Kyoto - Souta's Home
- Souta -
*Musical Jingle*
"Wake up, wake up; you'll never be strong if you don't train harder."
Groaning awake, I slam my hand down onto the Drag So-Ball alarm clock, putting an end to that fake Goku's voice.
Kicking off the covers, I make my way over to the bathroom whilst thinking about how bad the entertainment in this world is compared to my last one. Honestly, it's all just off-brand names, and most of the shows and games are flops compared to what I used to know. They don't even have Pokémon here, just that devil knock-off called Zatouji in the Familiar Forest from what I remember. It's like they traded all the entertainment in this world to have the supernatural be real instead.
Shaking away those thoughts, I shower quickly before heading over to the sink to brush my teeth.
Looking into the mirror while I'm brushing, I still can't help but feel weird at how I look now, not to say I'm ugly or anything; if anything, I look better than I did in my first life. It's just that even if I've spent 17 years looking like I do now, I still had 22 years of memories with my last appearance. Even if most of those memories were about entertainment I read and watched, I still remember how I looked, it's just that I can't really remember much else, be it family, friends, etc. It just all comes up blank; I suppose that's what made adjusting to this life easier.
I look back into the mirror at my appearance, and I have medium-length emerald hair that's in a wolf cut style – at least I think that's what they call it – light brown eyes, and a relatively handsome face with some soft facial features coming through, which I'll blame on my yokai half even if it's still sealed. I'm also about 5'9 with a slightly toned but not ripped body due to sticking to a steady workout routine. I still have a few years of growing left to do as well.
Thinking about it, I should've known that I was in an anime world with all the hair colours I have seen; that perception filter must've worked way too well.
Ah, whatever. At least I know about it now. Finishing up in the bathroom, I get changed and stuff the safe code in my pocket as I head down to the kitchen for a quick bite to eat.
Finished with cleaning up after breakfast, I finally get to work pulling the fridge away from the wall. After a couple of minutes shimmying the fridge forwards, I gain access to the safe.
Right, let's see then. It was 917432. Each push of a button produces a soft beeping noise before I finally hear the bolts to the safe snap open as I hit the enter key. Opening the safe, I immediately see the things Dad was talking about the golden butterbur leaf, a worn old journal and a key attached to some black string. The head of the key is the shape of a coin that is engraved with the words 'Gold Leaf Trade' surrounding the design of what appears to be the world with roots and leaves wrapping around it.
Picking up the key for a closer look, I realise that this must be the key for the store Dad was talking about. Looping the string over my head to wear the key for safekeeping, I move onto the gold butterbur leaf next, seeing as I'm going to have to sit down and sift through the journal for information later.
Twirling the leaf by its stem in my hand, I can see what Dad meant by it being no different from a normal leaf, with the exception that it was clearly tougher and looked like a freshly polished piece of gold thanks to whatever material was used.
After a couple of minutes being entranced with the leaf, I shake off the mixture of nerves that had been bubbling in my stomach and finally say the clearly not a Star Wars reference passphrase that Mum had set for the seal.
"May the butterbur be with you."
[Yokai heritage unsealed, Artefact system unlocked!]
Wait, what?
[Koropokkuru bloodline detected; inherent nature manipulation mutated]
M-mutated? What do you mean?
[absorbing mutation... mutation absorbed, system adjusting]
I really wasn't expecting this just for releasing a seal. I mean, I tried it all years ago, the whole shouting out and thinking different system prompts just to see if I had one. When you reincarnate and have read one too many fanfictions, then you really must try since you'll never know if you have one or not. I just assumed I never had one and the world I was in was normal, but I guess it got sealed with my yokai half.
[Artefact system fusing with mutation... Fusion complete, Devil Fruit Creator acquired!]
WHAT!!!
[Devils detected to exist in the host's world, renaming to avoid conflict with the host world to Mystic Fruit Creator]
Thank God not that I was going to call them devil fruits even if the system hadn't changed their name, what with me being in DxD; Mystic Fruit, though, could've been worse.
