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(MoD) Chapter 15: Preparing for a Date
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 05:30:02 +0000 UTCChapter 15: Preparing for a Date
After setting his phone aside following his text with Yuuma, Takuaji returned his attention to the open book in front of him, the one that would teach him how Eastern Magicians handled the concepts of barriers.
The Eastern form of barriers was split into different categories.
There were Protective Barriers, Imprisoning Barriers, Killing Barriers, Illusory Barriers, and last but not least, Sealing Barriers. Each was doing exactly as their title suggested, and the element the Magician wielded played a significant role in which of these they'd excel at.
To create a Barrier, you needed to be capable of casting a very specific sequence of hand seals, which, depending on the intensity of the Barrier, could range up to 50 or more.
Moreover, you needed to perform each seal within a specific time. If you took too long, the Barrier would fail and you'd have wasted your Mana for nothing.
So this is a Dexterity-intensive form of Magic, how fortunate for me.
Dark Mana was best suited to Illusory Barriers—but as Takauji read further, he encountered a glaring problem.
There wasn't a single Illusory Barrier that utilized Dark Mana inside the manual, only ones that used Neutral Mana, and even that list wasn't very lengthy.
What the hell? Why even tell me that information if you won't give me anything?
His only guess was that it had something to do with the immense rarity of the Dark Element, at least among humanity.
And then there was yet another issue, to actually activate a Barrier through using hand seals, you needed to combine a completely different power source with your Mana—called Chakra, or Ki.
He clenched his jaw, holding back the urge to throw the book against the wall with all his might, having been led down another dead end by its contents.
Calm down, Takauji. Let's be calm and reasonable about this because I'm a calm and reasonable person. All I have to do is find out how to get Chakra.
Thankfully, the book decided to explain the acquisition process.
There were three methods to obtaining Chakra, one was to simply be born a Youkai, which he could swiftly scratch off the list. The other was vaguely described as understanding you, others, and nature's Chakra through meditation, which he couldn't contemplate.
The last was intensive physical training that would allow one to achieve something called Touki through brute force and connect one with Nature's Chakra by proxy.
Touki was a state achieved through mastering the ability to control one's own life force, which in turn awarded a substantial increase in all one's physical attributes.
Even the slightest touch from someone wielding this ability can damage an opponent, especially when it reaches a more advanced state.
However, how much training it took for one to unlock Touki varied from person to person. Some were better attuned with Nature's Chakra thanks to some condition they were born with, some had the help of an experienced Senjutsu master to guide them, and some were simply more favoured by the world than others.
Maybe you'd unlock it in a few days, maybe a few months, or maybe it'd take years if you're exceptionally unfortunate. There really wasn't a way to know for sure until you tried.
My Meditation skill only increases my Mana, but if I'm lucky enough, it also makes me more "zen," whatever that's supposed to mean.
I guess all that's left to do is acquire a gym membership. Murayama will probably make it home in a few minutes, so I'd better hurry.
He started to pack his things, including a spare change of clothes, before grabbing his wallet and bolting out the front door. He quickly scanned the area around him just in case Murayama happened to have arrived earlier than expected.
Once he had confirmed the coast was clear, he went to the local gym and forked over the necessary cash, contemplating for a moment as he recalled the exact regimen Hairo had forced him to do some time ago when he requested his help with strength training.
Funnily enough, I feel this will hurt like crazy even though my stats are much higher than they were back then.
And hurt it did, the only saving grace being that the prospect of unlocking a new ability served as his self-motivation. As much as his muscles screamed, pleaded, and begged for mercy, he just couldn't afford to give up on acquiring Chakra now that he had set his mind to it.
He was far too stubborn to quit. He needed to be better. He needed to prove that he was superior to not only Sona but the Devil race in general, in spite of his human limitations, and in order to accomplish that, he needed strength, a lot of strength.
Toughen up, Takauji, you're hardly even capable of injuring one of her subordinates as you are now. Are you alright with that? Being that pathetically weak?
"Hey? Do you think he's alright?"
"I mean, he hasn't passed out yet. So that's a good sign, isn't it?"
"He's probably doing some kind of combat sport, or he's just a plain maniac."
"True, but it's kinda inspiring watching him, don't you think?"
Little did he realize that everyone else in the gym had begun to stop and stare as the hours passed, watching as some random high schooler outperformed them all, training like his life literally depended on it.
Before he knew it, he had fully adopted Hairo's "just one more" mentality, refusing to back down from the challenge he had set himself before his body quite literally couldn't take anymore.
All I have to do is squeeze out whatever's left of me, and meditate during the night. I don't know what's awaiting me tomorrow when I meet up with Amano-san, if anything, but I'd rather be as prepared for it as possible.
Calling on Sona's help was always an option, but his pride wouldn't allow it until he had done everything within his personal power to protect himself first.
Of course, he wouldn't be allowed to return to his bedroom before another verbal bout with Murayama, something he was gradually becoming more adept at with each passing day.
