Chapter 17: Cockblocker Contractor & Chakra
"Well, isn't this an interesting sight?" Takauji smirked, having just arrived at the abandoned church alongside Raynare, and finding himself met with quite a fascinating view upon their arrival.
Three individuals were sitting on the grass, with a large, watery serpent wrapped around them like an impromptu rope, one which they had no hope of escaping, no matter how hard they chose to struggle.
"You've got some explaining to do, Ashikaga-san."
And the perpetrator happened to be none other than Sona, who was leaning against the church's concrete exterior with her arms folded, and had Tsubaki anxiously standing beside her.
"You certainly took your time… Raynare," Kalawarna grumbled, which earned her a harsh, silencing glare from Sona in return.
"Silence, mongrel," she gave Kalawarna a swift kick to the ribcage before returning her attention to her Contracted Magician. "Skipping out on our training session is one thing, but doing so in favour of going on a date with a Fallen Angel of all people? I have to admit, even for you, this is an unexpected low."
"Low?" He chuckled, "I didn't even know Fallen Angels existed until now. If anything, the fact that you kept the existence of another supernatural race within Kuoh hidden is low." He narrowed his eyes, observing Sona with a sharp, scrutinizing look. "And as I'm led to believe, you two are at a ceasefire, are you not? I may not be fraternizing with a friend, but I'm not doing so with an enemy either."
"What's—"
He continued before she could speak her mind, "Moreover, spying on my date wasn't a very noble thing to do either, but I suppose you got your well-deserved retribution for that blatant intrusion of my privacy."
The image of them falling over and having ice cream spilled onto them was still fresh in his mind and was probably a memory he'd never let go of.
"As I was saying," she said in a more threatening tone, purposefully ignoring his comment. "What's considered friend or foe is for me to decide, not you. And collaborating with Fallen Angels behind my back isn't exactly something I'm going to give you my approval for."
"I'm appalled that you were under the impression that your approval ever meant anything to me," he scoffed. "Also, you're at fault for not telling me about them in the first place. Since I encountered them on my terms, I'll form my relationship with them on my terms as well."
"Like I said, that's not for you to decide." Sona stepped forward, stopping only a few millimeters in front of him and looking him dead in the eyes. "We're going back now, and that's final."
"Uh," Raynare anxiously raised her hand. "I can see that you two are having a bit of lovers' spat, but would you mind letting my subordinates go before you continue—"
"I don't recall giving you permission to speak," another serpent jettisoned out of her palm, wrapping itself around Raynare's torso and allowing her to join her subordinates in water prison.
Takauji let out a thoughtful hum, his eyes shifting between Sona and the bound Fallen Angels.
Your so-called "Light Magic" was supposed to be a counter to them; she didn't seem to be lying to me back then, but that doesn't change the fact that these guys were defeated with what looks to be no struggle whatsoever.
Perhaps the power itself wasn't the issue, but the person wielding it.
On the other hand, if I could obtain it…
His attention became temporarily fixated on the water serpent keeping the Fallen Angels from moving. I hate to admit it, but as I am now, there's no chance of my overcoming that. I'm… still too weak.
"What are you spacing out for? Come on, your antics have already delayed my peerages training session long enough." Sona started to grow impatient, adopting an authoritative demeanor.
I'm close to ranking up, even if I can't explore any of this for now, that doesn't mean it'll forever remain the case.
Fallen Angels had become an immediate point of interest for him; that much was for sure, and taking his current state of mind into account, the chances of him letting something that had piqued his intrigue slip out of his palms weren't all that high.
He proceeded to shrug, "If that's what my contractor wishes, then I guess there's nothing more that I can do." He stood beside her, meeting her judgmental gaze with an aloof one.
"Fallen Angels are deceitful creatures; no good would come from you getting involved with them in the first place."
"You say that, yet they weren't a big enough concern for you to warn me about them beforehand," he offered her a knowing look. "Of course, I don't mean to discredit your wise judgement."
She exhaled, "It's not that I didn't consider them an issue, it's just that I didn't think they'd be an issue to you."
"Oh? And why's that?" He pursed his lips.
