Bab 36: Eid Pack 05/???
|—Kuoh Park—|
Noah's eyes bore down at the kids playing in the park with their parents, a depressing aura surrounding him, making some kids point their hands towards him, whispering among each other before their parents pulled them away.
Annoyed, frustrated, depressed — he felt like killing everyone in the park.
For the past week, he barely slept and the only rest he took was either eating or shitting. One could see the dark circles under his eyes and how lifeless his eyes looked. Even when eating, his mind was occupied with how to use the mana in the atmosphere without converting it into his mana… he failed splendidly.
He knew that it would be hard, but even he felt frustrated when he didn't get a single indication of success. He wasted his time and nothing else!
"Ah! You are here!" A surprised voice came as the blond nun made her way towards him, her hand holding a box of food. "I couldn't find you in the mountains so I had thought you might have returned home." She said before shyly raising the box. "Since Noah-san has been training constantly, I thought of making a lunch box. Please eat it."
Noah silently stared at the blushing nun and the box in her hand before he lamented. 'It sure is a sin to be so handsome and charismatic.'
"Thanks." He smiled before taking the box and opening it, finding simple sandwiches within. Well, now that he thinks about it, it has been quite a while since he ate a sandwich. He wasn't one to cook and most of his food was pre-made brought from outside—though he mostly ate instant noodles—he felt his saliva gathering, smelling its smell.
Picking up a sandwich, he bit and chewed—it was not bad.
Seeing her face filled with expectations, Noah smiled softly. "It's good. You've definitely improved your cooking since you started."
"I'm glad Noah-san liked it." Her smile widened a lot, a tint of redness appearing over her cheeks. "I've been trying hard to learn cooking so I can be of use to Noah-san."
'It is just a sandwich woman!' Of course, he would not say it out loud.
As he was eating the sandwich, he couldn't help but feel weird due to Asia's gaze over him. It was unsettling. Not that he hated being stared at by a beautiful girl like Asia, but he definitely didn't like being stared at.
"Come, eat with me." He patted the bench beside him. A tint of fresh air and a small talk with Asia might help him calm down his frustrated and depressed heart, and he might not have any idea of killing people around him.
"E-eh… N-no… I didn't make enough for two people. Noah-san should eat to his fill."
"It's alright. If you keep staring at me like that, I won't be able to eat anyway. So just come sit and eat."
"T-thank you!" She bowed before sitting beside him, taking a sandwich, and starting to eat.
A harmonious scene was created with Noah still glaring at the kids with Asia shyly eating sandwiches, stealing glances at him from time to time.
"Asia, what is magic to you?" Out of nowhere, Noah inquired, startling Asia due to the suddenness of the question.
It bugged him for quite some time, but he wondered, what magic really is? There were too many definitions of magic out there and Noah thought that since he was a reincarnated person, the amalgamation of all these definitions has twisted his definition of magic. So he wanted to know what other people—who were born in the magical world without getting in contact with the numerous definitions of magic—thought magic was.
"Emmm… God's miracle?" She innocently tilted her head and answered. "It is a blessing of God's, allowing people to manifest his miracles in reality."
Staring at her sweet smile without any ugliness of the world, he sighed with a smile. What did he think? Of course, to her, it was the miracle of God.
'Ironically, that 'God' of you is dead.' He sneered internally. 'But God's miracle huh…'
His eyes narrowed slightly before he asked again, "Then what about Sacred Gears?"
"God's miracle."
His lips pursed as he stared at smiling Asia before releasing the accumulated birth. It was no use. It seems like to her, everything that holds supernatural elements is God's miracle.
'Her conviction sure is strong…"
"That's it!" He excitedly shouted stunning Asia (who was about to take a bite of the sandwich) as the sandwich in her hand fell onto the ground. She stared at the sandwich for a second before tears gathered in her eyes, she also wanted to taste it… and she has not eaten anything since morning too… she could only pray to God for forgiveness, for wasting food.
Noah could care less for the fallen sandwich as his mind was constantly lost in thoughts. Till now, Noah never gave any thought to what magic really was. To him, it was just a tool to acquire what he wanted. There was no conviction, idea, or ideology. Like a programmed robot, he just used it because he could.
Now he finally realized, he had no fucking idea what magic really was! God's miracle? A "God" that dies can go and suck his gigantic PP, in his eyes, it was just a rank given to a person out of mortal comprehension. No way he would contribute magic to something as feeble as "God's Miracle".
Then what was magic?
A smirk formed over his face. If he asked the same question to Ajuka, Noah knew his answer would be along the lines of "A complex and sophisticated formula allowing one to interfere and interact with the laws of the world, controlling them, and producing different results."
For example, a fireball is just an accumulation of oxygen atoms in the form of a big sphere ignited by a chemical reaction, creating a ball of fire.
But to Asia, the same fireball is proof of the miracle of god. Does that make any difference? Of course, it does! Noah excitedly smiled.
When one used magic, the Law of Equivalent Exchange or Conversation would happen. They would lose the same amount of mana as the mass of the "miracle" they create. Taking the same example of fireball, if a person treats magic the same as Asia, then they would first inject their mana out of their bodies, allowing it to make a form of a ball before changing its properties into the fire, resulting in a fireball.
In this case, they would lose the same amount of mana as that of the mass of the fireball. At the same time, this can only be used if they are using the mana of their bodies since only their mana can be converted by them and not the mana of the world itself.
While, on the other hand, if a person believed magic to be a complex and sophisticated formula allowing one to interfere and interact with the laws of the world, controlling them, and producing different results, then the result would be completely different.
