Becoming a Badass (High School DxD - Sacred Gearless Issei Hyoudou SI Chapter 6)
"Hey, is this seat taken?" I asked as I stood three chairs away from the curtained person.
"It is not." A calm... sorta surreal musical voice answered back. I shouldn't see the person behind the curtain box but their shape and voice was female, and they wore a headdress of some kind. "You wish to take it?"
...Why the odd question? Isn't the implication of me asking if it's free, obvious that if I'm told yes then I would sit? This is likely a god, so am I dealing with a fae-like situation where I need to be extremely obvious with what I want and mean?
"Yes, it is good practice."
And the cheeky hidden beauty can read minds, obviously.
"Yes, thank you." She said again. I could feel her amusement.
"Jo-sama, if this seat is free may I take it as my seat to sit on, in order to watch the match?" Is that enough overtext?
The Lady, who I'm starting to bet is probably Amaterasu due to this whole event, giggled.
"Sure, you may. Go ahead, child." She said with a smile in her voice.
"Thank you!" I grinned and sat down. I then heard a panicked squeak from somewhere near me.
I looked to the side to see at the end of the ring of empty seats was Mimiko, looking at me with wide-eyes, a pale face. She was panicking and frozen in place, like she wanted to call out to me, but afraid to make any noise.
Ah, right. She followed me here to look after me at Miko's request. Best not to make things difficult for her.
"Excuse me, Oujo-sama?" I called out to the "hidden" goddess.
"Mimiko is suppose to be my babysitter while the match is ongoing, till Miko-nee-san comes get me. Can she come sit with me?" I explained.
The Lady moved her head, seeming to look toward Mimiko.
Mimiko nearly jumped where she stood at the attention.
The hidden goddess then raised a finger and what looked like an object, bird-like rose up telekinetically in the air next to her, then flew out of the curtain box. It was a paper bird, I'm guessing a shikigami.
It flew to Mimiko's side, next to her ear. Mimiko panicked, till she seemed to hear something, then with a scared looked nodded quickly. With its task done, the paper bird flew back into the curtain box.
Mimiko then moved robotically till she was by my side and sat next to me, putting me between her and her goddess.
"Thank you, miss!" I called out. The amused goddess nodded back.
I sat back into my chair and hummed, kicking my feet as the match began with Miko and Ayame seizing each other up.
"H-how...?" Mimiko whispered up from next to me, keeping her eyes forward, yet nervously looking between me and the curtain box. Like she didn't want to let out even a breath lest it annoyances the goddess sitting next to us. "How were you able to walk through that pressure?"
"What pressure?" I blinked at her question, making Mimiko looking at me with wide-eyes and jaw dropped.
"Godai Genso Kekkai!" Miko cried out bringing out attention back to the match.
Miko threw five ofudas. The talisman floated in a star formation that connected to each other by an energy line making, well, the shape of a star. Each ofuda lit up with a different color, blue, red, greed, yellow and white.
The writing is too far away, but they were easy to figure out: Water, fire, earth, wind and, uuuuh... I tried to read that. Nope, can't. Well, it was a white glow so probably Light or Sky.
"Oh! First move to Miko!" I said excitedly. I then turned to Mimiko. "I mean five elements that's kinda a big deal, right?"
Mimiko looked at me in flabbergasted disbelief. I could feel amusement from the hidden goddess.
"Where did you learn...? No. That's a very basic barrier. It's the first thing starting mikos learn."
"...Ah." Well shit. How much of a noob was Miko? I mean there's being the underdog that could, and then there's the Level 1 Player against a Level 80 Boss. Yeah, that's no competition, son! "So, is she like really good with her fundamentals?" I hoped.
"Oh yes!" Mimiko nodded enthusiastically.
Thank you, god!
"You're welcome~." Said the goddess near me.
Oi! Don't be too obvious.
I could feel her holding back a laugh.
Apparently Mimiko didn't hear her, as she kept talking. So I guess Lady Goddess was only saying those words to me? Neat.
"Miko-san is one of the most hard-working mikos I know. She knows spells like those like the back of her hand." Mimiko said, excitedly.
Ayame had cold air surrounding her, as icicles formed around her, and then pointed at Miko.
Miko pointed at her floating ofudas, and suddenly between the star made of light, the kanji for water made also of light appeared twice with, the talisman that had a blue glow shining twice in concert with it.
The ice shard slammed into Miko's barrier that was suddenly visible as an energy sphere, and was instantly erased.
"Okay, Miko stopped stopped her ice spell dead. Is she doing good or is that expected?" I asked.
I'm not gonna making commentary that obviously leads to Miko being beaten, like:
"Oh wow, she's doing so good!", "Her barrier stopped those spells!"
And so on. Miko might be battling her anime rival, but I was fighting Murphy! And I can't let my guard down even once.
