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7/2/2025, 4:46:01 AM
>>49618312
At Seija's behest, Goro drifted backwards, away from the woman who'd betrayed his trust once before. And he did so without hesitation.
A wise trader doesn't deal with those who've broken their promises, but only the greatest know how to forgive after recompense. Although the threat of nuclear annihilation did stir some urgency.
'Outside world weapons' Goro thought to himself. There wasn't a worse commodity to trade in, the things were viciously pragmatic and lacked any sense of ceremony, designed for a world were all formality had been forsaken, so it was appropriate that Yukari would think to use one now.
Carefully, Goro pulled a cloth from his robe and wrapped his twins in it, carefully bundling them, stroking their heads to assuage their cries as they floated from his hold. It pained him, being totally unable to shush them and tell them that'd just be a moment, but his voice was forever lost, his touch would have to be enough to comfort them now.
Turning his attention, the Broker gazed down at the soft blue glow of the nuclear sub, it's payload about to go super critical and he felt like a base jumper gazing off into a cliff. Goro brought his fingers together, first at their tips and the slowly cupping his palms together until they formed a pocket of air between his hands.
'Not yet' he thought to himself, gazing at the glow, and his heartbeat slowed. 'Not yet', he repeated in his head as his pupils narrowed. 'Not yet', he said as the event horizon was almost past. Finally, a small dot flew out from the abyss and conditions were perfect.
'NOW'. Goro's hands collapsed together, crushing the pocket of magic that he'd put there and causing it to erupt outwards, thundering towards the lake. It was a grudge with two properties: rending itself, creating two grudges in it's place, and reversing the perverse mechanism of exponential destruction that now poured forth from the ship. The spell looked like a hundred snakes, ever-multiplying, exploding outwards from Goro downwards in an expanding cone.
If Yukari wasn't locked in combat with Seija she would've been impressed. Goro did not have the immeasurably quick-wit of Ran, but he'd learned how to calculate things that couldn't be counted in a lifetime. He didn't have the arcane knowledge of Yukari, but under her tutelage he learned how not to ignore the small details of spell craft. He lacked the intrinsic ability and instincts of Seija, but from the Jaku he had learned to see the polarity of all things and even manipulate some of it. In all these domains, Goro was an amateur, But as a broker, he was in his element.
Mirroring. A principle of good conversation where you adopt aspects of your partner's mannerisms to endear yourself to them. Goro had practiced it all his life, and had gone far deeper then just simply making people more affable. To know someone's desires, to see that with your own eyes, it was to know them and what they saw in the world, things you could see too. But were limits to this.
The Hydra of light crashed into the water, biting and twisting at the colliding microscopic particles, sending them back on to themselves, containing the massive amount of energy and putting it back to the moment before release. But it was not enough, one exponential reaction cannot outpace another that has already started, and the Hydra was being overwhelmed, torn apart by the angry Nuclear Fire that would not be denied.
Goro had simply bought some time.
---
"Did you get into a fight?" The Tired Man ask the Boy, who was bruised, bandaged, and waiting on the steps.
"I don't want to talk about it." He said, feigning ambivalence.
The Tired Man sighed. "Of course you don't. All any man wants to do is talk about the time they laid someone else out, not the time they woke up sore on their ass, ah, don't tell Hijiri I said ass."
The Boy chuckled, despite himself. "Can I say ass then too?"
"Maybe, I won't say anything if you don't." The Tired Man smiled as he took a seat beside his boy.
"I fought Ichirin." The Boy admitted.
The Tired Man whistled. "Now why'd you go and do a stupid thing like that?" He asked in a tone that was anything but demeaning.
"Everyone else fights, but she told me I couldn't and I didn't think that was fair, so I challenged her." The Boy admitted.
"Well you ought to be grateful for that. Can't be getting into fights with Ladies, let alone Youkai." The Tired Man told him.
"But you told me a man is supposed to be strong? Was that a lie?" The Boy asked, before getting a firm palm on his head that rubbed his noggin back-n-forth.
"One of these days I'll find the 'orator' that taught you to talk people into corners like that. Yeah, I did say a man's supposed to be strong, but it ain't just about putting up fists." He breathed in, taking a second to think. "See these callouses? You know how I got em'?" He asked, pointing to his hand.
