【Name: Faer Jaecar】
【Level 11】
『HP: 393/393』
『MP: 68/68, (31*18)576/576), (2*1)2
Total MP 646』
『Str: 14』
『Agi: 14(17)』
『End: 23』
『Int: 12(150fps)』
『Mag: 12』
『Dex: 9』
『Luk: 7』
Available Stat Points: 0
Conflict Points:1165
【Skills】
There it was, in front of him, this screen… Faer wasn't sure how his MP had broke for lack of better terms. No that wasn't quite true either it was due to 【Magic Circuit.】The better question was how he had attained this when he was pretty sure the Magic Circuit was supposed to be【Nerve Circuit.】
Without spending more conflict points to either find Shirou or experimentation there would be little more than guess work. Not that he really had too much time to deal with that, not with the young girl he took on as an apprentice trying to pester him for a free meal.
Didn't she have a home to go back to?
…
He never asked… guess it was up to him to be responsible here. Even if the points that might come from her distress might make up for the earlier simulation.
Taking a look around Faer figured it was worth noting that he had been training with the young girl for some time, given that the sun was beginning to become orange as it began its descent for the day.
Sparing another look to the brunette bathed in the rays as she tried to shrug off the moment yet, given her currently flushed face practically glowing in embarrassment he would say even given time that endeavor was a failure. To add insult to injury her monstrously loud stomach growled again, sounding every bit as much of a monster as it did the first time. "Sorry, Shisou, I brought a snack before I came out here and I normally would be eating with Yukiko-chan and her family by now…", Chie explained, kicking the dirt bashfully.
Not saying anything, Faer simply nodded and closed his eyes. Attempting to block out the sensation of the everpresent heat radiating out from his body as he tried to get a handle on the glowing Magic Circuits which transformed his body into a glowing red network of energy.
After a moment he felt relatively sure he could "feel" the muscles that made up his Magic Circuits.
Trying to figure out how to turn them off proved to be more difficult… and it didn't help that he didn't actually know how they turned on beyond an instinctive magical flex from the monster his apprentice called a stomach.
Then there was the heat, while it wasn't the worst heat he had been subjected to, especially when compared to the Nerve Circuits that still burned far hotter. The heat was enough collectively that he could feel his body starting to get warm as if he had been out in the desert (again).
That wasn't really important though. He would have to see if he could handle the mechanics on the fly.
"Let's get some food in you then," Faer intoned as he forced his eyes to open again. There were clouds in the sky, they looked… heavy.
He would have to hold off investigating tonight Shinto-Revivalists in favor of getting a better hold on his new found Magic capability. After all he had roughly 10 times more to work with and a lot of ground to cover.
Fighting down the heat and trying to reverse the flex of the Magic Circuits, the Contractor finally manages to finally get a squeeze on the energy, turning it off with the comparative ease of turning a rusty faucet handle.
Almost immediately a shiver ran down the boy's spine as the differing temperature and the sun starting to set whipped his body like a whip cracking the air. That is to say he felt as if he was encased in a Bufu, belatedly he realized his body temperature had likely been enough to cook his brain if had been a normal human.
To add on to the situation his Nerve Circuits were even running colder after that… interesting.
Releasing a shuddering breath of steam Faer finds his vision swimming and his senses distant. But instead of falling over he finds his hands being held by Chie as the strong girl tries to leverage his weight to keep him from falling.
"Ah! Shisou, are you alright!?" She yelled trying to get his attention, strong as she was and had the potential to be, she wasn't beat physics yet. "I know I said I was hungry but please don't have me do whatever starvation training you were just doing!" The bowl haired brunette pleaded as the Contractor regained his balance.
"... I'm not starving…", Faer honestly had no idea what else to say and as the duo went down the hill he noticed that the young girl hadn't let go of his hand. A good thing for it as his own statement had left his head spinning as he fought for balance again.
Crackle
Looking up to the sky Faer swore he could see a figure standing in the clouds for a moment as rain began to drizzle and then drizzle became a downpour.
Focusing his eyes for a moment he tries to find the figure, but his eyes and mind fail to analyze whether or not what he saw was real or his mind failing as it tries to recuperate from the strain placed on it and his body.