[Mystic Fruit Creator Online]
[Active: Mystic Fruit Synthesis]
Provides the ability to combine materials, energy, elements and even concepts into a mystic fruit.
[Passive: Mystic Fruit Analysis]
Allows for the analysis of Mystic Fruits to determine what they do.
[Passive: Sea's Boon]
Devil Fruits are so loathed by the seas of One Piece that it even created a mineral called Seastone as a weakness to them along with the sea itself. You, on the other hand, create no such weakness in your fruits. Keep in mind that even if they don't share the same weaknesses, fruits can still be affected by the systems of your world, such as clan traits, sacred gears, touki, senjutsu, youjutsu, etc., as they are all connected with willpower/soul in some way or form.
[Passive: Will of Three]
Consuming a fruit not only grants the consumer the abilities of the fruit but also grants them the physiology from the One Piece world, allowing for growth into superhuman levels as well as the use of the 3 forms of Haki after enough training, the exception being Conquerors Haki, which requires specific circumstances to be unlocked.
[Passive: Edible]
Fruits created taste normal.
Unlock Quest: Create 5 Mystic Fruits to unlock [Active: Extract and Store].
Before I could even process what the system was telling me, the leaf began glowing, and then suddenly the illusion of chains and locks appeared, wrapping around my chest, only for them to shatter into motes of light, and for the first time in 17 years something clicked, like the last piece of a puzzle slotting perfectly into place. Each breath felt richer, colours more vivid, sounds crisper and smells clearer and more defined, and the plants in the house that felt soothing to be near seemed to be singing for me like they were welcoming me home.
I hadn't realised, but a few tears had trickled down my face during the whole process. Wow, that was a lot to take in all at once.
As soon as the last syllable leaves my lips, the world lurches. Closing my eyes, I grip down hard on the leaf in my hand, as all I can describe feeling is an intense bout of vertigo that goes away after a few seconds.
Opening my eyes, I see the leaf I am holding has grown into the size of an umbrella. Huh, I wonder why it suddenly grew bigger; I probably should have read the journal first.
Looking towards the table for the journal, I realise my mistake: the leaf hadn't grown; it was me who had shrunk.
Well, this is a problem.
After pacing for 10 minutes while shouting words like extend, gigantify, etc. I ended up thinking I'd have to wait until Dad got home next week while trying to reach some food from the cupboards to survive until I realised, I had my phone in my pocket when I shrank.
Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I send a quick message to Dad just in case he's in a meeting.
Hey Dad, how do I grow bigger?
While waiting I ended up using the leaf as a bed, and it's surprisingly comfy; I would rate it 10/10.
*ping*
Quickly grabbing my phone, I see a message from Dad.
As I've always said, Souta, drink lots of milk and you'll be big and strong like your old man. ;D ;D ;D
Eye twitching, it takes considerable effort to not launch my phone across the kitchen.
*ping*
Looking back down at my messages, I read.
Joking, joking. To be fair, you set yourself up for that one, right since I'm guessing you meant that you're stuck in your youkai form, then the best way to change back would be to close your eyes and take deep, slow breaths, then imagine yourself growing. It's best to visualise something growing. When I first changed into my human form, I visualised a plant sprouting and growing. Once you've done that, you should feel a pull. Just imagine grabbing hold of that feeling, and you'll switch back no problem. It will take some time, but eventually it will barely take a thought to switch between forms. I've got a meeting in 10 minutes, so if you need me, just drop a message, and I'll respond when I can.
Smiling softly at the second message, I put the phone away and begin doing as instructed.
Eyes closed I take deep, slow breaths as I imagine growing to my original size. I visualise planting the seed, and just as quickly, it sprouts roots, then a stem that branches out into leaves, and then the bud of a rose appears at the top, growing until bright red petals begin to form until finally it blooms into its full beauty, and then I feel a faint pull, and before it can slip away, I imagine my hand grabbing and pulling it into myself. Just as it did before, the world lurches again; the quick bout of vertigo is back, and with that, I am back to my normal size.
Laughing manically, I shout at the top of my lungs, "I'M BACK, BABY."
