Three years from now...
"Shadow Clones!"
Herra summoned her clones, but they were picked off one by one from the one she was fighting.
"Radiant Destruction!"
And yet, the shadow clones were all wiped out in an instant, by a sixteen year old with Demon Horns and a Demon Tail.
"Your face is full of darkness and contempt as always".
"Oh come now, is that any way to talk to a classmate...or do you plan to run back into the arms of that twerp again? No matter what world he is in, he is also a shrimp".
"At least Rikuo has class, unlike you. As expected, we simply cant let you get your way".
As Herra took a step forward, he was faster, suddenly moving and putting a blade to her throat.
"Since we are sixteen again, maybe we should have some fun first though?"
But Herra only smiled, as he suddenly flew back and a telekinetic force pinned him against a rock wall.
"You bitch! What did you..."
"You shouldn't call her such a nasty word" a young boy said as he came out of the woods. The little brother of Rayheart, Kotori. And the other was another boy, nowhere near as short as Kotori or Rikuo but still a bit shorter then Herra.
"You really are sickening...I had hoped that you were wrong Kotori, but it seems he really is this bad".
The Reincarnator, Fang, came out of the woods with Kotori.
"Well if it isn't the mutt...I realy wish you would just die in a ditch already".
"And its about time someone took you down once and for all" he said, joining Herra. However, the sixteen year old boy, also a reincarnator, seemed to break free of the spell that was holding him there.
"You think you can stop me? Shouldn't you be more worried of your masters ripping each other apart?"
"I have faith they can conclude their difference of opinions without killing each other...but I wont tolerate your pressence in whatever the ending ends up being" Herra declared.
"For the sake of the future...we cant let you win" Kotori announced.
"And honestly, I just dont like how you do things" Fang added.
"The three of you against me? You think you even have a chance".
"Who ever said it was just the three of them?" a girls voice floated across the battlefield. The four of them turned, to see a woman coming towards them, wearing the sheaths of two swords, and with an outfit that provided both good protection and supported agile movement.
"It cant be...the master President of the kendo club...only she among all Reincarnators would have such an attitude, and carry two swords..."
"My previous name might be erased, but I have a nice new one you know? Yulari, at your service. Its time to put you in your place, Harzen!"
And so, the battles in the future continued to intensify.
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Kotori woke up gasping for air.
What...was that vision just now? It was so much more clear and easy to understand....
He thought that as he got up. Since it was a warm season, which was also why Rikuo didn't have any negative effects from sleeping outside in his weakened state after being exhausted as much, he hadn't been wearing anything, but this was also typical since he frequently woke up sweating.
I wonder...if having such a vision today involves what else I have seen coming?
Kotori could not help but wonder that.
"Well, honestly that is good thinking, but you are not quite asking all the questions you need to be" the harmonic voice of a boy stated, starteling Kotori as he fell out of bed, his blanket falling to the side. He looked up, and saw a boy with blond hair and silver eyes, with a beauty and charisma, and cuteness, that seemed to be on a divine level. His body was wrapped in a simple white cloth, and he was holding a tea cup.
Kotori could understand instantly he was in the pressence of a god.
"Ho...how is there a god in my room?"
"Not the right question to ask" the god said, as suddenly they were sitting in a grassy field, laying on a blanket in the middle of flowers. Kotori still wasn't dressed, but that was hardly an issue. In the first place, the gods created their bodies, and could see the truth of their forms from their souls.
"...where are we?"
"We are still in your dreams. No, technically, this is the twilight area, the place between dreams and reality. It feels real, but it acts as a dream. Its a state that people can't enter when sleeping normally, nor when they are lucid. But, you have quite the unique power..dont you?"
"You mean...my daydreams? And my dreams?"
"Its only clear if you bother to pay attention to people like I do" he said, handing him a tea cup.
"Oh, thank you" Kotori said, drinking the tea. It was more delicious then anything he had ever tasted before. "Wait...is this divine tea?"
