Chapter 36 : Tempus Fugit - A bullet, more like.
If I thought Toroko-san was working me to the bone previously, I was proven how wrong I truly was the day after.
Fact is, I didn't really know how to unlock Touki, I more or less just extrapolated that it was through a mix of determination, willpower and constant physical exertion when I remembered Rias' cousin's story.
Or what little I knew about it in any case.
That, plus the fact that this whole universe I lived in ran along a mixture of ecchi and shounen tropes, made me at least think that I was on the right track.
After all, stupid training regimens tended to get you stupid gains in those kinds of settings, and, in the worst case scenario, being able to brain someone with my fists could always come in handy in close quarters combat.
Wasn't like I couldn't stack something like a Warp-based self-buff on top of beyond peak-human constitution for that extra oomph.
In any case, I promptly entered the 'hell of gainz', enthusiastically pulled along -not quite kicking and screaming, but close enough- by an extremely determined man on a mission.
Which prompted a little discovery at the 'end' of our first session.
I was positively exhausted, drenched in sweat, all my limbs shaky.
I hadn't puked, but it had been a near thing, especially when the distance I was supposed to run on the treadmill suddenly got doubled as an afterthought, and I honestly wanted all of it to end.
Yet, I had persevered, soldiered through, and was now seated on one of the gym's benches, my head almost spinning after the hell I just went through, still inhaling big gulps of air.
Not far from here, the mountain shaped man who just low-key tortured me was pumping iron like a man possessed, more than three times my weight, and looked like he was barely making an effort.
Which, you know, kinda irked me, but I suppose that was kind of a given considering his usual shape.
I take a swig of water, the lukewarm liquid doing wonders to calm my raging heartbeat, absentmindedly looking at my teacher as he finishes his last rep.
With a last exhale, he drops back the weightlifting bar in its grooves, before half-shimmying, half-raising himself out of the bench-
-that is, until he suddenly winces, hard, one of his hands jumping to his right knee, a string of insults leaving his lips, and startling me greatly.
Considering it was literally the first time ever I heard the man swear, understandable.
I instantly jump to my feet, before rushing to his position.
"Erh, are you alright?" I ask, a little awkwardly as soon as I reach him.
He waves me off, a disgusted frown on his face.
"Nothing I'm not used to, Shoujo-chan. My knee never was the same after I got discharged." He comments, still gingerly massaging the offending body-part.
"What, you took an arrow in it or something?" I joke, a tad relieved that he hadn't just hurt himself because of myself and my half-assed plan to punch evil in the face.
"A bullet, more like." He answers simply, his eyes still locked on his lower body.
I do a double take.
"Eh? For real?" I ask aloud.
"Used to be a cop, the Yakuza weren't as tame as they are nowadays when it happened. This-" He gestures around at the gym, "-was paid for with the money I earned in the settlement when I got discharged. Couldn't walk or run the same, ya know? Had to skip leg day for more than a decade."
"I'm sorry." I mumble, feeling bad for my poor joke.
"Nah, don't stress it, not like ya could've known." He answers easily, "Plus, it's not all bad: the wife was a lot mellower after it happened. Losing my old job may have saved my marriage, so, as far as I'm concerned, it's all good."
Talk about a glass half full kinda guy, eh.
"I just know it's gonna become a pain in my ass if I have to push, but what can I do?" The giant of a man shrugs his massive shoulders, undeterred.
His statement makes me pause, and I frown, deep in thoughts.
…Was it possible?
I shuffle closer, my movement prompting him to give me a glance.
We lock eyes, and I worry at my lower lip for a second, before sighing.
"I…" I start, before carrying on, "Maybe I could help."
I watch as puzzlement slowly gives way to realization both in his eyes and the Immaterium.
"...Ya think, Shoujo-chan?" He asks slowly.
"Maybe." I stress out, making him narrow his eyes in turn.
Silence falls between the two of us while I wait for his verdict, either for a go ahead or for a refusal, but, in the end, he slowly nods.
I reach toward his seated form with my right hand, trying my hardest to pay no mind to him tensing and his Apprehension ringing in the Immaterium.
Doesn't really help that I have done this exactly once, with a rodent I had more or less rendered brain dead before my attempt.
I close my eyes as I lay a hand on his uncovered shoulder, even as I let The Whispers in.
"Alright, relax and…" I pause, having an idea, The Susurrus oddly enthusiastic as it comes to my mind, "...Think really hard about what being well, whole, means to you?"
A beat passes.
"Is that a question, Shoujo-chan?" Toroko-san quips, but his tone doesn't waylay me since I'm literally centimeters away from his rising Anxiety.
"Advice." I elaborate, "It'll work better this way."
"...Alright, no pressure." He ends up grumbling after a bit.
