Kakine woke up early the following day and made his way to his grandfather's study. He could open his circuits without any difficulties and he felt like he could learn way more. If magecraft had as much potential that his grandfather hyped it up to be, he'd be really interested in learning more.
He knocked on the door for a bit before being let in by his grandfather. He sat down on his seat his grandpa kept for him. His grandpa pulled up in his seat in front of him, and pulled out a piece of paper. "Mages have arias that help them perform spells." He started, "It's not required but it makes it easier to perform said spell, the first spell I'll teach you is reinforcement."
He held the paper in front of me while letting blue lines run through it. "This is Reinforcement," Sougen explained. "It enhances any material you wish it to. For a short time, it performs closer to its ideal. It can make fruit sweeter, knives sharper and your body faster."
He placed the paper back on the desk and released the mana. The blue lines faded, and the sheet softened immediately, returning to its original state. Kakine watched closely, memorizing the flow rather than the result. "You will begin by reinforcing simple objects," Sougen continued.
Sougen slid the sheet of paper toward Kakine. "This will be your practice for the week," he said, his tone firm but measured. "You have seven days to master Reinforcement. By the end of that time, you should be able to enhance any object safely and consistently. No shortcuts and no exceptions."
He leaned back slightly, watching Kakine with sharp, calculating eyes. "Take your time, but do not waste it. Every mistake you make now will teach you more than any success."
Kakine picked up the sheet of paper, thin blue lines flickering faintly beneath his skin as he activated his circuits. He focused, imagining the paper becoming stronger, more resistant, just like his grandfather had demonstrated.
For a moment, it felt right. The paper stiffened slightly, edges straightening. Kakine smiled to himself. Then, with a sudden snap, it shredded into fragments in his hands.
He froze, staring at the shredded remains. The lines of energy flickered and died.
Sougen started bursting into laughter before calming down and bringing out a new piece of paper. "My apologies, I forgot to teach you the step before this." Sougen muttered an aria under his breath before putting down the paper. Blue lines appeared all over the new sheet before they all flickered out.
He put down the piece of paper and decided to explain to Kakine what transpired. "The spell I just used was called structural analysis. It's a spell that lets you see the inner workings of any material that you hold." He paused for a second mulling over his next words before continuing. "With this spell I want you to use it and then try reinforcing the object."
Kakine picked up the new sheet of paper, feeling its weight, the texture against his fingers. Nothing seemed different about it, but Sougen was watching him expectantly.
"Alright," Kakine murmured, closing his eyes for a moment to steady himself. He took a slow breath and used his own aria. Blue lines appeared all over the piece of paper. He felt the impurities and the inner workings of the sheet transfer into his head. With that understanding, he tried reinforcing the paper once more. Muttering the aria, he guided the blue lines along the sheet. The paper slowly stiffened evenly, edges straightening without tearing. Kakine opened his eyes, staring down at the intact sheet, a faint trace of satisfaction tugging at his chest.
He chucked the piece of paper at the wall, watching one of its edges embed itself into the plaster with a faint crunch. The sheet didn't tear; it held together perfectly, stiffened by the reinforcement he had just learned to control. Kakine tilted his head, analyzing the angle, the impact, the subtle flex of the fibers under stress.
"Not bad," Sougen commented from across the room. "It's acceptable, but I want to see improvement in the next seven days."
Kakine set the sheet down carefully and studied it for a long moment. This spell would be useful for physical combat if applied to the body. But a shitty job could render you useless and a walking punching bag.
Kakine looked back at his grandfather and asked him a question. "Are there any spells I could use to alter an object's material or substance."
Sougen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes," he said finally. "There are spells that can alter the composition of an object, can change its density, its flexibility, even its elemental affinity. But such spells are far more complex than Reinforcement."
Kakine tilted his head, considering the implications. Changing a material's structure at will… that would require not just understanding its current form, but predicting how every particle would respond. One mistake and the object could collapse, fracture, or even explode. But then his mind drifted to something more intriguing. If he could somehow recreate his Dark Matter using ordinary materials, even just replicating the effects of Dark Matter, the possibilities would be enormous.
He imagined a single marble, ordinary and small, transformed under precise magecraft. The stone could radiate sunrays hot enough to burn a man alive, focused beams of energy that no ordinary flame could produce. Or a scrap of metal, twisted by his understanding of structure and reinforced to near-perfect density, could snap like a blade sharper than anything forged in reality.
Even more audacious ideas crossed his mind: a puddle of water suspended in midair, its molecules rearranged to form a blade of crystal hard enough to pierce steel; a sheet of paper, reinforced and altered, that could coil around a target and crush them with the rigidity of stone. Every object around him, no matter how mundane, could be forced into shapes and functions that defied normal physics. His dark matter itself was an anomaly, but what if he could apply other objects with the same effects?
