Rai had never expected one thing from the evil organization's schedule. It started too early for him.
[You're late!]
Ossa shouted at him as he entered a large room with nothing but a white wall. The door was gone, covered in a white material like the other door.
[What time do you think it is currently?]
"Five o'clock in the morning?" Rai replied while dragging his sentence. "For hell's sake. It's too early for training."
[But it's exactly 6 hours since you slept. So I called you to know the progress of your Magicule. If I know how much it recovered, I can make an estimation of your recovery speed. This data will be useful for you in the future.]
The spirit's words made sense. Knowing how fast his recovery speed would undoubtedly help him in the future. However…
"That doesn't justify calling me this early. Even Ami is still sleeping," Rai grumbled in frustration as he operated his System Watch.
Blaming Ossa wouldn't get his time back. And he had already fully woken up. Getting back to sleep at this point was impossible.
"Oh?"
A surprised voice escaped his lips as he saw his current Magicule's count detected by the System Watch.
[What's wrong?] Ossa asked curiously and floated close to him, peeking at the hologram screen on top of the System Watch. [That's surprising. To think it's already been filled that much.]
---
Magicule: 13550/15010
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"From 4000 to 13500… If we count it roughly, I recover around 9000 Magicule in 6 hours or 1500 Magicule every hour."
[And that's already a lot. Normal people only recover 200 to 300 every hour. Even Extity's Commanders and those Magical Girls can only recover their Magicule around 500 every hour, depending on their condition.] Ossa explained with an impressed tone.
Rai briefly looked at his Magicule count before putting the hologram screen away. If what Ossa said to him was true, then he had a fast natural recovery on top of his Devour skill, which could help him replenish his Magicule.
With something new he found out about himself, his motivation to train grew, and his frustration against the spirit for calling him early in the morning was gone almost completely.
Who wouldn't be happy when someone knew that he was special? Surely not Rai.
"So, Ossa."
He called out to Ossa, who had a thoughtful look. It didn't seem like the floating rat registered his call, so he repeated it with a louder voice.
"Ossa."
Ossa's dark body jolted in surprise.
[What?!] The spirit asked, seemingly a bit on edge. But when he saw Rai's glare, he immediately understood that he had been ignoring the young man. [My bad, I was thinking about something. What is it?]
"The training. Let's start quickly so I can do something else."
[Alright.]
The spirit floated away and projected a large hologram screen in the middle of the room. Various words and images were written on it.
[Sit down.] Ossa beckoned, pointing at the ground.
A simple circular chair popped up from the ground at his motion, and Rai sat on it without asking too much. There was a complex mechanical system combined with strange alien technology he couldn't understand working around the base.
Asking a question about that would be useless, as he wasn't that interested in it either.
Ossa nodded and created a small stick from the darkness surrounding his body. He pointed at the screen and spoke,
[We will start with the theory first. Having power won't be useful if you don't know the theory behind it. It will only be useful if you know how it works and how to make it work.]
Understanding the spirit's logic, Rai nodded. While he had gained knowledge about how to use his ability, he still had no idea how it worked or its principle.
[First of all, let's talk about humans and Magicule. Do you know what a Magicule is?]
"Yeah. Magicule is an energy created by emotions, either positive or negative."
[Correct. And that Magicule is stored inside the body by something called Magicule Core.]
The screen changed and showed a human body with a bright sphere near its chest.
[For normal humans, this Core will be useless. Their Magicule has no path to move around and will stay inside. But... that's different for Guardians! The tools given by extraterrestrial spirits, like me, from their side allowed them to awaken and use their Magicule and materialize it outside their body!]
Once again, the screen changed. This time, it showed the footage of Ahri creating a beam of light from the tip of a golden wand in her hand.
[That materialization is called magic. And the kind of magic those Guardians used depending on their tools. It can be light, fire, water, lightning, or just physical like bullets shot from guns.]
Ossa tapped the stick he held against his small hand.
[Now, let's talk about our members. We are few in numbers, but all Captains above have something special.]
Ossa grinned and continued, operating the screen to show Rai's full body covered in a black bodysuit.
[They all can transform their bodies using a part of my power. In short, their body itself becomes the tool to draw the Magicule from the Core and materialize it. Of course, the magic used depends on your Aspect and will become your ability. Is there a question?]
"Yeah."
After listening quietly for a while, Rai finally asked,
"Why is everyone's Aspect different?"
[Great question.] The spirit chirped. [Aspect is related to Magicule. In other words, it's related to emotion. Now, my question is… What's closely related to emotion? It's something that every human has and will always be unique to them.]
"… You tell me to ask a question, and now you give me a puzzle. What do you want?"
[Now, it will be boring if I give you everything without something like a puzzle, right? So, what's your answer?]
"It's a desire, right?" Rai answered without hesitation.
[Correct.]
It was written in the 'Corrupted Guardian' in the first chapter. Everything starts with a desire and wish, and everything ends with it.
[Your job in this organization is to play with Magical Girls.]
Ossa's voice turned ominous. His body trembled in excitement as he crackled loudly.
[Some Guardians, the ones who showed promises, will be given the spirit's power. Their Magicule Cores will assimilate with their bodies, making them able to transform with just System Watch and take the form they desire the most. Obviously, their magic will be limited to their Aspect and some basic ones, but it will be way stronger.]
From that, Rai knew where this talk would go. And it went in the direction he wanted the most.
[Playing with Magical Girls means playing with their emotions and desire. Make them fall. Corrupt them! Then, you will gain the purest Magicule. With your Devour, eat it and get stronger. That will not go too far with your inner desire, yes?]
"You're right."
Denying Ossa's words meant denying his own wish and desire. Rai wasn't someone who would lie to himself.
[We can skip the talk about Invaders and Glitches in the future. That can be saved when we talk about Demons. For now …]
The spirit let go of the stick in his hand, and it disappeared into black smoke. Ossa's previous words seemed important, but it didn't seem like he would explain it right now.
'Invaders? Glitches?' Rai thought, narrowing his eyes. 'And what did he mean by Demon?'
Seeing Rai's curious expression, Ossa smirked. Then he clapped his clawed hands, closing the hologram screen.
[Let's begin your training. We will start with your Weapon Creator, as I have already seen your Devour twice. Do your best, my protégé.]