Being that small felt weird but right at the same time and just imagining someone seeing me in that form sent thoughts of wanting to escape and hide running through my head; that must be our instinctual need to hide from sight that Dad was talking about.
[Split]
With a sigh, I close the journal and lean back into the chair after I finish reading it, and oh boy, is it a lot to unpack.
Putting the journal into my backpack, I pay some more attention to the little rascal on my lap, a cat called Purrlock Holmes. There are 2 others on either side of me, lying down on the arms of my chair: we have Captain Sushi and little Miss Cleocatra, all of them being tabby cats, each with various colours and swirls on their fur. That's right, I ended up going to a cat cafe because nothing soothes the soul more than being surrounded by cute little fluffy troublemakers.
"Everything was so much simpler 2 days ago, Purrlock, but still, I wouldn't trade it for anything. What's life without a bit of excitement?"
He just stares back with those eyes that say, 'Food or I don't care,' Fishing into my pocket, I pull out a few cat treats for each of them, and they immediately snap their heads towards them.
"Ok, ok, here you go." Happily, they begin scoffing down their treats.
With them distracted, I go back to thinking about what I read in the journal.
The first thing mentioned was about our yokai form. While in yokai form, we trade physical strength for more speed and stealth, and we also gain a sort of presence concealment. It's like the world thinks we are a plant in some way, so anyone trying to detect us will think we are just another flower to their senses.
Another one of our powers is the manipulation of nature. Koropokkuru are intrinsically connected to the world through plants; we can control them to a certain extent, but our main power is the ability to promote accelerated growth in plants as well as using them as a sort of security system. What I mean by this is imagine a spider and its web; if a bug touches the web, the spider feels the vibrations, and to us, plants, grass and even trees act in the same way. According to the journal, the range starts out small but will grow over time with more practice and use.
The only problem is I currently must be in yokai form to make use of nature manipulation until I get good enough to use it without. It does say in the journal that one of the clan's ancestors was able to become one with nature, but no one knows how he did it, and no one has been able to replicate it for hundreds of years.
Now about the clan itself, this part of the journal was the real eye-opener. According to the journal, only me and Dad are the only ones left of the clan in this world, and 'world' is the key word here because, the very same ancestor who became one with nature found a way to travel between worlds by combining his ability to manipulate nature and presence concealment together to slip between worlds by jumping into pits the clan was known to create as their homes and popping back out the other side into a whole new world. Yes, that's right, the mad bastard proved the multiverse to be true.
Apparently, the ancestor had gone missing for a couple of years before eventually turning back up, which happened to gain the attention of Great Red, the Dragon God Emperor, a being born within the Dimensional Gap from dreams and illusions as well as its protector. He had turned up because he felt the clan's ancestor slip back into the world through the dimensional bubble. Believing him to be an invader, he decided to go deal with him before he could escape and tell others about the world.
Before Great Red managed to attack, the ancestor had convinced him that he wasn't an outsider and that he was only returning after accidentally jumping to another world, saying it took him 2 years of hopping worlds and avoiding near deaths until finally, he got lucky and managed to return home.
After a lengthy explanation, Great Red believed him, seeing the familial relation between the ancestor and the clan, but warned him of doing it again. Hearing this, the ancestor said he couldn't do it, as during his travels he had learnt and seen things like never before and collected items that this world couldn't produce, and after saying his piece, he decided to offer a deal with Great Red.
Intrigued, Great Red asked him what this deal would entail, and the ancestor's response was to ask for Great Red's help in providing a way to safely travel between worlds and that they would offer tribute in the form of food and items collected from those worlds.
After some thought, Great Red asked if he had any samples of such items. How can he trust this deal if he hasn't seen what can be offered, thinking the ancestor had returned empty-handed from his journey, as he didn't have any bags on him when he returned.
Smiling, the ancestor told him not to worry. After rubbing the ring on his finger, items started appearing around him in various bags, much to the shock of the clan and Great Red himself. Picking out a few items, the ancestor handed them over to Great Red, saying these would be the most suitable for him. As he came across a world owned by dragons, these are the foods and sweets eaten by them, as well as a delicacy called 9 Spiced Dragon Wine. After sampling each piece, Great Red agreed to the bargain, saying instead of material items, he would just like food and drinks from various worlds as tribute.
