Hina chose a night where she knew she would be alone, to break the taboo.
“I read a lot of books, but I don't have the confidence to create a person from scratch. That why I'll use this as reference.”
What Hina took out was a comic book. It was her favorite comic series.
It was about a human who was given special powers from God to save the human race.
Hina thought that it was well written for a comic book, as it shows not only the heroes strengths but his weakness as a human.
The hero would sometime give into greed, he would sometime let his anger get the best of him, and he wasn't one who would just beat someone up just because they're branded as the bad guy. He was someone who tried to understand someone before fighting them.
What made the story even more interesting, was the main villain.
He had received powers from a demon to lead the human race to extinction. But there was more to him than mindless destruction.
He was very logical. He would only kill those who deserved it. Like cruel politicians who aimed to spread misery for fun.
He was smart, and didn't really listened to his demon. He did whatever he wanted, whether it would come across as good or bad. He wasn’t heartless either. He felt remorse for those who died innocently, and mercilessly hunted down their killers.
He and the hero teamed up many times, and seemed like they would be good friends if it wasn't for their positions.
Incidentally, the friend Hina wanted to make was a combination of the hero and the villain. To her that would make the best friend.
“I would prefer if I could just manifest and fuse them, but that would be impossible. Well, with a normal manifestation that is.”
One day an idea came to her when she remembered the explanation Nami gave her about her powers.
Her powers were very similar, there's only one big difference. One can create life while the other cant.
But Hina didn't have the confidence to create life out of nothing. So it came to her.
“Can't I combine [Creation] with [Manifestation] to put life in something I manifested?”
It was a reckless idea. In the first place Hina hadn't master either of those abilities, so to try to fuse them together was insane.
But Hina overlooked this. She was intoxicated with the idea of getting a friend who truly understood her, that she never thought about the risks.
“Ok, let's start!”
Hina placed three things on a table.
A notebook that outlined a person's personality, a diagram of the human body, and her favorite comic.
Hina stood in front of the table and poured all her magic into them.
“[Creation] + [Manifestation]!”
The entire room was devoured by a bright light.
All the knowledge Hina learnt about the human body, poured out of her mind and into that light.
The things that she placed on the table could be seen to have ripples in them, like they were buckets of water that was being shaken.
This continued for a while before the light dimmed.
When Hina opened her eyes she saw a human figure standing in front of her.
“I-I did it!”
She shouted excitedly.
The person that stood in front her, looked exactly how she had picture it.
She was truly excited and proud of herself.
And that's when she noticed something.
“Huh? It feels like my magic is still being sucked out of me. Huh? It won't stop.”
Even though she already succeeded in creating what she wanted, her magic was still being sucked out of her.
“Hey, stop! Hey! What's happening?!”
It didn't take long for Hina to fall to her knees.
She was getting weaker by the moment. She was already out of magic, but something else was still being sucked out.
It was her life.
“S-Stop already…”
She collapsed to floor and started to breath heavily.
“…Could it be that I didn't have enough power for the spell, so my life is being used as payment?”
As if to confirm her theory, the room underwent a sudden change.
The bright light reappeared, but this time it was an ominous red.
The room began shake, the table and the things on it burst into flames, cracks ran up the walls straight up to the ceilings, and the air suddenly felt colder.
The human figure also underwent changes.
It's skin turned purple, it grew a second head, it started sprouting multiple limbs all over its body, it grew fangs and claws, and finally a giant eye opened up in the middle of its chest.
It no longer had any resemblance to a human.
It was nothing more than a monster.
Hina laid helplessly on the floor, and watch as that monster sucked her life away.
Her skin began to shriveled up and her hair grew paler by the second. It didn't take long before it turned completely white.
Hina could tell what's happening from her body changes.
“I'm going to die…”
It had reach a point where she no longer felt pain. She could only feel a cold sensation creeping up on her heart.
Hina was surely terrified. She was experiencing what it felt like to die slowly.
She started to cry.
“No… I don't wanna die. Grandma, help me….Grandma!”
“Hina!”
As if answering Hina's plea for help, Nami burst through the front door.
“Hina, what's going on here?! And what is that monster, did you create it?!”
Hina couldn't answer Nami's questions. She no longer had the strength to. She could only shed tears while laying face down.
“Hina, your hair!”
Nami finally noticed the change in Hina's body and ran towards her.
“This isn't good. You've exhausted all of your magic, and now your life is being sucked away.”
Nami glared at the monster Hina created.
“If I kill this thing it should stop.”
