Chapter 10: Danmaku and Spell Card Rules
It is a normal day in Gensokyo. The Sun is shining, despite being a few clouds on the sky. Our heroine, Nijiko is seen training her Magic in front of Kourindou. She forms a small sphere of rainbow-colored light between her hands and shoots it off as a projectile. It soars with considerable speed until it hits the target, which was a large rock.
"Okay, it seems it is much faster now." Nijiko remarks as she casts an another one. However, she then stops. What Yukari said last time is still lingering in her mind: "I wonder, what did she mean by that... I am just a normal girl who is nothing to do with Gensokyo, its no way that could be true."
Yet, something felt off about it. Yukari sounded more genuine compared to when she first met her. And then there is the fact that Nijiko herself has the supernatural ability to see auras, then the affinity for Magic...
The heterochromatic girl shakes her head as she shoots off an another projectile. However, due to not paying attention to it, it gets sent skywards, almost hitting Marisa who has just come to check on her pupil.
"Hey, watch where are you shooting, ze!" she scolds Nijiko.
"Mari-san! Sorry about that, I just got distracted a bit..." the girl grins awkwardly.
"Anyways, you sent it with quite a speed! Good improvement there, ze!"
"Oh, thanks."
The young witch nods and walks in front of her pupil:
"Okay, based on your improvement, I guess its time to dwell into the topic of danmaku, ze."
"Alright!" Nijiko gets excited. The danmaku. This was that the others were constantly talking about and that she got a glimpse of, when she had seen Marisa taking on Alice. The heterochromatic girl knew that was one of the key components of surviving in Gensokyo.
...
The two walked a bit farther from the shop, to a large clearing. Once there, Marisa turns to Nijiko:
"Alright, at first let me explain. The danmaku is the main form of combat here in Gensokyo, ze. The user forms bullets from their Spiritual Power, which they shoot in barrages while forming certain patterns. Your little light sphere can be considered to be a single bullet, which is however very ineffective in itself, ze."
"Then what should I do, Mari-san?" the black-haired girl asks.
"You have to learn how to shoot multiple bullets at once and form intricate patterns from them. These barrages are useful for making the opponent difficult to dodge your bullets. However, you must be alert and careful, keeping an eye on the foes bullet patterns, so you can dodge theirs, ze."
"And are these bullets... dangerous?"
"It can be nasty if you get it by many bullets at once, although a single one just causes something similar to an electric shock." Marisa forms a small star in her right hand and sends it at Nijiko. It hits, causing the heterochromatic girl to recoil:
"Hey, this stings!"
"Thats the danmaku bullet for ya, ze!" the witch sports a mischievous grin.
"Oh, Mari-san..." Nijiko pouts, clearly not impressed by the prank Marisa pulled.
"Then, did you understand the basic concept of danmaku, ze? "
"Mmhhmm."
"Okay, next important thing you need to know is the usage of Spell Cards."
"Spell Cards?"
"Yes, those are individual spells used during a danmaku battle, often names given to certain danmaku patterns, ze." Marisa explains. "Let me demonstrate." She mounts on her broom and flies into the sky. "Stardust Reverie!" She releases several star-shaped bullets to many directions, around herself, with the stars changing their colors, giving off the appearance of a swirling kaleidoscope.
"Wow! This is beautiful!" Nijiko exclaims as she observes it with sparkling eyes.
"Thanks! Although I think your danmaku would also put on quite a show, since they have all the colors of the rainbow at once, ze. And of course the more dazzling is your danmaku, the more chances you have of winning the battle, ze." the young witch descends down to her.
"Huh? But didnt you just tell me that I have to focus on trying to hit my opponent with my bullets, while avoiding theirs?" the heterochromatic girl asks in confusion.
"It is often not that simple." Reimu states as she arrives on the scene.
"Hey Reimu, where were you? We have already began the lesson." Marisa asks her friend.
"Ask your ghostly master." the shrine maiden responds with an annoyed face. "Mima gave me the work yet again. She was so adamant to come with me to see Nijiko, so I forcefully had to seal her... again."
"I guess it cannot be helped that she is already intrigued to meet with the pupil of her pupil, ze."
"But its still not the time for that."
"Okay Reimu, then would you please explain your part? I have already told Nijiko-chan about the concept behind danmaku and a bit about Spell Cards, ze."
"Okay, I continue with the Spell Cards." Reimu looks at Nijiko. "As you have already seen, many Spell Cards are specific danmaku patterns used during the battle. However, Spell Cards are more than that."
"Huh, what do you mean, Hakurei-san?" Nijiko asks.
"Some Spell Cards are danmaku-based techniques, while others are not limited to Magic. Using different methods, such as physical attacks, equipment or other kinds of techniques all count as Spell Cards."
