Takatora stared at his phone in disbelief, "Adam... what are you thinking?" thinking back, the last time he saw Adam was the previous day, he migrated to the Japanese server to observe a battle involving King. Was this the reason? Takatora remembered a specific part of Adam's private message. [i]I'd seen all I need to see.[/i] He wasn't planning this from the beginning... was he? There was no time to think about it. Takatora pocketed his phone and grabbed his book bag. Today was still a school day, and so he would have to wait until the afternoon to get the Hayabusa back from Sento. In a way he was almost nervous about what Sento would say about it. What if it wasn't as strong as it seemed? Or worse, what if it was too much to him to actually handle?

He could barely pay attention throughout the day, instead having to resort to remaining on auto-pilot for most of it. Between thinking about his inevitable trip to Sento's later and overhearing a number of conversations concerning Adam's video, it was difficult not to have those thoughts racing through his head. Eventually, the school day came to its end and Takatora practically made a b-line to Sakuraba Plastic Models. He was anxious to get the Hayabusa back, but even more so about hearing the result of Sento's appraisal.

[hr]
It was almost midnight. He couldn't afford to remain up all night, but at the same time he couldn't afford to go to bed yet until he reaped the results of his work. At last, something appeared in his inbox. A video, and the young man watched it intently. So that was what King looked like? Interesting, it was almost strange knowing that he was likely one of the first people to ever get this good of a look at King's person. When the video finished, the man reached for a nearby bottle of water and drank from it, actually downing what was left inside. Then he stood up, the video paused on King's grimace, and picked up a nearby mobile phone. He awoke it from its idle mode and then looked for a specific contact before pushing the call button.

"It's me." Adam said, when he heard the recipient of the call answer. He wasn't speaking in his native Romanian, in fact he wasn't even speaking in English either. He was, in fact, speaking Japanese of all things, "I take it you saw the video?" a pause, "That's true, everyone in the GBN community has seen it by now. I'm letting you be the first to know... my challenge was accepted." another pause, "Actually, no. I have another reason for calling you. I'm going to email you the full specs of the Blood Baron, it's been too long since it's last appraisal." another pause, "Yes, I'm well aware there are shops here in my country, but you're the only person in the world I would ever want to entrust my Gunpla's secrets to." one final pause, "Right, I'll send it in the next hour or so, so keep an eye on your inbox. Thank you, Sento. Goodbye." and then he hung up. The next 20 or so minutes was spent putting together a list of his Gunpla's specs that he then put into an email that he sent to an old friend. When that was done, he could finally lay down in bed and get some much needed sleep.

[hr]
When he made it to Sento's store, Takatora entered the door without any pause or hesitation. He was getting even antsier about the appraisal. But once he was he inside, he heard Sento's voice coming from the back end of the store. It sounded like he was on the phone. As Takatora approached the counter, he could hear a little of what Sento was saying.

"You do know there are shops in your country, don't you?" there was a pause, "Well, now you're just trying to flatter me. Oh fine, I'll appraise it for you. An hour or so? Alright, I'll be waiting for it. Goodbye." and then there was a click. After that, Sento emerged and spotted Takatora, "There you are, right on time. That's good." he went behind the counter and reached under it. When he stood back up again he presented the all-too-familiar case for the Hayabusa, "Just like it was when you brought it to me, just as promised."

Takatora practically snatched the case from him and quickly opened it to check on the Hayabusa. True to his word, it looked absolutely no different than when Takatora brought it in. The fact that Sento could so perfectly recreate the build after dismantling it was a testament to the sheer level of his building skill, "So...? What can you tell me?" Takatora asked after an awkward long pause.

"For starters," said Sento, hanging a small poster board on the wall behind him before beginning to write notes on it, "he was a lot more prepared than I used to give him credit for. Not only does it have the Scale System for underwater mobility, but he also equipped it with Trans-Phase Armor to be used in a pinch. Turns out the black paint job isn't just for looks, that particular paint has a peculiar oil mixed into it that somehow renders the Gunpla nearly invisible to enemy scanners and radar. So much like how the Deathscythe and Deathscythe Hell could be used for stealth operations, so too can the Hayabusa, but he took it further than that. The legs have a clay-like substance reinforcing them. This provides a dampener of sorts of that allows the Gunpla to step silently despite it's scale size. Not completely silently, but enough to make a difference."

