EPISODE 5 – "Discovery of a Strange Shard"
It was still drizzling lightly when the conversation between Hiroshi and the mysterious Tall figure began, under his umbrella, the lightling from the small rain above them casted long shadows, making the already strange encounter even more unsettling, Hiroshi narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, watching the tall figure bent down casually so Hiroshi can get a better view of presence, his ever present smirk curving his lips,
"So...its you again", Hiroshi began, his voice steady but firm, "what do you really want?",
The Tall figure's smirk deepened, his piercing gaze met Hiroshi's with unnerving confidence, "Follow me", he said, "I'll tell you who I am",
Hiroshi hesitated, the rain that had dropped on him before his arrival, dripped in small drops from the edge of his hoodie, everything about this guy screamed danger, mystery, and arrogance.
But curiosity, it always had a way of dragging Hiroshi into places he didn't want to be, and besides, if this guy was a threat, better to know what he was up to than be caught off guard later.
With a reluctant sigh, Hiroshi followed the Tall guy through back alleys and narrow streets until they reached an old, abandoned house, the windows were shattered, vines crawled over the bricks like fingers trying to keep something locked inside, and the door creaked open with the lightest touch.
The inside was worse, dust clung to the air like fog, and the broken floorboards creaked beneath their feet, an old fireplace sat in the corner, dead and cold, the tall boy casually flopped onto a half collapsed armchair, his long legs crossing effortlessly,
"Sit",he said, motioning to the opposite chair,
Hiroshi gave him a long look before settling into the musty seat, not fully relaxed,
"Who are you?" Hiroshi asked, his voice low,
The guy chuckled,whilst stroking his chin, "I am.....Tall Boy"
"Tall Boy?" Hiroshi repeated, eyebrows furrowed,
"That's what I go by now," he replied with an amused glint in his eye, "I've been watching you for a while, you see, You're powerful and you've got something... unique",
"So....you've been spying on me?" Hiroshi's lips curled in distaste, " How typical"
Tall Boy laughed, the sound echoing eerily through the empty house,
"Maybe, but come on, someone like you was bound to attract attention, I think we can accomplish something... together"
Hiroshi's frown deepened, "What are you implying?",
Tall Boy leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming, "Let's be partners, you and me, think about it, we have the power, we could conquer this whole pathetic world, nobody would stand a chance, I've been bored lately, and this seemed like it could be... fun",
For a moment, the room felt colder,
Hiroshi's eyes widened as the memory surged up, unbidden The Magician, saying something eerily similar, a chill ran down his spine,
Hiroshi stood up slowly and walked toward Tall Boy, He loomed over him, hand pressed against the back of the chair, his face close enough to feel his breath, His voice dropped low,
"Just because we can... doesn't mean we should, Powers can twist people, I've seen it, don't let it get to your head, and don't forget—" his eyes narrowed, "we're not the only ones with powers in this world",
Tall Boy didn't move, He just smirked up at him, amused, unfazed,
Hiroshi pulled back, pushing his glasses up,
"Unless you give me a good reason why we should be partners... don't show your face to me again",
He turned to leave, footsteps echoing.
Tall Boy called after him, still lounging in the chair, "I won't need to find a reason, you'll come looking for me, and when you do... I'll be waiting",
Hiroshi didn't respond, He scoffed under his breath and left, the door creaking shut behind him.
The rain had stopped by the time Hiroshi made it back home, the streets were quiet, and the sky had turned a pale steel blue, He changed into something dry and sat by his bedroom window for a while, listening to the dripping water from the gutters,
His mind churned with thoughts of Tall Boy's words, it echoed like a riddle he didn't want to solve,
'We have the power… we could be unstoppable…',
He shook his head and opened the hidden compartment beneath the floorboards, and there it was: The Book of Hypnotism.
