Questionable Questing
Gusfes, ENIYA replied to a thread you are watching at Questionable Questing.
[NSFW] - My Magic Academia is Too Scientific and Political (Mahouka SI/Waifu Catalog)

Chapter 4
"I have returned!" My announcement upon opening the front door was reminiscent of Eimi's usual mannerisms. Apparently, her enthusiasm is contagious and I don't have a vaccine for it.
Gintoki put away the data terminal he was looking at then sat up from the living room couch, and spoke tiredly, "Welcome home. Looks like you had a good day."
"I made lots of friends and got mugged by a girl even shorter than Eimi!"
"I see, I'm glad- wait, what was that last bit?!"
"Saegusa Mayumi, the student council president, caught me on the way back home and extorted the rest of my food supply from me."
"Uhuh… is that legal?"
"She tried to make it legal by calling it an inspection on my delayed spell mediums."
My father jokingly complained about 'that conniving fox's (Koichi Saegusa) passing down his manipulative dickishness to his spawn. Of course, I was obligated to defend my future lover's character, so I said that Mayumi wasn't like that as she inherited little of his cynicism and pragmatism.
It was a very backhanded way of saying that she's a nice, naive girl at heart.
I don't particularly care about any of the big-name Magician family's, be it their relevance to the plot or their effectively useless 'political power' (to me), outside of whatever specialized Magic and the research they have. However, I do need to know enough to connect with my dad over the time-honored tradition of satirizing the Magician system.
For someone that enjoyed Magic and had a lot of connections to all kinds of Magicians and organizations, my dad has a surprising degree of derision towards the role of Magicians in the social, political, economic, and military structures of this world.
I most certainly am interested in the stories he has to tell. I do want to ask him about then, though I decided to hold my tongue for the time being since I'm not in a rush and he has given me several indications that he will talk to me about it someday in the future.
"Is mom doing alright? She's still at it."
I asked my father as we both watched my mother playing a virtual FPS game in the living room. We could see some of the action through the large TV screen, however, we were missing a lot of the immersion given the way her bulky VR gear was designed.
"Yeah. She needs to blow some steam. There's some complication with her suppliers so she needs to rework the seasonal menu…"
Gintoki left the rest unsaid, I formed the sign of the cross and sent a soft prayer to the poor souls that were chewed out from my mother's righteous chef fury.
Speaking of my mother, every one of her shots was perfect, which wasn't much of a surprise as a professional chef requires a high degree of dexterity. It made sense that such dexterity would transfer over to other aspects of her life, like her interest in FPS games.
That said, I could totally match her score if I really tried. Super Dexterity comes with the whole Kryptonian and Body Talent package. I often had to make myself appear clumsy or make over-the-top unnecessary movements, as otherwise, the sheer precision of my movements would be unnervingly perfect in the eyes of others.
"And that's that! Whew, hell mode wasn't half bad…" Elizabeth took off the VR helmet and addressed me, "So, did I miss anything?"
"Our son got robbed by a girl shorter than Eimi-chan."
"To be fair, she was only 1 cm shorter."
My mother eyed me from top-to-bottom then shook her head, "Yeah, not seeing it."
"I'll tell you two all about it over dinner. By the way, if you're looking for a difficult game, there's this game from about 90 years ago with a difficulty level called 'Level Die'. It's called God Hand-"
Dinner was as lively as usual (the new norm), we talked a lot about our day and the people we met over the meals (today was leftover day). My parents were especially amused by the stories I had to tell about everyone, be it Eimi, Erika, Mayumi, the Shiba siblings and Mizuki. Mizuki may not have stood out much, but her question about my relationship with Eimi really did get the ball rolling for some conversations with my parents.
On Gintoki's side, my dad had arranged a time for me to give some personal instruction to his old friend Guren Amami this weekend. The man was apparently impressed by the faster cast time and greater power demonstrated by my father when they did had a mock magic duel somewhere. Naturally, he wanted to hear from the main contributor to my father's improved strength, which was me.
As for my mother, Elizabeth spent some time complaining about a few idiots, then talked about the good work some of her staff had done, before eventually asking for some ideas from me to rework her menu.
"It will be nice for you to try working at my restaurant some time as a guest chef. There's a difference between being an astounding cook and an equally astounding chef, for the latter, you will need to know how to manage more than just what comes out on the plate."
"If it means I'll get to spend more time with you mom, then sure! I guess I have a part-time job this summer then?"
"You're really up for it? Great! We can give it a go for a few days then top it off with a food festival taking place around that time. That should also leave you with plenty of time to frolic on the beach."
"Ah yes, the beach. Filled with sand… coarse, rough and irritating with how it gets everywhere…"
My father helped me recover my enthusiasm with some magic words, "Just think about your girlfriends in swimsuits."
"Le Gasp! How could the promised beach episodes ever slip my mind!"
Mom swatted both our heads with her notebook, "Stop using that fake French accent! And you, stop encouraging our son to play around with the feelings of more than one girl at the same time!"
So I have permission for my harem if I romance them separately and not together?
Thanks for the support mom.
"It's called risk diversification."
I kept my silence upon hearing my dad's weak defense and subsequent comeuppance courtesy of my mother.
My mom had largely given up on correcting my supposed nasty 'playboy' attitude and blamed it all on my dad's genes, which wouldn't be that far-fetched, given that certain Magician lineages like the Elements had strong genetic dispositions towards certain behaviors.
… But if that were the case, then wouldn't it be rather likely for me to have loads of half-brothers and half-sisters all across Japan?
Oh dear, I hope that any future incest marriages start and end with the Shiba siblings. I can support their situation thanks to their screwed-up family, but if they start infecting others with it… yeah... I really don't want to imagine my family or my children fucking each other.
[hr][/hr]
The next day (Monday)...
My life just became a lot more convenient!
