“You look terrible, Kanashi.” Rebecca said, taking her seat at the cafeteria table.
“Thanks.” Kanashi groaned with blood shot eyes.
“Did something happen?” She asked, waving over Jason who reluctantly took a seat next to her.
“You can say that.” Kanashi grumbled picking at his food. He was starving but he just couldn't force himself to eat for some reason. He tried but ended up gagging when he tried to swallow it. It was like trying to swallow a mouth full of salt.
“Well if you need our help we’re always here!” Rebecca laughed. She turned to Jason for support who only gave a half ass shrug.
Wow real confidence booster there pal. “I think I can figure it out on my own but I’ll be sure to call you over if I need some help.” Kanashi muttered in response. He closed his eyes and let his forehead rest on the table. I just need to rest my eyes a bit…
# # #
When Kanashi awoke he was in a strange room, not the cafeteria where he had just closed his eyes nor his bedroom. Judging by the smell and appearance this was Jason and Rebecca's room.
Kanashi leaned forward slightly and checked under the blanket he was under. Thankfully his pants were still in fact on his body. He also lifted his shirt and saw no fresh incisions or ice packs.
“We didn’t do anything like That to you.” Jason said from Kanashis right side.
“Why am I here?” Kanashi asked, turning to him.
“Because you passed out on the table and we couldn't drag you all the way back to your room. Our room was closer so you ended up here.”
“Where’s Rebecca?”
“Trying to get the ship's doctor to come see you.”
“Oh, well thank you...” Kanashi muttered, leaning back and letting himself rest on the bed. It was pretty nice, nicer than his at least and smelled like Rebecca. Though he didn't find her attractive at all she still smelled rather sweet and woman-like.
“Don't sniff too hard.” Jason said with a grimace.
“Oh… sorry” Kanashi said, turning his head in embarrassment. “... Thank you…”
“Don’t thank me. Thank Rebecca, she’s the one who’s doing all of this.”
“Rebecca is?” Kanashi repeated with pursed lips. Why is she doing all this for me? Does she like me or something? No, that’s not it. Maybe she wants more information about Jin? Will she try to blackmail me with this saying something like “Now I’ve got you where I want you! If you don't want to have a massive financial debt, call Jinen to come here right now!” Or something like that? Well I wouldn't worry about Jin getting hurt rather me getting hurt by him. Though he’d probably understand and say something like “You should have used…” and then list some crazy magic trick only he can possibly do. Yeah that sounded like him.
“She’s not doing this to get anything over you.” Jason said, breaking Kanashis train of thought.
“I know.” Kanashi lied nodding his head.
“She’s just like that. Always wanting to help others. It gets annoying at times when we end up not being able to do our job because she got side tracked. However since this is down time I can’t complain.”
Kanashi thought about those words for a while before speaking his own mind. “Why did you come on the Cymba in the first place?”
“Can’t say anything other than what had already been said.”
“Gotcha…” Kanashi laid there while Jason watched some kind of old black and white show on the Tube Television for a while.
“!” The room's door swung open with Rebecca standing in its door frame.
“I’m back!” She yelled out with a scowl. “That damn doctor said he doesn't do room calls and needs Kanashi to go to him. Not only that but he’s booked up for the next 3 days! What a joke! And even worse- Oh sorry for waking you Kanashi…” Rebecca said, placing her hand over her mouth.
“I was already awake so it’s cool.” Kanashi grinned.
“Ah okay, well how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I think I just needed to get some more sleep. I didn't get much last night.”
“Are you sure that’s it? This morning you were ghost white and shaking with blue lips.”
I looked that bad? Kanashi wondered.
“He was shaking over here on your bed while sniffing the sheets.” Sighed Jason.
“Jason!” Kanashi cried out.
“I go out of my way to make sure you're not gonna die and you sniff my sheets? You're a sick pervert.” Rebecca grimaced.
“Wait no please listen to me-” Kanashi stumbled over his words and he looked like he was on the verge of tears as he spoke.
