“Yo Kanashi, Let’s go get you a sword.” Hayai said with a mischievous smile.
“Oh?” Kanashi hummed curiously, raising his eyebrow.
As if hearing the starting signal in a race both of them sprinted down the many hallways of the Venator Tower. Along the way both Kanashi and Hayai leapt over and slide under various people blocking their path.
Upon reaching the elevator they both scrambled inside and smashed the button titled [Sector Sigma]
The Venator Society tower was massive, It stretched miles into the sky and was as thick around as a small city. A marvel of the modern world only those with permission were allowed to enter. It stood in the middle of Historia, the capital of the Country Afurenthos which is most considered to be the greatest country in the world though Kanashi would always argue that it was Saharis because it has… Well had [Azhar] the world's most universally renowned city as its capital. The elevator roared to life and shot downwards with a “zoom” sending Kanashi and Hayai to the underground portion of the tower's layout.
While in the Elevator Kanashi flipped open his buzzing phone seeing a message from Jin which read, “Meet me tomorrow at noon my place.”
“Got it (‘-’)7” Kanashi texted back in response, “Jin's house is pretty big huh?” Kanashi asked, putting his phone back into his pocket.
“Yeah, It’s the definition of a mansion! By the way, did you ever get around to playing that game I lent you?” Hayai asked.
“Oh you mean Mega Antonio Pals: Super Moon 3D World? Yeah the graphics were great. I’m so used to playing in 2d that 3d is something that really sticks out. I hope in the future they make more like that. But I have to say that I wish they could round the pixels out more instead of them being so sharp and pointy.”
“Me too.” Hayai agreed with a nod as the elevator door opened to a massive chamber full of towering metal racks overflowing with various intriguing objects.
“Wow.” Kanashi gasped seeing the shopping mall sized room. It’d take a whole lifetime to look through this place and it was just one of many stories exactly the same.
“This one is probably my favorite to look around in when I’m bored. They've got a lot of cool stuff like historical artifacts stored down here.”
“We’ll have to check it out some time…" Kanashi said following Hayai who began to make his way down one of the long isles. Kanashi looked around the crowded shelves, seeing thousands of different objects. Swords, Helmets, Electronics and furniture all tightly bundled together. As the pair walked down the aisle more they moved past a vase that rattled violently as they came within a few feet of it and in response Kanashi jumped in the air with a yelp.
“Oh don't worry about that, all those seals around it keep the thing inside from breaking out.” Hayai said, waving it off.
“What’s inside it?”
“It's a living armor parasite.. It's pretty cool but apparently it feeds on your soul and shortens your lifespan. When the last guy who it latched onto died El-Saber trapped it into that vase and locked it up down here. I don't remember the rest since I was little when he told me but there was some more history to it.”
“Weird….” Kanashi muttered quickly, moving past the still ratting vase.
The pair continued for what seemed like forever, Kanashi would ask about something and Hayai would rattle off an encyclopedic speech about the item and then they’d move on to the next one. This continued until they reached a small room that seemed more like a vintage sports bar then something used for storage.
In the room's center was a large green pool table which was covered in many miscellaneous items such as books, clothes and electronic components and to the tables far right hanging on the old red brick wall was an ancient tube TV that rested on a thick rusted metal arm acting as a crude vintage wall mount. Then to the opposite side of the TV and pool table on the left was a long wooden bar with many leather stools on the customer's half and a dart covered in battle scars from years of abuse.
“What’s this?” Kanashi asked, looking over the room.
“It was a haunted sports bar that they moved down here from over in Neverland. The story goes that a man came here after getting let off from work and drank his sorrows away. When he got up to leave and tried to grab his keys from behind the bar the bartender refused to hand them over and after a long drawn out argument the bartender's shift was nearly over so he relented and tossed the man his keys. Of course the dude drove right into a tree on the way home killing himself instantly and as such he became a vengeful spirit haunting this bar and making the people who drive home from it crash and die like he did.” Hayai answered as he pulled a barrel full of swords out from behind the bar.
“Seems like the ghost should have known better…” Kanashi muttered with a shudder.
“El-Saber said to pick one of these guys!” Hayai called out, waving Kanashi over to behind the bar.
“Alright….” Kanashi walked over the barrel nervously and began to look through the many diverse sword handles. “Just pick one?” He asked, looking up at Hayai who nodded. There were at least fifty or so swords inside the barrel and a majority of them looked to be on the valuable side. Something a royal knight or king would be gifted upon promotion. Is it really okay to take one of these? They’d be worth a fortune and I don't want to break and lose it…
“El-Saber said something about how the best weapon picks its wielder.” Hayai said with a shrug. He didn't use any physical weapons so he didn't know much about them and could offer no good advice to the overwhelmed Kanashi who continued to shuffle the handles around looking for something to catch his eye.