"Such my Master Spark which I shoot from my Mini-Hakkero, ze!" Marisa adds.
"Oh, that..." Nijiko flashes back to their adventure in the Forest of Magic, where the witch used her Master Spark to defeat that feral wolf Yokai.
"This also means that you already have one such technique, your Dazzling Aurora." Reimu points out. "Here in Gensokyo, everyone have their own Spell Card techniques based on their abilities and personality."
"Wow, this is really intriguing." the heterochromatic girl remarks and nods. "It seems that these fights are more than just randonly shooting each other while dodging."
"Yes." the shrine maiden nods, then takes on a serious look. "These fights also have their rules, in order to avoid bloodshed. We call it Spell Card Rules."
"Spell Card Rules?"
"There are rules regarding the time limit, win-lose conditions, how many times you can use Spell Cards during a battle or how many times can you being hit, as well as restrictions to dodging. These rules are, however, not constant as they are set by the participants in order to have a fair fight. For example, if you were facing me in a danmaku battle under the Spell Card Rules, you have as much rights of making up the battle conditions as me. The reason behind this system is to give everyone an equal fighting chance, since there are large gaps of power between Gensokyo residents." Reimu continues to explain.
"Lets take our pal, Cassida for example, who is one of the weaker Yokai, ze." Marisa adds. "She is more powerful than Kourin who does not battle, yet she is still nothing compared to the likes of Sakuya... or Yukari."
"Oh, I get it now." Nijiko nods, although shuddering a bit upon the witch mentioning Yukari. Then her train of thoughts drives away to an another direction. Will she be able to handle these fights, if she gets into one? Will she able to pull off such complex danmaku techniques, such as the Stardust Reverie?
"Okay, with this, the lesson ends today, Nijiko-chan." The Ordinary Magician claps with her hands. "Be ready, because the further lessons are going to be more harder from now on, ze. We are going to focus on handling danmaku battles, ze."
"Huh?" both Reimu and Nijiko look at the witch in surprise and a bit of confusion.
"Wait, Marisa!" the Hakurei shrine maiden speaks up. "Isnt this a bit early?"
"Nah, everyone knows that the best results can be pulled out in times of a great pressure, ze."
"But its obvious that Akimitsu-san cannot handle being pressured well."
"Dont worry Reimu, I am going to hold back according to her current skill level, ze."
"I still have doubts how you can pull that off..." Reimu glances at her friend.
Listening to their conversation, Nijiko begins to feel a bit uneasy. It is implied by Reimu that Marisa has the possibility of being carried away a bit too much during a danmaku battle, which could result of Nijiko herself being hurt accidentally. However, she has not wanted to refuse this, since it could make the witch being disappointed in her.
"Okay, then lets meet here tomorrow." Marisa tells Nijiko, snapping her out from her train of thoughts.
"R... right." the heterochromatic girl nods sheepishly.
"Thats the spirit, ze!" the witch gives her a thumbs-up, then jumps onto her broom and flies away. "See ya until then!"
As they were left alone, Reimu looks at Nijiko, inmediately figuring out her uneasiness.
"Dont worry Akimitsu-san. Its true that you cannot bring yourself to turn Marisa down, but I am going to make sure she would not get carried away too much."
"Thanks, Hakurei-san." Nijiko sport a small smile.
"We both have responsibility towards you, after all." the shrine maiden says, then floats up into the air. "I am coming with Marisa tomorrow and observe your training. Take care."
As Reimu leaves, the black-haired schoolgirl glances after her. Maybe Reimu is a more pleasant and caring person, after all.
...
Some hours later, Nijiko is seen sitting on a bench in front of Kourindou. She forms her small rainbow-colored light sphere in her right hand and glances at it.
"Forming patterns from these, while focusing on the foe so you are not getting hit... sounds really complicated..." she thinks.
Suddenly, she senses a presence behind her. Nijiko stands and looks, but its nothing. And then...
"I got ya!" Cassida places her hands on Nijikos shoulders, spooking her.
"KYAH!" the human girl lets out a short yelp. She then turns around, seeing the mischiveous Tortoise Beetle Yokai. "Man, you got me again!"
"You were seeming so gloomy, so I came to shake you up." Cassida sports a wide grin. "Why is the long face?"
"Nothing, just... Mari-san is beginning to prepare me for danmaku battles tomorrow and I dont know if I would be able to pull it off."
"Well, the Ordinary Magician is sure one tough girl when it comes to danmaku battles."
"Yeah, the issue here is that she said she would go easy on me, but... I am afraid she would overdo it."
"But then why didnt you tell this to her?" the grin on Cassidas face turns into a serious expression.
"I... I could not bring myself to do so... She is so eager and... I dont want her to be disappointed in me."
