18 Chapter 17
"You won't remember our conversation," I say a little sadly at the sight of Mr. Sato sitting on the sofa in front of me.
"Yes," he replied robotically.
Sometimes the human being is left to choose between what is easy and what is right.
While Mr. Sato was around, he would always be my Achilles heel. Hikimage knows my house and is alive around there, and I wouldn't underestimate his lack of scruples anymore.
I grabbed some clothes from my room and my spare glasses before heading downstairs.
After the police find no results of my disappearance, within a week, Mr. Sato would decide that he would take a trip out of the country with the excuse of being sad about the probable death of his son.
Of course, this was all temporary and I made sure to reduce the pain of the false loss in his heart. I didn't want to see him suffer and so I manipulated the situation to be as easy as possible for him.
I clench my fists in anger and frustration.
That's another motivation for me to kill Hikimage as soon as possible. Because until I'm not sure he's dead... I couldn't bring Mr. Sato back.
Carrying a small piece of luggage, I use the power of [Mirror of Adonis] to change the perception of my face to rent a room at an inn near the southeastern part of town. The 'money' and 'document' that I gave to the owner of the inn were also illusions.
Mirror of Adonis allowed me to control three senses simultaneously.
Using touch, sight, and sound control... The money and documents looked genuine from anyone's perspective.
It wasn't my intention to stay here for long, so a night's sleep for free wouldn't do much harm to the innkeeper.
I would use this moment to prepare for my hunt. Tonight I intended to set out on my quest.
I sit on the bed and start arranging the spells in my slots.
If I were to catalog my slots, they would currently look like this:
1 - Appraise magic
2 - Firebolt
3 - Mirror of Adonis
4 - Fighter
5 - Teleportation
6 - Minor mind control. (Used to manipulate the memory of beings with almost no energy.)
7 - Empty.
With only one more slot left, I had the general idea of what I needed most at the moment.
I started working on some formulas I had read for European magic. It's a common and very useful technique for magicians...
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[Magic Detection]
A non-stop spell used to send a wave of mana through 360 degrees, generating a three-dimensional mockup in the user's mind of the surroundings.
First sphere spell.
On/Off switch: detect on/ detect off
Recharge time: None.
Effective range: 200 meters.
Mana spent: 0
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I confess I was curious, as this would be the first raw mana-emitting spell that I would be using my no-mana hack...
So far all the spells I've used seem to emit no sign of magical energy or any other kind of supernatural energy.
But what would happen if I used a spell that manipulates mana at its very essence?
I just had to test.
"Detect on."
It was instantaneous.
My mind was filled with foreign information and when I closed my eyes I could see the real-time image of the world around me.
Even inside the inn, I could 'see' people on the street walking, cycling, cars passing by, the details of all the construction of walls and worse...
"Detect off," I turned off the spell in desperation.
Upstairs of the inn, two guys shared a room and were quite 'friendly' with each other. The urge to vomit came instantly as I recalled the scene.
"This magic is dangerous," I say with one hand on my head, wondering if using memory magic on myself works.
Misfortunes aside, the result of my experiment left me even more confused about my hack.
I may not be an expert at detecting mana disturbances, but I didn't feel any change in atmospheric mana
It seems that even a spell that in essence manipulates mana, my hack would somehow make it work without the need for it. It was a headache trying to figure it out now, and I left to ponder these nuances when I had more time.
I had the goal of getting my normal life back and going back to school. However, whether it would be fast or long would depend on the results of my hunt.
Today I would investigate the surroundings of Hikimage's house, but I would be as cautious as possible and try not to spoil everything.
I look at my watch and it's still 9:33 PM. I called reception asking for an in-room meal while I mull over my options.
Currently, one of my biggest flaws is the lack of flexibility in the way I use magic. I am limited by the number of magic spells saved in my slots and therefore had to find ways to circumvent this.
I had 137 spellbooks in my mind, which gave me an immense amount of spells at my disposal. The only factor that limited me from using my large arsenal of spells was the number of slots available.
If I were a regular magician and using the traditional casting method this wouldn't be a problem. But I didn't want to give up the ability to use spells without mana.
I look at one of the newly created abilities, [Fighter], and ponder.
This spell is living proof that in addition to being able to make minor changes with programming, I could also merge smaller spells together to generate a more powerful spell.
[Fighter] is currently a combination of two sphereless spells.
Because I need as much power as possible, I would try to add another third spell to the mix.
Closing my eyes I look at the fighter formula that is currently surrounding the statue of the woman holding the hammer in my inner world.
Changing is much easier than creating from scratch, but modifying a spell cluster is a big challenge.
