The watchtower

From the very first moment I had thought about using that one time action, it had activated and scattered the night, warping it into a state of crimson twilight. The culprit behind this sudden influx of light was easy to find, after all, it was everywhere.

“Master?! What master means by ‘that’?!”

Luna’s loud concerned voice from the inside of my breast pocket was like a guide that brought me back from the initial state of panic and resumed the halted brain gears.

“Luna, there are cracks all around, on buildings, on streets, on cars, on people, even in the damn air. Cracks from which a red light pours out, even when I close my eyes they are still there.”

No matter where I looked, I could see fractures. They were changing every second, old ones were disappearing only to make place for a new set of saturated red lines rupturing their way around. The rather static background of the city suddenly became a boiling cauldron without a place to rest my eyes on. It was making me sick.

But the thing that had made me unintentionally utter that first question was different. Far on the horizon, above the buildings, a gigantic dark green cloud similar to an atomic mushroom was covering a part of the sky, blooming high in the air and releasing falling streams of slowly dissipating green particles.

I was unsure of what to think about that terrifying phenomenon and hesitated to talk about it with Luna since she had only mentioned the change occurring in me.

“Master, I may know what’s going on, there’s mana concentrating in master’s eyes. The things that master described are only a filter applied to master’s vision, there are no cracks in the real world. Master did something, right?”

Her words were reasonable and helped to calm down my alarmed heart rate, but they didn’t explain the main problem.

“I used an action that should allow me to locate mana spots. Luna, is mana dark green or bloody red?”

“I don’t know master, I can only feel it not see it.”

“Except for my eyes, can you feel any other sources of mana?”

“No master, but if master can now find mana spots that’s great!”

The voice in my pocket was brimming with happiness.

“Only for some time, got any tips as to where should I look?”

“No idea mas- or I may have one! From how far can master locate them?”

I took a second long look at the distant atomic cloud. A theory about its nature was in the last stages of construction.

That green thing didn’t look as if it was going to disappear any time soon and it probably had existed long before I was able to perceive it, which meant it wasn’t dangerous, at least not immediately.

“Probably no range limit.”

“Master that’s incredible! Master should move to a really high place and scan the whole city!”

“Good idea, let’s go.”

Standing motionlessly in the middle of the sidewalk and staring into space had already started to attract the attention of the occasional passersby, so obtaining a new motivation to walk forward was a welcomed change. I really wanted to release a part of the build-up tension.

My walking speed was being hindered by the slippery ice layer and the red disco filter in my eyes.

But where exactly should I go?

“Luna, localize our position with the GPS on the phone’s map, search for the closest and tallest building open to the public at this ti-”

“Master! I’m not an AI!”

“Then how do you plan on being my secretary?”

“Secretary?! I want to be friends with master!”

“I will consider your petition and contact you within ten working days.”

“At least don’t ever again compare me to a dead hamster please.”

“Good, it has fulfilled its role and made you remember that one token of trust is all you have, and even…”

I wanted to add that even a hamster could become my friend, but stopped myself before those words had left my mouth.

“... nevermind. You won Luna, I won’t compare you to a pet ever again.”

“Ha! Master defenses are somehow crumbling, it’s time for an advanced assault!”

“Stop Luna, we will play later.”

She must have understood the change in the tone of my voice as she obediently remained silent.

A silly banter like this was exactly what I needed, but that still didn't mean that I was allowed to cross the line that, if our positions were reversed, would make me want to rebel against the person who said it.

I finished browsing through Victor memories concerning the layout of the city and instead of targeting its center and the high rise buildings in it I moved in another direction. It was better to climb a lonely short tree on a plain instead of a tall one in the forest.



To take my mind off the ever-changing red fractures, during this long walk I was polishing my previous theory and building a simplified mental map of the city.

My flat was situated in a housing complex in the middle of the mixed residential area. Small companies and stores were sprinkled all over this part of the city. It was also a place from which everything was relatively close, but nothing was around the corner.

The busy city’s center and the shopping district were to the north of it. The square with the Isabella statue and Café Nirvana was also in that direction.

The west part contained most of the factories and warehouses, that was where they took me during the kidnapping scam. The river flowing there acted as border and separated it from the rest of the city.

