Web of light. Part 1-7

This BMA was not some kind of ancient cold castle, but a real small town in the old English traditions, but with modern infrastructure. Its own campus, where students and teachers lived, academic buildings of a closed school and college, canteens, sports facilities — and everything else that is needed to educate children at full board from seven to eight to sixteen years old. "Learning magic" was on the schedule there as one of the disciplines quite openly, but in the interview, of course, they condescendingly explained that it was "rather a philosophy of perception of the world." Well, yes. Interview. The little Kues turned out to be milakha — one of those children with serious eyes and a reasonable voice, from which most adults instantly fall into tenderness, and try to feed sweets. And — surprise! Long black hair! But the crescent moon, a tattoo made by the mother for no reason, was actually found on the forehead of the "bride". And little Jinguji held up perfectly to the camera: not the slightest trace of excitement. It was as if she, and not Emily Watson, was a professional actress. Plus an insanely expensive handmade baby dress. It is not surprising that the filmmakers could not ignore such a colorful little sorceress.

Interview with Kues Jinguji and "Hermione" Emily Watson! Like, an actress is a prototype. It was something to gape at. The interview was quite long, about 40 minutes, but not very informative. In response to the provocative suggestion to "show something magical," Kues rejected the school's rules, which stated in black and white a ban on "witchcraft outside the walls." Then the brunette told how they became friends with Emmy, together with the young actress, she told a couple of cases from filming: Kues, it turns out, was involved in the process as an expert. Then Emily told about the director of the BMA, who was easily recognizable as Rowling's Snape. It seems that Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, who "also studied within these walls," quietly either adored or hated the headmaster of the academy. And that's why she entered into a "tragic" role with a demotion, hmm. Rough. Then there was a typical girly twitter, like how much time is spent on makeup, where, by the way, they asked about the "decoration on the forehead." However, the "traditions of the ancient clan of wizards" satisfied the presenter, and she switched back to Watson.

Well, yes. Kues has torn my soul apart, she has. Closing YouTube, I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate and remember something else from the manga. I watched the video, had fun, it's called. PR at Mama Kues (what's her name?) It turned out to be excellent: she showed the future clan leader with her face. And the rest, I suppose, did not carry out such promotions due to the lack of use — I remember Jinguji had some kind of problems with nobility, or something like that. No wonder a representative of the Japanese magic clan was pushed to study all the way to the other side of the world. That is, what I saw is the lower level. And I will have to join this wonderful company called the Circle of Exorcists. I have to because they just won't let me stay away. Well, the little thing: how was it in the advertisement? Is it difficult to be a delicious little candy? That's it.

In the manga, the younger Jinguji got into Yuto Amakawa's soul for a reason. The untrained underexorcist was offered an exchange, something like: "we will protect you, you will give us your children." After all, I don't actually have a clan with centuries-old traditions, I was, but I sailed away. There are no oligarch relatives either. There is the power of blood — and fortunately, no one knows exactly what. But they will find out, after all, if I agree to protection. And then... damn. Well okay. The "battle" for the Amakawa inheritance, according to canon, will only begin in 2011, when my amulet turns off. And before that... A lot of things can happen. It should even happen, because the choice between Yokai's stomach, Jinguji's captive prince, and trying to "remain a simple man and just live for myself", hiding behind the tamed bakeneko from both the former and the latter, categorically does not suit me. There is still time... but we need to think now. Think hard.

part 6

Entry fifty-two.

So, the task. To get real power capable of protecting me and those whom I consider "my own", human or Yokai — it doesn't matter. To get behind my back the power that will force the magical community of Japan to take account of me. To survive in the meat grinder, which will begin the year after my sixteenth birthday (that is, in 2012). To find and win back a "place in the sun" for yourself and your own... hmm... not just human. And then we'll see who's who. I think I've finally figured out what a "Light Ferry" is. The train from Noikhara took me further and further away from the mountain range, on the shoulder of which the "city" is located, and I compared what I saw in the ancestral home with my experience. And with what I read in the manga. And the result was this.

