Telos Karma Meta Gacha

[Hajime POV]

We were finally on Awaji Island. The ride was short, so I looked at the cards I got when staying at the inn and this morning.

{ Blue (Jurassic Park) }

{ Red Tornado }

{ Power Upgrade Card x3 }

The power upgrade cards were useful, bringing me to 5, but I was more interested in the character cards. One was a dinosaur, and the other an android.

I knew I would summon Blue, possibly as a familiar, but I wasn't sure what to do with Red Tornado.

Created by Professor TO Morrow, Red Tornado, as his name implies, can produce tornadoes. While it's a form of aerokinesis, all his abilities are usually shown as projecting tornadoes from his body, though he does have some other skills.

I didn't know if summoning him was a good idea. First, as an android, he was sentient. I wasn't sure if Telos Karma would 'reprogram' him to be loyal, so I didn't know if summoning him was a good idea. He'd immediately have access to the internet and find out about his history, and I don't want to know if androids can have an existential crisis.

There was also the concern that, as a hero, he wouldn't listen to me.

My goals were inherently selfish; there were people I was going to have to kill. While I've only killed a psychopath so far, not every enemy will be one. Some will be soldiers following orders.

While he's more practical than other heroes, being a synthetic lifeform, he still adheres to their no-kill rule. That said, his practicality would make him a good ally to have. Like Vision during Marvel's Civil War, he'd mostly be a voice of reason by stating facts.

Despite the possible upsides, I will probably assimilate him.

He can fly, has aerokinesis, turns invisible, and has a mechanical brain—all beneficial powers.

We went to a small inn, booking two rooms again. I booked the rooms for a week, which cost the rest of the money from my first bounty, but that was fine. After Tsubaki put her things away, I brought her to the nearby park for training.

Creating a barrier to surround us was easy to do.

In addition to reading the books Yasaka gave me, I also had Laxus' template, which had some experience. Once the barrier was up, we began.

"Until checkout time, we're only going to be training. We must understand each other's abilities if we're fighting together. I don't want either of us to die because we didn't prepare. For today, we'll focus on physical capabilities. Any questions?"

"What will we do once we have to check out? That was most of our money, right?"

"When that happens, we'll search for someone with a bounty. The bounty book said there are about a dozen or so mages here with a bounty of some kind. While I plan on sparring with you, we need actual combat experience."

"And these few days will be enough?"

"Yes."

I checked my assimilation percentage when she asked that.

{ Assimilation Progress : 85% }

At this point, the only way I'd complete it would be with an actual fight.

-----

The training lasted until 2 PM. I had Tsubaki doing as much of Saitama's workout as physically possible.

(A/N: I know it would be 14:00 in Japan, but I'm American, so writing 14:00 or 14 o'clock feels wrong.)

She made it about a third of the way before collapsing.

While I made it about halfway, I had some supernatural blood running through my veins and Laxus' physique. Tsubaki, meanwhile, was descended from a clan blessed by Shinto deities. She did far better than a typical child but still was slightly behind me.

Rather than joining her, I kept focusing on my studies. I had made a barrier, but it took a lot of energy to maintain it all day. I needed the experience to eliminate many inefficiencies.

When we finished, Tsubaki was lying on the floor, sweating buckets. Picking her up, I carried her back to the inn before putting her in her room.

I was concerned I might have made her overdo it, but about an hour later, she knocked on my door in a new set of clothes and asked about food.

Leaving the inn, we went to an Italian place for a late lunch.

After lunch, we went back to the inn to relax. Tsubaki spent her time reading a gardening book. One thing she missed about her home was the garden she worked on.

Rather than training like I had been, I focused more on looking through Laxus' memories.

I had around two decades of magical knowledge. It seemed short, but the memories were cut short by a surprising death. It was unexpected since it happened shortly after what would be considered the canon ending.

That meant I got a version of Laxus weaker than he could have been. Rather than getting one who lived to Makarov's age, I got one barely older than the one shown in canon.

Did that mean my sacred gear was sentient, and I could pick which version I wanted? Probably not.

After more consideration, it probably chose the most similar version to what I knew since any other version would not be what I think of as Laxus.

It also explained why I had some knowledge of other magics that Laxus never showed, like a few memories of Requip magic. He knew lots of magic, like Requip magic, and studied how it worked but never learned it.

He didn't need to. Dragon slayer magic was one of the strongest magics in Earthland. While he learned some magic from Fried, it was only for his plan to take over the guild. Any support magic was something his teammates learned, mostly Fried.

The missions he took were the memories I focused on. They contained most of his fighting experience, which I needed to acquire. While I have his muscle memory, I don't actively use it because my body type is different—not that I wanted it to be mine.

