Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Umbra Aureola ❯ Chapter 18 - Quick Quick Rebuild Kinjakan ( Chapter 18 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Xylix 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action / Martial Arts | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.27.2003 | Updated On: 12.27.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 465 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action / Martial Arts | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.27.2003 | Updated On: 12.27.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 465 | Status: Completed
CHAPTER XVIII: QUICK, QUICK, REBUILD KINJAKAN!
"I don't see what you are so happy about." Akane said to Ranma. The said martial artist was happily hopping along the chain link fence as the two returned from school. This joyous activity had by no means started now, Ranma had been shedding signs of happiness all day.
"What isn't there to be happy about? I'm free of the bracelet, I've mastered my ki attack, I've learned some magic and best of all I'm a guy again!" Ranma said prancing along the fence gleefully.
"And what is the problem with being a girl?"
"Well, you gotta wear stupid dresses, and arrange flowers and collect cute pets and-"
"Slam!" Akane kicked the fence causing Ranma to fall off his perch and on strait onto his face. Unfortunately the said location where upon Ranma was falling onto his face happened to be at the bottom of a canal of water. "Splash!" Came the loud sound of Ranma impacting the water at relatively low velocities, low for him that is.
Ranma-chan sputtered out of the water angrily. "What did you do that for!?" Ranma-chan said while angrily pulling out her thermos and pouring just enough water to trigger her curse. Ranma had been doing his best to avoid becoming a girl until he could get rid of that demon stuff. As such he had taken to carrying a thermos around with him. Unfortunately, it was difficult to carry enough water considering the sheer number of incidents that occurred during the day. Which was of course the reason he usually didn't bother to carry around a thermos.
"Hmrph!" Akane let out ignoring her fiancee. He got what he deserved for his narrow minded view on what girls where supposed to be like.
"Yeesh, what's her problem. I just answer her question and she goes off like a bomb." Ranma said watching his fiancee stomp off into the distance.
"Ever consider that she wouldn't like your answer?"
"Aaack!" Ranma jumped up startled by the presence behind him. Seeing that it was Anito Ranma relaxed. "Oh its just you. What are you doing here?"
"Just testing out my new teleportation spell." Anito said with a grin.
"Uh, can't you already teleport?" Ranma asked scratching his head confused.
"Oh, you mean my shadow step? That is actually more of a short range teleportation technique than a traditional teleport. The shadow step is designed for the necessary high speed, and efficiency for short range combat movement. In other words, while the shadow step is great for battle maneuvering, the it is a terrible technique for long range travel. The shadow step simply saps too much energy for practical long range teleportation. For instance, if I say wanted to goto China or Okinawa the shadow step would probably kill me." Anito lectured.
"This technique though is different. It uses much more time and energy up front, but in turn uses much less energy for the distance traveled. For instance this technique used the energy to shadow step about a single kilometer to move two. Executing the technique though takes about a minute right now, but I figure as I master it I can squeeze it down to to 5-10 seconds."
"That doesn't seem that much better." Ranma noted thinking about the energy use. Normally he could have cared less, but Ranma had recently been experimenting with the use of Anito's magic, if you could call it that, with his combat techniques. Not to mention Ranma's experimentation on the creation of his own techniques using the tricks he had learned. As such Ranma was much more amiable to such a conversation at the moment.
"Yes, at this range that is true. But the technique is logarithmic for the next few iterations. For instance traveling 10 kilometers would take the energy of shadow stepping 2, a 100 kilometers for 3, a 1,000 for 4 and so on. Of course once you get much higher than 10,000 kilometers the energy for the jump starts to triple for every multiple of ten. Thus, traveling to the moon, about 400,000 kilometers, would take the energy of shadow stepping about 30 kilometers. Interplanetary travel, say Earth to Mars, is strictly out running at about 80 million kilometers on a good day, or the equivalent of a 300 km shadow step."
"O-kay." Ranma summed up his total apathy with that in one word. The problem with talking with Anito was that once he got started nothing would shut him up. On the other hand the arch-mage was a proverbial fountain of information. "So are you planning to teach me to teleport?" Ranma asked.
"I suppose I could, but the new technique is probably several levels of difficulty too high for you right now, and the shadow step would be impossible for you. You need a lot of very primitive dark ki to pull it off."
Ranma looked at Anito strangely. It was rather unfortunate that Anito was his only real source knowledge about magic. Cologne, or even his Pops was much more direct about answering his question. Of course there was the books, but they used the old arcana method of casting magic, something Ranma didn't understand except for the fact that it used lots of items, ingredients, and odd rituals. A quick evaluation of traditional arcana rendered it in Ranma's mind unsuitable for combat.
"Couldn't you just create dark ki? You know, kinda like how in the unlocking spell I transformed ki energy with those patterns."
"Yes, actually, you could." Anito paused for a moment as if looking for an explanation. Ranma resisted the urge to sigh, sure he would get his answer, but it was going to take a long, long time. Anito suddenly brightened as he found a way to relate the information. "Let me put it this way. The entire unlocking spell I taught you was just to create a form of rarely existing energy that is often used as a key for the locks on magical doors or items to keep the mundane out. As you know, creating that energy with ki is quite complex. Equally so is the creation of other forms of energy. For instance if you wanted to create the purity of dark ki necessary for the shadow step, you would have to go through about three dozen energy transformations. All the while combining the result of various combinations with the result of others at the right time, place and order. Undoubtedly, whatever method you designed to achieve this would also create a great deal of waste energy, kind of like a chemical plant trying to make, or isolate certain chemicals or elements."
"Now, I on the other hand already have an abundant amount of dark ki, as such I can avoid the creation of the dark ki altogether. Thus the technique requires very little transformations in order to use. Equally though, you have your own natural ki forms, some of which I do not have, which would make it very difficult for me to use certain techniques you could use easily."
"Now in standard arcana this entire issue is generally avoided by one of three methods. The first is to find and implement the use of items, and or materials that in combination or individually act as transformers of certain types of energy into other kinds of energy. For instance amber can easily be used to form the energy for an unlocking spell, or a fire orb converts several forms of wizardly energy into fire."