Courtesy of Kryptonian TechnologyTM and the Magic that helped produce it at dirt-cheap prices.
I had managed to make plenty of upgrades to my devices yesterday after spending some of my credits on gaining access to the entirety of the Kryptonian species' knowledge and technology.
Well, that's a bit of a stretch, considering that I can't access all of it right now.
As per my call with the Company Helpline's representative, getting a Template Stack at 10 credits for Kryptonian Knowledge would only grant me as much information as I can process in my current state relevant to my 'tier'.
As my powers (specifically my mental capabilities) grow day by day, so too will my access to the accumulated knowledge of the Kryptonian race. I had gained a good amount of the Kryptonian's native technology, especially the ones involving Sunstones, but I still lacked the technology development that spanned millions of years, the innovations, assimilation of alien technologies, and the other knowledge gained from their intensive research across the 28 Galaxies.
I also did not have access to any Sunstones. But like how one could get a Green Lantern Ring for 20 Credits using the OC Donut Steel option, slapping another 10 Credits unto this particular template will grant me an 'all-in-one' Sunstone that lets me access the knowledge as if I'm searching through an archive and internalize it all more quickly.
In any event, I have successfully created a Kryptonian 'phone' in the form of a crystalline slate and transferred The Company's catalog app and associated protections to it using the instructions given (it's kind of like transferring my game account into a new phone).
This made things a lot more convenient for me, as I now had a phone with advanced capabilities that I can use to secure my archive of Magic, hack into any technology on the planet, manage my Company related affairs, listen to Eurobeat, read my H-doujins, and much more at the 'speed of thought'. Quite literally, as I can operate the phone through a telepathic link thanks to a crystalline terminal disguised as one of my wireless earbuds.
Incidentally, this left me with a very ordinary phone, which I will have to use once in a while for unsecured calls (having no records at all would be too suspicious), innocent online searches, social media, and public Magic research.
Similarly, I had also upgraded my true CAD into a miniaturized Kryptonian approved CAD, which was disguised as the other earbud.
Fuhahaha, when people see me with my earbuds plugged in, they'll all think I'm just listening to Eurobeat without realizing I'm actually an armed Magician and a pseudo-technopath overlord!
That said, I still kept my 'public CAD' for the sake of perpetuating my image of a 'normal Magician' that actually specializes in Ancient Magic.
I was never going to keep up the image of an average Magician since I can't help myself from sharing my love of Magic with others through various means. What I could do, however, is manage my image such that my status as an 'irregular' Magician only remains that of a highly competent Ancient Magician with all sorts of new tricks up his sleeves.
Speaking of things up my sleeves, there was currently a snaggle-toothed gremlin trying to find some hidden treasures up there through furious shaking movements.
"Eimi, you can't expect candy to just fall out of my sleeves by messing with it."
"Ah-ha-ha! It can't be helped, I had to try it, you know? Especially after Saegusa-senpai whacked you like a Pinata for your emergency food. To think that she was so violent… tsk tsk."
It was only natural that Eimi was informed of what happened yesterday since we usually talked to each other before calling it a night.
"Indeed, the student council president did shake me down like a brutish thug. She was truly a role model for the average First High student"
"... Did the two of you plan for that specific exchange beforehand?"
Mayumi's smile was slightly strained as she 'overheard' us as we passed through the school gate.
"Woah there Senpai! I totally didn't see your 155 cm tall visage peeking out of the gate in the morning and enacted a comedy skit with Eimi in response to that."
"Uh-huh! There's no way we would have seen you lurking about the school gate from up here."
Eimi's personality meant that she had a near-zero affinity for the use of sarcasm when it came to making fun of others (it's too 'mean' for her pure soul), thankfully, this does not extend to a practiced comedy routine.
"You're not even trying to hide it at this point! And you, how can you be so full of yourself when you're only 1 cm taller than I am!"
Eimi adopted a confused expression and innocently questioned, "I have more room to grow?"
Mayumi had a defeated expression on her face and sulkily held her palm out, "Just pay the toll and go to your classes."
"You're not even pretending that this isn't extortion already."
I showed my acceptance with a fond smile and gave her a delicately wrapped bag of treats, attached was a tiny card with her name hand-written on it using the finest calligraphy brush I had on hand.
"Eh? Ken-kun? This is…"
"It's the first time I'm'voluntarily 'gifting' you some of my gourmet-level treats. The occasion has to be special in some way or another, doesn't it?"
"Is that so...? Thank you."
Her surprised tone combined with a bashful expression was deadly levels of adorable.
But alas, we were already attracting quite a bit of attention at the school gate, and a certain vice-president looked like he wanted to kill me right now so I decided to move on for now.
"Oh, and just call me Ken. If you keep calling me Ken-kun then it sounds like I have a totally different name. And stop bugging me to join the Council as your personal cook."
I started walking off and handed an equally well-made packet of sweets to Eimi as payment for a job well done.
[hr][/hr]
"Morning~!"
Erika's voice was as lively as ever.
"Good morning."
Sitting beside her was Mizuki, who was relatively more demure. Then again, it's Erika, so most Japanese people would be more restrained than her.
"A very good morning to you both!" I quickly eyed my school terminal with my student ID stamped at my desk area, "Aw man, it looks like I'm seated a bit further from you two ladies."
"Hoh? Are you really that disappointed after being deprived of our feminine company?" Erika smiled teasingly.
"It can't be helped. It is in the Ohtomo genes to desperately desire the company of beautiful women such as yourselves, Chiba-san, Shibata-san." I shrugged, "Totally true by the way. At least, my mother seems to think so. I'm still in the dark when it comes to possible half-siblings scattered somewhere in Japan."
Mizuki started to snicker at Erika's side, conversely, the red-haired girl adopted a pensive look.
"What will you do if you do end up meeting an unknown half-sibling all of a sudden?"
