Chapter 170: Preparation
Prota watched as John held his head in his hands, muttering to himself incessantly. She was a little concerned.
She vaguely understood what had happened. Kit had co to him for advice, and they’d gotten into a bit of an argunt. Prota didn’t quite understand what could’ve possibly led to such an argunt, but John wasn’t giving details, and that ant that it wasn’t her place to ask.
However, she was a little concerned about the fact that John was so nervous at the mont. She wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure if it was sothing she should do.
“Hey, Prota,” John said suddenly. “If you had to invade- no, scratch that. If you had to find the realm of Mystics, how would you do it?”
Concern over John’s worries quickly turned into a different concern. What had he just said? Invade? They’d invaded the Wynton household, and that had gone surprisingly well, but…
“That letter. It ca from the Ninetails clan. That ans we have to go there next.”
Prota didn’t understand. Now that she thought about it, it’d been a while since they’d first set out. She’d done her fair share of reflecting, but most of that had been on how she’d grown, not on how close they were to their goal.
What with Doctors, cultists, Mystics, dragons and such, she’d gotten a little distracted, but the end goal remained the sa: defeat the Demon King.
But wasn’t this whole journey to make her stronger? She’d never really thought that it would be hard to find the Demon King. If anything, Diaboli was looking for them. Why was John trying to track things down? They had ti. Although Prota hated to admit it, she still had much to learn. She was beginning to see how foolish she’d been back in Vulcan.
Even now, she stood no chance against the one who’d started it all.
“Prota, you don’t get it,” John sighed, swinging off his bed. “You need to get stronger, yes. But this isn’t just about you anymore. I made that goal before I t Diaboli. Things have changed.”
“...changed?”
“Look. I guess it’s about ti I re-explained things anyway. You understand a bit about the [Plot], so we’re gonna get a little more advanced now, ok?”
Prota nodded hesitantly. She wasn’t looking forward to the barrage of concepts that might co her way, but at the sa ti, too long an explanation would be just as bad.
“Great,” John nodded, seeing Prota’s response. “Alright. When I proposed my plan to you, there were two vital pieces of information I lacked: the first was that Diaboli had my mories. The second was that my mories had influenced the world.”
Prota nodded. So far, things weren’t too confusing.
“So, no offence, but I didn’t really think much of you. I was planning on helping you beat a standard Demon King, which would’ve been easy enough, then… um, well, I would’ve looked for my mories so more.”
What he didn’t say was that he’d been planning on dumping her. Granted, back then, they had yet to form a [Destiny Bond], so in John’s eyes, Prota had been nothing but another [Character] that might lead him toward sothing useful.
Of course, he was sensitive enough not to say any of that.
“Even if you had been incapable of defeating the Demon King, I would’ve either used [Resets] or [Infinity] to help out. However, it is no longer possible to defeat Diaboli with just us. That’s why I went to recruit Destiny, but that leads to the next set of issues: [Characters] with [Deus Ex Machina] energy.”
Prota’s eyes widened. She understood that it was what made John so strong, but other than that… she didn’t really know what it was.
“Did I… did I explain what that is?”
Prota nodded. She didn’t care for an explanation.
“Great. Now, initially, I had thought that Diaboli was an [Antagonist], so even with [Deus Ex Machina] power, Destiny would be able to defeat her. However, this is where the second problem cos in: the world being impacted by my powers. Fighting with Doctor taught this. Beings with [Deus Ex Machina] power gain a trait other than gaining new powers. They lose their [Character Inertia] and beco sothing new.”
Prota held her head. John waited patiently for her to absorb the information. For soone who wasn’t entirely familiar with stories in general, not just as a reality, this could be a little hard to grasp.
Eventually, though, she ntioned for him to continue. He raised an eye, but she shook her head.
She could handle this much.
“Great,” John nodded. “Now, the whole point of worrying about all of this is that I don’t have control anymore. I thought I had things handled when we started. Not anymore. I’ve learned a lot these past four years, even if it doesn’t look like it. I can’t just rely on Destiny being the [Protagonist] or my strong powers to get us through. We have to treat this like a real [Story], complete with a beginning, climax and end.”
Prota nodded, trying to keep along. She didn’t know what a climax was. John had yet to give her lessons in literature, which was odd considering so of the other things he’d bothered to teach her.
Regardless, she sensed he was getting to his point.
“Look. I’m kinda embarrassed to admit this, but… we’re going to proceed from here on out as [Characters]. Not [Readers]. Not [Writers]. I don’t have enough power for that. So for now, we need to figure out a way to defeat Diaboli in the literal sense. And that involves going on a journey, finding clues, discovering backstories, all of that junk, all in hopes of discovering even a single weakness.”