"The second method is to use certain rituals, words, shapes and or runes alone or in combination. This method is actually rather similar to what I showed you for the transformation of neutral ki. In fact, high ki manipulation theory arises from a derivative of this method, except that it starts with naturally produced life energy rather than the more familiar energies that make up fundamental magic."
"The third method is to make contracts with spirits, non physical entities benign or malicious. By doing this the wizard can gain access to energy forms that might otherwise be difficult to use. Through this method one can also produce spells or magic far more naturally or easily, much like you can produce a ki blast. Unfortunately, this method of using magic often carries a heavy price. Ironically though almost all wizards actually use contracts in one form or another to gain the ability to use their life energy, and or to produce their basic magical energy. This is why most wizards don't believe ki has anything to do with magic."
Ranma thought for a bit digesting all this. "So basically, I could learn the technique, but because my natural energies are different I would have to use it differently. Further, the only other way you know how to do it is horribly inefficient, and time consuming to use. Which kills the entire point of using the shadow step in the first place." Ranma frowned something about what Anito had said was nibbling at the back of his mind as being very important. He couldn't quite grasp what it was though.
"Exactly, equally though there are things you can do which would be difficult, or even pointless for me to reproduce."
Ranma's eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked at Anito. "Wait... what was that about amber...?"
"Aha ha ha, would you believe that it simply slipped my mind?" Anito said a bit nervously. His smile though did nothing to portray his innocence.
"Yes, actually I would." Ranma replied dryly. "I'll believe that it slipped your mind when you accidentally told me about it a few minutes ago." Ranma's battle aura was looming large like some sort of misty blue monstrosity. Ranma was pissed.
"Honestly, it takes a certain purity of amber to do it, and I don't exactly carry that kind of stuff around with me." Anito said backing away nervously.
Ranma cracked his knuckles with malicious intent. Scooping his hands together Ranma formed a brilliant ball of energy. "You're not going to talk your way out of this. Moko Takabisha!" Ranma yelled firing off a blast of energy at the arch-mage.
"I figured that much." Anito said his nervousness vanished and replaced with his usual smug smile. "Mirror of Vasalis!" Activating the technique Anito reflected the Ranma's energy blast strait back at the pigtailed martial artist. "But you have to admit that it was worth a try!" Anito finished with a laugh.
Ranma hopped to the side, easily avoiding his own amplified and returned attack. "Less talk more fight!" Ranma growled at the arch-mage. Ignoring the raining particles of what once was a house Ranma punctuated his statement by tossing off a second Moko Takabisha this time from only two and a half meters away.
Anito teleported to the side. Ranma's energy attack easily passed through the arch-mage's afterimage not halted by a physical presence. Ranma didn't pause with the attack though, he immediately dashed forward delivering a swift front kick. Anito though flickered back from the enraged pigtailed martial artist keeping a good two meters distance with his lightning fast shadow step technique.
Anito serenely watched the enormous blast of energy careen into a store. The blast of life energy ripped through the glass windows like tissue paper detonating as the energy was released upon the more resilient surfaces inside. The internal concussion forces created by the rapidly expanding air ripped the building open. The light walls popped like an over filled balloon. "Put enough energy into that thing?" Anito said rather impressed and just a wee bit nervous too. Getting hit by something like that would hurt, a lot.
"There's more where that came from." Ranma said his hands glowing as the pigtailed martial artist powered up another blast. Even as Ranma did so he stepped in like lightning for an attempt to sweep Anito off his feet feet. Anito simply shadow stepped up above the attack. Ranma still spinning from the built up momentum tossed a weak ki blast behind him as the pigtailed martial artists whipped in around at hurricane speeds. The lance of energy passed through the air Anito the arch-mage had occupied before he flickered again appearing low and behind Ranma.
Taking control of the offense Anito thrust his staff at the expert martial artist. Ranma moved to the side allowing the crackling staff to pass through the air only centimeters from his new position. His staff still extended Anito suddenly wiped around causing his staff to windmill into the area where Ranma now stood. Ranma dropped low under the attack grasping the staff as it passed over him. Like a ball and chain Ranma threw himself in a circle using the staff as a pivot and the staff's momentum. The stunt almost jerked Ranma's arm out of its socket but the pigtailed martial artist held firm as enormous speeds where imparted into his circling body. While above Anito's weapon Ranma slashed out a foot at the arch-mage's head.
"Nice trick." Anito commented having abandoned his staff to avoid the pigtailed boy's attack. Ranma carried the momentum into the ground and absorbed the massive kinetic energy with his powerful legs. Ranma still had a firm grip on Anito staff despite the expert show of martial arts acrobatics.
"Let's see how you fight without your stick." Ranma replied smiling viciously. With the words spoken Ranma gripped the wood with both hands and broke the staff cleanly over one knee. Tossing the pieces to the side, Ranma set himself back into a combat stance.
"Hey, that's cheep! Rajin's Hammer!" A series of lighting bolts ripped out of Anito's hand like a short burst from a machine gun. The bolts of electrical energy shredded the ground with terrible power, spewing rock and dirt from the sheer force of the impact. Even Ranma's insane skill and speed was only sufficient to dodge the rapid lightning strikes by a hair.
"Look who's talking." Ranma retorted after dodging the energy attack. It didn't go unnoticed that Anito had retreated to energy projection range. A distance that to say the least favored Anito far more heavily than Ranma. Ranma though was far better at this range than before. The pigtailed martial artist formed a quick Moko Takabisha and flipped it off at the arch-mage. The attack had no real chance of landing of course, but it did serve to annoy Anito while Ranma returned to trying to close the distance.
Anito shadow stepped back as Ranma moved in. "This is what is known as tactics. You see, without my staff attempting a hand to hand engagement is doomed to failure. As such I use my greater speed to ensure that the fight is an energy confrontation." Anito explained as he continually flickered out of the way of Ranma's attacks. Each time forcing the pigtailed martial artist to close two or more meters before Ranma could make another physical attack. Seeing a quick opening Anito called out his favorite energy attack again. "Rajin's hammer!" Half a dozen lightning bolts exploded as Anito shadow stepped off to Ranma's side after the pigtailed martial artist attempted a flying side kick.