+ [Blessing of the Wind]
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[Fighter]
A non-stop spell that passively increases speed by 5 times and natural body healing by 5 times. It also creates a windshield around the body that defends against slashing, piercing and melee damage. {damage limit: low-class devil}
While active, the user gains passive control of the wind equivalent to a sphereless spell.
Weakness: Increased damage taken from fire.
It is a mixture of two sphereless spells: [Fast Steps] and [Minor Heal], and the first sphere spell [Blessing of the Wind].
On/Off switch : 'Fighter on' ; 'Fighter off'.
Recharge time: None.
Mana spent: 0
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I smiled at the result of my creation.
Before fighter, it only increased my speed 3 times and now it increases 5.
"Fighter on," I say out loud and...
The bedroom furniture sways, the chandelier shakes, and the curtains are pushed back by a gale.
Surrounded my body was a mass of moving air.
Raising my hand, I use passive wind control to generate a mini tornado on my finger the size of a few inches.
It was different using magic from my will.
Although it was only on the sphereless level, while active fighter... I could passively control the wind through my will.
It was a pity the weakness acquired by the fire, but this was just the beginning and I had ideas of how to resolve it.
After having eaten the meal and making sure that the preparations were made...
It was hunting time.
...
It was past one in the morning, and traffic of people on the streets was nonexistent. Continuing I go through the dark streets that give access to the Hikimage neighborhood.
The intense cold of the dawn makes me think, the human body is really full of weaknesses.
There are a lot of things I should get over if I really want to be worthy of anything.
"Detect on," I say and the three-dimensional image of my surroundings comes to my mind.
My heart is looking forward to today's results.
If it was possible to take advantage of a gap to kill him, I would. And if it works out, I wouldn't even have to send Mr. Sato for the outside.
My plan was quite simple.
I know his house and I know where the gas supply systems go.
My plan was through my magical detection to determine whether or not he was nearby and if so...
I would blow him and his house together.
Unlike magic blasts, hikimage's house wards have no countermeasures to common blasts, as far as I know...
I doubt he would survive an explosion of the magnitude I had planned.
Hikimage may be magically strong and knowledgeable, but he's like me --- a human full of vulnerabilities.
The only sadness would be losing the countless books he had at his disposal due to the destruction. But that was a price I was willing to pay if it were to get rid of him.
That bastard wouldn't survive an explosion, would he?
I hope not.
Crossing the corner that leads to his street, my detection gave me a complete overview of my surroundings.
A few meters of walking and detection area had successfully reached his house.
And with that...
I frowned at something beyond my expectations.
Zooming in a little closer to see if that was correct.
From a distance, I grimace looking at the place that was my reason for coming here today.
Hikimage's house was in rubble.
Was this an illusion? Unlikely.
The magic detection was pretty clear that this is true.
I decided not to approach it in case it was a trap and continued to analyze the information in my head.
The rubble was blackened as if there had been a fire and no sign of life could be detected.
I decided to play it safe and backed up a bit to a small convenience store that was at the beginning of the same street.
This was a 24-hour convenience store and would be a good place for me to gather information.
Upon opening the door the bell was rung.
The merchant at the counter looks up from the magazine he was reading because of the bell and says, "Welcome, dear customer. How can I help you?"
For being dawn, I was using [Mirror of Adonis] to look like an adult so the merchant didn't care because of my age.
"Er -- I'll take these packets of potato chips," I said as I placed the packet on top of the cashier and started activating the spell I used to control Mr. Sato earlier.
"So, sir -- could you please let me know what happened to the house at the end of the street?'
"Eh? Strange. I don't think my head is very well," said the merchant as he held his head briefly. "I'm feeling kind of dizzy."
"It's okay, I'm sure it's because of the humidity in the air." my voice sounded like the devil's whisper.
"Oh? I see... That must be why. How silly of me to forget such an obvious thing," He begins to reassure himself with my absurd excuse and the hypnosis effect is complete.
"Answer my question."
"The abandoned house?" he said in a robotic tone.
"Yea."
"An old, abandoned gas pipeline exploded. That's what the police said," he said with faraway eyes.
Gas explosion?
Coincidence?
I bite my fingernail in frustration as the conclusions of it could only mean one thing.
That bastard was playing with me.
It all starts to make sense in my mind now.
The night he called me to his house and I saw that blood on the floor... Just before the teleportation, he said the following words:
We have a hunt to do.
At first, I thought he was referring to the harpies, but now I realize I was wrong.
He wanted this chase game.
He used the plural pronoun 'we', that is, the hunt is not just for me.
This is a sick game where one tries to find the other first.
Hunt or be hunted.
I spread an evil smile on my face because I finally realized something.
If I wanted to win this game, I would have to become as crazy as he is.
