, her father had always been biased toward her, completely overlooking her when it came to the grant of new weapons or spirit beasts. 

It took her a lot of effort before he would even give her one spirit beast, and even that one was just a normal spirit beast, but Taka, who had just lost one, was given another special one just like that. 

"You need to practice more as well, Mika," Taka said in a stern voice. "This year's Battle is a team-based battle. You know how Dad is… Just because we are siblings doesn't mean that he will let us be in a group."

"I know…" Mika said as she kept her hands in her back pockets so that her brother wouldn't see the wounds on them. She had been practicing every day as well, just so that she could make him proud of her.

Mika watched as Taka went to one of the chairs placed near one of the walls in the room and took a gulp of water from his water bottle. As he drank, she asked, "D-do you think… Dad will send him?"

Upon hearing the word "him", Taka stopped drinking and placed his water bottle down. He then looked at Mika and said, "Honestly, I think so… Dad really wants the Portal Stabilizer, so there's a high chance that he will send him."

According to rumors, the Portal Stabilizer was a one-use item, and if they won, they would be able to get their hands on four of them, thus allowing someone the chance to do multiple trips with each. 

The patriarch of the Nakamura Family had been eyeing a dimension for a while now, and with the stabilizers, assuming everyone came back alive, he could make two trips there without being afraid of any backlashes. Hence, he would definitely do anything he could to ensure a high chance of victory… And that included sending that crazy, unpredictable fellow. 

Thinking about "him", both the Nakamura siblings could not help but shiver slightly. 

Taka quickly shook his head and said, "Don't think too much about him… Dad said that he has started the qualifying process, and he already has an idea of who to put in the other teams…"

To increase the chance of winning, the Nakamura family decided to put all those who were eligible, and strong enough, to participate in the Battle, forming groups of different tiers, who would then be given different resources and training. 

Given his ability and standing in the family, Taka would obviously be in the Tier 1 group, but no one knew where Mika would be. 

"He won't let me be with you, that's for sure…" Mika mumbled as she sat down at one of the chairs. "Including him, there are at least five other people who are stronger than me in the family…"

Taka agreed. He had fought with a few of his biological cousins, as well as those Elementalists who were adopted into the family, and they were indeed quite strong compared to Mika. However, he was sure that if Mika had the same resources, and if she could play on the same level, then she would be able to defeat them. 

"I'll talk to Dad so that he can give you a fair chance…" Taka said as he reached over and patted her head. "By the way, is he out of the hospital yet?"