“I-I’m home…”
When I gently opened the front door, I immediately heard the sound of feet in slippers approach.
“Welcome back, Kyotarou! They’ve been saying some strange things on TV.”
My flustered mom told me so. She didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary when she looked at me.
Which might be only natural, but I still breathed a small sigh of relief. It would seem I wasn’t just imagining the part about me returning to my original clothes.
“What’s the matter, mom? What strange things?”
“The news is mentioning things like status screens, spirits, and whatnot with a straight face. Even though April fool’s was weeks ago.”
It was currently the middle of April. The time to joke about UFOs and monsters in the news have long since passed. So, it all likelihood, this time…they weren’t joking around.
“If it’s on the news, then it wasn’t just a dream or something…”
“Did you see it too, Kyotarou? A strange thing floating in the sky, I mean…do you feel anything odd in your body? Hold on, I’ll try calling your dad…”
“I’m fine, I think? More importantly, did they say something about a strange old man?”
“They did talk about him in the news too, but nobody seems to know anything about him.”
“Oh…”
Figures, I thought as I looked up at the ceiling.
I recalled what that girl said after teaching me how to return to my normal clothes and before she vanished: ‘once you’re in a place where we can talk calmly, please summon me’.
Seriously, what’s happening to the world right now?
* * *
I told my worried mother that I was going to rest in my room for the meantime.
Once there, instead of changing my clothes, the first thing I did was take a deep breath. Then, I looked left and right, and checked that the windows were closed too. Not that I got the impression that anybody would sneak in…
“A-ahm…please show yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Wah,”
In contrast to my whisper, the silver-haired girl answered with a clear voice.
She had appeared out of nowhere and was now standing before me, shoe-less and wearing knee-high socks.
When I unintentionally let out a whimper and took a step back, the girl simply did an elegant bow as she smiled.
“Nice to see you again, master. It would appear we have reached your room. Do you want me to begin explaining?”
“E-explaining?”
“Yes. Explaining about what I am and how I knew that ‘wishing for it will change your clothes back’. Or maybe I can start with explaining why the recent events are happening? I imagine you have plenty of questions right now. I can only hope I know enough to answer all of them.”
The woman fluently said so, leaving me overwhelmed.
It wasn’t like I was so blind to reality that I only viewed her as suspicious. But be that as it may, I just couldn’t make sense of anything.
Should I trust her? Or did she have some sort of agenda? In the first place, why is an absolute beauty like her unconditionally kind to me, someone whose friends called ‘Mob-kawa Mob-tarou’ or ‘dude whose face is arranged like a T’.
So, I decided to at least be cautious of her. In case we had to go to court, I started an audio recording.
“So, ahm. Can you tell me who you are?”
“Yes. I am half of you. Or rather, I am a ‘Guardian Spirit’, a portion of your soul given form.”
She deepened her smile and even tilted her head a little.
Quite…cute.
“A Guardian Spirit? Soul? Ahm, can you be a little more specific…”
“I see…then, I’ll explain in as simple terms as I could manage. Now, please take a seat on the bed.”
“O-ok.”
She then said she was going to borrow pen and paper. She took a notebook and a mechanical pencil from my desk and brought it to me.
…huh? She didn’t hesitate one bit on where those are placed. It’s like she knew where they were from the start. She even guided me to sit here so naturally.
“Then, let us begin with your circumstances, master.”
“Eh, ah, okay.”
I nodded my head on reflex.
She was in complete control of the pace.
But then again, does that really matter in the first place given that she’s teaching me? Ahh, what should I do? Having to understand this whole mess is hard enough, but I have to do that while I’m alone with a beauty like her? Forget thinking straight, I can’t think at all. As far as I can remember, I’ve never even spoken to a girl about anything outside of things about school.
“Master, you’ve become an [Awakened One]!”
“Okay…”
“And I am a Guardian Spirit born from master’s [Superpowers]!”
“Ehh”
“Awakened Ones are those who possess magic and herculean strength. Superhumans who could use powers like ESP.”
