Chapter 06
This isn't the first time I've been cornered in the man's bathroom. Hell, this time the odds are actually in my favor; there was only one, and it doesn't look like he was armed.
The guy in question was an average looking dude with an athletic build and earthly brown hair that spiked wildly in every direction. He'd got inside the room and wordlessly blocked the door with his body, making his intentions obvious right from the start.
At least he was waiting for me to finish washing my hands, which I did with deliberated slowness.
If it was only that, it would be fine. I am completely confident that I can kick the ass of anyone in this school whose name didn't start with Saotome and ends with Ranma, but the words floating above his head gave me pause.
Himiko Kenji
Vegan Werewolf
Level: 09
I sighed.
I had… not forgotten, but pushed the more… overtly supernatural aspects of the classmates to the back of my mind, mostly because I didn't know how to approach them or how to begin talking about the subject. But it seems my recent encounter with the supernatural was attracting even more of it into my life.
I suppose this was inevitable, and, not gonna lie, a bit fun.
"So," I said, shaking the last droplets of water to the side. "What do you want?"
He was sloughing down, shoulders squared, arms limp, head hanging low but with eyes locked on me, I decided this posture was an aggressive one, but, frankly, with my growing experience, I can say there are better postures to be in if you want to start a fight. But then again, the gamer told me he wasn't human, and it hadn't led me astray yet.
"Stop doing that thing." He said after a moment of glaring.
I raised my eyebrow, "Sorry?"
"That thing! That thing you and the martial artist are doing. Where you disappear and reappear later, stop that!" He insisted.
There was something under his tone that made the words tremble, almost like a growl.
I kept my expression under control. Ok, this is my fault, really; I've been very blatant on the usage of my abilities around this school, hoping for the blanket of Nerima weirdness to cover for them. The encounter with the freaking Campione! Organization made me realize I could use a little more discretion, at least until I figured out what the fuck is happening to this world, but it seems it was too late for that now.
No use crying over spilled milk, the damage is already done.
"Why?" I asked simply.
The guy showed me his teeth but settled back down. "The smell, you're messing out the smell around the school!"
Crap, so my Illusion Barriers did leave an effect on reality… That actually makes sense, considering that they are not a foreign concept to this world.
I slid my hands on my pockets and leaned my hips on the sink but kept my guard raised despite the casual pose.
"Noted. But how is it different, may I ask? Am I making the place smell bad?"
How am I affecting reality? Basically
"No, good. You're making everything smell good. Way too good!" He produced a dog-like snort with his nose and shook his head "This is bad, will attract bad things. Monsters. Monsters will bring trouble. I'm supposed to stay out of trouble."
…
O…kay. I tilted my head, casting a gaze over this guy. Trying to watch for the small details and remember what I've seen of him in class.
No wonder he always kept to himself.
"You can't human very well, hãh? Werewolf-san." I quipped, because frankly, if he's going to drop one of my secrets on me, then I'm gonna do it to him too.
It was a risky move that led to risky results; He flinched for a second, his eyes wide in surprise. Then immediately lean back in, his claw and canine growing as he snarled.
At least he didn't attack me outright. But I can see he was preparing to.
I put my hands up quickly. "Hold up!"
My exclamation must have taken him by surprise because he actually paused.
"Just to be clear, I have no interest in fighting you. But I'll defend myself if you try to start anything."
"Hãhh?" I think if he had dog-ears, they would be flapping around right now as he seemly tried to fix the gears inside his head. Even his aggressive posture dismantled a little, though his lower canine now poked from his mouth even when closed.
"… You're trying to confuse me." He decided.
Not untrue. "I'm serious."
"No. You're going to attack me when my guard is down."
"Why would I do that?"
"Why— Because that's why what humans do!" He furred his blow deeply. "We hide, if we're discovered, humans attack, always."
We? Interesting, is he talking about his kin as a whole, or somebody else?
"Honestly, I'm new to this; I still don't know how to react to a werewolf, yet." I admitted while making a 'what can you do?' sign with my raised hands. "Sorry if people attacked you before, but I can promise I won't without a reason."
I could almost hear the tick-tock going on in his head. He was also clicking his sharp teeth together, but it didn't look like a threatening act, it looked more like a nervous tick.
"I'm not supposed to get in trouble." He repeated his previous statement.
My shoulders rolled in a casual shrug. "You're not. The way I see it, we're just talking."
He looked at me suspiciously for a couple of seconds before making an internal decision and turning to leave.
That actually made me blink, is he just going to—
He snapped back, and I flinched, but instead of an attack, a clawed finger was pointed at me.
"Anyway, stop doing that thing!" He reverted back to the start of the argument.
I nodded slowly. "Alright, already thinking of moving to another place anyway."
"Oh… Ok." He looked around uncertain and then left and closed the door behind him.
Well, that went… better than I'd imagine it would go. Hell, I'm even leaning on liking the guy. He was honest and direct, at least, unlike some sneaky milfs…
I grumped at the directions my thoughts had taken, partially angry with myself for getting distracted like that on that night. Sure, my body is a virile pile of hormones now, but I'm an adult goddamn it! I should know not to lower my guard around to sexy women.
Dropping these thoughts, because it's unlikely they would help me now, I left the bathroom and made my way back to my class, where Ranma had started wolfing down his lunch.
The students around me parted and avoided me more blatantly than usual.
"Yo, Gel-man." Ranma greeted as I got close.
"Your jokes are bad, and you should feel bad for telling them."
What he was referring to was, of course, the copious amount of gel that now adorns my hair. You see, after the thunderous fucking from a day ago, my dark locks had stubbornly refused to settle down, so I had two choices, either I went to school looking like a Final Fantasy reject, or took matters into my own hands. That's why now my hair was swept back into a glossy, pitch-black mass that made me look like the king of rock 'n roll during his heydays. I actually thought it looked pretty slick, but Ranma said it made me look like one of his middle schools' delinquents and processed to make bad jokes about it whenever he could.
Guess it explained why everybody was giving me a wider berth than usual.
Reaching my seat, I cocked my hips to the side and put a casual hand over it, casting a questioning eyebrow at the one sitting on it.
Tendo Akane.
Heiress to the Tendo's branch of Anything Goes Martial arts school.
Level: 18
Let this be said about Tendo Akane; she was pretty. Definitely one of the top tiers in our class and probably high up there among our age group. Sure, she wasn't drop-dead gorgeous as Ueraha Rin or even curvy as Ranma-chan, but she had a pretty decent body with everything in the right place, a face that's very easy on the eyes, and long blueish locks that were something to be proud of.
I can see why most of the boys in this school are head over heels for her, though the grimace she was wearing right now was ruining this impression.
"Yo, joining us today, I see." I greeted her good-naturedly.
"As if!" She crossed her arms with a buff. "You and Ranma are up to something suspicious!" She accused.
Now that's interesting.
This is actually my first real interaction with Tendo Akane. Still, it isn't the first time she reacted to my presence— we were in the same class after all, and I hang out with her fiancée: I caught her looks— yet in none of the last instances she was as antagonist as she is now.
Ranma stomped his foot on the floor. "I told you it was nothin' like that! Quit being so insistent, you tomboy!"
"What did you call me, pervert!?"
Ah, I see; they're fighting. And it probably didn't start at the school either.
"Well, Tendo-san, I can assure you we're not up to anything suspicious." I cut in between the two, and then I turned on the 'fuck it' switch because I got a feeling she would be finding out anyway. "We are merely hunting yokais for cash in a pocket dimension."
Akane blinked at the sudden statement, while Ranma choked the rice he was eating.
"Oh, come on!" Exclaimed the gender-bender martial artist after the rice failed to suffocate him. "Don't just tell her!"
Was he trying to keep this as a bro secret? That's kinda touching.
"Speaking of which, we can't do it at the school anymore." I broke the news.
"What!?" Ranma actually looked alarmed at that. "Why?"
"I've been informed that it will attract real monsters if we keep up."
"Oh." He looked down and the bento, it had probably been made by Kasumi. "That really sucks."
I shrugged. "Hey, it's not like we have to stop it, we just have to find a better place to do it, and maybe rotate between areas a little bit. Besides, the skill supposedly gives new monsters according to the terrain; I want to test that out." A relevant thought jumped to my mind, and I vocalized it. "By the way, did you know Himiko Kenji knows about what we're doing?"
Ranma, who was looking happier now that his main source of cash wasn't going to end, considered that. "Yeah, there was always this guy stalkin' around when we did our thing, so his name is Kenji, huh."
I frowned. What the… "Wait, wait, wait, you knew a guy was peeking on us this entire time, and you didn't tell me!"
Ranma shrugged, pushing a sausage into his mouth. "He was bein' really discrete about it, 'sides it's not like he was brotherin' us or anything." He said with his mouth around the meat.
Oh, this guy…
"Oh, so did you know he was a werewolf, also?"
Ranma promptly gaged at the news, quickly looking up at me. "What!? Like a werewolf, werewolf!?"
"Yeah, Ranma, werewolf, werewolf." I leaned in with a grin—my long, thick, imposing shadow crossing over his shocked face due to the light in my back. "See? That's what you do when you have information that could be relevant to both of us. You share it."
Ranma rolled his eyes unabashedly. "Oh, shut up."
"Excuse me!?"
We both looked to the side to see the figure of Tendo Akane, who had been turning her to both of us as she followed the conversation, looking more incredulous each time… Or maybe a bit horrified by the pit of filthy innuendos I was dragging a clueless Ranma into.
"What the heck are you two talking about!?" She demanded, and I had to hold my witches cackles back for the expression in her face.
