9 Pikachu... Is That You?

"Sir Magician, may I ask you a question?"

"Hmmm? Go ahead."

Five hours had passed since Yachi used magic for the first time. After wrapping up their practical training for the day, Roan brought the young girl back into the house to enjoy their evening dinner. To celebrate her accomplishment, the Lulus cooked up a storm, consisting of nine delectable courses.

The food was as heavenly as usual, and the young teenager swallowed down the first eight courses as if she had been starving for weeks. Roan had a smaller appetite and only took in half of his portions, eating only the most delicious bits.

However, there was one meal that Roan was looking forward to out of the nine courses. Dessert was a cool mango sorbet with raspberries littered all over. It was one of Roan's most beloved indulgences. With a single bite, his face brightened up with joy as his sensory organs were overwhelmed by the sweetness of the fruits.

It was the first time that Yachi had seen Roan with such a satisfied face. He no longer looked like the terrifying man that oozed with confidence, but a young boy that loved his sweets.

Taking advantage of this, Yachi moved to ask the one question that had been on her mind the entire time.

"Sir Magician… Why do you want disciples?"

"Oh, I'd never told you?"

"Yes… You never did. J-Just like you said, shouldn't I know what my future Master is like? I don't know anything about you even though you'd saved my life and taught me so many things. I-Is it too much to ask?"

Yachi turned the words that Roan said against him. She was right though. Roan had learnt everything about Yachi, and yet, the girl knew almost nothing about the man. Other than his name, Roan didn't divulge too much about his past and motivations. Yachi didn't even know why he was so desperately chasing after her to become his disciple!

"No, it's not like I was planning on keeping it a secret..." Roan shrugged his shoulders. "Well, where to begin? Ah, remember that I'd told you that I was on the Frontier my entire life?"

"Yes! You were a participant in the Great Magic War and slain countless Demons from the Demon Empire!"

"Yeah, I did that. But before I became a magician that only knew war, I was an orphan whose family was destroyed during one of the Demon's campaign into Eusora."

"A-Ah! I'm sorry..."

"Haha, no need to be sorry. It was a story from a long time ago, and I have forgotten most of it." Roan waved his hands, showing that he didn't mind bringing up his past.

"As an orphan with nowhere to go, my options were limited. Either I stay on the streets, begging for food in the middle of a battle zone, or I volunteer to join the Defence Force and fought the Demons that made me an orphan in the first place. Being the kid I was, I naturally chose the latter."

"As a child with no special bloodline or any distinct talents, no one really paid too much attention to me. I didn't have a master like most magicians, and I certainly wasn't accepted into any of the top institutions. What I did have, however, was a lot of time."

The Magic God looked to the ceiling and thought back to his childhood days.

"I was lucky, to be honest. Normally, no Magician Lineage, Magic Tower, Aura Sect or any of the major organisations would usually teach their means to outsiders. However, because of the Great Magic War, every single human magician in the world banded together and shared their secrets to the Alliance database. And I..."

Roan turned his attention back to the young girl seated directly next to him. In many ways, Yachi reminded him of his past self. Young and naive. Ignorant of the world outside, but ever so curious.

"I… read and memorised everything in the Alliance's database."

"Y-You what?!" Yachi spat out her manga sorbet, staining the ornate table that laid before her.

There were over a hundred thousand books in the Alliance's Library, a few thousand grimoires, about a million scrolls, and countless more reading material. Even the oldest magician on the planet couldn't claim that he had read everything that the Alliance had to offer!

"Yes, I read them all. At least, the publicly available ones." Roan reiterated. "I used some spells along the way to help, so it wasn't too taxing on my brain. But eventually… I made it through."

"Of course, there were some secretive Magic Systems and high-tiered spells that the independent institutions kept to themselves, but for the most part, I've read everything about Human Magic. Quite the impressive feat, right?"

Roan boasted with his chest sprung high and waited for the young girl to shower him with praises like he was used to. Unfortunately, Yachi just sat there dazed. She was unable to comprehend the enormity of the feat, and her mind was on the verge of exploding.

"Ahem! Anyway, during my decade-long study, I played with the best Magic System for my own cultivation. However, even after browsing through thousands of Magic Systems, I was unable to find one that I was satisfied with. It didn't help that none of the magicians in the Alliance were willing to take me in as their disciple and guide me on the right path."

