Chapter 120: Chapter 119 : Rippling Out (Part 1)

The next day…

Popleigh welcomed another day of frenzied excitement. People crowded the streets in mass, discussing yesterday’s happening with an excited fervour.

“Those eyes of his were cold as ice. It was so cool. I wonder if I’ll run into him. Do you think I have a chance?”

“No way, he’s way out of your league girl.”

“Aha, hey let me dream.”

Ray name’s continued to be stuck to the audience members’ lips. Similarly stuck, was the topic of the movie debut later that day, and how to get to view it.

Luckily for those asking, Enviso had stepped up to the plate.

Knowing the traction that the Challenger Series/anime would bring Enviso, Meredith and her staff made preparations in advance to ensure that everyone who wanted to view both things, could view them.

The Enviso branch only held so many seats, so several ‘remote viewing sites’ were set up all over Popleigh. In open fields, amphitheatres, hotels, etc…

With the permission of the Duke, Enviso rented out these various locations to use as pseudo branches. It wasn’t as comfortable or high quality as the actual branch, but it was nonetheless appreciated by the masses, especially the cheap ticket cost. As night approached, people shifted to these various locations.

While most resorted to these measures, those more fortunate watched from the comfort of their homes. Yesterday’s group of the Fawkes, Samuel and the Ganurgians reunited at Samuel’s manor an hour before showtime. The group passed time with chatter and simple games.

“I still don’t see it.” Greg rubbed his head beard as he perused Enviso’s catalogue.

“We’re still thirty seconds off, relax. Also, it’s not something you’ll be able to miss. Meredith said they went all out.”

“Hmm.” Greg and the others remained silent as they counted down the seconds in their head.

According to Ralf, the movie would only show up ten minutes before the debut time. Needless to say, the group was practically vibrating in anticipation. Ralf’s bold claims had revved them up to no end.

Thirty seconds later, Ralf’s words came to pass.

The home display suddenly switched colours, from blue to silver. Taken aback by the sudden change, the group was slow to notice the other important change. But, seconds later, they finally recognised it.

“Huh, what’s this? Anime?” Samuel uttered in confusion as he spotted the unfamiliar term on the top bar.

The others caught onto its appearance a moment later, and then collectively directed their gazes towards the only one who could provide an answer.

Pressured by their heated gazes, Ralf refrained from plopping the biscuit into his maw and enlightened them.

“I told you that the movie would be unlike anything the world has seen. Anime is just that. To put it simply, it’s a series of drawings flashing by quickly enough to give the illusion of continuity. I’ll show you.”

Saying this, Ralf pulled out the flipbook he brought along and presented it to the surroundings. The group’s collective gaze rushed to the square eagerly, making sure to take in everything. There wasn’t much to take in though, just a simple cartoon drawing of a snowman and a sun, both with emoji-like faces on them.

“Okay, I’ll show you. In 3 2 1 go.”

Following the words, Ralf had his telekinesis do the flipping motion. The group’s eyes flickered as they watched the simple story play out.

It started with the sun and snowman exchanging words in the form of blank speech bubbles. A few speech bubbles later and the expression on the sun changed into one of anger. It quickly acted on this anger and raised its heat. The snowman began melting.

The sun watched with delight as the snowman suffered. Fueled by this emotion, it continued to raise its heat. At the same time, the snowman shed despairing tears with all of its body until finally, only the sun was left. Left alone, it was first happy, but as the pages continued to flip, its expression turned, and a look of sadness enveloped it. It spent the rest of its lengthy lifespan suffering from loneliness until it finally exploded as a supernova. The end.

“And that’s it. Anime is well known and popular in the Silver Path, but to this world, it’s a complete unknown. Ray and I have taken it upon ourselves to correct this wrong and recreated the medium to the best of our ability.”

“Mm, I see. That’s certainly different. It’s so simple, and yet captivating,” Samuel complemented.

“Indeed, that’s quite something,” Greg nodded. “Artistry runs in those veins of yours, you’re definitively Hana’s son.”

“Oh, thanks,” Ralf’s lips tugged up a bit.

“No wonder it could be made that quickly. Is the whole movie going to be like this?” Joan asked.

“Nope, not at all. This was just an example to explain the basic principle behind it. The movie will be nothing like this.”

Relief passed through the surroundings at the words. Seeing the flipbook was definitely something new and interesting, but their expectations were somewhere in the clouds. Something of that level just wouldn’t satisfy them at this point.

The minutes passed by slowly for the group, but eventually, the grey filter over the movie was removed.

Once available, Samuel immediately sent the request and finally, the movie began streaming in. At the same time, many minds shared this experience, not just in Popleigh but all over Inis.

A pair of hedonistic twins in the Lavalsay Archipelago, an orphan radiating an icy mist, a blank-faced former assassin, a princess still stuck in her tower…many different minds were opened to this new dimension.

The following ninety-four minutes would later be referred to as the ‘Greater Scramble’, and for good reason. By the end, and even afterwards, the millions of people who had tuned in during the debut would be left in a dazed awestricken stupor, thoughts and emotions in complete disarray at what they just experienced.

