"So uhh... Who exactly are we going to war with?" (Jinmei)
His chain mail rattled under his movements, causing audible sounds of metal clicking and cloth rubbing to echo in the small enclosed room.
As if just remembering Jinmei was there, the black haired girl perked up and gave a half-hearted answer. She had her usual coarse tone of voice with little care for who she was talking to, Jinmei's easy acceptance into the knight order had shocked her into a daze, so she was thinking a little on what it implied. Jinmei may be hiding something and it may be harmful to her organisation to let in a saboteur, a potential traitor.
An incompetent ally was more dangerous than an enemy after all. Truthfully, she was over thinking it. Being in the position of absolute power, she failed to see that the agreement seemed more like a threat. If Jinmei were to refuse, she would just release him back into enemy camp after all. Her mission wasn't the eradication of the enemy or the death of a mere footsoldier like Jinmei, it was to establish her country's identity and legitimacy with power.
".... Is something wrong?" (Jinmei)
"... No. There's no problem, so let's end it here. The lodgings are at the east of this building, we're in our home base territory. The usual outpost are much larger and more accommodating, so bear with it for now. "(?)
" Ah!! I didn't catch your name. I am Kyou Jinmei, beginner magical girl. My ability is somewhere along the lines of strengthening weapons. Please to work with you. "(Jinmei)
His heart pulsated under his heavy nervousness, what was he doing being so amicable to a stranger? The boss may think he's strange or something, which would cause things to develop into an awkward direction. Since he'll be working here from now on under what seemed to be a big boss, the jet black haired girl with a pinkish tint under her locks, he'll have to start with giving more respect. It was surreal for a whole army corps to be made up of magical girls, though that was not the whole truth
".... Celistane Frey. You'll be addressing me by Zenith commandar, Frey from now on. You'll need basic geographical knowledge of our location for Subjugation orders.
Our country, Trifalchia typically known as Southern Asiatic Union lies south of where China used to be. It's a combination of what used to be Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Apparently the South East countries were crammed onto the East of China, so we are now the most South. Australia, though not part of Asia, has completely vanished from the map, so we are the most Southern Region of Asia now. "
Parting with what seemed to be newly revised basic knowledge, Frey left the room to head to headquarters. Her place of lodging is also at a vastly different place, adorned with facilities and services of a much higher quality.
***(1 day)
Abruptly shaken off his bed, Jinmei's drool made an arc over the air as a pained groan sounded out near the corner of the room. It was an army style bunker which was shared by multiple roommates, typically from the same unit. Jinmei's bed was near the corner with only a small drawer with a lamp on top that seperate the wall from his bed. A distant ringing could be heard wailing into the dawn light, not that any of the light passed through the curtain blinds lining the wall at the end. The room layed in a rectangular shape with grey concrete and a white ceiling, the walls were shades of grey that gave it a somewhat military-like atmosphere with its dull pallette.
"AWh!! That hurts, couldn't you use less strength so I don't get smashed against the wall?" (Jinmei)
Pushing his back and shoulders away from inertia, he clambers into a sitting position with much effort while wiping away the slag of befuddlement and sleepiness from his eyes while looking for the source of the sudden assault.
"Newbie... You should transform back before something bad happens... For one thing, you wore female pyjamas before untransforming in your sleep... I don't have to explain now right? I was utterly repulsed by the sight, if it was another magical girl you could have been executed on the spot... "(?)
A sweet yet mature voice sonorously emitted from the front of Jinmei's bed, as if clashing against his pained moan. He wasn't easily perturbed by something like this though, the frustration from being shoved against the wall quickly dissipated like mist when he realised where he was. One wrong step and his life could be forfeited, well that's if the magical girl that kills him is easily offended. He just needed to be careful and hide his fear until he accumulates power strong enough for self-defense.
For now, the person didn't seem to have any bad identions, though their words were harsh beyond belief. Heeding their advice with an agile decision making, Jinmei focused on his body and tried to "gather warmth" in the middle of his torso and heart. Without any theoretical or practical knowledge, it was difficult to image a magical girl transformation of his own.
There aren't any special transformations like those in anime, at least not any that he knew of. In the real world, light starts gathering, the body feels warm all over as if circulating heat with all its might, and the transformation occurs instantaneously. His slim body immediately fit back into the usual stature of the pyjamas. The obscene stretching of the pyjama with his broad shoulder and wide chest is no longer into being.
With his strengthened body, it felt like an explosion of stamina had coursed through his body. It was the difference in strength between his usual and transformed self. This was the result of yesterday's analysis magic item.
Title: Weapon Kyouma
Magical girl effectiveness level: D
Perimeters:
- Physical: D
- endurance: D
- speed: D
- will: D
- well: D
Kyou was his family name itself, weapon may have come from the description of his power and finally, where the ma came from was completely unknown.
"By the way recruit, that beautiful black haired Zenith Commander won't be directly in charge of us, we'll just be under one of her battalions. In magical girl warfare, 2 is a company and 9 is a battalion including the commander. It used to be because magical girls were hard to find in the past, now it's just to preserve that sentiment. I'm Kuzuha, I'm your company leader. I'll be in your care from now on. "(Kuzuha)
Her silky brown hair reflected the ceiling light with ease as it flowed in the air with 2 brown arcs before settling in their natural positions. There were 2 elegant twintails that sat atop her hair, accompanying some casual pyjamas, they would only change into their magical girl costumes during training or battle.
