BXBX NOVEL Chapter 10: The Truth About the World!
Chapter 10: The Truth About the World!
------
"Oh my, to think that you would have such a backstory, Frank-kun~," said Matsuo\'s mother with a gentle smile. As she served Frank some green tea, he had been invited to have dinner with Matsuo\'s family, which he could not reject due to the circumstances given, he also wanted to give everyone a good impression of himself, and simply rejecting the invitation of dinner would make a very bad impression in Japanese culture standards.
"It\'s really nothing… I just woke up from an electric shock while sleeping and then I awakened an Ability… Who would have thought? I was a simple civilian before all of that…" said Frank.
"Oh, I get it! I get it! I was also a simple civilian, but due to my unfortunate encounter with a Vampire, I almost died! And then that is where dear came and saved me! Before that, he was one of my friends at school… after he saved my life, I couldn\'t help but fall in love with him!" said Matsuo\'s mother.
"Mom, you tell the same story to every new member that I bring here…" muttered Matsuo.
"But it\'s a romantic story, everyone loves romance, Matsuo!" said Matsuo\'s mother.
"I was told that you\'re a Healer-type Ability User, Frank-kun, how advanced is your ability? Can you cure my back pain?" asked Matsuo\'s father.
"Err… well, I could try?" muttered Frank.
"Wait, Frank! Don\'t do what this old man tells you! Father, Frank\'s ability is not for something like that! Just go to the springs if you want another massage…" muttered Matsuo.
"Hahaha, but it\'s killing me, Frank!" said Matsuo\'s father, trying to act like an old man.
"Don\'t worry, I can try at least" said Frank, as he touched Matsuo\'s father\'s shoulders and activated the Gift of Life Skill.
Frank began to emanate a bright and golden aura of life, as such energy was transferred into Matsuo\'s father\'s body.
He felt as if his bones became a bit sturdier, his muscles relaxed and most of the pain was dulled out, giving him slight drowsiness even.
"Uuuoooohhhhh~! This is of the gods! Frank-kun, your Ability is perhaps the best I\'ve ever seen! My back pain is completely gone! Look at me! I can even stretch like I used to do in my early years as a Demon Hunter!" said Matsuo\'s father.
"What? You actually healed him?!" asked Matsuo in disbelief.
"I\'m glad I could help… By the way, what\'s a Demon Hunter?" asked Frank.
"Ah, that\'s one of the assignations that you can get in the clan, we call Demon Hunters to the group of Ability Users that clean demons off the streets… Thanks to these people is that civilians can walk all happy and leisurely around without many worries" said Matsuo.
"Are you interested in becoming a Demon Hunter, Frank-kun? A Healer is always required within parties!" said Matsuo\'s father.
"Well… I never knew I would be so requisite… I will think about it, but if I can support the clan like that, I might" said Frank.
"That\'s the spirit!" said one of Matsuo\'s younger sisters.
"We will become Demon Hunters whenever we reach fifteen!" said the oldest of Matsuo\'s young sisters.
"Daddy says that Demons are scary, but if you can collect the crystals they drop, you can sell them for money or use them to make your Ability stronger!" said the youngest of the sisters.
"Is that so…? Well, to be honest, I don\'t have a clue about monsters… what are they to begin with?" asked Frank.
"Ah, well, you\'re new in all of this, Frank-kun, so we should have introduced you about more about the real world sooner…" muttered Matsuo\'s father.
"Indeed, I guess it\'s time for a big info dump," said Matsuo.
"Wait… infodump?" asked Frank with concern.
"Because you have been living your life as a civilian up to this point, you might have never seen monsters in your life, and that is normal for normal civilians without Abilities, but monsters do exist. To begin with, the world that you call \'paranormal\' is more like the normal world, while the society structured by the civilians is a fa?ade for the rest of the population, so it can be remained in control by the governments and the organizations that runs it" said Matsuo\'s father.
"Yeah, have you thought about the energy that you need to use when you activate your ability, Frank?" asked Matsuo.
"Ah, I always assume that it\'s like… MP, Mana Points in videogames" said, Frank.