Right now, Ralf was observing this phenomenon himself.

“Ah, amazing,” Jeff muttered emotionally, tears falling down his face.

His reaction was strong, but he hardly stood out. In the surroundings, puffy eyes were aplenty, not from sadness, but pure and overwhelming adulation.

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Ralf smiled as he witnessed the aftermath; Ray too. Hana’s joyful expression was all he wanted, and he got it in spades during the movie’s run time and even now.

“Ray,” Hana uttered upon breaking out of the daze. Eyes slowly opening, she turned to Ralf and said, “Come here,” while spreading her arms wide.

At the sight, Ray raced from his couch to hers, and a second later, he was in her tight embrace.

“That was amazing Ray. I loved it. You’re amazing, son.” Her proud voice entered his ears.

While the Fawkes family was bonding, the others managed to anchor themselves back to reality.

“Whoa, I’m totally blown away,” Joan said as she searched for an alcoholic beverage to cool her frenzy.

“Incredible, amazing, revolutionary. Anime. With its introduction, the tree of entertainment has developed a new branch, one more colourful and more vibrant than any other so far.” Samuel’s eyes shone brightly with the light of possibilities.

The sentiment saw agreement from the others.

Greg nodded. “Indeed,” the bearded Ganurgian’s gaze shifted to Hana’s couch. After a gulp, he found his courage and said, “Uh Rei, your movie was incredible. Thanks for making it.”

Ray registered the words but didn’t shift from his spot. Instead, he directed his Psi to form a Psi Clone to speak for him.

But…

[[Ralf?]]

Ray questioned as his other self disrupted his Psi manipulation. Ralf didn’t say anything in response, but his pointed silence told Ray all he needed to know.

Ray mentally sighed but acquiesced in the end. With great reluctance, he separated from Hana and turned to face Greg and the others.

Being swept over by his gaze, the group were forced out of their stupor. They couldn’t help but tense up. With Ralf sharing the body and Hana present, the mental signal radiating from the body was a lukewarm one.

Still, while the aura wasn’t anything like it was at the Combat Arena, the stoic expression adorning Ralf’s face made it clear to the group who was currently in control and staring at them.

Seeing the reaction he garnered, Ray mentally sighed again. ‘What a pain, oh, well, this was always going to happen. Let’s just this over with.’

Thinking this, Ray followed through with the intention. “Greetings. I am Ray Fawkes…Ralf’s other self, Hana’s son, and best half of Silver, nice to meet you all, officially.”

Hearing the greeting, the group’s tension sharply dissipated. At the same time, Hana’s hand fell on his shoulder before beginning its patting motion.

“Nice to meet you too, Ray,” Greg returned with a wide smile, “been eager to meet you since I first heard about you, good to finally do so.”

Following his words, the rest expressed similar sentiments.

“Nice to meet you, or rather, nice to meet you again Ray. Do you still remember me?” Jeff asked while pointing to himself excitedly.

Ray’s face became troubled at the exuded energy. “…Yeah, I remember. That was quite the match.”

Jeff beamed. “Yeah. You’ve grown so much stronger since then, I doubt even a hundred of me could beat you now.”

“No doubt, he’d mop the floor with you now,” Genise added, “and pretty much everyone in our branch. You two progress so quickly. If I blink slowly, I feel like I’ll miss out.”

“Indeed,” Greg nodded with a rub of his beard.

“Hey Rei, you said officially, so have you heard about us from Ralf?” Joan asked with a raised mug.

“Yes and no.” Ray reclined back and floated a beverage to his hands before explaining his contradictory words. “Remember the coin metaphor I used in the Combat Arena, well, the relationship between us three is quite literally that. Silver is the perfect fusion between myself and Ralf. When we fuse, all experiences, knowledge, memories... everything up until that point becomes Silver’s, and when we split up, both Ralf and I retain that information. We became Silver last night, so every interaction since yesterday is something I’ve also experienced as though it was my own memory. In other words, I’m very familiar with you all.”

The explanation served to slightly lift the veil of mystery shrouding the duo while also serving to ease their nerves around Ray.

“Hoo, I see.” Samuel spread his moustache with his fingers. “Perfect fusion hmm, my mind welcomes another interesting topic to digest. I think I’ll need to simmer on it for a while. Thanks for enlightening us Ray,” the middle-aged man said sincerely.

Ray just shrugged.

“Hey Ray,” Genise started, “ you made this movie, right.”

Ray nodded. “Yes, don’t tell anybody though.”

“Hmm, would that be a problem?” Jeff asked.

((It could,)) Ralf said, after materialising a Psi Clone. ((But more than that slim possibility, it will ruin a surprise we’re planning.))

“Okay, then lips sealed,” Jeff promised, even doing a zipping motion across his mouth to assure the duo of his pledge to silence.

Ray looked at him with an unsure look but didn’t further warn the C-Rank Adventurer. Instead, he shifted back to Genise. “You had a follow-up right?”

“Ah yes, I was just wondering how you did it. Compared to the flipbook show, the movie was on a whole other level.”

“You want to know how? You’re in luck then. Check out the anime section again.”

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