Ranma flipped in the air dodging the first two electrical blasts, and then he dropped to the ground allowing the rest pass over his prone body. The stray lightning tore through a poor innocent building with all the finesse of a battalion of howitzers. The exploding stone and wood was ignored by the two hardy warriors. As it was Ranma had already scooped up enough energy for his counter attack. "Moko Takabisha!" The blast lanced through Anito's after image as Ranma vaulted to his feet from the ground.
Ranma didn't stay still for a second. Bouncing off a wall Ranma finally caught Anito off guard landing an aerial front kick on the arch-mage. The impact slammed Anito into the outer wall of a store front. The stone crumbled from the force, but the arch-mage reclaimed his feet. Anito let out a huff of breath as he shook the dizziness away. "That really hurts you know."
"That's the point." Ranma said with an angry smile as he walked up to the arch-mage.
"I don't suppose we can talk this out now?" Anito asked hopefully. "Or do you need to release more pent up aggression first?
"If that means more violence, I'll stick with the latter."
"Oh well, Accent of the Earth!"
Ranma blinked in surprise as the ground under him rumbled and surged. Feeling the ki spike from the ground under him, Ranma thrust himself away. Unfortunately that exact moment was when the earth choose to give leaving Ranma with no more foot hold than a man would find on water. The loss of ground beneath him was short lived as the earth in a two meter circle exploded upwards tossing the pigtailed martial artist high into the sky. Stone shrapnel tore at Ranma's skin leaving a dozens of minor cuts.
Ranma recovered quickly as he flew into the sky. Looking down on Anito Ranma grinned realizing that this was a rare opportunity where his new technique would be useful on an opponent like the arch-mage. Ranma was more than happy to see it put to use in real combat. It was after all Ranma's first brain child following his introduction to magic. "Try this on for size! Kyoufuu Bakufuu!"
A huge gust of wind rivaling a short, but very intense, burst of a Hiryu Shoten Ha exploded from Ranma's hand. The surge of wind rammed into Anito like a hammer. More importantly the tremendous burst of wind scooped the loose rock and stone out of the sky like a giant hand and then threw the shrapnel like a thousand spears right back against Anito. Caught flat footed the first of the blast ripped into the wizard before he could teleport to safety.
Ranma landed lightly on the recked and torn ground. Ranma was a master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and the sky was as much a friend of him as it could ever by to a man that could not fly. Thus the fall left him untouched. The sharp stones though had done their work well. Ranma's shirt was covered in slices from stray rocks thrown by the attack. Paired with burns via close encounters with Anito's lightning it gave Ranma a decidedly ragged look. Ranma's true battle capability though was in far better shape than his clothes.
Anito on the other hand looked to be in far better condition. The arch-mage's enchanted cloth had sneered at the pathetic assault of the rocks. Anito on the other hand was quite different. The arch-mage was breathing hard from continuos use of high amounts energy. Further, Anito was clutching his side, where Ranma had recently landed a successful kick.
Nonetheless, Ranma was impressed. Anito was a rare case where he actually was able to use significantly more ki than his body could withstand. A fact that could be attributed to Anito's sudden gain in power. However, Anito's stamina had come leaps and bounds since Ranma's last serious fight with the arch-mage. Even after several hefty energy attacks and continuous use of the shadow step Anito looked like he could fight for quite a while longer. As it was the joy of a good fight was starting to override Ranma's anger, so Ranma hopped he wouldn't be disappointed.
"Well, that was unexpected. The technique is nice, but of rather select use." Anito said at last in reference to Ranma's technique.
"Heh, that attack of yours is about the same." Ranma replied standing in a loose stance. Ranma noted that he was now several meters away from his foe, which meant that it would be a while again before Ranma could land another clean blow. As such Ranma was in no hurry to dive into the fray.
Anito grinned in response. "So it is. That technique was created more as a stepping stone for its greater brother than for practical combat use. I don't expect Accent of the Earth to be of any use a second time. The technique is a little too easy to dodge once you have seen it before. Besides, it lacks the appropriate punch to be really dangerous." As Anito spoke the grinning arch-mage gathered up sparkling electrical energy in his hands.
Ranma caught Anito's talk and charge act as soon as at began. He too had gathered energy and was ready to unleash a powerful Moko Takabisha or a variant of the same at moments notice. Ranma though didn't move instantly, he was instead busy playing his strategy through his mind.
Without his stick Anito was of little danger in hand to hand combat. Sure he could still use energy attacks, but Anito lacked a fast and powerful attack suitable for the offensive speeds at that distance. On the other hand gaining and keeping that range against an opponent that could teleport at the drop of a hat was near impossible. Further, Anito no longer had any incentive to battle in close combat having been relieved of his low energy cost, but still damaging physical attacks.
At longer ranges Ranma was at a serious disadvantage. His energy attacks didn't have the same punch or speed as Anito's did. In other words, it was easier to dodge, and did less damage. To top it off Anito's combat style emphasized a heavy defense. With Anito's shadow step technique this translated to roughly being neigh unhittable, this was especially true with ranged attacks. At despite the heavy favor for Anito at that range the arch-mage had one disadvantage, if he used attacks he would wear down fast.
On the same note Ranma couldn't keep throwing ki blasts forever either. So Ranma was left with two choices, one to keep close and try to force Anito to make mistakes. The second possibility was to hold back and let Anito wear himself out. Each had notable advantages and disadvantages. Both ran serious risks if Anito successfully hit with his lighting attack. Ranma from experience knew a single blow from a Rajin's hammer was for all practical purposes a knock out.
Anito gleefully broke the stalemate this time. "Rajin's hammer!" The wizard yelled out letting loose five bolts of lightning that plowed through the ground ripping the asphalt to pieces. The resultant thunder rattled nearby windows as Ranma dodged to the side letting the rippling energy pass by him. The stone wall and road that fell victim to the crossfire was reduced to powder under the pulsing electrical barrage.
Ranma flipped into the air to dodge the last blast. While in the sky he yelled out his own move. "Moko Takabisha Double!" With that Ranma launched two quick staggered ki blasts at Anito. The balls of energy tore into the ground exploding. Stone shattered and earth was tossed as the twin ki blasts tore two meter wide craters where they landed. Their intended victim emerged unscathed as Anito adeptly flickered out of the way of the attack with two lightning fast shadow steps.
