NOVEL NEXT 6. New Neighbors
I have been practicing some new techniques in the dungeon with my skills. Like for example I made an AOE spell with Blaze Black Flare. My flames take the shape of sakura petals as they fall from the sky. It is not only beautiful but also very deadly. Around a radius of 5 meters is covered with it. Whoever comes in contact will be burned to death. It could be said as a beautiful death, for the onlookers obviously, not the victim. The petals can also distinguish between allies and foes. It also has homing capabilities and I can control it manually. I named it <<Senbonzakura>>.
I made two stepping techniques with Clarice and Vritra's help. The first one is very infamous. It's a technique where by concentrating mana on your legs you gain an instantaneous burst of speed. For beings in the same power level, it might look more like a teleportation than a martial art. It's called <<Flash Step>>
And I finally used Skill Sharing to gain <<Wind Manipulation>> from Hawks. With it, I've created something called <<Cloud Steps>> which is just as it says. I can walk on air. It has irregular footwork so that the opponent can't recognize my next movement. I had to reference a lot of martial arts books on them. Well most of them were wuxias. So if it wasn't for Vritra, I couldn't have achieved it. She has some unexpected knowledge. It seems she is more of a tactician than a brute fighter. So her knowledge of magic and martial arts is deep.
I also bought a skill called <<Dark Curtain>> from the shop which is a D-ranked spell.
Dark Curtain(D): Upon usage, the user is covered in pure darkness which conceals the existence of the user from the world. Sounds, smell, visibility, aura, or any kind of other traces will be erased upon usage-10000 points
It has a pretty cool visual effect when it's used. A dome of darkness surrounds me. Even if I use it in front of my enemy, all my traces will be erased as darkness surrounds me. That's extremely cool. But it's not omnipotent. Even an Ultimate Class being can detect me. So I will need to raise it's rank. It also consumes a lot of a man because of its high rank. Other things I bought from the shop are-
Teleportation(D):10000 points
Memory Manipulation(D):10000 points
The teleportation spell uses my Black Dragon King magic circle. It's a similar teleportation spell that all the supernatural use. Memory manipulation lets me look into someone's memory and alter them. It won't work on beings with Ultimate Class power.
Hawks and I also learned a defensive spell. It's a spell that surrounds the user in multiple whirlwinds which changes the trajectory of any attacks received. It has a huge mana consumption and at our level, it can only deflect F+ ranked attacks. Anything of a higher rank will pass through. But it's a spell with a huge potential. It's called <<Whirlwind Shield>>. That's how I've been using the last few weeks.
Another noteworthy thing is that I gained a new neighbor. The house next door is currently occupied by them. They are a family of three with a couple and their daughter who's around my age. It happened a week ago.
Flashback
"I smell youkais" suddenly Vritra said.
"Where?" I inquired.
"Somewhere near. Can you smell the unique scent in the air? It's the smell of a youkai"
"Hmm," I look outside to see a moving truck unloading furniture in front of the house next door.
"Are they our new neighbors?" I spoke out loud.
"Kouske, let's go meet them"Clarice chimed in.
" OK. If they are our new neighbors we should find out what kinda of people they are"Saying those words I went outside the house. When I was in front of their house I saw a black-haired man with relatively handsome features giving instructions to the workers on where to set the furniture in the house.
Then I saw a woman with long blonde hair and beautiful yellow eyes standing beside him talking with the other workers. I think they are both in their late 20s and are unnaturally beautiful.
Beside them in the corner was a lone pretty girl who looked like a younger version of the older girl. She was fidgeting around nervously. She must be around my age I surmised.
"Hello. Are you guys new here?"I asked like an innocent child.
"Yes, you are?" asked the older woman kindly. Her eyes widened for a moment but it soon changed back to normal.
"I live in the house next door" I replied.
" Oh!Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Leon Azusawa. What's your name?"
"I'm Kouske Miyamura. Nice to meet you, sir" I replied with my brightest smile.
"Hello, Miyamura-kun. My name is Arene Azusawa and this little one is our daughter Asagi Azusawa. Come on Asagi. Say hello" beckoned Mrs. Azusawa to the younger girl.
"H-hello." said the girl peeking out behind her mother.
"Hi" I gave her a warm smile but she hid back behind her mother.
"Eep!"
"So where are your parents? Are they home?" asked Mrs. Azusawa
"They're not alive anymore"
"Oh! I'm so sorry for asking something unpleasant" she said as she hugged me in her bosom while the kid just looked at me concerned.
"It's okay!" I pulled myself back before she could suffocate me anymore.
"So who else lives with you?" she again asked
"No one. I've been living alone"
"What!?" exclaimed Mr. Azusawa
"No worries. I can take care of myself. The government has also placed a supervisor for me"
"From now on we'll be living next to you. So come to us whenever you need something, okay?" said Mrs. Azusawa
"Hmm"
After that, we had conversed a little more. Nothing too important. At some moment I used to observe them and found out they were all tiger youkai. The parents are Mid Class while the daughter is Low Class in power.
At nighttime, I found Asagi outside my door with some food in her hands.
"H-hello. Mom said to give this to you" she said timidly in a small voice. She doesn't look like the type to be comfortable being around strangers. I asked her to convey my thanks to her mom and gave her some chocolates.
Flashback end
It's been a week since then. The Azusawa kid's been coming around daily. So she has become a little comfortable around me. I found out she has a tomboyish attitude behind her initial shyness and has trouble being honest with her feelings sometimes. So yeah, she's a combination of a tomboy and a classical tsundere.
I heard today was her first day at school and she was admitted to the same school as me. The Azusawa must have wanted to have her be admitted to a school with a familiar face instead of being alone in an unfamiliar school.
I found out that she had been standing outside my door for the last 15 minutes with her school uniform and bag on her. When I came out
"W-what a coincidence meeting you here, Miyamura," she said while looking around nervously.
'Yeah, right!' I thought I just gave her a strange look.
"I heard we are going to the same school. I-it's on the same path anyway, I don't mind us going together" she said loudly at first but then became quieter while saying the last line.
"Sure" I replied casually. The Azusawa's been nice to me so far and she's not a bad girl. So I don't mind being friends with her. We kept talking about different topics on our way to school. She was excited to meet everyone in her new school but didn't know how to approach them. I told her not to worry as they are not bad kids.
When we arrived at school the teacher asked her to introduce herself to the class. After having the introduction done the boring classes began. But on every break girls would gather around her to talk to her. I like the loner I keep myself seated in my place quietly.
After school, we were going back together as our destination was the same. While we were passing by the Kuoh Park, I heard Irina calling out to me.