"Sorry about that," I said with an underlined chuckle. Reaching a hand out to the side, I grabbed a chair that a classmate had conveniently left vacated. Then I pushed it to our table, sat down, and conjured a loaf of bread from my inventory. "I'm Ōe Hiroshi, would you like some bread?"
-0-0-0-
Now, it had been a long time since I watched Ranma ½, but I can somewhat remember the feeling I had about the characters.
Akane was among my least favorites.
I can even say I've developed a healthy dislike for her character as time goes by, but at that point, I didn't know if it was my old fanfiction knowledge blending in with the half-remembered scenes from the anime. I didn't know if her worst aspects were exaggerations, or if she was as bratty and prone to violence as the fan's usual portrayal of her.
In the end, I've decided to hold my judgment until I had an actual conversation with her.
And now, after spending about a day in her proximity and interacting with her, I safely said she's… Not as bad as the fanfictions might have you believe, but not as good that the dislike for her is entirely unfounded.
In the end, I had to act like a mediator for her and Ranma on more than one occasion. And not to stroke my own ego or anything, but the results speak for themselves.
"Ahh, that's neat, so it's like the 'grounded tiger strike' but in the air!" Akane concluded brightly.
"Urg, hearing it being refereed like that is so weird. It was always the 'dive of the unbound eagle' for me." Ranma commented, still thinking over this conversation's surprise revelations. "But yeah, I guess it's the same move if you think about it. Damn pops! Saotome's exclusive, my ass!"
It turns out both martial artists are interested in martial arts, who would have thought?
This particular conversation spurred from an innocent 'So what's the difference between the Tendo and the Saotome branches of the Anything Goes' question by me, partially in an attempt to deflate one of the more tense moments between the two. This resulted in wide eyes and gaping mouths as they slowly realized that none of them had a good answer because none bother to ask themselves, which prompted a very hesitant stream of questions and answers that bloomed into a quite lively discussion. If someone saw them now, they'd be hard-pressed to guess they were at each other's throat this morning.
There isn't to say there weren't any duds, however, and most of the problem came from the difference in personality between the two.
You see… Ranma is rude, and sometimes he can be very rude. Maybe this is a product of growing up alone with an asshole father, but his first instinct is to mock and ridicule anything he deems as a failure or a mistake, and he does so seemly without noticing it. Like, if you slip on the wet ground and fall on your face, it's most likely he will insult your lack of equilibrium first, and only then crouched down to help you up, but the thing is; he will most likely crouch down to help you up.
While Ranma is very likely to berate your every mistake, he will not see it as an insult, or at least as a serious one. It's honestly just a natural response to him, and that meant he doesn't put much meaning behind it as others do, it's actually pretty hard for him to openly insult someone with the intention of hurting their feelings.
It's not an easy outlook to 'get', and I did so because most of my male friends and my brother acted the same way: within a space where rudeness was just another expression, you quickly learn which insults actually hold meaning. The only problem I can say about it, which admittedly is a pretty big one, is that Ranma has no social filter for it, he will treat everybody the same and doesn't understand that most people are not used to it.
And Akane… well, she is the worst type of person to talk to if you have that mentality and manner of speaking.
One thing that the fandom got right is that the girl had a temper the size of a particular angry midget. I could literally see her go red with every slight quip and insult Ranma casually threw like she took his every word personally. It's actually rather impressive the way she can flip flop back to normal when I step in to cool things down. She also has a nasty tendency to take things out of context and built up her anger from that, even when the thing clearly isn't an insult or mockery. To the point that even I had to watch what I said around her.
At least I can say she isn't prone to outright violence as the fandom indicated, but more than once I had the feeling she would punch us and walk away fuming, but she never did.
If you don't use mockery and keep the intent of your words clear enough, she's usually pretty mellow and friendly.
When you combine these two personalities, you get a powder keg in the shape of a conversation, and this one, while by far the best one I managed to get the two to engage in, was not without its misunderstandings. Mostly because whatever Anything Goes levels they were talking, Ranma was clearly more advance and had better practical and theoretical foundations, plus he has a tendency to insult the Tendo's moves he isn't familiar with and have no counterpart part on the Saotome side. Something that rattled Akane to no end.
"That sounds dumb. I bet I can break that off in no time."
"Oh yeah, care to try!"
See? Ranma sounded challenging, but Akane, she just sounded angry. I signed. Here we go again.
"So, any combination attacks you two can use?" I cut in before Ranma could reply and escalate.
The gender-bender martial artist looked and me, and scrunch his face in thought.
"I dunno… maybe the Dual Jet Streams Raging Water attack? It requires two people to use."
"Ah, you have that too!" Akane exclaimed excitedly, the traces of irritation quickly melting away from her expression. Her finger cupped her chin in thought soon after, though. "Do that move even work? It doesn't sound very reliable."
"It not very useful against people, but it's awesome against projectiles. My pops and I got into a fight with this dumpling stand alliance back in China and…"
Safe! Was what I thought while half-listening to Ranma's amusing tale, Akane seemed engrossed into hearing a report about how one of the martial techniques she knew fare in combat.
+ 1 Cha.
Hum? Well, at least I'm getting something for my troubles.
Despite occasionally needing my intervention, this conversation was actually very informative and, dare I say it, fun.
It had become pretty clear to us that the Tendo branch of Anything Goes deals with ground-based techniques with a focus on strength and resilience, and the Saotome was the opposite of that with a focus on aerial techniques favoring speed and mobility. It's kinda funny that Akane is the heir of the 'hard' version of the style, but Ranma eclipses her in this aspect by his sheer physical stats alone.
We were walking to the school gate when it happened.
I felt a slight chill running down my spine. It was very sudden and very hard to ignore, so it stunned me for a single moment. It was enough for me to feel Ramna's finger gripping the back of my jacket.
"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!"
I was pulled back and off my feet. But unlike the last time, the sudden shift didn't mess with my perception, and I was able to see a yellowish and red blur dropping over our previous position like a meteor, at the same time that I managed to put my legs under me to land and slid on the ground crouching rather than on my ass, the yelp at my far side told me that Akane wasn't so lucky.
To my surprise, the ground beneath the figure didn't become a crater; it didn't even crack under the heavy impact… To my even bigger surprise, I was proven wrong a solid three seconds later, when the ground opened up in a wide hole that somehow took a few seconds to form. The few students around who were leaving let out startled cries as they watched.
The figure on the crater was tall and muscular, with baggy, worn-out yellow garbs with a tiger theme bandana and a red umbrella— Oh, it's Ryoga.
Hibiki Ryoga.
The Eternal Lost Boy
Level: 24
I was wondering when he was going to show up.
Ryoga pulled up his umbrella from the ground and rose to his feet, keeping his gaze solemnly on his target.
"I see you still good at running away, Ranma." He gave out a cocky chuckle.
The martial artist frowned, opening his mouth to let out a retort, only for his head to be cocked forwards by a thud.
"What the hell!?" Ranma shouted at a pissed off girl at his side, who was trying to hold the tear on the backside of her skirt shut.
"Look at what you've done, pervert!"
"I was tryin' to get you out of this guy's attack!"
"I could have done on my own, thank you very much!"
Really guys? Is this really the best time? And look, now Ryoga is trembling in anger. Poor dude.
"Stop ignoring me, Ranma!" He shouted, interrupting the growing argument. The tip of his umbrella pointed at Ranma. "I've come a long way to right the wrongs you did to me!"
That brought Ranma's attention. He snapped his sharp eyes to Ryoga and… looked.
And looked.
And continued looking.
"…Y-You don't remember?" Ryoga sputtered.
Ranma squinted his eyes, concentrating very deeply.
"Maybe someone from your Junior High?" I threw a bone.
"AH!" It was all he needed, apparently. He snapped his fingers at me, and then at Ryoga. "Now, I remember! Err. Shinahara Kenishi!"
"Who's that!?" The lost boy roars in frustration. "Hibiki Ryoga! It's Hibiki Ryoga!"
"Yeah that's it. Sorry, sorry, got it confused." Ranma rubbed the back of his head and actually smiled, apparently forgetting this guy just tried to kill him. "Ah man, long time no see—"
"Silence!" Ranma got an umbrella pointed at his face as he tried to approach. "Answer my question! Why didn't you come to fight me at the appointed time!?"
Ranma blinked. "…I waited for you at the agreed place for three whole days." He said slowly.
"Three days!" Was Akane's exclamation and pretty much the reaction of the growing crowd. I just remained in my squatting position and enjoyed the nostalgia.
"But when I arrived on the fourth day… You were already gone!"
"Fourth day!?"
Where is Kuno, by the way? I thought he always appears when logic starts to fail.
Ranma took a deep, calming breath, and spoke. "Ryoga, let me ask you a question."
Taking the lost boy's silence as acceptance, he continued.
"That place where we're supposed to fight back then…. Wasn't that vacant lot behind your house?"
"Why did you force me to wait for three days then!?" Ranma countered with a healthy deal of logic and reason. Don't think it's very effective against this wild Ryoga, though.
"Bastard! Do you think I was out for a stroll those four days!?"
With a heavy heart and pain in his eyes, Ryoga started telling us his sad tale about getting out of his house and getting lost across Japan from a journey that should have taken a few minutes.
In the end, he masterfully succeeded in informing everyone about his sense of direction if the murmuring was any indication.
"Ok, but how did you get all the way up to Hokkaido in one day, though?" I asked.
"You broke a man-to-man promise!" Ah… Ignored. "And then you dare to run off to China with your father!"
He finally had enough and step in for a swing. Ranma leaped above it and glided backward like he was on the moon before landing gracefully on his feet.
"So you come here to finish that fight?" He asked with growing eagerness.