"Ha you missed!" Anito taunted Ranma.
"Suichou Senzan Yoku!"
"Eeeep!" Anito let out shadow stepping behind Ranma. Where the arch-mage had been standing a second ago a series of blade like strikes slashed through the air cutting stone, wood or steel like a hot knife through butter.
Ranma blinked in surprise as he whirled in the direction of the assault. The pigtailed martial artist rapidly cataloged the attack and paired the voice and the technique to its only known user. Turning Ranma saw, in the air, the person he was expecting the bird woman Kiima. Still in a fighting stance Ranma asked angrily, "What you doing here!"
"Where is it!" Kiima yelled, she looked quite angry herself.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Ranma asked slipping into a state of mild confusion.
Anito peeked from behind Ranma. "Well, I don't really have it right now." Anito replied nervously.
Ranma looked at Anito his eyes narrowing with annoyance. "Okay, what the heck is going on?"
Anito seeing a chance to explain something, pulled himself into lecture mode. "Well you see-"
"That man has Kinjakan and was supposed to return it two weeks ago! Then when I stopped by his tower to find out what was going on I find out that he ran off not a week after receiving it!" Kiima broke in angrily.
Anito waved a finger back at Kiima. "I had, and still have very important business. As a servant of royalty should be very aware of the kind of situations we wizards have to deal with."
"That is no excuse! Kinjakan is an important royal artifact!" Kiima retorted.
Ranma scratched his head. "I don't see what the problem is, Anito can just give you your staff back."
Anito coughed, "Actually, it isn't quite that simple."
"Why not?" Ranma asked. Kiima nodded her agreement with Ranma's question.
"Well you see I was using Kinjakan in this magical spell." Anito explained.
"Get to the point." Kiima snapped.
"Kinjakan is broken." Anito finished simply.
"What!" Kiima yelled.
"How the heck did you break it? That was one heck of tough staff." Ranma said a bit shocked himself.
"Well since you asked. I wa-" Anito started to explain.
"Die wizard! Suicho Senzan Yoko!" Kiima beat her wings releasing her powerful technique upon the pair. Kiima didn't bother to avoid hitting the landling Ranma. Actually when she got right down to it if he happened to die gruesomely it would only be an added bonus.
Such luck was not hers though. Anito easily shadow stepped away from the attack. Ranma simply slid between the blades with what one might almost term contempt. Dealing with such an attack was almost below the pigtailed martial artist after Ranma had learned to dodge ki blasts, much less lightning bolts.
"That wasn't very smart Kiima." Anito said coldly. Anito unlike Ranma did not take kindly to people who where seriously trying to kill him. Even if they happened to have a good cause. "You'll find that I am far more dangerous than last time we met." Anito called up some lightning letting the hum and crackle of the energy act as warning enough of what Anito could do.
"I'm pretty pissed at Anito myself right now Kiima, but if you do that again while I'm standing in the way I'll tear you apart." Ranma added. Ranma usually wasn't much of one to make threats. Attacking through him though seriously pissed Ranma off. It was an insult to his pride to be treated with such disrespect. Kiima ought to have known better than to carelessly drag the man who had defeated Saffron into the fight. Besides, Ranma still had a few bones to pick with Kiima for taking Akane to Jusenkyo.
Kiima may have been angry. She may have flown for almost twenty strait hours. Yet Kiima wasn't that stupid, and she wasn't about to fight Ranma Saotome if she could avoid it. Sure if he happened to get himself killed the world would be a better place, but actually fighting Ranma Saotome was another thing.
If that where not bad enough that lightning coiling in Anito's hand was rather unsettling. When Kiima had met Anito before Anito hadn't been able to muster up enough magic to start a fire. Now the landling wizard was calling up enough power to make Saffron give the man respect.
Thus, Kiima choose to smother her anger and return to a more diplomatic approach. "Kinjakan is a royal artifact passed down over thousands of years! You have destroyed the dreams of Phoenix Mountain! This is a crime that cannot be forgiven even if it costs my life."
"Whine, whine, whine, I'll make you a new one." Anito said waving Kiima off.
"Kinjakan is a item handed down by the gods themselves! You can't make a new one!"
"Sure I can, I'll even throw in a bonus if you want." Anito replied a bit irritated at her doubt.
Ranma blinked in surprise at Anito's proclamation. "You can?"
"Sure, high ki manipulation, and enchantment are my specialties. Of course I'd need few rare ingredients..." Anito said lost in thought.
Kiima's face twisted in a grimace. She couldn't believe the landling of course. On the other hand she could hardly refuse an opportunity to reclaim Kinjakan. Even if the possibility was slim to none. "Your proposal is acceptable. I expect to see a new Kinjakan replacing the old in a month or the People of Phoenix Mountain will declare war upon you." Kiima said at last. With that said Kiima took off flying high into the sky.
"A month! I'm not sure if I can even get my hands on the ingredients in a month!" Anito returned.
"Looks like you got yourself in a tight spot Anito." Ranma said happy to see Anito suffer. That was after all what Ranma had been intending with their earlier fight.
Anito gave Ranma a little glare, but then he smiled evilly. "It is so terribly sad that you still owe me. Otherwise you might have been able to sit this out in the sidelines."
Ranma's head dropped pathetically. "Why the heck do I have to clean up after your mess!"
"Perhaps, you will be faster to avoid the blame for your property damage next time." Anito replied wisely.
"Somehow, I don't think that is supposed to be the moral of the story."
"Actually, I think it has a particular pertinence to our current situation." Anito said gesturing to the ruined street, and the equally ruined buildings surrounding the said street.
Ranma gulped looking at the massive damage they had inflicted with their stray attacks. "Aha ha ha, so how does one go about avoiding the blame?"
"Like this. Full Teleportation Circle!" Anito called out using his new teleportation technique. A thousand lines of ki spiraled out forming a complex magical circle on the ground and at several levels in the air. Ranma at that point truely understood what Anito meant when he said several levels above what Ranma could handle. Even seeing this display of skill Ranma was not perturbed, if anything it only goaded him on to achieve the same. If Ranma had any other thoughts they where broken when the technique pulled the two to the safety of the Tendo home.