“ROAR!”
Hearing what Nami said, the monster opened its mouth and released a terrifying roar.
It moved for the first time.
It charged towards Nami and slashed at her with its claws.
She dodged it by stepping to the side.
She then kicked it in the head, and sent it flying through a wall.
“Ow! It's tough!”
Nami held her leg and rubbed it.
“Roar!”
The monster burst back through the wall and threw a punch at Nami. She blocked it by crossing her arms together.
*Crack*
The sound of her bones breaking reached her ears.
“Tch!”
She grabbed the monster’s arms and dragged it towards her. She then kneed it in its face, and then clad her right hand with lightning and thrust it into the giant eye in the monster’s chest.
“RAWR?!”
It roared out in agony, and retreated to the other end of the room.
Nami took that opportunity to lift Hina up and escape the apartment.
She jump over the railings that was in front of her door and landed in the streets.
“Hina, I'm going to pour my magic power inside your body. That should compensate for the magic you've lost, thus preventing your death.”
Nami did as she said and poured enough magic in Hina to prevent her from dying from [Magic Exhaustion].
Hina could see a bright light envelop her. It felt warm and soothing, and she was soon able to move her body again.
Nami put her down and Hina stood on her own.
“I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like I can’t do anything about your hair.”
Hina held her head down and didn't look at Nami.
“….I'm sor-”
*Slap*
Hina's apology was interrupted by Nami slapping her.
She looked at Nami teary eyed.
“You shouldn't have done it if you knew that you would have to apologize for it later. I don't why you did it, and honestly I don't care. It doesn't change the fact that you almost died to bring a monster into the world.”
Hina started crying harder. Seeing that, Nami sighed and placed her hand on head.
“Well, I'm glad that you're alive. Just don't do something like that again. Or the stress will make me look my age.”
Nami stooped down and hugged the crying Hina.
“I told you already, didn't I? You'll find friends who can understand you. So there's no need to do dangerous stuff like this.”
Hina nodded while crying.
Nami then stopped hugging Hina and stood up.
“I would like to comfort and scold you some more, but that monster doesn't plan on letting us do that.”
As if to agree with Nami, a red light was seen coming from inside their apartment. And then-
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*BOOM!*
The entire building exploded.
Nami used her body to shield Hina from the flying glass and other debris.
“Grandma!”
“Don't worry! Something like this isn't enough to kill me!”
She replied as glass stabbed into her back.
After a few seconds the light faded, and the aftershock of the explosion stopped.
When Nami directed her eyes to where the building once stood, she saw a different monster than before.
It had a red skin, and a muscular build. The number of limbs and heads were normal, and it had a pair of horns on its head.
“Don't tell me it evolved? …This is bad. That thing is now a [Upper B Class] like me. Only a general and up can beat it.”
Nami looked at Hina who bit her lip in frustration.
“Don't worry. I'll take it down, so run away as far as you can. I don't want you to get drag into what is about to happen.”
Hina nodded a ran in the opposite direction.
Seeing that, Nami walked towards the monster and glared at it. It returned a glared back at Nami.
And then it began.
The two kicked off the ground at the same time, and met each other halfway.
*BOOM!*
Their fists collied and a shockwave ran through the surroundings and broke all the glass.
They both pulled back their arms and threw another punch.
*BOOM!*
Their fists clashed again.
This time the concrete under them burst open.
Nami aimed a kick at the monster’s temple. It dodged with a duck, and aimed an uppercut at Nami's chin. It's goal was to pop her head off her body.
Nami realized that and bent her body backwards, and dodged it with a backflip.
The monster chased after her, and slash at her with its claws. Nami stopped it with her arm.
*Ching!*
“…?!”
Instead of the sound of Nami's arm being torn off, what reached the monster’s ears was the sound of metal clashing.
When it looked at Nami's arm, it was black and shiny like steel.
This was [Armored Skin]. A technique where the user harden their body like iron using magic.
Nami used it to block the monster's claws.
“Oh, so you feel emotions like surprise. That's good, because it would be boring not to get a response out of you while I beat you into a pulp!”
Nami used [Armored Skin] on her other hand, and slammed her fist into the monster's face.
Blood escape from its nose, and it took a step back. But, Nami wasn't finished.
“Hahhhhhh!”
Nami repeatedly slammed her fists into the monster's body.
Every punch caused a loud sound.
The monster's body jerked from left to right over and over again.
Blood sprayed through the air. Some even landed on Nami's face, but she still didn't stop. Nami continued to pound the monster.
