Ethereal Paradigm: A Canvas of Black - Chapter 61

“Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”

– Erica Jong

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“What is it, oni-chama?”

“Want to have this? This here, is Grendel” I then presented to her, the weapon. still in its secondary form, the chakram.

“Hey! Are you serious?!” Lacrimosa, as though knowing my plan began to rant in a very noisy way.

“Giving a child a weapon of this caliber is absolute madness,” she added.

“I don’t need it.”

“Heeee???”

“Even before I came here, I am well-equipped… All I need is my pen’s jet black ink and I’m good to go. I can make my own weapon and it’s not limited to only having two forms. ” I don’t mean to sound cool, but it’s what I think is rational. If I were to have this weapon, it would be great but it would likely destroy the purpose of me choosing my paradigm of utter manipulation of bleak things. besides, I can’t just focus all ends meet to myself while Shiro walks about in an all ‘easy-go-lucky’ warfare… sarcastically speaking of course. It’s best if she would have a weapon with her, given that I don’t know how her paradigm really works.

“Painstakingly, I’m having a hard time understanding a nimrod of your level, an expert at that!”

“Oh, there’s no need for you to understand me. That’s one hard and time-consuming work, and anything but that for someone like you.”

As I and Lacrimosa began to throw off waste sound arguments, Shiro began to examine the weapon herself even reading the weirdly limited description.

“So what do you think of it, Shiro? It’s nice, isn’t it? I would like you to hold into it, to protect yourself okay?”

“Hai! Oni-chama!” she answered as if she knew how serious I really am.

“Shall we try it then?” I suggested, without taking into account the plausible harm it could bring to Shiro… Yet, I don’t know why but I’m somewhat confident…and it’s one weird gut feeling.

“Hey, all that is needed to do is throw it right? And it will come back to the hands of the user” I asked the insulted goddess.

“Basically, but it would take an enormous amount of dexterity to catch it. Normally, I would not recommend you using it here, but it’s a kid, so I guess it should be fine. Try hard to not break anything, especially the painting… Or else, I will-”

Shiro, feeling the urgent impulse to try it out, threw it as Lacrimosa is still speaking some words of warning. The said chakram as though thrown by a giant came adrift to the vast emptiness and slashed across a few of the crystal chandeliers obliterating it into bits while its broken debris of discrepant sizes came falling down making the realm shook in its own accord.

From its fast-phased rotation also gushed forth strong and aggressive winds that dented anything on its way. And then, the chakram having lost all of its resistance to continue forward, rotated 160 degrees to return to the point where it came from with momentum still enough to break a chandelier or two. I was worried for a bit but, the kid as though catching a thrown frisbee seized it without any difficulty. A mere Childs’ play.

“Hey… Tell me, where did you get this kid again?” the Goddess being reluctant of the damage and focusing all of her blatant curiosity in the happy driven girl, asked…

“Don’t make it sound that I bought her from a meat market,” I answered as if I ‘m a proud parent or something… Could she be in fact a prodigy? At this point, I don’t know. All I know is that my eyebrows won’t cease from raising. First, is as to how she conveniently set up her paradigm without asking for assistance. And now, throwing and catching a dangerous mythical weapon with her fragile-looking arms which is thinner than the blades itself, even going so far as to get the attention of such a frivolous deity.

“Shiro, how was it?”

“It’s nice oni-chama… tehee, but it’s big, I can’t carry something like this oni-chama, I’m only gonna slow you down”, she replied.

“Don’t worry Shiro… You can make it handy by chanting another magic word.”

“What magic word oni-chama? ‘Open Sesame”?”

“Ahahahah… No. it’s ‘Le Chant de Roma’”

“Hai oni-chama… ‘Le Chanto de Roma” the little girl in Japanese accent chanted, and the chakram re metamorphosed to its primary state, a callous looking dagger which Lacrimosa named ‘Grendel’. A wolf in a dog’s clothing, so to say…

“Wooahhhhhh!!!!” Shiro marveled as she began to be flabbergasted by the fact that she is to have the weapon herself the same as to have a new toy.

“Keep it with you always ok? And be careful in walking around with that”

“Hai! oni-chama. Mondainaidesu!” (English: Yes! oni-chama. No problem!”

“Yosh Yosh! Shall we go now? Say your bye-bye to Pegasus-san… Aunt Lacrimosa has some cleaning to do, isn’t that right??” I somewhat insulted her again, but this time it is of no effect.

“Huh? I think you’re misunderstanding something here…” And then with as little as a little snap,

everything has gone back to the way it should be, as though nothing has ever happened, with the Goddess not resorting to a superfluous effort of cleaning up the mess. The broken crystal chandeliers once again assembled itself with unseen hand and the dents the wind left on the floors began to fix itself as though there are- some auto-fixing microchips there…Well, it’s a realm of her own design so it’s her will that would be prioritized in this place…

“You got anything to say?”, the goddess with a deride expression asked while clapping her hands in the same fashion as someone do after cleaning the dust off a window.

“We’re leaving,” I answered with a half-assed face.

“Hmmmmm… Hahahahahaa!” the goddess laughed her soul out, while I and Shiro slowly jumped off a warp gate leading outside.

As my business with Lacrimosa was brought to fruition, I and Shiro found ourselves in the third realm once more.

Get as much experience as we can… Regroup at a small town located in the west… That is the plan…Ok here goes nothing.