A Magical Anomaly
Chapter 7
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Choice Made:
[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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Effects:
* - Gained [Angel Song] Passive ability
* - Character Sheet Access Granted
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POV: The Director
His office was dark, the only light coming from the large wall sized window that showed the night sky in all its glory, moonlight gently glowing through it with its cool rays.
He smoked on his cigar as he basked in it, idly spinning in his chair as he thought.
Is pokemon… a bloodsport?
His wife would tell him it was a useless question… but then she’d get in on the debate as well.
She was wrong of course. It totally was a bloodsport. Creatures fighting to the death were so much cooler than them just fainting.
His mind whirled through a few more thoughts. Eyes closed as he planned out his next lineup. Doomy232 was going down in the next tournament. Didn’t matter if he used his damn Magicarp and the endless use of Harden!
How he’d lost to a magicarp… he had no idea. But damn if his wife didn’t let him forget it…
A soft weight settled on his lap as he thought. But he ignored it.
He was debating the truest of truths of the universe.
Kiana was best girl… Though Mei was a close second.
He wiped a tear from his eyes. Remembering the many battles he’d fought with the Valkyries. Shame the game had ended…
“Are you done?”
He blinked, steely gray eyes staring into a pair of vibrant green. He raised an eyebrow at the girl on his lap. She wasn’t there a moment ago.
“Off.”
His voice rumbled. He didn’t need to shout. They’d been through this song and dance enough times. Her teasing smirk was as ever present as the sun would rise.
“Or what? Ya got a cute girl on your lap for once in your life boss~ Not gonna indulge just a bit~”
She shifted some of her silvery gray hair behind her ear. Trying to be seductive he guessed.
His wife was prettier.
The girl’s eyes narrowed and she clicked her tongue before slipping off him. Taking a seat on his desk instead as she crossed her legs.
“Tch, you’re no fun.”
He rolled his eyes at her, spinning his chair back towards her.
Weeeee~
He made sure he only made the noise in his head, his wife had caught him doing it out loud once.
One more to the history she’d never let him forget.
“Nightmare.”
He gave her a slight nod. The magical girl sighed as she shifted her posture, leaning on one of her arms as she splayed herself across his desk a little more. Gray tattered looking cloak shifting with her as it phased through the desk and then set itself perfectly under her.
He ignored the bodysuit she wore. Though he did notice that her usual assortment of daggers was gone. A pair of bracelets on her wrists tinkling as the bells on them rung. Probably a hidden weapon.
He wished she was less flirty… really he did… But Nightmare was a Nightmare for most.
He shook his head, ignoring her smug grin as he picked up the report that hadn’t been there when he entered the office.
“What have you got for me?”
The air around her shifted, the playfulness dissipating a bit and replaced by the focus he was used to
“The one who attacked Azure’s definitely a Magical Girl.”
He nodded.
“We assumed so.” He said.
“Hm, Yeah. The blast that tore through Mall 208 was probably energy from her awakening. Picked up an abundance of Fae energy near where the blast started from.” She tapped her finger on her thigh as she spoke. Probably more coming…
“The Fae usually contain the blast. I’m guessing there were enemies in the vicinity, so they directed the energy outwards to deal with them.”
He let out a quiet growl at the Fae’s disregard for human structures… but he sighed after a moment. Mind whirling once more with thoughts.
“Couldn’t have been a weapon?”
Nightmare shook her head.
“Possible. But very unlikely, That much damage? From a Null at that? It would have to be at least a Legendary if not a Mythic weapon. And you know how stingy the Fae are with Nulls, more so with weapons above Ultra Rare. Especially on awakening”
He grunted at her analysis. Nodding along as he skimmed more of the report.
“We’re sure it’s a Null then?”
She gave him a blank look.
“Would Azure go that crazy otherwise?”
He shrugged and gave her the point. Flipping the page on the report and reading more of it.
“Force based weapons then?”
She nodded at him.
“The Interlopers we found were all destroyed with chest based hits. Most of them had large holes through them. No melting or elemental energies around the bodies either, so it would have to be force based. The running assumption is a rifle or bow.”
He glanced at her and rose an eyebrow.
“Assumptions are dangerous.”
She shrugged in return.
“Not much to work with and it’s the best we’ve got. All the camera’s are dead. Like, shattered lenses or broken useless data. Been through every single one. Nothing I can use.”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“And Azure and Argent both don’t remember a thing about her. Azures a little better, the Nulls definitely dented her pride… And shattered her beloved sword.”
Nightmares laugh sent a shiver down even his spine. His head slowly turning to face her as bloodlust radiated from her form for the briefest of moments. She slipped off his desk without a sound and started walking towards the window.
“She had it coming. I know she’s got shit going on, but she’s a Magical now, we need all the help we can get. Null or not, if she can match Azure as a newbie, she’ll be worth grab’in.”
