kscans

Chapter 468 - Beyond the Skill, a Swamp Awaits

"You know... when you get right down to it, the day you and Kagura-san met was probably the day this virtual world's luck ran out."

"You've taken over my lap just to say something outrageous, haven't you?"

And so ended the third night, a rampage where I unleashed my full, unfiltered power.

It seems the night raid event wasn't an infinite spawn after all; about thirty minutes after I started zipping around at full speed, the attacks from the Stardust Beasts ceased.

The final kill score ratio between me and the other group members was 10:0. It was... well, a complete and utter overkill. Honestly, it's a relief to have someone complain or make a crack about it like this.

As for the men I'd left with nothing to do, they were all overwhelmingly pleased, saying things like, "We got to see a ranker go all out in person."

I wondered if that was really okay with them, but then I realized I'd probably have enjoyed it too if our roles were reversed, so I decided to let it be.

And so, as usual, I found myself alone on the rooftop with my partner.

With the night raid ending early, the sleepiness debuff hadn't accumulated as much, and Nia-chan seemed a bit more energetic than usual.

I'd figured she'd be too sleepy to remember, but she apparently recalled perfectly that I'd ditched her last night. Thus, when I was about to head out for more 'adjustments' tonight, she caught me, and under the pretext of making it up to her, we ended up here.

"In the first place, if I hadn't met Kagura-san, I probably wouldn't have met you either, Nia."

"Let's put that aside."

"And yeah, Kagura-san's weapons are insane, but all the stuff you make is pretty crazy too, you know? When Ashe asked about the specs on this hairpin and I told her, the 'Sword Queen' herself just froze with a deadpan expression for a good five seconds."

"Let's put that aside, too."

"You're putting too much aside. What's even left?"

"Oh, be quiet! Who talks about other girls during a 'date,' for crying out loud!"

You talk about Sora and Ashe way more than I do, is the comeback I wanted to make, but I figured she'd just put that aside, too.

What is it she wants, I wonder? I swatted away the hands she playfully pawed at me with... and finally sensing the cooldown was over, I activated Trance.

"Whoa?! H-Hey, what?!"

I wasn't sure if she was startled by the skill's light effect or by her head suddenly dropping as the height of her pillow changed, but I ignored Nia's shriek and checked my status bar.

After setting off fireworks to my heart's content and completely draining my magic, the MP gauge of my transformed body was still empty.

It wasn't that duplicating and reloading the [Ruby Rabbit Bullet] took over an hour; it was just a game mechanic where the status of the body in the 'back' recovered at an incredibly slow rate.

To smoothly restore everything, I needed to have the body I wanted to heal in the 'front.' It was a bit of a hassle... but well, if they didn't balance it like that, it would be a genuinely broken ability. So, it couldn't be helped.

Though I have a feeling it's already pretty broken... I explained the whole situation to my partner, who was now fuming at the 'pillow' that had startled her.

"Huuuh... By the way, can you fire that gun in your original form?"

"Nope, impossible."

To be precise, if I tried to fire it, my avatar—along with the gun—would explode. And not metaphorically.

"I don't really get the logic, but he said he linked it to the 'mana' of my transformed body. That's why I can only duplicate and reload it in this form. He warned me that if I touched the trigger in my original form, the same reaction as a warhead impact would occur and I'd blow myself to bits."

"Ehhh... Kagura-san is as incomprehensible as ever..."

"I like it, though. In fact, I love it."

All the weapons that man creates... every single one of them. They're all quirky and never get boring to use, which makes combat constantly fun.

They make me want to use all of them, so it's safe to say they're a perfect match for my build, which centers on weapon switching. That was the meaning behind my reply, but it seemed the nuance of Nia's muttered "incomprehensible" was different.

"The quality of his weapons is incomprehensible, sure... but the fact that Kagura-san can make something like that is what's crazy. It's just... I don't get it. What's going on inside his head?"

"Like I said, you're pretty much—"

"We're on a different dimension, I'm telling you. Just like Nonomi-chan and the others."

Her helpless tone cut me off, and I glanced at her, but her expression wasn't negative. It was... a look I recognized.

Like the way the [Sword Protector]—no, the [Peerless]—looks at the [Sword Saint].

"Selecting and linking mana... that means he's established a technique to perfectly distinguish between 'colors,' right? No way, that's impossible. I can't even see them, let alone tell them apart. We're playing on a completely different stage."

"...Uh, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm saying he's casually doing something like your master's Shukuchi."

"Okay, now I completely understand."

I still didn't get the meaning of the words, but I understood what she was trying to say.

"Mana has colors?"

"Apparently. I was told before that mine is light blue."

And here I thought it'd be aquamarine.

"To be precise, it's not exactly a color, but something that can be perceived as a color. Like its properties, or its wavelength... Something like that, a kind of personality that's different for everyone?"

"Huh... I knew it, but Magic Craft seems like a pretty deep swamp."

"It's a bottomless swamp. You wanna give it a try?"

"I'm planning to if this event becomes a permanent feature."

That was something I'd been considering from the start. My casual agreement seemed to surprise Nia, as she blinked a few times.

"Eh, really? I thought you weren't interested in anything besides combat, one way or another."

"Every single person treats me like a battle junkie... Well, when the time comes, you'll have to teach me a few things. As part of our exclusive contract."

"Ngeh...? I've never taught anyone anything before."

"You can just follow your 'teacher's' example. Besides, what exactly do you learn in Magic Craft, anyway? I get that it's not as simple as just using a skill and presto, it's done."

"Wow, you're serious... Um, it's so hard to put into words..."

I offered her some encouragement to try her best and watched for a dozen seconds as Nia put a hand to her forehead and groaned. Not that it matters, but she really is making herself at home on my lap, not just occupying it but squirming and rolling around as she pleases—

"Okay, let's do this—heave-ho!"

Just as I was thinking of complaining and confiscating my lap-pillow, Nia looked up, brought her hands together above her head toward the night sky, and then spread them apart.

The faint blue light of mana clinging to her slender fingertips... I figured this must be different from the 'mana color' Nia was talking about. Right before my eyes—

No, not just before my eyes, but completely surrounding the two of us.

"...Whoa...?"

A large sphere woven from shimmering threads of light unfolded. In place of the night sky, where the stars were blocked by the distant ground, it created a planetarium glowing a brilliant blue.