In this chapter (which btw turned into an 8000 words behemoth excluding the author's notes), we will learn a bit more about the possible power up Mikoto will be receiving. It took me quite some time writing it all out, and I have no idea if it even makes sense to someone who is not me, as my brain might just fill in gaps with information I forgot to write out. If that is the case then I will apologize right now already and would ask you to leave a review telling me what parts were unclear, so that I can improve them.
As the basis for the power up I took some inspiration from previous novels, some Manga chapters, as well as some theories I heard from others or came up with myself. I just hope that there doesn't exist a single, barely known interview with Kamachi or someone else involved which would destroy it immediately. But if that would be the case, then I would learn some new lore at least.
You won't be seeing any feats of Mikoto using that new power in the near future, but I hope that I can make you curious on how she would use it. And I also want to give you the time to think yourself how one could utilize this power against specific enemies you could think of.
I also hope that her power will become even better to understand when she finally uses it.
Blankow: Yeah, Mikoto and Othinus are a character combination that I can also see playing quite well off each other in canon, so I hope that Kamachi will give us something in that regard. They are quite similar in parts of their personalities, while also differing quite heavily in others, which can lead to nice conversations.
calvinhobbesliker: Glad that you liked it. Yes, the driver was an asshole, but I wanted to use him to show that the sentiment in the city isn't as favorable towards Mikoto as it had been before. Of course, people close to Mikoto won't believe these rumors, but the average person likes to gossip, which can lead to rumors running wild.
Yes, explaining magic can be a pain, which I realized even more this chapter when it came to explain a power system I made up myself. I just feel like it is way clearer in my mind than what I was able to write down. I just hope that it still makes sense.
And yes, Mikoto was not flustered about the stories themselves, but about being alone in a bedroom with him, even though neither of them would have had any naughty thoughts.
Stryper88: Glad that you liked it as well. And you are right regarding her parents, I pushed the mention of them quite far already, so thank you for reminding me of it.
DBZLEGEND154: Looking back, I am also quite happy on how the conversation between them turned out, as it developed their relationship in a nice direction in my opinion.
Deadreamer and Lazhel: Thank you for the kind words.
fencer29: Yes, Hokaze is quite the simp for Misaki, so she would definitely enjoy it.
And yes, the driver was an asshole. One can hope that he really thinks that Mikoto will also be charged with having committed a crime, so that he would maybe at first put his trust into the justice system. And Othinus and Mikoto have the best in mind for Touma, for the most part at least. So maybe they can even help him fight his misfortune so that he gains a better outlook on life.
SaSaltyDog: Yes, it is alive. I noticed that a one week schedule is currently maybe a bit too optimistic for me, as there are times where I just can't find time to write, and others where I can publish them even faster. So I think I will take back my promise to try to publish a new chapter every week, but I will always keep on working on the next chapter when I will find time, so that you can still expect the next update always after not too long of a time.
Regarding Mikoto pretending to be a Level 3: It should get resolved in one of the next chapters, so you can look forward to it and come up with your own predictions what I might do.
Othinus' eyes were currently being tickled by the first rays the sun managed to send through the living room's windows. Mikoto had come down around an hour ago, but she only grabbed a piece of toast and something to drink and headed out, probably into the garage. But Othinus' really hadn't spend any thoughts on that, as she was still deep in thought, contemplating on the relationship between magic and esper powers. It was quite obvious that these two were linked, as Aleister Crowley had been deeply involved in the magic side, while artificial esper powers were developed in the city he had founded. And the first ranked Level 5 already crossed the abyss with the help of an artificial demon, so there had to be something. But Accelerator and Kakine, or whatever he called himself right now, were called 'The One Who Wields The Power of God' and 'The One Who Has Touched the Territory of God'; and that in this city of science. She thought back to all the intelligence her underlings had gathered when she had still been the leader of GREMLIN. Even back then she had thought that there seemed to have been a large gap in power between the first two and the rest.
(Why do these two appear so unfairly strong in comparison to the rest?)
After a bit of thinking, she had already come up with a small amount of theories regarding the true power of espers. But she still wanted to get some more information directly from Mikoto, to see if a scientific view could help her come to a conclusion. And having Index, an authority that knows everything about Magic that comes before becoming a Magic God, present, shouldn't hurt either.
(Speaking of which, she seemed to have just woken up.)
Othinus heard various noises from upstairs, from Index opening her door, to a quick sprint to Touma's, on which she banged loudly to wake him up, so that he could presumably prepare her some breakfast.
(Great, so now that damn cat will come down with her as well.)
But before anyone came down from above, Mikoto reentered the room, hiding something behind her back. She let her gaze wander quickly over the whole room, just to let her eyes lock onto Othinus after doing so.
"Oh good, I seem to have been on time."
She began to walk over towards Othinus, wearing a smile on her face. When she reached her, she extended her right hand, which had been previously hidden behind her back, towards her. It contained something which looked a bit like a tiny backpack, with wires being visible through some cracks inside of it.
"Here, try it on. I hope that it will fit you, as I only had my EM wave scans of you to gauge your size."
Othinus took the object and inspected it further.
"Euhm thanks esper, but what is this?"
