Thud…
"Howdy!"
Ugh, I don't want to hear him…
Frisk immediately went towards the friendliness pellets.
"See you later."
"It's killed or be killed…huh? What did you say- ACK! "
Toriel came in, saving Frisk.
[hah! serves him right.]
Chara is back, it seems Chara is trapped underground.
[hey, why did you go back?]
Chara asked as Toriel was walking with Frisk over the spikes.
"Toriel died…" he muttered as Chara floated near him. "She's kind so I want to save her."
[... you reset time, for that?]
Frisk stayed silent for a while, with his eyes squinted and his neutral expression, he looked like a shaman. If you exclude his childish clothes.
As Frisk was left alone in the Ruins, he took 3 monster candies. Not to eat them, but to sell them to the gal in snowdin.
"Why not? It's not like anyone remembers-"
Ring!
"Wait a sec."
Frisk picked up the phone
"My child, for no reason in particular, which one do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"
"Well-"
"Wait do not tell me…"
"It is butterscotch right?"
"... yes." Frisk slowly said. " how did you know?"
"Hoho, I had a feeling…" Toriel laughed.
The call ended.
[so much for not remembering~]
"Shut up, it's probably just coincidence, yeah probably…" Frisk assured himself as he "fought" the monsters in his path.
[why don't you fight them?]
"Hmm, they are deadly, but… oddly enough I feel like I can take them on? Their white magic is ridiculously strong, it negates my mana coating and even penetrates the body easily. But even then, I feel like I can win."
[humans before used to be stronger than that, I guess they just keep devolving huh?]
"Because it's so much better to be a ghost, who can only talk to one person in the whole world~." Frisk teased. "How'd you end up being a ghost anyway?"
[none of your business] Chara circled Frisk in a bored manner.
"Alright… "
Frisk continued on his journey without raising any questions about her not appearing with him above the underground. He suspected there was only one reason Chara could live.
The mana inside the underground is very concentrated, maybe that´s why she can persist.
He wasn't very convinced by this notion since he only saw one other ghost at the time he was here. But it was the best guess he had right now.
It doesn't matter anyways, I'll fake my death in the Kalo kingdom, learn magic from Toriel, reset, make a summoning contract with her and save her at a crucial time.
One of the supplementary magic that Frisk had learned was monitor, it allowed him to check the fluctuations in the mana of the contract's signers, he believed that Toriel wouldn't go without a fight. The only drawback was that he needed to make her sign it in the first place…
How am I supposed to do that… I don't think she trusts me enough on that at all…
Frisk wandered around until he reached Toriel's home, he was then reunited with his beloved butterscotch-cinnamon pie.
"Do you like it?"
It's so good…!
"Yes!"
[hehehe]
Hmm? Why is she laughing?
Frisk's ears swiveled towards Chara. She was holding back her laughter.
Huh? Shoot! My ears!
Frisk quickly composed himself and made the wolf's ears and tail go away.
"What was that? Did someone play a prank on you?" Toriel asked. She tried putting her hand on his chest.
"No, it's a curse, I don't want to talk about it," Frisk replied, gently pushing the hand away. "Besides, I don't think that is something that can be healed."
An awkward silence ensued.
Toriel decided to break the ice. " well, I need to show you your room, it is not much, but I think you will find it quite cozy."
"Thanks…" Frisk yawned. "Huh?"
"It is normal to be tired after a long day, you have walked quite a distance, I think you should sleep for today.
… she's right, I somehow didn't notice but my mana is… scattered?
Frisk's mana reserves were full, but his mana was not flowing and the amount condensed was not enough.
But the only magic I have done is… the reset above… is this a side effect of resets? And the reason that it doesn't affect me on the underground is because of the density of mana in the area… yeah that sounds plausible.
Frisk was regarded as a genius magician for learning innate magic in a week at 8 years old. after he received a blessing from the god of love, people started recognizing him and his future seemed bright. But jealousy and pride prevented Frisk from flourishing, making him fall into the underground.
"Hey Chara, can you see my mana? Don't worry I'll let you see it along my soul. It's scattered all over the place and it's not flowing."
Chara's eyes had a red glint and she closed in on Frisk, touching his chest with her ethereal hands, but Frisk had his eyes closed in an attempt to sleep, so he didn't notice.
