Chapter 197: Chapter 178 : True Introductions (Part 4)

Having long prepared his introduction, Ralf's words flowed out like water; water from a burst dam and gentle stream alike. With everyone else opening up as much as they did, the Transmigrator decided to do the same…well, to a certain extent.

He gave the group both a broad and in-depth understanding of his early life.

His father’s death at the claws of monsters and his thoughts and feelings regarding that; his love for his mother and their frequent travels from country to country; his long-held dream of being an Adventurer and exploring the world…

The group was flooded with all sorts of information about the young man before them, with each new revelation and tidbit becoming a piece of a massive puzzle that was forming in their minds.

“...and then we arrived at Zudrad. Now, before I continue, make sure to fasten your seatbelts, because it gets wild from here on out,” Ralf paused for a few seconds, giving the others time to mentally buckle up.

Nodding at the group’s resolved looks, he continued. “So, my mom and I had just arrived in the country and were looking for someplace to drop our anchor. After some inquiring and rolling the dice, mom decided to move us to a town called Kladek, situated just south of Zudrad’s King’s City in the centre of the country. As mom and I were making our way there, we ran into them…Pathers. Two of them, one male, one female, both dressed up in the same mismatched outfit and earrings as me, though they also wore the Pather’s Zero masks.”

“The one from the instructional video,” a sparkling-eyed Violet chimed in, having watched the video many times.

“Yep, that exact one," Ralf snapped his fingers Violet's way, before continuing. "Now, the two Pathers went by codenames at the time. The male went by R34 and the female went by H45. The pair approached us because of the female’s power. It turned out she was an Unique with the ability to read one’s soul’s potential, and while randomly passing by us, she happened to sense my soul. According to her, my soul has the greatest potential she’s ever registered before… by a wide margin,” Ralf emphasised his point and then bubbled with glee as he captured the others’ awed looks.

Wanting more, he continued. ”And this came from someone who had supposedly roamed the planet a few dozen times over. In her words, she said, ‘Should this boy be allowed to fully develop, he will reach heights unknown to any other’,” Ralf said, doing an impromptu accent change as he mimicked the fabricated figure.

The group were stunned for a good few seconds, before coming to.

“...And that’s when they recruited you?” Skye asked, face still thick with shock and awe.

“Yep, that’s when. At thirteen and a few days old, I became a Pather. So, as a Pather, what was next? The answer: gifts. I received mmm, four gifts from them,” Ralf said, showing with his fingers.

“The first one was this body, the White Asura. As you must have noted, this body is quite something. Not only are my physical and sensory capabilities off the charts, but I also have access to a few special abilities. This body produces strong electromagnetic energy, which I can use in a few ways. For instance, I can selectively shut off or enhance my senses with a thought. Charlotte, connect everyone, I’ll do a demonstration.”

The Onic Master moved with haste and a second later, Ralf’s point of view was being projected into everyone’s minds. Amazement struck the group as they took in the world through his lenses; everything was so sharp and colourful. They weren’t allowed to marvel for much longer as Ralf began playing with the ‘lights’.

“On off on off on off on…well, you get it,” Ralf said, cutting the telepathic connection. “I can do all sorts of things, even deactivate my sense of pain…Perfect Control, the name of this ability, is very convenient. Besides that, this body also allows me to radiate an aura of sorts, which you’ve all witnessed already. I call this aura my mental signal and it’s always on. At the moment, it’s on its lowest setting, but I can play with the dial however I want.”

Explaining this, Ralf did just that, going up and down, while not being too rapid.

It was a weird experience for the group, especially Violet. After a few more seconds, Ralf ceased tickling his friends’ brains and lowered the dial back to the lowest possible setting.

“This mental signal is quite useful. As shown during my fight against Roxy and Adrian, quickly turning the dial up induces a stunning effect. It’s temporary but potent. The mental signal is also very useful in identification. Ray, Silver and I; our mental signals give off different sensations. I’m told my mental signal gives off a warm feeling.”

