"So my last year got completely ruined, huh?" I complained while sitting on top of the glass corridor. "All my aspirations, all my hopes- down the drain. Just because of some terrorists."
"Stop kidding yourself. You weren't going to do much, anyway." Yuuno shattered my melancholy.
"That's true. While I didn't exactly have a set plan for the future. I did have a dream. Getting an island. And my dream has been impeded." That was at least a slight inconvenience. Right?
"Dude, I know what your dream is… This is like the billionth time you talked about it." She jumped down. Her watch notified her that it was time for breakfast. "It's nice that you have a dream and all, but at the very least you should have an inkling of a plan. You at least have a university in mind, right?"
"Of course I do! That uhhh… Senate League? The big guys are there. More connections to exploit." That's the university Alez's professor told me to join. I looked into it, and it seemed pretty legit.
"First off, it's Zenyth league, at least know the correct name of the uni you're planning on. Plus, that's the one I'm planning on too, so we'll probably end up together."
"That's fine. You'll probably try to avoid me when we get in the league anyway."
"Bold of you to assume that. You'll probably be OP by then. After your awakening." She started walking off.
"Don't jinx it. Anyway, when's your awakening thing?"
"About a month, I think."
"Oof, you're already turning 16 aren't you, you hag. That makes you 32 inside." I jumped down from the corridor on my own.
"Hell no, it doesn't. Both of us know that my mental state stopped advancing after 19. I haven't grown as a person in so long. Like you don't appreciate mental growth until it stops."
"Stop making excuses, you're ancient."
###
Today was a rather special day. It had been over a week since the incident and today was the day I started to move again. My goals were grand, and I needed to make this life of mine a perfect safe haven.
So I took on another undertaking.
We were standing in the middle of our lawn- by we I mean JiiJii and me.
Because of the mishap, I came to realise that even if I were to remain weak, I needed means to protect myself. Dying after all this effort would be counterintuitive.
So I asked JiiJii to teach me his style. From what I could tell, his moves were precise and had meaning behind them. It was a style purely aimed at killing.
Of course, Mom volunteered to teach me Martial Arts as soon as she realised that I was in the market... but I turned her down because her style depended heavily on strength. Strength wasn't something I wanted to be reliant on.
"You sure you wanna learn this? Out of every other style out there. This?" He sighed. "This style is meant for killing, you know? But then again you're ruthless, so this might just suit you."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Psychopath." I heard Yuuno whisper from the side. Of course, she was here. Yuuno wouldn't miss out on my attempt at getting stronger.
That aside.
I wasn't a psychopath! I just killed the people who needed to be killed. I would much rather prefer to be called a vigilante. Nah, that wouldn't work either. Vigilantes at least have a motive or a message. All I killed for was self-defence.
I WAS A NORMAL CITIZEN!
"Okay, then. This style is called SYSTEMA and it is one specifically designed for military. The only thought you should have while practising this particular SYSTEMA that my master and I created is how efficiently you can get an action done. No wasted movements whatsoever. Truth be told, I'm not a master, but I know enough to be an assailant. I paired it up with my spear arts for the best results."
JiiJii was talking like that one dude who would say that he barely started piano and complained for an hour before actually playing the damn piece.
And then nailing it.
"Loosen your body and prepare for a punch. Remember the first punch I taught you in middle school? This is how you do it in my SYSTEMA."
My senses were pushing their boundaries so that I could observe this at full flow. Within a millisecond, a sharp jab went right under my right arm. It was like I was against a human equivalent of a praying mantis. If I weren't exerting my eyes I would have missed that.
"The kick?" He rotated his thigh joint sideways. "Here you go." Right to the side of my knees.
Obviously, he held back on strength for a demonstration.
"Like this, in my SYSTEMA there are 52 different points where you can hit someone to either immobilize them or kill them."
Right at that second, he decided to demonstrate the 50 other places in one erratic movement. The wind caused due to his hands started to flutter my clothes.
But even at that speed, I could tell exactly where he was aiming at.
'How could someone move so precisely?'
Was this a technique honed by someone with years upon years of practice? Was this something my body would even be able to keep up with?
I mean the man was above 90, but I was the one with an inferior body.
I stepped back.
"That's about it. Coincidentally, these 52 places can also be hit with a spear or staff for the same effect." He put his hand back down and his posture retreated to his normal 5'4.
"Start off by practising the basic kick and punch, once you get that technique down learn all the 52 places off by he-"
I wanted to try it out. I don't know why, but I would much rather repeat it now and seep it into my muscles than forget and redo it later on.
Tensing up every required muscle in my body, I pictured a man right in front of me.
There was almost a hologram in front of my eyes. Right about my size.
And then I reminded myself of where JiiJii just hit me.
Dots at the point of impact started to show up around the body. It was like Os*.
Two at the temples. I punched those.
Three around the jaw.
One big one on the nose.
Extend your pinky and index out of a fist to hit the eyes.
