Kai had been waiting to fake the Systems' Contestant-based theme for a long time.
There were several hurdles in front of him, though.
First, the Characters within a storyline didn't possess Stats. Nor could Kai convert their physical and spiritual potential into one. Much less needed to be said about quantifying the abundant Mana these Characters could use.
Second, it was to grant Skills.
With no ammo, like HP, MP, and SP to work with, Kai needed to find a way to fake certain, complex functions, which would be considered extraordinary even in a magical world.
To not give detailed info about the Skills, changing their names to Spells to suit the Harry Potter Random World, was one way to go about it, Kai had realized.
Third, it was to tailor-made those Spells in a way that not only suited each Character's trait but could also be controlled, personally or remotely, by Kai himself.
Fourth, it was to tie this abnormal, mystical behavior to the incomprehensible existence of DEATH!
And though he had already come up with a viable plan, the Hidden Mission gave him the perfect chance to test these things out.
…
Kai had already implanted Echoes in most of the relevant storyline Characters' minds.
These Echoes existed within them, without comprising their mindscape. In the case of children, the latter didn't even matter.
These Echoes took the place of the Systems for the children, giving them hope when it all was lost.
It also awarded them with a Spell, keeping it simple.
Magical Conjuration, awarded to Hallow Daphne Greengrass of the Cult of The Scion of Death, was one of the most complex, but also the easiest to work with.
As a Contestant, Kai couldn't take Pokemon out of the Random World without capturing them first. Even if he could, he wouldn't have used them like this.
Magical Conjuration would lose its charm if it could only conjure the same Pokemon every time. And, with Daphne's interest and potential toward the magical creatures, this Spell was a must for her.
Thus, Kai had found an ingenious solution to it.
A tad bloody one.
Kai had jumped to Pokemon Random World and killed several wild Pokemon.
To not attract the wrath of a Timeline, he had kept it limited to low-level Pokemon, dispersing his killings across the world and changing timelines.
Now, the corpses of these Pokemon were of no use at Kai's level.
They could be used for one, hideous purpose, though.
Something only a Necromancer like Kai could attempt.
Sounga's Skill - Reanimation!
…
[
Skill: Reanimation
— A combination of Mana and Spirituality will be consumed for all Reanimations
— The consumed MP and SP Points will become the Corpse's MP and SP Stats
— Until all MP, SP, and HP run out, the Reanimated Corpses will keep regenerating
— Every corpse will have a generalized Base Damage
— Such corpses will have their original Abilities and Skills, though restricted, if any
— To use Items, the corpses must fulfill their requirements
Skill's Effect:
1. Reanimated Corpse lvl 1: (Consumption: 25 MP, 25 SP)
— 25 MP
— 25 SP
— 100 HP
— Base Damage: 20 HP
2. Reanimated Corpse lvl 2: (Consumption: 50 MP, 50 SP)
— 50 MP
— 50 SP
— 200 HP
— Base Damage 30 HP
3. Reanimated Corpse lvl 3: (Consumption: 100 MP, 100 SP)
— 100 MP
— 100 SP
— 300 HP
— Base Damage 45 HP
Note: The Reanimated Corpses can't exceed their original strength. With non-Contestants, equivalent strength will be considered.
]
…
With the matter of different Pokemon settled Kai just needed to act them as true magical creatures — a thing not worthy to be mentioned in front of a Faceless and the Ad Infinitum.
However, Kai had wanted to take it a notch above.
The reanimated corpses would lose their stats eventually, he knew.
That's why, using Orochimaru and Old Sage's expertise, he had been modifying the corpses.
Not only these modified corpses could generate their own Mana now, to a limited extent, but they also behaved much closer to an actual living organism, making it almost impossible to tell if they were corpses.
Then, planting Echoes within them, Kai stored some of the modified, reanimated corpses of Pokemon in his Shadow Space and used Shadow Link on Daphne.
Now, whenever she used the Spell, one Pokemon at random would be conjured, with AI taking control of the reanimated corpse.
And that's how you got a brand new Skill/Spell — Magical Conjuration.
Who cared what were the processes involved behind its creation?
Daphne could care less about anything right now; her fate cared lesser, still.