Still at the scene one of the shop keepers returned only to drop his goods on the ground in shock. His humble little store had been reduced to tender by the battle between Anito and Ranma. "Bloody martial artists! Why did I have to move away from Sunnydale to this! Give me vampires any day, at least they had the decency to leave folks homes intact."
"I don't see what you are so happy about." Akane said to Ranma. The said martial artist was happily hopping along the chain link fence as the two returned from school. This joyous activity had by no means started now, Ranma had been shedding signs of happiness all day.
"What isn't there to be happy about? I'm free of the bracelet, I've mastered my ki attack, I've learned some magic and best of all I'm a guy again!" Ranma said prancing along the fence gleefully.
"And what is the problem with being a girl?"
"Well, you gotta wear stupid dresses, and arrange flowers and collect cute pets and-"
"Slam!" Akane kicked the fence causing Ranma to fall off his perch and on strait onto his face. Unfortunately the said location where upon Ranma was falling onto his face happened to be at the bottom of a canal of water. "Splash!" Came the loud sound of Ranma impacting the water at relatively low velocities, low for him that is.
Ranma-chan sputtered out of the water angrily. "What did you do that for!?" Ranma-chan said while angrily pulling out her thermos and pouring just enough water to trigger her curse. Ranma had been doing his best to avoid becoming a girl until he could get rid of that demon stuff. As such he had taken to carrying a thermos around with him. Unfortunately, it was difficult to carry enough water considering the sheer number of incidents that occurred during the day. Which was of course the reason he usually didn't bother to carry around a thermos.
"Hmrph!" Akane let out ignoring her fiancee. He got what he deserved for his narrow minded view on what girls where supposed to be like.
"Yeesh, what's her problem. I just answer her question and she goes off like a bomb." Ranma said watching his fiancee stomp off into the distance.
"Ever consider that she wouldn't like your answer?"
"Aaack!" Ranma jumped up startled by the presence behind him. Seeing that it was Anito Ranma relaxed. "Oh its just you. What are you doing here?"
"Just testing out my new teleportation spell." Anito said with a grin.
"Uh, can't you already teleport?" Ranma asked scratching his head confused.
"Oh, you mean my shadow step? That is actually more of a short range teleportation technique than a traditional teleport. The shadow step is designed for the necessary high speed, and efficiency for short range combat movement. In other words, while the shadow step is great for battle maneuvering, the it is a terrible technique for long range travel. The shadow step simply saps too much energy for practical long range teleportation. For instance, if I say wanted to goto China or Okinawa the shadow step would probably kill me." Anito lectured.
"This technique though is different. It uses much more time and energy up front, but in turn uses much less energy for the distance traveled. For instance this technique used the energy to shadow step about a single kilometer to move two. Executing the technique though takes about a minute right now, but I figure as I master it I can squeeze it down to to 5-10 seconds."
"That doesn't seem that much better." Ranma noted thinking about the energy use. Normally he could have cared less, but Ranma had recently been experimenting with the use of Anito's magic, if you could call it that, with his combat techniques. Not to mention Ranma's experimentation on the creation of his own techniques using the tricks he had learned. As such Ranma was much more amiable to such a conversation at the moment.
"Yes, at this range that is true. But the technique is logarithmic for the next few iterations. For instance traveling 10 kilometers would take the energy of shadow stepping 2, a 100 kilometers for 3, a 1,000 for 4 and so on. Of course once you get much higher than 10,000 kilometers the energy for the jump starts to triple for every multiple of ten. Thus, traveling to the moon, about 400,000 kilometers, would take the energy of shadow stepping about 30 kilometers. Interplanetary travel, say Earth to Mars, is strictly out running at about 80 million kilometers on a good day, or the equivalent of a 300 km shadow step."
"O-kay." Ranma summed up his total apathy with that in one word. The problem with talking with Anito was that once he got started nothing would shut him up. On the other hand the arch-mage was a proverbial fountain of information. "So are you planning to teach me to teleport?" Ranma asked.
"I suppose I could, but the new technique is probably several levels of difficulty too high for you right now, and the shadow step would be impossible for you. You need a lot of very primitive dark ki to pull it off."
Ranma looked at Anito strangely. It was rather unfortunate that Anito was his only real source knowledge about magic. Cologne, or even his Pops was much more direct about answering his question. Of course there was the books, but they used the old arcana method of casting magic, something Ranma didn't understand except for the fact that it used lots of items, ingredients, and odd rituals. A quick evaluation of traditional arcana rendered it in Ranma's mind unsuitable for combat.
"Couldn't you just create dark ki? You know, kinda like how in the unlocking spell I transformed ki energy with those patterns."
"Yes, actually, you could." Anito paused for a moment as if looking for an explanation. Ranma resisted the urge to sigh, sure he would get his answer, but it was going to take a long, long time. Anito suddenly brightened as he found a way to relate the information. "Let me put it this way. The entire unlocking spell I taught you was just to create a form of rarely existing energy that is often used as a key for the locks on magical doors or items to keep the mundane out. As you know, creating that energy with ki is quite complex. Equally so is the creation of other forms of energy. For instance if you wanted to create the purity of dark ki necessary for the shadow step, you would have to go through about three dozen energy transformations. All the while combining the result of various combinations with the result of others at the right time, place and order. Undoubtedly, whatever method you designed to achieve this would also create a great deal of waste energy, kind of like a chemical plant trying to make, or isolate certain chemicals or elements."
"Now, I on the other hand already have an abundant amount of dark ki, as such I can avoid the creation of the dark ki altogether. Thus the technique requires very little transformations in order to use. Equally though, you have your own natural ki forms, some of which I do not have, which would make it very difficult for me to use certain techniques you could use easily."
"Now in standard arcana this entire issue is generally avoided by one of three methods. The first is to find and implement the use of items, and or materials that in combination or individually act as transformers of certain types of energy into other kinds of energy. For instance amber can easily be used to form the energy for an unlocking spell, or a fire orb converts several forms of wizardly energy into fire."
"The second method is to use certain rituals, words, shapes and or runes alone or in combination. This method is actually rather similar to what I showed you for the transformation of neutral ki. In fact, high ki manipulation theory arises from a derivative of this method, except that it starts with naturally produced life energy rather than the more familiar energies that make up fundamental magic."
"The third method is to make contracts with spirits, non physical entities benign or malicious. By doing this the wizard can gain access to energy forms that might otherwise be difficult to use. Through this method one can also produce spells or magic far more naturally or easily, much like you can produce a ki blast. Unfortunately, this method of using magic often carries a heavy price. Ironically though almost all wizards actually use contracts in one form or another to gain the ability to use their life energy, and or to produce their basic magical energy. This is why most wizards don't believe ki has anything to do with magic."
Ranma thought for a bit digesting all this. "So basically, I could learn the technique, but because my natural energies are different I would have to use it differently. Further, the only other way you know how to do it is horribly inefficient, and time consuming to use. Which kills the entire point of using the shadow step in the first place." Ranma frowned something about what Anito had said was nibbling at the back of his mind as being very important. He couldn't quite grasp what it was though.
"Exactly, equally though there are things you can do which would be difficult, or even pointless for me to reproduce."
Ranma's eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked at Anito. "Wait... what was that about amber...?"
"Aha ha ha, would you believe that it simply slipped my mind?" Anito said a bit nervously. His smile though did nothing to portray his innocence.
"Yes, actually I would." Ranma replied dryly. "I'll believe that it slipped your mind when you accidentally told me about it a few minutes ago." Ranma's battle aura was looming large like some sort of misty blue monstrosity. Ranma was pissed.
"Honestly, it takes a certain purity of amber to do it, and I don't exactly carry that kind of stuff around with me." Anito said backing away nervously.
Ranma cracked his knuckles with malicious intent. Scooping his hands together Ranma formed a brilliant ball of energy. "You're not going to talk your way out of this. Moko Takabisha!" Ranma yelled firing off a blast of energy at the arch-mage.
"I figured that much." Anito said his nervousness vanished and replaced with his usual smug smile. "Mirror of Vasalis!" Activating the technique Anito reflected the Ranma's energy blast strait back at the pigtailed martial artist. "But you have to admit that it was worth a try!" Anito finished with a laugh.
Ranma hopped to the side, easily avoiding his own amplified and returned attack. "Less talk more fight!" Ranma growled at the arch-mage. Ignoring the raining particles of what once was a house Ranma punctuated his statement by tossing off a second Moko Takabisha this time from only two and a half meters away.
Anito teleported to the side. Ranma's energy attack easily passed through the arch-mage's afterimage not halted by a physical presence. Ranma didn't pause with the attack though, he immediately dashed forward delivering a swift front kick. Anito though flickered back from the enraged pigtailed martial artist keeping a good two meters distance with his lightning fast shadow step technique.
Anito serenely watched the enormous blast of energy careen into a store. The blast of life energy ripped through the glass windows like tissue paper detonating as the energy was released upon the more resilient surfaces inside. The internal concussion forces created by the rapidly expanding air ripped the building open. The light walls popped like an over filled balloon. "Put enough energy into that thing?" Anito said rather impressed and just a wee bit nervous too. Getting hit by something like that would hurt, a lot.
"There's more where that came from." Ranma said his hands glowing as the pigtailed martial artist powered up another blast. Even as Ranma did so he stepped in like lightning for an attempt to sweep Anito off his feet feet. Anito simply shadow stepped up above the attack. Ranma still spinning from the built up momentum tossed a weak ki blast behind him as the pigtailed martial artists whipped in around at hurricane speeds. The lance of energy passed through the air Anito the arch-mage had occupied before he flickered again appearing low and behind Ranma.
Taking control of the offense Anito thrust his staff at the expert martial artist. Ranma moved to the side allowing the crackling staff to pass through the air only centimeters from his new position. His staff still extended Anito suddenly wiped around causing his staff to windmill into the area where Ranma now stood. Ranma dropped low under the attack grasping the staff as it passed over him. Like a ball and chain Ranma threw himself in a circle using the staff as a pivot and the staff's momentum. The stunt almost jerked Ranma's arm out of its socket but the pigtailed martial artist held firm as enormous speeds where imparted into his circling body. While above Anito's weapon Ranma slashed out a foot at the arch-mage's head.
"Nice trick." Anito commented having abandoned his staff to avoid the pigtailed boy's attack. Ranma carried the momentum into the ground and absorbed the massive kinetic energy with his powerful legs. Ranma still had a firm grip on Anito staff despite the expert show of martial arts acrobatics.
"Let's see how you fight without your stick." Ranma replied smiling viciously. With the words spoken Ranma gripped the wood with both hands and broke the staff cleanly over one knee. Tossing the pieces to the side, Ranma set himself back into a combat stance.
"Hey, that's cheep! Rajin's Hammer!" A series of lighting bolts ripped out of Anito's hand like a short burst from a machine gun. The bolts of electrical energy shredded the ground with terrible power, spewing rock and dirt from the sheer force of the impact. Even Ranma's insane skill and speed was only sufficient to dodge the rapid lightning strikes by a hair.
"Look who's talking." Ranma retorted after dodging the energy attack. It didn't go unnoticed that Anito had retreated to energy projection range. A distance that to say the least favored Anito far more heavily than Ranma. Ranma though was far better at this range than before. The pigtailed martial artist formed a quick Moko Takabisha and flipped it off at the arch-mage. The attack had no real chance of landing of course, but it did serve to annoy Anito while Ranma returned to trying to close the distance.
Anito shadow stepped back as Ranma moved in. "This is what is known as tactics. You see, without my staff attempting a hand to hand engagement is doomed to failure. As such I use my greater speed to ensure that the fight is an energy confrontation." Anito explained as he continually flickered out of the way of Ranma's attacks. Each time forcing the pigtailed martial artist to close two or more meters before Ranma could make another physical attack. Seeing a quick opening Anito called out his favorite energy attack again. "Rajin's hammer!" Half a dozen lightning bolts exploded as Anito shadow stepped off to Ranma's side after the pigtailed martial artist attempted a flying side kick.
Ranma flipped in the air dodging the first two electrical blasts, and then he dropped to the ground allowing the rest pass over his prone body. The stray lightning tore through a poor innocent building with all the finesse of a battalion of howitzers. The exploding stone and wood was ignored by the two hardy warriors. As it was Ranma had already scooped up enough energy for his counter attack. "Moko Takabisha!" The blast lanced through Anito's after image as Ranma vaulted to his feet from the ground.
