Today, was my day off. After doing my morning routines, I stopped at a café on my way to the lower district where éclair lived. There, at the café, I bought food and dessert for éclair and I. It was only fair that I brought something if she taught me. Even if she didn’t, the cost of a meal hardly compared to the possibly offending a powerful magical girl.

  éclair had offered to give me some teachings. I had first run into her at the central park, within the first few days of me arriving at this city. There, she had asked if she could sketch me while I ate my lunch. I had agreed, and in exchange, I gave her my dessert as payment.

  That very sketch was still in my room. I probably should get it framed or something. Something to keep in mind…

  The next time I ran into her, was when I was asked to aid Grim, an officer of the Purgatory police force, in an investigation. At the time, disappearances had been plaguing the areas near the lower quarter, which the woman’s shelter had made known.

  I had run into their investigation party while hunting around on the second full moon since arriving here in this city. There, I had run into Grim a second time, the first time being outside the central government building after I had gotten off the bus. The hunting party, was made up of Grim, Tabitha and a familiar face in Diana, a woman I had teamed up with in the first event and subsequently upset by leaving her behind.

  By the end of the expedition, I believe, with the help of Grim, I was able to hash something out Diana, somehow. Hopefully, when we meet again, we can work together without issue. Not that I fully understand what conclusion Diana had come to during Grim’s interrogation.

  As for the request Grim gave me, it was to join up with éclair, not that I knew that at the time. On meeting her, we encountered, beat, then teamed up with a team leader of the ruling gang of the lower quarter, The Wizard Gang.

  A gang made up of mostly men, those that were not transitioned into woman through some stroke of fortune or luck, unlike me, after being chosen. The reason for most men moving into the lower quarter, was due to the lacking support structure for them. A woman’s shelter existed to take in those who couldn’t find work or jobs. The men did not have that luxury.

  Arriving in the city without a job, a name, or even citizenship, they would have nowhere to go besides the lower quarter. Barring the few exceptions that manage to find themselves hired for work.

  After finishing the investigation on our part, éclair had confirmed that she would teach me. I only had to visit the same alley I had met her in, the last time I was in the lower quarter.

  Which, was where I was right now.

  The alley was mostly empty. An upturned metal trash can, with its contents spread on the ground, along with other bits and pieces of garbage filled the alley. The stench of rot hung in the air, only slightly made less pungent by the chill in the air.

  As always, I felt eyes on me. Though, they felt far less hostile compared to my first visit. Minutes passed before I heard something.

  Before I could even process what that sound was, a shadow, a person dropped in from above. I stepped back and readied myself. Only to calm when the figure stood up.

  Clad as she always was, in her oversized jacket, overly large white shirt that seemed perpetually damp, doing nothing to hide the black sports bra she wore underneath. Her large cargo pants draped down her legs, partially concealing the combat boots on her feet. She wore fingerless gloves on her hands.

  Her hair was bright gold, a single strand stuck up like an antenna, dropping and shifting with her mood. Her eyes were like a topaz gem, lightning crackling just within. A wide toothy grin on her face.

  “Prima was it?” She asked, though, she already knew the answer and pressed on, “Here for that training I offered?”

  “I am, I also brought some food and dessert.”

  Her eyes lit up. She visibly drooled when she looked at the bag in my hand. “You know, you really didn’t have too.” She said, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket.

  “It’s only fair, though, it was also the least I could do.” I say back, noting how her eyes never actually left the items in my hand.

  “That is true, technically.” She agreed. “But even if I charged, you wouldn’t be able to afford it.” A knowing grin on her face.

  I couldn’t disagree. If what I’ve heard about her, and what Grim said about her, there was no way I could afford éclair as a tutor.

  “Well, we should get moving. Especially if you want to get back before it gets too dark.”

  “Where to?” I asked.

  “My home, it’s a bit further in.”

  True to her word, she wasn’t that far. During the investigation we had skirted along the perimeter of the district. Here though, we went further in. The housing grew more clumped. Decaying apartment complexes and taller buildings flanked the streets. The streets themselves grew more cramped and less maintained. The sidewalks were cracked, with weeds sticking out.