"Oh, it should help you against that cat!"
"Help me? Against that cat? Is that a suicide bombers backpack or what? So you want to send me and that cat to Valhalla?"
Mikoto shook her hands furiously in front of her.
"No-no, nothing quite so drastic. I just woke up quite early today and wasn't able to fall asleep again, so I thought back to yesterday, and how you seem to constantly have problems with that cat."
Othinus scoffed.
"Pah. I don't have problems with it, it is merely an insignificant thorn in a goddess' foot."
Mikoto chuckled.
"Yeah yeah, of course. But to get back on topic: Do you remember the robots that were modeled after me that I stopped from ripping you and that idiot to shreds?"
"Yeah, weren't they designed to surpass your powers?"
Mikoto theatrically flicked a strand of hair out of her face.
"Pah, as if these metal pieces of junk could ever come close to me. But you see, I created a small FIVE OVER myself, modeled after me as well."
A big smile crept onto Othinus' face.
(Mhh, so it will have a part of her power. Will I be able to shoot railguns at that damn beast? Or shock it until it runs off into the sunset, never to be seen again. Heheheh, I am looking forward to this.)
"Yeah, so I made that backpack emit EM waves which are very similar to mine. So that should keep the cat away from you."
The smile on Othinus' face disappeared again.
"Only your EM waves? What about me being able to shock it? That would be even better, you know?"
Mikoto poked Othinus' nose in a playful manner.
"Ah, so that is it what the tiny norse goddess wants, to become a second Thor. But sadly, I had to design it to run off a small 9V battery, so that a certain someone would be even able to pick it up. And even with just the EM waves, the batteries will be depleted after around 30 minutes. There is a switch on the right side of it, so you can turn it on or off. The LED right next to it will begin to glow when the batter has less than 10% of charge left."
Othinus just nodded. Her dreams of finally getting justified revenge might have been crushed, but if it actually gave her some quiet time without the cat interfering, then it would still be a nice accessory. Mikoto continued speaking.
"Just so you know, if you manage to earn yourself the dollhouse, I would even offer to create a stationary station for it, which plugs into a wall outlet."
Othinus jumped towards Mikoto's arm, and hugged it.
"Oh esper, you are so nice, thank you a lot."
(She is too kind hearted, I think that I can gain a lot of benefits by exploiting that. Hehehehe.)
Mikoto just smiled warmly towards Othinus.
(And if the cat likes chasing her that much that it grows used to my EM waves, then that is fine by me too, of course. Hehehehe.)
Saten, Kuroko and Uiharu were currently sitting at Joseph's, eating their breakfast together. It had now been two days since they had seen Mikoto the last time. Kuroko, who had just taken a sip from her cup, began speaking about the topic they were all probably thinking about. Her head hung low, but murderous intent was leaking from every one of her words.
"Oh, if I will ever find out what scum of a human being needed my onee-sama's clones as backup in Los Angeles, I can guarantee that this person will curse the day they were born."
"You know, it is weird. I tried to find out more about that Japanese boy that was seen there, but it is like every image of his face that was taken over there got deleted by a virus. I can't find out anything about him, even with all of Judgement's resources. Someone in this city really wants to keep his identity hidden."
"Well, that guy can just pray that it stays like that. Do you know how little contact I had with my onee-sama? Whenever I write her a message, she just reads it but doesn't answer. Oh, what have they done with her."
Kuroko threw up her hands in despair. She pulled out her phone and showed her message history with Mikoto. A lot of messages from her weren't answered at all. Saten began to stretch out her hand towards the phone.
"Shirai-san, can I have a quick look?"
"Uhm, ok, not that I think that you will get her to respond."
Saten began scrolling through the latest messages. The more she read, the redder her face turned.
"Shirai-san, I don't know how to tell you this exactly, but your messages are mostly just thinly-veiled rape threats. I can kind of understand why Misaka-san wouldn't want to answer any of them. But now I wonder: Did she answer them before the clones were revealed?"
"Well, before the clones were revealed I just showed my love in person in our dorm room."
Saten could now imagine why Kuroko was so distraught. Normally she received a reaction to her advances, even if said reaction was just an electric shock. But now Mikoto was just able to ignore these disturbing messages, which probably gave Kuroko a feeling of irrelevance. She tried to think of a way to lighten the teleporter's mood a bit.
(Mhh, her seeing Misaka-san again would probably be the best thing for her. And she seems to be able to behave herself a bit better when Uiharu and me are around, so it shouldn't be so bad for Misaka-san either.)
"I have an idea Shirai-san. How about this: we finish our meal, walk past a patisserie, pick up some nice pieces of cake and then we can visit Misaka-san in her hotel room? We still have some catching up to do after our last meeting go interrupted."
Kuroko's eyes seem to light up.
"Yes, yes, let us do that!"
She began to eat faster, probably hoping that this would entice the others to do so as well. Uiharu didn't see to get that intention though, as she slowly placed another piece of food into her mouth. After she had swallowed it, she began to speak.
"Say, Saten-san, what is happening anyways on your urban legend message boards? With so much that has happened the last couple of days, they must be exploding with rumors, right?"