Ranma didn't stay still for a second. Bouncing off a wall Ranma finally caught Anito off guard landing an aerial front kick on the arch-mage. The impact slammed Anito into the outer wall of a store front. The stone crumbled from the force, but the arch-mage reclaimed his feet. Anito let out a huff of breath as he shook the dizziness away. "That really hurts you know."
"That's the point." Ranma said with an angry smile as he walked up to the arch-mage.
"I don't suppose we can talk this out now?" Anito asked hopefully. "Or do you need to release more pent up aggression first?
"If that means more violence, I'll stick with the latter."
"Oh well, Accent of the Earth!"
Ranma blinked in surprise as the ground under him rumbled and surged. Feeling the ki spike from the ground under him, Ranma thrust himself away. Unfortunately that exact moment was when the earth choose to give leaving Ranma with no more foot hold than a man would find on water. The loss of ground beneath him was short lived as the earth in a two meter circle exploded upwards tossing the pigtailed martial artist high into the sky. Stone shrapnel tore at Ranma's skin leaving a dozens of minor cuts.
Ranma recovered quickly as he flew into the sky. Looking down on Anito Ranma grinned realizing that this was a rare opportunity where his new technique would be useful on an opponent like the arch-mage. Ranma was more than happy to see it put to use in real combat. It was after all Ranma's first brain child following his introduction to magic. "Try this on for size! Kyoufuu Bakufuu!"
A huge gust of wind rivaling a short, but very intense, burst of a Hiryu Shoten Ha exploded from Ranma's hand. The surge of wind rammed into Anito like a hammer. More importantly the tremendous burst of wind scooped the loose rock and stone out of the sky like a giant hand and then threw the shrapnel like a thousand spears right back against Anito. Caught flat footed the first of the blast ripped into the wizard before he could teleport to safety.
Ranma landed lightly on the recked and torn ground. Ranma was a master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and the sky was as much a friend of him as it could ever by to a man that could not fly. Thus the fall left him untouched. The sharp stones though had done their work well. Ranma's shirt was covered in slices from stray rocks thrown by the attack. Paired with burns via close encounters with Anito's lightning it gave Ranma a decidedly ragged look. Ranma's true battle capability though was in far better shape than his clothes.
Anito on the other hand looked to be in far better condition. The arch-mage's enchanted cloth had sneered at the pathetic assault of the rocks. Anito on the other hand was quite different. The arch-mage was breathing hard from continuos use of high amounts energy. Further, Anito was clutching his side, where Ranma had recently landed a successful kick.
Nonetheless, Ranma was impressed. Anito was a rare case where he actually was able to use significantly more ki than his body could withstand. A fact that could be attributed to Anito's sudden gain in power. However, Anito's stamina had come leaps and bounds since Ranma's last serious fight with the arch-mage. Even after several hefty energy attacks and continuous use of the shadow step Anito looked like he could fight for quite a while longer. As it was the joy of a good fight was starting to override Ranma's anger, so Ranma hopped he wouldn't be disappointed.
"Well, that was unexpected. The technique is nice, but of rather select use." Anito said at last in reference to Ranma's technique.
"Heh, that attack of yours is about the same." Ranma replied standing in a loose stance. Ranma noted that he was now several meters away from his foe, which meant that it would be a while again before Ranma could land another clean blow. As such Ranma was in no hurry to dive into the fray.
Anito grinned in response. "So it is. That technique was created more as a stepping stone for its greater brother than for practical combat use. I don't expect Accent of the Earth to be of any use a second time. The technique is a little too easy to dodge once you have seen it before. Besides, it lacks the appropriate punch to be really dangerous." As Anito spoke the grinning arch-mage gathered up sparkling electrical energy in his hands.
Ranma caught Anito's talk and charge act as soon as at began. He too had gathered energy and was ready to unleash a powerful Moko Takabisha or a variant of the same at moments notice. Ranma though didn't move instantly, he was instead busy playing his strategy through his mind.
Without his stick Anito was of little danger in hand to hand combat. Sure he could still use energy attacks, but Anito lacked a fast and powerful attack suitable for the offensive speeds at that distance. On the other hand gaining and keeping that range against an opponent that could teleport at the drop of a hat was near impossible. Further, Anito no longer had any incentive to battle in close combat having been relieved of his low energy cost, but still damaging physical attacks.
At longer ranges Ranma was at a serious disadvantage. His energy attacks didn't have the same punch or speed as Anito's did. In other words, it was easier to dodge, and did less damage. To top it off Anito's combat style emphasized a heavy defense. With Anito's shadow step technique this translated to roughly being neigh unhittable, this was especially true with ranged attacks. At despite the heavy favor for Anito at that range the arch-mage had one disadvantage, if he used attacks he would wear down fast.
On the same note Ranma couldn't keep throwing ki blasts forever either. So Ranma was left with two choices, one to keep close and try to force Anito to make mistakes. The second possibility was to hold back and let Anito wear himself out. Each had notable advantages and disadvantages. Both ran serious risks if Anito successfully hit with his lighting attack. Ranma from experience knew a single blow from a Rajin's hammer was for all practical purposes a knock out.
Anito gleefully broke the stalemate this time. "Rajin's hammer!" The wizard yelled out letting loose five bolts of lightning that plowed through the ground ripping the asphalt to pieces. The resultant thunder rattled nearby windows as Ranma dodged to the side letting the rippling energy pass by him. The stone wall and road that fell victim to the crossfire was reduced to powder under the pulsing electrical barrage.
Ranma flipped into the air to dodge the last blast. While in the sky he yelled out his own move. "Moko Takabisha Double!" With that Ranma launched two quick staggered ki blasts at Anito. The balls of energy tore into the ground exploding. Stone shattered and earth was tossed as the twin ki blasts tore two meter wide craters where they landed. Their intended victim emerged unscathed as Anito adeptly flickered out of the way of the attack with two lightning fast shadow steps.
"Ha you missed!" Anito taunted Ranma.
"Suichou Senzan Yoku!"
"Eeeep!" Anito let out shadow stepping behind Ranma. Where the arch-mage had been standing a second ago a series of blade like strikes slashed through the air cutting stone, wood or steel like a hot knife through butter.