And then a sudden change happened.
“Eh?”
The monster grabbed one of Nami's fist and pulled her closer.
He then slammed his fist in her stomach.
“Guh?!”
Nami spat out a large amount of blood as her feet lifted off the ground.
The monster then uppercut her further up into the air. And then, when she was at right position, he slammed his thick leg in her midsection.
*Crack*
The sound of her ribs breaking reached Nami’s ears.
She flew several meters and broke through a building.
As if to finish her, the monster started gathering magic in its palms.
Two giant balls of red light formed in its palms. The monster then threw them at the building that Nami crashed into. And then-
*KABOOM!*
A large blast that stretch to around 50 meters, destroyed the building and everything else that got caught in it.
When the dust started clearing, the only thing that remained was a huge crater.
“……”
The monster slowly approached that crater. And then-
*Stab*
Something flew and pierced its chest.
It was a lance made of earth.
“You sure did a number on me, you red bastard!”
The monster looked and saw Nami on the other side of the crater with an angry expression.
The monster removed the lance from its chest, while glaring at her.
“Tch. I missed the heart because of the dust.”
Nami bent her knees and jumped over the 50 meter crater with ease. She then created an axe out of earth, and walked towards the monster.
“This is [Earth Arsenal]. I can recreate any weapon I've seen before, with earth magic. It's my pride. So be grateful for getting to experience it!”
Nami rushed towards the monster while spinning her axe.
The monster also rushed towards her, and slashed at Nami.
She dodged it's claws, and lodged the axe in its neck.
“Rawr?!”
The monster thick muscles stopped the axe from cutting off its head.
Nami pulled out the axe and swung it again, but the monster dodged this time and was able get behind her.
It then used its claws and slashed Nami's back.
“Ahhhh?!”
She screamed out in pain and then spun around, and swiftly cut off the monster's arm with the axe.
“Rawr?!”
The monster quickly tried to distanced itself, but Nami threw the axe and lodged it in its chest. But it still didn't fall.
“Tch. Tough bastard.”
Nami swung her hand to the side, and the earth in front of started to move as if it's alive. And then in less than 3 seconds, 10 earth cannons stood in front of her.
“Then how about this?!”
The cannons started firing in rapid succession.
Cannon balls the size of a human head flew towards the monster.
It jumped into the air to dodge, however-
“It won't be that easy!”
The cannon followed it and aimed in the air.
The monster was mercilessly assaulted by cannon balls.
“Rawr?!”
They hit his face, chest, legs, arm, head, everywhere. Even when he fell down to the ground he was mercilessly assaulted.
This continued for 5 minutes.
“……”
After stopping the cannons, Nami walked over to it and looked down on it.
It was battered beyond belief. It couldn't move and only twitched in place. It was clearly defeated.
“For something created by a child, you sure caused me a lot trouble.”
Nami was heavily damaged. Her clothes were torn up and an old wound on her left side was revealed. She was covered in her own blood, some of her bones were broken too, and she was pretty sure that she had internal bleeding.
“I may have dull the pain with my mind, but if I don't see a doctor or receive healing magic soon I'm going to die. My body isn't what it used to be after all.”
While saying that, Nami threw a lance in the monster's head and started walking away from it.
And then-
*Flash*
The whole area was suddenly devoured by light. Nami quickly looked towards the monster, and realized what was happening.
“It's gathering a lot of magic in its core….Don't tell me it's going to self destruct?!”
Nami started to ran with all her might towards a building a couple hundred meters away. To where Hina was waiting for her.
After running for 10 seconds, she saw a lot of people running in a panic. They must've gotten caught up in her fight with the monster.
“Hina!”
After scanning the crowd for a bit, she spotted Hina waiting for her.
“Grandma!”
“Hina, run! Run as far away from here as poss-”
*BOOM*
Nami was interrupted by the sound of an explosion.
When she looked behind her, she saw the blast stretching towards her.
She wanted to outrun it and escape with Hina, but her body took too much damage.
Realizing that she couldn't escape with Hina, Nami made her decision.
“Hina's life matters over all!”
She stopped in her tracks and faced the blast.
She quickly stooped down, and placed her hands on the ground.
“[Earth Shield]!”
A giant shield made of earth erected from the ground, and blocked the blast.
“Grandma!”
“Hina no matter what, don't move from behind me!”
The blast ripped apart the buildings and the road.
Hina watched as countless people were destroyed without being able to do anything.
Those beside her or those in front of her, it didn't matter. They all turned into ash.