“No wonder,” Skye said, hammer-fisting his palm, “I thought my mind was playing tricks on me this whole time…turns out, it was you all along. Whew, what a relief.”

Following the words, everyone else also recontextualised the unnatural ‘warmness’ they had felt from Ralf till now.

“What about Ray and Silver?” Charlotte asked. “If you’re warm, what sensations do they give off?”

“Ray used to give off a cold feeling but now he’s pretty lukewarm. Silver has also mellowed out a bit, though you’ll definitely not mistake him for either Ray or me. He’s quite an intense fellow. If had to describe his aura, it would be storm-like. Anyway, those will have to be confirmed another day, let’s get back to gifts.”

The group nodded at the words and Ralf continued after a sizable gulp of his milkshake.

"The second gift was the previously mentioned Mental Space. I called it an inner world, and it truly is. It’s an enormous dome-shaped black space, 53 kilometres in diameter. Just like the name suggests, the space is mental in nature. In it, Ray and I can create anything we can imagine, just like a lucid dream but even more stable. It started off as a blank black space but over time, Ray and I have managed to fill it with all sorts of things, not just static constructs but dynamic things as well.”

“Like Psi games,” Lane said, connecting the dots.

“Yep, like Psi games,” Ralf confirmed. “The Mental Space has plenty of functions and features that allow Ray and I to do many otherwise impossible things…for instance, vibration techniques,” he said, demonstrating his Oscillation Waves.

“That’s done with the Mental Space, how?” Charlotte asked, staring intently at the rippling air above the Transmigrator’s palm.

“I’ll go over that later,” Ralf dismissed his Psi and brought his milkshake close. Then, while sipping, he conjured a Psi Clone and had it continue his thoughts, startling the group.

((The Mental Space has many uses, but the primary reason it was given to me, was due to its ability to act as a storage device. Charlotte, connect us again.))

Once connected, Ralf had a video feed stream into the other’s minds.

“This is…from earlier,” Yuki muttered in bedazzlement as she watched from Ralf’s perspective as he rode Skye’s back in the corridor.

While everyone was in awe, Ralf’s Psi Clone explained. ((With the Mental Space, I’m a pseudo-Natural. Everything I sense is perfectly recorded and saved into the inner world’s archive, and I can edit and transfer this data as I wish…just like a Natural.))

“I want this,” Charlotte said with sparkling eyes, voicing everyone’s thoughts at that moment. “Ralf, I want a Mental Space too. How much? How much would I have to pay for it? Name any price. Or do I have to join the Silver Path?” she asked eagerly, practically vibrating in her seat. The Onic Master was willing to spend a nation’s worth of wealth to possess a Mental Space of her own.

Ralf smiled wryly before shaking his head. “This isn’t something you can buy, Charlotte…and even becoming a member won’t guarantee you one. The Mental Space’s construction can only be done by one person, T76. He creates it using his Unique power which specialises in Mental Domain shenanigans. The thing is, he’s incredibly mysterious and picky. To my knowledge, he’s only bestowed this gift to three others. Without H45’s high praise, I would have never been given one, so sorry, I don’t think you’ll ever get one.”

“Aaah, I want one though,” Charlotte moaned as she deflated into a blob.

“Hold your horses, you’ve not heard it all.”

“Hm? What’s there more to hear, I’m already sold on the product…or wait, is there some steep non-monetary cost to acquiring it?” The Onic Master regrew a spine and fixed her posture as she made the short leap in logic.

“Correct, as expected of a merchant,” Ralf tipped his chip at her reasoning skills. “There was indeed a price to be paid. For me, it was five years of my life.”

“Five years?!”

Ralf nodded at the collective reaction. “Yep, roughly five years. From age thirteen to age eighteen, I was rendered completely unconscious. I only awoke on November 1st of last year.”

“Whoa, for real?”

“For real for real,” Ralf responded to Skye’s disbelief.

“Mm, five years, that is steep,” Charlotte and the others reconsidered their desire after hearing the cost.

