Chapter 2: Into the world

*Author's note: I tried changing the story to first person perspective, since that's easier for me to write. I haven't decided what to stick with yet, so tell me which one is preferred and I'll take it into consideration. (3rd person or 1st person)*

“You know what, I think I've just realized I absolutely hate sunlight.”

I grumbled while walking along the cement laden sidewalk.  The sun was a bit too hot for someone who just spent the past 9 months in isolation.

Giving out rays of unwanted vitamin d… really, it’s doing something completely unnecessary.

“eh~, I think it feels pretty nice Onii-chan.”

In contrast to my rather bleak continence, my little sister on the other hand was beaming.

I don’t know whether it was because she truly enjoyed the sunlight or something, but her too positive nature irked me.

“How, how can you be so positive right now? It’s like 100 degrees outside. My feet are killing me, my sides hurt, and I’m sweating so much, I think it might warrant as an actual medical condition.”

I complained quite a bit.

Lately I’ve been doing that. It was a habit I formed while being a shut-in. I don’t know why I started, but it seems like complaining has become second nature for me.

“Sheesh! How can you say that. Can’t you appreciate the sunlight a little? I mean, it is such a good day and all...You’re too negative, Onii-chan.”

“Ah, no, rather, I think Nanami’s just too positive.”

I retorted.

“ Even after I got you to leave your room, all Onii-chan does is complain. It seems like the future is still full of hardships…”

Nanami made a face as if saying, she wouldn’t give up. It seems she was planning to actively change my nature or something.

really, how troublesome.

If she continues like this, no matter how cute her pouts are, even someone like me might feel annoyed.

On that note, I remembered something.

“Nanami, just so you know, It wasn’t you who got me to leave my room.”

I didn’t want my little sister to get too overconfident. That would only increase my troubles.

“Well, I properly delivered the letter didn’t I? So it counts as my win!”

She made a smirk. This girl really thinks she’s won. Won at what though?

“haa….I don’t think that’s how it works…”

I sighed once more.

Thinking about the contents of that letter really depresses me. Although it was short and really lacked context, it was rather forceful...to think they’d threaten me in such a way…

The letter read,

‘Dear Kelp,

You’re a pretty useless son you know that? Although your mother and I might be overseas, to

think you’d become a shut-in...really, you're more of a pain in the ass rather than a son. Well, if

you think you can keep wasting your life away, then you’ve got another thing going! For that,

we’ve taken the  liberty of shipping,enrolling you to school. And you don’t have to worry, this

particular one will  accept even someone like you, who can’t use magic. Amd if you think you can

just ignore this  letter, then that’s also something you’ve got going. I’ve taken the liberty of

cutting of your Generator as well as the wifi. For someone like you who needs a custom electrical

generator to operate just about anything, this is a pretty bad situation, no? Well, you can always

talk to your  sister about that, but you know, she seems pretty adamant on you going to school.

Toodle do you, annoying upstart.

Love,

Dad and Mom

Why would they do something as terrible as cut of the internet? Really, at first I thought they were bluffing, surely they didn’t have the ability to keep me away from the world wide web from halfway across the globe, right? Well, in the end I tried connecting online through various means, but every attempt was blocked.

A popup of an annoying looking smug face that appeared to be saying ‘Ha! I knew you’d try something like this,’ would show up. Every time, every website, whichever device I used. That annoyingly smug face would ruin it…

Was this magic? I mean, it most likely is. Magic’s a pretty versatile element capable of doing just about anything. If I had to say...it was more likely one of those charms or curses. I’m not to sure, my knowledge on the subjects a bit sub par. After all, I can’t use magic, so what’s the point in learning about it?

But to use such a thing as a tool to block me from the internet… I don’t know whether to be impressed or disgruntled.

“ Hey Nanami, can I see your phone?”

“Huh? No way, you'll just try going online again.”

“Come on Nanami… You know, at this rate, Onii-chan really will die you know…”

“You’re just exaggerating again Onii-chan.”

