***(Kaori)
"Magia retainment, retainment status: 100%, F.R.M mode"
Title: Kaorin(Fully Retained Magia)
Magical girl effectiveness level: B(A)
Perimeters:
- Physical: A(S)
- endurance: B(A)
- speed: A(S)
- will: B(A)
- well: B(A)
A factor of 10 times conversion from magical particle count to stats, this is the epitome of my current power. Before I was finally able to understand... Before I finally broke through to 100% retainment status, the factor conversion was only roughly around 7. It might have been around 5 before I lost my memories.
Doubling that at this point through repeated effort feels satisfying. It brings closure, it brings irreplaceable joy. It brings the revelation that I can still grow stronger despite being weaker than everyone else in the party. Maybe my well had expanded a little too. In any case, I gained inspiration from Barius' time stop and my own pseudo time stop.
My body feels light, despite the unquellable rage welling up in my lungs, I am calm. My mind is hyper focused as everything but the giant lizard in front of me blurs out of sight. My breathing is steadier than ever and my footsteps felt like walking on feathers, my fingers have no need to bear a fist as they were small enough to bunch up at nay moment. A massive shadow covers the entirety of the ground around me as things got darker in an instant. Despite its large size, it had lifted its foot with surprising agility.
I barely felt any impact to my knuckles as it blew through the air in an instant, from my view the massive grey scaled wall had ruptured outwards before disintegrating. Copious amounts of blood spill onto the ground as it nearly caused a flood, but my aura was enough to part the red sea without my intervention. I walked closer as it clutched its arm in a dramatic movement, likely to get me to drop my guard.
Right now with my new technique, I could essentially use any of usual attacks and the Magia Retainment would bring my expended magical particles back to me. Meaning, I had unlimited use of magical particles now, as long as the quantity is within the bounds of my well. But even if I don't use any intricate techniques, with the amount enhancing my body right now it caused me to basically be a walking nuke.
Magic has 2 states, activated and dormant. When magic is activated it releases energy for use in creating magical phenomena. It meant that at the core of everything magic, it was just magical particles with the texture of reality. After being expended, the activated magical particles return back to the environment to basically recharge. But as they don't obey the laws of space and time, there is essentially an infinite amount of magical particles in the universe.
Magia Retainment, with the inspiration from the time stopping techniques, I was able to solve the problem of the activated magical particles recoiling against itself and escaping the grasp of my magic. Instead of only restraining the magical particles and forcing inside my body, what if I send a force outwards? Then I use both inwards and outwards to guide it around my body. Usually it is dormant magical particles that circulate in the body waiting for use, but my body is circulating activated magical particles instead.
Usually magical particles obey the nearly unbreakable rule of returning to the environment after use, so no one else has discovered this except your truly. That expended magical particles still held unimaginable amounts of energy for use. Why is it then that they are released into the environment then? It was the mental strain. Now that I had removed that limitation, how long my battles last now depend on my mental strength instead of my magical particle count. Well, my performance still largely dependant on my stats though.
Disappearing from my spot, I swung down an axe kick as the lizard manages to react by swinging its tail to parry. Due to the large amount of space under the tail, my kick doesn't manage to damage its tail but instead shot it down into a collision with its back. The ground under it cracked heavily as the last bits of the deployed Oblivion Magia crumbled into magical particles. Shaking the earth as I landed as atrociously, the ground seemed like it shrunk deeper as a large crater expanded out radially.
"Tch, just when it was going well... You had backup? I assumed you guys had a falling out..." (Aubrey)
"We did... But I'm not such a predictable person to do something so convenient for the progenitor.
I am... Kaori. As it stands, I am also extremely petty. I'm not here to resolve a conflict nor make compromises. I'm here to openly clash with Myuu and the others and wrestle them for my own ideals. You just did the heavy lifting for me, so now all I have to do is kill you.
Unlike them, I still have my full well as I got Barius to princess carry me and saved my own stamina. You can accept my thanks by dying. "
Without a moment to rest, the moment Aubrey contracted even a single muscle, my right arm became lodged into his long torso.
*PAA!!!!*
Popping like a giant balloon, another large hole opened up in his lazard body, spilling out his intestines. As my attacks were purely physical, my super augmented physical phenomena recreating punches had gotten past his antimagic with relative ease. If I had to say, I think I would be on par with Ray if I fought with her again. Too bad she's dead huh. Well, if he nullifies magic then I'd just have to tear his flesh open with my bare hands. Thankfully I didn't convert all my magic power into a vacuum blade, otherwise it would have had its strength diminished drastically by the antimagic.
I continue bashing open the weak flesh, it felt like I was ripping open a fish's skin as my body became increasingly soaked in his blood. He wriggled around violently trying to crush me with his limbs and tail, but each and every appendage was blown clean off by my fist. His death rolls weren't so effective when he's missing so much flesh, and he couldn't get a bite on me with his enormous jaws.
Aubrey's body regenerates as he takes a giant leap back to push some distance between us. Though his efforts would prove futile as I launch another quick and clean hit at his back from his blindspot, obliterating his newly repaired flesh. A dark teal light expands outwards with his body as the source, the giant scaly corpse begins to whither up into dust as it is wrapped by this light. Looks like he was using another strategy to fight, whether it was easier or harder to fight than his giant form, it matters not to me.