From this close, as opened to The Voices as I am, I can feel the progressive change in his mindset.
It comes slowly at the beginning, but an undercurrent of Determination eventually rises to the fore, helping the older man focus.
"...Perfect." I commend, "Now, keep thinking like that, don't stop until I say so."
"Will do." He answers tersely.
Taking the statement as the unsaid authorization to move on and get on with this, I open myself to the current of the Warp and let it washes through me, my mind settled on only one idea.
Help.
I suck a breath as the psychic-soul stuff of the universe rushes in my body, the metaphysical door of my mind wrenched open, and I can almost feel it as it first passes through my head, taking in full the meaning I'm imparting it, then my heart, then my arm-
-and finally inside Toroko-san's body, my previously imposed idea of Help meeting his own of Wellness, coalescing-
-and it is his turn to inhale sharply as the primordial stuff of the universe rushes through him, doing something, almost boiling over-
-only for me to cut the connection short as I feel the situation starting to tread dangerous water, stepping back precipitously.
My eyes snap open, my own anxiety making my throat tighter than usual-
-before it peters out as I see Toroko-san, looking wide-eyed at his knee.
I open my mouth to speak-
"It's gone." He mutters in wonder, flexing his leg a little this way and that.
-only to clamp my mouth shut, my hand finally dropping along my side.
I take a moment to resettle my own breathing and cast The Voices away while my newfound partner in crime rises and takes a few steps, testing his weight on his legs.
"Amazing…" He wonders, "Couldn't bend it for the life of me for the better part of a decade, and now it's as smooth as when I was still in service."
I softly smile at that.
"Happy to help." I tell him.
He snorts, loudly, even as he looks my way.
"Nah, Shoujo-chan, it's beyond helping that." He answers, before tilting his head slightly, "Seems kinda hard to pull through, though?"
"It wouldn't have worked if you did not follow my lead and trusted me, yes." I elaborate in guise of an answer, gesturing with my hand, "I'm honestly not much of a healer, this is mostly my abilities being agreeable to help more than anything else."
His rotten bones be blessed for a tame Immaterium, seriously.
"Ya'll not see me look at that particular gift horse in the mouth, Shoujo-chan." The giant of a man answers with a grin, before inhaling deeply and slowly exhaling, nodding to himself along the way, "Hell, I even lost a shortness of breath I didn't know I had.
"Which makes me think." He starts, before giving me a long glance, "Ya said this thingamajig was supposedly faster to unlock through combat, yeah?"
"...Supposedly?" I answer, a bit gingerly.
"Well, good thing I'll be able to go back into the ring, then!" He grins, before clapping me on the shoulder, "And you'll be able to!
"Not like any injuries will stick with your little hat trick, after all, eh?"
It was at this moment that I realized.
I fucked up.
ENTRY: Alpha-112
ANNO:0 - LOCAL:2009
LOCAL DATE: AUGUST, 1ST
BEGINNING RECORD
"I am able to heal other's injuries, even if it takes a while to get started and requires something close enough to absolute trust in me from the recipient.
"Which isn't much, but considering my absolute lack of knowledge regarding everything biological, and, more importantly, medicine related, is an absolute godsend.
"More accurately, Warp-send, but eh.
"That, and my recent progress in regards to my telekinesis, made me want to start taking the next step in my sort-of training plan.
"My difficulties regarding this most basic of psyker's abilities is actually a blessing in disguise, when I started to really think about it.
"Why?
"Because it offers me a rare opportunity to train something not everybody can: multitasking.
"There is a lot of things where I am more-or-less shooting in the dark/flying by the seat of my pants in my ideas on how to reach uber level of op-ness, but, in regards to my plan to bolster my psyker potential, I am more or less sure that I need three things.
"First, an ironclad focus, which I'm constantly cultivating through meditation through the day and night.
"Secondly, a healthy and, simply put, more body, since anything short of it could potentially lead to a bad end if I channeled more Warp than I'm naturally able to handle.
"And, finally, the metaphorical ability to look in two directions at the same time.
"My Touki training/Wellness routine is helping the second getting along, since I obviously don't know shit about bio-modification unlike a certain emperor, never having a background in biology or anything along those lines, and also lack the time to properly study it in my already busy schedule, while my telekinesis training is giving me a leg up for the third point.
"I'm going to give myself until the end of August before trying what I had my eyes on from the start: one-upping the shamans of old.
"Either it'll work as intended, or I mess up and it ends badly, but having barely enough of a range to cover the city won't do long term.
"I guess I can only succeed, or die trying in a psychic explosion."
ENTRY: Alpha-112
ENDING RECORD
[AN: Hopefully this chapter will put to rest a lot of inquiries the last did rise.
Hope you enjoy, xoxo]