“I guess this one then.” Kanashi said as he pulled out a Katana with no sheethe leaving its pitch black blade exposed. The handle was wrapped in a hard but flexible fabric and in the middle of the sword was a blood red guard with strange runes of an unknown tongue carved around it. The black blade had the letters [痛千] meaning “One Thousand Pain” and read [Itachi] written in bold letters on its side. Kanashi examined the runes closer and flicked it in his hand to make sure it was stable and wouldn't crack in half form being used. Suddenly the Katana disappeared and a ring appeared on Kanashi's right ring finger. It was the same dark blood red as the sword guard with the same runes carved across it. “?” Kanashi flicked his hand Again and the Katana appeared and the ring disappeared.
“Cool.” Hayai hummed, “Putting Enchantments on weapons is something nobody can really do anymore so that must be really old.”
“I think this is the one then.” Kanashi said smiling and flicking his wrist again making it into a ring. A Katana huh? How fitting…
# # #
Kanashi felt the sun burning the back of his neck as he stood outside Jin's front door. His large dark wooden mansion loomed overhead casting a shadow across the small wooded forest that surrounded the property. “Come on dude, it's been 15 minutes.” he groaned, flipping open his phone and checking the time. “If I die from heat stroke I’m haunting you!” He called out to no one particular...
Suddenly as if on cue one of the upstairs windows flung open and Jin emerged standing on the window seal.
“There you are.” Kanashi sighed. “Come down here I’m tired of waiting!” He barked.
“Sorry, I had to iron my clothes first~” Jin hummed and then leaped down from the window in a free fall.
“Wow!” Kanashi yelled in surprise, Is he trying to kill himself? Is he doing this to haunt me since I threatened him with a haunting!? Kanashi frantically tried to find where he could try and catch Jin when he fell. Maybe he could break his fall and stop him from actually dying and he’d only get a broken leg or two at the worst but Jin simply stopped mid dive and stood in the air with a smug look across his face.
“How’re you doing that?” Kanashi asked, looking for some kind of wire he was being held up by.
“Magic!” Jin answered as he slowly fell down the floor and landed.
“I figured it’d be more flashy.” Kanashi frowned.
“Wow now! I only showed you just one thing you can do with it!” Jin argued, waving his hand side to side. “If you want something more flashy watch this!” Jin pointed his left index finger at the ground and it suddenly shattered with smoke and small rocks flying into the air as if hit by a shotgun.
“How’d you do that!?”
“Oh, Right you can’t see aura or mana yet.” Jin muttered, slapping his own forehead, "Well that’s fine since I should be able to just do this!” Jin suddenly jabbed Kanashi in the eyes with his right index and middle finger.
“Ow!” Kanashi yelped, falling backwards and putting both hands on his head. “You son a bitch! What’d you do that for!?” He cried, feeling his eyes leaking some kind of liquid which he prayed wasn't blood.
“Look here.” Jin said as if he didn't just try to gouge out Kanashi's eyes. Kanashi, while angry and in pain, still opened his teary eyes and looked up at Jin. What he saw was a flowing red mist like energy around him in a solid single motion.
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“What's that?” He asked, confused.
“It’s my aura, my life force, my magic. Everyone's aura has a specific color to match theirs. Mine as you can see is Red. Now look at your hands and tell me what color yours is.”
Kanashi obeyed and looked down at his hands seeing a light orange steam around them. “It’s orange… Do the colors mean anything?”
“Not really, Some people think they can do different things like palm lines or your zodiac sign but I don't really subscribe to that.” Jin answered, scratching his chin.
“Why can I see this stuff now and not before?”
“Well to explain that I need to tell you what aura itself is so why don't you come inside?” Jin said, opening his front door.
It was unlocked the whole time!? Kanashi thought frowning.
The pair made their way inside the large mansion into a massive entry hallway. The walls were white and had dark brown wooden floor boards with expensive paintings of varying sizes lining the walls. They walked down the hallways about 30 paces and then turned right into what seemed like a living room or loft. In the corner of the room was a small white board with lots of stuff written on it and multiple black bookshelves overflowing with radically different looking books lined the other walls. The room also had some chairs and couches which seemed to be pushed out of the way to make more room in its center.
Jin walked over the white board and cleared his throat pointing at the jumble of words. “This is what you will be learning.” He said.
“That’s a lot…” Kanashi muttered as he quickly scanned it over. There were alot of words he knew the base meaning of like [Barrier], [Aura], [Golems] but they might not mean the same thing in this context. The other words he had no possible idea about. Some examples being [Astral Projection], [Liminal Realm] and [Spatial Manipulation.]
