Exodia 9: The Key

"First, I'll explain the Word of Will since it's linked into the amount of mana the caster has."

Ai-nee got a stylus and wrote on the large electronic board. As the pen danced across the board, it wrote in holographic blue text. It has a feature where she could write at places she couldn't reach. For example, at the top of the board, she wrote 'Word of Will.'

She then turned back to us.

"Word of Will refers to how much mana you put into each word to complete the incantation. In other words, the words take a proportionate amount of mana from your mana pool."

Ai-nee wrote mana and made it into a spider diagram. She did a line away from it and wrote 'emotions.'

"Mana is easily influenced by emotions. If you're enraged, then more mana will leak out of you into your spells and attacks. This may seem good, but can someone tell me the consequences of this?"

She scanned the room until Hikari, the person next to me, put up her hand.

"Hikari."

"If more mana than necessary is put into your words, you'll burn out faster during battle."

"Bingo!"

The teacher wrote 'exhaustion' next to emotions.

"This also links into how much mana the caster has. For example, if Tatsuya was fighting irrationally, his mana would run out faster than Anastasia. Though in this scenario, they're both fighting irrationally, Tatsuya's mana pool is smaller than Anastasia's, meaning that he'll be the one to lose."

We all watched her as she wrote 'Quick Cast' on the spider diagram.

"What Quick Cast does is it minimises the mana needed for the spell by removing the superfluous parts. Albeit, Quick Cast also includes someone's connotations of the words in the incantation."

Connotations?

"You can't just go and change the spell completely. That's where connotations and association come in. For example, Tatsuya said 'Anima,' instead of 'Spirit.'"

He did say that, didn't he?

I was paying more attention to the spell than what he was saying.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. I raised my hand; Ai-nee picked me.

"Yes, Shoya?"

"Can I try something? I have a theory."

"As long as it fits into the lesson."

She said.

Alright, I got permission.

I laid my arm out.

What connotations do I have for fire?

Fire... Burning... Hell... Hellfire... Burning... The depths of hell...

"Form from the depths; Magnum."

I waited. And waited. And waited.

Nothing happened.

I could hear slight snickers in the class but one person couldn't restrain their laugh.

It was that purple-haired chick, Anastasia.

"Y-you don't know, do you?!"

She stuttered from catching her breath since she was laughing endlessly.

"Know what?"

"Spells may be what they are but they're also prayers to the spirits. If you don't mention the actual spirit, your spell is rejected."

Sorry, but I'm not going to believe in this spirit praying bullshit. (It would be wise to do, though.)

I tried again.

"Form from the depths; Magnum."

"How many times are we going to do this, peasant?! Did your parents teach you anything about common sense or were they simply stupid themselv-"

I couldn't restrain myself. As a raised my arm, there was a loud BANG! It echoed throughout the entire classroom.

Before any of us knew it, there was a large hole in the wall behind Anastasia. Everyone in the class seemed shocked. Even I was.

Why?

Well, since...

My spell... it worked. Without praying to a spirit or anything.

I didn't know whether I should be angry at her for insulting my parents or be apologising. Instead, I stayed silent. Ai-nee spoke for me.

"Anastasia. Let me warn you. I don't care if you were joking or something like that. I don't care if the joke isn't serious and I don't care whether you're from an important English family."

A mysterious invisible mist spread itself throughout the room. Breathing became harder.

"Insulting his parents is insulting my parents. This applies to everyone. This should be the same for you all too. If anyone insults my parents with even the slightest malicious intent, then there will be consequences."

Everyone was able to feel the weight of the situation. They all silently nodded. The thick air disappeared and was replaced with a breathable space.

"Okay! I know Shoya's demonstration was surprising but let's move on. Oh, and, Shoya, that may be a faster version of Quick Casting but..."

Her eyes narrowed and her tone became serious.

"Don't rely on it too much, otherwise you'll get eaten up by it."

Eaten up? Eaten up by what? I wonder what she means by that...

--

On the outskirts of Altria, late at night, a construction site had been attacked and every single worker disappeared. One of the witnesses claims this, 'they were taken away by a silver shadow.'

Atop one of Altria's tallest skyscrapers, someone stared at the array of lights across the city.

They were around the height of 12-year-old and their hair was silver. As well as his eyes. The boy glared at the city with a fierce hatred.

"Oi, Argent, what're you staring at?"

A man walked up from behind the boy. He looked hot-blooded. His hair was matted and he wore a proud expression on his face. There was a noticeable on his forehead.

"I am simply observing the humans who live on this island. They are clearly different from the ones on the mainland."

Argent's expression was apathetic. He could only think about what he had to do and nothing else.

"You know, Arg, you don't have to always be serious."

The man leaned over and put his arm over the boy.

"I mean, you were only born last month. You've barely had any fun! Come on, let's go enjoy this city!"

He expressed.

"And ruin Father's plan? I think I will have to pass on that opportunity. We are not here to have 'fun,' Fray."

Fray backed away and pouted.

"I know, I know. We came here for the Key. I never thought the Key would be here of all places though. Show me the Key again."

Argent went through his pocket and passed on a photo to Fray.

"Oh... She's a cutie and has big boobs. I can't believe she's in high school. What's her name?"

"Emika Kaneko. The Key that Father needs..."