“Hoo”
“And that’s it!!”
“Uh, wait?”
When I asked so without thinking, the girl once again slightly tilted her head.
She was cute, sure, but this wasn’t the time to think about that.
“Ahm, I don’t know whether to call that too abstract or broad, but either way, I still don’t understand anything at all. So, can you explain a bit more…”
“……Spirits are beings capable of using magic related to nature!”
“Magic…”
Oh no, what do I do? This girl’s a big idiot!
“If there is still something unclear, please take a look at your [Status Screen].”
“…huh?”
In the middle of her fantasy-like explanation, she then suddenly uttered a phrase I only heard of in games.
But then, I remembered what my mom said earlier.
“The news is mentioning like status screens, spirits, and whatnot–”
“…eh? Seriously?”
“Yes. Just imagine something from a video game. Strongly wish for it, like you did when you removed your [Magical Attire]…your knight-like armor.”
“….Status Screen”
Even though I was still half dubious, I imagined that thing I had seen in games and said the phrase.
It was a little embarrassing, but to be honest, I was also a little excited. I mean, this is something I had always fantasized about.
“Ohh!”
I uttered so, less out of surprise but more out of delight.
After all, just like the girl said, a semi-transparent screen-like thing appeared in front of me.
* * *
Okawa Kyotarou
Race: Human || Awakened One
Strength: A
Endurance: B
Agility: B+
Magic: A
Resistance: B
Superpowers:
-
Magic Eye: Future Sight
-
Guardian Spirit
-
Magic Release
Distinctive Superpower:
-
Silver Apple
* * *
“Hooo….”
I had no idea if the things listed were good or not, but the mere sight of the [Status Screen] made me inexplicably and uncontrollably pleased.
“But what’s the principle behind…?”
“You ask for the principle, but it’s just a natural ability of yours. Much like bringing your hand in front of your face so that you can take a look at your palm.”
“Is that so…?”
While half-heartedly uttering words of agreement to move the conversation, I tried reaching out my hand so that I could touch the status screen.
When I did so, the screen reacted like a touch panel in that the items that I touched offered explanations.
[Magic Eye: Future Sight]
-
When you or your allies are in danger, grants a glimpse of the immediate future.
[Guardian Spirit]
-
Detach a small portion of your soul and amplify it with magic. This manifests as a guardian.
[Magic Power Release]
-
By releasing magic power, magical wind will be temporarily produced around you.
[Silver Apple]
-
A silver apple that failed to become golden. Although it might be nothing but a cheap sweet for the divines, it is a miracle in tangible form for humans. It could not grant immortality, but it could cure every illness, poison, and wound. The one who possesses this power will have everlasting youth, and by materializing an apple and having another eat it, the user could grant these blessings onto that other person temporarily.
……….mm?
‘Detach a small portion of your soul’
“Mmmm!?”
“Is something the matter, master?”
“Is this, is this a safe thing…?”
“…ahh, the details about guardian spirits. Please don’t be so bothered by the line about detaching a portion of your soul. To compare to your vessel of flesh, you’ve suffered nothing more than a scratch.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. At the risk of digressing, let me explain a little bit about the relationship between the [Soul], the [Mind], and the [Body]. As long as the body remains safe, even a half-destroyed soul will be able to fully recover given enough time. At this level of damage to your soul, you should be back to normal in only an hour.”
“O-ok…”
Should I trust her then…?
According to the status screen, she wasn’t a hostile entity at least. But then the question becomes how much I could trust this status screen.
“At any rate…can you tell me more about this [Silver Apple]?”
“I do not know anything about that either, but all distinctive superpowers are supposedly powerful.”
“Well, the status screen does say it grants ‘everlasting youth’ and can ‘cure every illness, poison, and injury’.”
If it worked as written, then it was certainly an absurd power. So much so that there was even a slim chance of a world war breaking out with me as the ultimate prize.
I was happy I had an amazing ability, but it was just so surreal. Plus, if this was anime, it would be that ability which was actually too good that it led to nothing good. I couldn’t exactly be pleased about that.