"Finish it!? You don't know half of it!" He swung his umbrella to the side and popped it open. "REVENGE!" Then he launched his god-knows-how-many-pounds umbrella like a Frisbee of death, something that Ranma casually dodged out of instinct.
Leaving the thing to spin directly at the growing crowd of students behind him
"OI!" I leaped backward and got my hands on the spinning handle of the thing as it passed over my head. In retrospect, this wasn't a very well-thought-out idea.
My entire body was dragged by it to the point my feet momentarily left the ground. Luckily my grip and my weight were enough to knock its trajectory out of the way of the bystanders and directed it toward the ground. Were it dug its blade-like hem into concrete for a good fifteen centimeters.
I let out a grunt as I felt the spinning handle grinding against the palm of my hand, but just tightened my grip and bared the pain until it finally stopped.
Ignoring the burning sensation, I put my other hand on the handle and lifted the thing of the ground… Trying with all my might to not show how much the weight was affecting me.
Seriously is this thing an umbrella or a freaking ship anchor!?
I placed it on my shoulder, where it dug uncomfortably on my skin. But with the support of my entire torso, I managed to keep it up much easier. With the umbrella secured, and after I made sure I wasn't going to drop on my ass due to its impossible weight. I turned to Ranma, moving with easy steps to not throw my precarious balance off.
"You. Be more aware of your surroundings!" I chastised the idiot until he was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"And you." I made a point to aim his own weapon in his direction… with one arm… my every muscle screamed at me for that, but I had my pride damn it. "Watch where you throw this thing, you could've hurt someone, idiot!"
My declaration caused some surprised "Hoooh!" among the crowd. Ryoga frowned at my interruption.
"Who the hell are you!?" He demanded.
I lowered the umbrella, placing it tip first on the ground while keeping my raw palm over the pommel like a sword. My muscles began to cry in relief, but I didn't let that show on my face.
"I am…" Pause for dramatic effect. Everyone drew in. "…A complete random bystander! You may carry on with your dramatical confrontation."
People stumbled comically. What? What were they expecting, that I was going to pick a fight with a guy who carried this thing all the time? No, no, no, I had Ranma for that!
And speaking of the martial artist, he just laughed.
"Don't try to be cool if you don't have a follow-up man, that was lame!" He said between chuckles. "Anyway, I just remembered what this guy's deal was. Hiroshi, give me bread!"
"… You have to be more specific."
"All of the bread!"
Well… He asked.
"THAT'S TOO MUCH BREAD!"
"WHAT HERESY ARE YOU SAYING!?"
"AHHHH!" Ryoga stomped on the area between the now bread-covered Ranma and me. The impact made me stumbled backward and forced me to use the umbrella to prop me up so I didn't fall.
"ENOUGH RANMA, NOW YOU DIE- eh?"
"That's melon bread!"
The odd exchange was made from behind the curtain of dust Ryoga's attack had lifted. But when it settled, I could see the lost boy holding a delicious melon bread in his hand.
"Still not enough, hah? You're greedy." Ranma commented from a distance, "Here, Curry Bread."
"There is more, Chow-Mein Bread."
"Croquette Bread!"
"Choco Bread!"
"Avocado Bread!"
Ranma continued to make Japanese bread rain like God did in the Garden of Eden. It was a vision so beautiful it almost brought me to tears.
"That's all I can remember!" Ranma concluded.
In the end, Ryoga had his arms full of concentrated deliciousness. Yet he was trembling in anger, the ingrate. "Ranma… What is the meaning of this!?"
"Yes, Ranma," Akane spoke from behind them, the combination of antics had made her forget about the state of her skirt and put her hands to work massaging a surging headache. Two lucky guys behind her were clearly having the time of their lives leering at her exposed underwear. "Please Ranma, explain to us what that was all about."
"Hm, well, back at our Junior High, all lunches were like battlefields…"
And then he proceeded to tell us a tale of a boy, a boy whose parent didn't have time to make him a proper breakfast because they got lost on the way to the kitchen, a boy who always spent his mornings hungry, longing, yearning for the time when he could be released from his prison of learning so he could bask on the deliciousness that waited for him in the cafeteria. Many more there seek that same deliciousness, but the boy knew that and prepared accordingly, honing his body and skills until he stood above everyone else for the sole purpose of getting the deliciousnessfirst. And the boy did that; victory filled his soul as he closed his finger around his prize… only to be snatched away at the last second by another, more skilled boy.
Again, and again, and again, for a full goddamn year.
"Ranma," I said. Tears staining my cheeks. "You do that shit to me, and I'm murdering you in your sleep."
"E-Even you Hiroshi… please tell me that you're joking."
… Mostly. I want to be part of this comical anime bullshit because it's funny to me, and people were easier to manipulate when the silliness is cranked up to eleven. Doesn't mean I won't try, though.
We were now sitting in a circle having a picnic because that what you do when you have a butch of tasty bread lying around. Luckily many students had wisened up after seeing the lost boy's propensity for causing collateral damage and left, so I didn't have to watch out for that many people when the fight inevitably restarted.
And look at that, it already did. While I was lost in thoughts about the emotional tale, Ranma managed to insult Ryoga, or the guy just got impatient again, and they had started duking out, and like, really going at it this time.
Ok, not really… I don't think Ranma can just shrug off one of Ryoga's unreasonably destructive attacks, but he was keeping things casual and focused more on dodging and asking questions than countering. It was clear that he had already gauged the skill of his opponent and correctly deduced that Ryoga was nowhere near as fast or agile as he was. And believe me, if you're not at least that, then you'll never hit the slippery acrobat that is Saotome Ranma.
It was, however, the most impressive battle I've seen Ranma partake. Just because Ryoga wasn't as fast and agile as Ranma, didn't mean he wasn't superhumanly fast and agile, and combining that with his strength… Ok, maybe that's a bit too much strength—and why the hell is this fucker causing so much collateral damage!? Didn't he know how to aim!?
Explosions rang out across the courtyard of Funrikan High as it received a barrage of damage comparable to an artillery bombardment, and that was me just slightly exaggerating. Every punch and kick Ryoga threw seems to break something, explode a crater into existence, or uproot a tree.
Is this baseline Ryoga!? Didn't he get more destructive as the series went on? Fucking hell, I think we're gonna need Kaiju methods to deal with him then!
And why the fuck is he causing so much collateral!? I don't remember Ryoga's first appearance very well, but I'm pretty sure he didn't explode the school on his first fight. Fuck, I can't think of a reason for… Wait a second.
I looked down at my hand… and saw the umbrella dragging behind me. I had gained an extra point in strength just for carrying the thing along while escaping the shrapnels.
Crap! I have the thing with me, that means Ryoga is fighting without it, and so… Wait, he can't use precision attacks without it?! Or maybe he's not used to his own limbs for—Fuck it! It doesn't matter now, have the umbrella, might as well use it!
After about five minutes of pure chaos, the fight finally drew to a close. Well, in a way, it did: Ranma had noticed the damage they were causing and wisely chose to draw Ryoga to another field so they could fight more freely.
I could hear the lost boy declarations of revenge fading in the distance.
+ 1 Str.
+ 1 Str.
I got to admit carrying this thing around is a pain in the ass… and the back… and the arms… oh god, the arms—But I can't argue with results, especially after it earned me three consecutive bonus points in strength.
After the power-up, it was easier to carry the thing around and even maneuver it a bit while it was open.
"You're ok?" I asked the two frightened girls under me; the latest bunch I covered from the shrapnels and debris. I tried to keep a firm grip on the handle of the open umbrella, but some shaking was inevitable.
"Y-Yeah." One of the girls spoke up, her face bright red from the stressful ordeal. Her friend had buried her face on her chest, but now had popped one eye up and was watching me intently.
I nodded. "You two can go now; the worst is already over."
"A-Ah yes, t-thank you!"
After making sure they weren't hurt, I turned around and started walking towards the center of the cloud of dust, waving the damn umbrella while at it in an attempt to close it. Even that is hard to do with this thing; it was like a lump of pure tungsten craved into the shape of an umbrella.
When I finally managed it, I promptly threw the thing into my inventory. Because I'm guessing Ryoga won't show up again for a while, so I might as well use it to do some strength training before I give it back. As payback for my raw hand, of course.
As expected, I found Akane on an area clean from dust, looking at the place where the new martial artist had gone, probably wondering where Ranma could have…
My eye twitched.
"My disappointment is immeasurable."
"What?" Said Saotome Ranma, looking at me.
"I thought you were heroically leading that wrecking ball away from the innocents."
"Meh." He said with a shrug of his shoulder.
"Why is he running away. then?"
"He isn't. He thinks he's pursuing me." Ranma placed his hand beside his eyes to illustrate. "He's like an angry bull. His tunnel vision is something else."
Heh, I can believe that.
Striding past Ranma, I made way towards Akane, who also turned to look at me. Taking off my school jacket, I quickly handed it to her.
"Here, for your little problem."
It was kind of funny watching her blink, her face slowly etching towards the realization she had forgotten while a bright blush spread over her nose and cheek. With an adorable yelp, she went low on her knees, hands snapping to her rear to cover up her shame.
I draped my jacket over her shoulders. "Here, you can give me back tomorrow. And it's not Ranma's fault you know, he was really just trying to drag you away from danger. What happened there was just an accident."
Tendo Akane looked up at me for a long moment, before slowly rising to her feet and tying my jacket around her hips to cover the holes on her skirt.
"Ōe-san… I'd like to apologize."
"Hum?"
"Up to this morning, I thought you were a no-good delinquent, but you're not like that at all." She dipped her head in a short bow. "I'm truly sorry."