[hmm, you're right… it's like your flow of mana was reversed. Even then, it's nothing any competent mage can't fix]
She's right, but it'll take the whole night…
Frisk began to move the mana in his body in the same direction that his arteries and veins moved his blood, he was helped by the beating of his heart. This was a basic exercise that mages use to broaden their mana reserves.
The next day…
Frisk gave out a yawn, and as expected, everything was back to normal.
If resetting reverses the mana flow in my body, then I should do this whenever I reset outside the underground…but why did I gain the ability to reset once I entered the underground?
Frisk took care of his hygiene and went toward the living room.
"Did you sleep well, my child?"
"Not really. I just couldn't stop thinking about the butterscotch pie… I wanna learn how to cook it!"
"Ah, it has been a while since a human liked my pie this much." she laughed gently, "but we can't have it every day," she said as she lay down some breakfast.
Wow, fried eggs! Isn't ice magic super rare? Does she have a farm? Wait how would that work if she's also kind of animalistic? Isn't it a bit weird?
The humans didn't have fridges, they were too busy fighting against beasts and nurturing magicians, there were still some people who pursued science
The reason hoodies were invented was out of convenience as a magic item. iron armor became useless due to the ferocity of beasts, so he traded it in for lighter, easier-to-make leather and wool "armor" (hoodies), which were easier to mend and more challenging to damage if enchanted the right way. Only the wealthy had iron armor.
"I can only imagine how much trouble you went through for these eggs."
"Huh? I only bought them at the grocery store." Toriel said with a confused expression. "My child, could you tell me about humans a little bit more?"
"Sure," Frisk smiled, they talked about humanity's history and general knowledge after the human-monster war ended.
By the end of their one-sided discussion, Toriel frowned. "I fear for humanity's extinction… these beasts shouldn't be so numerous, nor would they have a soul in the older times. "
"Sigh, there is not much we can do other than endure and seek the cause of the problem. People have found nests of beasts nearby and destroyed them, that is the sole reason the Kalo kingdom has been able to persist." Frisk was not very patriotic, but he didn't want to see the place he was born in disappear in history.
However, what could he do? To acquire magic grimoires other than those that were publicly sold, a mage had to have a relationship with a noble or go to church and become a devotee. Although one could swear loyalty to a noble, no mage achieved any substantial power while serving the noble, as they did not have enough time to study magic.
And by the time devotees become powerful enough, they end up as simple pawns of the churches, with no exception.
The nobles had their study of magic and were able to use it efficiently, but they always stayed within the kingdom unless there was a large-scale siege.
Knights… let´s not talk about knights…
The royal family is the one carrying out the war, they were spread over the kingdom's vicinity like butter on bread. The ones defending the kingdom were the crown princess and the six churches.
"I see… my child, if any other monster asks you, tell them humans are thriving," Toriel instructed. "I worry what would happen if monsters found out about this. "
Frisk nodded. "I see… are monsters that dangerous?"
"Well, some of them are friendly, others… not so much, but you must be wary of strangers, regardless of who they are, I'm impressed you trusted me so much."
[heh, the first time you two met you screamed as if you were about to get butchered.]
"I'm not sure, but you seemed trustworthy, after all, you saved my life when you had nothing to gain. But if monsters are really so dangerous, are you willing to teach me magic? The magic I know doesn't work for some reason."
Toriel's expression became that of surprise. "You know magic? But you are so young…"
"I've always liked magic," Frisk said, but it was not entirely true.
My mom used to teach me innate magic, I really like studying it with her, even if it was a bit much for me.
"Well, I could add it to your curriculum…"
"Uhm, ma'am, this may be a bit rude, but may I stay for a while?"
"Don't worry my child, you'll always be welcome here, after all, I can't let such a small child fend off for themselves."
Frisk finished his breakfast and thanked Toriel for it, he then went back to his room.
[so, how long are you planning to stay here?]
Hmm, until I learn a new type of magic relatively well…
"I don't know, but at the very least a month or two," Frisk said. "And I also need to see how to quickly gain Toriel's trust to make a contract with her on the next reset. " Frisk was relatively confident, after all, he could simply stall for time and learn quickly and reset.
[heh.]
Frisk shuddered.
What was with that smirk?
[hehehe, I'm going to enjoy this~]