She ran a hand down his window and he watched as the window rippled light glass.
“You’re leaving.”
“Yup~ I’m bored, and you got the report if ya want more, don’t worry, I’ve filled it out. Gonna go bully Argent a bit.”
He watched as she phased through the window, and then fell down the side of the building..
And then he sighed.
He was going to have to pay for this…
He should have been so much more worried when Nightmare had taken a liking to Argent…
He reached for the report again, and started reading again.
Wait what? What does she mean there wasn’t any blood?! Did the Null not get hit at all during the breach?!
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POV: Fillia
The parchment burned in your hands with a heatless flame as the ashes themselves dissolved into inky blackness.
Elly hummed along and nodded at your choice.
‘An interesting choice indeed. I imagine it will help quite a bit in future battles. Minor precognition is quite useful… assuming you are fast enough to react to it.’
You nod at her and she waves over in Number 20’s direction.
You turn and see that they’ve got your [Angel’s Halo] in their hands.
Their fingers split, six becomes twelve, twelve twenty four and then more and more, the fingers form a hundred layers over the halo, covering it entirely like a twisting, wriggling mass.
Then they melt, inky blackness covering the halo like a ball as you feel as though a hundred eyes watch your every move once more.
A giant eye forms in the ball of blackness. A crescent pupil staring at you before it becomes a shining pink star.
You blink and it’s gone.
You can hear Elly grumbling about weebs in the background but your attention is pulled back to the orb as it cracks.
Too many noises to count overlap over each other. The small crack sounding as though a pane of glass were breaking as the orb shatters.
The halo looks… mostly the same. A black circle that slowly rotates in mid air, purple light ringing its edge as a small oil slick of colour flares from it.
No wait… you see more cracks along its surface, some blue, some purple, some a gradient of purple and blue.
Not as dramatic a change as you thought you’d see.
Elly laughs at your visible disappointment. A tiny hand tapping you on the head in what you think is her best attempt at a head pat. Not as good as dads was, but it’ll do.
‘Most equipment doesn’t change its form majorly until you get into what I call Modifiers. A mutation adds an effect or improves an item slightly. Maybe it lets you use it a bit differently than before. A Modifier, has the potential to change a piece of equipment entirely. Usually it would let you switch from one piece of equipment to another while retaining the effects of the first. But you won’t be getting into those for a little bit I imagine.’
You tilt your head at that, asking her an unspoken question as she nods.
“Ah yes, I don’t believe I told you. Rifts of a caliber like what you started with are rather rare. Tier 2.5 and above will spawn a boss type Interloper, but most rifts that appear are tier one or two. Tier two’s usually have a tier 3 Interloper or Tier 2 variant as its leader type. More often than not it's a variant.’
You wonder if she could track them? Lead you to a rift or so if you wanted.
‘Oh? Hungry for more offerings? I would not say no to such a thing, more fights would only lead to further your growth. Although I would suggest we rest for the time being. I could lead you to more of them easily enough. The dimensional shifting of one about to emerge is easily detectable months in advance… it makes you wonder why the Fae don’t warn others of an opening rift until the last moment no? Very suspicious~’
She’s definitely pushing you towards one side of thought, then again, she does have a grudge against the Fae. You guess it’s to be expected.
‘In any case, based on the current flux in this dimension’s barriers… We have around a week before the next big… breach, yes breach sounds good. Until the next breach occurs. I assume your main goal will be strengthening yourself for the near future?’
You look down at your still tired form and nod. Some stamina or something to help you recover wouldn’t go poorly either… but you want to be stronger.
A villain needs to challenge the heroes. Even if they lose. They need to be a memorable opponent who can drive the Heros to a clean victory.
Your future/past self wanted you to succeed. And you don’t plan on losing.
You’ll finish this fight yourself if you have to.
So you need strength, lots of it.
Elly raises an eyebrow. Expression warping a little… her eyebrow is a little too high, grin a little too wide.
‘I do like that resolve yes~ Then I suppose we shall have to hasten your recovery… While I wouldn’t recommend doing so as a regular thing… we could pull some mana from your Chrono core, use it to speed up time around you just a little… It might leave you a little tired, but it should ensure your muscles are repaired faster then they would naturally. A day of rest afterwards, and you’ll be back on your feet. Or we could let it heal naturally, The [Angel’s Halo] should speed up your recovery a bit. Shorten it to three days of repair or so… but it won’t take any of your Chrono mana and leave you topped up in case something were to happen.’
You decide (Choose one):
[x] Try to use your core to actively speed up time around you. ( - 2 Chrono Core Charge) (Time skip to next battle) (+ 1 to Chrono Mastery) (+ 1 ???) (2 Days Pass)
[x] Rest naturally. Probably shouldn’t stress your core for something like this in a hospital of all places. (3 Days Pass) (More social stuff! You’re good at that right?)
[x] Something else (Write in)