In battlefront to craft or design any magical item you need understanding of formations. Greater the complexity of the machine, greater the necessity for expertise in formations.
As a family that specializes in production of magical items, Echizen family is always considered as the house for formation experts. But even among them, the one who is considered to be a true expert is Toshiro Echizen. But that was not always the case.
Back before Toshiro’s family got absorbed into the main family, Toshiro was just a talented kid from branch family not a game changing genius. In Echizen family they conduct a theoretical exam every year. If anyone irrespective of their status passes this exam, they are allowed to enter the clan’s treasure trove for few days. Every year at-most five people pass this exam. That year Toshiro passed that exam. He entered the treasure trove with rest of the candidates.
Rest of the candidates all came from the main family, so they already had a rough idea where to find the best treasures. So while they were running in different directions, Toshiro panicked that he might not get any good treasure. As he was about to run in a random direction, he noticed a small pattern on one of the rocks. Suspiciously as he got close to it, he found that it is a formation pattern to indicate the directions!
Toshiro noticed that the craftsmanship of this pattern is so simple and yet elegant! When usually you have to make direction pointing formation, people come up with lot complicated answers, but this is so simple! The pattern was so well hidden that it almost melded into the background of rocks.
But Toshiro knew that if someone is able to give a simple correct answer to such complicated a question it could mean only one of the two things, either that guy is really lucky or that person is a true expert!
Toshiro felt hope when he saw this. He knew that if he could follow this, he will definitely find something good. After figuring out each pattern, it pointed to the next one. After following this patterns for 6 days he found himself standing in-front of a tree. After following those patterns for few days he got a little understanding on how this expert thinks. When staring at that tree he was shocked to find that this is a living formation! He only heard of it before but now he is seeing it.
After struggling for few hours, he unlocked the pattern on the tree and a large grove opened in the tree. In the grove there is small box. After opening it Toshiro found a recording device and a weird token. On this token there is symbol of a fat man sleeping. When he played the recording device he heard this,
“Yo! If you found this means you have quite the talent in formations! Now wait a minute.”
Something flew out of the device and entered Toshiro’s body. After that the device continued playing.
“Ok! So you are less than 30 years old. This means you are qualified to receive this token. This token allows you to participate in the lazy man’s library exam.”
Toshiro could not believe his luck! As he was thinking about leaving, the transmission continued. But the difference is that it is a different voice!
“You are less than 30 years old. After checking your memories, it is found that you are not from main family. Yet at such a young age you have such skill in formations. You are qualified to listen to this information. There are many people who are called experts in formations. But in the entire Battlefront if there is a being that deserves the title of expert in formations, it is the owner of the lazy man’s library. He loves dedicated people. All the best.”
Toshiro, always been obsessed about formations but because of his financial situation, he could never find a suitable teacher. But now all of his hard work showed him a path! A path for higher understanding about formations!
When he came out of the trove, he only told that he found few formation patterns on directions. The main family did not pursue it much. Because they knew that any luck the candidate found in treasure trove is the individual’s belonging.
After amassing money he was able to leave to Anantha realm. After lot of hard ships he reached the library. When he went to the library he found that he was late by one year for the exam!
Toshiro could not handle that fact! As he sat on the steps of the registration building not knowing what to do, he heard a loud base voice from behind,
“Do you know how lucky you are?”
When he turned around he found a fat short young man staring at him. This man was not taller than four feet. He was more round than tall!
But his eyes! This person’s beady little eyes looked like it can see through everything!
The fat man said, ”Hand me the token boy. You have no idea how lucky you are. ”
Toshiro stared at him for few seconds in shock not knowing how to react. But he immediately regained his senses.
“Sir, are you the owner?”
Fat man retorted back, “Oh! Such a great analytical reasoning! I am fat so I must be the owner.”
Toshiro looked at him, taken back not knowing how to react.
Fat man then laughed and said, ”Yes I am the owner. ”
This is how Toshiro met the owner of the library. After joining, he later found from his seniors that the owner till now has never registered a employee personally before!
To meet him, even the employees have to book an appointment and just wait!
After joining here he understood, why everyone coveted this place so much! After they are done with their daily work, the employees are free to read any book here. There are things here that cannot be found anywhere outside the battlefront.
In battlefront the definition of book is quite different from the normal one. Sometimes experts record their skills and techniques into the items by which they gained the enlightenment. For example, an expert in leather-work can record his entire skill set into a piece of leather. Only way to read it is by putting a strand of your soul into it. These kind item are also called books or grimoire.