That was it. It made sense, to be fair. John’s thought process was definitely a little different from the norm, so for him to claim that he needed to approach things sowhat more normally was definitely sothing he had to declare.
However, there was just one crack in his line of reasoning. Prota didn’t want to ntion it, but she felt it had to be done.
“Um… John. What if… what if there’s… no weaknesses?”
For a mont, Prota’s heart skipped a beat. John’s face went back to that blank, empty stare he usually had. She hadn’t seen it in a good bit. The face he’d shown back at the fight with Sofya had been one of despair and desperation.
This was just… nothing.
“I… there’s sothing I can do,” John said, slowly recovering. “But I’d prefer if it didn’t co to that.”
Prota nodded. If this alternative plan had caused John to react like that, she, too, didn’t want to see what it was.
~~~
The days at the castle passed slowly. Prota was glad to see Celestia, who had gotten a little less touchy during their ti together at Scholaris. Things seed a little out of order, what with Scholaris having ended early, and there was a bit of a scramble to clean things up. However, many of the adults reassured the children that there was nothing to worry about.
Speaking of adults, John had returned to his adult form. Nobody really ntioned it, save for Prota, who seed to be the only one who noticed. Just like when he’d turned into a child, everyone seed to just accept it as sothing that had always been.
“Just part of the [Story],” John had said when asked about it. “What’re you gonna do?”
Prota felt a shiver run through her body. It wasn’t a pleasant one.
She hadn’t understood the magnitude of what this had ant three years ago, but she was starting to realize just how absurd John’s existence was. Reality had literally been warped around his physical appearance. The very rules and facts of the world had been ignored, minds had been rewritten, all to make the changing of his age plausible.
If there was any proof that they were living in a story, this was it.
Still, days turned into weeks. The weather, once cold, slowly grew warr. Prota often sparred with Destiny, sothing she’d once been nervous to do. Celestia’s healing magic ca in handy during these monts, and it served as training for the princess as well. However, she was often whisked away to the castle to learn her duties as a royal, much to her dismay.
Hart would sotis join in the sparring sessions when she wasn’t busy training with the knights. She was still a force to deal with, and like John had said, Destiny would lose every ti. Prota managed to hold her ground a few tis, but she was still intimidated by the older Windwalker child. Even without her position in the [Story], her skills were formidable.
There were other Windwalkers, apparently, but Prota had yet to et any of them. From what she understood, there had been an internal quarrel during the first sumr vacation that Destiny had taken care of on his own.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from ; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Her favourite monts, however, were her training sessions with Kit. Now that Prota’s understanding of mana had reached a higher level, Kit could really start to get into the thick of things.
As a magic nerd, the Mystic had made all sorts of theories regarding elental mana that she herself couldn’t test. It was interesting to see, but Prota’s control over ice was actually better than Kit’s. Of course, Kit still completely outclassed the little girl, but Prota was beginning to reach a level such that Kit saw her as soone who could stand on her own rather than a sproutling that needed watering.
Through their ti together, Prota managed to solidify the spells she’d learned near the end of her ti at Scholaris. Her domains beca clearer, her powerful spells more stable and manageable. Just like with her first circle spells, she tightened the mana usage and output of her higher circle spells, increasing the proficiency imnsely.
“You’re a sixth circle mage at this point, Prota,” Kit said giddily. “Do you know how many adults struggle to reach that in their lives? If you were a dragon or a Mystic…”
There was sothing odd about their ti together, though. Whenever John was ntioned, instead of getting annoyed, Kit would try and switch the topic. From what Prota rembered, Kit had a bad impression of John. Of course, half of it was in jest, but John did have a personality that wasn’t exactly nice to be around.
On top of that, for what she knew, they’d had a fight. Had the fight really been that bad? After a while, she tried to avoid bringing her brother up.
Winter slowly turned to spring. The ice on the ground lted, and the snow turned to rain.
During all of this, John was nowhere to be found.
Well, to be more accurate, he could often be found holed up in their room, poring over sheets of information and theories in his system, muttering to himself like a madman. He could also be found playing video gas a lot, but only Prota knew that.
Destiny had to drag him out for als and exercise, sothing John didn’t really need in the first place. The exercise, that was. Still, it was good for John to get out. He might’ve gone insane without outer intervention.
Indeed, he was close. Prota found him tearing at his hair one day, poring over pages and pages of notes.