"Well, then I think I know what you need. A sparring partner, whose skills are on par with yours."
"Oh thanks..." Nijiko responds. "But where can I find such a person here? Everyone I know so far are either too strong for me, or does not have fighting skills at all."
"Hey, here is one right here!" the Tortoise Beetle Yokai flies up in front of Nijiko. "To tell the truth, I am not that strong for a Yokai." she then sheepishly turns away a bit.
"Huh, you would really do it... for me?"
"Of course silly, since I owe you one after you saved me from the wolf Yokai." Cassida then gets ready. "Okay Akimitsu-san, you ready to experience how does a battle under Spell Card Rules work?"
"A battle? Right now?" Nijiko asks nervously.
"Yep, but dont worry, it is going to be an easy one. We battle until one participant manages to hit the other with their danmaku. The one who manages to land the first hit wins and then the battle ends. Each participant may use one Spell Card. Are these conditions okay for you? "
"Well, sounds fair to me." the heterochromatic girl responds. She still wants fully sure, but the Tortoise Beetle Yokai sounded genuinely helpful. She looks at her and nods.
"Alright, let this battle begin!" Cassida announces. Her hands glow orange as she releases some danmaku bullets towards Nijiko. However, they seem to be rather slow. Keeping an eye on them, the heterochromatic girl dodges them and responds with a single rainbow-colored bullet, sent towards the Tortoise Beetle Yokai, who however, effortlessly avoids it. "Put more effort into your danmaku!" She tells her as she shoots more.
"Huh? Whoah!" Nijiko is busy dodging the danmaku shot by Cassida as she increased the speed of her bullets a bit in order to pressure her. The heterochromatic girl begins to form her bullets from one after the other and continously hurls them at Cassida. However, the Beetle Yokai avoids them with relative ease by manouvering in mid-air. "Hey, flying is not fair! Have you forgotten I cannot fly myself?!"
"Be thankful that my bullets are not as fast!" Cassida responds and shoots more. Nijiko dashes across the clearing to avoid them and casts some more of her bullets. The Tortoise Beetle Yokai continues to avoid them, although one bullet almost hits her. "Oh wow, you almost got me. You know what? You have earned that I am gonna use my Spell Card against you! Carapace Rush!" Cassida sticks her head forward and flies towards Nijiko headfirst.
"Wa...wait!" Nijiko exclaims. Time seems to be slowed down for her, as she remembers that Reimu told her Spell Cards can be physical attacks as well. She then recalls what Marisa told about the best can be achieved during great pressure. Nijiko feels the adrenaline rushing through her body as she gets surronded by a rainbow-colored aura and a Magic Circle manifesting underneath her. "Dazzling Aurora!" She unleashes an enormous flash of rainbow-colored light from her hands, which stops Cassida on her tracks, causing her to stop just in front of Nijiko.
"Ah, my eyes!" the Tortoise Beetle Yokai seems to be temporarily blinded by the flash.
"HAH!" Nijiko seizes this as an opportunity to hurl a single bullet, hitting Cassida on her forehead. The beetle girl falls back to the ground, her eyes still spiralling from her daze. The human girl glances at her: "I guess I won..." Then, a smile creeps to her face: "I won!"
"Just because I held back a bit, remember that..." Cassida responds as she managed to snap out of her daze, still laying on her back on the ground. "You still have to train and develop a lot more if you want to take part in a serious danmaku battle."
"Still, I cannot thank you enough, Cassida-san." Nijiko helps her up.
"Well, anything for my friends." the Beetle Yokai grins.
"Friends? You mean..."
"Yep, I consider you as my friend, Nijiko-chan. You know, these danmaku battles are also a great way to get to know others and bond with dont have to be afraid of them. Just have fun and show others what are you capable of."
"Oh, I am glad to know that." Nijiko smiles at Cassida. "Now I am truly looking forward on what is in store for me. Maybe I can indeed pull this off."
"Well, friends?"
"Friends!" Cassida and Nijiko shake hands to seal their newfound friendship.
And with this, our heroine made friends with a Yokai for the first time. How will this change her perspective about Gensokyo? What has Marisa in store for Nijiko regarding the training? Stay tuned for her development!
To be continued...
Author Note: Again, sorry that this chapter came out even later than normal, I had a brief writers block when I was thinking on what should I write for the 10. Chapter, since it always kind of special. Then I thought it would be time for Nijiko to be finally introduced to the concept of danmaku and Spell Card Rules, thus beginning a new arc in her training. And this was also a prime opportunity to finally seal her bond with Cassida. I hope you enjoyed it and still dont feel it to be rushed. (trust me, Nijiko still has a long way to go before she could fight on equal terms against the other Touhou characters)