Editing City Series:Volume8b Chapter12 (section)

===Aoe’s Continued Sight Mod: In DT Castle===

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe crossed his arms while seated across from Akalabeth.

“Believe in my fist, understand my opponent…and surpass them.”

Akalabeth continued smiling, but he tilted his head.

“But, ma’am, I can trust in my fist easily enough, but I can’t read my opponent’s mind. How am I supposed to understand their anxiety and fear?”

“Oh? Aoe Shouzou, you have already done so. Don’t you remember?”

That came as a surprise.

<You mean I have already used the strongest power?>

He wasn’t aware of that.

He looked back through his memories, but he couldn’t come up with anything. He grew impatient and brushed a hand through his short hair.

“Sorry. I have never been good at riddles. I bet Yuo could give me the answer if she was here.”

Only after saying it did he realized that could never happen again.

He hung his head a bit, his fingers still in his hair. And he heard Akalabeth’s voice.

“What has you so down? You just gave the answer.”

“?”

He looked up to find her smiling at him.

“Think about it, Aoe Shouzou. Why did you come to DT?”

“In pursuit of Algo, of course.”

“That was not your reason. Telyb told me you wanted to meet Yuo so you could decide if you were going to give up on your fist as a dropout.”

She spoke with her well-enunciated voice and in her window.

<You wanted Yuo, as a Minus person, to eliminate your Plus anxiety and fear.>

“Yuo is the same. She made you her assistant so you, as a Plus person, could eliminate her anxiety and fear over leaving you. Not to mention her anxiety of dropping out that she gained from the feelings and memories she gained in the outside world.”

Akalabeth took a breath there.

“You did the same thing out in the Plus world, didn’t you? You were always assisting each other.”

She fell silent and stared at him, but then she laughed quietly.

He frowned.

“What’s so funny?”

“That look on your face that says you have no idea what I am talking about. It probably came so naturally to the two of you that you weren’t even aware it was happening.”

He clicked his tongue at that, which only deepened her smile.

“That is the proper interaction between Plus and Minus. Eliminating the Plus anxieties and fears is a job for the Minus people who can face the killing power that Plus people fear so much. In the same way, eliminating the Minus anxieties and fears is a job for the Plus people who can reach out a helping hand to the Minus people cowering in fear of the outside world.”

“So by combining my Plus and Yuo’s Minus, we can cancel out our anxieties, leaving us with zero?”

<Yes. With two Plus people or two Minus people, they understand each other’s powers, coping strategies, and standpoints, so when they fight, they can sense their opponent’s pain so vividly they avoid the issue before going all out. Similarly, two of the same type can provide support for their anxieties, but they can never surpass and eliminate those anxieties.>

Akalabeth narrowed her eyes.

“You apparently said that Algo once told you his strongest power was only a partial answer. He likely meant that both he and Alternative Kobayashi are Minus people. He was expressing self-deprecation at the fact that they weren’t in balance the way you and Yuo are.”

<Right now, Suedomsa and the Quartet are trying to fulfill Yuo’s resignation, not eliminate it, right? That is because eliminating her resignation requires a Plus person like you or those of us Suedomsa said are not fit to be called Minus Elites.>

Aoe listened to her in the window’s light and nodded.

She nodded back.

<What do you think, Aoe Shouzou? Do you think Yuo could help you obtain the strongest Plus power?>

“If you can still eliminate Minus Yuo’s anxieties and fears, couldn’t you do the same for the other Minus people?”

“Well…”

“Is that a no? It is true no two people are alike. Everyone carries their own anxieties and fears. That is why you must find the correct power to use against each and every one of them. But the same applies to Yuo. So think about it. Think about how a Plus person like you would usually bring relief to a Minus person like Yuo. Then you only need to figure out how to apply that to other people.”

“Hah. So that’s it. That’s how the strongest Plus and Minus powers work.” He clenched his fist tight. “Sure enough, the strongest power isn’t something you can really put to words.”

<Yes, because it has no fixed form and changes to match the person it is wielded against.>

“If you understand that, then you must seek out how to wield the strongest Plus power. That is, how to wield a power a Minus person would accept defeat to. You must find a way to trust in your fist, understand your opponent’s anxiety and fear, and surpass them. That is your task, young man who has begun to lose faith in his fist and cannot read people’s minds.”

'''“Once you find that method, you will have truly mastered the strongest power.”

'''<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>