Saten began to literally glow.
"OH, I am SO glad that you asked. So, the most interesting one right now in my opinion is..."
She was interrupted by Kuroko who was now slamming her head onto the table. But Saten was already in a flow, so she just continued with enthusiasm. Uiharu smiled knowingly and took another small bite of her food.
The EM-wave generator Mikoto had created seemed to work nicely so far. When Touma and Index came down the stairs, they were overtaken on the last few steps by Sphynx, who immediately ran towards Othinus. Mikoto, who purposely stood a fair distance away, saw how the 15cm tall goddess flicked the switch when Shynx was still around one meter away. The effect had been instantly noticeable, as the cat stopped dead in its tracks, and only cycled around. Touma, who seemed to have gotten slightly confused by the whole scene just shrugged and began to prepare something for breakfast. Othinus meanwhile climbed up on Mikoto's should and turned the backpack off, to preserve her battery charge. After they all had eaten, Mikoto helped Touma to clean up, while Othinus and Index went over to the couch, with Othinus whispering something into Index's ear, while sitting on her shoulder, on which she had climbed when she had finished eating her tiny portion of food. After the table was cleaned, Mikoto and Touma went over to them as well. But right when they were about to sit down, Index spoke up.
"Touma, I think it would be good for the three of us get to know each other a bit better, so we will be going upstairs. Prepare us some food in like an hour that we can eat then."
With that, she picked up Othinus. Mikoto, who knew what that fake story was most likely a front for, was still a bit surprised. Was there a reason they didn't want Touma to find out that she wanted to get stronger? Still, she also got up and followed behind closely. When she reached the top of the stairs, she expected the other two to be heading into Index's room at that moment, but they were a bit further ahead, about to open Mikoto's door.
"Eeeh. Stop, stop!"
But it was too late. She quickly rushed into her room, just to see Index and Othinus staring in disbelieve at her bed. Mikoto quickly jumped in front of them, grabbing the two gigantic Gekota plushies and stuffing them under her bed.
"N-nothing to see here."
"Mikoto, isn't that the same childish mascot that Touma has as a phonestrap?"
Mikoto tried to muster up her most teacher like voice.
"Gekota isn't childish. It is enjoyed by people of all age groups. A-and yes, me and that idiot got these straps together because we signed up for a phone contract."
"Ah, that was on the 30th of September, right? Touma later told me that you forced him to get a couples contract."
Mikoto's head turned a slight shade of red.
(Curse her and her perfect memory.)
"So you already have a couples contract with him, but haven't even confessed yet. A bit pathetic, isn't it. Next thing you are going to tell us is that you already bought engagements rings, or what?"
Mikoto glanced over at the top drawer of her nightstand.
(T-they aren't engagement rings, so she is completely wrong. Should I say something, or just ignore her remarks. AARGH.)
Othinus broke the tension by clearing her throat.
"But enough with your silly human problems. We are here to see if we can't help you to get more effective in fighting strong magicians."
Mikoto, being grateful to be spared any more romance talk, quickly switched over towards the new topic.
"Yeah, that's right. And Index, why did you lie to Touma about what we were up to?"
Instead of Index, Othinus gave the answer.
"Can't you already guess. What do you think how my understander would react? We would receive an hour long monologue from him: How everyone is already helpful in their own way, that it might be dangerous, yada yada yada. And then he would just get ripped to shreds again in the next fight. I just wanted to save us some time. Him being the one to suggest that we should explain magic to you is already quite the development for him. So as a start, I suggest that we should sit down at first."
The other two nodded. Index sat down on the one chair that was standing in the room. Mikoto closed the door and then sat down on her bed. Othinus meanwhile had climbed down from Index's should and onto the bed as well.
"So, what should we do now?"
Mikoto felt a bit awkward. She just now realized that she placed a pretty large burden on Index and Othinus. She didn't even have the faintest idea on how to become noticeably stronger as an esper. It is not like she had plateaued in her development. The power output she could sustain and the reach of her personal reality were still increasing. The Mikoto from today was quite sure that she could easily beat herself from half a year ago. But these power increases were insignificant when compared to the enemies she faced in the last couple of weeks. Which is why she had clung to the AAA in the way she did. With it and its adaptability, she had always held a glimmer of hope that she could surpass her limits. But the fight against Anna showed her that this avenue also would most likely turn out to be a dead end. She was stopped from continuing her bleak thoughts as Othinus started speaking.
"Well, a good way to start with would be to ask you if there is any way for you to increase your esper power? But you probably already thought them all through, right?"
Mikoto thought again for a moment. Suddenly, her face contorted a bit. There had been one time she was stronger than she had been even with the AAA.
"Well, you heard about Accelerator's Level 6 shift. How they thought that him killing 20000 of my sisters would give him the power comparable to a god."
Both Index and Othinus nodded.
"Well, a crazy scientist tried to do something similar with me. But instead of having me kill them, he used the brain network they formed, together with another esper's power, to take over my mind and shift me into something. But apparently that would have failed anyways, as my brain couldn't have handled it, which would have resulted in a big explosion, killing a lot of people in this city."
"Something? What do you mean with that Mikoto?"
