23 Chapter 21
For reasons beyond my understanding, I find myself floating like a ghost inside a room with walls made of stone, a bed of straw and some candles holder stuck to the walls. The environment looks like a room in a medieval house with simple patterns.
"Cough, cough," A boy lying under the covers and looking a little pale coughed. Moving closer to get a better look, I see he's blond, annoyingly above average looking, blue-eyed, and doesn't look very healthy. In fact, I bet he was at the end of his life.
Strange, that blonde guy was familiar to me. I just couldn't remember where I'd seen him before.
"I'm sorry little brother," A blonde girl said with tears streaming down her eyes, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry-*Sniff*- I'm sorry. If I hadn't~"
He places his hand over her lips and says, "It wasn't your fault. Dad will never recognize me as one of you and we can say we tried our best."
"But- But- *Sniff* - I wish~"
Before she could complete the bedridden boy interrupted.
"I have no regrets big sister," he said trying to put on his best smile for her, "My only regret is leaving you alone in the world. I would sell my soul to keep you company."
"Don't talk like that like you're going to leave," she said, flustered. "You'll get through this. I believe. I just need some time and I'll find the right spell to help you."
"I know my own condition," He shakes his head to the side and says, "It's just a matter of time and I~"
"STOP," she cried with tears in her eyes, "Don't say that."
The blonde lets out a small, pained laugh as his gaze starts to drift away. But suddenly, his body became rigid, followed by a small convulsion.
"Brother," she called out worriedly.
The blonde girl tries everything to help him. She tries to use a spell to see his condition, also tries to hold him on the bed, but nothing helps, as the teenager continues to convulse.
I frown at seeing such a sad situation.
If I could do something to help, I thought.
It was in that sad and helpless moment...
Much to my surprise, instead of getting worse the blond teenager starts to get better, his pale face starts to gain some color and after it stops shaking…. he suddenly opens his eyes.
"Brother?" Said the girl with a mixture of happiness, anxiety and incomprehension.
The blond boy acts strange and is silent.
And much to my amazement, instead of answering his 'sister''s calls, he stares at me steadily.
I had thought I was invisible to their eyes, but it seemed I was wrong.
The world around me starts to change until it is completely dark, out of apprehension I suddenly wake up.
"Huh-huff - Huh-huff," Panting I wipe the sweat from my body.
I started having these nightmares the last few days. I don't know if they have meanings or not.
But there was something strange about it, because it wasn't the first time I'd dreamed of that house.
"Master, are you okay?" asked number 18 who was standing beside my bed.
"Huh? How long were you here?"
"I don't understand what you mean by~"
"Don't make a fool of yourself. How long have you been watching me sleep?"
"Ugh. Watching the master sleep is one of the few pleasures of a poor maid. But I was worried because you seemed to talk and sweat in your sleep."
"Are you getting enough rest?"
"Er--Yes, I~"
"No. You are not. I order you to go to your room and rest immediately."
Number 18's eyes widen, but then she recovers, and bows down saying, "As you order."
I just wanted to be alone for a few moments.
After making sure I had everything in order in my head, I decided to go out a little for fun. I needed some distraction to keep me from thinking about the dream.
Two magic circles light up under my feet as I run at superhuman speeds through some alleys.
It's been three weeks since I arrived in Tokyo and my Hikimage searches haven't stopped. I definitely needed to kill him ASAP.
The problem was, what did I really know about him? Besides being a stranger, being a probable painter and a maniac? Not a lot.
I tried to follow his tracks but there seemed to be no indication of his whereabouts.
A difficult mouse to catch he is.
My best bet was what motivated me to come to Tokyo. The described profile of the assassin terrorizing Japan caught my eye. He is described as being meticulous, a psychopath and undetectable.
Due to common characteristics it made me think that maybe Hikimage and he could be the same person. The blood I found that night in his house was another reason for my suspicions.
Most of his victims came from Tokyo, so the ideal place to start my search.
Of course, I was just shooting in the dark and the killer could be someone else. This was just a desperate bet.
Before entering a school gymnasium, I check out the images of my artificial relatives (Hell's Butterflies) by saying...
'Index'
My 3d image appears in front of me, along with my information on the right.
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[3d Image] - Sato Motohama.
Life Status: Healthy.
Energy Level: Tier: 1 (Comparable to a low-class devil.)
Race: Improved Human.
Age: 15 years and 10 months.
Physical Strength: 3.2 NH (Three times stronger than a normal human)
Mana: 417/417 (417 times the amount of a normal human)
Saved Spells: 306
Racial Ability: Minor shapeshifter.
Magic calculation area:
1 Slot : Appraise Magic. (Statue with the Sword)
2 Slot: Mirror of Adonis (Statue with the spear)
3 Slot: Fighter. (Statue with the shield)
4 Slot: Empty (Statue with hammer)
5 Slot: Resurrection (Statue with the dagger)
6 Slot: Index. (Statue with the grimoire)
7 Slot: Empty (Statue with bow)
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The number of spells saved in index had increased slightly in the last few weeks, but most surprising of all...
