The lore keeper lead me down a corridor. This place was nothing like my castle. Instead of the magical lighting I was used to, the halls sported oil lamps.
I say oil lamps, but they seemed to be powered by something else. It wasn’t exactly magic. More like a white hot burning rock.
I thought this place would be more magically advanced, not whatever this is. Everything in the new world was so efficient. Why was this place such a dump.
I couldn’t help but notice the spider webs up above, and the rats that walked around the wooden support structures of the roof. It was a whole ecosystem up there. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a little town with shops for rat and spider bartering.
Maybe even a little spider-Aku and rat-Shadow, shopping around town and fighting off cockroach-Mantis, while little spider-Aku has horrific Hallucinations of a giant monster Cricket whispering horrible things into her ears, and trying to eat her.
I don’t know. I was still a bit on edge since I hadn’t seen a single nail in the entire structure. This place was like arts and crafts, but on a mega scale. If dad were here he would have already ran to home depot and started remodeling.
First thing he’d do would be to get drunk and look for studs. Then he’d fall asleep next to a freshly demolished wall and I’d come over with a blanket to keep him from getting sick. I miss dad.
At some point the lore keeper lead Snowball and I outside again. This time to a back area. It was a bit rocky with patches of grass here and there, but there was a pathway for us. It lead down the back of the mountain… or was it the front?
The scenery was amazing. We were so high up. It looked like only this mountain was covered in flowery trees. The rest were of the non-weeb variety. There were a few patches of pink sprinkled out in the valley below, but not many.
Along the path were small holes cut into the side of the mountain, providing platforms for more rock lamps. Though these weren’t burning at the moment, Instead they sat there behind the glass, looking like a hunk of bone with how white they were.
Did they really need to chisel out holes for them? That seemed like a lot of work when you could just drive a hook into the rock and hang them like they did inside.
The real strange part was how smooth the stone was inside. I wonder how they managed to do that? It must have been super time consuming.
I looked back to the tree lady. Despite the harsh path, her movements were still so smooth. Meanwhile, I found myself struggling with my glass slippers. They weren’t exactly built for traction. Slippery slippers. I chucked to myself.
While I did like them, The slippers had grown cracks and looked like they would fall apart at any moment. Should I be worried? It didn’t feel like there was any broken glass shards inside the footwear, but who knows.
Despite the uncomfortable shoes, I still managed to keep up with the tree lady. The one thing I liked about them was the “click-clack” noises as I walked.
It felt like the tree lady was slowing down for me, but who knows. All I knew was that I couldn’t seem to reach her and at the same time, we were the same distance away from each other, despite the changes in my speed. Whenever I sped up I could hear her giggle to herself, like she was playing a game with me.
For a moment I thought I was being lead into an ambush, but there was a structure down here. It was a small building, built into the side of the mountain.
This one was constructed with stone-like bricks, with wood here and there for support. By stone-like I meant it was as if someone had cut boulders into bricks then smoothed out the edges.
On closer inspection the bricks didn’t have any cement between them. They were cut in such a way, that they perfectly interlocked with each other. Whoever designed them must have been a very skilled craftsman.
As for the wooden pillars, they were buried into the rocky ground – not sure how they managed that – and wrapped around the stone walls like a ribcage. Something told me they were also interlocked with the stone. The entire thing creeped me out, like low budget CGI.
The entrance to the structure was made of wood, with a sturdy frame and a sliding door. Aesthetically the building wasn’t all that appealing, but if I was here for a bath it only made sense to make it out of stone.
I called to the lore keeper. “Um… excuse me tree lady?”
“Tree lady?” She questioned raising an eyebrow.
Her attention made me a little anxious. “Are you going to teach me magic?” I asked somewhat hopeful.
“Magic?” She laughed. “Oh, child. You using magic would be like trying to breathe fire.”
What the hell did that mean? “I don’t understand.”
“Do not worry. You will understand once your teacher wakes up. Right now is bath time.” She headed for the door. I shrugged and followed.
The lore keeper opened the sliding door, revealing a spacious room. Strangely enough it was all wood, meaning the stone outside was a shell of some sort. This thing was basically built for tornados.
