Agnisotra: Origin Tails

I woke up early and did some light training. In an hour we’re supposed to meet up at Raishin’s hut and there we will get to hear the details of Agnis’ plan. I thought for a long time about what I can do to cover my weaknesses, I have a rough idea but I'm unsure how I will pull it off. I don't know how much time Agnis can give us but I hope it's at least 4 or 5 days. Agnis had made similar spaces before in the past. There was this one time we had to wait 6 hours for our parents because we got stranded after an adventure and he made a space that made 6 hours go by what felt to us for only 10 minutes. He only has used it to speed up time and that was with the help of Gregory and Raishin but never did he stretch it, I wonder if those two things are the same for him. I paused my training. I don't think I need more martial arts training. I wasn't great at manipulating elemental magic and that's why most of my magic is enhancement magic and imbuing myself with an element. But thinking back on yesterday there is one option I haven't explored yet. That arcane magic Paula used was quite impressive. I looked at my hands. I never gave household magic a fair try. Well, if it's used offensively, it's called arcane magic but because it normally gets used for its utility.

The only one I know that uses it offensively is Agnis and now Paula. I can imagine it needs a lot of control. I imbue my hands with arcane magic but it's so weak it's not any different from household magic. I punch a punching bag. It adds a bit more oomph to my punch compared to whenever I punch it without magic but that’s all. I will ask Agnis or Gregory for some tips about mana control. Those two, in general, need a few tries to figure out anything related to mana control, with Raishin it's either a hit or miss but he's worse in mana control than I am. Because of this, I have the feeling that Raishin and I are the only two who have a high chance to come out of this training without adequate results. I hope he has a good idea about what he wants to do else he might not be able to direct his attention toward it. I might have to talk to him about that. Worrying about Gregory and Agnis is just a waste of time although they might overdo it. Why is everything those three do so extreme? I rubbed my temple. I cleaned up and headed over to Raishin’s hut. As I approached it, I heard a lot of noise.

What do you mean you have no idea of how to tackle your problem? Greg, calm down! Well, I have no clue!

Why didn't you run simulations like the two of us? Are you even taking this seriously!? Let me guess Raishin has no idea how to fix his problem.

Yes! Can you believe this guy?! I can't say I'm surprised. I know right? How about you... I stopped Agnis.

Hmm? I appreciate that you want to help him out but it's these kinds of things that ended us up in this situation. We always rely on you to fix our problems. Let's have Raishin go through some growth and find out the solution by himself. But I have no Idea!

I figured out what I can do to improve and I'm sure that's the same for Gregory and Agnis, do you want to get left behind? Uhh, no, not really.

Did you already forget what happened in the original timeline with the fight against the spirit sisters? No! How could I!

Then let me ask you the same question Gregory asked, are you taking this seriously? Ugh, I admit that I might have taken this a bit too lightly. I will put in some more effort. Raishin sat down and seemed to start running simulations in his tails.

I also have words for you two. Whud? Us? What is it?

Don't overwork yourself, that's all. Oh, I will keep that in mind. Can do.

Not can do! Will do! I never met a person that's as lazy and hard-working as you, it is some weird combination but whenever the world thinks you're slacking I’m pretty sure you're doing some things behind the scenes. I wouldn't be surprised if we come out of our training period and you had some things arranged in real time while we were all training. Haha hard working me? He’s right you know I can feel your energy dropping even though you seem to not be doing anything at the moment. Right, just make sure it won't affect you negatively. I will, thank you for your concern.

I guess Raishin needs a bit more time, so what have you been up to Agnis? Hmm, well about the training space I can sacrifice one-third of all my illusion layers and give us 29 days and 14 hours. Wow that is quite a lot, are you sure that won't affect you negatively?

Nope since I already paid the mana price for it in the original timeline, I only have to tweak it, It will have realistic environments and physics, and the gravity might be a bit different because even though that should fall into my expertise, I’m uhh not very practiced in it. Also, you can fight anyone we have met before, at least those I can remember, including ourselves. So, we’re not going to be able to fight a lot of opponents then…

Hey, how rude! I had a conversation with Gregory earlier this morning to refresh my memory! Well, prepared I see. I have a question for you regarding gravity-related stuff Agnis.