“I’m just joking!” Rebecca laughed. “Jason just has a real dry sense of humor.”
“Who said I was joking?” Jason asked with a cold expression.
“See?” Rebecca nodded.
“Well todays been eventful already.” Kanashi sighed, collapsing back into the bed.
“Now let's get you back to your room.” Rebecca said, ripping the blankets off of Kanashi.
“Ah the cold!” He cried out grabbing onto his arms with a shiver.
“Oh get over it!” Rebecca argued, grabbing Kanashi and pulling him to his feet. Just like she did the day before, Rebecca adjusted Kanashis weight in many different directions so it was easier to pull him to his feet.
It’s almost like Aiki… Kanashi thought.
Aiki is a martial art principle based on using your opponent's weight and inertia against them. For example putting them into a certain position where they would be forced down by their own weight being accumulated in one direction. Some manga series make it seem much more like a true magical technique compared to reality but this woman Rebecca seemed to be putting that style of exaggerated Aiki into action.
If I’m right then her spell activation condition must be putting your hand on someone as an anchor point and then adjusting their weight in a certain direction. For example if someone is running forwards as they lean into their next step she’ll adjust all the weight to their head so they slam down into the floor or so. That’s probably it. Kanashi concluded with a confident smile.
“Don't tell me you’re getting that excited from me touching you…” Rebecca snarled.
“Oh no sorry I was just remembering something.”
“Oh what’s that?”
“Have you ever read the manga Grappler Kiba?”
“Never heard of it.”
Hmm maybe my theory isn't right then and she’s doing something else.
# # #
It had been ten days since Kanashi met Satoshi. During that time things continued as usual.
He’d meet with Rebecca and Jason during breakfast and then talk about whatever came to mind. After breakfast Kanashi would practice magic alone in his room until lunch. Just like during breakfast he’d talk with Rebeeca and Jason.
After lunch he’d spend a few hours in the gym working out until Dinner time. Then he’d once again eat with Rebbeca and Jason before calling it a night.
When practicing magic in his room Kanashi was able to learn a variety of new tricks. His first goal was to learn how to create [Ice] more efficiently.
[Ice] is an [Extension Element] meaning it’s either a mixture of two or more elements or a derivative of a base element.
For example an elementalist can create [Heat] an [Extension Element] through using [Fire] as a base. They’d train themselves to generate the heat from a flame without one being present. This is a derivative.
[Ice] much like [Mud] in a combination of two elements being [Water] and [Air]. But even though Kanashi knew the formula he was having trouble finding the “solution” (Ice.)
Kanashi was able to create small things the size of ice cubes for a drink but anything larger than that was impossible.
To create the Ice cubes he would first conjure a handful of [Water] which then would be cooled with [Air.] Thankfully cold air was something he could create rather simply. By conjuring [Air] and then emitting it at a low power but quick speed the air would naturally become rather cold.
However this method only worked to create small constructs. He filled the bathtub up with conjured water and then tried to cool that with air but it wasn't possible.
He knew it wasn’t impossible to create ice on a larger scale since he’d seen Jinen do just that.
But can he do that because he’s Jinen Lutece or can he do it because there’s another method…
Once Kanashi was ready to give up he found the solution. Instead of creating water and then applying the cold air he needed to conjure water while also conjuring the cold air. It was extremely difficult to do since he needed to not only create the air but also control it’s temperature so that it could freeze the ice as it emerged. It was far from perfect but with this new method he could create larger constructs of ice.
Next was energy manipulation. Though his aptitude for it was low according to Jin it would still be a useful thing to know. After experiencing Rebecca's Aiki-like energy manipulation spell he could now understand it better.
To train his Energy manipulation Kanashi stole a PVC pipe from a broom closet and sliced it in half. He then covered one side with his hand from which he emitted a bullet of mana from. On the other side of the pipe he would place his hand and try to catch the emission.
This however proved to be ineffective. After tweaking the speed and quantity of mana inside the emission he understood the issue.