There was a hamper inside and some cubbyholes lining the far wall, but this wasn’t the whole building. There on the wall was another sliding door, hinting towards another room.
We made our way inside. The lighting was a bit dim, with the only light source being the sunlight from outside. That's when the lore keeper activated a spell, creating a ball of light from a yellow magic circle. The ball of light centered itself in the room, brightening the interior.
With the help of the light I saw a few more ivory rock lamps attached to hooks on the walls. That must have been how normal people lit the room. Magic was so useful. Why wouldn't I want to learn it.
“Tree Lady… I forgot to grab my backpack. I didn't bring any clothes.” I said.
“Don't worry your little head. I’ll get them for you. For now we’ll start your training.” She reassured.
Training, finally! “Okay. What do I need to do?”
“Get naked and put your clothes in the basket.” She pointed to the hamper next to the wall. “If there's anything in your pockets pick one of the cubbyholes and store them there.”
I felt a little nervous. Shadow was the only one to ever see me naked, so this was strange. Should I be concerned? This lady is a stranger after all… but, I suppose I did come for training.
In the end I gave up and did as she asked. Snowball was the only thing I had, so I put her in one of the cubbyholes. She looked comfortable. Like she had her own little house.
I then tried to take my clothes off, but the dress wouldn't go over my head and the inside of my slippers were sculpted to my foots exact shape. This was bad. Its like they were never meant to come off. What was I going to do now? I looked to the tree lady.
“I see the dilemma. You have the clothes of a doll. They've been stitched into form. These must be the clothes you were summoned in.” said the tree lady.
“What’s that mean?” I asked, holding back the panic in my voice.
“Cosmo really didn't explain anything. Your real body is back in the other world. What you are now is a spirit summon. That body of yours is currently made up of raw aspects. It’s temporary and won’t last longer than a few weeks. It's well made for a spirit body. Very sturdy.” Said the lore keeper.
“like a summon from a summoning crystal?” I asked.
“That sounds like a game thing. Summoners are an entirely different power system than what you and I have. To think Cosmo would simply hand the power to link cores to just anyone, without even telling them how it works. The new gods are so reckless, if only lady Amaterasu were here.”
Power system’s? Going off of context I think I get it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she was different from Bully and I. She also said I couldn’t do magic, but I saw her do it. Did that mean she had some kind of magic based power system? Then what did I have?
The lady reached over to the back of my dress. A moment later I heard it rip. ”Hey!” I cried. How dare she! I tried to fight her off, but she was too strong.
“Hold still child, or I’ll make you kneel on gravel.” Said the crazy tree lady.
I stopped immediately. Kneel on gravel? that sounded awful. “I’m sorry, please don’t rip my dress.” I cried.
“It’s made purely of aspects. It’s not like it was going to last very long. Now stay still and I’ll get you out of these vomit covered clothes.”
I wanted to complain. My dress was so pretty. I didn’t want to lose it…. I guess it was fine. It was covered in vomit, and I couldn’t wear it forever, besides I’m sure I’ll find some other clothes I really like… like pants, or a really big hoodie.
The lore keeper pulled it off of me. Underneath it – to my surprise - was a silky white slip. Alice wears these sometimes. I think she said it was so her clothes don’t rub against her sensitive skin.
Now that I thought about it. The fabric was pretty rough. That was probably why the outfit was so comfortable. I should probably invest in more of these if I’m going to wear fancy dresses all the time.
The last thing I wanted was to have to deal with sore nipples… “Oh God! Why would I think that!” I shook my head, hoping to forget that image, to which the lore keeper smacked my bare leg.
“Don't get distracted. Your on a deadline.” Scolded the lore keeper to which I sheepishly apologized.
Before the tree lady could strip me herself I went ahead and took off the rest of my clothes. The slip and the pirate-Snowball printed underwear. That last one was pretty embarrassing. I was left not only cold, but wishing I could use the cleanse sacred art.
That was when I realized I’d forgotten the pigtails. The lady was already undoing them, giving my head a bit of relief from the constant pull. I wasn’t used to having my hair tied up like that. I also don’t like it much. Aku on the other hand wanted braids like the lore keepers.