  It struck me that this area seemed abandoned. A few shops had their windows just gone. The road filled with potholes and even buildings missing chunks. Even the streetlights were bent and rusted with age and abuse.

  éclair led me into a side alley, between two larger apartment buildings. The concrete near the entrance had been dug into, lines and sigils were drawn and flickered with yellow light. From the outside, the alley looked mostly normal, but when I crossed the threshold… it was a whole new world.

  “Welcome to my abode!” She yelled out, waving her hands in the air.

  The alley was fairly wide, and inside that alley, was a literal cardboard fort. Cardboard had been duct taped together, reinforced with boards, and with foil. Aluminum was stapled on the roof to waterproof it. Along the walls hung string lights, Christmas lights that lit up the whole alley.

  éclair ushered me into her cardboard home, where the interior had been marked over and sketched. Entire sections depicted different views. A prairie, with long grass blowing in the wind. A humble hovel in another. On the upper floors, one room was drawn in such a way that it felt like the occupants were atop a mountain, looking down on the world.

  Then, there were the sketches. Piles upon piles of paper were everywhere. Sketches of various people, men and women, many like us, chosen. Her kitchen had an electric stove and microwave, even a tub sink with a faucet. A cookie jar sat on a cabinet made out of cardboard. Lights were threaded throughout the interior, along with electric heaters in the main rooms. A bedroom, which had a bed, which was more a pile of fluffy blankets and pillows, as if it were a nest of some kind.

  A bathroom that held a metal drum barrel filled with water; a hose attached to the neighboring building’s water valve lay beside it. The dining room held furniture made of carboard. Even the furniture wasn’t safe from her sketching. Art and characters, even comic panels were drawn on the table.

  The place had an entryway, where shoes came off. A living room, which doubled as a dining area, a kitchen, with the bath being past the kitchen, the second floor was where her bedroom was. Currently, we were in the main area, or dining room.

  “So… what do you think? Nice place, right?” She asks after showing the place off.

  “It really is… how exactly are you getting power?” I said, asking the very first question that came to mind.

  “Ah, that? Here, let me show you.” She went over to one of the cabinets she had made, out of cardboard, and inside was a strange cylindrical object. It almost looked like a battery, with a number of wires running through it and attached to multiple extension cords. It looked like a serious fire hazard…

  Frankly, this whole place was strange. It didn’t smell bad. No smell of rot or dampness, the cardboard was strangely warm and firm. No bugs, as far as I could see. If anything, a faint smell of lavender hung in the air, probably due to the numerous air fresheners hanging off the ceiling, the very same air fresheners usually hung on a rearview mirror.

  As she pulled the object out from its recess, the one that seemed to be supplying all the power for her cardboard home. I couldn’t help but notice something odd.

  “Are those bronze coins?” I pointed at what looked like coins imbedded into the object.

  “Yup, they are. This object is engraved to produce basic electricity. The coins provide the juice for it and it’s not the only one.”

  Under the faucet she had one that produced water that pumped up into the sink. The drain led to a pipe, that worked out of the back of her home. She went ahead and showed me some other arrays she had placed down to keep the cardboard nice and warm, strengthened it, and even maintained the barrier that kept her place safe.

  “I didn’t know coins could be used like this…”

  “Not many people do, but that’s the reason for why they’re worth so much. Coins are a source of perpetual energy. Though, not much. Most people tend to use bronze coins as a burnable fuel, like gasoline, but they can also be used passively like so. Same with silver and gold.”

  “Do you think you could show me some basic arrays?” I asked.

  “Mm, I can. You’ll learn most of them when you buy the grimoire on occult knowledge inside the casino, or if you purchase a gold membership library card. Though, you are better off getting it from the casino, if you can. Especially since you can get the full experience if you go through the casino.” She responds and closes the cabinet, and rustles through piles of sketches for something while I take a seat at the table.

  “I had a feeling it would be worth buying, but… It is rather expensive.” I mention, as she continues rifling through the piles.

  “It can be, which is why a lot of people tend to ignore the study of the occult and alchemy.”

  “Sounds about right… not many people are a fan of the sciences.”