To the east were extensive suburbs and that was also the area through which I was moving now.

And the south was where the rich people lived, Amato family included.

If Luna only could feel an active use of mana aka the cracks that were making my head hurt it meant that the bloody red was the color connected with it. By comparison, dark green should be its passive state, she had said herself that it was the reason behind her being unable to detect them.

In other words, that phenomenon could be an enormous mana spot. All I needed now was to find at least one other dark green place as proof to confirm this theory.

As for the atomic mushroom itself, I only made a note of its general south-west direction, other than that it was simply too far away to check. Well, I didn’t even feel like going there in the first place. I just wanted a humble smallish mana spot or two, not a huge-ass-behemoth-mother-of-all.

There was also the matter of TET second rule, if ‘that’ wasn’t discovered then every Gatemaker was fucking blind, sorry Aura.

How am I even supposed to differentiate between a discovered spot and an unknown one?

“Aaaaa! Fu-”

Some guy had just crashed into a wall. That was the third victim of the slippery conditions I saw since I left the flat. People were like planes, with both hands outstretched akin to wings.

Sorry, can’t help you stand up, I’m flying here myself.

“Master, keep me in master's hand I want to watch the next loser falling.”

“No, I need both hands free to balance.”

“Buuu!”

There was still some distance left to the target of this excursion, an old stone watchtower situated on a small hill. It wasn’t that high, but the highest buildings in its surroundings were at most a two or three storey ones, so the visibility should be satisfying. Most of all, the access to it should only be restricted by a warning sign or two, which was equal to saying ‘please go inside if you want’.

In a long alley, I was passing through, homely small houses were neatly placed one next to the other and that was also the place where I had confirmed my theory.

Forty-seven minutes after activating the ‘bloody headache’, as I had called it, I found the second mana spot.

It was nothing like the big flashy one. Paying more attention to not falling and ignoring the constantly changing red cracks I had almost missed it. One of the many road signs was emitting dark green light. I took out the phone and whispered:

“Phone mode activate.”

“Kyaa~, master, mor-”

“Luna, please not now… damn it not again.”

“Ksksksks~ nice to see master face to mask again.”

I decided to ignore the stupid girl that was having fun at my cost. That red in my eyes was already distracting enough, it didn't need an additional help from her.

“Phone mode activate.”

The map application with the ability to make your own notes on it was created exactly for a situation like this. I noted the position of the road sign, put Luna back into the jacket’s breast pocket and moved along.

“Master was that a mana spot? We’re not capturing it?”

“No, why?”

“But master! If we leave it someone will swipe it from us!”

“Well, then it will be a simple case of bad luck, but I’ve heard that the number of Gatemakers can be counted on one hand, so the chances of someone finding it are rather small.”

“Please tell me how is master looking for mana spots right now.”

Her voice contained a tone I had never heard in it before, was she angry?

“I’m using a time-limited reward for winning a challenge.”

“And what makes master think that master is special and others don’t have access to things like that?”

“...”

“Please answer master.”

“… but still I’ve got only two tickets and I don’t feel like using them right here and now.”

“Only two? But master can get more, right?”

“Not now, I don’t have money or connections.”

“If master says so…”

And now she sounds disappointed.

“Luna, why do you want me to get more mana anyway? Didn’t you say that playing with me is all you need?”

“Because if master won’t get stronger, sooner or later master will want to use this vessel power and that will end badly for the both of us, but if master gets more mana I may be able to help master more myself!”

Her logic was rather strange, to protect me from danger she wanted me to jump straight into life threatening challenges, but I won’t deny that a part of me was moved by this girl proclamation.

“Thank you Luna, but don’t worry, at the first sign of trouble you will be my main weapon and distraction.”

“What does master mean?”

She was in all likelihood worried that I might turn to the vessel for help without a second thought.

“I saw how dangerous throwing a phone may be, it should give me enough time to escape.”

“I won’t worry about my master ever again!”

Next half an hour was spend skating along the sidewalk in silence.

Third mana spot was found in the ninety-eight minute. A pine tree growing in someone’s backyard, a gentle ripple was flowing through it from time to time. Compared to the previous one, this had more of dark green mana lightning the surroundings.

It had been marked on the map without any interruptions from the white-haired girl.