That's right. Turns out Great Red is a foodie.
Happy with the response, the ancestor happily agreed to this deal, asking Great Red his ideas for being able to travel safely. In response, Great Red asked him to choose 5 of the strongest from the clan and any item that holds meaning to the clan. Doing so, the ancestor himself and 4 others he had gathered each held a butterbur leaf. Seeing this, Great Red told him he would bless the leaves with the power of the dream, making them an anchor to this world and allowing them to return home when using the leaves, but they wouldn't be able to choose where to go even if they had travelled there before, making sure to also tell them not to lose or break the leaves.
Hearing this the ancestor asked Great Red if he could infuse the leaves with a special metal, he had found stating he was going to craft an item for the clan using what little he found because of how beneficial it was to them, hearing this great red agreed and asked him to bring it out, rubbing his ring the ancestor pulled out a tear drop sized piece of gold that made the surrounding area flourish with life, plants visibly grew, the aches and pain of age was vanishing just by being near it, the ancestor had explained that in one of his jumps between worlds he had felt a huge amount of nature energy concentrated in one area and that he found this piece of gold surrounded by overgrown plants and trees so he decided to call it life gold and took it with him.
With some effort due to the concentrated life energy Great Red was able to split the teardrop sized life gold into 5 equal pieces before infusing each one into the stem of the butterbur leaves until slowly the leaves all turned gold after that he blessed each one of them with the dream, once complete he told the ancestor that the leaves would now act as an anchor to this world, they would repair over time if damaged but wouldn't if destroyed completely and that the leaves would remember the worlds they had been to before allowing for the ability to return to those worlds but only for the person the leaves are linked to and they would forget previous locations once linked to a new clan member, the leaves can also change to a bracelet form to be carried around easier.
Before leaving, Great Red broke off 5 scales and transformed each of them into a replica of his own maw, saying that any tribute offered could be put into a maw, and they would be transported to him once they did. He also mentioned the maws being able to become rings for ease of carrying, like the leaves. Seeing Great Red turn to leave, the ancestor bowed deeply with gratitude and thanked him for the items and his blessing for the clan to keep travelling, saying that he would make sure each member would remember and honour the deal for as long as the clan existed. Nodding without a word, Great Red opened a way back to the Dimensional Gap, leaving behind a grateful ancestor and a shocked clan.
According to the journal, after Great Red left, the ancestor had gathered the rest of the clan, telling them of the deal that had been made, making sure everyone had understood the importance of honouring the deal.
The ancestor explained his thoughts for the future of the clan, saying that he and 3 others would travel to various worlds to stay and live there, and once the leaf was passed on, the next set would do the same. This way, the clan could spread through various worlds, setting up safe havens for the clan and holders of the golden butterbur leaves, allowing them to rest while they travelled, gathering items for the clan to trade and tribute for Great Red.
His plan for the ones staying behind was that they could also travel as they pleased, but they would always have to return to the anchor world to act as a guardian for any clan members that decided they wanted to return and settle back down in the anchor world.
Once the guardian of the anchor world retired, they could either live in that world or decide to travel to one of the worlds they enjoyed travelling to; that way, they could live the rest of their life there instead, because once the leaf was passed on, the new owner could easily return to act as the new guardian for the anchor world.
*Tap Tap*
Feeling a tapping of paws on my head, I'm pulled from my thoughts about the journal; a quick look up shows a new cat had joined us, and I can immediately tell who it is from his unique fur pattern. He's a full white cat except the fur around his eyes is black, which gave him his namesake of Bandit.
"Come over to play, have you? Come on then, enough losing myself to my thoughts; let's get some of the cat toys out."
As if understanding, he lets out a quick meow and hops down from the chair as I gently lift Purrlock Holmes up and put him down as the other two follow along as well.
Ah, this is the life; everything else can be dealt with later.