"Mn, so if it's like that, then...?" I glanced back at the blueprint before Focusing my all into my right hand, "Tch, wrong again."
"Still can't get those batteries made?" Issei asked offhandedly as he laid on the grass next to me, looking up at the starry night sky, "Man, just go to sleep already. You'll figure it out faster if you're well-rested."
"Nah, I think it's better to do it now, when I have this moment of peace. It's easier to Focus, but still... Dammit."
Why isn't this working? Is there something missing? I've been going at it for hours now, yet no matter how closely I study the blueprints, I just can't wrap my head around the structure. Let me explain how Materialize works a bit more in-depth. Let's use something simple as an example, like a shirt button. The first requirement is for you to visualize it in your head. You know you got it when you can spin it around and still not lose the shape. That's the first and easier step, but after that comes the hard part. You need to Focus on "zooming into it", so much so that you can see even the tiniest particles on it. Yep, everything from the bevel to the holes in the center to the texture and then... Presto, it's in the palm of your hand. I can Materialize quite a lot of complex stuff like this, but if I can't do one of these steps, then the Blue light emanating from my palm just goes away without anything being transmuted. It really gets annoying quick if you fail one too many times...
"Hey Lune, look over there." Issei pointed to the city skyline over yonder, "It's 2AM right now, and the city is still so alive."
"Yeah, these guys must never sleep, eh?" I smirked, "Good thing Freddy parked the airbike this far out of town. I feel bad for not believing in his word that it'd make things easier later. He really does know a lot when it comes to traveling."
"Coming from you, that's incredible praise."
"Nah, I'm not the gatekeeper of traveling for fun." I sighed, "Besides, I know nothing about this world nor how it works. I traveled the entire world back home, and yet I can barely hold my own in this one, even with my Iro Abilities. It's all just so... Grand."
"What part?" Freddy, whom we previously thought was asleep, had rolled over on the grass and asked, "I went around the world 39 times now and it feels the same as walking over to the convenience store."
"You kept count?" Issei raised an Eyebrow.
"I plan to go around the world 144 times to make a musical reference."
"Musical reference?" I furrowed my brows, "Well, whatever. I still only managed to visit all the major continents, and even then it was just barely. I'm not at all as well-versed as you."
"...Eh, you'll surpass me soon enough." He chuckled, "I could never even imagine traveling to every continent without my prized airbike, so in reality you're doing way better than me. Now that you've gotten a taste of modern day technology though, I think you'll manage to speed through if you so wish to."
Hm, fair point, but is it even possible to travel the world over another 38 times? Actually no, he said he plans on going for 144, so when we take that into account the answer only gets bleaker. Hmm, maybe if I made an airbike back home? I guess that could be possible if I find a detailed blueprint like this one for the batteries. Maybe if found the Aru of my world, or went to Auros in Sulfury to ask for it... Right, then there's the issue of hiding it from the rest of the world. The people back home are quite scared of technology, so forget stealing it while I'm away, they'd probably break or dismantle it, causing me to have to make a new one. And Gods forbid Adam finds out about it. He's infamous in my Eyes for mass-producing anything he deems interesting, like the AFP that killed Marina. Marina, my wife... Ah.
"Cecily, the kids..." I let the blueprint fall from my hands as I looked up at the sky, "You were the last thing on my mind again..."
"Eh? Lune?" Issei saw the piece of paper fall to the ground, "What are you muttering about?"
Thinking about traveling the world, it's like I completely forgot I have a family to take care of. Right, Nelly's probably frantically thinking up ways with Meil to get me back, all the while balancing her school work on top of that. Cene finally started to trust me after so long, and now he might forget about me all over again. And Cecily, what is her reaction to the news that I'm gone? Is she sad, angry, disappointed? What did her facial expression look like when Ed came back and told her? Did she heave a long sigh, did she start crying? Or maybe... she laughed at the chronically deadbeat dad that even now, in another world, thinks about his impact on his family last whenever something comes up?
"I need to change." I muttered to myself, "And get back home."
"Oh, you did it." Issei glanced at my hands, "Nice going, dude."
"Huh? Did what?" I looked down to see the final part required to assemble the megavolt battery, "Eh? When did...?"
"Finally!" Freddy raised his fists into the air before letting them drop beside him, "Now go the fuck to sleep. We got a long day of traveling tomorrow."
"T-This is...!" I could hardly keep my composure, "Sleep? No, now that I have all the parts, I need to assemble it and then I can...!"
"Go to sleep!" Both Issei and Freddy shouted.
A-Ah, I guess they're not letting me lose any more sleep than I already did. But seriously, how could anyone sleep after the adrenaline rush this success brought up? Ugh, sleeping on grass felt way more comfortable as a kid...
