The chainmail clung to his undershirt, and the sweat that beaded off his body made the weight extremely uncomfortable. Metal chaffed against his skin, and though it did not hurt or even leave it a mark, it was still an unpleasant experience. Each step was encumbered, and even in the morning, the warmth of a summer day was wearing down on him. But, despite the suffering, Tian-Gui could smile. After all, there was no gains without any pain, and in the future, he was going to have to get much faster than this. Every few minutes, he Intensified his Energy, pumping more power into his body and accelerating his pace. It only wore down on his stamina further, but it was training, and he didn't have much time.
Golden Week, after all, was a rare oppurtunity, and after the revelry of last night, he had new goals to pursue. Answering Rei's homework, achieving his heroic aspirations, changing the world, all those big things.
All those thoughts crawled in his head, until they were blown away by the presence of an awe-inspiring individual. Stopping almost immediately, Tian-Gui blinked a few times, wiped the sweat off his brow, and had to physically shut his jaw when he saw the level 38 red-head. Raijin-Ken? Was that a martial art?
And level 38, in a world where policemen and other trained professionals were merely in the single digits? He wasn't the type of person to be picking up girls on the side of the street, but, just for this Sumi Ban person, Tian-Gui stopped, and closed his eyes.
The flames of his soul burst out, and the world stopped.
"Hey there!" he called, waving at her from across the road,
"Got a second?"
~
She noticed the Pseudospace forming, and immediately stopped in her tracks, her eyes directing towards Tian-Gui. She puts the phone away first, slipping it into her pocket. Next she sets the bag of groceries down. She breaths inhales slowly, then exhales.
Suddenly there is a yellow energy around her foot, and then in the next moment the ground where her foot was cracks under pressure. Before Tian-Gui can even react to raise an arm to parry, block, or plead for some kind of mercy a hand has clasped itself onto his neck. To call it a mere human's grip would be absurd.
It was more like the grip of a steel vice as suddenly his body is lifted up off the ground, and then slammed into the wall, forty HP gone despite both his Resilience and Armor, the wall of the store he was slammed into actually having a few cracks on it. She raises her other fist up, electricity crackling around it, her eyes staring into him, through him, as if trying to measure his every aspect through this one eye contact.
"You're rather careless, don't you think? Who are you and who do you work for? Erecting a Pseudospace like this is a pretty bold move, so if you don't start talking, ill show you why wearing metal armor around an Electricity User is a very bad idea."
This is it. If Tian didn't start answering trutfully, there was a high chance he was going to die. She must have mistaken him as an enemy for some odd reason, so unless he proves his friendliness to her, he is going to be in for one hell of a painful time.
~
Such power! Such was the Raijin namesake, and such was her absurd amount of strength that Tian-Gui gasped out in pain as the air was driven out of his lungs in a single strike. The wall cracked underneath the pressure, and he could feel his chainmail digging into his back. Sumi really was powerful, wasn't she? He could only imagine how much of a pain in the ass it'd be if Rei was that strong.
Holding up his hands up to the side to show that he meant no harm, the raven-haired youth replied,
"There's easier ways to show that you had a second to spare, you know? Sorry for interrupting your shopping trip, but hey, it's not every day I see someone as exceptional as yourself!"
"Anyways, I'm Tian-Gui Jian, power user, construction worker, and aspiring hero. I work for Godfather Construction Firm, fight for my friends, and I'm currently spending this Golden Week training! Then, of course, I notice someone as overpoweringly powerful as yourself and thought, hey, might as well go ask how they can be attractive and strong at the same time."
"Thus," he concluded,
"Here we are."
~
Rolling on the charm. It is true, Sumi is indeed quite beautiful. However... there was one thing Tian-Gui never did take into account. This girl was a martial artist. A warrior. Someone who probably honed their mind as much as they did their body. And as such, as Tian-Gui laid on thick the charm, suddenly the grip around his neck got tighter.
