The rundown shrine is now suddenly wealthy thanks to a strange individual. However, 'If he can teleport all the coins he just donated. That means he just leased my financial benefits from him. This is unaccept—'
Reimu thought but was abruptly stopped when Marisa pointed out to Nowa's left arm.
"Oi, Oi.. your arm Old-timer." Their focus changed from the piled coins to the left arm of his that is cut and is bleeding.
"This?" Nowa raised his arm to show it a little more. "It's the result of me using this magic. I called it '50ms Author'," He lowered his arm. 'I will not tell you about my innate ability, The VoidFlame, but at least this god-forbid gift will suffice and scare em.'
he began as he wiped the blood out leaving a live scar. "You can already tell what's up with this by the name, it can conjure, teleport, edit certain things. And it can heal and many more. Basically, I became one of the laws in reality." Reimu grimly stared at Nowa while Marisa gleamed with curiosity.
Nowa continued. "But it comes at the cost of my blood, flesh and soul. The bigger the reality I changed. This is one of them, the sacrifice." He showed the scar to them for a moment, before lowering it back.
Reimu, cold voice and sharp. "You're bleeding onto my floor over a coin trick. Let me get this straight: your grand solution to any problem is to carve pieces out of yourself? Is that what Yukari recruited? A walking suicide threat?"
Marisa added. "Hold on, hold on. 'Flesh and soul'? That's... heavy, man. So, what's the rate? A cup of blood for a fortune? An arm to bring someone back from the dead? ...Just how much of yourself have you already 'edited' away, Old-timer?"
Nowa waved his hand dismissively in the air. "Chillax," he lowered his hands. "I don't use this that much often, it's a gift... or more like a 'God forbid why i have this one', it was forcibly given to me by some unknown god five years ago with no clear instructions, and just gave me this magic, and left me alone. Kinda shitty not gunna lie."
He lowered his gaze. 'And I didn't ask for it. But I guess this is the best way to make use of my useful body for others. I don't really care how much I edit. If I die, I die. That's it.'
Reimu deadpanned. "Language, Beckitzer."
Nowa ignored her. "But that's just the other thing I can do. It's handy, if I need it instantly. As for my other skill that I learned, the art of Framework Rune." He took a pouch in his pouch. "See this? This is unlimited storage, created by me, heh."
Marisa's eyes widened with spark. "Seriously?! And you learned it, meaning it can be understood?!" She immediately sat relatively close to Nowa. "Please teach me Old-timer. That's literally a magician's dream!"
"Marisa, Don't." Reimu interrupts. Marisa looked back at Reimu. "Awww, but i can't waste this one in a lifetime of knowledge!" She pouted.
Reimu continued. "I don't care about what you showcase, all I care is whether it will blow up or worse do something irreversible, Beckitzer."
Nowa dryly chuckled. "Just hold on alright? I'm not done yet." He used the pouch to scoop up the piled coins in one go, and everything fit. The hand held size rune pouch did not change in size, as Marisa's eyes watched it with awe.
"Can I have it?" her eyes turned cat pleading. "Pretty please?" Nowa just smirked. "Nah, it's for the miko. She needs this." He placed the rune pouch on the table and pushed it towards Reimu.
"awww.." Marisa awe died and pouted as she crossed her arms.
"And certainly miss miko, it won't explode. I guarantee that. I've been working on Framework Rune for almost fifteen years now, it is practically what made me start as a multiversal traveler." He shrugged, Reimu eyes looked at the rune pouch beside her bowl, and locked eyes with Nowa looking for any deceit, she couldn't find any.
"And how do you defend yourself? Your mutilation ability won't save you if you run out of something to sacrifice.. or you use others for fuel for it?" She narrowed her eyes.
"Nope, It doesn't work like that. If I did, I could have infinite power as I drove off more enemies, but No. But I have many ways to protect myself though."
Marisa visibly sulked. "Hey, Reimu, you don't even like fancy magic stuff! Can I at least study it? For, uh, shrine security purposes!" Reimu sighed, shook her head in reply to Marisa and she pouted even more.