"Mountain climbing?" The Boy guessed.
At Seija's behest, Goro drifted backwards, away from the woman who'd betrayed his trust once before. And he did so without hesitation.
A wise trader doesn't deal with those who've broken their promises, but only the greatest know how to forgive after recompense. Although the threat of nuclear annihilation did stir some urgency.
'Outside world weapons' Goro thought to himself. There wasn't a worse commodity to trade in, the things were viciously pragmatic and lacked any sense of ceremony, designed for a world were all formality had been forsaken, so it was appropriate that Yukari would think to use one now.
Carefully, Goro pulled a cloth from his robe and wrapped his twins in it, carefully bundling them, stroking their heads to assuage their cries as they floated from his hold. It pained him, being totally unable to shush them and tell them that'd just be a moment, but his voice was forever lost, his touch would have to be enough to comfort them now.
Turning his attention, the Broker gazed down at the soft blue glow of the nuclear sub, it's payload about to go super critical and he felt like a base jumper gazing off into a cliff. Goro brought his fingers together, first at their tips and the slowly cupping his palms together until they formed a pocket of air between his hands.
'Not yet' he thought to himself, gazing at the glow, and his heartbeat slowed. 'Not yet', he repeated in his head as his pupils narrowed. 'Not yet', he said as the event horizon was almost past. Finally, a small dot flew out from the abyss and conditions were perfect.
'NOW'. Goro's hands collapsed together, crushing the pocket of magic that he'd put there and causing it to erupt outwards, thundering towards the lake. It was a grudge with two properties: rending itself, creating two grudges in it's place, and reversing the perverse mechanism of exponential destruction that now poured forth from the ship. The spell looked like a hundred snakes, ever-multiplying, exploding outwards from Goro downwards in an expanding cone.
If Yukari wasn't locked in combat with Seija she would've been impressed. Goro did not have the immeasurably quick-wit of Ran, but he'd learned how to calculate things that couldn't be counted in a lifetime. He didn't have the arcane knowledge of Yukari, but under her tutelage he learned how not to ignore the small details of spell craft. He lacked the intrinsic ability and instincts of Seija, but from the Jaku he had learned to see the polarity of all things and even manipulate some of it. In all these domains, Goro was an amateur, But as a broker, he was in his element.
Mirroring. A principle of good conversation where you adopt aspects of your partner's mannerisms to endear yourself to them. Goro had practiced it all his life, and had gone far deeper then just simply making people more affable. To know someone's desires, to see that with your own eyes, it was to know them and what they saw in the world, things you could see too. But were limits to this.
The Hydra of light crashed into the water, biting and twisting at the colliding microscopic particles, sending them back on to themselves, containing the massive amount of energy and putting it back to the moment before release. But it was not enough, one exponential reaction cannot outpace another that has already started, and the Hydra was being overwhelmed, torn apart by the angry Nuclear Fire that would not be denied.
Goro had simply bought some time.
---
"Did you get into a fight?" The Tired Man ask the Boy, who was bruised, bandaged, and waiting on the steps.
"I don't want to talk about it." He said, feigning ambivalence.
The Tired Man sighed. "Of course you don't. All any man wants to do is talk about the time they laid someone else out, not the time they woke up sore on their ass, ah, don't tell Hijiri I said ass."
The Boy chuckled, despite himself. "Can I say ass then too?"
"Maybe, I won't say anything if you don't." The Tired Man smiled as he took a seat beside his boy.
"I fought Ichirin." The Boy admitted.
The Tired Man whistled. "Now why'd you go and do a stupid thing like that?" He asked in a tone that was anything but demeaning.
"Everyone else fights, but she told me I couldn't and I didn't think that was fair, so I challenged her." The Boy admitted.
"Well you ought to be grateful for that. Can't be getting into fights with Ladies, let alone Youkai." The Tired Man told him.
"But you told me a man is supposed to be strong? Was that a lie?" The Boy asked, before getting a firm palm on his head that rubbed his noggin back-n-forth.
"One of these days I'll find the 'orator' that taught you to talk people into corners like that. Yeah, I did say a man's supposed to be strong, but it ain't just about putting up fists." He breathed in, taking a second to think. "See these callouses? You know how I got em'?" He asked, pointing to his hand.
"Mountain climbing?" The Boy guessed.
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