(??????????)
Darkness….
It was all he could see.
It was all he could feel.
There was nothing but darkness.
He was the darkness.
And then, light cut through the endless void.
Her face.
It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her eyes, wide and trembling. Her mouth, forming sounds he could not understand.
But then… something caught his ear, A male voice, cutting through the silence.
"Gasper Vladi" The voice said
As soon as those words rang out, the light faded, and all he could see was darkness again.
And what followed were screams of agony.
(October 29th, 2006)
"AH-!" Gasper pushed open the door of his coffin, leaping out, drenched in sweat.
He took a step… and promptly collapsed onto the floor. His legs gave out beneath him, and he landed squarely on his butt.
'That was an awful dream… But it also felt so damn real… almost like I was really there…'
He stayed sitting on the floor, staring down at his hands, trying to calm the tremor running through them. The shadows from the memory still lingered at the edges of his mind.
As he finally calmed himself, he looked up and glanced at the digital clock sitting on the cabinet in front of him.
4:00 AM.
He pushed himself to his feet and said, "Well… definitely not falling asleep again after that."
He opened his system panel, glanced at his quests, and muttered, "Well… might as well do my dailies."
(A couple of hours latter)
GULP! GULP! GULP!
"AHHH~" Gasper sighed, tightening the cap back on his water bottle, sweat glistening on his brow as he moved.
He set the bottle aside and walked to a corner of the room, where a magical staff rested on an altar.
Dropping to his knees, he interlocked his hands and sent up a quick prayer.
"Oh, magical girl Levi-tan, answer this lost lamb's wishes!"
Still kneeling, he glanced at the gacha screen open on his system panel and pressed "ten pull," holding his breath as he waited.
The results flickered onto the display:
[Angelo the Rock (Part 4; Morioh) [Arcane] A local Morioh landmark created when a certain villain fused with a boulder. Popular meeting spot.
Jojo Music Compendium [Arcane] Complete collection of music across all Joestar sagas.
Speedwagon's Hat (Part 1; Speedwagon) [Mortal] The iconic bladed headwear of a loyal companion, though the blades are currently blunted.
Iggy's Coffee Gum (Part 3; Iggy) [Mortal] High-quality coffee-flavored chewing gum, irresistible to certain Boston Terriers.
Breathing Mask (Part 2; Joseph) [Arcane] A heavy, restrictive mask used during Hamon training to force the user into a precise breathing rhythm.
Caesar's Bubble Gloves (Perfect Condition) (Part 2; Caesar) [Arcane] Specialized gloves for concentrating Hamon bubbles.
Tequila Bottle (Part 2; Joseph) [Mortal] Used to sneak past guards.
Silver Bullet (Part 7; Diego Brando) [Ultimate] Diego Brando's world-class Arabian stallion, renowned for speed and spirit.
Money (Universally Applied) [Mortal] Basic currency. Universally accepted.
Steel Ball Handling Guide (Part 7; Gyro) [Transcendent] Manual detailing steel ball rotational techniques, improves precision.]
Seeing the screen, Gasper broke out into tears,
his fingers intertwining tightly as he whispered, "Finally… after almost thirty pulls of straight-ass!"
He let out a shaky laugh, a mixture of relief and disbelief, staring at the list of items that might finally help him train properly.
Then his gaze drifted back to the altar, eyes wide with pure admiration.
"Levi-tan… this act of kindness shall not be forgotten." he said solemnly, clasping his hands together once more.
He rose from his knees, and executed a deep bow.
After straightening, he made his way to the couch. From his inventory, he pulled out the Steel Ball Handling Guide, breathing mask, and Iggy's Coffee Gum.
He unwrapped the gum, popped it into his mouth, and began chewing, the bitter coffee flavor hitting his taste buds.
'Not bad.' he thought.
But then he shifted his attention away from the taste of the gum, and…
BAM!
He slammed his foot down on one of the wooden tiles on the floor. The tile popped up with a sharp crack, and from it, something sprang out.
His eyes landed on the green steel ball rolling across the floor, and a small grin tugged at his lips.
picking it up. The cold weight of the steel pressed against his palm as he closed his eyes, picturing the lessons from the Steel Ball Handling Guide and imagining what he could achieve.
In his mind, he was on the battlefield, floating above the ground, the sky painted in gold. Golden energy swirled violently around him as they took the shape of perfect golden rectangles, he then locked eyes with his opponent and shouted, "The perfect rotating energy!"
A steel ball spun flawlessly in his palm, surrounded by that same golden, perfect rotating energy.
He snapped himself out of the delusion and muttered, "Should I even really learn this?"
Reality hit him. He was already training his Hamon, his Mana, and now he was about to begin training his Sacred Gear, and adding Spin on top of that.
"Won't I be spreading myself too thin?" he asked aloud, frowning as he realized he might be taking on too much at once.
But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he threw caution to the wind and grabbed the breathing mask next to him and put it on.
FUSSSH!
He exhaled through the mask.
'Well… even if I don't practice it seriously, there's nothing wrong with learning how to do it,' he thought, a small smirk tugging at his lips.
He opened the book and began reading through it. As he progressed, color drained from his face, leaving him paler than a ghost.
'You've got to be kidding me!' he thought, staring in absolute horror at a mathematical equation staring back at him.
As soon as he saw that equation, he tried to escape, as if the numbers themselves were chasing him. He flipped through the pages desperately… only to land on human anatomy.
It wasn't normal human anatomy. Oh no. Every part of the body was meticulously detailed, how it functioned, how it connected, and each diagram was encompassed by the same rectangle with a spiral.
The same one he had seen in the math section.
He slammed the book shut, overcome with absolute fear.
He then closed his eyes and thought to himself 'It's worse than I ever thought it would be…'
Even so, he knew what he had to do. With shaky hands, he slowly reopened the book to the first page.
'Wait… wasn't this made for humans? Would it even work for my anatomy? And how the hell do you even apply an equation to real life? I mean, I get what Gyro said about the Golden Ratio and all that, but what does that actually mean?'
He paused, taking one last thought in. 'Well… whatever. No point in complaining. If I get it, I get it. If I don't… I don't.'
With that, he finally got to work.
←–TO BE CONTINUED—