"Yeah, human, are there any videos we could see? I am really interested to see how a scientific god would look like. And how did it stop anyways?"
Mikoto let out a huge sigh.
"No videos, luckily. And do you even have to ask? Of course it was that idiot that stopped it. Together with the seventh ranked Level 5, a gemstone."
"So he touched you with his hand and everything went back to normal?"
Mikoto shook her head.
"If it only would have been so easy. Just so you know, as I was unconscious for some time while I was controlled, I can only repeat what that idiot told me afterwards. So ..."
"Mikoto, can you PLEASE use his name, at least in front of us!"
Index looked at her pleadingly.
"This idiot, that idiot, it is not nice to talk about Touma that way all the time."
(U-use his name. I-I mean, it is not weird to use any name right. So I should just do it.)
Mikoto tried to hype herself up as much as possible, before she just nodded towards Index.
"O-okay, if I can do that to m-make it easier for you, then of course."
Index gave her a warm smile. Mikoto also looked at Othinus, who just seemed to have sunken into deep thought. Because of that, Mikoto continued her description of the event.
"So, that … T-T-Tou-ma managed to touch me on my shoulder once, which reverted that spot back to normal, but only for a few seconds. And then I transformed more and more. At some points I had a halo, at others my whole face was looking like outer space. Black with stars upon it. I can't really explain it. When I regained my senses, I felt disconnected from the world. I also saw that I was encased in a large purple sphere of some undefined form of energy. When T-Touma tried to negate it, his arm just got ripped off, as it seemed to have been too powerul."
Mikoto frowned. Because of her recklessness, Touma had gotten hurt back then. Losing an arm must feel horrible. And he experienced it multiple times. She had to hold back a tear.
(But that's why I want to become stronger. I want to be the one to protect him too. So he doesn't have to suffer anymore.)
Index and Othinus just continued looking at Mikoto. They knew that both she and Touma got out of that situation physically unscathed, so they were just waiting to learn how his arm behaved that time.
"Y-yeah, so after it was gone, multiple dragons came out of it, that started to eat away at that mass of energy. And after it was gone, I just reverted back to my normal form."
Mikoto looked around, both at Index and at Othinus. Both of them seemed to be deep in thought. After a few seconds of silence, Othinus began to speak.
"Mhh, maybe it would be nice to have the fifth ranked esper here with us too. I would really like to take a peek inside of your mind to see how you experienced it."
(I mean, I asked Shokuhou to help me with getting stronger. But do I really have to invite her here, into the same house that Touma is in?)
But then she thought of something.
"Oh, if it is just about my memories, then we don't need her. You see, as the nerve signals in the brain work through electricity, I can interact with them as well. I found out without meaning too, when I accidentally read the memories of some woman. But I practiced a bit with my friends, so I can control it quite well by now. Here, let me try it first. Don't want to fry your tiny god brain by accident."
Mikoto placed her right index finger onto Othinus's forehead, nudging her witches hat a bit to the side. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. At first, she analyzed Othinus' brain structure, which luckily was exactly the same as the one from every other human she had felt before.
(Magic sure is weird. She shouldn't even be able to speak with a brain that can fit in such a small skull, but everything works like it does with a normal brain. Mhh, it even feels like the original brain is still there, just that the space it occupied was somehow compressed.)
She then began to think back to the breakfast from this morning, finding the place where the memories for it were stored. After she did so, she imprinted them into Othinu's mind. When she was done, she opened up her eyes again, and looked at the doll sized woman.
"So, did it work?"
Othinus rubbed her temples for a second, before answering.
"Yeah, I saw you having had breakfast this morning from your perspective."
"So I could experience another breakfast right now? Mikoto, maybe you should try with me as well, maybe it could come in handy."
Mikoto chuckled.
"Sorry Index, it is quite taxing to do that, so I don't want to try it unless we need to. I also don't want to accidentally get in contact with one of the grimoirs inside of your head. But I promise to buy you a lot of fancy food as soon as it is possible, okay?"
Index just nodded, her mouth being slightly opened, with drool pooling in it. Othinus chimed in again.
"Another thing I noticed is that these memories are really clear. It is more than remembering it, it feels like living it again."
"Yep, that's what I also found out. It seems that the brain stores way more memories than what it normally recalls when you think back to something. Let's hope that you might get even more information out of my Level 6 shift memories that way."
Mikoto took a deep breath.
"So, are you ready?"
Othinus nodded, and took off her hat completely, placing it next to her on the bed.
Mikoto placed the finger onto the tiny head again, and thought back towards her Level 6 shift. How she ran up towards the roof, seeing her sister laying on the floor. Then suddenly, there was a gap. But that gap seemed to have only been in the memories she could recall. Inside of her brain, it seemed like there was something stored for that time frame as well. And it appeared to be quite large. She kept going, finally recalling things herself again. How the dragons appeared. How she was saved. Touma's hand touching her head gently. Mikoto felt herself blush, but powered through it.
(Okay, that should be the end of the useful memories.)