The old, worn cover still had that faint shimmer when the light hit it right. The power was already a part of him, flowing in his veins, but there were still chapters he hadn't touched, techniques he hadn't dared explore,
'No' he told himself, power is a responsibility… not a tool to misuse, the techniques seems too dangerous,
He closed the book, hiding it again, He wouldn't let the power control him, not like it had others, he closes the Book and let out a huge sigh.
Next Morning
Sunlight spilled into the kitchen, Hiroshi rubbed his eyes and yawned as he opened the fridge, it was empty, no milk, no eggs, not even rice. He muttered to himself and grabbed his hoodie, it was time to go grocery shopping.
The streets were lively again, people chatting, cars honking, birds chirping, everthing seemed normal,
But then he saw it.
A figure in a black cloak, standing on the edge of the street market, unmoving, it was facing away, but something about them felt... wrong,
Then it turned, their eyes met and they were,
Golden, Glowing, Not doesnt seem human at all,
Hiroshi's heart jumped as He immediately recognized it instantly, it was One of the Magician's SPELLZ.
The cloaked figure clutched something tightly in his hand, a small wooden box and the moment Hiroshi called out, "HEY! STOP!" the figure bolted,
Hiroshi dashed after him, weaving through crowded alleys, past startled vendors and confused shoppers, the SPELL was fast, unnaturally fast, but Hiroshi pushed himself harder, refusing to lose sight of the figure, until,
Finally, he cornered the Spell in a dead-end alley.
The creature turned slowly, breathing heavily, its golden eyes gleaming with eerie light,
"What are you up to?" Hiroshi demanded, "What's in that box?",
The Spell opened its mouth, but the voice that came out was hollow, sounded unnatural, almost too dark and dull but audible,
"My mouth is sealed... I only hear the voice of my...MASTER",
Hiroshi's fists clenched, "Fine, then lets do this the hard way, shall we?",
He pulled off his glasses, and the air shifted,
A low hum began to build as his eyes glowed faintly, the hypnotic energy starting to surface, but he knew SPELLZ weren't human, his basic hypnotic techniques wouldn't work,
The SPELL lunged at him, moving with jagged, violent motions,
Hiroshi exhaled sharply.
From behind him, a luminous circular portal opened mid air, a glowing blue small clock with an intricate, long, shining chain slithered out, floating into Hiroshi's hand,
He whispered the name of the technique,
"Chain of Mental Dissonance...I call on You....with your Power...I...Shall...DESTROY",
The air buzzed with energy,
He swung the clock once—Swoosh, Twice—Wooosh
The chain shimmered with each movement, pulsing with mental energy,
The SPELL ducked and dodged, hissing, but, Hiroshi moved faster, his swings controlled and precise, the chain wasn't physical, it was made of focused mental resonance, designed to disrupt thought and tear through magical constructs,
Finally, with a sharp yell, Hiroshi launched a final, arcing swing
SWOOSH-
The glowing chain passed right through the Spell's chest,
The creature froze,
Then—BOOM
It exploded into shimmering magic dust, dissolving into the air like a cloud of crushed light, the wind whipped through the alley, the clock and chain retracted into the portal behind Hiroshi, vanishing just as it had appeared.
He stood there, glasses back on, the wind brushing his clothes as sparkles of dust settled around him,
Cool, Collected and Dangerous,
At his feet lay the wooden box,
He picked it up, carefully opening the latch, inside, nestled in black velvet… was a glowing crystal shard,
It pulsed with soft energy bluish white, almost alive, Hiroshi stared at it, brows furrowed and confused,
'What is this...?' He asked himself,
Something about it felt old, important, and possibly dangerous,
And then it hit him, the thought came, if The Magician sent a SPELL to retrieve this… then this shard mattered, he might be up to something,
He didn't buy groceries, he didnt care about it anymore, he went straight home.
Back in his room, Hiroshi cleared a space on his desk and gently placed the shard beside his keyboard, the air around it shimmered slightly,
He booted up the old, clunky computer that had belonged to his grandfather, the screen flickered, humming as it came to life,
He began his search, his focus was on it now.