"Ah! It's raining! Jae-Shisou, we can go get Mega Beef bowls!" the girl in the track jacket exclaimed as she pulled them down the quickly wetting hill. While they had almost slipped a few times Faer let the girl keep the excited pace, wanting to see what the big deal was.
Splashing through the puddled filled sidewalks they came back to the Chinese restaurant that they had visited last time and Faer was starting to suspect that this was Chie's favorite restaurant, at least when she didn't have to pay.
As she ran forward and did a little dance by the door Faer had to consider it fair all things considered, why not take advantage when others are willing?
Though he himself didn't like doing that because he hated being in debt to others.
Even if it seemed like he got comparatively less out keeping an eye on this girl, trying to navigate somewhere new with no map and no idea of the locals general sociability was hard enough when trying to win hearts and minds.
After all, with how different he looked even if was polite, he got the feeling that all he would get is polite distance at best. It made this girl ideal since she was so overt in a way that felt familiar to Faer.
Otherwise the young man was sure any worthwhile progress would take months.
That was time he simply didn't have. Trying to do that before he needed to be back to Tatsumi Port Island could literally never happen in the time frame he pulled out now that he lost the trail. That wasn't even scratching the surface with the potential scale of fighters in the area the contrast between a clear Elite like Ayame and someone like Shiki who at best was slightly above average for them was like comparing Mercury to the Sun. If he had to guess he could probably beat Shiki if he could muster his magic reserves to just blast him to death with Spirit Gun, without getting hit with that odd attack that literally mind fucked him.
That would be an equalizer, at least right now. So if nothing else he was on par with the fodder around here but with how everything was going he needed something that would be a sure kill against stronger opponents.
Something with either overwhelming power or bypasses durability altogether…
But altogether he was just above Fodder trash…
Sighing, Faer found himself staring at a blob not even arms distance away from him.
"Shisou…" A now familiar voice called to him.
Focusing his eyes the distracted boy found Sitting in the booth across from him held the girl on the cusp of puberty as she stared at him intently, lips puckered in a pout as she stared at him.
"Hm…"
"Shisou, did you hear what I asked? I asked, how long have you been training for? I need to know how long I have before I can expect to have to avenge you." The guileless girl says before taking a sip of water.
As the rain pounds outside creating a lulling atmosphere the foreigner gives the girl a second stare.
"If things go favorably it'll be at least two years."
"Two years?"
Faer did not elaborate.
Conveniently it was at this time that their food had been delivered and it looked like it had lived up to the hype that Chie had been giving it up to this point. The bowl was stacked with enough beef that it almost seemed like it wouldn't actually be contained, but with burgeoning skill the blunette girl that had brought it to them managed to bring it over without spilling it.
"If you finish it in 30 minutes it's free." The monotone girl said before bowing, "please enjoy."
The food driven girl hadn't even waited a moment before diving into her food with a growl that was matched by her stomach.
Watching her for a moment Faer picked up his chopsticks before taking his first scoop.
It was…
It was…!
Gone!?
Looking back to his bowl Faer noticed that it was completely empty, not even a single grain of rice remained.
That…
That was easily the best thing he could remember eating!
"Hah!" He exhaled relaxing after the meal.
"Mph!" Vigorously swallowing the food she had been working at and pounding her chest as she tried to get it to settle, Chie looked at him with thinly veiled awe through a wincing eye.
"You did it with the super Mega Beef bowl too!?"
The what?
It didn't matter, while he wasn't paying much attention to the time he was relatively sure that he completed the challenge.
His young apprentice hadn't too much left to finish either. Though given the sedate pace she was now eating at she probably wouldn't finish on time.
"Congratulations, dear customer, you've completed our Mega Beef Bowl challenge." It was the same girl from earlier, despite her stoic face conveyed a sense of disgust and awe from the feat. "Please consider your bill paid for, although your companion's meal still requires payment."
3000 yen wasn't too much, right?
…
While feeding the young girl hadn't been too expensive, and the rain was finally starting to let up Faer had known it was time to send his tag a long home. After all, after it rains a cold front always rolls through and it wouldn't help him if she got sick. That aside, it was nice to see someone else who loved to get down on a pound of steak after a hard day's work.
That said his work was neither done and it hadn't stopped raining.
