The Power of Headphones 2

"My magic...?"

Lyrica is in a daze after learning that the headphones Erika gave her was actually inside her school bag and was left behind on Earth. That, and the thing that was attached on her head was a magic item she desired so desperately to help her get rid of the slimes that are chasing her not long ago.

And then...

"Lyrica, what do you do to keep things from troubling you?"

"Huh?"

"What do you do when you find yourself in an unavoidable situation?"

Two questions suddenly came out of the voice inside Lyrica's head, waking her back to her senses.

Of course, the question wasn't that hard to answer, especially for Lyrica. After all, she only does one thing to overcome a rough situation, as well as keeping things from troubling her. And that is...

"Of course, I immerse myself to the music with my headphones."

As the words escaped Lyrica's lips, a headphone that is identical to the one Lyrica always uses had begun to form from both her ears to her head, as a result of her thoughts.

"What? My headphones?"

"Yeah, it is your headphone. But it's no normal headphones, it's a magical headphone." Said the voice from inside the girl's head. "Your magic is born through your strong desire to avoid trouble and overcome difficult situations to live a life of peace and quiet, manifesting into a device which keeps you from all the troubles and stress of the world."

There are about five known ways an individual gain their own magical ability.

Most of the time, magical abilities are inherited from the previous generations of a family. Each descendant is stronger than their predecessors. Other abilities can also manifest depending on certain conditions surrounding an individual. If a person is born in a cold environment, chances are he or she will gain an ability like manipulation magic or anything that is related to ice or wind.

There are rare occasions, where some magic abilities are born through an individual's personality, negative emotions, or a strong desire. Magic abilities that are born in these three categories are often considered by many as powerful and unexplainable, which makes it difficult to fight them.

In Lyrica's case, her magic is born through her strong desire to live a life of peace and quiet, manifesting into a device that gives her a peace of mind. Combined with a game system similar to the games she played where she would forget the stress and the troubles all around her.

The voice requested Lyrica to turn on the magic headphones attached on the girl's head. Though she's still dumbfounded by the fact that her gadget is now a magical ability of her own, Lyrica followed the voice's instructions and pressed the power button on the left side of her headphones.

[System Online - Headphones Connected]

User: Lyrica Ley Rael

Level: 0

Health Points: 100%

Mana Points: 20

The same words from when she turned on the device while she was being chased by the slimes was heard once again by Lyrica.

"You may be wondering why you couldn't feel the mana flowing inside you." The voice spoke to Lyrica. "Just like what you heard from your headphones, you have the max mana points of over 20 points."

The number 20 equates to the amount of max mana Lyrica can have inside her body, indicating that the reason for her not to feel the mana inside her is because the amount of mana she has, as well as the max capacity of her mana pool is low.

"I see." Lyrica replied to the voice with discontent after being informed that the amount of mana she possessed is so little that it's barely noticeable.

"I know having such an amount of mana is quite is disheartening, but don't worry, your max mana can be increased." The voice inspirited Lyrica with her words.

"Is that so?" Lyrica whose intrigued by the voice's words had her eyes eyebrows shot up.

"Before that, say the word "Status," Lyrica."

"Status?"

[Status]

Strength: 10

Endurance: 10

Agility: 10

Stamina: 10

Senses: 10

dB Limit: 10

Though it was unintentional, Lyrica did say the word "Status."

"Your magic is a combination of your headphones and the game system from the games you played with your friend, so you should be able to understand the information the headphones give, right?"

The voice asked Lyrica who then nodded in reply. These six stats shows Lyrica's overall strength, her ability to endure pain from the damages she received and the physical strain she puts in her body. Her ability to move nimbly with speed and in ease, the stamina to last in prolonged activities, the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through her senses. And last but not least, the decibel or dB limit.

"According to your headphones, it seems that your overall stats were all at 10 points which is pretty standard for a girl who rarely workout her body, I should say." The voice remarked. "However, if you increase your level, all the stats, as well as your mana will also increase."

"In the role-playing game I played, you can increase your level through completing quests or killing a mob of monsters in a dungeon." Lyrica turn head towards the slimes that are seen in the distance. "I suppose I should kill some of those things to increase my level."

