A Magical Anomaly

Chapter 17

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Choice Made:

Afternoon:

[x] Practice with your cores.

[]Your Chrono Core, focus and try to manipulate time around you a little faster, slowing it down with less time taken to do so (+1d4 to Chrono Core Mastery)

Night:

[x] Go out and practice with one of your weapons (10% Chance to gain a new ability)

[]Grendel's Arm (+15 Due to inspiration/ideas from last fight)

so Chrono and Grendel then

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Effects:

* + 4 Chrono Core Mastery

* Breach occurs tomorrow

*

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The morning today is similar to yesterday.

You wake up.

Mum gives you a hug.

Then you head off and shower.

Getting dressed is the same as before. You have to wait for mum to pop in to help you with your ribbon.

The FEAR is as strong as ever, but it's not as crippling today.

Only slightly, but surprisingly noticeable.

Maybe today will be a good day…

And theres your jinx for the day.

Great.

You mentally roll your eyes as you bite into a warm piece of honeyed toast. The sweetness clearing your head of the negativity as you indulge in it.

Dad's complaining about more people wanting guns packed into more things.

Apparently someone wanted a bow that had a gun in it.

Why… just not get a gun?

You scribble that down and he gives you his most exasperated look. Not aimed at you of course, but he exaggerates it enough that it's more funny than demeaning.

"I asked them the exact same thing. You know what they said? It 'ruins the history of a being in a family of archers!'. Archers my foot! Why do you want a gun in your damn bow then!"

You silently giggle as Lilla does so loudly.

Your mother laughs behind a hand as your dad fumes jokingly.

It's a warm scene that you smile at.

Eventually, you do need to head off to school. And so you do.

Alice greets you at the door this time, not wrapping herself around you, and instead a bright smile on her face as she offers you a donut from a box she's carrying.

You raise an eyebrow as you bite down on the vanilla frosted one and Alice starts explaining.

Apparently it's a gift she received from some boy or another. She's not interested, but he won't really give up.

Her dads 'on the case' apparently.

So she's sharing it with you while she waits for it to be resolved.

Huh, cool.

Your chatter is more her talking and you responding via paper. The normal scene as always.

Idly, you're wondering when things will go wrong, you've definitely jinxed yourself for today…

But nothing seems to happen as you get to school.

You glance up at the statue again.

The two girls on it in different poses of combat as they fight an invisible enemy.

A flash of blue hair makes you turn around.

But you don't see anyone out of place.

You make a note that you need to actually do some research on the Magical girls at some point… you don't know anything about them do you?

Hmm…

You blink back to focus as the lunch bell rings. The electronic sound is less of a bell and more of a chime as you think about it.

You're lost in a little haze as you replay your battle with Azure. Idly munching on a sandwich as you do so.

Alice is nearby, chatting with some people.

Interestingly… you notice that she always has you in sight no matter who she talks to…

Definitely overprotective indeed.

Someone sits down from across you.

Your eyes meet a pair of bright yellow pupils as she gives you a bored nod.

You nod back to her and go back to your daydreaming / battle analysis.

Azure really does look good in those heels…

Wonder how she'd look in a maid dress…

Ohh… she'd be the whole, you're pathetic type of maid wouldn't she. The type that always looks down on you…

You frown a bit at the thought.

Thank you hormones. Perfect timing as always.

…Though you do save the mental image…

You should probably be paying attention to class…

But eh, it's probably not as important as you playing with the idea of using [Grendel's Arm] as propulsion…

You kind of do that already… using it to retreat when you land a punch, but maybe you can use it a little more offensively…

Something to try out later you think…

The school day ends with a gym session of all things… and a substitute teacher.

They're not exactly the nicest person you've met…

And you think she has a grudge against you with how many times you're called to demonstrate things…

But she doesn't say anything about the ribbon on your neck, or the bandage you've wrapped around your scarred arm.

Though she does look at it a little funny.

Honestly, wrapping the bandage around your arm was probably the hardest part of your day so far.

The FEAR rippling and spiking every time you tried to touch it.

But you pushed through.

It's probably time you stopped being afraid of your own body.

You keep telling yourself that whatever happened has happened. The scars are a memory maybe, but they should be a memory that you live now, rather having died or suffered.

You don't have time to suffer and moan in distress, you have Interlopers to rip, and Magical Girls to tear apart. At least until they become the pearls they're meant to be.

You again, really hope Azure's taken your lesson to heart as class finishes.

You're sweating a bit, but nowhere near as bad as most of the others.

Huh. Maybe Magical Girl stuff does actually make you a bit fitter than them.

Nice.

You wave goodbye to Alice again as she heads off. Apparently going to apply for a part time job somewhere.

A coffee shop you think she said?

Hm, you'll have to visit some day. Might be nice to enjoy that once this is over with.

You shake the thoughts away as you sit in the same park as yesterday.

A slightly different spot. One with more sun.

The heat is perfect as you close your eyes and relax a little.

Then you breathe out.

Breathe in.

And focus on your Chrono core.

The process of focusing on its image is a little faster… edges that you didn't know were blurry now sharper and sharper as you solidify what you want it to look like.

The face of the dial is a black fractal, tiny lines splitting its shape as reflections bounce and warp its surface.

A ring of purple energy defines its edges, whereafter the view is a pitch black landscape.

It's held up by hundreds of clawed hands… very real looking hands now, instead of the shadowy visage they held before.

