NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 13: Why is it like this?
A soulscape, the reflection of your soul. How one looks is decided by how one's lives.
By definition (From the magical side) the soulscape is where one interacts with spells learned to tweak the effects and personalize their mandalas.
By definition (From the powered side) the soulscape is where the skills intertwined with the soul. Feeding their power with the mana that inhabits the soul.
Mother said the soulscape is never the same for two magical girls. And she wondered if her magick classes would give her new information or something that she didn't know already.
It wasn't probable, but she wondered why Father didn't mention anything about the soulscape or if he knew about it.
Probably not, since he was a muscle head. She would ask later.
For now, she was admiring her soulscape. After returning from classes she went straight to her room. Rosie was complaining about how the morning classes were about only magical history and how the magical ones would be late in the afternoon.
She just ignored most of it and retired to her room, after changing into her pajama she sat on her bed, and closed her eyes.
She was focusing inwardly.
Trying to probe her soul for a door into the soulscape. That was the wrong analogy (Probably) but it's the one that felt natural. And Mother always said to do what feels natural no matter what everyone else says.
So when she found herself in front of a gigantic metallic door with intricate engravings of scientific symbols and a few mandalas. She knew she had struck gold.
It was a vast cathedral, almost like a labyrinthine citadel of knowledge. Its walls made of dark gray stone, and its spires reach towards the sky like the fingers of some ancient, forgotten giant.
Once inside, she saw two different wings and a reception area. No one was managing it but it had a helpful display.
To the right, it was dedicated to natural history, with towering displays of ancient bones, taxidermied beasts, and interactive exhibits on evolution. It was almost like a museum depicting the great achievements of humanity.
To the left, it was another wing with a sprawling library, filled with tomes on alchemy, magic, and various fields of science. All that was esoteric was on display.
That's the thing, most of the stuff was a display. Like a museum...
Why was her soulscape a gigantic museum? She was expecting her bedroom...Or a pillow fortress...But not a museum.
There are even holographic displays and interactive simulations that allow visitors to immerse themselves in different worlds and times.
But amidst all this knowledge and discovery, there is also a sense of danger and darkness. Hidden within the shadows are whispers of forbidden knowledge and forgotten magic, and those who delve too deep into the secrets of the soulscape risk being consumed by its dark power.
Or so it said on the display. But since she was looking into her powered side, for now, she walked to that side. And so she found a Laboratory.
Most imposing of all, with its sprawling array of glass tubes, bubbling vats of liquid, and hissing machinery.
And in the middle of all this...
She found a pc.
It had her status sheet displayed and projected into a big holoscreen.
And just like that it highlighted her skills on other smaller screens.
The one with her [Inventory] had a HUD of an Excel Document with all the various things she had stored there (nothing) and a description of the amount of weight and stuff she could still shove inside.
Her [Identify] had a small library on screen and a search engine.
Her [Status] just pointed towards the PC, something like a recursive program?
And finally, her garbled skill was just static on the monitor.
The problem and question now was...
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT HUMONGOUS SCREEN IN THE CEILING AND WHY I CAN'T SEE WHAT'S WRITTEN ON IT!?!?!?" yep.
That's the problem now...
Did...Did I have another skill that [Status] wasn't showing?
"That would be because you don't have enough [Information Allocation]," came the voice of a young man from behind.
A quick turn with a kick from the reflexes Father had honed in from years to attack the interloper resulted in a splendid...
"Wow, rude, attacking the caretaker of this wing." He said with a mocking smile and a shrug as the interloper blocked her kick.
He was a blonde man with a messy ponytail and disheveled hair all over the place. His piercing blue ryes held an intense gaze that tried to hide a hint of mischief in it. Even with his scruffy, unkempt, and messy looks, he exuded a rebellious appearance. But above all that he had that spark that I wanted to project.
The aura of confidence that would attract looks even with that hobo appearance that he had.
It didn't matter that he wore a worn leather jacket over a faded t-shirt and ripped jeans, along with scuffed boots. Here I was trying to stay up to date with clothes, to portray the cool beauty, and this bastard was all over the place and looked good.
