"You do know that it was just a show and everything's not gonna be the same, right?" His soothing voice echoed out of the speaker of her phone from where it rested on the sink. Steliana rolled her eyes at them even though she knew he couldn't see it. Pushing around some of her very foamy bubbles, she sighed.
"I know, I'm learning that quite well. Most of my own non-elemental spells I've tried have failed, and will need an extreme amount of testing to even remotely begin converting them. Youjutsu and Merlin's brand of magic are far more disappointing than I had been expecting."
"I heard that emphasis on magic, what's going on?"
She wanted to bang her head on the edge of the bath, but his voice was just so kind as always, and ugh. Stupid early puberty hormones and his majestic voice. "It's just that it's not really magic, is it? Yojutsu can kind of be called that, but what the Magicians of this world use? It's just cold, cruel calculations, and reading some stupid flow of the world. Which, FYI, is basically them just trying to bootleg a mystical Senjutsu. So there's that mystery solved for you."
"Hrmmm." A hum vibrated out of her phone, and if she had been closer to the device, it would have assuredly sent tingles down her spine. As annoying and disturbingly hot as he can be over the phone, I don't regret this one small mercy for our separation. Then again, she had only called him twice in this last week, and it had never lasted more than ten minutes because of his busy 'job'. "Keep in mind that I was never a witch, but there is a reason why I haggled the Devil points to be so low."
Red, sudsy eyebrows raised as she let out an "Oh?" To encourage him to continue. He did.
"Well, it's just that in our world, there were the witch hunts, right? Proclamations that witchcraft was the Devil's power, that all witches had made pacts with demons or the Devil himself. All fake, of course. But even in other anime, fantasy, and the like, it's usually pretty similar. Even in the world you're in, isn't it just that Merlin made the system trying to emulate the Devil's magic, and could only do so through inefficient logic and reading—" He paused, and amusement was clear as he finished with, "—that bootleg mystical Senjutsu?"
She bit her lip, not caring about the faint taste of rose-scented soap that flooded her mouth as she did so. "So what you're saying is that I don't think the magic of this world is real magic, is because it's just an imitation of the real thing, even though many Devils themselves learn it to bolster their powers? And that's why my passion for it, and Yojutsu to a lesser extent, isn't really there?"
There was a moment of pause before a shuffling noise came from the other end, and a clanking of metal against wood. "What I'm saying is that while you were the greatest fighter I'll ever know and I've met your father, brother, and uncle—so trust me that's saying a lot. You didn't love it like you did studying magic, like you did creating it. Let me guess, Yojutsu uses a lot of internal control to correspond with Youkai's mastery of Senjutsu, on top of understanding of the world around them, and a tinge of emotion?" Steliana grunted in agreement with his words, burying herself deeper in the bubbles.
"The only reason I even entertained the deal I made love, is because I know you. You love and feel bright. You get enraputed by what you enjoy, and want to test everything you learn. Most importantly, unlike other witches, you just use random spells based on vibes. There's no logic to your madness or genius, and there are only two types of magic in that world that we know of that fit that."
He made a great point. Hadn't I said it myself? Devil magic is the greatest system of magic in this world… because it's the only real system of magic. Even Yojutsu just seems to fall flat compared to the glory that used to spark in my veins. This world is so powerful, and seems so 'fun' in fantasies, and yet its 'magic' can be so dull. So structured and repeatable. Steliana sighed. "As always, babe, you've given me a lot to think about."
His voice hitched into a more joking tone as he responded, "Of course. Don't you know, I'm the great Ferryman." Then his voice fell flat, disgusted even. "But don't call me babe until you age up a bit more, please."
"Does it help knowing that I'm naked right now?"
There was an audible gag on the other hand. "Fuck no. I'm not into loli, let alone actual children." She snickered, and he sighed. "Anything else you wanted to talk about? Cause if not, I need to get things in order. One of the remaining Dragons just died and is causing a ruckus."
She waved her hand through the bubbles, as if to knock them away, but they just came back a moment later. "Go, go! Do your job, I'm fine over here." She did have some training-related problems, but he wasn't the best for that. Apart from being a total nerd, of course.
"Alright, remember to not just hide away in that warehouse of yours."
"Yes, Dad–dy." He gagged again and hung up before she could get anything else out. With a chuckle, Steliana closed her eyes and sank nose deep into the bath. He's so easy to rile up now. It's funny.
With the call ended, she allowed herself to relax in the bath and to wash away a week of hard training and study. It had been, in hindsight, a strange week. She was used to being alone, segregated from anyone, even before she had gained her 'Ultimate' power. And so this wasn't new. No, that wasn't what was strange about it.
