"Eh? Why am I here..?"
Seijurou found himself in the middle of class all of a sudden. Moments before, he was peering straight into Chizuru's soul on top of a cliff overlooking Shizuoka's coast. He was still looking into her eyes as of the moment but oddly in a classroom setting. She seemed a little upset contrary to her melodramatic expression a while ago.
"Why? I'll tell you why..", responded Chizuru as she furrowed her brows in irritation. "You're in Hayama-sensei's practical class, baka-jurou.. are you zoning out again?"
As he half gasped and abruptly widened his eyes, Seijurou shot glances around him, wondering why he was suddenly transported into their classroom at FSG. He saw each of his classmates quietly writing on something recognizable on their desks. After that, he shifted his attention on his own work table, seeing in front of him roughly knit sheets of "Youkai skin paper" and a writing brush dipped into a jar of black ink.
Perplexed with his current situation, he asked himself. "Did I just mess up my summoning? Should I have recited the incantation out loud?"
"You haven't even written anything on it..", replied Chizuru blankly. "You can't mess the class activity up if you haven't even done anything yet, Seijurou."
Once again, Seijurou found himself staring dazed at his best friend. He had no clue of how he ended up in his seat in their classroom. However, there was one thing he was sure of.
"I remember this happening before..", thought Seijurou as he shifted his attention on the blank sheet of paper resting on his desk. "This is the time Hayama-sensei asked us to send random items to our classmates using wards."
Just as Seijurou picked the brush up from the ink jar, a ward sheet with a bizarre looking sketch drawn on it appeared on his table. It was some sort of a swirling muffin with crooked hazes above it. Something told him that it was a drawing of some kind of disgusting object.
"Crap?!..", exclaimed Seijurou in his mind while almost popping a vein in disgust. He then glanced towards the far end of the classroom near the windows. There he saw Satsuki hopelessly trying to muffle her own laughter.
Seijurou shook his head and smiled faintly at his partner. After that, he drew a simple smiling face on his ward sheet and wrote the incantation text for warding spells.
"Download Gekitai Suru no Jumon (Ward Spell) seven..", chanted Seijurou with a whisper while holding his hands in a "Download Gesture". "Shoukan (Summon).."
Seijurou's sketch disappeared and reappeared in front of Satsuki instantly. As soon as she saw what he sent her, she flashed him one of her usual eye closing smiles. While Seijurou smirked back to her, she wrote again on her ward sheet and sent something new to him.
His grin instantly transformed into a frown the moment Seijurou saw what was written on what his partner had sent him. The text read, "LAME". He glared at Satsuki after that, but she just giggled adorably like always.
"It amazes me that I'm doing exactly what I did before..", pondered Seijurou as he recalled the events of the said class activity. "That means.. what comes next is.."
"Alright, class.. the noise tells me you've all gotten the hang of it..", bellowed Hayama to hush the emerging chatter from his students.
"I knew it. It is said one's memories flash back before one dies.. and my memory is replaying before me..", thought Seijurou as he focused his attention on his homeroom teacher. "I guess I died.. but what did I expect anyway? I may have abnormally high resistance to magic.. but I guess the Void's just too much."
"As you can see, it takes quite a bit of magic to summon even inanimate objects like lewd sketches..", continued Hayama while glaring at Jax making him blush and sink in his seat. He picked one ward sheet up and carried on with his lecture. "Anything foreign from one's self will take up 'MPs' to summon whether from a ward or conjuration spells.. the larger the object, the more it would consume.. summoned creatures will even require more..
"However if you plan to practice conjuring summons.. make sure they're immune to 'Void Magic'. Summoning a cow doesn't mean you'll have beef on the dinner table.."
An awkward kind of silence followed as Hayama waited a reaction from the class with a droplet of sweat breaking from his head.
"Yes.. I just remembered he just made one of his lame jokes..", thought Seijurou while he stared at his sensei blankly.
"Moving on.. looking closely at the ward sheets sent to you by your classmates..", Hayama continued with the lecture as he pointed something on the edge of the paper he was holding. "You can see minor burns on the edges.. it means this specially made paper took damage from the Void's magic. Since it's made out of Youkai skin, it's virtually immune to the Void's harmful effects. The reason it appears to be slightly burned is because it's the one absorbing the damage taken by the object attached to it.."
