Fractal Plane: Awakener's Pact

Chapter 8 - Duel at Noon

1

The horns of the busy cars and the bustling crowds on the street near Regalis Shopping Complex greeted Kazuki the moment he disembarked from the train station.

"Third storehouse, huh?"

Kazuki looked at his phone to see that he had arrived just ten minutes early from the appointed time. He blended in with the weekend crowd while moving toward the shopping complex.

The trip to Amagi's went without much problems.

At the very least, he was glad that she thought that it was all a dream. He knew that he would be having a hard time explaining everything if the girl had thought of the whole experience differently.

Paying no more heed to the crowds as he passed the coffee shop where he first encountered Uehara outside school, as well as one of the many gates to the shopping complex, he found himself turning a corner in order to face three large structures.

Standing thrice as tall as a person, those white houses were the storage areas for the shopping complex's numerous goods. Normally, people were not allowed inside, and the doors were kept shut.

The only way in was through the driveway for large trucks, but even those had chains blocking the way in most situations.

As expected, the doors to the first two storehouses were locked shut, and a chain prevented vehicle entry to both of them.

When he arrived in front of the third large structure, there was only one guard on duty. The main doors were inaccessible, and so was the driveway.

"How may I help you?" asked the guard, who approached him out of initiative.

"Ahh... Just looking around. Someone wanted to meet here."

To that, the guard had a puzzled look on his face and furrowed his eyebrows. "That's a strange friend you got there. Why here out of all places?"

Kazuki shrugged. "I dunno myself. He's a weird one."

The moment he gave that answer, Kazuki stopped.

He failed to describe his feelings in simple words, but he surely felt it. It was not as threatening of a presence as the one he had last night, but it was nonetheless there.

A Fragment was nearby.

"Well, I'll go round that corner and just wait for the guy to show up," said Kazuki, pointing at the other end of the storehouse.

"Yeah sure."

Moving on to the corner of the storehouse, the sensation grew even stronger. It slowly crept towards Kazuki, and it only intensified the closer he got to the supposed entry point of the Fragment.

He faced the wall and raised his hand. Moving it from left to right as if uncovering something, he finally found it. The veiled portal slowly came into view.

First, it was translucent. Then, it became clear as day.

The portal which signifies the entrance to Mu, the veiled gateway, stood in front of him.

At this point, he was not yet sure what the thing looked to regular humans. For all he knew, the disappearance of some guy who walked right through a wall could be the news this very evening. Luckily, not a lot of people pass by this way, and after a quick inspection of the surroundings, he confirmed that no one was indeed watching.

"Here we go then."

He touched the veil with his hand before walking straight through it like before.