Chapter 909: Shared perception
[Quin's POV: ]
Both Uriel and Carla seemed to have gotten abnormally faster than they were before. And it wasn't like I couldn't perceive them, they were just so fast that I couldn't see them.
Chry was also somewhat the same but, as he moved, a trail of golden-yellow light was left in his wake.
The Lizardman warrior Zuroro was now using his unique green Aura, the power of the knights that I didn't know Lizardmen could also use.
Alfred had taken out a unique magic wand and had created a few layers of complex magic barriers that seemed to be made from not just the human magic that we commonly knew but also with the help of the magic of other kinds as well.
'Some barriers that he had just made were made from the Dwarven magic techniques, some from elven magic, some from the fairy magic– I didn't understand how he was casting magic of the fairies but just looking at the spell structure that he had made the barriers with was giving me a headache.'
If the spells Lucifer made earlier were made with precise weaving of highly delicate magic threads, the kind of magic that Alfred was now all seemed to be a superposition of multiple spells that somehow produced the same kind of spell structure as that of the dwarves', or elves' magic.
'It was like a jigsaw puzzle.'
He created many layers of magic spells that would not make any spells individually and then, with some superhuman calculator abilities, he seemed to have cast all those components simultaneously in perfect harmony to produce the kind of spell effect that we all were seeing… and yes, I don't know what I'm saying myself.
"..."
I was speechless the moment both Carla and Uriel vanished from the ground below.
It was evident that they had entered the unique state of ZONE and were now fighting Lucifer.
At the same time, though not exactly in that state, it seemed like Chry was assisting them in the process and was a big help to both of them.
Then sir lizardman acted as a shield and took on many of the offensive attacks that came as a result of Lucifer's counterattack to their actions.
Alfred was using magic of various kinds, using spells that fused and became one after casting, using fusion elemental magic, applying theories of magic that I've only just started learning into his spells and magic so effortlessly that it seemed like no big deal to him.
He was using magic openly now, and he seemed angry about something, just like the rest of them in the arena.
"Can you see them, Quin?"
"Hmm?" Zoe suddenly spoke up, and my hard earned state of concentration was broken.
I was trying my best to not lose sight of them. They were moving too fast. The fastest one among them being Lucifer that somehow was shooting arrows from all nine directions possible.
He was strong already, but now that he was using that golden spear… or sword, or arrow or whatever it was, he seemed like a completely different person.
The bow in his hand was the same but the kind of arrows that he was using now had changed slightly.
There were less magic arrows and more enchanted or normal arrows being fired now.
The ground was filling up with the arrows that were either cut down in pieces or in exactly half from their tip.
I couldn't see all of it, but after focusing, I at least knew what was happening and what might be happening in their 'ZONE' state.
But Zoe called me out, broke my concentration and I could not see almost anything that was moving on the ground.
"Now, I cannot."
Something was happening down there.
They were doing something.
Spells were being used, swords were clashing against one another, I could see there was a deep red Aura moving too fast on the ground so perhaps it was Uriel, Carla's fiery red-orange Aura, a green Aura that belonged to sir Zuroro, and there were spells from three different sources.
I couldn't see anything anymore, but there was something happening down there. At least, that much all of us knew.
"Oh? Sister Quin cannot see anything? Rayray isn't helping her?"
"Rayray?"
Wasn't that Zoe's familiar butterfly?
"She was enjoying it so I thought she wouldn't need it. But it seems like you do want to see everything as well, right Quin?"
Zoe smiled at me, which confused me more than Anna's words.
But then, Zoe summoned a unique golden light on her fingertip and placed it on my hand.
"Tsk."
I suddenly felt a stinging, burning sensation, something similar to a small shock or something, but I didn't understand why she would do something like that all of a sudden.
"You won't have to worry about not being able to see them now."
However, after her words, when I looked around with a confused look, I understood what she meant by that.
"Hun…?"
Everything started looking slow to me. The Mana particles in the area became even more visible.
In the distance, the rest of the family members who looked normal to me until just now started feeling like distinct presences, as if they were sitting alongside us.
The fight that was happening on the ground slowed down, but not everything had slowed down.
"You will need a few days to get used to this, but that shouldn't be concerning."
I can see Lucifer now and he was holding his golden 'arrow'. I somehow also understood the thing that he had been using for a while now was in fact an arrow all of a sudden.
What more, even though Lucifer, Carla, and Uriel who were in the zone had slowed down, Chry had only relatively slowed down for me.
Sir Zuroro was still the same in my eyes, and even Alfred was casting the spells with the same speed as a moment ago.
They were now strange for some reason. They were moving in a unique way and for some reason, I was understanding everything that was happening on the ground even though this was my first time seeing all of this.
It was as if I had seen this many times now, as if I had already experienced seeing their fights many times.
"What… is this?"
I didn't understand what was going on. But, that wasn't my main concern at the moment."
"They already told you about Celes' abilities, right? And you know Rayray is also a crystal butterfly."
I wasn't seeing just the ground from my own eyes anymore.
I could see what was happening down there, I could also simultaneously see what was happening down there from a complete opposite angle.
I could see what was happening on the ground, and I could even see what was happening where their rest of the family was sitting.
It was as if I had suddenly gained six more pairs of eyes… which felt creepy!
"Just like how she could disguise things and has many more abilities, Rayray also has a main 'Skill' but aside from using it, since he has lived for a long time, he knows how to share the sensory experience of one person to the rest of the individuals momentarily connected to him through a unique Origin connection."
"Hun?"
I did not understand everything she said, but she was ultimately saying her familiar, who was also a crystal butterfly, could let someone experience something someone else was experiencing.
Something similar to what the great ancient tree in our academy could do.
"It's not the same as what Sir Quesnel does since we are not linking the minds of everyone."
"Hun?"
It was as if she read my mind from my surprised expression.
And she knew how I had questions after seeing my surprised look, so she explained in better words.
"Since Rayray is a Crystal butterfly, he has the special Skill called [Perfect support].
With that skill, he lets me create a unique brainlink network that could broadcast things that the designated core of this network perceives.
In this case, the core is big brother himself and what we see right now is how he is seeing this arena from the sight that he shares with Celes and her clones."
The skills of their familiars… they were using it in a way that allowed them to enjoy their fights in a better way.
'They can do much more than just this with these kinds of skills…'
With Celes' ability to show other people what she was seeing or connecting them on a private network alone they could do revolutionary things on the battlefield.
And if one adds the ability of Zoe's familiar to let them experience what they were experiencing through the experience of their experience, information management would become something completely different.
If they do it well, they might even-.
"Ah, right. If you focus enough, you should be able to stick to a certain angle or shift between the others. The network is limited right now to this arena alone, but if you want, you can use the other functions as well."
Now that I looked closely, there was a distinct mark on my hand where Zoe had touched me earlier.
It was white, it was no bigger than my fingernail and it resembled a butterfly's side, with the eyes shining in red for now.
It was pretty, but as I looked… it faded away into my skin.
"The mark won't be visible when you aren't the core of the network, sadly, but you should be able to use the functions you are allowed regardless of it."
"..."
I still did not understand what she meant by the 'functions' or what things I could even do with this ability, but it made things easier, that much was true for now.
"All of you are amazing…"
Lucifer, Uriel, Alfred, Carla, Chry, Zoe, even Anna. All of them were amazing people. All of them had something special about them.
"Hehe~. Sister Quin is amazing as well~!"
But then there's this little angel.
'Everything about her, her smile, her actions, her eyes… everything about her is special.'
She's just too adorable, haaa…