A Magical Anomaly

Chapter 6 Part 2

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Choice Made:

[ x ] You have more questions

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A moment or two of silence passes as you debate with yourself.

A hundred voices all whisper suggestions or doubts and you file them away.

You kind of wi-

The figure in black is by your side again, holding out a piece of paper and… you think thats a feather quill?

You nod in thanks either way. The quill shifts, turning into a pen as soon as you touch it… but you don't dwell on it for long.

Magic is weird.

The figures back against the wall, foot tapping soundlessly as you write down a list of questions.

You blink a bit when the paper starts lengthening on its own… and you wonder if you've maybe written too many questions…

But shrug and continue, worst case, Elly can answer the remainder at a later time.

With one final nod you go to pla-

The paper and pen are gone. Slipping from your hands without a sound or feeling.

You blink and find the black coated figure passing the paper to Elly as the now feather quill vanishes under their sleeve.

Is that rude?

Eh, you guess they helped do what you were going to do, just without asking if they should.

'Hmm. This is quite a lot of questions… then again, you do have some rather interesting circumstances, and it is your first day. I shall educate you then.'

You don't question where the black rimmed glasses came from… but you're sure they weren't there before…

'Starting from… this one.'

She points at 'Does your Magical Girl form make it difficult to recognize your identity, or do you better look around now so you don't get stabbed with an ice sword while shopping?'

She giggles a little then looks at you conspiratorially… that's a word right?

'Let us say, that for some inexplicable reason, all the cameras and monitoring equipment on the floors that you were at have all suffered from irreparable data corruption and a variety of shattered lenses or internals. As for the Magicals who met you, your figure will be a blurry recollection for them, including your weapons and abilities. It would not do for your civilian identity to be exposed, especially after such a momentous event'

You tilt your head at her in confusion but she points towards another question in response. 'You were cool when you fought there, right?' The words light up slightly as she hums

'While I would not use the word, cool, to describe you, you were certainly a remarkable magical girl. One that I would say is definitely worthy of my patronage. Most magicals would struggle against the Centurion, quite a few would die even with teams, but you managed to defeat it on your own. And with minimal injuries at that. A rather impressive showing I would say.'

She gives you a nod and you feel a smile on your face. Grinning at your various displays of badassery.

'I prefer if you refer to them as showing mastery myself… even if it was your first time with them.'

You were bad ass.

Elly sighs and rolls her eyes at you. Another question lighting up and projecting into the air like a hologram as she hums in thought for a moment.

'Why do Fae need Magical girls? Hm, I suppose that ties in well with your question on my deal as well. I shall answer them both. I am a simple being Filia, the other [NAILS] beings may scheme and plot, have aspirations that span multiple timelines or machinations that bend and shred reality into a convoluted spiral, but I merely wish to return a favor owed. Unfortunately for the Fae bitch, that happens to be a favor in blood, tears, and a showing unlike any other. I do not wish to make you the most powerful Magical Girl child. I wish to make you the most successful one. Power may be useful. But it means nothing if you happen to fail at your goal. The Fae on the other hand… hmm, I have a theory or two as to why they entered this reality and formed contracts… of course it could just be that they wished to help humanity resist against the, Interlopers as the Fae have called them… but I don't think either of us trusts that as the actual reason no?'

You shrug and shake your head at her, muscles in your neck burning a little.

'Yes. Well, I chose you in particular, as you attracted my interest. And you have quite a wonderful potential. I would not say unmeasurable… but certainly much more than most. Perhaps related to your … return to this moment in time, shall we say. Speaking of which.'

She flutters around and hums a little, crossing her legs as she sits on an non-existent chair.

'That little point relates to more of your questions. And also invites some strange paradoxes… You are a Null, yet you were affected not only by a Time travel spell, but also a magical memory wipe… The memory wipe could make sense, if it were casted by yourself… but the exorbitant cost of doing so alongside a spell that literally reverses time for an entire reality is… it's certainly a desperate move… I wonder how the other you managed to make it work… Again, you have little to no neutral mana. So they couldn't have been dragged through the temporal void…'

Elly mutters to herself, language that was understandable fading into a sound like paper rustling over and over before she hums again.