"Well, it is exactly that… to an extent. We all have Mana since we are born, but we can only use it when we awaken an Ability, some are from special families of demi-humans, such as Vampires and Werewolves who are born with many Abilities from the get-go, while our family is humans with magic abilities, mostly" said Matsuo.
"Ah, that doesn\'t mean that those guys don\'t have magic… because they do, and it is quite strong on their own," said Matsuo\'s father.
"Anyways, to introduce monsters to you, we have to clear up Mana first… Because we are not the only ones that can wield it nor possess it, the whole world is shrouded in it since the beginning of well… everything. And since humanity was born, it has been surviving against the creatures born from within the Mana of the world. No, Frank, Earth is not just filled with animals, those are simply for the show in zoos"
"The actual \'animals\' of our world are terrifying monsters of all shapes and sizes that used to roam freely through the world until humanity and the other demi-human factions put an end to them… mostly. We simply couldn\'t stop the world from generating them constantly, but what history says is that humanity and the demi-human factions \'cleansed\' the world for people to live in peace, while making special areas where such monsters would be let to appear"
"Special places? So the outside world is safe aside from these places?" asked Frank.
"Not… exactly," said Matsuo.
"Frank-kun, to put in an example, what if you have a stream of water that is constantly filling a room with it. You want to stop it from filling the entire room with water, but you can\'t simply stop the stream of water… so what you do is separating a special area in the room where the water will flow. However, because space is way smaller than the rest of the room, it gets full very quickly. That\'s what happens with these special areas and the rest of the world. The ancient humans and demi-humans concentrated large amounts of Mana in certain areas of the world, often called Magic Realms, and those of smaller size named Magic Domains… By concentrating all the mana in them, monsters would appear incessantly there, but the rest of the world would remain mostly clean of them, as the world would prioritize the places filled with mana to make monsters appear" said Matsuo\'s father.
"I see… so it\'s all… Mana at the end?" asked Frank.
"Pretty much, it is the curse of our existence, the primordial energy that created life, that created monsters, and that created the power to let us fight against them," said Matsuo\'s father.
"You two talk as if the world was somehow alive…" muttered Frank.
"Well, in various religions and mythology across the world, it is believed that the world possesses consciousness and is alive. Some call such entity as Gaia, others even Yggdrasil… in here we just call it the World," said Matsuo.
"The World is also the one we believe chooses people to wield Abilities, Awakeners that are not born with Abilities are often called as the children of the world, as they were granted a power directly by it, unlike someone like me or my children, who inherited it through our bloodline," said Matsuo\'s father while sipping in some tea.
"In a way, you\'re even luckier than you originally thought, Frank!" said Matsuo while patting Frank\'s back.
Frank was barely processing the amount of information given to him through this long conversation, but he could not help but think about something…
"Did the World give me such an ability? And why? What was the purpose… behind it?" he thought with concern on his eyes, which Matsuo noticed almost immediately.
"Cheer up man, everything will be okay. Our faction is known for its righteousness, we offer a hand to the Awakeners that are lost after getting to know about the Realm World. And we take pride in helping them survive and to feel welcomed into our clan, rest assured" said Matsuo while winking his left eye.
"Hm, just as my son said, rest assured, Frank-kun. I own your favor for having healed by back pain that has been tormenting me for years now… so whenever you feel like, come with Matsuo so I can teach you Mana Manipulation, alongside a bit about Sealing Magic, which might be useful for you if your affinity matches with it" said Matsuo\'s father.
"I see, thank you very much, sir," said Frank while bowing.
"Don\'t bow, don\'t bow! In our clan we do not like traditions as much as other clans, relax and enjoy dinner, my wife made it especially delicious for our guest! There is a feast of seafood freshly harvested from a Magic Domain we have near the sea. In such a place we can harvest products from the sea without any issues" said Matsuo\'s father.
"I see… So such places can also be used for things like those…" said Frank.
"Indeed, did you noticed that you entered into a different space when you reached the shrine? You entered the Magic Domain of the clan in that time, the large tower there is also a Magic Domain, and it has many rooms that lead to large landscapes where monsters roam around, the great ancestor and the strongest of her children often explore such places in search for materials and Magic Crystals of high quality" said Matsuo.