I would make my own fighting style in the future, and with the powers I can get, Laxus' fighting style wouldn't suit me. So, while I planned on using his moves, I didn't need to use them like he would.

Eventually, it was time for dinner, choosing to get some burgers.

-----

We were back in the park, and today, I planned on testing her close-quarters combat skills.

While I knew she was a naginata user and had the chance to get some powerful weapons from my gacha, I didn't want her to be helpless. Many fighters lacked versatility, often unable to fight if their powers or weapons were unusable.

I wouldn't have that happen to my team. If they were capable of moving, they should be able to fight.

Speaking of gacha.

{ Pair of Vanishing Cabinets (Harry Potter) }

This would be useful.

Vanishing cabinets were a pair of cabinets that would swap interiors once both were closed.

The most dangerous part was that they bypassed any wards, as shown by Harry's ability to teleport from Knockturn Alley to Hogwarts. If there was anywhere in the Harry Potter world considered protected, it was that school, and he could teleport in without issue.

I planned on having one cabinet shipped to Yasaka. Since it would be practically untraceable, it would be the perfect way to communicate secretly.

It would also allow me to escape a dangerous situation, at the cost of losing access to the cabinets, since the half I use would be destroyed or stolen.

There was also the option to visit them, but I don't think using it that frequently is a good idea.

If anyone could sense the ambient magic, even if the cabinet did nothing, they would feel my mana disappearing. I couldn't have them visit me without others learning about my connection to Yasaka. The problem was temporary, though, since once I got myself a base, I could hide the cabinet under several wards and barriers.

"Come at me with everything you've got, Tsubaki."

It felt strange calling someone I barely knew by their first name, but after joining my team, Tsubaki insisted since we would be risking our lives together. I said she could do the same. She did not. Honestly, I should have expected this, given her personality in canon.

"Right, Suko-san."

Running at me, as she got within range, she threw a right hook to my gut.

As I back away from her moves, I get an ironic sense of deja vu, remembering how Yasaka acted when fighting me.

Tsubaki was unrelenting, though, constantly following me, using basic jabs and hooks with both hands.

I spent most of my time dodging or blocking to understand how she fought. After one particular punch, I noticed she over-extended to try and land the blow, so I immediately swept her legs out from under her.

Falling onto her back, she let out a groan when she landed. Letting her get back up, she charged at me again, but I didn't stay still.

Instead, after her first punch, I countered by pushing her arm away before jabbing her in the side.

Taking a few steps back to recover, I followed her before throwing a right cross onto her shoulder, sending her further back. As she kept moving away to recover, I kept following her, putting more and more pressure on her before eventually she fell onto her butt.

Lying down, she took a few minutes to breathe, and during this time, I told her about her performance.

"From what I've seen, you are horrible defensively. When I let you go entirely offensive, you neglected to pay attention to anything else, allowing me to knock you down. When I countered and fought back, you were completely unprepared and didn't even try to counter my attacks to recover.

If you want to neglect defense, you must be strong enough to withstand any hit your body takes. You have sacred gear that does that, but you won't always have the luxury of using it, and you shouldn't rely on it every time you get hit.

Tsubaki lay there panting. While she seemed to want to say something, she was too busy recovering her stamina.

A few minutes later, she could stand up again, and we were back to sparring.

Using Laxus' knowledge, I could instruct her with each round. I also felt stronger because I could use my CQC knowledge properly.

My fight with Yasaka mainly involved using magic to enhance my body. She also wasn't giving me any actual opportunity to fight her. It was either her hitting me or her blocking my attacks. I couldn't counter any of her attacks, which limited what I could practice.

The fight against the criminal was similar, except I dominated it. My first attack threw him through a wall, while the second killed him. However, it was too short to be helpful.

While I still dominated them, these spars with Tsubaki were purely combat-oriented.

After taking a small break for lunch, we continued with sparring until the day was over.

-----

The next day, we practiced magic. While I did focus on barrier and mind magic, I also focused on practicing Laxus' magic some more.

Tsubaki took this time to practice her Mirror Alice. Sacred gears grew stronger based on the user's desire, so it was vital that she used it. She avoided bringing it out because it got her kicked out of her clan, but I wouldn't have that.

She had potential, and I wouldn't let her waste it like Rias initially did with her peerage.

Every member of Rias' peerage was traumatized and never given proper therapy or training, which is why they relied on Issei so much despite his weakness. Each was traumatized and refused to use their powers, while Issei's trauma came from Raynare's betrayal.

Tsubaki would be much stronger than any of them by then.

After the magic training, we repeated the order for the next three days.

It was the last day of our stay, and I sparred with her one more time. We had both gotten familiar with each other's abilities, and I wanted to find a bounty today, so I just wanted to see how she fought using them all before we left.