"I would verify his or her blood relations to me and then welcome him or her into the family with open arms! Hopefully, she would be a younger girl, as I always wanted a little sister... Then pray to God that she maintains a healthy non-clingy familial relationship with me, her older brother, unlike the case of Tatsuya-kun over here."
Tatsuya, who had just arrived in the classroom, simply looked at me and said, "I feel like I'm being unfairly singled out."
"Of course you are. I'm discriminating against you for being an absurdly sweet siscon and brocon combo."
Tatsuya joined us in a bit of conversation before heading for his seat and setting his ID card into the terminal to begin the usual info checks. I followed suit and quickly comprehended the course regulations, disciplinary regulations, and rules concerning the use of facilities, etc…
Incidentally, a certain young man was looking at both of us with wide eyes. Tatsuya went ahead and responded first.
"...It's not like I have a problem with you watching me, but..."
"Eh? Ahh, my bad. It's something pretty rare, so I ended up staring."
"Rare?"
"I'm pretty sure it's rare now, right? This is the first time I have seen someone only using keyboard input."
"If you're experienced, this method is faster. Although between this, visual pointers, and neural assistance, it's also the least accurate. Ken, what do you think?"
"I'm all for it if it gets the job done but I'm banking on neural technology to make a few breakthroughs so that we can get more thought-operated technologies. Until then, I'm sticking with my trusty hands."
I pretty much had the technology required to solve my current complaints. Hmm, perhaps I should get around to monetizing them.
"That so...? Whoa, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Saijou Leonhart. My father's a half and my mother's a quarter, so while I look Japanese, my name is Western, and my specialty is Convergent Systematic Reinforcement magic. My desired course is to hone my body and become either riot police or a mountain corpsman. You can call me Leo."
Ah yes, Panzer bro.
The guy that fucked off from the crazy plot to become a firefighter or something. Smart guy. The power-scaling of the plot was getting too much for a beatstick like him to keep up anyways.
"Woah there, that was a whole backstory right there! Keep it to twenty words or less."
"Huh, sorry."
"Nah, I'm just messing with you. I, too, have a colorful introduction that can span more than twenty words."
"If it's that long then you may as well just type it out Ken." Tatsuya deadpanned then introduced himself, "I'm Shiba Tatsuya, but Tatsuya's just fine. That guy is Ohtomo Ken, as you might have deduced, Ken works for him just fine."
"Noooo… my introduction phase has been stolen."
Leo took one look at me and said, "You don't look very beat up about it."
I shrugged and smiled, "Spend enough time with Tatsuya and you'll realize he's a secret sadist who gets off making people uncomfortable and taking the wind out of someone's sails."
"If you're going to go there, then I have to warn Leo that you tend to go on a tangent when it comes to Magic Theory."
"Right back at you. This guy's crazy at Magic Engineering."
Erika popped right in with a busybody look. "Ken, Tatsuya, who the heck is this random guy?"
"Wha, calling someone a 'random guy' all of a sudden? Not to mention pointing? How rude, how rude! How absolutely rude! This must be why you're not popular!"
Begun, the Leo-Erika war has…
I tuned them, along with Haruka Ono (the guidance counselor) out when she entered the room later on, as I could finally complete an activity on my backlog now that school has officially started and all the students are in.
Yesterday's entrance ceremony had taken place on a Sunday, this meant that the senior students outside of the Student Council (and even then, there were some absences like the lack of Katsuto Juumonji) were not present upon campus grounds.
Now, however, I had them all where I wanted them.
Or rather, all their CAD's were now within my electromagnetic spectrum vision range.
Unlike my vanilla super eyesight and accompanying X-ray vision, the range and mastery of my other ocular powers, including my ability to perceive the electromagnetic spectrum, emit gamma-ray radiation from my eyes, and other less-used Kryptonian abilities were at a much lower level.
The range on those abilities was a lot shorter than my vision and hearing range, which could reach halfway across the Great Asian Union as of yesterday. It also required more concentration for me to use, which necessitated a stationary position.
Orientation was the perfect chance for me to complete my objective. And complete it I did.
By the time Leo managed to drag Tatsuya and the rest of the gang (including me) to accompany him to the workshop, I had finished my self-assigned task of reading the information off all the CAD's on campus premises and copying all the data into my phone's archive via my Kryptonian technology-enabled mind link.
As a result, I was now the proud owner of several unpublicized Activation/Magical Sequences such as Mari's Dojigiri, Hattori's various Compound Magics, Katsuyo's Phalanx spell, Azusa's crowd control spell, Kinoe's totally illegal Evil-Eye spell that he gained access to from his piece-of-shit brother who brainwashed him with that very same spell, and the list goes on and on.
Truly, the Kryptonian Template was the best when it came to overall value.
The ability to read information off the technology with my super-powered eyes and enhanced brain is truly invaluable in modern-day society. Sadly, I couldn't go through the library databases, as those devices were too large for me to properly read with my current mastery of this power, so I still had to go through that the manual way.
There were a few Ancient Magic users whose secrets were still kept, for now at least, until I personally reverse-engineered their spells.
As a connoisseur of Magic, there was no way I could simply leave such spells unstudied!
The rest of the school day passed by relatively quickly, with the occasional discrimination on the part of the Course 1 students, their obnoxious attitudes really put a damper onto the mood of my friends.
One such case was when Miyuki was prevented from sitting with us (mainly her brother) during lunch because of those guys and they pretty much demanded us to vacate our lunch table just so they could sit with Miyuki. Tatsuya decided to de-escalate and I agreed since I couldn't really bother with giving these pitiful kids a reality check.
On the bright side, Eimi made a new friend named Subaru, who was completely harmless as far as I'm concerned so I didn't have to worry for Eimi.
The last arrogant act of the Blooms for the day, was naturally, the scene at the school gates after school. Of which, I wasn't a part of, solely because I had to collect my bike from the parking spaces and walk it all the way to the entrance.
