Chapter 7: A Boring Life (7)

"Watch out, Nanashi~!"

Cursing at Manaka's altogether way too gleeful tones the scraggly-haired youth reinforced his thin and spindly legs to the limit, throwing himself into a sideways roll that barely cleared his sparring partner's assault, a glowing ball of crystallized mana that shined like a solar sun gently arcing towards his previous position-

-and detonated with the force of what felt like a small Hiroshima, breath stolen from his lungs, heat crisping his skin and innards shifted by the force of the explosion.

"Yeah, she's definitely trying to kill me. And I don't know why I thought she wouldn't, that girl is fucking crazy."

"Oh Nanashiiii~! Where are youuuu~! Come out and play~!"

Wheezing as he forced himself to roll around a hill of upended earth the youth grumbled, "Cute as hell, shame about the insanity."

"I'm not even trying, Nanashi...please play with me~?"

Rolling his eyes the youth whipped himself around the corner, left arm raised high and glowing crimson as the circuits geared towards fire manipulation pulsed with energy, the trigger within his mind sounding out with a noise like howling darkness...if that made any sense.

"Igne Conburite!"

A wave of fire wide and hot enough to melt a car shot towards the lazily approaching Manaka, cerulean eyes glittering with joy at the 'battle' as she was engulfed in flame.

To be honest, Nanashi didn't really understand any of what the sisters had been trying to teach him thus far. Chants, meditation, mental triggers...it was all gibberish and he'd been mostly coasting along by instinct, half-comprehended phrases and a startling affinity with his circuits, the magical conduits seeming to intuitively understand what he was asking of them and carrying out the desired phenomena.

Manaka and Ayaka had theorized that his talent to brute force success had to do with his mystic eyes, something about his ability to view and understand the 'weight' of people meaning he also - somehow - understood the weight of his circuits and thus knew how to use them accordingly, skipping most of the self-hypnotization and ingrained habits most magi had to master.

…

Not that any of that helped him in the slightest, Manaka walking through his deluge as if it was no more than a light breeze, wind ensconcing her body and causing the inferno to flow around her form, playful smile adorning perfect lips.

"Maybe if I knew how to understand any of this I would be worth a damn in a fight."

The pale blonde raised her hand, Nanashi preparing to dodge once more-

-and his legs gave out as he collapsed to the ground, panting for air as his overheated body experienced a wave of vertigo...and let fly with a stream of clear, warm bile.

"Hmm...I suppose that's all that can be expected of you right now."

A voltaic crackle surrounded the field they were sparring in, Manaka's bounded fields dissipating and allowing the expansive backyard of the Sajyou manor to once more flow freely in the breeze, the results of their battle contained to a small patch of burnt and charred dirt rather than the whole damn area.

Just one more thing he didn't comprehend in the slightest, how the girl managed to allow them free movement across the terrain yet confine the released energy into a small, designated patch of landscape that didn't go nuclear once she ended the process.

"Here, before you get dehydrated."

Gratefully accepting the bottle of water from his friend Nanashi chugged it without reservation, pouring the rest on his head as the liquid began to steam.

All while he stared in blatant frustration at his weak and fragile body, knowing he could have kept going if he wasn't a ruined, dying mess. He apparently had prodigious amounts of mana and the circuits to channel aforementioned power...but his stamina and endurance were so pathetic he wasn't able to take advantage of that, even reinforcement not enough to overcome his limitations.

"It must be hard for a boy to be so weak and frail."

Raising an annoyed eyebrow at Manaka's completely accurate statement she continued with, "I mean, most boys at school like to show off how strong they are by performing physical feats. Being the best in physical education, carrying as many chairs as they can...and then hurting themselves in the process."

An amused giggle left the blonde as she gazed intensely at the panting and sweating youth before her, pale sundress not mussed so much as a millimeter while his shirt was caked to his body, shorts covered in grass and dirt.

"But you know what? I think the most interesting boys are the ones who do the unexpected, are surprising and novel. Any boy can lift a bunch of chairs...but those ones never made me feel anything."

While he was fairly certain she was talking about him - and that honestly made the young man feel a pleasant type of warmth on the inside - he would never assume to know what went on in Manaka Sajyou's head.

"I also like boys that don't stink~!"

Grumbling to himself Nanashi groused, "I know, I know...just give me a minute to catch my breath, moving is hard right now."

"Mmm...that will take too long."

A lazy flick of her finger caused a swirling mass of icy water to form above the blinking Nanashi's head-

-and the breath was promptly stolen from his lungs as he was drenched in liquid a fraction of a degree above freezing, now shivering from an entirely different kind of temperature extreme.

"Better hurry inside, Nanashi~! Exposure to the elements is always a dangerous thing to experience, you know."

Too busy trying to suck down air into his spasming lungs to reply Manaka merely giggled, happily skipping into the house while Nanashi weakly rolled himself upright, swearing revenge the second he could conceivably pull it off.

"Then again I have no idea what would really bother her that much...she's so weird that she'd probably enjoy being made uncomfortable."

Dragging himself into the house towards the showers Haruki and Ayaka sent him sympathetic looks, the duo knowing just how...invested their third family member was.

The young man was in for some very trying times ahead.

"Now if you're going to learn how to create a proper body it's vital that you understand all the parts involved with it. Muscles, nerves, organs, how blood circulates...no area of study can be neglected, lest you mess up and create an unstable or faulty form. And we shall not even begin to touch upon how the various elements of mystery will work together...or perhaps it would be more accurate to say how they will refuse to work together."