"Heh, no need to be so formal." I waved her off. "It's all a big misunderstanding anyway, and it's not like I'm helping with my looks. There is nothing to apologize for."
She smiled at me and—whoa, ok, I got to admit that Akane looks really good when she smiles. She should definitely do it more often.
"Ranma!" She called, stepping close to the martial artists, who looked down at his diminutive fiancée. "I'm… I'm sorry for hitting you before. I shouldn't have jumped into conclusions like that."
Hehe, Ranma's expression after hearing that was comical, there was even a little blush on his face. After blinking his shock away, he put his arms behind his head in a casual matter.
"Meh, it was nothing. It's not like you can hurt me anyway."
Ah, here we go.
"Wh—Are you calling me weak!?" Was Akane's declaration as her mood did a 180, and the following exchange began to drag them both further into anger and insults.
I sighed while watching the famous anime argument play out. It was as more awkward to watch when it wasn't behind a television screen, but I can't deny there wasn't some amusement there.
The wind had swept away most of the dust by that point, showing that despite the impressive effects, Ryoga's attacks didn't damage the school that badly, it was mostly a shitload of cracks on the concrete and a few knock over trees, the most significant crater was the one he made at the start.
Man, I wonder if we'll have classes tomorrow.
"PERVERT!"
A loud slap echoed in response to Ranma's remark about childish underwear.
I look up, noticing the position of the sun, and quickly checking my clock.
Well, I guess school time is over. Time for the more… adult part of my day.
"Man, I'll never understand that tomboy!" Ranma complained while rubbing his aching cheek. Akane was already walking away, fuming.
"Tsunderes, my friend, tsunderes…"
-0-0-0-
"A-Aruji-sama!"
…
What is this?
Seriously, what is this?
I want to believe it's Ueraha Rin, it even has her voice and mannerisms, yet my eyes can only perceive a circular lump of fur cloaks, pants, skirts, hats, scarfs, and an upside-down magazine purposefully covering the face.
Rin had reverted back to her timid, stuttering state. This was kind jarring to see after the erotic day we had, where we basically spent all day cropped up inside my apartment talking and… well, and fucking.
During the entire time, she's been the drop-dead gorgeous woman who had full control of herself and was capable of making clear, concise sentences. If we weren't doing the act of course, in those cases, she was a similarly stuttering mess, but the noises she made then were much sulkier. That time was my most prolonged interaction with her, and that took quite a special place in my mind if I say so myself: that show of kneeling down and literally offering herself to me was especially noteworthy.
So, after all of that, I'd frankly forgotten about this other side of her. And now I'm having difficulties connecting the two into one person. There is only so much that anime quirkiness can excuse.
"Ok… Rin, why are you like this?"
"W-What do you mean, A-Aruji-sama?" Responded the woman, still hiding her face behind the upside-down magazine.
I pushed that cover down and stared at the swirly glasses she was wearing. The visible part of her beautiful face immediately lit up in a brilliant red blush. She then let out a shriek and turned her back at me.
Fear of being seen? Fear of leaving her room? What is it?
"Rin," I said to her back, watching the round buddle of clothes tremble. "Are you afraid of me?"
"No!" She declared immediately. I stumbled back as she was suddenly right on my face. "This one would never be afraid of Aruji-sa…sama… G-Guh…" I watched as she slowly realized our proximity, and the healthy blush this fact caused. "Kya!" Aaand she turned her back again, this time kneeling and holding her face. "A-Aruji-sama~~!"
…Ok, she's cute. Confusing for sure, but cute.
Doesn't mean I'd just drop the subject like that.
"Hey, Rin. Tell me what's the deal with you." I knelt down behind her and poked the top of her head through her puffy hat.
"H-Hum?" She dared to turn her face towards me a little. "This one does not understand, A-Aruji-sama."
"You're like two different people. The you of now and the you from before, I mean." She let out an embarrassed squeak at the memory of what 'her from before' had done. "When I first met you, you were also like that, and then you were totally different later."
I could see her fidgeting under my stare though I don't know if this was for my question or solely for the attention.
"T-this one doesn't know." She answered with a whine. "T-This one is sorry, A-Aruji-sama, but she is just acting like normal. Guhhh." She fidgeted some more. "A-Aruji-sama isn't the first one who asked this one a question like that either."
"Really? Someone else noticed this?" Well, it's not like it's hard to. " Who?"
"A… c-colleague…" She answered after some hesitation.
Ah, another Taimanin then.
Taimanin, one of the things I regret is to not focus more on this subject yesterday… but to be fair, I was a piled-up heap of teenage hormones with a woman of Taimanin's standard completely open to my every advance, so it doesn't need saying that I was very, very distracted.
There isn't to say we didn't talk extensively talk about this, though, It's only that I could use some reminders now that my bigger head was in full control, and I didn't have the juiciest pair of breasts I've ever seen right before my eyes.
"One of the ninja girls, eh?" I commented.
"Aruji-sama! N-Not out in the open!"
"Sorry, sorry." I laughed, rising to my feet. "You know what to do, right."
"H-hai!" Rin, sensing the change to a serious topic, also got up from her kneeling position. Though the mighty blush still ever-present and she still couldn't look directly at me without stutter, well, stutter more. "T-This one guarantee that none shall harm Aruji-sama under her watch!"
That was what we planned this morning when I called and set up a meeting with the History Compilation Committee… An organization that indicates that a third anime setting was part of this crazy universe.
The looming presence of Campione! And all its inherited danger was a dreadful prospect to consider, but in the end, there was nothing I could do about it. I could only accept it and move on. Right now, I've confirmed the presence of a coherent supernatural side on this world, and one much more detailed, nuanced and dangerous than the one shown on Ranma1/2. I had to be prepared for it, and that means more than just duck down and focus on leveling up; I needed information, I needed to know what I was dealing with.
The History Compilation Committee, or HCC, was a perfect source of that, not only they are portrayed as fairly benevolent from what I remember of the anime, but they are supposedly deeply involved with the supernatural, or at least the magical aspect of japan as a whole.
Magical… with this I could also address the matter of the rapidly approaching wall on my solo arcane studies, though I was trying to not get my hopes up, this is suppose to be just an introduction after all.
Now, surely on this unknown environment I was about to get into, the first choice for guidance should have been the group that I already know about and is actually indebted to me, but the thing about that 'Heavenly Oni Temple' and the Milf Miko… I was still kind of peeved about the tracking spell!
… Jokes aside, this was rather worrisome, I risked my life to save their Hime and they rewarded me by tracking my location without my knowledge. That showed me that, at the very least, magical relations in this world involved a lot of smoke and mirrors even among perceived allies… and that's if the group from the temple considered me as an ally… don't matter now; excessive paranoia will do me no good.
But at the very least, I had someone I've decided to trust, mostly for our brief but oddly intimate history together, and for the notifications from the gamer system of the great increase in our 'closeness'. As a bonus, that person happens to be the only other that I can't see the level of; meaning she's undoubtedly strong.
"Guhhhhhhhh."
… I watched Rin at a distance; she was badly hidden behind a lamppost, clearly watching at me. I got to say when I requested—and then requested again as a firm command at her panting insistence— her to shadow my meeting and make sure nothing bad happened, I was imagining a badass ninja watching over me without I even realize she was there, not this.
And she's giggling now… well, she makes a darn good impression of a yandere admirer… Hey, maybe this can actually work as a masquerade; there is one in my class, and I'm pretty sure I passed a few women with a 'yandere' title during my morning jogs, so they can't be that rare.
Will she be fine, though? Can she snap back to the other persona in case of an emergency?
I suppose there is only one way to find out, and honestly, I hope we wouldn't need to put that to the test today.
So began my walk over the pleasant streets of Nerima with my ninja doing a yandere-like stalk behind me. As always, a lot of minor quests popped up in a constant stream. I dismissed all of them but the ones I could fulfill on the walk or took no time at all, like helping an elderly gentleman cross the street, or giving information to a Brazilian tourist who almost hugged me for my ability to speak Portuguese.
Eventually, after a short ride on a deceitfully fast metro ride, I exited the station on Higashiōizumi, a district on the far south of Nerima, quite a few miles away from Funrikan. Because there is no way I'm conducting this meeting close to where I live. Hell, I'm even thinking about moving to another place cuz the current one's been tracked.
The cafe Rin had recommended was just as charming and well put together as Hanna Millers back on my turf, but the uniform here wasn't cut so low, and the waitresses aren't as busty, so it's inferior in every way.
I brought the coffee that I'd asked to my lips.
+ 1 Cha.
This place too hãh? This bonus point seems to be available once every 24 hours. I can get it fairly easily by drinking coffee or tea alone on Hanna Miller, something I certainly didn't mind doing because of bouncing boobs and occasional panty shots that place was famous for, but it didn't occur to me that I could try it out on other cafes. Maybe I could organize a cafe rush to grind charisma. That sounds pretty fun; I could call Ranma and grind exp along the way to—.
"Ara, dear client is already here? I'm sorry to keep you waiting!"
By the cheerful female voice, I can see I won't be dealing with that HCC guy from the Campione! Anime.
"There is nothing to apologize. I've come early on my own and..."
My thoughts screeched to a half as I turned to face the HCC representative.
"Oh my, Ōe-san! What a sweet coincidence to find you here!" Seishuuin Shiori chirped in delight.
'Coincidence, my ass!' Were my thoughts as I watched the smiling Miko circle around the table and sitting in front of me.
Also, Miko? She certainly didn't look like one now; she was wearing a cool, stylish outfit that looked right out of an expensive fashion magazine, the only cooperation I could think of was the memories of my new mother wearing similar custom made French outfits, and she didn't fill up nearlyas well as Seishuuin Shiori did.