"You took the words right out of my mouth!"

The voice responded.

"Do you even have a mouth?"

"Of course, I have. Although I am in a place far from where you are, so I can only communicate through telepathy."

"Oh? Do you think the place where you are now is far peaceful and quieter than this one?"

"Believe me, Alteria is the safest planet you could ever go to."

Lyrica can tell the sincerity through the voice's words. But even then, she can't help but think that Alteria is just as troublesome as Earth.

"What? Are you having second thoughts about agreeing with our deal?"

"No. It's not like I have much of a choice."

Lyrica took a deep breath before cautiously making a step forward towards the slimes that are over 20 meters away from her.

Lyrica carefully thinks of a way on what kind of slime she will attack, as well as how she can act without having the others get attracted and started going after her just like what happened back then.

The young girl sets her eyes on the aqua slime that is a little separated from the ones that are grouped up on the right.

"I heard from my headphones that I'm currently at level zero." Lyrica spoke towards the voice.

"Yes." The voice replied.

"That aqua slime is level two, but the highlight of its name is green."

There's this concept in some games where a player can tell if they can take on a monster based on the color of the names on top of their heads.

Most of the slimes that are at level five have names highlighted in red, some of those that are in four and three are highlighted in orange, while the ones that are in level two are highlighted with green.

If Lyrica's magic is following functions like that of the role-playing game she played with Erika, then the red ones must mean that they are a difficult monster to take down by Lyrica herself. The green ones are at a level where she can handle them one at a time. And then, the orange ones are in between the two.

"If what I'm thinking is right, those that have their names highlighted in green are the ones I can fight on my current level, while the slimes in red are the ones I should avoid no matter what. And then, the orange slimes are the ones that are standing in between those two in terms of difficulty."

Lyrica wanted to make sure that her guess is correct, that is why she asked the voice if it is the case with the monster overlay.

"Yes, it follows the same functions in the role-playing games you played, so the green ones are the monsters you can fight with your current level."

"Okay."

When she got the answer she wanted to hear from the voice, Lyrica finally gathered the confidence to slowly approach the aqua slime.

When the slimes started chasing her from earlier, Lyrica figured that the slimes don't have eyes to see and only follow the sound they hear around them. She also got a grasp on how loud of a sound can attract the slimes that are over 10 meters away from her.

With that knowledge, Lyrica carefully approached the slime she's been eyeing for a while now.

"Why being so cautious? It's just a slime."

Lyrica ignored the voice's comment and proceeded to do what she's doing. She slowly walk 10 meters closer towards the creature, now she's only 10 more meters apart from the slime.

"..."

Lyrica took a quick glance on her surroundings, confirming that there's no other slimes near her but the one in front of her. And then, by making a soft rustling sound with the plants in front of her, Lyrica managed to lure the slime towards her.

"All right."

The girl waited, and waited, until the creature is close enough. And then...

"Now!"

Finally, Lyrica took the opportunity and grabbed the creature with both her hands and dragged it into the ground. She then proceeded to press her hands on it, making sure it cannot go away from her grasp and attack her.

"Now that I've touched one and got a closer look, these slimes really don't have eyes, as well as a mouth. But..."

Even though the slimes don't have the ability to see nor a mouth to bite onto something, Lyrica can see the water swirling around the blue slime's transparent body as it charges for an attack.

Lyrica needs to be quick and kill the slime before it shoots a powerful blast of water on her face and attract other slimes that entered the 10-meter radius and more.

"But how am I going to kill this thing? With just a punch?"

"Do you really have the time to think about that?"

Just when she was in a crucial moment where she had to be decisive, Lyrica suddenly find herself in a dilemma over how she will kill the slime.

"Can't my magic make me something else other than my headphones? Can it make at least a knife?"

If her desire were to cook or something else related with a knife, she could have been summoned in Alteria with a sharp weapon in her hand rather than a gadget in her head. But she was brought in Alteria with a desire to live a life of peace and quiet, and so her magic manifested by combining the two things that lets her forget about the stressful surroundings, as well as giving her a peace of mind.

"Ah, damn it."

In the end she decided to ram her left fist onto the blue slime.

[Level Up!]