“Don’t be so shy. It’s my job to make sure all you disciples wash yourselves. I’ve seen more than one bare bottom in my day. You'd be surprised how many of you children try to skip bath time.” She waved her hand crafting a new spell. This one was a soul silver like the Negentropy spell, that fixed Snowball.
I wasn’t sure what it did, but my glass slippers started to vibrate. A moment later they fell apart turning into clear white dust. I was a bit worried about walking on broken glass shards, but they weren’t sharp and they felt like normal sand.
“I imbued them with earth and wind aspects, reverting the glass back into sand.” Explained the lore keeper.
I stared at her confused. She sighed before giving a better explanation. “Think of it this way. In order to make glass it must be refined from sand. To do that heat is required. It melts the sand and releases the earth and wind aspects from it. Leaving a very specific type of earth aspect called glass. This method can also be used to refine earth aspects into Iron aspects.”
To me it sounded like she used alchemy to transmute them into oddly warm sand. That was pretty cool. I wish I could do that. I bet I could make lots and lots of gold that way. I could pay so much rent with that! Now I need to learn magic.
The lore keeper made her way over to another sliding door. Opening it, she used the same light spell from before, commanding the ball of light to float near the center of the ceiling. It was just like the last one only instead of white this one was more yellowy. How strange, the light from this one was actually warm, which was a welcome.
This room dropped down a little and was all stone. The wall to the left was apart of the mountain while the rest was the same shell-like structure we saw from the outside. Along the shell walls were 2 inch slots cut out from the bottom part of the walls.
My guess was that they were meant for draining water. Inside the room were several wooden tubs. There was also a few holes cut into the mountain where more of those ivory rock lamps were.
“Wait there for now.” She created a new magic circle. this one was a deep blue. I watched as she poured focus into the spell, forming a ball of water.
I didn't recognize this spell either. None of the spells she’d used so far, were apart of the magic tree in-game. They also didn't match with any NPC spells.
The tree lady chose one of the smaller tubs. Then poured the water into it. The magic conjured liquid looked super clean and clear. Once the tub was full, the tree lady made another magic circle. This one was red and looked just as simple as the last.
“Come here and put your hand in the water.” She motioned for me to come closer. “Tell me when it’s at your preferred temperature.”
I moved to her side and submerge my hand in the clear liquid. It overflowed, water spilling from the tub. Some of it getting on my toes. Strange, It was already lukewarm. The temperature started to go up and in no time steam began to rise. “That’s good.” I squeaked.
Her spell vanished and we were left with a steamy tub of water. “Alright then. You can use this water to wash yourself. There’s some soap and sponges over in the covered over there.”
“Thank you.” I said before heading over to grab the items.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Once you wash up and we get your training started, I’ll get you some clothes from your backpack.” Said the lore keeper.
I nodded. It didn’t take long to wash myself. Five minutes and my body was clean again. The whole time she waited patiently for me. The hot water felt great on my skin. My hair hung loosely over my shoulders clinging to my back.
“Okay, good. Now, what do you know about meditation?” Asked the lady.
I nodded. “I've done it a bunch of times.”
“Very good. Now, what I want you to do, is focus on the heat of the water. You know that focus stuff you players use? Try to find it within the heat of the tub.” She instructed.
If it meant getting stronger I’d do it. I closed my eyes and tried to do just that. The heat was very invasive. I did my best to keep my mind clear and only focus on the water's warmth.
“Alright, I’ll be right back with a change of clothes. You must stay in that water for an hour. I’ll reheat the tub later.” The lady left the room leaving me to the task.
Feel the focus in the heat. Heat was energy, so it made sense it would also be focus. Actually, what about ice spells? Did they use heat to function? I wasn’t sure. Maybe I was missing something.
I need to stop over thinking it and take it one step at a time. I’ll start by focusing on the heat.
Time went on as the encompassing warmth started to permeate my body. It felt really nice. I was nowhere near finding the focus in the water, but I certainly was relaxed.
What I noticed from this is that the cold was just as noticeable as the heat. I could even feel the warmth of the water slowly leaving the tub.
If all the heat went away then I’d end up cold. I didn't want that, so I did my best to focus on the heat left, while ignoring the cold. Instead of thinking of the tubs warmth as a separate thing, I thought of it like my body heat.