Ralf rolled his shoulders. “I thought it was worth the cost, and even more so now. I’ve got a lot out of it, with Ray being the most important one. I consider him the fourth and most valuable gift,” the Transmigrator said, his voice sounding with clear affection.

The group made a mental note of the Transmigrator's feelings before focusing on his next words.

“When I woke up, he was there, my other self. Not long after, we discovered that we could fuse and become a third self, Silver. It was only by working together in perfect sync, that we - that I could reach this point. Together, we've created all sorts of things. Here's another example," Ralf clapped his hands and summoned several False Speakers, which began playing a piano and flute melody.

The group sat in wonder as the music played, their minds half appreciating the sound and half analysing the contraptions that made said music possible.

Amused by their reactions, Ralf decided to go through his entire playlist, switching to a new song every ten seconds. Lane didn’t react much, being familiar with the contraption, but the same wasn’t true for the others. The twins and female Mimics were in wonderment at the quality and quantity of sounds False Speaker could produce.

“And that’s the last song,” Ralf twirled his finger and the music ceased. “False Speaker can pretty much play any sound imaginable, songs, sound effects…even human voices are possible. Pretty nifty, right?" the Transmigrator flashed a cheeky smile.

“Nifty,” Skye repeated showing a wry look, “...more like incredible,” he said, the others agreeing strongly.

“Glad you liked it,” Ralf smiled taking in the group’s glowing faces. “Now, where were we…right, gifts.” The group mentally readjusted as they returned to the important topic. “The third gift was knowledge. As I said, the Mental Space’s main function was to act as a storage space. Using it as such, the Pathers transferred an enormous amount of Silver Path-exclusive knowledge to me.”

“What kind exactly?” Charlotte probed.

“All kinds, from seemingly every field. What’s noteworthy is that the Silver Path’s knowledge and information are far more advanced than the rest of the world’s, especially when it comes to technology and science. For example,” Ralf gestured to the now silent False Speakers, “these things. These contraptions were modelled after a real electronic device from my Silver Path library.”

“They were?” Skye asked, taken aback.

“Yep,” Ralf dismissed the Psi contraptions. “These things aren’t a big deal though. There are technologies in my head that, if introduced, would fundamentally alter society as a whole,” the Transmigrator said matter-of-factly, causing the group’s faces to collectively flicker.

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“For example?” Lane asked, curiosity burning in his and the rest’s eyes.

“Since you asked, I’ll give one.” Ralf’s Psi gathered and shaped itself into five identical cellphones, which he then floated to the group’s fronts. He followed up with an explanation as they examined the strange device.

“This is a handheld telephone called a cellphone. Cellphones vary in size, shape, colour, features and specialisations. There are dozens of different models. The one before you is one of the more archaic ones. Just like telephones, cellphones are totally electronic, so no Psi is needed. With it, you can make calls to anyone else who has a cell phone…from anywhere on the planet.”

His words drew a sharp pause from the group. Ralf didn’t let up, enjoying their reactions too much.

“Not just that, you can send them messages and even send them real-time videos…and again, no Psi involved. And these are just its most basic features. You can connect to a worldwide electronic network to watch millions of videos, play thousands of games, and access more information than all of the Naturals have combined.”

“No way,” Yuki said, even shaking her head, disbelief painted thick on her beautiful face.

“Yes way, Snowball. I said I’d include lies, but this is not some of them. In fact, I’m underselling what they can do. You don’t have to believe my words, all you have to do is wait a bit. You and the world will definitely see some version of it within the next decade.”

“Why not sooner?” Charlotte complained. “I can’t wait that long, Ralf. You have one, right?” the Onic Master asked as her eyes searched his person for any noticeable bulge.

“Unfortunately, not. I’d show you if I did. The Silver Path didn’t provide me with a cellphone or any other advanced technology. If you’re wondering the reason why, well, even I’m in the dark about that. The faction moves in mysterious ways sometimes…most times. I did ask for a few high-tech gadgets about a month ago but they denied my request, saying that I should use my given knowledge to recreate what I want. And so, that’s just what Ray and I will have to do. We have plenty of things on our plate at the moment though, so cellphones and the like will have to wait a few years. Sorry to disappoint.”