“Don't worry, It’s pretty easy to understand, We’ll just start with the most basic aspects first.” Jin said, pointing to a specific spot on the white board. “To understand magic you need to understand Aura which is the foundation of magic. The best way I can explain it is like, Your body is a fireplace, Your Soul is wood, The fire coming from the wood is your Aura. The Heat that comes from your fire is called Mana, got it so far?”
“I think so.”
“Magic is based entirely on this concept. In your body there are things called Aura Nodes and Mana Circuits. Aura nodes are what produces your Aura and turns it into Mana which your Mana Circuits distribute across your body and allows you to use magic.”
“I see… this is sorta like a video game or tabletop RPG.”
“Well those are inspired by folklore of real magic so of course there'd be some overlap. But anyways today I’ll start off by teaching you the most important things you can learn right now which are the 3 basic skills. These are the most basic pillars to magic [Observation] which enhances your senses and opens your mind to seeing magic. When I poked your eyes earlier I pushed some of my mana into the Aura Nodes in your eyes to stimulate them into activating your brain's natural [Observation]. Now you should be able to see Magic at all times but that’s only the surface level of Observation. Just because you can move your legs doesn't mean you can walk.”
“Got it.” Kanashi actually understood what Jin was saying, his years of reading fiction and playing games had finally paid off in a really important way!
“Then there’s [Enhancement] which increases your body's overall strength, Like making you stronger, faster and if you're skilled enough you can enhance your brain itself to do more complex tasks quicker. The highest level lets you heal your own injuries and even others. Then last but not least is [Reinforcement] which increases your physical durability.”
“Wait, aren't those last two the same?” Kanashi asked, raising his hand.
“No, If you [Enhance] yourself without also using [Reinforcement] you’ll be a glass cannon, you’ll be able to punch through a brick wall but if someone punches you with that same strength you’ll probably die. Reinforcement protects you physically, mentally and spiritually. For example when I injected you with my mana I could only do that because you weren't using [Reinforcement] of course I wasn't going to hurt you but If someone did want to do that and inject you with something negative your Reinforcement would deflect it.”
“Do you always have to have someone open your Aura Nodes to use magic?”
“No, some people like me are born with the ability to use magic, Hayai learned magic by having a mentor and training. In general anyone can use magic, it's just about if you're born with the ability to and if not are you able to find a teacher who can give you that ability.”
“Alright so if it’s possible for anyone to use magic why don't more people use it?”
“Good question, like I said some people are born with their mind already perceptive to magic but most people aren't and for those people they need a skilled teacher to teach them. Which means there's few people who can teach people and even fewer who know that they can be taught magic. Everyone knows on a basic level that something out there beyond logic exists. You hear of things like people disappearing in a forest only to appear hundreds of miles away in a location they couldn't possibly get to or monks that can light themselves on fire right? Most people don't believe those tales or chock it up to being some natural occurrence. That’s how magic is kept a secret to about 80% of the world. Magic comes from your soul and by extension is built upon your hopes, dreams, thoughts, feelings and emotions. If you refuse to believe magic isn't real it won't be. Your soul will block all forms of Magic from being comprehended. That’s why a lot of people in modern times are so inept at anything and everything magical. Buuut Lucky for you you’re not one of those people and I’m the best teacher you can have so everything will work out fine.”
“You keep saying you're the best or strongest and while I don't doubt you I’d like to know what that means.” Kanashi said raising his hand once again.
“It means what you think it does, I’m #1, the biggest baddest man alive, the pinnacle or zenith of creation.” You don't need to raise your hand you know...
“Could you maybe be a bit more clear?”
“Let's just say that if the entire planet could jump me at the same time with every single weapon, trick and form of magic I’d still win.”
“Oh.” Kanashi could tell that Jin wasn't lying, He either was really stupid and naive or telling the truth. He gulped nervously before speaking. “So how do I learn Observation, Enhancement and Reinforcement then?”
“Oh, Well we can take can of Observation pretty easily, Basically I’m gonna blind fold you and shoot at you with a pellet gun and then you'll try try to use observation and dodge it while also reinforcing your body.” Jin said calmly while pulling out a blind fold and pellet gun.
“How am I supposed to do that If I don't know anything!?”
“You’ll get the hang of it.” Jin said, grabbing Kanashi by the shoulder. The pair suddenly teleported outside of Jin's house into the small woods that surrounded his mansion.
“Cool.” Kanashi muttered, looking around and seeing they had teleported. “Am I gonna be able to do something like that?”
“Maybe it depends on what happens in the next step after this but for now just put this blind fold on.” Jin said, throwing said blind fold to Kanashi.
Kanashi nervously looked down at the leather strap. He let out a breath as he tied it around his head, the cold leather made him flinch as it grabbed his skin.