Disregarding my backup, Barius and Neli in the background, I'm sure I was enough to take him down. Ever since I woke up with my memories gone, with... This body. I never knew what the other senses felt like. Sight and hearing was all I had. What was smell? What was my nose suppose to feel? How did food taste? Is it a new experience each time? What is touch? What is warmth?
And lastly, what did magical particles look like? How do I control something I can't feel? I can barely unleash my repertoire of techniques due to muscle memory, I can't create anything new that's too complicated. Only simple applications of already existing skills. Nothing revolutionary and tide changing like Magia Retainment will come about again. That is why I will always depend on... Kaori's efforts, and not myself... Improving Magia Retainment took everything I had, and even then it was still muscle memory applied 2 times more than usual. The higher mental strain of it causes my stamina to be half its usual, but its power was also roughly more than 2 times more.
The light finally converges into his small body, his weaker form, yet an unadulterated oppressive aura had also converged around his vicinity. He had a business suit on the upper half of his scaly body, it was fortunate that his bottom was covered with scales so we wouldn't see anything too awful. In his hand held a blade made out of scales, they condense beautifully into a mass of gem like crystals that shone with various different hues. His short black hair boasted a firm bang in the middle of his face, as the rest parted to the sides like a curtain. An unusual fragmented set of spectacles rested on his face as he faced me with an unfamiliar amount of seriousness.
"Looks like you're finally taking this seriously."
"...?! You haven't tried to assess my strength once... No, you can't even assess my strength with your lack of magic perception, but you still possess the ability to wield magic... Innate instinctual estimation? "(Aubrey)
His brows furrowed with more than enough fury, however his composure was kept contained as his heartbeat didn't get any faster. This was still his giant monsterised form, he had simply compressed it into his usual vessel. All of the power is still there, but more concentrated and more denser than anything I've encountered. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this is the strongest opponent I've faced, but fact is, it makes me excited. An uncharacteristic smile is adorned onto my lips, like a flower blooming in a desert.
".... Tch, that's damn terrifying." (Aubrey)
" Thanks. Would you at least tell me the name of that form before we start?"
"... Fine, you'll be dead anyway. It's a secret technique only a few select monsters. In a way, I am someone higher who was sent by someone higher to supervise the Arachne here. Lower S graded, lorded dragonewt fortress of destruction, Aubrey. The name of this form is [Enigma]. "(Aubrey)
Without another pause, he twisted his arm to face his blade in my direction before shooting out specks of grey. They shine with various hues as while surrounded with white flames. With all his energy concentrated, their vessels, the scale bullets he shot out with the sword, couldn't handle its own power. That was why it was leaking white fire. But that's fine, my F.R.M can be said to be something similar. I form a vacuum blade in my right palm, pointing at him in the same pose. Only, instead of shooting projectiles it absorbed them instead.
Then I let go of my sword, dispersing it back into magical particles as I walked leisurely towards Audrey. I don't fear your heightened stats, after all I was annihilating you earlier. If your temporary boost makes it so you can catch up to me, wouldn't that just be more exciting? I gripped my fists in tandem as my steps gradually became faster. My heart beat faster and my knuckles whiten. Before long I couldn't hold myself and leaped forward with all my strength.
"Reducing spatial resistance, [Absolute stride]." (Aubrey)
The air around him blurred as if the space curved outwards, before I noticed I was staring at blank space. My instincts scream at me like an alarm so I fired the propulsion technique to send my self into the air. Combined with my body's agility, only a small cut had formed in the back of my torso. But it wasn't the damage that count, it was the fact theat he could hurt me. Depending on the battle, it led to a massive boost in confidence.
Reducing air resistance and using the propulsion technique at the same time, I begin to imitate his movements, blurring my entire silhouette as my body moved at an ultra fast pace, leaving a trail of halation. Continuing on, the massive movements had caused deep bass boosted sounds that seem to pierce apart my eardrums. He dashes around me with this movement technique, leaving a trail of his body's outlines behind in the air as he moved about. I do the same and follow suit, burying my fist into his shaking arms.
"Kugh?! You still have plenty of strength after using so much magic?!" (Aubrey)
"..."
That's valuable insight into what they knew about me. They didn't think I would come back her for one thing, but now I'm aware there are certain techniques they couldn't observe as well. Amazing, they didn't bother to check the flow of magical particles in the air, or maybe my technique didn't leave any tracks! How unbelievably useful, I launch another fist at his face before he ducks under with his movement technique.
Even if he could reduce spacial resistance and essentially do a semi-teleporting movement that would drive enemies confuse, he still needed an absurd amount of precision and control to do such a small duck. If he had done too much, his body would have hit the ground, if he had done too little I could veer my fist off course and detour towards his new position. The air pressure from my misaligned knuckles sends a crater into the underground labyrinth. There was no longer any Oblivion Magia in effect, so we were deep underground in one of the cult's bases.
He dashes backwards, only for his shoulder to be caught in my palm as I used the movement technique to get ahead of him.