Chapter 18: 2nd Circle Magician
A few hours of meditation, on top of the time he had spent unlocking his Chakra, had gone by, hours that were drastically less mentally draining, and significantly more relaxing than what he had just experienced.
And once a certain amount of time passed, Takauji found himself being enveloped in quite the striking, yet expected phenomenon.
Dark Mana had begun to swirl around his figure like coiling serpents; the surrounding wildlife that had once been interested in the natural energy gathering near him were now terrified out of their minds, all scurrying away with no interest in being even within a thousand feet of him.
A very faint encore of tremors was sent out from his position, his chest forcefully inflating and deflating as a torrent of Mana was brought into his core through the pores on his skin.
The feeling was nothing short of rejuvenating, as if all the fatigue unlocking his Chakra brought him had vanished into thin air, reduced to nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
Meditating to unlock his Chakra had made minutes feel like hours, but meditating to rank up felt like the complete opposite.
Even though he was supposed to be concentrating on his meditation, he couldn't help but plaster on a faint smirk as the Dark Mana coiling around him grew more vibrant, as if it were trying to blanket him like a suit of armor completely.
For the first time in his life, he was feeling something that brought him an equal amount of pleasure as gaining a point over Sona did, a notion he never thought was possible, but also a notion he didn't mind having proven false.
He relished every nanosecond of the sensation, his muscles starting to tense as they grew denser, the force they were capable of both exuding and receiving growing despite the fact that he wasn't moving them so much as an inch.
But the changes didn't stop there.
His hair started to grow out a little, increasing about three centimeters in length, and his skin became noticeably smoother, some of the minor imperfections on his body disappearing out of the blue.
And even then, the feeling continued to elevate, as if he were on absolute cloud nine.
Like a supernatural force was beckoning him to keep going, to keep pushing further if he wanted to experience this again, and in even greater intensity.
A beckon, he was more than happy to answer.
Time continued to tick by, and at long last, his eyelids had begun to part.
The coloration of his pupils appeared to have changed somewhat, having grown a noticeable shade darker from before he had entered meditation.
I feel like I could punch an elephant, or something with an equivalent weight, like Sitri-san.
As he had expected, a notification was eagerly awaiting him once he had awoken from his state of concentration.
───
Congratulations! You have successfully ranked up!
1st Circle Magician → 2nd Circle Magician (0/1000).
Elemental Affinity: Dark (Level 1 → Level 2).
[+100 STR (94 → 194).]
[+100 VIT (137 → 237).]
[+100 INT (163 → 263).]
[+100 DEX (77 → 177).]
[+100 SPD (58 → 158).]
[+100 CHK (10 → 110).]
Skill(s) Awakened!
(Dark) Evanescence Cloak: shroud yourself in a blanket of Dark Mana, completely masking your presence from anyone with a lower Mana stat than you, or making you undetectable from a varying distance to people with a higher Mana stat.
(Neutral) Repulsion: gather a ball of compressed Mana, capable of unleashing a destructive shockwave depending on the amount of Mana consumed before releasing the spell.
(Dark) Impale; harden your fingers and nails to a piercing degree, enabling you to slice through an object or person with your bare hands.
───
He blinked repeatedly, leaning closer to get a proper look at the monumental stat increases he'd been given seemingly for free.
Or more precisely, which he had been given as a reward for breaking his Mana Core through to the next level.
My speed's still lower than I'd like to be, but I haven't yet had a chance to attend Track & Field practice since awakening, so I'm sure it'll be resolved soon.
Everything other than his Mana had been given a 100-point increase, which made sense; it'd be pretty odd for him to gain more Mana, for gaining enough Mana to rank up in the first place.
That'd be like gaining calories from an additional meal, despite having only eaten a single one.
And as much as I'd like to test out my new abilities now, it seems like I have a little problem to attend to beforehand.
"How long do you plan on standing there for?" He called out, his words soon followed by the sound of footsteps hitting the soil as they approached from behind him.
"I suppose congratulations are in order," a slightly unnerved, womanly voice answered him.
Thanks to his passive trait, Ki Sense, he was able to detect Sona, who possessed no Chakra, standing behind him, even if he wasn't able to do so through his Mana.
As for his contractor, her unease was, if anything, warranted as of now.
Not only had he already obtained Chakra as he had planned, he had also already become a 2nd Circle Magician alongside that already striking accomplishment, a truly unprecedented rate of growth.
And she had a reasonably strong, and justified feeling that it had something to do with the Dark Element he possessed, she refused to believe that his constitution was that of an ordinary Magician.
Magicians simply weren't supposed to absorb Mana as quickly as he did, unless their last name happened to be Pendragon.
He chuckled softly, allowing a smug grin to crawl up his face.
"There's no need to congratulate me, my growth has always been an inevitability." He narrowed his eyes, his thoughts starting to wander as he stared at his contractor intently.
Sona reeled back, noticing the strange look he was giving her.
"What's wrong?" She smouldered.
Without replying, he silently started to raise his hand, pointing his index finger at her torso with an eerily dead look on his face.
"What are you—"
Shadow Gun.
A blast of Dark Mana propelled itself from his fingertip, shooting towards Sona with immense velocity in an attempt to blast a football-sized hole through her torso.