Hmm? I'm not great at it. Well, gravity although a slightly different iteration also falls under earth magic, do you have any tips?

Hmm, I assume you want to combine it with your hammer? Oh, so you knew? Hmm well, that is convenient because the only tip I can give you relates to your hammer. It might have been a spontaneous thought but when I made that hammer, I had some form of gravity control in mind. My tip is to make sure you know exactly how much a certain object weighs, in your case the hammer. It will be used as a reference for calibration. So, assume you are blindfolded and handed 10 heavy objects, you should be able to instantly feel which one is your hammer by weight. That would make a good basis for being effective at manipulating gravity. That is the only thing I know about that. I will be relying on you after this to teach me more about it because I'm sure you will figure it out. Is that one of the reasons you always seem to have a need to familiarize yourself with the weight of your weapons?

Kind of, it doesn't help that they keep shattering though. I also have a question for either of you. I'm going to attempt to hone my household magic into arcane magic but my mana control isn't that great any tips? Got impressed by Paula’s arcane magic, eh? It was truly impressive. Not much I can say here besides keep going at it, just like how you keep practicing your martial arts move and intentionally holding back to control the power that's how you should go at it with mana control. Just apply your normal training techniques to outputting mana. Normally I don't think this would help anyone but I think this would be the perfect explanation for you.

If you are trying to externalize it more than you normally do, I would suggest having a clear image in your head of what form you want it to take. Arcane magic isn't as limited by magic circles as elemental magic is so it could take on any form you will it to with enough practice and effort. I don't need to know specific magic circles to bring forth specific attacks? In general, not, the correct magic circle can steer it in the correct direction but it is also possible to cast strong arcane magic that doesn't need magic circles. I don't know why that is but that is one of the reasons we can form magic circles for elemental magic with it.

Hmm, I see, thank you. I got it! Let's hear it.

I'm going to make lightning glitter! Yes, that makes sense, do you need any tips?

Nope, I'm fine! I'm starting to get worried. Ugh, he has an idea let's not ask him about it to avoid headaches, let's trust that he's taking this seriously.

You still didn't explain why your energy keeps dropping Agnis. Well, while we are here talking about the details and stuff, I'm already having my clones put in some work, ah there they are. I heard some rummaging outside. We went outside and we saw 4 of Agnis’ clones disguised as us carrying blacksmithing stuff. They also seemed to be carrying some freshly crafted items.

You are taking this seriously, eh? Hand me your hammer for a bit Gregory. Gregory took out his hammer from his shadow and handed it toward Agnis. He did some trick and removed the handle from the hammer and took out another handle and attached it to the hammer. He handed it to a clone who did some blacksmithing stuff to it on the quick setup they made and handed it back to Gregory.

It should be easier to use now. Here are some metal knuckles for you in case you wanted to use them. I accepted 4 sets of metal knuckles. Ooh, what about my spear?

What about your spear? What! Why do they get weapon upgrades and I don't?

Well, I can't upgrade your weapon if you still have it… Oh right hahaha. Raishin ran inside and fetched his spear. Agnis took it, went into his cheat blacksmithing mode, and reforged the spear in front of our eyes. This was the first time I saw him do such a thing and it was truly impressive. He put all his 7 clones to work and there were tails everywhere. They also worked super-fast and I assume he was using some time magic to speed up the process. About 10 minutes later it seemed like he was finished because he was adding some small decorations to the spear.

Here you go! Wow! It's beautiful! Did you just give him a golden spear? It just feels wasted on him…

Nah it's not gold I just plated gold on it, it's way heavier than what he's used to but it has better magic and lightning conductivity. When he runs enough lightning through it, he can make it bend a bit. But don't bend it too much else it could break! Is he even listening? Raishin was stabbing the air with his new spear. Wow this spear surely is heavy but I’ll get used to it soon-ish.

