Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than plots and OCs.
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World Divergence: Alpha - Nanohaverse
A's V
A/N : cross posted on my blog and FFN.
"Hasta la vista, baby" - normal speech
=I got lost in the road of life= - telepathic speech
[Dimensional Transfer] - device speech / spells
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...
we would need any advantage we could get.
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0065 - December
Harlaown Apartment
"So you are telling me, those guys are part of this {Book of Darkness}. And that artifact has {Summon Minion}, {Mana Leech}, {Anti World}, and {Auto Respawn}. Wonderful," I muttered in sarcastic tone.
The other people present displayed confusion on their faces.
"Uh, I don't understand what you said, Will-kun. But the correct term is Lost Logia," Amy said, correcting me.
"Gamer terms. Gamer terms." I waved my hand off, "Don't over-think it. Though..." I trailed off.
"Yes?" Chrono, tried being civil, urged me to continue.
"It did not make any sense. {Mana Leech} and {Anti World} do not match. The shape is also feels wrong for {Anti World}, unless it's {Prelati Spellbok}. Mana Leech does not go well with book, but {Mana Leech - Variant} and Book may share some connection."
"I do not understand anything," Amy grumbled..
I ignored her and continue, "What kind of {Mana Leech - Variant} that goes well with a book. A book is not a damn battery, it is a tool to store... Information! Of course! That makes sense! Information ...data ...skill. {Mana Leech - Skill Copy Variant}. Combined with {Summon Minion}, that could lead to {Anti World}. With full skill and technically infinite mana, it will be so OP. Possibility of {Multi Cast} from the gained skill, either by minions or the master. Multi-casting OP stuffs is {Anti Army}. Rank it up several level and you could get {Anti World}."
Amy wailed. Chrono's eyes bulged.
"Will, I barely get half of what you said. But if my understanding is correct..."
"Haa..." I sighed. "Basically, whatever information you have does not make any sense for me and I tried to draw some theories. Remember, this is just theory."
Both teens nodded.
"First," I started. "Why the hell a book, cursed or not, would need cores, strong ones at that. A crystal is much better for that crap. And even so, there's no need to store cores in crystal. You can store energy in crystal, but not book. Book is used to store information. What kind of information lies in core? Spells and skills. That book is basically recording spell repertoires with storing mana as bonus."
Their eyes widen; the dots began to connect.
"Considering the fact that they are connected to the book and they got Nanoha, we are either against: One," I raised a finger, "those guys who can throw her Starlight Breakers like free candies (no, just Reinforce), or Two," second finger up, "the book owner who will go stark raving mad (because two Hentai-Kamen).and throw those instead."
They inhaled deeply.
Yeah, one Starlight Breaker was very dangerous. More than one was equivalent too natural disaster.
"Second, since the book theoretically able to record spells from any absorbed cores, there will be a long list of different spells. If, and I put heavy emphasis on the word if, the caster use the book as focus, casting all those spells at the same time. While that is an insane possibility, it is not impossible. Coupled with the fact that there is massive amount of mana stored in the book..."
Their breathing nearly stopped.
"So, yeah. A magical bomb equivalent to a massive nuclear weapon. A planet killer in every literal sense."
Amy's mouth hung open. Chrono slowly mouthed WTF.
"Remember, this is just my theory. It is not yet confirmed." I chided them both.
That didn't help much.
"Will-kun, what you said... makes sense, so much that... it's scary." Amy managed to say.
Well, because it was half-truth half-bullshit. From what I could remember, Rein was able to use Starlight Breaker. And NatchWal was a literal mass of energy. While Rein might able to double-cast, NatchWal was able to shoot stuffs from its tentacles.
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0065 - December
Random Planet #33
Chrono was still in near-breakdown state in afternoon next day.
They contacted Lindy-san about my theory. It was so ridiculous and yet so made sense, her words not mine. Thus she did not outright reject it, but put it on 'under consideration' category.
Too bad, the confirmation of my theory would happen on the day Rein showed up. Which would be the day of a series of final battle. They wouldn't get reinforcement in time.
I smacked Chrono's head, hard, and dragged him out from his room. I roped Amy to teleport us two to a nearby uninhabited world. The devices repair would not finished in one or two days, so it's safe for me to challenge Chrono in a friendly duel. While Amy would standby in the headquarter.