To create the same fireball, they don't have to use the same amount of mana, in fact, they can achieve the same result with minimum mana usage. All one would have to do is use small mana to increase the amount of oxygen in a sphere before adding a layer of mana around it and creating a chemical spark, it would result in a fireball same as before.
The only problem was, Noah had no idea if the resulting fireball would be the same. It would be the same visually, but what about temperature?
'Fuck temperature! If I'm able to produce a nuclear reaction, then who gives a fuck about temperature? Also, if one needs to increase the heat, then just feed it even more oxygen!'
The only problem was… Noah sucked in chemistry… No, in fact, he sucked in studies altogether. Since he was born in a supernatural world, why would he give a fuck about studies? Not like he would need a degree to sustain his life in the future.
And now since he didn't have much knowledge except for the conventional one, he couldn't use magic based on science. Since a little mistake in calculation, a chain nuclear reaction might end up destroying the whole fucking town and even more if someone didn't stop it. Wouldn't he end up making nuclear bombs by mistake and more so when he has no control over them?
'Ahhhhh!' He internally screamed. He didn't want to study! He still remembered the nightmarish days of his past life when he had to study chemistry for four years, two in junior high and two in high school, and he can say with passion, organic chemistry sucks! Even though he still aced, he was astonished to see the results…
'No matter what others say, Biology is many times better than Chemistry. Even if it's just the chemistry of the human body…'
"How annoying…" He gritted his teeth before pulling praying Asia into his lap and started to pat her head. Instead of decreasing his frustration, he only ended up increasing it, he needed fluffy cuddle time to calm down.
"Wawawawawa!" While one hand was on her soft stomach and the other patting her head, Noah completely ignored the flustered voice of the blond girl.
|—Kuoh Academy, ORC room, Kuoh Town—|
The room was in complete silence with Grayfia, Rias, Akeno, Sona, Tsubaki, Kiba, and Koneko staring at the black-haired youth with a blond nun nervously sitting beside him. Of course, the reason for the silence was not the nun, sure it surprised them but no, the reason was the fact that the black-haired youth wore a pair of glasses, his hair tied back into a small pony as he intensely read through a book of chemistry in his hands.
At his side, there were other books opened such as physics and math.
In a room where everyone was waiting for their inevitable battle, at least Rias's Peerage, he sure looked completely out of place.
Of course, none of their thoughts mattered to Noah who wanted to increase his mastery over Chemistry, Math, and Physics. He could actually master them with the help of the system, but he at least wanted to give it a try himself first.
After all, system points were not just some commodities. It was hard to get them, and you can only get them through missions, which are scarce to begin with. He wanted to save points for a Tier jump, so he thought of trying his hand over the subject himself first.
He only needed 700 more points before jumping a tier, he could only try first himself.
"What happened to you?" In the end, Rias couldn't help but ask. It was no hidden truth that Noah didn't like studying, and everyone in the room was aware of it. So seeing him studying desperately all of sudden sure caught them off guard.
"What do you mean? I can't understand your question, to be more clear." Noah answered amidst going through some chemical reactions.
"I mean… Why did you suddenly start to study? Didn't you hate studying?"
"Please Rias." Noah looked at her with squinted eyes and said. "When did I say I hate studying? In fact, I always loved studying. I'm so fascinated by the advancement of science that I can't help but marvel at the tenaciousness of the human pursuit of truth!"
"..." Sona, Rias, Tsubaki, and Akeno stared speechless at his face. After all, no one knew better than them how much Noah didn't like studying. He would always bunk classes and spend time in the club with them most of the time, how can they not know?
"Anyway, you should worry about your fight with KFC more. I swear if you lose now, be ready for 1000 spanks. Even after all that training and Reversal, I would be disappointed if you lose."
He wasn't joking. He had met Rias about 3 years ago and has been training them since then. Despite his weak strength at that time (but of course, if he went all out, using Red Aura and stuff, defeating them wouldn't have been hard for him), it doesn't mean that he can't train others.
'As they say…' Staring at the ceiling for a second and finding his mind blank, he internally said. 'Forget it. Whatever they say, none of it has anything to do with me…'
"Don't worry." Rias said with a focused gaze. "We will definitely not lose!" Even she would be ashamed if she lost. And if she lost, she would have to marry Riser, that's why she can't lose no matter what! If she wants to be with Noah… She hurriedly shook her head with flushed cheeks, making Grayfia at her side sigh.
She was head over heels for him — she internally thought.
"Ara~. What about me then, Noah? You will spank me too, right?" Akeno smiled, her eyes glittered before they changed into a smirk. "If we won, will you allow me to spank you—"
"Begone evil spirit! You mongrel" Noah stared at her with a scared gaze. "I'm S, S! Don't change it! I can be the only one who will spank, not the other way around!"
"..." Akeno personally felt it in her heart, him calling her mongrel…
"Pervert…" Koneko added her feedback, though with a quiet and soft voice.
While they all berated each other, Asia stared at them with a jealous-filled gaze. She also wanted to have friends with whom she can talk freely.
"It is time, Miss Rias. Please get ready." Grayfia's voice silenced everyone else.
Rias nodded her head before standing up, her Peerage following after her. "Just wait for me to come back triumphant!"
'... Did you really have to raise that flag? Are you dumb? Is all that nutrition going to your chest instead of your brain?' He wanted to say that, but seeing her confident smile, he decided to swallow those words. Anyway, if she really didn't win, he can always go and beat KFC himself.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone