Chapter 51 Promised Recruitment

Eye-Goddess then went on to explain how her visions were all related to Satoshi growing up. "But I can only portions of it so I don't know what would really transpire one moment after another in the future. But from what I could gather... without the proper guidance and influence, he's bound to become a monster— a monster that would soon change the world's views on superpowers and superheroes as a whole. His parents, Tatsuki and Ayumu, were both my mentors before and I've never beaten them in any fights. I was under their agency for a good amount of years and I've learned what I can about overpowered superheroes. They really stand on a whole new level and they couldn't help but look down on everyone who has a portion of their talent. Plume, this may sound crazy in all sense but believe me when I say that... Satoshi could easily kill any superhero if he were left on his own devices. He would be so powerful that... not even his parents— who are the number one and two superheroes in the entire SAO— could stop him."

Bewilderment plagued through Plume's mind while she listened to Eye-Goddess's monologue. Although she didn't want to believe that everything the Eye-Goddess said was true, she knew to herself that she was speaking at least some truth in her words. After all, she'd experienced fighting Satoshi first-hand and there was no way she could beat him even though she was undefeated in the Casual Division. And furthermore, Satoshi is still just a kid, fresh in high school, who knows what could happen once he starts learning about superheroes in the field when he'll be assigned to missions under an agency.

Plume was left quiet for a moment, digesting everything that Eye-Goddess told her so she could appropriately respond. In her mind, she could also tell that the Eye-Goddess would be the best mentor for Satoshi since she could read into the future. If there will be bad decisions that can be prevented, then Eye-Goddess is capable of it. And now that it's already emphasized in Plume's mind how scary Satoshi could get because of her power, then she was even more convinced that Eye-Goddess should take him under her wing.

"Then... should I ask him personally about it?" Plume volunteered, her voice cracking with concern to both Satoshi and the world.

"Yes, if it wouldn't be a bother to you, then please recommend me to your childhood friend, Satoshi. I would be more than happy to guide him on the right path and I myself know that I'm capable of doing it as someone who could see into the future." When Eye-Goddess said that, she wasn't elated at all when Plume volunteered. Instead, she was worried, because she could tell that Satoshi could easily overpower her if he wanted to. However, if the safety of the entire world hangs in the balance, then she concluded that she had to do it. After all, no one else would step up except her.

"I will try to talk to him tomorrow, ma'am. I don't think he'll be able to reject your offer if I told him that you're recommending yourself to be his mentor. I mean, any superhero who hears that from you would easily accept without asking any questions whatsoever."

? "Thank you so much... and hopefully, my explanation answered every cloud of doubt in your mind. I'm assuming you rushed over here to inquire about Satoshi, no?" Eye-Goddess said with a gentle smile while patting Plume on the head. Without saying another word, she turned around and quietly walked down the hallways towards her personal office. She expected great things from Plume, and Plume could tell that everything relies on her based on their conversation.

.....

Meanwhile,

Satoshi enjoyed every bit of time he had in the school bus after Midori was dropped off at a nearby stop. For once, there was peace and quiet and he even thought of taking a nap. However, he didn't want to drool in front of Shiroi so he suppressed the urge to nap and just sat quietly instead. Throughout the entire trip, no one brought up the topic of Satoshi's match against Plume for fear that it would offend him. After all, he was supposed to win but he let his guard down upon seeing his childhood friend suffering. They concluded that Satoshi was deeply affected by his loss that they didn't talk about it. Unbeknownst to them, however, Satoshi was just thinking about all the possibilities of his superpower and that's the reason why he was unusually quiet.

Fidgeting, Kuroe and Shiroi both have the same impulse to console Satoshi after seeing his initial expressions. But due to the heavy clouds that seemed to hang above Satoshi's head, the couldn't say anything to him and so the bus was filled with uneasiness and anxiousness. While all those were happening, Satoshi was thinking of every superpower he could think of that he could add into his arsenal. He also took note of how long he'd have to use his familiar in order to achieve complete mastery over it.

Of course, he also took into account his previous familiars and how he could boost their usefulness by getting other familiars in his inventory. If he'd be able to utilize every familiar to the fullest while adding more and more to his wide range of 'superpowers' then he could easily become the most powerful superhero in the world— or so that's what he thought in his mind.

Until the end of the trip, no one spoke to Satoshi about the match. In fact, there was a heavy silence on the school bus until Satoshi arrived home. He didn't even say goodbye since he was too engrossed in his thoughts. The only time he came back to his senses was when he entered their house and the sweet aroma of roast lamb wafting in the air. That's when he realized that his parents were back home and he'd finally enjoy one of his dad's best dishes due to some sort of unknown occasion.

"Satoshi," Ayumu firmly said but her voice came out as gentle as the cool summer breeze.

"Welcome back mom, dad, how was the Space War? Was everyone all right?" Satoshi asked. His expression a split second ago was that of seriousness but when he saw his mom and dad, his expression shifted into a vibrant and cheerful one as he approached his mom and hugged her, and kissed her on the forehead. He also briefly hugged his dad in the kitchen before returning to the sofa.

"No, before all that, we have to talk to you about something," Ayumu said the second time after her beckon was ignored.

"Yeah, you've got some explaining to do, mister." Tatsuki shook the ladle he used for basting the lamb. He then set up the table and called for all of them to sit. "Come, let's talk about it during dinner."

Quite frankly, this was the first time Satoshi heard his mom talk like that. For a moment, he was a bit curious as to what they were concerned about but he put it at the back of his head since the fragrance of the roasted lamb was divine. For that reason, he initially ignored his mom, and then came his dad, telling him that he had to explain some things.

At first, Satoshi thought that his parents were referring to his fight against the Slime Alien. 'They probably wanted to know the full details of the fight since the reporters only captured a small part of it' He said in his mind as they gathered around the table. But what he didn't know was that his parents were actually talking about his fight in the Concrete Arena. After all, children below the age of 18 aren't allowed to enter the Concrete Arena. Of course, in the video, it was shown that they were with Knighthawk— their homeroom teacher in school— but that still didn't fully explain what the situation was about and so Ayumu wanted to hear it straight from her son's mouth.

"What's this?" Ayumu asked, showing the video on her tablet. The fight lasted only two minutes and yet it already had more than six hundred million views on the internet. It was even number one on trending on youtube locally.

"Wait... that was— " Satoshi began, almost choking on the piece of roasted lamb he was putting in his mouth. After making sure that it made its safe way to his stomach, he took a few sips of water before explaining to his mom and dad about the excursion.

...

A few minutes later.

"Oh, so that explains it," Tatsuki said, he was enjoying the story that he was already on his second piece of roasted lamb. "Don't worry honey, I don't think a school excursion is that unsupervised. It was even shown that one of the teachers in school personally fought with Plume to show the students what a fight between superheroes is like. I think they're ready for such a lesson since they'll be choosing their agency soon."

"Speaking of agencies... Satoshi, have you chosen an agency already? Are you sure you don't want to go to our agency?" Ayumu concernedly asked her son, leaning in to get a little bit of a dramatic effect.