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
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"Argh..."
"Yaaawn, what's the matter?" Issei rolled over, "Couldn't sleep well?"
"Oh I could fall asleep easy, it's just the waking up part that's difficult." I tried stretching, only to feel a sharp, tense pain in my neck, "Ack, I think I sprained it."
"Not sleeping on a bed does that to a guy. Hold on, aren't you like, a village boy originally? Shouldn't this feel right up your alley?"
"You're also from this world originally, so how come you didn't know about FRI and airbikes?" Freddy chimed in, "Kids grow up and change into someone else entirely. They evolve with their surroundings. Like a Ship of Theseus kind of thing."
"Uncle, you know so much about the world, it's a damned shame you don't know how to get a girlfriend." Issei teased.
"I don't know any guy named Theseus, but I do agree with the other things you said." I got up only to scoff at the Green stains on my butt, "Hey, could we stop by a clothes shop before we visit Chichén Itza? I'm really tired of wearing the same set of clothes for months now."
"You get used to it." Freddy shrugged, "Hell, it's rare to even find an opportunity to shower while you're out traveling the world."
"Never mind, I think I know now why you don't have a girl." Issei backed away, "Please find the timr to shower from now on."
Bad jokes and even worse hygiene aside, we still couldn't even go anywhere until I assembled the megavolt battery. Even then, we would only have one, which meant I had to repeat the same painstaking steps I agonized over just last night on top of that. Well, now I know the gist and the feel of Materializing all the parts, so it should be at least somewhat easier to do this time.
"Already jumping straight to work?" Issei noticed me tinkering with the parts, "Careful not to get hurt. You saw what happened to those fish in the ocean when the previous battery fell in."
"I'll be fine, but could I bother you two to go buy something to munch on for breakfast while I work on this?" I said as I locked the pieces in one by one, "I wanna get home as soon as possible."
"Oh, so that's what you were muttering about last night." Issei laughed before asking Freddy to accompany him, "Well then, come on, uncle. Let's give Lune some peace and quiet while we go buy some McDonald's. Your treat, of course."
"Shouldn't it be "My treat", you damned selfish nephew!?"
"Yeah, that's what I said. Your treat."
"Gah, then your treat!"
"Yeah, your treat."
"Damn the English language for making me lose money!"
Thus, Freddy stomped off as Issei chipperly followed him. But that's family, and speaking of family, it's about time I got serious about reuniting with my own family too. Right, I got all the pieces from the blueprints Materialized, so now it's just a matter of clicking, linking and screwing all of them into place.
"First goes the main capacitors, then the outer shell's lower half, followed by the upper one that simply snaps on. Right, everything's going well for now, but I can't grow complacent." I muttered, "Things could get real ugly real quick if I don't follow the instructions real closely. Okay, next step should be the positive and negative ends respectively, which are just flat pieces of aluminium used to establish contact between the battery and the airbike."
Okay, that's the base of it done! Thankfully this part wasn't so bad, but it's only the first step. Alas, I'll have to combine a ton of other smaller parts that'll all eventually converge into the final product. Stuff like soldering the voltage amplifier, setting up the automatic safety switch that safely discharges all the megavolts in case of a failure and the likes. And just like that, we have ourselves a (hopefully) fully functioning megavolt battery!
"It took more time than I had expected to make it. Guess Issei and Freddy were right about me doing the assembly now instead of last night." I nodded, "Hey, speaking of, where are they?"
Hmph, I guess we did park far outside the city, so if they're going on foot, it'll obviously take a while. I feel like I accidentally sent them on a super long mission because I failed to grasp the distance from here to LA. I just hope they didn't run into any problems... Nah, trust in them, Lune. They're doing their part, so you do yours! And do mine I did, because I had spent the next half hour Materializing and assembling another battery, then another, and yet another one after that, and...!
"Dude." Issei broke me out of the zone with a worried tone and a double cheeseburger in hand, "We can't carry all those."
"He's right, the airbike won't handle the weight." Freddy laughed before tossing me a bag with my own food in it, "But I guess we can always sell them for extra spending money. Come on, eat up and let's fly over to Rodney's and get mad bucks!"
Rodney, the skate shop worker? I guess if there's anyone who can for sure tell us the exact quality of the batteries, it's him. Frankly, I'm just glad we can finally start our damned trip. Hopefully there won't be any more hold-ups from now on and I can soon go back home. Cecily, if I come back and you don't smack the crap out of me, I won't be able to live with myself. Please, for the love of the Gods, don't be patient with me anymore! You've endured my selfishness long enough, and to that I say - No more!