compnetwork | [VIDEO]

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[He's been trying to avoid this, especially since the COMP link buried in his flesh freaks him out as much as any ghost. But now his closest friend, the only person he knows and trusts, is missing and he feels utterly helpless to do anything about it. Feeling helpless makes him rather cross.]

Hope I'm bloody doing this right.... Zael? If you can hear me, give me some sign. It's been three days, you can't be gone for good. I swear, if you've left me in this place alone....

[He takes a deep breath.] If anyone on the rescue team finds a man named Zael, have him contact me as soon as possible. [In the meantime, Yurick is going to go blow off some steam by burning something down.]

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Make a fist and hold it within the boundary of the circle. At worst, it won't have any effect. My magic won't harm my allies. At best, you might find yourself with a magically burning fist. Imagine the kind of punch you could deliver with that.

[This will be a first for Yurick if it works. If he can enhanced unarmed combat, it will be an advantage if any of the fighters in his group are disarmed.]

...

[Well. He can't imagine this entire conversation being some sort of strange elaborate plot to incinerate him, so there's no reason not to believe Yurick. Especially with his COMP activated and Harmonizing now. Still, despite being on the receiving end of many a fireball in his day, there's something different about thrusting your hand straight into a fire.]

Let's see, then...!

[And towards the flames he goes.]

((Aha, how likely do you think it is this would work? I'm not 100% canon familiar, although I've played a bit of Last Story.))

[Yurick has to admit, Atsuro has guts. He knows the other boy has to be afraid, despite Yurick's assurances that the fire will be harmless to him one way or another. It's an instinctual fear, after all.

He's tense with anticipation, the part of him that thirsts for knowledge deeply curious to see what will happen. His fingers are actually crossed as he silently wishes to see flames wrapping around Atsuro's fist.]

[Admittedly, Atsuro has a pained expression on his face and his eyes are half squinted closed as he awaits the inevitable searing sensation. ...He had equipped Diarahan, just in case.

...

The searing sensation does not come. Atsuro allows himself to stare at his hands now as he slowly lifts them away from the magical fire - as he does so, the flames quickly shoot up his arms and run up and down his body, causing him to let loose a small gasp of alarm. They dissipate quickly, though, leaving both his fists and his shoes to smoulder steadily.]

...

Whoa.

[The mage almost wants to shout with the success and clap Atsuro's shoulder in admiration of his courage. Instead he just grins, nodding in approval. Decorum is everything.]

It'll wear off after a few minutes unless you go back into the circle. I wonder what will happen if you strike something like that.

[Atsuro's ear suddenly itches. He resists the urge to scratch it as he continues to stare at his burning hands.]

Gotcha.

It's like a Mystic K -- [and then the copyright police appear and drag Atsuro off into jail] -- Cavalier - you can imbue weapons with an element. It's probably fire elemental now.

What do you think I should try...?

[His gaze falls onto the dumpster. ...Damaging public property probably wasn't the best idea right.]

[Yurick follows Atsuro's gaze. Surely a solid, burning punch won't turn the dumpster into more of an eyesore than it already is. He glances at his companion out of the corner of his eye, smirking.]

I won't tell if you won't.

[Atsuro clears his throat slightly.]

I'll go light.

[That's a lie his Strength stat is in the 30s by now. With a slight grin to Yurick, he quickly steps towards the dumpster, takes a glance or two around, and assumes his usual stance.]

Haah!

[Punch! His fist leaves a trail of flames in the air as it connects with the dumpster. Palm Strike! A flare of fire from his palm precedes his actual motion, expanding slightly to blast the side of the dumpster. Roundhouse kick! Another trail of flames hangs in the air in a semi-circle; Atsuro follows with a downwards ax kick and the flames rapidly fan out.

...That's probably enough for the moment.]

[Yurick's brow raises calmly, though inside he's absolutely floored. Why does Atsuro need demons when he's clearly strong on his own?]

We certainly could've used your skills in Lazulis. Where did you learn to fight empty-handed like that?

[He steps closer, evaluating the damage. There's a seared, significant trio of dents from Atsuro's strikes and a spray of scorched blast damage across the broad side of the dumpster. He wrinkles his nose at the smell of burnt paint and garbage.]

It seems any weapon becomes more effective, even one's own body.

Hah... remember, that was against a dumpster.

[Atsuro wipes his brow and backs away as the fire wreathing his hands and his feet die away.]

But you'd be surprised at the things you learn to do when demons are attacking you every half hour. Literally, like, :00 and :30 were the only times; I don't even know why. ...It's also not 100% me doing this.

[He, too, examines the dumpster now and laughs with slight embarrassment as he sees what he's done to the thing.]

Well. It's still standing, right?