The only thing that was preventing Hina from experiencing the same fate, was the shield Nami created.
However, Nami was slowly being pushed back by the blast.
Her skin was being scorch, her hair was getting burnt, her bones were being scattered from the pressure; but even with all that, Nami still poured all of her magic into the shield.
“Grandma, that's enough! Just escape by yourself!”
“Shut up, brat! Don't give me orders! I was entrusted with protecting you, and that's what I'm going to do!”
Hina could see Nami's hair rapidly whitening.
“Grandma!”
“Are you deaf?! I'm not abandoning you! Hate me all you want if you have to! But at least you'll be alive to do it!”
The shield started to break because of the lack of magic power. Seeing that, Nami quickly made her decision.
“Use all my life if you have to! But in return, please protect my pride and joy!”
She poured all of her remaining life in the shield, and it expanded thrice its size.
The sudden expansion of the shield forced back the blast until it died out.
After a few seconds, the blast disappeared and the shield crumbled. Nami also collapsed with it.
“Grandma!”
Hina ran towards Nami and stooped down next to her.
“….Seriously, even when I'm dying you still won't listen to me.”
Nami tiredly looked up at the teary eyed Hina and smiled.
“…I told you to call me Big Sis. I don't look that old…”
She laughed weakly.
“Don't talk, I'll go get a doctor!”
Hina tried to stand up, but was stopped by Nami.
“Don't bother. I'm already dead….”
“Don't say that, I just need to pour magic back into you and…”
“It won't work. I've already used up my remaining life force. I can’t even feel anything anymore….”
“But!”
“Hey, Hina. Do you remember the first book I taught you to read?”
“Why are you asking something like that?!”
“To be honest, I can't remember. You've read some many books that I've lost track.”
Nami laughed weakly and as if she heard a joke.
“Hina. You probably hate yourself right now, but don't. You're a beautiful and smart little girl. You may not have friends now, but there will definitely be a time where people will flock towards you. So, be patient.”
“….Grandma…I….”
“Oh, I know I shouldn't tell you this while you're still so young but, be sure to find a good man when you get older. Not one of those sissy boys, who care about their looks more than they care about you. Find a man who can protect you, someone you feel the desire to protect as well. If it's you, I'm sure you'll find an interesting guy.”
“Grandma, listen!”
“No way. I don't want the last thing you say to me to be an apology. I deserve better than that. I want to be told I was loved even if it's a lie.”
“….Its not a lie! I really love you, Grandma!”
Nami started to laugh again after hearing Hina's desperate tone.
“I love you too, Hinami.”
She closed her eyes and with a peaceful expression spoke.
“But I told you to call me Big Sis….I don't…look… that….old..”
With those final words, Nami's voice was never heard again.
Only Hina's crying voiced echoed through the wasteland.
Two weeks later, it was announced by the Royal Guards that the incident that claimed the lives of 124 people, was caused by a white haired girl. This caused a lot people to resent Hina wherever she went.
There were times when persons seeking revenge for the ones they lost, would try to kill her.
One of these persons was Darius, someone who was close to her.
One day she was cornered by him.
“Hinami, it's good to see that you're still alive and kicking.”
Darius looked down on Hina, who was covered with wounds.
He had just finishing killing the people who were hitting her with metal rods.
“…Uncle Darius..”
“Please don't call me that. It makes me sick.”
Hearing Darius saying that, pained Hina's heart. She always knew that he wasn't a good person, but he was always kind to her. But now he was looking at her like she was filth.
“You smell, Hinami. When was the last time you had a bath? Well, whatever. I'm not here to preach to you about your hygiene.”
Darius took out a paper from his pocket and threw it at her.
“That is bill you owe me. 100,000 gold coins in total. If you're wondering why it's so high, it's because I had to pay the King for him not to execute you. Hey, did you know that the fee for killing 124 people is 12,400 gold coins? That means that in this kingdom a life is worth only 100 gold coins. Pretty cheap don't you think?”
“…..Why did you pay it?”
Darius had a surprised expression when he heard Hina's question.
“Why? That's because I want to kill you myself, that's why.”
A chill ran down Hina's spine.
“I never knew you had such a disgusting ability. Creating life? What? You think you're god or something? Plus since I'm the one who gave you the idea, it's only fitting that I should be the one to execute you, don't you agree?”
Hinami sluggishly got to her feet, and started to run away clumsily.
Darius slowly walked after her.