"Indeed. But to be able to fully understand its taste, you are indeed quite a special person. And to think, you are that person's little brother...and you seem to even understand your own power to some extent, but till recently, you also couldn't. It was like a vague feeling for you, and yet now its becoming clear".
"You...you really do know me, do you?"
"Well of course. Your sister, Rayheart...you understand dont you, that she is meant for great things. But I think you have quite the future in store as well...your power, I am sure it will become vital for her challenges to come...and honestly, you know how oblivious she can be".
Kotori had no ability to deny that.
"But...exactly, what is my gift? When I check my Status, I dont see anything on it. Its not there at all".
"Not everything can be determined by numbers and skills. There is also effort that people put in, the constant ability for humanity to learn and develop new things, and of course..."
He moved his finger close to Kotori, which got him curious, but then he flicked Kotori's nose playfully.
"Sometimes, there is a rare mutation that even we gods cannot predict. Furthermore, for that power to manifest as a power of prediction....its quite the interesting thing. Even for me, the god of Status and Reincarnation, its quite interesting".
"Wait...Status and Reincarnation...that means, you are one of the oldest gods in existence, Ciel!"
"Bingo! Well, it seems like its about time to wake up now. Its a big day for you today. Just remember, be careful, but dont let your sister shoulder all the burden herself. Although there are some things about the future that cant be changed, there are others that can. Master your gift, master your ability to affect the future, and show us all what you are capable of. I will be watching, with great interest".
With that, Ciel suddenly kissed Kotori right on the lips. And then, he woke up in his bed.
Was that...real?
[You have obtained Ciel's Blessing (Super Hiden)].
Kotori immediately realized it was in no way a dream. However, he fell out of the bed as a reaction to that announcement. And this time, it hurt.
----------------------------------------
"Sis, its going to be today" Kotori warned her, once they were outside the house.
"I see...are you sure?"
Rayheart was rather surprised by her brother's declaration. Never before had he really seen things clearly with his gift, so it didn't quite make sense on why he suddenly could.
But Rayheart also wasn't the type to question or think of that kind of stuff.
"Sounds good! Just leave everything..."
"No, I wont!" Kotori declared, and this time she was surprised.
"Kotori...?"
"I have seen what happens...everything thats coming. It will be rough, and bad. And, I wont let you handle it on your own. Not anymore, not ever".
He then grasped her hands, and looked up as he locked into the eyes of his big sister. Rayheart was quite surprised, especially since she saw the passion and determination in his eyes.
"I will help. Now, we should get moving. The attack will begin any minute now".
Even the simple and straightforward Rayheart was a bit stunned at the declaration of her cute and adorable younger brother. But then again, between the two of them, she always knew he was the more reliable one.
Still though, he was her little brother.
"Thats fine, but perhaps as a cost of your power, you are significantly weaker then me. So you cant take the front lines. You have to stay behind me and cover me, and you cant fight the enemy head on".
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"I understand".
As if waiting for that moment, suddenly the sky turned red, and a foreboding sense of doom was felt across the village. And then, countless magic circles appeared in the air as Kotori looked upwards.
"Sis, Ray, the magic circles have appeared in the air!"
"What? I dont see any!"
"You dont...but how, I see them...clearly..."
At that point, Kotori checked his own Status.
