[12] Absurd Decisions

[12] Absurd Decisions

Chapter 12: Absurd Decisions

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"Mm... mhm."

An expression of distress passed through her sleeping face, and Arima Kana finally opened her eyes.

For a split moment, her eyes were clouded by confusion, then she jumped up from the bench and looked around in fright.

Where was that creepy man? And Aqua? He just murdered that guy!

There were no signs of blood on the spot the creepy man had fallen after death. No blood anywhere, in fact. Huh?

It was still nighttime; it's not been that long since school ended.

"So it was a nightmare in the end...?"

She heaved a heavy sigh. Of course, it was a dream, how could such things be real? It was very clear, she remembered every bit of it, but she has heard about Lucid Nightmare before, this must be one of those. After all, a four-winged bird, a devil, and Aqua with magical powers? Obviously a dream.

She blushed a little. "Why did I dream of him coming to save me though...?"

Was God giving her a sign that Aqua was the savior she needed in these hard times?

Then, wearing an ever-growing blush as she recalled Aqua from her dreams, what he had told her, Arima Kana walked back to her home with her head filled with weird thoughts.

* * *

I watched the short little girl leave the park from a distance. It's good that she's alright– even though she is pretty dumb to come to a place rumored to be weird.

When she left, I returned my attention to the scrapes of artifacts and the dead body of a bird behind me. I was currently in the middle of a cluster of trees that hid me from the eyes outside. The body of the devil, who I didn't even know the name of, was nowhere to be found. Because I have turned it into ashes after scavenging him for loot.

Unfortunately, there weren't many things of interest to him. Since this world poses to be normal on the surface, magical artifacts aren't easily get your hands on. Even then, these were scraps. He only had three artifacts anyway; one was a ring with properties that created a scary aura around him. The other one was much more interesting, it was a box filled with herbs of different kinds. The ring didn't interest me at all, but I can see many uses for the herbs. In fact, there is even a hundred-year-old ginseng.

The third one was a box too, except... It was weird.

“Hmmm,” I held the golden box, designed to fit perfectly in any Mesoamerican Myths, and tried to open it. “Won’t budge. Sealed with some of divinity. Interesting how such a weak devil has this type of possession. Maybe he stole it from his dead King?”

I didn’t know what the box held in itself. It was as long as my forearm, and just as deep too. So it might be a small artifact, or maybe a long weapon if there was spatial manipulation going on inside it. Curious. Still, I couldn’t open it as I was; this wasn’t something my knowledge or Spells would help with, I needed to be at least at the Underlord rank for this.

No matter, that wasn't the main loot. The main loot was the bird. It lay dead, with its soul essence leaking out of it. Earlier, I had put a seal on its body to slow the leaking as I wanted to wait until Arima Kana would leave, otherwise, all essence would have left by now.

I sat down near the bird in a crossed-leg motion. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. My body breathed in the aura in the air, the remnant energy of the bird, and even its soul.

The moon glowed high in the sky, and half an hour passed. The bird's body looked the same as before, but all its life force that was yet to leave, its mana, and even its soul was now gone. Nature would have claimed it in a usual scenario, but it was me instead.

My body brimmed with Qi, the energy was on the verge of breaking free. I breathed in a very strict pattern, the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel followed my command as I deepened my Qi pool. There was a wall, like the floor of a well, that I pushed for the first time in seven years with the help of the just-consumed lightning essence of the bird.

My Qi Pool caved in, and an aura burst out of my body like a spear of light. The sky went bright, and nature sang with the wind. Dark clouds gathered, lightning danced, and then rain fell. It all happened in a split second, as I opened my eyes with a strange electric blue glint in them.

I have reached Gold. I could train on three new techniques now.

I stood up, feeling rain trickling down my nose and hair. I looked up at the sky, which roared when it met my gaze. The sound of thunder, the smell of rain, and all my other senses were at an all-time high now. My Copper Sight was brighter than before, and my Jade Perception was more descriptive. I could see the insects in the leaves in the distance, and more than that, I felt as if I could split the earth's core with my bare hands.

"Beautiful."

The Foundation stage made one's body strong. Copper heightened your spirits. Iron caused your body's growth again, and Jade focused on your spirit. On Gold, however, both body and spirit are enhanced.