Hayama shot a glance at each of the Takenori twins. "Ever wondered why the Takenoris' summoned weapons remain sharp? Simple.. the ward sheets take the damage from the Void. But take note.. this only works on nonliving things save for Youkai and other spirits that're immune to the Void's harmful effects."
"But sensei.. how do you explain the basic 'warding spell' where they conjure up magic to repel Youkai?..", inquired Natsuko as she appeared clueless of how one of the most fundamental spells work. "And doesn't it cost a lot of magic for continuously casting it?"
"The Void only consumes things with mass and those taking up space. Some spells and arts don't have that, so there's no need to put 'ward sheets' on them..", answered Hayama as he gestured towards Chizuru. "As for your second question about magic consumption, it's best for someone who regularly uses a similar technique to answer that.. would you kindly fill in, Taneda-san?"
Chizuru cleared her throat before standing up and reciting for the class. "My 'Serpent's Sense' works similarly in a way that I project my own 'jutsu' (art) towards 'wards'. It doesn't cost a single point of magic to summon it since my own art is a part of me.. and as stated earlier by Hayama-sensei, only foreign objects require MPs to conjure."
"Well said, Taneda-san..", praised Hayama. "You may take your seat."
"I see. That's why I was able to summon myself earlier without the necessary incantations.. no magic was needed..", deducted Seijurou quietly while caressing his chin and rearranging his glasses. "But I never made it to the other side anyway.."
But a familiar kind of itch bothered Seijurou. He knew very well that this had happened before, but something was rearing him up to do the same action as the past. Before his teacher had a chance to proceed to the next topic, he raised his hand and asked one more question.
"Hayama-sensei..", began Seijurou while he searched for the right phrasing for his question. "Hypothetically, I'm immune to all incoming magic spells.. would I be able to traverse the Void without spending a single point of magic?"
Hayama squinted at his student with some skepticism before answering. "Quite an unexpected question from a student with such intellect.."
The rest of the class stared at both Hayama and Seijurou in silence. Everyone seemed to have understood the question but could not make out if it had sense in it to begin with.
"Since it hadn't been tried before, we base it on facts.. and factual evidence says yes, summoning yourself in a different location doesn't consume magic..", added Hayama before he shook his head in slight disappointment. "But that's why it hasn't been attempted before. No human is completely resistant to the Void.. it will destroy organic flesh up to its simplest from.. to put it simply.. it's just not possible, Erida-san."
"I was half expecting a different answer, but it turned out the same.. just confirms my death then..", talked Seijurou to himself as the entire scene suddenly spun into a swirl. The entire place transformed into some sort of whirlpool, being engulfed by darkness. However, he did not flinch. "I guess we're changing the scenery to another memory, huh?"
And then, it was pitch black. However, it did not last long as the curtain of darkness unveiled an overly familiar panoramic view of a sea stretching as far as the horizon when Seijurou opened his eyes. Upon looking up, he saw the monumental trident of Orca pointed towards the east. He was now under the great statue of the god of the sea situated on the east coast of Fujiishima, a place where he spent time for himself many times before.
"So.. you've finally made it..", a distinguishable voice of a woman spoke from behind Seijurou.
Nothing could have ever prepared Seijurou what he saw the moment he turned his head. A woman, just about his height with long black hair and clad in a Samurai armor, greeted him with her usual teary eyed smirk. She had the same eyes as him.
Seijurou's lips began to tremble. His eyes welled up and overflowed with tears as he rushed towards the woman to hug her tightly. A numbing kind of suffering he had been enduring for a long time erupted out of him inside the warmth of the Swordmaiden's arms.
"Mama..", was all Seijurou could muster up to whisper as his voice shook in both despair and joy.
"There, there, Seijurou..", said Masako in between her giggles as she wrapped an arm around her son and caressed his hair with the other hand. "This is news to me.. I've never seen you cry since you were a toddler."
"I.. I'm sorry, Mama..", muttered Seijurou while he hid his head in his mother's chest plate. "It's just that.. I've missed you so, so much.."