“Ah no, seriously, Nanami I’ll die.”

I made a half serious face in hopes of convincing this cruel sister.

Although in response Nanami expressed a face that showed she wasn’t convinced at all.

“Besides, haven’t you already tried several times? No matter how many more times you try, the results will still stay the same.”

As if to prove my point, Nanami gave me her phone.

It was an old fashioned touch screen phone. It had a similar design to old tech from the previous era. And more similarly it was an electronically powered device. Unlike the more popular magic driven smart tools used today, she opted for this old fashioned thing. Her basis in such an action was so she could be just like me.

Since I was someone who had no capability in magic, I needed electronic devices. Nanami herself wanted to follow suit and got herself one similar to mine. (Although mine was quickly taken away prior to my release from self imposed isolation)

In order for magically powered tools to be used, the caster needed to have the bare minimum requirement of being able to interact with magic. The ability to interact with magic was a basic right granted to every human on earth. Given this reasoning, along with magic being a rather inexhaustible resource, magic tools quickly overtook electric devices in popularity.

So for someone like me, who isn’t able to interact with magic, using electronic devices is my only option. Although that’s rather difficult considering their own rarity nowadays.

Nanami herself could have easily opted to use a magic tool, but instead she chose a model similar to the one I had.

As she handed me her phone, I quickly clicked on the internet app. The results were….rather disappointing.

Same annoying smug face.

It made me grit my teeth and sigh all at the same time.

I honestly really wanted to reprimand my parents. Using magic in such a way was very annoying.

In this day and age, magic was a rather convenient ability.

Magic, something discovered short to 65 years ago, was now something so common in name, everyone and their mothers would know about it. It allowed for the manifestation of phenomena, and was a rather powerful something. In short it had the ability to alter reality.

Such an ability quickly took hold of society, and it’s influence now is rather great. One such influence was in technology. Due to it’s inherently better nature, and availability magic within in machines became all too common place.

The ability to keep me away from the internet was something involving magic, I’m sure. I don’t know how, but I’m certain such a cheat like ability is the product of magic composed by my parents.

From the point of view of someone, the only one who couldn’t use magic,  magic was amazing. I was rather envious.

Ah, although I envy magic users, let me point out, I didn’t become a shut-in because of my self deprecation of not knowing magic. I’m not that pathetic.

It was a rather silly reason actually, and I might as well say it now.

the reason I became a shut in was because I was lazy. Rather, I found the joy in being a lethargic waste of space. In the past I was a hard worker. I’d put in twice the amount of effort to overcome my shortcomings. I’d work and work and work even more, all to attain for a goal I didn’t even have.

One day, when I decided to take a break after a particularly invigorating day, I just kinda got carried away.

And now here we are nine months later.

I returned Nanami’s phone and sighed. Ever Since I became a shut-in I’ve become a lazy person.

Now I shuddered to think of how difficult it’ll be going outside on a regular basis.

Right now Nanami and I are heading of to a boarding school. Although my parents should have only sent me, it seems like Nanami was also attending.

When I inquired about this, she gave me shrug and said,

“It’s more fun to be with Onii-chan.”

Really, if she says things like that, even I would blush.

Although I did get the feeling that she meant I was a troublesome person who attracted attention, I’m inclined to believe she said such a thing because she wanted to stay close to her beloved elder brother.

The route to my new school consisted of walking across the city (a rather grueling task) and taking an express train to the new city.

The city in question was rather flashy and seemed to be designed to attract attention.

When I asked Nanami about this, she gave me an ‘isn’t it obvious look’ and said,

“Of course Onii-chan, Setohanda is suppose to be a place like that. I can’t believe you don’t know about it.”

You know I’ve been a shut in for a while now, yes? Before I could comment something along these lines, Nanami continued,

“ this city is comprised of three major boarding schools with close ties to many of magic’s big name industries. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call this a city for students.”

“That still doesn’t explain why it’s so goddamn flashy.”