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He needed to apply his mana into the object not through it, however this too was tricky. If he applied too much mana the pipe would rupture from the force. If he did too little it would simply fizzle out. It was a work in progress but he’d figured out the base method which was the most important.
Finally the last thing Kanashi practiced was Advanced Enhancement or simply put healing magic. This he completely failed at achieving. Even after much practice he made little to no improvement.
You could heal small wounds like paper cuts rather quickly with just normal enchantment but anything larger than that was an entirely different animal. Applying enhancement to the wound itself did nothing. Kanashi tried to apply the Enhancement in the same way he would Reinforcement but that too did nothing.
I’ll need to ask Cao-Li for help I guess… He concluded with a sigh.
Today, the tenth day after meeting Satoshi, was like any other day. Kanashi sat in his room and decided to try and work out a new ranged spell.
[Rock Riffle] the basic concept was shooting a chunk of [Earth] at your opponent. It sounds simple and easy which is why Kanashi wanted to create it.
As explained by Jin create a spell you need to establish what you want it to do so
>Form “bullet” of earth
>Fire bullet in desired direction to hit opponent
Next would be conditions and or restrictions if you so desired but Kanashi wasn't too worried about anything like that right now. He could always create extensions spells later on using [Rock Riffle] as a base and then adding something on top of it.
Now that he’d created the basic layout of the spell he needed to actually put it into action. By doing this he could troubleshoot any potential issues before needing to use it in battle.
Kanashi found himself in a nice vacant spot in the bottom level of the boat where he could practice his magic without worry of involving anyone else.
“Now then, let’s see what I need to do first…” Kanashi muttered, rubbing his chin.
>Create a ball of earth
>Determine Size, Speed and shape
>Put energy in it from behind
>Send it forwards
“Alright then let’s get started.”
[Rock Riffle - Size: Tennis Ball - Speed: Very fast, Shape: Sphere] With that Kanashi fired his spell for the first time intending it to work but there was already a problem it didn't want to actually fire.
“Hmmm.” He groaned trying to activate it once again. This time Kanashi looked closely at the rock that formed and then fell to the ground without moving.
He was currently creating the rock in the air and then trying to emit it outwards but that wasn't working. He thought it might have been like Energy Manipulation where you apply mana into the bullet directly but that only made it break apart no matter how much or little he put in. So that was a bust.
How does a gun fire? He asked himself, No it uses gunpowder but that wouldn't work here since I don't know how to use Transmutation to create gunpowder… How about a cannon ball then? How do cannons shoot? Kanashi thought about this, once again it was gunpowder but not inside the cannonball no, from behind it. “Oh!” He said, smacking his fist to his palm like a hammer.
I’ll create as much air as I can in a condensed form full of oxygen and then add fire to cause an explosion and push it forwards!
Coming to his solution, Kanashi was prepared to test out his theory. However he then had a bad feeling and reconsidered it.
Hmmm maybe this wasn't such a good idea huh? I could blow a hole in this ship if I make the explosion too big so I should tone it down.
[Rock Riffle - Size: Marble - Speed: Medium, Shape: Sphere]
“Alright that should be good.” Kanashi said with a smile, he began to conjure air, making it thick and dense full of oxygen and then he added the tiniest little bit of flame.
“ZIP!”
The small rock bullet shot off the deck and whistled through the air before smashing into the water causing a small but noticeable explosion in the water.
“Cool!” Kanashi called out with a proud nod. Okay next was to size it up a bit, this time he made it the size of a golf ball and repeated the processes. It took some more air but it worked and made a bigger explosion in the water. Big enough to see if you were looking but to the point it was something anyone would worry about.
“Alright then let’s take it up a notch.” He said rubbing his hands together.
[Rock Riffle - Size: Bowling Ball- Speed: Maximum - Shape: Sphere.] Kanashi pumped a massive amount of air into this Rock Riffle and then just when it hit its limit he ignited it.