Then Reimu looked at the rune pouch. 'He gave it to me, its use is so much help.' She reached for the rune pouch carefully, touching it. "what can I place in this?"
Nowa grinned. "Anything, just don't put dead bodies. Just sayin you know, heh."
Reimu glared at him while Marisa hid a chuckle. "And what's the catch, Beckitzer?" Nowa tilted his head. "Hmm?" Reimu frowned. "There should be a return or deal behind it."
Nowa casually. "there is none. I can make more, it's not that difficult, it's within the basic tier crafting with Framework Rune."
Marisa's eyes gleamed once more towards Nowa. "There's a Tier system?!"
Nowa nodded. "Yeah. The higher the harder it is to make and it costs more resources and three types of categories of its fundamental principles."
Marisa stood up visibly vibrating. "You mean, you can make more awesome stuff?! What is it? What are the fundamentals? What resources?! Tell mee!"
Reimu had the same question. 'But I'm worried if he set up a shop about the resources requirements, and the danger as there are more capabilities it can apparently do.'
Nowa shook his head "Nope, I can't teach it. Not because I don't want to, it's because you are working with a miracle rune."
The word miracle, a familiar concept that sank heavily in the room. "What do you mean?" Reimu narrowed her eyes.
"It means anything is possible to make. Be it game changer, Rule of nature, and life itself. Anything is possible to make under the three fundamental principles. It's a forbidden ancient rune. Only me and Chris and.. Lancer. We knew this from our master, named Old-man. But he has passed away leaving us with this only knowledge across the multiverse." He let out a weary sigh of solemnity.
'My master sacrificed himself to protect his village against these gods of "balance" and how we go seperated. Bion led the revenge along with Lancer. While the remaining group of ours, help the villagers flee. That's why I despise these self-proclaimed gods. This is how it started the downfall.' A solemn pause. 'Why am I remembering this..'
He continued. "That is why we don't teach this. Imagine an army of these individuals with that knowledge. You're practically unbeatable at that point." Marisa stood still, Reimu watched. "And for that resources it needs. Just enough mana to make it permanently engraved. And lastly why I don't want to teach it." He paused making sure they got the warning. "One wrong schematic will be the result of losing a limb or worse, your life. You're working with reality here, not just some magic stuff."
Marisa quietly sat back down. "...I see." Reimu clutched the rune pouch. 'Then why is he giving me a piece of his legacy? And I see now where his story is going. Chris, Bion and Lancer are his past friends, but Bion and Lancer are dead now their master too. That means Chris is the.. only remaining, but he just took six bowls with him and said it's his habit. That means he has three remaining friends.'
Nowa immediately perched up. 'I hate this sad atmosphere, let's make it alive.' he began, tone less melodramatic. "Anyway, that's that. But I have these on me as my first build," He unholstered his hidden rune revolver within his side that's hiding in his jacket. "Miko, can I show my arsenal?"
Reimu stared at him with a confused look. "Huh?"
Nowa continued. "You react defensively whenever I showcase something, so this time I'll ask whenever I do something, that'll lessen everything. Am I right?"
Reimu was taken back by honesty. 'He's being... cooperative? This is a trick. It has to be. But... it's the first logical thing he's done.' She sighed, throwing caution to the wind. "Fine. But make sure it won't make it overwritten, or do something drastic without my permission, and lastly," She held a gaze on him. "If you break something in my shrine. I'll make sure you're my laborer until you clean, and fix my shrine. And I will chase you until the end if you flee from it." Deadpan as always, while Marisa hides a laugh. "classic Reimu." she muttered.
Nowa shrugged. "Ehh, Sure. It's not like I'm looking for a problem anyway." He pulled out his rune revolver and showed it to them. "This? This is a Rune Revolver. My first true creation. It's been with me for decades."
Marisa's awe was tinged with a sudden somber respect. "Decades, huh? So it's... it's the only one? Like you?" Before he could answer, her magician's curiosity took over. "But one thing is missing."