“Well that’s cause a large portion of the businesses here are entertainment in nature.  And it seems like some of the students are celebrities around the world all because their exploits are recorded and distributed around the world.”

Magic it seems, is more used for entertainment. With it’s showy nature, and basic wish fulfillment of the previous generations’ ambition, it gained quite an appeal as something to display.

Nowadays, Magical competitions, tournaments, duels, labyrinth expedition, all the things encapsulated in the previous era’s books, movies, and videogames can be brought back into the real world. And it seems humanity is taking full advantage of that fact.

And Sendohanda seems to be a place where talent and excitement is just ripe for the picking.

As I walked along the city, I completely understood this fact.

Many young people were everywhere. Somewhere practicing they’re magic, but most had these floating orbs of black glass following them.

I instantly recognized such a tool. It was something fueled by magic and acted as a video camera. It would record both sound and visuals to a degree similar to that of high end movies. Posting a person’s exploits in hopes of fame on the internet seemed to be quite a popular thing here.

I, of course, couldn’t possibly use such a thing, since I had no magic.  but regardless of my inability, it’s popularity really expressed how much of a bustling place this city was.

As we continued walking, and Nanami continued explaining many of the city’s aspects, as if she had already become a native, we eventually reached our destination.

Newgrounds Imperial School.

A place in which fame and glory where things one strived for the most. Such a place has recently had a magic ability requirement, but was lifted in hopes of bringing some ingenuity and fresh blood into the grounds.

It was one of the only magic schools in the world where someone without magic could attend.

Albeit I’d be ranked last (since rankings are first determined by magic capability), and labeled as someone with very poor magic (since someone without magic is unheard of), it was still an opportunity to attend such a prestigious school (although through my parent’s wishes).

So begrudgingly, I stepped into the school along with my beaming little sister, and reluctantly began my school life.

****

Newgrounds Imperial School was a fairly large place by any normal standards.

The school had three main buildings located near the center of the area, forming a sort of pseudo triangle. Supporting these buildings where various smaller constructions used most likely for club rooms and storage sheds.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The buildings themselves were constructed with the new micro surfacing that reinforced the stone foundation with anti-magic. This made the buildings a bit more sturdy in response to magic mishaps, which I bet was quite common, considering the very nature of this school and its inhabitants.

The dormitories were separated into two, both located to the east and west of the main buildings. These dorms, following tradition, were both respectably separated into female and male. Although there is a separate allocation for students (and faculty) who wish to live separately from the rest, but those ones are mainly used for family members who don’t want to be separated. In this regard, Nanami and I are going to live in one of these accommodations.

In between the large space separating the dorms and the main buildings were fields. Most likely from the design and anti-magic barriers situated everywhere, this was most likely used for combat practice.

Although the world was currently lacking any major conflicts, combat practice was quite popular in many schools, especially magic oriented ones such as Newgrounds. This is mainly due to three major factors.

One, the existence of dangerous creatures. These creatures fall into two main categories, magical beings, as so politely labeled by the inhabitants of this planet, and monsters. Magical beings are, in short, creatures similar to animals (although several times more dangerous and with varying levels of intelligence) that use magic. The other, monsters, are beings that appeared around the same time span as when magic first developed. Nobody knows much of anything about them, just that they’re dangerous and that they don’t, or rather can’t use magic. In this respect, I feel a bit more familiarity with them than the actual people of this era, although that’s probably because of one unlucky event in the past...

Magical beings and monsters are both highly dangerous, and they’re danger level varies with the individual creature. That’s why, like adventurers from the precedent era’s fables, being able to fend off such creatures are extremely important and learning how to fight increases an individual’s likelihood of, well, likelihood of not dying.

The last two factors aren’t as pressing or as important (in my opinion) as the first.

Second, this school operates similar to an idol school from the previous era. Alot of the curriculum in Newgrounds is designed especially for the entertainment side of magic. That’s why learning combat is imperative for students (or rather, would-be celebrities) who wish to get involved in many of the more popular magical occupation, like Tournaments, or Labyrinth exploration.