What followed was a massive explosion that sent him flying back into the wall of the ship which he put a dent into. The rock bullet which was more like a rock nuclear missile smashed into the water with the loudest crash he’d ever heard. Like a train slammed into a brick fortress at full speed. The water shot up into the sky creating what looked like a mushroom cloud of salt water which then rained down onto the entire deck with fish included. The explosion caused the calm tide to turn manic and the boat thrashed around waving to the right and left in quick succession. Alarm bells rang loudly and people screamed. Yeah this was pretty bad.
# # #
Everyone on the boat felt the power from Kanashis [Rock Riffle] explosion but only a few felt the first impact.
That being the massive amount of mana set off in an instant. Kanashi was already playing a dangerous game using magic out in the open but it was small enough that no one noticed. At least it would have been but that last [Rock Riffle] had filled the entire surrounding kilometer with a blast of mana.
Rebecca and Jason instantly recognized who it was and made their way to the deck for an emergency meeting with Kanashi. Meanwhile in the ship's lowest level the little over half a dozen Yakuza members present jumped at the massive surge of mana.
“!”
“Gemuji, Ryutarou, Mugiwagi, Tensuke!” Kensuke barked emerging from his office.
The four called upon men jumped to their feet in response. Gemuji had spiky blonde hair and green eyes. To his right was Ryutarou, an older man with a long whisker- like mustache.
Mugiwagi was a dark skinned man with slit-like eyes and a bald head. Finally was Tensuke, a young man with curly brown hair and a scar across his nose.
“Yes sir!?” They all shouted in unison.
“Go investigate that large emission! If you feel the need, use force!” Kenuske commanded.
“Yes sir!” All four of the men said in unison, charging up the staircase.
Kensuke turned to the snake-faced man Jyaken with a nod. “Jyaken, you create Golems for surveillance and communication!”
“Yes sir!” Jyaken answered, sticking his hand out. From his hand grew a swarm of pitch black snakes taking different lengths and girths. The snakes each scattered in different directions, some through cracks in the walls or vents while others simply climbed the stairs.
Even though he wasn’t called upon, Satoshi jumped to his feet. He clenched his hand hard enough that his nails cut open his palm. His breath was ragged and eyes narrowed. He recognized that mana, it came from Kanashis death defying aura.
Without hesitation or thought Satoshi on pure instinct moved towards the staircase.
“Where do you think you’re going, Satoshi?” Jyaken asked.
“I’m going to fight Kanako.” Satoshi answered with an annoyed frown.
“Stop Satoshi!” Kensuke called out, marching forwards and reaching to grab Satoshi by his nape.
“!”
Blood splashed through the air and Kensuke's arm fell to the floor with a wet slap.
“I told you that I’d take the whole thing off next time.” Satoshi smirked.
“Guaaah!?” Kensuke screamed out, stumbling backwards and clutching his arm.
“Satoshi!” Kuramo roared, slamming his foot down, “Who do you think you are attacking your superior like that!?”
“Since when was he my superior?” Satoshi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“What do you mean!? You’re a member of the Yakuza are you not!?”
“Oh, that… hehehe ha HAHAHA!” Satoshi erupted into laughter while the Yakuza members prepared to jump him. “I’m not a member of the Yakuza nor is my name Satoshi.”
“!?”
“What about your tattoo and documents!?” Kuramo cried.
“Hehe.” Satoshi lifted up his shirt and flashed the tattoo on his hip, a small dogs head with the kanji for stone 岩 on it’s forehead. “This is transmuted, It’ll disappear the moment I walk off the boat.” (A condition for it to be so realistic looking.) “The documents I forged in an internet cafe.”
“I see, so we don’t need permission from Boss Iwainu to execute you.” Kensuke said with a weak smile. “Kill him.”
“Understood!”
At once Kudebu, Kuramo and Jyaken all leapt at Satoshi. First to land a hit was Kudebu who threw a powerful right swing which Satoshi blocked by throwing up his arms.
“!” This force is more than I expected! Satoshi thought, feeling his bones rattle.
Then from the side came Kuramo with a katana which he swung at Satoshi.