If you break it, I'm not going to make a new one for you, you'll have to buy one yourself! What! I'll treat it like my child! You don't have a child!

Don't say that! Look now you've upset Speary! It's ok Speary! He's a big bear bully, doesn't listen to him! Raishin was stroking his spear. Great now it has a name.

Why don't you give your weapons names too? Agnis does it too. Yes, but he doesn't treat it like his child! Maybe that is a good thing since all his weapons end up shattering… We all look at Agnis.

You murderer! I won't let you shatter Speary! Right, this sounds like all of you want to pay the maintenance costs I've been giving for free to you all these years.

Sorry! Please I’m broke! Right so is everything ready to go? Yeah, give me a moment. His clones tidied up and he chucked stuff out of his dimensional pocket and started to form an enormous pile of weapons and other stuff I couldn't really identify well because they were buried under a pile of daggers and wires.

What are you doing? I can't use my dimensional pocket well in that space so I have to take what I want to use out. I can only use it to take food out. I looked at the ever-growing pile of stuff Agnis took out, he also made 3 piles of food and the clones brought them to us.

Oh, I didn't think of food. I would suggest rationing it well because when it's finished it's finished, you could go hunt in the illusion but it will just be illusionary food, you will fill from it inside there but when you come out you will be hit by the consequences of not eating proportionally to the time you've eaten illusion food.

That makes sense, you heard that Raishin? Yes! The pile was the size of the Mountain now, the boss that we fought not a mountain made out of rocks and dirt. Alright, this should be about it. Agnis formed 4 portals that looked like the opening to his pocket dimension. His clones already started carrying the stuff into one of them.

You will get thrown out of the space when the time expires, you guys already know how these spaces work as long as it isn't super unreasonable you can make the space make it, besides food of course. I assume this one is for me?

Yeah, the portals will close in 10 minutes so I would suggest carrying your stuff inside, and if you have some questions ask them now. Gregory started to carry his stuff inside. He seemed to have come with a backpack and he took a suitcase out of his shadow and brought it inside. Raishin only seemed to bring his spear and food inside. I didn't have anything on me myself. After 8 minutes we all faced each other in front of our portals. Well, cya, guys in a month? Day? What is it?

Good luck guys! Let's all become even more overpowered! I'm expecting great results from you guys!

I stepped back inside the portal and I got greeted by the same scenery I left behind, but as Agnis said, the gravity felt a bit off. The gravity seemed to be stronger here. I looked at the sky and saw the remaining time floating in the sky as clouds. How creative. I assume this place only has me but I was still curious so I took a look around in Boshi town and as I expected it was empty. I found it a bit eerie so I gave the command to add the people to Boshi town. People filled the streets and it looked as if I was in the real Boshi town. Although something looked off. I don't recognize half the people nor do I think I've seen them before, I guess this part is only limited to Agnis’ memory. I guess the overall density of people is something he can simulate but not the actual people since he will have to remember them. I went back to Raishin’s hut because that is where all my food was. I will be claiming Raishin’s hut for myself for these 29 days. I don't feel like moving all this food and the empty space just beyond here is perfect for my training. I won't be doing much until the latter half of the given time. First, I have to work on my mana flow to become more efficient in arcane magic, or at least turn this household magic into something that resembles arcane magic.

