Date: 09/24/23
Weather: Mild and breezy
Dear Diary.
Normally I wouldn't take baths in the morning since the days are getting colder and I don't want to catch a cold from going outside early with a wet hair but I had to make an exception. Wish getting myself freshened up before starting the training session with Mansion crew helped me prepare for today... I officially started adding my spear into my training regime, starting with Meiling. That old saying "Let your weapon become an extension of your body." Is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I'm honestly more used to dodging and blocking Meiling's attacks with my arms and legs. Adding what's essentially a long stick with some pointy bits on the end and using that to block is... Tough. Feeling the spear shake and vibrate with each hit deflected did numbers on my hands, and that IF I managed to block successfully.
Trying to gauge the speed and angle of Meiling's attacks with a spear added a whole new dimension of difficulty. Oh there's one other thing that I learned about myself. Well something that I knew very well in the past that compounds with my new self discovery. So I'm squeamish when it comes to someone else's blood. That on top of accidentally poking Meiling enough to make her bleed... I don't think I have what it takes to actually hurt anyone... As soon as I saw the Gatekeeper bleed I dropped my spear and apologized, which was met with me getting kicked in the face and Meiling apologizing. Apparently the Gatekeeper wasn't hurt, maybe the adrenaline was dampening her pain? Do Youkai have adrenaline? My bloody nose and a mildly bleeding Gatekeeper aside... I have no idea how I would tackle this 'I'm scared to make anyone bleed' issue...
...
I thought I'd get some counselling with the Librarian regarding my new found issue, but I got more or less a lecture from her instead. "Are you really worried about this now? You know that half baked gardener won't have any issue cutting you to ribbons right? And you made the oh so genius idea of putting that on full display in the village." Not exactly the wise words that I want to hear. Maybe its the words that I need to hear? Well lecture aside the Danmaku dodging session with the Librarian and her assistant was about as difficult as me trying to spar with Meiling with a spear. While dodging I held the spear on my right hand and kept it behind me. Because I'm not used to holding onto a long stick behind me, while dodging magic bullets there were numerous times where I wouldn't notice a stray bullet that would hit the spear and I'd feel the vibration. That was the case for Koakuma... Now for Patchouli... Man she did not pull her punches. Trying to weave through the dense Danmaku bullets now holding a spear? I probably tripped trying to handle the spear at least ten times. There was one good news though. Flandre was watching the whole thing and not once did she intervene.
...
Thank Gog... would be a thing that I would say with Flandre making improvement on not instantly coming to my defense, but the little Vampire just went on a tangent as soon as I was walking down to the BigBoss's room. Ranting how Patchouli should have gone easier on me. Points for trying for the little Vampire. Now for the training session with the Big Boss went... A lot better than the session with Meiling and the library crew. Well not easier, but there was a lot less blocking and dodging so I had that going for me. The session was just me throwing Lady Luck at Big Boss. And here I thought making sure the spear was an extension of my body was hard. Who would have thought throwing some long stick was so hard... more than half the session the Big Boss didn't even have to move. I was way off my mark, and the Big Boss had to coach me on how to properly throw a spear. Thank Gog by the end I got sort of used to throwing the spear properly. Speaking of which I need to do a little etching on my spear for tomorrow. Because Lady luck is my only real means of offense and defense, I need to make sure I etch and enchant Lady luck so I can recall it whenever I throw or lose my spear. Well, that's tomorrow me's problem.
-R.F.
Date: 09/25/23
Weather: Rainy mornings warm days
Dear Diary.
I'm still getting used to moving around with Lady Luck. Thank Gog the hallway of the mansion is wide enough for me to move freely, but it feels just cramped enough when dodging the Fairy maid's Danmaku bullets. On top of that I'm still not doing too hot on the whole 'spar with Meiling with a spear' bit. Today's session wasn't too bad, but my issue is still the whole 'I'm scared to draw someone else's blood' that and the spear shaking with every hit blocked kind of hurts my hand after a while. On the good news is that I think I've gotten a bit better at deflecting Meiling's attacks without hurting her. Well that's what the Gatekeeper pointed out. Meiling let me know that even though I'm making strides in improvement there will come a time where I have to retaliate. I'm going to dread the day that I have to actually do that...
...
While Meiling's little praise help boost my morale I knew I had a slew of problems with me and Lady Luck... The Spear. My fear of drawing blood is my personal problem. On top of that there were a couple other issues with Lady Luck I noticed while brushing up on my spells. First is my lack of discipline in the art of the spear. Sure I had a general grasp on moving the spear around, but that's all I know currently. Compared to someone like Konpaku, who has a distinct style on swordman... swordwomanship. Which transitions to the second issue. I don't really have a plan to actually beat Konpaku. I can't beat her just by blocking her attacks, and thrusting and swinging my spear at random is going to get me beat at best. After I got the Recall enchantment etched into the spear I thought I'd try asking Patchouli again and surprisingly she had some sound advice. "The Netherworld Gardener is leagues better than you at fighting, but you have something that she doesn't. Information. You know things that you can exploit to defeat her. So focus on that." I can see what she's trying to tell me. So how do I go about exploiting the Gardener's weakness?
...
Training with Flandre was more or of a training for Flandre than me. It was a slow hand to hand sparring match and I think the little Vampire got a bit more used to controlling her strength around me. She still had the face of a 'What if I break him by accident?' The latter half of the session was just Flandre lightly tapping me until she got used to just hurting me without breaking anything. I half regret not taking the last bit of today's session seriously, but I'm sort of okay with Flandre getting used to controlling her strength.
-R.F.
Date: 09/26/23
Weather: Chilly mornings mild days
Dear Diary.
Something that I've noticed over the past week and a bit is that my body and... Mind(?) has gotten used to the regime. For the first few days I was completely exhausted but now I don't feel that level of fatigue. Physically anyway. Maybe I'm getting used to because the regime isn't as intense? Hard to say. I wish I can say the same for today's training session with the mansion crew. This whole fear of drawing blood is really dampening my ability to improve in my offences. And because I don't want to deflect any incoming physical attacks that Meiling throws at me with the pointy and bladed end of Lady Luck I've just let the Gatekeeper close the gap and block with the shaft of the spear. It's pretty rare for Meiling of all people to get upset but I got a bit of a scolding in the chilly morning. The lecture was on the same boat as Patchouli's lecture from yesterday, but not as harsh? The Gatekeeper's advice on what to do was to defend and attack her as if my life depended on it.
...
The morning session with Meiling distracted my studies during the afternoon open studies in the library. Which in turn got me scolded by the librarian. Patchouli brought up that if Marisa was in the situation that I was in, she wouldn't have hesitated to get better, in fact she would have been real excited to get good. It's pretty surprising how the Librarian could have so much respect towards the book thief and equal amounts of disdain. I guess Patchouli respects Marisa's hustle. By the end of the session I didn't do much...
...
Last training with Izayoi a little better than my morning and afternoon session. I was mostly focused on the defensive with Lady Luck. Deflecting the hundreds of knives flying towards me. That part was alright, but as soon as the Maid got close... I froze up again. I think Izayoi is the only other Human in the mansion so I thought she'd be more understanding. Boy was I wrong. The Maid really couldn't relate to my reluctance on drawing blood... I know that the BigBoss told me that I was a part of the mansion crew... But the fact that pretty much all of them doesn't understand how I feel about this makes me feel a bit isolated... Well there's always Flandre but even then she specifically has a problem with hurting me, but is probably okay with hurting anyone else since they can take a beating while I can't. Figuratively speaking of the little Vampire I haven't seen her all day which is a bit out of character. I think I'll pay her a visit tomorrow.
-R.F.
Date: 09/27/23
Weather: Chilly, little bit of rain, mostly sunny with bits of clouds.
Dear Diary.
Woke up in the morning feeling not the best. Naturally it's all my fault because I stayed up late thinking about the past few days. My issue with my Spear, overcoming the whole squeamish thing, theory crafting different ways to modify the things I know make improvements; especially my spells, and trying to plan out a way to actually beat the gardener. Feeling the morning chill helped wake me up but I think my morning session suffered. When I got to the front of the mansion, the gatekeeper was wrapped the tip of the spear with tons of cloth. That way at the very least it wouldn't cut her. I have to say that Meiling is surprisingly resourceful when the time calls for it. Even though it's more of a band-aid solution I think it's a solid start.
...
Afternoon session was more or less an open study for me to improve on the spells that I had. The little devil was there to assist me by throwing danmaku bullets when I needed her to while the librarian just did her own thing. Today's focus was the two defensive spells, barrier and arcane dash. I already made a modified version of arcane dash where I 'dash without moving' basically letting me spot dodge. So I primarily focused on improving the barrier spell while just honing the arcane dash to make it come out faster. Arcane dash is coming along nicely and I made some changes to how I cast the barrier. Instead of just casting it and calling it a day, I tried my hands at casting it right before I would get hit and immediately cancelling the spell. It isn't necessarily a modification like spot dodging but I think I'm onto something. That little experimentation helped me learn that the barrier spell's blocking strength is at its strongest at the start of the spell, then the strength weakens and plateaus, finally the barrier strength is at its weakest when the spell dissipates. Thanks to Koakuma and Flandre and me getting hit by a ton of danmaku bullets I learned this valuable lesson. I wonder what I should improve and modify next.
...
I wish I could have said the same thing with the evening session with the Bigboss. I think I was just too preoccupied with my own thoughts and I wasn't paying attention. The focus of today's evening session was fighting with the spear. The morning session was mostly learning to defend against a close quarter attack; the evening session was learning to actually hit my target. The BigBoss had a bit of a laugh at the layers of cloth wrapped around the tip of the spear telling me that I wasn't going to need that since I wasn't going to hit her. She was right due to multiple reasons. First my lack of skills, second me subconsciously holding back and third me being too unfocused from today's events. The BigBoss called off the session early when she pinned me to the floor telling me to sleep early today so I can do better tomorrow. Wait... how does she know that I didn't get a good night sleep last night? It has to be a coincidence right?
-R.F.
Date: 09/28/23
Weather: cool mornings, passing storms.
Dear Diary.
Honestly I'm glad that I went to bed early. I had a pretty good night sleep, and just like how my sub-par mood affected my morning routine, my... par(?) mood affected how I swing my spear. Meiling seemed pretty impressed how my performance changed in just a day, granted I was still hesitant to riposte any attacks and still not blocking with the tip of the spear, but just close to the tip. I also tried mixing the spells on the fly during the ebb and flow of Meiling's actions. I think I was more used to casting spells when I was barehanded, it's still a bit hard to do with a weapon in hand, I guess that's something that I need to work on.
...
The afternoon session had a small change of plans. It was supposed to be Patchouli training me by throwing Danmaku bullets at me but she essentially subbed in Flandre to cover for her. Koakuma was going between tending the Librarian and helping me train. I wonder what was wrong with Patchouli, was she sick? Can magicians even get sick? Hard to say. Regardless the session went pretty well. I think I can safely say that I can easily compete with Koakuma unless she's still holding back. I think a lot of her bullet patterns are used for intimidation where the size of the bullets look big but the size is deceptive. Compare that to Flandre... The little vampire is doing well on holding back, but even so her patterns feel more chaotic, and dense. As intimidating as that was I think it was a perfect opportunity to practice my little 'barrier parry'. The results were mixed, mostly due to me being overwhelmed by Flandre's barrage of Danmaku. While I was sore by the end I think I know what I'm going to do on my next open study tomorrow.
...
Evening session with Flandre felt like the afternoon session carried over. I think the little Vampire is actually getting used to 'hurting' me, though she's still gets all worried when I get decked by one of her Danmaku. Even when I managed to close the gap she had that hesitant 'I would much rather not do this' look in her eyes. To a point where I cut the session short and just hang out with her and talk about the dynamic that she shared with me. The entire thing is a bit complex but I think the simplest way to put it is that, while Flandre has complete control over her power, the issue is actually me and how I more or less changed how she views the world. Now she has a 'toy' a 'thing' a 'brother' that can very easily break that she doesn't want to break, now she's trying to be conscious and control her five hundred years worth of habit of just breaking things out of boredom. Personally I think she's making strides since she's being very hesitant to hurt me. I think complimenting the little Vampire on that improved her mood. Her little smile is so cute.
...
Something that I don't write that I should is the more mundane things that happens during my day. I have this strange tendency to sort of reflect as I write my entries, and when I finish writing I reflect even more but not write my thoughts down. Well starting today I'll write one or two little things that noticed. One would be food, while I haven't cooked my own meal in eons since I came to Gensokyo, I'm grateful of the meals that the mansion provides and the food tastes even better after a long day of getting my butt kicked. I know that even in a paradise like Gensokyo there's a level of disparity where some folks have it worse, and I know my current conundrum is a bit dire. I'm glad that I get three meals a day with a roof over my head.
-R.F.
Date: 09/29/23
Weather: A rainy day.
Dear Diary.
So there was a bit of a storm yesterday and I guess the clouds decided to stick around. Fighting in the rain sucks, and I think Meiling would agree. Everything's wet, my clothes are wet it clings to my skin and get uncomfortable, my movement feels slower, heavier and every punches and kicks Meiling threw at me would also have a spray of water at my face. Now while that did suck it did give me some ideas on how I would go about beating the Gardener. Fighting dirty, stuff like kicking up dirt in her eyes, I think it's a pretty good start but I don't think it's going to be the winning plan against the gardener.
...
During open study I once again focused on the barrier spell. I had two modification in mind. First was enchanting the Spear itself with the barrier spell. That way it can increase it's durability, second was trying out two different modifications. First is making the spell more deflective so instead of simply taking the hit and sort of absorbing the impact, it would forcibly bounce the attack back. That modification had a pretty good outcome. Koakuma and Flandre threw a punch and both their fists recoiled back. Something that I noticed was that the 'bounciness' of the hit currently has a bit of a limit. Koakuma's punches and Danmaku bullets had a pretty consistent level of bounce, but Flandre's attacks had a bit more of a delay between the attack connecting with the barrier and being bounced back. I think that has to do with the strength of the barrier and the strength of the attack. More testing is needed. Second modification was delving deeper into the impact absorbing idea. Taking the force of the attack with the barrier and converting that into energy for later use. That one didn't go so well, the idea was successful where I could feel the 'energy' of the attack when the attack connects with the modified barrier, but that 'energy' fades fairly quickly. Another problem is that I don't know how to use that energy as in I can harness it but not currently can't utilize it in any way. I can see some use for this modification but it needs a lot lot lot more work.
...
Training with Izayoi felt like rather refreshing. It felt like a mini test on the things I've learned and practised so far. The Boss would constantly mix things up between close and long range attacks with her knives and move real fast. I think that's her messing with time where she's either slowing down my time or speeding her's up. The 'fight' was incredibly one sided. The way Izayoi moves just oozes elegance, the way she throws her knives and attack at closer range, but at the same time I have a hard time reading her movements. I think it's due to her messing with time. It's like I have to think three steps in advance without using foresight... I've gotten a few cuts by the end of the session but hearing encouraging words from the Boss felt nice.
...
Bathing with cuts while it sucked the warm water was welcoming. It was a nice way to wrap up a cold day. On top of that the Big Boss visited for her little blood donation. I think out of all the Mansion crew I spend the least time with Izayoi and Remilia, and while it does hurt to get bit by the BigBoss, it's sort of nice to 'hang out' with her. I even had a rare occurrence where the BigBoss was speaking while she was drinking my blood, like a kid talking with food in their mouth. I've pretty much only seen the BigBoss act all mature with a sprinkle of 'playfulness' but this felt like something Flandre would do and it was adorable to say the least. When I win my duel the Gardener and get more free time I should spend more time with the BigBoss, as long as she's okay with it of course.
-R.F.
Date: 09/30/23
Weather: A clear day, a chilly day.
Dear Diary.
End of September... Glad it didn't end with rain but it was rather chilly as if mother nature decided to skip autumn and start up winter. Being from a country that basically have half the year cold I was more or less okay with that though. The morning training session with Meiling I thought to try my new modified barrier spell by enchanting Lady Luck. The look on Meiling's face was priceless when her kick threw her off balance for a second. This little test actually helped me learn more about the modified spell. The strength of the spell and the attack definitely has different effects, specifically; the stronger the attack the more strain it would put on the barrier which makes sense. On top of that I also learned that it also effects me physically as well. I used the 'bouncing barrier' against Meiling for the majority of the fight and I was absolutely drained by the end. On top of that the Gatekeeper learned quick to mix things up by throwing out more feints and lighter attacks, something that I struggled to adapt to because I was too focused on trying to parry Meiling's attacks with the modified barrier. I'm on the right track but I still have a long way to go...
...
Being so drained in the morning also affected my afternoon performance. Normally I wouldn't have much trouble against Koakuma, but even the little devil caused me some trouble. Glad to see the Librarian feel better. She went on a smaller lecture on moderation, then she proceeded to absolutely crush me when I sparred with her. One good thing that came out of this is that I could tell Flandre was putting an active effort in restraining herself every time I got hit from Patchouli's magic. Normally she would have defended me but today she held herself back. I'm so proud of my little Vampire.
...
The evening shift with the BigBoss went fairly well almost uneventful in a way. Naturally the fight was more one sided than my training session with Izayoi but the BigBoss did suggest that I use my abilities sparingly. Which also rang true with my duel against Meiling in the morning where she just figured out a way to counter my strats. So my magic and abilities alone won't cut it against Konpaku huh... How would I go about beating this girl...
...
Me being drained from today also almost made me not get ready for my monthly interview with Shameimaru... Thank Gog I stalled long enough to get my phone ready to record the whole thing.
[Start of the Interview]
R.F.: "Come in!"
*Door opening and closing*
S.A.: "Brr, thanks for having me Mr. R.F. Boy the days got cold real quick."
R.F.: "It sure has, have a seat."