The fight wasn't close, but her use of Mirror Alice gave me an idea. Since Mirror Alice doubled attacks that it absorbed, I tried to recover my energy with it since the attack wasn't entirely made with my energy, though unfortunately, it didn't do anything.

The magic Mirror Alice used wasn't lightning magic, but a form of doubling magic, like Ddraig's boost, and was inedible for me.

This revelation did make the idea of recruiting Akeno better, though. Since she used lightning magic, it would be a good way to surprise my enemies.

The fight even pushed me to 93% assimilation, so I knew I needed one more good fight to push it over the edge.

During this time, I also spun the gacha, getting a good selection of items.

{ Weakness Removal Card }

{ Healing Potion }

{ Colossus (RWBY) }

{ Scott Summers }

{ Warden Wrath }

I'd already gotten a weakness removal card before, but I didn't have a use for this one right now. Despite being able to turn into a dragon, Dragon-slayers from Fairy Tail weren't weak to dragon-slaying magic, so it wasn't necessary.

I also didn't need the healing potion, but it was still valuable. Its description said it was like Phenex tears, healing all injuries and recovering stamina. It would be helpful in an emergency.

The colossus was a giant mech that fought a leviathan Grimm. While I didn't have much use for a giant mech, that didn't mean it was useless. There was bound to be valuable tech from the RWBY world in the mech, similar to the Milano. Aside from that, I could use the fact that I own a giant mech to befriend one of the kinder devils from the younger generation, Seekvaira Agares.

Along with Rias and Sona, as members of the younger generation, Seekvaira was kinder than the older one. Even if I did screw Sona over by 'poaching' Tsubaki, it was first come first serve. If I could find out, then Serafall and Sona could.

Though Seekvaira wasn't shown much, one thing that was known about her was that she was like Rias, an otaku, except only for mechas. While I wasn't a fan of devil society, that didn't mean I hated every devil that existed, just the racist and sinful ones.

Sona, for example, was a good person but hopelessly naive because Serafall shielded her from their society's worst aspects.

If I showed off the colossus, it would be easy to befriend her; she had the potential to be a valuable ally. Her clan's magic allowed them to manipulate time. Though it wasn't anything broken like time travel—since then, they'd be the strongest ever—they could create time bubbles to control the speed at which time passed in a given area, basically a mini-time chamber.

The two characters I got interesting.

Scott Summers was a mutant who shot concussive beams from his eyes. While that sounds like laser vision, it was more complicated than that. His eyes opened a portal to a dimension filled with concussive energy, and he could never close it. Aside from that one problem, which I could quickly deal with, he was also the leader of the X-Men and thus had several valuable bits of knowledge that would help me in the future.

As for Warden Wrath, he's a prison warden from The Owl House, where he arrests anyone who doesn't fit societal norms. His powers were far more interesting. He could control his arms like Venom or Carnage, moving them like a liquid and shooting fire from his mouth. His most interesting ability, however, was that he had a bile sac.

In The Owl House, there were only two ways to use magic. The first was with natural runes, which magic originated from. The second was to have a bile sac, giving access to all other forms of magic from their world. Being a human, Luz didn't have a bile sac, so she was limited in what she could do. However, if I assimilate Warden Wrath, I could theoretically use any of their magics.

-----

Shortly after lunch, we left the inn, searching for a target.

It might have been dangerous, but I followed Yasaka's advice of going after weaker targets.

While I could pursue strong targets and push myself like an anime protagonist, I didn't need to. Strength will come naturally over time.

What I do need, as well as Tsubaki, is experience.

The current target was around Tsubaki's level, which is advanced-stage low-class. Although normally considered intermediate-stage, her sacred gear allows her to hit above her weight class.

Using my senses, I tried to focus on my surroundings to detect any magical changes while Tsubaki guarded me so I could focus entirely on them.

However, I didn't find anything. A rogue would use more practical barriers, unlike the wards and barriers in Kobe. The Shinra and the minor families of Kobe don't need to hide themselves, so their protections focus on defense rather than stealth.

Rogues, however, will use a stealth barrier, which has no defensive measures but makes any mana inside the wards blend into the surroundings and sense whenever someone enters. These barriers are as small as possible to avoid disturbing a large area and making it noticeable.

We spent all afternoon walking around Awaji city looking for someone, but I found nothing. Taking a small break for dinner, we continue searching late into the night.

As midnight passes, I spin the gacha just in case I get something useful for the fight.