Masako then placed her hands on her son's shoulder and pushed him off gently. She looked at her son from down to up and smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad you've become such a looker and a strong man.. but you have to do something about that hair, son."
"Well, yeah..", answered Seijurou as he bashfully scratched his head and chuckled. Then, he smiled as if the world around him suddenly lit up. "Oh! I have lots of stories to tell you, Mama! All these adventures.. my classmates.. the duels.. and yeah, the Shirogane Yakuza and how we beat them!"
Seeing his son with the sudden pleasant change in character made Masako giggle to herself as she answered. "Slow down, Seijurou.. slow down. I know! I've been watching you all this time, but let's hear it."
"Geez.. I don't know where to start.. let's see..", replied Seijurou while he looked up to the sky as if searching for clues on how to construct his story. Then, a thought somehow brought his spirits down. "But I guess I kind of messed up. Since you're here, Mama.. I think I died in the middle of something.."
"Not quite..", rebutted Masako quickly with a smug look on her face, to her son's surprise. "But first.."
Out of nowhere, Masako whacked Seijurou on the head, catching him off guard. As a lump grew on his head, he massaged his head and gave off a clueless expression asking for what that was all about.
"What in the world were you thinking when you jumped into the 'Void Realm' just like that?!..", roared Masako with her vein almost popping in fury. "Do you have any idea of the kind of risks your taking when you did that?!"
"That's one too many 'thats'.. I almost forgot how scary mothers can be..", Seijurou half joked as he continued to caress his very painful looking head lump. "I was already out of options.. it was the only solution I could think of.. sorry, Mama."
Masako composed herself and let out a sigh before speaking to his son again. "In any case.. you are still alive though."
Once more, Seijurou was caught off guard by his mother's statement. "Eh? Then, what is this place? Is this some kind of dream? But it can't be.. I'm in a middle of something supposed to be in quick succession."
"Well, you can put it that way, Seijurou..", answered Masako while she crossed her arms and gave Seijurou a more serious look. "Exposing yourself in the harmful effects of the Void triggered this event."
"I don't get it.. how?"
"Disenchanting magically enhanced gear allows you to learn for yourself its passive effects.. but I guess you already know that. Remember when I told you to disenchant the Shield of Athena? What have you learned from it?"
Seijurou took a deep breath as he recalled a conversation he had with a former witch teammate. "I learned and felt nothing.. a classmate actually pointed out that the enhancement might've been too advanced for me to learn."
"Indeed..", replied Masako as her lips began to curve upwards into a faint smile. "That's the problem with passive effects.. you have to put it to the test to be able to learn the extent of its power.. but that doesn't mean the shield's enhancement didn't grow and take effect within you."
"Mama.. I know you think highly of my smarts, which a mother should've to begin with.. but I'm not sure if I can follow what you're telling me."
"I'm sorry, son.. but you're going to have to figure it out for yourself to have a grasp of it completely."
Seijurou thought of all the times something significant happened to him regarding out of the ordinary events. The first thing that came to mind was his skill in alchemy. "Creating things? No.. oyaji taught me the ins and outs of this since I was little."
"Yes he did, Seijurou. You two spent lots of time together in the forge..", answered Masako gleefully. "But that's not it.. though your skill in alchemy can help you charm this mysterious ability of yours on other equipment."
The next thing that crossed Seijurou's mind was his inability to put flames under control. It was not exactly a power up but still significant. "I've got reckless fire magic? But I don't think that's the kind of enhancement you would charm a shield with."
"You're getting close..", teased Masako with a wink.
Seijurou pouted as a reaction. It was not very often he acted like a kid. He could only remember doing so in the presence of his mother. However, he was still a child relatively. Pondering more deeply about it, he was just a soldier fighting his first battles. And at the same time, he was simply still going to school, a student.
Realizing all this made Seijurou think of all his interactions with his teachers. A certain voice reverberated in his thoughts as he was getting close to a conclusion. Over and over, he heard his homeroom teacher's words during the recent consult in his mind.
"My fire magic goes into combustion due to my abnormally high resistance to magic..", spoke Seijurou causing his mother's expression to brighten up. "It was there all along.. I never thought it was the one that saved my life many times.. and now, most especially.. I guess, the Void's intense magic forced the Shield of Athena's passive effect to manifest fully.. its enhancement was immunity to all harmful magic."