  “Right? They make for dry reading, but they are essential if you plan to actually get stronger. And, again, having it directly implanted into your skull makes it so~ much easier.” She said, after a short laugh.

  “You have both then?” I asked.

  “I do, but… meh, I don’t plan to set any roots, so it’s mostly a waste. Best I have is this home here, but… well, I don’t really plan to stay here for long.”

  “Really? Is there anywhere you want to be? Or where you want to go?”

  She shrugs. “Not really, but… I’ve always wanted to travel the world, ya know? See everything, sketch it down in my pad and move on. I like experiencing new things, no matter how far it takes me or how dangerous it is.”

  “How exactly did you find yourself here?” She sighs, and with a pile of papers in hand, she sits down at the table opposite me. The papers were all blank, a pencil in her hand.

  “Well… besides my love for travelling, I also had a love for sweets. As you could imagine.”

  I could… Just based on how excited she was about sweets.

  “Well, I travelled, ate sweets, ya know. It kind of caught up to me at some point. First diabetes, then when I didn’t stop travelling it was cancer. Next thing I know, I’m dying in my bed in an office, because I couldn’t even settle down long enough to get chemo done.”

  She lets out another long sigh.

  “Figured, if I were going to die, it would be out travelling… Though, I wasn’t wrong. I had collapsed during one of my trips, and next thing I knew, I was in a hospital far away from anyone I knew. Wasting away.”

  “That couldn’t have been easy.”

  “It wasn’t… I still sketched. Mm, I’ve sketched a lot though, drew a lot of sceneries, painted too. Depended on my mood really. I’ve been to war zones, places so pristine and untouched by humanity that they almost seemed like completely different worlds. Still, of all those places, what strikes me most were the sketches I made looking out my window in that hospital.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “That… was there something specific you wanted to see or sketch?” I probed.

  “Mm… Not really, no, but… I just want to be a witness. A witness to something amazing, unique. Something like that.” She said with a somewhat distant look on her face. Only to shake her head and come right back with her usual chipper attitude.

  “Anyway, when my cancer progressed to the point where I couldn’t even pick up my pencil, I was approached by Inu, the dog mascot. He offered me a chance to see a whole new world, filled with infinite possibilities. Of course, I took it.”

  Inu? The same name I called out for during the event? Curious… I didn’t exactly have the time to ponder on the meaning of that earlier, but could it be that he’d been watching me? Or rather, had he been the only one watching us? Or, had others been spectating as well?

  Usagi, the rabbit mascot has been fairly, distant in my day to day life, but something tells me that they’ve always been nearby, almost within arms reach…

  “That’s rather fascinating.” I say, trying to pivot from my current thought process. “But, how did this lead to you blowing up the city?” I finally ask, though, admittedly, it was a poor question to ask. Even if it was pertinent.

  “A lot went into what happened back then.” She replies after a moment. Then, she pivots. Not unlike how I just did.

  “Now, how about we focus on the task at hand. I’ll write down a few basic arrays, and you can copy them down. I’ll give you the most basic ones, one for making electricity, one for water, another for condensing magic, and dispersing magical energy into the air, followed by one for keeping that magic inside an area without it leaking out.”

  I didn’t press and as we worked, I had a question. “Can these arrays be used without coins? Or rather, can I use magic cores too?”

  “You can, magic cores work too, instead of coins, but coins are generally better. If you want to use your own magic, you’ll need to draw a few extra lines and sigils, like… so… these lines will convert your magic into a more basic form, that the array can use. Though, if you plan to use your own magic’s natural element, you don’t need these lines.

  I nodded along and kept at it. We finished shortly after lunch, we ate. The desserts in question were a kind of pumpkin cake. éclair absolutely loved them, even asking for my dessert, I saw no reason to decline. After that, we moved onto the next portion.

  “Now, I’m going to teach you a basic lesson here. Take the jacket off.”

  I took my jacket off, leaving me with only my tank top on.

  “Sit here, cross-legged works best.” She motioned towards the center of the room. The moment I sat down, she began to run her hands along my shoulders, humming.