Looking to the sky Faer had pretty good reason to believe that it wouldn't stop raining either. Up until now it might've been a concern but with both of his Circuit types running so hot, it might just be relaxing to have the rain on him while he tried to further refine what he had.
"Did you have fun Jae-Fae?" Flying over his shoulder came Pixie who was surely up to more antics. "Don't look at me like that, I was just giving you time to see yourself for what you really are: empty. Or maybe it's reflective."
What?
"Don't worry about it too much, if you started looking too inward now you'd stunt everything. You are an interesting guy, you know that, Faer?"
Faer had the feeling that she was hinting at something more as she often did and that this wasn't quite in reference to the meditation that he was getting ready to do. Though trying to guess what it was now was likely a lost cause.
The trek hadn't lasted much longer than that, the foreigner had found himself back at the dilapidated shrine. It wasn't that it was leaky, just that there was a build up of dust.
The years of care that had been put into it had shown through despite that.
Bringing himself to the porch of the main shrine the soaked boy let his body plop down. With a deep breath Faer let the sensation of his cool skin sink in with a shiver. As his soaked clothes clung to his body he let himself relax intent to get back to his training: centering himself he tried to empty out his mind.
"Hah… Hah…"
Like finding a counter frequency for the one his brain normally operated at he was able to bring his mind to an acceptable degree of calm. From there creating the Contractor went about creating a mental barricade to prevent movement while he dived into a state of self hypnosis.
Softly exhaling the Contractor found it was surprisingly easy. But then again he had done this before under Shirou's instruction, here and now all he had to do was replicate the steps and sensations.
Next came the mental "switch" of the secondary nervous system. When he tried to turn it off last time, finding the valve, but although it was "rusty", Faer knew exactly how much force he needed to untwist it and free the flow of magic energy.
"- g-nt," with a grunt the sensation that came with introducing magic to flow through his body lit him up like a lightning rod.
"-!"
Even if he knew how to do it once, doing it again would have a different result since the path of the least resistance was subject to change. As a result Faer had no choice but to hold on and push his body through the pain as he stumbled to use his Nerve Circuits to turn on the Magic Circuits.
Though with the full might of his normal reserves slamming through the two channels he had created he was effectively trying to filter a gallon of water through two tiny straws with no spillage.
"Ah- arg!"
By now he could distantly feel the water on his skin starting to reach body temperature…
There was a path for correct flow. Or rather a path that existed that would lead to the alternate system, he knew it existed, but as he felt his eyes start to see colors behind his eyes Faer knew if he didn't find it soon he might end up frying his brain.
He was steaming on the outside, and on the inside he could feel his organs boiling, even his hair follicles boiled.
Lighting dances across his iris' and then like a television monitor clicking onto a functioning channel he felt the same flex and with it a comfortable heat emanating across his body.
「Status」
【Name: Faer Jaecar】
【Level 11】
『HP: 283/393 10hp/hr』
『MP: 68/68, (31*18)576/576),(2*1)2』
『Str: 14』
『Agi: 14(17)』
『End: 23』
『Int: 12(150fps)』
『Mag: 12』
『Dex: 9』
『Luk: 7』
Available Stat Points: 0
Conflict Points:1165
The shocked boy realized that he didn't actually need his eyes to see the screen, it was something that didn't even exist in his mind. Seeing as though his brain had been incredibly damaged before, it was probably best to assume that it existed on some more intimate level, like whatever passed for his soul.
He couldn't say that he was all too surprised he was injured either. Running a magic current through had left his body ragged but seeing as though the result hadn't killed him he considered it a victory and a lesson in one.
Hopefully it just wouldn't take as long for him to get a handle on his Magic Circuits.