“!” Using observation Satoshi sensed the incoming Katana and stomped on it as it came at him. The Katana smashed into the floor with a snap and Satoshi rotated his upper body and cocked back his elbow. At once he flicked his hips and using that momentum smashed his elbow into Kudebus sternum sending him flying back.
“Tch.” Spat Kuramo throwing his Katana to the side. Without pause he threw a punch straight for Satoshis jaw but Satoshi easily caught his arm.
Holding onto Kuramos wrist and bicep Satoshi swung up his knee cracking Kuramos arm at the joint.
“GAH!” Kuramo yelped out with tears in his eyes.
“Done.” Satoshi laughed, spinning around with a roundhouse kick. His leg smashed into Kuramos shoulder sending him flying back and into the wall.
Your turn… Satoshi thought, looking at Kudebu.
“!”
Satoshi vanished. He disappeared into thin air just like he had before when he was standing outside Kanashis door.
This was a secret technique passed down through his clan, one only they were capable of performing. Its name 影剖 [Kagepo]. Using [Shadows] as a medium through [Elementalist] magic Satoshi creates an invisible bridge. One he can then use [Spatial manipulation] to cross.
Suddenly he was behind Kudebu, he would slice Kudebu in half and win the fight right here and now!
“!”
But something unexpected happened. Someone was standing behind Kudebu. Someone who shouldn't have been, as if he read Satoshis plan of attack. Standing there was Jykaen and wrapped around his arm was a large snake that struck at Satoshi.
A gaboon viper can strike at up to 200 MPH, in its venom is a mix of Neurotoxins and Hemotoxins.
Jyakens golem [Tsuchinoko] uses the Gaboon viper as a base model. However it also incorporates Cardiotoxins. Cytotoxins and mycotoxins. A masterful transmutation feat, one that Satoshi would fall victim to.
If he was on guard he might have been able to dodge or counter. Maybe if he wasn’t so arrogant the current situation would not have occurred.
Embedding its two inch fangs into Satoshis forearm was [Tsuchinoko] and a venom yield of 800mg pushed into his veins.
When Satoshi saw the incoming attack with his observation he used his [Jikai] , the natural barrier around his soul and expanded it around his body. When the Fangs sank into his [Jikai] (Arm) Satoshis brain immediately sent a signal to his muscles to remove the golem.
With a single slice he cut its head off and destroyed it. But the damage was already done.
“!” Satoshi felt his entire body burning, like someone had poured molten lava into his veins. His forearm was already swollen at the wrist and his bulging veins were purple.
“It’s over Satossshi.” Jyaken hissed with a wide smile.
“Is that so?” Satoshi huffed trying to keep his balance.
“You swore an oath to us Satossshi, a contract which you have now severed. Have you gone mad?”
“Have I gone mad? No, this is the clearest I’ve been in a while actually.” Satoshi laughed. In a flash he sliced open his forearm right below where the golem had bitten him. From the fresh wound sprayed dark black blood which sizzled as it hit the floor. “That feels better~”
“D-does your word mean nothing to you!?” Jyaken asked with a trembling voice trying to jump backwards. Kudebu charged towards Satoshi trying to slam him out of the way.
“The cheapest thing you can give somebody is your word, so don't expect it to have much value.” Satoshi said as he punched Jyaken square in the nose. His fist embedded itself into Jyakens skull which caved inwards from the force even popping one of his eyes out of the socket. Besides, I already said my name isn't Satoshi so the contract is void.
“Blagh!” Jyaken gargled, collapsing backwards onto the floor with a violent seizure. Without hesitation Satoshi finished the job, piercing Jyaken right through his heart.
“!”
Kudebu smashed into Satoshis shoulder, sending him flying through the air and smashing into a wall.
Behind Kudebu was Kensuke and Kuramo, both now healed and ready to fight.
“Hmmm.” Satoshi grumbled with a frown. Currently he was fighting the venom coursing through his veins with advanced enhancement. He could fully nullify the toxins with a day or two of healing and constantly creating new blood but at the moment he didn’t have the luxury.
