*
First I'll need to establish whether they mean me harm or not. Making my decision, I took in a deep breath before sheepishly raising my arms, palms facing outward. The typical surrendering to the police type of forfeit, they should recognise them right? They're not cavemen who have no sense of civilisation right?
Cold sweat continued to pour down my back as I stared around at them to observe their expressions. That should certainly reveal their intentions, but there was no change at all. What was happening?
"Uhm.... I surrender.... So can I go back home?... I'm haven't eaten in a while..."
What seemed to be the leader took a couple steps forward. She had a military style hat facing the side with a green jacket that seemed like reinforced leather. It looked very durable with the thin scratches on it that emphasized its age. The jacket had a large collar that folded flatly on the rest of the cloth in the shape of two thin triangles, the bottom of the jacket reached her thighs at a sharp point while splitting in 2 from the back. Her hands were kept inside the jacket with her sleeve that covered up to half of her forearm. Under it was a more skin fitting black covering made of a material akin to that of stockings, finally ending in a thin white glove that adorned her thin and delicate fingers.
Under the jacket was a black and grey striped button suit followed by a white and black stripe mini skirt. Her bare legs stood out in the battlefield, yet it seemed normal here with the large group of magical girls. Her boots also seemed to be made of a tough material and was designed for her kicks to be more deadly. Her black boots with small white highlights matched her equally dark iris and hanging locks of hair that seemed to reach her back. Together with her slightly higher than average stature, her imposing aura pressed pressure into my heart.
"What is your ability."
.... Uhh... Even if you ask me that with such a cute face, I have absolutely no clue. There's no game screen or anything telling me my active and passive skills or whatever abilities we magical girls have...
" I have no idea..."
"I SAID!! WHAT IS YOUR ABILITY!"
If her previous tone could be described as a gentle and resolute breeze, the line after would be a destructive thunder. There was a large sense of urgency in her words, uncertainty was surely the source of her fear. My ability huh? It's not like I understood myself at all. I had only become a magical girl a couple hours ago. It may even have been less than that, time could have flown differently in that other dimension and I would be none the wiser. In the end, what exactly could I do?
Think. What exactly happen at the end there? A large eyeball opened in the sky and shot a heavy rain of light that swallowed everything. Such a powerful being... Could be described as an eye that was a god. If what I heard from my new colleagues, this region of land that collected survivors from mainly the Eastern region of Asia, has been renamed as the sanctuary of the eye god. A society of wooden houses and facilities have started to establish itself. Of course there were many minor factions and even language barriers, however knowledge has allowed us to accelerate the rebuilding of society.
But what exactly motivated the people to work this hard and rebuild? Was it survival? Or was it something else? In any case, I've decided. The eye god, was what I guessed had talked to me in that dimension, and supposedly. They said that my path was predetermined and that I either chose this path or die to the entity behind that brought me to that dimension. The eye god had immense power, it could easily erase me, so it couldn't be behind the dimension kidnapping.
With that said, I was completely full of distrust and fear at that time. I found it rather impressive that I was able to take such a gamble when backed into a corner. At that time, yes, I decided to place my trust into the eye god, hoping that I have not been deceived. What makes that situation any different from now? Sure these magical girls were more civilised than those awful tentacles and didn't attack at random. However the scenario still stand, I am cornered, fearful, weak and hopeless. I can only place my complete faith in this eye god just like before. Taking another deep breath, I finished organising my thoughts before opening my mouth to converse.
"... I am a follower of the eye god. My ability is something to do with wind, I haven't had much time to explore it, so that would be everything I know. I don't suppose my daily life could be kept a secret, could it?"
"Your occupation?"
"Student."
"I see... You must've been scared. Pardon my earlier conduct, many have died to magical girl-turned mad man after all...
They trip on their own power only after becoming a little stronger. Nothing compared to us veterans... But the civilian casualties are nothing to scoff at. "
"... You must have a procedure. Say, if I prove to be innocent and useful, I'll be able to join you guys right~? "
".... You seem a little eager... "
" But in the end, isn't it cool to be a magical girl? There's no dark plot twist that's been trending in dark magical girl anime series, lately, right? "
" Hahah. How childish, unfortunately we're very short on manpower at the moment. Well, I gues it's fortunate for you, since it means your application into the group is basically confirmed. You have to remember though, laws still apply. Don't do something that you will regret. We can gauge your power, there are plenty stronger than a newbie like you. " (Leader)
Her eyes relaxed a little, possibly evaluating me as less of a threat. However even then, the first question she asked of me, was what my ability was. Do abilities dictate the flow of battle? I'm too unknowledgable to assume anything. For now, I think I'll be safe if I work for them. Maybe my salary will even be raised.
The magical girl perimeter retreats off into the distance, from what I could see, there were only around 100 magical girls. I have no Intelligence on the global situation, but rumours say that there were only a few thousand in each region. As they had said, many magical girls can probably annihilate a newbie like myself due to the difference in experience. Meaning there was another source of threat other than a beginner magical girl.