***(Kaorin)
It's been 2 weeks since I've enrolled. There was some news from Jein-sensei that hit like a truck. Obligatory training. Even though I was severely weakened and attached to an inconvenient life support pole with small wheels that allow mobility, I was forced to partake in physical endurance training. According to Jein-sensei, this training would greatly benefit me even after I got my powers back. Even if I doubt her words, it's not like I can escape from training. Everyone was forced to do it, it had quickly shut up the trio who thought the studying was too boring and easy. Now they also have to deal with this, I hope they are satisfied.
Just a few metres to my right, cute whimpers and chiming moans could be heard in that direction. It was Myuu, even though her body was enhanced to hundred times my own strength, she had paced herself incorrectly and overexerted her body. Hence, she was in pain and muscle fatigue, groaning away the embarrassment and weakness.
"Alright alright, Myuu, that's enough for the day. For the rest of you! No stopping until you finish your reps!! And no complaints from you Kaorin, the Magical Particle Regulator has been accounted for along with the pacing of a weak human body. " (Jein sensei)
" Uwaaaaaaaaaaaghhh. This is hell! I'm going to die!!! Are you sure you set the pace right, sensei? Aghhh!! "
Burning was my muscles as my usual intense vigour magically sapped away into nothingness, it felt like I was on fire instead as my body resisted the pull of inertia. I was doing pushups and was instructed to do 80 sets of 20. It may not seem like much, but I was quite unfit. I know I would usually boast my normal stamina gauge and spout off on how I retained fitness while nearly being a shut-in, but how is 80 sets of 20 any normal?!
I can't do it! I can't do it! Aaaaah!!! I became a shut in after enrolling into this academy, I thought it would be all magic and no physical training. It hurts, it hurts like my body was made of lead. I could feel the toxins creeping into every tendon and flesh while the weight pushes me into the ground, only for me to scramble as I try to stay afloat.
"KEEP PUSHING KAORIN, YOU'LL STAY WEAK FOREVER IF YOU JUST GROAN AND COMPLAIN!" (Jein sensei) She barked off with her wrinkled tomato face, her blush didn't stop at her cheeks and made her whole face red like that of a demon's. From that day on, every student made a silent vow not to go against Sensei, who knows what harsher punishment she has in stored girls who still had their magical powers. Days go by, steady progress has been made. It's now the third week, and roughly half a month left recovery. Thing's don't look so good.
A blazing bright crimson nearly reaching the ceiling, the branching tunnels that go to somewhere unknown were shut tight with rocks in their place. These rocks have camouflaged with the wall and smoothened out to fit perfectly together. It seems that at least this region of the secret underground labyrinth has been raided.
There were some patrollers in the night, but due to magical girls being generally powerful, usually no one would think of robbing another person. There's a high chance of dying after all. This made the labyrinth extremely safe, in fact it was so safe that people became used to this protected sanctuary. That was why everyone least expected the attack to be in the morning.
The pungent thick stench of soot and Ash wafted through my apartment window, enough that the general-public provided ventilator couldn't purify the air fast enough. Looking out the window was a sea of flames and dead bodies. I even noticed a classmate who had lived nearby, they must have been on their way to school. But now they only layed lifelessly along the concrete. A clear hole could be seen around her chest area, it was an efficient magical girl killer.
It turns out that magic particle theory wasn't the only content of our syllabus, we also had to delve into recent contexts and historical incidents of disasters. With that came the identification of those disasters and the perpetrators behind them that violate the Arcane treaty. The Arcane treaty was a simple contract that most factions had pledged to, it held them responsible with a potent curse if they ever conducted magical experiments on human test subjects and the like.
The only people the factions were allowed to test on were themselves. As the conductor of the experiment, they were free to be their own guinea pig as long as no other innocents were dragged into it. With these contexts and clues, we were trained to identify enemy factions at a basic trainee level, with that came the introduction of what was called a "magical girl killer", people who were specialised in magical combat. They usually have unknown sources of strength that deviate from the brute force competition of shooting magical particles at each other.
A few silent taps encounter the marble tile flooring of my apartment, I could hardly handle the tragedy before my eyes before handling this intruder. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any trouble. A familiar dark green robe shook in the dark corner of my bedroom. The only illumination were the flames outside the window.
"Yo. Fortunately, it seems that you're alive." (Kanou) Without tearing my sight away from the window, I despondently replied.
"Un."
I couldn't muster much enthusiasm at such a time. The flickering of the flames reflected on my cheeks as I scan for any more victims.
"... My bad, if I was more vigilant I could have saved more people. I came here to relax, since I thought you would be carefree about it, but it looks like we were all impacted huh." (Kanou)
"... It's not your fault... If I could, I would exact revenge. But unlike you guys, I'm weak. It's not my place to tell other people what they can or can't do. Only that I should do my own best. My ability, I've found a new way to use it. So I can feel all that blood your dripping over my floor. "
"... Haha... I see you've grown in your own way..."(Kanou)
" Did you kill them? Or have the perpetrators escaped? "
"... Nothing escapes you huh. We limited the casualties to 6,though that's considered alot when we factor in the roughly 1000 population of this labyrinth. "(Kanou)
"Is it just me or did your tone grow more gentle? I remember you being very cold the first time we met." My eyes still glued to the window, I soft enunciated my words, careful to not let my feelings slip.
"... I... Don't have the capacity to judge others anymore. I failed at my job, that's it. You can call me pathetic if you want, for seeking out sympathy from a person I've barely met and only reprimanded." (Kanou)
".... Could you leave, I need to change. "