"Ah!" Kai suddenly woke up while shouting.

"Wha—" Obviously, Ria was shocked by the sudden outburst and stared at him with a scared expression.

Seeing that shocked face made him unable to resist teasing her since it had been all the way around. He raised both hands and bent his fingers as if trying to use them like claws. "Rawr!"

This startled Ria to the point she summoned a Sword and swung it toward Kai's head.

Kai's face turned pale as he bent his body sideways to avoid it and shouted. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you trying to kill your student?"

In that instant, Ria realized Kai was playing a trick on her. She acted as if she didn't believe it and struck him again from above.

Kai grabbed the sword with both hands and started sweating. "Wait, Teacher. I am sorry. I was just kidding."

"No, no. There is no proof that you are my student. You might be the lion that takes over my student's consciousness." Ria smirked.

"Now you are talking about something unscientific."

"What? Since you say you are my student…How about we go to the training room and have a round with me?"

Kai knew that his teacher actually wanted to beat him up just because he played this trick. He sighed and said, "Well, it's true that what I have seen is pretty unscientific, but let's talk calmly, should we?"

"Unscientific?" Ria widened her eyes before finally removing her sword. She sat on the bed and glared at him. "Tell me."

"Can't you say something nice? You are very different from the one I met a few days ago."

"I shouldn't act that sentimental to a student like you who tried to prank his teacher who was worrying about him." She snorted.

"Sorry." Kai sighed. "Anyway, this is something you would like to hear, albeit I am not sure whether to tell you myself because there is a chance that you will tell other people about this."

This was the first time she heard this coming from his mouth, so she instantly realized why he said it that way. Her expression turned serious. "Don't worry. If you ask me not to tell anyone about this, I won't say anything."

"Please do." Kai nodded before calming himself down for a few minutes. "Don't say I am a narcissist, alright?"

"Just tell me."

Kai sighed and started his explanations regarding his identity as a newborn protector, the magic particles, and his fates.

Ria Ross even wrote everything he said to see the matter better. "I see. So, humans are the same as any other species. They have the potential to rule the world, but none of them can. There is a rule that the calamity can only be used when one race has almost governed the entire planet."

"Yeah."

"Now that we are talking about this, I suddenly remember. Before the apocalypse, humans weren't really that much of a threat to the whole world because they might be able to conquer the land and air, but they were unable to do anything underwater."

"!!!" Both Kai and Ria exchanged looks, understanding each other's thoughts as they both realized one thing and said what they thought at the same time. "Mankind threatened the sea because they had become capable of exploring the bottom of the ocean."

Without saying, that was probably the reason why one of the protectors sacrificed themselves.

And this led to another question. "So, are you aiming to be a protector? Full-fledged protector."

"Yes. He said something about my fate, but whatever I do, If I want to control my own fate, I need strength even if it means becoming a protector."

"Still, you need to know how to cultivate your power, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to do it yet, but I am going for a full-scale investigation as soon as this training session finishes." Kai nodded with a serious expression.

"I see. In that case, you might want to start searching for a way to increase your magic power, no?"

Kai agreed. "However, the only problem I need to face right now is the location."

"Indeed. Most of the regions on Earth have been occupied by magical beasts. Only some of them can be investigated. I already have a few for you, but most of them are around the EU Base."

"If I am not wrong, there is an ancient civilization in Peru?"

She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you mean Caral?"

"I forget its name, but it's quite a large settlement in the past."

"Yeah, you are talking about Caral. Well, I am not sure about this one, but I guess you can go." She nodded with a serious expression. "There are no activities there, so I don't think it will be useful for you."

"It's better to check it first because this one might be the same case like the one in Easter Island."

"Well, there is that possibility. If you are so adamant about it, you can go. However, I will assign a separate mission for you."

"That means the exploration becomes a secondary mission?"

"Yes."

"I understand. Just don't make it too far from that location."

"Wait a minute. I have another idea. Why don't you ask that stone on Easter Island? Isn't this easier?"

"He said he wouldn't help me more than that, so I felt like it would be a waste of time." Kai shook his head.

"It's better to try, right? Besides, you can use the Teleportation Magic to head there." She shrugged.

"Well, true enough. After that mission, I will try to visit him…Probably alone."

"You don't want the others to know about your identity huh."

"Yes, especially Sofia. I feel bad about her, but it's better this way. As for Evan, he won't be with me forever, so he shouldn't know as well. I will only tell the girls, but at a later date. I can't afford anyone to know about me being a Protector for the time being, including the president of the US base." Kai looked at her with a serious expression.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Besides, I can see those high-ranking people trying to manipulate you because of this identity. That's why I am not going to let them." She smiled, assuring him.

"Thanks. For now, you are the only one who knows about this secret. After all, you are the only one I can trust that coincidentally is strong enough to know about this secret."

"Thank you for trusting your teacher." Ria patted his head with a gentle smile. She didn't mention anything about the method to increase the magic power because she had no use for it. As long as Kai could get stronger, even if it meant she became the weakest person on Earth, she would gladly accept it.

"Still, don't you want to research the magic particles? Now you know its form, wouldn't this become easier for you?"

Ria scratched the back of her head before letting out a long sigh. "You haven't realized this, huh? Well, knowing that you are not very well-versed in this area, it can't be helped. You should know that we have a virus and such, right?"

"Yeah."

"They are very small and need a special microscope to find them. And do you know what I am using now?" She asked.

Kai shook his head.

"It's a thousand times stronger than that one. It can be said to be the most powerful one that is on Earth." She paused and asked. "Do you know what that means?"

"You can't find that. Even the most powerful light-focusing microscopes can't visualize single atoms, so I feel this magic particle is close to this one." She thought for a moment. "Just use this as a comparison. Think about how a ball as big as your head can power up the whole planet for hundreds of years. How much energy do you think contained in that?"

"…" Kai fell silent as he could imagine it. If such a thing exploded on Earth, there was a possibility that Earth wouldn't be round anymore.

"That's why it's not possible to research that. However, I can work on the microscope…Albeit, I don't have a vision of me actually succeeding in this project."

"In that case, I take back my words. It's better for mankind to not know about this." Kai shook his head, stopping her instead.

"Why?"

"If you say it contains a powerful energy, there is a chance that mankind will use that energy ball to do something dangerous." Kai's face turned serious.

As he said that, Ria could imagine humans made a spaceship using that energy ball to power up the whole thing. When it comes to that stage, they will, without a doubt, sacrifice their own protector. "What a foolish race we are…"

"Yeah. Maybe that's why he called us a primitive race." Kai shrugged.

"Anyway, what are you going to do now? There is still time to continue your training."

"I will be training to use the power of my blood first. To that end, I need an empty room so that I can stay calm."

"I have one. It's the place where I am training."

"Alright. I will use that room." Kai nodded. "Do you have any more questions about this?"

"Nope. A huge burden just got placed on your shoulder, so you should fix that problem first. I will be working on the medicine for Ayaka and the others first. If your method is successful, I will give it to them."

"Thank you, Teacher."

"No, I should be thanking you. I have more things to experience and learn for." She smiled, feeling pretty fired up.

"That's good then. Let's fight when I have mastered this power." Kai slowly rose from the bed and followed Ria, who guided him to the training room.