Harmony Starts Her Investigation

"...Where are we now?"

"Still in your living room, I suppose." I told the floating projection of Bob standing near his mom.

"This is definitely going to become a big misunderstanding..." Bob spoke while looking at how his mother was suspiciously picking up my clothes that had been left on the floor...

For what reason would they be there, I wonder?

Nope, looking at it in her perspective. It's like coming home and seeing your adult son and a newly arrived adult girl's are gone, the only thing being left behind is the girl's clothes left-

Yep, he's screwed. No doubt. But wait, why does she seem to not want to go upstairs now?

Don't tell me she thinks...

"Let's appear upstairs after we're done."

"Why?"

"It would make more sense that way. You can keep your clothes messy if you want." It looked like Bob finally realised what I was getting at and was turning red by the second. He looked as if he was about to argue but sighed after some thought.

"You owe me one."

"Why would I owe you anything?"

"My reputation as a misogynist is going to get tarnished because of you!" He spoke really angrily.

"It's not THAT bad. At least they know you have taste. Plus, me pretending to be your girlfriend will keep the thot away." He seems like the kind of guy who doesn't realise how handsome he looks.

I'm not talking subjectively but objectively, Bob was kinda the type of guy that would be 'desirable' for girls. If it wasn't for the barrier called 'misogynist' keeping em' out of his heart, he'd be taken already.

"Keep the what now?"

"Dorothy." I realised my skip of tongue.

"Oh yeah... I know I'm pretty late asking this but why am I floating now? Am I dead now?"

"Do dead people wear clothes?" I rolled my eyes as he looked between himself and his mother's hands.

"I thought they did though. You're still wearing some despite leaving your real one behind. If ghosts didn't where clothes, then-" He suddenly scanned me from top to bottom pretty seriously(?).

"That would be nice and hot."

"Now think about dudes." I flipped his perspective.

"That would be cold... and disgusting."

"Haha, I just knew it! Fine. I'll get to the point of why where here. This is a little hard to explain..."

"I've been told I catch onto stuff quickly." He patted his chest as if to show his confidence.

"We are in the 'collective consciousness' of the world while using your own as an anchor."

"We're in the what now?"

"Let's just say that this world is the best place to be in order to investigate someone. I need to know more about Dorothy's powers before we try fighting her and taking her Origin Shards." I was still interested in those 'shards' because of Bob.

If no one took them from her, then not only might Bob be victimised further, but others could as well.

"There's no point in staying here. Time to go look around." I spoke while leading the way outside.

"Did she ever visit your house as a child?" I asked while sensing the consciousness of the world.

"We used to gather over there to play 'Beasts and Hunters' together? Why ask?" He lifted his brow.

I went to the area he talked about and recreated what that area could remember of their past using Bob's memories as an anchor. What appeared before our eyes where two cute, innocent kids.

Bob was surprised but quickly adapted, he could easily tell what I was aiming for by doing this.

"...Do we have time for this?"

"Time is a relative thing. If you have no point of reference, it can distort from person from person."

"Does that mean we're in the past?"

"Wrong. We're nowhere, and therefore, in every point in time, as it is relative to what we see."

"This is too overpowered..."

"Not really. Origin Shards are stronger." I spoke while returning our attention to his past memories.

"...As expected, you seem like normal friends at this point. I see no anomalies in your innocent relationship." I continued with weird expression as I saw the contrast between the sweet smile on the little girl in his memories and the girl I saw.

"I know, right? Don't know what happened." Bob spoke up as if he didn't understand what happened between them. This wasn't a memory filled with his biases but what truly occurred in his past.

As the one manipulating the collective consciousness of the world, I decided to fast forward their happy times together and get to the bits Bob was unaware of. When Dorothy left Bob's side, she seemed to get surrounded by other kids.

"What are-" Just as he furrowed his brows, the girl he saw as his friend back then was suddenly slapped. Anger boiled in his eyes as, despite not being able to hear their words, he could somehow understand the motives of those that bullied her.

Of course, these motives were childish and a little abstract in nature. As children are too fickle.

"She never told me..." As Bob watched on, the figures of adults who just watched on whenever she was bullied while he wasn't around seemed to increase with time. They didn't seem to even mind the injustice Dorothy went through all her life.

I couldn't understand it. Why were people treating her this way? We followed her and saw how she routinely went from home, accompanied her mother to learn housework and other skills needed in the village, and played with Bob in her free time.

Slowly, the amount of times she would meet her parents dwindled until a young girl who seemed to be her sister completely erased her presence in her own home. In the end of it, her parents seemed to stop involving themselves with her anymore...

It was then a thought occurred to me:

"Do you know her Magical Talent?"

"From what I heard: I think it was F Rank." It was these words that fit everything into place,

Magical Villages didn't work like the Modern Era of Earth. As most common errands needed Common Spells to do. I guess you can say the social structure is different from the norm here.

No duh, this is an 'Otherworld' after all...

