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Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 8

Author: Blue_Rat

ch8

Seeing Kimi slowly wake up, Sam’s body trembled with guilt. His lips barely parted as he whispered caringly.

“Kimi.”

A faint smile appeared from Kimi.

For some reason, nothing more needed to be said between the two and Sam gently hugged her. Kimi in return softly rubbed his back as if to say [ “it’s OK.” ]

Asuna grabbed Kimi’s hand and looked at her with concern.

“Kimi, how are you feeling, does anything hurt?”

Kimi shook her head, she tried to speak but coughed a few times instead. Shin grabbed a chipped wooden cup from nearby and Danny had rinsed it out and filled it with cool water before handing it over to Kimi. Taking tiny sips, Kimi felt a bit better.

“Mhm, I’m fine. Just a little shaken. What happened to me? As soon as I touched Sam it felt like I was being crushed, what was that?”

Everyone’s eyes automatically drifted over to Nunully.

“As I was saying earlier, that rock that Sam held is called Magnitium. It has a few special traits. Like Danny guessed one of them is magnetism.”

Nunully reached into her clothes and pulled out three coins. 1 gold Zeni, one silver Treia coin with the image of a crown on it, and one simple copper coin. Taking the gold Zeni, she laid it against the Magnitium rock and let it go. The gold Zeni simply fell to the floor but she wasn’t done yet. Next, she took the silver coin and did the exact same time.

However, this time when she let go, the silver coin slowly slid down the side of the rock before it too fell to the ground. Finally, she did the same with the copper coin. Except when she released the copper coin, the copper coin did not slide nor did it fall, instead it clung to the black rock as though it was stuck like glue.

Danny picked up the coins and examined them, whilst repeating Nunully’s little experiment. He then ran around the room and picked up a few pieces of scrap here and there. He found the end of a candle holder, a metal fork, a nail, and a small metal hook that hung a picture frame on a nearby wall. Danny’s curiosity got the better of him and he began testing everything he could find with the Magnitium rock.

Shin started to laugh.

“Hehe, looks like he’s found something that interests him.”

Nunully passed the rock to Danny so he could continue doing whatever it was he was doing while she continued to explain.

“This rock is a bit rare and not only can control gravity with earth magic, it is magnetized but it can also affect sound as well. Sam, when you held the rock, did you happen to put any of your earth energy into it.”

Sam didn’t deny it and nodded his head.

“Yeah, as soon as I picked it up I could feel my magic being drawn to it. I didn’t feel anything dangerous so I put a little energy into it out of curiosity.”

“That’s what did it. As soon as your energy went in, the Magnitium reacted and its properties were amplified by your magic. Normally it has a very small radius in which it can affect things. Once it is supplied with power, however, its range and intensity are compounded. So much so, that you who were only separated from Kimi by a few inches could not hear her and her body, which is already enhanced and can probably deal with 3 maybe 4 times the gravity was weighed down so much that she nearly died.”

This realization sent a jolt down Sam’s back.

(I…I could have killed Kimi.)

Sam instinctively held Kimi closer.

Asuna jumped in hearing this.

“If what you’re saying is true, how come Sam was unaffected by the gravity. If anything, since he was directly touching the rock shouldn’t it have been far worse for him?”

This question left Nunully stumped. Asuna was right. Why wasn’t Sam affected? Kazuki already knew and was about to explain when Danny cut in excitedly.

“Ooo, I figured it out I think. Sam, you’re just like a rock.”

Everyone stared at Danny with an expression that said [“huh?”]

Danny held up the rock so everyone could see it. He then proceeded to repeat the experiment Nunully did, this tie though he did it with all of the metal objects he found. Some would stick while others like the gold Zeni and the silver coin would either fall directly or slide down the side before falling to the ground.

Asuna and the others watched on not knowing where he was going with this. He then walked over and handed the rock over to Sam. Sam panicked a bit and he threw the rock down, causing it to shatter. Sam’s eyes seemed to turn red in fury as he yelled.

“What the hell are you trying to do?”

Danny wasn’t discouraged though and picked up one of the fragments.

“Don’t be a child. You simply holding a piece won’t affect anything. Only when you send a little bit of your power in will its effects compound. I simply want to prove a theory of mine. Kimi, you understand, right? If we can get to the bottom of this now so maybe we won’t be surprised later on down the line when our powers do something unexpected.”

Kimi nodded in agreement.

“Sam, Danny’s right, there’s no need for you to be so worried. I’ll stand next to Nunully and Asuna and you can even back up a few steps just to be a little more cautious. You just go ahead and try this now so we don’t have problems later.”

Sam calmed down and decided that Kimi was right. Standing several feet away, Sam held a fragment of the black rock in his hand. He was just about to add power when Danny called out.