I couldn't quite be considered a pure human anymore, as I had developed a racial skill due to my new 'Resurrenction' spell.
Minor shapeshifter is an ability that gradually changes my appearance to what my conscious mind considers best. The change doesn't happen suddenly, over the course of several weeks I started to notice some differences in my face and body.
'Familiar eye'
A screen appears in front of me and there I see the vision of my familiar, who was inside the school gymnasium. As it is night, the Tokyo regional school should not have students present.
But three people were there.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Nervously asked a boy to the older one, who was drawing some demonic symbols on the floor.
"Don't stress me out, Nishio. The arrangements are as per the book that Natanabe gave me."
Natanabe, the boy with folded arms says with a smile, "Are you scared Nishio-kun? If all goes well we'll summon a devil."
Obviously the boy named Nishio was shaking, but he says, "O-Of course I'm not scared."
The magic circle lights up, the boys look forward to it and...
"Look what we've got here. Three boys willing to trade with a devil. How nice isn't it?" I said amused with my suit and mask.
Their magic circle had failed and I just introduced myself pretending to be a demon.
"It worked," Natanabe said in disbelief to himself.
Nishio and even the other boy who was drawing are scared, my mask is probably scary for them.
"Well, I'm here. Isn't that right?"
"Fine," Natanabe smiles and says, "I want super powers. Just like in the anime - No. Better yet --- I want to be able to use magic."
"Oh? You think us devils are a genie in a lamp or something?"
A frightening aura permeated, making all the teenagers break out in a cold sweat.
"Just kidding. I'm in a good mood and I'll see what I can do," I said slowly approaching Nathanabe.
Even though the boy tried to hide it, I could also see his nervousness.
I wanted to test my new magic and this was the perfect opportunity to see if there were any other side effects.
"Blessing," I said and a purple light surrounded Natanabe's body before disappearing.
"W-What did you do?" he asked.
"Can't you feel it? You must be at least 1.5 times physically stronger than a human. Say the word 'Shock' to that direction." I pointed to a wall.
The teenager looks at his own palm sensing that he was more powerful. Then he turns to said wall and says, 'Shock'.
A magic circle appeared in his hand, before a small beam traveled to said wall with a sound of electricity.
"Amazing," they yelled with wide eyes.
In front of me, inside the index system that only I could see, a screen appeared...
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User: Natanabe
Age: 16 years
Status: Blessed (-)
Physical Strength: 1.5 NH
Energy level: Tier 0
Number of spells allowed: 1
[Shock] (+) (-)
Do you want to remove or add some other spell?
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I could make any changes like adding or removing spell. The boy was an extension of my own spells so to speak.
In reality he wasn't really using magic, but taking advantage of those spells I've added to my system that I can cast indefinitely.
I was acting as an athena/generator and he was a receptacle.
"What bad luck for you, Devil," Nathanabe says with a smirk and his palm facing me. "Now that I have this power. You will obey me and make me even stronger. Otherwise, don't blame me for what I will do to you."
"Natanabe," Said the other scared boys, for where did he have such a stupid idea?
It was obvious that it was not a good idea to antagonize that 'devil'.
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Warning: [Index] has detected that the user Natanabe intends to harm the GM. Protective measures were taken: Sealed powers. Corrective action in progress...
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I didn't even have to do anything, as he immediately fell to the ground screaming, "ARGGGHHHHHH!!!?"
"Natanabe," one of the boys ran to check on his friend lying on the ground.
All this I had achieved through the [Ressurection] spell, which I developed by learning about the evil pieces.
Evil pieces are not simply an object that modifies the soul and body. But it also creates a bridge between the peerage king and his servants.
That's why running away from their kings causes the devil to start to warp and become a mindless monstrosity.
Ajuka put in a protection system that if the reincarnated devil stays away for too long and has the intention of actively betraying his master...
A stray devil is formed.
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[Resurrection]
A non-stop spell with three distinct functions.
1st - Modifies the user's body to take advantage of the devil's anatomy, without losing the essence of humanity. {Mana cap unlocked. Enhanced physical and magical power.}
2nd - 'Blessing' function that imitates the evil pieces and that allows the host to choose targets to gain powers of the first function but more nerfed.
This also adds the target as an Index vessel and allows you to remove the 'Blessing' effect, check their status in real-time and allow them to use spells saved in [Index] at the discretion of the GM.'
3rd - Chances of gaining some inherent ability of the devils race.
Acquired Ability: Minor shapeshifter.
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After playing around a little longer and testing my powers...
I withdraw my 'Blessing' from them and erase their memories.
Unlike the pieces of evil that when removed the user would die, my blessing did not change their atonomy and souls to the point of being irreversible, so they remained alive.
I smile to myself at the thought that my army of loyal harpies would have a new enhancement coming.