The more I saw her be bullied, the more I found it uncomfortable. From what I could see and relate to when comparing and contrasting what she went through with my past life: Bob was her 'Oasis'.

Low self-esteem thanks to being treated like 'junk' all her life and the fact that Bob was literally the only person in the world who was ever happy to see her lead to her obsession, and as if to prove me right, what we saw written in her room was:

{I'm junk, incompetent people like me should die!}

{Die! Die! Die! Die! Sister is better than me!}

{Why do I even exist? I'm a waste of life!}

{Only Bob loves me! Only he cares for me!}

I know this is insensitive but I gotta give props to her handwriting skills. It's strange... why is it that her parents never once in their lives ever bothered to check on their daughter in her room? Does having F Rank Magical Talent count as a label of worthlessness? I can't help but feel bad for her the more I watch. Although there were good times in the life, the exaggerated bad parts were too much!

"I never knew it was this bad... No, maybe I just ignored it out of convenience..." Bob criticised himself as he was most affected by watching how her life played out. I didn't blame him though...

From what I've experienced, third parties almost subconsciously stop themselves from getting involved in this kind of stuff. It's fictional that there will always be a good friend or adult to save you.

To get out of bullying, the only thing you can do is save yourself... That's what I learnt. Inner power may not ensure others won't bully you, but it WILL grant you the piece mind that you did your best.

I'm not sure how to make of this... Slowly watching an innocent girl turning deranged over time is-

Oh wait, I can always fast forward to the parts I'm curious about. Now when did she come into contact with Sylphy's Origin Shards? I ignored how Bob fell into deep thought and found what I was looking for near the time when they formed a group together. From what I saw, Dorothy's behaviour was as expected. The only thing that seemed to change it was when she coincidentally found-

SEVERAL ORIGIN SHARDS AT ONCE?!

What's with this girl's luck? Did all her misfortune balance out in the form of those five Origin Shards?

I couldn't hear her words, but I could sense how excited she was when she found that the Origin Shards she found by the road could mould their innate 'Attribute' to fit her desires. Just one touch was enough to tether themselves to her arm.

No wonder her arm looked a little different from what I expected... It seems the Yin Shard was created out of her desire for magical strength and the Yang Shard was for her own physical strength.

For some odd reason, she still valued her younger sister and gave her the Yin Shard out of tender love... thus leaving her with four Origin Shards in total. Judging from the desires radiating off the Origin Shard, what was left were the Origin Shards of Love, Lust, Envy and Yang. The last one being the biggest piece while the other three being equal in size. No wonder she could overpower me...!

The 'Yang Attribute' Origin Shard was a self-created Attribute that could essentially do what Aura Manifestation does but with more ease that comes from the fact is augments impartially.

Although the Yang Attribute gave no resistance to magic, it could increase physical power and agility to a level that equals all four Elemental Aura except Lightning Aura being used at once. This was ignoring her Cursed Shards and Blessed Shards.

Out of the three shards that were left, the Lust and Envy ones were Cursed Shards while the only Blessed Shard she came across was ironically that of 'Love'. This made me wonder if she found them or if the Origin Shards had found her instead.

"You can talk to me if something is bothering you. I am all ears." I called out to Bob at the side.

"...Are we really just going to beat her up? What about her connections to some organisation?"

"I can only bring up interactions between people you've met before. There's no way to find them unless I do the same thing as I did with you with Dorothy or investigate her in my shadow form."

"Then why don't you do that?"

"You ask too much questions. Obviously, it's because I want to beat her up for your sake."

"You really don't have to." He blushed as it looked like the first time someone defended him this way.

"Of course I do! Also, I know what you mean about trying a different method. We are most likely not her match as we are right now. Although she might not kill you, she'll definitely capture you again..."

"...We're screwed."

"Not quite. Let's go collect some Origin Shards from weaker people first. You also need to get used to my support before you can truly bring out my potential as well. And I found the perfect punching bags~" I smiled as I looked into the distance.

The scenery around us changed as we somewhere near of Bob's house. From there I showed a drunk who wasn't even trying to hide his intentions of going to Bob's house to cause a fuss. Bob seemed to make a bitter smile as he recognised the man.

"He also used to be an old friend of mine, but his bad habits and constant splurging on alcohol made me decisively cut our relationship. I think he heard about my Achievement and wanted to get some money out of me." He scratched his cheek a little.

"You have a bad eye for friends... Well, what about that mohawk guy next to him who's egging him on? You know him as well?" If he says this guy's also an old friend then I'll need to get his eyes checked.

"Never seen him before. I guess this guy's just one of the new 'friends' he made in the wrong crowd."

Learning from my mistake, I chose not to check this jerks backstory since I didn't want to empathise with him whatsoever. No matter what reasons he had, there's no reason to act like this.

Before the two sharks could get to the door, I let Bob out of my shadow upstairs and let him get to the door without much hassle. Bob's mother didn't see my puppet body come down, but my true body had been tethered under him out of her notice.

Now is the time for action!