But seeing that he did have a hold of the full magical might he could bring to bear it did warrant some experimentation. Speaking of experimentation…
「Status」
【Name: Faer Jaecar】
【Level 11】
『HP: 393/393』
『MP: 68/68, (31*18)576/576), (2*1)2
Total MP 646』
『Str: 14』
『Agi: 14(17)』
『End: 23』
『Int: 12(150fps)』
『Mag: 12』
『Dex: 9』
『Luk: 7』
Available Stat Points: 0
Conflict Points:1165
【Skills】
「Skills」
【Small unit leadership: (expand)】
【Expert Rifleman: (expand)】
【Expert Pistol: (expand)】
【We All Lift Together: (expand)】
【Perseverance Lvl 61/100: Is that… all… you got? Your entire life you've been against the odds from Aneurysms to amputation, you're sturdy: gain END 15% for each life and death situation you survive, +61% chance to resist stun. +35% auto resist knockout. +.6% to survive a killing blow from superior foe.】
【CQB Hand to Hand (Adept) 1/50: Surviving a battlefield and maneuvering is your bread and butter. You have dipped your toe in blood, the temperature isn't too bad. A average martial artist.】
【Sukukaja: a magic spell that raises Agi and Dex stat by 30%, stacks twice. Cost: 6 MP】
【Spirit Gun: a light Almighty attack. User blasts an attack capable of mild scaling from the range of a particularly hard punch to obliterating a modern house. Cost: 15 MP】
【Nerve Circuit Creation: Lvl 2: allows for the creation of 1 Nerve Circuit and use of 2 Nerve Circuits, Stores 1 MP. Cost 3 per Circuit】
【Magic Circuit 31/32: A pseudo nervous system that converts atmospheric magic into a form usable by humans. Carries 18 units of MP per Circuit out of a maximum of 54 units.】
【Simulation Training: Touch into the fabric of close and far possibilities. Cost: 1-? CP】
Simulation Training was an oddity.
The idea that he could touch into a nexus of possibilities and not even know where he was landing was one that presented an absurdity.
But for all that absurdity it presented a question and answer that he supposed he already had. What would happen if he had taken something back with him that wasn't native to his current location?
Faer had to presume that prior to his training with the copper haired magus he didn't have any Circuits. Otherwise someone more than likely would have made mention of having something like that.
Mitsuru at the very least, given the thorough preparation she liked to espouse.
So if he didn't have Magic Circuits prior to that moment and likely no way to make his nerves magic conductive, what else was he missing here?
Better yet, how much could he do?
The description was, "Touch into the fabric of close and far possibilities," which was so broad he had to imagine that his limit was the only imagination besides Conflict Points.
And given that he could gain Conflict Points from winning the simulation the question to ask after that was why he didn't get any after completing his training with Shirou?
Was it because there was a subset of completion criteria he wasn't aware of?
…
Come to think of it, what about the Quest that had brought him out here? Could he run a simulation of it to see if he was any closer to actually surviving the gauntlet he would surely have to run?
Well there was only one way to find out…
Snapping his eyes open Faer could see that much like earlier his now steaming body had been turned into a lattice of red glowing lines. Though the rain was still coming down full force Standing from the now steaming bench, Faer walked into the cold water, instantly his body temperature caused the veritable downpour to evaporate upon contact.
With his temperature brought down to a comfortable level the boy walked further in the woods around the shrine until he came back to the same field he trained at earlier: it was time for another stress test.
【Simulation Activated -7 Conflict Points】
He was back in the streets of Tatsumi Port Island, and given the location… This was where he and Mitsuru had fought that giant shadow on the streets.
A brief glance revealed that the girl he had fought alongside with was nowhere to be found.
That was fine.
This was a stress test after all.
Here and now it was time to go all out!
"..!" With a sharp exhale Faer cast Sukukaja, and launched into a leap towards the shadow, foot chambered for a kick.
Wires too slow to react could do nothing as his foot met the surface of the mask, the force sending the shadow flying in a display of power that he knew was well and far above what he could do originally.
Land gently, Faer slowed down a moment as he remembered how Mitsuru paced herself fighting this thing originally.
If he could overwhelm it that was fine but if he couldn't pace himself he would be fucked.
Or so he thought.
As the fight progressed Faer found that it was the same as he remembered in terms of behavior but… with his physicality being so much higher from where it was before, he was out pacing it massively. Largely he could remember the defining moments of his first few weeks had been learning to pace himself before the damage he raked up became too much.
But here… what was once a close call, where wires had threatened to leave him as ground meat, they entirely failed to keep pace with him now. The few scratches he did receive were more like the light scratches one would have when they're itchy than incredibly dangerous ones that require stitches.
Localized tornados side stepped, lightning ineffective, fireballs too slow to hit their mark.