Not as good as [Shadow Pact] though.
"I know that I'm quite the looker, but it wouldn't work. I have a previous engagement to fulfill." ...I wonder if I could hit him if I plan an ambush.
But for now, as Mother always said. Information wins wars [Identify]!
...[Identify]!
"Yeah...That isn't gonna work here...You see. Even if you got recognized as a triggered...You didn't [Trigger]. Not yet anyway," said the blonde man.
What was he talking about?
"I can use [Skills] so how am I not a powered?" Even Father said that I had the right aura...How could he read auras across a video call who knows? But he said it.
"No no, you are a [Powered] but you haven't gotten your [Skills] yet. " Hah? What is this man talking about?
"But I have skills...They are on the [Status] Window..." And they were, they even showed up on the stupid monitor on that wall.
Do I need to point him to the wall?
"Yeah, they are...But you see...You don't [Know] how they work. Do you? "Asked the blonde man...
But I know...I just think of using them and they work...
Something must be on my face since he just started laughing.
"No no, you see. Your teacher just told you. A powered [Knows] how their skills work. You only invoke the skill and they do their thing. But you don't feel them in your [Soul] do you?" and with that the blonde man brought something to mind that she had tried her best not to think about it.
Her Father always spoke about how he knew what to do to make his skills work.
The teacher (Crazy old man) spoke about how one when looking at himself could intuit what his skills could do and how to make them grow.
But me?
I didn't really know what or where the skills were.
"If I'm not triggered then what are these skills?" And what was this strange man doing on my soulscape?
Mother never spoke of anyone else in hers. Maybe this was another secret like the stuff with powered growing stronger and taping into the soulscape?
"Easy, they are a loan. From [Δ̴̢̘̞̮̳̩̥͙̻͚͐̂̑̾͗͒̈́̉⅀̷̟̠͇̎͌̃̅̀̈́̇Ʌ̵͉̠̝̄̀̋̌̀͋̇̀̚͘Ƨ̶̨̨̜̩̪̘͈͙͙̠̻̋̓͂̌̍͜Ħ̵̢̨̤̬͓̩̯̺͎͙͇̣͙̬̿͊∀̴̨̛̼̲̗̩̘́̿̽̀̏̃̽̓̎̇̿̇͌̈͘͠] ." And then, he somehow spoke in garbled text.
"Hmm...That doesn't work? So stingy." He knew he spoke in garbled?
"Don't look like that, no human can speak like that, you just don't have enough [Information Allocation] or the big boss is being stingy again." Said while shrugging the blonde man.
"[⊥̴̡̨̜̼͙̖͉̲̥̠͕̬̥̥͔̬͊̓̊͆Ћ̵̢̨̧̧̭̟̗̲̦̯͙͓̟̮̃́̉͂̀͋̚͜͜ͅℇ̷̨̧̨̧̥̞̲̭̘̺͎̙̜̽̃͊͑̏̿̾̐͒̌̾͒͋̀͘͜͠͝ ̸̨̧͇̜͍̬͔̫͎̩͍̈̄̓̅̂̇̽̈́̆̏̌͛͌̍̈́̚͠Ш̵̢̨̧̼̘̘̘̺͉͓͎͔̰͓̽̒̃̌͋̿͒̕͘͝͝ͅΘ̷̢̨̨͈̟̹̳͚͉̺͉̭̥͑̓̅̀͂̍̋̈̃̚̕͠͝℟̸̪̝̖̯̜͆̆̓̔͒̀͐̃̉⋄̵̡̨̧̫̬̥̮͙̠̖̺̱̩̹̝͆̀̿̀̐͊̐͋̕₫̵̡̦̞̣̫̙̖̠̲̏̆̔͑̽̒̔͑̍̉͒͗̌͝ͅ] Hugh...Somehow that sounds even worse...Is it because it's closer to the original meaning?" And at that, even the blonde man grabbed his head in pain.