"Scale System and Trans-Phase Armor? I... didn't even know about that." Takatora admitted, suddenly feeling a little foolish for having piloted a Gunpla he apparently knew very little about.

"A standard vulcan, nothing particularly unique, just an emergency back up weapon. The twin beam sabers are an interesting choice, near weightlessness of a beam saber allows them to be swung faster than a solid. That combined with their beam energy blades make them ideal for high speed strikes capable of burning through physical defenses. Of course there's also the Dragon Buster, it's weight allowing for powerful swings that deal devastating damage, it's ideal for larger and more heavily armored opponents such as Mobile Armors. But the real trump card, the real masterpiece to this build..." paused before gesturing toward the katana, "...is that sword there, the Dragon Sword."

"It's just a Katana, though..." responded Takatora, to which Sento practically slammed his hand on the counter.

"It most certainly is not 'just a Katana'!" exclaimed, before clearing his throat, "While it may [i]look[/i] like the same Gerbera Straight used by the Astray Red Frame base model, this sword has been modified. Now it holds a powerful secret. With each swing, each strike against opponents, the blade can collect and store particle and kinetic energy bit by bit. Over time, it builds up, and then it can be released for a single, extremely powerful strike, far more deadly than anything than even the Dragon Buster is capable of. From what I gather, you can actually see the signs of the energy the blade stores whenever it pulses with electrical sparks. Evidently those aren't just cosmetic, but instead act as a visual cue for keeping track of how much energy is stored in the blade."

Takatora blinked in disbelief. Could that really be true? He had to admit, he had noticed the Dragon Sword occasionally sparking with electrical energy but... he always just assumed that was a design choice for dramatic effect. He never would have guessed there was an actual functional purpose to it, "I... honestly had no idea. Is it really that powerful?"

"I thought you might ask," Sento said, "so I dug this up." he pulled up a video clip on his phone for Takatora to watch. It was battle footage of the Hayabusa, but was recorded a long time ago, meaning that Kiyotaka was the one piloting it. He was in battle against a Psycho Gundam capable of firing a large beam shot from its chest. The specific moment of the clip showed the Hayabusa's sword almost constantly producing sparks up and down the length of the blade. The Hayabusa boosted forward, making for a direct frontal attack against the Psycho Gundam which fired it's chest beam. But the Hayabusa didn't dodge, instead the blade gleamed as the black gunpla sliced into the beam, releasing the stored energy and producing a golden-like aura that burst from the blade and seemed to extend it's length and greatly increase its power. After that, the beam from the chest laser actually split into two, indicating it was being cut in half by the Dragon Sword as it continued boosting forward. After a moment, the Hayabusa blew past the Psycho Gundam and sheathed the sword in time for the big Mobile Armor to split it into two halves before exploding.

"...Wow." was Takatora's only response.

"Of course, your mileage may vary." warned Sento, "After all, what you just saw was Kiyotaka at his best. The actual power and effectiveness of the sword likely boils down to the skill level of the pilot. I doubt you'll be cutting down Psycho Gundams anytime soon. It's also very possible that what you witnessed was Kiyotaka's special technique awarded to him upon reaching Rank C. If that were the case, then you may not be able to use that attack at all. Even when you reach Rank C, the attack you are awarded with is one completely unique to you, which would mean this particular attack may simply be impossible for you to even use, much less master."

"But what choice do I have? I don't have any Gunpla of my own, so I'm just going to have to master the Hayabusa. Even if I can't be as strong as him, I can still use what you told me to be even better. So... thanks." he took the Hayabusa and hurriedly left the store. He was now more eager than ever to log back into GBN. If for no other reason than to try out the other systems and functions of the Hayabusa.

"I really hope..." Sento said with a sigh after Takatora left, "...you show more ambition than that. You'll never grow if you just stay like this forever."