Where Mitsuru's picture perfect competence, experience and pacing had won the day then, hadn't been necessary for him. Faer completely had the Shadow out maneuvered.
Shooting twice at what represents the nexus for the bundle of wires, the Contractor left the shadow exposed enough that much like earlier recuperation let alone countering wasn't an option for it. Darting in Faer threw a superman punch that left the fibrous beast sprawled out across the street.
Releasing a sharp breath the dark skinned boy looked at the miserable pile drooping wires that couldn't even muster a guard.
…
This was entirely too easy…
"Spirit Gun…"
In a quick overwhelming surge of red energy the shadow had been wiped from existence.
Although he had taken his time with it, the fact was he wouldn't have needed to use more than three attacks to destroy the shadow if didn't slow down despite his early proclamation.
【Simulation Complete +7 Conflict Points】
…
Rain poured onto his body again as Faer found himself back in the field, he couldn't tell if any time had passed since he had started the simulation. But given that the entire fight hadn't lasted any longer than two minutes that wasn't much of a surprise. The same had appeared to happen after the simulation with Chie…
He'd need to do some more testing.
So if it's too easy, he wouldn't get anything out of it? That explains the Chie scenario, even with that kick she had been getting ready to use at the end, she was still ultimately no threat to him.
Then there was only one real way to settle this whole Shirou Scenario then. It was more than likely he was missing something here…
Before that though it would be best for him to remain at least somewhat focused on the reason he was out here in the first place.
【Quest：Investigate the Shinto-Revivalists. Special Criteria：Ongoing
Survive first contact with a leader of the Shinto-Revivalist Faction: Complete: Reward: x1 Nihil Weapon
？？？】
【Rewards: 10000 Conflict Points, ？？？ 】
There was always more to unpack with this thing, wasn't there?
While a weapon of any sort would always be welcome in Faer's eyes he couldn't help but think he might eventually start to suffer from having too many choices to choose from. He would have to get creative or start swearing off certain bits of equipment he felt, if he didn't want to have that happen.
Accepting the reward through a prompt a "weapon" placed itself into his hands.
【Nihil Weapon: it is what you intend it to be once, and once only but until a decision is made it is Formless and in that one way; a perfect weapon.】
Formless as it was, Faer felt that in its current state it reflected him rather well.
"Oh, that's… new…" Pixie said as she sat on his steaming shoulder "Is that a Reason you'r-... No it's not that either."
Looking at the cryptic woman Faer fixed her a blank stare, which she returned with a dark smirk that caused her eyes to flash golden.
…
"Pixie…"
Trailing off the Contractor found himself unsure how he would phrase this question, if he should phrase this question…
Faer wanted to tell her about this simulation training technique he could use but honestly he was hesitant.
Pixie had proven to be somewhat reliable in battle and more a boon for minding after Chie but he wasn't sure if he could trust Pixie with this kind of information. While she hadn't done anything untoward yet and seemed to be magically dependent on him to exist outside the Dark Hour, she had a bad habit of disappearing when he wasn't looking.
There was no way of really knowing what she was doing.
…
"What is it, Fae-Jae? What can elucidate for you?"
He wouldn't say anything about it, he decided.
"What do you make of these lines on me? I'm not quite sure how but they seem to be-"
"Storing mana, yeah I've seen this before, err well one of my sister's have. The guy she works with has something like this too, but his are green, but they're really useful for storing concepts. In fact much better at that than mana."
"Do you know where they come from?"
Of course, Faer knew there was likely No chance of her actually knowing where they come from. But if there was some sort of analogous equivalent to Magic Circuits here then maybe he should see about these concepts as well. They could prove useful.
"Hehe, now that would be spoiling the game, Jae-Fae. A hunt is no fun if there is outside tampering," the blue clad woman says as she crosses her legs and giggles into her hand.
So there was something here that could have given him Circuits here but either she didn't know, wouldn't say and or thought that him knowing could spell his doom. Holding his recently amputated arm up in front of himself, he could see why.
His regeneration had barely saved him. If it actually saved him that is… Faer placed the matter and the blade away. It's not like having doubt in his abilities would help him here and if anything it was the point of his training.
Speaking of which…
【Simulation Activated -50 Conflict Points】