"SO! The first thing you need to know about the spell card system is: one projectile is enough to take you down, you get three hits and after that, fight over." Reimu Lectures me in the Patio.
"Three hits, but one enough to take you down?" I asked.
"This is where the whole fundamentals of the system are used: The spell card system was designed to let humans, youkai, deities and such, to settle disputes between one another, given they have enough magical power to be able to shoot 'Danmaku'" She continues, "Danmaku is mostly boiled down to how many projectiles you can generate to take down your opponent. Quantity over power, some Danmaku projectiles can hit hard, but you never use excess magic on Danmaku, you are not looking to kill, but incapacitate."
"Spray 'n' pray huh? Not my favorite but familiar with it," I said but something else bothered me, "but is it exclusively just random patterns? can't I just show directly at them?"
"You can, but everyone here is so used to that, you need a miracle to even hit a direct shot. Quantity is useful to throw the enemy off, but it does not essentially mean you can't try, some use direct shots to direct their opponents into desired areas where they are sure they would not dodge all of the projectiles." She clarifies my question
"However there are some exceptions, for example, when an opponent uses a spell card" A feminine voice interrupts Reimu from behind of us, Yukari had arrived via our agreement.
"Since when were you there?" I asked, as I was surprised she just popped in there.
"You'll get used to it. Yukari's main thing is popping out of nowhere with her gaps" Reimu said to me.
"Well, Not that I show it too often, surprise is the key element to it!" Yukair says in a prideful tone.
"Anyhow, I came to check. everything in order Reimu?"
"Yes! First day he managed to clean my whole house, now I'm teaching him spell card rules." Reimu responded.
"Oh! Glad I arrived then, there are some things I could teach him too." Yukari says in an optimistic tone.
"Normally I would reject any hand lent by you, but since we gotta teach 'smokey' here about spell cards for the first time, any help is appreciated." Reimu responded to Yukari.
"Don't ever call me that." I responded to Reimu.
"Hush it Smokes, let's begin your training." Reimu said, but more mockingly.
I find Myself in the plains of Gensokyo in the morning, and although they don't have a designated name for these plains, god, these seem to expand for miles! The only thing I'm able to discern in the distance is the Hakurei shrine, the mountain, the human village Sakuya told me about and some forests around us. Reimu picked this big plain patch so we could train to our heart's content.
"First things first, let's see you shoot some Danmaku!" Reimu said.
"I… I don't think I can do that. 'Shoot'? I have shot a lot of guns in my life, but a bullet without a gun, coming out of ME?"
"How about, using your powers you already have, and try using them as Danmaku?" Yukari suggested.
"I… it could work, I've always used my smoke to escape and block the view, never crossed my mind to use it as a projectile…" I said while thinking what I was already capable of doing, could turn into a "bullet".
I think I have something! I've used it before but it could work in this case.
"One sec." I said to both.
I bring my arm up with my palm up, as I was summoning something out of the ground, Reimu and Yukari are looking at me perplexed as to what I would do next. I make a struggling face and a grunt a little trying to make this happen.
out of my palm grows a small orb made of smoke, and gradually increases in size from golf ball sized to a dodgeball sized one. The orb then pops out of my palm and becomes its own separate object and lands in my hand.
I look everywhere to direct my orb towards something but it's so empty, I feel wrong just throwing this to who knows where.
"Someone gimme a target, can't work like this" I said out loud.
Reimu obliges as she directs her gohei towards an angle in the sky, and a red oval shaped light pellet comes out of its end.
Just by looking at it for a second, I predict where it would be next and fling it towards that direction, my smoke orb and the light pellet follow a stable path, getting closer and closer until they collide paths. The smoke orb dissolves as it hits the pellet and the pellet vanishes as it gets struck by it.
"Congrats on achieving the first steps towards the spell card system" said Yukari.
"Wow, that felt, Oddly familiar." I said in surprise.
"I think with your time using modern weaponry, You'll get used to Danmaku real quick." Reimu said.
"Lets try more complicated attacks"
It's about to be dusk. Reimu and Yukari together managed to show me most of the ropes of the spell card system, somehow it felt familiar, like shooting, but more intuitive, it felt like the bullets actually went where I wanted them to! To their surprise, I managed to not get hit a single time they attacked to teach me dodging, mostly by the fact that it was pretty much like dodging incoming fire from the enemy and that i was very much trained for, and because my actual body is smoke, the bullets phase through certain parts of my body, while I predict that my core if it where to get hit, I would actually get hurt badly.
"Mind we get a break now? it's probably past 5 or whatever, I'm starving!" I said as my panting became slower and inconsistent from the hard training.
"Yeah let's wrap this up now, for sure you know all the essentials, but don't get too cocky, Gensokyo is a land not for the faint hearted, be prepared for anything!" Reimu said.
"you two did an excellent performance, how about we get something for all? My treat!"
"Really?!" My eyes lit up just hearing that.
"Really? You better not pull something like last time."
"Nonsense Reimu," Yukari Giggled, "Tell you what, let's go to Mystia's, I'm sure she'll love to see you by." Yukari tempted Reimu.
"Sure, What the hell!" Reimu accepted without hesitating.
We wandered off towards a trail to the human village, all the time I was thinking about what meal was waiting for me, and now that I spent 3 months in Japan refining my knowledge of the Japanese language, I felt ready to order something good, and who knows what meals this "Mystia" could prepare.
"Where here!" Yukari said
I look around, and I find it peculiar that it is just the trail.
"uh, we don't seem to be near the human village…" I responded to Yukari.
"Oh yeah, forgot to tell ya, Mystia ain't human" Reimu responded.
"Huh?"
Then I heard wood creaking to my left, a pink haired girl with wings was carrying a medium mobile food stand via two handles on a cart like a peddler, the wheels suddenly stopped in their tracks and laid down upon where she would sell her food. The girl then takes a moment to rest and happens to look into our direction.
"Oh hi Reimu! Ms. Yukari!" said the girl.
"Good evening Mystia!" Yukari says back.
"Night! Looks like we arrived just on time." Reimu says too.
"Wonderful!... Oh? And who might you be?" Mystia said to me.
"Oh! Plyush, pleasure to meet you!" I responded.
"Pleasure is mine to serve you! While I prep up, here is today's menu, I'll take your order as soon as I finish" Mystia says as she hands us a paper sheet listed with today's selection.
"Sure is quite the bunch, that is for a stand this size" I say in surprise with the selection presented.
"Oh look Reimu! Today they have those Gyozas that I love, you got to try those." Yukari said to Reimu
"I was looking more forward to Miso soup today, and I'm interested in the Miso fish noodle soup here" She responded.
As they discussed what they would have, a certain item in the menu caught my eye.
"Grilled lamprey?" I said
"Oh that's Mystia's specialty, it's the whole basis of her Izakaya business" Reimu responds to my confusion.
"Mystia is a youkai whose abilities are making whoever hears her sing mad and make one blind temporarily. Lamprey in Japanese mythology are believed to cure blindness when eaten, so Mystia has taken the habit of making passerbys blind for a while so they fall for the trick and eat at her stand. We don't interfere with her because in the end, she is not hurting anyone and she is making a stable business using culture. Besides, she makes a damn good grilled lamprey." Yukari explained to me.
"Sounds daring, I could give it a shot!" I say in enthusiasm.
Mystia then clears her throat to pay our attention to her.
"So…may I take your orders?"