Chapter 21: The Hensou Formation
The final bell had already rung, and today was the day Takauji was both dreading and looking forward to at the same time.
Track & Field training.
Even with his drastically improved Mage body, a part of him still wasn't sure he'd be able to shrug off the long-lasting pain that came with training with Hairo.
After all, the Captain himself was definitely supernatural in some way, at least from Takauji's perspective.
No ordinary human was supposed to be capable of displaying that kind of physical prowess, and he didn't care if using Mana Sense told him nothing—that man had to have some freakish genome.
Maybe he's actually part gorilla? His parents looked fairly regular the last time I saw them, but they must be special in some way to have given birth to this specimen.
"Hey, Taka," Hairo said as the two were jogging together, pursing his lips in an intrigued manner.
"Yeah?"
"You're not taking anything, are you?"
"Pardon?"
The Captain sighed, "I don't mean to sound overtly accusatory—but compared to last week, your physique is on a completely different level." He looked down at the timer on his watch, "I mean, we've been going for half an hour already. Usually, you're huffing and puffing like a cartoon character at this point, no offense."
Some offense taken, he frowned.
"Maybe I'm just trying harder than usual," Takauji replied with a conceited smile on his face. "Don't tell me you're starting to look for excuses now that I have you beat?"
Hairo scoffed, "Alright then, hot-shot. If you're so confident, then let's see how far you can actually go."
Much to the Mage's surprise, Hairo somehow had it in him to go even faster, without showing any signs of being on the verge of gassing out whatsoever.
Oh come on, I didn't think he had actually more pace in him than that!
He exhaled, reluctantly picking up the pace to match Hairo as the rest of the Track & Field Club looked on in wonder, unable to wrap their heads around how another human being was capable of keeping up with their Captain.
It was like their Vice-Captain had grown wings over the weekend!
…
Or so they thought.
After two hours of constant high-intensity "jogging," which, in human terms, was actually full-on sprinting, Takauji had finally run out of stamina.
"Haha! Not so cocky anymore are we?" Hairo boasted with both hands on his waist.
"You…" He slowly pointed at him, "Belong… in a government lab or something…"
"Well, my legs are going to carry Japan all the way to Olympic gold eventually, so there's no shame in you giving in." He patted Takauji's back.
Olympic? Forget that, you might as well go compete with cheetahs instead.
But upon looking up, he noticed something.
Hairo was sweating.
And his breathing had also grown noticeably labored, even if he tried to mask it through his confident demeanor.
Heh, now who's the cocky one?
Usually, he'd find it shameful to compare his body to that of a normal person's now that he'd become a Magician.
But for Hairo, he'd gladly make an exception.
Let's see how much my Speed has risen by; he opened up his stat page while he was keeled over, eager to see what he gained from his first Track & Field practice since awakening.
[+46 SPD (158 → 204).]
That's more like it, Intelligence aside, he felt it only proper that his Speed also break the 200 barrier—it was something he had been training for three years now, after all, having it lag behind was rather embarrassing.
"But seriously, though, you aren't taking anything, are you?" Hairo asked once more.
"Nope, it's all just a part of my undeniable genius starting to blossom fully."
"What does genius have to do with Track & Field?"
"Weren't you listening? It's not genius in general, this is my genius we're talking about." He almost sounded offended.
Hairo grimaced inwardly. Even if your running ability changed out of nowhere, your personality's definitely still the same.
At least he didn't have to worry about his Vice-Captain being replaced by an alien or anything like that; he knew for a fact that not even extraterrestrial life could possibly hope to replicate Takauji's ego.
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Something's off…
On the way home, Takauji had encountered a strange, unsettling feeling that seemed to follow him from the moment he stepped out of Kuoh's front gate.
His excitement to return to his room and begin working on barrier magic had been replaced with the seemingly inescapable need to feel cautious, a need that he couldn't pinpoint the reason behind.
Is someone watching me? He couldn't help but wonder, slowly turning from side to side, but not making any drastic movements to prevent himself from attracting too much attention.
He wasn't interested in getting a reputation as the local schizophrenic.
What the hell?
And then he felt it, the sensation of his Ki Sense alerting him that something was nearby.
He looked up at the trees near him, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to spot something moving from within.
Ruffle! Ruffle! Ruffle!
The second he did so, the leaves started to ruffle furiously, as if he had sent whatever was lurking within into panic.
That sound definitely wasn't loud enough to be a person. He paid close attention to the area around the tree, hoping that he could catch a glimpse of what was inside through the gaps of the foliage.
There's no use in standing still; whoever you are, you already gave yourself away.
The only assumption he could make was that there was an animal of sorts hiding from him, but that still raised the question of why an animal of all things would be spying on him.
Unless it wasn't just an ordinary creature.
Could it be a Familiar?
Familiars were creatures born with magical properties, that usually were placed under a contract by a Magician to serve as their assistant—the purpose of which varying from creature to creature.
They could serve as good offense, defense, reconnaissance, medical assistance—the list went on and on.
But Magicians weren't the only people who could obtain them; Devils were able to do so as well. In fact, they had an entire forest dedicated to helping their young obtain Familiars.
Ah, and in that moment, realization struck him.
His mind immediately recalled the time when Sona and Tsubaki had managed to find him at the Plaza, where he had met up with Raynare, and how they had effortlessly tracked him back to the abandoned church.
So that's how you've been keeping tabs on me… I wasn't capable of sensing your Familiars until now; unfortunately for you, that appears to have changed.
Even though he couldn't run up and start climbing the tree while in public, there was still another method he could utilize.
