/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>44540602

I woke up, still feeling a bit tired despite the long night of sleep. Pulling the double duty of having a day job in the village and training in the evening would wear on me, I could tell. But it was part of the training itself, I suppose. If the all the incident solvers could balance their work with their training, I’d have to lean how to do that too. So I spent my days continuing to offer my services to the villagers and then going over to Marisa’s whenever she was free.

Marisa took to being my teacher quickly and eagerly. She always had ideas for what we would do next. Some days she would have me fly low through the trees, dodging branches and collecting flags she tied to them in the shortest amount of them. She said it would get me used to speeding through obstacles and navigating difficult places. However, I did refuse the use of a blindfold when she tried pushing it on me. She once attempted to set up a course through the forest with bombs and other devices rigged to go off when I went near to “simulate enemy fire”. That plan died before it could begin when a passing autumn goddess noticed this and lectured us on respecting nature and if we burnt down the forest we could never see the beauty of the falling leaves. We spent the rest of the day removing everything.
She’d continue to spar with me. I knew she was going easy on me, but someone with her amount of experience trying to hold back was still too much for a newcomer to handle. I was getting better, but the process was gradual and difficult. I had failed again when I backed into a bullet I lost track of. Marisa landed on the ground “You gotta keep better track of these things. Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re still a danger. But come in, I want to show you something”

I followed her in and saw her at a table. She motioned for me to sit down next to her and when I did she slide an old worn book over to me “I finally found this thing yesterday. I knew I had it somewhere but I misplaced it years ago” I flipped open the book and scanned through a few pages. These were all notes on Danmaku. It wasn’t professionally made, the handwritten instead of typed text and the informal writing style made that clear. It wasn't anything like the theory of Danmuku or how to improve, but Spell Cards themselves. Who used them, what they were called, what they did. Someone the names I recognized, some I didn’t. I spent some time reading it before Marisa piped up “I made this years ago. It used to be a bit of a hobby of mine to pay attention to the Spell Cards used by others and see if there was anything to learn from them. I thought it would be useful to collect it all in a book and gather my thoughts on them. It’s really outdated, but I thought it still could be useful to you”


She jabbed a finger at an entry. “You see, it’s as much as an art as it is a combat skill. You’re going to face all sorts of people with all sorts of differing personalities and abilities. So naturally this influences the way they’ll fight you. If they can change your perception, they’ll do it, If they have power over nature they’ll use it against you, if they’re bold they might be aggressive in their style and so on”. I flipped through the book as she looked over my shoulder, trying to find the best examples. I started to notice a pattern forming.

“How do you deal with people playing unfair? Look at these. Messing with time, blinding you, facing you three against one? What are you supposed to do then?” I said curious if the answer wasn’t going to be that I should just cheat harder.

Marisa leaned back in her chair. “Well, you just gotta suck it up I guess. It ain’t always gonna be fair but there’s always a chance to win as long as you’re trying. That’s the whole reason for the system. Sometimes you’ll be facing off against a weakling that can’t even read and sometimes you’ll be facing off against someone so powerful they could wipe you out with the wave of their hand” Marisa waved her hand. “I know you haven’t even started making your own Cards, but you should keep these in mind. But as long as you don’t name it something like “This will kill you horribly” and send an undodgeable wave of pain towards someone, you should be in the clear” She clicked her tongue in a frustrated fashion. “Anyways, the book is yours, I ain’t gonna use it anymore. Consider reading it part of your training. Which is done for the day by the way”

I thanked her, picked up the book and went on my way home. It was still light out, so I had time to get home and do some chores before reading more of the book. At least I would have if Mother hadn’t spotted me on the way home.