There were many more things I wanted to ask her, but there were just so many I didn’t know where to start.
And then, I realized I didn’t even know her name. When I asked her who she was earlier, her only answer was ‘I’m a guardian spirit’.
“Ahm, now that I think about it, I haven’t heard your—”
“Kyotarou, I have your father on the line…what!?”
The door to my room opened almost at the same time as I heard a knock. It was my mom holding our phone handset.
Ah, shoot.
“I-it’s not what it looks like!”
Not what it looks like? What the heck am I saying!?
I was panicking and waving my hands around when my mom pointed a finger toward the girl.
“Kyotarou…”
“This person is, you see, ahm, well”
“Why is that notebook and pen floating in the air…is it some magic trick?”
“Huh?”
Floating…in the air?
Just when I was about to think she was joking around, I noticed that my mom’s distress looked genuine. In response to both my mom and me panicking, the girl put down the notebook and pen on the table and then straightened herself.
“I’ll now materialize myself, so please don’t worry any further.”
“Materi…alize?”
“Yes!”
With a broad smile, the girl turned to my mom and then…
“E-ehhh!?”
My mom screamed in surprise and dropped the phone to the floor with a loud thud.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am your son’s guardian spirit.”
“H-huh…?”
I alternated my gaze between my mom who was repeatedly opening and closing her mouth and the still-smiling girl.
After speaking, the girl then turned toward me.
“It would seem you have matters to discuss with your family, so I will take my leave here. If there’s anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
After bowing gracefully, the girl vanished.
This time, I clearly saw the light particles which had been her just a moment ago flow into me.
“Huh? She’s, gone? Was she a ghost?”
“Just what…?”
My mom and I were unable to move, completely baffled.
* * *
Afterwards, my dad arrived home earlier than usual and our family of 3 went to the hospital.
However, the hospital’s emergency room was full and we were unable to get an examination. The other clinics in the area were either closed or had too many people in line already. As such, we ended up simply going home.
Once home, my parents firmly told me to go sleep in my room even though it was just 9 in the evening. It wasn’t like I could sleep just because they told me to.
And so, with the covers of my bed wrapped around me, I fiddled with my phone. I was still too full of energy to go to sleep, and more importantly, I wanted to know what was happening with me and the world.
What I found from surfing the net were the following:
-
People from all parts of the world had awakened to some mysterious power. However, it still wasn’t clear how many people have awakened. It might be one in a hundred people or it could be only one in ten thousand.
-
Those people are referred to as [Awakened Ones]. It seems those who could use [Magic]-related powers somehow had the knowledge about this situation flow into their heads.
-
Awakened Ones had at least one superpower and a maximum of 3. However, a relatively small number of them were exceptions to the rule in that they have a [Distinctive Superpower] as well.
-
Onto the stats, [Strength] and [Endurance] did as their names suggested. As for [Resistance], it seemed to be the [resistance against magic and similar superpowers].
-
The average value for stats were still unclear. Some seem to be proposing that it was C, but it was all so complicated.
-
People who had guardian spirits or distinctive superpowers seem to be quite rare. Also, the guardian spirits seemed to obedient to their master(?) to a bizarre degree. At the moment, there didn’t seem to be any reports of any guardian spirit harming anyone.
-
By default, it seemed like guardian spirits couldn’t be seen or touched by anyone aside from Awakened Ones. That said, guardian spirits could show themselves and be touched if they so wished.
These were all information I got from the internet so it was best to take it with a grain of salt, but they were valuable information nonetheless.
If this set of information was to be believed, I was quite blessed, maybe. My stats averaged at around B+ and I had 3 superpowers. I also had a distinctive superpower. I didn’t know how, but I felt magic power, I supposed, to be flowing within me.
Still, I should be cautious. There were just so many things I didn’t understand.
Before I knew, it was already 2 in the morning. As to expected, my eyelids were growing quite heavy. Giving in to that sensation, I charged my phone and fell asleep.
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