After almost one year, Toshiro got his appointment date with the owner. During their meeting, Toshiro asked to teach him about formations.
The owner said, “Sorry child. You do not have the destiny to be my student.”
Toshiro did not get upset. He said something that created the non-existent destiny.
“What should I do, for you to teach me about formations?”
The owner looked at him surprised! Then he laughed and a small thin cotton thread appeared in his hand.
He handed it to Toshiro and said, ”If you can learn this skill to a satisfactory level, then I will teach you. ”
Toshiro took that thread and came back to his room. He took out the thread and looked at it. It looked so fragile; that it looked it would take a small tug to break it. But surprisingly it was quite sturdy!
Toshiro put a strand of his soul into the thread. He found his conscious floating in empty space. In front him there are few threads woven together to look like statements. They read as,
Mahamaya–fate skill
See the fate
Understand the fate
Manipulate the fate
When Toshiro read this read it for the first time he could not make head or tails out of it. Toshiro knew that the owner gave him a very tough task, but he never thought it would this insanely hard. Without data no one can interpret anything. So he constantly searched the library for any new information. There were many theories about fate but not one of them gave him any accurate idea.
Despite the odds, Toshiro did not lose his motivation. Every day he would study those statements inside the thread. He did not understand what those statements meant. But like a mad man he would stare at them for hours. This continued for 38 years! For 38 years he studied them despite the zero understanding about the fate. He did not lose his courage; he studied them with even more fervour!
One day as he was staring at those statements, something clicked in his head.
Then suddenly the first statement’s threads started moving!
They started expanding more and more till they expanded the entire space!
All of the threads are attached to at least another one of the threads. Toshiro could not see the end of this thread expansion!
As he was staring around these threads, he tried to touch one of them. As he touched one thread, a small vibration started resonating through the string. Then it started spreading to other threads. Some of the threads did not resonate much, while sum resonated so much that they almost snapped.
As he was staring at this phenomenon, a realization dawned on him. These threads represented the destiny of everything!
It did not matter whether it was alive or not. It did not matter if the being is mortal or immortal or not!
Toshiro understood that everything is connected!
The moment he gained this enlightenment he heard notifications,
Congratulations! You learned Mahamaya’s first layer.
Host still in mortal section.
Host being updated into ant immortal.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Host accumulated enough fate points.
Host transcended the tribulations!
Congratulations! You are now immortal. The second mortal to transcend with fate magic!
All stats 30+
wisdom 300+
Intelligence 100+
He opened his eyes and he saw the entire world in a new perspective! Everything he saw, there was almost invisible thread attached to it. Only he could see. He saw that every interaction between these things, created more threads, while some threads simply dissolved!
Even he himself was surrounded by many threads ranging in many sizes! He tried to touch them but his hands just passed through them.
He started going around the library to check this out. He saw one of his colleagues is cleaning the floor and dusting the books. This seemingly insignificant act created small thin fate threads between his colleague and floor and books!
Toshiro understood one key point about fate.
Every action no matter how insignificant it may seem, will have consequences!
He also understood how he was enlightened about first layer of Mahamaya’s fate skill. Even though he did not understand it for 38 years, he did not stop reading those statements. This seemingly insignificant act created a destiny between him and that technique!
You gained a small understanding about second layer of Mahamaya’s fate skill.
Then out of nowhere he saw the owner appearing in-front of him!
When he the owner Toshiro gaped in shock!
There were so many threads that convulsing towards the owner! There were so many of them that he could not understand how the owner created this many fate lines!
But the number of the threads is not what surprised him. But how not one of them is touching him!
All those fate threads could not touch him like he was some kind of intangible existence!
While Toshiro stared at the owner in awe, the owner did something that completely that further shocked him. He touched one of the threads!
Somehow the owner was able to touch these ethereal threads physically!
The moment the owner touched that thread, Toshiro felt a tugging! That thread is attached to him!
The owner smiled at him and said, ”not bad.”
Toshiro felt little bit disappointed when he heard that statement.
Not bad?
He struggled for 38 years without seeing hope! But he did not give up! He gained immortality! Yet all he got was a simple praise of words.
The owner said while grinning, “Cheer up idiot! You think this a great accomplishment? From today onwards you are my student! If you get satisfied by just this level of results, trust me I will make your life miserable!”
Like this Toshiro started learning about formations from the owner. Later he got to know that ‘not bad’ is actually the highest praise the owner gives anyone.