"I have to say Ōe-san, I'd never imagined we would be meeting each other so soon! A pleasant surprise, of course, as I've meant to speak to you." She continued with a smile.
"I'm sure," I said slowly. My eyes sliding to the not-so-inconspicuous Rin, hiding her face on a menu a few tables back. "I don't remember introducing myself to you, Seishuuin-san."
"Shiori, please, and you do not need to worry about your breach of conduct, I forgive you." She smiled magnanimously. "And the reason I know that is because I did a little research on you, I was a little curious about the young man who bravely gallivanted into danger for the sake of my daughter."
Hearing that, I couldn't hold it in. "So much so you saw fit to place a tracking spell on me."
"Ah." To her credit, she actually flinched at my words, and probably at my expression. "I admit that was a rather… harsh action on my part."
'Least she didn't try to deny it.
"Harsh is an understatement. That's not how you build up trust."
"You're right, Ōe-san." She smiled longingly, "I humbly apologize."
Seeing the Miko bowing her head, I sighed and changed the subject. "What are you doing here? I was supposed to meet with the HCC representative."
"Kukuku, you're looking at her, Ōe-san." She declared.
I raised my eyebrow at that, clicking the coffee cup on the little plate and pushing both to the side.
"You work there?"
"In a way." She waved off, "I'm here to explain all Ōe-san needs to know about the world you're getting into." She clapped her hand together. "But first!"
Watched her well-manicured hand slid into… slid into her vast cleavage, making her chest jiggle as she searched for something in there. I moved my eyes to the side because I knew who I was dealing with and waited. Soon, she was holding what appeared to be a card.
"What is this?" I followed it with my eyes as it was pushed in my direction. It was a card, a bit too large to fit comfortably on a hand, and utterly black saved for a narrow white line on the edges.
"It was what remained of the monster who attacked the temple." I sent her a questioning stare. "I feel it's only fair that you have it if you wish to."
"Aren't you going to need it for something," I asked.
"We are investigating the origin of the attack, of course, with great interest. But after countless testing, it was confirmed that there was nothing magical or inherent supernatural about this item in particular. So I figured it would only be fair if I asked you if you wanted to keep it rather than destroying it outright, spoils of war and all."
I noted she was only presenting me after testing out to see if she could extract something from it… but I can't blame her for this one. I'd done the same thing.
Reaching out, I tentatively picked up the thing with the intention to give it a closer inspection, only for a game screen to pop up to the forefront of my mind.
You have found a special magitech artifact of Alien Origin.
Do you wish to assimilate it into the gamer system?
Yes/No
Hohhh, this got potential.
Yet I held back the urge to just accept right there and kept anything from showing in my face. I did this because this Milf is being sneaky again.
She wanted to see if it would react to me in any way.
I looked up to her innocently smiling form.
"I'll take this, thank you."
She nodded, and I slid it into my pocket.
"Now then, shall we begin-"
"How is Ena, by the way?"
The question jumped to my mind so suddenly that I couldn't not ask. Shiori blinked twice, and then her lips spread into a broad smile.
"She is perfectly well. Spent the day asking me when her 'onii-chan' would come back."
"That's good… And the others?"
"The others?"
"The people from the Temple."
"Ah." She let out in a puff of breath, still smiling. "There has been some wounded, but thanks to you, we had time to treat them and keep anyone from dying."
"I see." Something inside me deflated a little bit. "That's good."
Her green eyes twinkled sharply.
"If that's everything, I think we can begin. You'd like an introduction to the…other side of the world right, Ōe-san?"
"I'd managed to discover some things on my own," I said, referring to my meta- knowledge in an attempt to not sound like a complete beginner, maybe that's the petulant teenager in me talking. "But yes, a formal instruction would help smooth things out."
"Then," She leans in, and I purposely kept my eyes on her face; better to admire pretty features accentuated by slight makeup, than get lost on vast cleavages, this is an important talk. She opened her mouth, and I prepared to listen and question.
And before I knew it, she was standing up, pushing her tiny purse beneath her arm. "Let's go!" She chirped.
"Oi?" I blinked.
"Well, you didn't think I would dump a long and heavy explanation here, did you? That would be remarkably boring!"
I blinked at her, processing her statement, then I sighed and stood up
-0-0-0-
"So." Shiori began licking the ice cream she made me buy for her. "You're already aware there is another side to the mundane world, a side where the supernatural, the magical, and the occult dwells."
Wait, is she going to talk about this here? It's the middle of the street!
"Technically this separation is only an illusion, we do all live in the same world after all, but most societies now days have built some pretty good walls between the normal and the paranormal, always with some means of maintaining this secrecy, so it's common to refer to it as two different worlds when talking about the subject. Now, the supernatural side has many names; even within japan there isn't a consensus for it. But recently, an English term originated from South Korea is becoming increasingly popular." She dragged a bit of the cold cream to her mouth in an unintentional lascivious manner, "The Abyss."
"Err, Shiori…-san?" I leaned close, and she nonchalantly latched her arm on mine at this opportunity. I raised an eyebrow at that before continuing. "Is it wise to talk about that here?"
I gestured at the groups of people passing by, the street wasn't crowded, but it was far from being empty.
She sent me a grin. "Do not underestimate a normal person's ability to rationalize the strange. Anyone who hears us now wouldn't think much of it an hour; I could blatantly cast a few cantrips and not raise a single alarm. This is especially true for the Japanese people because they usually have more exposure to aspects of the supernatural than normal."
"So why keep it a secret at all," I asked one of the most important questions for settings… or worlds, I suppose, like this.
Shiori-san lost her smile. "Many reasons, to avoid panic is one of the big ones, we already have our hands full trying to keep a semblance of order within the Japanese's vast and diverse supernatural scene, adding public awareness to it and the usual harsh decision making that it brings, and everything would quickly devolve into chaos, there is historical evidence for this."
I hummed, absorbing the information, "And who exactly are 'we'?"
"I was getting there." The older woman looked up at me, but not by much cuz we're nearly the same heights, and pouted. "Mou, Ōe-san, you're messing with my train of thought!" She complained so cutely I couldn't help but apologize.
"Now, in Japan, the whole mess that is our supernatural scene, or the Japanese version of The Abyss, if you're trying to be more Korean." She chuckled at her own joke. "It's… not regulated, but connected by what is now known of as the History Compilation Committee. We are an organization created in the Heian period by four of the closest families to the emperor, at first, it had the objective to categorize and control the supernatural scene in the country, but after it became apparent that this was a fool's errand, this changed to the modern objective of establishing communication between the many supernatural groups, supervise proper occult usage, and manipulate information to preserve the balance between the mundane and the paranormal." Err, that last one sounded evil. Shiori continued without noticing my expression. "Logically, the vast majority of our members are quite involved with the abyss themselves, with so many arcane practitioners that we are considered a Mage Association to the outside. I, myself, am quite an accomplished one." She bragged.
Quite prideful for a Miko, this milf.
"So, you know about magic?" I asked. Honestly, this was the subject I wanted to know the most as my own limited knowledge is reaching a roadblock.
"Magic… Hum, I'll give you an overview, but it's quite extensive. I prefer to tell you about the immediate danger you might face first."
Ok, that sounds like an interesting subject at least, I can wait.
"Ah!" Shiori squealed suddenly, making me jerk. "There! Let's go there!"
I looked at the big clothing store she was pointing to. "Are you serious?"
"So let's start with broad strokes," Shiori said while racking through the many outfits and dresses. "Humans are not alone in this world, we share a place with many supernatural races and phenomenon's, and as it is with a lot of things, there are many words for them depending on the country or the region, in Japan the most common term is 'Kai': it means anything other than human, and that doesn't belong to a mundane human's perception of normality— Hold this." She pushed a red lace dress into my hands.
I wasn't thinking about it. My mind was in her words. Ever since this whole, Campione thing I've been keeping an open mind to whatever other settings might be combined to this one. Three is a pattern, after all. What's keeping it from having four, or five, or many? I have to stay alert because my meta knowledge might be invaluable.
In this particular case, the word 'Kai' used for supernatural phenomenons and creatures sounded like something from the Monogatari series, which I really hope wasn't part of this because I'm getting enough headaches as it is.
"Are you listening, Ōe-san?" She asked, pushing another outfit onto the growing pile. At my confirmation, she went on. "Narrowing the scope, we have 'supernatural races that aren't human' outside of japan they are called monsters or apparitions. Here, there is one famous word for it." She paused dramatically, looking away from the fabric she was testing with a smirk on her lips. "Yokai."
I tried to not roll my eyes at this showoff.
"Now, Yokai… well, there are Yokai everywhere, you can't really say if they are malevolent or benevolent until you're dealing with one, and you will one-day Ōe-san, I suggest stocking up on lore about the subject… for now though, all you have to know is that they are not always dangerous, but they might be."
I can see the fitting room at the distance, I know what's coming, I'm dreading it… and looking forwards to it.
"Next, we have Akuma… Hmm, to undestand them, you'll have to know a bit about Yokai history."
She closed the door of the fitting room, I relaxed a bit at the pause, but soon after she continued to speak from there. Her voice easily traveling from the closed space to my ears.
"Japan is somewhat unique from the rest of the world due to the enormous population of supernatural species. It got so bad that by the Sengoku Jidai, Yokai freely prowled the forest, attacked villages, and openly got involved with the local human politics. During these times, the separation between the two worlds was virtually non-existent. This would persist until the Meiji period, where the opening of the country's borders brought new ideas and new ways to suppress Yokai; only then we managed to reestablish the separation… and just in time too."
I was left to ponder that last statement when the door suddenly opened to reveal Seishuuin Shiori with a dress that showed way, way too much skin to be considered proper for her profession.