"No, that's normal. The Five Great Elemental Barrier acts by canceling spells through resonance. It can easily stop single element spells for the most part, even if one has average magical capacity." Mimiko explained. "Nearly all spells, or rather specifically elemental spells have a single element that acts as the basis for it. Then another element can be added to the spell to either give it complexity, or the same element can be added to strengthen the spell, or give it deeper properties." Mimiko exposited.
"Water and water makes ice." I concluded. "So it's basically a color guessing game but for elemental magic."
"Exactly." Mimiko nodded. "Miko needs to run her magical energy through the correct sequence of elements, to create a resonance that cancels outs the opponent's spell. Through understanding how the opponent's spell is formed, its foundations and what elements shape it, Miko should be able to erase any spell that comes into contact with her barrier." Of course after that praise, she frowned in worry, because obviously that was just the easy part.
"This is childish." Ayame said with a shake of her head, and then waved her fan to cast another spell.
Cold wind with tiny ice fragments shining in the sunlight flew at Miko.
Miko pointed at her barrier again, as the kanji for water, then water, then wind appeared.
"However, the more complexity a spell has the more difficult it is for the barrier user to predict it." Mimiko began to exposited.
"No, don't explain now, something's gonna go wrong!" I tried to interject but it was too late.
"What?" Mimiko looked at me confused.
At first the cold wind hit Miko's barrier, but then the moment it touched the barrier rather than be cancelled, a circle of ice rose from the ground inside Miko's barrier, encircling her with ice daggers pointed her her.
"Hmph," Ayame shook her head with a light smile on her face. "As if such elementary shield could have accomplished anything."
"Dammit." I sighed, looks like Murphy wins this one. "Okay what happened?" I turned to Mimiko for exposition.
I saw her giving me a dry look, before shaking her her head, while muttering about me being a 'weird child'.
"A spell can have multiple stages to it. Thus you can have one part be visible for the barrier user, while hiding the delayed activation of the second part to bypass the Five Elemental Barrier." Mimiko informed the audience. I.E. me. "Also if the barrier user can't identify what the opponent spell is made out of, well as you saw, the opponent's spell would just pass right through."
"...I feel that's a grave flaw for a barrier to have." I pointed out with a dry tone.
"It's why its a basic barrier." Mimiko said back in the same tone as me. Ah, a snarky cat, are we? Well, nice to meet this side of you. ...Or maybe I'm just good at bringing that side out in others.
"Can't she just spam all the colors, I mean forget sequencing and just spam all five elements at once?" I asked out.
Mimiko began to answer when someone else did.
"It's possible to not worry about moving one's magical energy, and as you said simply throw their aura at all five elements at once. It's actually considered an ultimate technique of this barrier style." Answered the goddess.
"...I'm guess there's a big cost to doing that?"
"Quite so. Focusing one's magic on two elements doubles the spell cost. Three elements doubles it from the previous amount and so on. It's something to do in a desperate situation, but not for a prolonged battle." She explained.
I counted for a second at what the energy cost would be.
"So sixteen times the cost of just going over each elements one by one. Crap." I said.
The goddess nodded.
Back to the match, it looked like Ayame easily cornered Miko.
"Are you done being a demonstration for school children?" Ayame said with a sigh. "I am not one for bullying the weak, it's best if you just surrender now. Your bravery in facing me is enough."
The ice shard pointed at Miko from the ring of ice shone with magical energy, as a obvious threat.
"Miko-san is really hard-working. Even if she's not from a major clan, or as talented as one of the rising stars of this generation, or have the resources of an elder clans. But you know..." Mimiko said in a low tone, before looking at the match with a confident grin. "Miko-san is really strong." Mimiko said dramatically.
OH BOY, THE HEROIC COMEBACK IS COMING! I couldn't help the excited grin that came to my face.
"Her devotion in Amaterasu-sama is second to none!" Mimiko declared, almost like she was saying it to the goddess besides us, but not daring to address her directlu.
"Yeah, well." As Miko spoke she stood straight and... her hands were wrapped in talisman like they were boxing tape. "Barriers are meant to buy time anyways." She said with a grin.
Ayame's eyes widened, as she waved her hand, and the ice daggers were launched at Miko.
Miko slammed her fist into the ground creating a shockwaves that looked like sunlight and melted and evaporated the ice around her.
She then dashed right at Ayame without wasting a second and started to chant.
"Amaterasu-Omikami, Goddess of the Sun, Bringer of the Morning Light, please grant me vitality of the body and spirit for this day. To face the tasks ahead, fill my heart with your light, give strength to my body. I am grateful for your blessings. Guide me to see the day."
It sounded like a prayer. Actually it likely was one.
Her fists were glowed with sunlight.
"Kakusei Yoake!"
Miko punched forward.