"If you raise enough in the ranks, you might be given the opportunity of entering there, Frank-kun. I think you will have a smooth sailing due to your Healing Abilities" said Matsuo\'s father.
"Haha, I hope so, sir…" muttered Frank.
"Oh right, we should inform the other clans about the location of your family\'s house… they\'re all normal civilians, right? Hm, it would be better if you could simply bring them to live in here, but it would all be way too sudden, and our superiors might not like the idea… For now, we will just leave several Seals around their neighborhood, which will both alert intruders that want to mess with your family and also monsters that might follow you around" said Matsuo\'s father.
"Really?!" asked Frank in disbelief, after hearing how dangerous this world truly was, hearing this from Matsuo\'s father gave him great relief.
"Indeed, leave it to us, Frank," said Matsuo.
Frank could not help but feel immensely grateful for such warm and lovely people. They were not so different than his own family, and he felt really welcomed by everyone.
Having told his parents that he had dinner in the house of a new friend he had, Frank enjoyed the large dinner, which included jumbo-sized seafood, which was in fact monster versions of various types of sea animals often enjoyed in Japanese cuisine.
Eating monsters was really a completely different experience though, as they had delicious and stronger flavors than normal animals… Frank began to think that he would certainly never find normal food delicious anymore.
Ding!
[You have forged a relationship with the [Matsuo Family (Tokyo Shrine Clan)]!]
Ding!
____________
[Join a Faction and Forge a Relationship with One of its Families!] (Hidden Quest) Completed!
Congratulations! It seemed that your original world was not a simple as you thought! After undergoing a series of events, you finally joined one of the main factions of clans in Tokyo!
What exciting future might await you? Only time will tell!
__________
[You acquired the Quest Rewards: A Small Amount of EXP, [Rainbow Commemorative Reward Package (D-Grade)], and 20 APP Points!]
[Your level has raised to 4!]
[You gained bonus APP Points accordingly to your levels gained]
[Your stats have increased accordingly to your levels gained]
"Wait, a hidden quest just at this time…? What is a package? A game-like item? Ah, this reminds me that I need to do the Daily Quests…" thought Frank, as he dismissed the holographic windows with a faint wave of his hand and continued the dinner until very late at night, where he was finally let go by the Matsuo Family.
Matsuo accompanied Frank back to his house alongside his father, as both of them made sure to leave several seals around the neighborhood before leaving.
When Frank was back home, all of his family was already sleeping, so he just went back to his room and sat down on his bed, glancing at the window that had been replaced by a new one.
He then sighed in relief that everything had gone fine today, as he glanced at his phone and touched the World\'s Gate APP.
-----
[Name: Frank James
[Race: Human, (???)
[Titles: World Traveler.
[App Points: 60
[Job: Farmer.
[Job History: None.
[Level: 4
[Health Points: 20/20 > 25/25(+10)
[Mana Points: 14/14 > 16/16
[Strength: 11 > 16 (+5)
[Defense: 11 > 16 (+5)
[Magic: 7 > 10
[Resistance: 7 > 10 (+5)
[Agility: 7 > 10 (+5)
[Passive Skills: [World\'s Traveler Body: Level -], [Gift of Life: Level 1], [Curse Resistance: Level 1], [Hypnosis Resistance: Level 1], [Divine Brand of the Monk Family of Tokyo: Level -]
[Equipment: [Farmer\'s Jeans (F)], [Leather Gloves (F)], [Leather Boots (F)], [Farmer Shirt (F)], [Straw Hat (F)], [School Uniform (Cosmetic Item)]
[Active Skills: None.
[Relationships: [Matsuo Family (Tokyo Shrine Clan)]
[Tamed Monsters: None.
[Worlds Visited: Earth, Terra (Farm Town App).
[APP Special Functions: Inventory, World\'s Gate, Quest Board, APP Gacha (Locked), APP Shop (Locked).
-----
Author\'s Note: If you like the story please give any powerstone you could spare, if we reach a nice number there will be bonus chapters at the end of the week, it all depends on you!
Thank you very much for reading!