“I don’t get it. I don’t… was this part of the original [Plot]? Or was this sothing we were supposed to do on our own? No, the [Author] wouldn’t… but, no, would Destiny have… I’m close, I can feel it…”
She walked up to him, and he didn’t even notice her presence. Deciding not to bother him, she took a look at his notes. Her eyes widened in surprise to see their journey jotted down in ssy but legible detail. Multiple points were circled, arrows pointing to words she didn’t recognize. From the context, though, she surmised that John was trying to reference other stories he’d read.
A lot of arrows were pointing to one final point.
[Too early?]
She didn’t quite get what that ant. What was too early?
“Prota.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin as John grabbed her by the shoulders. Since when had he realized she was there?
“You’re more in touch with people than I am.”
Prota’s eyes widened. She was?
“You understand emotion. I don’t. Not really. Well, I don’t know. None of that matters. Look, I just need your opinion. Let’s say you have a fight with your family, and you run away. You’re on bad terms. Then, your family asks for your help. If you help your family, you also help soone like , soone you care about. Would you do that?”
Prota backed out of his grasp, shaking her head in confusion. John was speaking too quickly. He saw this and sighed, trying to calm himself down.
“Look. Let’s say we had to go back in ti, back to when you were living on the streets. Everyone hates you. However, if you go back to that ti, you can potentially help with sothing important. Essentially, you’re willing to be treated like trash one more ti in order to help soone you care about. Would you do that for ?”
She considered, but only for a few seconds. A definitive nod. Of course she would.
Strangely enough, John didn’t say anything to her response. It was almost as if he’d ignored it entirely. He began to pace back and forth, shaking his hands, muttering to himself like a madman.
“Then… would the Sofya incident have happened without ? No. Or would it? Let’s say it didn’t. Let’s say… yes, let’s say it didn’t. Then Destiny would’ve finished, then by fantasy standards… if the story continued, he would reach a roadblock. Then, where do you go to break a roadblock? A more powerful training source. What’s a…”
He stopped talking, suddenly growing alert. His face settled back into his usual grin, and for the first ti in a month, he seed sane. Or, well, whatever passed for sane with John.
“Ok. We might be stuck here for a year,” John sighed, flopping onto his bed.
On one hand, Prota was worried. After all, being stuck in one place for a whole year was definitely concerning. On the other hand, it was good to see John back in good spirits. She flopped onto the bed, lying next to John, staring up at the empty ceiling above.
To be honest, she wasn’t too worried. Yes, the prospect of inactivity for a year wasn’t appealing, but at this point, she wasn’t too worried. She couldn’t beat the Demon King yet anyway, and it didn’t look like anything would help her accomplish this goal in the next few years. Sure, later on, she might be strong enough, but such things couldn’t be rushed.
Besides, she liked spending ti with John. If they could play around for a year, she would be more than ok.
“Alright,” John said with a grunt.
He sat up, heading off to the washroom. Prota heard the sink running, followed by the splashing of water, and when John ca out, his face looked far fresher than it’d been in weeks.
“Let’s go get sothing to eat.”
~~~
Just like John said, nothing of note happened for quite so ti. Prota continued to spar with Destiny and train with Kit. She was slowly learning things, adapting to combat in a way John had yet to teach her.
Destiny was a good sparring partner. Lately, he’d been training his casting abilities along with her, and he was also using new spells against her. Of course, unlike Prota, he still needed to cast at higher circles of spells, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.
His ability to move like a fighter while casting was scary. Prota was starting to understand what made her fighting style so special, and through this revelation, was able to improve on it even further.
More than that, though, she was learning how to face different types of enemies. Destiny, as a swordsman, was soone with high levels of defence, mobility and close-range power. Spells like Blossom of Ice and Frozen Fla might not do high amounts of damage anymore, but they were great at controlling area and making space. Even Destiny couldn’t afford to take one head on. Simple spells like icicles and fireballs did little damage but served as spells to keep tempo and distract the enemy, while things like Frozen Bullet and Frozen Cannon were spells to finish a battle.
When fighting like this, Prota had to always maintain space. If Destiny got close at any mont, it was over. Thus, much of her strategy involved making Destiny move the way she wanted him to, using spells to dictate said movent. Of course, her own movent was a vital skill in this as well, but she moved well regardless of the enemy.
However, when Destiny started casting, the strategy changed completely. It was no longer about maintaining space. In fact, when the hero promised to use nothing but ranged spells, Prota actually wanted to get in closer, which would allow her to use Blossom of Ice and Frozen Fla at point-blank ranges, allowing her simpler spells to do good damage. There was a greater emphasis on blocking rather than dodging, and she needed to sense mana rather than read Destiny’s movents.
