Cherreads

Chapter 6 - Vague Memories (Really short chapter + Bonus side chapter)

Your next words will be;

" Wait a minute this isn't an abandoned fic?!"

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Title_Vague Memories

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...[Ishtar]. My name is [Ishtar]! I'll be your companion even after the end of time itself! So please take care of me."

"[Ishtar], huh. That sounds familiar..."

Despite her now sitting in/on the air, I could the hope in her voice.

"Really?!"

"Uh-huh, I've heard that name before..." Now that I thought about it, The room, her voice, even her face seemed familiar...

 As I stared at her face, something in my soul locked into place, a vague memory I didn't know I had. I instinctually knew it was being held back by [Ruler's mind]. A feeling I could only describe as opening a vault took place in the deepest parts of my subconscious and the memory presented itself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I sat beside a blonde woman. She was eating food... No, she was practically vacuuming it into her gullet. At the same time, another girl who looked strikingly similar to [Ishtar] appeared to be yelling something at me. She snapped in front of me, "Hello? Are you even paying attention to me, you- you idiot!" she grabbed her hair and leaned back into her chair, "This entire time...How are you even alive right now?"

"Don't worry, To▓▓██▓▓▒░ I'm sure I'll be fine! This is how I've always done this."

" D- don't worry?! Are you hearing yourself? Who even taught you to do this? You've been using your nerves as magic circuits... this... ENTIRE TIME?! Doesn't that hurt? What the hell's wrong with you?!" The memory faded into light.

Moments later I found myself standing near one of the Shirou variants "Ha. I remember that... that was years ago." he gave me a sad smile, "Take care of yourself other me... and be sure to get stronger quickly, alright!" I nodded and he turned into particles of light, flying into the remaining green flames near Link.

Immediately after the lights hit the fire, it doubled in size and my chest grew tighter. Everything blurred together as the green overtook me, forcing me back into the waking world and directly in front of a brand-new status screen.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

『Name: Shirou E. Saijo

 Age: 25

Race: Superior Homo-Magi/Hylian

Title: [Link], [Faker], [One of Many- The Gamer],

[Earth's first Outsider],..

 Level: 1

 HP:1800/1800

 SP:3300/3300

 MP:1600/1600

 ---

 Str: 18 DEX: 33 

 WIS:16 STM: 33 

 EP: 16 DUR: 23 

 Usable Stat Points: 10

Overall Output: Faster than a horse. Stronger than gorillas. 』

Skills: 

«Ruler's Mind» Rank: MAX 1/NL (passive skill): A version of [Gamer's Mind] that has absorbed characteristics from the locked skill «Sha Naqba Imuru», the entirety of the skill «Hero's Courage», and fragments of a shattered wish-granting object. This passive is always active and allows the user to calm down from any form of mental distress. «Ruler's Mind» grants protection from all NEGATIVE mental statuses and blesses its user with a 6th sense. During important decision-making moments, the world itself shall present previously unknown paths to you whenever you «WISH». You can «WISH» six times a day. You will no longer simply sense or predict the future but oversee its paths.

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⌜Basic Magicraft I⌟ Rank: H Lvl:15/50(active):

You can cast simple magicraft spells

Known Spells: Projection(Natsuverse) *New*

 Structural Analysis (Natsuverse) *New*

 Tracing (Natsuverse) *New*

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«Steel Of The Hero» Rank: C+ Lvl- 1/150 (passive):

Born from the joint efforts of the [Wrought-Iron Magus] and [Hero of Hyrule] titles, whenever you are in danger, you can fight past 0 Health Points at the expense of your Energy and Stamina. When your HP is at 0, choose between Durability raising by 5% every 15 seconds or doubling your damage output every 60 seconds.

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⌜Ultima armamentarium: The king's evergrowing armory⌟ Rank: I~EX lvl- 1/150(Limited) Energy cost: 5+: The superior combination of several versions of the reality-marble ⌜Unlimited Blade Works⌟ and the skill ⌜Gate of Babylon: the king's treasure⌟. You have the power to effortlessly generate replicas of all tools, produce new items, store any object you possess, and summon them at your convenience. Furthermore, you can easily repair any broken objects within the vault by expending your energy. With enough practice, you can significantly reduce your energy costs.

|Notice: The skill ⌜Ultima armamentarium⌟ is partially locked. Gain recognition from the previous wielders of the skills ⌜UBW⌟ and ⌜GOB⌟ through their unique questlines|

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«???» Rank: MAX (passive): An unratable blessing

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⌜Skill Creation⌟ Rank: E+ lvl- 1/100:

You can now create and modify skills. Rankings of skills creating with ⌜Skill Creation⌟ depend on your proficiency with ⌜Skill Creation⌟. Your only limitation is energy, This can be circumvented with practice.