The [Gold] stage was divided into three, unlike any other ranks. It was Low Gold, High Gold, and True Gold. Due to how long I've been holding my advancement back, my Qi pool was large enough to enter the rank of True Gold from the get-go. This was the reason why I held back for so long because there were no actual drawbacks once you advanced.

The rain grew stronger. I could tell it would rain until tomorrow, my advancement had the sky reacting. I can return right now, but I decided against it. A few more minutes.

"This is..."

There was an invisible aura around me. I couldn't even see it with my Copper Sight, it was truly hidden from one's eye until it would flare up in case of an attack.

I stared at her in silence before sighing in exaggeration. "I was out with a friend; it is a girl but not my girlfriend. Maybe I'll get a girlfriend soon though... If I find a girl I like, I'll bring her to you when we are official, alright?"

Ai's eyes were twinkling by the time I finished, she leaned over and kissed me on the nose. "Ummah! Yes, of course, I'll wait. Until then, don't forget to use protection."

Saying so she got up, and left the living room while hopping around. Weirdo. I like her a lot.

I didn't technically lie just now. I was out with Arima Kana, kind of. As for the latter part, I don't like anyone romantically even though I know a few who liked me in turn. Tsubasa was one of them, I'm pretty sure her signs are positive, but I'll feel bad to date her just as an excuse to go out any time. Plus, she lives just nearby, so I can't run far from home.

Hmmm, should I start interacting with girls more than usual? Maybe I'll find someone I find compatible.

Alright then, it's decided.

* * *

It was morning, and my eyes fluttered open faster than usual. The drowsiness one would feel when waking up was almost nonexistent compared to yesterday.

However, I didn't wake up naturally. It was the annoying voice of Ruby, whom I took the chance to smack the face of.

"Aqua! Aqua! Aq- ak!"

She smacked me back in return, though I easily dodged it, but she didn't try to hit me again. Her expression was frightened, and she was dying to tell me something.

"Hey, wake up, Onii-chan! Come see what mom did!"

What the fuck is going on? I growled and got up, realizing she has been sitting on top of my abdomen, and me getting up put her on her back, creating quite an... interesting scene, that I broke by hopping off the bed.

"What's going on?" I asked while rubbing my eyes, staring at her.

I ignored her last night thanks to what she did, yet now she had the guts to come wake me up. I'll be pissed if it's something silly she is doing to get my attention.

"G-go ask her yourself, bastard!" She was blushing thanks to the weird position just earlier as she yelled.

Huh, maybe it really is something serious. I walked out of my room and found Tsubasa already waiting at the dining table, dressed in the school uniform and drinking tea, as she waved at me. Ai was just there too, putting sandwiches together for me.

"Mom, what's going on? Ruby disturbed my sleep and said you did something."

"Oh, Aqua's up!"

Tsubasa showed me an apologetic smile when I talked, while Ai cheered. Tsubasa's reaction was worrying, did Ai really do something stupid again?

"Hey, look at this." Ai ran at me with her Gmail app opened. She got too close to me, but I was used to it, as she showed me her latest mail. "Last night, after talking to you, I emailed an old director acquaintance with a request, and he agreed to help me out. I mean, of course, he did, it's Ai Hoshino reaching out to him. Anyway, see this."

I stared at the email, blinking, rubbing my eyes again to make sure I wasn't sleepy, and then snapped my head at Ai with a baffled face.

"You got to be fucking kidding me!?"

"Hey, language, brat. It's just a Dating Show, it's not that bad. Who knows, maybe you will find someone you like there? Even if you don't, you will gain popularity from acting there, so when the show ends you will have so many girls after you! Then you'll be able to get a girlfriend. I'm such an awesome mom, I know."

No, what is this? I am not going to act on a fucking Dating Reality Show. What the fuck is this woman thinking?!

In the end, no amount of arguing saved me. I had to agree to another of her hastily taken decisions for the umpteenth time, and also realized that avoiding some canon events was a lot harder than I thought it'd be.

Oh well. I guess I'll go. I can save a life if I go, plus Ai did have a point when she said her logic for this.

Good luck to me, I suppose.

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