4 Life in Gosha - Part 3

Cid tinkered around his workshop.... Or simply sat and thought about what design he should use for the super elite agent persona.

So, he picked up a pen and began to think about the personality and name of this man.

"Hm.... There's a few candidate names for him, one, John Smith, two, Derek Vladimir, three, Ingram Velvet." He said, writing the names down on a blank page and gazing down upon them.

He immediately put a line on the second and third names, thinking they're not really that cool enough, deciding John Smith already rolls on his tongue.

After deciding on the name, he began to draw several concept arts, consuming many pages, one which involved him being a tall masked man with silver hair, and when he finally drew the final product, his eyes widened in realization.

It was the one he wanted to be when on infiltration missions.

This John Smith has a short ponytail for a hair, a steel mask, and what Cid calls "An Elite Agent's Suit".

"Cool~ now what about his personality?" he commented, before turning to the next page and writing the personality of this persona.

"Because he is an Elite Agent skilled in infiltration and information gathering, he is... uhm.... ah, that's right! A professional gentleman with a mysterious past, and as an agent of Shadow Garden he is an elite among the elite.

But how will that differentiate him from Shadow, I wonder? I know, how about he mainly uses martial arts, has weapons of his own, like many thin wires from the slime bodysuit and daggers, can't forget them."

Cid then sighed, closing the book he was using and putting it aside in order to look upon another thing.

Walking to the other side of the room, he observed an object sealed in a large glass case, and within it was nothing more than his outfit as Shadow.

He opened the case and reached out to his clothing that extended several dark tendrils which touched his hand. And as it touched his hand, the suit he is using swiftly turned into a substance zipping through the air and engulfing him.

Naturally, he should have become Shadow, but right now he had become John Smith, perfectly replicating the concept art with some minor touches.

When in front of a mirror, he examined himself, as he had become significantly taller, like that of a middle-aged man.

[ IMAGE FOR REFERENCE ]

He now had deep violet modified suit with golden lines shown on different parts of the suit, and down below, was a simplistic touch he wanted. The mask he created, tinted in black and white covered some parts of his face, creating a feel of mystery about him.

It was nothing much, but to be honest, he looked incredibly intimidating and mysterious as this form was as good as when he was Shadow.

Even though Shadow is intended to be far more mysterious than the Super Elite Agent, this look made him feel like a main character of a Spy Movie.

Did Cid care? Maybe, it was all about the spectacle that he looked for.

Now what? A rehearsal is necessary for him.

"Aaaa.... Nnnn.... Eeee..... Uuuu...."

He modified his voice bit by bit using nothing but magic, until it felt exactly as he imagined.

"Wonderful," he exclaimed, smirking in front of the mirror. "Now comes the rehearsal, even if I may have to use this personality far later on. Preparations are necessary, after all."

Practice to this personality is necessary, and it will take weeks to "perfect" this self-made acted personality.

Cid was a perfectionist and pragmatist in nature, and his own delusions might be quite questionable, but it works.

An hour into his rehearsal, he felt like going back up to the surface for reasons, so he put back the Metallic Liquid Bodysuit back into its container before turning around.

"Later, bud. Showcasing our abilities at full towards our enemies requires a bit of patience." He said, commenting on his other persona named John Smith.

Silently leaving the basement, he decided to buy some throwing weapons he could use to practice, as he is, as always, poor.

So poor that he can almost be considered broke at most times.

So here's the question, why doesn't he use his Liquid Metallic Slime Bodysuit for these purposes? As far as he knows, there are expert Taimanin who can sense mana and demonic presences in incredibly long distances.

Not just that, there are places in Gosha Village that is filled with futuristic technology that can definitely track demonic presences like his slime bodysuit.

So, being detected is definitely a no-no for him. His cover will not just be blown, but Cid Kagenou will be painted as a traitor for more paranoid officials.

And why can he leave Gosha Village undetected? Rapid use of the general Ninja Art Sonic Step allows him to move at supersonic speeds in long distances at a short time, allowing him to get out of the village in no time.

Now, because he is just a Taimanin Student, he can't really find enough financial support because nobody was even giving him any, except for some elderly people and fellow classmates at times (most of the time he just obtains money out of pure luck).

This is an excuse for him to steal money from his enemies while he is Shadow because money also motivates him to act upon his own accord.

But alas, since he had many things to do in Gosha, his activities as Shadow is mostly done in the nights of Saturday and Sunday.

And don't talk to him about Taimanin Missions he could take in the request board, most of them are so mundane he doesn't feel excited doing them, only doing it for money.

'Oh, that's right.... I should probably go out to hunt under the darkness this night.' He thought, arriving on the weapons shop in Gosha that he frequently visited.