  “Now… I’m going to teach you how to regulate your magic. Rather, it’s very easy to do, but it takes a bit of conscious effort and once you do figure it out, you’ll feel like an idiot for not doing it already.” She boasted before plopping me down on the floor.

  “Now, first, I need you to regulate your breathing, so, in, out, nice and slow. Deep breaths in, long slow exhales.”

  Following her words I did so. I inhaled, letting my lungs expand my diaphragm. All the while, her hands were on my back. Then I exhaled, long and slow through my nose. After a few times doing this, she spoke up.

  “Okay, now, I need you to use your magic, just a little.” So, I did. The magic, slowly filled me up. Not unlike a container fills with water. Starting from my interior and slowly flowed out into my extremities. I could feel the ice gathering, my blood thickening, and the frost I could taste on every breath.

  “Good, now… this might feel uncomfortable, but trust me on this.” She said, her voice oddly distant as I focused on breathing and focusing on my magic.

  I didn’t have time to respond before I feel a pulse through my body. A small jolt that nearly jerked me awake. But before I even could, I felt something inside me. Pushing, pulling, wending, weaving through my body. Enraptured, I focused on that feeling.

  “Good, now, keep breathing.” Then another jolt follows, and another. Each jolt disturbs the flow of magic under my skin. I could feel it swirling, as if unsure.

  “And…” A final jolt runs through my body, and I shoot up. I take in a sharp inhale, the veins in my body now feel like they were carrying frigid water, not partially frozen blood. All at once, too, I noticed small changes. The sensation of pricks and needles at my extremities, and odd confluence of hot and warm that worked through my core.

  Almost like I’d only been partially frozen, or improperly frozen.

  The pain intensified, crawling from my extremities all the way to my heart. It thumped painfully as my veins burned. As my entire body screamed like it was dumped into burning acid. It took all I had to focus on breathing in and out. To not break concentration and break out into cusses and swears.

  Just when the pain became unbearable, it began to ease. With every thump, the pain slowly ebbed away, only to be replaced with an icy cool sensation that runs through my body. Soon replaced with an odd, almost comforting warmth.

  I exhale, a final time. My breath frosted over, leaving glimmering rime in the air.

  “Good, what I just did was help you cycle your magic. Normal people need to go through an insane process to slowly adapt their body to the flow of magic, and the diffusion of it into their blood.” She says, and I try to focus as I flex my fingers and toes, delighting in the new sensations.

  “For us, we don’t any of that. Our magic naturally just flows through our body, but it’s not only inefficient, it’s also inconsistent. What I just did, was showed your body where it should be putting that magic your producing, your blood. Now, whenever you use it, not only will it work faster, but it’ll cost less and you’ll have more control over it.”

  What she said, made sense. Some of the books I read, talked about mages, sorcerers, and warlocks. How each handled magic. In some ways, magical girls could compare to sorcerers with how we use our magic instinctively. Whereas a sorcerer just knows how to use their magic, a mage must learn to use their magic. As the human body isn’t normally capable of utilizing magic, even if technically all living beings produce magical energy on their own.

  As for warlocks? They were granted their power from another being…

  Though… Would the mascots granting us power technically make us warlocks? But, I don’t think we were dependent on the mascots. If something happened to them, I’d think we’d still function just fine?

  “You doing alright?” éclair asked after my prolonged silence. “I know it can be a bit much, especially now, but given time you’ll adjust just fine.”

  “Yeah… Just, need a few more minutes is all.”

  She just nodded and let me keep inhaling and exhaling. The more I felt out the process the more it just clicked. Like, I had always been crawling, and for the first time, I was probably moving, walking. Even now, the process was nowhere near perfect. Too much of my energy wasn’t properly diffusing into my blood and travelling through my veins.

  Yet, with every beat of my heart, the process got just a little smoother.

  Seeing that I was getting comfortable with what was happening with my body, éclair spoke up.

  “Now, as a test, I want you to push it.”

  Trusting éclair, I do so. Slowly, surely ramping up my magic, essentially brute forcing it into my blood. It doesn’t make it more efficient. If anything, the more I push, the more painful it becomes. All too quickly, I begin to lose control. Almost like a speeding train, hurtling down the tracks. The breaks long gone, and with every twist and turn I could hear the wheels grind and scream. At any moment, any instant, I felt like I’d be thrown off the rails.