Ayame held her hands in front of her, instantly making multiple ice shields.
With a resounding boom, all shields were broken one after the others. Ayame was thrown back by the force, and made to take a defensive stand. Her perfect image was marred.
The stadium was silent at this reversal.
"Go Miko-san!" Mimiko cried out, pumping her fist up.
"SHE HAS GORILLA STRENGTH!" I jumped and stood up, throwing my hands in the air.
Stronk Girl? Best ability for an anime waifu!
"Oi! What kinda of cheering is that!?" Miko rounded at me who shouted about her strength being comparable to a gorilla. She looked shocked upon seeing me, then double shocked at seeing where I was sitting. "I-Issei! What the hell are you doing there! You can't play pranks there!" She shouted fretting at what I might do.
"What? I'm just sitting here!" I called back.
"Mimiko!" Miko shouted and pointed, while looking surprised at where her friend was. "I told you to keep him out of trouble!"
"Um, uh..." Mimiko suddenly felt scared of the spotlight being on her, as all the other priest and priestess clan members were looking at her in anger and envy. "I was, um, allowed to sit here to look after him."
Oi, why are you throwing me under the bus for?
Then I noticed Miko's opponent get up and looked stoically furious.
"Miko! Finish the fight now before your opponent brings out her ultimate technique or some bullshit!" I shouted back.
"Ah," Miko has her eyes on Ayame again. "Right!"
Miko dashed forward once more, her fist reared back and glowing with sunlight once more.
"Oh radiant Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, bathed in your golden light, we pray. As winter's chill envelops the land, grant us the warmth of your rays. To thaw the frozen earth, and bring life to dormant seeds, illuminate the world with your gentle glow, and fill our hearts with hope. Oh, Amaterasu, shine upon us." Ayame chanted her prayer while holding one hand in a mudra gesture. I don't know which one, I don't know them in general, just that they are hand signs. All her fingers were touching her thumb, except the index finger pointed out.
Miko punched forward.
BANG!
"Hikari Zoufuku Hyūkyū." Ayame finished her spell.
The sunlight in Miko's fist vanished into the large ice mirror in front of her.
Once more Ayame was in the lead.
Well, time to act like a mascot to make it seem like Miko is in a disadvantage while giving her room to breath.
"Miko! Get outta there!" I shouted dramatically.
The ice mirror in front of Miko seemed to heat up at the center.
"Oh shit." Miko's eyes widened.
She jumped back.
A beam of light erupted from ice mirror, hit Miko and the explosion happened.
"Miko-san!" Mimiko shouted in worry.
Okay, okay this is just dramatic tension to end this episode. Come on, smoke, be blown away and show she's fine.
The smoke cleared with the wind, and Miko looked singed a bit, with bits of her clothes burned up, and steam coming off of her.
"Oh good." I fell into my seat.
Okay, I think I'll relax while Ayame explains and praises Miko's managing to tank that.
"Impressive, you spread the sunlight concentration from your fist to your whole body to focus on defense, thus mitigating the damage." Ayame said with a nod of acknowledgment. "However," I now noticed several tall ice crystals floating and rotating around Ayame. "You are nothing but an ant in front of a magnifying glass."
The top crystal shone with light that it shot to the others, which seemed to accumulate with each crystal hit, before being directed at Miko by the last one.
Another boom and Miko was launched away, barely able to escape.
"My Light Magnifying Ice Palace gathering our Lady's sunlight condense and shoots it at the opponents. No matter your strength, the sheer speed of my spell will ware you down." Ayame explained.
I blinked as I understood that.
She was gathering light, magnifying it and redirecting it.
"Oh fuck, she's using physics!"
The goddess let out a delighted laugh.
"Well of course she is," she said bringing my attention to her. "The shrine maidens and priests are educated after all, why wouldn't they use the knowledge humans have discovered and gathered till now?" She said with a smile.
"Okay, I get that, it just feels like chea... Wait a minute." As I noticed Miko fighting, she was now doing somewhat better with dodging. Barely, the light beams missing her by inches, but she's hanging in there. "If Ayame's attacks are light speed how is Miko dodging them? I mean, she's fast but she's not light speed fast."
"The light gathered in the ice doesn't have power to it, thus the Takahashi girl empowers it with magical energy, then fires it at a different crystal to collect energy and speed, before ultimately releasing it on her opponent." The goddess explained.
"Aaaaah." I made a noise of understanding. "So it's not a light speed attack, it's anime light speed."
"Anime what?" Mimiko looked at me confused.
"Obviously," the goddess confirmed my deduction. "You need to get much more levels higher to use actual light speed. Anime level attacks are for standard geniuses to use."
"Hmm, hmm." I nodded in understanding.
Welp, I know my next course of action. Time for me to cheer and advise Miko with every single anime trope I can think of.