"So, eventually I said fuck it! If no one was going to give me the right Magic System, I'd just make one myself! I added some sugar, spice and everything nice and voila! I created the Magic Tyrant System!"

"M-Magic Tyrant System?"

"That's right! The perfect Magic System for me!" Roan's ego was boosted once again.

"You see, I knew every Magic System. I knew their strengths and weaknesses. What made them work and what made them fail. So I just took the best parts from the most famous Magic Systems and balanced them out accordingly. And the result was the Magic Tyrant System, the only Magic System in the world that allows you to learn every spell, magic system and aura technique in the world!"

"T-That powerful?!"

"Yeap! It truly is the most perfect Magic System in the Human Alliance. Even those old fogeys of the council acknowledge that." The Magic God smiled and took one more bite of his mango sorbet.

"It was a pity though… I tried teaching the Magic Tyrant System to the top brass of the Alliance, but none of them were able to comprehend it. They said that they lacked the intelligence and knowledge to use it and would rather stick to their own lousy Magic Systems."

"Ah, is that why you wanted a disciple?" Yachi started to put two-and-two together. "You wanted to hand the Magic Tyrant system to someone?"

"Well, there's that but..." Roan rolled his eyes before confidently declaring.

"The true reason why I wanted a disciple is… I want to just laze around!"

"Y-You… what?"

"... The rest of my colleagues are from Magic Towers or long lineages of magicians. They are Masters to at least ten disciples and always have an entourage the size of a small town. Can you imagine how I felt when that stupid Tower Master, who was a hundred times weaker than me, brought over a dozen of his best pupils?!"

Roan roared as he remembered one of the battles during the Great Magic War.

"They moved on the battlefield while he just sat back and watched! They were using the same spells and killing the same demons. They were literally doing his job! Also, they were all so respectful of him as if they were his servants! I'd also heard that a Sect Master's life is even more relaxing! He doesn't need to go out on the battlefield and yet the entire Sect all need to bow to him!"

The Magic God thought back on the many times he wanted to choke his colleagues for being born into an institution.

"Yachi! Do you understand my pain?!"

"Y-Yeah..." The girl answered passively, but her mind was wandering in a different location.

'Laze around… Is that really all to it?'

It was hard to believe that Roan wanted disciples just because he wanted to lead the life of a carefree master that sits back and watches. There was undoubtedly another reason why Roan wished to retire from the Frontiers, but he wasn't sharing it just yet.

'But still, if that's what Sir Magician wants then...'

"I will do my best to become a powerful magician! To help you achieve your dream!"

"Hohoho! You've finally seen the light, huh?" Hearing Yachi's words, Roan perked up in excitement. "Ah, since you've said that. Can I take it that you're willing to come under my tutelage?"

The whole reason why Roan was staying with Yachi in this rural town was to prove his worth to her. But if the girl had already decided to take him as her Master, there was no need for Roan to honour the original deal.

Roan's sharpness caught Yachi off guard, and her face immediately flushed red. She fidgeted on her chair, dropping her spoon as she looked at Roan with upturned eyes.

"I-If you would have me..."

"HAHA!!! Splendid! Of course, I would have you!"

The Magic God dropped his dessert and immediately rushed over to the teenager. He picked both her hands up and held them to his chest. He'd thought that his touch would calm Yachi down, but it only did the contrary.

Flushing red from the neck down, Yachi gasped: "S-S-Sir M-Magician, w-what are you doing?!"

"Hehe, now that you're my disciple. We should celebrate it with a bond! Trust me, I won't hurt you." Saying that, Roan closed his eyes.

A resonating power seeped out from his inner core and arose from the pits of his soul. Mana flowed out from his bosom and slowly entered the fingers of the young girl. Yachi knew this sensation. She had spent the past four days learning about it after all.

Roan was casting a spell on her, though she didn't know what kind it was, Yachi trusted the man.

There weren't any words shared between them, but Yachi could feel all of Roan's emotions at that moment. He was happy… excited… and even a little apprehensive.

It was the same on Roan's end. He could feel Yachi's pounding heart, her bubbling anticipation and the fear which was hidden deep within her soul.

There was now a bond between the Master-Disciple pair. A bond that couldn't be broken through any conventional magic. It wasn't a harmful spell, though. It was more of a mild connection to link the pair if anything.

"Done… I've just placed the most common blessing that is normally used within Magician Lineages. Now, if you're ever in danger, I will be able to sense it."

"..."