Nowa continued what Marisa is about to say. "There's no rune embedded innit?"
Reimu and Marisa arched their eyebrows in unison. Marisa spoke. "Yeah, and the rune pouch too. There is none. How come?"
Nowa placed the rune revolver on the table as he began. "It's called Rune concealer. May I showcase the rune engraving Miko Ribbon?"
Reimu stared at the gun, then at him. "Fine." She gave a slow, cautious nod. "Show me the engraving. But do it slowly. And explain what you're doing as you do it."
Nowa is already rolling his sleeves. "I'm already on it." He smirked, as rune glows from his hand like a pen writer Marisa's eyes widened and Reimu's eyes narrowed slightly as they felt the sudden inward surge of mana but not his mana it's their world mana getting used.
"First, why is there a rune concealer? Our master said a visible miracle rune is a point of corruption and lures people to become your allies in secret." He began writing the rune revolver. Marisa leaned in not missing a beat as the rune was unwritten in a way she and Reimu only see gibberish glyphs.
"Second, I like it that way too. It keeps me a mystery and all. It makes people not see the difference." He unwritten the rune concealer and revealed an ancient language. Only he could understand the rune engraved, a lot of intricate designs he picked it up to show it a little better to them. Marisa's eyes widened in awe while Reimu watched closely trying to see the aftermath.
"These are ancient languages, more ancient than any multiverse, so don't expect to find it anywhere either. But I'll tell you what's written on it." before he could continue.
"Wait a minute." Reimu's voice rang out, Nowa stopped and looked at Reimu. "What did you just do just now? What was that?" Marisa continued it. "Yeah old-timer, you used the mana around you, but not you?"
Nowa smirked. "That's because of the three fundamental principles combination, 'Mana' is the core for it and one person mana won't be enough to run it. So I'm borrowing mana in a way, I guess?"
Reimu's voice is low and serious. "Stop. 'Borrowing'? What are the terms of this 'loan'? Are you draining the land? The ley lines? The spiritual energy of the youkai and gods? Where does that mana go?"
Marisa ignored her as her curiosity peeked. "You can directly channel environmental mana without a medium?! That's impossible! That's— So the three principles are... Mana, and then what? What are the other two? You have to tell me! This is bigger than the rune itself!"
Nowa shook his head. "Environmental mana and individual mana are separate," he stated. "Let me give you a clear idea why and what is mana. You see, there's a lot of mana, that's why there's tons of categories of it, Magical mana, spiritual mana, divine mana, yatiyata(etc).. it acts like a storage for each category... but it all comes to the original."
Marisa instinctively checked her own magic reserve, trying to feel what kind of mana she had, but she couldn't tell the difference yet. She turned to listen eagerly once more as he was still talking.
"The environmental mana, it's kinda like a plant giving oxygen to living and living giving them back carbon dioxide. Think of it like a river. I'm not damming it or polluting it. I'm just building a water wheel that uses the current to turn, and then returns the water unchanged. The river doesn't mind. But if I build the water wheel wrong, it collapses and I get swept away. Basically we are casting that environmental mana be it through our own capacity, and in return, we made different output that the environment wants. Of course there are harmful things like toxic, fire, yatiyata(etc).. That harms the environment. But what the Framework Rune is doing is a symbiotic relationship with the environmental mana,"
Reimu narrowed her eyes slightly more in suspicion. "Symbiotic? For what the other gain on their behalf?"
'Ang kulit mo gurl.(You're annoying girl.)' Nowa just smirked and continued his lesson. "Aand therefore it's part of the mana."
Reimu gave him a glare, he ignored it. "If you are able to do it in the first place. It's not tied to anything, but will flow naturally without causing ruckus, as for the downside, well let's just say,"
he paused to repeat his warning. "when you miss input once you'll lose a limb or two. After all, I'm using the environment as a second mana to operate within the ecosystem. And whatever what's written on it stays on it, it doesn't spill out, it's like creating a new life. And you can use it to make miracles through it."