  And all too quickly it does. All I feel is pain. A lurch in my heart, my entire body shudders as something goes wrong. The cycling energy inside me vibrates violently, shaking and beating against the flesh and muscle surrounding them.

  I cough and hack. Frosted blood leaving my lips, slapping onto the cardboard floor. All I smell and taste is ice and blood. It drips down my nose and face. My entire body screams, and yet… after a few gulps of air, the pain of something going wrong, begins to fade. Glancing about, I see the entire area covered in frost as cold radiates from my body. All, save for éclair.

  “Now, try to cycle your magic again.” éclair says, well before I could even begin to chew her out.

  At her words, I do that, burying any hateful grumbles. Inhale, exhale, I pull back my magic and once more run it through my body. It almost felt like threading a needle, and soon enough, the rampant magic was pulled back in.

  It hurts… a lot. My veins burn with every thump of my heart, but I could tell, at a glance at least, that already more of my energy was diffusing faster and better…

  “Right, that’ll do, easy, right?” She said with a smile, completely untouched by the frost and ignoring my bloodied face.

  “Yeah… shockingly easy.” I say with biting sarcasm. “If you ignore the crippling pain and the blood. The hell was that?” I snapped out.

  “Now, most magical girls don’t realize how much energy they are wasting. The way you were using it before, you could think of it as splashing people with a bucket of water. With this, it’ll come out more focused, so more like a hose. You’ll get more mileage out of your magic, and you’ll be able to do better with what you have.” She says in lieu of an answer.

  “That doesn’t answer my questions. But you aren’t wrong… I do feel like it’s more efficient.” Already I could feel it flowing better, if the pain was ignored.

  “Right? To an extent, magic is carried by the blood. More specifically, magic is based around the core, for us, that would be the heart. With every thump, it fills our vessel, starting from inwards to out. Which contributes to the inconsistency and wastage. Whenever you tried to use your magic, it would flow from your heart, all the way to wherever you wanted to use your magic. Not just that, but having to fill your body with magic that way takes forever and is extremely costly. With it now slowly diffusing into your blood, it won’t take long for it to become a natural process.”

  She says, again ignoring my question.

  “Then why, wasn’t it already a natural process?” I had to ask.

  She shrugs. “Because, magic is like a muscle. I suppose. I’m not a researcher or anything, but I do know that you have to train it, not unlike a muscle. And even if using magic is like breathing, there is such a thing as proper and improper breathing, ya know? Or like lifting with your knees and not? Does that make sense?”

  “I guess… And I can already tell it’ll be more efficient, but why did you make me do that?”

  “To make a point, mostly. If any normal person, or rather, a mage was to attempt what you did, they would have simply exploded, pop!”

  She motioned with her hands; my eyes widened.

  “Our bodies are made to perfectly handle our magic and are even made to handle and adapt to obscene injections of additional magic power by coin ingestion. A normal human, or mage would simply explode. Some magical beasts could explode as well given the right circumstances. Let’s not mention how our bodies can be overclocked by using coins to temporarily boost our capabilities and without any serious lasting effects. Techniques that mimic it exist, and we can even learn them without much issue, but anyone or anything else? Doing so may as well be assisted suicide.”

  The more she went on, the more I realized just how insane we really were.

  “In theory, a mage can develop a magic core like us, even copy our ability to naturally use magic, but doing so would require actively altering their heart into a magic core. Which is both exceedingly dangerous, and costly. Not to mention the dozens of other alterations they would need to make so that the excess magical energy in their body doesn’t rot them from the inside out. Hell, few people manage to evolve from a normal human to mage, just think how impossible a core bearing mage would be! And even they can’t do half the shit we can do. Even powerful sorcerers with a dragon or ancient race bloodline would struggle to mimic a fraction of our potential! Hell, even extradimensional entities, like demons or such struggle compared to us, and they live off magical energy!”

  That really did put that into perspective, but… “What if I were to use a coin on someone? Would that be dangerous?”