My body was 60% water. I also drink water, so it’s constantly flowing through me. Therefore the water in the tub can be thought of as an extension of myself. The same goes for the heat in the water since heat is constantly moving throughout the world.
You could even extend this logic to air and less tangible things like knowledge. My sense of self slowly blended with the world as I fell deeper into meditation.
I don’t exist.
After a few minutes I noticed the tub getting warmer again. The more I fixated on the remaining heat, the warmer it got. It was a bit strange like simply thinking about it caused the heat to move towards me. I could do this all day.
As the heat focused in on me, the cold seemed to get ever closer. Though, it never got too close. It was as if the heat was acting like a barrier, providing me with protection.
The doorway opened, but I continued to focus on the task at hand. “I’ve got your clothes. I was a bit busy with…”
I opened my eyes and realized the water was frozen. “What?!” I freaked out.
It looked like the heat from the water had clung to my body creating a pocket of boiling liquid. How was I not cooking right now? I was afraid to move.
“Oh…” The lore keeper took a closer look. “How interesting. The heat aspects and cold aspects have separated. How did you manage that?” the lore keeper started to look a little nervous, as if seeing something unsettling.
“Am I going to die?” I cried.
She fake smiled at me like I'd just gotten my limbs blown off in a war zone. “You’ll be fine… probably... H-how about you work your way out of the tub for now.” She instructed.
How would that work? Would I need to crawl on the ice? That sounded like it would be too cold. Still it’s better than being boiled alive.
I reached out with my hand trying to prop myself up using the ice, but the ice melted into boiling water the moment my hand got close. It was like my body was radioactive.
I tried touching other parts of the ice but they melted too. The parts that weren’t within an inch of my body had either evaporated, or turned back into ice.
While it was cool, I couldn’t help but notice the concern growing on tree ladies face. “Are you sure everything will be-“ before I could finish my question, I felt the heat around me stripped from my body. The boiling water also turned lukewarm leaving me really uncomfortable.
The lore keeper had used some kind of ice spell on me. “That was close you almost melted the mountain side.”
I couldn’t believe it! Was it really that bad! “Why would you leave me alone if it was that dangerous!” I cried.
She shook her head. “It wasn’t supposed to be. What did you do?”
“I focused really super duper hard and then it all kind of-“ before I could finish I felt something hot in my tummy. It felt awful like I’d just eaten a ghost pepper. All of a sudden something warm and sour came out of my mouth spewing itself onto the ice. It was some kind of black gunk.
I pushed away in a panic crawling on the cold ice, doing everything I could to get out of the tub. As soon as I got out, more black stuff came out onto the floor… from both ends.
“Oh, I see now.” said the lore keeper.
I started to feel a fever coming on. Before I knew it my vision went blurry. I got one last look at the lore keeper who was watching me with interest. The last thing I heard was, “I told you not to breathe fire.” Before passing out.
-B2015630-
Blood leaking onto a dirty stone floor, people crying and begging for help. Destruction around every corner. So many deaths. I stood before myself. My body slowly bleeding out.
It’s limbs broken and twisted in unnatural ways. My arms and legs looked as though they had multiple joints. It kind of reminded me of an accordion.
So much for being the hero. Falling from the sky, what a stupid way to die. The thought of my brother saying “You should have worn a parachute” crept its way into my mind, before I quickly hit the eject-thought-button, sending it into the hole. Crap, I wasn’t supposed to do that anymore. it wasn’t a traumatizing thought, so it should be fine.
I sighed, its not like I really cared about the way I might die. The fact was that I was dying… yet I felt nothing. At least not for my vessel. No, what I was currently feeling was guilt. Horrible guilt for all the lives being lost in this very moment. All because I couldn't deal with my own shit.
It won’t be long now before I die, and when that happens the rest of the city will go too. Maybe even the rest of the world.
I’ll go back to that claymation hell and the world will remember me as a monster. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let my friends and wife get eaten by my demons. Especially not when its all my fault.
One scream after another haunted me. I clenched my fists , as the other me tried to do the same… but It wasn’t another me. It was me. I could feel every bit of pain.