New skill created: Poker Face, lvl:01
Keeps the effect of emotions from showing on your expression.
This skill is silly, but I needed it, oh god, did I needed it.
"What do you think?" She asked.
I carefully kept my eyes on her face and only on her face, looking down would mean I'd have trouble thinking.
"Beautiful." Was my answer.
Shiori tilted her head. "Really? You didn't even look."
"Oh, I looked, believe me." There are proper ways to deliver lines like this; usually, if you don't stumble all over yourself and transmit security and confidence, you're golden, even in a world of easily pissed off anime girls.
The milf blinked, then gave me a teasing smile. "Perv~," She said and went back into the fitting room.
Minutes later, she restarted like this exchange hasn't happened.
"Of course, just because we'd managed to reassign the balance didn't mean the problem just disappeared, the yokai population continued to grow despite our efforts, until it reached a critical point on the Taisho period, where it threatened the balance again, and that time it seemed like it would be over for good, and worse, it would spread to outside of Japan due to the open borders. Disaster seemed imminent." By the changes in the tone of her voice and the direction she was going, I'd said she was getting into it. "But then, when everything seemed lost, a group of ten DaiYokai took matters into their own hands. Using their combined power, they created an entirely new world where the yokai could live in peace and crafted laws and mandates that would help the relationship between humans and Yokai for the first time in history. Nowadays, the Japanese government even recognizes its sovereignty. So, while it still very common to find Yokai around, the vast majority of them don't live in this world anymore."
Ah, Shiori certainly dropped a lot of bombs there; I can't even fathom the amount of power one must have to create an entirely new world.
Unless she is exaggerating, and it's more like my inventory, a pocket dimension with a lot of space in it. Yet to make a pocket dimension on the size and scale where people… or at least beings could live in it, still sound like quite the feat.
"Shiori-san," I called over the woman continuing speech, she's clearly passionate about the subject. "What does this have to do with Akuma?"
"Ah!" She made an awkward noise, noticing out now she was derailing things. "A-Akuma are simply Yokai who don't recognize the authority of their own government and cling to the old way. Like I said, the new Yokai government established new rules of conduct when in the human world, but these rules go directly against old yokai habit of eating humans and causing mayhem. Moreover, there are entire yokai communities who see the growing effort to cooperate and blend into the human world as a great sign of weakness and an insult to their species, so there comes the term Akuma, which came to be used when referring to Yokai who refuse to obey the new laws and still act like the Yokai of old."
So, the Sabbat to their Camarilla. Sounds simple enough.
"Ōe-san, what do you think?"
I looked up— Long Chinese dress. Silk spread tautly over unbelievable curves. A long slit on the lower end. Legs for days. Ranma-chan got nothing on this.
"Tasty."
… Wait, what did I say?
Shiori giggled. "Basically, Akuma are Yokai, but they are much more likely to attack you, and rarely consider humanity as anything other than food or annoyances. Any violent Yokai causing trouble is initially considered Akuma before we can clear this out and figure out why it's causing trouble in the first place— And what about this one?"
Poker Face leveled up
A tantalizing short skirt swayed as Shiori skipped back into the fitting room.
"Lastly, we have demons." This milf is doing this on purpose. I know it! "Unlike Yokai and Akuma, demons were never creatures of our world. They stem from Makai, another world that's deeply connected to our own."
The door opened, and she exited with another fantastic outfit, but her eyes were serious and hard, locking themselves into mine intently as she stepped close.
"Demons are direct enemies of mankind. They are evil, Ōe-san, living only to cause pain and suffering. They are also lustful and won't stop until they satisfy their sick desires. Out of all these three beings, demons are the most dangerous, not because they are the strongest or more powerful, but because they are the ones who are almost guaranteed to have the worst intention on their mind."
She stared into my eyes for a long moment to let the message sink deep.
… Then promptly turned around to show me a slender, creamy-white back.
"Would you help me with this zipper, Ōe-san?"
Shiori moved on to other lesser beings and dangers, but she made clear that these three types of creatures are the most commonly found on the abyss side of Japan, and she was quite insistent that I treat them all carefully.
"Next up… I suppose there are Gods, but they… they are complicated, and it's unlikely that you'll ever meet one." The milf continued as she placed her choices on the counter, though 'choices' are a bit of a stretch; she's taking everything she got her hands on.
"Sound interesting." I know a bit about how Campione!'s Gods worked, but not when they are mixed with lores from other settings like this world appears to be.
"It is, admittedly… Gods are… there is no conclusive answer for it, they exist and affect the world, but they also are affected by it, and as humanity is an enormous part of the world, they are directly molded by human belief, yet some part of their power are inherent to them, and they can also empower humans with the power humanity grants them and…" Shiori shook her head. "You stay should away from them, Ōe-san, most mean trouble and considering they are extremely powerful, they can bring a considerable amount to the fold, though there is also-AH!" She cut herself and looked at me. Her eyes widened a bit as she quickly added. "And they can never be killed, no, no, you should never try to kill a God, Ōe-san!"
Oi, oi, what is this? I know for a fact this isn't true, is she trying to keep the knowledge of Campiones from me? But why— Wait does she think I will attempt— What the hell do you think I will try to do Shiori-san!?
There was a cough at my side; it was the clerk demanding my attention. He showed me the price… and the multiple zeros it held.
Shiori smiled at me, expectantly.
… Fine, it's not like money is hard to get anymore, it's quickly becoming the things I care less about.
"Not even a hint of hesitation!" Shiori exclaimed. She had latched herself amorously on my side. We had briefly ducked into an alley so she could store all her new clothes on her tiny purse. All while I kept a hungry stare at the bag of holding. "As expected from the direct heir of the Ōe zaibatsu!"
Another sign that she'd did her homework when it comes to my past; I don't know how to feel about that— Wait, direct heir? Didn't this body's memories show that Ōe Hiroshi had an older brother? How can I be the direct heir then!?
I kept that to myself, of course. I wasn't about to talk private matters with a third party, no matter how hot she was. But I made a note to call that legal representative guy to talk about the state of my family later.
"So, can we talk about magic now?" The subject I'm most interested in.
"How impatient~" She teased with a chuckle, drawing herself even closer, which I can't say I don't appreciate. "Very well then, but the thing about magic is… AH!" She suddenly squealed and pointed at an area behind me. It seems to be a toy shop… with a claw machine beside the entrance.
"Ōe-san, get me something from that thing!" She demanded enthusiastically
"You're serious?" The sparkling green eyes told me that yes, she was serious.
New Quest: defeat the claw god and claim the toy from his toy throne!
A sexy woman is demanding a cute pushy toy, be a man and give her some.
Reward:
50 exp.
Increase closeness with Seishuuin Shiori.
Increase closeness with Seishuuin Ena.
Accept/Refuse
I even got a quest for it! I'm honestly amazed.
Well, it's not like it's a bother, and it does give out some pretty high exp for this level of difficulty. And there is also the fact the quest implied she would give the toy to her daughter… Yeah, I saw no problem with accepting it.
"It's difficult to talk about magic because there are hundreds, if not thousands variation of it." Shiori began with her face pressed on the machine's glass panel, watching me fail at claw. "At its core, magic is the manipulation of reality in accordance with one's will, and this phenomenon is fueled by a mystical energy that's thought to be part of the foundations of the world. This energy is present everywhere, but when inside a living being it takes a more tangible form. The western world, which utilizes this version of the energy more prominently, calls it 'mana'."
Nothing she said was really surprising if you think about, but hearing her put it to words was comforting like it was reassuring my discoveries.
"Using mana to cast spells is the most popular form of casting, I won't go into details because, frankly, it's impossible to go over everything even if I talk for a day, hell, maybe even for a week." She made a cheering noise when one of the toys approached the wining hole, but sighed once it fell. "Here in Japan, and the east in general, magic has taken a lot from Shintoism and the Daoist Arts, we tend to utilize a bit more than Mana on our spells and rituals… but going into Spiritual energy now would be opening a much bigger can of worms." She muttered that last part, but I managed to hear it. I made a note to look for that later.
I saw some kids looking at our direction; a 'grown-up' trying to win at a claw machine does attract some attention, I guess. This is bad because they would come over and probably take their parent with them, which could silence our conversation temporarily.
Thinking about ways I could beat this quest quickly, I come to a decision that's been slipping from my mind all this day and brought forwards my status screen. Dumping all my ten available points in Dex to equalize it to the other physical attributes, I finally got the last edge I needed.
Sure enough, my coordination and ability to gauge distances with my eyes greatly sharpened, it was a piece of cake putting the claw precisely on top of the blue penguin plushy I was aiming for.
It still took me three tries because the cheating machine was programmed to gradually lessen the strength of the claw as it made its way to the hole. But it was just a matter of persistence.
"Yay! Thank you, Ōe-san!" Shiori said cheerfully, while she rubbed her fluffy penguin against her cheek, the expression on her face made her look like a teenager for a moment.
Quest completed!
50 exp.
Your closeness with Seishuuin Shiori has increased.
Your closeness with Seishuuin Ena has increased.
"Is there something more you can tell me about the subject?" I asked.
Her green eyes gleamed mysteriously. "Well…"
She started breaking down the many styles of magic she knew about, but only gave me general information that while useful to know, it wasn't what I wanted. I kept my mouth shut about that, however; it was obvious that what I needed was a full blown magical teacher, and this meeting was strictly to introduce me to the basic of the abyss itself, not solely magic, details about that would have to wait until I found someone to teach me, or, if possible, I reach some kind of understanding with Shiori later.
Then, while we were crossing a relatively isolated street, a body fell out of an alley.
