Wow, Persona 5 Royal ruined me. I was all set to write my heart out, then the 31st happened and here I am, 60 hours in and finally surfacing for something else. Life is fun when you have good stuff. So, here I am for the next while updating stuff off the cuff to both keep all you folks content and happy, and to prevent the threads themselves from going stale. So, here we go!

Spoiler: Da Winner

X] So, How About That Magic?
-[X] "So what can you tell me about curses? Feels inevitable I'll have to deal with some, so..."

Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong!

You were being carried like a bag of rice down the street by a guy who could probably break your snipe like a cracker. Nobody even glanced at him oddly or tried to stop him, making you feel just a little bit more helpless.

But, since you were already in a literally inescapable situation, why not try and dig that hole a bit deeper, and maybe get something useful out of it?

"Hey, so, Ranma, right? You said you were a real master of curses and whatnot, could you tell me a bit about those? Feels kind of inevitable I'll have to deal with some, so..." You hesitantly asked, feeling weird addressing his lower back, but Ranma did indeed stop for a moment, seeming to consider before shrugging and walking again.

"Hmmm, eh, why not. Sure. Though I'd take back that 'inevitable' bit there. Ya'll're already cursed." Ranma stated like it was a common fact, even as you flinched backward, succeeding only in doing a pseudo-crunch motion as Ranma's grip remained as strong as before.

"WHAT!" You screamed. Cause, honestly, you were shocked, but not that shocked, it would actually explain a lot about your life. The question was, when did you get it?

"Yep. Felt it the moment I saw you by the pond. Mostly cause ya proudly wearing a pretty damn cursed accessory right there around yer waist." Ranma continued as, with a brief movement of his arm, had the Third-Arm Sash flop in front of your face, where you quickly had it move around to try and show your incredulity to your captor.

"What! Again! The Third-Arm Sash isn't cursed, its just, like...regular magic! Ancient Magic! Regular ancient Magic!" You tried to frantically cover only to fall a little flat when you realized you didn't actually know any technical terms or real arguments it wasn't other than 'it hasn't tried to kill me'.

Ranma scoffed at the response.

"Okay, so your greener than a forest grove than. See, there's your first mistake. No such thing as actual magic, or 'Ancient' Magic especially. See, every little bit of Magic is a Curse, in one form or another." Ranma explained, before giving you a little jostle when he no doubt felt you taking in air to ask every question.

"No commentary till the end. You asked, I'm telling. Anyway, everything in this World has a price, don't matter what it is. You want to get smarter, study or go practice scamming rubes on the street. You want to get stronger, punch some bricks or accept challenges from any random school of Martial Arts who comes to you. Why would Magic be any different? Nah, you just pay different prices. The more convenient or the bigger the change you want to make happen, the more you gotta suffer or be inconvenienced. Aight, now I can take some questions." He finished speaking even as he kept walking.

"I-What-but that, I mean, what about how much magic a person can have? And eating or going to special places? And it being a special talent or some shit?" You stuttered and tried to question, flummoxed at this new perspective into what you had thought you had a solid grasp on.

This time Ranma broke into a full on chuckle, actually stopping and moving your body from his shoulder, putting you on your feet if with a hand on your left shoulder, letting you see the genuine amusement in his eyes.

"Pfftt, ah, haha! Ahh, man, you've either been reading too many comics or talked to some people who fell for that hook line and sinker. Let me guess, you thought you could go to some hidden retreat to meditate or hunt some ultra-rare monster or potion and it'd give you more magic or 'Spells'?"

You nodded, now not as hesitant but still trying to understand where this was going.

"Okay, see, think about what you just said. They'd work, sure, but not cause of some special properties or shit. It'd work cause its a massive pain in the ass to go to the middle of nowhere or eating something that doesn't live anymore. And everything else? Scale it up or down, and you got yourself a mage. The unhappier you are, or the worse it troubles your life, the stronger you can do. And the reason 'Magic' is so rare? 'S cause most people are actually pretty happy these days. Or at least not stupid enough to climb a mountain naked on the off-chance of shooting fireballs." Ranma shrugged again, finally taking his hand off you and leaving them behind his head as he looked at you.

You wanted to deny that, to ignore the entire subject drop you had brought up in the first place, to keep thinking of Magic as a wonderful, mystical thing few had and fewer mastered, but...it made sense when he put it into perspective. The Shen Gong Wu were insanely powerful artifacts that had what seemed like every effect under the sun ranging from animate clothing to apparently laser beams. And all it cost was marking whoever had them into a shadow war and constant threats of theft or violence.

Hell, within the near three months you'd had one, you'd been rendered nearly completely bed-ridden or broken twice, and barely scrapped through electrocuted on the last Wu Hunt you went on. Inconvenience was an understatement.

You stared down at the Third-Arm Sash, wondering just how different your life would be right now if you hadn't found it, even as it waved back under the attention.

"Oi, kid. Sorry if I broke your world view or whatever just then, but it was bound to happen eventually. I've been trying to tell ya we're here." Ranma snapped you from your stupor by snapping a few inches in front of your face, making you flinch and face him again, noting now you were standing in front of a restaurant called 'Ucchan's', with indeed the same address as the one you had seen on Konatsu's listing.

Right, right, the whole reason you came here...

END OF CHAPTER

CHOOSE 1 OF THE BELOW

[] Act Normal: See Konatsu in Action, Maybe try the Food

[] Act Evil: You Came for Konatsu, Your GETTING Konatsu. And More Importantly, Leaving Nerima

[] Act Interested: Keep Talking with Ranma, Get Konatsu Later
- What are we asking?

[] Act Good: Pay Upfront, Kindly but Firmly Leave With Konatsu

END OF CHOICE

GAINS:

The Knowledge of what Magic TRULY is.

The Knowledge that 'Curses' don't really exist.

END OF GAINS

This was a lot of fun, it's always nice when I get to make lore dumps.