Considering how foul it was, this might be an improvement. Fire is cleansing in its own way, after all.

[Yurick glances curiously at Atsuro.] And what do you mean it's not entirely you doing that?

[Had he somehow called upon his demons to help, even though Yurick hadn't seen or sensed them? The other boy's powers were certainly strange to Yurick, as much as Atsuro found his fire spells to be something worthy of awe.]

It's my COMP. ...What I was summoning the demons with.

[Atsuro fumbles around in his pockets for a moment after making sure it wasn't at all hot anymore before drawing it out.]

This is the tool of a demon summoner. When you show that you're, uh... worthy, I guess, this becomes yours and you gain demonic power. I don't mean you can summon them, although you can do that, too; I mean you get to use their powers. What I just did now was part of a move called Deathbound.

[Yurick reached out to touch the COMP, clearly confused.]

So this... machine? Not only does it allow you to summon your demons, it also gives you their powers? It's bonded to you?

[His hand moves away from the COMP, straying to the nanomachine piece buried in the flesh near his ear. He shudders as he always does when he has to think about the blasted thing.]

Sort of. If I lost it, you wouldn't be able to pick it up and use it on the spot, I don't think. There's a sort of test involved. But you could probably reprogram it to recognize you as the summoner. [Although most of the time when they took COMPs away from people, they just broke them.] It also recognizes a designated leader, so before I came here, I didn't have total control over its functions, either.

We have nothing like this at home. I admit, this "technology" is a bit disconcerting for me.

[He taps the unit in his skin.]

When this burrowed into me, I panicked so badly I tried to tear it out. It felt wrong. I don't know what would've happened if someone hadn't stopped me. But I imagine, for you, it's almost second nature.

[He takes a deep breath.]

Atsuro, would you mind teaching me about technology? If Zael and I are trapped here for any length of time, at least one of us needs to understand how this world works.

T-Trust me; summoning demons isn't technology I'd ever thought I would feel concerted with, either.

[Concerted wasn't even a real word at least not that way]

But I know what you mean. I can't imagine how it must feel seeing computers and that kind of thing... I'd be glad to teach you, though.

[Atsuro grins slightly.]

You're talking to the number two programmer in Tokyo here. I'd like to think technology and I get along pretty well.

Lucky for me I'm a fast learner, though you're going to be starting from the bottom rung, as it were. I don't even know what a "programmer" is.

[Yurick might just blow up a computer by accident while trying to boot it.]

We should probably keep moving before someone sees the damage we did here.

A programmer is... Basically the person who makes a machine do what it needs to do. A machine isn't intelligent enough to, say, be able to connect to a phone network on its own; you have to write it directions.

But don't worry. I'll see about teaching you the basics sometime.

[...A slight pause now.]

But uh. Yes.

We were going to... Scorpio?

I believe so. I trust your judgement, you know the best places to explore, right?

[He won't admit that Atsuro's explanation makes some sense but he simply can't picture it. It's too unfamiliar to someone from a purely magical world.]

You said there was a school there? And the library?

Oh! Right. Aquarius.

[Atsuro quickly proceeds to exit the area back towards the alleyway they traveled down to get there.]

I'll drop you off at the library and then I'll head to the community college. I have a few things I should pick up from work.

Then we'll meet up again in front of the library? Unless you've grown weary of me.

[Yurick chuckles dryly, though he does worry about becoming an inconvenience to his new friend. Friend... is that what Atsuro is now, already? When did he start to think of someone he only just met as a friend when his trust had been so hard to win before?

He's changing, isn't he? Deep in his heart, he's becoming a different person thanks to Zael breaking down his walls. Now he knows what it is to let others in.

He's not even aware of the wistful look that's taking over his face now.]

Not at all! I couldn't expect you to find your way back after one outing. We'll probably make it the library within the next 10 minutes; I'll do some work and come back before dinner. How does that sound?

[Atsuro glances back at Yurick as they emerge onto the main street again. He will, of course, make no comment about the expression on Yurick's face, though he certainly takes note of it.]

That should give me time to explore the library. Whatever we don't get to see tonight, I wouldn't mind touring at a later time as long as you're open to the idea.

[Keeping himself busy is the key. The more he's occupied, the less he'll worry about Zael.]

As thanks, I'll pay for dinner.

...Do you have a job?

[Atsuro arches an eyebrow as he smiles at Yurick's offer.]

If not, don't worry about it. I have more fake money than I know what to do with, anyway.

Ah... no, not as of yet. I'm a mercenary, I do what I'm paid to do, though at the moment no one's in need of me.

[He looks a bit embarrassed.]

I do need to make it up to you somehow. You've been far too kind.

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(I see no reason why it wouldn't work, since it enhances weapons and the Harmonizer makes him one...

OK cool!

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