"I didn't think they'd have any interest in you," she leaned closer to his ear, lowering her voice. "You didn't tell them about what element you have, did you?"
"No, I didn't."
"Good," she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Judging by your wording," he slowly turned his head towards Raynare. "You seem to know what it is they're after?"
"Naturally, they're trying to get their hands on potential Sacred Gear possessors, and were under the assumption that I was unaware of what they were trying to accomplish in Kuoh." Raynare felt a sharp chill crawl down her spine. "The only hypothesis I can come up with as to why they were after you is probably because they were trying to use you as a medium to disrupt my oversight over this town."
Takauji cupped his chin, "She did seem to be aware of the fact that I was a Contracted Magician, but it doesn't seem like she knew whether I was contracted to you, or Gremory-san."
"H-Hey… I wasn't planning anything malicious!" The serpent tightened its coil around her, causing the Fallen Angel to breathe a pained whine.
"Speak one more time and I'll snap you in half, and the same applies if I find you trying to lure my Contracted Magician again," she warned her. "Tsubaki, we're leaving now."
Her Queen nodded, a teleportation circle lighting up beneath their feet shortly after.
They've set up a circle here as well, which might end up being problematic for me later on.
"How much progress have you made?" Sona asked him out of the blue.
"Pardon?" He raised his brow.
"On the barrier manuals I gave you, did you choose the Eastern or the Western one?"
"Eastern."
"Then you've noticed that something is blocking you from actually making use of that branch of magic, haven't you?"
"Chakra," he affirmed. "Which I'm assuming you knew would be an issue for me beforehand?"
"Of course, I was just hoping you'd find the strength to cast aside your pride for at least a second and ask for help, but judging by the fact that you don't have any Chakra gathering around you, you tried to figure it out on your own." She smirked confidently.
Insufferable woman.
He scowled, narrowing his eyes at the confident grin on his contractor's face.
But soon enough, his lips reversed themselves, curling up into a smile of his own.
That's what makes beating you a worthwhile use of my time.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Once Takauji had been brought back to the Sitri Household, Sona led him to an exceptionally odd-looking room, one far more striking than the night-endless arsenal he had seen before.
Calling it a room seemed like a stretch; it was more akin to a sanctuary.
Despite the area being connected to the household, it was filled with lush greenery, vibrant foliage, and an expanse that was far too large to be part of a residential area, surpassing that of the local park by at least tenfold.
Also, why do I feel a faint pricking sensation on my leg?
He looked down, noticing a reddish-orange colored, hairy tarantula climbing up his pant sleeve, about the size of a notebook.
Yucky.
He flicked it away with his fingers, now having to come to terms with the fact that there was actual animal life within the area as well.
"If your objective was to confuse me, you've succeeded with flying colours." He looked around, still finding the fact that this place even existed hard to grasp.
"Dealing with natural reserves like these is my family's specialty," she replied proudly. "As for how we managed to create this place, there's nothing a little spatial manipulation can't handle, though it's nothing a 1st Circle Magician like you would understand." She continued in a pompous, deliberately snobby tone.
And with that remark, spatial manipulation had been added to the list of things Takauji would study merely out of spite, regardless of whether he had the aptitude for it or not.
"Whatever," he grumbled. "Just hurry up and tell me why you brought me here."
"Usually we use this place as an area for our familiars to roam and prevent them from being too overworked, but it's also a place chalk full of natural energy that we sometimes lend to Toujou-chan for her to train with."
"You're helping Gremory-san's Rook?"
"Just because we're rivals, doesn't mean we can't exchange pointers with one another now and then," she chuckled. "Something you should also take into consideration from now on."
"Perhaps," he hummed. "But what does Toujou-chan need natural energy for?"
She shook her head, "That's not information I should be telling you, and it's not something Toujou-chan enjoys speaking about openly. If you're curious, then maybe you can go ask her yourself."
"Fair enough, now, how exactly am I supposed to utilize this room to access the natural energy within it?"
She shrugged, "Figure it out yourself. No one in my peerage uses Chakra except for Tomoe, but the form that she uses is completely different from what you're looking for." She opened the door behind her, waving at him while she walked out. "Good luck."