“Move…” I begged. “Move!”
Despite my desire I could not make that crippled mess get up. I couldn’t do a thing. The only option was to get stronger. Strong enough that this useless body can walk out that door.
Hurry… I need to hurry.
-???-
I woke in a cold sweat. “No!” I cried out reaching for the ceiling.
Sitting up I found myself covered in strange multi-colored stones. They fell from my body as I rose. Some Scarlett, others a royal blue, one a sky blue, and two were a green emerald.
My breathing was quick and sharp like I’d just ran a marathon. I could feel my heart racing as sweat dripped down my back. Reaching up I held my head. “I need to get stronger.”
It looked like the lore keeper had tucked me into a futon. For whatever reason I was still naked. With the sweat covering my body I’d grown cold. I laid back down pulling the cover over me. The bed was wet, but the blanket at least kept the cold mountain air from bothering me.
I always thought mountain air would be thin, but this place was odd. Maybe I wasn’t that high up, or maybe the atmosphere on this world was different. There was a lot of trees. It could also be more magic mumbo jumbo. I needed to chill out with all these useless thoughts. They were just a distraction from the real problem.
I was weak.
I sighed, then rolled over a little to where the bed wasn’t wet. The futon was surprisingly comfortable, if not a bit stiff, due to the hard wooden flooring. The room was fairly large. There were other futons in here, but they were all rolled up. I couldn’t help, but wonder what the sleeping bag I got was for.
Strange, the room didn't have one of the lore keepers light spells. Instead one of the four ivory rock lamps were lit, and there was also an open window letting natural light in.
The good news was that the fever was gone, so that was nice. I wonder what happened? Tree lady said I tried to breathe fire. I guess I did something a mage would do.
“Are you awake yet?”
My attention was drawn to the door way. There stood Bully. Was she here to hurt me again?
“Oh, thank Amaterasu!” She gave off a look of relief. “You better not die on me you fucking piss baby! Master Brutus said, if you die I’d have to spend a week in the cave of absence.” I didn't know what that meant, but she looked like she was about to cry just thinking about it.
Even though I was sitting up again, I was still wrapped in the blanket like a chubby caterpillar in a silky warm burrito… or something like that.
Underneath the covers, I was still naked. The trust between bully and I, was no where near letting her see my no-no-square. She seemed like the type to shame me for having a flat chest. Not that I cared, but Aku did.
“Go away!” I cried as I threw one of the stones at her.
She avoided it. “Hey! Don’t throw your corruption at me! I saved your life you little shit!” She growled.
I was about to throw another stone when she went all pink nightlight again, closing the distance between us in the fraction of a second. Her hand wrapped around my wrist. I found myself struggling against her.
“Let me go!” I cried.
“Not until you stop being a brat!” She yelled.
“I’m not a brat! You’re the brat!” I retorted before activating my special move, and biting down on her arm.
“Ah! What the fuck!” She cried pulling her arm away.
That was when she slapped me leaving a big red mark on my cheek. It took a second before it registered, but when it did, I immediately started to whale. I kicked and screamed and threw the covers and pillows around.
“I'm not happy! I hate you! Go away!” I cried.
“Yeah that’s what you get! Next time you better be nicer to your big sister!” she warned.
This was so unfair! She was the one that started it when she attacked me for no reason! How could she expect me to trust her when she hurt Snowball so badly!… where was Snowball?
“Where’s Snowball!” I cried.
She looked a little confused. “What, you mean your stupid doll? It’s right there!” She pointed next to me.
Surely enough Snowball was sitting at my bedside, right next to the pink backpack Cosmo had given me. She was really worried about me. Even going as far as to ask how I was feeling.
“I’m better now. Thank you for asking.” I pulled her over and gave her a hug. She then told me I should be nice to Yukio because she saved my life.
“But she’s a bully!” I argued.
Snowball then said “Yes, but you’re not, so don’t become one.”
That sounded dumb. Don’t bully the bully otherwise you become the bully. I didn’t even bully her. I was defending Snowball.
Snowball continued to stare into my eyes as if trying to guilt me into compliance. I pouted before finally relenting. I guess I can try to be nice.