She began to relay the information to Othinus. This time, it took considerably longer. After around 15 minutes, it was finally done. Mikoto felt exhausted, like she just ran a marathon. She opened her eyes again and looked at Othinus, who was sitting there, deep in thought with her eyes closed. She didn't want to disturb her, not now, when the memories were still so fresh, that every second of thought could make a difference in uncovering a secret. So she and Index just sat there, waiting. After around five minutes, the tiny goddess finally opened her eyes. She started mumbling something, more to herself than towards the others.
"Interesting, very interesting."
She then look up, straight at Mikoto.
"Esper, another short request. Could you please give me a memory of you using your powers. It can be a short one."
Mikoto nodded, and created a small spark between her fingers. She then placed her finger onto Othinus' again, and transmitted it over. This time it luckily only took around a second, so even the exhausted Mikoto could still manage to do it easily. Just moments after she was done, she heard her phone ring.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. Should have muted it."
She took a quick peek at it and saw her mother's name standing prominently on the screen.
(Oh no, are they maybe back in Japan and want to visit me again? But I haven't even told them yet that I left Tokiwadai. Oh no, this will be bad.)
Othinus, while putting on her witches hat again, spoke up.
"It is fine esper, you can take it. I really think we might have something here. But I would like to discuss it with the grimoire library extensively, so you can take your time. Just come back in when you are done."
Nodding towards them, Mikoto got up, opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Saten, Uiharu and Kuroko were currently standing in front of the hotel they suspected Mikoto to be in. Kuroko was holding a small bag which contained four pieces of cake, while Uiharu was carrying a thermos containing tea. Kuroko seemed to be very excited towards the prospect of meeting her former roommate again, as she was giggling the whole time. They walked in through the door and towards the check-in desk, with the teleporter leading the group.
(Oh no, I hope she can behave herself. And maybe we should have called before instead of just surprising her.)
Saten suddenly got a serious look on her face.
(Oh no, what if Kamijou-san is currently with her? Maybe I should quickly try to warn Misaka-san.)
She took out her phone, right when Kuroko started asking for Mikoto's room number.
"Hello, I would like to find out in which room Misaka Mikoto is currently residing."
The receptionist took a look at Kuroko, who was currently wearing her Judgement armband and just gulped.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but she isn't here anymore. She arrived here yesterday morning and left with all of her belongings. She still has her room booked, but room cleaning has already been in there, so I doubt that you will find anything."
Saten quickly placed the phone back into her pocket. It seemed like it wasn't needed after all. Kuroko turned around, desperation visible in her eyes. The twin-tailed teleporter slowly walked over towards her and Uiharu again.
"She left. Without telling me anything. Why would she do that. Except. EXCEPT IF SHE WAS FORCED TO. Yes, that has to be it. She was probably abducted. And they used one of her clones to fake her moving out."
Kuroko seemed to be about to talk herself into a rage. This could turn ugly.
"Euhm, Shirai-san, don't you think that …."
"Uiharu, try to track onee-sama's phone. We have to save her!"
"But Shirai-san, I would need be be on my Judgement computer for that. And don't you think that Misaka-san can take care of herself? But okay, I will be in the Judgement branch this evening, so I can have a look then."
Kuroko just gritted her teeth.
Saten and Uiharu who understood this as acceptance started walking towards the door again. Kuroko was following them, her head hanging low.
Mikoto had just finished the phone call with her mother and father, who were currently in New Zealand, where they had planned to spend their New Years holidays. The reason for the call was simple: Tokiwadai had been in contact regarding her dropping out, which came as quite the surprise to them. Mikoto tried to give a quick rundown about them trying to make her denounce the sisters, but that didn't really calm them down. Only when Mikoto, after a lot of prying, mentioned to her mother that she was currently staying with 'that boy from the Daihasei', did the situation relax a bit. It did at least, until Tabikage processed what he had heard, so that Misuzu had to spend quite some time calming him down again.
(How did it happen anyways that Mama knew that I would like T-Touma before even I did? It's not like I showed any hints of attraction towards him back then.)
Apparently they were already planning on getting back to Japan immediately when they found out about the clones, but all air travel had stopped, which forced them to wait. The fear of magical terrorists was spreading around the world, as detecting a bomb inside of a piece of carry on luggage was way easier than screening people's minds to see if they have red a blog post online on how to cause a magical explosion. Talks regarding ways on how to make air travel safe again already progressed to a stage where it was speculated that airlines would have to require that every passenger would be placed in cryo-sleep during the flight. Almost everyone was quite certain that it wouldn't come to that, but no one was sure when the flights would start up again. Even buying one of the few private jets that were currently in the country seemed to be impossible, as their price increased massively every day the ban lasted. Therefore, current owners just held on and waited, hoping for an even higher profit. But as the Misaka's wanted to get to their daughter as soon as they could, they also searched for other modes of transportation. And the reason for the current call was just that: They had found one. Tabikage had bought a super yacht, while also taking over all the contracts of its crew, so that they could soon start their 20 day journey towards Japan.
(Man, they really spend a lot of money on this. It's not like I need them here right now. But I couldn't just tell them that, as they would just get more concerned for me.)
The call ended with both of her parents telling her to stay out of trouble, and that she should probably start saying goodbye to her friends over the next three weeks, as they would take her out of the city and probably place her into a European boarding school to finish her education.