The spike, in the center, is made of the same black fractal as the surface, its edge ringed with vibrant red energy. The same energy forming all of the numbers around its edge. Or at least, where the numbers would be. A weird rune sits in place of the numbers. The same rune repeated twelve times as a shadow sits perfectly where the six would normally be.

A cracked purple moon hovers in the distance, a hundred different lights dancing off its surface, but none casting any light but the one in the center.

You breathe out.

Then in.

And you call upon the feeling from yesterday.

You create an image of what you want, as detailed as you can.

You want time to slow down. Not stop. But slow down. Half as fast as it currently runs.

Something burns hot in your chest, trailing up to your throat in a stinging pain that makes you shudder.

Less than half, three quarters as fast.

The burn lessens, but still sits there at an annoying level.

You drop the image to nine tenths as fast.

The burn is far less.

The shadow barely moves.

But you feel like you've made a lot of progress as your core responds.

A leaf floats slower for the briefest of instants before the heat overwhelms you and you drop the time slow.

Time snaps back into its normal state as the leaf floats down towards the ground.

Your stomach grumbles and you look at the time.

Four hours having again passed in a mere instant of focus.

You kind of hope you can learn time dilation or something… being able to practice this faster would definitely give you more time to practice other stuff.

But the heat in your body reminds you that you shouldn't push yourself too hard just yet.

The walk home is calm as you watch the sky with its bright orange glow of evening, Elly snaps into view on your shoulder as you walk.

'I should remind you that a Breach is set to occur tomorrow.'

You nod at her, having had it in the back of your mind anyway.

'Good. I will elaborate on it a bit. As I have told you, a Breach is a foothold in reality for the Interlopers. As such, we have to get close to its portal in order to close it. It's actually rather rare for three breach portals to appear in the same area as it happened for our meeting.'

You wonder why that is. But Elly cites something about Spacial distortions making spacial coordinates warp and shift.

'The point I wanted to make. Is that there will be two Breach portals tomorrow… I should probably explain how they're categorized as well, it will help with your decision tonight.'

You tilt your head at her and she continues.

'You will have to decide which one to chase first. Categorisation of a Breach differs from that of a Rift. A Breach portal is categorized by what the most powerful tier of Interloper that is expected to appear is. Example, The Breach portal I encountered you at, would have been called a Tier 4 Breach, as the doubly fused Centurion would be a Tier 4 creature. That said, a Rift, is categorized by the most common tier of interloper inside. Why the difference in method for classification? I do not know, and honestly don't care to research. I doubt it's important.'

She waves her hand dismissively.

'The decision you will have to make, is whether we go after the Tier 3 Breach that will occur near your school, or the Tier 4 that I feel shall appear near the city center.'

You silently hum, the noise pushing other thoughts aside as you nod to Elly, a mental mutter that you'll think about it before you sleep.

You'd guess that Azure and Argent would head to the city center first… It's mostly a large open plaza rather then skyscrapers and such, so it'll probably be packed full of people. Perfect place for a Magical Girl to appear and save everyone you'd guess…

'The Tier 4 would offer the highest amount of shards for you, and if while I shall be offering a mutation to you if you do not take a critical wound in either, it would net you a bit more… notoriety shall we say?'

You raise an eyebrow as she explains.

'The tier 3 is expected to appear in a park near your school. I will be creating a doppelganger of you and then having you swap places with it once the Breach occurs. In this case, your inability to speak makes it much easier to facilitate this, doppels cannot speak unfortunately. Anyway, tangent aside. More people would see your presence there… and if you wish to have your Magical Girl costume unlocked after the fight, I can replace everyone's memories of you with your magical form. Letting you build up a little bit of reputation. Magical Girl Costumes have a built in… scrambler?... hmm that might be the word. It affects the perception of normal civilians when you transform, such that they don't make the link between your magical girl form and your normal form. Same happens with technology. Unless the magical wills it, any picture or videos taken come up blurry or corrupted.'

You nod at the information. Having arrived at your home and been helping your parents with dinner in what you think is a routine.

Dinner is as lively as always, and over too soon before you head out for a walk.

You don't go out on a 'walk' that ends with you in a forest full of vampires or cultists or something equally exciting…

But it does lead you to a park where Elly drops a ward for you.

[Grendel's Arm] comes out, and you spend an hour or so practicing against some shadowy opponents Elly makes.

The trick with moving around using [Grendel's Arm]'s charges is hard to do…. You're a little annoyed that you managed to pull it off so well from the smokestack jump or during combat.

It's much harder to do it willingly rather than subconsciously.

Your hour ends with twenty or so of the shadowy Mesmers down, and a better understanding of how to move your body with [Grendel's Arm] on your body. But you think you're getting closer… just gotta keep practicing it and maybe you'll get it.

You're a little sweaty when you finish. But as Elly makes reality melt, your sweats come off with it.

Lilla answers the door this time, opening it before you can hit the bell button and blinking as she furrows her brow.

"Huh… weird feeling…"

She doesn't say much else as you give her a hug and head off to shower.

But before you sleep, you think about your decision.

Which Breach to take…

[x] Take the Tier 4 Breach, it'll give you the most rewards, and let you fight the strongest enemies. A villain is only as strong as the strongest enemy they've fought after all, and another Tier 4 might be a good test to see how much you've improved in this short week or so.

[x] Take the Tier 3, It'll give Azure and Argent a challenge or something, and should let you get your uniform easier. Won't be as much a challenge, but you can probably get a mutation easier as well. A tier 3 enemy isn't as much of a challenge as a tier 4 enemy after all.

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