The shopkeeper and weapon smith isn't here, and so he rang the bell.

"Wait there for a moment! I'll be there soon!" The voice of a young man came from inside, before said person exited the shop.

He was a redheaded, middle aged man with a short beard, dressed in an open hakama and long pants, and nothing more.

This man is Muramasa Kouji, said to be the descendant of a legendary blacksmith, and also is one of the people who supposedly forges high quality weapons for Taimanin like Cid, though it was only recent that his fame began to rise.

All his weapons aren't even a scam, as they could channel Taima Particles smoothly, even more so than the standard weapon.

It's possible this man was also a Veteran Taimanin,

"Oi, Cid! You're here again? Let me guess, you wanted to buy weapons from me again, hm?" He asked, giving Cid a great, confident smirk.

"Well, I'd like to buy some throwing weapons, maybe Kunai and Shuriken if possible." Cid replied, scratching his head as if confused. "I don't really have enough money this time since, you know, I have around 30 thousand left in my pocket, and I am planning to spend little for the convenience of it."

Then, Kouki hand patted his shoulder.

"Fuhahaha~! That's your problem? Don't worry about it, for now I could just give you a great discount just this once." He said, brightening the mood of Cid.

"Really?"

"My Kunai will be around 4,000 yen a piecr, far chapter than 30,000 and my Shuriken will be around 2,500 yen a piece, compared to 12,500. How about that? Oh, and do take care of your weapons, or else you'll just come back here again later on."

"W-Well..... That's a deal!"

In short, Cid bought three Kunai, and four Shuriken, spending twenty-two thousand.

Soon, he decided to begin spending some time alone in his house's backyard, tending on the dummies as he started throwing random weapons at them.

Cid also did 300 Push-ups, 300 Sit-ups, 300 Squats, 20 Minutes of Planking, 20 Minutes of Stretching, and finally, 1000 slashes of a bought katana.

His solo training went on for hours, until it was 3:00 PM. At that point it was time for him to begin resting.

[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]

"Where are you going, Kyosuke?"

Asagi asked him as the two of them were outside Gosha Village. She didn't know why he is leaving all of the sudden, but due to worry she followed him through the Virgin Forest, which surrounded Gosha Village.

Kyosuke Sawaki, or Kyosuke for short, was her long-time fiancee that was from a low-ranked Clan that served the Igawa Clan for generations.

And as for himself, he was kind-hearted even if he seemed lazy with his  but was still weakling due to not being able to awaken his ability to do Ninja Arts.

Despite that, Asagi loved him very much.

"You see, Asagi.... It's nothing special. If you didn't have anything important to do, I think I would've asked you to come with me." He replied, rubbing his hair wryly.

It made Asagi blush lightly.

What was he talking about in this afternoon? Was he planning on buying something special for her? Thoughts filled the Taimanin's mind, and due to this she didn't want to find out so soon.

"Ah. I see.... Kyosuke, safe travels, okay? If you don't come back before midnight, I'll be worried." She said, and while she noticed that Kyosuke's face was going closer to hers, she didn't move away and allowed him to kiss her on the lips.

She blushed even harder, going away from her usual, stoic self.

"Don't worry about me being robbed, Asagi. I'll definitely be back before midnight." Kyosuke assured her, before he left for Tokyo.

The moment his figure was gone from her sight, Asagi turned around.

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

Hours passed and Asagi patiently waited.

He did not come back.

It immediately worried her.

Yet she waited.... Until she couldn't. The moon was already above, and she couldn't wait anymore.

After wearing her Taimanin Suit. She decided to run out of Gosha Village to search for Kyosuke immediately. Soon she arrived in Tokyo, looking for Kyosuke as she leaped above many buildings.

Until she saw Kyosuke.

"Kyosuke-"

*SCHLIK~!*

"....!!!!"

The moment she approached him, the blade of a katana appeared right on the chest of Kyosuke, and she only noticed right now that Kyosuke had strange, demonic parts on his body that recently began to turn into human skin.

She couldn't believe her eyes, and as soon as the katana's blade was retracted, Kyosuke fell down, almost dead.

Catching him between her arms, he stared at his eyes.

Kyosuke had a faint smile on his face as he gazed up to the woman he was supposed to marry.

"Asagi.... Sorry.... I wish... For your happiness in the future...." Were his last words before he truly died.

Asagi's chest tightened while he tightly held onto, her face trying its hardest not to distort.

"... Kyosuke.... Why?"

Then, he was there. Gazing upon the two of them as she stared up from his shadow, to a glowing crimson eye.

[ IMAGE FOR REFERENCE ]

.... Shadow.

Just by seeing him, a variety of emotions erupted inside her.

Then she cried.

< ~ TO = BE = CONTINUED ~