Steam is not a "different magic", it is an ability akin to alchemy from the TV series "Steel Alchemist". From the one that TV-2 is, if anything. True, I can't make gold out of a pile of coal, but I can make a superconductor out of ceramics, compared to that, any pile of gold nervously smokes on the sidelines. How does the Steam of the Light play at work? Energy fields of atoms? The bonds between molecules? The legendary "torsion field" that no one has seen, but all housewives are absolutely sure of its presence? Steam is an opportunity to reveal the properties of materials and objects, within the limits generally possible for the substances composing these objects and materials. Imagine that you are playing an RPG on a computer. Here's a bow, it shoots at 100 meters and does 10 damage from that distance. You right-click the mouse button and in the properties you wind up the stat counter by 999 meters and damage 99. And the raid boss fell with ten hits. You can't damage a bow with 100 or 200, because bows just can't do that kind of damage. Like shooting at 10 kilometers. To do this, the admin in the game needs to change the basic laws of the game world... or magic. But magic is also just a weapon. For example, an amulet of ten lower jaws of a female dragonfly nymph, caught by the hands of a ten-year-old albino girl at midnight on June 17, makes it possible to throw a water scourge at the enemy. Simply because the property of the material extracted with such parameters makes it possible to form a water whip, if energy is applied to it, of course. And now, it's enough for me to get a piece of chitin, even, most likely, pectin (phytochitin) will do. With a slight movement of my hand, I will someday be able to change the material to the most effective shape according to the specified characteristics (for example, the girl had a pair of dark strands, and the power of the dragonfly amulet turned out to be lower than possible, and the clock lied for a couple of minutes), and the water scourge will become much more powerful. I'm a real godsend for magicians. Come on, magic, how many centuries has it been in this world, so what? Technological progress has raised the standard of living and health of the human masses, and the fucking "Power" has remained the lot of the "chosen" and the spirits. Build an orbital elevator? The material that "holds" the hot plasma of a fusion reactor? It's for me.

I can now guess what the "seal" of the Ferry of Light is. No, it's not channels, and it's not a structural element. These are the scars from the surgery on the flesh of the world, on the processed matter carried out by the Ferry user. Additional stress lines that distort the internal structure, like prestressed concrete for bridges and high-rise construction, are twisted with stops along the reinforcement, obtaining deformation and strength characteristics uncharacteristic of artificial stone. It's the same when processed by the Amakawa clan force: if you want, the material will become electrically conductive. You want it to be strong, firm, or elastic. If you want, the material will become magically conductive, a blank for an amulet, or the amulet itself. Any whim... if you know how.

I can now roughly imagine how my ancestors, the ancestors whose family became the Amakawa clan, became exorcists. A few centuries ago, one of the magicians discovered that the materials collected by this family for making amulets were more suitable and of higher quality than those of others. And this magician, unknown to me, had the brains to compare and verify the entire chain of obtaining materials. And to understand that it is the Amakawa themselves that enhance the amulet properties of the blanks. This magician turned out to have broad, almost European views, he intermarried with the "dummies", diluted his blood of the lord of wonders with the dirty blood of Muggles. His descendants proved to be weak in magic... but they are strong enough to get through at the junction of abilities and gain a foothold at the "top of the food chain." Become spirit hunters, chosen ones, and found your own clan. The clan, if you recall the manga, was the strongest of all. Alas, time does not spare anyone... You need to calm down, relax, and think about everything later. It's good that I formulated all this for myself right now, and not in a year, or, God forbid, in five! Thank you, Kues, you don't know, but it was you who helped me now, albeit unwittingly. Yuto promised that he would not forget it.

Entry fifty-three

A day passed, fully occupied with dictation and an impromptu lecture on the physics of jet propulsion, which, of course, turned to orbital and then interstellar flights. Walking out into a crowd of chattering peers dreaming of starships and space pirates (well, where could I go without that!), I was finally able to calmly and "without a heart" think about the current and future situation.