(Great, now I also have to worry about that. Mhh, but maybe if I helped Touma with his English a bit more, he could come with me?)
Mikoto quickly shook her head.
(Why would I even think that. It is not like he would leave this city behind for me. But okay, then I just have to think of a way to convince my parents to let me stay here. Because I don't want to leave him.)
A smile appeared on her face.
(I WILL not leave him. No matter what.)
A few minutes later, Mikoto entered her room again. Index and Othinus were currently in what appeared to be a serious discussion. But she couldn't quite tell, as most of the words they used were unknown to her. She tried to quietly close the door behind her, but even this seemed to have snapped the two out of it.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you."
"Oh, don't worry human. We are already done discussing on what to do next with you. The thing you interrupted was just us giving our predictions what will happen afterwards."
(So they don't know what will happen? That sounds … unsafe.)
"Okay, so what have you come up with? A way for me to also use magic?"
Othinus just shook her head, while pointing towards the bed, beckoning Mikoto to sit down again. Index meanwhile took out a bag of chips she had hidden somewhere, and started to eat them. She probably expected this talk to take a while. After Mikoto had sat down, the 15 cm tall goddess continued to speak.
"While I think that there would be a way to have you use magic, it would also probably strip you of your esper powers. And it doesn't mean that, just because you fought against a lot of overpowered magicians, every magic user is just as strong. There are a lot of them, which spend decades honing their craft, that you could probably defeat with your powers without even breaking a sweat. So unless you want to spend the next ten years finding yourself a nice mythology and building your persona around that, I would advise against this avenue."
Mikot nodded, her head hanging a bit lower after hearing that.
"Oh, don't despair yet. I told you that I wouldn't advise taking THIS avenue. Not when one much more fitting seems also available."
Mikoto raised her head again a bit, and was saw a big smile on the gods small face.
"One, … more fitting? What do you mean?"
"Well, it was quite eye opening to finally have a peek inside of an esper's head. I finally think that I understand your power properly. Let me begin by asking you a question: What do you think is the difference between a magican's and an esper's power?"
Mikoto contemplated the question for a moment.
"Mhh, is it that magicians can use multiple different types of powers, while espers can only use one?"
"Well, that is the high level view one could have. But we can start from there. If you really think that is true, then answer me this: What do you do when you fire one of your railguns?"
Mikoto didn't know where that question would lead, so she just tried to give a quick, concise answer.
"Euhm, I just create two rails of anti-parallel current, which are spaced in such a way that the projectile bridges the gap between them. But why do you ask that?"
Othinus seemed to have ignored the last question, as she immediately followed up with another one.
"Okay, and when you swing your iron sword, what are you doing in that case?"
"I imagine a lot of tiny magnetic fields, each holding a single grain of the iron sand. By moving these fields around, I can control the sword."
After saying that, a thought entered Mikoto's brain.
(Oh, I think where she is going with this. But what would a better explanation for esper powers be then?")
"Yeah, so from an outside perspective it looks like you have one power. But that's not true, is it? It si possible to control electrons by moving a conductor through a magnetic field. But if you would control your electricity that way, you would be called the 'Coilgun', wouldn't you? As in that case it would be easier for you to just accelerate the projectile using magnetism directly, instead of going through the extra step of converting it to an electrical current first. The same applies to your magnetism. You didn't describe it as using moving electrons to create a magnetic field. You just want there to be a magnetic field somewhere, and one appears. And I can already guess that the EM waves you emit are also created by you just willing them to be there."
Mikoto, who could only agree with all of the observations, wasn't sure how to explain the boundaries of her power then in other words that would fit. They made sense to her, and no scientist ever questioned it. Luckily, before waiting too long, Othinus gave her theory regarding that as well.
"Yeah, human, to me it rather seems like a young child, which didn't know that much about physics, just wished to be able to control electricity. It is similar to magicians that chose a mythology to base their spells on. Just in the case of you Academy City espers, it is scientific instead of religious."
Mikoto was dumbfounded and needed a few moments before words could come out of her mouth again.
"S-s-so all espers are just magicians? WHAT? But why can't we use other magic then? And why would that Aleister fucker create more magicians, when he hates them? And ..."
"Quiet!"
Othinus voice boomed louder than it had any right to be, coming from such tiny lungs.
"I never said that you are like standard magicians, just that there are similarities."
Mikoto tried to quickly go through some of her memories, reevaluating them with the new information in mind. After only a few seconds, she already made her first connection.
"So that is why gemstone powers are often so hard to explain. The seventh ranked Level 5 probably just wanted to really become a superhero who's guts could make everything possible that he wanted. And as he wasn't told time and time again that we would awaken a 'scientific' power, like we were, he had just more freedom, right?"
Othinus nodded slightly.
"Yes, that seems like a logical explanation. But let's skip gemstones for now, as I have multiple theories involving them again, which probably won't help you right now."
She adjusted her witches head slightly, and continued to speak.
"And as we have seen during your Level 6 shift, it seems possible for an esper to manifest other powers as well. Do you still remember what you shouted towards my understander?"