Ranma blinked in surprise as he whirled in the direction of the assault. The pigtailed martial artist rapidly cataloged the attack and paired the voice and the technique to its only known user. Turning Ranma saw, in the air, the person he was expecting the bird woman Kiima. Still in a fighting stance Ranma asked angrily, "What you doing here!"
"Where is it!" Kiima yelled, she looked quite angry herself.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Ranma asked slipping into a state of mild confusion.
Anito peeked from behind Ranma. "Well, I don't really have it right now." Anito replied nervously.
Ranma looked at Anito his eyes narrowing with annoyance. "Okay, what the heck is going on?"
Anito seeing a chance to explain something, pulled himself into lecture mode. "Well you see-"
"That man has Kinjakan and was supposed to return it two weeks ago! Then when I stopped by his tower to find out what was going on I find out that he ran off not a week after receiving it!" Kiima broke in angrily.
Anito waved a finger back at Kiima. "I had, and still have very important business. As a servant of royalty should be very aware of the kind of situations we wizards have to deal with."
"That is no excuse! Kinjakan is an important royal artifact!" Kiima retorted.
Ranma scratched his head. "I don't see what the problem is, Anito can just give you your staff back."
Anito coughed, "Actually, it isn't quite that simple."
"Why not?" Ranma asked. Kiima nodded her agreement with Ranma's question.
"Well you see I was using Kinjakan in this magical spell." Anito explained.
"Get to the point." Kiima snapped.
"Kinjakan is broken." Anito finished simply.
"What!" Kiima yelled.
"How the heck did you break it? That was one heck of tough staff." Ranma said a bit shocked himself.
"Well since you asked. I wa-" Anito started to explain.
"Die wizard! Suicho Senzan Yoko!" Kiima beat her wings releasing her powerful technique upon the pair. Kiima didn't bother to avoid hitting the landling Ranma. Actually when she got right down to it if he happened to die gruesomely it would only be an added bonus.
Such luck was not hers though. Anito easily shadow stepped away from the attack. Ranma simply slid between the blades with what one might almost term contempt. Dealing with such an attack was almost below the pigtailed martial artist after Ranma had learned to dodge ki blasts, much less lightning bolts.
"That wasn't very smart Kiima." Anito said coldly. Anito unlike Ranma did not take kindly to people who where seriously trying to kill him. Even if they happened to have a good cause. "You'll find that I am far more dangerous than last time we met." Anito called up some lightning letting the hum and crackle of the energy act as warning enough of what Anito could do.
"I'm pretty pissed at Anito myself right now Kiima, but if you do that again while I'm standing in the way I'll tear you apart." Ranma added. Ranma usually wasn't much of one to make threats. Attacking through him though seriously pissed Ranma off. It was an insult to his pride to be treated with such disrespect. Kiima ought to have known better than to carelessly drag the man who had defeated Saffron into the fight. Besides, Ranma still had a few bones to pick with Kiima for taking Akane to Jusenkyo.
Kiima may have been angry. She may have flown for almost twenty strait hours. Yet Kiima wasn't that stupid, and she wasn't about to fight Ranma Saotome if she could avoid it. Sure if he happened to get himself killed the world would be a better place, but actually fighting Ranma Saotome was another thing.
If that where not bad enough that lightning coiling in Anito's hand was rather unsettling. When Kiima had met Anito before Anito hadn't been able to muster up enough magic to start a fire. Now the landling wizard was calling up enough power to make Saffron give the man respect.
Thus, Kiima choose to smother her anger and return to a more diplomatic approach. "Kinjakan is a royal artifact passed down over thousands of years! You have destroyed the dreams of Phoenix Mountain! This is a crime that cannot be forgiven even if it costs my life."
"Whine, whine, whine, I'll make you a new one." Anito said waving Kiima off.
"Kinjakan is a item handed down by the gods themselves! You can't make a new one!"
"Sure I can, I'll even throw in a bonus if you want." Anito replied a bit irritated at her doubt.
Ranma blinked in surprise at Anito's proclamation. "You can?"
"Sure, high ki manipulation, and enchantment are my specialties. Of course I'd need few rare ingredients..." Anito said lost in thought.
Kiima's face twisted in a grimace. She couldn't believe the landling of course. On the other hand she could hardly refuse an opportunity to reclaim Kinjakan. Even if the possibility was slim to none. "Your proposal is acceptable. I expect to see a new Kinjakan replacing the old in a month or the People of Phoenix Mountain will declare war upon you." Kiima said at last. With that said Kiima took off flying high into the sky.
"A month! I'm not sure if I can even get my hands on the ingredients in a month!" Anito returned.
"Looks like you got yourself in a tight spot Anito." Ranma said happy to see Anito suffer. That was after all what Ranma had been intending with their earlier fight.
Anito gave Ranma a little glare, but then he smiled evilly. "It is so terribly sad that you still owe me. Otherwise you might have been able to sit this out in the sidelines."
Ranma's head dropped pathetically. "Why the heck do I have to clean up after your mess!"
"Perhaps, you will be faster to avoid the blame for your property damage next time." Anito replied wisely.
"Somehow, I don't think that is supposed to be the moral of the story."
"Actually, I think it has a particular pertinence to our current situation." Anito said gesturing to the ruined street, and the equally ruined buildings surrounding the said street.
Ranma gulped looking at the massive damage they had inflicted with their stray attacks. "Aha ha ha, so how does one go about avoiding the blame?"
"Like this. Full Teleportation Circle!" Anito called out using his new teleportation technique. A thousand lines of ki spiraled out forming a complex magical circle on the ground and at several levels in the air. Ranma at that point truely understood what Anito meant when he said several levels above what Ranma could handle. Even seeing this display of skill Ranma was not perturbed, if anything it only goaded him on to achieve the same. If Ranma had any other thoughts they where broken when the technique pulled the two to the safety of the Tendo home.
Still at the scene one of the shop keepers returned only to drop his goods on the ground in shock. His humble little store had been reduced to tender by the battle between Anito and Ranma. "Bloody martial artists! Why did I have to move away from Sunnydale to this! Give me vampires any day, at least they had the decency to leave folks homes intact."