Were abilities that overpowered? To bridge such a large gap. Or was there more to the combat of magical girls? My otaku senses were being too stimulated, before I noticed it I had stood on the spot daydreaming for a few minutes while a guide was getting annoyed.
"... I've been tasked to judge you and act based on that judgement, but it seems you were more innocent than I thought... Well that's okay though. The battlefield would definitely change you. Anyway let's head back to the base, could you at least give your actual name? So we don't worry your parents or friends. "(guide san)
Seeing a formidable magical girl, my instincts became riled up. Who wouldn't want to test out their new powers? I still don't understand it myself. Well, I'm physically tired though, so I'll hold off on that.
"... I'll ignore your thought of aggression. I'll switch off my telepathy from now on so you can have your privacy. Well just relax for now, you will be taught the basics before being sent back to rest. We have our own curriculum that's different compared to your normal syllabus. We need as many capable soldiers as possible after all. "(Guide san)
Ahh... Shame. Did she decide I was naive earlier by reading my thoughts? Ahhhhhh! How embarrassing!! Hmpf!.. , I'll just have to keep it in mind from now on. Uwa... The cringe is still flowing inside my veins, it makes me shiver in embarrassment.
The guide was a girl at a similar age to everyone else, it seems the transformation causes this to happen. She had a dark green hood that wrapped around her neck and covered the top of her ahead long with her back. A red circular gem with a light purplish jagged iris in the middle seemed to hold the hood together from the front. Tough black leather like armour was adorned with small gold diamonds and hearts while worn over her joints and torso. A lime green shirt along with beidge trousers laid below that armour while a white miniskirt wavered around her waist above the trousers. Her feet were covered by durable brown leather boots that seemed to be modified with something I don't quite comprehend. It had odd looking squarish patterns adorning the side along with metal and crystal attachments.
We started off with brisk walking before a sudden shift in pace, a blast of air was blown back as guide-san flew off into the distance. Rocks, leaves and grains flew into the air as I just remembered where I was located... This was my workplace, the local farmland. I'll have to bury the bodies later...
Turning around, I asserted my full strength into my legs, before using my leg joints to direct the force into the ground. Catching up to the guide, the guide-San glided close to the ground before picking up on more velocity. Likewise, I try to follow closely. From the first leap, we had already travelled an average speed similar to that of a cars, on the second leap it was at a speed akin to a plane's.
After reaching a far enough distance and a careful look around, guide-san took out a small teal crystal before embedding it into the ground. The ground began to have a soft light blue glow that seeped into the air like a liquid before forming a portal-like shape. Following her into the portal, the scenery felt like it was a canvas with a new bucket of paint being spilt over it. The golden brown skies of the evening has abruptly shifted into the glaring brightness of some ceiling lights. The lights were emanating from what seemed to be ceiling panels in an alternating pattern of panels that lit up and panels that didn't.
"Was it okay not to retrieve that crystal?"
As if to answer my question, some blue sparkles flew through the portal before the portal closed on itself.
"It was a disposable portal. We can't leave traces of our base. Then again there was no point if we just brought any newbie over to our base. You can say it's to look cool and prevents intruders at the same time. "
(guide-san)
We seemed to be in an extremely large hall with numerous door less cubicles lining the walls. The hallway was long enough to fit an underground train, with a large amount partitioning walls that somewhat resemble cubicles, only that there were no doors. The occasional opening of portals can be heard next to those doors, an indescribable sound that could only be said to be a mix between a hole in space ripping in water and an extra loud vacuum noise condensed into a second of actual sound.
We walked towards the other side of the hallway, opposite from the partitioning walls where our portal had only been recently located. A long rectangular hole opens up as we got closer, revealing a lift of sort. It was a magic tool that resembled a lift, but it was just a tiny square plot of flooring with a different colour and a magic mechanism under it that controls its altitude. Below could only be what is described as a tiny city.
Concrete buildings that weren't suppose to exist in this era anymore were laid across this massive underground labyrinth. The shape of it was unrecognisable as after a certain distance, some magic is at work to block my perception, granting a rather blurry picture akin to having a high eyeglass index without wearing spectacles.
"So where are we going?"
Flashing a look of annoyance, her cheeks clench as her facade broke for an instance. Instantly changing back to her professional face, she responded in the most monotone voice she could muster.
"To the reception centre. There will be a may there for you to traverse our hidden city and get to where you need to. Your residence will still be on ground floor above this place, at where it was always at.
It wouldn't be fair to the common folk who work hard and live hard all the time upstairs, so everyone's place of residence is also on the regressed society we have above. It also serves as camouflage in case of any unforeseen circumstances such as foreign reconnaissance.
In any case, these buildings largely serve as school buildings and research centres where concentrated human ingenuity is allowed to flourish. Who knows, maybe you'll find that you are more suited to a support role such as a researcher rather than a combat role. "
Finishing her explanation, she seemed to be a little proud of the progress of this place as a small smuggish smile surfaced over her lips.
" I see, then let's move on! "