Name: Kotori
Age: 10
Race: Human (Hidden: Heroic Blood)
Class: Mage-Priest
Class History: Child
Skills: Time Magic 4, Enhanced Mana 5, Exceed Limits 4, Mana Regeneration 3, Holy Magic 5, Spacial Magic 6, , Angel Aspect (Unique), Rally 2, Leadership 9, Timeless Gaze (Unique)
Titles: Heroic Guide (Hidden) (Enhanced Growth) (Resistance to curses and normal negative conditions) (Enhanced judgement abilities) (Beloved by Holy Creatures)
Ciel's Blessing (Super Hidden) (Can comprehend the true nature of the worlds and divinity) (Enhanced Growth) (Natural talents and abilities enhanced) (Growth has exceeded CielSystemOS, and will attempt to be adapted and boosted as best possible through the blessing) (%^&$%^%^%^%) (Don't talk about this blessing to anyone, its for the good of the future. I have prepared something to not only boost your natural talent, but to give it a cover story). (Increased resistances, extended lifespan, enhanced magical abilities) (Protection from all forms of mind taps, magical spying, mind reading aside from the one who gave the blessing, and Divine and Demonic Curses)
Special Conditions: Hero Rayheart's Party Member (Affected by bonuses given by the Hero for being in their power)
Kotori saw his Status had suddenly become something ridiculous. He didn't quite get the difference between Hidden, which already made it impossible for others to normally see something that is marked on one's Status, but...
What does Super Hidden mean?
As if responding to his thoughts, the answer came up.
[Super Hidden means it is hidden even from Divine beings. Due to the Divine Power needed to summon it, it almost never appears. Its even possible for it to be hiden from the one who possesses it themselves. That said, if certain conditions are met, then even if it is hidden from the possessor they can become aware of it].
It raised more questions then answers though, but...from the rest of the Ciel's Blessing Title, he understood now. It was boosting his natural abillities, and his precognition was something natural, not something given to him by the current system. In other words...Ciel had enhanced his visions.
And what he saw now, was the future magic that would be cast.
"Sis, I will intercept the magic you cant intercept, and while you deal with the one responsible. I will also support as much as I can. It seems...my power of Prediction has increased".
Rayheart looked back at Kotori, and saw his eyes, which appeared to be glowing.
"Kotori...that hurts, doesn't it? I can tell, you dont have a good physical body...this is straining you, isn't it?"
"I will survive, don't worry. So go, go and win. If you want to protect me...then save our town as fast as you can".
Rayheart felt the emotions swell within her. She quickly pulled her little brother into a hug, holding him close for a bit.
"You sure know just what to say...but dont overwork yourself. As for me...that is what I will do".
Once she said that, she released them, and summoned a glowing sword into her hands. The moment she did, the magic circles began to appear, and fire rained down upon their village.
"Hear me, forces of time and space. Come together in harmony, and help me intercept the attacks which threaten this plane at the time of which they threaten them. Adaptive Space Time Barrier!"
Kotori cast a defensive barrier and maintained it, which systematically created a focused shield for a single second, each one perfectly intercepting every attack. The only ones they did not intercept was the attacks that Rayheart cut in half with her Holy Sword, dispelling them entirely.
And with him doing that, it was now Rayheart's time to shine. CIel watched in the distance now.
"Go for it, Hero. I set the stage for you now".
----------------------------------------
The enemies attacking the village, it was not just these magical attacks. Flame Elementals had gathered in a group, and charged into the village to slaughter all of the residents.
"Enhanced Boost, Holy Sword Boost, Holy Sword Style First Blade: Holy Halo Ring!"
But as gracefully as a dancer, Rayheart went right into the heart of the attack. Although normally Elementals are not affected by physical attacks all that much, especially Flame Elementals.
"It cant be...the Holy Sword?! The hero is actually here?!"
One of the elementals seemed surprised, but Rayheart did not stop and let them collect themselves or rest, instead taking the initiative and wiped them all out before they could recover.
A few of them managed to recover and make a counter attack, but barriers seemed to deploy to anticipate their attacks.
Protected and guided by her brother, Rayheart continued to cut them to pieces.
There may be many, but these elementals are not too tough. I have heard there are much tougher ones for sure.
Either way, they were rampaging about quite a bit, but Rayheart cleanly cut through them all, efficiently and elegantly, and prevented them from doing any real damage.
And yet, a powerful barrier formed above her, preventing a powerful attack from hitting her. At the same time, she felt a pressence she had never felt before, something dark and dangerous, full or malice and murderous desire.