Did it sound bad for him?
"Of course, you are fine, after the thing with that stupid skill, your resistance must have been raised...Stupid [Passive Resistances]." And so he went rummaging in one of the desktops for something.
"Stupid [Librarian] making me do this work..." would mumble the young man.
"What does a librarian have to do with anything?" and so I asked.
The blonde man stumbled at that and focused his attention this way for some reason.
"Really? That parsed through? It isn't even close to the original meaning..." and went on to mumble again.
"Well, good enough. The thing is...Those skills aren't yours. Not really. They are a loan from the [Librarian]. An advanced pay sort of thing. Your true skill is dormant because that thing hijacked the [Awakening Ceremony] so now I have extra work. " and he grabbed a weird book with an ominous leathery cover.
"Catch." And proceeded to throw it this way.
"Hey! Careful!" Of course, I tried to catch it since it was aimed at my face.
Not that it did anything since the stupid thing just phased through my hands into my face.
| Notice: |
| [Skill: Shadow Craft] available for use. Please refer to the status windows for further information if needed. |
And so it all made sense now. All the mumbo jumbo the teacher and Father rambled around.
And it also made sense why Mother would dismiss all of it as nonsense. You just can't explain this kind of feelings to someone. You can try. But it was just...
I could [Feel] the shadows. And I also could [Feel] the skill.
Just on the border of my being, it also made feeling the soulscape easier. The borders and how to interact with them. It also gave me the feeling that I could only affect half of it directly. Even though this [Feeling] was shrouding my soulscape like a second skin.
Somehow I had the [Feeling] that I could push it and [Invade] only on the half I was currently...Such a weird feeling.
"If you are going to experiment with that I would suggest letting me finish speaking first ~" and with that, the voice of the blonde man brought me back to the real world... Or the soulscape at least.
"Who are you?" And then somehow without wanting it the shadows crept all over my body and expanded as wings of very pointed blades. All poised to attack this nonchalant man.
"Oh...I didn't introduce myself?" But he still acted as if nothing was happening.
That was...Dangerous. Only two types of people acted like that, the crazy ones...And the crazy dangerous ones.
"My name is Λ̵̦́͂̅̊Ļ̶̻̗͉̖̱̦͈̜̘̱͓̗̬̣̪̏͝ͅΣ̵̡̧̱̟̞̱͇͍̑͌̌͂̀̀̋̓̏̋̾̑̄͌̕̕X̸̢̨̮̞̫̲̻͕̝̼̺̘̻́̉̉̐͜Λ̵̬̱̯̆͂̍͆͠И̵̜̲̬͙̣̠͆D̸̛͇͓̥͓̓Σ̴͖̤͈͎͙̪̳͖͐͑̆͊̐̔͊̐̕͘͜͠Ŗ̴̧̡̛̝͕̬̙̻̻̟̠͖̎̐̒͐͂̒͗̈̚Ş̶̡̛͓̮̟̯͉̣̬̣͂̈͒̋͋́̓̈́̈́̈̆̍̚̚͜ ̵̢̯͍̥͇̺̬͎̄̐̈́͗̊̑̂̌̂̿̆͘̕ͅS̷̱͖͇͖̦͙̭͂̀̃̑͆̈́͝ͅΛ̸̰̗̱͕͓̏̒͗́̃̏̾̔̑̕͘͘͠I̸̧̟͚̰͍̔̽̏̓̀̆̋̾̕͝И̶͔̹̯̺̤̦̫̮͌͑͝͠T̸̼̠̠́͛͋́̐̾̒͂̌̒͒̾́͗̐̋͝Ѕ̴̡̢̰͊̒͠Ш̶̢̰͈͍͉̹̗̻̹͎͙̉͗̔̈́̍̚͝Ọ̸̢̧̙͓͚̥͓͈͚͖̰̞͛̍͆̀̈́͆̌̈́́̀̃̄̅̋͑͋͗Ȓ̴̭̼͎̩̩̭̗̰̹̮͗̎̐̂̌̚͝͠ͅŢ̶̣͍̖͖͚̠͈̻̋̀̒̅ͅH̶̫͎̖͈͚̺̭͓͂ͅͅͅ. And I'm currently employed by a nasty thing to manage your soulscape...Or half of it anyway." That...Didn't really answer anything.