Yachi didn't answer. She was bobbing her head from side-to-side, intoxicated by the sweet mana that had just flowed through her veins.

"Yachi? Yachi, can you hear me?"

"..."

The girl still didn't reply. Roan could see life in her gorgeous sky-blue eyes, and her physical state wasn't affected in the slightest, which meant that the girl wasn't sick from the blessing. However, there was one more odd phenomenon that puzzled the Magic God.

"Electricity?"

Yachi's drowsy body now had a few coils of electricity enveloping her. At first, it was just one or two lightning snakes. It would shock the body, but it wasn't life-threatening in the slightest. However, that notion quickly changed. The lightning coils evolved from mere electric currents to full thunderbolts that demolished the furniture.

And worst still, it was growing stronger.

One thunderbolt zapped out from Yachi's cranium and bolted to the skies, destroying the newly patched-up ceiling. Another lightning coil broke free from her hands, taking the kitchen and all of its walls with it. Every time Yachi produced a thunderbolt, the surroundings would change. And they were multiplying by the second.

"What the hell? Why did you turn into Pikachu all of a sudden?���

Roan scoffed and raised his arms to cover the glare.

As powerful as the lightning bolts were, they were no match for the Magic God's defence. Many of the thunderbolts which were powerful enough to vaporise buildings, didn't even tickle Roan. Yes, it was uncomfortable to the eyes, but that was the extent of Yachi's sudden magical outpour.

"So this is what a Pinnacle Tempest Body's eruption looks like. Each one of the thunderbolts is at least in the Intermediate-Class and if you add them all together… Yeah, it could be classified as an Advanced-Class Magic Spell. If Yachi could harness that power, would she be able to make her own spell?"

Rather than running for his life, Roan was casually analysing Yachi's bizarre magic. The Lulus, however, were enraged by the mess that Yachi was causing. Although they liked cleaning up the house, Yachi was straight-up destroying it. They hopped up and down, unaware that they didn't look threatening in the slightest.

���Calm your tits," Roan commanded while calling all of them back into his pocket dimension.

"When someone with the Pinnacle Tempest Body erupts, it's best if you let them relieve all of that pent up pressure. Moreover, since she's agreed to become my disciple, we don't have to live here anymore. Who cares if this place burns to the ground?"

"But what could have triggered her eruption? I'd thought that her growth had been balanced? Hmmm, maybe her emotions also play a role in the frequency of the eruptions? Guess I'll have to observe her a little more."

Roan folded his arms and watched silently as Yachi continued her Pikachu impersonation. The house was burning, and its surroundings had been torched, but Roan didn't care. He just observed and waited.

And fifteen minutes later��

"Hah… Hah… Hah..."

Unable to continue, Yachi fell flat on the earthen soil. Her milky white skin was drenched with sticky sweat, and much of her clothes had been ripped away. Yachi saw double as she fought the overwhelming desire to hurl. She knelt on the floor, trying to catch her breath, but to no avail. Her lungs were empty, and it was difficult for the girl to even keep her body straight.

"Done?"

Roan offered a wet towel while he visually examined the girl.

"S-S-Sir Magician… M-My curse..."

"Yeah, I know. I was watching you the entire time." Roan took out a futon and placed it on the floor. He gently carried Yachi over to the soft ground, giving her time to rest up once more.

"You destroyed the house and your bed, so just make do with this for now."

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. I should be thanking you, instead! Your outburst really provided some valuable information for me. I think that I might be able to develop a new spell after watching you go crazy. In fact, you should do it more often! The more data points, the better."

"A-Ahaha..." Yachi bit the bottom of her lip, not knowing to laugh or cry.

The people of her village condemned her for having such a body. They cursed her and almost forced her into starvation. Yet, Roan wanted Yachi to create more thunderbolts?

'He really is a weird man...'

Yachi already knew that Roan was eccentric and this was just the icing on the cake. Yachi knew that the man was strange, but oddly enough, she felt comfort in his nuttiness. Just like the hot towel that caressed her face, Yachi felt her heart melting away.

But alas, the world wouldn't let Yachi have a moment.

From a distance, the sight of torches and pitchforks could be seen. Shouts of anger soon followed, and they were getting louder by the second. In no time at all, the mob would soon arrive at the pair's location.

"Hmmm? Oh, looks like we're going to have company."

"T-The villagers… After the ruckus that I'd made, they must be coming here to execute me..."

"Oya?" Roan cracked his knuckles and snorted.

"I would like to see them try."