The third and last factor is the very nature of this era’s society. Nowadays, race, gender, religion, all these trivialities are inconsequential. Now, you are judged through magic, and in a sense, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. The strong, which is akin to the magically gifted (in society’s eyes), rise and triumph.

It’s as simple as that.

As for us, new student registration and confirmations were to be done at the main buildings. (at least according to Nanami).

Much to my surprise though, registrations went without much event. Nanami took care of all the formalities and it seems accommodations, class scheduling and whatnot would be prepared by the end of the day. That means free time until then.

After registrations were all handled, we took a self imposed tour around the courtyard of our new would be school. Seeing the imposing building, and the wide array of characters, gave me an awkward feeling. I was now standing upon a stage for magic users. Someone like me was extremely out of place here. While contemplating such a dilemma, I noticed a rather surprising thing. There was quite a number of people gathered today.

Although I hadn’t noticed since Nanami and I came rather early (much to my dislike), there was a particularly long line forming from the building we just came from.

It seems they were all registering.

When I asked Nanami about this, she confirmed.

“Well, it’s only natural for new students to come about. Although it’s rather hasty, today is the end of summer.”

“Ah, I see.”

Although I had lost track of time when I was/am a shut-in, it was already nearing autumn. The time for school and all those bothersome formalities.

Walking by the ever increasing line, I noticed that the age ranged quite a bit. From college youth to elementary students, age in this case seemed to be just a number.

New Grounds was in all pretenses an escalator school. It went from elementary all the way to university. although they did have a preschool affiliate apparently.

This gap in age only served to form a border between academic education. When it came to things such as magic ranking or magic separate classes, It seemed like ability was what really mattered here.

I guess elaborating a bit upon the magic rankings here would be good (note that I got this information from Nanami, my very own wellspring of wisdom when it comes to all things magic related). Although they were called magic rankings, in actuality they measured achievement and fame. even though your initial position was determined by your original aggregate magic power, it was capable of rising and falling determined by your own achievements.

Anyways, these magic rankings serve as a means to display your power. In short a power ranking. Although there seems to be a correlation between popularity and higher magic ranking.

Another thing to note is that there isn’t just one ranking system. It seemed in this city alone, two versions existed. One is the in-school rankings which compared individuals going to the same academy, as well as inner city rankings, comparing the whole city among each other. In addition there seemed to be a third ranking system that took the whole world into account. All though seeing such a large scale ranking system in itself is impressive enough, to actually put it into accurate use would be amazing.

It seems that most new students start at the bottom ranks. For my case I’m dead last. Although that’s to be expected. But what really surprised me was Nanami. It seems she had a relatively high magic aggregate power.

Although I never noticed, due to my lack of magic perceptibility, Nanami was someone most people would think was an amazing individual. This revelation surprised me, Who would have known that the younger sister was someone so capable, especially with such an incompetent  older brother.

Well, as a start, it seems Nanami is going to begin within the top tier rankings. Somewhere around 80-90.

When compared to the 4,078 people enrolled in this school, such a small number is impressive.

“....”

I looked at Nanami. Such a petite and cute girl, yet within her holds an incredible amount of magic power.

“...? W-what Onii-chan.?”

Nanami noticed me staring down at her, and gave an apprehensive reply.

“haa~” I sighed.

“ Really, such an amazing little sister…”

I half mumbled to myself in a volume just out of earshot from Nanami.

“?”

Nanami continued to stare back and tilted her head in a gesture as if to say, I don’t understand?

“........”

Rub Rub Rub

In response to Nanami’s cuteness, and overall impressive feat as a top class little sister, I gave the tiny brown head a pat, ruffling up her slightly messy hair.

Nanami, opened her eyes in a  bewildered manner. Her mouth opened and closed and opened again. It seems like she was rather confused by the abrupt head patting, and didn’t know how to respond. Her silly gestures, and changes in facial expression amused me, so my head patting intensified.

