Hi guys, my other Fic will start in about 32 hours, hope your excited for it!
Power Stone Goals from now on: I always post a minimum of 5 chapters. Henceforth the following are the goals:
Every 150 powerstones, I upload an extra chapter.
If we hit top 30 in the 30-90 days power stone rankings, thats 1 more chapter
If we hit top 10 in the 30-90 days power stone rankings, thats 1 more chapter
If we are top 5...well lets get to that first. Happy readings!
Chapter 71: In the real world
Sprouts Haven to Radiant Heaven...
Who knew it would take someone an entire night to travel that distance?
And of course, it couldn't be by regular means.
The journey had to be done in a specialized helicopter—one that was shielded in the same semi-transparent, crystalline material used to protect the surface cities. The synthetic bubble that wrapped around the aircraft shimmered faintly with a bluish hue, built to repel radiation, electromagnetic pulses, and the toxic remnants of the world we had nearly destroyed decades ago.
Even after all this time, we were still climbing out of the ashes of the old world.
Yuki, to his credit, didn't hesitate.
A brief phone call was all it took and it seems like somehow he managed to convince his father to allow him to travel to an entire other fucking Heaven...
Apparently, that wasn't hard.
Either his father trusted him deeply, or Yuki's family had connections I hadn't accounted for.
That thought lingered.
Because now that I was on the surface, with access to the broader internet—to unfiltered data feeds, archived state files, and private commerce networks (something that 99% of people since they lived underground didn't have access to)—I had learned something that made my stomach twist.
Travel between surface cities cost tens of thousands of credits.
For a single trip.
And Yuki had pulled that off overnight.
That kind of wealth wasn't normal.
If he could drop that kind of cash so easily, then I needed to take his background more seriously.
Much more seriously.
Radiant Heaven itself was something else entirely.
The city earned its name not from its location or climate, but from the way sunlight pierced through the breaks between its towering spires. Every morning, as the sun rose behind the horizon, the massive arcology buildings cast long, jagged shadows across the crystal domes and polished walkways, creating a city-wide illusion of a glowing crown.
It looked like heaven, if heaven had been engineered by survivalists and dreamers.
Shielded from the outside world by its radiant dome, it was one of the Federation's crown jewels—a place where civilization still clung to aesthetics and ambition. The streets were quiet, ordered. Most people here lived clean lives, with scheduled routines and AI-regulated zones of freedom.
You didn't get here by chance.
You bought your way in.
And even then, you were watched.
My family had earned our spot through my brother sacrificing his entire life for us... Yuki? His arrival here told me something I wasn't ready to admit just yet.
He definitely outranked me in the real world...
That made things complicated.
Because inside the game, I was Shikomu.
But out here?
In the cities above the dirt?
Titles didn't mean as much.
And I needed to know exactly who Yuki was before I made my next move.
Especially if he followed me here without question.
But I was obviously more than confident in myself...since any man with a semblance of logic would know the type of influence I held...or would soon hold in the real world.
Since my body was gaining strength at increible paces...it had to be why the Federation was tracking all Jonin, to keep us in check.
And as Yuki made it for breakfast inside of Radiant Heaven, I was ready to talk to him.
It didn't take long for Yuki to join me inside the shop we had agreed to meet in.
The place was modest but clean—white ceramic tables, floor-to-ceiling windows, and sunlight pouring across everything in a soft, golden hue. Real coffee. Real food. It felt surreal to experience something so ordinary again.
He stepped through the glass doors, immediately drawing the attention of the few patrons inside.
About 1.8 meters tall, brown hair neatly combed back, and a sharp, defined face. His posture was confident but relaxed, and his clothing—a simple gray hoodie and clean jeans—didn't suggest anything extravagant.
But the two bodyguards in suits that flanked him?
Yeah. That changed the picture.
They stood tall, perfectly still, eyes scanning everything in the room.
He walked toward me. I was easy to spot—the only kid sitting alone inside this high-end breakfast shop.
The guards followed until he lifted one hand and said calmly, "You guys wait outside."
Without a word, they nodded and turned, positioning themselves just beyond the door, facing outward.
I stood up politely as he approached and extended my hand.
He shook it.
"Nice to meet you in real life, Shikomu," he said with a slight smile.
"Likewise. My actual name is Mathew," I replied. "I think it would be appropriate for us to call each other by our actual names here."
He nodded. "Kaiser."
With that, we both sat.
He waved over one of the automated waitstaff and ordered us each a coffee.
Then came the silence.
Not uncomfortable exactly—just... unformed. Neither of us knew how to talk about the mountain of things that connected us online but didn't translate well into the real world.
Two players.
Two friends...actually could we even be called friends?
One alliance. Built entirely inside a game.
And now we sat across from each other, flesh and bone, in one of the most heavily protected cities in the world.
Our coffees arrived, steaming quietly between us.
Kaiser picked him up and took a small sip before looking at me across the rim of his cup.
"So... why did you call me to come here so urgently?"
I took a sip as well, delaying just long enough to gather my thoughts.
Because how do you explain that you're no longer playing the same game as everyone else?
That you're seeing things in the code, in the AI's behavior, in the movements of world powers—both inside and outside the game—that don't line up?
I lowered the cup, set it down gently, and looked him in the eye.
"Because things are starting to change. Faster than they should. And I think we're going to be at the center of it."
He didn't flinch.
He just nodded slowly.
"Go on," he said.
"When you... reached 'that' rank you already felt... your body become stronger, right?" I asked.
Kaiser nodded calmly, understanding the gravity hidden behind the vagueness.
In the real world, we had to speak in code.
You never knew who was listening. One always had to remember:
The Federation was supreme.
I sighed and slowly raised my hand.
He tilted his head slightly, confused by the gesture. Maybe wondering why I was asking to shake his hand again.
"It would be better if I just showed you."
He set his coffee down and stood without hesitation. Then he reached forward, clasping my hand again.
As soon as our palms met, I closed my eyes.
And I willed it.
The chakra within me stirred, slowly, deliberately.
But it wasn't mine.
Not entirely.
I reached inward, toward the massive well of fire sleeping in my soul.
Matatabi.
She didn't speak.
She rarely did.
But I could feel her eyes open in the dark. Watching.
I hadn't earned her full trust, not yet. We weren't partners in battle. She hadn't lifted a claw for me since the beginning.
But she was curious.
She barely knew anything about what was going on and was a silent observer this far in my life.
So she allowed it.
I moved the chakra—her chakra—through my body and into Kaiser. A minute amount which inside of the game would barely be noticeable for a Jonin unless they paid extreme attention or had high chakra control.
The moment it touched him, I felt it.
His grip on my hand tightened suddenly, reflexively.
Unnaturally.
His body reacted on instinct, muscles tensing as if bracing against something overwhelming.
My eyes narrowed.
I could feel it clearly—his body was enhanced, sharp, and solid, bordering low-genin strength with peak-human conditioning.
But mine?
I was already past that.
I was nearing Peak Genin physically.
And my chakra?
Easily enough to perform academy-level jutsu and beyond, if I wanted to risk it.
But I didn't.
Not in the real world.
There were always eyes everywhere and until I was sure I was inside of a location where nothing would notice me. I wouldn't risk anything.
Kaiser let go of my hand, slowly, looking down at his fingers like they no longer belonged to him.
He blinked.
Then he looked at me.
"So it's true..."
He slumped back into his chair, the full realization hitting him.
Then came the only word that made sense.
"Shit."
Yeah.
That word summed up the world's situation.
...
Authors note:
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator