36 - Rest 2F 3

[Interlude]

Long after Ship Leesoo and Hatsu left Anak's room, when the halls turned empty and the artificial night of the second floor had fallen, a figure opened the door and stepped inside, lightly shutting it behind them.

Anak looked up cautiously as the figure approached, shrouded in shadow.

As they approached, Anak caught a glimpse of long, flowing red hair.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Anak asked, unable to remember seeing any Regular with hair that shade of red before she was attacked.

A glint of moonlight reflecting off a metallic gold surface.

"...!"

Anak tried to dodge the attack, but couldn't as her body was too weak.

A long pole held her throat against the wall, while the figure merely stayed back and manipulated it with Shinsoo.

"Who am I…? I wonder...who do you think?" A melodious voice answered Anak.

"You!" Anak recognized the weapon being held against her throat from the Crown game. The self-floating pole that the leotard-wearing Regular used.

"How does it feel to lose your mother's last gift?"

Anak froze while her mind raced. Was she an assassin from the royal family? Come to finish the job they started all those years ago?

"Why do you look so surprised? Your identity can be inferred by anyone who bothers looking up your name. Carelessly showing off the Green April like that only made it more obvious."

"What…do you want? If you're going to kill me, just do it already," Anak growled out.

"If I were you, I wouldn't give up like that. I would think of what I could do to survive, and find a way to make things right. You've relied on your body's natural strengths and the Green April too much. You should remember that those are powers borrowed from the very name you despise," said Hwaryun.

The metal pole was retracted and flipped vertical beside her.

"What…? Why?"

"There are people who hate that name just as much as you do. Who hold the same goal as you do. If you are serious about walking down that path, and not just climbing this Tower to gamble your possessions and life away…then get stronger. A lot stronger. And when you're ready to face the truth about your own limits, you should search for those people."

Hwaryun turned and left after that, leaving Anak to ponder in silence.

O O O

[Kaleidus]

Before the start of the next test, there was a three day break. It was to give Regulars time to recover from their injuries and to unwind a little after the intense combat tests from before.

Some Regulars had suffered serious injuries that wouldn't heal even within that time frame. There were medical facilities and healers, but Regulars had to pay for the healing themselves, using the points that were given based on the scores they got on prior tests.

So far the score everyone got for passing each test was the same, though some Regulars would get a lot of bonus points for having the best performance soon. They hadn't yet announced who got the bonuses though.

The points doubled as a form of currency, so some rich Regulars like Khun had plenty of points to spend, which he used to buy uniforms for his team.

During the break, most Regulars continued to hang out with their teams from the previous tests.

"Didn't they break up yesterday? Did they get back together already?" I heard some Regulars whisper while pointing at us from another table, as I sat with Androssi again for breakfast.

Androssi also heard and looked at them. They froze, before awkwardly looking into their plates.

I saw Anak glaring daggers at us from another table, sitting by herself.

Rachel got take out and skipped the cafeteria entirely to avoid Baam.

"Got any plans for the next three days?" Androssi asked.

"Not really," I said. "I wanted to get out of the testing area for a bit and stretch my legs, but they won't let us leave to explore the floor."

"Great! You can help me test the Green April then," said Androssi.

I didn't really want to spend more of Derflinger's MP, but it would also be bad form to decline, especially because Androssi was still not over the incident with Hwaryun yesterday.

We made our way to a practice arena after that. There were lots of them around in the testing area and open for use, fortunately without spending any points.

"Before we start, you should know that I won't use Derflinger's Ignition for this. He needs to recharge and without being able to leave the testing area, recharging is rather difficult. I'd rather not use him in training."

"Okay. Derflinger's the name of your sword right?" Androssi asked.

"That's right," I said.

"You can talk to me directly, girl," Derflinger said.

"It's going to take some time to get used to a weapon that talks out loud. Even the Green April can only talk to me in my mind," said Androssi.

"So did she agree to let you use her?" I asked.

"Yup!" Androssi said eagerly. "Let's get started then!"

The spar that followed was a difficult one for me without Derflinger.

Androssi was stronger and faster than me with full Reinforcement, and a lot more durable too. Once I was on the backfoot on the ground, I switched to aerial combat using the Armoriont wings, which turned things around.

She couldn't fly herself using Shinsoo manipulation, and she had little experience fighting aerial opponents. The Green April couldn't extend indefinitely, in fact Androssi's current range with it was rather short at about fifty meters, so it was easy to dodge.

I couldn't defeat her either though, as getting close exposed myself to counterattack, and it was especially dangerous now that she had the Green April, which could grow like a forest and attack in all directions.

I noticed a few times that she nearly slipped because of her high heels, but I was unable to take advantage of it with the Green April in her hands. In the end, I said nothing because she would learn a more memorable lesson when she actually slips where it matters, as she did in canon.

O O O

For the next three days of the break, I alternated between training with Androssi and the water stone.

The training with Androssi was actually quite beneficial for both of us. For me, despite the martial arts skills I got from Cranial skill implants, I had little experience actually fighting at superhuman strength and speed, or against superhuman opponents.

Many things just no longer applied, or were so radically different as to be unusable. The concept of "range" was very different when your opponent could cross a ten metre gap in less than a second, even starting from a stationary position. It was also much harder to redirect force when even a tiny fraction of that force could blow you away. But perhaps the most awkward point of all was the difference that supernatural forces had on the proportion of force and momentum that could be exerted from the same mass.

Both Androssi and I were able to generate far more force than our mass should be able to, and concepts of leveraging body mass or unbalancing your opponents just plainly didn't work the same way.

After the first session, we started training on more specific elements of our fighting style rather than a free-for-all spar.

Through this, it became clear that Androssi was by far the more skilled fighter on ground, and I couldn't effectively use my wings at such close ranges either.

As a result, a lot of our training turned into her instructing me on melee fighting.

I did however pioneer new methods of combining the Omni-Flight spell in extremely short bursts to alter my body's movement in totally unpredictable ways. The spell was immensely expensive for long distance flight, and I could only keep it up for less than a minute at the maximum speed. It took quite a lot of concentration to pull off, but it was possible to activate and deactivate it fairly quickly. It was simply a matter of practice to do it mid-combat and reflexively.

Because the spell didn't require much acceleration, I could suddenly reach incredible velocities out of nowhere.

Its maximum speed was about 500 mph, which was over 200 metres per second—an astonishing distance for close combat. The MP cost for me to fly that fast was 100x higher than Agate due to my larger mass and size, but still workable.

I didn't try anywhere near the theoretical limit though. It was quite hard on my circuits and mind, increasing the difficulty of casting significantly. I also couldn't aim or track anything at close distances when moving at too high a velocity.

But I did start practicing using the spell to help dodge or attack from impossible angles and quickly shift momentum.

There was no base cost for casting the spell, so doing so cost very little MP if each cast lasted less than a second—as little as 1-3 MP.

"How did you get so strong while being so unskilled? And what's with all these weird techniques, they're unnatural!" Androssi asked after I tried out these new tactics. "You're not even using Shinsoo! How are you doing that?"

"Close quarters combat isn't my specialty. And what makes you think I'm not using Shinsoo? Just because you can't tell how I'm doing it?"

"That's right…you were able to break the test administrator's barrier and absorb the Shinsoo. Are you actually a Wave Controller?" She asked, using the terminology for the team position that focuses on manipulating Shinsoo. "Then you were using Slider? Without Shinsoo traces…"

In the Tower, combat often took place in teams, and various common positions were given names. I expected our next test to be about these positions, and for most Regulars it'd be new to them, but Androssi was already aware of basics like these.

"What's a Wave Controller?" I asked, pretending not to know. Although I knew it already, my own knowledge was rather basic, and it wasn't unusual for people outside of the Inner Tower not to know.

"Oh, you don't know? It's just a name for people who primarily use Shinsoo to fight. Everyone uses it, but Wave Controllers specialize in it and can manipulate Shinsoo on a large scale, especially for long range attacks. That guy who goes around wrapped in blankets would be a Wave Controller," said Androssi.

"So, a Blaster and Shaker? One who blasts from range, and one who affects the environment," I said, using the Worm classifications.

"I've never heard of those," said Androssi.

"It's a classification system I've come across in my travels that I liked. Because that place had so many unique powers, it was necessary to focus on the nature of the threat, and how to respond to it, rather than how the powers worked or what was used," I said.

"That sounds very practical, but the position names are similar. Like I said, everyone in the Tower uses Shinsoo to some degree, but Wave Controllers fill a specific role on the team," said Androssi.

"I see. However, your description of a Wave Controller doesn't seem to describe me. I'm not able to control Shinsoo on a large scale. I can launch large ranged attacks with Derflinger's help, but other than that, my way of using Shinsoo is…well, it works on a much smaller scale," I said.

I didn't actually use Shinsoo. I used mana, or Shinsoo converted to mana, but I'd pretend as long as possible that I did.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll give you a demonstration," I said, then picking up a small rock from the ground.

Androssi watched me carefully.

I sent mana into the rock, then Broke it. It fell into pieces without any fanfare. I could've had it explode by overloading the mana more, but in this case I wanted to minimize the mana used.

"…!" Androssi looked astonished. "You destroyed it with Shinsoo? I didn't see or feel anything. It was as if it broke apart by itself. You must be incredibly skilled with Shinsoo to do that."

"Perhaps, or I'm just using Shinsoo in a different way than usual. Like I said, I don't know how to control Shinsoo in larger quantities. What's basic for any other Wave Controller might be very difficult for me. The amount of Shinsoo I just used to do this…it's so small that it might as well be nothing. That isn't because I'm efficient—I just don't know how to control more the way Laure or Lero Ro did," I said. "Though it does interest me, and I intend to learn now that I'm here ."

Shinsoo was extremely potent as a form of mana. It was difficult to break down and convert into raw mana for me to use in spells, but it was undoubtedly powerful, and that's why the water spirits loved it.

The amount of Shinsoo Laure used to fire the beam that he did on Anak back in the Crown game? If converted to magical energy, the quantity would be comically large.

That beam was comparable to a Slash Beam Level 4, costing Derflinger 800 MP, but Laure probably used something like 10 to 20 times more energy.

However, it wasn't a fair comparison of efficiency, because when Shinsoo was directly used like that, it wasn't used up.

Magic energy was simply gone, like fuel being consumed for spells, and that was how it worked for Derflinger too.

But it didn't work that way with Shinsoo. Wave Controllers manipulated the Shinsoo in the environment, and after whatever effects they created, the Shinsoo was still there, or most of it anyways.

"What about when you absorbed the Shinsoo from the barrier Lero Ro made? That looked pretty large scale to me," said Androssi.

"That was…a special circumstance. It's not something I can explain right now, as I don't fully understand it myself," I said.

"I don't believe you, Mr. Undercover Ranker!" She said with a cheeky grin.

"…still can't explain it, even if you say that."

O O O

Within my room, a bubble of liquid Shinsoo encased me as I meditated.

Condensed from drawing in the Shinsoo in the air, and controlled as if it were ordinary water by the water spirits, they formed a container that levitated me in the air.

I breathed in the divine water, and exhaled water elemental energy.

My body became an extension of the water stone and the water spirits, a nexus of the water element.

After spending half the day and night doing this during the break, my connection to the water spirits seemed to grow by leaps and bounds.

Deep within the meditation, through the Shinsoo I gained an awareness of things around me that extended far past my room into the hallways and other rooms. It was unrefined and imprecise, but I began to feel currents of Shinsoo, the people who used it, and those whose blood ran thick with the power of Shinsoo. I could sense the Rankers whose movements made waves in the Shinsoo just from their presence, and even the Floor Administrator whose presence seemed to be everywhere.

As for the water spirits, after the initial frenzy, they had calmed down and were noticeably more agreeable to all my requests. They'd even stopped asking for lifeforce altogether, as if whatever they'd consumed from the Shinsoo was more than enough for them, and they were far less protective of their own reserves of water mana.

Given their continuous absorption of Shinsoo, it seemed clear that the Shinsoo was serving as a form of nourishment for them, increasing their reserves of water mana and allowing the spirits to grow.

My body was also being altered by the Shinsoo, though it was extremely slow. Through Structural Grasp and my Reinforcement practice, I noticed that my body was different, the gaps where I used to fill with mana were slightly off. The water stone sped up the process as it circulated Shinsoo all over my body, particularly when I meditated and formed these dense bubbles of Shinsoo.

Perhaps the biggest curiosity though was the way my blood had changed. Previously, I hoped that by integrating the water stone within my circulatory system, I could gain a water affinity, but in the presence of Shinsoo, something else happened.

I had placed the water stone into its own organ of sorts and connected it to the circulatory system, and eventually I grew it into a miniature heart. Because the water stone could manipulate blood the same as water, it could function as a backup if my real hearts failed.

Normally, it didn't do anything except circulate tiny amounts of water element energy, which didn't have any obvious effects on me.

However, once the water stone absorbed Shinsoo, it started leaking out trace amounts of the Shinsoo alongside the water mana, directly into my bloodstream.

This Shinsoo wasn't just energy, or even the raw Shinsoo of the environment. It'd been refined by the water stone into something else entirely, and was an actual substance that behaved like blood plasma. It also seemed to carry the essence of the water stone itself, as I could feel the water spirits spreading their presence into my body, instead of staying holed up in the water stone.

This was perhaps one big reason that I felt my connection with the water spirits growing in strength rapidly.

What kind of long-term effect it'd have on my body was still unclear, but this was undoubtedly beneficial for my magic.

The water mana that the water stone previously released would dissipate if unused, even though it took weeks to happen, and was in such small quantities that I couldn't really use it for much of anything, especially as it was water-aligned mana.

However, this new Shinsoo easily retained the water mana and made it more easily used in spells, particularly Reinforcement of my body. It could also readily re-absorb mana.

So far, there wasn't enough of it yet to make a big difference or experiment much with, but I had the suspicion that it was modifying the water-alignment into a non-standard sub-affinity, which related to the body. Self-Reinforcement was easy to do with it, but Reinforcement of other objects was more difficult.

That was on top of the benefit of simply having more cooperative water spirits, and a growing water stone.

I had now confirmed that absorbing Shinsoo allowed the water stone to recover and gain water mana at an incredible rate. Although the water spirits didn't directly convert all of the absorbed Shinsoo to mana—they instead refined and stored it—they were able to convert enough that being here for three days had given the stone more mana than months or even years of sitting in a mana-rich body of water would have.

In fact, the spirits could probably convert all that stored Shinsoo into water mana even after I left this plane, unless they had other plans for it.

If I got nothing else from this plane, this alone would have made it worthwhile to be here. Even as a place to retreat after overusing the water stone, the Tower would serve wonderfully.

O O O

A/N:

feauxen: Nope, she's fine, as you can see from the beginning of this chapter. Can't kill a princess with Zahard's blood that easily.

joepaul6: She definitely won't be as chipper as she was in canon after winning the Black March.

Mek: I doubt you'll read far enough to see this, but I've already answered that before. Shirou is using Tracing, not just Structural Grasp, and he has a Reality Marble doing most of the work for him. He also cannot trace Excalibur in the real world, only in UBW. Canonically magi consider structural grasp one of the useless skills, so I'm being consistent with how it works for people other than Shirou.

Manygede 648: I'd like to try but it could be a long time.