"Wasn't it something like: 'This isn't an esper power, it is something my mind conjured up...'?"
"Yes, exactly. But if it wasn't an esper power, what else could it have been? You were linked with almost 10,000 other electromasters. None of them had the ability you have shown there. And that purple ball of energy wasn't the only thing unrelated to your power. You also created some kind of white armor around yourself. So you created matter out of thin air."
Mikoto was flabbergasted.
"I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds weird, but back then I thought that it just happened because my brain was hijacked. It doesn't really make sense, I have to say. Is it just that more calculation power enables you to manifest more abilities?"
Othinus shook her head.
"No, from what I noticed in your memories, it doesn't seem like that. They not only forced you into that brain network, but messed with your thoughts as well. Right when you were taken over, I could feel that they implanted a thought pattern into you. And it reminded me of one I felt before: … "
Othinus paused, seemingly for dramatic effect.
" … mine, when I was still a Magic God. The feeling that the universe is yours. That you have the full control over it. And that you should distort reality to fit your desires."
Mikoto gulped.
"Euhm, so the power up you want to give me: will it just transform me into that form from back then again? Because I didn't have any control over it, and I don't want to accidentally hurt someone. And I remember learning later on from Shokuhou that my brain couldn't even handle it, so that I would have just died at some point."
Othinus seemed to have noticed that thinking back to that experiment caused Mikoto quite some discomfort, so that she got up and walked over to her. She climbed up onto her knee, and lightly patted it.
"Don't worry human, with what we have planned, something like this shouldn't happen."
Mikoto felt a bit better. She trusted Othinus, as she had at least always seemed to have the best for Touma in mind. And Index seemed too pure to be okay with sending her into a certain death.
"The thing that made it dangerous for you the last time, was that your sisters were forced to do calculations which were then all transferred into your mind, overloading it. We plan to have you just use your own brain, so that there won't be any risk of you getting taken over or being overwhelmed."
Mikoto nodded.
"Okay, so I can see how me being able to control more than electricity could help me. But thinking back about my fight with Anna, I can't imagine any situation right now where that would have helped me. Should I have conjured up a hydrogen bomb? That all seems too dangerous. And what I really lack in my opinion is a better defense. How should I achieve that?"
Othinus smirked.
"Ok, let me give you an analogy to help you understand how that power would work, so that you can gain a better understanding on how you could use it in fights. Let us imagine our universe as a zen garden. If its surface is flat, everything is just happening as it should, according to the laws of nature. In this analogy, supernatural phenomena are equivalent to a person that disturbs the stones in a deliberate manner, to reach a desired effect in the world."
Mikoto nodded. So far, she could follow.
"The difference between magicians and espers now is HOW these disturbances happens. You can imagine magicians as having a box of stencils they can use to imprint a fixed pattern. Creating these stencils takes time, but it isn't that mentally taxing to use them."
(Mhh, so a specific stencil would be like a specific spell.)
"Espers on the other hand have the equivalent to a simple stick. They are not bound by previously existing shapes, they can change everything in the way they like. So they are like the total opposite to magic gods. When I wanted to influence the universe, I just changed one of the phases in the background slightly. This caused a ripple effect which led to my desired result. You espers don't use any shortcuts, you just force the world to be like you want it."
Mikoto nodded, understanding the difference even better now. She also had her own observation to share.
"This stick analogy is by the way also a good way to explain the range of one's personal reality. It just feels like you lose more and more control over your power the farther away you try to use it. Until it just becomes too hard to do anything useful at all."
But there was another question that was already coming into Mikoto's mind.
"Mhh, but if a simple stick is so versatile, why aren't the all espers capable of creating whatever they want?"
Othinus smiled.
"Because the previous board chairman took inspiration from his despised magic. Instead of espers using stencils, it is ingrained into them to always draw the same symbol. Or in cases like yours where they have multiple powers, to just draw one from a fixed set of them. It is just that these symbols are very small, which gives the ability to affect atoms and even smaller particles on an individual level. This leads to a very high degree of flexibility, but it also means that a lot of calculations are necessary to reach the desired result."
Mikoto crated the tiniest of sparks between two of her finger tips. Could she feel these symbols she was drawing into the hypothetical zen garden?
"But why aren't we taught to just draw whatever we want? Wouldn't that make us espers even stronger?"
Othinus looked her deadpan in the eyes.
"Because they wanted to see results. My understander might have told you about the attacks you used when you were taken over. I noticed something when seeing it through your eyes: All your ranged ones were still based on electricity. You didn't show anything about your new ability further than five meters away from the position you were standing on."
Mikoto's facial expression dropped.
"Wait, I was told that I fired a gigantic lightning at the windowless building. But that was way larger than anything that I ever could manage myself, which means that the brain network of my sisters supported me in doing so."
She thought a moment before continuing to speak.
"So if they boosted me in the same way when I created that matter, then that means than almost every esper besides a Level 5 would just not achieve anything. Is it that what you were going for? And wait, if I was able to use both abilities simultaneously, then does that mean that I will have two personal realities, if this power up actually works? My original, long ranged electricity based one. And the new one, with even more versatility, but way less range?"