The beauty bone is an easy target to crack, so you go down on it.
Levator scapulae can get torn from the right angle.
Jabs right under the shoulders to dislocate
.
.
.
And finally a kick on the toe, the person bends over hit the balls.
"Phew…" I looked up.
I remembered everywhere the man attacked but my technique was nowhere there. My punches lacked any power and it took a lot of time for me to hit that exact one spot. Not to mention how stupid I must have looked in the third person.
The hologram in front of me disappeared and the world around me became clear again. I sighed.
"Oi, what did you just do now?" JiiJii looked at me. With a perplexed, almost pale face.
"I just did what you di- Ohhh…" He was surprised because I did it in one go. Shiieeeet. "Almost forgot that people weren't geniuses like me."
Oh nooooo.
Suddenly from the other side, a spear came flying right at me. I bent backwards and caught it instinctively.
It was black and it was at least 40 kilos in weight.
I looked over to my side and Yuuno looked at me like she was looking at some prey.
Double oh nooooo.
"You got stronger didn't you?" She started grinning.
'I DIDN'T WANT HER TO FIND OUT!'
All that running around and fighting during the attack. Using body enhancement for an entire day made me significantly stronger.
"Nooo... I didn't get stronger." I started to whistle.
"You grabbed the spear like it was nothing."
"Nooo... I didn't." I immediately dropped it. "Oh dearie me… That was quite heavy."
"Mao you little-" She got up.
"LOOK! I DIDN'T WANT TO GET STRONGER. I JUST GOT INTO A LITTLE ACTION THE OTHER DAY!"
"Doesn't matter. You are strong now. You can join the military with me."
"NOOOO! I'M NOT STRONG! I mean I am- but just like slightly more than the averag- You aren't listening to me are you?"
She pounced on me like a lioness on a deer. And like a dear I started galloping away.
I messed up big time.
"Where do you think you're going after showing me something of that calibre? I won't let you not be my disciple! You shall become the greatest Samurai!" JiiJii shouted in the background. "I would have chased after you if my back didn't hurt."
"Don't worry JiiJii! I'll get this guy to be the strongest in the country, alright!" Yuuno shouted.
"WILL ANYONE EVER JUST LET ME BE?!"
this chapter took a while lol. i'll upload regularly soon enough.
"What's your power anyway?" I asked Yuuno as we sat next to a tree near the Clintarou's shrine.
It was winter but Yuuno melted all the snow away and dried the ground. It was warm where we were sitting.
"I dunno. I'm a mana user I guess. I didn't really go through the awakening thing so I don't have a particular power... I just have them all." Was that a flex? That was totally a flex.
"I know that you didn't go through with the awakening, what I meant to ask was about the attribute you got from the devil transformation."
"Ooooh that? You've already seen it though."
"I have?"
"I mean not specifically but right before you passed out, you saw it."
"All I saw was lightning."
"Yeah, that. Basically besides the base fire, water, air, earth and its derivatives I got the ability to make another element. I don't exactly know what it is, I studied it and it was inexplicable by current science. It's just a derivative of mana interactions and that's about all I know."
Eh? Isn't that ability kind of broken?
"What does it even do?"
"Anything I want it to. Though my favourite application has been turning into the element, and then manipulating the element to form red lightning and then zipping around at unreal speeds."
"Wait wait wait wait. Can you control it to its extreme?"
"Not yet."
"What about blood? Can you control your blood?"
"Oh yeah, on the first day I turned into the devil my- look." She pulled the top of her shirt down to reveal her collarbone and there was a little pink tattoo there. "I got this."
So it was that. Vampires who turned into devils formed their own domain of mana. They called it Regel Nobilus. Being direct descendants of Deathos... They quite liked that ability. So she got that too. Interesting.
"I see..." I sighed. "Also I was kinda expecting a sports bra."
"You little!" She let her shirt go and it went back to not being revealing anymore. But her face was revealing. A terribly red glow. Pouting blushing cheeks like a baboon's butt. "Pervert."
"Proud demons don't shag." I straightened my vision back to the statue.
She's so cute- STOP MAO! Don't get swept up by vain emotions. I needed to distract myself. Unlike Yuuno who went back to making herself a pack of cup ramen, I had nothing to occupy myself with aside those idle thoughts!
"Oi, Yuuno! Now that I understood your ability, there's one more thing I can teach you."
"Eh?"
"It'll make you a lot stronger!"
"What is it?! Tell me!" She immediately put the kettle down and closed the lid. So easy.
'Let's see.'
I looked around for items to try it on but there was only one viable option. After taking the empty kettle in my hand and roughly weighing it, I threw the moderately light object into the snow a bit far away.
'This should do.'
"Hold out your hand." She put the cup ramen to the side and held her hand out. Adamantly obeying my command. I grabbed her wrist and pointed it at the kettle.
"Okayyyy."