{ Guardian Naganita (Legend of Zelda) }

{ Wielded by Impa, a warrior of the Sheikah clan, which protects Hyrule's Royal Family. This blade allows the wielder to manipulate fire to burn their enemies to dust. }

Not bad. Tsubaki needs one of these, and she can keep the fire manipulation a secret to surprise people.

Stopping for a second, I turn to Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki, you don't have any weapon, right?"

"No. The only ones I've used were either a family heirloom or a training weapon."

Pulling out the Guardian Naganita card, I activated it and handed the blade to her.

"Would this one work?"

"How did you-?"

"Sacred gears follow the user's will. In some cases, they can store things due to the sacred gear having a sort of interior."

"Do you think mine has one?"

"It's highly likely it does. After all, looking at a mirror usually feels like looking at a different space, so you might be able to do something with it." Her sacred gear was also based on Alice in Wonderland, a literal other world. I then explained how the naginata would allow her to manipulate fire, shocking her even more.

It was a good investment in her.

If she could fuse the weapon into her sacred gear, as Issei did with Ascalon, she'd never lose it again, and it might grow in strength. It might even become a kind of pseudo-Longinus if Mirror Alice evolves to that level.

We kept walking for another hour, and I was about to give up and go to bed when I finally sensed a house that felt slightly different from the others.

I only sensed it because of how close it was. Bringing us towards it, I could feel it easier as I moved closer.

I ensured we were hiding across the street. While we hid, I focused all my senses on the house to gather any information I could on this guy.

Eventually, the front door opens, putting me and Tsubaki on guard.

A man steps outside the house, the target, but before I can tell Tsubaki anything, a second figure comes out. I don't recognize him from the bounties.

Maybe he hasn't gotten one yet? Doubtful. I'm sure I'll have one in a year or two, so I doubt he doesn't.

From what I can tell, his strength level is around mid-class, but I'm not skilled or experienced enough to differentiate between the stages.

"You brats can come out now." The strange man calls out to us.

Looking at Tsubaki, she's facing me. I nod at her while we leave the bushes.

"Well, well, well. Why are you two brats here? Trying to take our bounties?"

"Just the other guy," I state. While I don't think I would outright lose if we fought, there was no need to antagonize him unnecessarily.

"Sorry, kids, but my new business partner and I have better things to do than entertain you."

"Why would we be here to entertain anyone? I chose your partner because he'd be a good training dummy for my teammate."

"Training dummy?!" The other guy yells in anger. "How dare you brats look down on me! Michio-san, let's kill these children!"

"Shut it, Hachiro. If they came here to kill you, they likely can. Don't take this lightly."

"Right, sir."

"Tsubaki," I turn to her. "You take the guy we came here for. I'll deal with his guest."

"Got it."

Brandishing her new naginata, Tsubaki moved towards Hachiro while I moved to distract Michio.

----------

Omake: Excalibur Thief 4

[Francisco POV]

The Shroud of Turin.

It was one of the five holy relics.

The True Longinus, Alphecca Tyrant, Incinerate Anthem, and Sephiroth Graal were the others.

Strangely enough, this was the only one not made into a sacred gear.

Getting an idea, I picked up the shroud and summoned my blender. I'd already wasted almost fifteen minutes trying to find an exit and was no closer to escaping this place. That's not including my escaping the country to avoid the church catching me again.

Shoving the shroud into the blender, I activated it and felt a massive drain on my stamina. If not for the previous drink, which enhanced my reserves and regeneration speed, I'd probably be dead from this.

After nearly 5 minutes of anxious waiting and exhaustion, the blender finally stopped.

I collapsed onto the floor but still grabbed the pitcher and drank.

Immediately, I knew what the drink did for me, surprisingly giving me two different benefits.

{ Gains holy magic. Can summon a shroud that can heal others, cloak magic or oneself, allow communication between all species, and negate dark magic when worn. }

This was my ticket out. Even if I didn't escape, I was satisfied, knowing that I could at least hurt them. I took one of their most valuable artifacts, and even if I died, they wouldn't get it back.

As I finished the drink, I surprisingly didn't feel like I consumed anything.

Then, I felt a rush of energy through my body. My magic changed, and it felt purer than before.

Was this how angels felt all the time?

I then activated the second ability and summoned the shroud.

It covered my body, and I felt my exhaustion quickly fading. Any injuries I previously had were now gone.

Activating the cloaking feature, I could feel my presence vanish from the room.

Just in time, too, because some guards had noticed the guys I knocked out earlier. They burst into the room, but despite me being there, all they saw was the missing shroud.

While they called their superiors to alert them about what happened, I snuck out of the room and quickly left.

Finding an exit ten minutes later, I snuck out of the compound before sprinting with all my might anywhere that was away from there. Stealthily boarding a train, though I didn't know where it was going, I finally felt safe.

__________

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!