⌜Observation⌟ Rank: D+ lvl- 1/100:

Depending on your strength and proficiency with the skill, view the descriptions and possibly the emotions of others.

[Undetermined Warfare] Rank: B+ Lvl 1/175:

The embodiment of the incident where the [ Hero of Hyrule] fought and defeated a being of [Malice] with zero armor and no weapon besides a random tree branch. +10% experience gained on weapon-related skills. Nearly everything is considered a weapon to you. Anything you use for combat can stand up to attacks up to two ratings above them if your experience with objects related to it is high enough.

 

Attributes:

Gamer's Body: 

Your body is nearly identical to a game avatar! Learn new skills simply by reading scrolls and books! All skills are suitable for your body. Your only limit is stats! Never worry about catching an illness again. If you sleep on a mattress, 100% of all negative statuses will be nullified, and 50% on hard surfaces. All injuries will heal by morning, and Missing limbs will regrow within one to two weeks. You may speed up this process in exchange for EP recovery

???

??? 』

『Inventory:

1 summoning ticket,

1 Upgrade ticket,

Red Apple,

Skill Book: Homunculus Automata,

x3 Goddessium,

x1 unique weapon ticket,

x3 Throne Fragments. 』

『 Quests: Breath Of Life

 Make 0/1 Homunculi 

 Rewards: Title: Small Creator 』

It seemed like in the brief moment I was out of it the system had updated granting me easier access.

"Hello?" [Ishtar]'s soft voice drew me out of my thoughts and screens. "A-are you alright? I didn't cause any problems. D-did I? Shirou?!" she asked with a hint of regret. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her voice was faltering. I looked at her and replied, "I'm fine, don't worry." She let out a sigh of relief, and her current doll-like frame flashed with imaginary light as she expressed her gratitude. "Really?! Oh, thank the root," she said.

Then she asked, "D- did you remember anything? 

"I- uh just remembered some stuff from a while ago..."

"You did?! What was it?" she asked eagerly, and I felt guilty for thinking that her excitement might fade away. I paused for a moment, not wanting to let her down, then reluctantly replied, "I think I remember a girl who looked vaguely resembled you- like you could be her mother type of resemblance... She was yelling at me for some reason. Something about nerves and being reckless, But the memory is still a bit blurry."

"A bit?" she inquired, her pace slowing down. "What was she wearing?"

"Uh, a red sweater, I think? But I'm not certain, it could have been a shirt." I answered

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Bonus: [Ishtar]'s training montage I

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Ishtar was pulled across space to fulfill her side of the deal. Thinking back, she remembered all her friends spending over a millennium begging the other party to save him. going as far as to offer all of her treasures and strength to assist them if they completed this favor. They caved in and said they'd do it if she agreed to be his companion and used her strength to force his spirit back together over time. It wasn't even a question, she instantly agreed. Both parties swore an oath and went to work.

They sent out requests to gamers to pull fragments of his soul from several different timelines and realities to piece him back together. Along the way, two gamers managed to capture three heroic spirits that somehow merged with a fragment and were nearly overwritten by the raw energy it output. Ishtar helped the gamers and deities tie the components together with the system. The stronger it got, the more it remembered the fractured spirit would repair itself. However, they needed to be careful. Too many memories at once would overload its mind, and the soul everyone worked so hard to save would unravel. Whatever body it was in would lose its mind and become no more than an insane beast.

After completing the more complicated part, they sent the soul to be reborn in another world and forced an ordinary life to stabilize it... That brings her to today... She'd be sent back to the [Hub] and meet with her new teachers today.

The system usually made companions by ripping a small fragment of its host's soul and growing into its own being. This was only the most common of many ways to give the gamers an extra head to think with or a shoulder to lean on. Their path for this soul was forced since taking any pieces was entirely out of the equation. It risked collapsing like a bad game of Jenga. Not that it mattered to Ishtar and her friends. They'd brave the darkest pits of hell for this spirit just like it did for them. As she felt herself land, a smile appeared on her face for the first time in a long time. She was closer to her goals.

They'd be releasing the restrictions on his system today and merging it with some other realities, including his original world. Some of his allies might combine with other characters or end up with foreign skills to balance out the power systems and give him a closer chance at winning against that thing. Ishtar remembered some gamers saying strange names and acronyms when deciding what worlds to combine.

....

"RWBY and TLOZ seem to be the most obvious choices here, learning aura would speed up the soul's repair process immensely, and he got mixed out with a version of the [Hero]. To me, it makes sense to take the world that part of him came from and merge it so they don't end up fighting the calamity without someone who could wield the master sword". One said.