Thankfully, Eimi was nowhere close to the debacle, as she was currently signing up early for the only club that involved horse-riding in First High.
"Shiba-san, what are you doing? Why are you associating yourself with these Weeds?"
"I'm sorry, but I already informed you all that I was going back home with my brother. The fact that he is in Course 2 along with his friends has nothing to do with this."
"You belong with us! Don't let those Weeds drag you to their level."
I feel like blocking out my superhearing because of the sheer amount of cringe I'm picking up with it. Honestly, it's like they are trying to torpedo their chances of a real friendship with Miyuki by being as stupid and assholish as possible.
"You look troubled Ken."
I smiled wryly and picked up the pace at Subject M's appearance. I needed to get her to the school gate quicker given that my presence has altered her actions somewhat.
"Won't you all stop being such poor losers? Miyuki-san has said she wishes to go with her brother. It's not the place of any one of you to say otherwise, is it?" I hear Mizuki spat out her words in a venomous tone. "Hasn't Miyuki treated you guys well enough already? If she wanted to go with you, she would have said so. What right do you have to try and tear those two apart?
"I have to admit though, to say that they're trying to tear us apart..." Tatsuya muttered.
"Mi-Mizuki, aren't you misunderstanding something?" Miyuki hurriedly asked in typical brocon forceful manner.
"I have a bad feeling about something. Or rather, I'm just worried for Tatsuya and Miyuki-san. Tatsuya said he was going to head back with his sister but the Course 1 students has been dangerously clingy to Miyuki and expressed a degree of entitlement to her time that isn't appropriate for any reasonable human being. My gut feeling tells me that things are coming to a head, that's all."
Mayumi frowned and walked faster to keep up with my pace, "You're uncharacteristically serious."
"I'm always serious. I'm usually serious about Magic and enjoying life, right now, I'm serious about how bad the situation might be getting."
Somehow, we managed to get there 'early', with Mayumi managing to hear Mizuki's loud shouts, the angry howls of the Course 1 students, Leo and Erika's aggressive response, and finally, Shun Morisaki's attempted use of his CAD.
Erika was faster than Mayumi's reaction and knocked the guy's CAD out of his hand before suddenly taking the time to bicker with Leo.
Well crap. I may have rushed a bit too much. There was no way this could be brushed off as just a prank when Mayumi had been a witness to the important parts of the scene this time around.
Whatever. I don't particularly care if canon gets screwed up so long as I can deal with the consequences in a way that satisfies my own goals.
Keeping such thoughts at the forefront of my mind, I snuck through the crowd of Course 1 students as if pushing my way towards my friends, then 'coincidentally' arrived in position to see Honoka pressing some buttons on her CAD. I reached out to stop the Activation Ritual from progressing by tanking the increased interference strength (from touching her CAD) backlash using some of the defensive talismans under my coat.
"There's no need for that." I gently informed the girl.
"Eep!" Honoka Mitsui's startled yelp reminded me of a cute cartoon chipmunk.
Spoiler: Honoka Mitsui
"Indeed… Using attack magic on others for any reason other than self-defense is not just a violation of school rules, it's a criminal offense." The crowd became silent and pale upon recognizing the voice of the student council president.
Mayumi had a severe expression on her face right now.
Honoka had all but collapsed in fright, right into her friend Shizuku.
Spoiler: Shizuku Kitayama
I guess I should say something reassuring?
"For the record, neither of their Magical Sequences were really completed." I said lightly, leading to Mayumi turning her gaze on me, then Honoka, before saying, "That may be true, regardless, I will be taking her statement along with you students from Class 1A and 1E."
[hr][/hr]
As if on cue, Mari Watanabe came running along (she was nearby) to serve as backup and escorted the related individuals right back into the school buildings for interrogation purposes.
The situation may have stopped at 'only' attempted magical assault, but it was still a serious rule violation. Feeling a bit bad for Shun, given that for all his arrogance he was just a dumb kid that went a little too far when his emotions got heated, I did my best to get him a lenient punishment.
The regular punishments for such a case were too severe in this case as the kid looked genuinely repentant (if only because he regretted reacting violently) and no one ended up hurt. The authoritative student bodies (StuCo and Disciplinary Committee) just needed an excuse or good reason to not take drastic measures.
And so, with the help of the usual incentives, I proposed (through Mayumi) that the blame should be shared/redistributed to the rest of the student body. As for how I got my 'suggestions' to be heard by the other members of the student council and disciplinary committee?
"This is too good!" "It reminds me of my mother's...uuu…" "Can you take over the Cafeteria?"
To put it simply, I effectively bribed them all with my snacks and the yet-to-be-eaten meals in my last few bento boxes.
In more legal terms, I used the opportunity granted by tempting others with my food to advocate for everyone using buzz words like 'youthful indiscretions', 'unfamiliarity with the regulations', 'not respecting boundaries', etc…
Honestly, I felt that some of the blame falls on Miyuki for not stepping (she was tunneled-visioned on her Onii-sama) to reject her Course 1 students firmly and simply walking away with her friends.
But no one really saw it that way, so I settled with spinning the entire thing around as a case of crowd-wide harassment of Miyuki as the students were essentially taking advantage of Miyuki's adherence to etiquette, meekness and willingness to follow the letter of the law (by not freezing them in retaliation).
"Yes, it is very troubling to see promising students harassing Miyuki-san like that." Mayumi agrees and wipes off the cookie crumbs using the same handkerchief I gave her yesterday, "It seems like it will do the students some good to receive a stern reminder of the high standards we have set for them."
"Mn, hmm…"
I nodded in satisfaction as Mayumi agreed that a school-wide address on 'appropriate' and respectful behavior towards their fellow students is warranted.
"Well, I'm glad that's settled. I will be looking forward to the pastries you promised~ And don't worry about the budget, we'll be covering the costs for the ingredients together."