He would need to split 50% of his aura into healing himself and the other 50% into combat.
How annoying, but these guys are no problem for someone like me. I just need to let it all loose. Satoshi closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
In a flash he leapt forwards with a drop kick slamming into Kuramos chest, shattering his rib cage and spine. Kuramo collapsed to the floor and Satoshi used his chest like a launching pad flipping himself forwards dodging a wild haymaker thrown by Kudebu from behind.
While upside down in the air Satoshi threw [Tsubashinai] at Kudebu who managed to weave just in time. The katana continued past Kudebu into the wall behind him where it vanished into the shadows.
“Ha!” Kudebu cackled, throwing a wild punch at Satoshi. Satoshi ducked down and swung his elbow into Kudebus side making him stumble.
“Little bastard!” Kudebu gagged. He grabbed Satoshis by the collar and lifted him up into the air. “I’ll slowly crush you to death!” He screamed slamming Satoshi onto his back on the floor.
“Tsuuu~” Satoshi let out a long and high pitched whistle in response.. From the same shadow on the wall Tsubashinai had been absorbed into it, it shot out f in a flash and straight through Kudebus chest.
“Gahhh!” Kudebu coughed while vomiting blood.
Satoshi using the muscles in his back and shoulders pushed himself upwards to his feet with a sigh.
“You guys are not only painfully weak but also overly confident, a horrible combination. The definition of Yakuza.” He spat sweeping Kudebus legs out from under him. As Kudebu fell Satoshi grabbed his arm using it as an anchor point and slammed the dying man down onto his stomach making him emit even more blood from his mouth. Satoshi put his leg on Kudebus' back and grabbed Tsubashinais' handle , ripping it out of the man's torso with a splash of red.
“Phew.” Satoshi sighed looking at the other two corpses. Jyaken laid lifeless his entire face caved inwards about halfway. Kuramos had stopped breathing and only a pool of blood dripped from his mouth as he laid there silently.
“You’re the last one then?” Satoshi asked, turning around and staring at Kensuke who smiled nervously with a rifle in his hand.
“You’re quite the monster there Satoshi, if you joined us you would be able to claim a position as an elite four member under Boss Iwainu.”
“Not interested.”
“Then die!” Kensuke roared, unloading the rifle onto Satoshi. His rifle had an extended and modified clip totaling 120 bullets. Double the standard.
Satoshi was not faster than a gun, he knew that from past experience. But he was faster than Kensuke which is all that mattered.
The moment Kensuke moved to fire his rifle Satoshi used [Kagepo].
“Nani!?” Kensuke gargled as blood pooled into his throat, below him was Satoshi pointing his blade upwards and through Kensuke's throat.
“Too bad.” Satoshi smirked, ripping Tsubashinai through Kensuke's neck completely and severing his head.
With that he had removed his first obstacle.
“!”
Satoshi fell to his knees vomiting up blood, his stomach churned and heart raced.
I didn’t think the venom would be having this much of an effect even with my healing magic! Is it this powerful!? No, I’m probably just that much weaker now. It’s been too long since I was actually forced to heal against something like this that’s continuously attacking me while healing… well I’ll have to change my mana ratio to 30% for combat and 70% for healing. But even then I’ll still be more than strong enough to kill Kanako… as for these corpses I shouldn't need to worry about hiding them. If those Yakuza upstairs have already started the conflict then my cover can be blown for all I care.
The issue now is what I should do from here. Should I start a 3rd party and fight both the Yakuza and Kanako + Others or should I pretend to join Kanakos party under the pretense I’m a double agent for Edoland? Then once we take out the Yakuza, strike a surprise attack and get it to where me and Kanako can have a true 1v1?
While the second option is safer it has some risks too, what if Kanako + others don't believe me and it becomes option one. But then I’d be surrounded by them and there’s a chance I could get overwhelmed in my current state. Not only that but it’d be painfully boring if it went right. I need to test myself, be put into a situation that forces growth. so..
Satoshi narrowed his eyes and smiled maliciously. “Option one it is then.”