I flinched, but it was clear that it wasn't related to us, it was just a beaten up teenager being cornered by five bigger ones.
"Stop! I give! I give! Please no more!" Said the smaller teen, crawling backward while the others laughed and loomed closer.
"Oh, dear. Youngsters these days are so wild!" Shiori said more like an old lady than the young milf she was.
By now, I was used to all the random quests popping up in my vision. I don't even flinch when they pop up anymore, and I got good at reading them on the fly. But I never noticed the sheer amount that assaulted me every day before today, when I tried to actively ignore it to focus on Shiori.
However this; this is ridiculous.
It's like fate itself was changing the world to give me random encounters and quest opportunities, kinda like Ranma and the way cold water always seems to find him. This got to be the most blatant quest bait I'd ever experienced.
"W-What are you doing, no, no, my legs, please stop that!?"
"Shut up! That's what you get for going against Ragnarok! Break it guys!"
I sighed; might as well accept it, more exp this way.
"Excuse me for a moment," I said to a softly smiling Shiori
New quest: Magnificent debut of the— A quest screen predictably popped up, I just accept it without reading it, I didn't need to.
Literally twenty seconds later, I was flatting the face of the last one of the delinquents under a palm strike. The speed that I managed to finish that fight honestly scared me.
I looked at the droplets of blood on my palm, the same palm that has been injured by Ryoga's umbrella early today. I was lucky I chose to start with the strongest of them, some level 13 dude with a fancy title, my punch had sent him flying into a dumpster but thankfully didn't kill him. After that shock, I realized I had to hold back to deal with the rest; otherwise, I might have honestly crippled them.
I was still able to bring everybody down in seconds… was I this strong already?
Quest completed!
30 exp
Your closeness with the Viper's gang of middle school hooligans has increased.
You have made a debut into the Tokyo's delinquent scene.
Vipers? Is this guy part of them too? Heh, he also looks like he is thirty—Wait, debut to what!?
"W-Who… Who are you?"
I turned to the Viper guy on the ground. He was looking up at me with literal stars in his eyes.
Oh hell.
"Kyahhh, Ōe Hiroshi-kun~!" The mindboggling hot milf latched herself onto me, dragging her very prominent curves against my side "You are sooo cool-desu! Let's go to a love hotel right away!" She cried in an obnoxious female tone that didn't fit her at all.
The guy did the impossible and managed to add even more stars to his eyes.
Urg.
"That was horrible." I said to the milf after I finally managed to get the Viper guy to go on his way and stop bothering us with his 'nii-san!' bullshit.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist!" Shiori placed a hand on her cheek satisfyingly. "Playing with youngsters is so fun!"
I grumbled. I'm letting this go cuz it was my own fault in the first place.
Shiori chuckled, "I was serious, you know, that was an impressive display of physical prowess. Ōe-san, you might have a talent for martial arts."
I directed us to walk across what it seemed like a beautiful natural park. The late afternoon sunlight shone over us. "And what about Martial Artists? What can you tell me about them?"
"They are weird," Shiori answered immediately but chuckled soon after. "Though I suppose we are all weird in our own ways." She rested her head on my shoulder as we walked. "They are warriors that enhance their bodies with the raw energy of life itself, tempered within their bodies and expressed in their techniques, at first glance they are less flexible than mages but the sheer variety of styles and what they can accomplish may cast doubt on that, especially among masters. Their community is the one who is the nearest to the edge of the abyss; it's impressive who much absurdities a normal person can accept if it comes from martial artist, especially in Asian countries." A cold wind blew past, making her snug closer. "Maybe this is because they were always in the public eye, one way or another."
I thought about that. True, even back in my world, everybody knew or heard about martial arts, it's a practice that's been around forever, and it's accepted it could make a person do some crazy shit like breaking bricks with their hands and endure a great amount of pain. This is true for this world too, only here, a martial artist is capable of unleashing a lot more destruction and do a lot more impressive feats than back there.
I actually blinked when the realization came; if there have always been martial artists like Ranma or Ryoga who could causally break boulders with their hands, then I could see why it never raised much of a big deal. Hell, back in my world, someone like Ryoga would end up on the news for sure, but here nobody does anything more than look over curiously.
Holy shit, I never thought about that.
"Kukuku, Ōe-san looks interested." Shiori laughed, "You're in luck then; Japan, and Tokyo especially, have one of the biggest concentration of martial artists in the world, I wouldn't go so far to say that you're able to find masters in every corner but they are definitely around if you look for them. In fact…" She hesitated. As if she was deciding if she was going to share this or not, but she continued in the end. "Right now in the city there is a particular organization that's highly regarded as the strongest under the mountain, where a group of masters who reached the peak of their art gather. But." She placed a finger over her puffy lips. "I'm not allowed to tell their location. But I'm sure you'll be able to find them if you really try, those people are pretty noticeable."
Again, I made a mental note to look at that, it was not exactly what I was looking for, but it was interesting. Although… "The strongest under the mountain? That's an odd title."
"Ah, well… let's just say in the martial artist's world there is a… impossible mountain that nobody is capable of climbing. The rest just fight for the place under that said mountain."
Now, that sounded cryptic, but I had a fairly good idea of what she might be talking about. Considering that Campiones are a thing, and one of them, that Chinese chick I forgot the name off, was a Campione and a martial artist, it becomes pretty clear who this 'mountain' was.
"Ah, there! Let go there next!" Shiori suddenly called.
I sighed at the sight of the movie theater.
From then on, the conversation waved across various topics. It was indeed an 'introduction' to the more supernatural aspects of society; she kept things as general as possible so she could have time to touch on other subjects, the reason for this entire discussion really seems to be informing me about the supernatural dangers I might face rather than truly instruct me into a deeper meaning of a particular subject.
It was slightly disappointing, but I've been expecting this. This is only an introduction, after all. Frankly, the fact that the HCC is taking the time to tell me this speaks wonders about their organization.
That said, I have no doubt they could also help me more, provide me with knowledge and means to walk whatever path I take… But I'm not naïve enough to think that would come without strings attached.
It was well into the night by the time we reach the entrance of the park where Miraidochi-ji, the temple that Shiori is head Miko off, was located.
I have no idea why it isn't called Temple of The Heavenly Oni by the official sources, but I didn't make a comment in the case this was secret information that the Gamer displayed for me.
Shiori threw her arms up, stretching her back with a hum. "Mmm, time sure fly when you're having fun!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed this date then." I chuckled.
The milf snapped her eyes to me, staring me for a long moment before pouting. "… I wanted to see you squirm when I finally pointed that out."
"Sorry, but I'm not that naïve." I let out a breath. "It was fun, though."
"Definitely." She stepped close. I was preparing for her to step all the way to give me a kiss of the cheek like the last time, but instead, she surprised me. "Here."
From her cleavage pocket, she took out a small, thin book with no words in the cover.
"What is this?" I said, dismissing the message to absorb the information to look at it.
"It's a standard guide the HCC gives to every newbie like you. It has everything we talked about and more!"
Oh…
…
"Wait. Then, couldn't you just have given me that is the first place!? What was the point of all of that!?"
"Maaa~ I sure had fun today, this old lady feels ten years younger~," Said the milf with one hand innocently draped over her cheek.
I sighed. Fine, it's not like I mind having a curvy woman rubbing herself on me all afternoon.
"Then, if that's all."
"It's not, there is one last thing we have to talk about."
Eh?
Her tone is different; it grew heavy and serious, not at all like the cheerful woman I just had a date with. It was the tone she used when I first met her.
My shoulder stiffed suddenly as I noticed the change in the atmosphere.
"Ōe Hiroshi-san." She intoned. My name rang oddly on her lips. "I speak to you now not as a representative of the History Compilation Committee, but as the second daughter of the Seishuuin clan."
"Hai," I responded seriously. Trying to match her.
"Thank you."
"Eh?"
"You have done a great service to us by safeguarding the life of one of our own... The clan's elders have spoken and reached the unanimous decision to grant you a boon. Anything you ask, as long if it's within the realm of reason, the Seishuuin clan will do everything on its power to give it to you."
If I didn't realize right away how serious this was, the atmosphere would certainly give me a hint, I didn't know who the Seishuuin clan was, but they must have some weight behind their names if their second daughter is the leader of a huge supernatural temple with an army of mikos at her disposal.
I also didn't miss the implication of this, the clan was in my debt, and I was an outsider, I'm sure that while they may be thankful, they do not want the current state of affair, and asking me directly what I want was the shortest road to change that.
Still, this was an… invaluable opportunity.
This is it. This is what I wanted, the opportunity to get a magic teacher, and even better; this would come from a 'boon'. It would be the closest thing to a non-strings attached deal I could get in this still mysterious society.
So I open my mouth to ask for just that.
… And then I close it.
Opening again and… close it.
Crap.
My shoulders slumped and I closed my eyes. This was indeed the perfect opportunity, but everything I could think of was…
"I got this friend…" I opened my eyes, setting my voice. "He's been cursed. Could you cure it? Or at least do something about it?"
The night washed silently over us, crickets sounds filled the place.
"…Y-you're using a boon from the Seishuuin clan… for a friend?"
Something inside me squirmed, Urgggggg, It hurt so much hearing her putting like that!
Suddenly, Shiori starting laughing; A beautiful bell that rang musically in the cold night air but still gave me the embarrassment of the ages. I could feel my cheeks heating up.
"Sorry—"
"Yes! Of course, you would!" She giggled and raised a finger. "One week."
"Sorry?"
"Curses are not my specialty, but I know some of the best curse breakers in the country. Give me one week to prepare, then bring your friend to the Temple. We'll deal with it then." She beamed.