I commanded the space to make a weaker copy of myself and sparred with my copy. I kept exerting arcane magic while sparring. I beat the copy and requested another copy that was as strong as me. It was a tough spar but I managed to win because I was applying arcane magic and my copy wasn't. I think the increased gravity made it tougher because I felt a bit sluggish. I sparred for 5 more hours and then decided to stop for today. It was only the first day, I kind of got used to the gravity now. I went into Raishin’s hut which was my hut now and ate some lunch. The rest of the day I kept making arcane magic flow through my hands and legs with minimal rest to get more accustomed to how my mana flowed. It was tiring but I remember Agnis and Gregory doing something similar to magic training back in Hourai. For the first week, I was planning to do only this and sparring with copies that I would make stronger and stronger. I would also throw in some other opponents that I've fought before that have a fighting style centered around martial arts. I tried to spar against an accurate Raishin copy but his martial arts was too sloppy and easy to take advantage of, Gregory wasn't that great at martial arts and Agnis seemed to be too fast and agile for me to land anything meaningful. Raishin’s copy tried to repeatedly hit me with a [Raishin kick] which obviously didn't work and Agnis’ copy used a variety of martial art moves that normally never work but he somehow pulls off and I couldn't do anything against it. It just reminds me that he doesn't resort to martial arts a lot. He pulled a crazy move on Paula yesterday and I was astonished that something like that worked. When I get the chance I should teach him more crazy moves, I'm honestly curious about how he's going to spin those and make them work on real opponents. After the first week, I could clearly feel that my mana control has improved. My blows and kicks were many times more powerful with it than before. It also seemed to be able to create shockwaves and damage things internally that I landed punches on.

The shockwaves weren't that strong so It only extended the range of my punches by half a meter. I started working on the tip Agnis gave me. I need to form an image of what I want to do with this magic. What do I actually want it to do? I want more range but what image do I need for it? A bow? A hand cannon? Wouldn't getting a weapon like that and mastering it be more effective? I don't want anything as flashy as Agnis or Raishin, I want something that suits me. I decided to use the second week to think this over while continuing the same practice I did in the first week. I made them into fights and not just sparring so my opponents started throwing magic around and I tried to stick to the things I'd practiced for the last week. My created shockwaves grew to the range of 3 meters but beyond that didn't seem to be working out. I got some ideas by using tornado kicks and using wind magic to pull my opponents in but it still had a relatively low range. It could be used to pull opponents in that was just outside the range of my shockwaves but not much beyond that. It only worked up until 5 meters and beyond that, the suction wasn't strong enough. I also realized that my [Rock-et punches] weren’t actually that strong, the shockwaves made by arcane magic were way stronger than the rocks I shot out. I wonder if I could make my punches fly. I imagined my fist extending beyond my physical limits.

The arcane magic flew outside my fist and punched a hole in a tree 10 meters further. It was a shallow one and my image of the skill was quite half-assed but I got an interesting result. I repeated it and inspected what flew out. It wasn't air pressure but I was firing off arcane magic. It had a range of about 8 meters at which it was powerful, beyond that the damage dropped off quite hard. 8 meters was a good enough range for me. I'm not expected to become a ranged fighter but have ways to deal ranged damage. I used the rest of the day to work on the form that I want it to take and at the end of day 16 it looked like a fist flying out. I decided to take a break the day after and rest. I still continued to think of what else I could do with this newfound power. I also had to work on images for kicks. But wait, do I? If I could form a body of arcane magic and make it mimic my moves or whatever move I want it to do I don't have to go through every separate unique move. Since it was my break day, I didn't try stuff out but continued to refine the idea. I didn't have the luxury of having a tail figure that out for me like 3 certain overpowered individuals. I wonder how their training is going. I'm assuming Agnis and Gregory are training their asses off and managing to do more than they were supposed to. Raishin would have either already finished what he wanted to practice or won't finish till the last day or at all. It is always hit or miss with him hardly ever in between. Before I went to sleep, I inspected the food I had left. I might have been too careful with my consumption I’m on day 17 but I have more than half of the food that I got left. I decided to indulge the next time I take a day off. The next week I worked on making a body of arcane magic, I would call it a bear avatar. It wasn't easy, the first thing I could form were the arms and whenever I punched the arms which were 5 meters long would follow my movements. Making them move independently from my own arms took longer to master. At the end of the week, I could form the whole bear avatar but it ended up being a rough week for me. Besides the [Bear avatar] I also worked on the ranged arcane punch and I called it [Meteor punch] I could send out a flurry of punches and create a barrage which of course I called [Meteor rain].

