Chapter 14: The Small Digital Secret Realm

"Agumon, small flame."
At Zhao Jie’s command, a ball of orange-red fire, about the size of a basketball, shot from Agumon’s mouth. The entire process lasted only three seconds.

Bang...

The flame, swift as an arrow, struck the water bottle Zhao Jie had tossed into the air with perfect accuracy.

"Yeah! Zhao Jie, I did it!"
Seeing his small flame hit the target, Agumon jumped up, beaming excitedly at Zhao Jie who stood not far away.

"Nicely done."
Looking at the exhilarated Agumon, Zhao Jie allowed a smile to creep onto his face.

After a period of training, Agumon’s potential had been partially unlocked. The charging time for the small flame was now compressed to just three seconds.

"Alright, let’s start training for instant release!"
Three seconds wasn’t long, but it still left a brief pause; some swift Digimon could easily dodge such an attack with their speed.

Only instant release brought the element of surprise, making it possible to defeat the enemy.

"Okay!"
Agumon nodded and began practicing the instant release of small flames.

"Agumon, instant release is all about speed, but it must also pose a real threat to the enemy. Only then will your small flames be effective. The power doesn’t need to match your regular small flame, but it must deal some damage. You’ll need to judge the balance yourself."

Instant release was just Yang Dong’s first step in developing Agumon’s abilities. Once Agumon could master instant release, there would be double bursts, triple bursts, and even casting while moving.

Currently, Agumon was a stationary caster—he had to stop to unleash his skills, a glaring flaw easily exploited.

Casting while moving would make it much harder for others to spot Agumon’s weaknesses, but achieving that wouldn’t be easy. The road ahead was long.

"Dodge training."

"Stamina training."

"Agility training."

Day after day slipped by in this fulfilling routine—or so Zhao Jie felt. Agumon, meanwhile, found himself missing the days when he was still Botamon. Was growing up really less joyful?

But whenever he scooped up a handful of snacks, any faint sadness melted away, and he realized that growing up wasn’t so bad after all.

By early August, Agumon finally mastered casting while moving. Though it was just instant-release small flames, it was a solid step forward.

Agumon had also successfully learned the technique for double bursts.

Time drew ever closer to the Newcomer Cup. Once Agumon mastered casting skills while moving, Zhao Jie decided it was time to depart.

"Agumon, we’ll be able to go home tomorrow."
In the forest, Zhao Jie gently stroked Agumon’s head as he watched Agumon battling snacks, his voice warm.

It was time for Agumon to begin some real combat training.

Agumon, still munching away, shivered inexplicably at Zhao Jie’s words. He sensed that something unpleasant awaited him.

Going home might not be such a good thing!

But thinking of all the points he’d accumulated, Agumon forced himself to dismiss his worries. Once he returned, he could feast to his heart’s content.

Home. He had to go home.

Buzzing...

Neither Yang Dong nor Agumon noticed that, as they spoke, the space around them rippled like water disturbed by a breeze, twisting and warping.

By the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late—they were already enveloped.

Wenzhen.

The Digimon Operator in charge of monitoring this region stared grimly at the patch of red flashing on his computer screen.

A Digimon Secret Realm was forming on the outskirts of Wenzhen!

"Calling Wuling City, a Digimon Secret Realm is forming in Wenzhen. Level unknown, requesting support!"

After making the call, the Operator named Li Mu turned to his partner, a Growth-stage Oremon.

"Oremon, I’ll need your help this time."

Even the smallest Digimon Secret Realm, if mishandled, could cause massive damage to its surroundings. This particular realm was forming dangerously close to a human settlement.

If a berserk Digimon escaped from the realm, the consequences would be unthinkable.

When Li Mu and Oremon arrived at the site of the forming Secret Realm, the first thing they saw was a backpack—and some food wrappers.

Someone had been caught up in the Secret Realm?

The realization made Li Mu’s already sour expression darken further.

Human casualties, especially among ordinary civilians, were something the authorities strove desperately to avoid. The survival odds for a regular person trapped in a Digimon Secret Realm were abysmally low.

"What? An ordinary person has been caught in a Digimon Secret Realm? We’ve already dispatched personnel, but I’ll send more—do everything possible to rescue them!"

After reporting the situation, Li Mu looked at Oremon. Originally, he’d planned to wait for Wuling City’s reinforcements before exploring the realm.

That would have made things much safer, but now, there was no time to wait.

"Let’s go in. With me here, it’ll be fine."
Oremon spoke to Li Mu. As his Digimon partner, Oremon understood the nature of Li Mu’s work; now was not the time to keep waiting—they had to risk entering to save lives.

"Thank you, Oremon."

...

"What’s going on here?"
Zhao Jie and Agumon stared at each other, wide-eyed. In the blink of an eye, they had been transported from a wooded forest to an endless plain.

Could this be a second crossing?

Zhao Jie shook his head, pushing the thought aside—it seemed improbable... didn’t it?

"The energy is very active."
Agumon sensed around and reported to Zhao Jie.

Very active energy?

Zhao Jie hesitated, then closed his eyes, linking his mind to the Digimon energy at his brow.

Just as Agumon said, the energy was indeed surging.

"Could we have ended up in a Digimon Secret Realm?"
Zhao Jie considered the possibility.

Digimon Secret Realms were classified as super-large, large, medium, small, and extra-small. But with Zhao Jie’s strength, even an extra-small realm was beyond his ability to explore.

"That’s likely the case."

He truly hadn’t expected this—a Secret Realm appearing just as he was about to leave, and without even the chance to refuse.

"Agumon, stay here and don’t wander off."

"We’ll wait for rescue."

Zhao Jie had absolutely no desire to explore; this was not a mapped-out Secret Realm, and wandering around could very well cost them their lives.

ps: By the way, I haven’t asked for recommendation votes in a while—so please, send some my way! Updates are slow, but I promise I won’t leave the story unfinished.