Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

In the end, after Takuya explained a little more about his experiences in the Digital World—how he had encountered Digimon that were genuinely bad by nature, how some of them could easily use hypnosis and other abilities to manipulate people, and how others were powerful enough to wipe out every National Level Hunter as if they were nothing—Cha Hae-In finally agreed that keeping both worlds separated was probably the best option.

Cha Hae-In understood the problem. A government could very easily try to make use of a force like Digimon, especially since most of them weren’t mindless monsters or inherently evil. In fact, that was precisely the problem. Cha Hae-In knew governments wouldn’t simply try to cooperate with them. Eventually, someone would try to control them.

After that, Takuya explained what little he understood about the Digital World, although there were still massive gaps in his own knowledge. First, there were apparently multiple worlds inside the Digital Dimension. He explained it to Cha Hae in the simplest way he could: just as the Material Dimension contained the Human World and whatever worlds or pocket dimensions the Gates connected to, the Digital Dimension contained several different worlds of its own.

As far as Takuya knew, there were at least two major ones: the normal Digital World—which, for some reason, was literally called the normal Digital World—and Illiad. Both possessed their own systems of protection and their own "knights." Takuya explained that the two Digimon they had just encountered belonged to the Royal Knights of the normal Digital World and had nothing to do with Illiad, so whatever equivalent organization existed there shouldn’t suddenly appear because of him. At least, as far as he knew.

What Takuya didn’t explain was that the Digital World where he had spent the last several months probably wasn’t either of those worlds. The organization there wasn’t the Royal Knights, nor was it anything related to the Olympus Digimon he vaguely remembered. Considering LordKnightmon had detected something called Shambala Server data around him, there was a pretty good chance that the world he had been visiting was actually Shambala.

To reassure Cha Hae further, Takuya explained that he had most likely received his powers specifically to maintain the separation between both dimensions. He showed her the D-Scan and explained that he was connected to it, and that the device could detect Digital anomalies appearing anywhere in the Human World.

Then Cha Hae asked a question that made Takuya stop and think for a moment.

"Okay. We keep this secret from everyone. But what happens if, at some point, one of those Mega Digimon—the ones that apparently have the power of a National Level Hunter or more—comes out of that other dimension? You said they can’t come here easily, but can you guarantee they can’t? Can you guarantee they never will?"

Indeed, he couldn’t.

Just because it had been difficult until now didn’t mean it was impossible, especially considering how much information he was still missing.

So, for now, the answer was simple.

"We hope it’s a good one," Takuya replied. "If it isn’t, then we gather the National Level Hunters and deal with it the same way we would any other monster. Then I close whatever breach allowed it to come here. Also, in that situation, I think I could ask for help. You saw Halloween, and I believe Creed should eventually be able to reach Mega too." Takuya paused before adding, "And I should clarify something. Not every Mega is like those Royal Knights. Every Mega is strong, obviously, but the Royal Knights are waaaay above average. Also, as long as we don’t threaten the stability of the Digital World, they shouldn’t interfere with us."

"I see. At least the pseudo-good ones are the strongest," Cha Hae muttered. "And that last part about them not attacking us as long as we don’t interfere with their world gives me even more reasons to keep this out of the public eye." She rubbed her temples. "You really gave me a headache. Now that I think about it, though, you clearly seem capable of growing stronger. How exactly are we going to explain that? That’s unheard of. There is no third awakening."

"That we know of yet," Takuya immediately replied.

"Don’t start with that. You can’t just say you awakened for a third time," Cha Hae complained before becoming more serious. "And now I need to think about something else. I need a way to become stronger too. You said your pumpkin friend wasn’t originally among the strongest, and now he’s already stronger than me. So if the truly strongest beings in that world are stronger than an S-Rank..." She frowned. "I need a way to grow."

"Mmm. Well, Halloween is a Mega now, so technically he is among the strongest," Takuya corrected. "But I get your point. When it comes to getting stronger, the magic system in this world is pretty unfair. It mostly depends on luck. But I do have an idea. There’s a woman in the United States who is supposedly capable of making Hunters stronger. I think we could try reaching her."

