chapter 8 training begins
After buying more bullets and boomerangs the two left the city into the swamps where nobody was around, so they could train in peace.
I can't wait to learn cool stuff. Just imagine, in a few days I'm going to get an enormous power boost.
What are you talking about?
Well martial artists always get a massive boost of power in a short amount of time.
Have you been reading too many comic books? Tricksters don't get a massive power boost in a short amount of time. It took me years to get my original strength. There are no shortcuts.
That's just what you say now.
No, even the author hates lazy writing, even though he is lazy himself. He refuses to just give away a 3 day training arc and mess up the story for the sake of time.
Oh come on.
Sorry, but that's just how this story goes. We are supposed to parody isekai and anime in general, not become anime.
Fine. At least I still get my harem.
Anna chuckles a bit at that remark and readies herself for training.
Alright, so what do you know about tricksters?
Not much, other then we move only certain objects with our minds. There are very few tricksters in Japan, most are martial artists. And we never bothered to research it much since we considered them weak and useless.
I see. So in other words even scientists hate studying something they think is useless. Didn't take Japan for the lazy type. I always thought they had a strict society.
Oh they are strict. So many rules. Bow here, respect this, drink with your boss or else. Why do you think I left to join the guild?
I assumed you joined for the girls.
Hey, what do you think I am, some horny pervert.
No.
Good.
I think your a super horny pervert.
Screw you Anna.
Thank you for your kindness. Now, let's start by learning the history of tricksters.
A history lesson? This is not what I had in mind.
Just listen. They first appeared during the American revolution and helped beat the British mages.
Nobody knows how they came to be. Some say God himself created them to help America, others say the British accidently created them with experimental magic. One thing everyone agrees, is that without tricksters, America would have lost.
Wow, to think that tricksters had such an impact. The European mages are always so hard to beat, since martial artists have such a tough time with magic.
Well, like I said we tricksters fight with trickery and deceit. We didn't win with brute force, we outsmarted the British. Cause tricksters aren't really that powerful. Strongest I've ever seen was one powerful enough to destroy mountains.
Interesting story, now when do we get to the training?
When do I get a student that actually listens?
Tatsuya just grumbles.
Moving on, there are 4 types of tricksters. The one you and me are called is the ammo type trickster. We're called that because we can't make our ammo out of thin air. I can't create bullets and you can't make boomerangs, so we have a limited amount to play with.
We can only move a specific object with our minds and even manipulate it to an extent. For example, I can command bullets and even make them more durable so they don't break quickly and make me waste ammo for nothing.
Anna takes out a bullet and makes it hover above her palm.
Please bear in mind that the laws of physics still apply here. It takes a lot of focus to make the bullet go fast and a lot more focus to stop it.
Simply put, the amount of kinetic energy you put into the bullet has to meet an equal amount of energy to stop it immediately.
She takes out her gun with a smirk.
To save my concentration I still use a gun. It launches the bullet for me and saves me energy.
And to save even more concentration, I simply redirect the bullets that are fired at me instead of just stopping them. Much easier that way.
So I should throw the boomerangs instead of just shooting them with my mind to save power?
Correct. See you can learn. So the next trickster you need to know about is the body type trickster. As the name implies they can manipulate their bodies to absurd degrees. But they still are human so they can't manipulate it to absurd levels.
Tatsuya began to think of Anna being a body type trickster and imagined her giving herself bigger boobs and a better looking body.
Anna noticed and whacked him with her gun.
Pay attention, I don't care about your perverted fantasies but your on MY time now so you will pay attention or I'll stop teaching you.
Yes sensei.
That's better. There really isn't much to say about these type of tricksters, they aren't too strong or too weak but be careful if you see one. I once fought body trickster that was bulletproof. Worst day of my life.
Next is the illusion type trickster and these guys are the most annoying ones of them all.
They can make all types of illusions and even make you feel like it's real. Some can even invade dreams and kill you in your sleep.
Well thanks for that, I'm never gonna sleep again.
That won't work, cause I tried that then this one trickster made me think I was breathing in sleep gas and knocked me right out.
Speaking of which all tricksters are immune to all diseases, poisons, viruses. Basically we can't get sick and we can't be poisoned. Very useful for those wise guys that like poison.