'I shall have to look into that at a later date I suppose. I doubt you would like to be rendered comatose upon learning how neutral mana interacts with the fabric of time and then is twisted by fate into an infinite fractal of possibility.'

You just stare at her for a moment… and then nod.

'Wonderful. I shall ignore the question on what Cores are for the moment, and on the meddling of Fate, we shall get to that soon, as they are related. Hmm, yes your equipment can be upgraded and improved-' She waves her hand in the direction of the figure in black '-One reason our friend over there is here.'

She stops for a moment. Turning towards the figure.

'Speaking of which. Are you hers exclusively? Or do you have others you need to see to as well?'

The figure shrugs, a hand coming up as they rub two gloved fingers together.

Elly sighs and rolls her eyes.

'Yes, yes. You'll get paid extra.'

They soundlessly clap their hands a few times, and then hold a finger up before settling back against the wall.

'Well, I suppose this is a good time for introductions. Filia, meet… I suppose in human translation this one is referred to as Number Twenty…'

The figure appears by your side again, and they bow with a smoothness that stuns you. Every small movement perfectly flows together before they're suddenly back against the wall.

'They're from a species we [NAILS] refer to as Mechanors. If the Fae and [NAILS] are two sides of the same coin, the Mechanor's are a neutral party that serves both sides. Not in conflict, but more in a service role. Magical girls can requisition items from a store of sorts. Those items appear next to them in pockets or their inventory instantly afterwards. The Mechanor's supply and deliver those items. Usually, a Mechanor serves a range of different Magicals. But they do offer exclusive terms to certain girls. Usually ones they see potential to make some extra mana or cash from. You, of course, do not have access to the shop with your wonderful Null restrictions. But that only applies if you don't have an exclusivity contract with a Mechanor. I've already negotiated it. Simply will Number 20 here to come, and they shall. They won't fight for you, nor will they defend you. But if you have the relevant currency, they shall happily distribute their wares for you. For example, if I were to suggest you purchase a sword.'

The sound of something tapping wood makes you turn, and you see as Number 20 stops their foot against the wall. It splits into tiny squares, then folds inwards, each square stacking on the other until there's only a single hundred layer cube in its hand. Behind it, the wall is gone, a fractal of twisting colour that remains for a moment before hundreds of swords fill the fractal.

Every instant, another hundred form and appear.

Some look basic.

Some have so many runes that they blind your eyes with their brilliance.

Some make you shiver for a moment with such cold bloodlust… but that bloodlust vanishes moments later.

You blink, and the fractal is gone, the wall back to normal as Number 20 inclines their head at you slightly, and then turns to look at Elly.

She tosses a shard of something that glows a hundred shining colours at one towards it before looking at you.

'A prismatic shard. Magicals normally gather then from rifts they have closed, and they're usually used to enhance weapons or equipment for a magical girl. But your equipment is quite unique, and far too special to be affected by such mundane crystals of dimensional flux.'

She scoffs at the idea.

'I do believe we've gotten slightly sidetracked perhaps. Allow me to summarize a little. As a Magical girl, you will close rifts, doing so will reward you with prismatic shards. Those shards can be used to purchase items from Number 20 given you are in a safe location. Usually away from other Magicals. Exclusive Mechanor's are a relative rarity and they prefer to keep knowledge of such arrangements discrete. If you had access to the Shop, you could purchase with just mana, even in the vicinity of a Magical. But means must and all those human sayings.'

She shakes her head, and then settles back onto your chest.

'I shall answer more questions at a later date, but I do believe it is time to discuss the Magical part of a Magical girl. I'm sure a Fae would jump right into talking about Cores, letting the Magical Girl System handle the process of controlling magic. But, we shall be discussing magic first, if that is alright?'

You nod at her after a moment or two. Processing the surge of information before you do so.

She nods back.

'Very well, Magic, at its basest layer, can be described as using mana to distort reality and create an effect. What is Mana you ask?'

You didn't.

'Mana is a form of energy. Some call it raw energy. Others call it energy that has been processed in some form. Most prefer to see it as a form of payment for causing something to happen. There are many different types of mana. As many types as there are types of Magical Elements. Technically.. Only the element of Reality exists. But its not really an element, more of a collection of elements.'

She waves her hand dismissively.