“Ah, wait a moment. I’m sure I don’t have to tell everyone this but Shin is a bit of a wild card, so I’ll say it anyway. Make sure all of your metal objects, like your swords, are firmly in your grasp at all times, we wouldn’t want a Sam skewer, now would we?”

The others gulped hard but Shin was annoyed with that last commit.

“Now wait a minute, since when am I the wild card. If anybody’s wild then it definitely has to be Asuna. One minute she’s calm but if you say or do one thing she doesn’t agree with she’ll snap and try to hit you like some crazy cat lady.”

Asuna’s eyelid began to twitch.

“The only reason I want to hit you is because you’re constantly making jokes. Like now, this is a serious moment and yet you want to throw some bullshit my way. I think I can wait patiently until this is all over. Afterward, I’ll show you just how much of a wild card I truly am.”

Asuna squeezed her hand into a fist and several popping noises rang out as her knuckles cracked one by one.

Shin said nothing more but a smirk still hung on his face.

“Well now that the bickering is done, Sam, could you transfer some of your power into that Magnitium.”

Danny directed Sam and Sam focused his energy on that rock. A bit at a time, Sam’s energy slowly flowed into the black rock. The air surrounding Sam fell silent and it seemed his world and everyone else was separated by a thin layer. Danny added a bit of power into his voice and shouted at Sam.

“Good, now increase your power some more.”

Sam heard Danny’s shout and added a bit more energy. Danny then held out his hand with the three coins and one by one starting from the copper coin each one flew out from Danny’s hand. First the copper, then the silver, followed by the gold Zeni. Everyone watched in amazement and when the coins came within about half a foot again, they were further stunned. As soon as the coins got close to Sam, they all of a sudden changed directions and shot toward the ground with a terrific speed.

*Tink tink tink*

At the same time as those coins, any small metal object within the room swiftly shot over like a meteor, all aimed at Sam. They too came crashing into the ground at Sam’s feet. Danny’s voice rose a few more octaves as he shouted out.

“More.”

Sam obliged and increased his output by another degree. The swords and daggers, rings and even Nunully’s mask started to quiver and rise up on their own. Just when it seemed like a sword would go flying over, it was the black rock that shot forth. It flew directly out of Sam’s hand toward the strongest force.

At first, it was one of the swords however as soon as the rock left Sam’s hand, the power which flowed through it was severed and the rock’s special properties, magnetism, gravity and sound, all rapidly reduced to its normal state in a fraction of a second. The only thing left that forced it forward was its forward momentum from being pulled to the metal sword a second ago. The Magnitium fragment crashed in front of Kazuki’s feet.

Danny quickly scooped it up and examined it. With a shout of excitement he yelled.

“Ha, I knew it.”

Everyone looked at Danny and waited for an explanation.

“This black rock does not discriminate between metals. It attracts every kind unlike regular magnets back on earth. When Nunully first demonstrated with the gold Zeni, silver, and copper, I noticed that the coins were not clinging to the black rock, not due to them being different pieces of metal but instead they were affected by their weight. When Sam increased his power, the magnetic field of the rock increased several fold and the weight no longer mattered. This Magnitium is attracted to all metal but you only notice it when it is supplied with power. Not only that, look at the ground.”

Staring at the ground, everyone could see a few pieces of metal near the other fragments from the rock. Sam had broken the rock into many pieces, causing smaller fragments to scatter along the floor.

“Not only did the magnetic field affect the rock fragment in Sam’s hand but it also affected the fragments all over the floor. Like a small chain, the magnetic field connected to every one of these pieces causing them all to pull on any nearby metal. This is also the reason why I had to raise my voice several times higher than when Ryuta shouted your name earlier. The Magnitium fragment in your hand made a small layer of some kind that interfered with sound and once again, like a chain, it connected to the fragments on the floor. So the more power you added, the more the fragment in your hand, as well as the tiny fragments on the floor, reacted. I theorize that because you use earth magic, the fuel to enhance these Magnitium rocks properties, you must share some similarities to this rock. That’s probably why you’re not affected by its gravity.”

Shin started to laugh.

“Hahaha, so what you’re saying is that Sam is a rock. Hahaha, that matches him perfectly in both emotions and toughness of skin, hehehe, maybe he even has a few rocks in his head as well.”

No one shared the laugh and only wanted to know more. Asuna curiously asked.

“Is what you’re saying true? So he wasn’t affected by gravity because he shares similarities with its special properties with his magic?”

Danny rubbed his chin in thought.

“I can’t say whether it’s fact or not, remember this is only a theory. This though all leads me to something else. I believe I may have been wrong as to why those birds repeatedly went after Sam and I think it relates to this Magnitium.”