  She thought on that. “Depends. Gold coins can be used on anyone safely, since they have their own separate rules. Don’t bother using silver or bronze coins on normal people, not unless you want to give them the magical equivalent of cancer. And please, don’t even think of feeding them coins. Not unless you want them exploding into a gory mess. If you want to use bronze or silver coins for normal people, focus on their actual use. Use silver coins to make magical items or foci, and the bronze coins for cash or material.”

  I nodded, taking note of everything she was saying and also, making absolutely sure I never intentionally fed anyone a coin. Just one look at our frozen surroundings, now rapidly melting, gave me an idea of what I’d be looking forward too if I did.

  "Can you use that offensively then? Force a monster to overclock, as you said, or feed them coins to blow them up?”

  “You could, would be a waste though. You’d spend far more than the worth of the kill for sure. Anything gold ranked can usually absorb a massive amount of magic, and there isn’t a lot in bronze and silver coins respectively. As for overclocking, good luck getting someone to intentionally break a coin, especially a mindless monster.”

  Good points all around… and something to keep in mind. Especially since, the only downside from eating that silver coin from back then to bolster my reserves, back when I had fought the Alraune with Grim and company. The only backlash I felt was a bit of weakness and a slowing of my natural energy generation as it paid back the debt I had incurred. Little else.

  “Now, as I was saying before, you just need to keep working on channeling your magic, really pushing it until it can handle all of your magical energy. At which point, you’ll reduce your waste by nearly ninety percent at minimum.”

  “That much?”

  “Yup! After that, we’ll need to work on your magic control, and how to better use your magic and such.” she said excitedly, her eyes shimmering.

  “I can’t wait.” I answered back honestly. “Does that mean we’ll continue this next week? And will we have to do… that again?”

  “No, that was a one-time thing. And to answer your question earlier, as to why I did that, well, you’re a rabbit. Which means, you benefit from danger and being put on the edge. Forcing you to overload like that, which again, would kill most beings, just gives you a massive head start on the process, and a delicious power boost when you fully heal.” She stated, with a smile.

  “Couldn’t you have just told me?”

  “Nope, it would have reduced the effectiveness, by like, a lot.” She said sincerely, or at least, it appeared she was sincere.

  “Now, next week I’ll have you meet someone that I think will be a big help to you, though, feel free to come over when you have the time.

  “Someone else? Who did you have in mind?”

  “Someone that can teach you more on how to shoot, and how to use your gun.” She answered, almost nonchalantly, but…

  “I’ll be here, and I’ll make sure to pay you a visit some time over the week, if that’s alright.”

  “Glad to hear, oh, and good idea with the watch. An artifact like that can be exceptionally valuable when hunting below the city.”

  All at once, my thoughts came crashing to a stop.

  “Artifact?”

  “Yeah, the watch. It’s an artifact, ya know? A simple one, but a useful one. I figured you knew, since you were wearing it. It’ll keep track of temporal differences, a valuable tool below the city. The smaller, second face looks like its tuned to the city’s time, which means you’ll always know what time it is, no matter where you are.”

  “This watch, this watch on my hand is an artifact that can help me discern how much time actually passes when I’m in places that distort time… Is that what you’re saying?” I asked incredulously.

  “Yup, you didn’t know?”

  “No, I didn’t I just thought…” I trail off, remembering who gave it to me, and what I learned about him from Leo. “It was given to me as a gift.” I say, firmly.

  She whistled. “Well, it’s a good gift. Fairly valuable too, though, a few silver coins could make something like that. I just thought you made it in preparation for entering the sewers and further below, hell, I would have suggested you make one sooner or later.”

  Hearing that and knowing who gave me this watch raised far too many questions. Had Jason, also known as Mr. Torres, known that this watch was an artifact? If he did, why give it to me? Is that why he approached me? Did he know what I was at the time? Was it really what Leo said, or was it something more sinister?

  Such thoughts had me reeling. Making me question a lot more than I had realized. In such a state, I gave a half-hearted goodbye and left.

  My mind wandered, brooding over not just what I had learned, but what it meant in the grander scheme. I had felt like I was gaining ground, but really… Now it just feels like I stepped further into a mire with no escape in sight.

  With a sigh, I made my way home…