Most people don't know that so use it to your advantage.
Neat, I guess being a trickster has it's advantages.
Anna huddled closer and began whispering in Tatsuya's ear.
You know when I say all diseases, I mean ALL diseases. We can't get any sexually transmitted diseases so we can have as much fun in the bedroom all we want and not have to worry about it.
Tatsuya smiles and fantasizes about having sex all day long with numerous girls.
For that reason many female tricksters were taken to whorehouses at a young age. After all, if we can't get sick then we didn't need protection. They were in such high demand that people would pay millions of dollars to buy an infant trickster to raise them up as whores.
Some resorted to kidnapping babies and selling them on the black market. In short, many tricksters dominated the sex industry but at the same time broke it since nobody wanted to have sex with non trickster prostitutes. So you can imagine the crimes of passion that came of it.
Jeez, tricksters have it rough don't they?
Pal you have no idea Anna says in a cold tone.
Wait, if we don't get sick then how can we die? People die of old age because they're body gets old and can't fight diseases anymore.
That's easy. You see we tricksters stop aging at 21 years old.
We're immortal!?
Yes, and we can control our ages at will so we can become young again anytime after that.
Really?
No you moron, we're not immortal. It's only temporary. Although our outward appearance doesn't change the inside of our body continues to keep aging. Our muscles and bones still get weaker with age, including our immune system.
When we reach 100 years of age it finally reaches a breaking point. We can get sick after that and our bodies rapidly ages in the course of one year. By the time your are 101, you will look your actual age.
No wonder tricksters were desired for prostitution.
Yeah, you keep your youthful looks for so long and by the time your 80 your still beautiful but with decades of experience under your belt. It's why tricksters earned the nickname the masters of pleasure.
Masters of pleasure Tatsuya whispered.
Finally we come to the last trickster type. The rule type tricksters and they are the strongest and most dangerous type of tricksters.
These guys can make rules you have to follow or else.
Or else what?
Depends on the consequences. Sometimes it's just broken bones and missing teeth, other times you die. But on rare occasions, the rule type trickster is capable of killing entire towns if you break the rules.
WHAT!? They can do that?
Perhaps you've heard of the California massacre. A rule type trickster and career thief was robbing banks in California for over 5 years. This was in 1855 so it was before my time.
The law and some pinkerton agents finally managed to corner the crook in a gold mine. Before he could get captured he used his powers to force them to play a game. Nobody knows what the game was or how long it lasted but what we do know is that the officers were losing.
One of the officers, worried about leaving his family without a father, decided to cheat. The moment he did 1 million people all over California died in various ways but the majority had their heads explode. He survived, but his family did not and the trickster got away with millions of dollars.
My gosh, and here I thought all this time that tricksters were this weak group and hating myself for being born one, since tricksters are incapable of learning magic or use ki in any way.
Now I realize I got a lot to learn.
Yes my young pupil, you have much to learn if you plan to be a bigshot trickster. Any way there 2 things you need to know before we start your training.
All tricksters have their powers affected by their emotions. There are no exceptions to this. If you feel negative emotions, like depression, fear, anger, you get weaker. But positive emotions like love, joy and laughter make you stronger.
You mean the whole time I was depressed after each and every failed mission I was weakening myself?
Yep.
I noticed after the first few failed missions I was moving slower but to think it was that simple.
Tatsuya began to throw tandrums and complained a lot but eventually calmed downed.
Anna just sighed and continued, like she was too tired or simply didn't care enough to make a sarcastic comment.
Although it is easy to feel negative emotions, being happy is much harder. So naturally the power boosts are rare. For this reason most tricksters focus instead on being calm and collected. If your neither happy nor sad then your power doesn't increase or decrease and you'll be fine.
No wonder you like sarcasm so much, it helps you deal with life's greatest curveballs.
Yeah I'd go crazy without my sarcasm. I take great pride in it and always seek to improve it.
So the last thing you need to remember and what I will be helping you learn is that all tricksters have a secondary ability. You already saw mine when I slowed down time against that robot trash can wannabe.
So I wasn't hallucinating from my injuries, you really slowed down time.
Yup, it compliments my bullets quite nicely. And that is what we are learning today. I'm going to teach you how to use that ability.