On day 25 I took a break and indulged. I worked myself to the bone to master the [Bear avatar] so I would take this rest day seriously. I finished what I wanted to achieve but there were some ideas that I got to add on top of this. My [Bear avatar] was still rough and I needed some special attacks. I thought back on what I achieved in the last 25 days. After this break day, I will also check how my elemental enhancements have improved now that my magic control is better. I decided to go to Boshi lake minor and go for a swim. There aren't many opportunities to do this because we are always busy and even if we aren't we have someone who hates water. I ate some more and decided to go to sleep early. I woke up the next morning and looked up at the sky. The cloud clock said that there were 3 days and 11 hours left. I enhanced my fists with different elemental types which seemed to work out easier than I'd ever experienced before. I sparred against a copy of myself who was 1.5x stronger than myself and it was a worthy fight but I was dominating the fight most of the time. The copy was based on what Agnis knew of me from before we got in this space so it makes sense that the past me would have no chance of beating the current me even with a basic boost. I requested the space to recreate the Mountain. I summoned my [Bear avatar]. My bear avatar was bigger than I am in big bear form but still smaller than the Mountain.

Trying this in big bear form is something I also want to practice but let's see how I fare against the mountain like this. The mountain jumped up. I know what will follow but if I could knock him out of the air, he might not be able to cause an earthquake. I used [Meteor punch] with my bear avatar while using [Meteor rain] myself. It did a lot of damage to the Mountain but it didn't change his trajectory. I picked myself up with the bear avatar so that my feet weren't touching the ground. I was standing on its left paw about 5 meters above the ground. The earthquake did nothing to me. The bear avatar threw me and because it is centered around me it automatically followed me. I landed an avatar punch and the Mountain got pushed back. There was a huge difference between the fight I had with the Mountain now and before, previously my attacks didn't seem to do much damage but now it seemed like the Mountain was taking a lot of damage. I decided to try a [Meteor rain] with my bear avatar but mix in some other elements. I instantly regretted doing that after I infused the magic. This was really mana-draining. This isn't something I can do often but the mana was already spent. Let's see what happens. I released the avatar [Meteor rain]. It blasted the mountain but the attack looked visually stunning. I decided that this is a special attack and I will call it [Aurora Bearealis] Because it looks like one. Not that I've ever seen one before but I saw pictures of it in books. Having made another pun and a visually impressive attack I was quite happy. This made me forget about the Mountain. The mountain roared.

What? You are not defeated yet? The mountain got up but he looked like he was close to dying. He roared again and activated his [Diamond skin]. Hmm, I might have messed up, I don't know if I can hit through this. I got help from Agnis the last time. Also, I used up a lot of mana so I might not be able to use [Aurora Bearealis] again. I used some avatar bear swipes punches and [Meteor punches] But they didn't seem to do much damage. Only the [Meteor punches] seemed to do some damage because they also did internal damage when hit on a point-blank range. There are 2 or 3 things that I have left to test. The Mountain charged at me still with its diamond skin on. I took a stance and prepared my mountain buster but not myself, this time the bear avatar would do it. Of course, I would give it an appropriate name. I channeled earth magic from the ground into my right leg and made it flow into the [Bear avatar].

Here goes nothing! [Ursa Minor]! The Mountain took this head-on and got blasted back but he seemed to have resisted it. Because the [Ursa minor] was charged with earth magic it caused the diamond to crack but it wasn't broken yet.

You’re a tough cookie! But I will have you know that where there is a minor, there is always a major. The Mountain didn't seem to react. Did Agnis forget to give them a speech? Well, whatever. The Mountain was wary and started firing off earth magic. I blocked them with the bear avatar and went big bear mode. My bear avatar grew in size too. My big bear form was still smaller than the mountain, and my bear avatar in my normal size was also smaller than the Mountain but now the bear avatar was head and shoulders above the Mountain.

Ha! Who is the Mountain now! I picked myself up with the bear avatar and threw myself at him while deflecting earth magic with my paws and my avatar's paws. I landed in front of the Mountain and sunk my feet into the ground. I started charging again. I used normal [Meteor punches] to clear out earth magic he was still throwing at me while the avatar was preparing the finishing move.