"As expected from my son.. very impressive deduction there..", stated Masako while pointing a finger up. "But you're wrong about immunity there.. the most skilled alchemists can only make potions and enchanted gear with magic resistance up to a small extent. Being a legendary artifact, the Shield of Athena has an abnormally high resistance to all harmful spells.. but still doesn't have full immunity."
"I see.. so you must've done something.. right, Mama?..", asked Seijurou as everything started to make sense to him. "You disenchanted it before.. cultivated the skill.. and charmed it back on the shield!"
"I did, Seijurou.. with the best of my abilities..", answered Masako but with a hint of worry. "Sadly, it still didn't add up to complete magic resistance."
"Then, how am I alive?"
"Hard work!..", exclaimed Masako while clenching her fists in front of her, making her son almost flip backwards with the lame statement. "It means you already have an abnormally high resistance to begin with. I guess it's also the reason why you couldn't learn the enhancement.. you couldn't see the difference. Stacking the shield's massive effects with your natural ability equates to complete immunity. All those hours in training your defensive skills resulted into this, Seijurou."
"So, all those times of trying not to get hurt paid off in the end, huh?..", spoke Seijurou while he smirked and shook his head in a bit of disbelief. "Looks like I've got quite a responsibility now.. this is really something."
"Yes, Seijurou.. that's my gift to you. Use it wisely and for the greater good..", remarked Masako with another one of her winks. "Yourself included, wield that power to keep those weaker than you from getting hurt.. call that your Mama's way of protecting you at all times."
Seijurou's lips trembled a little before he bowed and spoke to his mother. "Thank you, Mama.. I promise I will do as you say and live up to your expectations."
As her eyes started welling up with tears, Masako called for her son with a wave of a hand. "Come here, you.."
Mother and son gave each other one last embrace before Masako said her parting words. "Seijurou, no matter how many times I tell you this.. please don't forget.. you are my pride and joy.. I am so proud of you."
"You're being weird again, Mama. It sort of kills the mood..", answered Seijurou, making his mother playfully smack him on the head. But a sudden urge to ask a question got into his senses. "A question though.. if I'm not dead, how are you here?"
"Oh that.. it's a little trick I learned from your oyaji..", replied Masako as she gently pushed her son to face him. "Along with the shield's enhancement, I charmed in part of my magical life force, so that I can help you figure out your new ability when it manifests."
"Oi. That's some borderline Necromancy, Mama.. it's illegal..", jested Seijurou with a quick laugh.
"No it's not!..", rebutted Masako with another gentle slap. "But my magic isn't that great.. so I'm afraid I don't have much time now."
As his eyes went round with concern, Seijurou immediately buried his face in his mother's chest plate again for another embrace as if he did not want to let her go. "Already? But I still have lots of stories to tell you.. don't go yet, Mama.."
"What are you talking about, Seijurou? You have a town to save, right?..", cheered Masako in between her giggles. "Not to mention.. Satsuki is with you too.."
"Oh that..", mumbled Seijurou as he just remembered he left his partner alone without prior notice. "I don't think I'm doing a pretty good job in protecting her like you asked me before.. I sort of left her to fend for her own a while ago."
"She's alive and strong now, eh Seijurou?"
"She is.. and really strong like you.."
"Then you're doing a pretty good job in looking after her..", beamed Masako as she kissed her son's forehead. "Send my kind regards to her.. now, go."
Seijurou broke their embrace and bowed to his smiling mother. "Hai, Mama!"
As the scenery began to fade, Masako spoke to her child for the last time. "One more thing.. the cheerful Seijurou I just saw now.. show it to the world. I don't want you to be alone. Make more friends and share memories with them. Got that?"
"I will, Mama.. I promise..", responded Seijurou as he reached an arm out for his mother's fading presence.
"Do not fret, my child.. this will not be the last you see me.. but I'm sure you'll figure out a way to find me again like you did today."
"Of course! I'll do that!"
"And Seijurou.. aishiteru.."