"So you're some weak Natural Ability User... who just got his power huh... judging from how weak your energy is, there's no way you could be a threat." She lets him drop to the ground now, takes a step back, but then before he can stand up, she is pointing her electricity covered fist right at his face.
"I want you to stand up, slowly, and explain to me just how you know how strong I am then, if you really don't work for anybody. Is it some kind of sensory power? If you don't start telling the truth, the whole truth... then I will make good on my threats to show you what lightning feels like."
That fist is getting closer now, the electricity from it able to be felt from this close. It was immense and powerful, as if even one touch of that fist alone would be the death of him. A painful, electricity induced death.
"And I want you to be serious. Stop your flattery, and stop your bullshit." She seemed to see right through his attempt at being 'nice'. This was different than Rei's cold demeanor though. This wasn't something to push people away, or to be a jerk with. This was a dagger pointed at his throat, a gun pointed at his forehead. It was death staring him in the face, and this girl, with how powerful she was, could deliver Tian straight to it.
"I want the truth, and nothing else. Understood? Just who, or what, are you?"
~
Tian-Gui stood up and stopped smiling. Did she think it was sarcasm? That it was him trying to bullshit? Her demeanor was murderous, but after last night, all those death threats were growing thin on him. Eletricity crackled from her fist, stray sparks bouncing onto his chainmail and searing holes in his shirt. A fatal weapon, but if this was his first experience with the 'greater' threats that Rei spoke about, then that was to be expected.
"It's neither flattery nor bullshit. Red hair and silver eyes are a pleasant, unique combination, much more vibrant than what I'm used to, and when I see someone that looks nice, I make a comment on it. Anyways, just a couple of months ago, my definition of power was that of a big, muscled body."
Looked like she did just want the truth though, so hey, he'll give it to her.
"I hold a power called 'Gamer', which allows me to treat this world as a PG-13 game. I get stats, I level up, I can't bleed, and I see how healthy I am through life points. I can also automatically identify people, as well as gauge how strong they are based off their levels. I am level 8. At 4PM, I will be meeting someone who is level 23. You are level 38."
He cocked his head to the side.
"See how I might be interested in you now, Heir to the Thunder God Fist?"
~
She simply listens to his explanation, looking into his eyes the entire time, as if gaguging him for any sense of falsehood. Of course, at the end of his explanation, as he calmly states his title her eyes widen, then narrow, and she lowers her fist, the electricity fading.
"I see..." her demeanor seems to have calmed now, as she seems to have discerned him friend. The text above her head, which had been red a moment ago to indicate her hostility as an enemy was now light blue once again. Perhaps another useful function of the power.
"You'll have to forgive me for going on you like that. There have been reports of hunters disgusing themselves as rookies before, and I needed to be sure that you were not one of them." She seemed... much more reasonable than Rei.
Rather than keep her murderous, killer demenaor she was now calm and pleasant.
"And of course, one trick they love to resort to for tricking people is flattery and flirtation. Still... " she looks at him, looking him over, "you possess a rather... strange power, if it can really see what it can, and you knowing.. that name..." she pauses for a moment there, "shows that its not a lie."
"A power that can do all of that..." she seems to have noticed the not bleeding thing, as she figures his internal organs should have been damaged by that strike, but yet not a single drop of blood was spilt from his lips. "Is definitelly... unique. And you said... you had friends as well? Are they ability users like yourself with the same power? Or just ordinary people?"
Now she was indeed curious. She had never seen a power like this before. She put a hand on his stomach, feeling something out before pulling it back. "Your internal organs also seem fine... it really is as you said, you don't bleed..." she seems... quite shocked and impressed by that fact. If it wasn't for the massive amounts of mental discipline she had, she would probably have been unnerved even. But she wasn't.
She was just curious.
~
Hunters disguised as rookies? Tian-Gui narrowed his eyes at that. It was definitely the type of information that should be shared with others then, and all of a sudden, her caution and murderous first impression made sense to him.