"I'll hold you to that then."
The agreement will only last for a school week, it uses up a bit of my free time, but it was worth the trouble as I would be farming relationship points from the Student Council and used the opportunity today to stamp both Honoka and Shizuku.
Five days of afterschool pastry supplies just to steer events in my favor a little?
Easiest trade deal of my life.
"... Is there a purpose in having me witness all this?"
Tatsuya's expression had a 'what the fuck am I doing here' look to it.
"Well, Tatsuya-kun, you see… as one of Ken's friends I'm relying on you to make sure he keeps his word-"
"Oof, the lack of trust in my word as a cook, it burns my very soul!"
"-and as the one that correctly identified Mitsui-san's Activation Sequence as relatively harmless, your testimony and opinion has quite a bit of weight in helping us make an informed and conscientious course of action."
Tatsuya was likely complaining 'why me' inside the confines of his emotionally challenged mind.
Mayumi brought us along to brief the rest of her lackeys (StuCo and Disciplinary Committee members), then proceeded to a separate room to deliver the verdict to the main actors involved in this mess.
Mizuki, Miyuki, Tatsuya and Shizuku were deemed innocent and released into the world early.
Shun Morisaki had his appointment to the Disciplinary Committee 'postponed' until the start of the next term (after summer) and received an extensive chastisement from Mayumi that left him exceedingly regretful of his life choices.
Honoka got off with a light warning, while Leo and Erika were lectured by Mari Watanabe on the importance of de-escalating no matter how 'right' they are and settling conflicts in a more approved setting. Incidentally, Erika was very unhappy with the person delivering the message, given Mari's association with her older brother.
After we had left the sight of the officials, Shun had acted first and said, "...Don't think I owe you two anything."
I looked at Tatsuya, who looked back at me, and wordlessly confirmed that the guy was lumping us together.
"I don't even know or care about who you are. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go fetch my bike. Again."
It was a partial lie, but given that I carefully avoided the use of his name throughout my conversations with Mayumi, I can truthfully say that I had no 'official' idea of who this guy is by using the short-attention-span excuse.
I simply walked past him, not bothering to deal with any more of this drama as I already got what I wanted out of this situation.
More credits (from Honoka and Shizuku) that will further my studies into Magic and an excuse to interact with Mayumi after school for the next few school days.
I also could use the 'not in the mood' card to avoid walking all the way to the station with my friends. Normally, I wouldn't mind spending some more time with them, however, I had a very important appointment back at home.
Indeed, I had copied off all that Magic from First High's students and teachers.
All of the delicious non-mainstream Magic was right there, waiting for me in the sweet and safe confines of my magi-tech warded room, begging to be used…!
Mnn... Magic-chan, Ken is coming home~
[hr][/hr]
The day after (Tuesday)...
"Ken, I don't mean to be rude but… what happened to your hair?"
"Experimental spell regarding electromagnetism. It was positively electrifying!"
Mizuki couldn't help herself from staring at my spiky head of static hair as we met up at the station early in the morning. She had been waiting for the rest of 'the gang' while I was waiting for Eimi to arrive.
Reversing my hair's condition back to normal would be a trivial matter, however, I was intrigued at how long the effects of increased magnetic forces around me would last, so I left things as it was and proudly rode my bike to school showing off my hairdo.
"Are you trying to be a porcupine?!"
"Shibata-san, you seem kind of angry."
"Haa… my apologies. It just makes me all… worked up, for some reason."
"Hmm? Perhaps you are reacting to a spiritual element that I left unaccounted for."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"You're not the only one wearing glasses in this school for that reason, you know? And I've always been more perceptive to both Psions and Pushions, if I do say so myself."
"Oh! I-I see… personally, I try not to make a big deal about it."
"Understandable."
It looks like Mind Defense will be next on my list after I buy the next Kryptonian Knowledge template stack, if only so that I can render pesky side-effects like that and mental interference magic useless. It will also let me build up to a Possession Defence to keep any Parasites or Chinese Ghost Magicians from taking over my waifus.
Tatsuya, Miyuki, Leo, Erika and Eimi arrived soon after and we all ended up walking to school together. Mizuki ended up asking Tatsuya and I about any prior relations we had with Mayumi given our interactions with her yesterday.
Tatsuya just seemed a bit confused, in contrast, I blatantly bad-mouthed her as a thug extorting me for snacks.
"I hate to tell you this but your food is definitely worth picking a fight over."
Leo simply accepted Mayumi's actions like a wannabe delinquent!
"Wait, are you saying that if we shake you down hard enough you'll drop snacks for us?"
Erika was shamelessly contemplating the idea of betraying me right there.
"Erika-chan, that's too violent! What happens if you damage the goods! It's like hitting a Pinata with too much force!"
Et tu, Eimi?
"You all do realize that people normally pay for food instead of coercing others to give it up for free?"
"Ah, Mizuki-chan~ You're the only one that cares about this poor overworked cook! Oh right, Miyuki-san and Tatsuya too."
Tatsuya opened his mouth and heartlessly declared his intentions, "If Miyuki wishes it so then I will kidnap you and force you to work as our home cook."
"Le gasp! I'm surrounded by traitors."
Miyuki laughed and tugged at her brother's sleeves, "Onii-sama, I think Ohtomo-sensei has been teased enough."
If I was a simp that was unaware of her true nature then I would have screamed 'Miyuki Maji Tenshi' right there and then.
Unfortunately for me, the assault had yet to end, as Subject M came barreling towards us at the school entrance.
"Ken~ Tatsuya-kun~"
Tatsuya and I froze in silent lamentation for the end of our peaceful morning.
Mayumi invited us all to eat lunch in the Student Council Office, which we all, sans Tatsuya and Miyuki (who was the main invitee) had declined for personal reasons.