Splash!
But she quickly conjured up a wall composed of her Water Magic, completely blocking his attack and leaving her flabbergasted.
Not merely because of the attack itself, but the fact that he had tried to hurt her without any provocation or warning whatsoever.
"I see," he hummed to himself inquisitively. "I'm still not at a level where I can defeat you, I guess all that talk about you being on par with a 3rd Circle Magician wasn't just an empty proclamation."
She stared at him in stunned silence for a bit, appalled that he dared to attack her out of the blue simply to test the difference in strength between them.
"You're insufferable," she exhaled deeply, withholding the urge to facepalm. "Also, becoming a high-level 3rd Circle Magician might allow you to have the same level of magical prowess as me. However, there's still going to be a massive gap between a human and a Devil in terms of physical strength."
Instead of coming up with some witty retort, Takauji merely nodded in return.
"I'm aware," his voice remained calm, convincing Sona that he'd not only already taken that fact into account, but had begun working on a solution for it.
And that solution was none other than his Artificing ability, which he planned to eventually use to make himself a set of armor powerful enough to put his Strength and Vitality on the same level as a Devil.
"Is that so?" She mused, "Well, I'd suggest that you spar with Tsubaki or one of my other subordinates, but sparring can only let you learn so much about your abilities."
"What are you suggesting?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Recently, I received a report about a Stray Devil lurking around Kuoh, whom I planned on having my peerage exterminate tonight," the corners of her mouth curled upwards in a suggestive fashion.
"Stray Devil?" He repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"When a Reincarnated Devil chooses to divert from their master without permission, they're handed that label, and immediately designated for execution under the Underworld's legislation. The bond between an Evil Piece and its King usually keeps a Reincarnated Devil's powers in check—"
"But that bond is broken once they divert," he finished her sentence, earning him a mildly irritated nod.
"They can be quite dangerous when their powers go berserk, which is why they must be put down the second the opportunity arises." It was pretty clear what Sona was implying.
"Evil Piece" is a befitting name.
He felt tempted to scoff, his mind immediately contemplating the not-so-obvious cruelty of such a system.
From the way Sona had worded it, the reason behind a Reincarnated Devil's choice to flee wasn't important; they would be hunted down without question.
Which meant, even if a Reincarnated Devil was being mistreated by their master, fleeing would only result in their execution.
Of course, there was the possibility that the Underworld had some measure against mistreating Reincarnated Devils, but Takauji highly doubted they would favour them over their own.
Now that's what I call Devilish, I'd like to meet the creator of that system someday.
Furthermore, he didn't miss the fact that Rias hadn't informed him about the concept of a Stray Devil when she attempted to recruit him into her peerage.
And strangely, he respected the shameless effort. If he were in Rias' position, he probably wouldn't inform someone about the consequences of betraying him before they had been recruited.
Maybe that's why you didn't make the same offer, he scrutinized Sona. Granted, I definitely would've gone Stray at some point if I had become a part of your peerage. Your foresight is admirable.
"And you'd have me eliminate this Stray instead?"
"You are my Contracted Magician, it's about time you did some actual work for me, wouldn't you agree?" She shrugged, "Also, it's a chance for you to get some genuine combat experience. Don't tell me you can't see the value in that?"
After pondering for a moment, he came to a swift decision.
As beneficial as sparring was, he wanted to grow as fast as he possibly could, and live combat was more likely than not a prerequisite for that endeavor.
After all, having a vast arsenal of abilities was one thing, but knowing how to use them efficiently was another.
"Fair enough," and ultimately, he agreed.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Night had descended over Kuoh, the sound of the bustling public replaced with that of toads and frogs croaking endlessly.
"Here we are."
Sona halted in front of what looked to be an old warehouse, holding some tracking device in her hand, the appearance of which made it seem like it belonged in a video game.
Even if you weren't of the supernatural, just glancing at the structure alone was more than enough to cause your gut to stir, as if there were something inherently malevolent about the place.
Additionally, the fact that it smelled like the place was being used as an impromptu landfill didn't help much, making the area likely to receive a torrent of complaints if it were closer to a residential area.
"Mind running me through what I'm going to be up against one more time?" Takauji glanced at his contractor, having already steeled himself for what was to come.
But whether he'd succeed at it or not, remained to be seen.
At least his passive trait, Moonlight Blessing, which increased the strength of all his Dark Skills by 15% during the night, would be there to give him an edge.
"Her name is Alenth, her most prominent field of expertise is Poison Magic, so I'd highly advise you to focus on evasion as much as possible. Even if I'm able to heal you up, you're still going to be in a world of hurt if you're afflicted by anything she touches you with."
"I see," he nodded, observing the warehouse for a moment before walking forward.
"Ashikaga-san," she called out to him before he left her field of view.
"Yes?" He turned his head.
"Good luck."
"I'm a genius, I don't need luck." He scoffed, entering the building without a second thought.
"I thought you'd say something like that," Sona muttered under her breath, uncharacteristically letting out a faint chuckle.
---
The first rank-up of many! Of course, the requirement to rank up will get harder each time, so he'll have to put in more and more effort if he wants to stay on top of everything.
And now he's going to experience his first proper life-or-death battle! Sniff, they grow up so fast, don't they?
…
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