S.A.: "Ahh, thank you."
*Sounds of chair scraping against the floor*
R.F.: "Sorry about the delay. I've had a bit of a day today... and my room was messy."
S.A.: "It happens to the best of us, but I must say it looks like Miss Meiling has been a bit harder on your morning sparring, and you got yourself a new toy."
R.F.: "Wait, how did you know that?"
S.A.: "Let's just say a little birdie told me~"
R.F.: "..."
S.A.: "Right on to the interview. I guess I can start with asking regarding your new morning routine."
R.F.: "Umm... I thought I'd mix things up a bit?"
S.A.: "I must say Mr. R.F. it feels a bit out of character for you to lie so blatantly."
R.F.: "Is it that obvious?"
S.A.: "Just a bit."
R.F.: "..."
S.A.: "While I'd love to hear your thought I won't pry if you don't want me to Mr. R.F."
R.F.: "Sorry, I was just thinking... Well I guess I should come clean... with a bit of a favour."
S.A.: "Oh ho?"
R.F.: "I've been getting ready... for a duel."
S.A.: "A duel?"
R.F.: "To make the long story short, I'll be duelling Miss Konpaku."
S.A.: "Oh! Now this is a scoop! Tell me more."
R.F.: "So much for making a long story short... Well it all started when Miss Konpaku offered me to work with her permanently in the Netherworld, with housing and what not. I declined because my loyalty lies with Lady Remilia. Miss Konpaku did not take that well and she took drastic measures. One thing lead to another and now I have to fight her. If she wins I work for her permanently, if I win she works for the mansion for a week."
S.A.: "Hmm. Hmm... wait, did you say permanently?"
R.F.: "Yes?"
S.A.: "Well... I think that would cause a bit of an issue... with you... well... dying."
R.F.: "Excuse me?"
S.A.: "You see, the Netherworld is what is considered a 'Pure land'. There is no sense of time, weather, seasons and change in general. If a human stays in the nether world for too long... they just turn to ghosts."
R.F.: "Does Miss Konpaku know about this!?"
S.A.: "Probably."
R.F.: "I..."
S.A.: "Well, I guess that's even more of a motivation for you to win right? And it would be troublesome for me to visit the Netherworld every month to interview you as a ghost if you lose~"
R.F.: "I... respect the honesty..."
S.A.: "Now you told me something about a favour?"
R.F.: "Right... I was wondering if you can advertise this duel to the folks at the village."
S.A.: "Oh? Well that gets me the information for when and where the duel will take place I'd be happy to!"
R.F.: "It's going to happen fifteen days from today sometime around noon. At the Human village."
S.A.: "Excuse me?"
R.F.: "Is there a problem?"
S.A.: "It's just that... fighting in the human village... hmm..."
R.F.: "..."
S.A.: "Who decided the place of the duel?"
R.F.: "It was me."
S.A.: "That was unexpected. You must have had a reason. Right?"
R.F.: "Yes Ma'am, first was to show that the Mansion and her residents won't be trifled with, and second. Might as well put on a show for the folks."
S.A.: "A show... I think I can make this work... I just need to convince Miss Reimu."
R.F.: "I didn't know that she had such an influence over the village."
S.A.: "Sort of, it's not that Miss Reimu is some authority figure over the village but she does act as a peace keeper... Causing a ruckus in the village might be problematic... But I think I can convince her. If not, I should at least win the minds of the people in the village."
R.F.: "I'll leave it to you then Miss Shameimaru."
S.A.: "Well, worst case both Miss Remilia and Miss Yuyuko would have some convincing to do to Miss Reimu~ I look forward to your duel Mr. R.F. While I shouldn't be biased, I hope you win."
R.F.: "Is it because interviewing a ghost is a hassle?"
S.A.: "Maybe~ Thank you for your time today. Best of luck in your training and I'll see you at the duel!"
R.F.: "Take care Miss Shameimaru."
*sound of chair moving, door opening and closing.*
R.F.: "..."
[End of the Interview]
Well... Now that there's going to be an audience for the duel, I have even more of a pressure to win... Half a month left to train... I hope I'm ready by then...
-R.F.
Author's Note: Hello everyone. It's been a while hasn't it. I hope you've all been well and I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I know it's not an excuse but life has been a bit busy. I'll be honest, at the rate my life is going I'll have a harder time continuing the story on a fixed schedule. To combat this little issue I decided to shorten the word counts on the entries so I can actually post them. If things slow down I'll increase them again. Once again sorry to keep you waiting and thank you to those who's visited and read my little story. Until next time. Take care.