"There you are. Finally found you, Hero".
Rayheart readied her sword, determined and unwavering, as something appeared above her. With black Demon wings, and a black Demon tail, wearing what appeared to be a black shortsleeve cloak and pants, a man who appeared to be in his late twenties appeared, flying above her in a position that looked as if he was standing above her, looking down on her. His black hair fluttered in the red sky, and his dark eyes felt as if they pierced her very soul.
"To think, the Otherworlder we sensed in this area was indeed a Hero as well...but that Holy Sword confirms it. Well then, I suppose I will just have to exterminate you. Nothing personal, but a deal is a deal after all".
Rayheart was a bit surprised she had been seen through, but she still did not waver.
"If you think I am going to lose, you are sorely mistaken, whoever you are".
"Who am I? Ah yes, several times when I have fought Otherworlders, they were always surprised and complained about stuff like 'A final boss appearing in the tutorial'. Well you see, I am one of the Thirteen Demon Lords of this world, Demon Lord Karzel. And rathen then doing something stupid like sending minorly increasingly dangerous enemies to complete a task, I much prefer going with an overkill option that results in a one hundred percent success rate. Especially when exterminating outsiders brought in for the god's amusement".
At that moment, a massive magic circle appeared above them, and a powerful magical blast fired from it and went right at Rayheart.
Both she and Kotori deployed countless barriers and wards immediately to stop it, but they all seemed to break in an instant.
However, that was when Kotori tackled Rayheart to the side, as a giant slash mark suddenly appeared where she was standing.
"I see...so that was the attack that would kill our parents...because its impossible for me to save both them and you from it".
"Well done Kotori, but..."
The magical barriers above them broke.
Even Kotori didn't see a way out of this.
Did I make a mistake?
But as they closed their eyes, the attack...did not hit them.
Rayheart and Kotori opened their eyes, and saw that a new magical barrier had been created to stop it.
"Sorry I am late, Braver Girl...or should I say, Class President?"
"What? What is going on?!"
Now the Demon Lord was confused, as a girl who appeared the same age as Rayheart had appeared in front of them. She was holding out a single hand, but that had somehow stopped the attack, and even absorbed it into some sort of small box she was holding.
"You are..."
"I am called Yulari, and although it took me a few days, I finally made it here".
However, as she said that, rather then continuing to act shocked, Demon Lord Karzel was already launching multiple attacks at once to wipe them out.
Indeed, this was not something people who had only just reincarnated could handle, as they lacked the combat experience for it.
And yet, suddenly Karzel was slashed from behind by two swords. Yulari had moved behind him, and she held the box right out at him.
"Release".
And with one word cutting through the air, the box opened and unleashed the attack stored up inside it right back at him. He was hit quite badly with it, but then suddenly disappeared in a flash of light as Yulari landed on the ground.
"That...that was amazing" Kotori muttered. "What was that?"
"Ah, its a magic item. Once a day, it can store an entire magical attack and throw it back at the caster. That guy, he really did go all out for that opening move. Its a good thing though. This box not only can only store a single magical attack a day, but it can also store only one at a time, regardless of how strong or powerful the magic used or how much time you wait. Created from a Divine Shard, like all the things that make up your Holy Sword".
"Wait wait, how did you know to come here? Or who I was?"
"Its obvious really. Your behavior and actions in this world, made it obvious that it would be you, even if you didn't have your memories yet".
"Wait wait, should we be talking about this in front of my little brother?!"
The two looked at Kotori, but he was just staring at the box. "I am fine. I am following along perfectly. I understand what is being said and the situation. I could tell sis was different anyways already".
"...your little brother is so much smarter then you".
"Hey!"
"That said, I know there is a lot of abrupt things that just happened that you want to talk about, but unfortunately we dont have time right now. You need to pack up and leave. I doubt he will fall for my box twice in a row like that, and he will have countermeasures. So we need to leave now".