Fate dragged Arf, Nanoha, and Yuuno to the apartment and they sat in front of large holographic screen. Live show of our duel.
Yeah, it could serve as both training exercise and stress relief for both Chrono and me, as well as entertainment and learning material for the rest of them.
"So, Chrono..." I began the pre-battle banter. "Are you ready?"
Chrono was in his Barrier Jacket. His device, S2U, was held in his left hand. I was in my Warrior Gear and had both tonfa in my hands. Both of us stood on the barren surface of the planet.
"Yeah. And I will pay you back for everything, Will," he growled the last part.
I smirked, "Really? Well..." Time to channel Kakashi again.
I made the tonfa in my right hand disappear and took out something from Inventory. I made it so that it seemed to be stored under my clothes.
He tightened his grip.
I held the thing I pulled, a book, on my right hand. I opened it and began reading.
He facefaulted and then looked at the book I held. It was a handmade book titled "How to Effectively Irritate People". When he learned what the title of this book, he began frothing.
I ignored him for a few moment before said a very Kakashi-like line.
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
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0065 - December
Harlaown Apartment
Chrono grumbled as we returned back to the apartment. His lost, though by small margin, was done in very humiliating manner. By yours truly, of course.
"Chrono. Chrono. Chrono." I cheerfully chided him right as we opened the door, entering the living room where the rest were gathering. I ignored them and continue, "Everything is fair in love and war-"
He glared at me.
"-and dick measuring contest."
The boys' eyes bulged. The girls blushed. Arf smirked.
"Including severing spell," I finished with wide smile.
He and Yuuno unconsciously covered their crotch with both girls cringed. Arf was rolling on floor, laughing.
"So," I turned to the other residents of the room, "any question?"
It took them no less than two minutes to collect themselves before one hand was raised.
"Yes, Pigtails?"
"It's Nanoha," she glared at me. "Na-No-Ha."
Inwardly, I smirked. "So," raising my hands to chest level, I made counting gesture for each name I mentioned, "Nanoha? Nanoha-chan? Nanoha-tan? Nanoha-chama? Nanoha-tama? Nanoha-nyan? Nanoha-kun? Nanoha-bou? Nanoha-san? Nanoha-jiji?-"
I ran out of fingers and used reverse-count to compensate.
"-Nanoha-sama? Nanoha-ojou-sama? Nanoha-oji-sama? Nanoha-dono? Nanoha no Kimi? Nanoha-Heika? Nanoha-Denka? Nanoha-Hidenka? Nanoha-Kakka? Nanoha-Daitouryou?"
Ran out of finger in reverse-count, I raised my head to face her, smile on my face, "So, which one?"
Her eye twitched, annoyed at my blatant abuse of her homeland's culture. The others were either snorting or outright giggling.
She took a deep breath and finally said in resigned tone,"Just... Nanoha is fine, William-kun." She decided that it's better for me to not use honorific at all rather than use it wrongly. On purpose.
"Pigtails, then.-"
She made a wordless scream of rage.
"-And call me Will. William is too mouthful. So... Your question?"
Ten seconds spent to recollect herself.
"What was that?" Nanoha asked slowly
"Huh?" I asked dumbly.
"I am asking you what was THAT?" she repeated.
"Well..." I drawled. "THAT was a function word used in language to define something; a person, thing, idea, state... Didn't they teach you that in school?"
Another wordless scream.
"Joking aside," I quickly said after her scream ceased. "You did not make your question clear. Please clarify which "that" you want to ask."
She made an unrecognizable expression along with grumble,
"Anyway, that was a friendly match between Chrono and I. Initially, that's it." I turned to Chrono and continued, "Somewhen in the middle, it turned to be opportunity for Chrono to pay me back, or at least that was what he believe. In truth, I also paid him back for his comment in bridge area, and I quote 'Mentally unstable, public declaration of perversion, even if there's seem to be a sliver of righteousness'. Not forget to mention that he made a perfect recording for 'archive purpose', whatever that is."
Chrono got a gobsmacked expression on his face. Amy was drenched in cold sweat.
"So, Nanoha?" I turned my face toward her.
"Your strategy, your magic, your device. All of them," she did rapid-speak. "Anything about you does not make sense."
Collective nods in the room.
I eyed the brunette with pigtails for a moment, assessing her.