…
"Pika… Pika…"
The moment she conjured the creature using the Spell, its info materialized in Daphne's mind.
…
[
Pikachu: a mouse-like magical creature from another dimension
Moveset:
— Iron Tail
— Thunderbolt
]
…
Daphne stepped on the chessboard with a vengeance, the magical creature becoming a part of her position as the black Rook.
"Pikachu…" Daphne said, eying the giant heavy-armored white Rook, "… Use Iron Tail."
"Pika… Pika-Pika…"
The Pokemon blurred out of sight, jumped, swirling midair, and then, before the Rook could even lift the halberd to retaliate, landed the attack; its tail blinded the eyes.
Booooooooooooom!
The Rook shattered, pieces flying off the chess floor.
Silence.
…
They all had received the notifications at the same time.
Yet, the boys were still processing their sudden escape from death.
They had survived.
They had gained Spells.
They ignored the Cult of The Scion of Death words that they had seen and focused on the thrill of making it through this room alive.
The girls differed in this from the boys, though. Influenced by Darcie, perhaps, they hadn't waited to wonder. Nor did they even pause to think it over.
Only one thing mattered to them - Blast their way through it!
So, when the blinding flash followed a quaking boom, the boys' heads snapped toward the destruction, taking them out of their reverie.
They hadn't seen Daphne conjuring Pikachu.
Coincidentally, they did chance upon Hermione using her Spell, though.
"Moonlight…" Hermione said, ignoring the rubble flying everywhere, "… Sonata!"
The yellow crystals bobbing up and down in her eyes became moons.
Aaaooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuu!
The howl was so loud that everyone had to put their hands over their ears.
Even Daphne had to pause for a moment to look over, the boys already gawking at the stupendous sight; for the howl had come from none other than their friend.
Hermione began transforming.
Her nails, hair, and canines lengthened. Fur grew on her arms and her ears squirmed, becoming wolf-like.
In a matter of moments, from a tiny, helpless girl, she transformed into a towering werewolf, raw power oozing from her pores.
Yet, her thoughts felt so clear…
Hermione felt it, clenching her fingers.
Then she lunged at the white knight blocking the black Queen.
She climbed its back, grabbed its head under the chin, and —
— ripped the stony head off, blasting it right up to the ceiling.
Silence.
…
The girls shared the briefest glance.
The white Queen, the white Bishops, and the reaming white Rook and Knight, all came rushing toward them.
But before the boys could even act, Daphne and Hermione smiled.
"Thunderbolt."
"Pika… Pika…"
Pikachu jumped on its square, yellow lightning snaking around it, lighting everything up.
"… chuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!"
Crack-ckkkkkkkkk!
There was such power behind Pikachu's Thunderbolt that the bolt of lightning hit the white Knight and Bishop, went right through them, and hit the white Queen's left arm, exploding them to dust.
BOOMMMMM!
Hermione was a pawn…
But the column in front of her had opened up.
And now, she was standing at the very end of it.
Blue magical hue lit up around her as the Pawn became a Queen with one thought. Even though she hadn't played Chess a lot, this much she knew about it.
Letting out a howl, she lunged at the white Queen which she couldn't reach before.
The remaining white Bishop tried to stop her with a thrust of its spear, but she grabbed the spear itself.
With great force, Hermione lifted the entire stone soldier off its feet, reached the white Queen, and slammed them together.
It was as if a sonic jet had passed over their heads.
The boom was loud enough to numb the minds, clouds of dust rising in bellows.
By the time the dust settled, Daphne was standing over the remaining Rook's rubble.
Everyone was gone. Once, the white Pieces had stood there like death, making the shadow of doom hanging over the children and the black chessmen.
Now, only the white King remained, eying them with its faceless eyes. It lifted its sword. The magic imbued within its creation denied loss until a checkmate was given.
Suddenly, a thin, steely line flashed across its neck.
The King's head slid down dramatically.
Pikachu landed neatly on the headless King, jumped, and came to sit on Daphne's shoulder.
From the other side, Hermione came walking over to her, her steps shattering stones.
Daphne and Hermione looked at each other, smiled, and then stared at the boys.
"To the next room, then?"
**************
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