Chapter 8:
Puppenspieler
“YOU’RE REALLY GOING, THEN?”
The look in Wim’s eyes had completely changed. I thought that it had to be because he was no longer hesitating. However, he seemed a bit flustered as he fumbled his way forward like a chick who had just left the nest.
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
Wim had grown daring. No, I guess he had always been like this. Despite his hesitation, he always jumped into action when it came down to it. That was just who he was.
“This is goodbye, Heidemarie. Probably… Fweh heh heh.”
“I don’t think so. You’ll make it through, Wim.”
“You have too much faith in me. Things aren’t going to go as smoothly as last time. I’m just going to buy us some time. I mean, I’ve gotten stronger, right? And, um… Fweh heh, y’know…”
I was happy to see that his creepy laugh was back. Nachtlibelle was a party that gave its members freedom, but we were still an alliance made up of different people. Even they would find his laugh a bit weird, so I was sure he had been trying to hold back in front of the others.
“I feel weird, like I’m ready for anything. My legs are shaking. Maybe I’m getting cold feet? But I’m always talking about how I want to die…”
I don’t think that’s fear, Wim.
“Um, I’ll be going then. We don’t have much time. Heh heh.”
“Right. Good luck.”
I waved goodbye, and he limply raised his own hand in response. Then, he was gone.
Wim. My Wim. I’m sure you still didn’t know yourself all that well, and that even I know you better. You’re strange, and twisted, and… Maybe it’s not the word to use when describing someone you care about, but you’re shameless.
But one day, the whole world will know your name.
When that day comes, I want you to tell me about yourself. I always say I know you better than anyone, but there’s some stuff that even I don’t know. You’re one of the greatest secrets of this world. Even now, you…
Hey, Wim? Why were you smiling just now?
✦ ✦ ✦
The torrential rain didn’t seem like it was stopping anytime soon. Water continued to pool on the floor, making it hard to move. It was now up to my knees.
The boss was still squirming around to taunt us, its round minions doing the same. If that was all they were doing, it would have only been a bit annoying, but they were now using the water to swim. They must have been made of something that could float, as the more this place grew flooded, the faster they became.
Even if we tried to run, they would just catch up to us.
I took a good look at the boss. The black mist that occasionally spurted from its back was the source of the rain, which meant we would have to defeat it if we wanted it to stop.
Could it really cause such a sudden downpour? It was probably magic of some sort, but the logic just didn’t seem to make sense.
That’s when I remembered the boss had jumped down from above. It must have been stuck to somewhere high up on the wall, and had been scattering the mist to form clouds in the “sky” where it was too dark for us to see. No, maybe the mist condensed the water vapor in the air.
It was a bit careless to think about this given my current circumstances. Maybe the boss was being a bit careless too, or perhaps it was just confused. Bosses tended to be intelligent. It might have found it strange that someone like me stepped in to replace Camilla, a woman who oozed strength.
“I’ll do my best, then.”
I tried to keep my legs from shaking and took a deep breath. My body was freezing, but I would be fine. I was about to fill myself with unbearable heat.
There were plenty of abilities that could be strengthened via buffs but casting them on different parts of the human body could vary in difficulty. The easiest to strengthen were bones, then muscles. These were what most buffs acted on. However, it was possible to take the buffs further. If you wanted to increase oxygen supply, you needed to manipulate blood flow, which required strengthening the heart. Placing buffs on the invisible, inner parts of the body increased the difficulty of casting the buff exponentially. Currently, there were very few support casters who could manipulate blood flow.
Besides the heart, there was one part of the body that was considered taboo to cast buffs on—the brain. It controlled our consciousness, and while increasing the speed of its functions would greatly increase one’s abilities in battle, the difficulty of casting and the dangers meant there were still no support caster who had accomplished it.
There were numerous problems with such buffs. First was how sturdy the consciousness was. The brain was an organ that, since birth, autonomously created thoughts and answers for itself. That meant it fundamentally resisted outside intervention. Casting a buff on someone else’s brain was impossible, and even if a support caster managed to cast one on himself, we were so inherently weak that there was little merit in doing so.
If a support caster managed to strengthen his brain, he would only cause an overload that would immediately leave him unconscious. Casting a buff on the brain can increase processing speeds, but those speeds surpassed the caster’s consciousness. Once increased, the brain will just keep going faster and faster, creating a cycle impossible to escape.
Since I thought it would be the only way to boost my own strength, I did test out brain buffs before. I wasn’t quite sure if there was really a secret to it, but what I did was simple—I made myself aware of my own consciousness. I persistently asked myself questions, and answered them to refine my sense of self. I eventually succeeded in finding the right multiplier that would speed up my brain but prevent overflow and keep me conscious.
That multiplier was just 1.00001, but even that exponentially intensified the burden on my brain with every second. That was the limit given my innate capabilities, not to mention I was sure the side effects would give me some brain damage.
Yet, it was still possible. I could accelerate my brain and realize my theories via self-manipulation. This was…
“[Shift: Puppenspieler.]”
My consciousness reversed current. Everything I had ever seen, heard, and remembered mixed together in my brain, a feeling that was quite odd.
“Agh! Hah!”
Every muscle in my body flexed. My digestive organs squeezed together as my breath was forced out of my throat. The signals from my brain weren’t reaching my muscles, but somehow, I withstood the pain that I had no way of resisting.
Seconds passed, or maybe not even that. Suddenly, my vision relaxed like the surface of a calm pond.
“Fweh, heh heh heh.” As soon as my throat loosened and I could suck in air, a strange, forced laugh slipped out.
I…I had done it.
How could you even describe this feeling? It was like all my senses including time had malfunctioned, and everything around me had become quiet. It felt like I had as much control over every limb in my body as I did my dominant hand, and I was confident I now could write equally well with both if you put a piece of paper in front of me. It was like I could become the best acrobat in the whole world, like I could move every hair on my body! Though, I guess they weren’t connected to my nerves, so that would be impossible.
Then came an attack. The same torrent of tentacles that had left Nachtlibelle half-destroyed now rained down on me from every direction.
“I’m dead.”
There was no making it out of this one but letting the attacks slam into me wasn’t an option. I needed to run, but there was no way I could dodge them all.
Managing to dodge these tentacles would be a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
I was a weakling, and the ideas that came to me in battle fundamentally differed from someone as strong as Camilla. She would improve her abilities to prevent failure, toughening herself so that if she fought ten battles, she would win every single one.