"Shall we exchange answers and questions then?" he suggested,
"because I'm hella curious about these hunters you mention now. Sounds just like the sort of baddies that Rei's being trying to get me away from."
"Anyways, yes, I have friends of varying ages that all possessed the same power at the same time as me, except for that more experienced individual I mentioned before. Then again, I also have friends that are ordinary, so...yeah. Would you like to properly introduce yourself though? Reading off a name tag isn't quite the same as getting a self-introduction, after all."
~
"Well its a bit of older news, not really anything you all should concern yourselves with. Still, its something I am always on the look out for. Its why you shouldn't be so careless in approaching other Ability Users..." She looks at the wall she had shoved him against.
"You seem like an amicable fellow after all, but if you are careless in your approach it may end up getting you killed, especially since there are types that would kill or capture someone like you instead of seeing what you want."
Of course, she wondered who this 'Rei' was. Sounds like the leader of their group and someone she should talk to. "I am Sumi Ban, martial artist and daughter of the Ban Family branch that watches over the Residential District. Your group... how many members does it have?" She was curious about his group now.
"Because I have heard whispers of a group called 'The Gamers'... and if you are them, then you need to be more careful with how you go about your actions. Just setting up Pseudospaces wherever in the city you want, especially in districts other than the Port Island or Residential, may get you in trouble."
So apparently, the Gamers needed to be a bit more discreet then with where they practiced, and while it seemed like good training, perhaps setting up random Pseudospaces while jogging wasn't necessarily all that safe.
"After all, setting up Pseudospaces wherever you please is like asking for trouble. You may have been lucky so far, but you need to be more careful in the future... " she looks him over again. "Of course... its also not too late for you to seal your power and go back to your normal life, if that is what you want..."
Something that Rei mentioned as well, although at least this girl seemed to be a bit more pleasant in the way she said it. Definitely better than Rei already.
~
Rumors about the Gamers? Huh, that's interesting, seeing how Tian-Gui or the others had never encountered any other power users before. At the very least, it looked like Rei wasn't bullshitting too hard about how dangerous it was for wishy-washy people having any sort of 'actual' power.
"Yeah, dunno how people heard about the Gamers if you're my first contact with someone with a different power, but there's...seven of us? Something like that. Explain to me though, Sumi, what's up with the Residential District and the Port Island District then? Is this like...a turf war sorta thing?"
Seeing how Rei had described it as the supernatural yakuza, that sounded fairly likely, all things considered.
"And didn't you hear me before? I wanna be the saikyou hero. No way I'm going to give it up and go back to normal...though it sorta sucks that I can't get drunk now. So yeah, does your family take students or something? At this point, I'm pretty sure it'd just be boring sparring against normal martial artists, so hey, if you have a family of monsters, it'd be awesome if I could train up and not become a liability!"
~
She just shakes her head. "You really are rookies aren't you..." She wonders how these 'Gamers' couldn't have known how people have heard about them. "This is the Abyss. Making Pseudospaces wherever you please allows you to be more easily watched, and more easily hunted. It is also an unwise move especially if you make one in the presence of another ability user like myself, as they may mistake it for a message of confrontation."
To this, she was obviously referencing how he just made a Pseudospace to approach her on a whim.
"This is the Abyss after all. Unfortunately alot of people aren't as friendly as you and won't hesitate to kill others to either defend themselves or to further their own goals." Normally she wouldn't say something about that since its completely obvious to her, but... given how green Tian is in her eyes, she figures some things just need to be said.
"Still, your presence does indeed explain why there have been more reports of Pseudospaces popping up randomly in the Residential District lately, so... I guess I will need to thank you for helping me put that bit of investigation to rest."
Then she decided to look him over again. "I would have to ask my dojo if they wouldn't mind taking seven new students. Obviously we wouldn't be able to teach you our clans' more secretive techniques, but teaching you the basics and giving you a better, safer place to train is something I am sure Grandfather wouldn't mind doing."