I was already going to deliver a batch of pastries to them after school and would prefer to spend my lunchtime with Eimi, my other friends, or at the library. The last option didn't pan out as Eimi introduced her new friend Subaru Satomi to Erika, Leo, Mizuki and I as we were having lunch.
Eimi and I enjoyed our luxuriously prepared lunch, as per usual, while occasionally sharing some scraps with the rest of our friends.
Don't worry Erika and Mizuki! Once you are properly inducted to the waifu squad, you too will have your personal lunches.
Everyone else will just have to settle for little bites since life just isn't fair.
[hr][/hr]
By the end of the school day, Tatsuya still gets 'nominated' (thanks Miyuki) for the Disciplinary Committee role, as he still managed to show off his analytical ability to Mari in a fashion. I'm pretty sure the primary motivator was for nepotism reasons, that is to say, they wanted to keep Miyuki happy by roping him along, and Mari was confident that she would handle all the 'power' requirements of the job while leaving the analysis parts to Tatsuya.
The rest of my day (and night) was spent on even more magical experiments. The vast majority of the spells I copied were boring, but there were a few interesting concepts there that I used to make new spells or improve on old ones.
That night, however, I chose to 'nerf' or heavily modify the Juumonji's Phalanx spell into a more efficient, anti-personnel spell. My work was made somewhat easier by the existence of Reactive Armor, which belonged to the Tookami Family. The Extra Family came from the same institute as the Juumonji did but were deemed as failures for only having self-protection barrier magics.
Unlike the scientists and other higher-ups that were only interested in their wide-scale defensive magics for strategic purposes, I saw the value in any Magic so long as the concept was 'magical' enough in my eyes.
A magical armor spell that absorbed an instance of damage (and many weaker hits) that could be used in high-speed combat, unlike the 'turtle then counter' style of the Phalanx spell, which also recasted itself whenever it breaks in a stronger form?
That shit would be broken in a video game!
I can not understate my frustration whenever I have to recast crucial defensive skills when the skill time runs out!
While I can understand the frustration of not getting what you paid for (barrier Magicians), simply casting aside the possibilities of personal barrier magic out of saltiness instead of starting a whole new research project on it was sheer wastefulness in my eyes.
I didn't exactly have the Magical Sequence for Reactive Armor, but I could derive enough from my own spells and Phalanx in order to create a whole new 'better' spell out of it.
It was a seven-layered personal armor spell that specialized in defending against the current age's anti-Magician measures, which normally included extremely powerful burst-fire shots and copious amounts of explosive ordinances.
The 'Rho Aias version 1.2a' was the perfect spell that I could use to explain away why I was immune to bullets. It was also extremely efficient to use given its more narrow usage, which makes it possible for Magicians like Eimi and a few other people I know to use it.
I felt my heart soar at the thought of a well-protected Eimi rushing in to crush her enemies in the most adorable and nigh-invincible manner.
Indeed, my lovers will be well-protected once I distribute this spell to them.
[hr][/hr]
Sometime later (Wednesday)...
Is it just me, or is First High's security absolute dogshit?
All the First Year student test scores were leaked out. According to Tatsuya, who had heard this from Mayumi, this apparently happens every year but they had their hands tied regarding the leaks since it 'helps' the clubs find the 'best' possible members.
This is apparently in the school's best interest as they want the clubs to score highly in the Nine Schools Competition… It was such a flawed way of thinking that I couldn't spare any more of my brainpower to contemplate the matter further lest I go insane.
There were apparently a few clubs that wanted me thanks to my top scores in all things theoretical (thanks Super Hearing) so I avoided leaving the school building until Erika dragged me along to go club hunting with her.
We chatted a bit about the clubs we were going to join, which in my case, was none at all since I only wanted to hit the library.
One of the very few bright sides about Japan in this era was that the government outlawed mandatory participation in extracurricular activities over 10 years ago because it neglected students' rights. As a result, the school cannot do anything openly besides letting the various clubs recruit as they want, which provides the opportunity for the occasional fist fights or even magic being used in the ever-escalating conflict that is club recruitment.
Tatsuya popped by sometime later, having arranged (he too, was dragged into it by Erika) a time to meet up with Erika, to go see the clubs and perform his patrolling duties along the way.
Oddly enough, I managed to intimidate most of the people trying to grab on to Erika as we made our way through the place. I belatedly realized that I just butterflied away a fanservice scene with Erika by preventing her from being forcefully undressed a little.
Well, I wasn't planning on sharing her anyways, so all's well that ends well.
On a side note, I also noticed that Eimi managed to rescue Shizuku and Honoka from the savage club recruiters by horseback. Hmm, perhaps they'll end up making friends with one another? Well, it's Eimi, so I think it should work out well.
We eventually made our way into the 2nd gymnasium, also known as the "Arena", where the Kendo club was performing. I decided to move ahead from Erika and Tatsuya, who were watching the demonstrations from the second floor, and went down to the main floor to position myself in case any trouble starts.
My recall of the series is limited, but for this particular scene, there was a distinct difference between the anime and light novel. In the anime, Tatsuya reacted immediately upon Kirihara's activation of his Magic, and canceled the spell with his mock Cast Jamming.
In the light novel, however, Kirihara came dangerously close to grievously injuring her by getting a few swings in and slicing open her chest plate with a graze of his Shinai before Tatsuya finally jumps in.
I had read enough angsty self-insert stories where events end up happening differently thanks to the character's lack of thoughtfulness (or deliberate choice by authors for self-flagellation purposes), and thus, I was taking no chances with my fellow student's safety.
With how my presence has changed certain events, if only in the case of timing, it was only natural that I took responsibility by placing myself in a position where I could act and prevent a potential tragedy in the making.
I wouldn't just stop with the case of Sayaka Mibu, however, as I had no intentions of letting Blanche's terrorist attack go ahead as planned.
Those terrorist fucks were going to break into First High to harm students and steal the research information from my library!
The only one that gets to raid the entirety of First High's database is me.