There was sothing utterly fascinating about learning all this. She was beginning to see herself improve, but not in a way she’d ever imagined. Thus far, her strength had always co from new abilities, new fighting styles, stronger spells or greater mana cores.
This ti, though, she didn’t exactly have a mont like that. It wasn’t in the midst of an epic battle, nor was it a revelation passed on to her by a ntor. She simply learned.
She didn’t realize it, but it was an effect of fighting by John’s side for so long. Her brother didn’t have anything like getting power-ups or learning new techniques. He had to adapt to each scenario with whatever strategies he could devise. Obviously, he also had his plans that she could never truly decipher, but that wasn’t the point.
The point was that she was maturing.
John had never ant for her to grow into a battle maniac, but then again, he’d never been opposed to it, either. He wanted her to be strong, yes, but that was only because she needed to be strong to achieve her goal. Enjoying the thrill of the fight was sothing Prota had adopted completely on her own.
Of course, she didn’t forget her roots. As always, she was John’s protector.
Still, there was nothing to really protect him from. The days passed. Her birthday ca around, and like the year before, there was nothing to really celebrate. Yet another year of surviving didn’t really an much when there hadn’t been a lot of chaos. It was ironic that the more peaceful her life, the less aningful this celebration beca, yet it was sothing Prota would always welco.
If possible, she would trade all her birthdays for this eternal peace.
The weather grew warm. Prota and Destiny continued to grow stronger. John continued to make plans, although he was nowhere near as disoriented as he once was. Prota wasn’t sure what he was planning for, but it was good to see he was doing sothing.
Eventually, though, Prota did notice that Destiny was beginning to improve at a slightly slower rate. It wasn’t to say he wasn’t strong. He was still beating her. But for a while, despite her growth, he’d been defeating her with the sa margin of ease, still taking it easy on her, still giving himself handicaps.
As of recently, though, he was trying harder. He had to put more effort into his attacks, his strategies, and she could see it. Normally, she’d be excited about this.
But not this ti.
She thought about telling John, but he seed so preoccupied with other things. She didn’t want to bother him. Even now, he was sitting on a chair, muttering to himself about things that didn’t make sense.
But then again, the [Story] was one of the most important things here, right?
“John,” Prota said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He looked up, surprised. “Huh? What’s up?”
“Destiny… is getting weaker.”
“Weaker?” John frowned. “What do you an by that?”
“John said… Destiny will reach a wall. Destiny is reaching the wall.”
She watched her brother flinch.
“Well… if we account for Lupin’s earlier levels of training, my interference, the upgraded enemies, the new events that wouldn’t have happened otherwise, his growth… but wouldn’t his growth be compensated… ah, but the limit…”
Suddenly, he stopped muttering to himself as his head snapped up.
“Oh. Um. This is… this is interesting.”
Prota nodded. “Interesting.” Not bad, not worrying. Interesting. Well, that was fine. She hopped off her bed, heading out to grab a snack.
It looked like they’d be going to the land of the Mystics soon.
~~~
True to John’s prediction, Destiny called them to the forest the next day. Kit was there in her human form, a mysterious smile on her face. However, the nervous flicking of her tail betrayed her true emotions. Regardless, she nodded as the siblings drew near.
“John,” she said, looking at him. “You want to go to the Ninetails clan, right?”
“Well, that’s-”
“Don’t ss with . Ever since I told you the letter had traces of my clan’s magic, you locked yourself up. You want to follow this trail, don’t you?”
“That’s…”
John was at a loss for words. He’d been expecting Kit to take them, yes, but he thought Destiny would’ve asked for such a trip first. He hadn’t been expecting Kit to call him out like this. What was going on?
“I was called back.”
“Called… back?”
“That’s not important. The point is, I can bring you along. Maybe,” Kit grinned.
“Just get to the point. What’s going on?”
Kit smiled at him playfully, her expression betraying nothing. “Well, if I have to go back, I thought I’d take Destiny, seeing as he’s the hero and all that. He could use so training that isn’t from , and it’s a sha that Scholaris ended a year early, anyway. But you two… I don’t have a reason to bring you two.”
“What about the goodness of your heart?”
Kit giggled. “We both know that’s not happening.”
John sighed. This was getting tiring. Normally, he wouldn’t have minded a bit of banter, but with so many elents of the [Story] getting warped, he wasn’t a fan of beating around the bush.
“Ok. What do you want?”
Kit looked at Destiny, and they nodded at each other.
“I want you to explain what’s going on.”
Kit’s tone was suddenly serious, her playful nature gone. She looked John in the eyes, her fiery red pupils boring into John’s soul.
“From the start. You need to tell why that letter was so important.”
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