He discreetly pointed his finger towards where he had heard the ruffling from, and built up a small amount of Mana, which normal people couldn't see.
Shadow Gun!
A Sparrow immediately flew out of the tree-top, fear plastered all over its face as it hurriedly made it escape—not that Takauji had any interest in pursuing the unfortunate creature, or had the means to with his current skill-set.
All he wanted to do was confirm that he was being watched, nothing more.
I shouldn't get too complacent; a higher-level one may be following me at the same time. I doubt Sona would settle for something as meager as a tiny bird after all.
He couldn't know for sure if it was from Sona's peerage, as it was likely, but it was also possible that Rias was trying to keep a watch on her rival's Contracted Magician—or some other third party.
At the very least, he knew which type of barrier he'd be learning first.
…
Once he returned home, he made sure to prepare dinner for Murayama before retiring back to his room, flipping through the pages of the manual on barriers Sona had given him in search of a specific section.
"Here we are," he muttered under his breath with a sense of satisfaction.
Masking Barriers was where he had decided to begin his pursuit of knowledge.
Privacy was something he valued immensely, and something he absolutely despised having intruded—unfortunately, he wasn't yet powerful enough to grant himself complete privacy from those surrounding him.
Which is why he needed to work as hard as possible to achieve the comforting feeling of solitude as quickly as possible.
I still haven't given up on finding out what those Fallen Angels have to offer. If I can convince the Familiars posted around me that I'm still at home, I should be able to use the "Evanescence Cloak" skill I obtained to sneak off.
As he had promised himself on that day, he refused to give up on the pursuit of the supposed 'Light Magic' that the Fallen Angels possessed.
But for now, I'll have to settle for simply studying as hard as I can. Nothing worth having comes easy.
The strength of barriers created by Eastern Magicians was dependent on two variables: one, how advanced the technique used to make the barrier was in the first place, and second, how much knowledge your opponent had on barriers.
If they were completely clueless, then you could shut them out with even the simplest of barriers.
But if they were an expert, you'd have to cook up something truly special to keep them from breaking or bypassing your barrier.
However, he needed to start with something simple for the time being; he wouldn't be able to create anything extraordinary without a fundamental understanding of how masking barriers worked.
You needed to learn to walk before you could run.
He let out a thoughtful hum, carefully going over the contents of the manual while ensuring he committed everything to memory.
In short, masking barriers existed to challenge your opponent's senses.
And the more advanced they were, the more senses they blocked out.
Most of the simpler barriers relied solely on challenging your opponent's vision, enveloping a certain amount of space, and making whatever was inside it appear invisible to the outside world.
But he knew that Sona wouldn't even need to try to break such a barrier, a High-Class Devil's natural ability to sense and perceive things with their Demonic Power was more than enough—to someone like her, such a barrier might as well not even exist.
And, like Western Magic, no recorded techniques were found to use Dark Mana, or "Yin Release" as it was referred to in the East.
Whether it was because they didn't exist or were restricted wasn't something he'd be able to find out on his own.
Would it be possible for me to create my own barrier technique? One that uses Yin Release? He pondered as he continued to study.
Creating an original technique was an extremely challenging endeavor, even for supernatural races—Devils included.
It required a highly in-depth understanding of the type of technique you were trying to create, as well as a great deal of talent—and maybe even luck depending on who you asked.
It wasn't something that should be attempted haphazardly. However, he had a reasonable justification for wanting to create one.
Like the manual had just taught him, the effectiveness of one's barrier was also dependent on how much your opponent understood it, and there was a highly scarce amount of information available regarding the Dark Element.
Since that was the case, was it unreasonable to think he could create something even Sona couldn't break through as a 2nd Circle Magician? Her theoretical knowledge was exceptional, but at the moment, she didn't have much theory to work with regarding Takauji's element.
Intelligence without foundation has no application.
Even if it didn't work out in the end, the knowledge he'd gain from the attempt seemed worthwhile.
If he wasn't capable of creating his technique, then could he really call himself a genius?
He continued to flip through the pages, stopping only when he found a technique he deemed suitable to be his foundation.
'The Hensou Formation', this should do nicely.
To utilize the formation, you needed to learn how to create a 'Chakra Node', which essentially served as individual points placed around a specific area, and then connected to make the barrier's exterior.
That exterior would serve to block the vision of everyone on the outside, and increased in strength as long as the user remained inside the barrier at all times—consuming a fair bit of Chakra, but not enough to the point where Takauji wouldn't be able to use it for an extended amount of time with his current Chakra Reserves.
Reserves, which he could grow with the help of Sona's sanctuary.
Did he feel any shame about using his contractor's resources in such a manner?
No, not even a little.
She was the one who had opened them to him in the first place—if she couldn't figure out that he'd want to use it however he deemed fit, then she only had her own lack of foresight to blame.
You'll get to enjoy the strength of someone as impressive as me for a whole month anyway, so it's not like you're not getting anything out of this.
The formation also had the more obvious bonus of being reliant on Chakra instead of Mana, which meant that if he found a way to blend Yin Release into it, it'd be twice as hard for Sona to break.
These Chakra Nodes make the barrier extremely flexible in terms of shaping it; that's definitely a selling point if I've ever seen one.
Now that he had decided on how he'd build his foundational knowledge for barrier magic, there was nothing more to do other than to get to work.
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All this to sneak into the base of a group of busty Fallen Angel's with highly questionable Intelligence.
Motivation really can be found in the strangest of places can't it?
At least it'll be fun to watch, hehe.
…
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