"That could work, but are you sure someone like that actually exists?" Cha Hae asked. Then she paused. "No, more importantly, someone with an ability like that would practically be treated as a national treasure. Even the government wouldn’t simply let her go wherever she wanted. The only Guild that..." She suddenly stopped.

Her eyes narrowed.

"She’s with the Scavenger Guild, isn’t she?"

Takuya remained silent.

"And how exactly did you know about her?" Cha Hae asked.

"I’m good with digital stuff. I found it online," Takuya answered casually.

Cha Hae raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. Keep your secret," she replied. "But do you really think they would agree to increase my power?"

"I think we can figure something out eventually. For now..." Takuya rested his hands against the ground as he thought about what they should do next.

"For now, we should think about what we’re going to do about your new Rank. And I personally need some time to process this entire situation," Cha Hae said. It was understandable. Everything she understood about the world had just changed, and she had a lot to think about. More importantly, she had agreed not to tell anyone for now, something Takuya appreciated. Well, either that, or Cha Hae simply didn’t want to see greedy S-Rank Hunters trying to investigate another dimension filled with creatures they couldn’t possibly understand.

So, for now, if a Digimon ever appeared in the Human World, everyone else could simply assume it was another kind of dungeon monster.

"I think we should go back to Seoul," Takuya said as he looked toward the sky. Nothing about this trial had ended the way he expected. It had been a complete mess, and even though he didn’t particularly want to admit it, he was scared. A Royal Knight now knew about him. Worse, Takuya hadn’t even been the one who attracted LordKnightmon’s attention in the first place. That had been Ulforce’s fault. And somehow Cha Hae had been dragged into the trial alongside him.

Which meant the D-Scan apparently didn’t care who happened to be standing beside Takuya when a trial started.

The D-Scan.

Right.

He needed to check it.

"Give me a second. I need to see what changed," Takuya said as he pulled out the D-Scan. To Cha Hae, it simply looked like a strange phone, so she used the opportunity to sit down and process everything that had happened.

D-SCAN

Host: Takuya Kanbara

Current Evolution: VRITRAMON (O. Fragment)

Profile: (HIDE) (Upper Ceiling Growth)

A Digimon that possesses power over Flame which bears the might of one of the legendary Warrior Ten. This fighter has skin capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and can even move through lava. It is said to have been born from active volcano research data and to contain an immeasurable amount of unknown energy. Its ferocious nature embodies the fire dragon considered the nemesis of the thunder god Indra. The more heroic the battle and the more powerful its opponent, the greater its fighting spirit becomes. However, it also possesses a reckless nature that refuses to retreat even when facing overwhelming disadvantages.

Its Special Moves include firing lasers comparable to concentrated solar heat from the Rudriya Darpaṇa superweapons mounted on both arms (Corona Blaster), and engulfing its entire body in flames before generating a high-temperature tornado with its wings (Flame Storm).

Hunter Rank

Human Form — B+ Rank

Agnimon Form — A++ Rank

Mastery — 99%

Vritramon Form — S Rank

Mastery — 60%

Primary Spirit: Fire

Elemental Synchronization: 100%

DIGISpirit Sync: 2%

Fire — 100%

Gaia — 10%

Stored Data: 0 MB

Evolution Line

Baby I — Mokumon

Transformation Unavailable — Incompatible Host Body

Baby II — DemiMeramon

Transformation Unavailable — Incompatible Host Body

Rookie / Child — Flamon

Special Hybrid (High Rookie)

Partial Transformation Available — Incompatible Host Body

Adult — Agnimon

Special Hybrid (Special Adult / Low Perfect)

Transformation Available

Perfect — Vritramon

Special Hybrid (Special Perfect / Peak Perfect)

Transformation Available

Unlocked Abilities

Smoke; Burning Salamander; Salamander Break; Fire Darts; Crimson Knuckle; Burning Slicer; Corona Blaster; Flame Storm; Atomic Corona Blaster; Wildfire

Spatial Break — Special Perfect-level and above skill

(A/N: The remaining named techniques are essentially physical attacks, so I won’t list every single one.)