So, back to the plan. Unfortunately, my clan's power can't be used directly like a sledgehammer. Stupidly not enough energy. The limit of my energy shell, aura, reserve, whatever you want is one small lightning bolt. And then, I suspect, purely "magically" I would not have succeeded. Unless you apply steam to the air and hit the modified air with a zipper from your hand, then it's enough for two... Damn, I'm not Edward Elric, I'm Roy Mustang. But such a thing will only work if there is relative calm... and a braking goal. In any case, this is not an option for me. Even if my reserve grows four times by 16, I will be one punch or bite away from any Yokai — if they hit, of course. I will never reach the achievements of Kues, capable of erasing a mountain with one blow. But! To defeat the spirit-spirit, even the strongest, a blow comparable in strength to a tactical nuclear weapon is not required — it is enough only to hit a critically important place, depending on the physical form, this is the head, nerve ganglion, etc., and even the pistil of a carnivorous flower. With the accuracy of the weapon, the power can be relatively low. The revolver has a muzzle energy of only 200 joules, but it pierces a human through with a bullet. That's why Noihara's Blade has defeated hundreds of enemies with one sword — it just moves fast and gets where it needs to, that's all.

And then, by default, I decided that I would not be able to gather the necessary energy? I don't just need magical energy, which only spirits and human magicians produce (probably?), but I can also assemble electrical energy. By the way, it's easy to catch a couple of lightning bolts in superconductor rings, since I already have this technology. And thermonuclear fusion seems to be possible in a container with hydrogen in a powerful laser beam, I read from Rozov * also "there". That is, it turns out that I can still match the "capacity" of the Kues, and without involving heavy industry in a medium-developed country, which is already encouraging. Yes, I'm a fabricator and a chemical plant myself, but there are limitations, but if you use your brains, you can overcome them.

So, the preliminary result of the analysis. Can the "survive and get used to" plan be implemented in reality? Yes. Can it be done with the knowledge and strength that I have now? As Linier from Babylon 5 would say: "Without five years of prior training, no." But I have five years! Great! It remains to think over tactics, and we can continue harnessing — otherwise, everything has quieted down on my personal magical front, only the hamsters are getting more and more exhausted. It's out of order!

Entry fifty-four

In a week and a half, the tactical plan, which had been shaken up many times, took on such a simple form:

A) Find local Yokai and establish who you can get in touch with.

B) Find observers from the magic police and the social committee (or whatever their names were in the manga?) on the ground. and make sure that the contact with the spirits will pass without their close attention.

C) Make weapons and defenses to demonstrate your strength (and so that you don't get knocked out in case of failure).

D) Recruit Yokai vassals using the carrot method (strengthening both by creating weapons and by personal leveling) and the whip (and whoever shirks their duties — in the face... preferably with a sniper rifle). Perhaps someone will be able to get out of the Mystical House from the old servants of the clan.

E) To do all this before the appearance of Kues in June 2011 (she is just finishing her last course of study at Hog).

F) And here there are already assumptions. If there really is a seal on Kues that has influenced her character towards full loyalty to me, it is to demonstrate her strength in one way or another in order to become a leader from a patronized figure whom she can follow. If there is nothing, then ask to arrange a meeting with the elders of Jinguji, demonstrate the strength and detachment of Yokai and propose an alliance. And don't think "what about Rinko" now. I have time, I'll figure out how not to betray my friend's love and enlist the support of the "young and early" Jinguji. I'll even accept Islam if there's nothing left. Although there doesn't seem to be a ban on polygamy in Shinto? In short, there are ways, that's for sure. And close people can always find a common solution to a problem if they want to.

G) Well, by joining forces, try to climb even higher, taking control of high-tech production of strategic materials or something else that will really fit into the global elite. By the way, it is symbolic that this item got on the letter "Ж" How would you really avoid getting into the "Ж"? Although... Live again, the head of the future great clan!

H) World peace, the restoration of the human part of the clan, the technological breakthrough of the inhabitants of Earth into space under the leadership of the Amakawa-Jinguji alliance, a cure for cancer and immortality. If we're going to plan, we'll do it to the maximum, I think!