She holds out her phone. "Exchange numbers with me, and I will see what I can do. In the meantime, just be careful, and don't make Pseudospaces wherever you go." Luckily, phones in Japerica were the handy ones that could exchange numbers just by being tapped against one another.
It made exchanging contact information very handy. Unless of course, Tian-Gui wanted to test whether or not Sumi could recieve and send PMs like he could.
~
"Ah," he said as he began exchanging phone numbers,
"about that. You don't need to ask about seven new students. We're all basically doing different things, so just two is enough. Unless you teach archery, HEMA, and katar usage as well?"
~
Sumi shakes her head. "Its not just Weapon usage or Martial Arts that we would be teaching you, although our clan does possess Archery techniques, and punching techniques are useful for Katars."
She looks him over once again. "I don't know how you have been fighting now, but when you are fighting in the Abyss, you can't rely on just pure physical combat prowess." This is something that Rei mentioned as well, although it sounded much more truthful coming from this girl given how much more experienced she seemed.
Rei had around a month and a half of experience. Sumi has probably had years of experience and knew alot more about the Abyss and the supernatural than Rei did.
"Although before I do ask my grandfather, it would be helpful to know if there is anything else your Power lets you do. Does it give you any special mystical or physical abilities?"
There was the fact that they could use Skills, learn Skills just by touching a book, utilize Mana and Energy, had an Inventory. These were all various things that they could do, although how much Tian-Gui wanted to divulge to this girl would be up to him.
~
An all-in-one training package, huh? Though punching techniques could, indeed, be useful for katars, it's still fairly different. After all, katars were still blades, and could definitely be swung and such with deadly effect. Regardless, though, it looked like Sumi had opinions very similar to Rei's: that pure physical ability wasn't enough to survive in the Abyss. A bit of a bummer, really, but hey, whatever.
Seeing no real point in hiding any information from her, Tian-Gui closed his eyes, thought for a few seconds, before saying,
"Intensify Energy."
The flames of his soul were ignited once more, as a radiant glow pulsated from his core. Gesturing towards this, he said,
"Yeah, pretty much. Looks like it gives us a whole arsenal, as long as we meet the proper conditions for it. I can temporarily empower myself, others can shoot out mana blasts, and that Rei guy has stuff like elemental shenanigans. Apparently, Magic is a thing too, as long as you're smart enough for it."
Popping open his Inventory next and showing off the pocket dimension, he continued on,
"And we also dabble in some time-space manipulation, as well as the ability to instantly learn Skills, as long as we pay the cost. Just gotta touch a specific book and boom, book absorbed, Skills got."
~
She watches him use his one special Skill, raising an eyebrow as he chants the ability'so name to activate it. She also seems to appear a bit intrigued at the mention of shooting out Mana blasts.
What especially grabs Sumi's attention though is the inventory, or more like the fact that he pulled something out of nowhere. "That looks like some sort of Dimensional magic to me... definitely something a beginner wouldn't possess."
"Yeah, it's a basic ability for all Gamers though. Literally nothing consumed to do it."
"The fact that you can absorb knowledge from books though... that is definitely the most impressive thing. I have never heard of any ability like this before... it is definitely worth while seeing just what you are capable of learning."
This potentially meant that they could all get some free Skill Books if they played their cards right.
"So bring all of your friends tomorrow if you can. If you can't bring all of them, that is fine."
It seems like Tian really struck some good luck here.
~
"Alright, thanks," he said,
"And just one more question. What sort of Power to do you have then?"
~
She sighs a little at the mention of this, wondering just how much these people knew about the Abyss.
"While I have always had a slight talent for using Ki and martial arts, I am an Acquired Ability User. Unlike Natural Ability Users, whose powers are granted to them, I acquired my strength through intense training."
So essentially Abilities weren't something that you had to be born with. They could be acquired as well.
~
"And the interference law still applies to you, right?"
