weird.”
“ No, that's just a wombat Daisuke.”
The museum attendant followed us everywhere we went. Staring
at Akito oddly like he was crazy. It made me realize why the man at
reception gritted his teeth as soon as we entered the
foyer.
* * *
Once we got
back, Akito laid out a calligraphy set and a large stack of paper.
I recognized them as being similar to the ones I previously saw in
Mana's bag.
“ What sets exorcists apart from regular people is our ability
to use spiritual energy. This energy can be channeled through
special charms and used in the fight against Obake,” he took
a sheet from the pile and wrote some illegible symbols with the
calligraphy brush.
“ Using different combinations of characters you can create
charms with different physical effects such as fire, water, and
paralysis. They can also be arranged in combinations that create
larger effects, such as barriers or sealing charms.” He put down
the brush, picked up the paper, and waved it in the air a few times
to help the paint dry. “I will now demonstrate.”
Akito held the charm between two fingers and closed his eyes.
He appeared to
be in some sort of deep meditation. Suddenly the paper became damp
and began to drip water. Within half a minute it completely
disintegrated. It wasn't as cool as the one which caught fire, but
it still looked pretty awesome.
I sat there
transfixed. “Wow! Can you teach me how to do that?”
“ Well that is the point of you being here.”
I was expecting that we'd play around with the cool
charms. Maybe even go out and throw them at some Obake, but I spent
the afternoon practicing calligraphy on sheets of paper while Akito
continued to lecture me.
“ As effective as exorcist charms are, they need to hit the
target before the charm is spent. Sometimes you may need to utilize
arrows, or weapons, to make sure it hits the enemy in time. The
strength of the charm depends on how much spiritual energy you use,
but the stronger the charm the faster it burns out.”
“ But when I watched Itsuki he was chanting something, and then
this giant ball of lightning came out of no where.”
“ That's the more advanced form, there's no need to get ahead
of ourselves.”
Every time I
finished, Akito would glance at my paper, twitch his lip, and then
command me to practice another hundred times. I tried making the
paper catch fire, but nothing happened. Apparently the charm was
only effective when you used a special type of paper which Akito
wouldn't let me touch until my writing was perfect.
It wasn't
just calligraphy practice. The rest of my time was dedicated to
Obake research. Akito would give me various topics, and I would
have to research them and present my results to him in person. I
felt like I was presenting news to the emperor.
“ Daisuke, name the four Obake levels,” Akito
commanded.
I sighed and
looked down my piece of paper where I had hastily written some
notes.
“ Obake can be divided into different levels
based on their strength, and danger to
humanity. Level four consists of harmless Obake who pose no
threat. Level
three Obake
are capable of human speech and often trick people for
fun. Level
two Obake can
change their form into more dangerous monsters, sometimes growing
ten times their normal size. Level two Obake also attack and devourer
animals and humans. ”
I paused to
make sure that I hadn't made any mistakes. Akito nodded so I kept
going.
“ Level one consists of Obake who are
capable of human form and coexistence with humans. They are
especially dangerous because they're capable of tricking people for
money, or luring them away to be eaten. Level S ,” I paused because this level really freaked me out. “Is a
new level created to distinguish the most dangerous Obake who were
previously in Level one , such as the
fox. Level
S Obake should
be treated with up most caution, and be avoided if possible. One
should not engage
“ No, that's just a wombat Daisuke.”
The museum attendant followed us everywhere we went. Staring
at Akito oddly like he was crazy. It made me realize why the man at
reception gritted his teeth as soon as we entered the
foyer.
* * *
Once we got
back, Akito laid out a calligraphy set and a large stack of paper.
I recognized them as being similar to the ones I previously saw in
Mana's bag.
“ What sets exorcists apart from regular people is our ability
to use spiritual energy. This energy can be channeled through
special charms and used in the fight against Obake,” he took
a sheet from the pile and wrote some illegible symbols with the
calligraphy brush.
“ Using different combinations of characters you can create
charms with different physical effects such as fire, water, and
paralysis. They can also be arranged in combinations that create
larger effects, such as barriers or sealing charms.” He put down
the brush, picked up the paper, and waved it in the air a few times
to help the paint dry. “I will now demonstrate.”
Akito held the charm between two fingers and closed his eyes.
He appeared to
be in some sort of deep meditation. Suddenly the paper became damp
and began to drip water. Within half a minute it completely
disintegrated. It wasn't as cool as the one which caught fire, but
it still looked pretty awesome.
I sat there
transfixed. “Wow! Can you teach me how to do that?”
“ Well that is the point of you being here.”
I was expecting that we'd play around with the cool
charms. Maybe even go out and throw them at some Obake, but I spent
the afternoon practicing calligraphy on sheets of paper while Akito
continued to lecture me.
“ As effective as exorcist charms are, they need to hit the
target before the charm is spent. Sometimes you may need to utilize
arrows, or weapons, to make sure it hits the enemy in time. The
strength of the charm depends on how much spiritual energy you use,
but the stronger the charm the faster it burns out.”
“ But when I watched Itsuki he was chanting something, and then
this giant ball of lightning came out of no where.”
“ That's the more advanced form, there's no need to get ahead
of ourselves.”
Every time I
finished, Akito would glance at my paper, twitch his lip, and then
command me to practice another hundred times. I tried making the
paper catch fire, but nothing happened. Apparently the charm was
only effective when you used a special type of paper which Akito
wouldn't let me touch until my writing was perfect.
It wasn't
just calligraphy practice. The rest of my time was dedicated to
Obake research. Akito would give me various topics, and I would
have to research them and present my results to him in person. I
felt like I was presenting news to the emperor.
“ Daisuke, name the four Obake levels,” Akito
commanded.
I sighed and
looked down my piece of paper where I had hastily written some
notes.
“ Obake can be divided into different levels
based on their strength, and danger to
humanity. Level four consists of harmless Obake who pose no
threat. Level
three Obake
are capable of human speech and often trick people for
fun. Level
two Obake can
change their form into more dangerous monsters, sometimes growing
ten times their normal size. Level two Obake also attack and devourer
animals and humans. ”
I paused to
make sure that I hadn't made any mistakes. Akito nodded so I kept
going.
“ Level one consists of Obake who are
capable of human form and coexistence with humans. They are
especially dangerous because they're capable of tricking people for
money, or luring them away to be eaten. Level S ,” I paused because this level really freaked me out. “Is a
new level created to distinguish the most dangerous Obake who were
previously in Level one , such as the
fox. Level
S Obake should
be treated with up most caution, and be avoided if possible. One
should not engage
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