'We have the basic… elemental… elements… hmm, that will need to be termed better. But either way, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind -' A ball of each forms above her hand, dust particles forming where you assume the wind ball is to help see it '- These are the most common ones. Fire burns, Water drowns or freezes, Earth crushes and Wind cuts. Fire and Water can also act as healing magic for basic wounds on use, an especially high level fire mage can basically resurrect from death… though the conditions to get the Skill that allows that are so monumental I doubt any Magical girl has the Skill as of yet. Continuing on before we get sidetracked by powerful skills, Fire and Water magics tend to cancel the other out. Earth and Wind are the same. Wind tends to empower a Fire based spell, Earth empowers Water based ones. No effect the other way around… why? Because the Fae system of magic is a confusing and incomplete mess!'

She rolls her eyes and continues.

'Unfortunately, while I masquerade as one, we shall have to play along with their inconsistent rules. Light and Shadow magic, shadow occasionally is referred to as Dark magic as well. Dark magic tends to relate to summoning and hiding. Light magic, is the most potent type of healing magic, though it does have summoning and offensive spells of its own. The two cancel each other out.'

She takes a breath once again and you nod along when she continues.

'We also have two more main types of magic. Chrono or Time magic and then Spacial Magic. Time is self evident I'm sure. Slowing or speeding up the flow of time, Spacial magic refers to the manipulation of the concept of space. Making an object bigger on the inside, making the distance between two points shorter ect. They don't cancel the other out. And are some of the rarer types of magic. Chrono magic is banned by the Fae for obvious reasons that I'm sure you can figure out without my explanation.'

She lounges on your chest now. Taking another glass of that weird glowing liquid as she sips it.

'Now, to cast magic, one must turn mana in its base state, commonly referred to as Neutral mana, into its elementally charged state, Fire mana, Water mana and further derivatives, that charged mana is then fed into the void between dimensions once it has reached a critical mass, upon which the spells intended effect takes effect in reality. Certain spells have a failsafe of sorts. A teleportation spell for example, won't trigger if one does not have enough internal mana to support reforming the body on the other side. Amusingly. The sudden drain of mana is one such reason humans commonly suffer from what they refer to as Teleportation sickness. This failsafe is why you were not teleported away with your friend.'

'From here, we move on to Cores… Some humans refer to them as elemental affinities… and while not incorrect. That doesn't encompass their whole meaning. A core will definitely improve your ability to cast spells of a similar branch of magic… But they offer much more than that. There can be, in theory, six cores at most in a human body. The placement changes with more cores. And more does not necessarily mean you are more powerful. I prefer to see it as … the human term is um… what's the term… Something to consider later. I mean to say, a human with one core, may reach a true mastery of that core in their lifetime, a human with two, will not achieve that same mastery with both cores, three even less so and so on. A core is best described as a crystallization of raw elemental mana. A reservoir of that mana that is not used passively, and can be called upon with training or instinct to bring about the desired.'

She points at you.

'You Filia, bear two cores. Not unusual. Most humans don't have a core, but most Magicals have a single core on contracting. The fact you had two can be explained away as part of your time travel oddness. And I shall do so, so as to not add more to your anomalous state of existing. The oddness… comes with how you not only have a Chrono type core, but a Void type core…'

Void? You haven't mentioned that?

'I did not. Its not a main type of magical element. And it's best described as a combination of the Space element with the concept of Energy. With a lot of practice, I believe you will be… Palpatining … what? No, you will be shooting lightning from your hands at enemies…'

Elly shakes her head a little.

'Add in more of Fate's meddling. And your cores are shattered… I don't even know how that is possible, but while your magic with them is limited, the shattered cores you possess are slowly sucking in more and more mana from your surroundings… I doubt you will be able to store mana normally, but in theory, any Core based mana you spend will be charged faster and faster over time.'

She hums to herself.

'A normal core takes eight or so hours to fully charge. The same applies to you, but I believe your cores should fully recharge in as little as two at their peak… that might take at least half a year at their current rate of increase… if it helps. Think of it as two jet engines slowly spooling up.'

You stare at her again… a few thoughts settling through your head as you nod.

Can I control the magic?

Elly shrugs.