Reimu spoke to a grim understanding on her side. "You're... creating life? Here? Using Gensokyo's energy to spawn... things? What is the 'life' of the revolver, Beckitzer? Does it have a soul? What happens to that 'life' if you 'edit' it later? You're not just a craftsman; you're playing at being a god, and you're using my home as your clay."
Nowa tilted his head. "Ahh, I get where you're going." He placed his rune revolver on his ear like a telephone. "Hellow, hellow? Are you alive? Speak to me if you do, or make any noise as close as a living does." He grinned as Reimu showed visible throbbing veins. "Are you joking with me?!"
Marisa jab laughed at Nowa's mockery, he dryly chuckled and lowered the gun. "No, no. If it were alive then it should have been speaking like, 'Hey! Gimme food already, you flame lunatic!' that kind of alive." he paused, clearing his voice. "But this one is just like planting a new plant in the environment. Alright? My point is it can't create a new life, it's about creating a vessel that the mana can run through. So in other words, I'm not playing god, I'm a blacksmith not a life maker, I make my craft look alive because I care."
Reimu gave Nowa one last look and to see any deceit in him but she couldn't, finally she let out a short. "Hmph." Then she uncross her arms. "A vessel. Fine. I can accept that. But remember, a 'vessel' can still be a weapon. And I'm still watching yours."
Nowa shrugged. "That's the point for a blacksmith, what else are we making?" Marisa chimed in. "So uh, you make a way cooler house that looks alive, huh? That's so cool! Then the First fundamental principle is about the core mana and the second is concept and lastly where it was bound?"
Nowa shook his head. "You're right in the mana, but not the rest, it's the Concept that is the result of the three principles combined."
Marisa gleamed. "Woah.. what else do you have?! Surely you made more than just that?"
Nowa glanced at Reimu. "Well Miko?" Reimu shot a warning glance at Marisa's excitement before looking back at Nowa.
"One more. And it stays on the table. No activating it, no 'borrowing' more mana. You just show it and explain what it is. Understood?"
Nowa shrugged. "Alright, let me place the rune concealer back." Another glow of rune on his hand and written back the rune concealer, this time they couldn't feel that he used their world mana, Reimu confused and asked. "You used it again. But.. Why didn't I feel you were drawing the environment mana..?"
Marisa tilted her head curious. "Yeah, Old-timer. Didn't it requires mana to be a symbiotic relationship thingy in the environment?"
Nowa grinned. "That's because Miss Miko Ribbon here doesn't want me borrowing mana, so ill just use my mana."
Marisa slammed the table with her hands in excitement and the half empty bowl of ramen and the teapot rattled. "But didn't that use a lot of mana just now?! Does that mean you have... a lot of mana in you?! That's why you smell weird!"
Reimu crossed her arm again and looked at Nowa. "Beckitzer. If that's your personal mana... then what you're holding isn't just a 'vessel.' It's a piece of you. A part of your soul you've carved out and shaped. Is that what your 'blacksmithing' is? Forging yourself into weapons?"
But before Nowa could reply, Marisa was already talking. "Hold on, hold on. To do that... your mana has to be... what, Yukari-level? A god's? Are you a god in a trenchcoat, Old-timer? Did you eat a star? What are you?"
Nowa dryly chuckled once, then looked up on the ceiling. "A god huh?" he muttered. 'She's not entirely wrong, but I'm still a human, I didn't receive transformation nor transcendence, in my life. I just kept fighting until I was tired.' He looked at them tone low. "If that's the chase then how come I still don't feel like a god? Just.. empty." Nowa let a weary tired sigh. "And didn't you test me earlier Miko? It didn't show any signs of what am I?"
Reimu narrowed her eyes. "So you do know I'm testing you?" Nowa dryly chuckled. "Yeah, it could've worked, if I didn't have experience dealing with problems." A solemn pause. "But I'm not here to cause any ruckus. I'm just a guy with too many questionable life choices." The words echo across the room as a silent feel for both of the girls and acknowledgement on the peeking border watching Nowa.