"Observe it thoroughly. Burn the image of the kettle in your mind. The way the light bounces off it, the way it might feel in your hand, how it is positioned, it's dimensions. Gauge the distance as well. See how the snow is holding onto the kettle. The rate at which the kettle's heat is slowly melting the snow around it.
Take in the details so minuscule that even Laplace's Demon would miss them."
If she could achieve true equilibrium, this shouldn't be the hardest thing to pull off.
"Hmm…" She mumbled as if to give her confirmation.
"Now close your eyes." Obediently, she closed her eyes. "Imagine that kettle. Every information you took in right before this. The shape and try to feel it in space. Render it in your mind. Perfectly. Focus only on that. Can you see it?"
"I can see it." Her focus was insane. I could feel the stillness from her concentration.
"Good. Now try to pinpoint every molecule on the kettle. Every molecule would have a mana particle attached to it. You should be able to feel the mana too at your stage."
"Unnhnn." She replied a couple of seconds later.
No wonder, that God chose her. She was a genius when it came to abilities.
"Great, what you have is what I call a mana map. Try to think that the mana is that one element you control."
Yuuno didn't reply. She was too engrossed. But she definitely heard me.
"Now try moving just the kettle in the mana map. Every particle of the kettle simultaneously. If you move some faster than the others you would either change the shape or bend the metal. So it has to be consistent. But it's fine if you can't do it in the first try. It is pretty hard."
She didn't stop or waver. But this step took her some time. I mean obviously it took her that time. Even if she was a genius she was no Mao. Yuuno was feeling around the area around her exploring the nooks and crannies of the mana map.
Even though it took a while, eventually there was a melted pool of water where the kettle was and a couple of metres above- floating in the sky, there was the actual thing!
Very slightly crooked, to a degree that it was impossible to notice with a naked human eye. It wasn't all at the same rate.
But this was still a great result to achieve in your first attempt at telekenenisis.
"Open your eyes." I tapped her shoulder.
Slowly while maintaining her focus Yuuno opened her eyes. And the next second her jaw dropped to the ground in astonishment.
"Welcome to devilhood, I congratulate you on not being a vampire anymore." I said as she struggled to keep the kettle up. "Practice just like I taught you and you'd gain mastery really soon. Then handling a kettle would be easy..."
"This is actually... Just woahhhh..." She was almost mesmerised by her new power. "Mao, you really helpe-"
"Also, thanks for the ramen." Right next to her as she continues to play floaty floaty with the kettle, I took a big slurp of the broth from her cup. And then went right in with the chopsticks. Itadakimasu indeed.
Oh how savoury the dish was in this cursed winter. Like a warm kiss to my alimentary canal. Add to that the special seasoning of Yuuno's miserable face as my lips were about to touch the chopsticks.
"If you don't stop now it would be an indirect kiss!" Her words stopped me as the kettle fell to the ground. Her attention was directed at me. Her eyes were wide open.
"So what? I'm not immature enough to care about just some used chopsticks." I throated a big long bunch of noodles.
To be honest I wasn't mature enough for an indirect kiss. After all, I was an all-knowing being who had no experience with women.
I was just used to eating her leftovers. To add to that, she ate from my stuff all the time. But that was all when we were kids. Having her do that now just seemed off. My heart was beating rather fast.
But! But if I were to stop now it would mean that I was the one who felt uncomfortable doing this. Which I just couldn't let be.
So the next second, the pair of chopsticks graced my lips again.
And then the one with a red face was Yuuno.
"D-Don't you blush too easily? You uhhh... whatever the opposite of a thot is."
"Says you? Have you seen your reflection?" Well, I did feel my ears heat up a bit. But there was another reason for my redness.
"It's the cold."
"I heated this place up with magic."
"Scheisse!"
"What a mega virgin demon lord." Her smug twisted face.
"Demons don't need-"
"But you're not a demon anymore… You're half-human. That means that you have needs, and that you... you relieve them o-on m-meee when you lewd m-UUUUU!" She couldn't keep a straight face as she probably imagined me 'relieving'.
"I DON'T RELIEVE ANYTHING! And stop saying stuff that will make you blush, you idiot! If you want to tease me at least keep a straight face yourself!"
"I do have a straight face."
I put my hand on her shoulder and transferred her image to her through mana transmission.
"I LOOK LIKE THAT?! nooooo" She buried her face in her knees. We completely forgot the whole thing was about me stealing her ramen at this point. "ALSO WHAT'S UP WITH THE SPARKLES?"
Sparkles? Oh those sparkles. WAIT! WHY AM I IMAGINING SPARKLES AROUND HER?!
"Uhh… Ah! Your hair is shiny."
"You know what it's getting too hot in here, let's just head inside."
And then our banter continued for a while. The tension between us did power-up. Growing up was tough.
Welp... This is just my wish fulfilment. I hate being single.
BTW check out daemon of death, I might merge those worlds together sometime later. But you don't need information on either of them to understand the other.
Just that I thought that it might be cool. Just read them as two separate stories.
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