Eat this! [Ursa Major]! The Mountain got sent flying at an impressive speed. I saw a lot of diamond chunks on the floor. I checked if he was defeated and the space confirmed that my opponent was annihilated. Oof I'm pooped. I guess I should try to make this more efficient on mana in the time I have left. It wasn't a hard fight but it took a lot out of me mana-wise. I took a long rest and fought some other opponents. The fights against Charlize and Cecilia were completely lopsided in my favor. I did get owned by the spirit sisters. I fought one at a time and I could hit them because else there would be no point but they would still kick my ass. At least the matchup feels a bit fairer now.

My bear avatar could be damaged by strong attacks and when hit in crucial parts like the joints I will need to fill it up with arcane magic and if that happens too often, I will get drained and am forced to cancel it. I could still throw [meteor punches] but these aren't the types of opponents that would have difficulty dealing with them. I knew they were strong but again I realized how strong they were. I fought Raishin and even though I thought I would kick his ass I only had about a 60%-win rate against him. Gregory wasn't fun to fight against because although he couldn't defeat me, I had a lot of stalemates against him and only won 2 out of the 10 fights with a lot of effort. Fighting Agnis wasn't fun either, nothing I could do would hit him and he would just lock my bear avatar down and blast the joints, I should have expected that his copy would find out the weakness of my bear avatar without issue but he was completely exploiting this weakness and after that, he just locked me down and defeated me. The only copy of my buddies that I had a chance against was a stronger version was Raishin. I tried to request fights against Paula but I assume Agnis didn't have enough data on her since she wasn't available. My favorite opponent was the Mountain and Guyani and my least favorite opponents were Agnis and Gregory. For fun, I requested to fight my dad and to my shock and horror it got accepted and I got destroyed, same with the mothers of my buddies. I spent the rest of the remaining time getting owned and owning opponents while getting to fine-tune my newfound power.

Time ran out and I got kicked out of the space. It was dark outside and my buddies got kicked out too. It seemed to be evening. Holy shit Agnis and Gregory! Why do you two look so beat up? Ehehe, I might have overdone it, I'm so tired… I might have been a bit over-ambitious, but I could use a good sleep too. Hahaha, idiots! With these things, it's best if you take it easy!

I hope you took this seriously! No problems! I mastered my new skill in a week! Raishin held up a peace sign.

But what was wrong with those copies of you guys? I had no chance fighting any of you! Hehe, we’re just that overpowered, wait what do you mean? Your copy got some wins in against me, how come you couldn't beat my copy?

That is what I want to know! Hey, you didn't make them extra strong or something did you Agnis? We looked over at Agnis and Gregory but they seemed to have fallen asleep.

Hey, Raishin help me with bringing them home, they deserve to sleep in their bed. Ok! Raishin picked up Gregory and I picked up Agnis. I knew this would happen and that's why I told them to not overdo it but I guess that would have never worked. Boshi town, the real Boshi town was quiet but there were still some people walking around. During this month I've walked through Boshi town multiple times at different times but the real one still felt the best. For this Boshi town, only a day passed but for us, we’ve been away for a month. Luckily the one who would slip up the most in this, which is Raishin, lives alone, Agnis might make some minor mistakes but since he has worked a lot on this time-space thing I'm sure he wouldn't mess up. I rang the doorbell and Hera opened the door.

“What happened? Is he ok?” We had a rough training day; he is ok and just asleep. Can I ask you to not wake him up early tomorrow? He needs his rest

“This child always overdoes things.” I agree. I carried Agnis upstairs. It might just be me or did he get lighter since the last time I carried him? I have to ask him because while it is normal that someone becomes heavier as they get older, he is getting lighter, I'm sure he was heavier 5 years ago. I put him in his bed.

“Here is some plum pie I baked today, thank you for looking out for Agnis.” Thank you. I accepted the pie and waved at Hera as I headed home. I closed the door behind me. I checked the house. Harold didn't seem to be home. I looked at the clock. It was a bit past 10 pm. Maybe he is on his way home now. I decided to go to bed. The moment I laid down in my bed I realized how tired I was and fell asleep.