Hours passed, every keyword, every image search, every ancient forum, nothing matched.
No article, no myth, no legend, not even a whisper about glowing crystal shards tied to magic, was found online,
His frustration grew more and more,
What is this? he thought, clenching his jaw,
'Why go through all this effort to hide or protect it?'
He leaned back, exhausted, the cursor blinked on the blank search bar,
And then, he remembered, yesterday,
Tall Boy.
As annoying and smug as he was… he clearly knew more than he let on, maybe,
'He might know what this is' Hiroshi realized "and I need answers",
He stood slowly, eyes fixed on the shard, every instinct screamed that this was the beginning of something big, Bigger than the Books, Bigger than even The Magician,
And for the first time, Hiroshi realized
he might actually need help, to uncover what this actually is,
Even if it came with a smirk and fangs.
He had option, he knew no one else, who could give him answers.
That Evening,
Hiroshi returned to the abandoned house, the eerie wooden Lloors creaking beneath his steps, the air inside felt colder than before, shadows clinging to the corners like secrets waiting to be told, he moved deeper into the building, eyes scanning the darkness.
Above him, a long wooden plank stretched near the ceiling, balanced on it, pacing slowly, was none other than the Tall Boy himself,
"Haa! I knew you'd be back, my friend", Tall Boy called out with a smirk,
Hiroshi narrowed his eyes, "We're not friends",
With a casual ease, Tall Boy leapt down, his long legs absorbing the fall as if gravity meant nothing to him, ss he stepped forward, his sharp short fangs flashed briefly when he smirked, catching Hiroshi off guard,
"There's something strange about you", Hiroshi muttered, "But I didn't come to talk about that", He reached into his jacket and brought out the wooden box, flipping it open, the mysterious glowing shard shimmered faintly in the dim light,
"Do you know what this is? If I did, I wouldn't be here",
Tall Boy's eyes glinted as he studied the shard, then, slowly, he pulled his right hand from his pocket, a hand Hiroshi hadn't noticed him keep hidden before,
It wasn't human.
It was massive, brown, and clawed like that of a beast, muscular and sharp, pulsing faintly with energy,
"What the…", Hiroshi stepped back slightly, startled,
Tall Boy chuckled, showing his fangs again, "Surprised? Don't be, this is who I really am, I was granted the power of a Beast, I'm now half-human… half-Beast....",
Hiroshi swallowed, confused and curious. "What kind of power is that? Did you actually got it from a Book....What Book is that",
"Another time....Ill tell you...", Tall Boy said, "Right now, let's focus on that shard"
He reached out, Hiroshi hesitated a biy but then handed it over to him, Tall Boy turned it over in his beast clawed hand, his brows furrowed,
"I don't know exactly what this is… but it looks ancient, Powerful and Dangerous maybe, one thing's for sure, it's not from our world of normalcy, but I do know someone who might be able to tell us",
Hiroshi raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Who?",
"There's a Seer, who lives in the deep depths of the old part of town, no one really goes there anymore… but she's still there, been there for a very long time, I think",
"A Seer?", Hiroshi asked, suspicious, "Can I even trust you on this?",
Tall Boy smirked again, "But yet, you came to me for help, remember? That alone says a lot, you gonna have to trust me, don't you want to know what this thing is? And what it can do?",
Hiroshi hesitated, He didn't like Tall Boy's vibe its too cryptic, too cocky but he had no other leads. He needed answers. And if this Seer truly existed… maybe she held the key.
"Fine", Hiroshi said at last, "But keep in mind that I'll always be watching you",
"I'll take that" Tall Boy replied smirking, already moving toward the door, "So… shall we?",
Hiroshi gave a small nod, without another word, the two set off together, leaving behind the shadows of the abandoned house and heading toward the unknown,
The journey was just beginning…..