“A bummer, but understandable,” the Onic Master released a long disappointed sigh.

“Yeah, I’d love to have a cellphone, would be so convenient. Brother, if you need any materials or anything at all, please let me know. The Evans household will gladly aid you in your creative endeavours, from production to marketing to everything.”

“That’s right,” Charlotte came to life at her brother’s declaration. “Anything you need or want, just say the word.”

“Thanks, you guys. I’ll definitely call upon your aid in future, count on it.”

Ralf received the twins’ smiles with a smile of his own, before seeking his straw.

((Okay, let’s get back to the story at hand. We’re in the last stretch, so I’ll speed through the final events.))

True to his words, Ralf skimmed through his time in Zudrad at lightning speed, omitting many many things.

“...the bald one revealed that they had kidnapped my mother earlier and said that she was already at the tavern…undergoing many horrible things. At that point, I saw red and my opponent saw Silver. After fusing, we killed the gangster in a flash, then rushed over to the base, and killed everyone present.”

“Everyone? What about your mom?” Violet asked, fully engaged in the story.

“Thankfully, she wasn’t there. The bald gangster lied. While they had kidnapped her, the carriage she was on was still making its way over to Lagner. After taking care of everyone, I spotted it, then rescued her and brought her back to Ganurg, safe and sound,” he said to the relief of the others.

“That was a pretty hectic day, the most hectic in fact. We bounced back pretty quickly though. Days later, I as Silver dealt with the Wild Dogs and cleaned up Ganurg of its gang problems…this time more peacefully. And that concludes the November events. The December events start with the ‘something interesting’ thing Greg mentioned in passing. It turned out to be an invitation to go to the Combat Arena in Popeligh, to view a special event.”

“Oh, a Combat Arena, been to a few, they’re always a good time. Competed in a few matches myself, it was pretty fun,” Charlotte said with a raring smile, remembering her own bouts.

“My thoughts exactly,” Ralf nodded. “After I watched it with Greg, my mom and Greg’s friend, Samuel, I wanted to give it a go. Samuel holds a high position in Popeligh, so he quickly set things in motion for me. The next day, I went to the Combat Arena and did the outer match qualification test. I succeeded, and later that night, I would be doing my debut match. Importantly, after qualifying, Ray, mom and I headed to Enviso to watch movies.”

“How’s that important?” Yuki asked with a head tilt.

“It's important,” Ralf insisted, “because it inspired a certain idea in Ray’s head, which also happens to be my head.” The Transmigrator’s gaze shifted to Violet, who was moments away from connecting the dots. He showed a grin before continuing. “Princess, you said you wanted to meet the creators of anime, well congratulations.”

The words caused the group’s eyes to widen to their limits.

“No way!”

Ralf nodded at Skye’s excited exclamation. “Yes, way. Anime is just like the speaker I showed you, it’s knowledge exclusive to the Silver Path. Ray and I are big fans of the medium and decided to introduce imitations of it to the broader world. You asked what Ray would be so busy with, well, anime is one of the answers. I do it as well, but he’s responsible for ninety percent of what you see.”

“The Dragon Prince series?” Violet muttered in questioning, body trembling in place.

“That was Ray’s doing, all of it. My mom is a big fan of the series, you see. He wanted to impress her, and decided to create an anime adaption for it. From there, things just took off. Now we continue to create anime mostly separately, to entertain our mom, each other and the world.”

“A…mazing,” Yuki uttered, totally floored by the revelation.

“Umm, I’m a big fan,” Violet said, suddenly becoming fidgety as she was starstruck. “Um, thank you for introducing the medium to the world, anime is wonderful. You’re amazing Ralf…Ray too, please send my thanks to him - no, wait, I’ll do so myself.”

The others followed up with similar sentiments which brought a smile to the Transmigrator’s face.

“Good, make sure you do so. Anime isn’t easy to produce. It takes a lot of time to create. For instance, the Dragon Prince’s first movie took six months to complete.”