Reset Evolution Line Requirement: 3 GB of Data

Slide Evolutions Available

RizeGreymon — Insufficient Data: 20 GB

RizeGreymon X — Insufficient Data: 100 GB

DeathMeramon — Insufficient Data: 15 GB

Agnimon — Special Slide-DIGISpirit Privilege — Available

Next Evolution — MEGA

Aldamon

Requirements: 100% Mastery and Synchronization between Agnimon and Vritramon

KaiserGreymon

Requirements: Human and Beast Spirits of Fire, Earth, Wind, Ice, and Wood also requires ??? and ???? and ????

????

Inventory

20 / 500 Slots Used

ACTUALIZATION COMPLETE.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

Takuya’s eyes widened.

Cha Hae obviously noticed his reaction, but Takuya ignored her questioning look for the moment.

There was another massive update to the D-Scan.

The first thing he noticed was that his current Evolution was now displayed at the top: Vritramon. Beneath it was some kind of profile describing the species itself. That was actually pretty useful. It allowed Takuya to better understand his own capabilities instead of discovering every little detail through trial and error.

Then came the Hunter Rankings.

His Human Form had increased from B to B+.

Agnimon had also increased from A+ to A++, most likely because of everything Takuya had learned and absorbed during the Vritramon trial.

And then there was Vritramon.

S-Rank.

Takuya stared at it.

Just S-Rank?

During the trial, Vritramon had felt much stronger. The uncontrolled version had been powerful enough to fight Cha Hae, Creed, and Halloween simultaneously. Yet now, the energy Takuya felt within himself seemed much closer to Cha Hae’s own level.

Then he noticed the number beside it.

Mastery — 60%

That was probably the reason.

He currently possessed only sixty percent mastery over Vritramon. If he reached one hundred percent, he would probably be able to manifest the same level of strength he had felt during the trial.

Which could mean only one thing.

He still needed more fights.

There was still room for growth.

It was the exact same thing that had happened with Agnimon. At first, Takuya had assumed that once he unlocked a form, its strength would remain fixed forever.

But that wasn’t the case.

He could grow stronger. He had been thinking too much like a Hunter. He wasn’t one. Not completely. He was a Digimon.

And once he fully mastered Vritramon, he could probably regain the power he had displayed during the trial.

Then Takuya noticed something even more important.

DIGISpirit Sync: 2%

He selected the option.

Description: Due to the special nature of the DIGISpirits, each being an original part of the same entity while simultaneously existing separately, this section represents the user’s balance between both Spirits. Synchronization will increase through the use and understanding of both Spirits and through the user’s ability to synchronize them as a single entity.

Takuya’s eyes widened again.

Yes.

He really was connected to an original fragment of AncientGreymon.

He wasn’t simply some random Agnimon or Vritramon.

The new descriptions were incredibly useful because they allowed him to understand things the system had previously left unexplained.

That also helped explain the next section.

This time, two possible Mega Evolutions were visible.

Aldamon.

And KaiserGreymon.

First, Aldamon.

There was no Data requirement this time. That was probably because Takuya already possessed both fragments of AncientGreymon necessary to form Aldamon. He didn’t need additional Data to force another Evolution.

He needed mastery. He needed synchronization. He needed to understand Agnimon and Vritramon well enough to combine them. That was all.

KaiserGreymon, however, was different. Takuya needed the remaining Spirits.

Fire. Earth. Wind. Ice. Wood.

Which meant those Spirits obviously existed somewhere. Probably somewhere in the Digital World. Then there was another ability.

A weird one.

Spatial Break.

Apparently, it was a special ability available to Perfect-level Digimon and above.

"What the hell is that?"

Takuya selected it.

Spatial Break — Special Perfect-level and Above Skill

Allows the user to enter the first layer of the Digital Dimension. Damage caused within this space will not be reflected in the Material World. This ability cannot be used to travel directly into Digital Worlds.

Takuya stared at the description. That was useful.

No.

That was extremely useful.

If a dangerous monster appeared, he could potentially force the fight into the Digital Dimension and prevent the surrounding city from being destroyed. He could also train freely with his S-Rank teammates without worrying about damaging the Human World.

That was unbelievably useful.

Then there were the Slide Evolutions.

Those were apparently the Evolutions that still required Data. RizeGreymon required twenty gigabytes, DeathMeramon required fifteen, and now there was even an option for RizeGreymon X.

One hundred gigabytes. That was a lot.

A ridiculous amount, actually. And finally...

The inventory.

It had increased enormously.