"These spells," Sougen continued, "require multiple steps: structural analysis first, then reinforcement, and finally what we call transmutation of properties. Without a precise understanding of the object's internal composition, attempting such a spell is extremely dangerous."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "You will not attempt transmutation yet. Today, your task is simple but crucial: train. Go out and observe the materials around you. Break them down in your mind, reinforce them, learn their limits. Only through repetition will you begin to understand the subtleties required for more advanced work."
Sougen gestured toward the door. "I expect a full report when you return. Do not waste this opportunity."
Kakine left the study, the echo of the oak door closing behind him. He went to the backyard and started experimenting with the spell. He grabbed a piece of grass and used structural analysis to learn the inner workings of it. Blue lines appeared beneath his skin, tracing the fibers and veins of the blade in exquisite detail. He could feel the flow of nutrients, the tension in the fibers, even the subtle flexibility of the stalk under wind pressure.
Satisfied with his analysis, he muttered the reinforcement aria under his breath and guided the energy along the grass. The blade stiffened slightly, edges straightening without snapping, perfectly retaining its shape. Kakine bent it gently, noting how much force it could handle before reaching its breaking point.
He repeated the process with several other plants, a small rock, and a few pebbles from the garden. After a few hours, Kakine stepped back and surveyed his work. A faint smirk crossed his face. He felt like he was taking a huge step in a new territory, and in a few years he would be able to rise to his original power.
By the time Kakine finished reinforcing the last pebble, the sun hovered just above the treeline, painting the backyard in fading orange light. The air felt cool against his skin and he felt accomplished. He rolled the final pebble between his fingers, feeling how its structure shifted under reinforcement. It wasn't Dark Matter, actually it wasn't even close. But with the logic behind magecraft, he would find a way to recreate it in time.
Sougen stepped into the backyard at that moment, hands folded behind his back. Teitoku hadn't even heard him approach. Sougen's lips curled into a faint smile. Teitoku was proving to be more and more of a prodigy when it came to magecraft. Perhaps he could complete the family's long awaited wish.
The Kakine family believes the world once had an "Original Blueprint," a metaphysical design that determined how every substance in existence was formed. It defined the natural properties of all materials, whether stone, dirt, or metal. Before humanity ever began naming or reshaping them. In ancient times, the Blueprint was thought to be the world's first "instruction manual," the formula by which all physical existence crystallized. The family wishes to recreate this material in the modern age, or something equivalent to said material.
To the Kakine family, recovering or recreating something equal to that primordial material meant more than understanding matter. It meant touching the logic that shaped the world. It meant standing at the place where form, law, and being first converged.
And if one could replicate such a material, or recreate a substance that ignored the restraints of natural law. Then the convergence point between the world's laws and the soul's concepts would become tangible.
It was, in short, a direct path toward the Root.
Sougen watched Kakine with quiet intensity. "If our family could restore even a fragment of the Blueprint," Sougen had once written in the family archives, "the world itself would answer us. We would not force open the path to Akasha, Akasha would reveal itself."
A discovery of that scale would rewrite the foundations of modern magecraft. The Association would either kneel in awe or destroy them out of fear.
And at the center of this ambition lay a name nearly erased from history.
Seven hundred years ago, the family's founder, Kakine Renkichi, had been a wandering craftsman- exiled from his homeland for experimenting on the spiritual essence of materials. While other magi dedicated themselves to elements, bodies, or curses, Renkichi pursued something far stranger: the question of why materials existed with the properties they did. Why stone was rigid, why air flowed, why metal could be shaped but not grown.
During a journey across the Far East, Renkichi claimed he discovered an artifact formed before the age of men, something smooth, cold, and impossible to classify. It was not metal, stone, ice, or any known element. When touched, it resonated with his soul and showed him a vision: the world being constructed piece by piece according to a perfect formula.
He called the substance "Blueprint Matter."
The artifact eventually crumbled into dust, but its existence defined the Kakine lineage for centuries. Since that day, every generation pursued the same impossible dream: reconstructing that original substance and unlocking the formula that governed creation itself.
Sougen looked at the reinforced pebble at Kakine's feet and felt the faint stirrings of old hope.
Perhaps, after seven centuries of failure, someone had finally been born with the talent and the mindset, capable of reaching for the Blueprint again. But the time isn't right for him to pass down the family's goal to Teitoku.
"That's enough for now," the old man said, his voice steady. "Your circuits have been active for hours. Rest, clear your mind, and continue tomorrow." Kakine gave a short nod. The pebble rolled from his fingers and landed in the grass with a muted thud.
The rest of the week went by quickly. Kakine spent a few hours each day practicing the basics Sougen assigned him. Simple reinforcement and keeping his circuits active were becoming easier by the day. By the end of the week reinforcement became a much simpler spell to activate. He understood the most effective way to reinforce most objects around the house, going so far as to reinforce expensive cups and plates around the house.
...
End Of Chapter, I wrote this awhile ago. I don't know if there are any shitty mistakes because I didn't re check it. By the way, the next few chapters might just be Kakine messing around. Bunch of explosions and shit. But I hope you guys like the story so far.