Chapter 111: Chapter 110 : Tinkering

After reporting his mission’s success at the Adventurer Association branch, Ralf spent the next hour at Ganurg, visiting the usual suspects while also making sure to purchase a few items.

Then, saying his farewells, he returned to Popleigh. Ralf didn’t wander, after making one stop to refill his snack supply, he headed home, taking the shortest route.

Now, in the backyard, he retrieved the ten flashlights from his bag and lined them up on the grass.

*Click* *Flash* *Click* *Flash*…

‘Okay, all good,’ Ralf thought as he confirmed that all flashlights worked properly.

‘Now, let’s get to it.’

Following the thought, Ralf began delving deeper into the realm of light techniques.

‘Light techniques’ was an umbrella term for all techniques, both offensive and non-offensive techniques, that incorporated the element of light as part of the technique. This light in question could be natural, like sunlight, psionically produced or even artificial like the flashlights Ralf was using.

Ralf was no stranger to light techniques. Since hearing about it, he had been drawn to it. Starting with the Psi Mirrors, he added more and more to his collection, with the last one being the Magnifying Ray. It worked like a magnifying glass and directed a light source to heat up a targeted area. The resultant heat wasn’t fiery or anything close, but when aimed at the right spot, like exposed skin or eyes, it could be game-changing.

With a few already under his belt, Ralf looked to add more to his - to Silver’s collection.

Swoosh!

Floating a flashlight up, he had it lay horizontally in the air. Then, a few inches from the lens, he materialised a thin square coaster-like Psi construct. With this done, he flipped the switch and observed his Psi construct now glowing with white light.

‘Is it my vision or is this really bright? Needs more space.’

Ralf added a few more inches between the two objects. ‘Okay perfect, now let’s get colourful.’

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and finally violet. Altering his Psi barrier filtering properties ever so slightly, he managed to get his Psi construct to glow in these various colours. It was the same way the Combat Arena did it for their flashy entrances. During the Firm or Flimsy special event, Ralf memorised every Psi signature needed to produce these effects.

Running through the standard colours without issue, Ralf continued to play with colours, combing them through the use of multiple flashlights and adding more layers. After much tinkering, he managed to create various shades of the seven colours.

For the next few hours, Ralf would be engaged in this task, going through each idea one by one, making sure to save each individual instance into his Conceptual Memory.

‘Okay, that should be everything.’

After three hours, Ralf had exhausted all his ideas. Done experimenting, he now moved to technique creation.

Not immediately though. What would follow was a time-consuming task, he wouldn’t do it in the outside world. So, finishing his lollipop, he headed inside, plopped himself on the bed and made the trip to the Mental Space.

Arriving, he tagged Rei and sent him to the outside world before zooming to his private dome.

Once there, he began ‘painting’

***

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

‘No.’

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

‘...hmm, no.’

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

‘...not this either…’

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

In the backyard, a large Psi cube stood. In it, Rei sat on a Psi chair, entirely focused on taking in the sound produced by his Psi Clone just a metre away. He was in the act of recording voices with the cube he was in, acting as a perfect recording booth as it kept all other sounds out. With each failure from the Psi Clone, Rei would make slight adjustments to it and go again.

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

Just as the right combination of squiggles and lines could elicit and convey powerful emotions, so too could sound when arranged in a certain order. The human voice was at the end of the day, an instrument, albeit one more squishy than usual. The emotions they elicited were simply a matter of playing the correct notes, in the right order.

Anger, sorrow, despair, joy, sadness…through fine-tuning and adjustments, Rei could elicit all sorts of emotions. And not just emotions, every aspect of voice, both human and non-human could be artificially created and perfectly tailored to meet his wants.

Rei had very high standards and would never knowingly release a flawed product.

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He aimed for the best, and his movie would be no different. Everything had to be high quality. Naturally, voice acting, one of the most important aspects of an anime had to be up there as well.

It was the area he was most concerned about at first, but having started the process, he was worry-free.

He had entertained the notion of hiring voice actors, doing the more normal approach, but soon found that it was unnecessary. Voices recreated from memories, voices created from his imagination, voices made from the Record of Everything’s footage, and finally voices made via his current method, were all high-quality stuff.

Rei was delighted by the result, not just for the anime’s sake, but also at being spared the unpleasantness of working with others.

((I’ll never forgive you, you bastard!))

‘Oh, that’s it, perfect.’

Finding the cocktail of sorrow, anger and sadness that he sought, Rei smiled a satisfied smile.

‘I’ll go with this one.’ Deciding on this, he stood up and with a thought, had the surrounding Psi dissipate into particles. ‘And that wraps up all the voices, now to just add it in. But before then…’

Not completing the thought, he strode forward. As he did, he reactivated his senses, gaining his smell and sight. Turning the corner, Rei’s eyes lit up as Hana came into view. She sat on a rock, body leaned slightly forward, holding her head up with her palm, silently staring at the large cubic stone positioned before her.

To a random observer, it might seem as if she was in a thoughtless daze, but Rei knew better. Within Hana’s mind, an intricate statue was being carved out of the stone at this very moment.

Rei stopped his steps and simply observed her at work. Seeing this side of Hana mesmerised him to no end. He especially liked the focused look that overcame her when she was working. He felt that she became even more dazzling during these times. It was akin to polishing a diamond. Rei couldn’t get enough of it, ‘job shadowing’ her became a hobby of sorts.

Hana at work was an exquisite painting, one could watch all day. Though, as much as he liked this, a hug was better.

Black Turtle Sphere.

In what was essentially Turtle Sphere with a vanta Psi coating, Rei, using his memory to guide him, rolled himself to Hana’s backside, broke out of his shell and engulfed her in a sudden embrace.

“-Ooo, Ray.”

Startled at first, Hana’s heart quickly selected down. “Didn’t even notice you, what’s up?”

“Hmm, just want a hug.”

Hana smiled before wrapping her arms around his. To hug her sons was as natural as breathing, and just about as frequent. She never rejected them, for just as sons were, she was also addicted to them.

‘Mmm, so warm,’ Rei couldn’t help but think as he pressed his face against her backside. Revelling in the comfort, his eyes slowly shut and his body turned slack and pudding-like. In his subsequent daze, one emotion reigned…bliss.

‘To think something so simple could bring this much happiness, it’s absurd and yet I can’t get enough of it. The future is truly uncertain. The ‘me’ from before could never predict such a future.’

“Ray.”

“...mmm…yes?” Rei replied in a lethargic tone as his consciousness continued to drift.

“Ralf tells me you’ve been working hard, how’s the movie going?”

“Movie? Oh yes, that’s going well. Just adding the finishing touches on the last part.”

“Fantastic. Your movie and Ralf’s Challenger Series, I’m looking forward to it. I can hardly wait, wish I had the power to speed up time.”

“...I’d rather stop time.”

Catching his murmur, a sweet smile bloomed on Hana’s face. ‘My sons are too adorable.’

“But alas, time only moves forward,” saying this, Rei vacated from her backside and straightened up. “I’ll leave you to your work. Let me see the final product before you send it off, okay.”

“Sure sure.”

Rei turned and began striding off. Four steps in, Hana’s voice entered his ears.

“Love you son.”

He paused a moment, then replied, ”Love you too, mom.”

The words flowed from his lips like honey, slowly but surely, and carried a sweetness that left both Hana and Rei giddy.

Separating on that wholesome note, both delved into their individual tasks with an added vigour.

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