I looked to Yukio who was eyeing me strangely. Then asked, “Did you really save my life?”
She dropped her defense in a short sigh. “Yeah… you flooded your system with too much corruption and not enough quintessence. I had to place those stones over your gates to clean your meridians.”
That sounded really technical so I asked, “What do you mean? Did I mess up bath time?” My words seemed to only irritate her even though I had been serious.
“Hold on! Your telling me you somehow managed to muddy up your body with corruption and you don’t even know what it means!” She rubbed her temples in irritation.
Maybe if I’m honest she wont feel like hurting me again. “There was a bunch of warm stuff and I didn’t want to be cold, so like a friend the warm stuff snuggled up with me.” That was the best way I could describe it.
She seemed to get even more irritated. “Oh my goddess! You didn’t just draw in heat aspects you idiot! There was wind, cold, and water aspects inside you too. Your telling me a total noob like you somehow managed to draw all that in within 40 minutes of dicking around in a bathtub!”
She made it sound like something impossible. “I don’t know what any of that means. There’s no reason to be offended with me.”
“That’s bullshit! How could you do that without any knowledge of cultivation! I’ve been stuck on this world for years trying to develop my own cultivation and yet you figured out how to draw essence in within the first few minutes! It took me a whole year to learn to do that!”
I could see why that might piss her off. Especially if she had been working really hard on it. Here I am coming in with no knowledge, doing it within a few hours of being on this world.
“I don’t care.” I said bluntly.
“What!” She reached for my neck holding it like she was about to choke me. I could feel her anger growing inside her. This was similar to my brother’s jealousy, though not as thick or volatile. It was slightly fresher, like sour milk, while my brothers was more like moldy stinky cheese.
The Aku in me was afraid, while the Isaac in me was starting to get irritated. This girl was stupid. She was somehow blaming her failures on my success. They were unrelated, and besides, I didn’t care. I was here for one thing and one thing only. Not for some stupid sibling-like rivalry. I’ve already done that and I fucking hated it.
“I don’t care if I did something you couldn’t, right now my friends, family… hell! An entire world are all about to be eaten by a greedy demon. I’m not here to fight with little girls. I came here to get stronger.” The Isaac in me must have shown, because her grip softened as her face lost its nerve.
I reached up and took hold of her arm then pulled it away from me. “You say you saved my life right.” She nodded, her face falling into a more neutral expression. “Then from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I don’t know how much time I would have lost if you hadn’t.”
I imagine having to be re-summoned was a big time consumer. The Isaac in me had receded, now that his anger had subsided. What I was left with was guilt. Specifically Aku’s guilt for being a brat when Yukio had saved our life.
“I’m sorry I bit you and threw that rock at you. Also for punching you, but you deserved that last one, when you hurt Snowball.” I said
Yukio mumbled, “Bipolar much? Whatever.” Then asked, “How old are you anyway?”
I didn't see a reason to lie, so I told her the truth. “I'm 39 and a half.”
“For Amaterasu’s sake! You're older than I am! Why are you so childish!” She glared at me.
“’I’m not childish, I’m creative!” I retorted.
She scoffed before placing the hand she used to choke me on the wet part of the futon. “Ew! Did you piss all over the bed!?”
”What!? No, it’s sweat!” I panicked. She was attacking a very sore spot, just like the bully she was.
“Yeah right, you pissed all over the bed!” She accused.
“That’s not true! Smell it” I cried
“like hell I’m gonna smell it!” She backed away a little.
“it’s not like that!” I yelled.
Before she could respond a massive hand chopped at the back of her head. “Ow!” She cried crouching down and holding the sore spot.
“Stop fighting! You’re both children!” said a new figure standing behind Yukio.
I hadn't even seen him come in. It was like he just appeared. I wonder when I'll be able to do stuff like that. Move so fast that no one can see me.
The man had a very deep voice. He was also really tall. Like 9 feet. Then again I still wasn’t used to my height so maybe he was normal sized.
He wore a black cloak that hid his face. His shoulders were huge. The only skin I could see was from His arms. They were tan, and it looked like he had been working outside. There was a lot of dirt under his fingernails.