“Calm down, Hinami. I won't kill you yet. You're still so young. So, I’m giving you some time to experience the world more. Maybe a year or so. That's the longest I think I can hold myself back from killing you, after all.”
“I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! Help, somebody help me!”
“Huh? She's not listening? Well, whatever. I'll just watch her a little longer. Feeling unimaginable despair from being hated by thousands of people, is the first step to repentance I guess.”
Darius watched as Hina tripped and fell on her face. She started crawling on the ground while crying.
“Oh, looks like her legs were more damaged than I thought. Man, those people showed no mercy when they were beating you did they?”
Hina grabbed onto a trash can and tried to use it to stand up, but the trash can tumbled over and covered her in trash. She started crying even louder.
“Ah, I forgot to tell her that I sold the book store. Well, she's not listening anyway. I'm sure she'll find out soon enough.
Hina stopped moving and laid in the trash crying.
“Enough. I can't take it anymore, grandma! I should've died with you! I don't wanna be alone anymore! Everyone hates me!”
Hina remembered the expression that the persons who came to kill her had on their faces.
It was pure hatred.
They despised her. They wished for her to suffer. To them the white-haired girl was nothing but a cursed existence.
Most of them didn't even know her. They used the white hair to identify her. That's way Hina hated seeing her hair and cut it. But for some reason, it would grow back the next day.
“They stone me, they beat me, they spit on me! Everyday someone tell me to go die in a gutter! I don't even have anyone to rely on! In order to eat, I have to either steal or eat out of the garbage!”
By the time Hina was saying this, Darius was already close to her.
Hina forcibly stood up and the sounds of her bones breaking could be heard. She started to run.
“I just wanna fly away somewhere! Fly to where no one knows me or hated me for my hair!”
Light started gathering around Hina's back.
She saw some birds flying in the distance.
“Yes, like a dove. I want to fly away from all my troubles!”
The light took the shape of wings.
Darius widen his eyes when he saw this.
“I wanna fly to where Grandma is!”
As if responding to Hina's wish, the wings began to flop and before she could realize it, Hina launched off into the air.
Darius stood in place and watched as Hina cut through the air at incredible speed.
“….Did she possesses another ability? I guess that settles it. She's becoming too dangerous. She must be killed.”
After saying that, Darius turned his back to Hina and walked in the opposite direction.
Hina who suddenly found herself flying across the sky, panicked about the changes to her body.
“What?! I grew wings?!....No, I didn't grew them I created them. Does that mean I can use [Creation] to modify my body? Or is it something else all together?”
She calmly assessed her situation. She has been abused all the time she was on the ground, so being in the air outside of anyone's reach had calmed her down.
“Since that incident, my body has went through a lot of changes. The magic in my body feels unbalanced too. While [Manifestation] takes a lot of power, [Creation] takes little to no power. But…”
Because she used it to create the monster that killed her grandmother, Hina always becomes noxious after using [Creation]. In some cases, she even starts vomiting.
“Ugh…”
Hina crashed on a rooftop from feeling sick.
She looked at the white wings that broke her fall. The longer she stared at it, the sicker she felt.
“Ugh…”
The memories of that night started flashing in her mind causing negative feelings to surface.
There was another reason why Hina didn't like using her powers.
“….This power is disgusting.”
It was because it reminded her of her disgust towards herself, which usually leads to her hurting herself.
She sat up and grabbed the wings on her back.
“It's because of this disgusting power that my life is hell!”
She started to pull it.
“It's because of this everyone wants me dead!”
She increased the force, and pull the wing that was attached to her skin.
“It's because of this everyone left me!”
Her skin began to tear and blood started leaking out.
“It's because of this Uncle Darius is trying to kill me!”
The skin tore and started peel off. Her bleeding flesh was exposed.
“It's because of this! It's because of this! It's because of this!”
The skin peeled off and blood started gushing from her back. Only thing that connected the wings to her back was small strewn of skin.
And then-
“ITS BECAUSE OF THIS THAT GRANDMA HAD TO DIE!!!”
With one final pull, Hina ripped the wings off her back.
She cried in place as the blood flowed down her back and stain her torn clothes.
This was Hinami’s lowest point in life.
With no one to rely on, this 6-year-old girl considered committing suicide almost everyday. But, couldn't because she believed that would waste Nami's sacrifice. So she was forced to live a life of despair.
But that was only until she met a man calling himself Klick, who rescued her from this despair.
He gave her a home, introduced her to two boys who would later became her closest friends; and finally, he thought her how to live.
And that was how Hina became the person she was today.