What was strange was how mixed it was. Her studying had gone strangely… well, amazing. The boards she had access to were a treasure hoard of random knowledge, and learning about Japanese culture through more mundane means was even easier.
Particularly when she could just ask when she went out shopping or grabbing some Taiyaki. Well, 'some' Taiyaki actually meant an unhealthy amount. Suspiciously close to how much candy Koneko is regularly seen chomping down on, in fact. Totally not at all suspicious on my reincarnator's part at all. Then again, she was pretty sure that, unlike her love, the being that had reincarnated her had probably guessed every single option she would choose. Future sight shouldn't be that hard for a being like that. I could even do it as a kid.
But increased obsession aside, her most interesting field of study in this last week had most definitely been finding out as much as she could about Vampire and Youkai physiology—specifically Nekoshou, of course.
There was an absurd amount to learn about Youkai. Now, it's not like she had found a how-to guide or anything, but she had definitely walked away after this week knowing far, far more about her current existence than before. Although a how-to guide would have definitely been nice and would have saved me a lot of time scrolling and looking at pointless posts.
To put it simply, Youkai were intense bursts of energy given physical form. Whether that intense burst of energy was potent magic, emotions, death, love, or anything else, it didn't really matter. Just about anything was a form of energy.
To put it another way, Youkai were just a slightly unique brand of spirits that had been created in Japan, that had then taken on their own physical form and grown from there. And now, they can spread wide and free, having children outside of Japan and anywhere in the world if they want. Naturally, the 'proper' way of birth via intense energy couldn't be done outside of Japan, but the more human way? Totally doable.
What that meant, though, was that there were a few pathways to grow their Youki for a Youkai. The first one was to absorb more of that intense 'energy' that had birthed their specific species, which explained why some Youkai had interesting personalities. The second pathway was to eat souls, so that was just straight out. The third was increasing one's mastery of Senjutsu, which would help fuel the growth of Youki. Which… yeah, no. I need to understand that A LOT more, and have a far stronger body, before I begin tinkering. Senjutsu and, in turn, Touki are all about life force. And from what was said, your life force grows stronger the stronger your physical body is. And mine's like a twig right now.
The last one was simple and seemingly true for every species Steliana had found. Training. Limits and the like, withstanding, of course. There was a reason that the oldest generation wasn't just filled with Super-class Devils. Or why every ancient Youkai couldn't just crush the current Satans. Everyone had limits. Some were higher, some were lower.
Speaking of limits. Daiyoukai, an interesting term representing the peak of Youkai-kind. Sort of. Unlike Devils, who, when they 'Transcend', could fight against even the Gods with ease, Youkai were just a slightly special spirit. For the most part, they had a far, far lower level of talent and maximum power than the Devil's as a species.
As such, for the more common races of Youkai, a Daiyoukai, a Satan-class being on par with a Dragon King was their form of transcendence. A sad, pitiful thought. Which got even worse when you considered the fact that the definition was for the 'Normal Youkai', and that there were Low-Class Youkai species as well. They, unless they broke limit after limit, would never be worthy of the title Daiyoukai and would forever be stuck bordering between High-Class and Ultimate. Let alone breaching into Daiyoukai territory.
For high-class Youkai like the natural-born Nine-Tailed Kitsune and the Nekoshou, it was different. There was no limit to break, nothing to transcend to reach the level of the Daiyoukai. Of course, it all still required talent to reach that level. To go further would be considered quite impossible, of course, but it was there, and so much easier for people like her.
Not to say it's guaranteed. Even for the Nine-tailed Kitsune, Nekoshou, and a few others who are 'aberrations' among Youkai, only the most elite and most genius reach that level. But much like the 72 Pillar Devils, a certain level of power was guaranteed. My theory was correct, like always. Nekoshou become adults when they obtain their second tail, and it's significantly harder for us to train and 'speed up' that process. Unlike regular Nekomata, who weren't remotely as hampered while in their youth, even if they were far less talented.
After all, a regular Nekomata had to work for every strand of power, and not all members were even totally guaranteed to hit the equivalent of Middle-Class in the Devil system. Truly, the importance of talent and birth is even more important in this world.
Luckily, her body wasn't the supremely gifted type like Sirzechs, where she would just basically fall into Satan-class power, and then while quite young break through a barrier thought impossible to break and reach a completely new level of power. I'd hate that if that were the case for this life to…
Steliana had dealt with that enough in her last one, thank you very much. The fact is, in her old life, there were maybe three or four witches throughout history who would have hit the equivalent of High-class. So yes, she was happy for the fact that her body wasn't that talented anymore, but her mind was. In truth, the last week—and what had made it so mixed—had proven her body very much wasn't a supreme talent in this life, even if her mind still was.