Things regarding that particular law was really getting strange now. If it was possible to acquire superhuman powers through what only amounted to time and effort, then why exactly wasn't modern society aware of this? Why was the 'norm' still so cynical about magic and ki and all that? Gaia, the Earth, or whatever the fuck this all-encompassing entity was, definitely operated in strange ways.
~
"It applies to all Ability Users. The moment you become an Ability User you are a part of the Abyss... whether you like it or not..." At that last part she seemed to avert her eyes slightly, then just looked back towards Tian.
"Anymore questions?"
~
"Wait...how..."
Tian-Gui narrowed his eyes, mulling over something that had been bothering him. If Sumi had been born a regular human, and had acquired her abilities through special training from an Ability user, didn't that already violate the interference law? He rubbed the bridge of his nose, before asking,
"How were you trained anyways? Wouldn't attempts to teach someone else about abilities and such also violate the interference law?"
~
"Only if they aren't connected. Because my family is a part of the Abyss, they could teach me. In truth... there is alot about the Interference Law we do not know. Only a Messenger of Gaia could tell you, and meeting with one of them for more than a passing instant is extremely rare. In the end... don't tell normal people about your power, that is the safest way to avoid the interference law."
~
Tian-Gui was, for a moment, tempted to ask how that 'family' thing worked if the Ban family didn't engage in sketchy stuff like inbreeding in order to keep outsiders from learning about the Abyss, but ultimately, even a meathead like himself had some tact. Nodding at Sumi's advice, he said,
"Yeah, wasn't planning to until I built up a precedent anyways. To confirm, Port Island and Residential District are safe? I know your family watches over Residential, but what's up with Port Island then?"
~
"The Void Wizard. A person whose identity is completely unknown, but they are said to have enough power to be a faction or clan all by themselves. It is why the Port Island District is the safest." She has a bit of admiration in her voice as she says this.
After all, a person who was a one man army protecting their own territory had to be stronger than strong.
"No one messes with the Void Wizard. They are at a level even ability users stronger than myself could only dream of achieving."
~
"And you know any names to avoid then?"
~
She just laughs a small laugh. "If I had to list them all we would be here all day. Just... use your better judgement, be careful, and don't make Pseudospaces wherever you please. The more normal you keep your life and routine, the less instances people can target you thanks to the Interference Law."
"So while getting stronger is a good thing... you need to be wary that if you use every waking moment for training, you put yourself at greater risk of being targeted."
~
"Welp," he said,
"looks like a final question turned out to be a whole bunch of questions. I'd offer to carry your groceries to make up for taking up your time, but you probably don't need that sort of help."
Blowing out the candlewick that was his pseudospace, Tian-Gui nodded at Sumi one more time, before saying,
"Guess I'll be heading out now. See you tomorrow!"
With that, Tian-Gui ran off once more, sprinting into the distance. He had a busy day ahead, after all. From zombie-grappling to Pseudospace refinement, there were many things he wanted to do before meeting up with Rei again.
And in the end, standing in the alley behind his apartment, he held that power in his hands. The wildfire that spread out from his core, engulfing everything in silence was now mastered. Sweat beaded off his brow as he stretched his tired limbs, his chainmail shirt loosely hanging off them. Closing his eyes one last time, Tian-Gui envisioned a controlled burn, sealing off the flames at the ends of the alley, creating a small pseudospace.
Basic Pseudospace Creation has been updated with a new function.
As long as you have a clear boundary of some sorts, you can create a Pseudospace that just goes within this boundary, as long as the boundary contains a relatively wide space.
Battles with zombies had been tiring, but rewarding as well. Though his chainmail was pretty much in shreds by now, his grappling had improved immensely, and all in all, Tian-Gui was satisified with the progress he made. It wasn't a level up, but hey, he still had time, and he was still alive. Within that silent space, he brought out his cellphone once more, and grinned at the new contact he made.
Tomorrow was going to be a productive one.