A powerful gust of wind and fire blasted Seijurou's face as an arrow appeared in front of him midair. He was suddenly falling from the sky towards the "Black Hole" in the middle of Shizuoka.
As he saw Chizuru's arrow disintegrate before the enormous dark orb, Seijurou braced himself. A second later, he plunged through the gigantic mass of nothingness like it was water. The image of his mother, Erida Masako, smiling at him lingered in his thoughts as the densely immense "Void Magic" around him decelerated his descent.
"I love you too, Mama.. I promise to cherish my friends for as long as I live..", whispered Seijurou while he landed softly in front of the box of ward tickets. "Now, watch me save this town.."
But before he proceeded, Seijurou inspected his arms and legs to make sure if he was still whole. A smug look covered his face the moment he realized the "Void" did nothing to him. "Sugoi! I feel some tingling around my body, but it doesn't hurt.. even my armor is affected by my ability and stayed in tact."
Seijurou knelt on one knee in front of the small cubical container. With the ink and brush destroyed by the Void's magic, he instead bit his thumb to draw blood to write the incantation text on the box. And rather using a chant to cast a spell, with his renewed confidence in using the spell, he cursed the gargantuan black ball of darkness.
"Get the fuck out of here, you damn orb!..", yelled Seijurou as if he was casting away all the doubts and frustrations he had before reuniting with his mother.
The text on the box blazed furiously. Then, the box of warded tickets, along with the entire "Black Hole" and its enormity, disappeared instantaneously into a gentle dust swirl.
Seijurou stood up and faced the dumbfounded townsfolk and classmates around him before he spoke to them.
"Best to take cover, mina-san. We'll be having some seriously loud fireworks shortly.."
Translation Notes:
Youkai Skin Paper – special paper used for warding spells. It is made out of the skin of Youkai, a type of loot dropped upon the death of the said NPCs.
Aishiteru – literally translates to "love you".
Monogatari Concepts:
Loot – an item dropped upon the death of living creatures. It is called a "relic" if the one that died and dropped it is a Player Character. It is the only memento left by the once living being right before a corpse becomes devoid of life and disintegrates into sparkling ash.
Until now, no one knows how or why the remains of a creature disperses into magical particles upon death. It is theorized that it was made possible by powerful mages in the past to preserve magical life forces. However, one thing is for certain. The dead leave loot for the taking.
Character Description:
Erida Masako – the late Swordmaiden, sword master of Kinjou Satsuki, wife of Kajiya, and mother of our protagonist, Seijurou. She is arguably one of the most interesting but mysterious characters I've created for this story. Although deceased, her legacy is probably one of the strongest driving forces responsible for setting in motion the two protagonists', Seijurou's and Satsuki's, plot. For the longest time, I've been trying to find a way to make her appear and make a significant role in one of the novel's chapters, and here it is.
No one from the current generation of students actually saw Masako in action, but many say her abilities were legendary. As one of the former members of Jihon's Seven, she saved the country against enemies countless times before with her second to none swordsmanship. Her homeland is said to be untouchable by even the superpowers when she was still alive. With that, she was always on quests and doing protective work.
Although usually busy with her profession, Masako always prioritized her family above all else. Finding time to train her son and go out on dates with her husband were usually on top of her list. It is even shown that despite the violence in her excellent blade work, she is very touchy and showy with her family, especially to her son. But being a "Hero" also meant she had to give time training her apprentice, Satsuki. So, there was a time she brought her home for the purpose of not lessening her family time. It's precisely the reason why Seijurou and Satsuki got close.
Erida Masako perished in the fight against the Abyssal Calamity of year 2020, along with the many heroes from all over the world. She was forty two years of age (may your soul rest in peace, Mama).
For appearance's sake, she isn't only the best swordfighter but the most beautiful too. Her beauty is said to have never aged that it is still sung by Bards today. Her tall and slender figure was capped by a face fit for a goddess. She had long straight black hair, a set of sharply curved dark brown eyes and lusciously pinkish lips, over an ivory white but rosy complexion. She stood at 170cm and.. (it would be truly disrespectful to disclose a mature woman's weight, so I'd rather not). Her most cherished thing in the world is her family (that goes without saying). But she did have a legendary fondness for drinking beer.