I’d forgotten I was naked causing me to scramble to pull the sheets back over myself. I ended up over compensating and went under the covers. To remain vigilant I poked my head out the other end.
“I’m not a child. I’m 26.” Murmured Yukio as she nursed her head injury.
Ignoring her the man looked to me. “Squirt, get dressed, training starts in ten minutes, and bring that back pack of yours, we won’t be back for a while.” The man left us there. He didn't vanish. He simply walked out of the room.
Who was that guy? Was that the Brutus guy I heard about? I hope he isn’t mean. He looks like he would be mean.
I reached for the backpack and rustled around in it. The inside was the size of a small closet.
Surely enough I found all the items Cosmo packed for me. The clothes were… interesting. The Jamie’s were just a pink two peace and the training outfit was not what I expected.
I looked to Yukio. “Hey, excuse me.”
She glanced at me fear seeming to cling to her face. She went back to normal when she realized it was just me.
“What?” She responded, some what irritated.
“I know we're not really friends, but can you help me? I don't know how this goes.” I showed her the strange looking kimono.
The fabric was soft. It was also the same pink as my eyes. It looked like a regular kimono, except the bottom half was a skirt. There was also a bit of a glow to it.
She looked the clothes over. “What the hell. Where did you get an enchanted object!?”
“It’s enchanted?” I asked. She looked like she wanted to smack me around for asking.
The girl took a deep breath, then smiled uncharacteristically at me, before saying, “How about you let me keep it? It's not really that great for training and besides wouldn't you rather wear something more simple like my kimono? You'll be going with master Brutus so wearing fancy clothes like this would be a waste.”
She was making sense… but I didn't trust her smile. Also, I'm pretty sure my clothes won't fit her. What was she playing at?
“No, I refuse. If your going to try and steal something from me at least don't tell me what's special about it. What's this about enchanted objects?” I asked.
The girl sighed. “Fine… whatever.” She said. “This kimono has been enchanted through rune script. Now where the hell did a piss baby like you get it? You didn’t steal it from Amaterasu did ya.” She was clutching it like she didn’t want to let it go.
“It was a gift from Cosmo.” I blurted, not wanting any more drama.
“The goddess Cosmo! Why would she give someone like you something as beautiful as this!?” She growled.
I didn’t have time for this. “I’m on a schedule. I can’t waste anymore time here. Are you going to help me or not?”
The girl looked irritate again. “Give it to me and I won’t bother you anymore!”
Its not like I actually cared about the clothes. They were cute, but I don’t think I was going to get to keep them.
“Make peace with me, then help me put it on, and before I leave this world, I’ll give them to you. After all, there’s no guarantee you’ll keep your word after I hand it over.” There was no way she could refuse that offer. I had her.
“Deal!” She agreed without hesitation, causing me to feel like I’d made a mistake. It didn’t matter, there wasn’t much else she could offer me. The best outcome was for her to get out of my way. Anything extra was a bonus.
We shook on it. Then she helped me get dressed with time to spare. I was a little disappointed to find out the clothes weren't all that complicated. There was a sash you needed to put on. She tied it off in a big bow.
If this were a more traditional kimono, there would be a few more steps to it, but this thing was more the kimono equivalent of a clip on tie. I guess it was more modern in a way. Now that I thought about it, was Yukio wearing a kimono or was it one of those yukata things? I didn’t really know the difference. Hers was silky so it had to be a kimono.
The sandals I got were made of wood. Yukio calls them geta. The part I didn't like was that I had to wear socks with them. It was for the best, since the string that went between my toes was so rough.
“There let me do your hair now. Pigtails right?” She asked.
I shook my head. “No thanks, I like it better this way. How about you tell me what’s so special about these clothes? You know, what do they do?” I asked.
If I felt like she was lying there was no way I’d hand her the outfit. The girl seemed to think it over, as if trying to make up a huge lie, before sighing again in defeat.
“I don’t actually know. The bare minimum of all enchanted objects is an aura boost. Maybe…. If there for training, they might give you better control over essence. It’s hard to say. One things for sure, they probably do something ᛒᚨᛞᚨᛊᛊ.” She said.
I tilted my head. “What?” Why was that last word all bleepy?