Oh yes, and they were going to endanger Eimi and my friends too! This gives me plenty of reasons to have a 'talk' with the Kendo Club captain Kinoe Tsukasa right after this and have him escort me to his brother's terrorist compatriots.
That said, I'm not a violent person at heart.
That's why I won't kill them… I have... other uses for them.
AN: What kind of fun times does Ken have in store for our favorite terrorists? Find out next chapter, on My Magic Academia! Okay, okay, on a more serious note... I felt really bad for what I did to Honoka here since Ken got her flag event and basically ditched her intro scene simply because he cared more about playing around with new Magic (the things I do to keep him in-character...). Don't worry, it's all part of his character development plan, after all, it's hard to resist Honoka's earnestness. Incidentally, it's been about three days since the first batch of waifus has been stamped (Erika will be complete a bit later in the current day covered) so that's Mayumi and Mizuki locked in. As for Sayaka, well, some kinds of Magic work by swording or ninja'ing hard enough... (Ken's headcanon)
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Gusfes, Casualfarmer replied to a thread you are watching at Questionable Questing.
[NSFW] - Beware Of Chicken (xianxia)

The soldiers stared dispassionately down at their foes. They howled and raged, clumping together, and gathering courage. Their black armour was tarnished, and their lances crooked and broken. With a roar, they suddenly surged forward, slamming into the ranks of the soldiers.
Blades flashed. Armour held firm. For the third time, the enemy assaulted the gleaming, near iridescent phalanx. For the third time they were repelled, bodies falling to earth, and laying unmoving.
Desperation and blood tinged the air.
The soldiers advanced, closing the entrapment. Each movement was perfect and drilled relentlessly. There could be no mistakes, as they felt the weight of their commander's stare upon them.
The auxiliaries, smaller, weaker, and less armoured, milled about in holding patterns, their formations imperfect, hemming the last of these rebels in.
This last band was all that was left of the raiders who had once seemed without number. The grasslands had been scoured. The forests, purged. The duels among the reeds ended. Corpses littered the countryside, as far as the eye could see.
Though they would return next year, in greater numbers, this was their duty.
For the enemy had committed the ultimate sin, in raising their lances against the Emperor.
The largest of the rebels roared a challenge. Her black armor gleamed, her lance was still sharp. She raged, waving her weapon about, as her body swirled with Qi.
A command was given.
Blades keen edges shone. The loyal soldiers' eyes gleamed with heavy intent.
The soldiers descended upon the enemy, power rising about them.
Their charge was met by the greatest rebel. Her speed was beyond the soldiers.
For the first time, a warrior fell as she shot past and to the side, lancing straight through the armoured form of the soldier.
There was little reaction to their comrade falling. No thought, just the simple calculation of war.
For the rebel "queen" fought alone. As the auxiliaries, and the rest of the cohort butchered the disorganized, and fleeing creatures, these warriors closed in. Their formations and tactics were unstoppable, commanded as they were by one who had fought a thousand battles.
The rebel's spear slashed and lanced, it struck and it battered. Legs flew off. Heads were severed. Blood sprayed in the air, yet the relentless attack continued.
A nick to the leg. A strike to her midsection. Her speed and agility were superlative.
But she was slowing. She was tiring.
One of her limbs sailed through the air, her black armour cracking. One soldier rammed bodily into her, slamming her into the earth. Armour splintered, and black lance erupted from flesh.
The soldiers thanked their comrade's sacrifice.
The rebel screamed, as she was pierced through. Her entrails spilled onto the ground. Her eyes were filled with hate, as a second blade rose high, and stabbed down, ending her life, and removing her head. Her face was fixed into a rictus of hate.
The cohort rose again, their numbers reduced, and turned their eyes to the still ongoing battle. To call it a battle was giving the rebels too much credit.
It was simply butchery.
No quarter was given to the enemy.
=============================
The Great Queen Vajra reclined upon her throne, gazing contemptuously upon the broken forms of her enemies. These damnable blood suckers, who dared attempt to sully the Emperor's flesh with their proboscises. Death was too good for them!
She waved her abdomen, and her soldiers obeyed, carrying the bodies of the wretched creatures off to the river. How apt. Those that dared attempt to sup upon the Emperor would now be eaten in turn.
She rose from her seat to tour her fortress. The golden walls of honey stretched high and heavy. The pollen stores were packed full.
And in each and every comb, in every cell, she felt the slight charge of the Emperor's power. Nourishing them. Empowering them.
Mayhaps in a few years she would be more powerful than any queen before her. It was a heady thought. To go from a half dead wretch, to a queen, an empress in truth.
For that to happen, however, a sacrifice had to be made.
She carefully eyed her brood, looking for ones that fit her needs. She directed the caretakers to lead her to the fattest, and plumpest specimens.
She nodded her head. These would make a fine tribute for her Emperor. Though it was always painful to sacrifice brood this way, she had declared no expense would be spared. The Emperor would receive only their finest, when he came to collect his due. None of her brood would dare raise their stingers to him.
And... it seemed that that day was today. A warning spread into her mind, that the Emperor was approaching, with the valiant and beautiful Bi De, as well as the glorious and powerful Chun Ke.
There was another human with him, a servant, but Vajra disregarded him, instead focusing upon the Emperor.
He approached one of Vajra's servant hives, the lesser bees, and with a mental command, she quelled their burgeoning nervousness. With a slow movement he opened it to the elements. He gazed upon the lesser creatures' work, and nodded his head.
He carefully removed three of the frames, all filed with only honey… and then closed the box again.
No brood was taken. Not a single larva. Just the honey, the frames replaced by new ones.
She was stunned. Dumbfounded even. How little tribute the Emperor took! How benevolent was his hand?!
She was so stunned she barely noticed his approach, as he opened her own hive, gaining access to her fortress.