"But, wait...this is..."
"Class President, you know I am right. If we stay, we will die. So make sure to say goodbye to your family. I am sure it will only be easier on your little brother not to deal with you anymore also".
"But..."
Rayheart was the sentimental sort, so while she wanted to adventure and travel, she also would miss home. And yet, she knew Yulari was right.
"No, I am going with you" Kotori said, a deterined look in his gaze. "While I dont understand everything, I understand enough...in the future, I have to be there. Or rather, if I am not there, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, may end up dead. So I need to come...besides, if you are that strong with fighting, I bet you never cooked a day in your life right?"
Yulari froze a bit. She couldn't refute that.
"Then I have to go, so make sure you both dont starve to death or get stuck eating dry rations. Come on, I saw this coming even without my gift, so I made sure to have our parents prepare backpacks for us".
And so, although the pacing felt weird to Rayheart, especially with the arrival and then sudden turnaround, the Hero and her two party members ended up leaving on a joirney rather abruptly.
----------------------------------------
"You seem to be showing quite a bit of action on the world below, Ciel" the Goddess of the Moon and Tides, Irala, said to him as he sat in a window in a heavenly palace, watching the world below now.
"What do you mean? Rikuo just happened to find a shard he was compatible with, and Kotori and the Hero...they are interesting people. I was given orders to make it interesting this time, not the one sided beatdowns we have had the last few times, so I did some tweaking, but not that much".
The young boy god, at least in appearance, looked at the girl. Like him, she had blonde hair and silver eyes, and was wrapped in white divine cloth.
"Are you sure? It seems awefully like you are doing some things in secret, operating behind the shadows...and you dont even hide it all that well, taking the form of a mischevous boy, father".
Ciel seemed both annoyed and embarrassed, as he blushed upon being called that.
"...I wish you wouldn't call me that. At least use the divine tongue, not the human tongue, when you call me something like that. I mean, in the first place, all I did was sculpt you from Divine Marble, and then breathed life into you and turned Divine Marble into Divine Flesh. Thats more like, creator, not father".
"Either way, you cant deny that you are quite mischevous. And that you are up to something".
"Nah, you are overthinking it...All I am is following orders from the Supreme God is all" he said, hopping out of the window. But that was when Irala grabbed his shoulders and pinned him against the wall, kissing him while restaining both his arms with just one of hers..
"Is that why you kissed Kotori? You thought giving him a secret blessing would do that?"
"You really cant help yourself but act out of character when you get into this position, do you, Saris?"
The woman stopped suddenly, although she continued to keep Ciel pinned to the wall. Her form suddenly changed, and rather then the Goddess of Moons and Tides, she was the Goddess of Lust and Desire, Saris. She was far shorter then Irala, appearing as a sixteen year old girl instead of a full on adult woman.
"How long did you know" she said with a tone.
"I was reasonably sure the moment you first arrived, but while Irala might playfully call me father as a joke, she would never pin me to a wall, kiss me, and you were just about to tear my clothes off and go into full makeout mode right?"
"Maybe I still will".
"Saris, do you really plan to face the judgement you would recieve for such actions...as well as wanting to fight me".
From thin air, a floating spear was suddenly at the throat of Saris.
When did he...no, wait...if he had his holy weapon this whole time, did he purposefully bait me into this? This guy....he anticipated me?!
Saris backed off, a bit shocked.
"What the hell are you up to, Ciel?"
"Nothing at all" Ciel said, giving absolutely no signs of deception or tells.
Indeed, there was no evidence he did anything wrong, no sign of deception, and he was following orders perfectly. There were plenty of greater concerns.
But Saris just couldn't trust him, that Ciel. And she hated the idea of him leaving her out of things.
Mark my words, I will discover your secrets and make you mine, Ciel!
And to think, it wasn't even noon yet of the current day.