'Its possible, though I imagine it will be quite a bit harder. Not having the natural control one does from passively manipulating their entire life will be a thorn in your side for a fair while I imagine. But it's certainly possible… I don't believe I have to mention this, but for the sake of completeness and as a warning, you cannot cast any magic that does not pull from Chrono or Void based mana, though the Void type mana basically gives you control of Spacial mana, and a basic manipulation of energy.'

So three cores?

She shrugs again.

'It may be easier to think of it that way, yes. I can guarantee that you will not master any of them unless something extraordinary happens… but then again, you do happen to exist.'

She lets out a breath, fluttering and stretching.

'We're almost done for now. Under normal circumstances, you would have gained access to Achievements. And then been rewarded handsomely for slaying a Tier 4 creature single handedly. Even more so without any form of Critical wound on yourself. And then even more for doing so within your first day. As this stupidly inconsistent system does not wish to reward my Magical girl, I shall do so instead, in what I am sure is one of Fates many coincidences, your killing of all those Interlopers has allowed me to store all the Mana they have corrupted and twisted for their own purposes. And Number 20 has agreed to take it along with some extra incentives of my own as payment for your reward.'

She motions over at Number 20, and you stare blankly at the bar they seem to have set up… on top of which all your equipment lies. They run a cloth over [Gae Bolg ], polishing its surface to an immaculate shine before doing the same for [Grendel's Arm], the scar across its surface vanishing as the cloth passes over it.

'I shall bestow upon you, a… mutation to your weapons. Pick one, and I shall give it a new effect. A bit of reality warping to achieve the effect will be easy enough without too much of a hassle. Your equipment still needs some more time with you I'm afraid… Though… Perhaps your [Angel's Halo] might work hmm.'

She waves dismissively, and another piece of parchment snaps into view above your head.

You read over it, and choose (pick one):

[ x ] [Gae Bolg] Mutation α: (Strengthened Barrel) (Improves success chance for actions using this Weapon by 15) (Only takes effect on Boss Type enemies or Superior Type Magical Girls) (Passive)

[ x ] [Gae Bolg] Mutation β: (Lightweight Materials) (Improves Injury chance for actions using this Weapon by 10) (Passive)

[ x ] [Gae Bolg] Mutation Δ: (Magical Disruptor) (Disables Magical ability use for 1d4 turns on normal enemies or Magical Girls, Negates injury chance on magical enemies) (Disrupts Magical ability use for 1d4 turns on Boss Enemies or Superior type Magical Girls, decreasing injury chance by 15) (-2 Gae Bolg Charges) (Active)

[ x ] [Curtana] Mutation α: (Focused Emitter) (Improves Normal Stun chance against Boss Type enemies by 10) (Only effects Boss type enemies or Superior type magical girls) (Passive)

[ x ] [Curtana] Mutation β: (Sonic burst) (If the previous action used Curtana, you may use 20% of its charge to evade a Major Injury you would have suffered this turn) (Doing so stops charge regeneration for two turns ) (Active)

[ x ] [Curtana] Mutation Δ: (Overcharged Emitters) (Allows for the use of a base 33% chance Enhanced Stun attack on all enemies. Lasts 1 turn) (Reduced to 20% against Bosses and Superior Magical Girls) (Uses 30% Charge) (3 Turn cooldown, Cannot use Curtana during this Duration) (Active)

[ x ] [Grendel's Arm] Mutation α: (Strengthened Plating) (Decreases Injury Chances by 20 when using [Grendel's Arm]) (Only effective against Boss Type Enemies or Superior Type Magical Girls) (Passive)

[ x ] [Grendel's Arm] Mutation β: (Concussive Propulsion) (Use Grendel's Arm to help boost you towards an enemy, arriving so suddenly that you get a free turn, probably) ( 20% Chance for a free turn when used) (- 1 Grendel Charge) (5 Turn cooldown) (Active)

[ x ] [Grendel's Arm] Mutation Δ: (True Parry) (When used, reduces a Major Wound to a Minor wound, or negates a Minor wound that would be suffered this turn.) (- 2 Grendel Charges) (Active)

[ x ] [Angels Halo] Mutation Ɣ: (Angel Song) (Warns of what wounds would be suffered if an injury was to be taken this turn) (Passive)

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