Another player responded, "If that's the case, why don't we add some of the FF timelines and things from the natsuverse besides his original world, maybe things from the side of that multiverse where humans could use class cards? I wanna see his reactions to the magical girls and that female Gilgamesh"

'a female who?'

"Oh man, that'd be priceless, the last time we trolled a villain with magical girls, they accidentally married the demon lord, and the will of the world looped them for messing with the story twice!"

"Seriously? We can't do him dirty like that. What if he ends up in a relationship?"

"Meh, we'll send them back too~"

"No, we'll just mess around with the will, so looping won't happen unless something absurd happens." After all this time, Ishtar was still worried about what reality her dear would be entering.

She stood at the center of a large stone structure, four stone pillars emitting light as others spawned into the same area. 

"Welcome To [The Hub]" She read the floating text in front of her out loud.

"Oh? A new person? Do you need help?" Ishtar turned around, spotting a floating orb, and instantly recognized it as another companion.

"Hello, I'm [Ishtar]." She introduced. " I'm here to apply for the companion training classes. I made a deal with your deities around 17 years ago to take these courses, so could you please point me in the right direction?" She spoke to another Companion, slight desperation and hope ever-present in her tone.

"Somebody applying to be a companion? That's new!" The blue light laughed. " Look friend, You'll need to take the right lane for two and a half miles before entering the building left of Gamer Gears!"

Ishtar bowed slightly before walking off "Thank you, I won't forget this help!" 

"Hey! Listen!"

ishtar paused. "Yes?"

"Watch out for broken tiles! Recently two gamers argued over who was stronger and managed to crack some property after one dropped a [supernova in a bottle], so be careful okay?!" If Ishtar was astonished somebody had managed to put a supernova in a bottle, she stopped thinking the moment she realized it only cracked the streets and buildings once released. She decided it would be best to reach her destination quickly.

"I- I will!"

The [Hub] was designed to replicate different civilizations and eras to suit its diverse population. Ishtar ran down the street, passing a wide range of stores, homes, and buildings that seemed to alternate in design every few blocks.

Upon reaching her destination, she quickly found the receptionist and provided the proof required for Companion Training. 

"Welcome to Companion Corp! We wish you the best of luck on your journey! Please head over to—"

The receptionist was interrupted by a bubbly voice. "That's enough, Sophie. Take a break. I'll guide her from here on, orders from higher-ups." Ishtar turned around and saw a bunny girl with white hair, red eyes, and a white one-piece dress with pink arm-sleeve warmers. She was eating sweets and levitating a cake and gave off a sense of adventure and freedom. "Eh? You'll do this personally? If you're doing this on orders from above, this must be pretty serious" she said, taking a step back from Ishtar. "If you insist on getting no help, I could take my break now. I've been working nonstop since last night!"

The woman named Sophie left the room, leaving Ishtar and the bunny lady alone.

"So you decided to join this sector, I'm usually not allowed to do this, but the big guy asked that you knew everything, and I mean EVERYTHING before you meet your assigned host," she kept stuffing her face through her speech.

"You're going on an adventure and need to know how to defend yourself and your host from hijackers!" Ishtar knew what she was talking about. Sometimes an evil God or demon would try to corrupt systems and steal players for their energies. It's the job of companions to guard their hosts and repair systems that had trojans while keeping them isolated until they are safe enough to return to the [Hub].

"I'll be putting you through my boot camp! Please refrain from comparing it to the intermediate course. It took years for me to figure out how I'd condense 10000 years' worth of information into a 100-year-long crash course. You'll go through everything at lightning speeds while in the training chambers! So don't worry about it. I, Kirikiri, the greatest adventurer, will teach you everything you need to know about the system, survival, and multiversal affairs! I'll make a Rose out of you!"

"That's great. When do I start?" Ishtar was excited to learn how to protect her hero.

"Right now!" Kirikiri balled up her fist and put Ishtar on edge. She raised them up and began her assau- her training.

Punching her into a training ground, Kirikiri yelled, "Hehe, I learned how to do this from a friend during my last scouting mission!" Ishtar gathered her senses once she landed and felt another strike heading her way. Staring at her new mentor, she saw glowing eyes and a rabid smile on her face. Ishtar's previous excitement turned to dread when she heard, "Here we go, The First Lesson Of Kirikiri's Boot Camp!: Here's [The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic]!"

"Wait, no, no, no! Hold on a minute! Can't talk about- 

CRackDOOM

(To be continued)

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{Notice you have received a trade request}

| trade offer: 1 side short

What the author gets: some extra time

Description: I'm still working on the next, so take this side chapter while I figure out what I want to happen. I've been up since last night for the past several nights working and now I can finally rest. It's raining too so I think I'll sleep well! Please accept my offer. |

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