Othinus nodded like a teacher who finally seemed to have gotten a student to think for themselves.
"Yeah, I think so. You should keep your lightning powers, lets called the corresponding personal reality 'alpha', while gaining another one, which we could call 'omega'. I think every esper in this city would be classified as a Level 0 if they wouldn't force them to use those training wheels which limit them to their alpha personal reality. Going straight to omega would be like telling a toddler to climb the Mount Everest. You wouldn't achieve anything and the kid would be taken away by the authorities."
Othinus brought up her right hand to rub her chin for a moment, while appearing deep in thought.
"And even now, with multiple years of practice on your part, I would guess that when we are finally able to awaken your 'omega' reality, that it would not even reach outside of your head. At least from what I would extrapolate when taking into the volume of the area you had power over, and the added brain power from your sisters."
"N-not even outside of my head. But how would that then even help me?"
Othinus patted Mikoto's leg again.
"Calm down. I said that it should only be like that IN THE BEGINNING. And I also doubt that that mindless form from back then was able to use all the brain power to its fullest extend. If that would have been the case, my understander wouldn't have survived for a single second, I would reckon. But we don't even have to speculate yet. At first we have to see if it works at all, and we can go from there, okay?"
Mikoto nodded.
"But you still haven't gotten to the part on how it would help me in fights."
"Yeah, yeah, I will get to that now: So, thinking back to that analogy, imagine that a magician is currently in the process of bringing one of his stencils down. What do you think you could do in that moment?"
Mikoto thought for a second before answering.
"I mean, I could just erase whatever they will imprint, canceling their spell, right?"
Othinus shook her head slightly.
"That is still thinking a bit too proactive on your part. You could rather crate the inverse of the imprint before the stencil touches the ground, negating the effect even before it could take hold. Or you can modify it in an unpredictable way for the magician. Just imagine them wanting to create a sphere of fire, only for them to end up with a sphere of water."
"But that still means that I would have to gain an understanding on the intricacies of every spell my opponent would use. How would I even achieve such a thing?"
Othinus smiled at Mikoto, only to then start to look around the room, having her gaze rest on Index noticeably for a few seconds. She then began to speak in a clearly sarcastic tone.
"Oh, but where could you find experts on magic to give you live information during a fight. They are very hard to come by, you know."
The tiny goddess let out a chuckle.
"Don't worry about it, we can help you to understand your opponents. And I think that with more experience, you will be able to analyze more and more on the fly yourself."
Mikoto smiled apologetically at Othinus, while also turning her face quickly towards Index, who still seemed uninterested, as she was still enjoying her snack.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that I could still rely on your help."
Not having any questions left, Mikoto couldn't wait to begin to try to unlock her power. She took a deep breath.
"Okay, I don't have any questions regarding the nature of the power at this moment anymore. But now I would be interesting in HOW I can awaken my 'omega' personal reality?"
"Well, you are in luck. I think that the conditioning you receive during the power curriculum would be quite hard to change, as the city didn't expect any of you to ever reach this power. But you are a special case, as you were forced into it already through outside forces. And even after my understander reverted you back to normal, I still saw in your memories that the second personal reality didn't leave you. It is more like you repressed it heavily. So it is less of you having to awaken it, than it is you having to remember it. So I would say that we will do a lot of memory shenanigans from now on. You copying states of mind from my past, you replaying the memory of that day. It will be tough, but I believe in you, epser."
Othinus gave her a motherly smile that instilled confidence.
"Alright, let's start!"
The rest of the day went by quickly: Mikoto and Othinus spend most of the time working on Mikoto's personal reality. Index meanwhile went and brought them some snacks, before going back down to apparently watch a television show. When it was time for dinner, the nun came up again to get them to come down, while also saying that it might have been enough practice for one day. While Mikoto initially wanted to disagree and to keep on trying, she noticed her mental exhaustion because of Index's remark. They had made progress, though, as Mikoto was able to sometimes feel her 'omega' reality to flicker in and out for an instance. But she knew that she still had a lot more work in front of her to get it to a usable state, but that could wait until tomorrow. So after dinner ended, she stayed downstairs with the others, watching TV, talking about random things, and having fun.
It was now around ten at night. Mikoto had just gone to bed and was laying on her side, thinking back to what happened today.
(So there finally seems to be a way to stand on THAT stage with him. It will take some work, but so did my power development in general. So that is nothing new.)
Her gaze shifted over to her nightstand.
(And why is everyone thinking so badly about a girl buying rings.)
She reached over, opened the drawer and took out a small box from cupid arrow. She opened it, took out the larger of the two rings, and started to fidget with it in her fingers.
(Or would Touma make fun of me for these as well?)
She felt the smooth inside of the ring. It had no visible connection to Touma, so if he would ever find it, she could just deny everything and claim that another boy gifted them to her.
(Argh, when will my cowardice ever end.)
She felt around for the hoodie she had worn when they moved. The iron sand was still clinging to its hood. She extended her magnetism from the bed towards it and gathered a small portion of the sand into a ball, which she then floated over towards her. After changing its form into that of a small, vibrating blade, she started cutting away at the ring in her hand.