Thanatos System - Chapter 138

“Err. You wanted to know about why I am able to cast spells without a grimoire on my hands, right?” Fen turned towards Zachary and asked him. The C Rank Fire Slayer nodded.

Suna called Yin out and told him that they should resume their sparring, seeing as the guy was a Slayer himself and he only broke the skirmish out when he thought they were fighting for real.

“Have a seat. Zachary, was it?” Fen’s soft voice was very calming to Zach’s ears. “Y-Yeah.” They sat on an empty bench under the shade of a tree. The man was roughly the same age as the Serpent Summoner and the Commander. He also had a snow-white complexion to his skin.

“Let me see your grimoire.” Fen reached his hand out to Zach. After noticing that he did not bring it with him, he ran swiftly back to the Grand Castle and brought it out from his drawer. The Commander was still snoring loudly as he slept. He handed his Flame Grimoire to the oriental man shortly after. “Hm. Judging from your appearance, you have already have had your fair share of missions and deployments outside the Gates. But not many enough of battles against Angels and monsters to call yourself a veteran or a seasoned Slayer. I mean that with no disrespect.” Fen said to him.

Fen Kaori was blunt, almost like his expression never ever changed. You could not tell with a glance what type of feeling he was meant to convey with his words as they were as lifeless as his eyes and face.

“N-None taken, Fen.” Zach replied back. “Am I really that obviously raw still? He just read me like a book.” The C Rank Fire Slayer thought to himself. “I think I did not hear whether you stated your rank already or not, but may I know what it is and what your affinities is?” Zach asked Fen before he could tell him the secrets of his spell casting methods.

“Ah. Perhaps I forgot to disclose that information earlier as I introduced myself. My apologies, Zach. I am currently an SS Rank Slayer. I am able to use every affinity, whether it be fire, water, wind, or earth. I am what some might call a ‘special’ Slayer.” This was the first time that Fen showed the slightest etch of an expression, he was smiling as he said that.

“F-Four affinities!?” Zach was even more surprised. It seemed like Fen Kaori was a special Slayer as well. Much like he and his Azure Flames. “I am sorry for reacting this way, but did I mishear your words or something?”

“No, I believe that you heard me correctly. I am able to use four affinities without a grimoire. Do you wish to know why?” Zach bobbed his head up and down quickly, he was eager to know how this was possible.

“Before that, I should tell you something about these grimoires that you use. You flick the pages and touch the page of what specific spell you want to use in the battlefield, right? These are basically the mediums for our affinities, although they are casted with our Anima Cells being the basis for how powerful our spells are and how advanced these spells can be, we cannot do so without grimoires. Or at least normal Slayers are not able to. That is what makes my case particularly different.” Fen took out his blank rectangular canvas and his paint brush and placed it on the bench at their side.

“These are the mediums that I use in combat, Zach. It is just too impractical for me to carry four grimoires out in the open and having to flick my pages trying to find out what the best and most appropriate spell there would be for a given situation. Here, let me show you how I do it.”

Fen Kaori got up from where they sat and wrote a few lines from the Flame Grimoire as well as an illustration of how it would look like. Afterwards, he pointed the canvas in front of him and a whirling fireball came out of it. Luckily, the fireball hit the stone wall of the courtyard, leaving it undamaged, just slightly burnt from the impact.

“A-Amazing…” Zach said to himself. “Can you teach me how to do that?!” He wanted Fen Kaori to teach him how to fight using his paint brush and canvas methods. Zachary had never even heard of this technique up till now.

“I am afraid you are not capable of doing that, Zachary. It is not because of your lack of skill or training mentality, I do not know you enough to make that assumption. But even if you actively train how to manifest your affinities out of a canvas, it still is not possible for one reason : your Anima cells are that of a normal human’s. While mine can be compared to that of an Angel’s Anima cells. It is very volatile and unstable, if I used a grimoire normally, it would burn up and turn into dust as it cannot handle my cells at full force. That is why I resorted to using these as my mediums.” Fen replied back.

Although that was not the response that Zach expected to receive, he knew it was too good to be true that he would be able to do that. “I see. It is fine, Fen.” Seeing that the C Rank Slayer was disheartened, he wanted to say something to lighten up his mood.

“If it makes you feel any better, I am the only Slayer who can do this. I believe the ability to use all four affinities and use a unique medium such as a paint brush and canvas is only doable by myself.” Fen said to Zachary.

“How did your Anima cells become that way, Fen? Would it be better if I had that as well? Will my flames be stronger?” Zachary asked him.

“No. You will end up burning your own hands if you had my Anima count on your bloodstream. I was once too weakened by it as a child that I could not even move my legs. I had to train and give it everything I had in order to walk upright after my cells had awakened. That was when I knew that my inability to walk was a side effect of the sheer numbers of Anima Cells my body had laying dormant inside my blood stream.”

“I-I am sorry for being insensitive, I did not know, Fen.” Zach tilted his head downwards. “Do not worry about it, I can see that you are a special case as well. Sensing your Anima cells myself the first time I saw you, your Flames are of a different variation, am I right?” Fen asked him. His question made Zachary’s face glint up, as if he was proud that he also had a few tricks up his sleeve. “It is the same as that white haired boy over there. But I am quite confused, I do not sense any Anima cells on that girl he is fighting with…” Zachary chuckled and told him how special of a case Suna Izanami was. He did not expect Fen to be overjoyed at the revelation of Suna not having Anima cells and being a Slayer.

“I see. Perhaps I might have already heard of her in my organization circle. If I recall correctly, we wanted to recruit her for ourselves, but knowing that the Serpent Summoner and the Commander already had dibs on her recruitment, we knew it would be futile to ask her to join the Primal Hounds ourselves. She has what I lack, Zachary. The physical prowess to go blow for blow against the winged harbingers. I am able to cause chaos but only from a distance, that is pretty much my downside.” Fen said to Zachary Lancaster before saying farewell to the three of them and going out from where he came.

“Guys. Let me tell you something about that Fen guy, he can use four affinities…”

The sheer expressions on Yin and Suna’s face was priceless. “F-Four?!” Zach nodded. “The group of Slayers in Gavin, Kai, Vale, and the Commander’s ranks are definitely another realm of strength that we cannot crack. As of now, that is.” His words inspired the three of them to work even harder to become stronger Slayers worthy of their historic organization’s name.

“I am glad that you have given them the right words of encouragement for these young promising Slayers. You underestimate yourself, Fen Kaori. You will be one of the pillars that the Slayer Corps will rely on for support. I mean at this point, you already are.”

Meanwhile somewhere outside the Outer Gates, Adam Rosa is sitting on the ruined fragments of what once used to be a chair. Beside him was the Water Seraphim, Hai. And the silhouettes of nine other imposing presences.. Presumably the other remaining Seraphims still alive.