"Ah-I…" Well, it is done, sigh, Ranma better do something nice for me. "Thank you."
"Now, if this is everything."
Her green eyes shimmered. I recognized that look she held it before when… Yep, stepping close, she mashed her breast on my pectoral and tilted her head up to give me the same kiss from before.
Not this time!
"Mn!"
Was her surprised hiccup when I suddenly turned my face and met her lips with my own, circling my arms around her waist to keep her in place. After a moment of shook, her green eyes closed, and she mewls into the kiss, her hand wrapping around my shoulders.
There was no tongue, of course, no gentleman does that on the first date, but it was deep. Our bodies were close enough to share our warmth. I could feel Shiori's fragrance, her taste. It was intoxicating, but I've managed to keep a level head; my body wasn't as piled up as before.
When we separated, Shiori kept her lips pushed and eyes closed, and there was a faint blush painting her face. I felt good about this… purely for payback, of course!
"Ah." She let out as her eyes blinked open, seeing my boyish grin. "Ah… I… N-Nooo, I can't~ what would my husband say!?"
A scratching sound exploded in my head. "Hold on, what!?"
Shiori stumbled backward, her hands holding her brightly blushing cheeks while her mouth fought a growing smile. The light of a nearby post reflected over the golden ring on her left hand—Where the hell did that come from!?
"D-Darling, a handsome young man is trying to steal me away! What should I do!? What should I do!?" She wiggled her body from side to side, the silly smile still in place.
"Ah, I-I—Wait!" I hold up a hand, but she turned around and began hopping way.
"Darling, Ena-chan, save me~!"
And off she went.
I… I don't know what happened.
"Grrrr." I groaned, massaging my temples. "That sneaking Milf!"
"Aruji-sama."
"Ah!" I quickly snapped my head around to find Rin on my side, the night casting a long shadow over her clothed figure. "R-Rin!"
"Aruji-sama, this one has been trained in the arcane arts for a bit, she will be most happy to pass on this knowledge if needed." She said without a hint of stutter.
"Ah, yes, I mean, yes, thank you, that would help out a lot." Her sudden apparition made me think back about the day. I realized something. "Man, I really forgot you're watching us, I guess no matter how you are, your ninja skills are always top-notch."
"Guhhhhhh!"
"Rin? Wait, why are you pouting?"
-0-0-0-
I let out a satisfied sigh, softly thumping the back of my head against the wall of my apartment.
At the far corner, which wasn't really that far, was a recently bought tiny television prompted by a steel frame with shelving space for a cassette player; it was turned on a late-night anime show that I didn't recognize. At another corner, fixed close to the base of the kitchenette, was a small squared table where I have my dinners on, it still had the plastic remains of the convenient store bentos over it. The curtains and the glass door to the narrow balcony were open and half-open respectively, letting in the chilly night inside while letting the previously cramped air out. It still smells like sex a little, something that caused the moe ninja to let out no shortage of amusing reactions.
"Guhhhhh."
And speaking of the Taimanin, her embarrassment had reached critical mass a short while ago, making her sense go haywire. She then collapsed comically on the tatami floor, and I took the opportunity to peel out some of her clothes, not nearly enough to threaten her modesty, but enough to let her sweaty skin breathe a little.
Her unconscious form mewled a little against my leg as I lazily worked my fingers on her scalp; I find it cute that she unconsciously drew close to me when I sat next to where she was lying.
This place has quickly become home.
Ahahh, I don't want to move! But I've certainly been tracked there, having this kind of information around, especially after the talk I had and the guide I absorbed sounds a bit too risky for my paranoia's sake, and that's not even counting the hassle I'll have to go through with my family agent; he definitely going to see it as me trying to weasel out from the tradition, I wouldn't be the first Ōe who tried.
… But I guess these are worries for the future, right now I had something much more interesting to try out, something that I've been itching for, ever since my 'meeting' ended.
The mysterious card easily slipped out of my pocket. The size of the thing should have made it difficult to fit in a pant's pocket in the first place, but I had been able to slide inside just as easy as a car key or a small wallet. In fact, it should have been bothering me all day by scrapping against my leg or at least making itself noticeable, but it didn't. It impossibly fitted inside the smaller compartment without much difficulty.
A gamer screen interrupted my musings about spacial anomalies.
You have found a special magitech artifact of Alien Origin.
Do you wish to assimilate it into the gamer system?
Yes/No
The implication of this sentence made me literally drool, and it provoked a pang of dread to traverse my system. After all, I had found out today, all the politics, different races, secret groups, and supernatural dangers, I still have to take freaking Aliens into consideration. That was what the gamer was implying, at least.
On another hand, I had a piece of magitech around my fingers, a perfect combination of technology and magic. A better, more capable man than me would've been able to experiment the fuck out of it, and learn it's secrets, or at least figure out what the fuck it does. I, however, am not capable of that, so I went with the next best option.
As soon as I hit 'yes' an honest-to-god progress bar appeared, it took a few seconds to fill up, and as it did so, the card slowly dissolved into specks of blue light.
And then finally…
Nothing.
… More nothing.
I thumped my head on my wall again, sighing. Well, good try, I guess.
Skill created through special action: Summon Cardian lvl 01.
Allow you to summon a servant construct of the Sylvan race. The max level of the Cardian is tied to the level of this skill.
Active Summon slots: (1/1)
Cardian available:
Unnamed of The Strength
Skill created through special action: Cardian Refilling lvl 01.
Allow you to refill a cleansed Cardian in exchange for MP.
The appearance of the two special skills made me jerk upright.
"Ouww."
"Sorry Rin," I said to the woman on the floor, but she just continued to sleep, at least she seems to do so.
I turned my attention back to the screens, carefully reading the contents. Then a grin threatened to split my face.
That's a summon, right? I just got a summon creature skill, basically the ability to summon someone to have my back in a fight. Fuck, that could change everything about how I do combat, the possibilities alone would— I have to try it out! Ludicrous amount of Mp cost no standing.
So I did, I activate the skill, and it immediately became apparent that I wouldn't be able to use this in the middle of a fight.
Not only the Mp cost was immense, but also the progress bar that popped out on the corner of my vision told me I would need a full minute to summon that thing.
This realization would come to me later, right now I was busy trying to translate whatever the fuck my Mana was doing into less mindboggling terms. The skill has taken control of my reserve like I was doing a default spells, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the heck it was doing, only that my mana was being used, somehow.
It was disconcerting, like, if a master martial artist grabbed your arms, tied your legs to his own, and then forced your body into complex movements to beat an alley full of enemies. You still feel the movements, you still watch the process, and you still achieve the objective, but you can't really process how.
"A-Arujin-sama! Get back!" Rin suddenly put her body between me and the center of the room. Where a bunch of my mana had somehow ended up and… Oh, they were condensing into a pretty evil-looking mass of darkness.
It just occurred to me then, what I was summoning. That monster, that furry cow woman thing that fought through an army of mikos and priest to kidnap or kill a little girl, I remembered how vicious she was in a fight, how mercilessly she brutalized me, and how she seems to enjoy the dread and hopeless she provoked on the girl as she slowly walked to her defenseless target. That thing wasn't something a morally upright person would use.
This was too close from demon summoning from my taste, and just after I absorbed a guide detailing why that was such as stupid idea in the first place.
The game system didn't care for my sudden pang of regret; it dutifully finished the progress on the bar, and stop gnawing on my Mp at the same time.
"MINON!"
The roar shook the apartment, bashing both me and my taimanin with an almost physical shockwave of air that knocked down most of the things on my apartment, including my brand new television. One more, my ears were assaulted by that joyful sound this monster always…
Hold on, joyful?
I lowered my arms from my face and blinked my eyes open.
She stood in the center of the apartment, a 2 meters tall, California tanned, hourglass figure of considerable muscle definition. A combo of reddish gauntlets and greaves covered her arms and legs, a metal bikini top tried to hold her massive breasts, a similarly metallic thong did a better job with her modesty, though the short leather curtain they had didn't do anything about the naked thickness of the thighs. A cloud-like mass of spiky golden hair fell to her back, save for a pair of pink bangs among the ones that fell over the attractive face that was locked into an expression of pure excitement. She would have looked just like a normal woman, albeit Amazonian tall, amazingly proportioned, enviably muscular and wearing a high-quality barbarian cosplay if it wasn't for the inhuman traits: An pair of huge dark brown horns on top of her head, and an equally large bovine tail flapping from her lower back.
Definitely not the blue and red monster that I faced before.
"GREETINGS MASTER! I AM READY FOR YOUR COMMAND!" She can talk now too!? "TELL ME WHAT TO SMASH, MINON!"
Unnamed.
Cardian of The Strength
Level 05.
And that was when Rin threw a shuriken at her forehead, which made her yelp, flinch back, and pierce her horns through the walls of my apartment like it was made of paper. She then proceeded to curse like an angry sailor in full volume.
I can feel my headache growing.
A/N: So there you have it, the dreaded exposition chapter, to tell the truth I'm really worried about this one cuz I don't like exposition chapters in general and try to avoid them but I kinda wrote myself into a corner by putting a non-malignant organization who is willing to help the MC out by explaining this, I hope I made it entertaining at least.
Course, you can get the hints of the other cross over from the talk, some more then other, I'm also worried by the Yokai lore cuz I blend something together with many different settings into a coherent whole. but until now no canon that I'm using it's only of shape, but I guess now it's just trying my best.
Chapter 7 Preview: Hooligans! Grinding! Martial Art! B-B-Boss! Expectation Subverted! OH MY!
Also Aruji-sama is a old japanese way to refer to master, it's who samurai and ninja refers to their lords.