“Six months?! Wait…but how? That’s not possible, not even three months have passed since you awoke,” Charlotte pointed out after catching herself.

“That’s normally not possible, true, but I’ve spoken no lie.” Ralf tapped at his temple. “The Mental Space allows us to do all sorts of things, and one of the most convenient things is…the ability to alter the flow of time - well, accelerate it. On max settings, one second in the outside world can be more than ten minutes in the Mental Space. So, while just over two months have passed in the outside world, Ray and I have already spent more than a decade in the Mental Space. We use this feature extensively, either to create things or to train ourselves. We even used it today.”

Ralf’s gaze brushed over the group’s astonished faces. “Hugging by the tree; to you all, that was a few hours ago, but from my perspective, it was six months ago.”

The group fell deathly silent at the revelation, their brains unable to readily process the reality the Transmigrator had described.

Ralf wasn’t one to flaunt how hard or long he worked. Hana, for instance, to this day, never knew how long anime took to produce, only that it took a substantial amount of time to create, according to her boys. Still, Ralf made sure to mention this detail, not for himself but for his other self’s sake.

Ralf clapped his hands to snap the group out of their daze, but that didn’t work. He didn’t repeat the action, choosing to fight fire with fire, in other words, he continued his account.

“Okay, back to the story. After the debut match, there was a break. During this break, we got in contact with Enviso about a partnership and I set up a Challenger Series. Now, a Challenger Series is basically a string of matches leading to the number one ranked fighter. Just over a week later, the Challenger Series began. Initially, I was going to do the battles while Ray does anime, but Ray and eventually Silver got involved as well. As the days passed, the battles and anime continued to churn out. Our activities got international recognition, and before you know it, I’m face to face with Sigurd Lund, Head of the Psionic Association. He offered me an invitation to the Academy and I decided to enrol...mainly to achieve the ultimate power.”

“The ultimate power, you mean your plan to copy other people’s powers?” Yuki mused, remembering the story he had told her.

“Nope, those are minor powers. The ultimate power I sought was…the Power of Friendship.”

Lane, the second one to recover, repeated the phrase with a head tilt, ignorant of the power’s potency.

“Yes, I came to the Academy for precisely this. With it, I’ll be undefeatable,” Ralf’s voice filled with the vigour and certainty of a madman as he continued. “There’s nothing stronger than the Power of Friendship. When the stakes are high and the situation is dire, one only needs to think of their friends’ faces and they’ll be granted unimaginable power…and that’s the Power of Friendship. I wish to obtain it before I attempt my world conquest…so consider this party the first step to that end,” Ralf nodded to himself, bringing smiles to the others’ faces.

“So to wrap up my account, Ray, Silver and I, won our Challenger Series pretty easily, then made our way to the Academy…and now we’re here, wreaking havoc and spreading mischief, well, I am. That’s about it, introduction over,” Ralf concluded with a clap and a smile.

Seeing the others’ mental cogs still running slow, Ralf took the time to finish off his milkshake.

The rest joined him in drinking, more out of need than want; they had been given a lot to swallow and digest, and needed something to ease it along. The sounds of sipping, along with the light rain that had begun falling minutes earlier were the only sounds to echo out for the next minute or so.

Ralf removed his lips from the straw. “And that concludes introductions. A big thanks to everyone, it went way better than I hoped. I learned a lot, and look forward to learning more about you all; Charlotte, Skye, Violet, Yuki and Lane,” he said in an affectionate tone as his eyes drifted over every face.

“Us too, brother. As headache-inducing as it will certainly be, we look forward to learning more about you and your other selves.”

Skye’s words saw agreement from the others.

“Good to hear, because everything you’ve heard so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The truly shocking stuff will fundamentally shift your understanding of reality as a whole…well, that’ll come later. For now, with the introductions done, it’s time for the real party to begin.”

“You mean…”

Ralf flashed a cheeky smile. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he summoned a Psi Controller to his side.

“Yes, the time has come.”

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