"Yeah, definitely a different kind of bee. Look, they arranged the honey by what they harvested it from, I think. That's pine, that one looks like peach blossom…" The Emperor's voice was booming, both he and Bi De gazed upon her work.
"Good work, Vajra," he praised, as he collected his meagre tribute from her.
"Definitely going to need to expand this, though. They grew way faster than I was expecting. I'll need ten, no, twenty more hive boxes if they continue like this," He said, and it was all Vajra could do to remain conscious. More fortresses?
How powerful was the Emperor to grant them such a bounty?!
The Queen bowed her head then danced her supplication. Her mind whirling with desire.
From the fortresses, she would not just have a new kingdom. She would have an unstoppable empire. An Empire that would spread across the whole of the Azure Hills!
===============================
Two forms slunk through the shadows, moving from rock to rock. There was little cover in the Gutter, save for the stones. They moved with purpose, slinking toward the flocks of sheep, with the shadowed moon providing them cover.
"Are you sure this place is a good mark?" one of the men asked. He was lanky and twitchy, clad in rough, ill fitting clothes. His voice was nervous, as his eyes leapt around. "Don't they have some guardian Spirit Beast here?"
There was a snort of derision as the men continued on their path.
"Don't tell me you actually believe that story," the other man said, his voice mocking. "A Spirit Beast? Some tall tale to ward off any foolish enough to believe them. Like a Spirit Beast is going to guard sheep."
The twitchy man nodded hesitantly. It did sound like some manner of a fool's tale. Beware of Chicken. They could at least make it believable.
"Look at 'em," the more rotund of the two muttered, as they peeked over a rock, gazing down at the balls of fluff. "They barely have any dogs. Simple in and out. We grab one of the sheep, and eat well for a couple of days. They probably won't even notice one is missing."
Two sets of eyes glanced around, noting the lack of shepherds or other visible defenders. A few of the sheep had wandered this way, separating themselves from the flock. The men looked at each other and grinned.
It was rather easy to skirt the rock to head directly for the animals. They were fat and dopey looking. Their dumb eyes glancing at the humans before dismissing them as not anything to worry about. One of the beasts even approached, looking like it was going to attempt to beg them for food.
Talk about easy. But... the twitchy man still felt like something was amiss. They wouldn't be that lax, would they?
But it seemed they were. A pair of hands grasped the sheep firmly, and started coaxing it away from the herd. The surprisingly docile beast accepted this treatment. They had gotten perhaps a quarter of a li up the hill when the relative silence of the night was shattered.
There was a yip. It was angry and aggressive sounding, but tiny.
Both men nearly jumped out of their skins, their heads whipping around, as they beheld what had caught them.
A small white furred puppy glared at them. Its entire chest expanded, as it sucked in another breath, and put its whole body behind a yip that couldn't carry far.
The rotund man snorted at the little yips. He shook his head and attempted to coax the sheep further away but nearly ran into his partner. The twitchy man was still staring at the dog, his face pale. His lip was trembling.
"What are you—" the man asked, as he turned back around, looking to where his partner was staring, which wasn't at the dog, but at the rock.
Or more accurately, at the shadow on the rock.
A slightly hunched, inhuman figure, a long spear held upright.
A cloud moved from the moon, revealing the shadow into sharp relief.
The slightly too long arms. The grey fur running over its back.
And the rooster's head, that glared balefully down at them.
The rotund man did not freeze like his companion.
He dropped the sheep and turned, sprinting up the hill as fast as his legs could carry him.
There was a viscous sounding smack of flesh on flesh, and a gurgle from his friend, but the man kept running, his eyes wild, scrambling up the Gutter.
It was all for naught.
The shadowy, demonic rooster-beast cut in front of him, skidding to a stop. The man tried to change direction, and instead landed on his ass.
The hunched creature cocked its head to the side at him, slowly rising up to its full height. Its baleful red eyes reflected the light of the moon.
Beware of Chicken the sign had said.
That was no chicken, it was some manner of horrid beast! Did they sacrifice travellers to it?
Something wet the grass between his legs. His heart was thundering in his ears.
The demonic rooster beast stalked forward. The last thing the man saw was a foot hammering into his face. His head spun, as he hit the grass.
=====================================
The great rooster stood atop a house, as he watched the Magistrate's men recede into the distance. He balanced on the edge of the roof, his eyes taking in and surveying his whole domain. It was protected, as it would be. Interlopers in the night were unwelcome.
The great defender soared through the air, as he began his training, leaping and flipping through the air, as only such a creature that commanded the sky could. His spear struck in expert pattern, his form was impeccable, his balance sublime—
"Zhang Fei! Your father is asking for you!" his mother shouted. The great rooster staggered, and fell off the roof.
He managed a landing in the hay. With a groan, Zhang Fei pushed up his rooster mask.
There was a happy yip, as a small white puppy landed on his chest, licking excitedly at him.
He sighed, and gently pushed the puppy away, and it hopped down to his feet. The puppy's tail began to wag so hard it was having trouble standing.
The boy chuckled, as he set his spear and his mask against the wall. He smiled fondly at the thing, wondering how his Master was doing.
A smaller part asked when he would return, or when Zhang Fei would go and visit this Fa Ram. it wasn't too far away. And people were already saying that the Lord Magistrate was building more roads.
"Come on, Shaggy Two. Let's go see what dad wants," he said.
The dog yipped happily, and pranced after him, as Zhang Fei wondered what sort of land Master Bi De's home was.
=========================
=========================
And I'm back!
I did more work than I would have liked, over the break, but that's the way things go sometimes. Book keeping and editing, and meetings! Still, it was good to have some rest, and I'm ready to get back into things!
This one was kind of fun, with the swaps. The soldiers are bees fighting mosquitoes, and Zhang Fei has learned well from his Master, Bi De.
And As always, if you wish to read the next chapter, I do have an advanced chapter on patreonView This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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