"Not that you could understand what I said...Probably half of it was censored by that stupid [Library]. " Hoho...He doesn't know what was censored on that.
Isn't that interesting?
"Why are you here and why is my soulscape like this? Shouldn't it be a reflection of me as a person? It shouldn't be this big." Was the next thing I asked, "At most it should be the size of a room." Mother had told me so. To not mind how small it was since my soul didn't have that many experiences etched on it.
But to that, the man laughed again. So rude.
"But IT IS a [Reflection of your Soul]." He said with a small smirk on his face "Just because you don't remember it, it doesn't mean it didn't happen" finished with a full-blown smirk.
Oh...Right...
"Your soul doesn't remember, your heart doesn't remember. But there are traces. They couldn't [Get rid of everything] the soulscape is but an [Echo] of you after all. " So this was like this because my soul had traces of my past life...
"What kind of bullshit life I had that made a fricking cathedral/museum/labyrinth of my soulscape?!?" and soon the cry of my soul came.
"God knows...I only work here and my shift is about to end." Said the blonde man without a care in the world.
"What?" was all I could say before he smirked and waved at me to my right.
"There is nothing there..." was all I could say before looking at him who was now pointing a finger at me.
Rude, pointing is rude.
"[Railgun]." Oh.
So he had skills too?
That seemed like a weird thing to have for someone that was in charge of this half of her soulscape (Or at least he claimed that).
Either way, the beam of electricity that shot from him speared straight into my heart and so, everything went black.
"Shot through the heart and you're to blame Darlin', you give love a bad name. " sounded her alarm trying to wake her up from her slumber.
"Eli-Eli, wakey-wakey ♥," and a pink being also was fussing over her while she tried to sleep away her problems.
No? Wasn't working.
"dsasfdadfasdf I'm awake." Was all that she could mumble.
And then the blonde girl rose in one sudden move, hitting the face of the pink being and throwing her into the ground.
But she was fussing over other things to worry about that. In one motion she took off her top and was inspecting her chest searching for a bloody hole in it.
"Owwie Eli-Eli, that hurt." The pink girl said while massaging her face. And then after noticing the state of the blonde...
She blushed "Awawawawa, Eli-Eli my heart isn't ready." And proceeded to cover her eyes with her hands (While peeking between her fingers).
The blonde girl didn't take notice and after making sure there wasn't a hole in her chest finally put on her top again.
"A nightmare?" She wondered out loud.
"We gotta get ready Eli-Eli. The afternoon classes are about to start." Said the pink-haired thing.
But the blonde was busy thinking of other stuff. That felt too realistic to be a nightmare.
"[Identify]" so she had to be sure. And so she invoked her skill without disguising it like she had used to so far.
|
Status |
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Name: Elizabeth Starbright Title: The Inheritor of the Akashic Records Alias: None Level: 3 |
Health: 90% Mana: 20% Stamina: 100% Stress: 25% |
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Strength: 10 Constitution: 10 Agility: 10 Dexterity: 14 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 10 Charisma: 24 Free Status points: 2 |
Magic Origin: Shadow Weaver Magic Spells Sloted: 0/10 Magic Circles Sloted: 0/10 Skills:
- Status, Identify, Inventory. |
And sure enough there it was. Evidence about how that wasn't a dream...
A new skill in her [Status]. Her older skills are now all in one individual slot...
And a loss of Mana & Health?
The stress was probably the fault of that blonde...
Why did he attack her like that?
And more importantly...Why did her skills...Well. Not her skills since it seemed that these were borrowed...But why did they move into a single slot?
Did...Did the [Status] move accordingly to her understanding of her skills?
So many questions...And she could only hope her classes on magic and the soulscape could answer a few of those...