Just then a pink window popped up. It was just like the one from when I was falling.
System:
Princess Aku: Hey Papa, would you like to know the stats of the clothes?
That was strange. Can I focus on that like I did with the power in my dantian?
With nothing to lose, I gave it a shot. With a bit of concentration, I could feel something cycling within the screen. The power in the screen was very thin and clean. It was nothing like the power I felt in my gut. I followed it back to the source and found that it came from my chest. My soul.
It really was Aku. She was using quintessence to mimic the menu. I tried to interact with it thinking up a message to send back.
Isaac: Why do you need to send messages? Aren’t we already in the same body? You know, think and I’ll understand.
Princess Aku: That doesn’t work as well as you think. You are in control and my emotions effect your actions, but trying to communicate that way is like trying to understand the emotions of a dog.
Yukio, eyed me strangely. I guess I was the only one that could see the screen. I smiled back at her. She went on to elaborate on a lot of things my clothes might be able to do. All of which kind of sounded like the effects of gear.
Isaac: How are you doing this? You’re not cutting yourself up again, are you? I told you not to do that anymore!
Princess Aku: First off, I’ve never cut myself. That was my spirit body cracking after I liquidated parts of my core for power. Second of all, I don’t need to do that anymore, since we have way more quintessence now and are generating more than I could spend on a simple message. You don't need to worry. I'm a mortal now Papa.
Isaac: Okay, that’s good. How are you doing this?
Aku: Papa, I’ve spent my whole life inside my soul. I know how the system enchantment works. I’ve seen the code and I think I can even improve on it. It’s not hard for me to make up my own code.
Wow, I couldn’t believe my baby girl was a coder. She was a little genius. As her father, I couldn’t be prouder. One day I’ll get her, her own body and her own desktop, so she can code her own games.
Who knows maybe we’ll start our own father daughter Minecraft world. I could teach her to play the old doom, or start her gaming journey off with Pokémon Emerald. I can’t wait to watch her wipe the floor in Mortal Combat with her mother.
Isaac: Alright kiddo. Why don’t you show me the stats.
Princess Aku: Sure thing!
Item name: Flower Kimono (Cherry)
Rarity: Unique (U)
Type: Clothing
Defense: 50
M-Defense: 100
Durability: 45,000/900 (5x)
Effects:
1: Filter: Censors bad words and nudity.
2: Meridian Purification: When cycling, essence corruption will be easier to purge from body.
3: Conduit: Essence becomes 2x easier to gather and control.
4: Divine regeneration : Heal 10x faster over time.
5: Divine Aura: your aura will clean your body and surroundings.
Enchantments:
1: Durability IV: item will last 5x as long.
2: Haste IV: increases movement speed by 80%.
3: Elemental Resistance IV: reduces damage from all elements by 70%.
4: Repair: Durability repairs over time. (Life aspects required)
Equip effects:
Charm Boost: +150%
This was really good gear. For Unique gear to have that many effects was unheard of. Most of the effects weren’t tailored for combat. At least not from what I could see. They used a lot of the lore keepers and Yukio’s words. Something told me they were more to speed up my training.
The clothes were enchanted to have stats but they also have enchantments like Durability and Elemental Resistance. What was the difference in that?
Princess Aku: The base enchantment is what gives it the defense and magic defense, along with the effects, but the enchantments are extra effects tagged on in the empty spaces left over.
So basically the whole thing was an enchantment, but the extra effects were spare enchantments tagged on after the creation of the item. The creation of the item was like printing out a sign in sheet while the added enchantments are signatures made in ink.
Isaac: I get it. Thanks kid.
The only effect that was truly useless, was the filter thing. It was a little annoying, but the benefits outweighed it. I wasn’t sure what this essence stuff was, but going off of context I’d say the word was interchangeable with “focus.”
Seeing as there was nothing left to say, the screen vanished. Yukio finished her lecture about enchanted items and I was free to leave. In the end I met up with Brutus out in the courtyard. He was nursing a flask. I could tell it was alcohol from a mile away.
What the hell kind of training would I be doing? At least my kimono was pretty. I could feel Aku’s delight. She seemed to want to twirl, but now wasn’t really the time.