Then again, it didn't even begin to compare to the debate-club-esque training he got from arguing with Sona day in and day out.
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The following day had arrived, and like most, Takauji initiated it by checking his statistics.
[+27 STR (37 → 64).]
[+33 VIT (54 → 87).]
[+31 MANA (51 → 82).]
Now that's what I'm talking about, I'm only 12 Mana away from ranking up. I couldn't feel worse physically, but I've never felt better mentally.
And as he had hoped, with his stat increases came new skills.
[Skill Awakened! — (Dark) Obscurification; a curse you can apply to a weapon, which upon making contact with an opponent will blur their vision to a varying degree depending on how much force the hit carried and delivered, scales with Mana and Elemental Affinity.]
[Passive Trait Unlocked! — (Neutral) Rejuvenative Spirit; the rate of your Vitality's growth is increased by 30%.]
Huh, I only got one skill this time. He pressed his lips together, disappointed at first, but coming to a point of understanding later.
The higher my stats get, the bigger the intervals between obtaining skills will also become. However, the quality of skills seems to be increasing, so there's still merit in it.
He also had a new way to obtain skills through the resources he now had access to as a Contracted Magician, so even if the screen wouldn't award him them, he could always look for what he wanted on his own.
The only problem was that there wasn't a single book Sona could find with spells made from Dark Mana, not even one. Whether that was because they didn't exist, or because Sona couldn't access them, he couldn't say.
Maybe when he became more well-versed in the Magician world, he'd start conducting some investigating of his own.
But for the time being, he had a date to attend to.
Wait, I don't think we ever arranged a meeting time, did we?
He picked up his phone, opening up Yuuma's contact in hopes that she was as much of an early-riser as he was.
[Takauji: Hey, you up?]
God, now I sound like the pushy one.
Much to his surprise, he was given an immediate reply, almost as if she had been anticipating his message.
[Yuuma: Mhm, I'm guessing you're also just realizing we didn't choose a time to meet?]
[Takauji: Yeah, pretty much.]
[Yuuma: I mean, if it's alright with you, could we meet up now? Since we're both awake anyway.]
[Takauji: Sure, give me some time to change.]
If he was going to get involved in something troublesome, he wanted to ensure he looked good doing it.
After taking a quick shower, he changed into a white shirt with a black, freshly ironed blazer over it. He also wore similarly colored pants and trainers, just in case he'd need to do a lot of running.
Once he had combed his hair, cleaned his glasses, and gotten a good look at himself in the mirror, he decided he was ready for whatever was about to happen—or not about to happen to him if luck was on his side.
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15 Minutes Later, Sitri Household.
"What's taking her so long?" Sona grumbled, constantly glancing at her watch while irritably tapping her foot against the flooring of her household's training room.
Since today was a Sunday, it meant that her peerage would be training, with the inclusion of a certain someone whom Tsubaki was supposed to have left to grab. However, she appeared to be taking longer than usual for some unbeknownst reason.
"Finally," Sona sighed, watching a magic crest light up before her, signalling her Queen's return. You certainly took your time—" Then her eyes widened, noticing something was awry.
"I couldn't find him." Tsubaki was the only one who had returned, with a mildly perturbed look. "I spread my senses as far as I could, but he's not at his house or around his neighbourhood."
You've got to be kidding me.
Sona bit her lower lip, turning to face Momo. "Where was the last place your familiar spotted him?"
She scratched her cheek, "He went to the local gym yesterday but returned home right after."
"Did he go anywhere before that?"
"I'm not sure, my familiar needed to rest in the morning."
I get that you want to keep watch over your boyfriend, but our familiars don't have infinite stamina!
"Alright then," Sona pinched her nose bridge in frustration. You and Reya start surveying the area around the gym, Tomoe and Tsubasa will look around their neighbourhood just in case, and Tsubaki and I will handle the Plaza since it has the most area to cover."
"Hold on," Tsubaki intervened. "Are we going to conduct a full search for him? What if he's just gone out to buy groceries or something? He cooks a lot, doesn't he?"
Sona shook her head, "No, he only buys groceries on the 27th of every month."
How do you even know that? We haven't been watching him for nearly that long.— Actually, I'm better off not thinking too much about it.
"Did he cook anything before he left?"
"No, I didn't smell anything." Tsubaki was quite familiar with the aromatic smell of Takauji's culinary expertise.
"And was Murayama still in the house?"
"Yes."
"Then he left for something that warranted him not cooking for his sister beforehand, which he usually does every day without fail, which means it's important."
Alright, now you're scaring me a little.
"Then isn't that more reason for us not to get involved? He might see it as intrusive," the rest of her peerage nodded, agreeing with their Queen's reasoning.
"I'm his contractor; I can be as intrusive as I please, " she said without hesitation, shooting a sharp glare at Tsubaki that almost froze her in place.
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Oh boy, this situation is sure to develop with absolutely no complications whatsoever, right?