“Wha-, O-Onii, what do y-you think you’re……..hunya~”

While I continued rubbing my little sister’s light brown hair, Nanami’s facial expression slowly softened, as protests dissipated and her eyes closed and her mouth turned into a weird (yet oddly satisfied looking) upside down V shape. Her body began to slowly gravitate towards me, as her hands hanged loose. Her head tilted towards my chest, a sign I came to take as, “please pat me more, please~!!!”

*sigh*

I sighed again as I continued to rub my dear sister’s head. Was it odd that I found such a vulnerable and innocent looking little sister to be quite attractive? Even to the point of sending my fragile heart into a flutter?

While Nanami was oblivious to her Brother’s dilemmas, happily getting her head rubbed with an almost flowery atmosphere around her, I sighed once more.

“Am I actually a sis-con…?”

Mulling over this moral issue, I was brought back to reality by the commotion caused by the surrounding students.

“Huh, what’s going on?” I asked while shifting my vision towards the center of the commotion.

Nanami, in response to my voice, suddenly reclaimed her bearings and peered over the massive crowd which had formed to out left. At first she made her trademark confused gesture, (tilting her head sideways) before letting out a small “Ah!”

“T-that’s right Onii-chan! Someone absolutely amazing goes to this school?”

“Eh~ Amazing you say?”

I replied to Nanami’s growing excitement with nonchalance, picking at my ear as I don on a disinterested expression. Well, it’s not like I didn’t care, but...how do I say.. well, I actually don’t care.

“muu~ JEEZE, Onii-chan!”

Oh, it seems like I pissed her off. How troublesome. Better go along with her before she causes a ruckus.

“Okay, okay, Nanami, who is this person?”

Nanami dragged me over to the growing crowd as I asked her about this mysterious amazing  individual. (purely to keep her satisfied of course, I couldn’t care less for anything involving magic) Her excitement was crystal clear. With sparkling eyes, and an excited jittering, if I looked closely, it looked like her eyes were turning heart shaped.

“Oniichan, this amazing person is-”

As Nanami talked we reached closer to the front of the crowd, (after brief instance of desperate shoving through the sea of people, all attributed to Nanami’s determination) and the oh-so amazing person slowly came to view.

Nanami poked her head into the clearing and breathed out a contented sigh.

“This amazing person is Avril Stelato. You know the ability user?”

That’s the thing dear sister, I don’t know.

I remarked to myself as I pushed through the crowd, following Nanami’s wake of destruction. Although the name sounded strangely familiar...where have I heard it before?

While I thought this, I eventually reached Nanami, and followed her previous actions and poked my head to see through the crowd. Out in the distance, maybe 50 meters away, stood a girl’s silhouette, which looked extremely familiar. I squinted my eyes to see better, although that was to no avail. The person herself looked familiar, but I couldn't connect the appearance with the name.

As I continued to ponder over this strange familiarity, I saw the famous girl brush back a strand of her blonde locks over her shoulder. This action served as a catalyst for remembering exactly why this person was so familiar.

My eyes widened when I realized this.

“That arrogant looking gesture...that hair too, isn't that just-”

Before I could finish, the Blondie swiveled her head to my direction. Our eyes met, and I, caught of guard, made a goofy grin, which she gladly returned with and opened eyed expression complemented by her mouth hanging open. Before I could do anything else, she immediately began a full sprint towards me, ignoring the wind as it blew her skirt upwards, revealing a pair of pink panties. The panties were dotted with purple polka dots, and albeit childish, looked quite cute on the person herself.

Although running at full speed and letting your panties hang open for the world to see isn't something a girl should be doing.

“Really this girl has no tact- gufuh!”

My rude comment was stopped midway as she drove her blonde head like a missile and into my stomach. that would have been all good and all, I could have taken the impact, after all, I'm not all that weak, but her knee had made contact with my precious private parts..

I went down with foam in my mouth and the confused ‘EHHHHHHHHHH!!!” of my sister in the background.

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