Her magic had grown by a mere 23% percent. Which might sound like a lot, but it wasn't. Outside of studying and small breaks to get equipment to help train, or food? All she had done was train. But still, that might sound like a lot to the mundane person. It wasn't. 4+1 is a 25% increase, just like 25+5 is.
Even an actual child could tell that one got more added to it. Not to mention that if her growth was consistent and locked to this level, it would take her seven months to reach the minimum level she had wanted to reach. Now, I should be able to optimize my growth from the original 23% to about 31% for this week, but much further than that through sheer training would require specialized equipment for supernatural or unique magic. She was somewhat regretting not having picked up sealing magic so that she could pull out the classic gravity or weight seal.
But she'd make do. I'm definitely going to need to use one rare candy, but I have to be as prepared as possible before taking it. Which meant figuring out the exact optimization needed for her training, of course, but one other thing. Outside sources, the likes of which the rare candy didn't take into account, if you didn't already have it.
Steliana opened her eyes, a very faint blush hidden by the slowly fading bubbles of her bath. All Youkai have a root of emotion or energy they can grow from, the first pathway. For Nekomata, their root stems from the legends about them. The tales of death, decay, and age. They gain power more quickly by being rooted in that, or by sucking the energy out of living humans. Nekoshou, on the other hand, were a mutated higher form of Nekomata. They ranked in the highest echelons of Youkai, reliably ranked as #3, with #2 and #1 only ranking above because of an old monster like the original Sun Wukong, and Yasaka being a freak of nature with an utterly absurd mastery of Yojutsu.
But, while those two had their monsters—one of which was no longer strictly speaking a Monkey Youkai—the Nekoshou didn't have that. In fact, there wasn't even a known Ultimate-class Nekoshou alive. Apart from debatably Kuroka in a year or two, but that's from skill, considering she didn't even have her third tail in canon. The reason their specific 'mutation' of the Nekomata clan was so highly prized? Their own absurd talent to reach High-class by the age of twenty-two and their 'root' energy.
Something prevalent in not just all humans, but life in general. A twisted form of the 'death' and 'decay' of Nekomata. It reversed that principle, and Nekoshou rooted themselves in one of, if not the highest principle of life. Lust. Fuck. That sure explains how Koneko managed to fit in so much with Rias and Akeno, and like, all of Kuroka.
Which was also why her cheeks felt like they were on fire. Because sure, like any hot-blooded woman, she had her own lust. But absorbing it to gain power was a bit… different, to say the least. Thankfully, I won't need to actually feel that lust. She would be converting it into Youki after all. Having to feel every drop of lust she'd be absorbing to fuel her power? That would be absurd and cause a ridiculous amount of problems.
It was just slightly embarrassing and highly mortifying that she was already having to fall into the tropes of this world. That was it. Really. It's totally not because the idea of absorbing lust for power is kinda hot. Nope, not at all. Fuck.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself up, water and bubbles falling down and coating her form as she did so. It's fine, besides… A grin, one filled with a different kind of 'lust', appeared. This just means I can test out some theories.
After all, what use was her teleportation and summoning magic if she didn't abuse it?! Oh, babe. I hate when you're so right. I really do love testing out new things. Because, sure, the traditional way would be to turn into a cat and get adopted by a loving, young, and very healthy couple. Or maybe find a job at a love hotel or a brothel.
But that was slow, and probably most importantly? She had never worked a job a day in her fucking life. Also, she was thirteen, and there was no way any even remotely reputable 'place of business' was going to hire her. A spark flickered in her eyes as she toweled off and got dressed. Devil's form long-term contracts. Me? I form long-term lust teleportation.
She paused. Okay, I thought that was going to sound way cooler than it ended up being. That was definitely a bit of cringe. Either way, once this was properly done, it should help accelerate her growth, even if it was just by a small amount. The tricky part is going to be linking it to my 'doorway' in the warehouse. But still, it shouldn't be too hard.
She was, after all, a genius. Not only that, but one who knew teleportation and summoning magic for two different schools of magic, one of which was about pure understanding. Which calling on that knowledge could bolster her capabilities of Yojutsu summoning and teleportation by a rather absurd amount, particularly in cutting down the cost. Something she desperately needed.
Fully dressed, Steliana looked into her mirror and smiled as she began to deal with her hair. Well then, I guess it's time to stretch my legs a little bit. Amusingly considering the situation, unlike the Devil's, she wasn't going to need consent for this. Okay, not amusing. That just sounded bad. I should never joke about that again. Ugh, that sounded SOOO bad!
With a shudder running down her spine, she finished up her hair and walked out of the bathroom, ready to find her first 'prey'.