Manaka sent the freshly showered Nanashi a dour look as she grumbled, "Although considering what shortcuts your eyes have afforded to you thus far perhaps that will not be such an issue."

Resisting the urge to sigh the youth grumbled, "Manaka, it's not like I know how my eyes work, the whole reason you were having to explain this stuff to me and experiment with my eyes in the first place was because I don't know shit about any of it to begin with."

He tapped the side of his skull with a disgruntled gesture.

"For all we know they may somehow end up being a handicap later."

A haughty sniff left the girl, tone bland as she stated, "I doubt that very much. Any brand of mystic eye that can see the conceptual weight or importance - assuming that is indeed what is happening - of an object is guaranteed to be useful. Or how else do you explain being able to master and perform magecraft that even the most talented of magi - myself excluded, of course - take at least a number of months to master and comprehend? The first spell is always one of the most difficult, as one attempts to learn how to make proper use of their circuits."

Deciding just to accept her words at face value Nanashi instead asked, "Ayaka keeps calling you a genius but you just said most other magi prodigies take a long time to learn this kinda stuff...what makes you so different from them?"

Affixing the boy with a neutral look the blonde settled for a slight tilt of her head, responding, "You remember what we told you about the Akashic Records?"

"The big memory bank of all existence or something? You've been explaining a lot these past days…"

"Well at least you remembered that correctly. To be succinct about matters, I am connected to the Akashic Records on a fundamental level."

Nanashi blinked. And then blinked again.

"Wait, so you have the entire universe's number on speedial? How does that work?"

The cerulean-eyed girl didn't seem all that proud of her accomplishment, simply responding, "Inconveniently, at least in regards to enjoying life as others do. Should I desire to know more of a subject the connection I share with the Root provides an answer, as long as it has specific enough criteria."

She offered a humorless smile.

"You will recall our most recent conversation in which I stated I cannot enjoy books or literature the same way others do...this is why."

The boy narrowed his eyes, quickly responding, "Well that sounds like a pretty shit situation to be stuck in."

Blinking at the reply Manaka bewilderingly asked, "You...you truly believe so? Most other magi would be ecstatic to be selected thusly by the Root of all Things, to be gifted nigh unlimited knowledge."

Nanashi shrugged, grunting, "Weren't you just pointing out how lousy of a Magus I am? And if nothing is a mystery or unknown...yeah, I can see why that would be a drag."

The blonde stared at her newest friend, completely and utterly transfixed...before she began to giggle, giggles eventually evolving into full blown laughter as she cupped Nanashi's face, the male both excited at her touch and fairly apprehensive.

She was a bit unstable, or at least he thought so.

"I knew you were special, Nanashi~! Yes, my life was naught but gray. Nothing was new or exciting, a mystery that could not be solved. Even the future was but an open book, free for me to peruse at my unwilling leisure...and then you came along."

She drew closer, the boy lost in the glow of her ecstatic eyes as she throatily whispered, "You perplexed me, offered up mystery that not even all of reality could solve and even now continue to impress, unexpected occurrence after unexpected occurrence bringing color to the world. After so many years I am at last alive."

She stepped back, happily stating, "And that is why I will do all in my power to ensure you fulfill our mutual ambitions, to see you survive and continue to brighten up my dull life."

The boy stood there, more than a bit overwhelmed before he regained control of his senses, clearing his throat as he responded, "Well that's...nice to hear. Does your family know about your connection?"

"No. They likely suspect but I never saw fit to inform them. Such knowledge would only be a burden, a curse for them to carry as they would always be tempted to exploit that connection for their own gain."

A radiant smile lit up the blonde's lovely features.

"Now I know that they truly do care for me, that is. And I do not wish to disturb that love, so new and wondrous it is to experience."

A playful giggle slipped past her flawless lips.

"Teasing Ayaka is swiftly becoming my favorite new pastime~!"

"What do you mean 'teasing Ayaka'? I think you mean 'teasing Ayaka and bullying Nanashi', Manaka."

The girl merely patted him on the cheek a bit more forcefully than necessary, smiling widely as she did so.

"Now now, I'm certain I have no idea what you're talking about~!"

"Yeah, sure."

Grinning maliciously at his grunt the girl patted the chilled corpse she had apparently 'liberated' from a morgue before it could be buried, Nanashi's eye naturally being drawn towards it as everything below the waist was covered by a sheet.

"I think we've dallied long enough, haven't we? Why don't we begin on the more specific details of human anatomy, it will be a useful primer for what's to come later~!"

Before the youth could prepare himself the blonde swiftly traced a finger across the chest and navel of the corpse...and it split open with a soft plop noise, revealing the gory insides for nanashi's viewing pleasure, the youth doubling over with nausea as he protested, "W-what the fuck?! Manaka, give a guy some-HRK-warning next time!"

"Oh? What for? Does a little blood and guts have you feeling a tad squeamish? You'll have to get used to it sooner or later if you want to know how to properly integrate the materials we'll eventually retrieve into a suitable form. Dragon hearts, mermaid scales...they aren't a perfect one-to-one transplant, Nanashi."

"Y-yeah, I know that but-"

"Here, let me help~!"

With a wet squelch Nanashi glanced towards his friend's position-

-and promptly puked onto the floor as Manaka was holding a real goddamn heart for his viewing pleasure, pale skin standing in stark contrast to the dark red shades of the organ as she giggled at his reaction.

"This girl is going to be the death of me before my body gives out."