“Alright now on the count of five I’m gonna start shooting and you’ll try to sense the pellets as they come at you.”
“Wait! Give me a moment-!” Kanashi suddenly felt a small impact and a burning sensation on the right side of his stomach. He didn't even count! He thought while gritting his teeth. But maybe for a second, I thought I could see something like a white ball shooting towards me in my head. He thought right as another pellet hit his arm. Or maybe not… I didn't see that one coming at all!
# # #
Kanashi was pouring sweat along with little bits of blood spread here and there from the pellets shot at him, “You almost got that last one!” Jin said, clapping his hands.
Over the past two hours Kanashi had started to see in his mind what looked like small white and fuzzy orbs flying towards him but they were very fast and spread out making it hard to react. “!” He could sense one coming for him incredibly fast at aiming his left shoulder.. With a single movement he kicked off the ground and spun himself while sidestepping to avoid the pellet which flew past him.
“I did it!” He yelled, throwing his finger in the air.
“Good! Now try and harden that part with your aura!” Jin laughed as another pellet shot towards Kanashi which he dodged narrowly.
“How am I supposed to do that?” He yelled out panting.
“Focus all your aura into where the pellet is going to hit!”
Where will it hit?! Kanashi wondered while seeing the pellet come for his left thigh. Focus… He tried to imagine all that orange energy around him he had seen before starting from his head going into his leg but the pellet hit it quicker then he could do anything breaking his focus. “Damn…” He spat leaning over and resting on his knees.
“That was good! Now you just gotta do it faster than that. Get it to the point where you can Reinforce an area of your body instantly and then you’ll combine that with your Observation so you can Reinforce the part of your body it will hit automatically so you will never get hit off guard.”
“Can everyone do that?” Kanashi asked, dodging a pellet going for his arm.
“No, It’s something most people find hard to do, that's why it’s important you learn it. If any chump tries to pick on you with this you’ll be able to take a few hits while you take him out.” Jin answered.
“Wait, I thought I wasn't going to be fighting anyone!?”
“That’s the hope at least!” Jin said shooting the pellet gun once again.
Kanashi sensed the pellet coming for the center of his chest this time, He was able to Reinforce that part of his chest just barely in time which Jin raised an eyebrow at.
“Kanashi, when you try to imagine your aura spreading out, how do you do it?” He asked.
“I imagine energy from my head going down to my body part that’s gonna get hit.” Kanashi replied.
So that’s it. Jin thought with a frown. “Your aura isn't in your head, It’s everywhere like a skin tight suit, you’re always covered in it. Don't Imagine it coming from your head to where you are going to get hit, imagine it grouping together where it’s going to hit.” Jin said shooting another pellet.
Is it always around me? Everywhere always? Kanashi wondered, he felt as though his body suddenly was composed of many swirling tides clashing with each other and fighting for direction, “I see.” He muttered making those tides all flow to the right of his stomach. The pellet bounced off with a “Pink” like hitting a metal wall.
His potential is slightly above average, nothing uncommon or special but that “Xp Boost” and imagination of his makes him a lot stronger than anyone would have expected. Jin thought with a smile as Kanashi knocked away another pellet. With enough time and luck he’ll be able to meet the goal set with no problems.
“Alright I think we can call it a day.” Jin clapped and Kanashi pulled off his blind fold.
“Jeez I’m sore.” Kanashi sighed, lifting up his shirt which revealed many bruises and bumps.
“Watch this!” Jin suddenly reached out and placed his open palm on Kanashis stomach who flinched at the gesture. Kanashi felt a warm feeling tickling fill his entire body as his bruises began to fade and his blood evaporated.
“What did you do?” Kanashi asked surprised as Jin pulled away his hand.
“That’s part of Enhancement which I’ll teach you tomorrow. With that you can increase your strength, speed and heal yourself if you’re good enough.”
I want to learn it now! Kanashi thought with a smile.
“Be careful playing with your aura though, If you use it too much you’ll end up with an empty tank and pass out till it refills. But with practice and time you’ll be able to create more mana while using less aura. But in case you do end up ever running out of mana there’s something you should never do.”
“What's that?”
“If you run out of aura it’s tempting to try and generate more by burning your soul faster. In the heat of battle as you enter the [Abyssal Zone] you’ll feel the desire to keep on fighting and burn through your soul but never give into those temptations.”
“Because I can lose some of my life span?”
“Not just that, You could end up not being able to turn it off and burn your whole soul up.”
“Meaning I’d die.”
“Correct.”
“What if it’s in a life or death situation?”
“Even if you’re on death's door, find another way.”
“I see… Oh by the way, why is it called a mana pool if I’m using my aura?” Kanashi asked with a blank face.
Jin frowned and smacked him on the back of the head in response.