Hmph, it's not like I needed your help in the first place.
He started to traverse through the fauna, making sure to avoid any unwanted creepy crawlies from latching onto him as he searched for a comfortable, preferably open place to train.
This should be fine; he ended up choosing a clearing beside a small pond, approached a large, relatively flat rock, and took a seat.
With no real sense of direction as to how he was supposed to proceed, Takauji had settled on meditating, even if it ended up doing nothing to contribute to him obtaining Chakra—at the very least, he'd be able to rank up.
Meditation draws in the passive Mana flowing through the atmosphere into my core. If I'm fortunate enough, then the natural energy here should be rich enough that some of it gets mixed in with the Mana I absorb.
Without further ado, he went cross-legged, inhaling sharply and activating his Meditation skill.
...
And after roughly 10 minutes of strained meditation, he felt a change.
The cool sensation of Mana seeping through his pores didn't feel like it usually did; instead, it had grown a little warmer, like something more rough and far less refined was being dragged alongside it.
He smacked his lips, the discomforting taste of what felt like soil on his tongue hitting him in full force, even though he hadn't consumed anything.
But he didn't allow his concentration to falter; deep down, he knew this was what he was searching for.
What else could that taste symbolize, if not the coarse taste of Mother Nature? Unless Sona had lied to him, there was absolutely nothing else for him to absorb other than the natural energy he was hoping to harness.
So he kept at it, maintaining utmost concentration as he allowed the rough energy to refine itself significantly, very slowly, in a process that felt like it took hours, when in fact it had only been minutes.
This is seriously draining…
Sweat started to accumulate on the surface of his skin, especially around his forehead, causing him to internally pray that his mental strength wouldn't give out before he was done.
Could he attempt this again? Possibly, but he wasn't interested in risking it until he had exhausted entirely every last drop of stamina he had.
Time continued to tick by at what felt like a painfully slow rate, the corners of his mouth and eyes starting to twitch out of sheer frustration, his inexperience preventing him from understanding how much progress he was making, if any at all.
Come on, Takauji… Hang in there…
And at long last, after half an hour of constant meditation, which seemed like triple the time in his head, a notification appeared before him.
───
Congratulations! You have unlocked a new energy source—Chakra.
[+30 STR (64 → 94).]
[+50 VIT (87 → 137).]
Skill(s) Awakened!
(Level 1) Touki: Manifest your Life Force by wrapping yourself in Chakra, achieving heightened offense, defense, and speed. Using this skill will continuously consume your Chakra with each use.
Passive Trait(s) Unlocked!
(Level 1) Ki Sense: detect the aura of those around you through a sixth sense supported by the natural energy in the atmosphere, preventable only by Senjutsu masters of a higher caliber than you.
───
Phew, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, finally opening his eyes and allowing himself a moment to catch his breath. I seriously felt like I was about to pass out there.
Upon looking back at his screen, he noticed that something had changed, beyond the noticeable notification that had appeared before him, signaling his success in obtaining Chakra.
───
Name: Ashikaga Takauji
Race: Human
Rank: 1st Circle Magician (82/100)
Elemental Affinity: Dark (Level 1)
Subclass: Intermediate Artificer (44/1000)
HP: 1370/1370 (2740/2740)
MP: 820/820
CP: 100/100
Stat Sheet:
(Strength) STR: 94 (188)
(Vitality) VIT: 137 (274)
(Intelligence) INT: 163
(Dexterity) DEX: 77 (154)
(Speed) SPD: 58 (116)
(Mana) MANA: 82
(Chakra) CHK: 10
───
I've obtained a completely new power source, in addition to Mana. I guess this means I've officially stepped foot on the path of Senjutsu, not that I understand the subject all that well, for now at least.
As much as he wanted to gloat in front of Sona, he decided that it could wait for now, after all—he was only 12 Mana points away from ranking up, and there was no better time than the present.
━━━━
Chakra time Dattebayo!
And also a bit of jealousy, perhaps, with him going on a date with Raynare?
How interesting.
…
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