Wait, didn't her family have a dojo? Her brother and sister practiced with bokken instead of shinai. Moreover that behavior and attitude, seemed warrior-like. Could it be...
"Forgive me if I am wrong, but is your family descendant of samurai?"
Nanoha slowly nodded, "Seems so. Though I can not find any proof."
I nodded and made a hummed sound. "That makes sense. What I did was technically against your very code." At her questioning expression I continued, "Knight , or in this case samurai, descendants may have something like righteous streak or strong moral value. It is not a bloodline thing, but rather a result of teaching passed down from one generation to another. Even though the teaching itself might have diluted over the passage of time, majority of the moral values remain."
All of them nodded, but seemed not understand where the conversation would go.
"If we use game term, my class is Assassin. The closest equivalent here is shinobi, or ninja, whichever suits you. Of course that does not mean that I will go for killing. It's just that my way of fighting closely resemble one."
They nodded again.
"Unlike knight, assassin does not play by honor. We will use any cheap tricks and sneak attack to avoid facing the opponent directly and take any opening we can get. We do not fight on equal ground, and will use anything to raise the advantage in our favor. From physiological attack to guerrilla tactics with extra dose of back-stab attack. That is what I do, what I did against Chrono and that red-hair chibi. That is the reason you are uncomfortable with me, for you are raised in the way you are."
Nods of understanding filled the room-
"As for my magic, I am afraid I can not tell you just yet."
-mixed with little dejection.
"Basically, it works differently from your style. At least that's what I believe, since there's no glowing thing under my feet whenever I use my magic. Another notable difference is perhaps the naming: you have Barrier Jacket, while mine is Warrior Gear, but I believe their functionality is the same. As for my device, that I can tell you. This beauty here," I raised my right arm to show them my black bracer, "is named Eyaruu."
[Notice! 3 volumes of porn magazines detected at 4.3 meters on 3 o'clock!]
Everyone in the room blinked.
I blinked twice more. That direction was...
Amy's eyes narrowed at Chrono. The blonde ferret in human form coughed. Nanoha and Fate blushed. And Arf was rolling on the floor again.
*cough* "That was... Surprising. Surprising, unexpected, and definitely interesting," I tried to redirect the flow of conversation.
"Well, I built it myself, like what I've said to Lindy-san, by combining my world's magical theory and your technology. Lindy-san has told you the basics about my origin, yes? My device might not be the best since there are things that contradictory, but it's usable and useful." I ended my explanation with a question, "Anyone else?"
Amy voiced her question, "What about the tonfas then?"
Aah... Good question.
I hummed for a moment. "Unlike your devices, where on active mode they became your weapons, mine does not work like that. My tonfas are part of my device. They are not my device but they are part of it. Therefore I can call and dismiss them at command. Next question?"
The blonde with twintails raised her hand.
I turned toward her direction, "Yes, Fate?"
Fate asked in soft voice, "You have a lot of tricks but, do you have any devastator?"
I blinked.
"Yeah, I think that is a valid question," Nanoha's famili- *ahem* first male friend voiced his thought. "I mean, do we have to prepare for more collateral damage? We already have Nanoha," "HEY!" "but do you have something like that? Tonfa is a defensive weapon, but you do have a lot of tricks. Are those tricks include bombardment or area-of-effect attack?"
Hmm.. Let's see. The closest equivalent in my repertoire was either the LimitBreak System or the magical hydrogen bomb I used near The Veil back in Potterverse. The former was still in prototype stage and consisted of single-target moves. The latter was impossible either because the increased difficulty (universe difference) or the lack of catalyst to compensate the mana cost.
Thoth? I asked my second device trough our mental link.
[The designed moves are still incomplete, Sir. Without proper LimitBreak System, they can not be implemented.]
And how about the progress constructing the System itself?
[We are still lacking several things, Sir.]
Wonderful.
I looked at both Fate and Yuuno, "I am ashamed to admit that I don't have something like that yet. Most of my tricks are suited for either single target attack, either melee or mid-range."
The mixture of expression of everyone in the room was indescribable.
"If my understanding is correct, my reserve is at least a tier below Chrono. So, unless I can find something to compensate my shortcoming or increase my reserve, I won't be able to use those things. Anyone else?"
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A/N: Here's the fifth chapter. Yeah, mostly info-dump.
Thanks for the support and please review.
Until next time.