About five minutes later, I finally reached the foot of that small hill, looked at it and sighed deeply. There was only one narrow path leading uphill and it was entirely covered with ice. Till now I had managed to avoid falling over, but there was no way to keep up the perfect score if I wanted to reach the top.

Not to mention that there was already someone in the middle of it, desperately challenging the nature of ice.

So I ignored that path and went around, looking for a more suitable approach. Twenty meters to the left, the hill’s slope was covered with numerous leafless bushes and shrubs, also it wasn't too steep. A scratch or two were still better than sliding down on my bottom in the middle of climbing.

Without bigger problems, I reached the hill's top using this virgin trail.

“Nooooo…”

That voice probably belonged to the previous fellow, 1:0 for the ice.

The old stone watchtower was about fifteen meters high, adding to it fifty from the hill it easily towered over the area, but I didn’t try to use it as a lookout point anymore. Why should I risk walking into a crumbling ruin if I already had a good view from this position.

If I ignore the fact that this good view is heavily contaminated by god damn chaotic red lines.

I looked down from the spot I was, went to the other side of the hill, looked again, made a slow round on the top while looking carefully at the city below and got really confused.

“Luna, something’s wrong.”

“Except for master harsh treatment of the maiden’s heart?”

“No, that’s normal, what I mean is that I can’t see any mana spots from here, even those two I found earlier are gone.”

She stayed silent for a while and asked me a question which entailed a whole avalanche of changes in how I perceived this situation:

“How did master know that this skill has no range limit?”

I hadn’t been sure if telling Luna about it was a good idea as it might have been something really important that was better kept for myself, but now that I had confirmed that it was just a mana spot on steroids there should be no problems with sharing this information with her.

“There’s this huge amount of dark green mana in the distance, if I can see it doesn’t that mean that there’s no range limit?”

“Does it look like a big atomic mushroom?”

Before I could answer her question, we heard yet another scream of a slipperiness victim, it was the same male voice as before. He probably just lost the second round versus ice, not that we paid it any special attention.

“Yes, that’s it.”

“I’ve really underestimated master’s lack of basic esper knowledge, I really did. Master this is not a mana spot, this is the Seal, when it goes into its active form even I with my heavily limited range could probably feel it. Please tell me that master at least knows what TET is.”

Her voice was filled to the brim with disbelief and hope. One caused by to the fact that even the basic knowledge that had been bestowed upon her was better than what I had, the other was counting on me to answer her question affirmatively.

“I know, I’m not that much of an ignorant.”

“Thanks master. I was worried that master may be in deep trouble if master wasn’t registered and whitelisted.”

Oh, shit.

“... of that, I’m not sure.”

I was glad that she was still in the pocket and didn’t saw my pathetic expression.

“Mas- WHAT DID MASTER JUST SAY?!”

I humbly accepted her well deserved outburst and in the most excuse-like voice one could muster explained:

“Well, you see… I was part of this dubious group and they were taking care of stuff like that… so I may be… or may not be… I don’t know.”

“Master! We’re going back home now! I will teach master everything I know about TET, espers, and master will go visit the Checker first thing tomorrow morning! I don’t want to find master without memories one day!”

For the first time I came close to believing that she was simply worried about me, that's why all I could do was to indisputably agree.

“Understood.”

When I was about to turn back home, I saw someone’s shaking hand slowly emerge from the direction of the icy path. It probably belonged to that unlucky fellow who had screamed twice before.

Carefully, decreasing the chances of slipping to a minimum, I went towards him. He was crawling on the ice, barely supporting his body with two sharp stones fulfilling the roles of primitive ice axes. There was a clear message in his eyes that said ‘help me’.

“Master!”

Just as I was about to grab him and pull him up, Luna’s loud voice had exploded from my pocket and startled the poor fellow.

I watched him slide down all the way to the bottom. It kind of looked like fun and could be a good alternative compared to going down through the bushes.

“Ksksksksks~”

I checked the laughing phone and noticed that a part of it had come out of the pocket when I was leaning forward to help that guy.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“My master’s stressing me out, watching someone's misfortune is a good source of relaxation. By the way, master should go back home using a different route, master may find more mana spots that way.”

“Yeah, I will do that. Othwerise enduring this bloody headache would be pointless.”