In fact as he got to know who the owner is actually, he understood the meaning of the statement the owner said when he first met him, ‘do you know how lucky you are?’
After the tutelage Toshiro gained a great understanding about the formations. He knew how much he is still lacking compared to his teacher. Yet when compared to the rest of experts, he is a peerless genius. When he saw how many people were calling him an true expert, he understood proverb, ”In desert cactus are the trees!”
Formations are all about understanding the connections between each pattern and balance of elements.
Mahamaya’s fate skill is all about understanding the visible and invisible connections!
Compared to Toshiro’s perception, the rest of the so called experts are watching the battlefront through a small hole from thick hole!
After becoming famous the Echizen family sent its delegation for negotiation. In fact many other families also sent their representatives.
Toshiro knew that he is bound to Echizen family by this fate threads. Only way he can dissolve them is by paying back the karmic debt.
But the problem was his parents! He noticed that both of his parents do not have much fate threads left on them! If he stayed with them any longer even those threads will dissolve!
So he made the two conditions. After he parents became immortals he still kept the contact to minimum. Because the threads were still very less, so he practiced the second layer of the Mahamaya’s fate skill more vigorously! If he could learn this layer, then he can enter the 3rd layer, manipulating the fate!
After 500 years, he finally understood how to touch these threads. He slowly increased the threads that were connecting to his parents.
But after 1000 years something he least expected happened! His mother is pregnant. He checked the fate lines of this unborn child and found that these threads are attached to the threads that will lead to his parent’s demise!
Toshiro remembered his teacher’s warning, “The skill you are learning will definitely give you an interesting perspective. But that is as for it goes. You may manipulate fate as much as you want, but you will never be in full control of fate. ”
Toshiro’ first instinct was to abort the child. But he calmly thought about. If in a hypothetical scenario if he successfully aborted the child, it still did not guarantee his parent’s life!
No from the beginning the issue is not the child, but the fate threads that are leading to his parent’s death.
If he could create a control system, by which he can completely monitor the child’s growth, then slowly he can dissolve those threads, by involving his parents in less dangerous situations.
After checking every possible route for future fate threads, Toshiro came up with a specific layout for kid brother’s future.
After Harima was born, Toshiro took extraordinary care for each step of his plan!
In the beginning it went very well.
Even after Harima acquired the title young water lord, what happened next was still in the scope of the plan. In fact some the threads that led to his parent’s death started dissolving.
Yet even with all that planning the danger still came!
The boy that his brother and entourage tried to hurt is son of a primordial!
Toshiro reacted in nick of time. With the help of carriage driver he drugged his brother and separated him from his group permanently. He threatened the parents of these misfits. He made sure that they will never reach Harima again.
But the threads were still not dissolving. When he confronted his brother, Harima unknowingly gave him a brilliant plan!
Toshiro got so caught up in his own schemes that he forgot about his teacher. If there is a being that can dissolve any fate thread, it’s him the library owner!
But the problem is how the hell he is going to get his brother the library employment??!
His teacher somehow developed a formation where foreign entities cannot manipulate the fate threads that are directly attached to the library!
So his only option is to manipulate the threads that are further away from it! Slowly he worked his way till he got a token for the exam. He spent huge amount of treasures to get this results.
Then as a back-up plan he even made the E.S.school seat available for his brother.
After all that planning it is still not enough to get him into the library!
Toshiro still has one more trump card to play before he has to resort to his back-up plan.
The future employees of the library!
Though he cannot manipulate their threads as they are bound to library, he can still negotiate with them.
Before the employment, each one of them is handed a contract they have to sign.
In that contract there is a clause where the employee can ask the owner for one wish. If the owner can fulfil it, then the wish will be fulfilled.
So Toshiro sat with his brother, to see the future employees.
The first two, though had strong fate threads connecting them to the library, they are still not strong enough for them to wish for another person to be hired into the library.
As he was thinking what to do, he saw the final candidate, Pragna.
The moment he saw Pragna, Toshiro knew he found his ticket for his way out this fiasco!
He did not have many fate threads connecting to him. But he had three coloured fate threads connected. All the fate threads connected to primordials are coloured!
Till now Toshiro never met anyone who has that many coloured fate threads!
What more one those threads belong to his teacher!
His teacher forms the connection only after he accepted them as his students. Yet this person already has fate thread line connected to his teacher.
Toshiro knew that if he played his cards right, he can get what he wants!